Katerinas Magic World

January Tyme was a New York band formed around the in-your-face vocal work of Janis Joplin-wannabe January Tyme. The band consisted of Tyme on lead vocals, keyboards, and percussion; Anthony Izzo on vocals and lead guitar; William Brancaccio on rhythm guitar, vocals, and keyboards; Steve Ciantro on bass; and Allen Cooley on drums and vocals. In 1969 the band released their only album for the Enterprise label, titled First Time from Memphis. Falling somewhere between Jefferson Airplane and Big Brother and the Holding Company style of music, the band failed to establish their own identity. Despite their songwriting competence and energetic performance on the 11 songs on this album, January Tyme faded into rock obscurity.
Tracks
1 Rainy Day Feeling
2 Music
3 Sleepy Time Baby
4 Ancient Babylon
5 Hold Me Up to the Light
6 Live Is Blind
7 Are You Laughing
8 Down to the River
9 I Could Never Love You
10 Take This Time
11 Love Surrounds Me
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The Fall made the leap to a semi-major label — Beggars Banquet — with The Wonderful and Frightening World of the Fall, hooking up with noted producer John Leckie to create another smart, varied album. Contemporaneous with the slightly friendlier "Oh! Brother" and "C.R.E.E.P." singles without actually including them, Wonderful and Frightening World makes few concessions to the larger market — every potential hook seemed spiked with the band's usual rough take-it-or-leave-it stance. Mark E. Smith's audible, tape-distorting spit on the descending chord blast of "Elves" — already spiked with enough vocal craziness as it is — gives a sense of where the album as a whole aims. Brix Smith co-writes about half the tracks, creating a strong partnership with many highlights. It may start with a semi-low-key chant, but when "Lay of the Land" fully kicks in, it does just that, Craig Scanlon in particular pouring on the feedback at the end over the clattering din. Smith sounds as coruscating and side-splittingly hilarious as ever, depicting modern Britain with an eye for the absurdities and failures (and crucially, no empathy — it's all about a gimlet eye projected at everyone and everything). Two further standouts appear on the second half — "Slang King," a snarling portrayal of a cool-in-his-mind dude and his increasingly pathetic life, and the concluding "Disney's Dream Debased." Though unquestionably the most conventionally attractive tune on the album, ringing guitars and all, Smith's lyrics portray a Disneyland scenario in hell, however softly delivered. Elsewhere, Gavin Friday from the Virgin Prunes takes a bow with his own unmistakable, spindly vocals on the trebly Krautrock chug of "Copped It" and the slightly more brute rhythm of "Stephen Song." [The CD version, in an admirable move by Beggars Banquet, contains seven extra tracks to fill the disc out, including "Oh! Brother" and "C.R.E.E.P.," along with associated B-sides and the Call for Escape Route EP.]
Tracks
1.Lay of the Land (5:45)
2.2 X 4 (3:38)
3.Copped It (4:15)
4.Elves (4:47)
5.Oh! Brother * (4:01)
6.Draygo's Guilt * (4:29)
7.God-Box * (3:18)
8.Clear Off! * (4:40)
9.C.R.E.E.P. * (3:08)
10.Pat-Trip Dispenser * (4:00)
11.Slang King (5:21)
12.Bug Day (4:58)
13.Stephen Song (3:05)
14.Craigness (3:03)
15.Disneys Dream Debased (5:17)
16.No Bulbs * (7:51)
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Pete Brown & Piblokto! were a British progressive rock band 1969-1971, formed by former Cream lyricist Pete Brown, after he had been thrown out of his own band Pete Brown and his Battered Ornaments the day before they were due to support The Rolling Stones at Hyde Park[1]. The original Piblokto! members were; Brown on vocals, Laurie Allen on drums, Jim Mullen on guitar, Roger Bunn on bass and Dave Thompson on organ.

Allen left to join The Battered Ornaments and was replaced by The Battered Ornaments drummer Rob Tait

They released their first single "Living Life Backwards"/"High Flying Electric Bird", (The A-side later covered by Jeff Beck), followed by the album Things May Come and Things May Go but the Art School Dance Goes on Forever (1969).

Bunn was replaced by Steve Glover for their second single, "Can't Get Off The Planet"/"Broken Magic" and the LP, Thousands On A Raft (1970).

Mullen, Thompson and Tait left, so Brown and Glover were joined by Phil Ryan on keyboards, John 'Pugwash' Weathers on drums (both formerly from The Eyes of Blue) and Brian Breeze on guitar. This line-up only recorded one single, "Flying Hero Sandwich"/"My Last Band"

Weathers and Breeze left, to be replaced by guitarist Taff Williams (also formerly in The Eyes of Blue) and drummer Ed Spevock, before finally disbanding in Autumn 1971.

Pete Brown went on to work with Graham Bond

Both albums, all three singles and several bonus tracks were reissued on a Double CD BGOCD522 in 2001

The band's name was taken from the Inuit word for "Arctic Hysteria", Piblokto, with symptoms including hysteria (screaming, uncontrolled wild behavior), depression and echolalia (senseless repetition of words).
Tracks
A1 Things May Come And Things May Go, But The Art School Dance Goes On Forever
A2 High Flying Electric Bird
A3 Someone Like You
A4 Walk For Charity, Run For Money
B1 Then I Must Go And Can I Keep
B2 My Love's Gone Far Away
B3 Golden Country Kingdom
B4 Firesong
B5 Country Morning
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The second album of TGSOE, released fairly shortly after their debut, is a bit different than the brass-heavy debut. The group is now only a sextet as the Repertoire reissue of the album mentions indicates as only Hanson is mentioned from the brass band, but we get some sax from one other blower.

The album is definitely more appealing to hard prog rockers, especially after an intriguing distorted intro of the 9-min opener Borderline promises and they convince in the UK proto-prog realm. The other lengthy track Love Magnet is definitely in the JR/F territory with some almost-perfect lines and might sound at times as Van Morrison's Young Lovers and at other excellent Chicago

But the group was still trying to pump some potential hits like Magic Woman Touch (with some very unwise/ill-advised sound effects), or the energetic Story Times, the rocking- rolling Leader and the album closer piano-dominated sing-along (no doubt it was designed as such in concerts) Tell The Story, which was on the accompanying single's B- side. As a bonus track comes the single A-side non-album track Mountain Song, which doesn't really add much.

The band would tour until the half of next year before disbanding, domestic lack of success being the main reason. Indeed in the mid-70's, their record company gave the band another try at success by reissuing both albums together, mostly on the band's strengths and The Hollies' successful cover of Magic Woman Touch. But as far as this writer is concerned, TGSOE was not destined to become a long running group, but this second album seems a better effort than their debut as it is much more even and progressive. But none are essential to a proghead, and unless you have a knack for brass-rock, they will stay that way. By Sean Trane
Tracks
Songs / Tracks Listing
1. Borderline
2. Magic Woman Touch
3. Storytimes & Nursery Rhymes
4. The Leader
5. Love Magnet
6. Tell The Story
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The Fairfield Parlour From Home to Home album is a continuation of the Kaleidoscope career, with the same lineup. The major difference is that the sound is less psychedelic and more folk-progressive oriented, with great use of acoustic guitar, flute and keyboards (especially the mellotron strings). There are some mellancholic songs and some more upbeat, but the overall song is lightweight
Aries, By Your Bedside, Soldier of The Flesh, I Will Always Feel The Same, Chalk on the Wall and Monkey are mellancholic songs, all of them are beautiful and Daltrey's voice fits perfectly the mellancholic songs, being one of the best voices of the progressive rock for mellow songs. The keyboards and occasional flutes are superb, mainly the mellotron strings.

In My Box, Free, Glorious House of Arthur are more upbeat and rock, with good guitar work. There are mellotron strings too in most of the songs.

The Highlights in my opinion are:

The best song in this album in my opinion is And Emily Brought Confetti, which is the longest song. Though it has not many variations, it has a beautiful acoustic guitar riff and great mellotron strings arrangement that really stands out. The song is melancholic and the vocals and the flute fit very well to the theme of the song.

Sunny Side Circus is a song with psychedelic reminiscences, shown in the structure of the song, the sound effects used (backward tapes for examples), the constant changes of rhythm totally unstructured. The song is very enjoyable though, being a psychedelic song as they usually used to do as Kaleidoscope with the Fairfield Parlour instrumentation.

Drummer Boy of Shiloh is a very beautiful and melancholic song, with great mellotron strings, acoustic and electric guitar riff, military-like drumming and very beautiful singing by Daltrey which is one of my favourite singers, having a distinctive voice It is not the traditional song from the 19th century, but its lyrics are certainly inspired on the traditional song.

Overall the album is very good and along with White Faced Lady the best of this short-lived band which could have been of of the finest progressive acts from the 70's. By Akin from progrock.
Tracks
1. Aries
2. In My Box
3. By Your Bedside
4. Soldier Of The Flesh
5. I Will Always Feel The Same
6. Free
7. Emily
8. Chalk On The Wall
9. Glorious House Of Arthur
10. Monkey
11. Sunny Side Circus
12. Drummer Boy Of Shiloh
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Bit-part actor Rex Holman is perhaps better known to Star Trek and Monkees fans than music enthusiasts, but connoisseurs of acid folk have long treasured this, his sole album, which originally appeared in 1970 (when he was already 42 years old). A hypnotic blend of melodic, contemplative songs and philosophical lyrics, sung in Holman's quavering voice (which has been compared to Tim Buckley's), set to acoustic guitar, sitar and tabla, it's nothing short of an overlooked minor classic, and is sure to appeal to fans of artists such as Damon, Pat Kilroy and Mark Fry.
"Here In the Land of Victory" featured all original material, though the mix of Indian-flavored instrumentation and Holman's hyper serious lyrics sounded like something that was recorded circa 1967. Holman's vibrato-drenched vocals (which were an acquired taste) and his over-the-top lyrics certainly weren't for everyone. Imagine Richard Harris reincarnated as Donovan and you'll have a feel for tracks like 'Listen To the Footsteps', the sitar and flute propelled 'Sit and Flatter Me' and 'Come On Down'. Ironically if you could get over those characteristics, then the album rewarded you with quite a bit of memorable material. Holman's uber earnestness was somehow charming and most of the lyrics were no worse than your standard college English paper (okay, 'The Chosen One' was far worse). Certainly a reflection of my personal tastes, but Holman was at his best when backed by a full rock ensemble. As such personal highlights included 'Pink Lemonade', 'Today Is Almost Here', and the bluesy 'Red Is the Apple'. The disturbing artwork including a back cover photo of Homan sitting blissed out next to a passed out drunk certainly didn't help sales.
Tracks
01 - Here In The Land Of Victory - 3.16
02 - Pink Lemonade - 2.10
03 - Rowin' - 2.34
04 - Today Is Almost Here - 3.09
05 - Listen To The Footsteps - 2.58
06 - Red Is The Apple - 4.20
07 - Sit And Flatter Me - 3.35
08 - Copper Kettles - 2.25
09 - Come On Down - 2.40
10 - Debbie - 2.30
11 - The Chosen One - 2.57
12 - I Can't Read My Name - 2.27
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It would be pointless to try and top the MC5 in-concert classic Kick Out The Jams, since it is simply one of the greatest live recordings of all time. Recorded in 1968 at the Sturgis Armory, Starship does a good job of collecting several MC5 compositions that are hard to come by (and never released by their official label, Elektra), mixed in with the expected fan favorites. Although it's not up to snuff sonically as Jams was (Starship is a soundboard recording produced by '60s activist/MC5 manager John Sinclair), the MC5 rage through a killer set, which includes a must-hear medley of James Brown hits ("Cold Sweat/I Can't Stand Myself/There Was a Time"). Other standouts include the solid non-album tracks "Upper Egypt," "Revolutionary Blues," and "Black to Comm," as well as the MC5 standards "Come Together," the title track, and of course their anthem, "Kick Out the Jams." Some of the songs were obviously aimed at certain audience members who were in an altered state of mind (unpredictable blasts of white noise crop up throughout, many of the songs end with an elongated drone, etc.), but Starship is an excellent reminder of how devastating the MC5 were in concert.
Tracks
1 Kick Out the Jams
2 Come Together
3 Revolutionary Blues
4 Rama Lama Fa Fa Fa
5 James Brown Medley: Cold Sweat/I Can't Stand Myself/There Was a Time
6 Upper Egypt
7 Tutti Frutti
8 Borderline
9 Born Under a Bad Sign
10 I Want You
11 Starship
12 Black to Comm
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There are many people on the indie music and punk scene who have never heard of Punishment of Luxury. While their one and only album, 'The Laughing Academy' was acclaimed at the time it was released in 1979, it is a much under-rated punk record and one that has been largely forgotten about now.

Punishment of Luxury, or Punilux as they were sometimes called for short, formed in the North East of England in 1976. The group, which initially consisted of Brian Bond (vocals, keyboards), Jeff Thwaite (drums), Malla Caballa (guitar, vocals), Nevill Luxury (guitar, keyboards) and Jimmy Giro (bass), released their debut single, 'Puppet Life', in 1978.
If you can imagine a punk band, all of whose members were suffering from schizophrenia, then that is something like what Punishment of Luxury sound like on the demented 'The Laughing Academy'. While the album has a very earthy punk sound, the mood and the tempo of the songs changes constantly throughout. I don’t think that you could get a band more individual. 'The Laughing Academy' is like a story book. Each track on the album tells a tale very different from the last one. It is the equivalent of watching a video or a DVD consisting of several different episodes of 'The Twilight Zone'..

The album opens with the raucous first single, 'Puppet Life', and on it a worn-down Brian Bond sings of having his opinions oppressed.["Once I had my own mind/ but in your sewer I was blinded/ wallowing around like a albino crocodile"]

The second song is called 'Funk Me' and, in contrast a funny track, pokes fun at medallion men who go to discos. ["Funk me til I'm crazy/Sex is just a dream/I drink your gaze and soak in dust and cream]. 'The Message' shows off an adventurous, fantastical side to the band and is the story of a satellite station picking up another life form on its equipment and trying to make contact.

Last but not least, there is 'Obsession', which is a well-crafted horror tale. 25 years on from first hearing it, its lyrics still make the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. It tells of a man obsessed with a girl he fancies. One is tricked into believing that he simply wants to seduce her, but as the song nears its end you realise he’s abducted and killed her. The song ends with these chilling words: "It only seems to happen with a corpse or a dream/Dead bodies don’t betray you/They never try to scream/Scream!”

Thatthen is an overview of the album Punishment of Luxury's 'Laughing Academy', which is one of my favourite albums of all time because it’s so diverse musical and lyrically.

If you’ve never heard the album try to get hold of a copy . It’s an experience

What was really sad was that in 1980 United Artists , Punishment of Luxury's label, were taken over by EMI and they broke up shortly after being dropped for the likes of the Cockney Rejects and Vice Squad. excerps from review by Dave Toynton.
Tracks
1. Puppet Life (3:03)
2. Funk Me (3:59)
3. Message (3:56)
4. All White Jack (3:59)
5. Obsession (4:40)
6. Radar Bug / Metropolis (5:42)
7. British Baboon (4:03)
8. Babalon (4:02)
9. Excess Bleeding Heart (2:40)
10. Laughing Academy (5:02)
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