Showing posts with label psych. Show all posts
Showing posts with label psych. Show all posts

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Panama Limited - Indian Summer (1970)

Panama limited (no jug! ) band with their 4th and best psychedelic beefheartique folkrock from 1970. Posted by request.

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Saturday, February 09, 2008

Kräldjursanstalten - Voodoo Boogie (1980)

Legendary Swedish rock trio led by Michael Maksymenko, as originally issued in 1980-81. Heavily influenced by the convoluted blues of prime-era Beefheart Magic Band, these guys played a fairly unbelievable variation on the style -- intense, full throttle guitar/bass/drum interplay with absolutely crazed Swedish vocals on top. Beefheart fanatics use to fall face flat when hearing this stuff back when it came out, and I'm sure there's a whole slew of newcomers ready for the same gust of Nordic madness. Guitarist Maksymenko went on to work with Henry Kaiser in the later 80s, forming the band Crazy Backwards Alphabet (along with Magic Band drummer Drumbo French). These recordings have been legitimately "weird" -- every single day, for 25 years now!

Buy record at Forced Exposure

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Tuesday, January 15, 2008

The Spectrum - The Light Is Dark Enough (1970)

I wish I knew more about this UK group. While they only managed to record one rather rare LP, during the 1967 - 69 timeframe they generated an extensive singles catalog that's quite diverse and commercially attractive.
RCA Records was apparently the brainchild behind the group with their rather transparent aim being to come up with a Monkees-styled outfit with commercial potential. The original line-up consisted of lead guitarist Tony Atkins, keyboardist Bill Chambers, singer Colin Forsey, brother/drummer Keith Forsey and bass player Tony Judd. Starting with 1967's 'Samantha's Mine' b/w 'Saturday's Child (RCA catalog number RCA-1589), the group released a string of nine singles that sold well throughout mainland Europe, but did little in their native UK and generated even less attention in the States.
Released in 1970, "The Light Is Dark Enough" offered up a mixture of earlier singles and new studio material, essentially serving as kind of 'best of' retrospective. Interestingly, while the band's occasionally slapped with a psych label, musically most of the ten tracks reflected a distinctive pop orientation. That was certainly the case for the group's better known works including 'Headin' For A Heatwave' (# 1 in Spain), a rather rote cover of The Beatles' 'Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da' which went top-20 in Germany and 'Portobello Road'. Mind you, anyone recording in the 1967-69 timeframe was bound to have been effected to some extent by their surroundings and Spectrum was no exception to the rule. While not exactly acid soaked, tracks like 'Nodnol' (London spelled backwards), the Procol Harum-ish instrumental 'Walrus & The Horse' and 'Mandy' all showcased lite psych touches, though nothing that was a threat to their commercial orientation. Certainly part of the band's appeal lay in the fact Colin Forsey had a winning voice that occasionally reminding me of a Davy Jones bulked up on steroids (check out 'Glory' and the title track). Similarly, the rest of the band were never less than professional with guitarists Tony Atkins and John Beattie turning in several nice performances on material like the rocker 'Jacqueline'.

"The Light Is Dark Enough" track listing:
(side 1)

1.) Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da (John Lennon - Paul McCartney) -
2.) Mr. Jenkin's Brand New Boots (Colin Forsey) -
3.) Nodnol (Colin Forsey - Peter Wood) -
4.) Walrus & The Horse (instrumental) (Peter Wood) -
5.) Glory (Richard Kerr - Maitland) -

(side 2)
1.) Portobello Road (Marsh - Veal) -
2.) Mandy (Colin Forsey - Keith Forsey) -
3.) Headin' For A Heatwave (Roberts - Kinsella) -
4.) Jacqueline (Andrews) -
5.) The Light Is Dark Enough (Richard Kerr) -

In addition to the singles and LP, the group recorded some material for a several films, including 1969's "The Reckoning" (they also has a small role in the film). They also wrote and performed the title track to the British kids television series 'Captain Scarlet & the Mysterons' (no I'm not making that up).
Keith Forsey went on to enjoy considerable success as a songwriter (you can blame him for writing part of 'Flashdance (What a Feeling)', as a producer (you can blame him for Billy Idol's "Rebel Yell" and The Psychedelic Furs "Mirror Moves") and as a film score composer. Taken from Bad Cat

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Monday, January 14, 2008

Pride - Pride (1970)

Pride never existed, it was just a name to cover the work of sessions players: Earl Palmer, Don Randi, Lou Morrell again, plus Tommy Tedesco and Al Casey on guitar, Arthur Wright on bass, Gary Coleman on percussions, and Nooney Rickett did the three voice parts, overdubbing himself. Axelrod's son, Michael, wrote the lyrics. The album was recorded for Warner, as Axelrod's then manager, Joe Sutton, project (he walked in Warner, said he has a group, Pride, and got a deal ! Nobody checked the group did not even exist!).


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Sunday, January 13, 2008

Calliope - 'Steamed (1968)

Great US Psych. with Paul Goldsmith, Danny O´Keefe, John Simpson and Clyde Heaton.

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Fairy Tale - Once Upon a Time...... (1969)

Group from The Hague, not to be confused with the group from Tilburg. They existed from the end of 1969 till the end of 1971. Lineup 1969: Cees Hoogerheide (vocals, ex-Nicols; in 1970 replaced by Ellen Zonruiter; Cees went to Big Wheel), Herman Ansink (guitar; in 1970 to Blow Ball and replaced by one John Miles, who in turn got replaced by Martin van Wijk in 1971, later with Jupiter), Peter Seilberger (organ and piano, ex-Tee Set, later to Big Wheel and Jupiter), Ed Koetsier (bass, vocals, ex-Nicols) and Harry Koetsier (drums, ex-Nicols, later with Big Rock Revival). Alex Gitlin

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Thursday, August 02, 2007

Huckle - Wild Blue Yonder (1976)

Canadian Hippie Folk from 1976. Excellent music for the road, this rare and hard to find album is a perfect example of folk and rock made by a bunch of hippies in the seventies. The words are of love and tolerance, and free life and travelling, while the music suites the words well and transcends all of their messages flawlessly. Acoustic guitar and haunting fiddle, tablas and vocal harmonies of great and natural honesty of happiness from both the male and the female parts, it is one of the best albums I have heard in quite a while and it holds a strong place in my music collection. A must have classic! by bilbo1742


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Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Virgin Insanity - Illusions of the Maintenance Man (1971)

USA, psych folk

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Turid - Tredje Dagen (1975)

Sweden, prog folk

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Sunday, July 08, 2007

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 Emporium

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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!

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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

Thanks to Paul NZ for upload hint!

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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 Emporium

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Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Scapa Flow - Uuteen Aikaan (1980)

Finnish prog folk

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Sunday, July 01, 2007

Last Call of Shiloh - Last Call of Shiloh (1969)

US xian

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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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B-G System - Funny Love Affair (1969)

Swiss psych beat. Please help with good cover.


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Saturday, June 30, 2007

Flower Travellin' Band - The Flowers - From Pussies to Death in 10,000 Years of Freak Out! (1970s)

Cool bootleg!

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Track 2 for those who've been experiencing problems

Monday, June 25, 2007

Stenblomma - Alla Träd Har Samma Rot (1973)

Excellent Swedish psych folk

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Thursday, June 21, 2007

Levi Smith's Clefs - Empty Monkey (1970)

Based around Barrie McAskill this was a continuation of The Clefs. The first three line-ups went to Sydney and had a residency at the Whiskey A Go-Go for eighteen months. The next one was formed in Sydney in 1968 after most members of the earlier line-up had left to form Tully and play in 'Hair' the musical. The next line-up toured frequently and recorded "Empty Monkey". The album captured the band moving towards progressivism on the title cut, the single "Lisa" and an 11½ minute rendition of Lennon-McCartney's "We Can Work It Out". Their soul and R'n'B influences were apparent still on covers of The Hunter and Junior Walker's "Shotgun". This line-up also backed Doug Ashdown on his double album "Age Of Mouse", but Jurd, Blisset, Howe and Buettell left then to form Fraternity. In late 1969/early 1970 the band returned to their residency at the Whisky A Go-Go. Later they moved on to a new residency at Chequers in Sydney. By 1971, they were playing Blood Sweat & Tears and Chicago material six nights a week at Chequers.

The line-up in 1972 was also known as McAskill's Bear Brigade. Later that year they moved to Melbourne with a new line-up. Most of the later line-up became Mighty Mouse. The 1973 line-up was based in Sydney, but in 1974 they returned to Melbourne.

You can also check out "Lisa" and "Road Runner" on "Festival 70". "Gonna Get A Seizure" has also resurfaced on "So You Want To Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star" (3-CD), as has a version of "Take A Little Piece Of My Heart" credited to Linda Cable and Levi Smith's Clefs.

Taken from "Dreams, Fantasies and Nightmares" by Vernon Joynson, an extensive guide to Canadian / Australian / New Zealand and Latin American psych and garage music 1963 - 1976. Alex Gitlin

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