Chris Bell - I Am The Cosmos

"I Am The Cosmos" is the only solo album by Chris Bell, former guitarist and vocalist with early 70's Power Pop band, Big Star. Bell left the band after their debut album "#1 Record" in 1972 and between then and his death in a car crash six years later, he only released one single, the double A side "I Am The Cosmos/You And Your Sister". He carried on recording sporadically throughout the rest of his life but nothing was officially released until 1992 when Rykodisc posthumously released this compilation. The music is very similar in style to Big Star's early work, albeit with a slightly more country edge to it and more melancholic lyrics.

Despite already being a fan of Big Star, Chris Bell's music had passed me by until I heard "Speed Of Sound" on The Flaming Lips "Late Night Tales" compilation album, and "I Am The Cosmos" itself on a Rykodisc records sampler at about the same time. I remember being blown away by "Speed Of Sound" with its juxtaposition of 12 string acoustic guitar and one of the most beautiful (and analogue) sounding synthesizer solo's I've ever heard. Here it is...