Monday 21 April 2008

December 2006 pt.5

Sunday, December 31, 2006

Wet Taxis - 1984 - From the Archives

Hot Records-HOT1012
(Louis Tillett's first band - Vinyl LP_Test Pressing)

Who the hell are Wet Taxis ?

Louis Tillett's first band, the Wet Taxis, commenced life as an experimental outfit in the manner of fellow Sydneysiders Severed Heads and Scattered Order before taking on a tougher 1960s-influenced direction. Their classic debut single on the Hot label, ‘C’mon’ (1984), boasted an authentic garage/R&B sound heavily influenced by such American garage/punk bands as the Moving Sidewalks, We the People and the Chocolate Watchband plus legendary Australian group the Atlantics (who originally issued the song as ‘Come On’ in 1967). Alongside the likes of Died Pretty, the Celibate Rifles, the Lime Spiders, the New Christs, the Hoodoo Gurus and the Eastern Dark, the Wet Taxis came to epitomise the Australian garage rock sound and aesthetic of the 1980s. The band’s only album was the appropriately named From the Archives (Hot, 1984). [From Louis Tillets Web Site]

And thats's what this is.

Track listing is unknown. The test pressing did not have a listing on the label. A rough copy of material that appears to have been destined for the album cover does not contain a track listing.

01. Last Time Around
02. Unchain My Heart
03. You Burn Me Up And Down
04. I Wanna Come Back (from the World of LSD)
05. Rich With Nothing
06. Clock On The Wall
07. Its Gonna Rain
08. Hypnotized
09. In The Past
10. Bucktooth Gobbler
11. Love

~Simon Knuckley (lead guitar)
~Penny Ikinger (rhythm guitar)
~Nick Fisher (drums)
~Tim Knuckley (bass, vocals)
~Louis Tillett (vocals, piano)

Vietnam Chain - 1990 - Susmoala Beat



After the Vietnam Veterans
Ex-members of the of French Psychedelic legends and a unknown German mod-metal band, the Daisy Chain collaborating once in the studio. The outcome is one of greatest psych-rock album all time.

Members:
EX- Veterans
Mark Enbatta - vocals, guitars
Lucas Trouble – keyboards
Martin Joyce – drums
The Daisy Chain
Jani Egloff – vocals
Sven Anders – guitar
Tom Budnewski – guitar, vocals
Roland – drums
Arch – bass

Tracklist:
Hoodoo (T. Budnewski)
Sunny Sunday (M. Enbatta)
Lumberjack Blues (M. Enbatta)
I Walked With Doro Pesch (instrumental) (T. Budnewski)
Before I Go (vocals: Jani) (T. Budnewski)
Banana Split (Hagen Dierks/Jay Alanski)
Grandmother (L.Trouble/M.Enbatta)
Beast In Me (T. Budnewski)
Before I Go (vocals: Mark)(T. Budnewski)
Cold Turkey (John Lennon)

The Vietnam Veterans also happen to be French but they are coming from different age and time.

posted by drsta

The Strollers - 2000 - Captain Of My Ship


There Ain’t No Cheatin’

Tears In My eyes
I Don’t Care
I’ll Be Gone
Not Good enough For You
She Ain’t Nobody
Don’t Try To Change Me
Fire
Never Coming Back
She Can Get It
Captain Of My Ship

Mathias Lilja: lead vocals, guitar
Henrik Wind: farfisa organ, vocals
Peter Kalin: bass guitar
Martin Karlsson: drums

"In '92, a gang of 13-year-olds started out playing Chuck Berry covers under the name Free Force," reads a press release from Low Impact Records, the band's label. "They soon changed personnel and became The Strollers." Taking its name from the Yardbirds' "Stroll On," the band now includes frontman/guitarist Lilja, Henrik Wind on (Farfisa) organ, bassist Joakim Dimberg, and drummer Karlsson. Now, with two albums under its belt, the band seems to be the only one willing to put forth the effort to find a new way to say what's already been said countless times.

"We listen to a lot of English bands," the band told Shade. "The Who, Pretty Things, Kinks, and stuff. There's probably more American influences when it comes to making music. You get inspiration from all kinds of things. Rock'n'roll in general."

The band's first album, Falling Right Down (1999), was all edge. Where the Chocolate Watch Band and The Standells were pop groups, The Strollers were an assault force. Falling Right Down's tonal palette was dominated by Lilja's lacerating fuzztone (a Fitta Fuzz pedal on the band's first album), throaty tenor, and Wind's piercing Farfisa. The propulsive drive of the album is unrelenting, even when the band attempts to swing, as it does on the album's closer, "Memories." Falling Right Down is the sound of a hungry band.

If the album's production suffers from an almost complete lack of bottom and the sheer energy of the songs takes a few listenings to keep everything straight, Falling Right Down is nevertheless an exhilarating CD. Lilja's fuzz is skin-flayingly hot and his vocal is vintage garage, but the band brought a new intensity and a few modern touches to the material. The album's sound is as refreshing as it is effortlessly classic.

With Captain of My Ship, the band's 2000 sophomore effort and it's last album with bassist Peter Kalin (who has recently replaced by Dimberg), expanded the band's sound and added much-needed bottom to the album's mix. More melodic if less intense, Captain's diversity points to bigger things.

The band doesn't know which CD it likes better. "It depends on what mood your in," they told Shade. "They're both pretty neat. You don't wear the same clothes every single day do you? If you feel for some straight, simple garage, you listen to the first one. And if you're in some strange fucking mood, and you want a mix of our personal influences pick up the second one."

Those influences run from '50s rock and American punk to Alice Cooper and English thrash pioneers Venom. Captain is warmer and less abrasive than it's predecessor, but for all its supposed blend of the band's influences, it's not that different from Falling Right Down. Which is a little like being not all that different from Michael Jordan on a basketball court. Still, there are worries that the band could start belching stale air if it keeps up this garage thing. This is 2001 after all.

"Now that you've nailed the garage-band approach are there any plans to broaden your sound? Maybe get psychedelic?" Shade asked the band.

"Maybe," came the reply. "You never know. Or maybe we'll write a good piece of rock-opera. He he."

source : http://www.furious.com/Perfect/strollers.html
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=64722435


DownloadLink:
http://rapidshare.com/files/9574980/strollers.rar

Head Candy - 1991 - Starcaster


Head Candy - 1991 - Starcaster

First and, unfortunately, last album from an incredible Iowa quartet that traded in medium-loud, complex guitar rocka la Television or Dumptruck. Almost psychedelic in its shifting textures and lyrical imagery, but always melodic, this is an important album. (WWW Music Database)

Iowa has long been a fertile breeding ground for driving pop bands. With guitarists Mike Sangster and Doug Roberson coming from two such bands, the Hollowmen and the Dangtrippers respectively, Head Candy is poised to carry on the tradition. Sangster's vocals oscillate between an uneasy tension and a mellow smoothness in much the same way that Head Candy's songs reflect both a world-weary callousness and a vulnerable sweetness. Witness the brash groove of the opening cut "Soul Grinder" segued into catchy riffs embedded in "In The Night Kitchen." Starcaster's uncomplicated production gives it an even mesh, comprised of grinding guitars and fuzzy vocals vibrating over a firm rhythm section. Every sound falls neatly into place without being jelled into a sticky gloss, creating a steadfast sound throughout. Start with the afore-mentioned two cuts, and move along to the frail melodies and lyrics of "Part Of The Earth," the sinister jangle of "Watching The Sun's Trail," the jagged melodies of "Rocket Transfer Warehouse" and the delicate instrumental "Invitation To A Beheading." (CMJ)

I would add to the above the incredibly strong, guitar-driven "Mona Lisa Overdrive", and you have a great album. Why it went unnoticed, is beyond the knowledge of God or even Captain Beefheart.

Line-up
Mike Sangster: gtr, vcls, tapes
Doug Roberson: gtr, tapes
Jim Vallet: bs
Jim Viner: drms

Tracklist
1. Soul Grinder
2. In The Night Kitchen
3. At The Controls
4. Words To Live By
5. Part Of The Earth
6. Watching The Suns Trail
7. Sideways Laughing
8. Mona Lisa Overdrive
9. Rocket Transfer Warehouse
10. Invitation To A Beheading
11. Black Spirits And White
12. Starcaster

Saturday, December 30, 2006

Argile - Live In Africa & Europe



Argile - Live in Africa & Europe

Take an unforgettable voyage with Argile - an evolving work-in-progress music project that has the feel of a live concert! Enjoy soundscapes from their 1997 West African/1998 European tours. Travel with the group from small African clubs in Treichville/Abidjan, Ivory Coast and the stadium in Lomé, Togo to European music festivals. Feel the energy of Argile's and Sona Diabate's first meeting and enjoy an exciting version of the Bembeya Jazz National's hit-- "Mamy Wata", a song composed by Sona's brother Sekou "Bembeya" Diabate. Get on the bus!

Musicians
Sona Diabate - leadvocals (2,3,4,5,6) - acc. guitar (3)
Fiadelia King Sockuh - leadvocals (2,4,6) - keyboards (1,2,4,5,6,8,9)
Barry Sangare - leadvocals (8) - n'goni (8) - djembe (1,7)
Ramata Conde - backing vocals (3) & dance
Kaba Kouyate - balafon (3,4,5,6) - djembe (2,5)
Dieter Weberpals - flute (1,2,4,5,6,8) - bassflute + voice (9)
Stefan Hergenröder - e-bass (1,2,3,4,5,6,8,9)
Charles Blackledge - drums (2,4,5,6,8) - talking drum (1) - djembe (7)
Kabiné & Djibril Dramane - djembe (7)
Fadjimba Sacko - dundun (7)

Live recordings from Ivory Coast, Togo, Germany & Italy 97/98

Ευοί Ευάν (Evi Evan)


Ευοί Ευάν - Το τέλος 8ά'ναι πάλι αρχή(2000)
Evi Evan - To Telos Tha'nai Pali Arhi(2000)

tracks:
01 - Σ'αυτόν τον κόσμο(In This World)
02 - Φωτιά στην καρδιά(Fire In The Heart)
03 - Τρικυμία(Storm)
04 - Ένας(One)
05 - Χτυπάς φέυγεις πετάς(You Hit You Leave You Fly)
06 - Χορέυω(I'm Dancing)
07 - Το δώρο(The Present)
08 - Προσφορές(Offerings)
09 - Busytone
10 - Και πάλι απ'την αρχή(Again From The Start)

the band
Fotis Siotas:vocals,violin,electric violin.synthesizers
Vaggelis Tsotridis:electric guitar,acoustic guitar,midi guitar,programming
Nektarios Karantzis:electric bass,contrabass,piano
Alekos Papadopoulos:drums,percussion

enjoy!
http://rapidshare.com/files/9555800/euoi_euan1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/9561153/euoi_euan2.rar

Deep Freeze Mice - 1983 - Saw A Ranch House Burning Last Night


Deep Freeze Mice - 1983 - Saw A Ranch House Burning Last Night

01 Under The Cafe Table
02 Down To A Proton
03 The New Emotional Twist
04 Kiwis Come In Close
05 You Took The Blue One
06 You Think I'm A Car
07 Eat Molten Death
08 Hitler's Knees
09 Funny Monsters
10 Matter Over Mind
11 The Damage
12 Ammonia Suction
13 Everlasting Lollipop
14 Sagittarians
15 Saw A Ranch House Burning Last Night
16 Phylis #2
17 I Met A Man Who Spoke Like An UCCA Form
18 Peter Smith Is A Banana
19 My Geraniums Are Bulletproof
20 The Gates Of Lunch
21 A Ten Legged Beast (or An Eight Legged Beast With Feelers)
22 Teenage Head In My Refrigerator
23 God
24 Ammonia Suction
25 The New Emotional Twist


Alan Jenkins: singing, guitar, clarinet
Sherree Lawrence: keyboards, singing
Michael Bunnage: bass
&
Graham Summers: bass
John Grayland: trumpet
Dawn Leeder: pecussion
Geof Griffith: singing

The Deep Freeze Mice were an English New Wave band that were active between 1979 and 1989. They were based in Leicester, and consisted of the core members Alan Jenkins (guitars and singing), Sherree Lawrence (organ and other keyboards), and Mick Bunnage (bass guitar). The band had two different drummers over the years: Graham Summers and Pete Gregory. The band released 10 albums during their existence on their own Cordelia Records label. Their music was odd, often consisting of absurd and surreal lyrics delivered in Alan's deadpan voice accompanied by bouncy pop/progressive rock music. Favoured lyrical concerns included animal rights, conformity, and science fiction. Alan Jenkins was also a member of The Chrysanthemums in the late 1980's, and joined up with members of Po! and The Ammonites in Jody & The Creams (later as "Alan Jenkins & The Creams") and Ruth's Refrigerator. He has played guitar with The Thurston Lava Tube since 2001.

Randy California

Randy California - 1972 - Kapt. Kopter and the Fabulous Twirly Birds

Track Listing:
01 Downer
02 Devil
03 I Don't Want Nobody
04 Day Tripper
05 Mother and Chil Reunion
06 Things Yet to Come
07 Rain
08 Rainbow

Line Up:
Randy California: guitar and lead vocals
Clit McTorius: bass
Henry Manchovitz: drums
Tim McGovern: drums and backing vocals
Charlie Bundy: bass and backing vocal
Roger Dollarhide: hideous laughter


Randy California (born Randy Craig Wolfe; February 20, 1951 – January 2, 1997) was a guitarist, singer and songwriter and one of the original members of the rock group Spirit, formed in 1967.

Randy was born into a musical family in Los Angeles, and spent his early years studying varied styles at the family's Hollywood nightclub, the Ash Grove. He was fifteen years old when they moved to New York and he met Jimi Hendrix in 1966. He played in Hendrix's band Jimmy James & the Blue Flames that summer. The stage name "Randy California" was given to him by Hendrix to distinguish him from another Randy in the band (who Hendrix dubbed "Randy Texas"). When Hendrix was invited to come to England by Chas Chandler, Randy was not allowed to go (by his parents) and so missed out on what became the Jimi Hendrix Experience.

Together with his stepfather Ed Cassidy, California founded the band Spirit in 1967 and wrote their biggest hit, 1968's "I Got a Line on You". The band's music still stands as a unique sound mixing ethereal notes, hard beats, and a satirical view of the world.

Randy California left Spirit in 1971 to begin a solo career, but periodically returned to various reincarnations of the group over the years until he was lost in the ocean January 2, 1997 while rescuing his twelve-year-old son from a rip current near their home at Molokai, Hawaii.

* Kapt Kopter And The (Fabulous) Twirly Birds (1972)
* Euro-American (1982)
* Restless (1985)
* Shattered Dreams (1986)

Download Link:
http://rapidshare.com/files/9407722/randy.rar

Minimal Compact - 1984 - Deadly Weapons

1. Next One Is Real
2. Losing Track (Of Time)
3. Well
4. There's Always Now
5. Nada
6. Not Knowing
7. Deadly Weapons
8. Burnt-Out Hotel
9. Howling Hole
10. Next One Is Real
11. Not Knowing Remix
12. Babylonian Tower (Remix)
13. Hole Version Accidental (Remix)
14. Next One Is Real (Extended Remix)
15. Introspection

Between its foundation in 1981 and its dissolution seven years later, Minimal Compact played a crucial role in the European rock scene. Malka Spigel (bass, vocals), Samy Birnbach (vocals, texts) and Berry Sakharof (guitars, keyboards, vocals) left their native Tel-Aviv in 1981 for Amsterdam in search of an escape from the provincial attitudes of their own city. Of the trio, only Berry was a "real" musician. Malka was "learning to play the bass", while Samy was better known as a DJ and a music fan who dabbled in poetry . They recorded a 2-song demo at home, and consequently become one of the very first artists signed to the Belgian Crammed label.
During the recording for a speculative 7" in a little studio in the Belgian countryside, it became quickly evident that the trio had hit upon something worthy of development and a their first, self-titled, mini album was the fruit of this. Their burgeoning style was a heavily Middle-Eastern coloured brand of post New Wave, based on driving rhythms, scratchy guitars and their own very un- "Anglo-American" style of vocalisation. In this way they both prefigured "indie-dance" and later fascinations with so called "world music".


One by One, the second album, was recorded in London in 1982, and like it's predecessor co-produced by Dick Polak (from Dutch band Mecano) and Crammed supremo Marc Hollander. It includes tracks such as "Babylonian Tower", "Disguise" (another live staple) , "It Takes a Lifetime". With this release Minimal Compact had become a "real band" with the adddition of the native Amsterdammer Max Franken on drums. Now Minimal could play live, this was to prove a strong element in their career. As Minimal began to tour more extensively they went from strength to strength as a live band and could certainly rock any house!!

Deadly Weapons , produced by Gilles Martin and Peter Principle dates from 1984 and is considered by some their most experimental album. Nonetheless it threw up a "club classic" of the time in the shape of "Next One Is Real" (famously remixed by Dick O'Dell, one time boss of the Guerilla label). The sleeve was by Neville Brody.

On this album the "classic" 5-person line up became complete with the addition of guitarist/vocalist Rami Fortis a long time Minimal cohort from Tel-Aviv who arguably was Israel's most imnovative post-punk musician with his solo debut Plonter. Fortis had previously collaborated with Malka on their 7 codes tape (a low-fi home tape effort which had done nicely in the indie shops in Amsterdam).

Touring by this point took them further and further afield, everywhere from Palermo to Kyoto fell to their conquest although typically for the time British success was limited to an NME single of the week and a John Peel session.

Raging Souls was released in 1985. Produced by Colin Newman , with artwork by Eno/Sylvian collaborator Russell Mills, it has proved their most popular album, with tracks like "My Will", "When I Go", "The Traitor", "Autumn Leaves" all of which became live favorites. By this time Minimal had become established in Brussels and were at the hub of the local "International Indie Scene" which featured at various times, Tuxedo Moon (both individually and collectively), Bel Canto, Colin Newman, Sonoko, Gilles Martin, Benjamin Lew...

As a follow up Minimal Compact recorded a 12" Immigrants Songs (featuring a Led Zeppelin cover) with Israeli Uri Barak. Like "Next One Is Real" before it the 12" received extensive US college/dance attention and figures amongst their most enduring work.

The Figure One Cuts was their last studio album, recorded in 1987 with producer John Fryer (Cocteau Twins, Depeche Mode, M/A/R/R/S). Tracks include "Nil-Nil"," Inner Station", "New Clear Twist", "Piece of Green". The Lowlands Flight instrumental album was released at the same time in Crammed's "Made To Measure" series. The touring continued but their goal of following up their record success in the USA was never acheived as several planned tours were cancelled because the US immigration authorities refused to grant them visas.

Minimal Compact Live was recorded in 1987 in Rennes, France, this last album came out after the band split in '88.

Minimal today

Berry Sakharof and Rami Fortis have both returned to Tel Aviv where they have enjoyed huge popularity both together and seperately. Malka is a partner with Colin Newman in the swim label based in London. She has released several solo albums as well as partnering Newman in Immersion, on his solo albums and on their recent live collaboration. Samy Birnbach, still resident in Brussels, has worked with Benjamin Lew, with Newman and Spigel in Oracle and as part of The Gruesome Twosome. He also performs as an ambient DJ under the name Morpheus, and is also an associate A&R for SSR/freezone. According to legend, Max Franken (who never left Amsterdam) still plays drums and football!!

source : http://www.swimhq.com/artists/Minimal_Biog.html


Get It Here :
RapidShare
or SendSpace

Sky Saxon
















A1 - SS-20 & Sky Saxon - Paradise
A2 - SS-20 & Sky Saxon - Born To Be Wild
B1 - SS-20 - Trouble
B2 - SS-20 - No Matter What




01 - Starving For Your Love
02 - House Of Mine
03 - Return Of The Sixties (Spirit Of The Sixties)
04 - Love Dog
05 - Burning Down The Walls Of The City
06 - Sha La La La, It's A Groovy Thing
07 - Medley-Over-Reaction-Hollywood Blvd

Lead vocals - Sky Sunlight Saxon
Guitars - Eddie Munoz, Rich Coffee, Dan West, Shelley Ganz
Bass - Lee Joseph, Greg Steward, Toby Keil
Drums - Roy McDonald
Chesey keyboards - Mars Bonfire
background vocalists - Peter Case, Steve Wynn, David Provost, Marc Platt, Ric Alvin, Johnette, Frank Beeson

After the breakup of the seminal psychedelic garage punk band the Seeds in 1969, frontman Sky Saxon (born Richard Marsh) embarked on an erratic solo career in between stints as a mystical guru in Hawaii. Much of his post-Seeds work fit the mold of a curious 1960s relic, a hippie acid casualty with a strong cult following, in the mold of Roky Erickson. Saxon began his career under the name Little Richie Marsh, performing sugary, doo wop-influenced teenage pop in 1962. Changing his name to Sky Saxon, he joined two L.A. garage bands, the Soul Rockers and the Electra Fires, before forming the Seeds in 1965. Saxon continued to record under the Seeds' name following the group's official dissolution in 1969, releasing a series of singles that increasingly reflected a drug-induced separation from reality. Beginning in 1976, the late '70s saw the release of several albums credited to variously named outfits: Sky Sunlight, Sunstar, Sky "Sunlight" Saxon, the Universal Stars Band, Star's New Seeds Band, Sunlight and the New Seeds, and so on. 1983 saw the release of a rarities collection, New Fruit From Old Seeds: The Rare Sky Saxon, Vol. 1 (there never was a planned Vol. 2), which contained material dating back to Saxon's pre-Seeds days. Saxon, who had not produced any new albums since 1978, returned on the U.K. Psycho label in 1984 with Starry Ride, which featured support from Steppenwolf's Mars Bonfire (composer of "Born to Be Wild"), as well as former members of Iron Butterfly and Fraternity of Man. The Saxon/Bonfire collaboration reached full fruition in the group Firewall, who debuted with the album A Groovy Thing in 1986 (Destiny's Children features the same songs in a different order). Firewall featured guest appearances from members of such California neo-psychedelic bands as the Dream Syndicate, the Plimsouls, the Droogs, and Yard Trauma, demonstrating Saxon's enduring influence and appeal, particularly among that set of musicians. That same year, Saxon recorded a largely unrehearsed live album with Purple Electricity, a one-off project featuring members of Redd Kross and the Primates, entitled Private Party. Firewall returned in 1988 with In Search of Brighter Colors, which was released in the U.S. as World Fantastic, with several rare '80s cuts replacing the former version's weaker tracks. Saxon has since returned to Hawaii. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide

Various Artists - 1990 - Baloney Sandwich


Baloney Sandwich

This is a compilation cassette that came out with issue 19 of "What Wave" fanzine (Oct. 1990). "What Wave" was a Canadian fanzine, published from the mid-80s to 1991, by Dave and Rena O'Halloran. Focused on the garage scene of the era (U.S. and Canada mainly) they managed not only to have the best bands covered, but also to have a tape with tracks from them in most issues and a few times a 7"EP. In "Baloney Sandwich" are compiled the pop/garage/psych of the Marshmallow Overcoat and the Cybermen, the cow-punk of Al Perry, the fuzzed-out beat of the 10 Commandments, the raw garage of the Tommyknockers, and everything between, in a fine selection. Pure energy - young, loud and innocent.

The cover on #19 is by the now famous Darren Merinuk.


Legend Killers: Cry Cry Cry
1313 Mockingbird Lane: Queen Bitch
10 Commandments: She Ain't No Use To Me
Tommyknockers: Kill City
Al Perry and The Cattle: El Con Melo
Empty Hours: Same Time Same Place
Drums Along The Gardiner: Speedin' In The USA
The Minstrels: Can't She Be Mine
Sanity Assassins: Plainclothes Dick
The Tonebenders: Found A Girl
Broken Arrow: You Ain't Trickin' Me
The Cybermen: House Of Wax
14th Wray: Burn Witch Burn
The Woodmen: Bring My Baby Back
Marshmallow Overcoat: Tried To Hide
The Hangovers: Beast Of Prey
Evaporators: Maneaters
Yard Trauma: Must've Been Something I Took Last Night
Frankenstein V: Kill and Go Hide
Lost Patrol: You Don't Own Me
Pull My Daisy: Svalutation
Young Fast & Scientific: You Told Me
Watch Children: Kinda Retarded
Fridge Magnets: Hypodermic Beach
Hank and Frank: Walk Like A Zombie
The Loved Ones: Outside
Misc. S: Real World
Alan Wilson Experience: Let It Rip
The Know Goods: The Kids Are Alright
Janice K.: Jailhouse Rock

Friday, December 29, 2006

Justen O'Brien & Jake - Time Will Tell (1978) @320


Psychedelic lounge jazz-pop of the highest caliber. Justen O'Brien sings and plays virtually every instrument; "Jake" apparently was the drummer. The album cover makes you think that it might be some sort of gospel album, but the instant you start playing it you'll be plunged into a phased, flanged, reverbed, lo-fi, acid-inflected wonderland of major 7th chords, crooner melodies, cheesy keyboards, and utterly baffling, abstract lyrics about "time," "tears," and the "truth." And then every once in a while there will be an awesome fuzz-guitar solo, or maybe a passage of synthesizer bubbling that would drive every member of Stereolab to their knees in adoration.
This is one of my all-time favorite discoveries. I'd love to hear what you think of it.

You may download it here, and I strongly encourage you to!

The Gun Club - 1982 - Miami


MIAMI 1982 ANIMAL RECORDS

01 Carry Home

02 Like Calling Up Thunder

03 Brother and Sister

04 Run Through the Jungle

05 Devil in the Woods

06 Texas Serenade

07 Watermelon Man

08 Bad Indian

09 John Hardy

10 Fire of Love

11 Sleeping in Blood City

12 Mother of Earth


The sophomore record by the Gun Club bore the curse of having to follow a monolith of their own making. Fire of Love sold extremely well for an independent; it was a favorite of virtually every critic who heard it in 1981. Miami showcased a different lineup as well. Ward Dotson replaced Congo Powers (temporarily, at least) on guitar, and there were a ton of guest performances, including Debbie Harry and Chris Stein. Stein produced the album. Off the bat the disc suffers from a thin mix. Going for a rougher sound, Stein left the instruments at one level and boosted Pierce's vocal. There is plenty of guitar here, screaming and moping like a drunken orphan from the Texas flatlands, but next to its predecessor it sounds drier and reedier. Ultimately it hardly matters. Going for a higher, more desolate sound, frontman and slide player Jeffrey Lee Pierce and his band were literally on fire. The songs here, from "Carry Me," "Like Calling Up Thunder," "Devil in the Woods," "Watermelon Man," "Bad Indian," and "Texas Serenade," among others, centered themselves on a mutant form of country music that met the post-punk ethos in the desert, fought and bloodied each other, and decided to stay together. This is hardcore snake-charming music (as in water moccasins not cobras), evil, smoky, brash, and libidinally uttered. Their spooky version of an already creepy tune by Creedence Clearwater Revival, "Run Through the Jungle" runs the gamut from sexual nightmare to voodoo ritual gone awry. Finally, Pierce and company pull out all the roots and reveal them for what they are: "John Hardy," is a squalling punk-blues, with the heart of the country in cardiac arrest. Dotson proved to be a fine replacement for Congo Powers, in that his style was pure Telecaster country (à la James Burton) revved by the Rolling Stones and Johnny Thunders. Miami was given a rough go when it was issued for its production. But in the bird's-eye view of history its songs stack up, track for track, with Fire of Love and continue to echo well into this long good night.

Blacklight Chameleons - 1986 - Blacklight Chameleons




02 - XMVT
03 - Jurney to love-in
04 - Evil arms
05 - Tripwave
06 - Positive source

~Bill Ebauer
~Andrea Mathews
~Noreen Lewis
~Dino Sorbello

The BLACKLIGHT CHAMELEONS Story
Wasting no time from the breakup of the Mad Violets in late 1984, guitarist and now vocalist Dino Sorbello grabbed Andrea Mathews on drums from the recently broken up Outta Place, and added Noreen Lewis on bass and located Bill Ebauer for keyboards in a Village Voice ad. After a quick gig or two at the Dive they set about recording their first self-titled Ep (released on Voxx Records March 1985) which continues to sell to this very day. An article in Vanity Fair magazine in June 1985 about the big 60s style resurgence featured a two-page color photo by Mary Ellen Mark, and some copy about the band. So instead of a press kit, the band showed the mag around town to score some prestigious gigs. By 1986 the group had new drummers, bassists, and finally decided to add a lead singer, former Ford model Sharon Middendorf. They were featured in a High Times cover story about the “Minds Eye” shows happening at the old Tramps Club (where Joey Ramone, after seeing them, was quoted as as saying:” I was transported...”).
Spring of 1987 saw the release of ‘Inner Mission’ (USA: NBC Records, Europe: Semaphore Records). Two tours each to Florida and California, a fair amount of US airplay on college stations, and quite a lot of airplay in Europe, especially Greece(!?) let a lot of folks hear their brand of psychedelically inflected 60s pop originals. A few months after playing the Mind Circus event at Temple Universty in Philadelphia during spring 1988, the group was disbanded by Dino after certain members failed to commit for the next tour. Now you can hear all the previous vinyl-only releases along with a couple of previously unreleased studio and live rehearsal cuts combined on a brand new CD release from Tripwave! Records entitled
‘A Field Guide To Blacklight Chameleons’ (TWR 002).

Thursday, December 28, 2006

The Clique - Vanbrugh Park

1. Ground Ginger
2. Gonna Get Me Somebody
3. Crying Days
4. Sookie Sookie
5. Te Ni Nee Ni Nu
6. Leaving Here
7. Wormin
8. Im No Good Without You
9. Youd Better Stop
10. Young Man Blues
11. Ground Ginger

Formed in the mid 1980's The Clique soon became the biggest and best loved combo on the European 60's Mod scene. Everything about the band was right - the look, the sound, the attitude and Mods around the globe hailed them as the new Mod Messiahs. The band released a couple of early singles before really bursting onto the scene with their ‘Reggie’ single on our very own ‘Detour’ label. This was soon followed by the ‘Self Preservation Society’ album that went on to become Detour’s biggest ever seller - a record still held today. Unfortunately, soon after the release of the album the band fractured, and although they carried on for a couple of years with different members, the magic just wasn’t there and they split after being on the cusp of success and on the brink of signing to a large independent record company.

This album gives us some of the earliest recordings of the band - they were put into a studio by ‘Acid Jazz’ records when the label had some spare studio time in around 1986 / 1987 . With a helping hand from James Taylor Quartet leader James Taylor on Hammond the group went into the studio and laid down some mighty fine pure British Mod / R&B / Beat. Mixing sterling originals with covers such as ‘Leaving Here’ ‘Sookie Sookie’ and ‘You’d Better Stop’ this album was sure to be a hit on the Mod scene.

Unfortunately, and for reasons that are no longer remembered, the album never saw the light of day - it sat on the shelves at Acid Jazz gathering dust.

Well, now Detour Records have grabbed those tapes, polished ‘em off and had ‘em remixed for your total listening pleasure - and what a pleasure it is! Just one listen of this album is enough take you back to those heady days of the late 80's / early 90's - a burgeoning UK Mod scene (later to turn into Britpop), the highly attended ‘Untouchables’ rallies and good times.



Not just a history lesson, and by no means a lesson in misty eyed nostalgia, this is a reelin’ and rockin’ blast of pure amphetamine fuelled excitement from the first minute to the last!! This was probably the best British Mod / R&B album to be recorded since the ‘Who’s debut - get it now!!!

Download Link:

http://rapidshare.com/files/9277986/clique.rar.html

Tactics - History Of The Sky

Tactics
"The History Of The Sky"
mixes, remixes hits & missus

01. Buried Country
02. New York Reel
03. Long Story
04. Frozen Park
05. A Settlers Complaint
06. Downtown
07. The Quality Of A Holiday
08. Centrepoint
09. The Noise Upstairs
10. Better Than Mermaids
11. On The Beach With Mr Rollo
12. Blue & White Future Whale
13. Hard Hat Nine Iron
14. Know It All
15. Should Be Will Be
16. Committee Of Love
17. Coalface
18. Cool Night Air

Tactics grew out of the small new-wave scene in Australia's capital city, Canberra, in the late 1970s. Their extremely unconventional "art-punk" style, developed around the songs of band leader Dave Studdert, met with virtual indifference in Canberra, and they moved to Sydney in September 1978. Building an inner-city cult following and gaining Ingrid Spielman on piano, the band released an EP and single in 1979 and 1980 respectively, and finally their first full-length album, My Houdini, in February 1981.


The band's second album, Glebe, released later that year, displayed a reggae influence. This was followed by The Bones of Barry Harrison, a compilation of live recordings from 1979 to 1982. Unfortunately, the overall sound quality on this LP was less than excellent. Dave Studdert folded the band in 1983 but re-emerged a year later with a new Tactics, which retained Angus Douglas and added Nicky Baruch (vocals, percussion, flute), Snajik (bass), and Tony Donohue (drums).

The resulting album, Blue and White Future Whale, had beautiful, vaguely psychedelic cover art but failed yet again to reach a mass audience. Struggling on, Tactics released their final studio album, The Great Gusto, in 1989, with Studdert, Snajik, Gary Manley (guitar, piano) and Malcolm MacCallum (drums, keyboards), as well as some excellent violin cameos from Amanda Brown, ex Go-Betweens. By this time Tactics were closer to the mainstream, but not close enough - Dave Studdert just had art in his blood.

After the chart demise of The Great Gusto, Dave Studdert gave up the ghost of Tactics and moved to London, forming a new band, Dave Studdert's Mumbo Jumbo, which eventually released one album. Back in his home town, the band which had produced some excellent music but never had any chart success at all was virtually completely forgotten, except for those who were in the right place at the right time, and had the ears to hear.

Savage Republic - 1988 - Jamahiriya


Savage Republic - 1988 - Jamahiriya (Democratique Et Populaire De Sauvage)

Savage Republic, the L.A. based drone-rockers and post-rock forefathers, have announced that they are reforming for a series of reunion shows this November, thirteen years after they split. From what I remember, I was first introduced to their sound through an NME review of their Trudge E.P. by Chris Bohn- this review spoke of a band that combined Eastern music with rock like a soundtrack to a desert landscape. There is a very cinematic sounding quality throughout the work of the band and Bruce Licher's later band Scenic that seems ripe for plucking as soundtrack stuff. This is a musical direction that group leader Bruce Licher has claimed was intentional and that has been made use of before. Also consider that the track "Real Men," from their first LP Tragic Figures, soundtracks the scene at the climax of The Silence Of the Lambs. This visual/cinematic quality may come from the fact that the bandleader was an art Student when he formed the band in UCLA in '81. As the leader of Scenic, he still runs his own letterpress, making CD sleeves etc in a recognizable style that's graced a lot of other people's work too.

January 2002 saw the re-release of Savage Republic's back catalogue through the Mobilization (give link to http://www.mobilization.com/artists/savage.html#) label run by Ethan Port, a central member of the later line up. There was a slight delay from the projected September 2001 reissue partially caused by the World Trade Center attack, which nearly cost Ethan his life. He was in the Marriott Hotel across the square when the planes hit, he cathartically explained what happened to him in a message he sent to the Procession chatlist where the story remains in the archives as it does on the Mobilization website

Hunger - 1969 - Strictly from..


One of my favourite psychedelic albums ever.
A must to all collectors of 60's psychedelia!


Hunger-Strickly From- 1969 Los Angeles (via Portland, Oregon). Excellent moody garage psych heavier than most organ-led groups with insistent rhythm and frequent fuzz bursts. Quite trippy like a heavier 'swinging London' sound. The test pressing version is included and with different takes, weezy organ and emphasizing the group's dual leads. With Gene Gunnels and Ed King (Strawberry Alarm Clock)....



Reviewed by: Keith "Muzikman" Hannaleck, August 2001

The group Hunger was an extremely talented group from Portland, Oregon. The album Strictly From Hunger was released in 1969. It was to be the only release from the group, as a streak of bad luck broke the band apart. Unfortunately on two separate occasions their equipment was stolen.
The group featured long organ driven instrumental breaks with piercing guitar lines between some strong songwriting in a majority of their songs. They were a very popular group that was rising fast in the California psychedelic scene. By the time it was over they were right on the verge of crossing over to hard rock.
Songs like "Workshop," which delves into your thought processes and dreams, I thought, were very introspective and thought provoking, and great musically. "She Let Him Continue" is a psych-rock gem from the vaults. With all of the sound effects (which were fairly new at the time) and the strong vocal inflections from the pipes of Bill Daffern (drums), the song still sounds as hauntingly fresh today as the day it was laid down in the studio. Mike Parkinson normally handled all the vocals. John Morton (lead guitar), Steve Hansen (rhythm guitar), Tom Tanory (bass) were the core of the group that supported the great songwriting and vocals. "Portland" is a stunning instrumental passage. This particular track made me realize that this group would have evolved quite interestingly if they had remained together. The potential for moving more into fusion was evident in their music right from the start. You can hear elements of just about every genre (jazz, blues, pop, rhythm & blues) intermingled amongst each song, although you must listen very carefully to hear it all. Every song serves as an excellent example of the cross pollination of genres. They were so much more than the psych-rock band that they were generally perceived as.

Download link

http://rapidshare.com/files/9218416/Hunger_-_1969_-_Strictly_from...rar





Downsiders - 1988 - All My Friends Are Fish


Downsiders - 1988 - All My Friends Are Fish

San Francisco musician Cole Marquis started with the legendary 28th Day with the criminally neglected Barbara Manning and Mike Cloward. After the 28th Day, Marquis and Cloward formed the Downsiders, a band that moved along the trails of Marquis songwriting. Those familiar with 28th Day, will recognise the sense of melody, even if sometimes follows more unconventional ways, the tense in Marquis guitar and vocals, and his psychedelic point of view. On "Pony Made Of Ice", 6 min. psychedelic travel they preceded Shiva Burlesque and their clones. In the mid-'90s, Marquis formed the eccentric space pop outfit the Snowmen and continued to release solo efforts (edit:take a look at the comments for these).

The Downsiders were the Ones (from left): Jeff Tracy, Cole Marquis, Keith Foust and Chris Cloward were Chico's Nirvana and Sonic Youth rolled into one. With two amazing albums on Mammoth Records, culminating with the essential All My Friends Are Fish, and a national influence left in the wake of several cross-country tours, the Downsiders would have most likely risen to the top of the Sub Pop-sparked underground explosion had they lasted even one year more. Everyone went to every one of their shows--punkers, alterna-kids, hippies, frat dudes and sorority chicks alike packed in tight at Wall Street and the Burro Room waiting for Cole's cue, "And I took a ride!" to lift off in unison and test the structural integrity of the wooden trampoline created by a band and a town who were all in it together. (Chico News & Reviews)

On their good days the Downsiders could play twisted garage rock that was livelier and more interesting than anything else out there. All My Friends Are Fish was recorded on a day when everything clicked, when Cole Marquis was getting maximum mileage from his dead pan voice, when the band was in perfect form and hammering out a wild melange of psychedelia, folk-punk, and pure garage energy. The musical textures are dazzlingly varied, from the poppy "I Wanna Drive" and menacing hard rock of "Old Black Crow" to numbers that are wildly experimental. The extended intro to "Feet of Clay has a bizarre mix of fuzzed out bass, acoustic guitar, and frantic drumming that sounds like a folk band trying to invent speed metal. "All My Friends Are Fish" is a wonderful momento of a daring and talented band, one which unfortunately never got the recognition they deserved. ~ Richard Foss, All Music Guide

Line up: Cole Marquis (vcls,gtr), Chris Cloward (vcls,bs), Keith Foust (drms, pcsn), Jeff Tracy (gtr)
Additional musicians Russ Tolman (gtr on She's Alright), Chris Cacavas (Kbds on She's Alright and Waiting For Nothing)


Tracklist
I wanna drive
Wild honey pie
Old black crow
All my friends are fish
Pony made of ice
Kenny Koughdrop
Waiting for nothing
Feet of clay
She's alright
Ode to Traci

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Tony Scott - Music For Zen Meditation



Since leaving New York in 1959, Tony Scott (a top bebop-oriented clarinetist) has been an eager world traveler who enjoys exploring the folk music of other countries. Unfortunately, his post-1959 recordings have been few, far between, difficult-to-locate, and sometimes erratic, but Scott was an unheralded pioneer in both world music and new age.

Tony Scott attended Juilliard during 1940-1942, played at Minton's Playhouse, and then after three years in the military he became one of the few clarinetists to play bop. His cool tone (heard at its best on a 1950
Sarah Vaughan session that also includes Miles Davis) stood out from the more hard-driving playing of Buddy DeFranco. Scott worked with a wide variety of major players (including Ben Webster, Trummy Young, Earl Bostic, Charlie Ventura, Claude Thornhill, Buddy Rich, and Billie Holiday), led his own record dates (among his sidemen were Dizzy Gillespie and a young Bill Evans) which ranged from bop and cool to free improvisations (all are currently difficult to locate), and ranked with DeFranco at the top of his field.

Unfortunately the clarinet was not exactly a popular instrument in the 1950s (as opposed to during the swing era) and Tony Scott remained an obscure name outside of jazz circles. In 1959, he gave up on the U.S. and began extensive tours of the Far East. He played Eastern classical music, recorded meditation music for Verve, and, other than some brief visits to the U.S, has lived in Italy since the 1970s where he has sometimes experimented with electronics. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide


tony_scott.rar

You can get the correct missing tracks
Here!

Osjan (Ossian) - Roots

Like the Wawel dragon, this mysterious band emerged from a cave in Cracow.
Osjan is undoubtedly one of the most fascinating bands on the Polish stage. Formed 28 years ago, they still remain part of the underground. They play concerts infrequently and rarely release records.
Osjan's work can be described as an original synthesis of many traditions and music cultures. The group's strength lies in its enormous musical imagination, creativity and genuine message. The musicians have never attached importance to their public image. Osjan is surrounded by a mysterious aura, and facts about the band's activities merge with legend.
The history of Osjan dates back to the 1970s and Crocow's musical circles grouped around the Piwnica pod Baranami club, then the center of Cracow's artists and counterculture. At that time Jacek Ostaszewski, a well-known jazz double bass player, and guitarist Marek Jackowski, both from the band Anawa, decided to start a new project. Soon they were joined by painter and poet Tomasz Hołuj. The group's early rehearsals took place in many different places, most often hotel rooms. The name Osjan was chosen after the band heard it in an Ewa Demarczyk song version of a Bolesław Leśmian poem.
Soon the band's line-up changed, but for 20 years the core of Osjan has been Dimitrios Milo Kurtis, Wojciech Waglewski and Radosław Nowakowski, together with Jacek Ostaszewski. Numerous distinguished musicians have worked with them including the trumpeters Tomasz Stańko and Don Cherry. The band used to regularly perform with Black Horse Cheavers, a Cherokee shaman.
However, it is not the musicians, but the search for their own artistic expression that explains the Osjan phenomenon. In the 1970s, in an atmosphere ruled by banal rock on the one hand and complicated jazz structures on the other, Osjan looked for a different way, for a simplified form of expression: "For example, we would play for half an hour on two or three notes," remembers Ostaszewski. "What fascinated me, not only in the sphere of music, was the search for forms that would allow free expression, not limited to the conventions of jazz, pop or classical music." Osjan was looking for alternative solutions. The group used various elements of traditional Balkan, African, Slavic and Indian music and managed to combine them with free jazz and European classical music. An important influence on shaping the group's musical image were concerts with Don Cherry, as well as inspiration from Zen Buddhism.
Osjan belongs to the small circle of performers who have developed their own original style. The group's compositions, labeled as ethnic music, world music, and so on, reveal the extent of its members' musical quest, as do their performances. For them, playing music together is a form of communication and constant dialogue between themselves and the audience. That is why concerts, when they do happen, are so important to them-there is a dialogue between Waglewski's guitar and Nowakowski's drums, Ostaszewski's flutes and Kurtis's percussion, but the freedom of improvisation does not destroy the overall structure of the concert.
No wonder then that Osjan's rich experience was emvulated by other performers, for example, Maanam (a group formed by Jackowski and Kurtis) in its early days and Voo Voo, another unique Polish rock band, headed by Waglewski.
Osjan's musicians call the time between the mid-1980s and mid-1990s a long "hibernation period," as they were occupied with their own activities-teaching, running workshops and carrying out their own musical, and in the case of Nowakowski, literary, projects. But this did not have a negative influence on the group: "Last year we did a concert tour called Jam Osjan which resulted in a documentary by Andrzej Titkow," says Kurtis. "There were crowds of young people at our concerts in Cracow, Warsaw, Częstochowa and Bydgoszcz. They're the new generation of Osjan fans." The March concerts were recorded and have just been released on an album called Muzyka fruwającej ryby (Music of the Flying Fish), a year after their Roots album, which has already become a classic. None of the big record companies were willing to put out Roots," remembers Kurtis. "Their bosses, who were once alternative musicians themselves and my colleagues too, apparently decided that our music was too obscure for the mass audience and would not sell well." So Kurtis started his own label, Milo Records, and released the album in cooperation with the Selles company. Commenting on Muzyka fruwającej ryby, Kurtis says, "Although this may not sound very objective, I think it is our best record so far."
Osjan is gaining momentum. Concerts scheduled for the fall will probably prove that Osjan deserves its place at the forefront of Polish independent groups.

Jacek Ostaszewski - flety proste, chiński flet bambusowy,koreańska harfa kaya-kum, voc. Wojtek Waglewski - gitara 12 strunowa, sanza, voc.
Radosław Nowakowski - conga, instrumenty perkusyjne
Milo Kurtis - calanu, drumle, instrumenty perkusyjne

BadSeeds - Liberty Bell



TheBadSeeds were the first rock group of note to come out of Corpus Christi, Texas, itself a hotbed of garage-rock activity during the middle/late 1960s. They started when guitarist/singer Mike Taylor and bassist Herb Edgeington, then member of a local band called the Four Winds, met up with lead guitarist Rod Prince and drummer Robert Donahoe, who had been playing in a rival band called the Titans until its demise. Prince wanted to form a new group, and he,
Taylor and Edgeington became the core of theBadSeeds, who were signed to the local J-Beck label in 1966. They stayed together long enough to record three singles during 1966, of which two, "A Taste of the Same"/"I'm a King Bee" and "All Night Long"/"Sick and Tired," are unabashed classics of blues-based garage-punk, three of them originals by Taylor (who wrote most of their originals) or Prince. Even their normally maligned second single, "Zilch Part 1"/"Zilch Part 2," has some worth as a pretty hot pair of throwaway tracks. The band's sound was the raunchy Rolling Stones-influenced garage-punk typical of Texas rock groups in the mid-'60s.

Following the breakup of the group after the summer of 1966, Mike Taylor became a writer and producer for the the Zakary Thaks, another Corpus Christi-based band (who were signed to J-Beck after being spotted playing on a bill with theBadSeeds), and also recorded singles in a folk-like mode as The Fabulous Michael. Rod Prince went on to become a key member of the legendary band
Bubble Puppy, who were signed to Leland Rogers' International Artists' label, and the post-psychedelic group Demian. ~ Bruce Eder & Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide

With a few breaks, the Liberty Bell might have been America's Yardbirds -- as it worked out, however, the group suffered the undeserved fate of being a footnote in the history of Corpus Christi rock bands. Formed in Corpus Christi, Texas in the mid-1960s, they were originally named the Zulus and played a mix of blues-rock drifting toward psychedelia, driven by some fairly ambitious guitar work by lead axeman Al Hunt. In 1967, they hooked up with Carl Becker, the co-owner of J-Beck Records, which, at the time, was recording the hottest local band, the Zakary Thaks. Becker signed them to his new Cee-Bee Records, and suggested a name change to the Liberty Bell.

The group's lineup at the time of their first single, a cover of the Yardbirds' "Nazz Are Blue" backed with a cover of
Willie Dixon's "Big Boss Man," included Ronnie Tanner on lead vocals, Al Hunt on lead guitar, Richard Painter on rhythm guitar, and Wayne Harrison on bass. This record did well enough locally to justify further recording, and these sessions yielded the best songs of the group's entire history, "Something For Me," "For What You Lack," "I Can See," and "That's How It Will Be." Fast-tempo, fuzz-drenched pieces with catchy hooks, these numbers made the group sound like an American version of the Yardbirds with more of an angry punk edge, courtesy of lead singer Ronnie Tanner. But the real star of the group was lead guitarist Al Hunt, who wrote most of the material in those days and played like Jeff Beck on a good day.

Tanner exited the group in early 1968 and was replaced by Chris Gemiottis, formerly of the Zakary Thaks, who also brought a quartet of original songs with him, which were somewhat less punk-oriented and attempted to be more profound. The group switched to the Back Beat label, which specialized in R&B flavored material. The Liberty Bell continued in its psychedelic/garage direction before releasing a soul-style number, "Naw Naw Naw" (on which only Gemiottis participated, with a studio band backing him) for their final single, late in 1968. The Liberty Bell came to an end in 1969 when Gemiottis returned to his former band. In 1995, however, Collectables Records released a 14-song collection of their music. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide

bad_seeds___liberty_bell_1966-67.part1.rar

Stark Reality - 1970 - Now

All Music Guide:
Probably the farthest out of any children's record, The Stark Reality Discovers Hoagy Carmichael's Music Shop descended on unwitting pre-teens in 1970, thanks to Boston's public-television station WGBH and one of its producers, Hoagy Bix Carmichael. The son of America's most celebrated songwriter, Carmichael conceived a special devoted to reintroducing a new generation to his father's 1958 children's record Hoagy Carmichael's Having a Party. Introduced to a jazz fusion band named the Stark Reality, who'd recorded music for WGBH in the past, he allowed group leader Monty Stark the chance to re-harmonize and re-imagine the compositions of Carmichael Sr. The results were less Electric Company and more Magic Band, though it appeared on the record shelves through AJP with a minimum of fuss.

Stark Reality appear not as an in-the-pocket funk band or agitated soul shouters, but as a group supremely talented at late-'60s fusion: half jazz-rock and half acid rock. Although a Hoagy Carmichael children's record from 1958 certainly has a low potential for reimagined flights of distorted frenzy, bandleader Monty Stark forced each of these compositions through extensive reharmonization, bringing them to the turned-on generation and, thus, making them sound hardly dated at all (at least, in 1970). The Stark Reality are most reminiscent of Larry Coryell or the early Soft Machine; they state a bizarre, barely tuneful theme, then spend a period of time making that theme sensible to listeners, and often insanely catchy, by improvising on it extensively -- worrying it to death with fuzztone guitar, distorted vibraphone, and nimble, scaling basswork. Stark's vocals, which only come in occasionally, are of the psychedelic hillbilly variety, a monotoned parody of his Oklahoma accent singing of the months in the year, cooking, making friends, and on the highlight "Rocket Ship," a ride into space.
___

This band is fantastically tight, and the distorted vibraphone is really something else!!!

@256
Part 1
Part 2 or Part 2

Bobb Trimble - Harvest of Dreams

Bobb Trimble - Harvest of Dreams

01 - Premonitons (Fantasy)
02 - If Words Were All I Had
03 - Armour Of The Shroud
04 - Premonitions (Reality)
05 - Take Me Home Vienna
06 - Selling Me Short
07 - Oh Baby
08 - Paralyzed
09 - Another Lonely Angel

"Harvest Of Dreams" 1982 (Bobb no #)
"Harvest" is equally as good as the debut, but has the edge for many because it packs such a powerful and mysterious emotional punch. Those who know the majority of the album's songs from the CD will be surprised to find a brief punk song and two and a half minutes of silence on the album, but once you're used to them they make perfect sense and add immeasurably to the depth of the record. It's notable that amidst all of the despair here, both sides open with the most joyous songs you'll ever hear. Everyone reading this needs to hear both Trimble albums. [AM]
~~~~~~
see full-length review

Bobb Trimble@MySpace

Deep Freeze Mice - 1981 - Teenage Head In My Refrigerator


Deep Freeze Mice - 1981 - Teenage Head In My Refrigerator

01 I Like Digestive Biscuits In My Coffee (3.52)
02 Dr. Z (3.39)
03 The Letter Song (Scrib) (3.18)
04 My Geraniums Are Bbulletproof (4.13)
05 Peter Smith Is A Banana (2.05)
06 Hegel's Brain (0.55)
07 Esther (3.29)
08 Vera (5.51)
09 God (3.28)
10 Path To You (6.02)
11 Dictatorship Of The Proletariat (2.13)
12 Teenage Head In My refrigerator (3.38)
13 You Took The Blue One (2.32)
14 Esther (3.22)
15 Red Light For The Greens (4.23)
16 Minstrel Radio Yoghurt (2.30)

Graham Summers: drums
Michael Bunnage: bass
Sherree Lawrence: organ
Alan Jenkins: guitar

Biography:
Do-it-yourself post-punk band the Deep Freeze Mice released ten records in their decade-long existence, beginning as amateurs with no formal knowledge of what they were embarking on. The original lineup -- guitarist/vocalist Alan Jenkins, bassist Mick Bunnage (of the Statics), keyboardist Sherree Lawrence, and drummer Graham Summers (also of the Statics) -- stayed intact until the release of the band's third record, The Gates of Lunch. After the departure of Summers and the acquisition of replacement Pete Gregory, the lineup remained until their breakup in 1989. Leader Jenkins (who was also involved with the Chrysanthemums and Ruth's Refrigerator during the existence of his primary band) continued afterwards in the Creams and the Thurston Lava Tube. All of Deep Freeze Mice's records were released in small quantities through the band's labels, Mole Embalming and Cordelia.
AMG~by Andy Kellman

More info Here

Fooz - Fooz II : Space Is Dark... It Is So Endless


Fooz - 2005 - Fooz II : Space Is Dark... It Is So Endless

01 Space is Deep
02 Mine
03 Smoke is Over
04 Earthwind
05 Flower's on Me
06 Astronomy Domine
07 Earthwind
08 Alone You Stand
09 Merely a Number (Clouds of Words)
10 Flower's on Me (Unreleased)
11 Cool Guys
12 Mine
13 Smoke is Over
14 Leaf Tale (Unreleased)
15 There is a Place (Unreleased)
16 Hifooz/Mixhole Masterdoom

Ignacio FUENTES: song
Juan Angel GOMEZ: guitar
Andrés LIZON: low
Pablo BANON: battery

Formation in 1995. Labelisation in 2001. Separation in 2002. As much to say that the hour of glory of Fooz will particularly quickly have been passed…
One dared more nothing to hope of this Spanish quartet after unexpected Split the day before their European round 2002, which was judicious to support their first homonymous album left one year earlier at quite as Spanish label Alone Records.

And yet, in 2005, Fooz is reproduced indeed on the list of the artists Alone Records. By which miracle? None… It is right which the group, undoubtedly corroded by the remord to have left its supporters on their hunger, had the idea to carry out a EP joining together 6 acoustic titles.
It is there that the miracle intervenes, since “Fooz II: Space Is Dark… It Is So Endless” gathers finally 16 pieces. Dissection of miraculés in question: 6 acoustics planned for the EP, the 8 titles of the first album in original mixing, and 3 news to crown the whole. There, you will complain that that made 17 and not 16; well considering: the last 2 titles of the preceding album, “HiFooz” and “Mixhole Masterdoom”, were aggregate in only one and single 16th track. With final, not far 80 very goûteuses minutes which ravel without one realizing some.

The principal explanation to this phenomenon lies in the eclecticism of Fooz II, which ignites gradually and intermittently while opening and being completed by quiet accoustics, to leave place, the air of nothing, with interludes much more electric with the riffs more fuzzy and psychedelic, often marked by a rather strong tendency to (space…) jam, the whole is not without pointing out the style of Dutch (feus) 7zuma7, which them also gave in scrapes dries besides. These two groups also in common have certain sources of inspiration like Hawkwind or Pink Floyd, to which Fooz brilliantly pays homage with the respective resumptions of “Space Is Deep” (which engages the album) and “Astronomy Domine”.
The best demonstration of this eclecticism must be “Flower' S One Me”, piece with sonorities clearly rétros (limit hippie), on which the singular presence of a mélotron can let to us think that the group does not hate either Doors…

From beginning to end, this disc is a treat on which titles with very different resonances, are however connected with a disconcerting harmony. This pretty wafer, by its diversity, should fill as well the beginner as the amateur of space rock'n'roll. In 16 titles, it will completely summarize with the beginner the multiple variations which this musical style can take; while it will be satisfied to recall them to the amateur, under their best day which more is…
Fooz ll - space is dark… it is so endless in three words: simple, planing, sinusoidal.

Black Sun Ensemble - 1989 - Lambent Flame


Black Sun Ensemble - 1989 - Lambent Flame

“Black Sun Ensemble might be the ultimate example of desert rock. Guitarist Jesus Acedo summons up inspiration from influences like the Grateful Dead, Captain Beefheart and John Fahey, leading his band through a series of fascinating, atmospheric compositions, all of which fall somewhere between the psychedelic and the mystic.”
RECORD COLLECTOR
Black Sun Ensemble hit like classic John Fahey one sec and a fuzz-boxed Jeff Cotton the next.
The instruments come at ya with these notes that look like peacock feathers,
but feel more like whale bones when they hit. Incredible. “
-FORCED EXPOSURE NO. 10

This is the world of Jesus Acedo of Tucson, AZ, maybe the greatest guitar player in psychedelia the last 20 years.

Bio from the Black Sun Ensemble website:
A self-titled debut album was released by Tucson's Pyknotic Records in 1985. Its extraordinary qualities led Acedo to sign a five-year contract with England's Reckless Records, and in 1988 the label released "Black Sun Ensemble" (1988), "Lambent Flame" (1989) and "Elemental Forces" (1991). These records were a critical and commercial success. At the time, Offbeat exclaimed that BSE was "possibly, the world's coolest band." After touring the West Coast with Camper Van Beethoven in support of "Lambent Flame" the Ensemble was captured live on the first side of "Tragic Magic" (1992) for Rough Trade. The second side was a magical suite of mostly acoustic pieces that presaged the extensive title track of the later "Sky Pilot" CD.

The inexorable weight of personnel changes, drugs and unexpected success eventually unbalanced Acedo's mental stability. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1992 and spent the next two years in and out of local hospitals. During his breakdown, the band recorded the ill-fated "Psycho Master El" album for Tucson's San Jacinto Records (1994). This record was remixed and remastered in 1998 for Camera Obscura Records. The results were issued as "Sky Pilot" in 1999, which also included rare Black Sun singles tracks and a brand new 20-minute work called "Sky Pilot Suite". "Sky Pilot" got rave reviews by critics and sold well locally and internationally. The Ensemble began playing regular gigs, impressing a whole new generation of listeners. News of Black Sun's return to the stage was appreciated by grunge-rock legend Mark Arm of Mudhoney, who engineered a shared performance at Tucson's Club Congress in early 2001. In February 2001, Camera Obscura reissued the debut Black Sun Ensemble recording from 1985, again to extraordinary reviews.

On the wave of recent success, Acedo has brought himself back from madness, poverty and potential obscurity. He is now recapturing his old fire by re-inventing himself, and is working to re-establish his rightful place as one of the key guitarists of our time. This was reinforced by the 2002 CD "Hymn of the Master", and even more so by the 2003 CD "Starlight". BSE continue to be a hit at annual SXSW festivals and elsewhere. In October 2006, Black Sun Ensemble released their 11th studio release, "Bolt of Apollo", licensed by SlowBurn Records to Camera Obscura Records. The release, celebrating the band's 20th anniversary, was met with excitement from fans all over the world. Currently, BSE is in post production on their next album called "Across the Sea of Id: The Way to Eden."



'Lambent Flame' was Black Sun Ensemble's second album for Reckless, and maybe the best of the three released in this UK label. Odin Helgison had joined the band on vocals (the two previous releases were instrumental), the production was good and Acedo more confident than ever. A true masterpiece, sadly never reissued, after Reckless' folding.




Rolling Stone-June 29, 1989: Now imagine the later Ummagumma-style Floyd zoning on psilocybin and frying out in the Arizona sun. Lambent Flame the second album by Tucson’s Black Sun Ensemble, is serious ghost-dance psychedelia, starring the agro-raga guitar of leader Jesus Acedo. The cosmic flippancy of titles like “Sunset on the Sphinx” and “Da Da is Gaga” belies the earthy wallop of the band and the urgent concentration of Acedo’s soloing.

Public Nuisance - Gotta Survive

Public Nuisance was, until the early 2000s, unknown to all but the most fervent 1960s garage rock fanatics, mostly for the very good reason that they never released a record. The Sacramento outfit did play quite a bit live in California in the last half of the 1960s, and did a lot of unreleased recordings in 1968 and 1969 that never saw the light of day. This condition was remedied in 2002, when an astounding full, double-CD of tracks was issued, Gotta Survive, mostly taken from those unissued late-'60s sessions. These revealed them to be a respectable, though hardly phenomenal, group that integrated raw garage rock snarl with more experimental psychedelic guitar textures and song structures, with the occasional pop/rock influence as well. In these respects, they were akin to numerous California groups of the time, perhaps retaining their punkier elements more strongly and for longer than most. They got into not only some ambitious sounds, but also some ambitious lyrics that reflected the era's rebellion and questioning of established values, as well as expressing more conventional romantic sentiments.


Public Nuisance's roots were in the mid-'60s garage band the Jaguars, who changed their name to Moss & the Rocks. Under that moniker, they recorded a folk-rock-flavored garage single, "There She Goes"/"Please Come Back," for the small local Ikon label. Later that year, they re-recorded both tunes for a single on Chattahoochee. Both 45s are very rare and by 1967, they had changed their name to Public Nuisance and gone in more psychedelic directions without forsaking their garage energy.

Public Nuisance opened for acts such as the Doors, Buffalo Springfield, Sonny & Cher, and the Grateful Dead and did some unreleased recordings at Fantasy in San Francisco. However, they didn't have a record deal until some demos in late 1968 helped get them a contract with Equinox, run by noted Hollywood producer Terry Melcher (who had worked with the Byrds and Paul Revere & the Raiders). At the end of 1968 and the beginning of 1969, they recorded an album's worth of songs, but nothing was ever released, on Equinox or elsewhere.

Public Nuisance disbanded around 1970, with guitarist David Houston producing and playing keyboards with the new wave band the Twinkeyz in the 1970s and going on to produce Steel Breeze and Club Nouveau. The unreleased 1968-1969 sessions sound almost anachronistically unpolished by the standards of the day's psychedelic acts, and perhaps none of these would have been released if the band had been granted a chance to officially issue an album. However, in 2002, they were retrieved and issued by Frantic Records on a well-packaged archival release that will be of interest to intense fans of the late-'60s garage/psychedelic sound and is more diverse and eclectic than many other reissues of such bands.

Source : AMG

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Beatnik Flies- 1984 - From Parts Unknown




Beatnik Flies- 1984 - From Parts Unknown

A group from Washington, DC scene, better known in Europe, than in the U.S. Their first record, 'From Parts Unknown' was originally released on Dacoit (Kim 'Slickee Boys' Kane's label) and was produced by Mark Noone, another Slickee Boy. It was reissued in 1986 by the french label New Rose. Their second LP, 'Behind These Walls' was released in 1988 again on New Rose. In the 90s they released 'PsychoMetalPop - The Lost Cause of the Beatnik Flies', a compilation CD from their LPs. They reunited in 2004. In their website they're announcing a new record (end of 2005) which apparently never came out. -Edit: the record came out! see the comments.
Beatnik Flies were considered part of the garage/psychedelic revival of the 80s, but I don't think this is totally accurate. Their sound in this LP, although guitar-based, and having certainely psychedelic touches, could be described as "garage-with-brains", owing much to the Slickee Boys, who dominated the DC scene. They play some streightforward rock tracks, garage-surf tunes (as Brain Waves), Nuggets-like psychedelia (Message from the Undergound), they even play a Lennon song (I found out). They definitely know how to play their instruments, they have humor and, I'm sure, they were having fun, playing the music they like, without considering to be part of the one or the other genre. I guess that's what underground is all about.

Line-up
Joe Dolan vcls, gtr / John Stone gtr, vcls /Kenny Bugg bs, vcls /Britt Malmgren drms, vcls

tracklist
Everybody's Dancin'
Umbali Wali Sleep
Be A Man
Brain waves
Hitchike
Message from the underground
Black Diamond Halo
Luxury Dreamride
Beatnick Fly theme
I found out
T.V.star
Wombat Voodoo

Monday, December 25, 2006

Tritonus - 1976 - Between The Universes



1. Between the Universes (9:58)
2. Mars Detection (8:08)

3. Suburban Day Suite (17:48)

i. The Day Awakes 7:55
ii. The Day Works 5:53

iii. The Day Rests 3:58


Total Time: 35:54

Line-up -

Peter K. Seiler / organ, piano, synthesizers
Ronald Brand / bass, vocals, gui

Their second and final album was a bit more original than the first one, but is it much better? This one sounds more symphonic, spacey and grandiose. The keyboard-arrangements sounds quite good on the album, and there's still a slight Emerson-influence here. The band had also added some choir-arrangements on the title-track and "The Day Works". The last mentioned track is the second part of the three-part suite "Suburban Day Suite" which takes up the whole second side of the album. The title-track has a very cosmic, almost religious spacey symphonic progressive rock sound to it, and the band managed to make a sound of their own here. "Mars Detection" is a VERY spacey instrumental based in a lot of electronics. Very hypnotic and German sounding(ELOY style). "Suburban Day Suite" is atmospheric and symphonic with some beautiful melodies and themes through all of the three parts.

source : http://vintageprog.com/ttt2.htm


Download Link :

http://rapidshare.com/files/8774965/Tritonus.rar

Rotary Connection - 1968 - Peace


A psychedelic soul Christmas album!
Peace is what i wish to everyone of you!
Merry Christmas my friends!

1. Opening Round 1.55
2. Silent Night 3.48
3. Christmas Love 3.12
4. Last Call For Peace 2.54
5. Shopping Bag Menagerie 3.53
6. Silent Night 3.48
7. Christmas Child 2.44
8. Piece At Least 4.14
9. Santa's Little Helpers 0.37
10. Sidewalk Santa 4.25
11. If Peace Was All We Had 1.15
12. Silent Night Chant 4.38
13. Silence 0.29

Rotary Connection's psychedelic chamber soul continues to sound ambitious and progressive decades after the group's departure. Instantly recognizable from the dramatic string arrangements of Charles Stepney and the five-octave voice of Minnie Riperton, the group released six albums between 1967 and 1971 that combined rock, soul, and psychedelia to theatrical and occasionally transcendental heights.
Popular music was in the middle of the psychedelic era, and Marshall felt that the venerable Chess company needed something more progressive. He then combined a white rock group with black voices he had at Chess, mainly that of Minnie Riperton and Sidney Barnes, and brought in a talented classically trained arranger, Charles Stepney, to translate his ideas during production.Marshall and his work with the Rotary Connection emphasized an ensemble sound, especially on their stunning debut album, so it was not until the group's second album, Aladdin (1968), that one can hear a substantial lead by Riperton.Rotary Connection's most commercially successful album was their Christmas album, Peace (1968), in which the group managed to reproduce a Christmassy album that was also progressive and psychedelic.With the Songs (1969) album, Rotary Connection not only uses Minnie as an alternate lead but also as an instrument, where her otherworldly trilling soars to stratospheric heights and is heard gloriously throughout each song.Riperton as a featured soloist greatly benefited from new developments in Rotary Connection's highly underrated fifth album, Dinner Music (1970), in which guitarist Jon Stocklin came to the forefront as a compositional talent. His songs brought new vigor to the band and gave Minnie some terrific original songs that showcased her as a lead vocalist.One of the most popular of the Rotary Connetion songs was a Stocklin standout, the hypnotic Want You To Know, which proved to be the group's most successful single, if success is the correct word for a song that reached only #96 and lasted only two weeks on the pop chart.In 1971 Rotary Connection released their last album, Hey, Love, capturing the breezy Brazilian jazz-pop music of Sergio Mendes, who was a rage at that time.

Downloand link

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