The Bevis Frond

by Jason AnkenyThe Bevis Frond was Nick Saloman, a neo-psychedelic renaissance man and the sole writer, performer and producer behind the cottage industry bearing the Frond name. The head of his own label (Woronzow) as well as the co-publisher of his own underground magazine (the highly regarded Ptolemaic Terrascope), Saloman was a quintessential English eccentric, a frighteningly prolific talent and a true anachronism purveying an archaic musical genre while simultaneously pioneering the lo-fi aesthetic. Saloman cloaked his formative years in mystery; according to legend, he formed his first band, the Bevis Frond Museum, during his school years, and after the group disbanded he performed solo acoustic sets throughout the London area known as Walthamstow. After founding the Von Trapp Family, later known as Room 13, Saloman was sidelined in 1982 following a motorcycle accident. With the money he received as compensation for his injuries, he revived the Bevis Frond name and during his recuperation period assembled 1986s Miasma, a slice of twisted, latter-day psychedelia issued on Woronzow in a pressing of 250.Much to Salomans shock, the record sold out; realizing an audience existed for his brand of time-warped pop, he quickly issued Inner Marshland, another underground success which encouraged him to raid his extensive archives for more material. With the floodgates opened, new Bevis Frond material — much of it written and recorded at Salomans home long before it ever saw release — appeared constantly; in 1988 alone, Woronzow issued three separate collections, Triptych, Bevis Through the Looking Glass and Acid Jam, all spotlighting his surreal wit and acute social commentary. Beginning with 1990s Any Gas Faster, Saloman was secure enough financially to begin recording in an outside studio; as the new decade dawned, he also made his live debut, appearing sporadically with an ever-changing group of backing musicians. After 1990s Magic Eye, a joint collaboration with former Pink Fairy Twink, the Bevis Frond issued its acknowledged masterpiece, 1991s double-LP set New River Head; erratic and eclectic, Salomans output continued on without concession to trends or consumer tastes, with new albums appearing with clocklike precision: 1993s It Just Is, 1995s Superseeder, 1998s two-disc North Circular and 1999s Vavona Burr, plus the excellent concert recording Live at the Great American Music Hall, San Francisco. Valedictory Songs followed two years later.