Joe Meek-A Curious Mind is a three-CD box set that looks at the more quirky, playful and experimental side of 1960s English pop producer Joe Meek. Over the collection, we get a total of seventy-six tracks, which highlight his wacky, but often ahead of his time sonic talents, which darted in & out of different genres/ themes.

The release appears on Cherry Red sublabel The Tea Chest Tapes.  Each of the discs comes in its own card sleeve- also inside is a thirty-two-page inlay booklet, featuring a new eight-page article about the comp/ Mr Meek, artists' pics, studio paperwork, and vinyl labels. These all come presented in a flip side box, which on the front has a black & white picture of Mr Meek being surrounded by colourful cartoon thought bubbles- with words such as ‘outer space’, ‘horror’, and ‘The Wild West’ around him- relating to some of the themes he chose for his work. All in all, it's a nicely presented box set.

Following the design of the cover, the first two discs follow a rough theme/ focus- so disc one is entitled ‘Beyond The Stars’, and disc two is ‘Beyond The Grave/ Out West’. The third and final disc largely focuses on off-cuts/ demos from his 1960s infamous electronic space adventure concept album, I Hear A New World.

Meek was active between the mid-50s and late 60s, and is seen as one of the great/pioneer producers, who both used the recording studio as an instrument, and utilised earlier electronic elements.  Sadly, he was very much a troubled soul- as he had both bipolar and schizophrenia, and on the 3^rd of February 1967, when his star was starting to wane, he killed himself & his landlady with a shotgun- he was just thirty-seven years old.

So the first disc, twenty-seven tracks are focused/ themed around outer space. We move from whirring reverb tones, galloping percussion, piping organ tones, and rising male wordless vocals of  The Tornados' “Telstar(Alternative take)”. Onto the hovering drones, whistling pitch bays, and clouds of interstellar echo that are instrumental track Joe Meek’s “Spacecape#2”.  Though to the short/ chirpy Buddy-Holly-goes-outside -artist of  “Have You Ever Thought Singing On The Moon?” by Joe Meek.  Onto the bubbling electronics, tolling harpsichord-like tones, and sudden rising/ thick ocashreatal sneer of “Glob Waterfall( Take 9)” by Joe Meek and The Blue Men.

On disc two, the focus/ theme of the thirty-two tracks is horror and the wild west. We kick off with Screaming Lord Sutch’s “Jack The Ripper” with its mix of lightly rocking ‘n’ rolling guitars/ keys, simmering electro tone press,  and screaming sound effects. Moving of the rudimentary organ groove & wavering vocal effects of “You Make Me Feel Wicked” By Joe Meek. We have the galloping guitar,  wailing female vocal backing singing, and semi-singing/ tell a story male vocals of “Johnny Remember(‘Died’ version)” by John Leyton.  And there’s the jangling keys, galloping bass,  twanging guitars, and rich/ slight reverbed crooning male vocals of Chad Carson’s “Jesse James( Alternate version)”.

The third and final disc, twenty-three tracks, focuses on outtakes/ demos from Meeks' 1960 space adventure concept album I Hear A New World. This is maybe not as sonic gem-filled as the other discs, as it does feature several takes of the same tracks, but there are worthy/ neat moments. For example, we have marching drum, high-pitched vocal do’s, and lazy twanging guitar of “Entry Of The Globbots( take two)”. There’s the on/ off wailing siren synth tones  & playful galloping guitars of “Magnetic Fields(rehearsal)”. We have the stream train like percussion, galloping piano keys, and moody slide guitar stylings of “The Blublight(No FX)”.

For the most part, Joe Meek-A Curious Mind is a real sonic jewel box of release, where you just don’t know what you'll come across next. Sure, the first two discs are where the real/varied treasures are, but there are still moments of greatness on the final disc, too.