Monday 21 April 2008

November 2006 pt.2

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Paul Butterfield Blues Band - In My Own Dream - 1968


Paul Butterfield's Blues Band

Personnel:
JEROME ARNOLD bs A B D E
PAUL BUTTERFIELD hrmnca, gtr, flute, vcls A B C D E F G
SAM LAY drms A
SMOKEY SMOTHERS ld gtr A
ELVIN BISHOP ld gtr B C D
MIKE BLOOMFIELD ld gtr B
BILLY DAVENPORT drms B D E F
MARK NAFTALIN keyb'ds B C D E
CHARLES DINWIDDIE flute, mandarin, sax C (D) G
KEITH JOHNSON trumpet C
BUGSY MAUGH bs C (D)
DAVE SANBORN sax(alto) C
PHIL WILSON drms C (D)
BUZZY FEITEN ld gtr E F
TED HARRIS keyb'ds F G
ROD HICKS bs F G
GEORGE DAVIDSON drms G
TREVOR LAWRENCE sax G
STEVE MADAIO trumpet G
RALPH WALSH ld gtr G
FRED BECKMEIER bs
DENNIS WHITTED drms

NB: Line-up 'D' appear as The Icebag Four along with producer John Court on their In My Own Dream album.
ALBUMS: 1(B) PAUL BUTTERFIELD BLUES BAND (Elektra EKS 7294) 1965 123 2(B) EAST/WEST (Elektra EKS 7315) 1966 65 3(C) RESURRECTION OF PIGBOY CRABSHAW (Elektra EKS 74015) 1968 52 4(D) IN MY OWN DREAM (Elektra EKS 74025) 1968 79 5(E) KEEP ON MOVING (Elektra EKS 74053) 1969 102 6(F) LIVE (Elektra 7E 2001) 1970 72 7(F) SOMETIMES I FEEL LIKE SMILIN' (Elektra EKS 75013) 1971 124 8(-) GOLDEN BUTTER - LIVE DOUBLE (Elektra 7E2005) 1972 136 9(A) AN OFFER YOU CAN'T REFUSE (Red Lightnin' R008) 1972
NB: (1) reissued on LP (Sundazed LP 5095). (2) reissued on CD (Winner 447) 1996. (9) reissued in the UK 1982. There's also a compilation The Paul Butterfield Blues Band (Edsel ED1 50) 1985.
45s: 1 Come On In/I Got A Mind To Give Up Living (Elektra 45609) 1966 2 Run Out Of Time/One More Heartache (Elektra 45620) 1967 3 In My Own Dream/? (Elektra 45643) 1968 4 Where Did My Baby Go/In My Own Dream (Elektra 45658) 1969 5 Love March/? (Elektra 45692) 1970
NB: (3) and (5) credited to Paul Butterfield. There's also an extremely rare French EP with PS: I Got My Mojo Working/Shake Your Money Maker/Born In Chicago/Mystery Train (Vogue INT 18063).
Paul Butterfield was born on 17th December 1942 in Chicago where he later formed his racially integrated R&B band in 1964. The original line-up included Jerome Arnold and Sam Lay who had previously comprised the rhythm section of a band fronted by Howlin' Wolf, but shortly afterwards Butterfield's former University of Chicago classmate Elvin Bishop joined and they signed to Elektra. Mike Bloomfield was brought in on slide guitar and Mark Naftalin joined on keyboards during the recording of their first album. One of their early live gigs was at the July 1965 Newport Folk Festival but it did not go down well with the folk purists among the audience. However, they impressed Bob Dylan who invited them to back him later that day in what was his very first non-acoustic set. The band travelled to New York in January 1966 to record their self-titled debut album which comprised a hard-hitting battery of electric blues numbers. It made No. 123 in the Billboard album charts. In June the same year they contributed five tracks to What's Shakin', an Elektra various artists LP which also featured The Lovin' Spoonful, Eric Clapton, Tom Rush and Al Kooper. East/West followed in December 1966. The title track, which was over 13 minutes long, included many Eastern instrumental influences. The album peaked at No. 65 in the Billboard charts. Mike Bloomfield departed shortly after its release to form Electric Flag. 1967 was a quiet year for the band but Butterfield did cut an EP with John Mayall that was released in the U.K. by Decca. When Butterfield returned with Resurrection Of Pigboy Crabshaw in February 1968 (Pigboy Crabshaw was Bishop's nickname) it was with a fresh rhythm section and a three piece horn section. Climbing to No. 52 in the Billboard charts this was to be Butterfield's most successful album. Although it followed the usual blues format, it had a distinct soul influence. Compositions included Booker T's Born Under A Bad Sign which Albert King had made famous, and One More Heartache, a Smokey Robinson song which had been a hit for Marvin Gaye. However, many of Butterfield's fans and some critics yearned for high-powered, white electric blues and regretted the band's latest soulful direction. When In My Own Dream emerged later in 1968 it was also slated in some sections of the music press. The line-up was basically the same as for the previous album, although producer John Court joined forces with Buggy Maugh, Charles Dinwiddie and Phil Wilson to provide vocal harmonies as The Icebag Four and Al Kooper guested on organ on a couple of tracks (Drunk Again and Just To Be With You). The album was musically diverse ranging from bar-room blues, to folk blues and electric music, and was criticised as being too fragmented. However, if much of it was uneven, the title track was distinctly innovative with the Icebag Four's backing vocals lending a gospel feel to the song. It reached No. 79 in the U.S. album charts. Elvin Bishop left in 1968 to form his own band and was replaced by Buzzy Feiton for Keep On Moving, a heavy album with lots of brass, which could only reach No. 102 in the U.S. album charts. The band appeared at the Woodstock festival in 1969 and one of their songs, Love March was included on the original Woodstock album.
Live recorded with a new line-up live at L.A.'s Troubadour club in 1970, and produced by Todd Rundgren, saw some upturn in their fortunes (albeit temporary) reaching No. 72. It contained a selection of material from their three previous albums, Everything's Going To Be Alright (also featured on the Woodstock 2 LP) and three tracks which do not appear on other Butterfield albums:- The Boxer, Number 9 and Get Together Again. By now Butterfield was tired of touring and he broke up the band in 1971 after a final studio album Sometimes I Feel Like Smilin', which could only manage the 124 spot in the album charts. Golden Butter Live Double, a double retrospective compilation, peaked to No. 136 the following year. 1972 also saw the release of An Offer You Can't Refuse which featured his earliest recordings back in 1963 with Smokey Smothers' band in Chicago, by specialist U.K. blues label Red Lightnin'. They account for one side of the album. The other side features Walter Horton, backed by musicians like Buddy Guy. This album was reissued again in 1982. More recent still is the Edsel 1985 release which is now the most accessible guide to the music of the Butterfield Blues Band. 1995 also saw the release on CD of The Original Lost Elektra Sessions (Rhino RZ 73505), which compiled material from an abandoned 1965 first album, which is largely dominated by powerful blues covers. It contains 19 tracks in all. Bugsy Maugh later recorded two interesting albums for Dot. Paul Butterfield died in the nineties. If you're into high powered white electric blues these guys are essential for you, but if you're garage-punkers or into demented psychedelia give them a miss. Compilation appearances have included: Morning Blues on Kings Of Pop Music Vol. 1 (LP); Born In Chicago on Kings Of Pop Music Vol. 2 (LP); East-West on Elektrock The Sixties (4-LP). (Vernon Joynson/Stephane Rebeschini)

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Roky Erickson


Roky Erickson - Live Acoustic Radio Performances

01-When You Get Delighted
02-Warning (Social And Political Injustices)
03-I've Never Thought
04-True Love
05-Love Isn't A Part Time Thing
06-The Looking Glass
07-Don't Slander Me
08-Splash1
09-Cold Night For Alligators
10-Bloddy Hammer
11-The Damn Thing
12-Sing For You
13-I Love The Blind Men
14-I've Never Know This Till Now
15-May The Circle Remanin Unbroken
16-Starry Eyes



Roky Erickson and the Aliens - 1980 - I Think of Demons

01-Two-Headed Dog (Red Temple Prayer)
02-I Think of Demons
03-I Walked With a Zombie
04-Don't Shake Me Lucifer
05-Night of the Vampire
06-Bloody Hammer
07-White Faces
08-Cold Night for Alligators
09-Creature With the Atom Brain
10-Mine Mine Mind
11-Stand for the Fire Demon
12-Wind and More

BIOGRAPHY
Legendary rock n roll pioneer Roger Kynard "Roky" Erickson hails from Austin, Texas. He is, in the words of music writer Richie Unterberger, one of "the unknown heroes of rock and roll." As singer, songwriter, and guitar player for the legendary Austin, TX band The 13th Floor Elevators, the first rock and roll band to describe their music as "psychedelic", Roky had a profound impact on the San Francisco scene when the group traveled there in 1966. While bands such as The Grateful Dead and The Jefferson Airplane had the their roots in traditional acoustic folk music, the Elevators unique brand of heavy, hard-rocking electric blues pointed to a new direction for the music of the hippie generation. The Elevators only had one chart hit, the Roky-penned You're Gonna Miss Me, but their influence was far reaching. R.E.M., ZZ Top, Poi Dog Pondering, The Judybats, T-Bone Burnett, Julian Cope, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Cramps, The Minutemen, Television, The Cynics, The Lyres, Teisco Del Rey, The Fuzztones and Radio Birdman have all either recorded or played live versions of Roky's songs. In addition to these performers, Roky is an acknowledged influence on such diverse musicians as Robert Plant, Janis Joplin, Patti Smith, Henry Rollins, Mike Watt, Sonic Youth, The Butthole Surfers, Jon Spencer, The Damned, Red Krayola, Pere Ubu, and current indie hit-makers The White Stripes. His songs have appeared on the soundtracks to the movies High Fidelity, Drugstore Cowboy, Boys Don't Cry, Hamlet (2000), and Return of the Living Dead. While he may not be a household name, Roky has enjoyed the support of a small but fiercely loyal cult following throughout his career.

Unfortunately, Roky's struggles with drug abuse and mental illness took a serious toll. His 1969 arrest in Texas for possession of a single marijuana cigarette led to his being committed for three years to Rusk State Hospital for the Criminally Insane, where he was reportedly subjected to Thorazine, electroshock therapy, and other experimental treatments. Most agree he was never the same after his release. Roky has had prolific periods of creativity in the intervening years, but unscrupulous managers and record label executives often took advantage of his condition, leaving Roky to live in poverty while others profit from his music.

Happily, today we find Roky in the process of being his own miracle and making an astounding recovery from nearly a two-decade long period of almost total tragedy. His youngest brother, singer/songwriter and former Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Principal Tubaist Sumner Erickson, was appointed Roky's legal guardian in June, 2001. Sumner has established The Roger Kynard Erickson Trust to address Roky's living expenses, medical bills, and other financial needs. From June, 2001 until July, 2002, Roky lived with his brother in Pittsburgh, where he finally began to receive the treatment and care he needs. Roky is now back in Austin, where his health continues to improve dramatically. In March, 2005, Roky made his first public performance in 10 years performing 3 songs at the Roky Erickson Psychedelic Ice Cream Social at Threadgills in Austin. He was backed by the Explosives. In September, he is scheduled to play the Austin City Limits Festival (again with the Explosives) which will mark his first full concert appearance in almost two decades! Celebrate as the miracle continues! More information is available at the trust's official web site: http://www.rokyerickson.net

The Devil's Anvil - Hard Rock From The Middle East

Track List :

1. Wala Dai
2. Nahna U Diab
3. Karkadon
4. Selim Alai
5. Isme
6. Besaha
7. Shisheler
8. Kley
9. Hala Laya
10. Treea Pethya
11. Misirlou
12. Teyul Leili


Devil's Anvil were a New York-based psychedelic group of the mid 1960s that released only one album, Hard Rock From the Middle East (1967 - Collectables, 2001), reissued with a Freak Scene album (no relationship between the two bands, though). Their middle-eastern acid-rock was unique and bizarrely modern (it predates the British transglobal-dance bands by about 30 years). The fuzzed-out guitar mingled with oud, bouzouki, tamboura, durbeki. This record is very unusual! It has middle eastern vocal melodies and instramentation mixed with 60's heavy blues/psychedelia. The band features Felix Pappalardi on bass (of Cream & Mountain fame). One thing to note: The lyrics are evidently sung in arabic and sometimes in greek, but this fact does not have an effect to detract from the music's compelling sounds in the least bit. One noteworthy track is the interesting cover of "Miserlou", featuring lead vocals (in english) by Felix Pappalardi

For all the greeks out there ... a few surpises included in this LP
A MUST HAVE !
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The Jazz Butcher Conspiracy - Waiting For The Love Bus



The Jazz Butcher Conspiracy - Waiting For The Love Bus
Creation Records

Tracks

Rosemary Davis' World Of Sound
Bakersfield
Kids In The Mall/Kaliningrad
Whaddya?
Sweetwater
Ghosts
Baltic
Killed Out
Ben
Penguins
President Chang
Angel Station
Rosemary Davis' World Of Sound
Everybody's Talking
Do You Wanna Dance

the band

Pat Fish (Fender Telecaster, Fender Jaguar, Yamaha sf-800, 6 & 12 String Acoustic Guitars, Keyboards, Percussion, Programming, Vocals)
Richard Formby (Fender Jaguar, Gibson Firebird, Burns Electric
X11 String, Programming, Tapes)
Dooj Wilkinson (Wal Bass Guitar, Voice)
Nick Burson (Drums)
Peter Crouch (Fender Stratocaster, Fender Jaguar, Yamaha sf-800)


The Jazz Butcher was the vehicle of prolific singer/songwriter Pat Fish, an archetypal British eccentric whose sharp observational wit and melodic gifts navigated the group through over a decade of constant line-up shifts, stylistic mutations and even a series of name changes which found the band performing variously -- and apparently randomly -- under such titles as the Jazz Butcher Conspiracy and the Jazz Butcher & His Sikkorskis From Hell. Fish was born Patrick Huntrods in London in 1957, and raised primarily in Northampton. He first began performing while studying philosophy at Oxford in the late 1970s, fronting the short-lived Nightshift; a subsequent band dubbed the Institution later joined forces with their rivals the Sonic Tonix, establishing the nucleus of players who later formed the core of the Jazz Butcher sphere.


Fish first concocted his Butcher persona in 1982, quickly enlisting his Oxford mates to join him in a band of the same name; even from the outset, the group's roster changed seemingly on a daily basis, although Fish found an early mainstay in guitarist Max Eider. The Jazz Butcher's eclectic 1982 debut A Bath in Bacon -- including early skewed pop gems such as "Love Zombie" and "Sex Engine Thing" -- was essentially a Fish solo record, but by 1984's folky A Scandal in Bohemia the roster had stabilized to include ex-Bauhaus bassist David J. Following The Gift of Music, a 1984 compilation of single sides, the Jazz Butcher resurfaced the following year with Sex and Travel, a marvelously odd set ranging in sound from punk ("Red Pets") to cabaret ("Holiday").

After David J left the band to join Love and Rockets, the remaining quartet -- Fish, Eider, bassist Felix Ray and drummer Mr. O.P. Jones -- rechristened themselves the Jazz Butcher and His Sikkorskis from Hell and recorded the 1985 live set Hamburg, followed the next year by an EP, Hard. Leaving the rhythm section behind, Fish and Eider then recorded 1986's Conspiracy EP, credited to the "Jazz Butcher vs. Max Eider" and foreshadowing the subsequent shift to the Jazz Butcher Conspiracy aegis for Distressed Gentlefolk. Eider soon exited to mount a solo career, leaving Fish to team with guitarist Kizzy O'Callaghan for 1988's Fishcoteque, their first release for the Creation label.

By the time of 1989's Big Planet Scarey Planet, the line-up also included the superb bassist Laurence O'Keefe, saxophonist Alex Green and drummer Paul Mulreany; 1990's Cult of the Basement was recorded with the same roster, but the usual disruptions soon left Fish essentially to his own devices for 1991's Condition Blue and 1993's Waiting for the Love Bus. Upon reuniting with David J, who produced 1995's low-key Illuminate, Fish decided to lay the Jazz Butcher name to rest, and performed a farewell performance in London at the end of the year. He subsequently signed on to play drums with the Stranger Tractors, but in 1999 reunited with Eider for a Jazz Butcher Conspiracy tour of the U.S. The live Glorious and Idiotic appeared the following year and Rotten Soul was issued in fall 2000.
by Jason Ankeny, all music guide.


your Download Links:
Jazz_Butcher_Conspiracy.part1.rar
Jazz_Butcher_Conspiracy.part2.rar

Enjoy!!!

Still Life - s/t

Track List

1. People in black (Howells)
2. Don't go (Howells/Cure)
3. October Whitches (Howells)
4. Love song no.6 (Howells)
5. Dreams (Howells/Cure)
6. Time (Howells/Amos)


Members :

Martin Cure vocals
Terry Howells keyboards
Graham Amos bass
Alan Savage drums

STILL LIFE — Still Life Review by
Easy Livin (Bob McBeath)
Sell it….and buy a house with the cash!Still Life were a one album band whose only recordings are contained on this self titled release. There have been suggestions of other unreleased tracks by the band, but according to vocalist Martin Cure, these are spurious. The band arose from the ashes of Coventry outfitThe PEEPS, who became the RAINBOWS. Included in the line up of both those bands was Roy Albrighton, who left before they become STILL LIFE. At the time Albrighton left, the RAINBOWS were playing some dates in Hamburg. He remained behind there, going on to form NEKTAR.The line up of the band, while not stated on the sleeve consists of bass, drums, vocals and keyboards (organ). This gives the band something of a one dimensional sound, similar to EGG. It should be said however that this is where the similarities with EGG end, as the musical direction is decidedly different. In terms of the music, the band bears comparison with DEEP PURPLE's Jon Lord led offerings, BEGGAR's OPERA's earlier work, and PALADIN. In all cases, this is essentially due to the dominant Hammond organ.The tracks vary from reasonable heavy rock, to softer ballad passages. The opening to "Don't go" for example has distinct overtones of PROCOL HARUM's "A whiter shade of pale". There are plenty of uncredited additions to the sound, such as the female vocal backing, and what appears to be flute on "People in Black". This 8 minute opening track is driven by the up front bass, but is effectively some brief verses and plenty of virtuoso organ playing. "Love song no. 6" features what appears to be acoustic guitar, although this soon gives way to the ubiquitous Hammond."Dreams" has some eerie spoken word along the lines of BLACK WIDOW or ARTHUR BROWN, while the closing "Time" opens with a URIAH HEEP like ah-ah over climbing organ.It is easy to forget when listening to the album that it dates from 1971, and thus precedes a number of the bands and albums it bears comparison to. While now very much of its time, and perhaps slightly deficient in the song-writing department, this is nonetheless something of a lost gem.The LP's gatefold sleeve opens vertically, instead of the usual horizontally. This reveals the apparently tasteful array of flowers on the front to be a toupee for a skull!As for the band members, sadly bassist Graham Amos died in 2003. Terry Howells and Alan Savage are no longer involved in the music business. After Still Life, vocalist Martin Cure joined the commercially successful Cupid's Inspiration ("Yesterday has gone"), with whom he still performs from time to time today.Original “Still life” LP records now change hands for grossly inflated amounts due to the fact that there are not that many of them, and also because it was issued on the legendary Vertigo “swirl” label.
Posted Friday, August 04, 2006

resources :
progarchives.com/Progressive_rock_discography_CD.asp?cd_id=5620#reviews
republika.pl/pearlsofrock/stilllifeE.html

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Prolapse - The Italian Flag


Track List


01 Slash/Oblique 4:56
02 Deanshanger 3:51
03 Cacophony No. A 5:06
04 Killing The Bland 2:29
05 I Hate the Clicking Man 5:15
06 Autocade 3:34
07 Tunguska 4:04
08 Flat Velocity Curve 7:17
09 Return of Shoes 5:42
10 A Day at Death Seaside 3:34
11 Bruxelles 5:54
12 Visa for Violet and Van 5:56
13 Three Wooden Heads 10:36

Prolapse were formed fifteen years ago in the summer of 1991 under a table at Leicester Polytechnic's friday night disco with the aim of being the most depressing band ever. The first recording as a four-piece of Mick Derrick (vocals), Mick Harrison (bass), Tim Pattison (drums) and Pat Marsden (guitar) -still on a cassette somewhere - was an improvised session with a strong Joy Division feel-Ian Curtis sitting next to Scottish Mick doing backing vocals. Vocalist Linda Steelyard and David Jeffreys on guitar soon joined the line-up and early live shows featured flying televisions and puppets being mutilated. The band released singles, including the Crate E.P., and their first album Pointless Walks to Dismal Places on Cherry Red Records in 1994. U.K., European and U.S. touring soon followed aswell as Peel and various other radio sessions. backsaturday was the next album in 1995 - this consists of mostly improvised songs written in Northwich, Cheshire over a weekend. It features a long version of the Krautrock inspired 'Flex'-a song to crop up near the end of many a live set.

The Italian Flag (1997) was produced by former Julian Cope guitarist Donald Ross Skinner, who was now also involved as a keyboard player. This contained more 'finished songs' than backsaturday, including those that had been part of the live set for a while. Singles Killing the Bland, Deanshanger and Autocade were released around the time. Prolapse were receiving favourable reviews in the music press for their live shows and releases and were attracting a cult following. People came to gigs with potatoes for them to sign saying they wanted to be reincarnated as a patch of lichen. In Norwich, Oxford and London gigs would be packed, although in Hanover, Stevenage and Wolverhampton only a couple of ferrets and Elvis impersonators would turn up. Still there were appearances for Slash/Oblique and Autocade in John Peel's Festive 31 (not 50 that year!). The last album Ghosts of Dead Aeroplanes (1999) was based around lots of improvised stuff at Foel Studio in Wales. This has more of a sparse feel than much of the band's earlier music. Metal Box era Public Image Limited was one influence at the time.
resources :
profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=92033787

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Samlas mammas manna- Same


Swedish music group formed by Lars Hollmer (Keyb,) Hans Bruniusson (Drums) Lars Krantz (Bass) and Bebben Öberg (Perc) 1970.
After Bebben Öberg left the group 1971 Coste Apetrea (Guitar) joined Samla Autumn 1972 and Samla toured a lot in Scandinavia, and made several Lp records.1976 Samla took a break and reformed as Zamla mammaz Manna 1977. Now with Eino Haapala on guitar. Tours in Scandinavia and Europé. Zamla became the swedish member of Rock In Opposition (RIO) in London 1978, and met other independent groups from Europé. (Henry Cow.Univers zero etc,) Zamla exosted until 1980 when both Hans Bruniusson and Lars Krantz left. And after three Lps under the Zamla name.Lars Hollmer and Eino Haapala continued as von Zamla. A bigger group with members from Albert Marcoeur. and Univers Zero. von Zamla toured Scandinavia and Europé from 81-85 and made two Lps. After that the group split up.In 1990 Samla reformed (Hollmer: Bruniusson.Apetrea,Krantz) and this constellation existed during the whole 90ies and played several concerts. 1998 Samla recorded the album KAKA and released it 99. Dec 99 Hans Bruniusson left the band again and after some research for replacement Tatsuya Yoshida joined Samla on Drums 2002.A new live Cd was made for the japanese audience (Dear Mamma) and Samla toured Sweden . Russia and Japan in 2002, plus made a small US-tour 2003 ------from their site.

(sorry for the links but i can't write here all the details---got some problems with blogger)

Five Day Rain - 1970 - Five Day Rain



Tracklist:
1. Marie's a Woman 2.46
2. Leave It At That 4.30
3. Don't Be Misled 2.18
4. Rough Cut Marmalade 11.04
5. Goodyear 4.01
6. Sea Song 4.12
7. Lay Me Down 1.16
8. Reason Why 4.42
9. Fall Out 4.12

Line-up:
Graham Maitland - keyboards /vocals /moog & mellotron
Rick Sharp - lead & rhythm guitar / harmonica and vocals
Clive Burges - bass
Kim Hayworth - drums
John Holbrook - guitar
Sharon Tandy - Backing vocals

All tracks by Graham Maitland.
Produced by Brian Carroll & Damon Lyon-Shaw.
Recorded at "IBC" studios, London, UK.


One of the rarest UK albums. Only 15 copies were put out but soon someone circulated "white label" copies of it so beware of this.
Graham Maitland had earlier been in Scots of St James and Hopscotch. He has also in The Fleur De Lys in ther final days. The album containing some adventurus pop compositions often with a taint of psychedelia but is was eventually as a private pressing in a plane white cover because no label was interested in it. Notable cuts are the 11 minute instrumental Rough Cut Marmalade, which is the albums most psychedelic offering. The catchy Sea Song and keyboard driven Leave It At That. (Vernon Joynson - The Tapestry of Delights)


The sixties ended with a man on the moon and the seventies saw a music business that was leaning more to the sales potential of albums than the not so profitable single. Bands were spending more time creating their music but they all needed good writers. Recording engineers BRIAN CARROLL and DAMON LYON SHAW of HOMEGROWN MUSIC found one in GRAHAM MAITLAND, a talented musician from Scotland who wanted to record his songs with his own band. This was a group of musicians he knew locally and his cottage in the country was a meeting place as they put together enough material for an album.
I got to know GRAHAM through a friend of mine from Haywoods Heath, a town in Sussex England. He has played in numerous bands including SCOTCH OF St JAMES, HOPSCOTCH and GLENCOE but it was with FIVE DAY RAIN that we got to know each other.
FIVE DAY RAIN was basically a studio band. They never toured or did any gigs but spent their time with HOMEGROWN MUSIC writing songs either at GRAHAMS cottage or in the studio. The line up was GRAHAM MAITLAND (keyboards/organ/Mellotron) RICK SHARPE (lead guitar) CLIVE BURGESS (bass) the drummer who’s name was KIM. I have forgotten his name over the years but I do believe that at the time he was going out with a singer called SHARRON TANDY. Added to this line up was JOHN HOLBROOK who was another engineer at IBC at the time of the recordings.

The tracks recorded for the projected album were “TOO MUCH OF NOTHING”, “MARIE'S A WOMAN”, “LEAVE IT AT THAT”, “DON’T BE MISLED”, “ROUGH CUT MARMALADE (aka “OUTRODUCTION”) “GOOD YEAR”, “SEA SONG”, “LAY ME DOWN”, “REASON WHY”, “FALL OUT”. We also recorded two other tracks “WANNA MAKE LOVE TO YOU” and “SUNNY” but these tracks have been lost in time.

GRAHAM wrote most of the tracks and JOHN HOLBROOK played lead guitar on "SEA SONG” and “ROUGHCUT MARMALADE” This track was recorded as a jam after a heavy session at THE DOVER CASTLE, the pub at the back of IBC. JOHN went on to work for BEARSVILLE STUDIOS in Woodstock NY where he engineered on sessions for TODD RUNDGREN and THE ISLEY Brothers. He went on to produce/engineer projects for the in-house BEARSVILLE, including two solo albums under the alias BRIAN BRIGGS.

We had the album finished within a few months and we made up 25 test pressings that we were going to send to various record companies. These test pressings now fetch in the region of £1,000 to record collectors. Only 2 or 3 were sent out before POLYDOR records showed interest.

The man from POLYDOR who wanted the album was running around for weeks as the band settled down for a long wait while negotiation were taking place. No one really knows what happened but the out come was that after 6 months of getting nowhere the band decided to spilt when GRAHAM was offered a chance to become a member of a band called GLENCO. With the deal dead BRIAN and DAMON decided to get into producing their own songs (see ONE WAY TICKET )

There might be some exciting news for those who are interested in the band, as four new tracks have been found on an acetate and we are working on them now, with the possibility of a new album. Watch this space....Brian Carroll

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Harmonium - 1980 - En Tournee

Harmonium - 1980 - En Tournee


Tracks :
Disc 1:
1. Introduction (1:30)
2. Comme un fou (7:08)
3. Chanson Noire
.. Le bien, Le mal (4:22)
.. Pour une Blanche Cérémonie (4:10)
4. Le premier Ciel (20:52)

Disc 2:
5. L'Exil (11:58)
6. Le Corridor (3:50)
7. Lumière de Vie
.. Lumière de Nuit (4:17)
.. Lumière de Jour (2:38)
.. Lumière de Vie (0:51)
.. Lumière de Vie (2eme Partie) (3:12)
.. Lumière de Vie (3eme Partie) (4:44)
.. Lumière de Vie (Finale) (2:43)
8. Comme un Sage (15:30)

Line-up
- Libert Subirana / flute, saxophone, vocals
- Serge Locat / piano, organ, Mellotron, synthesizers
- Monique Fauteux / Rhodes piano, vocals
- Robert Stanley / electric guitar
- Serge Fiori / acoustic & electric guitar, vocals
- Denis Farmer / drums, percussion
- Louis Valois / electric bass, Taurus (bass pedals)

Bio :
Harmonium is Quebec's most prolific progressive rock group from the 1970's.
The band was formed as a folk trio in 1973 by guitarists/vocalists Serge Fiori and Michel Normandeau, accompanied by Louis Valois on bass. They became very popular playing in cafes and small clubs, and recorded a self-titled all acoustic album in 1974, which featured Réjean Émond on drums on several tracks. The LP spawned a series of hit songs such as "Pour un Instant", "Un Musicien parmi tant d'autres", "Harmonium" and "Aujourd'hui, je dis bonjour à la vie", similar in sound to Beau Dommage, and which have became staples of Quebec musical culture to this day. Harmonium's first album is undoubtedly one of Quebec's masterpieces of folk rock.

Fiori, emerging as the group's driving force, became more ambitious on the next album by recruting keyboardist Serge Locat and Pierre Daigneault (ex-L'Infonie) on flute, sax and clarinet. The group's second LP, entitled "Les Cinq saisons" (a.k.a. "Si On avait besoin d'une cinquieme saison") was released in 1975. While the album's music can best be described as symphonic folk, this second masterpiece features a variety of musical styles with Fiori, Normandeau and Valois testing their abilities on a host of instruments. Female vocalist Judy Richard lends her voice on the 17-minute symphonic epic "Histoires sans paroles". Amazingly, the music is devoid of drums, although one wouldn't know it from the energy and compositional complexity. Marie Bernard Pagé of Et Cetera even makes a brief appearance with her unique sounding « Ondes Martenot ».

After several successful local live shows and a brief hiatus, Fiori's creative juices went into overdrive. Harmonium regrouped in Fiori's home in the countryside to compose a 7-piece suite for a double album called "L'Heptade", based on the seven levels of consiousness. Fiori recruited drummer Denis Farmer and guitarist Robert Stanley, both from Toubabou and Ville Emard Blues Band, as well as flutist/saxophonist Libert Subirana (who replaced Daigneault) and vocalist Monique Fauteux, while Locat was back on keyboards in a more prominent way. The album was arranged by well known pianist/conductor/composeur Neil Chotem (many years Fiori's senior), who added segments with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. The experience proved to be too much for Normandeau, and he left the group during the recording sessions, although he received many songwriting credits. Several other guest vocalists sang on the album, such as Pierre Bertrand (Beau Dommage), Richard Séguin (Les Séguin) and Estelle Ste-Croix (VEBB).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Released in 1976, "L'Heptade" was no doubt Harmonium's magnum opus and opened the doors for the group to perform outside Quebec. In 1977, the band toured Canada and parts of Europe with Supertramp. The group also performed in California with the encouragement of Quebec's separatist Parti Quebecois government. This performance became the subject of a National Film Board video documentary. Alas, touring proved too physically and emotionally demanding for Fiori, and he decided to call it quits for good later that year. In 1980, in order to raise money to pay the bills from the California tour which the Quebec government had promised to pay, Harmonium released a double album entitled "En Tournée", comprising a flawless live performance of "L'Heptade" in Vancouver in 1977. This incredible live version of "L'Heptade", which even surpasses the studio version, is a testament to the professionalism and talent of this legendary symphonic rock group. After Harmonium disbanded, Fiori went on to make an award winning album with Richard Seguin in 1978 (see Fiori-Seguin), followed much later by a commercial solo LP in 1986. Locat and Normandeau released good solo efforts in 1978 and 1979 respectively. In 1979, Neil Chotem rounded up most of Harmonium's last formation, and recorded a rare live album comprising some beautiful pieces written by Fiori, the last vestiges.


Gene Estribou & Jean-Paul Pickens - 1965 - Intensifications


Gene Estribou & Jean-Paul Pickens - 1965 - Intensifications

Cut in the mid-1960s, Intensifications is an obscure and illu mina ting slice of Marin county raga folk, a taste of latter day deltadelica that's a must for fans of the acid folk sound old and new. Together, Estribou and Pickens each cut a side of brilliant, meandering unaccompanied instrumentals: Estribou on acoustic guitar and Pickens on banjo. This single document has only ripened with age and should make it clear to anyone who ventures to give it a listen that both Estribou & Pickens deserve their place in the inner sanctum of charismatic acoustic guitar legends. Originally released on Henry Jacobs' MEA label By no means household names, both Jean Paul-Pickens & Gene Estribou levitated around the Bay Area scene and each made a subtle mark along the way: Pickens was one of San Francisco 's legendary 'Diggers' and a knockout banjoist with poet David Meltzer 's folk rock outfit Serpent Power. Gene Estribou famously recorded the Grateful Dead's second studio sessions & released their first 45 single in 1965. Footnotes? Sure. But that should only make the discovery of this lost gem all the more tantalizing.


Jean-Paul Pickens, banjo
Gene Estribou, wooden guitar

01 You Know-The One You Played Saturday Night2 0:53
02 Amalgam 5:15
03 Metathanks 3:44
04 Eeee Minor (mp3) 6:26
05 Coo Coo Bird (mp3) 4:16
06 Shady Grows 4:25
07 G.R. 9:06

By no means household names, both Jean Paul-Pickens & Gene Estribou levitated around the Bay Area scene and each made a subtle mark along the way: Pickens was one of San Francisco's legendary 'Diggers' and a knockout banjoist with poet David Meltzer's folk rock outfit Serpent Power. Gene Estribou famously recorded the Grateful Dead's second studio sessions & released their first 45 single in 1965. Footnotes? Sure. But that should only make the discovery of this lost gem all the more tantalizing. Cut in the mid-1960s, Intensifications is an obscure and illuminating slice of Marin county raga folk, a taste of latter day deltadelica that's a must for fans of the acid folk sound old and new. Together, Estribou and Pickens each cut a side of brilliant, meandering unaccompanied instrumentals: Estribou on acoustic guitar and Pickens on banjo. This single document has only ripened with age and should make it clear to anyone who ventures to give it a listen that both Estribou & Pickens deserve their place in the inner sanctum of charismatic acoustic guitar legends. Originally released on Henry Jacobs' MEA label.

NO LINK HERE !!!
but you can buy it here:
http://www.locustmusic.com/index.php?option=com_artists&task=view&Itemid=6&cid=22

Komar and Melamid with Dave Soldier - The People's Choice Music


The Most Wanted Song

a musical work that will be unavoidably and uncontrollably liked by 72 ± 12% of listeners


The Most Unwanted Song

fewer than 200 individuals of the world's total population will enjoy this


Notes by the Composer this link-----
http://www.diacenter.org/km/musiccd.html

And download link

THIS IS NOT SOME MUSIC THIS IS AN EXPERIENCE AND A STATEMENT
ENJOY

Nick Haeffner - 1987 - The Great Indoors


Nick Haeffner "The Great Indoors" (UK neo-folkpsychedelia 1987)

The Nick Haeffner's story begun at the end of 1979, in St.Albans. Phil Smee, subsequently Bam Caruso founder, was starting Waldo, an obscure independent label oriented on local band singles, with also a pair of punk groups. Then he appeared on a pair of Bam Caruso samplers, till he started
to recording his first (and only) album, "The Great Indoors", then renamed on CD "The Great Outdoors", inspired by XTC, Nick Drake, Robyn Hitchcock and many others. Briefly involved, as many others of the Bam Caruso personnel, on the Paul Roland's "Dance Macabre" album, then projected to record a follow-up, whose name would be "The Revenge Of The Wholesome Rodean Girls" with the Andy Partridge production, but nothing came out of that (little is known if these latest infos are more gossip than reality).


All that said, "The Great Indoors" has a very strong english mood that very few records, also from '70s, have, expecially on the beautiful drakeian "Steel Grey" and "Don't Be Late".


Today Nick Haeffner is a teacher and a photographer and has a nice website here: http://homepage.mac.com/nickhaeffner/My%20Website/index.html

Link: Nick_Haeffner.rar


posted by Gathering_Of_The_Tribe

Monday, November 13, 2006

Fantasyy Factoryy - 2000 - Dreams Never Sleep



Fantasyy Factoryy (Germany) - 2000 - Dreams Never Sleep
part I
part II

01 Nova 2:46
02 Journey Inside 2:59
03 Landing11:40
04 Will You 4:46
05 Thy Way 4:36
06 She 6:36
07 Siren 4:00
08 Sun Child 6:35
09 Dragon king 6:09
10 Sadly Waiting 2:39
11 Room Of Chaos15:14
12 Soul Sister 2:14
13 Dreams Never Sleep 2:26

The music of Fantasyy Factoryy is deeply rooted in the sound of the 60s/70s psychedelic Underground scene. It´s handmade – it sounds original – it´s exciting. Fantasyy Factoryy have developped their own style, although it is possible to hear traces of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Pink Floyd and even Jethro Tull. Genuine, but without denying the history of Rock music. The classical three-piece line up enables the musicians to display as many different atmospheres as possible. Guitar-dominated, but with a lot of improvisational interplay between the members, their soundscapes show that they reached their aim, which is to transfer positive aspects of the music of the past into the present.

So let's move back to their history...

Fantasyy Factoryy was founded in 1994 by guitarist, singer, songwriter Alan Tepper. After some time on the live circuit, he recorded his debut album ''Ode To Life'' with two studio musicians in the prestigious Sun Dial Studios in London (1995). The album was released on both vinyl and CD, as were nearly all Fantasyy Factoryy recordings so far. Drummer Dr Cosmos joined the band in 1996, and the follow-up ''Tales To Tell'' was welcomed by critics and fans alike, as it was also the debut of guest musician Rainer Opiela on flute. ''If I Like It, I Do It'' came out soon after and received equal critical acclaim. In between each album, the band recorded numerous songs for tribute-albums and Various Artists Compilations, as you can check in the discography.

Their best album yet, ''Dreams Never Sleep'', was released in 2000, again with Rainer Opiela on flute. Organ player Markus Dassmann joined the band on two tracks. The record is available on CD and on double vinyl. At the moment, Alan Tepper is finishing the studio work for a double 7“, which will come out on Italy´s Psych Out label. And after that work is done, the band are going to rehearse for the new album, which will feature more musicians than any other Fantasyy Factoryy record.

If you would like to contact the band, feel free to use the old-fashioned way (the postal adress is always nice) or use the crazy cyberspace (e-mail adress). Fantasyy Factoryy are a people´s band, and they like to be in touch with their fans.

-Susan Carter 10/2003-

Buy "Dreams Never Sleep" Here

Louis Tillett- ego tripping at the gates of hell


TRACK LIST

1.Trip To Kalu-Ki-Bar
2.Duet In Blue Minor
3.Swimming In The Mirror
4.Dream Well
5.Voluntary Slavery
6.On Your Way Down
7.Persephone's Dance
8.Dead End Street In The Lu

By IAN McFARLANE(Author of ‘The Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop’)

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s LOUIS TILLETT provided a commanding and distinctive presence on the Australian alternative music scene. He was a softly spoken individual, yet it was his rich baritone singing voice (once described as “burning like a deep wound… like it’s oozing from the cracks of a tomb”), characteristic keyboard technique and exceptional song writing skills that earned him a reputation as an artist of considerable imagination, authority and conviction, and as a sideman of redoubtable stature. In addition to leading groups like the Wet Taxis, Paris Green and the Aspersion Caste, his work as a backing musician with Catfish, Ed Kuepper, the New Christs and Tex Perkins kept him firmly in the public eye.Louis’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). The 1960s garage rock sound served the Wet Taxis well, yet Louis was constantly in search of new musical terrain to explore. This led him to the acoustic-based No Dance side project with Died Pretty’s Brett Myers and Celibate Rifles’ Damien Lovelock (one EP, ‘Carnival of Souls’ in 1984) and the improvisational jazz/blues-influenced Paris Green ensemble which covered material ranging from Mose Allison and John Coltrane to Ray Charles. Following the release of the Wet Taxis single ‘Sailor’s Dream’ on the Citadel label (1987), Louis folded the band and immediately recorded his debut solo album Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell with support from a stellar array of local musicians including guitarist Charlie Owen and drummer Louis Burdett. The album relied upon a brooding intensity for its emotional effect, yet there was always a lighter more positive side as displayed on tracks like ‘Trip to Kalu-Ki-Bar’.His next band the Aspersion Caste included Owen, Burdett, ex-Wet Taxis guitarist Penny Ikinger and a powerful horn section and was heard on A Cast of Aspersions (1990) and its astonishing single ‘Condemned to Live’. A Cast of Aspersions was an eclectic and potent exploration of mood and emotions driven by Louis’s booming baritone voice and smouldering organ, jagged guitar lines and the swinging brass arrangements. Louis kept the Aspersion Caste on the road (including performances in Europe and New York) until 1992 when he recorded his next solo album Letters to a Dream. In 1995, he collaborated with Owen on the album Midnight Rain before they joined Ken Gormly and Jim Elliot (from the Cruel Sea) as backing musicians for Tex Perkins, on tour to promote his 1996 solo album Far be it From Me. Louis released his last album, Cry against the Faith, in 1999. As well as travelling overseas and succumbing to bouts of ill-health due to his well-publicised battle with alcoholism, he continued to put in occasional live performances around Sydney (often with help from Gormly and Elliot). An ABC-TV documentary produced a few years ago on the man, A Night at Sea, provided rare insight into his role as a performer and his struggles with personal demons. He has now emerged in 2005 with renewed vigour. All of which brings us to his new album, The Hanged Man, an exemplary return to form and a solo release in the truest sense. Louis recorded The Hanged Man in Bangkok, Thailand in July 2004 with a local engineer called O, and it focuses squarely on his skills as a song writer, producer, singer and multi-instrumentalist par excellence – a remarkable achievement from a remarkable musician. The deep connection to the blues/jazz/swamp rock feel essential to his sound has remained, yet there is so much more. One only has to listen to the nine brilliant tracks to hear the emotional outpouring on offer here. Louis has opened his heart and soul, faced down his demons and overcome his fears in the most cathartic way – song writing and recording as personal therapy. With lyric lines throughout the album as compelling and insightful as the following: “… shows me the journey I must make” (‘Ocean Bound’)“… I now have some hope, this will keep me afloat” (‘Four Walls’)“… the main thing I want is these voices to stop” (‘Through the Dream’)“… I pray for redemption and hope for a sign” (‘Prayer Before Dawn’)“… it all seems to go away with the start of a brand new day” (‘Around You’)“… I’m looking high I’m looking low, now it’s clear what I must do” (‘It’s Alright Now’)and “… a dream fulfilled, a love rebuilt… I’ve returned to a perfect friend, the journey’s end” (‘Teary Eyes’)…this is Louis embracing the very joyousness of a bright future. The Hanged Man features music as vital, beautiful, emotional and uncompromising as any in the history of Australian rock. Take the time to accept this incredible musician and his art.

Download Link :

Sunday, November 12, 2006

The Souls of Inspyration - 1970 - The Souls of Inspyration


The Souls of Inspyration (Canada) - 1970 - The Souls of Inspyration

01 Pursuit - 2.44
02 Stranger - 3.02
03 Sun Shines in the Winter - 3.12
04 Dil Kusha (Heart's Happiness) - 6.44
05 Of Lams & Wolves - 6.11
06 Eyes of Nature - 3.29
07 Seasons of Change - 5.22
08 Unknown Bonus-track - 1.58

Souls of Inspyration (SOI) has origins going back to Red Lake, Ontario near the Manitoba border, where Mark Paradis (drums), John Maciejewski (guitar/vocals), and Don Wilson (bass), eventually settled in Sherbrooke, in southern Quebec in September 1968. They were joined by Raymond Cloutier on keyboards. They appeared with Vanilla Fudge, as well as Tommy James and the Shondells, and toured Quebec.

In July 1970, SOI won a competition at Montreal's Man and his World (former site of EXPO '67) and earned a two week engagement at EXPO '70 in Osaka, Japan. Two progressive rock record producers, Chuck Williams and Don Grashey signed SOI's first record, a self-titled LP on the Columbia label which was released the same year.
Considering SOI arose from the late 1960's, its music is naturally in the psychedelic vein, and sung in English. But as musical styles began to change most drastically in Quebec, SOI's sound quickly became dated..

Sugar Cube Blues Band - sugar cube blues band


Folkrock/psych transition duo showcase their unreleased 1967-68 recordings. At best reminiscent of mid-period Beau Brummels or the Blue Things LP, though many tracks have desperate, strained vocals instead of the cool Sal Valentino moves I would have preferred. Others have reported enjoying the vocals in a Sky Saxon way - decide for yourself. I counted 4 good tracks including an alternate version of their sole 45 release "My last impression", the flipside of which unfortunately is not included at all. [PL]

Sugar Cube Blues Band


Personnel:
BUDLEY BAYS acoustic and electric gtrs A
BILL CROWDER vcls, hrmnca A
DANNY LANCASTER bs A
DEVO LANCASTER drms A
TONY PORTERA organ A

ALBUM:
1(A) SUGAR CUBE BLUES BAND (Rockadelic RRLP 21) 1995

45:
1 My Last Impression / Corinna Corinna / A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall (Black Crow 100) 1967

From Grenada, Mississippi, this act recorded an album in 1967 which finally saw the light of day in 1995. There are some good songs included, especially My Last Impression, which is very much in the garage-psych vein. Indeed the band's title is misleading as the songs aren't really bluesy at all. The material, which was all written by Bill Crowder, spans garage, psychedelia and more melodic rock and is well worth seeking out.

My Last Impression can also be heard on the vinyl version of The Psychedelic Experience, Vol. 1, whose liner notes state that some of the band members had recorded a 45 way back in 1959 as the Sundowners.


Your Download-Link :

Lost-In-Tyme

Lost-In-Tyme


Hey guys! Since I've been a regular visitor of your blog I've decided to contribute a... not so famous video by Electric Prunes!

Keep up!!!

Enjoy!!!



posted by Screaming Lord Fuzz

Saturday, November 11, 2006

Music Emporium - 1969 - Music Emporium


Music Emporium - 1969 - Music Emporium

Track listing

01. Nam Myo Renge Kyo (2:35)
02. Velvet Sunsets (2:34)
03. Prelude (2:04)
04. Catatonic Variations (1:56)
05. Times Like This (1:57)
06. Gentle Thursday (3:46)
07. Winds Have Changed (2:11)
08. Cage (5:08)
09. Sun Never Shines (4:00)
10. Day Of Wrath (3:20)

Line-up
- Bill "Casey" Cosby / vocals, keyboards
- Dave Padwin / guitar
- Carolyn Lee / bass, background vocals
- Dora Wahl / drums

MUSIC EMPORIUM biography
Initially called The CAGE, this trippy West Coast psych band from the 60’s were quite sophisticated for their time. They started off in 1968 when keyboardist Bill Cosby joined forces with guitarist Dave Padwin and two female musicians, namely bassist Carolyn Lee and drummer Dora Wahl. All four were either classically trained or seasoned club veterans, Cosby himself being a UCLA music major. Evolving smack in the middle of the flower power era, they played their blistering rockers and wispy melod...Initially called The CAGE, this trippy West Coast psych band from the 60’s were quite sophisticated for their time. They started off in 1968 when keyboardist Bill Cosby joined forces with guitarist Dave Padwin and two female musicians, namely bassist Carolyn Lee and drummer Dora Wahl. All four were either classically trained or seasoned club veterans, Cosby himself being a UCLA music major. Evolving smack in the middle of the flower power era, they played their blistering rockers and wispy melodies quite convincingly, borrowing from jazz, classical music, avant-garde and rock. On the psychedelic side, they were definitely more song oriented than, say, early PINK FLOYD; although they did pour a mean dose of organ on their self-titled LP, released in 1969. Unfortunately, a year later Cosby got drafted and the band broke up.

Their album is a fascinating testimony of a different time and place. Highly organ dominated, it has just about everything one would expect from a late 60’s album: driving rhythms, heavy guitar riffs, trippy Farfisa organ and cool, groovy male/female vocals by Cosby and especially Lee who delivers her druggy, cosmic lyrics with style. Their solos are concise and they know how to lock into a groove without jamming aimlessly, as did so many bands of that era. They also know how to structure songs that best display their strengths although in retrospect, it is their softer tunes that seem to have aged better, especially those with a nice gothic/classical feel.

Necronomicon - Tips Zum Selbstmord


Track listing
01. Prolog (7.32)
02. Requiem Der Natur (10.49)
03. Tips Zum Selbstmord (4.46)
04. Die Stadt (7.18)
05. In Memoriam (6.57)
06. Requiem Vom Ende (7.46)

Total Time 44:08

Line-up
Walter Sturm / Guitar, Vocals
Norbert Breuer / Guitar, Vocals
Harald Bernhard / Drums
Bernhard Hocks / Bass, Vocals
Fistus Dickmann / Organ, Synth, Vocals

It's always difficult reviewing Krautrock, simply because Krautrock, as a genre, tends not to patch directly into the generally accepted definition of Prog Rock - it's much closer to psychedelia. It also tends to be inconsistent - when it's good, it can be stunning, but when bad, falls into directionless, amateurish noodling that can be plain embarrassing.When approaching this album, I had to rid myself of all the hype surrounding it - much of which, one might suspect, comes from people who own a copy and want to make a fortune selling it on, and take it for what it is. What it is, is a concept album by a group of guys who had been together for little over a year, performed a few gigs and, thanks to the economic backing of a friend, managed to get into a small studio armed with basic recording equipment (a 2-track Reel-to-Reel) and release what would turn out to be one of the most expensive Prog Rock albums ever.So it's with calm ears and a fresh pair of Sennheisers that I dive into this highly prized work which, for those who don't like long reviews, really is very, very good indeed - but probably not worth the £1,000+ price tag of an original. .In summary, so you can skip the tech stuff, it's a Masterpiece for what it is. I hardly ever make this distinction, as I prefer to guage against the "Classic" Prog bands - the justification is in the review below, and no apologies for the length ;0).A highly reverbed and slightly manic voice improvises as if testing the microphone, then vocalises the first riff in "Prolog", which is picked up with a bang by the band, and, surprisingly, dropped in a heartbeat, the guitarist appearing to start it, but then tailing off, as if in shame - or possibly disgust. It could be either, given the subject matter of the lyrics. A deeply reverbed and wah-drenched, partially Hendrix-inspired solo follows, angular and jerky, pained and edgy.A hard series of chords punches through, and a new, tight, heavy riff follows - great headbanging stuff, but you do have to be able to cope with the rough production and knowledge that the band played this entirely live in the studio.A keyboard joins in, and we get flavours of Iron Butterfly before the vocals come in - and these are of a great quality, with good tones on the high notes and reasonable harmony. There's nothing new or particularly interesting about the ensuing guitar solo - what is of more interest are the unfolding and very powerful riffs - there's a whole wonderland of stealable material in here for bands running out of ideas and needing a little-known source...The dark tension and clear layers make for a very emotionally draining landscape, and the sudden ending makes you feel like you've fallen off a cliff."Requiem Der Natur" begins with huge, hollow and sinister keyboards, coloured with sparkly sounds, before a mellow acoustic guitar brings us to an earthy and folky flavoured section of beautiful drifting sound with flavours of Pink Floyd circa 1968- 1970, but also Necronomicon's very own, very dark style. Around 3:30, there is some deep, chanting vocal "Ahhs", joined by mid and top- range voices in a quasi "Monks meet operatics" kind of style, building and building until the recording equipment can't cope. Just as you think the equipment will expire, around 4:45, the music drops into a sort of jazz-fusion style, with the band right at the edges of their abilities, but pushing very hard in order to express the music - you'd hardly believe the band had only been together for a year, as it operates as a very cohesive unit, each member giving each other the necessary space to grow and improvise - successfully and sometimes unsuccessfully - but that's always the case with live improv.A "Big Bottom" style bass solo follows - although, to be fair, the bassist tries really hard to make the improv interesting and exciting - and succeeds to a fair degree, especially when he gives the cue for the keyboard and guitar re-entry - it really isn't apparent, and you have to listen hard several times to get it, it feels so natural.The Choir section returns - and it feels perfectly natural that it should do so - framing the jazz section very nicely - giving a masterclass in how form can be made to feel spontaneous.The title track begins with one of the most original intros I've ever heard - incredibly simple (but the best ideas often are), then kicking into an uptempo rocker with falsetto from hell that makes Matt Bellamy sound like a Contra bass... There are lots of goodies in here, including tempo changes, guitar solos, enthusiastic guitar panning, and a dark groove that would provoke many nuns into dancing around mooonlit fires sans habits... in my twisted imagination, at least. There are one or two "baddies" in here too - but easily overlooked."Die Stadt", apart from having tuning issues in the acoustic guitar, smacks a little of early Kraftwerk, but darker, naturally, and the intro appears to be a proclamation - Hawkwind style. When the big riff kicks in, it reminds me very much of Mountain in texture, but, true to form, Necronomicon break it all down, with a "cat on a hot tin roof" approach that demonstrates exactly how to go off at tangents and really mean it. One or two timing issues (!) do not spoil the infectious grooves that they settle into, with the now familiar dark keyboard washes and walking bass lines - I get a flavour of Hawkwind's "Master of the Universe" in places. I'm assuming that the spare acoustic was used for the outro ;0)"In Memoriam" is so dischordant, it too appears to have tuning issues, but these are soon resolved, and it's apparent that the heavy dischords are totally intentional. Very rough at the edges to start with, this piece dives around, and a mixed bag of good and truly superb ideas are thrown out, with decorative fill/synchronised runs that pre-empt Prog metal. Once the band have got into their groove, this really is a piece that every fan of Krautrock should hear - deeply and highly emotional, yet carefully worked out, with plenty of space for improv. Almost perfect, despite occasional timing issues. The ending is particularly notable, although I have to admit the falsetto annoys me too.Requiem Vom Ende rounds things off consistenly nicely, despite more tuning issues, which we just have to swallow and live with - after all, it's the music that's important. And what we get from the music is more cavernous sounds, thoughtfully meandering bass, then big, crashing chords of chaos, and over-reverbed voices clearly proclaiming rather than singing, carrying an authoritative tone, but dropping back to a wistful, almost mournful air, carrying a strong flavour of Floyd.Now, around 3:00, is the most powerful moment on the album, a throbbing, pulsating orb of music that grows (and might arguably have benefitted from losing the falsetto voice), grows, drops, and recapitulates. It's at this late point in the song I realise that the main riff is a combination of "Pictures of Matchstick Men" and "Hey Joe". An inspired welding together, that results in a spacious riff with a familiar feeling groove.I won't cover the very end - I'll leave that entirely for your discovery ;o)Here's a clue - it's not at all disappointing!All in all, a most excellent addition to any Prog Rock collection - which doesn't mean you're going to like it. My advice is to get familiar with Krautrock before approaching this album, as those unfamiliar with the genre are likely to be highly disturbed by it.It just scrapes into the Masterpiece category, because I'm concentrating on the music alone, and ignoring technical and execution issues simply because of the low budget live recording. A real mind-blower - but be careful, as in the wrong hands it could be mistaken as simply a blower... source : progarchives.com

Your Download-Link :

The Mindbenders - s/t


Remaining together following the departure of frontman Wayne Fontana, the Mindbenders got off to one of the most promising starts any band could enjoy, when their debut single "A Groovy Kind of Love" soared to number two in the U.K. and topped the chart in America. And had the group only succeeded in locating a decent follow-up, they might well have developed into one of the finest British bands of the late '60s. Instead, a series of disastrous choices of 45s condemned them to the ranks of rank also-rans, and it is only later that the sheer quality of their other work — material hitherto lost on two Mindbenders LPs — had been re-evaluated sufficiently to let listeners state that here was one of the greatest of all Britain's post-beat bands. A Groovy Kind of Love album totally failed to capitalize on the success of its title track, floundering to a lowly number 92, while a second song by "Groovy" composers Carole Bayer and Toni Wine, "Ashes to Ashes," scarcely improved on that in the singles' listings. It made number 55, although Fontana did still try to capitalize on it, repressing the Groovy Kind of Love album with "Ashes to Ashes" replacing "Don't Cry No More." (Later in the year, "Ashes to Ashes" hit number 14 in Britain, but only after the vaguely Spector-ish "Can't Live With You (Can't Live Without You)" had struggled to break the Top 30.The Mindbenders made their final American tour in July 1966, kicking off in Atlanta on Independence Day, in front of a capacity 25,000 crowd. It was a shame they were only the opening band. James Brown was the headliner and, while Eric Stewart remembered, "we went down quite well," a more memorable show came when the Mindbenders played the Fillmore West later in the tour. "The liquid light show was great and really worked with our act, which was a lot heavier than on our records." Stewart himself had developed into a very strong songwriter in his own right, contributing one song ("My New Day and Age") to the newly emergent prog rock favorites Family, and coming up with another, "Yellow Brick Road," which has been described as "the best record Traffic never made." For singles, however, the Mindbenders continued looking outside for new material. It was not necessarily a bad decision; their taste, after all, remained impeccable. Their final release of 1966, "I Want Her, She Wants Me," for instance, was written by the Zombies' Rod Argent and was handed to the Mindbenders a full year before it reappeared on the Zombies' own Odyssey & Oracle album. Fighting hard to keep abreast of the changing currents, the Mindbenders next embarked on their most audacious yet strangely prescient move yet, a full-blown concept album. No matter that, several months before Sgt. Pepper and even longer before SF Sorrow and Tommy, nobody had even heard of concept albums, the Mindbenders' With Woman in Mind remains a gem in that genre. And yet, despite the presence of both "I Want Her, She Wants Me" and "Ashes to Ashes," plus a startling new Graham Gouldman song, the lascivious "Schoolgirl" is an undiscovered gem as well. Unreleased in America, it did little anywhere else and disappeared as quickly as the accompanying single, yet another Bayer/Wine composition, "We'll Talk About It Tomorrow." Faltering ratings and drooping self-confidence, of course, were not necessarily an insurmountable hurdle. The group was invited to contribute two songs to the soundtrack of Sidney Poitier's movie To Sir, With Love — "number one hitmakers the Mindbenders" are seen performing live in the school gymnasium, airing "It's Getting Harder All of the Time" and "Off and Running," both sides of their next single. Unfortunately, not even major celluloid exposure could break the group's run of bad luck. Neither could an infusion of new blood, after drummer Ric Rothwell quit to be replaced by Paul Hancox. By the end of the year, the band was reduced to recording covers of current American hits, which could be rush released in Britain in the hope of beating out the original. Art had been reduced to a crapshoot and, even as the first of the Mindbenders' efforts, a version of the Boxtops' "The Letter." ground its way to number 42 in September 1967 (the competition, by the way, reached number five), it was clear that the end was in sight. The Mindbenders made one final stab at reversing their fortunes, re-recording "Schoolgirl" and pulling out every psychedelic rock trick in the book. A BBC ban (that lasciviousness again), however, kept the single a good arm's length from either the radio or the charts and, when a reading of Robert Knight's "Blessed Are the Lonely" followed "Schoolgirl" into the dumper, in March 1968, Bob Lang quit (he would reappear as a member of soft rockers Racing Cars in the mid-'70s). He was replaced by Graham Gouldman, in which form the band cut one final single "Uncle Joe, the Ice Cream Man." The Mindbenders then broke up, calling it a day at the Liverpool Empire on November 20, 1968, the last night of a U.K. tour with the Who, Arthur Brown, and Joe Cocker. Stewart and Gouldman, however, would continue working together, first as partners in the newly launched Strawberry Studios, then as one half of 10cc.
source: allmusic.com

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Friday, November 10, 2006

Holy River Family Band - 1996 - Haida Dieties


Holy River Family Band - 1996 - Haida Dieties

01 Fragrance Of Flowers And Herbs

02 Eztetl

03 Green Corn Dance

04 The Vision Quest Of The Sanpoil


3 member band from Sweden including Jens Unosson (The Spacious Mind) mixing eastern world music influences with some pretty tripped-out space like imagery. Tranquil almost mesmerizing in parts with a wonderful array of percussive and string interplay. Background synth landscapes paint continued sonic imagery creating some enormous sounds. Haida Deities would actually make a great sountrack with its highly sculptured landscaped sounds. Of course a full complement of world instruments are used …..drums, congas, tablas, bombo leguero, flutes, pipes, jews harp, electric piano, electirc organ, synthesizers, 12 & 6 string guitars, saz, oud, surna, violin, bass and even hurgy-gurdy. This stunning album will almost cetainly appeal to any fan of space - psych music.....Music for your young mind

Enjoy !

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come - 1971 - Galactic Zoo Dossier

Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come - 1971 - Galactic Zoo Dossier

Tracks :
1. Intro (0:52)*
2. Internal messenger (4:05)
3. Space plucks (2:53)
4. Space plucks (0:51)*
5. Galactic zoo (2:32)
6. Metal monster (1:46)
7. Simple man (3:06)
8. Night of the pigs (1:03)
9. Sunrise (6:49)
10. Trouble (2:01)
11. Begins (1:09)
12. Galactic zoo (continued) (3:05)
13. Space plucks (continued)**
14. Galactic zoo (continued)**
15. Creep (4:06)
16. Creation ~ Gypsy escape (7:20)
17. Noise (0:15)*
18. No time (6:13)
Bonus tracks on cd releases:
19. No STEREO efect (0:02)
20. Metal monster (1:47)
21. Space pucks (including Dem Bones) (5:51)
22. Sunrise (6:32)

Total Time: 62:18
* Not available on LP
** Not available on CD

Line-up
- Arthur Brown / vocals
- Julian Brown / vocals
- Phil Curtis / bass
- Andy Dalby / guitar
- Michael Harris / keyboards
- Phil Shutt / bass
- Martin Steer / drums

Releases information LP Polydor 2310 130 / CD Voiceprint VP 135 (1993) / CD Blueprint BP 135 (1997)

I'm sure a few of you know who Arthur Brown is. He had a hit in 1968 with "Fire". While he might be thought of as a one-hit wonder, all the albums he's done up to 1973 are well worth having. 1971's Galactic Zoo Dossier is that prime example. By this time, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown was history, the psychedelic scene was over, in place of the new, burgeoning prog rock scene, and Brown was in a new band called Kingdom Come (nothing to do with the '80s Led Zep clone band with the same name). This band, as it turns out, was a fixture in the British free festival scene, just like Gong, Hawkwind and (more than a decade later) Ozric Tentacles. I can only imagine how a Kingdom Come show might've been, but judging from the pictures included on the poster that comes with the original LP of Galactic Zoo Dossier, it looked like it was a sight to behold. Believe me when I tell you that Galactic Zoo Dossier is simply one of the most twisted albums you'll ever hear. Forget The Crazy World of Arthur Brown (actually don't, as that 1968 album is actually quite good), this album is WAY more demented, twisted, and out there! Just listen to cuts like "Internal Messenger", "Metal Monster", "Night of the Pigs", "Creep" and "Creation". "Creep" features some spoken dialog that sounds like it came off Hawkwind's Space Ritual. "Creation" is so far out there, it gives many Krautrock bands of the time a run for their money. Other goodies here include the mellow "Simply Man", the instrumental "Gypsy Escape", and "Sunrise". If you own the Supernatural Fairy Tales CD box set that was issued by Rhino Records (the box set is devoted entirely to progressive rock, with artwork by famed Yes, Asia, and Uriah Heep cover artist Roger Dean), you're already familiar with one of the songs off Galactic Zoo Dossier, and that is "Sunrise". The only reject cut on Galactic Zoo is "Trouble". That song was apparently sung by guitarist Andy Dalby, and was definately written by him. Pretty cheesy number with some really badly written lyrics ("I would like to write a song/To tell the world what is wrong with it today/I would like to write a book/If that were all it took, To make its troubles go away"), you can tell right away that Arthur Brown wouldn't dare write anything that bad. Luckily the song doesn't last very long, as the rest of the album is simply incredible. Totally strange to say the least, and if you want music that doesn't play it safe, then this album is for you.
Review by Proghead (Ben Miler)

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Jade Warrior - 1971 - Jade Warrior


Jade Warrior - 1971 - Jade Warrior

01. Traveller (2:40)
02. Prenormal Day At Brighton (2:45)
03. Masai Morning (6:44)
04. Windweaver (3:43)
05. Dragonfly Day (7:45)
06. Petunia (4:46)
07. Telephone Girl (4:54)
08. Psychiatric Sergeant (3:08)
09. Slow Ride (2:36)
10. Sundial Song (5:08)

- Tony Duhig / guitars
- Jon Field / percussion, flutes
- Glyn Havard / bass, vocals

Review
Jade Warrior's first album following Tony Duhig and Jon Field's emergence out of the psychedelic July captures them abandoning the best of that band's whimsical moodiness in favor of a symphonic spirituality epitomized from the outset by the soaring guitars that ecstatically slice through the opening "Traveller." Reminiscent, in places, of a less-precious successor to Quintessence and the Incredible String Band in that moods and esotericism do sometimes get the better of the band's more conventional music impulses, Jade Warrior is nevertheless a remarkable album, all the more so since its makers could readily have given the likes of Jethro Tull and the Moody Blues some serious competition in the mellifluous prog stakes. Glyn Havard's vocals themselves can sound extraordinarily Ian Anderson-ish in places, with Field's wielding of the flute and some distinctly edgy tempos only furthering that impression. Elsewhere, however, the same tools combine to induce emotions that range from trance to terror, an accomplishment that means highlights of the album are difficult to single out. Although the ten tracks are clearly delineated, the song titles are little more than passing impressions of the music's own sensations, rendering Jade Warrior one of those rare albums that is best experienced as a seamless whole.
~Dave Thompson, Allmusicguide

Biography
Jade Warrior was an eclectic group led by Jon Field and Tony Duhig, who met during the 1960s while working in a factory. The two did not immediately but spent several years improving their musical skills, Field on percussion, Duhig on guitar. They finally created a group named July, with Tom Newman, Chris Jackson and Alan James. Newman would later engineer (Mike Oldfield's landmark album Tubular Bells. July released one album of eccentric psychedelic pop in 1968, then folded.

After the demise of July, Duhig traveled to Iran, where he met guitarist and future bandmate Glyn Havard. Field remained in England, learned to play flute and created the Jade Warrior identity while writing music for a friend's dance drama. Jade warriors were the samurai of ancient Japan, cultured killers well schooled in arts ranging from poetry to murder. Duhig and Havard returned from the Middle East and contacted Field. The trio adopted the Jade Warrior name. Duhig and Field created most of the music, with Havard playing bass and contributing lyrics and vocals. This initial formation, supplemented at times by guitarist David Duhig and drummer Alan Price, signed with Vertigo Records and released three albums in three years: Jade Warrior, Released and Last Autumn's Dream. The band's sound combined a straightforward rock style with the sudden tempo changes and experimental instrumentation typical of early '70s art rock bands. Jade Warrior developed a loyal but small following. Vertigo canceled its contract, although the band had recorded nearly two albums worth of followup material. Most of this work was squelched for 25 years. The albums Eclipse and Fifth Element were recorded in 1973 but not released until 1998.

The group was on the verge of breaking up when Island Records offered a three album deal that eventually stretched to four records. But the change in labels reflected a similar shift in the band's sound. Island wanted to emphasize instrumentals. This left little room for Havard, who left the band. Jade Warrior became a duo, as Duhig and Field played numerous instruments to realize their increasingly exotic musical vision. The music became increasingly dreamlike, pushing a lighter jazz sound to the forefront. During the Island period of 1974 through 1978, Jade Warrior albums featured myriad percussive sounds but drum kits were rarely in evidence. The band liked to create a soothing, ethereal feel, then shatter it with gongs and unexpectedly raucous electric guitar, usually from guest David Duhig, Tony's brother. The albums featured occasional celebrity guests such as Steve Winwood, but Jade Warrior had a style of its own. The band's foray into what would later be labeled world and ambient music parallels the excursions of Brian Eno, who described Floating World as an important album.

During the 1980s, Field and Tony Duhig released a pair of albums, Horizon (1984) and At Peace (1989) but couldn't rise beyond cult status. Duhig was under a great deal of stress during much of this period. He opened a recording studio, mortgaging his house for funds. The studio flopped and Duhig's lender foreclosed the house.

Field became a session player, but after meeting bassist Dave Sturt, he took steps to revive Jade Warrior. He recruited guitarist Colin Henson. Tony Duhig was about to rejoin the fold when he died of a heart attack. Field and the others carried on, releasing two albums on Red Hot Records, Breathing the Storm and Distant Echoes, the latter featuring a guest appearance by former King Crimson violinist David Cross. The band began another album in 1996, but it has never been finished. Field, Henson and Sturt scattered to live in different parts of England and showed no inclination to finish the project.
~Casey Elston, Allmusicguide

Silver Sunshine



Like a heavy hammer onto anvil down from Ether's starry meadows, the sounds of Silver Sunshine are gradually engulfing this planet Earth. With their heads floating in the mist of Europe's original psychedelic and progressive eras, the boys formed under the winter sun of San Diego, CA in the year 2001. They released their SDMA-nominated, eponymous debut album in 2004 on Empyrean Records, followed by "A Small Pocket of Pure Spirit" - their evolved EP in 2005 on the same label. Since then, they've toured the west coast of the U.S. twice and shared the stage with many friends like: Dungen, Winter Flowers, Earthless, Jennifer Gentle, Jana Hunter, Bigelf, Persephone's Bees, The Black Keys, The Sunshine Fix, All Night Radio, Green Milk From the Planet Orange and DMBQ to name a few.

This San Diego foursome's S/T debut is an audacious introduction to a band who sound as if they'd time-warped from an alternate universe where it's always 1967 (but with better production values). A lot of influences here including The Move, Tomorrow, The Beatles, The Kinks, Pink Floyd, The Zombies and more. Like fellow modern-day lava lamplighters the Green Pajamas and the Soundtrack of Our Lives, Silver Sunshine filter dazzling psych-pop hooks through swirling, vertiginous atmospheres and lysergic ruminations: romantic infatuation as sensory-overload acid trip ("I See the Silver Sunshine"); haunted obsessions with ghostly babes ("Nightmares"); nocturnal strolls through the fields of an overactive imagination ("Greenfield Park"). The best among the many standout tracks here is the bracing, raga-flavored opener, "Velvet Skies," which is obviously influenced by "Tomorrow Never Knows," replete with backwards guitars). Trippy old-school sound effects like phased guitars and vocal harmonies sung from echo chambers plastered with black-light posters of Arthur Lee and Syd Barrett and then soaked in blessed reverb are a big part of the freakout fun. The Floydian cuckoo clocks, chimes, and chirping birds that dot the landscape make you wonder whether Silver Sunshine are winking at a grand, album-length inside joke, but XTC alter egos the Dukes of Stratosphear sounded pretty terrific having a laugh too.

The sound, production, songwriting and performance on their follow up EP "A Small Pocket Of Pure Spirit" has definitley evolved from their first full length and Silver Sunshine seem like they're finding their own sound. Kicking off this CD is "144,000", a freaked-out psych-pop number. I hear a slight Dungen influence but more bouncy with some great tempo changes and some seering wah-wah leads. Next is "Waiting For The Sun" which starts with a dreamy, echoed mellotron flute passage that suddenly bursts into a chugging rythm with a great, sweeping mellotron string melody. There are floaty psychedelic effects all over this song and parts of it
remind me of Jeff Lynne's Idle Race. The third song, "She's The Reason" shows their love of the Beatles that was ever so present on their first album. This song sounds like a cross between post Sgt. Pepper/Magical Mystery Tour Beatles, Emitt Rhodes and Jimmy Campbell's Rockin' Horse including some nice wurlitzer electric piano. A great pop rock n' roll tune. Next we move on to "Another Day" a beautiful McCartney-esque ballad with acoustic guitar, mellotron strings and gorgeous harmonies. Finally we have the closer, "Hiroshima Never Again". This song doesn't quite live up to the caliber of the previous songs but still good in it's own right. This is a freaked out instrumental groove jam with delayed wah-wah guitar and more wurlitzer for good measure. My favorite part of this track is the middle percussion break down with the sweeping sound effects including moaning girls, police sirens and fuzzed out guitars. There is a darker sound to these five songs which seems to work well for Silver Sunshine. I'm really looking forward to their next full length but until then, this will do just fine. A Small Pocket Of Pure Spirit indeed.

This Tour EP is a 5 song compilation with songs from their first album and their follow up EP along with an unreleased home demo. This new track, Winter Witch, is a great freaky folk psych tune with Mellotron, flute and leslied acoustic guitar.


So what's on the horizon for Silver Sunshine? Richard Vaughan(guitar/vocals), Conor Riley(guitar/Mellotron/ARP/organ/vocals), Stuart Sclater(bass), and David Hurley(drums/flute/Moog/various noisemakers) are curently working on their next full length album and according to Vaughan: "It seems our inspiration has moved from the green fields into the weird woods." Expect a darker sound on their second album, more progressively psychedelic and organic, similar to their new live experience - sometimes heavy, sometimes gentle, always freaked.

Silver Sunshine Tour EP - Superb Psych/Prog/Folk
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01. 144,000
02. Waiting For The Sun
03. Winter Witch
04. Nightmares
5. Merry Go Round


posted by Gathering_Of_The_Tribe [anonymous user]


Silver Sunshine - A Small Pocket Of Pure Spirit [EP]

01 144,000
02 Waiting For The Sun
03 She's The Reason
04 Another Day
05 Hiroshima Never Again

Silver Sunshine's self-titled debut album was at its best when the group stuck close to its influences -- the tough end of British psychedelia like the Move, the Who, and Pink Floyd. The follow-up EP, A Small Pocket of Pure Spirit, is also heavily influenced by the same era and is just as successful in dragging the past into the present. The album dragged in spots due to a couple of weak songs. No similar problems here as all five songs are quite good and varied. The opening "144,000" sounds like it could have come from the album, and if it had, it would have been among the best songs there with its lighter-waving chorus and electric guitar work. "She's the Reason," a bouncy Zombies-influenced ballad, would have been a standout too. A nice surprise is the lovely "Another Day," which is a pastoral acoustic ballad with gorgeous fake strings and vocal harmonies that shows a new dimension to the band. Only the instrumental throwaway "Hiroshima Never Again" fails to impress. Silver Sunshine don't have the luxury of being on a label like Rainbow Quartz or Not Lame, which seem to be repositories for bands with similar influences. They do have the distinction of being better than most of them, however. Hopefully fans of the style will look outside their narrow boundaries and give the group a chance. They will most likely be quite impressed.

posted by sub_commandante_marcos


Silver Sunshine - 2004 - Silver Sunshine

01. Velvet Skies
02. I See the Silver Sunshine
03. Trinkets
04. Way Up in the Big Sky
05. Nightmares
06. If I Had the Time
07. Greenfield Park
08. Girl
09. When She Wakes Tomorrow
10. Miranda May
11. Merry Go Round

posted by Opa-Loka

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