Clear Blue Sky - Out of the blue (1971)

Posted by Amelia Swhizzagers On 6:58 AM 0 comments

Originally a trio of friends from school, John Simms (guitar), Mark Sheather (bass), and Ken White (drums) grew up in the Acton area of London and started as a college circuit blues-rock band called JUG BLUES (later MATUSE and then X). Impressing manager Ashley Kozak, the band were given a deal with Vertigo, changed their name to CLEAR BLUE SKY and recorded a self-titled record under the production of Patrick Campbell-Lyons. Still only eighteen, the three musicians mixed hard blues with progressive and psychedelic rock in an unusually mature way, and the LP was released in January 1971 sporting one of Roger Dean's earliest album covers. The group was occasionally compared to CREAM, LED ZEPPELIN and early JETHRO TULL, though the music had a firm prog sensibility unlike CREAM or ZEPPELIN and sometimes may even remind of RUSH.

CLEAR BLUE SKY's 1971 debut (reissued on Repertoire,1991) is considered their most important and the LP is a collector's item. The second record, "Destiny" [Saturn, 1990], released twenty years after the first (and then again in 1999 on Aftermath in CD format), is old material but shows an improvement in form and approach from the first session. 1996 saw the part-concept album "Cosmic Crusader" and later another theme record "Mirror of the Stars". "Out of the Blue", a collection of live and unreleased material, came out in 2001.
Tracks
Tracklisting
01. Man of stone
02. New Dream
03. Spooky
04. Will you lie
05. Veil of the vixen
06. Taxman
07. Joanna
08. Journey
09. Mistery
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Ginhouse - Ginhouse (1971)

Posted by Amelia Swhizzagers On 2:53 AM 0 comments

A hard rock trio from Newcastle whose album is now rare. They had a good reputation as a live act and wrote some strong material on their album, with the continuous track "The House"/"Sun In A Bottle" the highlight, alongside a cover version of The Beatles' "And I Love Her". Geoff Sharkey had earlier played in Sammy.
Tracks
1 Tyne God (Sharkey) 5:27
2 I Cannot Understand (Sharkey) 4:16
3 The Journey (Sharkey) 5:55
4 Portrait Picture (Sharkey) 5:42
5 Fair Stood The Wind (Sharkey) 2:48
6 And I Love Her (Lennon/McCartney) 3:09
7 Life (Sharkey) 4:27
8 The Morning After (Sharkey) 5:11
9 The House (Sharkey) 3:30
10 Sun In The Bottle (Sharkey) 5:03
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Groundhogs - Blues Orbituary (1969)

Posted by Amelia Swhizzagers On 2:28 AM 0 comments

Originally released in 1969, Blues Obituary is the second album by ’60s British blues-rock legends The Groundhogs.
Blues Obituary finds the group beginning to stretch beyond traditional blues forms, as demonstrated on the seven-minute epic “Light Was the Day.” Beyond its memorable cover art, Blues Obituary marks the Groundhogs’ first effort as a power trio, the format in which the band would do its most acclaimed and popular work.
Tracks:
1. B.D.D.
2. Daze of the Weak
3. Times
4. Mistreated
5. Express Man
6. Natchez Burning
7. Light Was the Day
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Kazuhiko Kato - Supergas (1971)

Posted by Amelia Swhizzagers On 1:45 AM 0 comments

Kazuhiko Katō (加藤 和彦, Katō Kazuhiko?, March 21, 1947 – October 17, 2009), nicknamed "Tonovan" (トノヴァン?), was a Japanese record producer, songwriter, and singer. He sometimes used the spelling of "Kazuhiko Katoh".

As a member of the Folk Crusaders, Kato launched his recording career in the mid 1960s. "Kaettekita Yopparai (I Only Live Twice)", their psychedelic debut song composed by Kato and released in 1967, sold more than 1.3 million copies in Japan, and became one of the best-selling singles of the early Japanese popular music industry. The group also starred in director Nagisa Oshima's 1968 film "Kaette kita yopparai" (alternately known as "Sinner in Paradise" or "Three Resurrected Drunkards").

After the breakup of Folk Crusaders in 1970, Kato gained success for his production works for other musicians, including Shigeru Izumiya, Mariya Takeuchi, and Takuro Yoshida. In particular, Sadistic Mika Band, the acclaimed project he started with his first wife Mika Fukui, received international success. Their 1974 album entitled Kurofune (The Black Ship) is regarded as one of the most significant Japanese rock albums of the mid 1970s. The group was disbanded and reassembled again several times, with new vocalists such as Yumi Matsutoya, Karen Kirishima, and Kaela Kimura.

As a composer, Kato created the theme song "Ai Oboetei Imasu ka" for The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love? anime film released during the summer of 1984 in Japan. He later formed a songwriting team with his second wife, the late Kazumi Yasui. Most of the songs they wrote were recorded and produced by Kenji Sawada. In 1990, Kato teamed up with graphic artists, Haruhiko Shono and Kuniyoshi Kaneko, to provide the music for the award-winning Japanese computer game, Alice.

Kato committed suicide by hanging on October 17, 2009 at a hotel in Karuizawa, Kitasaku District, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. Police discovered a suicide note in his hotel room.
Tracks
1.Iewo Tsukurunara (02:24)
2.Arther Hakaseno Jinriki Hikouki (05:46)
3.Mahouni Kakatta Asa (02:23)
4.Sekkachito (03:15)
5.Moshimo, Moshimo, Moshimo (03:39)
6.Fushigina Hi (02:44)
7.Matankino Kokage (02:43)
8.Alcansheru (07:03)
9.Jiraiya (07:27)
10.Super Gas (01:44)
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Pandamonium - Unreleased album (1969)

Posted by Amelia Swhizzagers On 1:19 AM 0 comments

A little confusingly, the core duo of Pandamonium, singer/songwriter-guitarists Bob Ponton and Martin Curtis, recorded as the figureheads of two different groups in the late '60s and early '70s. At first, with a few other musicians, they did some mid- to late-'60s singles for CBS; then, as Thoughts & Words, they did a 1969 album for Liberty. After that obscure LP, they recorded a 1970 album that went unreleased at the time. That 1970 LP was belatedly released in 2004 in the form of this download/cd, titled The Unreleased Album, and credited to Pandamonium, though it's not clear whether it would have been billed to Pandamonium had it come out in 1970. Certainly Ponton and Curtis were supported by several notable figures on these sessions, including Gerry Conway, Jerry Donahue, and Pat Donaldson from Fotheringay; guitarist Albert Lee; bassist Chas Hodges, later part of hitmaking duo Chas & Dave; top British session drummer Clem Cattini (that is, assuming the "Clem Katiny" credited on this CD is the same guy); engineer John Wood, who worked on numerous major British folk-rock albums of the period by the likes of Fairport Convention and Nick Drake; and Shel Talmy, who's credited as co-producer. For all that, however, the failure of this material to gain release is no mystery. It's affable, diverse, but rather nondescript circa-1970 British rock that doesn't fit comfortably into either the folk-rock or pop/rock categories. Ponton and Curtis put together some fair minor-keyed, introspective numbers like "It's a Long Time" (which is very slightly reminiscent of the Moody Blues) and "I Am What I Am" (which is in turn very slightly reminiscent of the psychedelic Byrds), with touches of folk-rock, orchestrated pop/rock, and singer/songwriter influences, but the songs aren't exceptionally memorable. At other times, like "Sunrise" and the peppy "Sit and Watch the Sunshine," they seem to be gearing toward a more conventionally uplifting single, though the breezier "Waiting for Summer" is a more successful effort along those lines; the country-rock-influenced "Baby I'll Be Yours" is rather like the most lighthearted moments of late-'60s Fairport Convention with the Sandy Denny lineup. There's certainly no harm done that this album's finally available, of course, but it's only recommended to very deep collectors of British rock of the period, or specific fans of Ponton and Curtis.
Tracks
01 - I Know You - 3.17
02 - It´s A Long Time - 3.14
03 - I Am What I Am - 3.53
04 - Sunrise - 4.10
05 - If I Could Be With You - 2.15
06 - Sit And Watch The Sunshine - 3.10
07 - Baby I´ll Be Yours - 3.51
08 - Send Out A Smile - 3.03
09 - Who Knows What We May Find - 3.14
10 - Waiting For The Summer - 2.30
11 - I Believe In You - 3.56
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Jean Le Fennec - Phantastic (1968)

Posted by Amelia Swhizzagers On 12:58 AM 0 comments

Only project executed by the mysterious Jean Le Fennec, except for a promo 7inch excerpted from same album that saw a release in '69. Produced by famous Roland Kluger, the man behind Chakachas, Nico Gomez and Andrae Brasseur.
Tracks
1 L'abandon
2 L'enterrement
3 La fleur
4 Marie-Cécile
5 Mes enfants d'autre part
6 Le sorcier
7 Le chat et la souris
8 La boule et le verre
9 Le disloqué
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Blue Phantom - Distortions (1971)

Posted by Amelia Swhizzagers On 12:43 AM 0 comments

A popular album among european psych and prog collectors, Distortions was in fact released in Italy in 1971, along with a single, by a group of unknown studio musicians and later released in other european countries, among which England.
Both album and single appeared in Italy on Vedette subsidiary Spider label, and were composed (under his nickname Tical) and played by Armando Sciascia.

An entirely instrumental album that shows some influences from late 60's psych sounds.
Tracks
1. Diodo
2. Metamorphosis
3. Microchaos
4. Compression
5. Equilibrium
6. Dipnoi
7. Distillation
8. Equivalence
9. Psycho Nebulous
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Black Widow - Return to the Sabbath (1969)

Posted by Amelia Swhizzagers On 12:18 AM 0 comments

Black Widow were a rock band that formed in Leicester, England in September 1969. The band were mostly known for its early use of satanic and occult imagery in their music and stage act. The band were often confused with the better-known heavy rock band Black Sabbath, but the bands were only superficially similar.
The band originally formed in 1966 as Pesky Gee! with Kay Garrett (lead vocals), Kip Trevor (lead vocals, guitar and harmonica), Chris Dredge (guitar), Bob Bond (bass guitar), Clive Box (drums and piano), Jess "Zoot" Taylor (organ), Clive Jones (saxophone and flute). Jim Gannon (guitar, vocals and vibes), replaced Dredge in Spring 1969. The band split in September 1969.

The band released one album for Pye Records as Pesky Gee!, 1969's Exclamation Mark, before Garrett left the band. The remaining band members continued on as Black Widow and released their debut album Sacrifice in 1970.Perhaps better known than their music was the band's use of occult references in their music and their live performances, which were made more controversial with the mock sacrifice of a nude woman.These acts at time were very shocking but now a common use in the underground music scene, black metal The band attracted further controversy by consulting infamous witch Alex Sanders for advice.

Unlike one could have imagined, this Return To The Sabbath is not a re-working of the very good debut album of the lesser-known Black Widow. Each song featured on this album is a demo release of what would become Sacrifice which was released in 1970.
All these versions are dating from 1969 and they are being offered in a less achieved way than the ones which were recorded for the official album released in those early days of prog. Most of the songs are shorter in their pre-release formats if you would except the opening number In Ancient Days. The keyboards intro is more solemn and the sax parts longer.
Tracks
1. In ancient days (9:28)
2. Way to power (4:08)
3. Come to the sabbat (4:11)
4. Conjuration (5:53)
5. Seduction (4:41)
6. Attack of the demon (3:57)
7. Sacrifice (10:48)
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Autosalvage - Auto Salvage (1968)

Posted by Amelia Swhizzagers On 12:09 AM 0 comments

Thomas Danaher (lead vocals, rhythm guitar)
Darius LaNoue Davenport (vocals, oboe, piano, drums, trombone, guitar, bass guitar, krummhorn, recorder)
Rick Turner (lead guitar, banjo, dulcimer)
Skip Boone (bass guitar, piano)

This group was started in the middle of 1966 by Thomas Danaher, who was a folk and bluegrass freak, and Darius LaNoue Davenport, who came from a musical family. Lead guitarist Rick Turner, son of a poet and a painter, had worked with Ian and Sylvia and then a long line of rock groups. Bassist Skip Boone is the brother of Steve Boone, the bassist for the Lovin' Spoonful.

Originally discovered by The Mothers Of Invention, the group broke up when they saw it wasn't enough to be good: you also had to sell a lot of records to make the sort of money that made the whole hassle worthwhile. Their only album, released in 1968, is full of quiet flashes of brilliance, and there are people about still weeping at the demise of a group called Autosalvage - even if there is a fine album left to remember it by."
Tracks:
01.Autosalvage
02.Burglar Song
03.Rampant Generalities
04.Our Life As We Lived It/Good Morning Blues
05.Ancestral Wants
06.Hundred Days
07.Land Of Their Dreams
08.Parahighway
09.Medley: The Great Brain Robbery/Glimpses Of The Next World's World
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Tobruk - Tobruk (1972)

Posted by Amelia Swhizzagers On 5:51 AM 0 comments

Tobruk was formed by some North-American guys living in Brazil, and the album got released in 1972 on the Cash Box label.
"Theme from My Mind," taking full advantage of a psychedlic mood using an organ. This second track, probably works out the best and the vocalist even has a bit of Beefheartian swagger to his growl. Unfortunately, the vocalist here isn't the main man for the group, which is effectively a bummer. Alongside his blues growl is some pretty dark, acerbic guitar noise. It's no Velvet Underground, but if the Doors couldn't cop a jazzbo for its soloing needs it might have sounded like this - an early highlight.

In 1972 Tobruk probably sounded as tripped out and ready for revolt as any other group of ex-pat Americans living the diaspora. But one than needs to wonder how they all wound up in Brazil. The music that the band set to tape incorporates nothing from their adopted homeland. And assumingly, since the disc is in English and not Portuguese, it didn't impact the culture too much.
Tracks
01. I'm In Love With You
02. Theme From My Mind
03. Queens Are Made
04. Hello Crazy People
05. Heart Of A Sound Spirit
06. Ad Lib
07. Send It For Tomorrow
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Dandelions – Dandelions (1971)

Posted by Amelia Swhizzagers On 5:38 AM 0 comments

It was just two years ago when we met each other — that’s when it all started. Jim CURRAN started giving us guitar lessons. After a while we always played together at the shows at school. Then we had a photography class with Frank. He taught us how to develop pictures and what a photographer should know. One day it was very nice out so we went over to the college to ake pictures and there was a great big dandelion field and so we thought why don’t we take pictures here. So we all picked some dandelions and posed in them. Frank took our picture and we developed it. In a few weeks we were together at Kitsy’s home for the weekend and Uncle Scott and Aunt Judy were there when we started to make up some songs. Uncle Scott said, “Why don’t you two make an album since you’re so good?” We said, “O.K.!” So we started making up songs and Kitsy came up with the idea of using the picture of us as the album cover. We figured out how it was going to look and everything so we made up a whole bunch of songs. Some of them we forgot and they weren’t any good and so we had to make up new ones. Our new ones turned out pretty good. Then we had singing lessons with some of the teachers at our school. Before we could record we had to practice doing our songs, so Jim said we should have a show of our own for the school just to get used to crowds. We did and we sang all our songs. Finally we had a whole bunch of rehearsals for the album and we had background people like Wendy and Mike — Mike played the drums and Wendy the bass. It really started to sound good so we had our first recording sessions. On our first recording session we recorded 4 songs but we only used two: “Dandelions” and “Tuffy”. In our second recording session we were tired of rehearsing and recording so we decided we were going to do them all that day. They all turned out good. The following Monday night at 8 o’clock we chose which songs we wanted to do which finished the album. We had everybody who wanted an album at the College School send in $5.00 to us. When we got pretty much money we finished the album and that made us very proud. Thanks to http://www.swanfungus.com
Musicians:
Jim Curran – Director
Wendy Katz – Bass
Mike Kieffer – Drums
John MacEnulty – Professional Assistance
Tres Williams – Guitar
Kitsy Christner – Guitar
Tracklist:
01. Dandelions
02. The College School
03. Tuffy
04. War
05. They Call It Love
06. The Children Of Sunshine
07. Uncle Harry
08. If You Are Lonely
09. Talking
10. It’s A Long Way To Heaven
11. Harmony
12. Talking
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The Stowaways - In our time (1967)

Posted by Amelia Swhizzagers On 4:55 AM 0 comments

The Stowaways were a promising quintet who managed to leave behind an album's worth of impressive material on Calvin Newton's Justice Records label, based in Winston-Salem, NC. Tim Tatum was the lead singer, equally adept at lyrical Beatles covers or harder punk sounds, and the rest of the band was Tommy O'Neal on lead guitar, Paul Quick on rhythm guitar, Ken Knight on bass, and Ken Tanner at the drums.
Tracks
1. What a Shame
2. I've Been Hurt
3. It Won't Be Wrong
4. Summertime
5. It's Alright
6. It's Only Love
7. Just a Toy
8. You Lied
9. C.C. Rider
10. Sunny
11. Good Good Loving
12. Play With Fire
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Ghost - When you're dead - one second (1970)

Posted by Amelia Swhizzagers On 4:24 AM 0 comments

The nucleus of The Ghost formed around former Velvet Fogg guitarist Paul Eastment, accompanied by multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Shirley Kent who would go on to a solo career as a British folk and jazz singer. This is a pleasant album to listen to, but it is remarkably uneven, especially the first half of the tracks. “Hearts and Flowers” and “Time is My Enemy” have an almost Fairport Convention kind of thing going on for example, including the very dated but pleasant hippie-harmonizing vocals of Kent and Eastment. But “When You’re Dead” and “In Heaven” are fully developed and guitar- driven psychedelic works in the finest tradition of The United States of America, Jefferson Airplane, and all the rest of the west-coast flower-power kids. So it seems like the band is really trying to find a sound that works for them, rather than taking a sound and direction they already shared and trying to develop it.
By the second half of the album the band settles into a very folk-influenced sound with farfisa organ, simple vocal harmonies, acoustic guitar, and tambourine.
Tracks
1. When You're Dead (4:25)
2. Hearts And Flowers (2:54)
3. In Heaven (3:21)
4. Time Is My Enemy (4:06)
5. Too Late To Cry (5:04)
6. For One Second (5:25)
7. Night Of The Warlock (4:22)
8. Indian Maid (4:21)
9. My Castle Has Fallen (2:57)
10. The Storm (3:36)
11. Me And My Loved Ones (4:09)
12. I've Got To Get To Know You (4:02)
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The Shiver - Walpurgis (1969)

Posted by Amelia Swhizzagers On 3:54 AM 0 comments

Originally released in 1969 on the Maris label (catalogue number 20501), this is the only album the Swiss band Shiver ever released. It also contains both tracks that were issued as a single: "Hey Mr. Holy Man"/"The Peddle." It also features the very first time the famous designer H. R. Giger delivered some of his art to become an album sleeve. Later on he would do it much more, with Emerson, Lake & Palmer’s Brain Salad Surgery being the most famous one.
Musicians:
Dany Ruhle - lead guitar, harmonica, vocal
Jelly Pastorini - organ, piano
Mario Conza - bass, flute, vocal
Roger Maurer - drums, vocal
Peter Robinson - lead vocals
Tracks
01. Repent Walpurgis
02. Ode To The Salvation Army
03. Leave This Man Alone
04. What's Wrong About The Blues
05. Hey Mr. Holy Man
06. Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
07. No Time
08. The Peddle
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The Leaves - All the good that's happening (1967)

Posted by Amelia Swhizzagers On 6:40 AM 0 comments


The Leaves were an American garage band formed in California in 1963. They are best known for their version of the song "Hey Joe", which was a hit in 1966. Theirs is the earliest release of this song, which became a rock standard.
An uneven album, and understandably so because the group was disintegrating at the time it was made. The band's folk-rock sound is still its strongest side, and they play hard on numbers like "Twilight Sanctuary" and "With None Shoes," and give good accounts of Donovan's "To Try For the Sun" and Buffy St. Marie's "Codine." They get into a good dance groove on a cover of Jimmy Reed's "Let's Get Together" and the band original "Officer Shayne" (spoiled by a silly chorus), and achieve a sweet, languid spaciness on "On the Plane." Much of the rest is weak, however, and the group's psychedelic efforts here, "The Quieting of Oliver Tweak" and "Lemmon Princess," are embarrassingly fey compared with the psychedelic numbers on their prior album. Only Bobby Arlin was left at the finish of the sessions, and he padded the album out with the guitar-dominated, almost totally instrumental blues-oid "Flashback."
Tracks
1. Twilight Sanctuary (2:35)
2. One In The Middle (2:33)
3. On The Plane (2:34)
4. Officer Shayne (2:50)
5. Let's Get Together (2:50)
6. Introduction To A Cartoon Show (0:34)
7. With None Shoes (2:20)
8. To Try For The Sun (2:58)
9. Codine (3:55)
10. Flashback (The Rhythm Thing) (4:16)
11. The Quieting Of Oliver Tweak (The Stone Freak) (2:22)
12. Lemmon Princess (2:02)
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Mountain - Nantucket Sleighride (1971)

Posted by Amelia Swhizzagers On 2:06 AM 0 comments

The song and album title is a reference to the experience of being towed along in a small boat by a harpooned whale (see Nantucket Sleighride.) The person to whom the song is dedicated, Owen Coffin, was a young seaman on the Nantucket whaleship Essex, which was rammed and sunk by a sperm whale in 1820. In the aftermath of the wreck, Coffin was shot and eaten by his shipmates. The Essex's story was recorded by its First Mate, Owen Chase, one of eight survivors, in his 1821 Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-Ship Essex.

"Nantucket Sleighride" was used as the theme to the long-running British political television show Weekend World.
Mountain is an American rock band whose main fame was in the 1970s. The band was inspired by Cream and enjoyed the involvement of unofficial Cream bassist and producer Felix Pappalardi.

Mountain played at the Woodstock festival in 1969 and their first album, Climbing!, was released the following year. The album included the track "Mississippi Queen" which reached No.21 on the Billboard charts. The band split after the live album, Mountain Live (The Road Goes Ever On) (1972), and two of the members went on to form West, Bruce (from Cream) and Laing which achieved success in their own right. After reforming in 1974, the band released a live album and Avalanche, but that was to be the last of their studio output until 1996's Man's World. Leslie West, and Corky Laing continue to "rock on" as Mountain to this day.
Tracks
o1. Don't Look Around - 3:47
02. Taunta (Sammy's Tune) - 1:00
03. Nantucket Sleighride (To Owen Coffin) - 5:55
04. You Can't Get Away! - 3:28
05. Tired Angels (To J.M.H.) - 4:42
06. The Animal Trainer And The Toad - 3:29
07. My Lady - 4:35
08. Travelin' In The Dark (To E.M.P.) - 4:26
09. The Great Train Robbery - 5:50
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Brigitte Fontaine - Brigitte Fontaine est... (1970)

Posted by Amelia Swhizzagers On 4:19 AM 0 comments

Brigitte Fontaine's first album, arranged by Jean Claude Vannier (who had also done arrangements for Serge Gainsbourg), is her most normal and accessible record. It's still not terribly normal by pop standards, its arty songs dressed up with period Continental orchestration and quirky melodies and vocal deliveries. These can both hark back to Edith Piaf-styled material, or look forward to slight avant-garde/experimentalism. At times it sounds like the kind of thing Francoise Hardy might have done had she continued to develop along adventurous lines and keep pace with progressive pop and rock trends in the late '60s. In fact, songs like "Une Fois Mais Pas Deux" sound rather close to Hardy's best late-'60s material, but Hardy would have never done anything as goofy as "L'Homme Objet," with its music-box backing, or as odd as "Eternelle," with its tribal male backup vocals and rhythms, and "Blanche Neige," with its overdubbed tropical bird effects.
Tracks
1 Il Pleut
2 Le Beau Cancer
3 Il Se Passe des Choses
4 Une Fois Mais Pas Deux
5 L' Homme Objet
6 Eternelle
7 Blanche Neige
8 Comme Rimbaud
9 Dommage Que Tu Sois Mort
10 Je Suis Inadaptée
11 Cet Enfant Que Je T'Avais Fait
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Archie Bell & the Drells - Tighten Up (1969)

Posted by Amelia Swhizzagers On 4:13 AM 0 comments

Archie Bell & the Drells from Houston,Texas hit #1 R&B/#1 Pop with the certified million-selling dance classic, "Tighten It Up." They also scored several hits produced or supervised by Philly Soul producers Kenneth Gamble & Leon Huff such as "I Can't Stop Dancing," "(There's Gonna Be A) Showdown," and "The Soul City Walk." The Drells were — at varying times — Archie's brother Lee Bell, James Wise, Joe Cross, Billy Butler, Lucious Larkins and Willie Pernell. Because Bell wanted the group's name to rhyme and to avoid confusion with Harvey, IL based group The Dells, he came up with The Drells.
Archie Bell was still on a tour of duty in Vietnam when "Tighten Up," the B-side of a single he had recorded called "Dog Eat Dog," broke out and hit the top of the charts in 1968. Infectious and utterly danceable, "Tighten Up" became Bell's claim to fame, even though he and the Drells had other hits, including "I Can't Stop Dancing" and "(There's Gonna Be A) Showdown" after they began working with Philly soul producers and writers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. All of these are included in this succinct introduction to Archie Bell & the Drells (as well as the fine "A World Without Music"), and for listeners looking for a set with just the hits, this one fills the bill with no frills and no fuss.
Tracks
1 Tighten Up, Pt. 1
2 Tighten Up, Pt. 2
3 I Don't Wanna Be a Playboy
4 You're Mine
5 Knock on Wood
6 Give Me Time Bell
7 In the Midnight Hour
8 When You Left the Heartache Began
9 A Thousand Wonders
10 A Soldier's Prayer
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Magna Carta - This is (1969)

Posted by Amelia Swhizzagers On 3:59 AM 0 comments

Magna Carta was originally formed in London on 10 May 1969, by Chris Simpson (guitar, vocals), Lyell Tranter (guitar, vocals) and Glen Stuart (vocals).

The band is renowned for their gentle ballad style and mythical subject matter. Although never purely a folk band, they managed to successfully bridge the gap between folk and folk rock. The trio released albums for Fontana Records and Vertigo Records, enjoying particular success with 1970's Seasons before Tranter returned to Australia. Davey Johnstone joined the line-up as his replacement, recording Songs From Wasties Orchard and In Concert with the band before leaving to work with Elton John, with whom he is still playing.
Tracks
01. Times of change
02. Daughter daughter
03. Old John Parker
04. I am no more
05. Ballad of Francis Alabadalejo
06. Spinning wheels of time
07. Romeo Jack
08. Mid winter
09. Shades of grey
10. Emily thru the window pane
11. Sea & sand (The isle of Pabay)
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The Allman Brothers - Idlewild South (1970)

Posted by Amelia Swhizzagers On 6:02 AM 0 comments

Idlewild South is the second album of The Allman Brothers Band, released in 1970.

Unlike the Band's self-titled debut album, Idlewild South enjoyed some popular success as well as critical enthusiasm, mostly due to what Rolling Stone magazine called "briefer, tighter, less 'heavy' numbers" which were more radio-friendly. The two most prominent of these were "Midnight Rider" and "Revival", the latter of which, in conjunction with the instrumental "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed", foreshadowed the impact of Dickey Betts' songwriting ability upon the band.

The album title stemmed from the band's nickname for a farmhouse it rented in Georgia during the recording, the busy comings and goings at which reminded them of New York City's Idlewild Airport.

"Midnight Rider" has been covered by many artists, including Gregg Allman on his solo album Laid Back. "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" would go on to become iconic, along with Whipping Post one of the Band's signature concert jams.
Tracks
1.Revival (4:06)
2.Don't Keep Me Wonderin' (3:31)
3.Midnight Rider (2:59)
4.In Memory of Elizabeth Reed (6:57)
5.Hoochie Coochie Man (4:58)
6.Please Call Home (4:03)
7.Leave My Blues at Home (4:17)
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Loadstone - Loadstone (1969)

Posted by Amelia Swhizzagers On 3:28 AM 0 comments

The group formed in Las Vegas, NV. Devers, Abernathy and Phillips were backing Bobby Darin at the time when he went on his hiatus to find himself, leaving them looking for a gig. Ryan, Douglas, Sterling and Cernuto were freelance musicians in Vegas looking for work. Thanks to a guitar player by the name of Mike Richards, who originally was in the group, they got together and formed a cover band to make some cash. The band worked a club in Vegas called 'The Pussycat A Go Go' where Andy Williams used to hang out. He signed the band to his label, Barnaby Records, because of the big following the band attracted to its live performances. Andy also got Dave Grusin to produce the album as well as play piano on one track, Dayshine. The album was recorded in a two week period in the Summer of 1969 and other than record promotion concerts and a few club gigs in L.A., the band never toured.

The albums lack of sales caused the group to slowly dissolve to working lounge gigs in Vegas. When that was over the band members went on to other groups. Today, all the members are still working as musicians in one capacity or another except for Douglas, who passed on in 1991.

The groups energy in live performance could never really be captured on record. The horn sound created by the Trumpet, Trombone and Sax with the funky rhythm section was truly incredible.

Tracks:
01. See the Light
02. Keep on Burning
03. Dayshine
04. Time
05. It Couldn't Be Bad
06. Flower Pot
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Mayo Thompson - Corky's Debt to His Father (1970)

Posted by Amelia Swhizzagers On 3:07 AM 0 comments

Mayo Thompson (born 26 February 1944 in Houston, Texas) is an American musician and visual artist best known as the leader of the avant-garde rock band Red Crayola (Krayola).
The obscure, defiantly avant-rock Texas band the Red Krayola has been held together entirely through the persistence of Mayo Thompson. For a taste of Thompson at his most accessible, however, consider Corky's Debt to His Father, an album made in 1970, put on record in 1986, and finally released eight years later. The album features a softer Thompson sounding like a Texan Syd Barrett, with songs that are spare and mystical but ultimately friendly. While the band sticks mostly to the familiar sounds of folk guitars, pianos, deep horns, and heavy bass, the instrumental arrangements are designed to clink along and never quite reach harmony. What is created in the end is an uptight and warped version of the stripped-back country & western of late '60s Dylan. If Thompson could sing, Corky's Debt's jazz touches and linear quality might have made the record something of an American Astral Weeks. Instead, we'll settle for coherence and a considerable amount of charm.
Tracks
A1 The Lesson 2:39
A2 Oyster Thins 6:00
A3 Horses 3:09
A4 Dear Betty Baby 3:47
A5 Venus in the Morning 2:30
B1 To You 2:50
B2 Fortune 2:11
B3 Black Legs 3:50
B4 Good Brisk Blues 3:07
B5 Around the Home 2:50
B6 Worried Worried 5:03
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Jeff Simmons - Lucille has messed my mind up (1969)

Posted by Amelia Swhizzagers On 2:52 AM 0 comments

Jeff Simmons, born May 1949 in Seattle, Washington, is a rock musician and former member of Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention. Simmons provided bass, guitar, and backing vocals for the group between 1970 and 1971. He left The Mothers just prior to the filming of 200 Motels (where he was replaced in the film by Ringo Starr's chauffeur Martin Lickert) in mid 1971. Jeff later returned to the group for a time during 1972 and 1973. Zappa and Mothers albums he appeared on include Chunga's Revenge (1970), Waka/Jawaka (1972), Roxy & Elsewhere (1974).

Years later Zappa released a number of archival recordings made during this period that feature Jeff including You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 1 (1988), You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 6 (1992), and Playground Psychotics (1992). Jeff also appears in the Zappa movie The True Story Of Frank Zappa's 200 Motels (1989). Numerous Zappa bootleg recordings from the same era also feature Simmons.

Jeff's music career began in Seattle. In 1967 he became a member of the local group Blues Interchange which soon changed its name to 'Easy Chair'. The group self-financed their only recording, released by the regional Vanco label in 1968. The 12" one-sided, three-song album sold well in the independent record shops along University Way NE (known locally as The Ave) in Seattle's University District. Only about 1000 copies of locally produced Easy Chair record were pressed. It is now a highly valued collectible.

Easy Chair was then booked as the opening act for an August 24, 1968 concert by The Mothers of Invention at the Seattle Center Arena (renamed in 1995 to Mercer Arena.) During the sound check Easy Chair was discovered by Zappa, who recognized that the group's musical and lyrical aesthetic and sense of humor was compatible with his own.

The group followed Zappa back to Los Angeles. In December 1968 Easy Chair was a supporting act for Zappa and The Mothers for 2 concerts at the Shrine Auditorium. The concerts were organized to showcase Zappa's two new record labels, Bizarre Records and Straight Records. Other artists appearing at the shows included Alice Cooper, The GTOs, and Wild Man Fischer. But Easy Chair never had the opportunity to make a record in Los Angeles. After disagreements and unexpected delays the group broke up before any recordings were made.

Simmons stayed in Los Angeles and completed two solo albums for Straight. He co-composed the soundtrack for the biker film Naked Angels (1969). His second album Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up (1969), featured Zappa as producer. Zappa wrote two songs and played lead guitar under the pseudonym La Marr Bruister. The engineer was Chris Huston, who also worked on Led Zeppelin II at about the same time. Lucille was voted the 2nd best album on Straight Records by Mojo Magazine. Both albums were re-issued on CD in 2007 by World In Sound Records.

Simmons is one of only a handful of musicians to share a songwriting credit with Zappa. Their collaboration Wonderful Wino appears on Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up and also on Zappa's 1976 album Zoot Allures. The title song of the album Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up was also re-recorded in a completely different arrangement on Zappa's 1979 album Joe's Garage. Simmons is also listed as co-writer (with Zappa and Napoleon Murphy Brock) on Dummy Up from Zappa's 1974 album Roxy & Elsewhere. During a 1982 guest DJ spot on UK's BBC Radio 1 Zappa played some of his favorite recordings including Simmons' song I'm In The Music Business.

Jeff continued to play music with various groups in the Seattle area during the 1980s. He appeared in the 1988 movie Rock and Roll Mobster Girls which was produced on video tape in Seattle during the very early stages of the Grunge music scene. Jeff Simmons' most recent work is Blue Universe (2004).
Tracks
01. Appian Way
02. Zondo Zondo
03. Madame Du Barry
04. I'm In The Music Business
05. Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up
06. Raye
07. Wonderful Wino
08. Tigres
09. Aqueous Humore
10. Conversations With A Recluse
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Emitt Rhodes - Emitt Rhodes (1970)

Posted by Amelia Swhizzagers On 2:39 AM 0 comments

Emitt Lynn Rhodes is an American singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and recording engineer born February 25, 1950 in Decatur, Illinois. When he was five his family moved to Hawthorne, California. Considered by many as "the one man Beatles," his solo recordings of the early 1970s show a clear Paul McCartney influence in both vocals and musicianship. Rhodes began his career in musical ensembles The Palace Guard (as the group's drummer) and The Merry-Go-Round (multi-instrumentalist), leaving the drums to the expertise of Joel Larson.
Rhodes recorded the album in his home studio. At the time, union rules required that recordings released on major labels must be recorded in proper studios, so the fact that this was a home recording could not be mentioned on the cover. The runout groove of the original LP release on Dunhill Records contained a decorative banner proclaiming, "Recorded at Home." Rhodes wanted to call the album Homecooking, but Dunhill decided to title it Emitt Rhodes.

Rhodes recorded the instruments on a four-track recorder and then approched Dunhill, who gave him a contract. He transferred the four-track instrumental recordings to an eight-track recorder to add the vocals on the four additional channels (and using a better microphone).

The album reached number 29 on the Billboard album chart. The single "Fresh as a Daisy" just missed the top forty. Billboard later called the album one of the "best albums of the decade". The song "Lullabye" was featured in the film The Royal Tenenbaums.
Tracks
01. With My Face On The Floor 3:06
02. Somebody Made For Me 2:23
03. She's Such A Beauty 2:21
04. Long Time No See 3:14
05. Lullabye 1:05
06. Fresh As A Daisy 2:46
07. Live Till You Die 2:44
08. Promises I've Made 3:21
09. You Take The Dark Out Of The Night 2:54
10. You Should Be Ashamed 2:38
11. Ever Find Yourself Running 2:34
12. You Must Have 2:04
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Plastic Bertrand - AN 1 (1978)

Posted by Amelia Swhizzagers On 3:10 AM 0 comments

Plastic Bertrand was the alias of new wave prankster Roger Jouret, a native of Belgium who appropriated the sound and style of the new wave movement in order to give it a gently satirical poke in the ribs, while scoring several European hits in the process. Jouret began his musical career as a drummer for the Belgian punk trio Hubble Bubble, which recorded one unsuccessful album. When Jouret met producer/songwriter Lou Deprijck, the two struck up a recording partnership; Jouret emphasized his pretty-boy looks and punkish fashion sense. Their first effort, "Ça Plane Pour Moi" ("This Life's for Me"), is widely regarded as a New Wave classic for its gleefully deranged stupidity, with Jouret singing French nonsense lyrics in a cartoonish voice over basic three-chord rock & roll complete with saxophones and a falsetto vocal hook straight out of the Beach Boys or Four Seasons. The song was a smash in Europe and became a cult favorite in America; Plastic Bertrand continued to release records in Europe, including a U.K. hit remake of the Small Faces' "Sha-La-La-La-Lee." Bertrand experimented with seemingly every new wave fashion, including spacy electronics, disco, bubblegum pop, reggae, and spoken word raps, all with the same naggingly entertaining stupidity. He remained popular on the European continent and in Canada for several years, where audiences were more attuned to his largely French lyrics, but the novelty eventually wore off, and nothing was heard from Bertrand after 1982. Plastic Bertrand released several albums, all of which are difficult to find; a greatest-hits collection is also floating around.
Tracks
01 Le Petit Tortillard
02 Bambino
03 Naif Song
04 Ca Plane Pour Moi
05 Sha La La La Lee
06 Pognon Pognon
07 Dance Dance
08 5.4.3.2.1.0.
09 Pogo Pogo
10 Wha! Wha!
11 Solo Naif Song
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Second Layer - World of Rubber (1981)

Posted by Amelia Swhizzagers On 6:48 AM 0 comments

This album from "Second Layer" comes via some members of the Sound - remember 'Who the hell makes those missiles'? - but even better, the music has been worked outside the Sound structure and has turned out to be a very successful 'public' experiment, a characteristic feature is the full use of guitar and synth. Sounds which gel beautifully with the controlled use of a drum machine, for the results that have been successfully achieved here, it is essential that the drum machine be incorporated as a vital unit in the mix and not simply used as a time keeping metronome, 'Definition of Honour' with lines such as 'Dead medals for the dead', opens the album - a very bitter but well documented antiwar song. Further political overtones appear in 'Underneath the glows', which challenges the notion of false security within our society. However, the music is not dominated by political content, but also operates on personalized and 'love' themes, as in 'Save our souls' and 'In Bits' - these pieces seem to reach out and actively involve the listener. 'Fixation' has some dominant and memorable bass playing, while 'Japanese Headset' brings the effects of eastern torture into your living room (and lubricates), however, the outstanding piece is 'Black Flowers' which has been carefully selected to close the album, it is by far the moodiest and slowest of the pieces and lingers on, long after the music has finished.
Tracks
1. Definition of Honour
2. In Bits
3. Fixation
4. Save Our Souls
5. Distortion
6. Underneath the Glass
7. Zero
8. Japanese Headset
9. Black Flowers
10. Skylon
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Fever Ray - Fever Ray (2009)

Posted by Amelia Swhizzagers On 1:48 AM 0 comments

Fever Ray is the debut solo album from Fever Ray, an alias of Karin Dreijer Andersson of the electronic duo The Knife. The album was released on March 18, 2009. It was named the 24th best album of the decade by Resident Advisor. check website here.
Tracks
1. If I Had a Heart
2. When I Grow Up
3. Dry and Dusty
4. Seven
5. Triangle Walks
6. Concrete Walls
7. Now's the Only Time I Know
8. I'm Not Done
9. Keep the Streets Empty for Me
10.Coconut
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Ray Manzarek - The Golden Scarab (1974)

Posted by Amelia Swhizzagers On 1:36 AM 0 comments

Mention The Doors and people tend to overdraw on Jim Morrison without actively attributing at least some credit for the band’s success to his fellow band members. Whereas Morrison had God-given talent in droves, Ray Manzarek was blessed with immense skill, particular in his avant-garde leanings towards utilising the keyboard as a fiery instrument for rock assault. Morrison’s early death ensured that he would forever steal the spotlight from the other Doors. The fact that most music fans would struggle to name the two albums that the remaining band members recorded after his death speaks volumes for the myth that advocates Morrison was The Doors.

Listen to The Golden Scarab, and you will agree that Ray Manzarek could offer musical work that was just as interesting as Morrison’s, even if the level of charisma on offer was lacking. Where Morrison had dangerous instinct, Manzarek had calculated brains, and yet The Golden Scarab offers a hint that maybe it wasn’t just Morrison who was hung up on preaching whatever pretentious spiritual rambling took his fancy at the time. On first glance, the album is your typical latter-period Doors record – regular motifs such as spoken word introductions feature throughout, along with an overwhelming lyrical fascination for the mystical. Most importantly, however, a strong collection of rock songs is contained, albeit buried amidst off-the-wall production values and indulgent musings. Despite this, repeated lessons to The Golden Scarab will teach you that beneath the mumbo-jumbo aesthetic lies a worthier album than most Doors / Morrison fans will admit to.

Hopelessly naïve in places in its dated mysticism, you’d have strong reason to claim, in an ironic way, that Manzarek’s spiritual vision on the album was tainted purely by the fact that his musicianship was too strong. It’s as if the melodic hooks and killer-choruses somehow made their way into the song structures and that this wasn’t the original Manzarek master-plan. Another major factor corroborating the notion that The Golden Scarab is musically strong is the quality-driven session musicians Manzarek enlisted as his new ‘recording band’. Forever Changes-producer Bruce Botnick oversaw the album’s production with assured confidence, helped by impeccable guitar-work from Larry Carlton and slick drumming from Tony Williams.

Somehow, the album survives despite overt pandering to fourth-dimension conscious-thought. The introduction to second song has Manzarek’s spoken-vocal delivering “And myself said to me ‘Why are you waiting? I’ve always been at your side, can’t you see me? No? Well, then come with it’s time you lean to see!’“ When Morrison spouted nonsense such as this we forgave him because he always danced on the dark side; his unpredictability lead to a sense of incoming alarm at any moment. Manzarek doesn’t earn as much forgiveness with this assumed-narrator persona, and yet we quickly forget the leftfield cosmic framings the minute we hear stand-out song The Solar Boat. This second song off the album begins stark and intense, and then casually slips into a strong chorus, which even pays lyrical homage to doors with its “Let’s take a Moonlight Drive” lyric. It’s a strong follow-up to opener He Can’t Come Today, Maybe Tomorrow, which takes a space rocket through many unrelated musical genres before settling on a blues-rock chorus; the lyrical call for a religious leader seems lost amongst a song this melodic.

Soaring through Chuck Berry cover Downbound Train and even glam-rock synthesiser instrumental The Moorish Idol, it’s clear Ray Manzarek desperately wants to deliver a concept album that people will crave. Funnily enough, it’s the music on offer, as opposed to the concept, that will continue to attract Doors fans back to The Golden Scarab. It’s scary how similar Manzarek’s singing voice sounds to LA Woman-era Morrison, even though it becomes quite apparentManzarek lacks a strong voice on record. Even so, The Golden Scarab is a fine continuation of The Doors’ legacy after the death of Morrison, and should be regarded as an important work in the band’s universe. Review taken from The Music Fix
Tracks
1. He Can't Come Today
2. Solar Boat
3. Downbound Train
4. Golden Scarab
5. Purpose of Existence Is?
6. Moorish Idle
7. Choose Up and Choose Off
8. O Thou Precious Nectar Filled Form (A Little Fart)
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Cuby and the Blizzards - Appleknockers Flophouse (1969)

Posted by Amelia Swhizzagers On 5:00 AM 0 comments

Cuby is a Dutch band from the town of Grolloo. The band was originally formed by Harry Muskee and other players included:Eelco Gelling, Nico Schröder and Hans Kinds.
The cover shoot for the album caused a small riot. The band invited some farmers over to a pub and ate and drank with them. At some time a stripper was brought in and the farmers went crazy. The whole thing was filmed, but the farmers, learning later (when sobered up) that the whole thing was filmed for a tv special and a cover shoot resisted. The mayor of the town Zweelo had to step in and prevent the footage from ever being released...
Tracks
1. Appleknockers Flophouse (2:31)
2.Unknown Boy (6:46)
3.Help Me (5:36)
4.Go Down Sunshine (7:03)
5.Disappointed Blues (3:22)
6.Midnight Mover (2:38)
7.Black Snake (4:20)
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John Mayall - Empty Rooms (1969)

Posted by Amelia Swhizzagers On 4:48 AM 0 comments

After the Major Success of the "Turning Point" LP and the FM airplay of "Room To Move", John Mayall had achieved Stardom in the USA at long last. Whilst Touring to Promote "Turning Point" John was planning his next move, that being a Studio LP of New Songs Featuring the Great Musicians: Johnny Almond,Jon Mark and Steve Thompson.

Written and Recorded during 1969, while the tunes, "California" and "Room To Move" were Staples of FM Radio, this new work became "Empty Rooms". John was missing his new favorite place Los Angeles, Ca. and a new Lady in his Life Nancy T. And that shows up in his Writing here, When I first had a listen to this Album in 1970 a friend of mine commented that this Record was a Bummer. Well, it is a bit of a Downer, but THIS IS THE TURNING POINT BAND and for that Mighty Reason Alone it is Worth a Listen.

Again this is a Good Record, But we were all expecting a Great Record to follow "Turning Point". I can not find Fault in these Musicians, they are Top-Notch, and as with the Previous Record the Saxophones and Flutes of Mr. Johnny Almond, are as Good as any Jazz Players of this era. Also of Worth is the Great Bass Player Steve Thompson (Who left Mayall's Band to Hook up with Donovan before these Recordings were Completed).

This Record was another Success for John Mayall, and "Don't Waste My Time" and "Counting The Days" both recieved lots of Plays on the FM. But this Band was to soon Disolve and Jon Mark & Johnny Almond became the very Successful Group: "Mark Almond".And John Mayall rebuilt his Band once again and on the very next release: "USA Union" with a Stronger Bunch of Tunes and the Talents of Fiddler Sugarcane Harris he had another 'Classic' to give us. by Philips Wolfs
Tracks.
1. Don't Waste My Time
2. Plan Your Revolution
3. Don't Pick a Flower
4. Something New
5. People Cling Together
6. Waiting for the Right Time
7. Thinking of My Woman
8. Counting the Days
9. When I Go
10. Many Miles Apart
11. To a Princess
12. Lying in My Bed
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Jake Holmes - Above Ground Sound (1967)

Posted by Amelia Swhizzagers On 4:36 AM 0 comments

Though often footnoted by Led Zeppelin apologists for "Dazed and Confused," Holmes' long out-of-print debut album for Columbia's Tower imprint contains much more than that pilfered song. It often blurs into the more speedy, acid-drenched songs of the Byrds, the warped balladry of early John Hartford, or the sort of folk orchestrations that would be toned down and delivered with greater refinement on Nick Drake's "Bryter Layter."

Holmes is to be lauded for his daring production risks, mixing Greenwich village folk with fleeting horns, strings, and quick-fingered jazz leads. The electric bass underpinning many of the arrangements is nimble and ever-so unpredictable. The album is indeed a lost psych-folk classic, albeit one the casually aware often slight with "if it's so good why haven't I heard it" dismissal. That said, Holmes does slip into some "poor me" lyrical missteps here and there.
Tracks
1. Lonely
2. Did You Know
3. She Belonged to Me
4. Too Long
5. Genuine Imitation Life
6. Dazed and Confused
7. Penny's
8. Hard to Keep My Mind on You
9. Wish I Was Anywhere Else
10. Signs of Age
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Sun Ra - The Magic City (1966)

Posted by Amelia Swhizzagers On 4:03 AM 0 comments

The Magic City is an album by the American Jazz musician Sun Ra and his Solar Arkestra. Recorded in two sessions in 1965, the record was released on Ra's own Saturn label in 1966. The record was reissued by Impulse! in 1973, and on compact disc by Evidence in 1993.

It is notable especially for the title track, on which "the Arkestra's range of feelings and sound is expressed in a design that's simply unprecedented in jazz". While it begins with use of tape echo recalling the experiments on Art Forms of Dimensions Tomorrow, the key features quickly emerge: Ra's simultaneous piano and clavioline intertwining with Boykins' bass as the underpinning for new long-forms of group music-making which draw on varying sub-ensembles from the Arkestra through the course of the piece.

'The boundaries of Sun Ra's self-proclaimed "space jazz" underwent a transformation in the mid-'60s. The Magic City is an aural snapshot of that metamorphic process. Many enthusiasts and scholars consider this to be among Ra's most definitive studio recordings.' Lindsay Planer
The title Magic City refers to Ra's home town of Birmingham, Alabama, and to a large metal sign with the words 'Birmingham, The Magic City' erected in front of the railway station in 1926. The cover drawing, by Sun Ra, directly references the dome of the station. Ra grew up next to the post office and close to the main station, where, 'as a child, Sonny could look out the window and see the big sign over the railroad tracks that greeted visitors to The Magic City'
Tracks
01. The Magic City
02. The Shadow World
03. Abstract "eye"
04. Abstract "I"
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Gary Numan - The Pleasure Principle (1979)

Posted by Amelia Swhizzagers On 3:34 AM 0 comments

Numan nearly completely abandoned guitars on the album. This change, coupled with frequent use of synthetic percussion, produced the most purely electronic and robotic sound of his career. In addition to the Minimoog synthesizer employed on his previous album, Numan made liberal use of the Polymoog keyboard, particularly its distinctive "Vox Humana" preset. Other production tricks included copious amounts of flanging, phasing and reverb, plus the unusual move of including solo viola and violin parts in the arrangements. Gary Numan was also influenced by Kraftwerk, and the track Cars has the same musical "glides," and both used the same synthesizers.

Notable tracks included "Airlane", the lead-off instrumental; "Metal", sung from the perspective of an android longing to be human (covered by Nine Inch Nails on Things Falling Apart, Afrika Bambaataa on Dark Matter Moving at the Speed of Light and used as backing for Planet Funk's "Who Said"); "Films", acknowledged by Bambaataa as an important influence on the U.S. hip hop scene; "M.E.", told by the last machine on Earth (later used as backing for Basement Jaxx’s "Where’s Your Head At?"; the electronic ballad "Complex", a UK number 6 single; and "Cars", a worldwide synthpop hit recently covered by Fear Factory and sampled for Armand Van Helden’s "Koochy". "Cars" reached number 9 in the U.S., helping make The Pleasure Principle Numan's strongest Stateside showing, but lack of a strong commercial follow up meant he was tagged a one-hit wonder there.
Tracks
01. Airlane
02. Metal
03. Complex
04. Films
05. M.E.
06. Tracks
07. Observer
08. Conversations
09. Cars
10. Engineers
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German oak - German Oak (1972)

Posted by Amelia Swhizzagers On 2:15 AM 0 comments

A conceptual album? Maybe. Anyway this self title album is all about the II world war and its denunciation. This album is an electrified and original kraut improvisation with many weird, strange atmospheres injected into it. "Airalert " is an illustration of a military march. The electric organ stresses the tempo on it. "Down In The Bunker" can be seen as a funeral hymn related to chaos and the tragic consequences of war. A dark, creepy ambient atmosphere prevails, sustained by rolling drum parts, heavy, crying guitar lines and some frantic repetitive bass lines. Imagine something somewhere between TD's "electronic meditation" and Kluster but with more emphasis on the "dark" side. "Raid Over Düsseldorf" is an impressive, catchy "psych" heavy rock tune with lot of wha wha guitar effects and an outstanding contrast between a moody ambiance and a bluesy rock instrumentation. The rhythm is perpetual, systematic and guides the listener into an "acid" rock avalanche. "1945 - Out Of The Ashes" is a similar theme than the first track, based on a plaintive electric organ with an obsessional rhythmic.
During the summer of 1972, best remembered for the blood-shed of the Munich Olympics, the 5-man Dusseldorf instrumental group German Oak entered the Luftschutzbunker (air raid shelter) studio to record their first, eponymous album. The purpose of recording in a bunker was to recreate the feelings experienced by German soldiers during the Allied invasion of 1944. The strange acoustic conditions in the bunker made the music, which was a period of long, spacious guitar jams, sound distant and filled with echo.
Tracks
1. Airalert (1:55)
2. Down In The Bunker (17:57)
3. Raid Over Duesseldorf (15:42)
4. 1945 - Out Of The Ashes (2:13)
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Toad - Tomorrow Blue (1972)

Posted by Amelia Swhizzagers On 1:57 AM 0 comments

"Toad" is a rather unusual Swiss hard-rock outfit, established in 1971 on the ashes of short-lived "Brainticket". The debut album (Toadfeatures founding members: Werner Froelich (bass), Cosimo Lampis (drums) and Vic Vergeant (ex-Hawkwind, but for a while only) on guitar, and a certain Jagger (but Benjamin) - as a session vocalist (who left straight after for better pastures, but dissapeared completely - to my knowledge at least). "Tomorrow Blue" (1972) is more mature album, which shows a serious move towards blues and progressive. It was produced by Martin Birch (the recording engineer of Deep Purple and its side projects, Sabbath etc) - which is enough to give you an idea of the music and its quality - very high. The same year the band issued the live recording of their gig in Basel, and in 1975 - "Dreams" (a drifter towards much weaker commercial mainstream). This particular album is exceptional.
Tracks
1. Thoughts
2. Tomorrow Blue
3. Blind Chapman's Tales
4. Vampires
5. No Need
6. Change in Time
7. Three O' Clock in the Morning
8. Fly
9. I Saw Her Standing There
10. Green Ham
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Steve Miller Band - Brave New World (1969)

Posted by Amelia Swhizzagers On 1:39 AM 0 comments

Brave New World is the third album by American rock band The Steve Miller Band, released in 1969. The tracks "Celebration Song" and "My Dark Hour" featured Paul McCartney on backing vocals, drums and bass guitar credited as Paul Ramon.

The primary guitar riff on "My Dark Hour" was also used on the title track to Steve Miller's 1976 album Fly Like An Eagle.

"Space Cowboy" uses the same primary guitar riff as the Beatles' song Lady Madonna. It was released as downloadable content for the video game Rock Band on January 20, 2009.
Brave New World, the third offering by the still-new Steve Miller Band, was released in 1969. Can't you tell? References to celebrations and tripping abound, making this one of the sunniest, trippiest album of the psychedelic era. (Even the album cover is sunny yellow!) The opening of the title track (and the album) is a blast - literally, a bomb blast which hearalds the start of both a fresh, enjoyable tune and a bright new beginning for the world at large. Then, great drumming by Tim Davis kickstarts "Celebration Song," another wonderful vision of a world at play. "Got Love 'Cause You Need It" sounds like it's sung by Miller's infamous Gangster of Love character, full of danger and seduction, while "Seasons" is a gorgeous acoustic ballad, as heartfelt a track as Stevie Guitar has ever recorded. Nice! "Space Cowboy," of course, is the albums BIG HIT, complete with Moog synthesizer space sounds, and a rare, excellent guitar solo from Steve M! (The primary focus of Brave New World is on the material, not solos.) Literally too, too far out! "LT's Midnight Dream" is a fantasy feast, with lyrics like "got a bulldog in my learjet, gonna teach him how to fly"! Too much! Paul McCartney of the Beatles contributes drums, bass, and vocals to the blues-rock "My Dark Hour," (he is billed as Paul Ramon; yes, that is where the band The Ramones got their name!), while "Can't You Hear Your Daddy's Heartbeat?" is a love song in double-quick time and "Kow Kow" (also known as "Kow Kow Calqulator" on the anthologies) combines more fantasy lyrics with quotes from Bobby Blue Bland's "Turn on your Love Light". Outasite!! So, if your looking for something of Steve Miller's beyond the usual, well-crafted 70's material, give Brave New World a listen or two. You may want to start your own celebration!!! By Chris Meezy Food Czar.
Tracks
1. Brave New World
2. Celebration Song
3. Can't You Hear Your Daddy's Heartbeat
4. Got Love 'Cause You Need It
5. Kow Kow
6. Seasons
7. Space Cowboy
8. LT's Midnight Dream
9. My Dark Hour
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Kuni Kawachi & His Group - Love suki daikirai (1972)

Posted by Amelia Swhizzagers On 1:26 AM 0 comments

"Beginning his career in the Group Sounds act The Happenings Four, keyboard player Kuni Kawachi will nevertheless probably always be best remembered for his writing contributions to Tokyo Kid Brothers version of THROW AWAY THE BOOKS, WE'RE GOING OUT ON THE STREETS, and also for his prescient employment of Flower Travellin' Band members on his first LP KIRIKYOGEN. Indeed, despite the strung out elegance of that solo record having spanned several genres, the appearance on lead vocals of Akira "Joe" Yamanaka has guaranteed KIRIKYOGEN a rightful place in rocknroll history, and a more genuinely listenable Japrock art statement you'd be hard pressed to find. Moreover, Kawachi's early version of Flowers Map is, to some ears, even better than the later "original". For his second LP, 1972's LOVE SUKI DAIKIRAI, Kawachi turned to the ubiquitous Jun "Kimio" Mizutani, former teen raver with garage band Out Cast, whose lead guitar had informed such legendary LPs as People's BUDDHA MEETS ROCK and LOVE WILL MAKE A BETTER YOU by Love Live Life +1. Mizutani's own highly rated solo album A PATH THROUGH HAZE was co-written by Masahiko Satoh along with Kawachi, whose painting is featured across the gatefold inner. In his later years, Kawachi moved north to become a farmer in Hokkaido, keeping his musical hand in writing TV commercials. A couple of years ago, his old Group Sounds band reformed, and are said to have played Kawachi's KIRIKYOGEN in its entirety. -Julian Cope
Tracks
1. That's Why People Are... (1:02)
2. Like Lovers (3:21)
3. The Cat (2:51)
4. Already No More Secrets (1:04)
5. Where My Voice Can Be Heard (3:55)
6. Where Are You Walking Now (3:36)
7. Like A Concert Of Angels (2:46)
8. Riddle (0:47)
9. A Letter Without A Stamp (2:37)
10. My Key Is In Your Hand (4:28)
11. Playing In Panic (3:22)
12. The Things You've Left (5:31)
13. A Puddle And Purple Vetch (2:24)
14. That's Why Love Is... (0:59)
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Nikki & the Corvettes - Nikki & the Corvettes (1980)

Posted by Amelia Swhizzagers On 1:18 AM 0 comments

Nikki and the Corvettes, a Detroit punk-pop outfit led by the candy-voiced rocker Nikki Corvette, and Romantics guitarist Peter James, they kinda invented the whole girl sounding rock n roll thing. The group plied their brand of bubblegum punk from 1977 to 1981.

They had a sound somewhere between the Go-go's and the Ramones with bubblegum teenage libido maxed out with a dose of the Shangri Las. Led by a "new wave Betty Boop," to quote one review, this power group offered sounds and sex appeal. Combining those undeniable elements of energy and enthusiasm.
Tracks
1. He's a Mover
2. You're the One
3. C'mon
4. Just What I Need
5. Boys, Boys, Boys
6. Let's Go
7. Shake It Up
8. Back Seat Love
9. I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend
10. Summertime Fun
11. Gimme Gimme
12. You Make Me Crazy
13. Young and Crazy
14. Criminal Element
15. I Gotta Move
16. Girls Like Me
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A Certain Ratio - I'd like to see you again (1982)

Posted by Amelia Swhizzagers On 4:15 AM 0 comments

Always somewhat overlooked in the now-mythologised Manchester scene that blossomed around Factory in the late 70's/early 80's, A Certain Ratio originally formed around a love of disco, Wire, the Velvets and (judging by their name) Eno. Reissued and backed up by 5 tracks taken from companion singles, 'I'd Like To See You Again' was first released back in late 1982 and see's ACR filtering NYC disco through their taut, Hacienda honed compositions. With opening salvo 'Touch' particularly relevant again now (it could almost be LCD Soundsystem), the reissue highlights just how much influence the likes of ACR have had on the contemporary music scene through their disciplined, proto-disco post-punk frosted music. Ranging in mood from the propulsive bass of 'Saturn' and dead-pan Grandmaster Flash referencing 'Hot Knights' to the familiar opening break of 'Axis' and 'Knife Slits Water's' spasming electro-pop, 'I'd Like To See You Again' is both an important musical document and intriguing listen that deserves to be reappraised.
Tracks
1. Touch
2. Saturn
3. Hot Knights
4. I'd Like to See You Again
5. Show Case
6. Sesamo Apriti - Corco Vada
7. Axis
8. Guess Who
9. Knife Slits Water [7"]
10. Tumba Rhumba
11. I Need Someone Tonite
12. Guess Who [Remix]
13. Knife Slits Water [12"]
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A scatterbrained and perhaps drunken recording entity based on the collective
talents of guitarist Joachim Pimento, fuzz guitarist/keyboardist Zoe Zettner, fuzz guitarist/vocalist Lord Sulaco, fuzz guitarist/percussionist Daiquiri J. Wright, fuzz guitarist Franklin Silverheels, and bassist Smoky Alvaro (yes, they apparently liked the sound of a fuzz guitar), the Honolulu Mountain Daffodils gathered occasionally throughout the late '80s and early '90s to patch together records that threw almost anything imaginable into a blender (from Kraftwerk to Tom Waits to the Ramones to Black Sabbath to Neu! and all points between). The ill-rehearsed results were always uneven, but a fun time was guaranteed each time they gathered into a studio. The only true ambition of the Daffodils was to have their records exist in obscurity until developing a cult of fans via a steady slew of dollar bin discoveries. In fact, as legend has it, the artwork for the 1987 album Guitars of the Oceanic Overgrowth was designed to look as if it had spent at least two decades gathering dust in a record shop's sunshine-prone window display. Guitars was their first album and was followed the next year by Tequila Dementia, and then the trilogy was completed three years later by Aloha Sayonara (the Psychic Hit-List Victim EP was released in 1991). Apparently the band split up soon thereafter; lord (or Lord Sulaco) knows why.
Tracks
01 Hanging On The Crosses (By The Side Of The Road) 4:21
02 Wolverine 4:43
03 Electrified Sons Of Randy Alvey 3:19
04 Guitars Of The Oceanic Undergrowth 5:06
05 Sinners Club 4:32
06 Black Car Drives South 4:29
07 El Muerto 4:06
08 Final Solution
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January Tyme - First time from Memphis (1970)

Posted by Amelia Swhizzagers On 6:01 AM 0 comments

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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