Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Skryvania - Skryvania (1978)
Back in the mid 70s, the almost fully instrumental quartet SKRYVANIA came from the union of a bunch of French teenage prog-heads - still in high school - who wanted to emulate their musical idols: YES, GENESIS, PINK FLOYD. While doing their first gigs as a prog cover band, they started to create their own ideas, and by the end of 1977 they had enough original material to fill a long-play: by that time, original keyboardist Henry-Jean Aubin had been replaced by Harold Bazobka. Their low budget didn’t allow them to have the benefit of a solidly professional recording studio, although a famous local radio presenter and sound engineer was in charge of the production of the band’s sole recording. Maybe this was the factor that helped the resulting record to sound the best it could under these c...Back in the mid 70s, the almost fully instrumental quartet SKRYVANIA came from the union of a bunch of French teenage prog-heads - still in high school - who wanted to emulate their musical idols: YES, GENESIS, PINK FLOYD. While doing their first gigs as a prog cover band, they started to create their own ideas, and by the end of 1977 they had enough original material to fill a long-play: by that time, original keyboardist Henry-Jean Aubin had been replaced by Harold Bazobka. Their low budget didn’t allow them to have the benefit of a solidly professional recording studio, although a famous local radio presenter and sound engineer was in charge of the production of the band’s sole recording. Maybe this was the factor that helped the resulting record to sound the best it could under these circumstances. The band’s obscure status was very much due to the fact that the album’s promotion was almost inexistent: the foursome’s inexperience led them to focus exclusively on playing gigs without leaving some room for promotion in radio programs or magazines. All in all, the sound quality is not terrible (compared with the demo selection of early CORTE DEI MIRACOLI material in “Dimensione Onirica” or ARACHNOID’s album), and it doesn’t prevent the listener from appreciating the level of compositional inventiveness and solid interaction developed by all four musicians throughout the album’s track list.SKRYVANIA’s prog style portrays a feel very much related to that of their compatriots PULSAR, as well as Floyd-influenced German bands such as ELOY and NOVALIS: the abundant use of hypnotic keyboard layers (on organ and string synth, mostly) creates that impression. On the other hand, Olivier Marina’s guitar leads sounds very influenced by Andy Latimer and Steve Hackett, albeit with a rougher edge: the importance of the guitar presence makes the band’s overall sound lean closer to MONA LISA and the rockier facet of classic GENESIS. The band is decidedly centered on the symphonic trend of prog, with an added touch of spacey psychedelia.
“Skryvania” is a true collector’s item: highly recommended to resolute symphonic prog lovers who feel capable of appreciating good prog under mediocre sound quality circumstances.
Cesar Inca, PERU ProgArchives
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The Winkies - The Winkies (1975)
Recorded well before the release date of '75, The Winkies debut is a credible release of pub rock songs in the same mould as Graham Parker's backing band The Rumour with the R&B roots of Dr Feelgood.Brian Eno (who The Winkies toured with as his backing band), makes a guest appearance on one track and with production credited to Ten Years After bass player Leo Lyons.
Only available on CD on Japanese import at present and at a silly cost. Anyone remotely interested in this sort of music with that bar room kick, should have a search for head man Philip Rambow's two excellent solo efforts....Shooting Gallery and Jungle Law, of which both better this album by a long stretch.
Rambow of course, went on to be a hit songwriter and gained a number one spot with "There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop, Swears He's Elvis" for Kirsty MacColl in 1981. By mojojeff
By request!
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Sunday, July 22, 2007
Kitchen Cynics - Parallel Dog Days (2003)
Now, who is Kitchen Cynics ? Many will agree he's a poetic genius. Musically every song becomes like a coloured miniature. All the guitar fingerpicking steps gently into the story's' tremblings. Surreal musical toy-like accompaniment finishes off the mood. Alan personally found some relative similar empathy with Pearls Before Swine's and Tom Rapp's kind of approach to music. But Alan's music is not from the 70's, but still, the acid folk gentleness of the gems, has survived. He is not afraid to use a rhythm box a few times, subtle and carefully enough mixed, a bit more to the back. The poetic approach is that much more inspiring to me, that each time when I hear a new couple of songs by him, no matter after how much time has elapsed, any writer's block dissolves, and I start to feel inspired to writing again. I consider the Kitchen Cynics as having created a psych folk genre on its own. It's all home-made, but well recorded. For new listeners this can work as the 'Alice in Wonderland' for the private life.Before this release came out I had a dream about a new KC release in the form of a small labyrinth cardboard-game with a tiny ball, with the plate full of pictures. There actually is another -card board- game with funny pictures in the inner side of the sleeve. I feel this similarity as another proof and aspect of how I feel the K.C. stimulate various connections with a parallel (dream-)world of experiences, which you can expect as a poetic picture, a funny shadow, all from another, perhaps cynic side of reality. Taken from brilliant Psychevanhetfolk
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Saturday, July 21, 2007
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Los Microwaves
Los Microwaves play quirky synth-pop with a punk attitude, rhythmic ("Time To Get Up") and melodic ("What's That Got To Do"). The band prove a formidable groove machine ("TV In My Eye", "Coast To Coast"), worthy successors of the B-52's and Polyrock.
Despite the seemingly pop settings, electronics can border on dissonance ("Is There Life After Breakfast"), while the group can easily adapt it's style to incorporate the surf stylings of "Forever", the jazzy bassline & keyboards of "Postponed Is Not Forgotten", the synth-brass of "La Voix Humaine", the no-wave of "If You Want It" etc.
Los Microwaves are synth-punks with an uncanny ability for grooves, as well as an intellectual background. By ILY
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Los Microwaves - Life After Breakfast (1981)
Despite the seemingly pop settings, electronics can border on dissonance ("Is There Life After Breakfast"), while the group can easily adapt it's style to incorporate the surf stylings of "Forever", the jazzy bassline & keyboards of "Postponed Is Not Forgotten", the synth-brass of "La Voix Humaine", the no-wave of "If You Want It" etc.
Los Microwaves are synth-punks with an uncanny ability for grooves, as well as an intellectual background. By ILY
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Los Microwaves - Life After Breakfast (1981)
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Sunday, July 08, 2007
Tortilla Flat - Für ein 3/4 Stündchen (1974)
In the early 1970s, there were plenty of German bands playing an exciting blend of psychedelic, cosmic rock, and free jazz. There was another movement that played music which was later to be known as Industrial with its metronomic, rigid rhythms and fuzzy sounding instruments. All of the above are generally tagged with the all encompassing Krautrock tag. However, there was a much smaller group of bands in Germany that took to the Canterbury sound, a complex, highly melodic and jazzy approach to music that was popular in England at that time. Brainstorm, Tomorrow's Gift on Goodbye Future and, to a lesser extent, Missus Beastly were proteges of this style. Tortilla Flat falls into this latter group, though with a Continental slant very similar to the Dutch group Supersister.Tortilla Flat's sole album is an instrumental exercise in superb jazz composition combined with tight rhythms and driving rock guitar. Tortilla Flat were a six-piece with flute, electric and acoustic guitar, bass/fuzz bass, drums, percussion, and electric piano. The primary lead instrument here is the flute, with plenty of room given to the Rhodes piano and biting fuzz guitar, while the melodies are bouncy and playful, recalling Supersister's 1970 masterpiece Present From Nancy. The sole difference is that Tortilla Flat is a bit more jazzy and less psychedelic than their proteges from next door. This fact probably has more to do with the styles of the year 1975 than anything else. The seven tracks on display feature plenty of room for improvisational jamming over complex rhythms while the compositions are memorable and, at times, beautiful.
Unfortunately this treasure has never seen any kind of reissue (LP or CD). Only available as a very expensive original - if you can even find it! Tom Hayes Gnosis 2000
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The Group Image - A Mouth in the Clouds (1968)
This eccentric New York hippie collective recorded only one album, which makes its CD debut here. A superb collection of psychedelia, touching on folk, jazz and electronica, it has been compared to Jefferson Airplane, the Mamas & the Papas and Tim Buckley, but ultimately has a sound of its own that makes it a treat for all fans of genuine acid psychedelia. Originally released in 1968. Freak EmporiumRate Your Music
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KC - Les Chants De Maldoror (2002)
KC is a talented Parisian composer and multi-instrumentalist - Les Chants De Maldoror from 2002 is his first album and takes its title from the controversial novel of the Count De Lautreamont. The music itself is completely instrumental! Rate Your Music
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Third Eye
Progressive psychedelic band from South Africa
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The Third Eye - Awakening... (1969) & Searching (1969)
The Third Eye - Brother (1970)
Hook - Hooked! (1969)
With a crashing organ chord, and a cry of "GOOD GOD!!", the Hook returns with a triumphant second disc. Give them credit for recognizing their limitations. For their second album, the group replaced their drummer, and added a keyboard player. While still missing a bona-fide songwriter, the result is a fuller, more varied sound that still manages to retain their astronomical energy level.The front side presents them at the absolute top of their game. Three blistering rockers ("Go", a stretched out remake of the debut's "Son of Fantasy", and a cover of The Kinks"You're Lookin' Fine" that gives new meaning to the concept of "potency"), and a surprisingly effective ballad ("Magic in the Air"), that should have been a breakout hit.
Side two cools off a bit, bracketed by two less than stellar compositions ("Hook Can Cook", and "You Don't Have to Stay", the latter an example of a needless misogyny that is sporadically apparent in their catalogue), but redeems itself with a cover of Ike & Tina Turner's "All Around the World", the engaging "A Beautiful Tomorrow", and the slight but endearing "Love Theme in E Major".
Unfortunately, after one further pleasant but forgettable non-album single, the Hook disbanded, with bassist Buddy Sklar becoming a ubiquitous session musician, and keyboardist Dennis Provisor eventually turning up in The Grass Roots. The band's entire catalogue begs for a legitimate CD reissue (which could be accomplished by way of a single disc). The Hook may not have been the best band of their era, but they made the most of what they had, which makes them one of the most compelling. ochsfan
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Thursday, July 05, 2007
Ticket - Awake (1972) & Let Sleeping Dogs Lie (1972)
During the period of 1972, Ticket were New Zealand's ultimate acid band.
Guitarist Eddie Hansen emerged on the music scene in a group called Revival, which also contained vocalist Craig Scott. When Craig went solo in April 1970, the Revival broke up. At that point Eddie left Christchurch and headed to Auckland. He accepted a gig with Challenge, who were in their last days, after having had a couple of successful hits. He quickly realised that he shared a common interest in the styles of music of the likes of Crazy Horse, Traffic and Jimi Hendrix, with Challenge drummer Ricky Ball. The two of them decided to form their own group, in order to be able to play their preferred style of music.
The pair looked around for some like-minded musicians to join them, and found Paul Woolright to play bass guitar and Trevor Tombleson for vocals. With this line-up, Ticket was formed in May 1970.
Ricky Ball started his career with a group called the Beatboys, then the Courtiers, before becoming a member of the Challenge. Trevor Tombleson played bass guitar back in 1965 with a group called Moses and the Munks, before joining the Jamestown Union. He eventually left that group to pursue a solo career as M.T. Davies in 1967. Trevor became friends with Ricky Ball, and this friendship developed, with Ricky asking Trevor to join Ticket.
Ticket started playing gigs around Auckland, but were not getting enough work to pay the bills. Eddie called Trevor Spitz in Christchurch to see if he could help out with a venue. Trevor had been with the Four Fours and when he left them in 1966 he got a job managing Phil Warren's Monaco nightspot in Christchurch. This was the venue that Revival had played at. Trevor asked for a demo tape and after listening to it got the group a gig at another of Warren's venues, Aubreys, in Christchurch.
It was at Aubreys that Ticket developed a sound that was radically different to what any of them had previously played. Trevor Tombleson was one of the better singers of the underground scene, but it was Hansen's instrumental prowess which dominated the band. Tombleson wailed and Hansen scorched, and behind them stood one of the tightest rhythm sections around. Ricky provided a solid and relentless beat and Paul was the perfect partner to Ball's hard hitting style, holding down the bottom end with precision and just a touch of funk.
By mid-1971 Ticket had outgrown their Aubreys venue, and during that time had built up a big following in other South Island centres. In July 1971 the group decided to head north. Their reputation preceded them and concerts at Universities along the way were well attended and received. In Auckland the group came to the attention of promoters Barry Coburn and Robert Raymond. With new promotional power, the group supported Daddy Cool on their tour, and then headlined Coburn-Raymond's National Blues Rock Convention held at the Wellington Opera House. This attracted a capacity crowd and was also broadcast live on radio.
In October 1971, New Zealand's first international outdoor concert was held when Elton John had his debut show at Auckland's Western Springs. The support slot was well sought after and Ticket were successful, performing in front of 20,000 people.
Coburn even had his own record label, Down Under, so once again with his influence, Ticket recorded and released their first single. Actually released on the Ode label the single was "Country High"/"Highway Of Love". This was very successful for an underground group at the time, with "Country High" spending five weeks on the National charts in December 1971, peaking at number 12.
The follow-up single was "Dream Chant"/"Awake". Released on Down Under, it was not as successful, even though "Dream Chant" had been one of the group's most popular numbers back in their days at Aubreys. In May 1972, their debut album, "Awake", was released. "Awake" was produced by Frank Douglas at HMV Studios and released on the Ode label.
A third single "Stoned Condition"/"Then You'll Fly" was released on Down Under, but it was banned by the NZBC. In June 1972, Ticket crossed the Tasman, to perform a month long residency at Sydney's Whiskey-Go-Go. The reaction at the Whiskey exceeded everyone's expectations, and rather than returning to Auckland, Sydney based Robert Raymond secured them another residency at Chequers, another prestige gig. Performances in Queensland and Victoria followed.
While in Australia, a single was released there, "Awake"/"Country Radio", on Atlantic. Also while in Melbourne, the group recorded their second album, "Let Sleeping Dogs Lie". This was self-produced and recorded at Channel Nine's 16-track studio. The album was released in late 1972.
Everyone was happy with the album, except Eddie. He was becoming increasingly unhappy with Ball and Woolright's scotch and speed lifestyle, and the pounding beat which was at odds with the atmosphere he was trying to create. Eddie was becoming disillusioned with the hippie / drugs lifestyle.
Meanwhile back in Auckland, Coburn and Raymond, along with Hugh Lynn, had purchased a downtown nightspot, primarily to be used as a home base for Ticket. Management had great faith in the band and had huge plans for the boys over the next twelve months. Coburn and Raymond were in the process of organising a Woodstock style festival at Ngaruawahia for early 1973. Ticket would be given a key slot on the bill and, following the festival, would support headliners Black Sabbath on their Australian tour. This, they believed, would really break the group across the Tasman. That done, they would then head to the US in mid-year.
Ticket returned to New Zealand in November 1972 and opened the new Auckland venue, Levi's Saloon. Fans didn't seem to notice the growing animosity in the band, but it came to a head at the Ngaruawahia Festival. The crowd loved Ticket's performance, but Hansen was disgusted. It was their last gig.
Another single was released in New Zealand, "Mr Music"/"Let Sleeping Dogs Lie", while in Australia the b-side was "Them Changes". "Mr Music" was an uncharacteristic piece of funk which should have been a hit but wasn't.
After a few months break, Hansen reformed Ticket, with Glen Absolum on drums, Billy Williams on bass guitar and Steve Gunn on vocals. It just wasn't the same, even when Tombleson returned to take over from Steve Gunn. The group had disbanded by the end of 1973.
Tombleson changed his name to Trevor Keith and enjoyed a brief stint with England's Keef Hartley Band in the mid-70's and was later a member of Monsoon, a Melbourne band of expatriate Kiwis.
Eddie Hansen had been converted to Hare Krishna at this stage, the result of his close friendship with Harvey Mann. Eddie played for a short time in 1974 with Band Of Light, but by 1975 he was together with Harvey Mann in Living Force. In 1974 Ricky Ball and Paul Woolright were members of Rainbow. Ricky left that group in August 1976 to become a member of Hello Sailor. In 1980, Paul, Ricky and Eddie all ended up at the same time in Beaver. Taken from here
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Guitarist Eddie Hansen emerged on the music scene in a group called Revival, which also contained vocalist Craig Scott. When Craig went solo in April 1970, the Revival broke up. At that point Eddie left Christchurch and headed to Auckland. He accepted a gig with Challenge, who were in their last days, after having had a couple of successful hits. He quickly realised that he shared a common interest in the styles of music of the likes of Crazy Horse, Traffic and Jimi Hendrix, with Challenge drummer Ricky Ball. The two of them decided to form their own group, in order to be able to play their preferred style of music.
The pair looked around for some like-minded musicians to join them, and found Paul Woolright to play bass guitar and Trevor Tombleson for vocals. With this line-up, Ticket was formed in May 1970.
Ricky Ball started his career with a group called the Beatboys, then the Courtiers, before becoming a member of the Challenge. Trevor Tombleson played bass guitar back in 1965 with a group called Moses and the Munks, before joining the Jamestown Union. He eventually left that group to pursue a solo career as M.T. Davies in 1967. Trevor became friends with Ricky Ball, and this friendship developed, with Ricky asking Trevor to join Ticket.
Ticket started playing gigs around Auckland, but were not getting enough work to pay the bills. Eddie called Trevor Spitz in Christchurch to see if he could help out with a venue. Trevor had been with the Four Fours and when he left them in 1966 he got a job managing Phil Warren's Monaco nightspot in Christchurch. This was the venue that Revival had played at. Trevor asked for a demo tape and after listening to it got the group a gig at another of Warren's venues, Aubreys, in Christchurch.
It was at Aubreys that Ticket developed a sound that was radically different to what any of them had previously played. Trevor Tombleson was one of the better singers of the underground scene, but it was Hansen's instrumental prowess which dominated the band. Tombleson wailed and Hansen scorched, and behind them stood one of the tightest rhythm sections around. Ricky provided a solid and relentless beat and Paul was the perfect partner to Ball's hard hitting style, holding down the bottom end with precision and just a touch of funk.
By mid-1971 Ticket had outgrown their Aubreys venue, and during that time had built up a big following in other South Island centres. In July 1971 the group decided to head north. Their reputation preceded them and concerts at Universities along the way were well attended and received. In Auckland the group came to the attention of promoters Barry Coburn and Robert Raymond. With new promotional power, the group supported Daddy Cool on their tour, and then headlined Coburn-Raymond's National Blues Rock Convention held at the Wellington Opera House. This attracted a capacity crowd and was also broadcast live on radio.
In October 1971, New Zealand's first international outdoor concert was held when Elton John had his debut show at Auckland's Western Springs. The support slot was well sought after and Ticket were successful, performing in front of 20,000 people.
Coburn even had his own record label, Down Under, so once again with his influence, Ticket recorded and released their first single. Actually released on the Ode label the single was "Country High"/"Highway Of Love". This was very successful for an underground group at the time, with "Country High" spending five weeks on the National charts in December 1971, peaking at number 12.
The follow-up single was "Dream Chant"/"Awake". Released on Down Under, it was not as successful, even though "Dream Chant" had been one of the group's most popular numbers back in their days at Aubreys. In May 1972, their debut album, "Awake", was released. "Awake" was produced by Frank Douglas at HMV Studios and released on the Ode label.
A third single "Stoned Condition"/"Then You'll Fly" was released on Down Under, but it was banned by the NZBC. In June 1972, Ticket crossed the Tasman, to perform a month long residency at Sydney's Whiskey-Go-Go. The reaction at the Whiskey exceeded everyone's expectations, and rather than returning to Auckland, Sydney based Robert Raymond secured them another residency at Chequers, another prestige gig. Performances in Queensland and Victoria followed.While in Australia, a single was released there, "Awake"/"Country Radio", on Atlantic. Also while in Melbourne, the group recorded their second album, "Let Sleeping Dogs Lie". This was self-produced and recorded at Channel Nine's 16-track studio. The album was released in late 1972.
Everyone was happy with the album, except Eddie. He was becoming increasingly unhappy with Ball and Woolright's scotch and speed lifestyle, and the pounding beat which was at odds with the atmosphere he was trying to create. Eddie was becoming disillusioned with the hippie / drugs lifestyle.
Meanwhile back in Auckland, Coburn and Raymond, along with Hugh Lynn, had purchased a downtown nightspot, primarily to be used as a home base for Ticket. Management had great faith in the band and had huge plans for the boys over the next twelve months. Coburn and Raymond were in the process of organising a Woodstock style festival at Ngaruawahia for early 1973. Ticket would be given a key slot on the bill and, following the festival, would support headliners Black Sabbath on their Australian tour. This, they believed, would really break the group across the Tasman. That done, they would then head to the US in mid-year.
Ticket returned to New Zealand in November 1972 and opened the new Auckland venue, Levi's Saloon. Fans didn't seem to notice the growing animosity in the band, but it came to a head at the Ngaruawahia Festival. The crowd loved Ticket's performance, but Hansen was disgusted. It was their last gig.
Another single was released in New Zealand, "Mr Music"/"Let Sleeping Dogs Lie", while in Australia the b-side was "Them Changes". "Mr Music" was an uncharacteristic piece of funk which should have been a hit but wasn't.After a few months break, Hansen reformed Ticket, with Glen Absolum on drums, Billy Williams on bass guitar and Steve Gunn on vocals. It just wasn't the same, even when Tombleson returned to take over from Steve Gunn. The group had disbanded by the end of 1973.
Tombleson changed his name to Trevor Keith and enjoyed a brief stint with England's Keef Hartley Band in the mid-70's and was later a member of Monsoon, a Melbourne band of expatriate Kiwis.
Eddie Hansen had been converted to Hare Krishna at this stage, the result of his close friendship with Harvey Mann. Eddie played for a short time in 1974 with Band Of Light, but by 1975 he was together with Harvey Mann in Living Force. In 1974 Ricky Ball and Paul Woolright were members of Rainbow. Ricky left that group in August 1976 to become a member of Hello Sailor. In 1980, Paul, Ricky and Eddie all ended up at the same time in Beaver. Taken from here
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Matadors - Matadors (1968)
The Matadors were a Czech band who had hits in Germany and flourished during the 1968 anti communist uprising in Czech. Members of this band are now in the Czech Government! This CD is a collection of all their recordings. AMAZING, WILD Psych/Freakbeat that is like a cross between The Pretty things, early Floyd and Vanilla Fudge. A Total clasic with stunning sound quality, English vocals etc. Official release that contains 24 tracks including the rare EP's and singles that were issued on the Supraphon records (Czech releases only). Freak EmporiumRate Your Music
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Mashmakhan - Mashmakhan (1970) & The Family (1971)
Mashmakhan. Montreal rock band. It evolved from a succession of groups in the 1960s - eg, the Phantoms, the Dominoes, and Triangle, the last backing R&B singer Trevor Payne - that included the songwriter Pierre Sénécal (vocals, keyboards, flute), Rayburn Blake (guitar), and Jerry Mercer (drums). On leaving Payne, the trio made their debut in February 1969 at a Montreal club, the Laugh In, and soon after gave the first rock concert heard at the NAC. The bass guitarist Brian Edwards was added, and the name of an exotic hallucinogen adopted, prior to the release in 1970 of the band's first LP, Mashmakhan (Col ELS 365).The international success of the single 'As the Years Go By,' a pop song atypical of the band's venturesome, improvisational style, led to concerts in the USA and Japan, including a Tokyo appearance in 1971 before an audience of 40,000. A second album, Family (Epic E30813), was issued in 1971. Mashmakhan disbanded soon after. Efforts to revive the group during the mid-1970s involved, variously, Sénécal, Allan Nichols (vocals), Brian Greenaway (guitar), Steve Lang (bass), Lorne Nehring (drums), and others, and further singles were issued by Aquarius Records.Rate Your Music
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Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Satin Whale - Desert Places (1974)
The German band ‘Satin Whale’ was founded around 1971 in the region of Cologne by Thomas Brück (bass, vocals), Gerard Dellmann (keyboards), Dieter Roesberg (guitar, sax ,flute, vocals) and Horst Schöffgen (drums). Their first record ‘Desert Places’ was released in 1974 on the green ‘Brain’ label, musically a typical example of German Seventies rock not unlike their stablemates ‘Grobschnitt’ and ‘Jane’ for the harder edge, with guitar and organ jams.During a rock contest in 1974 (‘Rocksound 74’) ‘Satin Whale’ was elected the most popular German band. For the second release ‘Lost Mankind‘ 1975 new drummer Wolfgang Hieronymi joined and the band changed to the ‘Teldec’ label, continuing musically in the same direction as their first record, with ‘Jethro Tull’ inspired flute-work. The band then went on tour as a support act for ‘Barclay James Harvest’. This had a direct influence on their music and their third record ‘As A Keepsake’ was inspired by BJH, less rock and more symphonic influenced pop.
Their consequent tour served for the double live ‘Whalecome’, which showed the good musicianship of the band, giving room to extended improvisations, especially on the 17-minute long ‘Hava Nagila. In the same year ‘Satin Whale’ released ‘A Whale of Time’, a good record especially the title track, an instrumental with a great string arrangement. In 1979 the band composed the soundtrack for the German movie ‘Die Faust In Der Tasche’ by director Max Willutzki. As the film was a popular and with their popularity rising the band released the same year ‘On Tour’. In 1980 ‘Satin Whale’ released ‘Don’t Stop The Show’,their last and commercial record, together with Ex Triumvirat singer Barry Palmer and the band split up in 1981.
‘Desert Places’ ,’ Lost Mankind’ and ‘Whalecome’ are recommended. Prog Archives
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Monday, July 02, 2007
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Alameda - Alameda (1979)
A flamenco rock album made by a group of experienced musicians with two keyboard (piano/synthesizer) players, guitars, bass and drums. The seven songs are diverse, melodic & passionate with dramatic vocals influenced by flamenco, jazz and rock. MekkipuurRate Your Music
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Errata Corrige - Mappamondo (1977)
The band was initially a trio with no name, then a quartet that only took its name Errata Corrige when newcomer Mike Abate replaced previous guitarist Cardellino. Two demo-tapes, entitled Da mago a musicista and Saturday il cavaliere were released by the early line-ups.
The LP is released in 1976, with fantasy-inspired lyrics and dreamy soft-prog atmospheres not unlike Celeste in their first album or Pierrot Lunaire. More complex arrangements and rhythm changes make this an attractive and original sounding record. Band members play a long list of instruments with good musicianship and the result is absolutely positive.
The Mappamondo CD includes their first recordings along with more commercially sounding 1977 tracks.
After the band split Marco Cimino has played with Arti & Mestieri, Esagono, Venegoni & co. and the Piedmont folk group La Ciapa Rusa, and also appears in the recent Arti & Mestieri reunion CD, Murales. He also was among the founder members of the Turin jazz-inspired label Mu. Italian Prog
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Mahojin - Babylonia Suite (1978)
Very little is known about this obscure band. While progressive music was modestly popular in Japan even in the latter 60s (and particularly psychedelic music), few Japanese bands emerged prior to the mid-70s, and by then interest in the genre was temporarily waning throughout Europe and the Americas. Like many early Japanese progressive bands, MAHOUJIN’s single release was completely instrumental, with heavy use of keyboards and synthesized percussion. The album features Hammond, mellotron and moog as well as electric and traditional piano. The band’s sound has been most compared to ELP.Drummer Shiro Sugano would resurface several years later as a member of the fusion group KBB, but little else is known about the rest of the band. While there has been a small surge in recent years of reissued early Japanese progressive records on CD, many of them remixed and with additional tracks, this very early organic Japanese effort has yet to be targeted for re-release.
MAHOUJIN deserves consideration for inclusion in the progressive archives largely on the strength of their sole studio effort, which combines layered keyboard structures with complex constructions and epic-length compositions. The band appeared only briefly and marked no new ground in progressive music, but their legacy as one of the first progressive bands to emerge from Japan is worth noting.
Bob Moore (ClemofNazareth)
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Lacewing - Lacewing (1970)
From Kent, Ohio, this outfit formed out of the ashes of The Measles, who had once included Joe Walsh before his James Gang days and Joe Vitale, who was also in Chylds and Joe Walsh's Barnstormer. They reverted their name to The Measles after the Mainstream album in 1970.Their album is a West Coast-influenced affair which ranges from folk tracks like Time To Go to more atmospheric numbers such as Rebirth and on to heavier rock cuts like Epicycle and Play For You. The 45 is from the album and is by far the best track. Fuzz, Acid & Flowers
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Lagger Blues Machine - Lagger Blues Machine (1972)
Lagger Blues Machine were a Belgian band from the late 60's/early 70's that played something like progressive jazz rock. Their sound is a bit difficult to classify, but Soft Machine (although "rockier"), Eiliff and Moving Gelatine Plates could serve as reference points. The tracks are usually in the 7-15 minute range with a strong emphasis on instrumental interplay. Vocals are rare and not very good. Just like with the Moving Gelatine Plates, instrumental interplay between sax/flute, keyboards and guitar is preferred to long solos for one instrument only. Although not as sophisticated or brilliant as Soft Machine's Third or Moving Gelatine Plates, Lagger Blues Machine's progressive jazz rock (i.e. rock fusion) is one of my favorite albums in this style. Sjef Oellers Gnosis 2000Rate Your Music
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