Let's be fair, advertising this CD as "All your ears could ever want",as the handout flyer does, may be slightly over stepping the mark but what you do get is originality, individuality & a sense of humour, 3 things a little scarce on CDs of late I'd venture.

Being an amalgam of 2 projects, "The King of Penguins" (2000) & "The Queen of Bees"(1995) the first good news is that you can neither see the join nor sniff the sellotape. I think, personally, I'd have mixed up the track listing a little but The Artist must have his way, &, I suppose, that's the benefit of being 'home grown'.

Jason Smart, traditionally, has 2 main faults, one being that he, sometimes, crams too many words into his songs, consequently, at times, fighting to get them out whilst leaving the listener bludgeoned & bewildered by both the lexicon of game play that's just spilt out all over the carpet & the percussive guitar that hammers home the point(see what I mean?). Apart from that the other struggle Jason has with himself is finding which key to sing in, there's just so many to chose from, he has many open to him & The Queen of Bees(2) seems one of the more comfortable to me but every now & again...just sometimes.

That said this project contains some of the finest produced Jason Smart tracks I've ever heard & a 'band' line up as individual as the songs themselves. What we don't have here is folksy whimsy & the whole 18 track smorgasbord kicks off with a commendable 1 min 49 secs blues-style call & response with whacky lyrics & weedy rock & roll guitar, ladies & gentlemen,"The King of Penguins" is in the building.

Let me mention, again, just 4 short paragraphs in , the additional musicians that support & cajole the songs, & it must be said the clarinet is a perfect foil to the voice as well as a marker that there's an originality at work here. The 'Electrickery', as it's credited, also separates the songs from the Mainstream but doesn't ever intrude or try to over power or detract.

The funny thing is the songs often seem curiously dated although, perversely, actually difficult to date. There's an occasional essence of Island Records Sampler Album & I wonder if the Brighton Beat Generation whigs out occasionally to "King of Penguins, Queen of Bees" as they sit around their cafe bars tapping bongo drums, reciting Kerouac & lusting after a new pair of Black Peg Leg Slax. In fact, I'm wondering of this isn't all actually Jazz, after all, "The Light that Shines from You" being especially so with its trumpets & sliding chords. But, perhaps, more important is the fact that you've really no, idea what to expect next most of the time, as the songs & instrumentation almost deliberately throw unusual shapes & angles in unexpected places, not quite discordant but not quiet easy listening either."Under a Lamp That Lights your Face" seems almost to define its own shape as it grows & then slides towards the middle. Now you begin to see why the Jason Smart press cuttings lazily name check anyone & everyone from Momus to Billy Bragg; by the way the latter certainly doesn't stand up to scrutiny.

Then there are the lyrics. Lyrics that grab & demand your attention as they're not, generally, what you'd expect. Jason also has quite a knack of putting them near the front of a song ensuring your attention in case you miss the next verbal somersault.

"She likes to make love to plump boys
Just to watch them wobble.
Their waves of flesh come
Crashing over her.

She kneeds them like a baker does
& Now they are not lumpy.
They swarm about her
Like excited ants."

-BOHEMIAN GIRLFRIEND-

By track 8 alone there have been 3 references to "bodies without skin" & "shells of bodies", & what is all this with honey & bees, Jason?

Stand out tracks for me would have to be "Sleeping Sickness" & "As High As Heaven" where the pitch is right, the pace is suited & the songs get to breathe. These alone suggest a support slot on the planned Sonny Condell tour.

I guess it's a tribute of sorts to something , &, I suppose, that must mean Jason & his no longer Unsung Songs, that this all comes across as an ensemble piece not only in reference to the time span over which the songs were recorded but also the disparate 'band' line up & the fact that the additional instruments are only there when & where needed, either understated or in an 'In Your "Unkept, Unswept Garden of Love" face' kind of way. One downer though, the pixie xylophone evident on "In a Room Full of Flowers", Nein Danke Emma.

Ironically, the closer & Jason's self proclaimed Greatest Hit, "Eleanor", portrays the best & the worst of Jason Smart with band in full support, the lyrics being given space but the voice straining for pitch & what's more, finally, after 17 tracks, a fairy dust sprinkling of Whimsy.

Tortured? No, not any more I feel. Genius? Doubt it, he'd only laugh anyway. But it is Different. Individual. Tangential. Bloody Good Value. & If the next one doesn't take 5 years to record the world could just be a cheerier place for the Jason Smart catalogue.
Barry O'Brien (Big Untidy)

Have you heard of Syd Barrett or Martin Newell? Do you find strange British songwriting with a tendency for eccentricity exciting? No? Then stop reading now! Because this is about Jason Smart. Don't be surprised if you should ever meet him, he is - i've spoken to him - rather good natured. And he has just released a self-produced CD which shifts between tiring-whining and unfettered brilliance. Strictly speaking it is actually a compilation of nearly new and in part already released material. My tour-mate Clive Product knows Jason from their youth in Chalfont St. Peters / UK (who doesn't Clive know???) and claims that 'The Queen of Bees' was released in 1995 as a double single on the (obviously very adventurous) Munich label Hoppledihoy. 'The King of Penguins' are DIY/Homegrown recordings from 2000. These belong to the most entrancing acts - most shown by the songwriter Alben - that I have up to now heard.
Beautiful harmonies in almost all the songs and lyrics which tell of simple situations, through the absurd to the surreal. I recommend therefore Jason's website (www.home-grown.freeserve.co.uk) where you will find all the lyrics so that you can sing along (in case you want to) especially to 'Bohemian Girlfriend'. Simply fabulous and a must-read. Who starts a song with the words " She likes to make love to plump boys Just to watch them wobble...." Fantastic!
The older recordings (which are maybe slightly less anxious) are performed with a band (very restrained and very effective), the 2000 tracks were recorded with Jason's partner (i guess from the sleeve). Somehow very English. If not to say eccentric. A great crayon cover by the way.
martti (9-PM)

Two album's worth of likeable and jolly acoustic songs. Jason has an interesting and friendly voice and it all has the impression of a fun afternoon's singing round the picnic.
Marceline Smith (Paper Cut No. 2)

"I am the King of Penguins" coos Brighton's singer-songwriter Jason Smart, backed up cheesily by a bevy of backing vocals on a slice of gentle cabaret pop. He's not.The photo makes him look like someone's dad. Very ordinary. Some of his thoughtful lyrics share this feeling, such as "Car Poetry", while he also has an obsession for caressing & , in his words, making love. Note the words; not "shafting" or "having it", but "making love", words which shouldn't offend yr granny; hardly very rock n' roll. It's all very twee, although occasionally humourous in a mild & eccentric way, such as "Bohemian Girlfriend", There's a touch of impressive wah-wah among the acoustics & primitive keyboard lines, but on the whole it's for mature Belle & Sebastian fans who thought "Legal Man" was too heavy, or mature music lovers too mature for B&S, but I doubt that any of that type would be reading this fanzine,.. As Jason would probably say, "Sorry..." Still you do get two albums for the price of one, as 1995's "The Queen of Bees" is also included on the CD.
Al Maceachern (A Cheery Wave from Stranded Youngsters No. 4)

One of my favourite tracks from the fine EP full of acoustic folk/pop songs which Jason Smart brought out on the Munich Hoppel-Di-Hoy label five years ago is called In a Room Full of Flowers. A gentle song starting with acoustic guitar chords at a leisurely pace, garnished with Jason's soft, clear voice and at times supplemented by Emma Papper. The light touch of a flute appears and later the reedy sound of a clarinet. The song sounds like a summers day which one is made aware of from the distance of an empty room. Painfully beautiful but also unattainably distant. The eight songs on this EP turn out to be the room full of flowers which the song title suggests. Only stranger plants appear in the music than are to be found on most window sills. With the natural breath of Folk and the light carefree nature of summer you are amazed to have found the perfect cycle tour soundtrack, when suddenly dark clouds pass in front of the sun with peculiar, melancholic songs such as "When we Kiss". The room, which gives the acoustic guitar its echo, is filled with regularly repeated blasts of electric guitar and a meandering clarinet building to a feeling of oppression and uncertainty. Because maybe at that time not too many people found the time to thoroughly explore this EP or because the record simply didnt come to their attention and because in the meantime Jason has recorded 10 more, just as diverse beautiful songs, it was a great day when this CD reached here from Brighton. This record contains the new songs, as well as the old ones and that is how such folk/pop pearls are (re-) discovered. The unusually large amount of electric guitar in the new songs, (for example on Sleeping Sickness) bring back memories of the best Red Chair Fadeaway moments. The new songs also show time and again a clear orientation towards the Sixties, even with somewhat more Rock vocals giving the tracks a new heaviness which cannot detract from this multi-faceted songwriting talent which for some years now has been blooming in the south of England.
Gregor Kessler (Hayfever No. 7)

This is the up & coming thing, original intelligent lyrics mixed with catchy tunes & natural enthusiasm. Impress your friends with your musical choice & get a copy of the new CD.
Dominique Lowenthal (Virtual Brighton)

Classic British singer-songwriters, there must be hundreds of them ,eh? So, why is it that it's always the same ones who seem to get mentioned all the time? Jason Smart is a guy I heard stuff by (on flexi disc no less, anyone remember this great music medium?) years ago & having recently read about him releasing an album in a fanzine (you see they do work, all you cynics out there!) I got back in touch with him. He then sent me this & I have to say it's an absolute classic. How anyone could not like the majestic "Sarah Cuts Her Hair" with it's infectious tune & swirling fairground organ is beyond me! The highlight, however, is the superb "An Unkept, Unswept Garden of Love", pure genius. Donovan, Billy Bragg et al please stand down, your crown has slipped.
Sid Stovold (Foot on the Monitors No. 9)

I would hesitate to be cynical about this. You can see quite clearly that there is a person here and genuine human thought. However it does lack sensuality and is perhaps a touch too earnest. Jason sounds like a ditherer and will no doubt be an exceptionally nice person
Mike Alway (demo tape review)

...journalistic sloppiness ensured Billy Bragg comparisons, misleading & unwanted - 'Just playing the guitar & singing puts you in this horrible genre' grouses Jason, who prefers Singing Postman parallels. Syd Barrett's dark wayward brand of Englishness is rather closer to the mark. File Jason alongside, say, Momus, Kevin Coyne & The King of Luxembourg in the catch-all category of solo undersung genius individuals.
Stephan Drennan (The Punter Magazine)

In a world full of manufactured impostors jumping on the next bandwagon, Jason stands out as refreshingly honest. He's got a good voice and uses it to a pleasing, if subdued effect with the laid-back guitar strumming. It's nice music that won't hurt anyone and can at times surprise with unusual twists and turns.
The Evening Argus, Brighton

Jason Smart is not a natural pop star; he can't dance and isn't particularly photogenic. Nevertheless he can write a catchy tune, sometimes with worlds that make sense, and his delivery is engaging if not always strictly accurate. Let's be honest, if he wasn't any good I wouldn't be writing this, somebody famous would.
William Miles (Bass Player, Flautist & Professional Confidante)