It's My Head, Sweden-Wales

It's My Head - s/t. 1987 Urania.

Odd one here. It's My Head was a duo based in Stockholm, but prominently featured Welsh percussionist Steve Hubback (who's still active in the music scene today). Album received a glorious review in Audion at the time, which propelled me to pick up a copy. Otherwise had I seen it in my local record store's import bin, I would've skipped right over it, as it looks like every other industrial album of the era. Musically it's a fascinating hybrid of fusion, cosmic, electronic and industrial styles. Like a stripped down version of David Torn's "Cloud About Mercury". The kind of album that would've given the 1980s a good name, but there are scant examples such as this. According to the Steve Hubback website, album was schedule to be reissued on CD in 2003, but it doesn't appear that actually happened.

Priority: none

Jox, France

Jox - Joxifications. 1982 FLVM.

A nice find from the always surprising FLVM label. Starts off heavily in the French folky bag recalling Troisieme Rive's "Banlieues" or Manu Lannhuel, but after a few minutes, the mood changes and the music moves into a primarily instrumental direction. In the end, you come away feeling like you've just heard a French Gryphon circa "Red Queen to Gryphon Three" (sans drums). Just replace the bassoon with an oboe. Other than the last, and short, 3 minute instrumental, the album does not use drums (a primitive drum machine was applied on the last track, for no purpose it seems). The music is driven by piano, acoustic guitar, Moog and bass guitar, the latter doing its part to keep the music driving forward. Memorable melodies, based on traditional themes, also define this album. Musea should dip back into the reissue market with this gem.

Priority: 3

Kornet, Sweden

Kornet - s/t. 1975 Manifest.
Kornet - Fritt Fall. 1977 Manifest.
Kornet - Kornet 3. 1979 Svenska Love.

Typical mid to late 70s fusion albums heading towards fuzak by the end of the decade. Heavily influenced by Weather Report, Billy Cobham, Return to Forever, etc... First album has quite a bit of flute, and is a bit more enjoyable to my ears.

Priority: none

Living Force, New Zealand

Living Force - s/t. 1977 Atlantic.

Living Force were primarily influenced by Santana circa 1972-1974, right down to the Sri Chinmoy references. But some of the songwriting is more in line with other bands from Australasia during the 70s. I hear bits of Pantha in particular, and smaller doses of Dragon, Ragnarok, and Sebastian Hardie. Post Spacefarm. Boots exist. An ideal candidate for Aztec.

Priority: 3

Mutha Goose, USA

Mutha Goose - I. 1975 Alpha Omega.

Typical Midwest prog, this time from Indiana. Recalls the southern Illinois group Thunderpussy in the compositions, though there's a strong presence of keyboards here. One of the better US private progressive rock albums.

Priority: 3

Noah, USA

Noah - Brain Suck. 1969 / 2003 Head.

Archival LP release from somewhere in Ohio, unearthed by one Al Simones, who put out a couple of freaked out psych guitar albums in the 1990s. The LP has been carefully distributed, and so its scarcity has caused the value to remain high. The kind of release that used to be the sole domain of Rockadelic Records. Fuzz guitar and organ lead the psych rock parade. Very much a product of the great Midwest, and the time and place are very apparent. Compositions stray more towards the thinking man's genre, ala Cleveland's Dragonwyck. A nice discovery, and would definitely benefit from a CD reissue. A natural for a label like Rockadrome or Germany's World in Sound.

Priority: 3

News: MNW releases Arbete & Fritid's "Se upp för livet"

Thanks to reader Gal who points out that long time Swedish underground label MNW has reissued another one of their own 1970s albums - Arbete & Fritid's "Se upp för livet" (1977). Originally a double LP that apparently was part of an exhibition. I'm familiar with some of Arbete & Fritid's work, but I've not heard this title.

Oz Quartet, France

Oz Quartet - Instant. 1984 private.

Nice progressive fusion with violin and guitar leads, somewhat typical of the time and place. File alongside Bedjabetch.

Priority: none

Peak, Australia

Peak - Ebondazzar. 1980 Cement. (later 1983 Innovative Communications).

Here's an album I must have passed over 100 times in the used record bins, thinking it was some kind of New Wave album, that was somewhat typical of Klaus Schulze's Innovative Communications label. Then a friend of this site sent me the LP recently to check out.

Peak play in the style of "electronic rock", a place that Tangerine Dream visited with their "Cyclone" and "Force Majeure" albums. There are no vocals here (some samples), but for the most part this is driving sequencer based electronic with some wonderful electric guitar, and quite a bit of invention. Well worth seeking out, and it doesn't appear it's ever been reissued on CD.

Priority: 3

Pumpkin, Netherlands

Pumpkin - s/t. 1975 Bubble.

Frequently noted by dealers as the "Dutch Placebo", I would say that prize should be awarded to Crypto if comparisons must be made. Placebo is a buzzword band that adds dollars to the prize, and it isn't a flat out lie that Pumpkin gets mentioned in the same breath - but in reality this Dutch band is a jazz fusion outfit, pretty far removed from the cool funky vibes of Placebo. With the abundance of sax and electric piano solos, Pumpkin are a far more generic outfit very much of their era. However, on a positive note, their ensemble playing is quite nice. Add a splendid cover, and the overall package is decent, though non-essential.

Priority: none

News: Garden of Delights latest releases

A diverse batch this time that contains an obscure folk rock band as well as a 5th Xhol live album (4th from GoD alone). Most promising, to me anyway, is the archival release of Zoppo Trump - a band I'm not familiar with at all.

Label descriptions below:

"Zoppo Trump from Dortmund are known in collectors' circles only for the sampler LP 'Scena Westphalica'. In addition to these tracks, this CD contains another seven studio recordings. The style of Zoppo Trump can be described as progressive rock, slightly influenced by jazz and classical music, however mostly without any wind instruments. Band member Nicky Gebhard later played in Wallenstein and Martin Buschmann, son of the well-known jazz-musician Rainer Glen Buschmann, joined Cochise."

"(Yggdrasil) The sole album by this hippie-folk group from Munich in 1972 originally didn't make it past the acetate stadium. Now these wonderful sounds, with flute, violin and English lyrics, are finally available for the first time. The CD contains the five tracks from the LP plus eight instrumentals from 1970, including the soundtrack to the TV series 'Sommer in Sizilien' ['Summer In Sicily'], as well as five demo tracks recorded in the rehearsal room. "

"XHOL - ESSEN 1970. Xhol's sound was a mix of jazz-rock and psychedelia. The band from Wiesbaden (formerly known as Xhol Caravan) stood out for their lengthy improvisations, holding barely any vocals. The band became an established underground act with their two LPs released on Ohr. This release features amazing remastered live recordings dating from 1970."

Rictus, France

Rictus - Christelle ou la Decouverte du Mal. 1981 Le Kiosque D'Orphee.

Very much a deep underground album from France. Raw and primitive overall but with some cool compressed fuzz sounds. At times the album recalls Nuance's "Il est une Legende", but this one is a mite untogether and has more of a straight rock element. There's also some dramatic Ange style vocals that are cool. Definitely worth hearing. They have two other albums that I understand are more in the hard rock or even early metal styles.

Priority: none

Synopsis, France

Synopsis - Gamme. 1981 FLVM.

An improvement on their debut album. In the Mona Lisa, Ange school of French theatrical progressive rock. Very good and surprised this has escaped reissue especially since their first album "Minuit Ville" has been reissued. An obvious candidate for Musea.

Priority: 3

News: Pan reissues Ruphus "Man Made" album

Pan Records, the consistent - albeit sparse, Norwegian reissue label has released Ruphus' last album "Man Made" from 1980. Not the highlight of their catalog, but completists will certainly be interested. And Pan always does a solid job, working with the master tapes.

True Myth, Canada

True Myth - s/t. 1979 Warner Brothers.

Much was made at the time of release that True Myth's sole album was the first ever all digital recording from Canada. I guess it's ironic, then, that the album remains unissued in digital format. This is obviously a big budget affair, complete with a thick gatefold cover, lengthy liner notes, and a brilliant production. Musically, even though it's from Canada, it has much in common with the US Midwest prog rock scene of the mid 1970s. Though not that much of a stretch since southern Ontario is an extension of the region. 1979 was a little late for an album like this, and there's the expected obvious commercial AOR moves that can be a bit cringe inducing. But the piano work here is stellar (recalling Italy's Festa Mobile actually). A good album that is generally panned by the progressive rock community. But I have a soft spot for this kind of stuff and recommend it to those who like groups such as Ethos, Styx and Sunblind Lion.

Priority: 3

Charlies, Finland

Charlies - Buttocks. 1970 Love.

I've had this record languishing in my collection for years, and didn't realize how great it was until yesterday. I only possess a bootleg LP, that was sent to me about 15 years ago as an afterthought. I played once or twice, thought it was good enough to keep, and filed it in the collection. And while doing some weeding out, I came across it again.

Had you told me this was from 1970 England or 1971 Germany, I would have believed you. Fantastic loud acid guitar, amplified sax, soft acoustic guitar and flute, tribal percussion and deep vocals. It's the blues-rock-jazz sound that was so popular during this era, and one of my personal favorite styles. If you like groups from Germany such as Nosferatu, Ardo Dombec and Alcatraz or the UK bands like Diabolus and Raw Material, then this one is for you. Very energetic release.

There are bootlegs out there, but no legit release to date. They also have a second album, that was a soundtrack to a Finnish B-film. And that was released on CD legit in the early 1990s. I haven't heard it yet, but plan to soon. (and I have now heard it, and it's unfortunately just a plain blues rock album that lacks any of the invention of "Buttocks").

Priority: 2

News: RPM reissues the first two BLO albums from Nigeria

Apparently December, 2009 is the time to reissue Nigerian psych albums. Earlier we announced the Academy reissue of Ofege. Now comes word that RPM, another of the many Cherry Red labels (Esoteric being the main one we follow), has reissued the first two albums by BLO (Berkeley Laolu Odumosu).

Here's what we said about the debut album:

"BLO (Berkeley Laolu Odumosu) - Chapter One (Nigeria) 1973 private. One of the more famous underground psych albums from Sub-Saharan Africa. Does contain a US psych funk vibe and isn't too far from the works of Fela Kuti, minus the deeper grooves. Shadoks has already done the LP reissue, so expect a CD sometime in the next couple of years."

Well obviously it appears Shadoks was only interested in the LP issue, or only had to rights to that format.

Should we expect an announcement for the Question Mark (Kenya) album next?

Thanks to Laser Ken for the heads up!

Visitor 2035, England

Visitor 2035 - s/t. 1978 Ariola.

Progressive fusion influenced by the usual suspects like Return to Forever, David Sancious and Weather Report. I also pick up some fellow countrymen Skywhale here as well as the US group Flight, and that's a good thing.

Priority: none

Woodoo, Finland

Woodoo - Taikakulkunen. 1971 UFO.

Terribly rare album from Finnish rock-jazz-vocal group. Lots of hand percussion drives the rhythms while sax takes the lead lines. Vocals in Finnish dominate. This one has a nice groove to it, despite the heavy reliance on vocals. Can be trance inducing. Short album, well under 30 minutes. Worth seeking out for a few listens.

Priority: none

Eddie Warner, France

Eddie Warner - Progressive Percussions Vol. 1. 1971 L'Illustration Musicale
Eddie Warner - Progressive Percussions Vol. 2. 1974 L'Illustration Musicale

For many years, I had wondered where the uncredited music came from that appeared on television shows and obscure movies that didn't commission a soundtrack. Most of the shows were from the late 1960s and early 70s, and featured all kinds of wild sounds including fuzz bass, acid guitar, organ, etc... Years later I learned about film library music. These albums basically contained short (1 to 3 minute) instrumental landscapes that were mere skeletons of a composition - that is, flexible enough to be used in various episodic sequences. The most sought after of these collections tend to be from the golden era of psychedelic music (1967-1975). Eddie Warner's two Percussion albums are amongst the most highly valued, due to the overabundance of all the psych elements mentioned above. As for album length listening, they fall short - but if used for the purpose as they were designed, these albums can be a great place to draw samples from. Most library albums such as this have been reissued in compilations - perhaps for the better. Warner was the owner of the L'Illustration Musicale label, a favorite amongst the DJ crowd.

Priority: none

Vent d'Est, France

Vent d'Est - s/t. 1980 Om.

Melodic progressive rock somewhere between Camel and Pink Floyd. The instrumental work is quite good, especially the guitarist who lights it up quite a bit more than most from this era. However, there's plenty of commercially oriented material to wade through as well.

Priority: none

Tamalone, Netherlands

Tamalone - New Acres. 1979 Crossroad.

Jethro Tull soundalikes, though strangely minus the flute (except on one song). But in every other way, it sounds like Ian Anderson and Co. Pretty decent record actually.

Priority: none

Sab, Japan

Sab - Crystallization. 1978 Vanity.

On the super rare Vanity label (Dada, Aunt Sally, etc...). Sab is primarily a tranquil electronic album including some sequencing, with solo segments for sitar and piano. I have to imagine that both Klaus Schulze and Popol Vuh were a huge influence here - and both were highly popular in Japan at this time.

Priority: none

Gebarvaterli, Germany

Gebärväterli - Im Tal der Emmen. 1978 Brutkasten.

Despite the artist and title sounding like some sort of alpine cheese, Gebarvaterli is anything but cheesy. Technically would fit in the large Kraut fusion school of the late 1970s, but this album won't remind you of Kraan, Embryo, Missus Beastly, etc... In fact, there are parts here that recall the great Tortilla Flat (especially in the rhythms and flute solo sections). And when the trombone gets featured, I'm reminded of Nanu Urwerk, another square-peg-in-a-round hole German fusion band. While it's not perfect throughout (sometimes it's pure jazz - fine - but not ideal for me anyway), this is one of the best new-for-me obscurities I've heard in 2009. Well worth the time to hear. Would love to see Garden of Delights or Long Hair put this platter out on CD.

Priority: 3

(the scans out there are pretty weak - so I used this auction photo, courtesy of popsike.com)

Sailor, USA

Sailor - s/t. 1974 private.

Sometimes known as The Sailor Band, due to a few copies having a stamp. From Minnesota and surprisingly sophisticated for such a private release. Most albums from 1974 have a strong hard rock element, and there's little of that here with this jazz and classical inspired album. Plenty of jazz guitar and piano as well as amp'd up electric guitar and Hammond organ. Almost all instrumental except the final track. A nice surprise.

Priority: none

The photo is courtesy of popsike.com. I wanted to show the entire package, like the one I saw from my friend's collection.