The Original CD Reissue Wish List

* - A super album. Tier 1 Reissue wishlister
** - A classic. One of the greatest albums not on CD.
*** - Amongst the greatest albums ever made. Almost criminal that it is not available on CD.

% - Added since May of 2009.

A Paradise is Born - s/t (Germany) 1978 private. German folky with dual male/female vocals, that sounds more English in execution (and language of course). Parallels to Carol Of Harvest can be found, but without the progressive elements. Some nice electric leads. File next to Stone Angel.

* A.F.T. - Automatic Fine Tuning (England) 1976 Charisma. A personal favorite, though some folks have told me they think it's too jammy. 4 long instrumental tracks with twin guitar.

* A.R. & Machines (Achim Reichel) - Echo (Germany) 1972 Polydor double LP.
* A.R. & Machines (Achim Reichel) - 3 (Germany) 1973 Zebra (Reichel's label for Polydor)
* A.R. & Machines (Achim Reichel) - IV (Germany) 1974 Zebra
* A.R. & Machines (Achim Reichel) - Autovision (Germany) 1974 Zebra
* A.R. & Machines (Achim Reichel) - Erholung (Germany) 1975 Brain. I don't think there's any question that Achim Reichel has the largest body of important work still not on CD. He began to use sound on sound guitar techniques with "Die Grune Reise" and continued that strain, with different formats, through to the "Erholung" album. From there he went back to a pop singer songwriter style. Reichel is a big star in Germany and he's maintained that he doesn't want these reissued for now. That's a pity. "Die Grune Reise" actually was reissued by Polydor at the dawn of the CD age in the mid 1980s and quickly fell out of print (and was finally reissued again on his own Tangram label in 2007 with the short film of the same name). Otherwise, the only hope of hearing these albums on CD is through a 2 disc compilation. Hardly satisfying. Many of these have been booted - more than once. With "Die Grune Reise" finally getting reissued at the end of 2007, we can only hope the others will get reissued soon as well! Also see the Frankie Dymon Jr entry for a related side project.

Abacus - s/t (Germany) 1971 Polydor.
Abacus - Everything You Need (Germany) 1972 Polydor.
Abacus - Just A Day's Journey Away (Germany) 1972 Polydor.
Abacus - Midway (Germany) 1973 Zebra. On Abacus' debut you can hear a lot of parallels to another quirky German band: Nine Days Wonder. Like NDW's debut, this album is radically progressive, covering anywhere from Frank Zappa's more complex works to any number of UK outfits. The vocalist is from England, and he writes much of the material, so this album doesn't sound Krautrock at all. This album has been booted at least once unfortunately. Would be nice to see a legit CD! Until now, I'd only heard the band's last 1970s work "Midway" (1973) and it was pretty horrendous. Recently I heard their 2nd effort "Everything You Need", which is quite a drop off from the great first album. All of Side 1 is rural/country rock and is downright terrible. But all is not lost, as the second side is one long suite. Though based again on a rural rock theme, there are plenty of quirky progressive rock moves, that recall the first album. The dramatic difference between the first and second albums reminded me, again, of Nine Days Wonder.

Abbhama - Alam Raya (Indonesia) 1978 cassette only release. I know very little about Indonesian prog rock pre-Discus, other than the outstanding Guruh Gipsy (see entry below), but Abbhama seems to me the prototype of what to expect. At its core, Abbhama are a pop group with female vocals, darn near close to a lounge act. Then suddenly, when you least expect it, an obvious progressive rock segment will follow, perhaps something you might hear on a classic Yes or Genesis album. And while Abbhama wear their influences on their collective sleeves, it's all good fun. Well worth a listen or two.

Ablution - s/t (Sweden) 1974 CBS. Swedish based large scale jazz rock ensemble, with hot playing from all. Organ, guitar, multiple percussion, piano and, best of all, Bjorn J:Son Lindh freaking out on flute all over this! Has a “Lotus” era Santana vibe going.

Abraxis - s/t (Belgium) 1976 International Bestseller Company / IBC. Formed by members from the band Cos, this album is a cross between flute jazz, Canterbury inspired fusion and 70s funk. Somewhere between Chris Hinze, Cos, Cortex and Herbie Hancock is where you'll find the sound of Abraxis. Flute drives the melody and solo lines, but there's plenty of introspective piano sections as well. Which play nicely against some of the ferocious electric guitar. A nice discovery on the always surprising IBC label.

Abrial Stratageme Group - Mannderly (France) 1977 Sonopresse. Imagine Ange as a hard rock group, or a French Blue Oyster Cult, and you have a pretty good idea of what we're dealing with here. Also reminds me of the Rictus album that's also in this list, though this one is much more professionally done. Vocals are in French and have that psychotic touch that I find highly fascinating. Very heavy guitar sound for the early date. A couple of ballads, and one 8 minute progger round out the contents. Interesting album!

Acid - s/t (Austria) 1974 CBS.
Acid - More Acid (Austria) 1975 CBS. Austria’s Acid are a pedestrian rock group band who somehow managed to get two albums out (on CBS no less). I’ve only heard the first and that’s enough for me. Other than a couple of promising horn rock moves, recalling Birth Control on “Rebirth”, what we have here is plain Jane boogie rock ‘n roll. Many cover tunes and not an ounce of creativity. An awful album really.

Adam - Eura (Sweden) 1994 Xotic Mind.
Adam - Welcome Back (Sweden) 1995 Xotic Mind. Both solo albums are typical of the Xotic Mind psychedelic aesthetic (S.T. Mikael, The Word of Life). Flute, hand percussion and fuzz guitar is the order of the day. Good stuff, and it would be nice to see the rest of the Xotic Mind catalog reissued by the inheritors - Subliminal Sounds.

Aera - Akataki (Germany) 1982 Spiegelei.
(Aera) Muck Groh - Muckefuck (Germany) 1979 Erlkonig. Aera's last album is also one of their best and compares favorably with other excellent early 80s German fusion albums like Embryo's "Zack Gluck" and Kontrast's sole work. Band has contacted me to explain that they've reissued all the Aera albums from their house label (Erlkonig - first 4), but that the last two albums (including "Too Much" which I haven't heard) are owned by a corporation.
--Muck Groh is the leader of Aera and his first solo album treads a similar path to some of the later Aera albums such as "Live". "Muckefuck" has been rumored to be up for a reissue for the last couple of years now (since it's on Erlkonig, I'm not sure what the hold up is). His second album "Grotesk" has been reissued along with what appears to be an archival recording called "Grotesk 2".

After Life - Cauchemar (France) 1975 Discophon. Reissued on LP by Wah Wah, but no CD as of yet. See my review here:After Life

Agamemnon - Part I & II (Switzerland) 1981 private. Similar to other slow moving German symphonic groups of the day like Waniyetula (known by most folks as Galaxy on LP), Albatros, early Faithful Breath and Indigo. Garden of Delights has been pretty successful in getting these types of albums out. According to the LP, there was supposed to be a Part 3 & 4, but guess they lost interest in ol' Agamemnon.

Agharta - s/t (Canada) 1981 private. Light and breezy instrumental fusion with piano and various woodwinds (sax, clarinet, flute) mixed up front. Lead by keyboardist Jacques Mignault, and released on his own label, with the help of other local Quebec jazz musicians including Michael Seguin. Very much a product of its day, with strong overtones of same era Weather Report and Spyro Gyra. Well done for the style.

Air - Teilweise Kacke... ...aber Stereo (Germany). 1973 private. See my review here: Air

Airlord - Clockwork Revenge (New Zealand) 1977 Infiniti. Released in Australia, Airlord are one of the more original late 70s progressive bands. Taking a crazy bent on classic era Genesis.

Aktuala - s/t (Italy) 1972 Bla-Bla. Artis CD OOP
Aktuala - La Terra (Italy) 1974 Bla-Bla. Artis CD OOP
Aktuala - Tappeto Volante (Italy) 1976 Bla-Bla. Artis CD OOP. All of these were issued by the Italian Artis label in the mid 1990s, but have fallen out of print and are highly collectable. Musically very similar to the Third Ear Band or other ethnic acoustic outfits from the early 1970s.

Aku Aku - Humanquake (Czech Republic) 1991 Pro Art.

* Albatross - s/t (USA) 1975 Anvil. Rockford, Illinois based symphonic progressive group. Like many bands from the great Midwest, Albatross were highly infatuated with Wakeman era Yes, with dashes of Gentle Giant and Genesis thrown in. And like Surprise (St. Louis), Ethos (Ft. Wayne), Pentwater (Chicago), Starcastle (Champaign) and countless others, they also had an eye on the FM radio charts. This AOR sensibility guaranteed them more club spots, and hopefully in their delusional minds, more girls to choose from. In the end, they fit somewhere between the insane progressive sounds of Yezda Urfa (south Chicago suburbs of Indiana) to the more overtly commercial Styx (south Chicago). If you love the sounds of the region, as I do, then this one is a must own. Lots of organ and mellotron for you gearheads out there as well. boots exist.

The Albert - s/t (USA) 1970 Perception (plp 4).
The Albert - s/t (USA) 1970 Perception (plp 9). And the award for most confusing discography goes to.... The Albert! Need the catalog number or album cover to know the difference. I've only heard plp 9, but it stood out against most horn rock albums, since it did seem to possess a certain psychedelic vibe in the guitar playing, and in the soulful voice. Worth seeking out.

Alcatraz - Energieprogramm in Rock (Germany) 1978 private. revisiting soon.
Alcatraz - Live: Trockeneis zum Frumstruck (Germany) 1980 private.
Alcatraz - No. 4 (Germany) 1982 private.

Alex - s/t (Germany) 1973 Pan.
Alex - That's the Deal (Germany) 1975 Pan. Alex, later known as the Alex Oriental Experience, is one Alex Wiska, master of many Turkish stringed instruments. On the debut he successfully blends Turkish music with a certain Krautrock bent, making for a fascinating fusion. On the downside, Alex's vocal style is a bit of an acquired taste, and can distract a bit. "That's The Deal" is more of a straight ahead rock album with a Middle East edge, but not enough to distinguish it, as on the debut. "That's the Deal" is available as a free download on Alex Wiska's website. Both albums have been booted on CD. I would expect that Wiska himself will eventually release these properly. Alex has released many more albums than these two, but I've been told they stray even further away from the scope that we're covering.

Alice - Arrêtez le Monde (France) 1971 Polydor. I had totally forgotten about this release. I had it on LP for a few years and finally decided to move it out. It was a difficult decison, mainly because the gatefold cover is so cool - and the feel of it reminds me of Sandrose's sole album. That was well over 10 years ago. So hearing this again was fun. And also reminded me why I did ultimately not hold onto it. It's by no means a bad album, but Alice were a French pop band exploring with orchestrations and other trendy "progressive" ideas. In that way, they remind me of the Italian groups doing similar like Delirium's "Dolce Acqua" or The New Trolls "Concerto Grosso No. 1". When Alice are strictly instrumental, they can be highly fascinating, and utilize a multitude of instruments (even mellotron). But they are pop singer songwriters at heart, and those moments are pretty hard to stomach, unless you're a fan of said style. Would be a great choice for a Japanese mini-LP. Their 1970 pop psych debut album has been reissued prior.

Alpha du Centaure - Contact (France) 1979 Spirals. Imagine if Jimi Hendrix played in front of a jazz rhythm duo. Wild fuzzy wah wah guitar screaming over stand-up bass and scattered jazz drumming. If only the guitarist played that way for the entire duration! That would be some album! There's also some typical jazz guitar and on those cuts, you'll be wishing you had your Grant Green albums handy instead.

Alpha Ralpha - s/t (France) 1979 Wea.

Alquitran - s/t (Spain) 1977 Auvi. Despite being in Hans Pokora's book as one of the rarest Spanish items, the album itself has little to offer musically. Primarily a song based rock album, not typical at all of the flamenco progressive rock movement of the day. Some Santana moves is all that saves this album from a total yawner. Too bad, as the album sports a wonderful cover.

Amanaz - Africa (Zambia) 1975 private. Was reissued by Shadoks on LP, so expect the CD to eventually follow.

Amish - s/t (Canada) 1972 Sussex (US press). Ontario based group who recorded in Detroit, Amish were primarily a hard rock band with organ and guitar providing the solo leads. Heavily influenced by Uriah Heep and Deep Purple. Truthfully, albums like this were a dime a dozen back in those days, but Amish stands out due to the superb progressive oriented organ work, and I like the way they wah wah riff the rhythm guitar parts. Even some strange psych era interludes that recall bands like Stone Circus or even Strawberry Alarm Clock. They even cover Traffic's 'Dear Mr. Fantasy'. Bassist Mike Gingrich was later a member of the progressive rock group Nightwinds. boots exist.

Amos Key - First Key (Germany) 1973 Aamok. High energy classically based organ prog trio like Trace and ELP. Would expect Garden of Delights to ultimately reissue this.

Amphyrite – s/t (France) 1973 private. Guitar blues rock trio. One guy solos on guitar while the others keep time (sort of). No vocals to get in the way. Or melody either. Sounds more American in its approach. Amber Soundroom did manage to reissue this on LP before going belly up.

Anamorphose - Palimpseste (France) 1986 private. An active jazz rock album. Reminds me some of Abus Dangereux's first album as well as some of Yoch'ko Seffer's 1970s works. Smoking rhythms! I prefer the flute lead material over the much more heavily used soprano sax. Some great use of violin as well. Good album for the date considering the wasteland that was 1986.

Ananga Ranga - Regresso As Origens (Portugal) 1976 Metro-Som.
Ananga Ranga - Privado (Portugal) 1977 Metro-Som. Jazz rock ensemble that reminds me some of Tantra, but perhaps more influenced by the bigger names of the day like Passport and Weather Report. First album has violin which definitely adds points. "Privado" begins to introduce funk, which probably wasn't the best idea. Could see maybe the Spanish label Guersson putting these out. Boots exist.

Angipatch - Vie (France) 1981 private.
Angipatch - Delirium (France) 1982 private. On "Delirium", Angipatch mixes neo prog with new wave synth pop and French vocals. Supposedly the debut is more progressive and I'll find out shortly enough.

xx Änglabarn - s/t (Sweden) 1973 Plump. Lightweight electric folk duo. Was scheduled to be reissued by Transubstans, but looks to be tabled for now. Probably for the best, as there's more important albums from Sweden needing attention (Flasket Brinner, Berits Halsband, Panta Rei, Anna Sjalve Tredje etc..) **Reissued by Transubstans 9/09

* Anna Sjalve Tredje - Tussilago Fanfara (Sweden) 1977 Silence. Post Algarnas Tradgard and Flasket Brinner. In the Tangerine Dream electronic genre, but with a distinct Swedish twist and some wonderful offbeat space jams. To date, Silence hasn't licensed any of their work out. In time, they put them on CD, but it's been a long time since they've tackled their back catalog. Maybe Mellotronen can talk them into a license or two!

Another Roadside Attraction - s/t (Canada) 1979 private.

Apartment One - Open House (Netherlands) 1970 Pink Elephant. Straightforward hard psych record. Sounds more like what was happening in the 1960s Dutch scene with albums from Cosmic Dealer, The Outsiders and Q65. Some good fuzz and older organ sounds. Opening track on each side is instrumental, and represents the best material. Also reminds me of the vast boneyard of US post psych albums from 1970 on labels like Paramount, ABC, Epic, Rare Earth and Mercury.

* Aquarelle - s/t (Canada) 1978 Atlantic.
Aquarelle - Live a Montreux (Canada) 1979 Atlantic. My reviews here: Aquarelle This will probably get covered by ProgQuebec, as they've done a great job of documenting the Quebec scene.

Aquila - s/t (England) 1970 RCA. Sax and flute lead progressive. Echoes of Diabolus (especially) and the debut albums of Gravy Train and Raw Material come to mind. Fine organ solos with nice contrast provided by acoustic guitar. Boots exist.

Arbete & Fritid - Arbete och Fritid (Sweden) 1970 Sonet.
Arbete & Fritid - Andra lp (Sweden) 1971 Sonet.
Arbete & Fritid - Ur Spår (Sweden) 1974 MNW.
Arbete & Fritid - Se Upp För Livet (Sweden) 1976 MNW.
Arbete & Fritid - Håll Andan (Sweden) 1979 MNW.

Arc - Maquette (France) 1980 Game. Earnest attempt to recreate the Ange / Mona Lisa style of dramatic French language prog. Similar to other such efforts like Elohim's "Le Mana Perdu" (1983), Trefle (1979) or Elixir's "Sabbat" (1987). It's a distinctly French form of rock, and for what it is, it's pretty good. Don't expect Ange though.

Archimedes Badkar - s/t (Sweden) 1974 MNW.
Archimedes Badkar - II (Sweden) 1975 MNW. Boots exist for the first album. "Tre" was issued on CD by MNW a couple of years back.

Maurizio Arcieri - Trasparenze (Italy) 1973 Polydor. Well known Italian pop star who got his start in the beat scene with I New Dada, and later formed Krisma with his wife Christina Moser. Like most Italian pop stars in the early 1970s, they had to take their one crack at progressive rock, and here it is. Similar to Lucio Battisti's more advneturous works, which is say, it's pretty conservative singer songwriter rock oriented material.

%Arco Iris - Agitor Lucens V (Argentina) 1974 Music Hall. This is a new entry into the CD Reissue Wishlist, and comes as quite a surprise for me. I always thought of Arco Iris as a new age / Andes Mountain hybrid from the 1980s. Then I was told their 1970's albums were different, so I got ahold of "Los Elementales" (which is on CD), a highly rated fusion album from 1977. But while I thought it was good, it wasn't anything really that different or special. But "Agitor Lucens V" IS quite a bit different. "Agitor Lucens V" appears to be unique in their canon. This is one of the best things I've heard in the last couple of years. It's a mite inconsistent, which is part of its charm I think. In some ways, this is Argentina's version of the Lula Cortes and Ze Remalho "Paeribu" album. And when you find out that their spiritual guide was a gorgeous babe / former fashion model, then you know these guys were tuned into something special.

Arpaderba - L'Aleph (Italy) 1981 Incontro. Instrumental medieval folk rock lead by the former guitarist from Raccomandata Ricevuta Ritorno and Samadhi. Reminds me of some of the bands coming out of Brittany during this time like Avel Nevez or an instrumental Malicorne. Very nicely played (especially the violin), with just a bit too much gloss in the production to have any impact. Minimum Vital would later take a similar approach (though with Baroque as a blueprint) and apply much more firepower. Still a very worthy piece and a surprising sound to come from Italy.

* Artcane - Odyssee (France) 1977 Philips. Wonderful major label Crimson styled prog - also some Shylock, Carpe Diem and Memoriance can be heard. Musea has tried to reissue this in the past, but Phonogram appears not interested. No one is going to get rich on this album, so might as well let the hobbyists have their fun!

Asgaerd (Asgard) - In the Realm of Asgaerd (England) 1972 Threshold. I had this on LP many years ago, and recently received a request to add here. I don't recall much about it but ProgArchives says "A sound very reminiscent of the Wooden Nickel era Styx, Asgærd combine Dennis deYoung-like vocals with Uriah Heepish guitars and the overall pastiche of bands like Rhapsody, only at the height of the progressive (aka art) rock era. In other words, they were dead-on for their time. The sound doesn’t wear all that well with time, but some accommodation must be made since this album was released in the very early seventies." Apparently there is a legit Japanese CD that is long OOP.

Association Earwax - Earwax (Germany) 1970 MPS.
Association P.C. - Sun Rotation (Germany) 1972 MPS.
Association P.C. - Rock Around the Cock (Germany) 1973 MPS.
Association P.C. - Erna Morena (Germany) 1973 MPS. Guitarist Toto Blanke's experimental jazz rock group (well really it would be drummer Pierre Courbois' band, since he's the P.C.). All of the albums listed here are more towards "out jazz", with some rock elements interspersed throughout. This approach contrasts with the slightly more accessible "Mama Kuku" album featuring flautist Jeremy Steig, that was reissued by MPS in 2008. The debut album was originally released under the band name Association Earwax, and is a bit more diverse. Some Soft Machine fuzz organ moments are offset by free rock and free jazz, as well as some more mellow late 60s jazz sounds. With the reissue of "Mama Kuku" in 2008 by MPS, I would expect all of these to get reissued eventually.

Astre - Foresight (USA) 1981 private. Horrendously underproduced music from Tulsa, OK, but a superbly complex progressive rock album lays behind the mess. A clean recording may take the grime off of this gem.

** Atila - Reviure (Spain) 1978 EMI Odeon. Fantastic symphonic space rock.

The Atlantic Ocean - Tranquillity Bay (Sweden) 1969 Love. A mixture of UK styled pop psych and one long progressive instrumental journey that makes up Side 2. Not a bad album at all, and ahead of its time. The side long track has been included in a Love compilation, which probably nullifies the need for "Tranquillity Bay" to be reissued separately - presuming that's what drives the interest in this album.

Atman - Duchy Przodkow Mieszkaja w Drzewach (Poland) 1999 Hey Joe. LP only release that's as good as their other recordings. Pioneers of the free folk movement.

Attack Wave Pestrepeller - s/t (England) 1998 Acme Prescription Drug. Most of the Prescription Drug series is an homage to the more psychedelic elements of the Krautrock scene. Attack Wave Pestrepeller sets their sites towards the experimental electronic sounds of Kluster and their ilk. An interesting modern take on a pioneering music.

Aunt Mary - s/t (Norway). 1970 Polydor.
Aunt Mary - Loaded! (Norway). 1971 Polydor. I'm pretty certain "Loaded!" came out on Polygram in the early 1990s as I had a copy (but it's long OOP). Not sure the first album has ever been put out legit. "Janus" on Polygram can still be found. Pretty much typical hard blues rock with a few jazzy moves, similar to many a band from the UK during these times.

Aura - s/t (USA) 1971 Mercury. Definitely one of the better horn rock albums. The movement was quite large after Chicago and BS&T became chart toppers (not to mention that Aura were also from Chicago). However most of these horn groups tried too hard for pop stardom, and failed miserably. Or they were blues rock groups that added horns in a feeble attempt to be trendy. But Aura just kicks butt from beginning to end. They never lost focus of the horn charts and they're constantly a feature, rather than a side show for some lame songwriting. In fact, Aura are BRASSY, more than any other album I've ever heard. Also some nice sax, organ and guitars solos to check out. Aura aren't progressive in the sense of Brainchild or McLuhan - more like BS&T if they'd amped it up a bit and not been so schmaltzy. Not sure if there's a market for this long forgotten style, but if there is, Aura along with Rodan and Gas Mask would have to be amongst the first few to get noticed for a CD reissue.

Autumn Breeze - Hostbris (Sweden) 1979 private. I probably shouldn't like this album as much as I do. It's very amateurish, but there's a magnetic charm about it. Comparable to the female vocal lead symphonic bands coming out of Germany during this time like Werwolf, Rebekka, Eden and Credemus. The Swedish language adds points too (Personally, I love the language in song).

Autumn People - s/t (USA) 1976 Soundtech. Arizona based group who play a blend of AOR and prog. Barely qualifies for this list, but holds some interest. Boots exist.

*** Avalanche - Perseverance Kills Our Game (Netherlands) 1979 Starlet. Perhaps the best album to mix folk with intense krautrock jamming.

Avel Nevez - La Belle De Josselin (France) 1978.
Avel Nevez - Servis Compris (France) 1980 Arfolk.

Axis - s/t (Greece) 1973 Riviera (French pressing).

Azalia Snail - The Cooling System Sessions (USA) 1998 Prescription Drug. Psyched out, low budget, space folk from the fairer sex. Plenty of the resident house mellotron + moog, female vocals of course & other sounds, whooshes, phasing. It's a cool album really, though not necessarily inspirational like Quad and Ohr Musik.

Yoshitaka Azuma - Moonlight of Asia (Japan) 1981 Columbia. Early work by future video game composer. Somewhat similar to same period Kitaro, and a precursor to what Motoi Sakuraba would accomplish later in the decade. He also has other albums from this period ("Asian Wind", "Far From Asia"), which I'll guess to be in a similar vein. I've just been advised that his other (3) albums are much more laid back and that "Moonlight of Asia" is the more progressive rock influenced of the bunch. Details for this artist in English are scarce.

Baba Yaga - s/t (Germany) 1974 Phonola.
* Baba Yaga - Collage (Germany) 1974 Phonola. My review of the first can be found here (and Mike's review of "Collage" is spot on): Baba Yaga

Bakery - Momento (Australia) 1972 Astor. One side is an excellent laid back jazzy progressive with some fine soloing. The other side is a mix of hard rock, boogie and rock and roll, all very typical of the Australian rock scene from this time. Some fine organ and guitar work can be heard throughout. Boots exist, though there appears to be a legit LP reissue available.

Baltik - s/t (Sweden) 1973 CBS. A mixture of hot instrumentals featuring Janne Schaffer on guitar, and more ordinary time passers.

Banchee – s/t (USA) 1969 Atlantic.
Banchee - Thinkin' (USA) 1971 Polydor. On the debut album, Banchee play a typical jangly “West Coast” psych that’s as much Quicksilver as it is The Byrds. Not to say the album doesn’t have its moments, or forward thinking ideas (jazz, heavy rock, trippy). Definitely worth seeking out for a listen. Banchee re-emerged on "Thinkin'" as an aggressive hard rock group with plenty of great wah wah guitar. There’s even a little of that feel-good Rare Earth or Grand Funk Railroad jam quality. A good mix of ripping Latin styled hard rock and more typical blues rock. Considered a must own by hard rock heads. Boots exist for both.

Bandolero - s/t (Puerto Rico) 1970 Eclipse. Primarily a hard blues rock album. The occasional fuzz psych and organ jams add some zest to an otherwise normal 1970 era album. boots exist.

Jean Baptiste Barriere - Pandemonium: Ville Ouvert (Belgium) 1975 Atem.
Jean Baptiste Barriere - Pandemonium: Non, Jamais l'Esperance (Belgium) 1976 Atem. Bleak, and frankly scary, electronic soundscapes. These albums are about as depressing as any you can find from the 1970s. Makes Univers Zero sound like The Supremes!

John Bassman Group - Filthy Sky (Netherlands) 1971 private. Ordinary hard blues rock with a couple of great wah wah tracks interspersed. Might appeal to fans of Affinity and Goliath, but not near as meaty as those.

Gerardo Batiz - Arlequin (Mexico) 1982 private.

Franco Battiato - Clic. 1974 Island. UK Island version is quite a bit different from the Bla Bla Italian original that has been reissued in the past. Battiato in his Klaus Schulze phase.

Baxter - s/t (USA) 1973 Paramount. I found this album in a remote record store in Kansas about 15 years ago for 50 cents. Unfortunately it was a bit beat up and I sold it to a European collector for cheap. So it's great to finally hear again, especially with good sound. Paramount was one of America's unsung labels. They signed some interesting acts, and I don't think any of them did well. Baxter, hailing from Long Island, were one of their more original bands. Mellotron, Moog synths, wah wah guitar solos, nutty progressions. And of course, rural singer somgwriter pieces in the CSN&Y mold, funk rockers, Yes-like progressive and whatever else fit in the kitchen sink. Wildly inconsistent, but there are some truly inspiring progressions to be found here. Unfortunately no continuity, just like the label itself.

* The Beat of the Earth - s/t (USA). 1967 Radish. One of the most extraordinary early recordings you'll ever hear. Maybe the best aural document we have of the free wheeling Southern Californian culture of 1966 and 1967. This is one continuous track, broken up by the sides of the record. Non stop percussion, acoustic and electric guitar (a fuzzy surf sound), sitars, an ancient organ, and droning vocals. One of the most drugged out albums I've ever heard, except the bandleader (Phil Pearlman) was anti-drugs! Maybe if the Velvet Underground had more of that Californian sunshine, they'd sound like this. A bootleg exists.

Dario Baldan Bembo - Migrazione (Italy) 1977 CIV. Pop oriented keyboard rock. Some proggy moves that actually sounds like a cross between Metamorfosi and early Elton John. I just cracked myself up. Oh man... "Inferno meets Island Girl!". He has a few other albums but I think I'll stop here.

*** Berits Halsband - s/t (Sweden). 1975 private. At the crossroads of Miles Davis circa "Dark Magus" and Kebnekaise with a good dose of Flasket Brinner. Breathtaking.

Patrick Bernard - Exil (France) 1981 Gopal. Melodic progressive that features sitar and mellotron amongst the usual instrumentation.

Bib Set - It Wasn't Meant to Happen (Sweden) 1969 Ton I Ton. Moody and heavy progressive rock set, with loads of fat Hammond organ. Slight blues influence, especially in the affected vocals and quite a bit of jazzy sequences including a couple of lifted parts from famous jazz sessions. A nice surprise this one. Thanks to reader Alberto for the heads up!

The Bigroup - Big Hammer (England) 1971 private. Instrumental psych with flute, guitar and organ. Similar to the Italian groups like Blue Phantom or Fourth Sensation.

Toto Blanke - Spider's Dance (Germany) 1975 Vertigo. Blanke's version of the classic Mahavishnu Orchestra style. Great compositions and amazing guitar. For me, his best work, including the Electric Circus albums. I believe this is the only Blanke album that didn't get reissued on CD.

* Blim - Zero (England) 1992 cassette only.
Blim - No Frills (England) 1993 cassette only. Outstanding festival psychedelic space rock band. Blim were an offshoot of Omnia Opera and was intended to be their "progressive" vehicle. And they achieved just that. If you ever wanted to hear Ozric Tentacles take things to a more sophisticated level, Blim is your chance to hear it! Also reminds me some of Mandragora's earlier works. Makes me wonder how many more great albums were released from this scene as cassettes. I've only heard "Zero" so far, but plan on checking out "No Frills" very soon.

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.

Blue Morning - s/t (Italy) 1973 Tomorrow. Barely in scope for this list, but generally marketed to fans of progressive music, Blue Morning are really an "out" jazz band with a few rock moments. Closer in style to the more traditional free jazz groups working on the German MPS label, for example. Third track has a nice melody and is carried by a sweet flute line, and easily represents the best composition of the set. Some of the jazz is way too improvisational for me at least. Blue Morning's sole album is ridiculously rare.

* Wolfgang Bock - Cycles (Germany) 1980 Telefunken. Electronic music with real drums. If you love Klaus Schulze's "Moondawn", you will love this. One of the best in the electronic style.

* M. L. Bongers Project - Pacific Prison (Germany) 1978 private. Funny that I'd recently run across the Sirius "Running to Paradise" album prior to hearing the M.L. Bongers Project album for the first time. My revisit of the Sirius album had demonstrated to me that the proliferation of classic early Genesis moves just hasn't aged as well as I'd prefer. M. L. Bongers Project is cut from the same cloth, but I'd found this album more welcoming. One reason for this is the decidely earlier era instrumentation. Not so much a distinction from 1982 to 1978, but rather more like 1973, as the M. L. Bongers Projects definitely sounds like a band from a different period. Such characteristics such as fuzz tone guitar, heavy doses of organ and predominant use of flute add to this perception. Perhaps even more enticing is that "Pacific Prison" gives off the impression that they're just as comfortable operating as a space rock band than as a "Foxtrot" wannabee. I'm not sure I've heard this combination of Hawkwind meets Genesis in the past, which justifies for me at least, consideration that this a tier 1 album. If there's an issue I have with "Pacific Prison", it would be the heavily accented English vocals, a common problem for German bands in those days.

Booth, Davis and Lowe - Prototype (USA) 1978 Titicaca. Another one from my tape collection. Arizona prog band. Plan on revisiting soon.

Borne - Exprime la Naranja (Spain) 1979 Chapo Discos. revisiting soon.

Michael Borner's Sun - s/t (Germany) 1981 MBS Music. Borner is a lead guitarist and his band Sun is somewhat dominated by his playing. There's also some "smooth jazz" style sax. The fusion on display here is fairly typical for the era, with a light, sunny tropical sound. Some reggae, funk and fuzak - along with a clear dose of "Borboletta" era Santana (and the only parts that carry any kind of edge). I was reminded of the To Be album on the Brain label, as well as some of the Surgery album. A nice record, but nothing extraordinary. This is a different band from the Sun that released one album in 1980 and was recently reissued by Garden of Delights.

Bounty - s/t (USA) 1977 H-Arts.

Don Bradshaw-Leather - Distance Between Us (England) 1972 Distance. 2 LP set. According to the United Durtro website, as of August 2008, they were still planning on reissuing this album. A delight for mellotron lovers, though its primarily experimental avant weirdness.

Victor Brady - Brown Rain (USA) 1970 Polydor. In doing research for this site, I sure do run across some weirdo albums, and this has to rank amongst the top tier for that. At its core, New York City based Brady, an African-American, has created a seriously heavy psych album, with non stop fuzz and plenty of ranting ala Frankie Dymon or Gil Scott-Heron. Some of the material is more pop oriented, but still maintains the heavy fuzz throughout. But we haven't got to the weird part yet. The lead instrument? Caribbean steel drums! Unfortunately after awhile, it all starts to sound more like a gimmick rather than as accompaniment. Perhaps it's the association of the instrument with island vacations, but it doesn't give off the right feeling when compared with the rest of the instrumentation and atmosphere. I mean, I wouldn't want to hear someone wailing on harmonica through a similar set of tunes either. In any case, quite a find and definitely recommended. Take it in small doses though. Victor Brady apparently was associated with the "Sound of Central Park" and, according to their website: "Victor Brady went on to cut a record deal with Polydor Records and released the album “Brown Rain”. Victor subsequently released a classical album called “Classical Soul” and later appeared in Las Vegas with Charo, on PBS’s Sesame Street, wrote a book about the steel drum, and performed and lectured at the Smithsonian Institute". Sounds like a true Renaissance man! boots exist.

* Braen's Machine - Underground (Italy). 1971 Liuto.
Braen's Machine - Temi Ritmici e Dinamici (Italy). 1973 Liuto. "Underground" is simply an amazing find. Take one part instrumental film/library/expoito ala Blue Phantom, The Bigroup and Ugly Custard and complete that with atmospheres that rival the earliest Krautrock scene ala early Guru Guru. Absolutely phenomenal fuzz guitar throughout, with loads of studio effects. The sound on "Temi Ritmici e Dinamici" is a lot more hokey, with goofy electronics and ancient organ. There's also some nice flute passages, but the fuzz is gone here. Would make a good 2 fer 1 CD, as "Underground" is a must. These impossibly rare albums will set you back close to $1K, so a legit CD issue is definitely due.

*** Brainchild - Healing of the Lunatic Owl (England) 1970 A&M. Japanese CD reissue on A&M is ridiculously out of print. I decided to re-enter this title since it's one of my favorite albums ever, and the CD is long OOP. Great mix of progressive rock and horn rock. Every track is a winner, and is maybe the single best album in the early Chicago style (even better than CTA themselves).

*** Brave New World - Impressions on Reading Aldous Huxley (Germany) 1972 Vertigo. Highly creative Krautrock outing unlike any other album.

Serge Bringolf - Strave (France) 1980 Omega Studio.
Serge Bringolf - Vision (France) 1981 Omega Studio.
Serge Bringolf - Strave Live (France) 1982 Omega Studio. Bringolf is a jazz drummer heavily influenced by Christian Vander. In the Zeuhl context, his band Strave is more jazz oriented than Magma, though not as creative as Zao. These LPs had pretty good distribution amongst the mail order channels about 15 years ago. Now they seem totally forgotten, which is a shame, as I'm certain there's a new audience waiting to hear these. First album is a 2 LP set. "Vision" is a particularly strong outing - like a big band version of Magma.

Tommy Broman - Efter Midnatt (Sweden) 1976 private. "Efter Midnatt" contains nine strong instrumental compositions with Broman providing electric leads (wonderfully affected with wah, fuzz, phasing, etc..), Bjorn J:Son Lindh on flute, and others on electric piano, congas, and whatever else was gathering dust at the studio. The 70s Swedish ensemble Lotus came to mind, however Broman probably caters more to a label exec’s mind of what an instrumental album should sound like, as opposed to the brilliant melody writing of Lotus.

Bronin Hogman Band - s/t (USA) 1975 Gamut. From Manchester, New Hampshire comes Bronin Hogman Band, yet another American group who mix AOR rock with plenty of progressive rock moves. The guitar and organ/Moog work is particularly well done. I detect a slight southern rock influence which belies the group's origins. With the right breaks, Bronin-Hogman could've been a household name. File alongside Hot Flash and Fairchild. Not too albums have a football helmet on the cover. I've also seen 1974 and 1976 as dates for this album, but 1975 seems to be the consensus. At least 3 former members have a web presence - any of you want to confirm?

Brut - s/t (England) 1970 Philips. Blues based horn rock, with a few good guitar leads. Has a gospel tinge to it. For those that like Chelsea Beige or Sod. Nothing to get too excited about here I'm afraid.

Tim Buckley - Blue Afternoon (USA) 1969 Elektra.
** Tim Buckley - Starsailor (USA) 1970 Elektra. CD's for both define the term "long out of print". Legendary jazz folk albums that many more people than us want reissued. No doubt a legal mess is behind it.

Bulbous Creation – You Won’t Remember Dying (USA) 1970 private. Kansas City based wasted psych / hard rock band. Starts out pretty basic, but gets progressively freakier with longer guitar solos. Was released on LP by Rockadelic in the early 90s, but never put on CD strangely enough.

Bull Angus - s/t (USA) 1971 Mercury.
Bull Angus - Free For All (USA) 1972 Mercury. Upstate New York group who are quintessentially American in their approach. A mix of hard rock, bar rock and proto prog. One of the best at the style, far more advanced than most groups in this bag. boots exist for both.

Burning Candle - s/t (Germany) 1981 private. Keyboard trio with tinny period synthesizers. Some meaty organ too. Pretty good record. Sort of nutty unpredictable like El Shalom and Saffran, but not quite that good. Wouldn't be surprised if Garden of Delights tackled this one.

%Alain Buro - Fume, C'est du Belge (Belgium) 1975 Omega. Multi-instrumentalist Buro leads this interesting Brussels based rock group. Primarily in the singer-songwriter tradition (vocal heavy), all in French, but with breaks that recall the progressive rock masters. Hard to avoid comparisons to groups like Ange and Mona Lisa, though Buro's work is more straightforward than that might imply. Hints of folk and even AOR can be heard. Overall a nice record, that will appeal to fans of French language rock.

** Bwana - s/t (Colombia) 1970. One of the great Latin American psych prog albums, recalling early Santana. Just adding now as I forgot that it's only out as a bootleg and never reissued legit.

Francesco Cabiati - Mirage (Italy) 1979 Mu. Rock / synth-based electronic hybrid that recalls artists such as Francesco Buccheri and Baffo Banfi's 70's works. The synthesizers of choice were modern for the day, but pretty thin sounding to modern ears, with the exception of the odd Moog solo. A very rare album that is much sought after by electronic collectors especially.

Cal - s/t (Spain) 1980 Cardisc. Different group than Cai. Another second generation Triana like band, though with a jazzy edge – which puts it in more Tabletom or even Guadalquiver territory. Can be a little ‘Copacabana-ish’ at times, if you know what I mean. Typical dramatic vocals definitely a plus. They display some nice chops here and there as well.

% Juri Camisasca - La Finestra Dentro (Italy) 1974 Bla Bla. Was reissued in 1991 on the Artis label, but like most on the label, it's long ago OOP. The album itself is very much in the avant folk/rock genre ala Franco Battiato (who plays on this), Alan Sorrenti and Claudio Rocchi. Vocal heavy, but mesmerizing all the same. One that should be repressed.

xx Canamii - Concept (South Africa) 1980 Wea. The Roger Dean cover alone should clue one in. South Africa's most overt symphonic prog album, similar to Yes and other known entities. A bootleg exists. ** reissued by Fresh Music October 2009 **

Cane and Able - s/t (USA) 1972 Epic. I'm always on the lookout for some good Afro-psych, and this is one of the better ones I've heard. Compares favorably to early Mandrill and Funkadelic, and the horns recall James Brown's band at their funkiest. Some great fuzz and wah-wah to be heard here. Boogie-licious. They have a second album as well, but haven't heard it.

Canzoniere Del Lazio - Miradas (Italy) 1977 Cramps. plan on revisiting soon.

Capability Brown - From Scratch (England) 1972 Charisma.
Capability Brown - Voice (England) 1973 Charisma.

%Captain Marryat - s/t (Scotland) 1974 Thor. Probably the most celebrated album of the last few years, at least from a rare collectors viewpoint. Out of the blue, Captain Marryat's sole album found its way onto ebay, and was fetching sums over $3,000. And then another one showed up and went for a similar price. The rumor mill went wild. Some said it was a ponzi scheme, hyped up nonsense. Others said they were fakes, made in Eastern Europe by a newer group who pressed only a handful of albums, to meet demand. There's precedent for such skepticism, such as when the ridiculous "Psi-Fi" albums surfaced (Pyramid, Galactic Explorers, etc...). But legitimate collectors were convinced it was real. It just seemed unreal an album like this could remain so unknown, as late as 2009. But from all accounts, as more information found its way to the fore, that it is indeed a legitimate album. The mad scramble began for musicologists and music researchers (like me) on where can we hear a copy. I wasn't going to blow 3 grand on it, but certainly someone could find a CD-R of it? Well the problem was solved in a different way. We now have a legit LP reissue from Shadoks for all to hear. And they usually follow up with a CD reissue a couple of years later (pressed in the US even), so we should be set eventually. But since it's still not on CD, it goes in this list. So is it worthy of the hype and price? Of course not. Is it good? Absolutely. In fact, I'm pleasantly surprised by the quality of the album. I really thought it would be average at best. But not so. It screams the era in which it was released. It's naive, it's honest, it's well played, and it's memorable. Nice melodies, and surprisingly strong vocals. Long sections are set aside for guitar (nice fuzz tone) and organ jams. And they are also very well executed. It's somewhat comforting to know there might still be an unknown treasure out there to unearth.

Carnascalia - s/t (Italy) 1979 Mirto. OOP CD released under name "Pascal Mineri / Giorgio Vivaldi" (Now also available as part of a 6 CD Box set)

*** Catastrophe - High Dynamic (France) 1981 private. Catastrophe's sole album reminds me a lot of Missus Beastly circa their brilliant 1974 album. Take away the flute and piano and add a hot guitarist plus a MONSTER Jannick Top like bassist! Frenzied and energetic. A corker.

Philip Catherine (Belgium) - September Man / Guitars.

Ceccarelli / Chantereau / Padovan / Pezin - C.C.P.P. (France) 1975 Flamophone. Typical funky fusion, though the guitar solos have more bite to them than usual, thus adding more to the score than usual.

Ceddo - s/t (Germany) 1979 Saguitarius.
Ceddo - Aufhören (Germany) 1980 Saguitarius.
Ceddo - Step by Step (Germany) 1983 Saguitarius. Ceddo, on their debut, is very much from the jazz school, but in the same way as Association PC and Electric Circus. Long tracks, the guitar playing gets pretty wiggy, so a real plus there. The bass plays fretless and has that warm 80's jazz sound. The drumming is scattered which is nice. Closest comparison would be Dzyan's "Time Machine" (more jazzy though) or maybe Alpha du Centaure's album (rhythm section not so strictly straight jazz). "Aufhören" is very similar and continues with a mixture of jazz and rock styles. Band features guitarist Jochen Schrumpf (and in fact the band is later known as Jochen Schrumpf's Ceddo), who later went onto the reformed Kollektiv. "Step By Step" begins the journey towards fuzak, with smooth jazz sax, Caribbean steel drums, cocktail-hour Spanish themes and an overall feel of a cruise ship lounge act. Despite all of that, there's still some fine guitar work. In this way, I'm reminded of Santana's 1980s output. They also have, incredibly, two more albums. So much output from such an obscure band.

xx Certain Lions & Tigers - (El) Soul Condor (Germany) 1970 Polydor / 1974 BASF. Another one of those confusing discography bands. I would say most folks know the group as "Soul Condor" because of the misleading 1974 BASF second press. But the original has the band name as Certain Lions & Tigers. Pretty cool funky horn rock album done by some old Kraut jazzers trying to cash in and "get hip". Some exploito covers, but mainly this kicks major booty. And the playing and production are impeccable, as expected. **re-issued by MPS as a part (CD1) of 4cd box set: Peter Herbolzheimer - "Big Band Man - The MPS & Polydor Studio Recordings. Thx Alex!**

Chakra - s/t (USA) 1979 private. boots exist. revisiting soon.

Champignons - Premiere Capsule (Canada) 1972 GG. Starts off in a trite go-go 1960s way, with an energetic keyboard driven instrumental number. This is followed by a very slow, depressing and excruciatingly boring 7 minute blues song with French vocals. From track three on Side 1 to the conclusion of the record, it's all aces. The music becomes primarily instrumental while taking on a darker stance. The guitar has that ominous fuzz tone, and there's an underlying jazzy structure lead by the fine flute and sax work. For these excellent tracks I'm reminded of the Eden Rose / Sandrose family out of France, and the relative progression from one to the other. If Champignons were lead by a female vocalist, that would solidify the Sandrose comparison. Boots exist.

Charlee - s/t (Canada) 1972 RCA. It's been often said that Frank Marino copied Jimi Hendrix heavily at the dawn of his career. More than likely, though, he was more influenced by fellow Montreal resident Walter Rossi and his band Charlee. Listen to the first 3 Mahogany Rush albums and compare to Charlee, which was recorded only a year earlier. Many parallels can be found. Frank eventually forged his own style and became one of the all-time great hard rock guitarists. No telling what Rossi could've achieved had he not chosen a career as a session musician. This is a good album, that's unfortunately been booted a couple of times.

Charlies - Buttocks (Finland) 1970 Love. boots exist. revisiting soon.

Les Chats Renaissance - Hermaphrodites (France) 1973 Vogue. Yet another JP Massiera project, this one not quite so "wink wink" as some of his other works. Pretty much a straight ahead rock album, with some flute and heavy guitar, and a lot of vocals. Quite a bit of old fashioned 50s rock-n-roll to wade through. Would seem to be a companion piece to the much more progressive oriented Visitors album from the same year. I've had this on CD-R for a number of years (thx Czar), but forgot to add to the wishlist!

Chemical - s/t (England) 1996 Acme.

Chene Noir - Chant Pour Le Delta La Lune Et Le Soleil (France) 1976 private.
Chene Noir - Orphee 2000 (France) 1976 private. Chene Noir were a theater group who mixed in original rock and jazz music along with female poetry recitation. Similar to some of the Japanese groups like J.A. Caesar and Geino Yasharagumi, though not near as dramatic or abrasive as those troupes. Nice, but requires tolerance of spoken word. Chene Noir's 1971 debut "Aurora" was reissued by Mellow a few years back as part of their Futura label series.

Cherokee Mist - Anthem of the Moon (England) 1997 Euphoria.

** Chico Magnetic Band - s/t (France) 1970 Vogue. There are a couple of items here that make this album special. One is the heavy handed use of studio trickery (phasing, radical dynamic shifts, backwards tape, etc…), a common trait found amongst early 70s French and German albums. Cynics say it’s to mask the incompetence of the players, but I prefer to believe that a high amount of creativity was applied, and maybe even expected, for the era. Even more important, though, is Chico himself. Chico is the vocalist, and it’s his ranting, raving, screeching, drooling, mumbling that makes this album so REAL. The listener witnesses a man on the edge – a true freakout captured on tape for all time. There are other albums where this can be found, and they’re all favorites of mine: Dawn on Brainticket’s “Cottonwood Hill”, John L. on Ash Ra Tempel’s “Schwingungen’, and Catherine Ribeiro on “No. 2” (really any of her early 70s works). The psychedelics that are applied both externally (music) and internally (individual) allow the artist to apply his or her most creative mind gymnastics. Sure, it’s pure madness, but it sends a chill down my spine especially when paired with raging wah wah guitar solos and a cacophony of tribal percussion. It’s funny today to watch bands try to recreate this same sound. When it’s just the music, they do a good, sometimes great job, but when they try the “I’m crazy, here me rant” - they’re faking it. It was a one time “of the era” event. Everything else is just a simulation, a make-believe-let’s-pretend-we’re-freaked-out-and-nuts. And it sounds artificial. Get the real deal and check out Chico Magnetic Band. Only boots exist unfortunately. So there's an interesting reissue of this that came out in 2008 on the Nosmoke label from Portugal. Imagine my surprise when I saw the back liner notes... which were written by.... ME! (what did they use for the liner notes you ask? what you see in the caption above). Guess we can safely assume this is a bootleg as well, since I certainly wasn't contacted prior! It's a pretty decent boot actually, with extra tracks taken from 45s and Ep's, also from the bootleggers collection no doubt. There's also a full history of the band, up through 2003, probably pulled from the net as well. The sound quality is pretty good, a vinyl copy no-noised to death. So we'll keep waiting for a legit press. Since I don't have the original, this will have to suffice for me until then unfortunately. Too great an album not to own at all.

* Children of One - s/t (USA) 1969 Real. Not really a rock album, but as psychedelic as any album I've come across. Meditative, Eastern influenced acoustic jazz with flute, female voice, sitar, hand percussion, cello, piano and other instruments. Otherworldly and deeply peaceful. Has THAT vibe that reeks of the real underground, a certain something that is found more frequently in the Krautrock genre (Dom's "Edge of Time" comes to mind in parts). A wonderful album that would certainly benefit from a masters tape CD reissue. (8/17/08: I see Akarma has reissued this one. Most of their USA reissues are dubious, but we'll take a wait and see).

* Chou Pahrot - Live (Scotland) 1979 Klub. With an instrumental focus on violin and electric guitar, sometimes played in a complex fashion, Chou Pahrot are about as close to the early High Tide albums as you'll find. Live recording could use a little polishing, but overall one of the best UK albums of the late 1970s (and one the very few that weren't either punk or metal influenced).

Circus - s/t (Switzerland) 1976 private.
*** Circus - Movin' On (Switzerland) 1977 private. (CD on Decoder long OOP)
Circus - All-Stars Live (Switzerland) 1978 private.
Circus - Tearless Fearless and Evenless (Switzerland) 1980 Illuminatus. Reviews of the first 2 can be found here: Circus I reluctantly added "All Stars Live". It's been a long time since I heard it, but seemed it was more of a jam session than anything else. Last album was a nice comeback. Only "Movin' On" has been issued legit, and that was a loooong time ago and is forever OOP it seems. Looks like Sireena of Germany will do these (on hold for now).

Clicker - s/t (USA) 1973 Hemisphere. Private press rock LP on the Hemisphere label out of Madison, Wisconsin. First couple of tracks are straight forward early 70's rock all the way, though they feature mellotron on the 2nd track. One of the rare places where I really think they used the instrument as a strings sampler rather than as moody accompaniment. This is followed by an atmospheric acoustic guitar driven instrumental. Then a Yes-like proggy piece, having that uniquely Midwestern approach (e.g. Starcastle or Albatross). Another rocker and a short quirky instrumental close out Side 1. Side 2 starts with an amalgamation of their prog and rock tendencies. This leads to the 16 minute closer. After a silly 2 minute introductory narrative, we are treated to a surprisingly great jazz rock instrumental, though there's an overlong and somewhat uninteresting guitar noodle solo section (with no other accompanying instruments).

* Climax - Gusano Mecanico (Bolivia) 1974 private. An extraordinary recent discovery. Mostly instrumental over 6 long tracks with blazing guitar - played avant style ala Pinhas or Fripp at times. Best album I've heard from Bolivia outlasting the also excellent debut by Wara. LP reissue is out on World in Sound, so I suspect they will also cover the CD soon. Great Escher cover would be an excellent candidate for a Japanese mini-LP too!

Clivage - Regina Astris. 1977.
Clivage - Mixtus Orbis. 1979.
Clivage - Kassiopee. 1985.

* Code III - Planet of Man (Germany) 1974 Delta Acustic. Great space rock /folk / electronic effort with Klaus Schulze behind the controls. Album was designed for accentuate special effects and sonics. They are promoting a then new technique called the Artificial Head system, which can best be appreciated by only using Sennheiser headphones. On this latter point, that would still be the case as we entr 2010! If there ever was an album that would benefit from a high quality engineered remaster, this would be it! When Sand's "Golem" was reissued by United Durtro, I held out hope this too would get covered. A couple of bootlegs do exist.

* Coley - Goodbye Brains (England) 1972 private. A very crazy, and creative, horn rock band with a strong jazzy progressive feel. Some great wah wah fuzz guitar and fuzz bass which plays well against the trumpet/flugelhorn and saxophone. Some weird narration and flute passages. Much more complex than your average horn rock band - in the McLuhan and Probe 10 higher echelon of the genre. There's a couple of missteps like the country rock song and the final narrative piece, but overall this one is a winner and would love to see on CD.

The Collective Star - Music of the Mantric Wave, Part II (USA) 1974 Unaminous Anonymous.
The Collective Star - Garuda (USA) 1975 Unaminous Anonymous. The Collective Star is keyboardist Paul Ramana Das Silbey's first foray into recorded music, while still a resident of New York City. Today he is known as a "romantic classical concert pianist". The Collective Star is what I'd call proto New Age music. Plenty of what is known today as "world music" presents itself, via eastern instrumentation and scales (hand percussion, sitar). Lots of hippy dippy lyrics full of love and peace. Honestly music like this can be very interesting, and I think in the formative stages as is the case here, it was. It's more authentic than the sanitized gloss we've been subjected to since the early 1980s. A little edgy in the jam sessions (acoustic guitar, flute, piano, organ). Maybe even a little anger that hasn't been quite been purged yet. Not quite Popol Vuh for the "higher key" sweepstakes, but not a bad benchmark either. Also the NYC group Arica may have played an influence here. I haven't heard "Garuda" or the multitude of his later releases.

Colonna - s/t (Italy) 1980 Saar-Harmony. Colonna is one Maurizio Colonna, who is today recognized as one of Italy's finest Spanish guitar players. This is his debut album, which naturally enough prominently features Colonna on the acoustic Spanish guitar. His exemplary playing is augmented by vocals, Moog synths and rock/disco beats. He has many more albums. This one sports a pretty cool cover (a flying bull and a spaceship), and I could see this falling prey to the Italian progressive rock collector, though it has no stylistic similarites whatsoever. Well done for what it is. I'll include it here for those Italian prog treasure hunters, so they know what they're getting into. Also worth noting the exceptional supporting cast: Roberto Colombo, Tullio De Piscopo, Mark Harris (Napoli Centrale), Bernardo Lanzetti (PFM, Acqua Fragile) and bassist Ares Tavolazzi (Area).

Coma - Financial Tycoon (Denmark) 1977 Genlyd Grammofon.
Coma - Amoc (Denmark) 1980 Genlyd Grammofon. "Financial Tycoon" is like a direct cross between two of Denmark's finest bands: Dr. Dopo Jam and Secret Oyster. From Dr. Dopo Jam they inherit the obvious Zappa influence, including humorous bits and complex composition style. From Secret Oyster they get the fusion tendencies and instrumental dexterity. Some splendid sax and ripping guitar solos really add spice to the album. I've heard some folks say "Financial Tycoon" is Canterbury influenced, but I can't say I do. Overall, a good one. Not surprisingly, "Amoc" from three years later is much more in the fuzak area, with plenty of soft sax and early digital synth action. All is not a total loss, as there's plenty of rough edged guitar moments and a couple of moodier electric piano driven pieces, with the highlight being the final title track. Easily 2 points lower than the debut.

Connexion - s/t (Canada) 1975 RCA. Quebec based hard rock with French vocals. Usual mix of excellent intense tracks and good time rock n rollers. Not too bad.

Connivence - s/t (Canada) 1977 Kebec.
Connivence - II (Canada) 1979 Kebec.
Connivence - III (Canada) 1984 Amplitude.

Robert Connolly - Plateau (Canada) 1978 Tube. Guitar led (Connolly has a double neck) progressive rock with mellotron and narration. Somewhat like "Power and the Passion" era Eloy. Whoever does the CD should include the goofy comic book as well!

Cool Feet - Burning Desire (Luxembourg) 1976 Pallas. This is one of the most expensive of the many underground albums out there. Regularly fetching 4 figures, it's not too hard to understand why Cool Feet has such a reputation. Blindfolded, you could swear you were listening to some newly unearthed private hard rock album from the US midwest, say Toledo, situated perfectly on the road from Ohio to Michigan. It has that small dive bar vibe, as patroned by Local Number union members. A 4 piece, with dual guitars and a gruff vocalist, Cool Feet pretty much delivers kickass hard rock from start to finish. There are a couple of stinkers to endure, as they gave at least a little lip service to their commercial aspirations. Though for me the big surprise was the early Scorpions influence, primarily from "Fly to the Rainbow" through the "Virgin Killer" albums. Truth be told, there aren't that many continental European hard rock bands in this style (Belgium's Kleptomania and Vacation also came to mind), and certainly less that remind me of primo era Scorps (though without the Uli Roth psychedelic influence unfortunately). Word down at the soup kitchen says that the album was apparently slated for a CD release on Garden of Delights and LP reissue on Amber Soundroom, but one of the members put the kabash on it. There's a built-in audience for this album, and you know who you are.

Coronarias Dans – Breathe (Denmark) 1970 Parlophone.
Coronarias Dans – Visitor (Denmark) 1973 Steeplechase. Coronarias Dans are one of Denmark’s most famous embryonic jazz rock groups. “Breathe” is pretty much straight up jazz, but in a European free style kind of way. The standup bass gets a good workout and, combined with some superb drumming, makes for an interesting work from a purely jazz perspective. By the time of “Visitor” the band is still focused squarely on the jazz aesthetic, but now they’ve added rock guitarist Claus Bohling (from Hurdy Gurdy), and his psychedelic shredding is a much needed boost, and distinguishes “Visitor” from other albums of its ilk. Claus would go on to help form Secret Oyster, and add the same style of guitar to all of their albums as well. Was recently reminded that "Visitor" came out in the mid 90s on CD, but is long OOP.

Cos - Babel (Belgium) 1978 IBC.
Cos - Swiss Chalet (Belgium) 1979 IBC. While Musea has tackled Cos' first two classic Canterbury inspired albums, as well as their final 1982 "Pasiones" release, they have so far neglected Cos' "disco era". For some folks, "Babel" is the pinnacle of their musical achievement. It is a one of a kind album, a mixture of complex Canterbury and Zeuhlish compositions, filtered through the disco mirror ball - fat danceable beats, sweeping strings and Studio 54 debauchery. Closest comparison might be the French group Cortex, though Cos on "Babel" are far more disturbing (in the Univers Zero sense of the term), as well as more disco-ish. And while that doesn't make any sense, I think that's its intrinsic value. I plan on revisiting "Swiss Chalet" soon as well. Not sure if Musea plans on reissuing these. IIRC, you can pay for downloads of these from the band direct.

Cosmic Eye - Dream Sequence (England) 1972 Regal Zonophone. Fascinating hybrid of Indo-jazz and instrumental rock. Lots of sitar, flute, hand percussion, electric guitar, etc... Probably reads like an exploito album, or even a film library soundtrack, but the album works surprisingly well as a continuous whole. There's a CD out there, but the band's webpage clearly states it's a bootleg. So we'll list it here until it comes out legit!

Credemus - s/t (aka Auf Dem Weg) (Germany) 1984 private. Had this on LP years ago. Christian symphonic rock with female vocals like Eden or maybe Sweden's Autumn Breeze - though not quite that good.

Curt Cress Clan - s/t (Germany) 1975 Atlantic. Hot funky fusion from Cress' mid 70s band. Typical jazz fusion of the era, something we've heard 100s of times before, but perfectly executed. A safe bet if you're a fan of said style.

Cromwell - At the Gallop (Ireland) 1975 Well Records. Like the Luxembourg band Cool Feet mentioned above, Cromwell's sole album is one of the most sought after, and expensive, European albums out there. And also like Cool Feet, the album isn't really that special. A guitar based trio, who play a combination of hard rock and boogie rock. Save for some good leads, most of this can be easily forgotten. Comparable to many rare albums here in America. Indispensable for fans of the rare private press genre, but only to them.

Crossbreeze - s/t (Norway) 1974 Experience. A mix of hard rock and West Coast styled psych, with some interesting Moog sequences. Very rare as an original LP, though not anything I would call musically amazing. According to the band's MySpace page, you can purchase the CD direct from them. The CD is taken from vinyl supposedly. I seriously doubt this is a pressed CD, but rather a CD-R. We'll leave this here for now until I hear differently.

Crossfire - s/t (Australia) 1975 Harvest. Hot fusion similar to Mackenzie Theory or Mahavishnu Orchestra by extension.

Cry Freedom - Volcano (Germany) 1976 Fuerth. One of the earlier entries in Germany's huge fascination with everything jazz fusion. By the 1980s it seems there were dozens of such releases. Primarily instrumental sax/guitar/organ/synthesizer driven numbers, with a stronger than usual emphasis on melody. Not quite at the level of Embryo or Missus Beastly, but more thought out then Kraan, Headband, Morpheus, etc... File next to Katamaran. They have two later albums, but I've been told they aren't quite up to standard.

Crypto - s/t (Netherlands) 1974 Pandora/Negram. Known as the Dutch Placebo, though I found this more funky and less "cool" than Marc Moulin's outfit. Fairly typical of the era, especially the synth work. The guitar and Rhodes playing is a bit more exceptional, however. Overall a good example of the European instrumental funky fusion sound. File next to Saluki.

Crystalaugur - Terranaut (USA) 1972 private. Not much is known about this obscurity. The campfire version is these were burned out US GI’s who recorded a psych album in Singapore in the early 70s. Who really knows, and there’s no legit reissue to refer to, so we’ll go with that. As for an album, it would be difficult to get any more simple than this. A basic rhythmic backbone, almost surf rock in texture (especially the guitar leads), sometimes with vocals, sometimes not. It sounds like it was half finished, then possessed by a tax dodge label (in the days when unlimited losses were allowed by the IRS) and released in a small quantity years after it was recorded. Probably the band name and title were made up – which might explain the lack of info. Only for fans of obscure basement recordings (and barely qualifies for even a "Part 2" inclusion).

Cuero – Tiempo Despues (Argentina) 1973 Music Hall.
Cuero – Crecimento (Argentina) 1974 Music Hall. First album is typical guitar trio fronted blues rock, a style that was immensely popular in Argentina at the time. Second album is a bit better in my estimation, as it adds Latin jazz touches, and a larger palette of ideas. I had figured these may have been put on CD by either Music Hall or EMI of Argentina, but I haven't found evidence of that.

Cuixa - Montgo... ...O Els Cavallers de la Cuixa Rodona (Spain) 1978 Nevada. CD on Culture and Youth House of Manises long OOP. Flute/guitar driven political rock / progressive. The vocals aside, there's a strong element of Jethro Tull. Pretty unusual sound for Spain.

** Cultural Noise - Aphorisms Insane (Austria) 1980 CBS. Let's see, three guys who play a raft full of analog keyboards and one doubles on guitar. I bet they sound like Tangerine Dream! And indeed they do. The really good years of T Dream too, between 1974 and 1977. Lots of fat analog sequencers, fuzz tone guitar and quite a bit of twists and turns. Mellotron M400, Micro Moog, EMS Sequencer, Roland Sequencer, ARP Sequencer, ARP 2600, VCS 3, Roland Studiosystem 700. And two 20 minute trcks with names like 'After the Selfdisintegration in Time' and 'Pursuing the In Time Disintegrating Reality'. Who knows why a major label would sign someone up like this, but we're glad they did. Come to think of it, the modern UK group Redshift sounds more like Cultural Noise than Tangerine Dream. Anyway, for fans of Berlin Electronic styled music, this is as good as it gets.

Cybotron - s/t (Australia) 1976 Clear Light of Jupiter.
(Cybotron) Steven Maxwell Von Braund - Monster Planet (Australia). 1975 Clear Light of Jupiter. Aztec has already done "Implosion" (and Inak did "Colossus" years ago), so I suspect these will come along eventually. Both albums have a strong penchant for the mid 70's Tangerine Dream style. The Von Braund album (he's the leader of Cybotron) even uses the same day-glo blue and yellow colors of the Cosmic Courier clan. All good stuff.

Cynara - s/t (USA) 1970 Capitol. One of the most interesting groups from the US in the late 1960's was a Boston based bunch called Listening, who released one superb album on the Vanguard label (the reissue was done on Comet/Akarma, who bought the rights to the Vanguard label, but it's a barebones job, and would definitely benefit from a more caring reissue label like Esoteric for example). Cynara is the band that formed from the ashes of Listening. It's an eclectic mix, just as Listening was, but not near as groundbreaking or exciting. One side is pretty much straight ahead organ/guitar rock, while the other side has two long compositions with a jazz piano/organ lounge-like feel throughout. Not a bad find, but yet another US major label album from 1970 that stops short of meeting expectations.

Dakila - s/t (Philippines) 1972 Epic. Surprised this didn't get a "gray area" reissue from Akarma (like Chango). Similar type effort - heavily influenced by first 3 albums Santana. I love stuff like this, and the more I can hear, the better.

Wolfgang Dauner - Output (Germany) 1970 ECM.
* Wolfgang Dauner - Rischkas Soul (Germany) 1972 Brain.
Wolfgang Dauner + Et Cetera - Knirsch (Germany) 1972 MPS.
Wolfgang Dauner + Et Cetera - Live (Germany) 1973 MPS. A few of the Dauner albums from this period have made it to CD, but the above remain elusive. His period of experimenting with out jazz and out rock. Highly successful too. "Rischkas Soul" is the most traditionally Krautrock of the bunch. Long Hair seems to be the label of choice for Dauner, so these could all be complete within the next couple of years. The exception would be the ECM label "Output", which I presume would still be under the label themselves. For me, "Output" is too far out experimental, but I'll leave here as I know the albums has many fans.

Alessandro de Lucchi - s/t (Italy) 1978 private. Systems style cosmic electronic music similar to maybe Roberto Cacciapaglia's "Sonanze" or Franco Leprino. Stefano Pantaleoni would release a similar album nearly 10 years later. Not much in the way of rhythms or tonal changes. Seems like de Lucchi did what he could with the one synthesizer he was provided. At times it comes across as a sound test record. Will have a limited audience.

Tullio de Piscopo Revolt Group - Sotto e 'ncoppa (Italy) 1975 Carosello.
Tullio de Piscopo - Vol. 2 (Italy) 1977 Carosello. De Piscopo is a well known jazz percussionist (to this day), who ventured into progressive fusion in the mid 1970s. First he played with The New Trolls, then he released these two fusion albums with some excellent Fender Rhodes, sax and guitar action. De Piscopo reminds me most of Toni Esposito's albums from the same era. "Sotto e 'ncoppa" features Sante Palumbo who was also on the Sway album. "Vol. 2" is more diverse, mixing in period disco, acoustic folk, tight fusion, and rock versions of traditional Italian sing-a-longs. I felt this was the stronger of the two releases. Neither of these have been reissued on CD, and aren't even mentioned on Tullio de Piscopo's own website.

Deaf - Alpha (Switzerland) 1972 / 1994 Black Rills. Archived recordings from the post After Shave unit. Pretty experimental stuff that fans of Can or even Faust may enjoy. Was never meant to be issued as a proper album, so it's definitely for historic interest only. Came out as an LP, but never on CD. Label is still around, though they haven't reissued anything in years and are pretty much a mail order house now.

* Dear Mr. Time - Grandfather (England) 1970 Square. A really nice big budget sounding album on a relatively small label. Somewhere between Moody Blues and the Dawn/Neon stable of bands - Czar comes to mind as well. Boots exist.

Deep Feeling - s/t (England) 1971 Polydor. Not sure what to make of this one. Musically all over the lot - almost a prog take on an easy listening album. Definitely interesting. Some straight blues and rock n roll as well. bootlegs exist.

Deja Vu - Cosmic Zack (Germany) 1977 private. A very obscure release from Germany circa 1977. Typical of many private releases from late 70's Deutschland, Déjà Vu attempt the Novalis style of progressive rock. The primary instrument is electric guitar and is accompanied by electric piano, sax, flute, bass and drums. There are also vocals with a traditional heavy Teutonic accent (some in English, some in German). I often wonder why these bands bothered with the vocals as it only detracts from the compositions. Fortunately, side two eschews the vocals for a more energetic instrumental approach. Musically, the band plays a safe, straightforward and somewhat jazzy (especially side 2) progressive music with some well done guitar/sax work amongst the otherwise mediocre compositions. File along with Credemus, Poseidon, Eden and a host of other well-meaning, but ultimately lacking, German bands from the late 70's/early 80's.

Eric Delaunay - Antagonisme! (France) 1980 Vogue.

Den Za Den - s/t (Montenegro) 1977 RTB. Montenegro's best group - a high energy fusion offering with nods to Camel and Fermata.

Dennis - Hyperthalamus (Germany) 1975 Nova. Another hidden Krautrock fusion album that recalls the best Release Music Orchestra or the "M" groups like Munju or Missus Beastly.

%Claudio Dentes - Pantarei (Italy) 1978 Mirto. Generally solo artists from Italy during this era were singer-songwriter focused, but Dentes is a primarily multi-instrumentalist, and he's puts his talent towards creating a strong instrumental work (though there are some sparse vocals). At times, "Pantarei" reaches the space rock heights of Franco Falsini's "Cold Nose". I'm most reminded of this when I hear the electric guitar, which is super compressed and fuzzed out. While certainly not an Italian prog rock classic, Dentes' album is not one to overlook and is worth seeking out for a few listens.

* Franck Dervieux - Dimension M (Canada) 1972 Columbia. The root system for later bands such as Contraction and Ville Emard Blues Band. Keyboard heavy progressive rock, with a looser structure, making it highly appealing on repeated listens. A very important album, and one of Quebec's finest. I suspect that ProgQuebec will get to this one, since they've already done the Contraction and VEBB albums, it's just a matter of time.

Deus Ex Machina - Non Est Ars Quae Ad Effectum Casus Venit. 1995 Kaliphonia. Vinyl only live release. Wonderful gatefold with booklet filled with photos.

* Diabolus - s/t (England) 1971 Bellaphon. German only press of great British proto-prog, similar to bands like Raw Material and Aquila, but even better IMO. Only bootlegs exist. Had this album forever, but forgot to add to the list!

Dialect - s/t (Brazil) 1991 Faunus. Band wrote me to say they are rerecording this album in 2008 under the band name Dialeto (album is titled "Will Exist Forever"). Looks like the original album / mix will remain unreissued. Which is too bad, as the original is superb. Like a heavy psych version of King Crimson's "Discipline". I also hear the absolute best moments from the Brazilian neo psych band Violeta de Outono. Highly original album, especially considering the date.

Dickens - Royal Incarnation (France) 1969 President. One of the rare examples of French psychedelic music. Mainly sung in French, which was unusual for the day. Dickens had a punk psych sound, more akin to what was going on in America (Lollipop Shoppe comes to mind here), than anything associated with Europe during this time. A very rare album, and a good one for archivists to reflect on.

Dimmornas Bro - s/t (Sweden) 1977 Silence.
Dimmornas Bro - Mål (Sweden) 1979 Silence. Relatively straightforward rock album with a few symphonic moves ala Camel. They had one more album which I haven't heard.

Dionysos - Le Grande Jeu (Canada) 1971 Jupiter.
* Dionysos - Le Prince Croule (Canada) 1972 Zodiaque. Along with Franck Dervieux, Dionysos' first two albums have to be considered Quebec's most pioneering progressive rock works. They mixed psych, electric blues rock and long track progressive compositions to create some wholly original music. In some cases they seem like a French Uriah Heep, but considerably more experimental. They were one of the first pop groups to sing in French. Their 3rd album, a self-titled release from 1976, is more straight ahead blues rock - and has been reissued on CD. One would suspect that ProgQuebec will do both of these fine albums.

Docmec - Objet Non Identifie (Switzerland) 1976 Javeline. First side is live, and demonstrates the band's clear Genesis influence. Recalls the similarly minded Kyrie Eleison. Side 2 is in the studio, and is more original, with plenty of introspective quieter moments. There's more of a French influence here, and I hear elements of Pentacle and Orion on these tracks. Overall a nice period piece, though by no means exceptional.

Dr. Dopo Jam - Fat Dogs and Danishmen (Denmark) 1974 Zebra.
Dr. Dopo Jam - Crusin' at Midnite (Denmark) 1981 private. Heavily influenced by Frank Zappa, with both the pluses and minuses that go with the name. For "Fat Dogs and Danishmen", the first half is fairly groan worthy, and it just seems a uniquely American way of doing things, so these Danes are missing the background to make it successful. The second half adds in the Euro Fusion element (itself heavily influenced by Zappa) and is just jaw dropping great. "Crusin' at Midnite" is a surprisingly great album for such a late date. Some really strong guitar, flute, synth and violin soloing + electric piano drives most of the songs. Plus plenty of nice horn charts. And the goofball quotient is mercifully down, though not completely out. There's also a funky edge present (think some of the late 70's Krautrock groups like Aera or To Be maybe). Their debut "Entree" was reissued by Karma, so hopefully they'll finish the discography.

Doctor Downtrip - s/t (Belgium) 1973 CBS. Post Burning Plague hard rock outfit, and pretty similar in execution. A mix of gritty hard rockers and pedestrian blues numbers define this album. Rare, but non-consequential. Not one of the highlights of the early 70s Belgian scene. bootlegs exist.

Dr. Tree - s/t (New Zealand) 1976 EMI. boots exist. revisiting soon.

The Dog That Bit People - s/t (England) 1971 Parlophone. Standard underground UK rock album, not that dissimilar from what you would find on the Dawn, Neon or Transatlantic labels during this era. Features a slightly down home folk feel combined with some nice organ/mellotron and a few good leads. Not overly progressive, but a well produced rock album all the same. Originals are very expensive. boots exist.

Philippe Doray & Associaux Associés - Ramasse-Miettes Nucléaire (France) 1976 private.
Philippe Doray & Associaux Associés - Nouveaux Modes Industriels (France) 1982. Strange and deranged French folky underground. Spoken/mumbled words, some guitars, electronics. Interesting. I haven't heard the 1982 album.

xx Dragon - Universal Radio (New Zealand) 1974 Vertigo. ** reissued by Aztec in July, 2009 **
* Dragon - Scented Gardens for the Blind (New Zealand) 1976 Vertigo. One of the premier New Zealand symphonic rock acts. Very similar to other Australasia bands like Sebastian Hardie or Ragnarok. Also Ireland's Fruupp comes to mind as well. Hoping Aztec Records of Australia reaches over for these (3/19/08 update: Guess what? Aztec did just that! Reissues coming in 2009).

Pascal Duffard - Dieu est Fou (France) 1976 CBS. Two words that go well together are French and wacky. So much so that I actually think Albert Marcouer would say "Pascal Duffard? Yea, now THAT guy is different!". One can hear a distinct flavor of French Pop music of the male vocal variety ala Serge Gainesbourg or Julien Clerc. Combine this with an avant garde mindset (opera, laughing, cries, electronics, etc..) and you have a French Chanson meets Pierrot Lunaire type vibe. Crazy album, that probably if I heard it enough, would grow on me and I'd place at least one star on it.

Hans Dulfer & Ritmo Naturel - The Morning After the Third (Netherlands) 1970 Catfish. Barely in scope for this list, Dulfer's album is a sax laden underground jazz album with Latin percussion. The sole area of interest for rock fans is the appearance of Jan Akkerman (Focus) on the first track (of five total). Here Akkerman adds psychedelic style guitar solos that is at complete odds with the rest of the material, but is strangely satisfying. The Catfish label was also home to Ahora Mazda and the early albums by Solution.

Duty Cycle - Nero (Netherlands) 1976 Mirasound. Duty Cycle plays a standard vocal pop rock with a light jazzy sound. The melodies are lacking and the vocalist isn't up to par. The flute work, however, stands out - especially on the opening instrumental track. Not a good album. Duty Cycle were friends of Marakesh, and their sole album shares the same label.

Frankie Dymon Jr. (Frankie Dymon Jnr) - Let It Out (Germany) 1971 BASF. This is sort of a side project to Achim Reichel's A.R. & Machines circa their "Die Grune Reise" debut. Reichel wrote most of the music and it features the AR&M group. Dymon provides the "poems in words and music". Basically a proto-rap album, and heavily influenced by early 1970's anti-everything street politics. One has to wonder if Gil Scott-Heron didn't get ahold of a copy prior to launching his "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" epic. Naturally, with Reichel at the controls, "Let It Out" is far more freaky. Cool.

Eardance - Seek Opposites (USA) 1982 Touch.

Earthstar - Salterbarty Tales (USA) 1978 private.
Earthstar - Atomkraft? Nein Danke (USA) 1981 Sky. More towards new age than his classic Berlin School release "French Skyline". Piano, synths, some mellotron. Not much sequencing here. As for the very rare "Salterbarty Tales", I'm still on the lookout for a CD-R copy.

Earwacks - Distances (USA) 1981 private. Oddball album that is more 60s in spirit and mid-70s in sound. Could see this as a pointed retro album from the late 90s, but have no idea where the inspiration came from in 1981? Mixture of pop, rock (both decidedly non-80s sounding) and epic prog (with mellotron, flute and fuzz).

The Alain Eckert Quartet - s/t (France) 1981 private. When I think of the Cuneiform label and terms like avant progressive, the music of the Alain Eckert Quartet is exactly what I expect. Like an earlier version of Forgas Band Phenomena, or a more playful and less serious Univers Zero. Compositionally strong, with a penchant for jazz, though a bit academic, without a strong sense for the groove. A good one for the brain, but lacking a bit in excitement.

Eclipse - s/t (Canada) 1976 CBS. A typical hodge podge of 1970s stew. Pink Floyd seems to be the main influence, but there are also plenty of AOR and even funk bits to wade through. Has its moments, but not one of Canada's finest. They also have a second album that I understand to be considerably weaker.

Eden - s/t (Canada) 1978 Total. Primarily instrumental progressive similar to other Quebec bands of the day like Maneige and Opus 5.

Egba - s/t (Sweden) 1974 Sonet.
Egba - Jungle Jam (Sweden) 1976 Sonet. Both albums are jazzrock with some fiery guitar and electric piano solos. Some African influences ala Archimedes Badkar's "Tre" can also be found. Similar to Kornet but better IMHO. Somewhere between Return to Forever and an instrumental Mandrill. I haven't heard their later albums. Albums are available for free on the bands website, but never pressed on CD.

*** Eider Stellaire - s/t (France) 1981 K001. A masterpiece in the Zeuhl style.
Eider Stellaire - s/t (France) 1986 K002. The second album is quite a departure and is far more atmospheric. It does have some stellar moments, but also some typical mid 80s thin fuzak that takes it down. Both albums fit comfortably on one CD and that's how it should be reissued I think. Many labels have tried in vain to get these reissued (especially Soleil Zeuhl), but Michel Le Bars has no interest unfortunately.

Eik - Speglun (Iceland) 1975 Steinar. This has to be the darndest album I've ever heard. Side one is.... abominable. I mean, it's worse than you can imagine. It's patterned after the USA's mid 70s funk and disco movements. One can only imagine a bunch of pasty uptight white guys from Iceland trying to pull this off. A complete embarrassment for all involved. Side 2 is frickin' brilliant. Not just good - but seriously great! Some of the best symphonic progressive rock from Scandinavia, and better than most of their second, and recommended, album "Hrislan og Straumurinn" (which was reissued on CD years ago). I'm not sure I can think of another album that is this much Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Electric Mud - s/t (Germany) 1971 Förderturm. Heavy Teutonic psych prog, with German vocals, similar to Necronomicon, Prof Wolfff and Eulenspygel. 4 long tracks, with a distinctly doomy vibe. Album gets better with each listen. Lost Pipedreams reissued this on CD in the early 90s, but it's way OOP. Garden of Delights has picked up most of their back catalog, and probably Electric Mud will get a similar treatment at some point.

Elluffant - s/t (aka "Release Concert") (Netherlands) 1972 private. I think this was some sort of science project where the protagonist built his own pipe organ, and came up with this fuzzy sounding monstrosity that I'm sure Mike Ratledge would've enjoyed playing. With an added drummer, they just jam for two side long sessions. Not bad at all. Bootlegs exist.

Elohim - A L'Aube de Verseau (France) 1975 Philips. Odd prog album that is part theatrical, part hippy dippy mysticism. Dual male/female vocals, amongst usual adventurous compositions. Definitely interesting, if not altogether satisfying. Different Elohim from the 1983 neo prog group.

Elohim - Le Mana Perdu (France) 1983 private. Ange / Mona Lisa / Synopsis inspired dramatic French language prog. Different band than the 1975 group above.

* Eloiteron - Lost Paradise (Switzerland) 1981 private. Much better than average early 80s symphonic album. There were many of these type of private releases in Germany and Switzerland during this period and Eloiteron are one of the best. Trumpet adds a nice touch. Plenty of excellent organ, mellotron and flute as well. Boots exist.

Elonkorjuu - Harvest Time (Finland) 1972 Parlophone. boots exist.

Embryo - Live (Germany) 1976 April / Schneeball. Hard to imagine that this album wasn't reissued, since all the others have been. Not a stellar performance, but certainly good enough and representative of this era of Embryo.

Emergency Exit - Sortie de Secours (France) 1976 Pole. Another great underground album on the legendary Pole label. Maybe even a touch of fusion. No doubt Mio would've done this had they stayed around long enough.

Energy - s/t (Sweden) 1974 Harvest. Another post-November group playing in a heavy fusion bag. Heavily influenced by "Inner Mounting Flame" and "Between Nothingness and Eternity" era Mahavishnu Orchestra.

%Claude Engel - s/t (France) 1972 CBS. Engel is most known to fans of underground rock as the first guitarist for Magma. He also played in Troc, Univeria Zekt, Lubat / Louiss / Engel Group, and many other notable groups in the early 1970s. This album starts as a relatively generic singer-songwriter piece (as the LP cover suggests), but gradually evolves into an innovative guitar fronted rock album. Plenty of guitar soloing and, on one track, has some intriguing wordless voice. A little bit of funky business too. He has a few other solo albums, that I have not heard.

Entheogens - Gnostic Mass (Sweden) 1995 Xotic Mind. Prototypical effort from Xotic Mind, forefathers of Subliminal Sounds, now famous for discovering psych indie hero Dungen. "Gnostic Mass" contains three long instrumental tracks with acoustic/electric guitar, flute, hand percussion and sitar. Overtly psychedelic, almost too much so. Similar to the Adam albums listed above. Other than The Word of Life and a couple of S.T. Mikael albums, most of the Xotic Mind catalog of the 1990s remain unissued on CD.

Epizootic - Daybreak (Sweden) 1976. boots exist. revisiting soon.

ES - Wham Bang (Germany) 1979 Fran. Now here's a strange bird. ES is made up of former members of Tomorrow's Gift and the Release Music Orchestra. On the surface, "Wham Bang" is a straight ahead pop rock / disco album. And after each track's cringe worthy vocal section finishes, one might expect a short instrumental followed by some more tawdry vocals. Except the instrumentals don't stop and ES begins to introduce a complex fusion sound, as one might find on an earlier RMO release. Everytime I was about to write "Wham Bang" off as a cheap European knockoff, then wham! bang! I'd hear an impressive instrumental bit. Yes, I think the album may have been a conscious satire on the then current music trands.

Eternite - Les Chants de L'Eternite (Canada) 1977 Polydor. Brooding symphonic progressive like Pulsar and maybe Claude Leveillee. Michel Le Francoise is a featured instrumentalist. Some folky commercial oriented music as well. Suspect ProgQuebec will eventually do this one as it's right in their wheelhouse.

Evil Edna's Horror Toilet - Too Much Gristle in the Blancmange (England) 1986 private. Cassette only release. I remember seeing this in an old Audion sometime in the late 1980s. I mean, this is not band name one is likely to ever forget. Some 20 years later, I finally obtained a copy to hear. Horribly underproduced, but pretty interesting mix of primitive 80s synth (sometimes known as minimalist synth), festival era spacerock, and even some good old fashioned new wave pop. Plenty of cheap digital drums - but all good fun nonetheless. Worth a couple of listens.

Ex Ovo Pro - European Spassvogel (Germany) 1976 Amayana.
Ex Ovo Pro - Dance Lunatic (Germany) 1978 Amayana. Both albums are a typical Eurofusion with melodic wind lines (generally supplied by sax with some flute), some good deep grooves and acid-y guitar solos and some standard late 70's CTI fusion. I could see this being the 5th or 6th Secret Oyster album if that makes sense. At its best, similar to groups like Missus Beastly or the Canterbury scene. Never gets worse than mid period Aera, without the funky bits.

Ex Vitae - Mandarine (France) 1978 private.

Exil - Fusionen (Germany) 1975 FHZ. If you can imagine the 1975 era Embryo releasing "Embryo's Reise" from 1979, then I think you'd have a good idea of Exil's "Fusionen" release. Amongst the usual rock instrumentation there's lots of violin, cello, electric piano and sax playing Eastern European and Asian influenced jazz rock. Aera's "Hand und Fuss" is another good reference as is Emma Myldenberger circa "MS". A fine work.

Ezra Winston - Myth of the Chrysavides (Italy) 1987 private.

The Eyes of Blue - Crossroads of Time (Wales) 1968 Mercury.
The Eyes of Blue - In Fields of Ardath (Wales) 1969 Mercury. "Crossroads of Time" is a non-descript, but well done, Welsh psych/rock/pop with some decent Hammond leads. "In Fields of Ardath" adds quite a bit more to the creativity meter. The compositions are more complex, additional instrumetation can be found (mellotron, harpsichord, tuned percussion, backwards fuzz guitar), use of harmony vocals, etc... Bootlegs exist for both albums.

F.G. Experimental Laboratory - Hope (Switzerland) 1977 private. One man electronic show from a gentleman named Frédy Guye. Good haunting electronics with some wordless voice. Akin to Jean-Baptiste Barriere though not quite as dire as those two albums. Guye should've added more variety to his keyboard selection to add color and tone to a pretty monolithic release. The Thors Hammer label (Garden of Delights) has already reissued "Journey Into a Dream".

Facedancers - s/t (USA) 1972 Paramount.

Fairchild - s/t (USA) 1978 Flight. Minneapolis based AOR progressive rock band. Strong overtones to the top acts of the era like Kansas, Boston, Journey and Styx - especially the latter. Though the album is private, it looks and sounds like a major label effort. For those that love the classic 70's arena rock sound, this one is an all-timer.

** Franco Falsini - Cold Nose (Italy) see Sensations Fix entry.

Falstaff - Prononcez (France) 1981 private. Light, easy going, instrumental symphonic rock. A little funk, and a little jazz to spruce things up. Recalls Camel, or more to the point, Rousseau's first two albums.

* Fantasia - s/t (Finland) 1975 Hi-Hat. Fantasia are one of the better unknown symphonic progressive rock acts still without a CD. They possess the instrumental dexterity of Finnforest combined with the songwriting talents of the Swedish band Atlas. 9 short tracks, each packed with many ideas. Not an album that lends itself to easy comparisons, yet it's all vaguely familiar. Definitely Scandinavian from a compositional and melodic perspective. The production is an unfortunate bass heavy, muddy affair. Nothing that a good reissue can't fix! No one is actively reissuing albums in Finland at the moment, so it remains to be seen if this album will ever see the light of day in CD form.

The Feed-Back - s/t (released as "The Group". Official band is known as Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza) (Italy) 1970 RCA Italiana. Famous filmscorer Ennio Morricone's jazz / rock / avant garde band. This 1970 album is pretty wiggy for the time and place, and certainly only obtained a major release due to the power of the Morricone brand. And we're all the better for it! In that way, it reminds me of those establishment French personas such as William Sheller (Popera Cosmic), Alain Gorageur and Jean-Claude Vannier. You'd be hard pressed to find a more creative rock outing than The Feed-Back, even if you've heard it all on the Futura and Ohr labels. Barely cracks the 27 minute mark, but otherwise an essential album that is likely to appeal to the remains of your addled left brain. GdINC have 6 albums total, though my understanding is the others would be out of the scope of this list (classical soundtrack, free jazz, etc...). I've only heard this one to date.

Fire - Could You Understand Me (Yugoslavia) 1973 private. Yugoslav group living in The Netherlands. This is one of the most guitar fuzz overload albums you'll ever hear. High energy hard blues rock, with great drumming/bass work and constant fuzz leads. Compares closest to Icecross, but this is more blues based and a bit heavier. Only misstep is a trad blues style number. Final 9 minute instrumental `Flames' has to be heard to be believed. I feel comfortable going on record as saying this track has the most EVIL and MEAN sounding fuzz in the history of recorded music. Forget Archaia, this is the peak of that sound. God knows where they got those effects, but I wish more bands would use them! If you don't know what evil and mean fuzz is, get a hold of this album. Boots exist unfortunately.

* Fireballet - Night on Bald Mountain (USA) 1975 Passport.
Fireballet - Two, Too (USA) 1976 Passport. File along with Ethos as a band many folks want to see a reissue of, beyond the usual collector community. And there's been talk of it for years, even various band members have popped up in chat boards to discuss it. But it's tied up legally somewhere along the chain. One of the best US prog bands to appear on a somewhat major label. (6/13/08 note: Both Fireballet albums are slated to be reissued in 2009! See News section for more detail)

Firma 33 - Se Först (Germany) 1978 Triangle. Firma 33 primarily play in a commercially oriented rock style with German lyrics, similar to late 70s Novalis. There are some nice fusion moments interspersed throughout, with flute, sax, synth and guitar leading the solo parade. But the vocalist tends to croon, thus diminishing what potential they had.

First Aid (aka First + Aid) - Nostradamus (England) 1977 Decca.

First Born - s/t (Italy) 1973 ???. I can find nothing about this band. Definitely one of the many instrumental Italian film library albums out there, and some of them contain different pseudonyms, as this might. Cool 60's jet-set jazz funk tracks for the martini drinking James Bond crowd. Presuming this is rare as hens teeth, or it may just exist as another, more common, title. I only have a CD-R, so we'll go with what I know.

First International Sex Opera - Anita (Netherlands) 1969 Sexclusief (date uncertain). Despite the band name, and the location of said group, this is decidely NOT erotic in the least bit. The female vocals (more like nagging shrieks, heavy sighs, rollercoaster screams and other irritants) are completely annoying. On this front, the closest comparison would be to Japan's JA Caesar, but without any of the purpose and tension they bring. Musically, FISO is fairly interesting, as the band pretty much play in a loose free rock style with decent guitar and organ leads. My guess is this album was influenced by the Vampyros Lesbos movie/album from Germany, that enjoyed a cult following even back then.

% First Light - s/t (Australia) 1978 ???. Not much is known about First Light and scant info can be found on the Net. RateYourMusic has a cover and affixes the date of 1978 to it (which is reasonable), but I haven't found any corroborating backup. Obscurity aside, this is a mighty fine instrumental jazz rock effort. Sunny in its approach, with some fine guitar leads, at times reaching a Santana like intensity, but falls just short (sadly). Some nice ensemble unison runs with sax, flute, electric piano, and the female voice on side 2 gives it a Northettes feel, that adds points. Solid effort - a borderline Priority 3. File next to Crossfire and Mackenzie Theory. A natural choice for Aztec I think.

Firyuza - s/t (Turkmenistan) 1980 Melodia. I once joked that if it was from Turkmenistan, it had to be good. Of course I was talking about the Gunesh Ensemble, and didn't realize there was a second group from the same place and time. Three long tracks adorn this one of a kind album. Seven piece group with guitar, sax, flute, keys, violin, bass, drums and percussion. While not as hot or as entirely unique as the almighty Gunesh, this is still a fascinating fusion, one that relects the unique culture of the Turkmens. I'm constantly amazed at some of the subversive sounds coming from the old Soviet Union. I'm surprised Boheme Music of Russian didn't reissue this with all the other great ex-Soviet albums formerly on Melodia. Cool cover featuring the band, with instruments in hand, proudly wearing their traditional telpeks (tall fur hats).

* Flame Dream - Calatea (Switzerland) 1978 Philips.
* Flame Dream - Elements (Switzerland) 1980 Vertigo.
Flame Dream - Out In the Dark (Switzerland) 1981 Vertigo. One of the more known groups on this list, Switzerland's Flame Dream managed to get their albums distributed pretty well around the world. One of the last of the major label progressive bands, debut "Calatea" and "Elements" are both very strong symphonic efforts, both with complex melodies and arrangements. "Out In the Dark" begins to creep slowly into the AOR world, but is still nice enough to consider for reissue. After this, they headed pretty fast into pop irrelevance. Though I'm sure those albums have their fans too.

*** Flasket Brinner - s/t (Sweden) 1971 Silence. We can hope that Silence will finally get around to this. In the meantime, be sure to get Mellotronen's 4 CD box set which is sublime.

Flaviola e o Bando Do Sol - s/t (Brazil) 1976 Solar. Flaviola is a Recife based group that came from the same batch of freaks who created the Lula Cortes and Ze Remalho masterpiece (and was once one of our Top Reissue wants before Shadoks got their wonderful mitts on it). Though Flaviola is all acoustic, they have many of the same psychotic tendencies of "Paebiru" paradoxically combined with a hippy-dippy, Woodsy-the-Owl, sitting around the campfire style of feel-good folk. Fun.

Flight - s/t (USA) 1975 Capitol.
Flight - Incredible Journey (USA) 1976 Capitol. Prog fusion with mellotron, Moog, guitar, trumpet and quite the kinetic energy. Reminds me a little of Mingo Lewis' "Flight Never Ending". Vocals and melodies clearly have an eye on the radio charts. Too sophisticated for chart topping; too mainstream to be an underground cult classic. Can't imagine what Capitol were thinking here. Forever a sub $10 record I guess. So pick your LP up on ebay, since I doubt they'll ever get released on CD. Anybody even know where these guys are from?

Fluence - s/t (France) 1976 Pole. revisiting soon.

Fly - Die Fahrt mit dem Gläsernen Ballon (Germany) 1979 Ballong. Primarily instrumental melodic progressive rock similar to many from the time and place like Novalis, Surgery, Indigo, Morpheus etc... There's a light fusion sound that prevails, lead by soprano sax, electric piano, soft electric guitar and some choice synth leads. Goes at its own pace, with seemingly nowhere to go. Pleasant and soothing.

Flying Island - s/t (USA) 1975 Vanguard.
Flying Island - Another Kind of Space (USA) 1976 Vanguard. Superb violin lead fusion albums that somehow missed Comet's Vanguard reissue series.

Flying Tea Cup - s/t (Japan) 1981 private. Typical of the thin sounding, Casio driven progressive rock from the embryonic stages of the Japanese progressive rock renaissance. Well meaning, but ulimately empty. File along with Picaresque of Bremen and Orpheus.

Foehn - Faeria (France) 1985 priavte. I had this years ago, and it always reminded me of a mix of Zeuhl and pop wave bands like Swing Out Sister. Interesting album.

Fondation - Sans Etiquette (France) 1978 private. Cassette only release. Fondation are a duo. One side contains long, dark electronic soundscapes (primarily droning organ), with haunting female voice. The other side is more rhythmic with some fine guitar.

Formas - Largos Suenos (Spain) 1981 Surcosur. One of the many Rock Andaluz albums from Spain during the late 70s and early 80s - which Triana popularized to great success.

The Forum Quorum - s/t (USA) 1968 Decca. Way cool psych album from New York City area teenagers. They exclusively used Vox Continental organs, and were in fact sponsored by the company. They also made a couple of appearances on the Mike Douglas Show. And, on top of that, they also appeared in a movie. In a lot of ways, they were the East Coast equivalent to the Strawberry Alarm Clock, especially when you consider the amount of flute they employed. They didn't quite have the songwriting skills, or the master of harmony, but otherwise a much better than average pop psych album, with plenty of progressive touches.

4th Cekcion - s/t (USA) 1970 Solar. Houston based horn rock album that has become quite collectable with the psych prog crowd. Unfortunately, like most brass rockers, this one falls short and tried too hard for radio hits.

Fourth Sensation - s/t (Italy) 1970 Ricordi. Typical instrumental psych/blues/jazz rock music, with roller rink organ and half Les Paul era electric leads/half psychedelic fuzz. The kind of music that would be used in the "party sequence" of an old Streets of San Francisco episode. All good fun, though nothing extraordinary like the Braen's Machine "Underground" album.

Fragua - s/t (Spain) 1979 Hispavox. There was an exciting movement from the mid to late 70s in Spain that mixed both rock and flamenco music. Especially popular in the southern reaches of the country, the style became known as Rock Andalucia. Some of the bands mixed in more progressive elements such as Mezquita and the early works of Triana and Medina Azahara. Fragua were more typical of the pop style of the movement. So flamenco mixed with Spanish pop music is what you'll find here, with a couple of more challenging cuts dispersed throughout.

% Walter Franco - Revolver (Brazil) 1975 Continental. Brazilian pop rocker who released this relatively weird early career album. Starts off precisely within the rails, but starts to veer off as it progresses. Has a Sgt. Peppers sort of obsession, with plenty of studio effects and Eastern instruments. Still a pretty square album compared to most on this list, but I'm certain this will appeal to fans who like their pop rock a bit off center. Presumably listed as a Top 100 album of all time from Brazil by Rolling Stone. Damning praise if I ever saw it.

Frantz - Peut Etre Aux Yeux Silence (France) 1970 CAT. Interesting French pop psych album, with female vocals/narration, organ, guitar. Not a lot of albums like this coming out of France from this era. If France Gall went underground, I could see this being the result. Fans of Popera Cosmic should check it out. Pretty cool album.

Fresh Start - What America Needs (USA) 1974 Dunhill. Dated, but fun, love-one-another street funk rock ala Rare Earth and War. There's enough good time guitar jamming here to please most readers of this site.

%Frey / Tiepold / Thierfelder - Ziyada (Germany) 1979 Verebra.
%Frey / Tiepold / Thierfelder / Lang - Colibry (Germany) 1981 Verebra. Acoustic jazz fusion with classical chamber elements. "Colibry" adds some electronic keyboards that enhances the overall sound. These are nice, though a little of our scope for this list.

** Friends - s/t (USA) 1973 Oblivion. Great underground freaky fusion that sounds like a cross between Xhol Caravan and Mahavishnu Orchestra. Features John Abercrombie on guitar.

Friendsound - Joyride. 1969 RCA. Great experimental psych weirdness. File alongside David Stoughton and Fifty Foot Hose.

From - 0611 Cat Quarter (Germany) 1971 CBS.
From - Power On! (Germany) 1972 CBS. Solid early 1970s jazz effort with rock overtones. Similar to many of the albums on the MPS label during this era, though a bit more towards traditional jazz than the Wolfgang Dauner's and Association PC's of this world. From is lead by an organist, but saxophone is the primary instrument. Pretty loose in the structure department, which allows room for many individual solos, including the drums. I haven't heard "0611 Cat Quarter" yet, but will leave here for convenience.

xx Jun Fukamachi 21st Century Band - Rokuyu (Japan) 1975 Toshiba. Keyboardist Fukamachi made many fusion albums throughout the late 1970s. Supposedly this is his best and most progressive oriented album. Parts are great heavy fusion with smoking electric guitar, and one could see a band like Kenso getting wind of this prior to launching their career. One track is a pretty mundane, standard 70s jazz, that would later be known as "smooth jazz". Side 2 is more varied and includes some experimental bits, electronic rock (mellotron, el. piano, synths, rock drums) and blistering heavy fusion. Pretty cool record. I haven't seen on CD so I'll leave in the list. **Reissued by Sony of Japan, September 2009**

Fungus – Premonitions (EP) (England) 1973 private. Interesting British symphonic record with some orchestration. Reminds me a bit of early Queen and even a little Yes. Pre Seventh Wave. EP is about 22 minutes long.

Furekaaben - Prinsessevarerelset (Denmark) 1970 Spectator.
Furekaaben - Rode Roser (aka RR1) (Denmark) 1971 RR. As the great mail order catalog writer Paul Major once wrote, listening to Furekaaben is like "peeking through the bushes at an ancient mystic religious ceremony." That encapsulates the sound of both of these Christiana albums better than I could hope to achieve. I suppose the original Berlin commune group Amon Duul (sans II) is a guidepost, but Furekaaben are far more exotic, and rather than pound mercilessly on whatever percussive instruments are lying around, they choose a far more melodic route - though not in any kind of traditional sense. I also can hear the New York utopian group Children of One as a possible comparison. The first album managed a release on the Danish cult label Spectator. The second is an extremely rare private pressing, that I somehow managed to own for a number of years. If the psych scene existed in the year 723, this is probably how it would've sounded. Ancient roots stuff here folks.

Fynn McCool - s/t (England) 1970 RCA. Very strange album this one is. The first side is made up of rural and country rockers, and can be downright painful to listen to. But the closer of Side 1 and most of Side 2 gets progressively better, including some long organ jams. Probably had the band focused on this side of their music, they'd have ended up on RCA's Neon imprint. Despite the strong finish, the album is overall pretty mediocre.

Galaxy-Lin - s/t (Netherlands) 1974 Polydor. Primarily instrumental progressive rock, with mandolin as a lead instrument. Vocal tracks are more commercial in nature and tend to drag it down a bit. But the instrumentals are particularly well-written. They were to improve on their 1975 followup "G", which did manage a reissue on the Rotation label a few years back.

Galie - 1986 (Mexico) 1986 private.

Games - Stargazer (USA) 1977 private. Florida group who pretty much stick to the progressive oriented AOR album formula. Reminds me a lot of the all female UK group Mother Superior, that was reissued on the Audio Archives label a few years back.

%Gamma - s/t (aka Alpha) (Netherlands) 1973 private.
Gamma - Darts (Netherlands) 1974 Pandora. On the debut, Gamma play an eclectic style. A mixture of jazz fusion, blues rock, and classically inspired introspective pieces. The vocalist sings in a heavily affected style, and sounds like a mutant drunk. Reminds me a little of the guy from Pat Cool - a Tom Jones clone that slipped from the laboratory before they were finished. The instrumentals are definitely the highlight. Hard to escape the Focus influence as well, not that many Dutch bands could. "Darts" is a mix of sensual soft fusion with occasional loud guitar and organ leads. I like the mood of this one, and is quite pleasant. "Darts" is on the ever surprising Pandora label (Crypto) whereas the debut is considered one of The Netherlands' rarest private presses.

Gandalf - s/t (Sweden) 1977 private. Decent but amateurish symphonic rock.

Gas Mask - Their First Album (USA) 1970 Tonsil. The producer should get everyone's attention: Teo Macero (Miles Davis). As will the trumpet player for some: Enrico Rava. Big names for a completely unknown album. There are some monster tracks on here like 'The I Ching Thing' (a flute driven instrumental masterpiece) and 'Immigration Song' (another incredible instrumental with organ, trumpet, guitar, sax). A must for those who like horn rock, not quite up to the level or as progressive as Brainchild or the first Chicago, but better than most in the genre.

Gash - A Young Man's Gash (Germany) 1972 Brain. One of the last good Brain albums not on CD. Side 1 is decent to good hard rock, while Side 2 is a long progressive suite, similar to Nektar maybe.

Gass - s/t (England) 1970 Polydor. Strange album, this one is. Hard to describe, but I'd say that Gass is to UK blues rock what East of Eden "Mercator Projected" was to world fusion. It's a grab bag of styles, including much of what we track here (psych, prog, underground). Blues rock is the root system, with plenty of instrumental sections featuring organ, flute, fuzz guitar, percussion - and of course, downer vocals. Peter Green joined them for awhile after leaving Fleetwood Mac. Would make for a good CD from someone like Esoteric.

Jean-Claude Gaupin - Anatheme (France) 1984 private. Fairly typical early 1980s era light, sunny and breezy funk fusion. The great exception being the edgy guitar work from Xavier Piton, his one and only venture into recorded music (that I could find anyway). Other than that, it's the usual sax, Caribbean drums and warm / funky bass that push these harmless cruise ship style instrumental tunes along.

Gemini - Counterbalance (England) 1981 Airship. A strong album for melody and composition but they get dinged though for period instrumentation. Sounds like their lead synth choice was a Moog Opus 3, or some other early polyphonic synthesizer. And the lack of other lead instrument vehicles like sax, flute, organ, etc… makes this one a bit tougher to sit through, given that it's an instrumental album and all. Rhythm section is quite good however, not crisp but precise all the same. And the final long track features quite a bit of electric guitar soloing, adding exactly what they need. Good album and on par with the other Airship label album by Protos.

Gloria's Children - Schatten (Germany) 1978 private. I've had this on LP a couple of times. Nice Christian symphonic rock with female vocals. In the same genre as Eden and Credemus.

** Goliath - s/t (England) 1970 CBS. The more I hear this album, the better it gets. In the jazzy proto-prog area, with plenty of great flute, and sassy female vocals. Affinity and Linda Hoyle is probably the most obvious comparison. One band that rarely gets mentioned anywhere, but really comes to mind here is Fusion Orchestra. More gritty and less progressive perhaps, but does paint a pretty accurate picture. I also hear some melody/composition lines that recalled the great Diabolus album. Along with the Time (on Buk) album, this would be my top request for a reissue from a classic UK band.

Good God - s/t (USA) 1972 Atlantic. Philadelphia based jazz rock band, that sounds more European than American. Heavily indebted to instrumental Zappa, Good God's album sounds like many groups from Germany, Denmark and France. Maybe a little too much unhinged sax work for my liking, but still plenty to enjoy here. They cover Zappa's 'King Kong' and John McLaughlin's 'Dragon Song', both of which perfectly fit their style. It had been years since I sold my LP copy, but this listen demonstrated that the album is better than I remembered. Nice album that a high profile reissue label would benefit from.

Goodthunder - s/t (USA) 1972 Elektra. At its core, Los Angeles (?) based Goodthunder are a good time rock and roll band, with folk and pop trimmings. If that's all they were about, then they certainly wouldn't be in this list! No, Goodthunder weren't content to settle for lowest common denominator music. With a prominent keyboardist in the band, and a wide range of dynamics, timeshifts and colors, Goodthunder somehow managed to create a sophisticated hard rock album. And the guitar is pretty heavy for the era, including some nice riffing, in a proto metal style. Not solid all the way through (there are plenty of straightforward moments here), but the progressive breaks are, especially given the setting, quite surprising - and it's this sort of contrast that makes this album work. In some ways, you could almost compare Goodthunder to what Culpeper's Orchard were doing in Denmark. They never reach those highs, but still a worthy investment of your time.

The Michael Gordon Philharmonic - s/t (USA) 1987 Neutral.

Jean-Philippe Goude & Olivier Cole - Jeunes Années (France) 1976 Saravah. Keyboardist Goude is a recognizable name to many progressive rock fans for his participation with that most bombastic of Zeuhl groups - Weidorje. Prior to that project, he had teamed with percussionist Olivier Cole and released this one highly inventive keyboard / drums duo album. Rather than a series of organ/drum overload tracks, Goude focuses on moodier Rhodes and acoustic piano pieces, and utilizes his one synthesizer sound for his aggressive solos. There's a slight electronic music aesthetic applied throughout. A nice record, that has slipped under the radar. After Weidorje, Goude released the more overt Zeuhlish "Drones" album which Musea fortunately reissued many years ago. From there, Goude began to focus more squarely on incidental music geared for TV and films. I once had "Meli-Melodies" on LP, though it wasn't a cohesive album, like most library albums.

Grace - Blind (Sweden) 1981 Manifest. I thought this was already out on CD, but not so!

* Graced Lightning - The Graced Lightning Side (USA) 1975 private. An exceptionally well done instrumental progressive rock album by this obscure group from Chicago. Recorded only to one side of the LP, there are 3 tracks totalling 18 minutes. And not a moment wasted. Excellent keybaords/piano, coupled with inventive guitar solos. At times the music is very complex. Doesn't sound like anyone really, except maybe Virginia's Polyphony from a few years prior. Would make an excellent reissue with another group who had a short album - like Bounty maybe?

Gramigna - Gran Disordine Sotto il Cielo (Italy) 1977 Ultima Spiaggia. Not an easy one to describe. Quirky, like all on the label (including the namesake band). Some chamber rock, some pop, some fusion. Not easy to digest, yet not one to ignore either.

Le Grande Nebuleux - Les Pirates du Cortex (France) 1978 Hocco Mitu. Interesting and complex jazz rock album with some freer structures. It tends to get a bit shreiky in the sax department and the compositions stray towards the unhinged. But that's not to say their aren't some stellar moments as well. Rhythm section is super tight, and the guitar playing sometimes has an acidic tone, which is more than welcome. Best track, and at complete odds with the rest of the material, is a mellow hand-percussion / flute piece with quirky French voices. Had the album been more composed and less improvised, it would've been a monster. As it stands, it's still quite good.

Granicus - s/t (USA) 1973 Capitol. Ohio based group and one of the rare US bands to attempt a Led Zeppelin like raucous electric blues sound. Mellotron and acoustic guitar touches combined with Robert Plant styled high pitched vocals puts this album somewhere between Zep's “IV” and “Houses of the Holy”.

Granmax - Kiss Heaven Goodbye (USA) 1978 Panama. I don't have a lot of straight ahead hard rock albums in this list, but this one struck me as better than most (unlike their debut "Ninth Alive", which I'm not including). For 1978 this rocks hard and has some riffing that you may have only found on a Judas Priest album ("Stained Class") at this date. Pretty much non stop heavy rock, and no pub and boogie rockers to drag it down as is typical for albums such as this. Would be an obvious candidate for Rockadrome Records to reissue. There is a bootleg.

Grannie - s/t (England) 1971 private. One of those super rare albums with a low budget hard rock sound. Not too bad really and fun for archivists. There is a CD boot + a legit LP on Shadoks. So I suspect a legit CD will follow soon.

%* The Great Imperial Yoyo - Blink (England) 1992 private. Cassette only release of really cool festival era space rock. The usual Gong, Ozric, Hillage influences abound, but done with a peculiar raw energy that I find highly enlightening. When the guitar rips, he really lights it up, adding to the intensity. Their third album "Chicken Island" debuted on CD, but this one has never been introduced to the digital format. However, you can download this album (and the second album, called "Toe", for free from the band's website at http://www.vertexrecordings.com). In any case, "Blink" would be worth pressing, as it's that good. I haven't heard "Toe" yet.

Green Lyte Sunday - s/t (USA) 1970 RCA. From Dayton, Ohio, Green Lyte Sunday possessed that jazzy pop psych persona that was somewhat popular at the time. References to groups like the Free Design abound. A sound that would later evolve into something more slick and professional - perhaps Steely Dan is what became the future state as it were. Also a nod to the Brill Building sounds of Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Flute and la-la female vocals point to a more innocuous era - visualize the blonde babe under the soft lens. Sweet.

Grim Reaper - We Were All Fools (Germany) 1979 Brutkasten. Brutkasten is sort of Germany's DIY label, similar to France's FLVM, England's multitude of 99 only releases, and America's 1970s tax dodge loophole labels (Guiness, Dellwood). There was no consistency to what was on Brutkasten, and one can find anything from acid folk rock (Carol of Harvest), Genesis inspired symphonic (Sirius), basement hard rock (Black Spirit, P205) and onto German pop and schlager music. Grim Reaper fits the mold perfectly. The music is sort of an American inspired hard rock, but with some old sounding organs recalling other German bands like Air or Erlkoenig. The production is pure amateur basement. Not a whole lot to latch onto here, except there are some nice melodic guitar leads that seem to imply that Grim Reaper did at least possess some talent, if not a lot of imagination. There's some nice Moog work here and there as well.

* The Grodeck Whipperjenny - s/t (USA) 1970 People. On James Brown label, and recorded by some of his backup musicians, this is some killer fuzz funk mixed with a proto European prog take on the Jefferson Airplane! Somewhere between Stark Reality and Sandrose. Excellent album! boots exist. There's also a second album that I haven't heard.

* Group 1850 - Live (Netherlands) 1973 Orange (1969 concert).
* Group 1850 - Polyandri (Netherlands) 1974 Rubber.
* Group 1850 - Live on Tour (Netherlands) 1976 Rubber (1973 concert). "Polyandri" is primarily an instrumental album and features an array of sounds from complex prog rock compositions to simple bluesy workouts onto trippy psych organ based excursions similar to their first 2 LP's. Sounds more like a 1970 album rather than 1974. The 2 live albums are very much in the spirit of their studio releases, and feature a lot of original interpretations, making them essential. All of these have been booted.

Le Groupe X - Frrrrrigidaire (Italy) 1973 CPT.
Le Groupe X - Out Off (Italy) 1978 private. See my review here of Frrrrrrigidaire: : Groupe X Thanks to a good friend of this site, I've finally heard "Out, Off" and it's in a similar genre of instrumental music... almost like incidental music for TV and film (I've been since told that's what this is in fact).

Gudibrallan - Uti Vår Hage (Sweden) 1970 Silence.
Gudibrallan - II (Sweden) 1971 Silence. Not my cup of tea, but I know they were popular in Sweden during the day. Plus they were one of the earliest bands on the groundbreaking Silence label.

Guns & Butter - s/t (USA) 1970 Cotillion.

* Guruh Gipsy - s/t (Indonesia) 1975 private. Incredible 1975 album with strong Yes overtones combined with the local Gamelan musical tradition. Formed by one of the sons of the royal family! This just came out on LP by Shadoks (first time released on LP - I think this was a cassette only release initially). Would expect a CD to also be issued by them in the next couple of years.

Gutura - Des Etres Au Cerveau Apparent (France) 1980 Sterne. Anguished fast paced instrumental post-punk music with distorted lead guitar and a chanting manic female voice who blurts out nonsensical wordless sounds. Very French. What I mean by that is France is the only possible country an album like this could've come out in 1980 (today, Japan would have to be considered a candidate). Closest band I can think of that sounds similar is Noa, another French band of course, though Gutura are definitely more harsh - in terms of rock music anyway. In reality, Gutura are one of a kind.

* Hades - s/t (Norway). 1974 / 1992 Colours. This live album (soundboard quality) reminds me a lot of Osanna's "L'Uomo", which in itself was a strong play on the early Jethro Tull sound. That is to say blues based heavy rock with aggressive, stuttered flute as the lead instrument. Many time changes also point to the Osanna way of doing things. The Norwegian vocals recall the unique Scandinavian flair found in bands like Host or Trettioariga Kriget. Great fuzz guitar leads as well. Short album (under 25 minutes), but great all the way through. Would be nice to pair this with the archival St. Helena album, that was also under 25 minutes.

* Norman Haines Band - Den of Iniquity (England) 1971 EMI Parlophone. Post Locomotive British rock, from this accomplished keys player. Stylistically very diverse, and it takes awhile to get its sea legs. Enter the 10 minute jam, that truly catches a groove and allows for some splendid guitar soloing over the tranced organ-led rhythms. From here, the band seems more at ease, and the songwriting improves greatly, even if more towards an overt commercial direction. I was reminded of Dave Lawson's work with Web ("I Spider") and Samurai in particular. Not lost is the longish electronic oriented piece with fuzz organ and electric piano. This takes a couple of spins to comprehend, but is post British psych at its best. File next to your Nicholas Greenwood "Cold Cuts" album. Seems an obvious candidate for Esoteric, who has already reissued Locomotive, Web and Samurai. Multiple boots exist. (Been confirmed that Esoteric does plan on reissuing this eventually.)

Christodoulos Halaris - The Tropic of Virgin (Greece) 1973 EMI. CD on Minos/EMI long OOP. Greek folk prog with some unusual music. Instruments include clarinet, bouzouki, violin, bodhran, topped off with some soprano vocals. This is the Greek equivalent of some of the UK folky prog stuff from the same era.

Hammer - s/t (USA) 1970 San Francisco (Atlantic). Mundane rock for the most part - until the final track. Which sounds almost exactly like Banco del Mutuo Succorso's 'Metamorfosi'!! At least the main theme. Could have BdMS known of the obscure SF Bay Area band known as Hammer? Naaaaaaaaa.

Jean Luc Hamonet & Algue - Melodie, Melodie - Rock (France) 1982 private.

Handgjort - s/t (Sweden) 1970 Silence. Almost all instrumental acoustic Eastern world music, similar to the Third Ear Band or Aktuala. More underground and primitive though, reminding me of Furekaaben. Years later, Embryo would produce a more professional variation of this sound on "Reise" (the non rock pieces that is).

Hannibal – s/t (England) 1970 B&C. In that UK blues rock school of sax lead proto prog, similar to Diabolus, Aquila and Raw Material. Some nice guitar work too. Despite the lengthy tracks, there isn’t much in the way of song development. A good album, but not one of the stronger ones in the style. boots exist.

Hansson & Karlsson - Monument (Sweden) 1967 Polydor.
Hansson & Karlsson - Rex (Sweden) 1968 Polydor.
Hansson & Karlsson - Gold (Sweden) 1969 Polydor.
Hansson & Karlsson - Man At The Moon (Sweden) 1969 Polydor. Instrumental organ and drums duo. There's a very nice compilation available from Polydor, but the actual full albums have never been reissued.

The Happy Dragon Band - s/t (USA) 1978 Fiddlers. Really bizarre album from the mastermind behind the Phantom's Divine Comedy album. I couldn't hope to describe this album, so I'll let the good folks at Aquarius Records do so. " Oooh, we've got a weird one here. Seriously. But very cool we think. Didn't know what to expect from the whimsical band name and front cover artwork, but it wouldn't have been *this* anyway! The first track, "3-D, Free" starts things off pretty freaky with spacey vocal effects and a lethargic reggae beat, with heartfelt lyrics, singing lines like "I saw police shooting rats". It's reprised later at the end of the album in an even more wigged out "electronic" version. This is definitely psychedelic rock music, but also very futuristic for its time (circa 1977-1978), hinting at new wave/punk. With track two, "Positive People", things get even more Devo. And it doesn't get any more normal as it goes. Capt. Beefheart also seems to be at this party... weird weird weird. But these folks have a knack for melody amist the madness." Bootlegs exist.

Jukka Hauru - Information (Finland) 1972 Finnlevy.
Jukka Hauru - Episode (Finland) 1975 Love.

Havenstreet - End of the Line (England) 1977 private. More of a straightforward rock album, though the vocalist reminds me some of Caravan's Richard Sinclair, which may explain the sometimes comparison of Havenstreet to Canterbury. Not quite...

Yves Hayat - A Conversation Between East & West (France) 1976 Music DeWolfe. French music library album that mixes sitar, tabla, electric/acoustic guitar, drums and Moog/clavinet based electronics. Excellent and a nice companion piece to the Yves et Alain Lorentz "Espaces 2" album. Hayat apparently released a "must own" album, as considered by rare groove DJs, under the guise of Droids (1978).

Head Over Heels - s/t (USA) 1971 Capitol. Good hard rock album with some excellent guitar riffs. About 4 or 5 years ahead of its time. Boots exist.

Headband - Straight Ahead (Germany) 1979 Plane.
Headband - Fette Bruhe (Germany) 1982. Standard issue fusion with guitar/soprano sax leads. Certainly less interesting than similar groups like Sun and Surgery for example. They have 3 albums and I've only heard "Straight Ahead" to date. I plan on visiting "Fette Bruhe" soon.

Heaven - s/t (USA) 1969 W.W. Records. Underground horn rock / psych album with delicious fuzz leads and cool roller rink organ sounds. Nice trumpet and trombone horn charts. Also some standard blues psych tunes as well. Interesting cacophonous freak out ending. This Nebraska band is not to be confused with the brass rock group from England.

Heratius - Gwendolyne (France) 1978 FLVM. Spiritual successor to Fille Qui Mousse. Same kind of reckless anarchy in the studio. Spoken word, clarinet solos, piano, sustain fuzz guitar solos. Extremely deep underground music and VERY French. Have to possess an understanding of this style to truly appreciate. The AYAA label is another reference. Most albums on the do-it-yourself FLVM label aren't this experimental. Too out for me, but not unlistenable like some in the genre.

Judy Henske & Jerry Yester - Farewell Aldebaran (USA) 1969 Straight. boots exist.

Chris Hinze Combination - Stoned Flute (Netherlands) 1970 Columbia.
Chris Hinze Combination - Live at Montreux (Netherlands) 1971 Columbia.
Chris Hinze Combination - Who Can See the Shadow of the Sun (Netherlands) 1972 Columbia.
** Chris Hinze Combination - Mission Suite (Netherlands) 1973 MPS/BASF.
* Chris Hinze Combination - Sister Slick (Netherlands) 1974 Columbia. Dutch flautist Chris Hinze was far more than just your usual jazz flute player. Especially on "Mission Suite" where he combines jazz and progressive rock very effectively. "Stoned Flute" and "Live at Montreux" are more steeped in the jazz tradition, but aren't standard by any means. "Who Can See the Shadow of the Sun" is a bit looser than the others during this period, and will appeal most to those into "out" jazz. "Sister Slick" is probably Hinze's heaviest album, with Philip Catherine on guitar, and is a good representation of the harder edged fusion style. Interesting to note that his other work from this period, 1972's "Virgin Sacrifice", has been reissued on CD. I'm sure it earned a CD imprint (on his own label if I remember right, I have it here somewhere) since it foreshadowed his future work as a new age artist. It's very different from his other albums during the early 70s.

* George Hirota - Sahasurara (Japan) 1976 King. Fascinating fusion / progressive / avant rock hybrid with indigenous tribal Japanese elements. Lots of flute, chanting / manic vocals, acoustic and fuzz guitar, piano, vibes, and a variety of percussion. Strays a bit towards the avant-garde, ala JA Caesar, during the middle of Side 2. Very unique album. Definitely in need of a CD reissue. Hirota isn't exactly an unknown (note Joji Hirota entry below), and King Records is still a very active label. Not sure why this one is still sitting in the vaults? And it's a total unknown. Took me nearly 12 years to finally hear it!

Joji Hirota - Wheel of Fortune (Japan) 1981 King. All the inventiveness that was "Sahasurara" (under the name George Hirota) is completely lost here. Hirota fell hard for the fusion bug and recorded a very typical album of the day, with tinny synthesizers, and run of the mill solos. Plenty of boring percussion work to sit through as well. Whereas the percussion was a major force behind the ethnically tinged "Sahasurara", here it's used in typical showoff form (with one notable exception). A major disappointment for anyone but diehard Weather Report fans who still felt 1981 was a relevant year for that band.

Randy Holden – Population II (USA) 1970 Hobbit. For fans of loud, bluesy guitar and screaming gruff vocals with pounding 4/4 rhythms, then here you go. There is a legit LP reissue, but still not on CD officially (boots exist).

Roland Hollinger - Bardo Thodol (France) 1978 Scorpios. Primarily haunting and dark electronic music in the 70's tradition. Some accent instruments pop up here and there like guitar, piano, saxophone and percussion, but primarily "Bardo Thodol" is a pretty bleak work. A logical companion to the two Jean Baptiste Barriere albums.

Holy Angels - Metaphysics Meditation (Japan) 1994 Prescription Drug (released in 1998). It seems that the English based Prescription Drug label's goal was to be this generation's Kosmische Kouriers. If that's the case, then not only have they met that goal but exceeded. Another winner for the label from these (I suspect) Japanese females. Related to Angels in Heavy Syrup?

horn rock bands - in addition to the many brass rock bands I have listed individually here, there are a number more that have similar qualities. Each of the following groups feature at least 2 or 3 excellent cuts amongst the more mundane pop or blues rock compositions: Ambergris, Anthem, Big Foot, Broth, Chelsea Beige, Coldwater Army, Game, Iguana, Illustration, Jam Factory, Little John, Melting Pot, Myrth, Pig Iron, Rastus, The Seven Ages of Man, Sod, Swallow, Undertaker's Circus.

Horrific Child - L'Etrange Mr. Whinster (France) 1976 Europa. Where would the music world be without Jean-Pierre Massiera? It certainly would be a more dull place without him. Everything he was involved with can only be described as obscure. And now he's the undisputed king of the 1970's Euro oddball chase. And of all the albums he did, Horrific Child remains his most sought after, and arguably most eccentric release ever. The musical realization of a psychotronic B-Movie classic. If this were a movie, it would be on at 3:00 in the morning, on your cities' last standing UHF local station. "L'Etrange Mr. Whinster" defines Massiera's niche in life. Insanely great cover is begging for a Japanese mini-LP release.

Horse - s/t (England). 1970 RCA. Straight ahead hard rock that starts with a roar and ends with a whinny. A one trick pony (metaphor hell). Worth hearing for sure. Boots exist.

Hörselmat - Svenska Löd AB (Sweden) 1971 private. One of the rarest albums from Sweden, if not THE rarest. Primarily a jazz funk album with blues overtones, that features none other than Janne Schaffer on guitar. Pressed in a micro quantity of 200 copies. Privately released album in an era when that kind of thing was unheard of. Great production, and some splendid guitar, trumpet, sax and organ work (ESPECIALLY the organ). Opening track is a killer horn rock piece ala primo Chicago. I can see this album being a huge hit with the DJ beatdigger hipster crowd. A little out of scope of our normal fare, but felt its rarity alone was worth its inclusion here.

Hot Flash - First Attack! They'll Never Take Us Alive (USA) 1977 Rockwell. Boston area prog AORish blend. Not that dissimilar from the Fairchild album, though this one has a bit more complexity to it. Better than other locally produced Beantown prog bands like Blind Owl and Marianus. There's been some buzz on this album of late, but it's strictly third tier stuff. Good, but certainly not astounding.

Houston Fearless - s/t (USA) 1969 Imperial. Standard issue heavy blues psych, with gospel, folk and pop tinges. There is some exceptional fuzz soloing, coupled alongside some wicked Hammond licks, that it make it a worthwhile listen. Guideposts are the usual suspects like Cream and Iron Butterfly. A decent genre piece. To date, only a bootleg exists.

Hungry Wolf - s/t (England) 1970 Philips. Primarily instrumental pop rock, with some heavy Hammond organ (courtesy of the Mohawks' Alan Hawkshaw). Loose guitar, simple rhythms, even some vocals which is rare for an album like this. File along with Ugly Custard and The Bigroup. Boots exist.

Hunk Ai - s/t (Denmark) 1986 Olufsen.

* Hydravion - s/t (France) 1977 Cobra.
* Hydravion - Stratos Airlines (France) 1979 Carrere. After a handful of dark, complex and remarkable electronic rock albums on the Pole label, Phillippe Besombes created a more accessible vehicle for his talents. Thus was born Hydravion. Each album starts with a slightly bouncy, disco tinged, electronic track - a style that was quite popular in Paris in the late 1970s. But this being Besombes, it doesn't take long for Hydravion to sound more Heldon than Chic. Each album features anguished fuzz guitar leads, bizarre interludes, alien voices and a whole lot of invention. Many folks tend to overlook Hydravion (and who can blame them, especially after glancing at the ridiculous "Stratos Airlines" space suit cover), but give each album about 5 minutes to settle in, and you'll see these are top tier French progressive electronic albums.

Hydrus - Midnight in Space (Italy) 1978 PDU. One of the 3 indigenous electronic albums (Eletriktus and Robert Cacciapaglia's "Sonanze" being the others) on the PDU label (most known for their Italian pressings of the German Cosmic Courier clan). Hydrus could have been named Hybrid, as they mix spacey, non seqeuncer based electronic music with tiny hints of disco. Lovely wordless female vocals adds an exotic atmosphere. Not a bad record at all, though they should've let loose a bit more as the electronics get a bit static after while.

I.D. Company - s/t (Germany) 1970 HorZu. boots exist.

* Ibis - s/t (Sweden) 1974 Grammofonverket - Europa Film. Loads of ring modulator electric piano similar to The Fourth Way or Love Cry Want and fantastic guitar leads with the occasional Swedish melody. Berits Halsband is another reference though they don't go for the deep trance like BH does. A couple of trips to the weeds is the only thing keeping this from a total monster. Highly recommended.

* Id - Where Are We Going? (USA) 1976 Aura. I had forgotten about this title, as I have a CD - except it's not a legit release. Typical the-world-is-going-to-hell-in-a-handbasket kind of album - but with loads of mellotron and massively loud acid guitar amongst 4 very long tracks. So it can't be all THAT bad guys...

* Igra Staklenih Perli - Soft Explosion Live (Serbia) 1978 / 1993 Kalemegdan.
* Igra Staklenih Perli - Inner Flow (Serbia) 1978 / 1993 Kalemegdan.
* Igra Staklenih Perli - Drives (Serbia) 1977 / 1994 Kalemegdan. "Soft Explosion Live" is basically a live version of the debut. "Inner Flow" contains various recordings (live and studio) taken from 1976 to 1978. "Drives" is their most freaked out album, and is culled from roughly 5 hours of recorded private tapes called "Triple Live Numbers 1-3". All are from prior to their first actual studio album, and thus more similar to their early Pink Floyd improvisational style. Apparently some of the "Triple Live" tapes are still missing, and there was talk (back in 1994 that is) of releasing more material from these sessions. Obviously that was put on hold, as I write this 14 years later. All of these archival releases were reissued on LP with excellent sound and covers. In particular, the "Drives" cover is simply amazing, and could be rated amongst the best album covers of the 1970s. Since the Brazilian label Rock Symphony licensed the Tako's from Kalemegdan, I would presume it's only a matter of time before these albums are licensed by some enterprising CD label. Unfortunately Kalemegdan never did reissue the actual RTB albums back in the day, though the parent label RTB PGP of Serbia did finally reissue them on CD in 2008.

Iliad - Distances (USA) 1975 Northern Lights.
Iliad - Sapphire House (USA) 1978 Northern Lights. Lead by keyboardist Sandy Owen, Los Angeles based Iliad present a fairly mellow and relaxed jazzy symphonic album. At times the tranquil piano gives off a New Age feel. Features a couple of rave-ups, as well as a couple of familiar cover tunes. I've only heard "Distances".

* Images - s/t (France) 1977 Voxigrave. The first side is pleasant folk, with acoustic guitars and flute, and sparse vocals sung in a soft French tone. Side 2 rocks out with the addition of electric guitar, bass, keys and drums. Plenty of progressive meter changes, and comparisons to bands like Memoriance or Pentacle wouldn't be out of place. A splendid little album that very few know about, but is not to be missed! They also participate on a second album that is avant garde, and a bit out of scope for this list.

Indigo - Meer der Zeit (Germany) 1977 private.
Indigo - Die Angel Im Gras (Germany) 1979 private.
Indigo - Herbstwind (Germany) 1980 private. Indigo are a melodic progressive rock band that seem to be clearly influenced by Novalis, maintaining a slower pace, with plenty of organ, spacey vocals in German, early polyphonic synths and nice electric lead guitar. "Meer der Zeit" features only one long track which is broken up into many movements. Other references include Pink Floyd, Faithful Breath's "Fading Beauty", Fly, and Minotaurus. "Die Angel Im Gras" is the best of the lot IMO. All 3 albums are pretty rare. Not to be confused with the post-Kyrie Eleison Austrian pop group.

Inserts - Out of the Box (USA) 1983 Nozzle. A very interesting instrumental album from Ann Arbor, Michigan. Inserts are an improvisational guitar based trio, with a clear understanding of the value of a good production. The guitar is distinctly from the Fripp school, including the angry atonal fuzz tone. The bass work has an almost Zeuhl quality about it, though it doesn't rumble along the rhythm like Paganotti or Top would do. These kind of albums didn't exist in 1983, but other than the occassional "Starless and Bible Black" reference, I would say that the Inserts were AHEAD of their time. You could convince me a band such as Djam Karet may have stumbled onto this in a used bin somewhere. Album was pressed in Japan and released on their own label here in America. It's a first class job all the way. Apparently the band is still around, and they plan on reissuing this album soon!

Iris - Litanies (France) 1972 Sonopresse Connection. Major label French pop/psych/le progressif. With cool organs, blistering fuzz, and Carnaby Street harmony vocals, Iris fools absolutely no one in trying to make the Hit Parade. But, this being French and all, it still sounds delicious, and references to other like minded crossover acts such as Alice's "Arretez Le Monde" and Atoll's "Musiciens-Magiciens" would not be entirely out of line. Beautiful lilac cover art.

Iskra (Sweden) Jazzy group with 5 albums. A bit out of the scope for this list, but will include band name here per request.

% Fred Israel - Fashions of Moon (USA-Denmark). 1977 Hookfarm. Oddball album, with strong smokey jazz sax tendencies, off-kilter vocals, sound collages, sitars, classical piano, mellotron, etc... Zappa once again is an obvious influence here, minus the crisp ensemble work. I even hear some early Cluster at work here, though seriously doubt Isreal was influenced, or even familiar with them. Heady album, though hard to imagine who the intended audience was. Bootlegs exist.

It - Viaje (Musica Electronica Libre). 1976 Movieplay. Experimental electronic music with sparse use of electric guitar. Pretty static and dull, but will appeal to fans of the genre.

It's My Head - s/t (Sweden-Wales) 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.

Ixt Adux - Brainstorm (USA) 1982 private.

Izvir - s/t (Slovenia) 1977 RTV. Of all the obscure former Yugoslavian progressive rock albums, I think Izvir remains the most elusive. Starts out in spacey psychedelic territory ala Igra Staklenih Perli, but oddly enough abandons that sound altogether after about 4 minutes and opts for a funky fusion direction. Somewhere between mid 70s Santana (notable in the song craft, guitar and organ sounds) and “Dunajska Legenda” era Fermata, you’ll find the music of Izvir. This one is a grower, as the disco era melodies hold a certain nostalgia pull. Lots of clavinet, almost defining the funky sounds within.

Jankees - Atlantis (Japan) 1987 Four Seasons. Standard sounding bouncy Japanese symphonic with tinny digital synthesizers. See Flying Tea Cup for basic description.

Jargon - s/t (Finland) 1980 Dig It. Pretty standard progressive jazz rock fusion like same era Pekka Pohjola or the later Ruphus albums from Norway.

Jenghiz Khan - Well Cut (Belgium) 1970 Barclay. Electric blues rock like Ashkan and Elias Hulk, but more inconsistent.

Jessica - s/t (Germany) 1975 private. Piano driven symphonic rock. One of the few German bands to have an almost Italian sound in places, like Festa Mobile for example. Has a jazzy lounge feel to it with plenty of piano and toned down electric guitar. Also features quite a bit of acoustic guitar. Generally derided for its classical bent, though I would say that sound is represented in small doses here.

George Jinda - Wheel Of Love (France) 1976 Motors. George Jinda is actually Hungarian, born and raised in Budapest, and (the curtain closes) by the 1980's he's in the US according to all the bio's I could find. En route, he found himself in France. And "Wheel of Love" certainly sounds French! Especially in the bass playing (courtesy of Didier Batard). Some Heldon sequencer/guitar moves, some flute and sax jazz rock, even some funk. All instrumental and a great album – lots of ideas and sounds. Features all the members of Speed Limit, who he was also a member of.

Joker's Memory - A Joker's Memory (Canada) 1976 private. A 20 minute, one sided LP, featuring an amateurish attempt at a prog rock style. Plenty of AOR moves to sit through, and while the effort is sincere, the material needed far more polishing before going into the studio. The abominable production (reminding me of the Astre album) doesn't help. One for collectors of the private press spirit, but musically speaking, little value can be found.

Jonathan - s/t (Germany) 1978 AAR. Symphonic keyboard / drum duo similar to French acts like Space Art and Eden.

*** Del Jones' Positive Vibes - s/t (psych mix) (USA) 1972 Hikeka. I just realized that I hadn't added one of my all time favorite albums. The single most intense Black America album ever. Basically Del Jones is the Philadelphia ghetto version of the Berlin based Cosmic Couriers clan. Intense does not even begin to describe this album. The anger that comes through will melt your mind. And all the freaked out vocals, wah wah guitar, flute and heavy rhythms will make you grab for your Ash Ra Tempel albums and hold on tight. Given the economic conditions of the housing projects of the early 1970s, it's surprising more albums didn't seep through like this. Like Velvert Turner, Del Jones released two versions of the same album: A "soul" mix and a "psych" mix. The soul mix is available on CD and appears legit. The psych mix has only been reissued on LP so far, and did involve Del Jones, so we'll consider that legit. But no one has issued it on CD to date. The soul mix is not that much different really - there's an additional horn section and some of the guitar work has been moved into the background. It's still a monster and highly recommended. On both albums, there are a couple of throw away soul numbers that are fortunately short - but most of the album will fry your brain! 'Cold Turkey' has some of the most anguished freaked out madness since John L. on 'Flowers Must Die' from Ash Ra Tempel's "Schwingungen".

Jox - Joxifications (France) 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.

Jessy Joyce - Love Me (France) 1976 Barclay. Well, guess who's behind the controls on this one? Of course, J.P. Massiera. So no surprise the collectable value of this one is through the roof. And add to that a cover with two very fine looking naked ladies, and you have an instant major rarity. Of course, many collectors don't want the music to get in the way apparently - and on this front it's pretty boring Janis Joplin like blues rock. Does features some nice lead guitar though.

Jumbo - Bigger and Better! (USA) 197? Leonard Productions. Pretty cool mix of Blood Sweat and Tears inspired horn rock and a traditional college level stage band. Not a lot of this kind of stuff available on the open market, and worth a few spins. No date on the album anywhere, but hair styles and clothes point to 1970 or so. Can't find any info on the web about them either.

Jupu Group - Ahmoo! (Finland) 1975 Hi-Hat. Heavy instrumental progressive fusion with guitar/violin/electric piano/Moog interplay. There is one boring drum solo to sit through. Typical mid 70s fusion, that was all the rage at the time. Similar to other European acts like Pumpkin, Pop Workshop, Energy, Ex Ovo Pro - and of course the forebearers of the movement: Return To Forever and Weather Report.

Kaamos - Deeds and Talks (Finland) 1977. revisiting soon.

La Kabala - s/t (Peru) 1970 RCA. Generally hyped to the "heavy funk" crowd, this one falls short of the Bwana barometer. A mix of late 60s swinging soul jazz, cruise ship style loungers and an occasional Santana outburst to keep everyone on their toes. Title track has some cool seductive female vocals, but otherwise a fun, but non-essential listen.

%Kaleidoskop - s/t (Germany) 1974 Lava. At the crossways of jazz and rock, with emphasis on the latter. Sax, flute and organ lead the solo parade (there are no less than 3 full time winds players). Some inventive compositions, and the progressive rock element comes out in the unison playing, which at times is complex. Occasionally I hear same period Missus Beastly, though Kaleidoskop are definitely more jazz oriented. Side 2 features a lengthy suite, utilizing Eastern scales, that is quite interesting, if not overly inspired. Overall a good jazz rock album, that I'm sure would do well as a CD reissue, especially amongst the more adventurous jazzers out there.

xx Kandahar - Long Live The Sliced Ham (Belgium) 1974.
xx Kandahar - In The Court Of Catherina Squeezer (Belgium) 1975. ** First two albums reissued by Sony of Belgium July 2009 **
Kandahar - Pictures From The Past (Belgium) 1976.

Katamaran - s/t (Germany) 1977 Plane Jazz.
Katamaran - Cafe Florian (Germany) 1978 Plane Jazz.
Katamaran - Footprints (Germany) 1980 Plane Jazz. The endless German jazz fusion era of the late 70s and early 80s strikes once again with Katamaran. The debut is more in line with the then current scene (Moira, Kraan, etc..) with hot playing, memorable melodies and tight unison runs. Their 3rd and final album branched into more hardcore jazz (acoustic piano, sax solos, loose structures), while still maintaining a preferable fusion edge. Final track is a sombre flute, acoustic bass, piano and drums piece. "Cafe Florian", the middle album, is the one I heard last. It's more introspective than the RTF flavored debut and the heavy jazz of "Footprints". Stronger flute work here than on the others, and the atmospheres are heavy. All three are different, but worth seeking out.

Kebnekaise - Ljus Från Afrika (Sweden) 1976 Silence.
Kebnekaise - Elefanten (Sweden) 1977 Silence.
Kebnekaise - Vi Drar Vidare (Sweden) 1978 Mercury.

Kennedy - Twinkling NASA (Japan) 1986 Nexus. A heavy symphonic (in the 1980s dramatic keyboard overload sense) fusion record. The highlights are provided from the rather pyrotechnic guitar work, which works well when juxtaposed against the digital onslaught that defines most of the album. 'Flying Ship Part 1' is a killer piece of Kenso-esque fusion. Good record, though not among the top tier of the 1980s Japanese progressive rock acts. Strange this isn't on CD - one of the rare major label albums from Japan in the 1980s that didn't get reissued. Their second album "Kennedy!" did manage a Musea reissue a few years back.

Key - s/t (Germany) 1977 Calig. Key are yet another fusion band from Germany from the late 1970s scene. Though I'd say Key definitely are on the jazz side of the equation. Featuring long sections for trumpet and sax solos, not to mention the piano and standup bass providing the backdrop and atmosphere. A pleasant enough album, though I find it hard to believe this would motivate too many potential buyers in the reissue market. Drummer Kurt Bilker went on to play on Katamaran's "Footprints".

Kha-Ym - 10' GMT (France) 1979 FLVM. Another one of those quirky DIY late 70s French albums. This one is based on primitive tinny digital keyboards, with real drums and a lot of imagination. Not really like any other album, closest might be to those Frenchies who veered towards the New Wave like Lievaux - Transfo or an instrumental SuperFreego maybe. Was scheduled for a reissue on the excellent Mio label, which is now boarded up.

Osamu Kitajima - Benzaiten (Japan) 1975 Antilles.

Klockwerk Orange - Abakadabra (Austria) 1975 CBS. Extremely rare progressive album with 3 long tracks. Very Teutonic sounding, reminding me of similar era German groups such as Pancake, Madison Dyke and Minotaurus. The unique element at play here is the use of trumpet. So you get a little Tijuana Brass meets ELP. Gotta hear 'Tijuana Taxi' collide with 'Manticore'!

Komintern - Le Bal du Rat Mort (France) 1971 Harvest. An all over the map type release, with just about every conceivable style being represented somewhere. Avant-rock-cabaret-jazz is about the closest I can come to making any sense of it. Fellow countrymen Red Noise (who Komintern were formed from) and Mahjun are a couple of other references one could point to. A real mystery this is still not on CD, since this was reissued on vinyl in the 1980s (Cryonic). Even though the group was a radical left-wing political collective, there's (fortunately) little evidence of that here. They just let the music do the talking, as it should be. Had they still been around during the original RIO formation, they most certainly would've been a charter member.

Kontinuerlig Drift - I (Sweden) 1977 Trixie Brothers. Very undergound sounding, with drunken Swedish vocals. Lots of loud guitar solos. Somewhere between Gudibrallan, the Velvet Underground and the raw beginnings of the punk movement.

Anders Koppel - Aftenlandet & Regnbuefuglen (Denmark) 1977 Demos. Anders Koppel was the keys player for Savage Rose and this is most known solo album. Parts of it were used for a soundtrack to a film called "Aftenlandet", and the album definitely has a soundtrack flow to it. There's very little cohesion between the tracks, though if each composition is evaluated individually, there's much to admire. An all instrumental album, Koppel was successful in putting together a quintet, giving it more a rock band feel, rather than just a bunch of studio musicians getting together to lay down some incidental music.

Kornet - s/t (Sweden) 1975 Manifest.
Kornet - Fritt Fall (Sweden) 1977 Manifest.
Kornet - Kornet 3 (Sweden) 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.

** (Kraftwerk) Organisation - Tone Float (Germany) 1970 RCA.
** Kraftwerk - s/t (Germany) 1971 Philips.
Kraftwerk - II (Germany) 1972 Philips.
Kraftwerk - Ralf and Florian (Germany) 1973 Philips. Other than maybe Tim Buckley, this has to be the most recognized name on this list. The first Kraftwerk and the Organisation album are practically the invention of the term Krautrock as we know it. "II" and "Ralf & Florian" begin down the metronomic man-machine path that made Kraftwerk so famous. These are the experimental albums before they hit the big time. These guys are too powerful to let record execs bully them, so it appears it is they alone who do not want anyone to get their paws on them. Which is why all of these have thrived in the bootleg market. That's a shame.

Volker Kriegel - Spectrum, Mild Maniac, Lift (Germany) Very good fusion works from German guitarist.

Joachim Kuhn - Cinemascope (Germany) 1974 MPS. Talented jazz and fusion keyboardist who had many albums through the 60s and 70s (and beyond). "Cinemascope" is probably the rarest from this time frame, and the one that is most aligned with this website's focus. A very strong fusion effort, with Toto Blanke lighting it up on guitar. Features a brilliant gatefold cover that would make for a gorgeous Japanese mini-LP! Followup album "Hip Elegy" has been reissued by parent label MPS, so perhaps "Cinemascope" isn't far behind.

* Kvartetten Som Sprängde - Kattvalls (Sweden) 1973 Gump. Sustain fuzz guitar, thick/wedgy Hammond B3 and Latin percussion. You are correct, Kvartetten Som Sprangde caught the Santana bug, and we're all the better for it. Best of all, they weren't content to just play the style of music of Carlos and co, but also ported the same instrumentation and added in more traditional Scandinavian folk scales. One of Anglagard's favorite groups. Another great candidate for Mellotronen. Bootlegs exist.

L.S. Bearforce - s/t (Germany) 1983 private. As anachronistic as they come. 1983 was the last year anyone would expect a free form freakout guitar jam album, like early Guru Guru and early Ash Ra Tempel. But Lotus Schmidt (the L.S. reference) was a huge fan of albums like "UFO" and "Hinten" and convinced the Guru Guru guys to go in with him on the album.

Lacewing - s/t (USA) 1970 Mainstream. Lacewing is one of the rarest and most collectable albums on Mainstream. Based in Kent, Ohio, this album was released near the time of the Kent State shooting, which is reflected in the atmosphere of the compositions. Like many US albums from 1970, the material is psych influenced, but still unsure of where it wanted to go next. There's roots rock, folk, progressive and the usual kitchen sink mentality. The guitar work is exemplary and the female vocals are better than average for the era. Worth a few listens, and would make a good CD, especially given the collectability of this rarity.

* Pascal Languirand - Minos (Canada) 1978 Kebec.
* Pascal Languirand - De Harmonia Universalia (Canada) 1980 Minos.
* Pascal Languirand - Vivre Ici Maintenant (Canada) 1981 Minos. Pascal Languirand is sort of the Richard Pinhas of Quebec. A one man show of dark electronics (primarily Moog) and searing electric guitar. He's a bit more cosmic than Heldon, which calls to mind Klaus Schulze. And he often uses wordless voice that reminds me of Franco Falsini. On "Minos" there's also a trippy folk number with French vocals that I find highly appealing in this setting. "De Harmonia Universalia" is quite similar, a bit less foreboding and more cosmic than its predecessor, with no dropoff in overall quality. The trio is completed by "Vivre Ici Maintenant", and again, perhaps surprisingly, there is no noticeable dropoff in the quality. Here, Languirand takes us a bit further East while adding some acoustic percussive elements. Album could be considered an anachronism considering the late date. There is a compilation disc that features some of the music above, but would be nice to see the albums come out in full.

Manu Lannhuel – s/t (France) 1976 Iris. French folky prog with some quality compositions and instrumentation. Maybe a bit too much singing for my tastes, but fans of the genre won't mind.

Laura - s/t (France) 1980 private.
Laura - Colis Postal (France) 1981 private.

Laurelie - s/t (Belgium) 1970 Triangle. A surprisingly nice discovery for the time and place, and one of the big time Belgian rarities up there with Irish Coffee and Waterloo. Laurelie seem like the next level for a group like the Wallace Connection, for example. English vocals are a bit suspect, but the sophistication and exploration of ideas is considerably more than what is normally found in Continental Europe at such an early date. Wonderful fuzz, old keys and especially flute drive the melodic and tonal contents. 22 minute, multi-part closer has many great ideas. Holds up better than most. Bass player went on to Jenghiz Khan.

Jean Le Fennec - Phantastic (France) 1969 Barclay. Le fun Go-Go psych pop, no? Oui! (mademoiselle giggle, giggle). Le Fennec's sole album is a bit more hokey and exploito than others of his ilk, most notably William Sheller's Popera Cosmic. It is also very vocal heavy and since it's all in French (fortunately), perhaps some of the work is lost in translation, though somehow I doubt it. Other than some wonderfully placed fuzz guitar, in that phantastic French tradition of super compression, there's not much to hold onto here. Musicologists and the Incredibly Strange crowd may disagree.

* Legend - From the Fjords (USA) 1979 Empire. Connecticut based group whose sole album is truly a "legend" amongst early heavy rock collectors. You'll find scant evidence of music like this on the open market, especially from this era. What is today known as epic heavy metal, Legend were pioneers of a style that didn't find its audience until 20 years later. If you're a fan of early Manilla Road ("Invasion", "Crystal Logic" or the archival "Mark of the Beast"), then by all means seek this one out. Long, involved, semi-complex tracks with fantasy imagery is what you'll find here. And very heavy for 1979. Rockadrome (formerly Monster) have announced their intention to reissue on CD - though it's been a few years now. Originals are a small fortune in the 4 digit range.

Leitkegel - s/t (England) 1998 Acme Prescription Drug. Certainly the noisiest and least focused of the 99-only released Drug Series albums. Neu! seems to be one of the primary influences, as would be the 1980s industrial scene. An interesting record, and quite good, but probably my least favorite of the series.

** Lethe - s/t (Netherlands) 1981 M.M.P. Lethe is the second incarnation of the group Mirror, whose album "Daybreak" is another classic obscure progressive rock album. Starts off rather inconspicuously with a classically oriented oboe, acoustic guitar and piano piece. But, just as Mirror before them, the band launches into a sophisticated, but highly melodic progressive rock form. While Side 1 is good, side 2 is an absolute clinic on how to combine complexity and yet still maintain a strong melodic backbone. This is the album that Camel never made after "Moonmadness". Astounding album really.

Claude Leveillee - Black Sun (Canada) 1978 Polydor. Organic is the best word I can use to describe this. Hard to believe this rather famous songwriter/composer really never ventured into the prog world before or after this (to my knowledge that is to say). At its best, has a nice space rock vibe like Sensations Fix. The low points are more electronic oriented with cheesy Moog (Opus 3?) without sequencing or strong melodic content. Some nice guitar work can be found here ala Heldon but not near as fierce (Michel Le Francoise is the main instrumentalist here). Pretty laid back overall.

Mingo Lewis - Flight Never Ending (USA) 1976 Columbia. A fine fusion album from well-known fusion percussionist. Lots of hot keys and guitar dictate this album. boots exist. Save your money, never waste on a boot. Word around the campfire says a legit issue may be coming soon - so hold tight!

* Light - The Story of Moses (Netherlands) 1972 Barclay. Originally released in France as a single sleeve. Shortly thereafter it was licensed to Brain / Metronome in Germany and issued as a gatefold. Printed on the label itself (my copy is on Barclay), and in the liner notes which contains the band's history, the group is actually known as Light Formation. Musically this is a grand scale attempt at interpreting the Biblical story of Moses. The vocal / narration segments recall the similarly minded Salamander of "Ten Commandments" fame. Fortunately most of the album is instrumental, with most of the musical sections handed over to the organist who does a splendid job of melodic soloing. Concerning the instrumental sections, same era Earth & Fire comes to mind. Plenty of flute, guitar, bells, etc... to augment the keyboards. A fine album, and the gatefold Brain cover would make for a wonderful Japanese mini-LP.

Lightdreams - Islands in Space (Canada) 1981 private. Interesting space rock album from Victoria, BC. Pretty tripped stuff with backwards leads and other effects. Similar to the Machines "Have Landed" album. The album is available on their website as a download for a fee. I'll leave here, though, until a pressed CD is released.

Bjorn J:Son Lindh - Från Storstad Till Grodspad (Sweden) 1971 RELP.
Bjorn J:Son Lindh - Ramadan (Sweden) 1971 Metronome.
Bjorn J:Son Lindh - Sissel (Sweden) 1973 Metronome.
Bjorn J:Son Lindh - Raggie (Sweden 1976 Metronome. Jazz flute / prog fusion crossover artist, similar to Jeremy Steig and Chris Hinze. This list represents his key 1970s albums still not on CD. Both "Cous Cous" and "Boogie Woogie" have been reissued prior, but are hard to find.

Lindwurm - Im Windschatten (Germany) 1981 private. High energy fusion album, with active percussion and some nice guitar. A light and breezy tropical flair can be found in the melodies and rhythms throughout. This one would be a big hit with the "rare groove" crowd, if a reissue ever surfaced. The album is pretty one-dimensional, with all the tracks possessing the same qualities. Even the synthesizer they use has only one sound. Like a monophonic Moog with one switch and knob. File next to the French group Spheroe and the To Be album on Brain. Apparently they have another album from 1976 that is scheduled for reissue by Garden of Delights.

Steve Linnegar's Snakeshed - Classic Epics (South Africa) 1982 AD Records. Sounds like a late 70s UK rock album, with a few progressive moves, especially on the 13 minute extended piece. Could see fans of England (on Arista) enjoying this one.

Living Force - s/t (New Zealand) 1977 Atlantic. Primarily influenced by Santana, right down to the Sri Chinmoy references. But some of the song style tracks are 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.

Lodestar - s/t (USA) 1979 private. Pressed by Rite Records of Cincinnati. Lodestar, of Springfield OH, were typical of the era and location. Bad ass hard rock is the order of the day, with the usual loud guitar and AOR melodic anthem mentality that was prominently played on the region's FM stations. I'm pretty sure I heard cowbell. Music to play at the local blue collar auto shop. All 5 guys on the cover look like they should be wearing Gulf Blue uniforms, oval name patches, and holding a wrench. And after recording this album, they probably did. A perfect candidate for Rockadrome Records.

Lollipop Shoppe - Just Colour (USA) 1968 Uni. Similar to psych era Rolling Stones, including Jaggerisms. Mainly fuzz punk or psych punk. Not bad.

Yves et Alain Lorentz - Espaces 2 (France) 1978 private.

Lost Nation - Paradise Lost (USA) 1970 Rare Earth.

Lougarou - s/t (Canada) 1976 London.
--Garolou - s/t (Canada) 1978 London. Quebec prog folk like L’Engouvelent or Connivence. Would expect ProgQuebec to eventually get to this and the Garolou (band changed name).

Lubat / Louiss / Engel Group - Live at Montreux (France) 1972 Les Disques Pierre Cardin. Jazz and rock veterans join up for an underground freak session at Montreux, that was all the rage in 1972. Shame that the jazz purists put this kind of radical invention into an early grave, but from about 1969-1974 or so, Pandora's Box was opened for all to see, warts and all. LLE can be classified along with bands such as Association P.C., Wolfgang Dauner's Et Cetera, Fourth Way and Exmagma - highly inventive fusion, but not flashy or chops heavy. Not all of it works, but they're going for broke, and sometimes it's fun to hear creativeness being made up as they go along. And who knew that Pierre Cardin was so hip? Sure beats his line of lime green raincoats...

M.O.T.U.S. - Machine of the Universal Space (France) 1972 Connection. An album that is heavily influenced by the early 70s UK rock / progressive scene, similar to great extent to other like-minded French acts such as Iris, Total Issue and Alice.

Ma Banlieue Flasque - s/t (France) 1979 Celluloid.

** Maajun - Vivre La Mort Du Vieux Monde (France) 1971 Vogue. Outstanding early French underground masterpiece. Review here. Later incarnation is known as Mahjun.

MacArthur - s/t (aka The Black Forest) (USA) 1973 private.
MacArthur - II (USA) 1982 private. revisiting both soon.

Machine - s/t (Netherlands) 1970 Dwarf. Boots exist. See my review here: : Machine

Machines - Have Landed (Canada) 1981 North Shore. Sci-fi progressive rock concept album that reminds me somewhat of the Robert Connolly album.

xx Duncan Mackay - Chimera (South Africa) 1973 Vertigo. **reissued by Fresh Music July, 2009**

Mackenzie Theory - Bon Voyage (Australia) 1974 Mushroom. "Out of the Blue" was reissued many years ago by the original label. Excellent fusion band, this one is a bit more jammy than the debut. Four long tracks. Aztec has announced plans to reissue this along with a reprint of "Out of the Blue" in 2009!

* Mad Curry - s/t (Belgium) 1971 Pirate. A superb album with female vocals that is distinctly European and of that period. Earth and Fire, Sandrose, Julian's Treatment, Fusion Orchestra and Circus 2000 are all good reference points. Fellow Belgians Shampoo as well. Amazing multi fold-out cover is screaming for a Japanese mini-LP reissue.

* Michel Madore - Le Komuso a Cordes (Canada) 1976 Barclay.
Michel Madore - La Chambre Nuptial (Canada) 1979 Egg. The debut is a rather intense affair, with an instrumental wall of sound keyboard approach (and Madore has quite an impressive layout of analog keys), strumming acoustic guitars and an active drummer. Sometimes an accompaning instrument will solo, such as a violin. Strong release that recalls at once Klaus Schulze's more rock oriented works such as "Moondawn", along with Mike Oldfield and early Duncan Mackay ("Chimera"). One that hopefully ProgQuebec will release in the future. I'm not as keen on the second album as it's a mite slow going with a pile of cheesy polyphonic keys to sit through. All the energy of the debut is lost here.

Magdalena - Lanean Sartzen (Spain-Basque) 1981 Iz. (8/17/08 note: There's a current reissue out that appears to be a bootleg, though I've seen comments to the contrary. I still need more evidence to consider this album reissued legit)

Michel Magne - La Terre. 1978 Egg.
Michel Magne - L'Eau. 1980 King. Magne had a tone of albums, but these two are the most known for progressive underground fans. I've had "La Terre" since the 1980s. A nice, but simple, electronic album with real drums. I haven't heard "L'Eau".

Pepe Maina - Scerizza (Italy) 1980 Imbroglio. Thanks to a friend of this site, I've received clarification of what is available. All of the Pepe Maina albums (I list only "Scerizza") are available direct from the artist as a CD-R. So we'll list here until properly reissued as a pressed CD. His first album "Canto dell'arpa e del Flauto" was reissued in Japan many years ago, which is the version I own.

Malachi - s/t (England-Belgium-Italy) 1972 ???. Combines the feel-good groovy instrumental organ rock of Eden Rose with the more measured introspective UK scene like Cressida or Still Life. Sounds a bit dated for 1972, more like 1969 – probably due to the “carnival” sound of the organ, which is the dominant instrument. boots exist.

Malón (Juan Carlos Caceres) - "El Camino" "Dale Negro" (Argentina) 1972 Philips (French press) / London-Fontana (US press). Title is presented just as on the cover. Essentially at its core, Malon is a Latin pop album in the grand Tropicalia tradition as would be more commonly found in Brazil during this period. Like Os Mutantes, Malon will on occasion conjure up the freaky undergound with flipped guitar, echoed flute, droning organ and frenzied vocals. Elements of Los Jaivas, Bwana, Modulo 1000 and Santana all pop up here and there, for no other reason than to disturb your Corona advertised beach bliss. For this, we are grateful.

%Maloo - All About the Things (Germany) 1977 Lava. All instrumental light jazzy rock. Rhythms are pure jazz while the guitarist noodles away with a slight amplified tone. At times, I was strangely reminded of Harmonia's "Deluxe", though Maloo are entirely different genre wise. It's just the way the guitarist meanders about, similar to how Rother would do. Not a great album by any means, but one worth a listen or two if you appreciate jazz guitar with a rock edge.

Manar - s/t (Iceland) 1971 SG Records. Song oriented organ/guitar based rock, typical of the early 70s Scandinavian style. Sometimes recalls bands such as Junipher Greene and Thors Hammer, though Manar are a bit duller than that. Nice flute work. Decent period piece and ranks ahead of other similar Icelandic bands such as Trubrot and Odmenn. Boots exist.

Marakesh - s/t (Netherlands) 1976 Mirasound. revisiting soon.

* Alain Markusfeld - Le Monde en Etages (France) 1970 EMI.
* Alain Markusfeld - Le Son Tombe Du Ciel (France) 1971 EMI.
Alain Markusfeld - Le Desert Noir (France) 1976 Egg.
Alain Markusfeld - Platock (France) 1977 Egg. "Le Monde en Etages" is a great psych, proto prog type album. Has some of those unique French touches that penetrate most albums from there (vocal styles, weird changes, experimental bits). Not to mention some sublime Hendrix styled guitar. Excellent. "Le Son Tombee Du Ciel" continues in this vein, but even more exploratory and has to be considered an improvement on the first. After 5 years of silence, Markusfeld reinvented his career as primarily a fusion guitarist, but with far more melodicism than that might imply, which I consider a plus. His last couple of albums (not listed) were a bit more fuzak oriented.

Jean-Pierre Massiera & Bernard Torelli - Turn Radio On (France) 1976 Marcy Music. Well here he is again. Mr. Massiera, the king of arcane underground music. You never know what you'll get with a JP Massiera album, but rest assured it will contain music no one else was doing at the time. He seemed to be the original artist with a keen eye for the ironic. In fact, I think the entire post 1990 Japanese pop scene could be described as similar, whether one was actually clued in on the joke or not. Jean-Pierre Massiera is the original post modernist hipster! Here he joins Mr. Torelli (not sure what his role is, since I've never actually seen an original LP, and it may not tell anyway) in a completely nutty, primarily instrumental (with odd voices and narration) album, that is as much indebted to the late 60s grooving horns jetset scene as it is to Studio 54 era disco. I've had a CD-R of this for a few years (thx Czar), but for some reason didn't add to the wishlist. OK, it's here now...

Master Cylinder - Elsewhere (USA) 1980 Inner City. Not much is known about this Ft. Worth based jazz rock group (even though they're from my neck of the woods, their album wasn't exactly a staple of local jazz or rock radio). On the usually soulless Inner City label, Master Cylinder was anything but that. Their album has a strong melodic sense, and it seems the group must've been informed by the Canterbury groups like early Soft Machine or National Health, as well as the DC based Happy the Man. While ostensibly a jazz album, it's these rock elements that bring Master Cylinder to the next level. A very good album that time has forgot.

** McLuhan - Anomaly (USA) 1971 Brunswick (also released on German Bellaphon). A very British sounding, quirky progressive horn rock album by this unknown US group. Fuzz guitar, organ, menacing bass, wailing sax, some narration with twisted lyrics, flute, horn charts ala early Chicago. The soft vocal style and composition structure calls to mind Uriah Heep's "Salisbury" side long piece. Brainchild and Heaven are other good references, without the pop aspirations. Only missteps are a short ragtime bit and a funk soul sequence that is off track. One of the band members has contacted me and is looking to hook up with other former members for a possible reissue. So if you were in McLuhan, let me know!

* Lloyd McNeill Quartet - Asha (USA) 1969 Asha Record Company.
Lloyd McNeill Quartet - Asha 2: Tanner Suite (USA) 1970 Asha Record Company.
** Lloyd McNeill Quartet - Asha 3: Washington Suite (USA) 1970 Asha Record Company. "Asha" is a super jazz flute album, that is very spiritual and psychedelic. I can feel the 1969 Howard University vibe coming through. "Washington Suite", McNeill's third, continues in this path. His albums have a subdued intensity, an understated anger that never quite climax, and is mitigated by frequent displays of beautiful melodicism. I suspect that the McNeill albums will be big growers for me over time. "Tanner Suite" is a bit more minimalist, since it's just McNeill on flute and Marshall Hawkins on bass. No mistaking the passionate McNeill sound though. Deep. I should also mention that McNeill has 3 fine albums from 1976 to 1980 that are not on CD as well: Treasures (1976), Tori (1978) and Elegia (1980).

% Rodolfo Mederos - Todo Hoy (Argentina) 1978 Auris. Apparently Mederos is a marquee name in Argentina and has won Latin Grammy awards for Tango albums. This 1970s work combines jazz, rock and Argentine music quite effectively. It's quite complex, and will appeal to most fans of progressive rock, given the edgy rock instrumentation (guitar, bass, drums, piano, synthesizers). Mederos himself plays a bandoneón, which on the surface looks to be part of the accordion family but is actually closer to a concertina. Still, the sound is somewhat similar and gives you an idea of what to expect. I wouldn't be surprised to learn this was on CD, but I can find no evidence of it. Mederos has dozens more albums than "Todo Hoy", but this is the only one I'm familiar with.

Mediterranea - Ecce Rock (Italy) 1981 Amiamoci.

Mediterráneo - Estrechas Calles De Santa Cruz (Spain) 1978 Aphrodita. It's been years since I had heard this album. I had the LP in the early 90s, but didn't enjoy it much then, and promptly sold it (and it's always been a rare piece). Then totally forgot about it until recently. Which is why it's just now getting into the CD reissue wish list. I thought it may have been reissued by now, but it doesn't appear to have been. Musically, it's a bit of a disappointment if you're looking for Spanish regional influences. In fact, some of this reminds me of the slow moving German symphonic music of the day (Shaa Khan, Albatros, Indigo, etc...). There's also an impossibly long drum solo that ruins the flow. There are some nice guitar leads in the Camel vein, though, that makes it worth a listen or two. Starting with their second album "Tabarca", the band moved into a more specific pop direction, and released 5 more albums. The group appears to still be together.

The Medium - s/t (Canada) 1969 Gamma. Pretty adventurous album for the time and date. Band is from Montreal, though their sound is more similar to the Toronto area. Nice fuzz and 1960s era non-Hammond organ. Mellodramatic vocals can get to be a bit much. Last track has similarities to Soft Machine "II". Closest band I could compare them to is the US band Listening on Vanguard.

xx Melodiya Jazz Ensemble – Labyrinth (Russia) 1974 Melodia. Sort of the house band for the Soviet state label Melodia. For most of the album, it’s a pretty groovin’ jazz album, with some funky and rockier bits. But the opening track is an eye opener. I haven’t heard this much solo fuzz bass since the debut from SBB (which was also from 1974). I’m wondering if they felt emboldened to display such subversive sounds after hearing it come from one of the satellite states? Like many Russian albums, the Cyrillic can be translated a number of ways and you’ll see this album listed as the Melodia Ensemble, Melodiya Ensemble, and many other combinations. As far as I know, this one didn’t get a reissue like most of the 1980s Melodia albums did (Gorizont, In Spe, Gunesh Ensemble, Kaseke, etc..). Nice to see the Soviets were able to groove in the 70s like everyone else - at least a little bit anyway. **reissued by Melodia (Russia) as a beginning part of the compilation: George Garanian - "All that Jazz". Thanks Alex for the info!**

Melody - Come Fly With Me (France) 1976 Pole.
Melody - Yesterlife (France) 1979 Vogue. revisiting both soon.

Melofin - Ivan Tale (USA) 1984 Sky Spy Studio. Very slow moving folk psychedelia that sounds about 14 years past its time. Vocal heavy and mostly acoustic, with occasional electric leads. From West Virginia, and makes one wonder if perhaps the psych movement had just found its way into the mountains. Has a slight UK feel to it, somewhere between old time Mountain Music, Celtic jigs and CSN&Y singalongs. As anachronistic as they come.

* Memoriance - Et Apres (France) 1976 Europa.
Memoriance - L'Ecume Des Jours (France) 1979 Philips.

Mendoza - s/t (Sweden) 1972 CBS. Despite sporting a cover of a very mean looking mustachioed dude with a dangling cigarette and sunglasses - and who would presumeably be the band's namesake - Mendoza are in reality a 6 piece band made up of names like Arne Gustafsson, Lennart Palmefors, and Björn Larsson. The evidence is before the court, and methinks these Swedish lads were cashing in on the Santana concept. Ya think? I guess if they went by LARSSON or OLSON it wouldn't have the same impact now would it? No matter, because if this was the second coming of "Abraxas", I could use any rationalization I felt like to justify my praise. But, alas, it's not. Though the opening instrumental is a smoker that held quite a bit of promise. For the most part, Mendoza sound like a typical American band, playing typical early 1970s American roots rock. Naturally enough, the guitar work is the highlight, not surprising given the genre. For latin rock from Sweden, I would suggest making a beeline for Kvartetten Som Sprängde.

The Mesmerizing Eye - Psychedelia: A Musical Light Show (USA) 1967 Smash. Short album made up of 23 minutes of psychedelic incidental music. As if the entire album were made up of the "weird" parts from Friendsound, Fifty Foot Hose, Silver Apples, etc... Pretty much an exploitation album sold at the cash register of K-Mart's back in the 1960s. Good album for the middle-class, bored white couple set, about to embark on their first neighborhood swinger party.

Message (Germany)
---Synapse. 1976 Nova.
---Using the Head. 1977 Brain.
---Astral Journeys. 1978 Brain.
---Miles of Smiles. 1980 Spiegelei.
Lesser albums by Irish German combo that released 3 good to great albums from 1972-1975 (and all on CD).

Metabolist - Hansten Klork (England) 1982 Dromm.

Metamorfosis - Papallones i Elefants (Spain) 1982 AVE. Similar to Gotic, but a slicker, lighter sound. Almost smooth jazz. Still has the nice melodies one would expect. Stunning cover. boots exist.

Metropolis - s/t (Germany) 1974 Pan. boots exist.

Patrice Meyer - Racines Croisees (France) 1983 Music'Al.
Patrice Meyer - Dromadaire Viennois (France) 1986 FMR. Two solid instrumental albums from guitarist Patrice Meyer, who recruited some famous Canterbury names like Pip Pyle, Hugh Hopper and Didier Malherbe (from Gong) to participate on the latter solo effort. "Dromadaire Viennois" has some Zeuhl bass and is the more interesting of the two albums. When Meyer plugs in, he can be quite kinetic. Both albums are rooted in jazz, and possess a tranquil side to offset the more energetic pieces. Not essential, but very good for the era, especially the latter album.

* Micah - I'm Only One Man (USA) 1971 Sterling Award. Head and shoulders above most of these hard rock / psych US private pressings from 1971. Long runs of guitar and organ solos, with a great vibe throughout. I love the way the Hammond is played in a choppy manner, as well as the wah wah guitar solos. Just nonstop kickass music, the way you want all of these type of albums to sound, but rarely do. I haven't even seen a bootleg of this album, it's really a rare one. Supposedly from New York, but who knows really? Anyone in the band still alive and care to contact me? I want to know more! Only bummer is that Side 2 is only 11 minutes long.

Midnight Sun - Walking Circles (Denmark) 1972 Polydor.
Midnight Sun - Midnight Dream (Denmark) 1973 Polydor. Both of these albums, their 2nd and 3rd releases, are progressive rural rock that remind me of the second Culpepper's Orchard album. Both feature a couple of nice jazzy sequences, but for the most part they are quite a departure from their Zeppelin-esque debut. The first album was reissued by Long Hair along with the predecessor group, Rainbow Band, a few years ago.

Midsommar - Belsebub Är Lös… (Sweden) 1971 Gazell.
Midsommar - s/t (Sweden) 1972 Moondisc. I've only heard the 1971 album. Interesting bluesy rock, with psych interludes. Swedish vocals always work well in this context, and Belsebub Är Lös… is no exception. Excellent grungy guitar work, organ, and nice sax /flute as well. I prefer November to this, but the musical approach is similar. Also one can hear some of the same era Krautrock bands that had a blues focus.

Might of Coincidence - Announcing the Birth Of (Switzerland) 1971 Entropia. MoC play a typical acid folk prog in the trippy German tradition similar to Emtidi’s “Saat” or especially Amon Duul’s “Paradieswarts Duul”. Tranced female/male vocals over tablas, wood flute and electric/acoustic guitar. Most of the tracks sound similar, except the last one which is considerably more cosmic and experimental. A whole album of that I think would’ve resulted in a better experience. Still, a good record worth checking out.

Miklagard - s/t (Sweden) 1979 private. Pretty much bread and butter keyboard trio prog rock, with nice leads (some fat analog, some thin cheesy), and the always pleasant sound of Swedish vocals. Really surprised this has yet to be reissued. Could see Transsubstans doing it or even Mellotronen.

* Mirror - Daybreak (Netherlands) 1976 private. One of the true European rarities that I was fortunate to hear as early as 1992 or so, and then eventually traded my way into an LP copy a few years later. Sometimes it's hard to be objective about big ticket items such as this. On one hand there's a tendency to say it's great, just because it's rare as hens teeth (though the internet has mitigated this effect somewhat). Then, on the other hand, there's the temptation to state all of these rarities are just amateurish wannabees, and the only reason it's a rare private release is because they weren't good enough to sign to a major. Of course, as with most things, the truth is found on a case by case basis, and the generalities rarely apply. With Mirror, knowing full well my sympathies weigh heavily in favor of a positive outcome, and trying to be as objective as possible, I still feel it's a strong album based on merits alone. It certainly isn't a flashy release, and the compositions aren't going to win any Conservatory awards. But what they lack in academic pedigree, they make up for in naive sincerity. Mirror bring that intangible known as atmosphere, that certain something that special recordings possess. Make no mistake, "Daybreak" is seriously flawed, but that's part of its charm. Even in my most cynical musical moments, I find albums like this refreshing. A tier 1 album. Band evolved into Lethe, and even managed to improve on a similar methodology.

Missus Beastly - Dr. Aftershave and the Mixed Pickles (Germany) 1976 April.
Missus Beastly - Spaceguerilla (Germany) 1978 Schneeball.

Missus Beastly - Volksmusik (Germany) 1972 Free Electric Bird.
Missus Beastly / Weramean - Super Rock Made in Germany (aka Im Garten des Schweigens) (Germany) 1973 Free Electric Bird. These two albums are from the "unauthorized" Missus Beastly. Both are rough live recordings, and the music is similar to the bluesy psych debut and have little to do with the jazz fusion group that produced the 1974 album on Nova, or the two albums I have in the entry above. Not sure if Weramean is a pseudonym for Side 1 of the 1973 album or a separate group. It's a confusing situation to begin with, made only worse with the dual group designation. Since these were in reality "bootlegs" to begin with, it's hard to imagine legit reissues ever being reissued. Both albums, while pretty good, pale in comparison to the legal Missus Beastly.

* Moira - Crazy Countdown (Germany) 1977 Schneeball.
** Moira - s/t (aka Reise Nach Ixtlan) (Germany) 1984 private. Review of both here: Moira These would be great for a label like Garden of Delights or even Schneeball, which still exists, if they'd get around to reissuing some of their catalog on CD.

Montoro – Esencia (Spain) 1991 private. An updated version of Triana is what you're going to find here. Could easily have been the successor to “Sombra y Luz”. Flamenco rock or Rock Andalusia as it’s called in some circles. Guitar work is good - both acoustic and electric. The quality melodic nature of this album is also worth noting. Apparently the band reformed recently – it would be nice to hear a current Spanish band play in this much missed style.

Moonlyte - Better Late Than Never (USA) 1974 Astro. Philadelphia based Latino group, who play a mixture of funk, psych and soul pop. Some of this is great, with funky wah wah guitar, Santana-ish guitar leads and well executed horn charts. But there's a lot of nightclub crooning to endure as well. No one will confuse Moonlyte with Chango or Dakila unfortunately. There's enough here to warrant a listen or two. File next to the Broth album.

Moose Loose - Elgen er Los (Elgen Er Løs) (Norway) 1974 private.
Moose Loose - Transition (Norway) 1976 private. Debut "Elgen Er Løs" is a powerful fusion album, that mixes in funky clavinet lines with some ferocious electric guitar leads, playing in an almost psychedelic style. Latter half of the album drifts towards more standard jazz / jazz-rock before closing with an acoustic guitar, piano piece. Followup album, "Transition", is a good fusion work filled with the new addition of violin combined with the guitar leads of the prior album (more subdued here though). Reminds quite a bit of same era Jean-Luc Ponty mixed with Terje Rypdal's more aggressive works.

* Morgen - s/t (USA) 1969 Probe. One of the more known items on this list. Morgen has been booted a few times, but never been treated to a masters tape reissue. Morgen filled his album to the brim with wild fuzz soloing everywhere - one of the most you'll ever hear on a major label release.

* Mosaik - No.1 (Germany) 1977 private. Mosaik are yet one more fusion group from Germany. There were so many great bands from that era in Germany, and we’re just now learning about many of them. Kraan and Embryo were the knowns. If you really were into the scene, you may have learned about Missus Beastly, Moira and Munju, possibly even Aera. Through CD reissues, we then learn about bands like Morpheus, Frob and Skyline. And still we find out the surface is just being scratched. Ceddo, Nanu Urwerk, Sun, Syncrises, Surgery and many more keep bubbling up. For my ears, Mosaik is in the top tier of these groups. The guitar work is superb (like Frob) and there’s some really nice melodic sax playing throughout. They’re clearly informed by bands like Soft Machine and Passport, but add their own ingredients. Another group that hopefully Garden of Delights or Long Hair gets to in the near future.

Mother Yod - s/t (England) 1997 Prescription Drug. The first album from the one time experiment/series known as the Prescription Drug label. This one at least gives hints to its 1997 date, with a decidedly post-rock sound mixed with the overt 70's Krautrock underground aesthetic that all of them possess. Only duffer track is a short vocal folk piece (which sounds too much like the duffer vocal folk pieces on REAL Krautrock albums!) Heavy use of analog instruments per recipe, with emphasis on processed keys and fuzz bass. Electronic percussion sounds more modern, though I think they're going for the Klaus Schulze 1973 variety of that sound. Neat use of choral voice (not mellotron). Not the high standard of Ohr Musik and Quad, but pretty close. Good album.

Motiffe - s/t (England) 1972 Derby. Recently reissued on LP by Shadoks. I now own the reissue LP and it's a huge improvement on the bootleg CD. But it's clearly not from master tapes. One member of the band was in touch with me for awhile and had promised me a copy of the album (on CD-R) from his own archive. Not sure how that sounds, as it never arrived. The sad thing is, the primarily instrumental music here is brilliant progressive rock. But the pressed LP version sounds very muffled. Not sure if a good cleanup job would do the trick, or if it's a lost cause. Whatever you do, don't buy the bootleg CD-R on Ammonite that came out in the late 1990s. It was taken from a vinyl copy that sounds like it was dumped into the washing machine.

Michel Moulinie - Chrysalide (France) 1977 Crypto. Musea had this on their "coming soon" as far back as the late 1990s. Never did come out.

Munju - High Speed Kindergarten (Germany) 1976 April.
Munju - Moon You (Germany) 1977 Schneeball.
Munju - Brot + Spiele (Germany) 1979 Schneeball.
Munju - Le Perfectionniste (Germany) 1982 Exil. Munju's albums can be downloaded from their website. Apparently the tapes are lost. Munju . Concerning "High Speed Kindergarten", the bass work and acoustic in particular stands out. Some nice sax/flute melody work as well. I like their use of rhythm guitar too. (more details on the other releases as I revisit them).

Mutha Goose - I (USA) 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. Better than most US private prog albums.

Mythos - Quasar (Germany) 1980 Sky.
Mythos - Grand Prix (Germany) 1981 Sky. Mythos' first 4 albums were reissued by Spalax over 15 years ago (unfortunately a pretty much barebones job on all). But these latter two have never seen the light of day in the digital age. Mythos's first two releases are classic in the Krautrock/electronic rock genre, but the next two albums were pretty mundane straight ahead hard rockers. Which is why I didn't think these latter efforts would amount to much (and, truth be told, "Grand Prix" didn't). "Quasar" is definitely a creative effort, with quirky electronics and fast paced mechanical (and some real) drums. Stefan Kaske still sings in his ridiculous out of tune low voice, but is sporadic and fortunately buried in the mix. Some really great synthesizer work here, plus it's nice to see Kaske not abandon the flute, and he puts the instrument through many effects to achieve a cool sound. Inventive effort, unlike any other really. Like a New Wave / Berlin School / Krautrock album. Not bad at all. "Grand Prix" picks up where "Quasar" left off and dives completely into the "man machine" early 80s synth pop New Wave racket. 'Robot Agent' is downright hysterical, with Kaske's poor attempt at a British accent. What saves the album from a total disaster, is that Kaske flat out refuses to put away the flute, and its presence here is completely at odds with the rest of the material. Fortunately, that is.

Nadavati - Le Vent de L'Esprit Souffle Il Vent (France) 1978 IPG. Interesting jazz rock album, that opens incongruously with a Chicago styled horn rocker. There's a definite Mahavishnu streak that prevails, especially in the violin and guitar parts. Some nice flute jazz too. They seem to favor unison runs to overlong solos, and that scores points in my book. Nadavati do not offer anything that hadn't already been done countless times prior, but for what they do, it's quite competent. A good one that I'm sure most fusion fans would love to see on CD.

Nanu Urwerk - Irgendwo... Nicht Weit von Hier (Germany) 1978 Tonstudio Biber. Highly creative fusion effort from unknown German band. Flute, trombone and electric piano are the primary instruments with a few nice guitar licks thrown in for good measure. There's also some interesting voices in German. It's hard to pin the tail on the donkey with this one, so easy reference calling is a tough challenge. Certainly an encyclopedic knowledge of the German fusion scene from 1976-1984 helps, and you may want to yell out "Mosaik" or "Surgery" to a puzzled audience. Zappa and Canterbury get cameos as well. Nevertheless, it's an album that needs repeated listenings to fully appreciate, the perfect justification for a much needed reissue.

Napalis - s/t (Netherlands) 1976 Negram. Another interesting band on the Dutch Negram label (Finch, Crypto). Napalis are a pretty standard European fusion band with all the usual trappings (sax, electric piano, guitar). However, the sell point here is the ferocious pace and ripping guitar solos, a purposely more edgy sound than is typically heard from the era. One of the better albums in the mid 1970s fusion genre.

Thomas Natschinski + Gruppe - Wir Uber Uns (Germany) 1972 Amiga. Whereas Hungary, Poland and Czechoslovakia had already-established rock scenes by the early 70s, East Germany inexplicably lagged behind (especially when one considers what was going on in West Germany at the time). Natschinski's band is one of the rare examples of East German progressive rock pre-1975. At its core, "Wir Uber Uns" is a pop rock album with German vocals. However there's more to it than that, and the interest here for readers of the CD Reissue Wish List is the abundance of high quality organ work interspersed throughout. Not a great album, but for the time and place, certainly an historical achievement. Thomas Natschinski + Gruppe also released one album from 1970 that I understand to be even more pop influenced than "Wir Uber Uns".

* Nattura - Magic Key (Iceland) 1972 private. Another great album in the Sandrose, Mad Curry, Earth & Fire tradition, with female vocals, lush keyboards and soaring leads. There are boots out there.

Nautilus - 20000 Miles Under the Sea (Switzerland) 1978 Turicaphon.
Nautilus - Space Storm (Switzerland) 1980 Musk. Both Nautilus albums were released in the heydey of the Swiss private press progressive rock movement that continued through the early 80s (see Agamemnon, Plamp, Eloiteron, Schakta and many others here in this list). "20000 Miles Under the Sea" is a bit more "proto prog" than most and carries over some harder edges (organ, guitar) from the days when Uriah Heep and Deep Purple ruled the airwaves. It's been 20 years since I last heard "Space Storm", but I do have a copy here to revisit with.

Chris Neal - Winds of Isis (Australia) 1974 Infinity. Instrumental, mellotron heavy, symphonic rock work. At its best, the music recalls the early albums by Duncan Mackay and Mike Oldfield. The music is relatively simplistic, but highly melodic. I was also reminded some of the French group Catharsis and even Roland Bocquet's "Paradia". This is certain to appeal to fans of lush symphonic rock and comes recommended. Would be a natural reissue for Aztec Records.

Nebulosa - s/t (Sweden) 1977. Revisiting soon.

Nemo - s/t (France) 1973 Agave.
Nemo - Doin' Nuthin' (France) 1974 Agave. A mix of funk, rock, jazz fusion. First album has more vocals and recalls to mind Santana in places (the best parts actually). "Doin' Nuthin" is mainly instrumental. Good stuff overall and features Francois Breant, who later had some success as a solo artist. Both albums are similar in their eclectic style.

Neuron - For What We Are (USA) 1980 Erect. Chicago based AOR / prog blend similar to Ethos and Hot Flash. A sound that is quite common from the American Midwest.

Niagara - S.U.B. (Germany) 1972 United Artists. Founded by drummer and percussionist Klaus Weiss (see also Sunbirds), Niagara released three albums, two of which are entirely percussive, and thus out of the scope of this list. The exception is the middle album "S.U.B.", a jamming rock fusion session with an all star cast including Daniel Fichelscher (Popol Vuh), Kristian Schultze (Passport, and leader of the "Recreation" album), and Udo Lindenberg amongst a handful of others. The presence of trumpet and the bass heavy percussive driven sound reminds me of early 70's Miles Davis. Good album that I could see Garden of Delights eventually reissuing. boots exist.

Nimbus - Obus (Finland) 1974 Satsunga. More of a hard rock album with a lot of organ out up front. Dig the Finnish vocals, and there's some tie in musically with the first albums by Trettioariga Kriget or Host.

Nishin - Dai Dai (Japan) 1987 Panama. Similar to "Discipline" era King Crimson.

Noa - s/t (France) 1980 private. Like Gutura above, Noa features a histrionic female vocalist, piping the French language and enunciating syllables like another instrument. The music of Noa is of the jazzy Zeuhl variety, with plenty of sax (some shrieking), soaring flute and the expected rhythms of the genre. A pretty experimental record that could have only come out in France during this era (see Gutura for more info on what I mean).

Noah - Brain Suck (USA) 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 Germany's World in Sound.

Kristen Nogues - Marc'h Gouez (France) 1976 Nevenoe. Haunting celtic folk music from Britanny. Soft female vocals, violin, harp, acoustic guitar and wood flutes dominate. Definitely one for lost souls looking for help. Essential listening for fans of Emmanuelle Parrenin.

Nova Express - Space Khmer (Germany) 1987 Syndicate.

Novaks Kapelle - Naked (Austria) 1978 Ariola. This Vienna based group has to be considered pioneers of the post-punk movement - almost before there was a punk movement itself... now that's forward thinking! Fairly complex, but anguished basic raw rock album from a band that would've probably been a polit-rock group in early 70s Osterreich, but were in a completely different zone by 1978. One of the most disturbing covers ever of fully naked grandmothers enjoying a glass of wine together. On a gatefold no less. It's a sight that remains with you... and not in a good way. Black metal bands take note: The whole satan peeing on the cross with virgins drinking goat blood is a total yawner compared to this thing.

Nuance - Il est une Legende (France) 1982 FLVM. They also have 3 later albums that are of lesser interest.

Nuit Caline A La Villa Mon Reve - Juillet 1977 (Belgium) 1977 International Bestseller Company / IBC. Large collective from the south of Belgium that sounds to me like many of the albums coming out of Quebec during this time. Very much a communal affair, with many ideas and a general uplifting mood. Violin, female vocals and acoustic guitar dominate, with many other instruments providing some color. A nice one. For fans of Connivence and L'Engoulevent.

Nya Ljudbolaget - s/t (Sweden) 1981 MNW. Experimental ethnic tinged (primarily India) jazz with Swedish vocals. Features some Samla Mammas Manna members.

Oblique – s/t (Netherlands) 1985 private. One of many obscurities that I had received in my cassette tape trading days. I didn't even realize I had this until digging through the tape drawer recently. An interesting mix of Berlin School electronics, new age and instrumental rock with electric guitar and sax. Not too bad, though typical of the era.

* Ocarinah - Premiere Vision de L'Etrange (France) 1978 private. Imagine the first two Clearlight albums as strictly a keyboard trio, with a strong dash of Canterbury ala Egg. One of my favorites. Boots exist.

* October - s/t (USA) 1979 Charisma Sound Studios.
* October - After the Fall (USA) 1980 private. October are a Detroit, Michigan area based progressive band. Their sound is a unique combination of symphonic prog rock with a pronounced fusion flair, probably due to the abundance of electric violin. The vocals have that late 1970s "private press voice" that is found on many albums from America during this time. Strangely, the vocals remind me a bit of the guy from Babylon, though not quite as Gabriel-esque. "After the Fall" is more symphonic rock oriented, and a bit looser in structure. Long passages are reserved for jamming and other instrumental experiments. Both albums have stood the test of time well, and are certain Tier 1 CD reissue wishlisters. I've had the self-titled album on LP for well over 15 years. "After the Fall" remains as probably the single rarest US progressive rock album, with supposedly only 25 pressed, each with a hand painted watercolor cover. I can honestly say that in all the years I've been collecting, I've never seen one actually for sale. A good friend of mine paid dearly for one, and it's a site to behold. Neither have been reissued legitimately on CD to date, though bootlegs abound.

Octobre - Survivance (Canada) 1975 Trans-World. Actually all of the Octobre albums are not on CD except their 4th. "Survivance" is their 3rd. At the crossroads of progressive and pop music. Somewhat like a Quebecois Supertramp, lead by strong keyboard work, excellent lead guitars, fine vocals in French. The wordless female vocals recall Contraction and the overall style points to Morse Code's mid 70's work. The two instrumental tracks highlight this middle-tier work.

Octopus - Thaerie Wiighen (Norway) 1981 private. Extremely rare symphonic album, with an incredible cover and libretto booklet insert. The music is not unlike many of the Swiss private progressive albums found in this list. Also the Norwegian band Thule, who came along a few years later, would be a reference.

xx Octopus - The Boat of Thoughts (Germany) 1976 Sky. The band went on to record 3 later, pop oriented albums that are of little interest, and fall out of the scope of this list. **reissued by Sireena, August 2009**

Octopus 4 - Confluents (France) 1969 RCA. Psych exploitation album coming from France (and released in Canada). Not that far in sound from albums by Popera Cosmic and Jean Le Fennec. Probably closer to the former, though not as groundbreaking or experimental. Some wicked fuzz moments will make you sit up on occasion, but otherwise a pretty harmless 30 minute ride.

Odyssee - s/t (Germany) 1973 private. This one came out on LP sometime in the 90s. Not sure if it was a reissue or an archival recording. Album sounds unfinished, as if the singer left the studio before laying down the tracks. Pretty decent, but amateurish, jamming basement style. I don't think this is related to the "White Swan" album below.

Odyssee - White Swan (Germany) 1978 MPA. Way above average German symphonic progressive album. This one has a lot more meat on its bones than most of the somnambulant snoozers coming from there during this time. For one thing, the tempo is faster and they mix in some time changes, to help keep it interesting throughout. Full fledged band sound with a thick production. The thematic sections are well developed, and a melody or two can actually be committed to memory. There's a definite Genesis influence, but not as much as Neuschwanstein, Ivory and Sirius. There's even a little funky business in the bass lines. A good album. As far as I know, this is not related to the Odyssee above.

Ofege - Try and Love (Nigeria) 1973 EMI. Very interesting Nigerian psych album. The music sounds from an earlier era, around 1968, and more like a US band than UK (the influence you would expect). The songs themselves have a light and breezy song style, with a Vox Continental sounding organ, and very distinctive African English vocals. So at this point they sound like some sort of African Afterglow. But what makes this album so good is the delicious fuzz leads - cranked at maximum volume and played in a soulful manner. Well worth checking out.

* Ohr Musik - s/t (England) 1997 Prescription Drug. Some of the best retro Krautrock ever made. Second album "Friction Burns" is even better, and that's a CD only release (be sure to get!). It's doubtful the 99 copy only LP issues of the Prescription Drug series will ever see the light of day, as the master tapes were purposely destroyed (supposedly). But it's still possible to take from a clean LP and add bonus tracks, etc.. Will be interesting to see.

Oko – Raskorak (Croatia) 1976 Jugoton. Mix of hard rock, fusion and funk. The guitar work here is much better than average, and that's where the interest in this record has come from. In some ways it reminds me of the Izvir album listed above, though less jazz and more rock oriented.

Omega - The Timekeeper (USA) 1979 private. Amateurish hard rock, with some odd electronic soundscapes that are more sophomoric in execution than atmospheric. Overall, a pretty aimless record. But fans of US private presses will enjoy, as this one is pretty much extinct.

Omega Plus - How to Kiss the Sky (France) 1969 Pitch. Featuring Claude Engel on guitar (later with Magma, Dayde, Univeria Zekt and many others), this is generally considered France's first psychedelic record (see also Dickens, Octopus 4 and Popera Cosmic). Interesting to note that Engel himself, on his website at least, does not even reference this album. I don't know why not, as it's not a bad example of the Hendrix psych sound, and with the addition of flute, adds more than the usual copyist acid psych rock that many American band were doing during this time. Also includes one long free rock improvisation that's pretty interesting. A short record, that doesn't even break the 30 minute mark. A CD label would be wise to pair this with another psych obscurity - again, perhaps the Dickens album would make a good companion. Naturally a bootleg exists already, not surprising given Engel's disassociation.

Omnibus - s/t (USA) 1970 United Artists. Northeastern group (I've seen references to both Boston and New Jersey as the homebase) with a strong affinity for the Doors. Perhaps given the later date, Omnibus were more aggressive than Morrison and company, and the organ of choice is the Hammond. Plenty of psychedelic fuzz guitar as well. Vocalist does a nice job of emulating Jim Morrison's sonorous tone. File next to the first Dragonwyck album as a good example of post-Doors heavy rock. boots exist.

Oniris - L'Homme Voilier (France) 1979 Barclay. One of those albums that received a Japanese LP reissue in the early 1980s and has yet to see a CD reissue. Strong ties to Ange, Mona Lisa, Grime, Synopsis, Trefle etc… this is the dramatic French vocal symphonic rock we all know and love. The kind of album you could count on Musea to have reissued in the early 1990s. Not sure why they didn't.

Orange Power - s/t (Austria) 1977 CBS. Intriguing progressive rock album from Austria. Patterned after the early 1970s UK scene, primarily the Neon, Dawn, and Vertigo label styles, rather than the Big 3. Varied, as those British bands were, but pleasant throughout. Even the vocals in English aren't as badly accented as usual. Not an easy one to typecast. Would make for an interesting reissue. Orange Power has two more albums from the 1980s which I haven't heard.

Orchestra Njervudarov - Con le Orecchie di Eros (Italy) 1979 EMI. Another one of those crazy late 70's Italian acts, mixing in rock, jazz, humor, Zappa, and whatever else pops in their nutty heads. Not too far off from Roberto Colombo, Ultima Spiaggia and Gramigna. Definitely has that original RIO spirit ala the second Picchio dal Pozzo album.

Orchestra of the 8th Day - Music For the End (Poland) 1982 Flying Fish.

Orpheus - s/t (Japan) 1984 private. One of the rarest of the 1980s Japanese progressive albums, similar to Sagittarian in both the amateurish quality and scarcity of the product. Also an embryonic variation of what would be called prog metal only a few years later. Clearly Orpheus had all the Iron Maiden albums up to that point. Worth a listen anyway. I traded my LP in the 1990s and don't even have a copy for myself.

Jackie Orszaczky - Beramiada (Australia) 1975 Real. Hungarian born Orszaczky (RIP 2008), most known as the bass player for the Hungarian band Syrius as well as the Australian group Bakery, put together this fine progressive, sometimes funky, fusion album with the guitarist from Blackfeather.

The Oroonies - Of Hoof and Horn (England) 1990 Demi Monde. A fascinating experiment by the Ozric Tentacles guys. Pretty much a dark, mystical folk album with a space rock edge. Too bad they didn't do more of this. Despite the late date, it never did get a CD issue.

Os Mundi - Latin Mass (Germany) 1970 Metronome. boots exist. Second album "43 Minuten" is available from Repertoire. There's also an archival release on Garden of Delights.

Ose - Adonia (France) 1978 Egg. Electronic progressive album with Richard Pinhas guesting on guitar, though not as dark as Heldon. A fine album that has so far escaped reissue. A good one for Soleil Zeuhl or Captain Trip.

Osiris - In the Mist of Time (Japan) 1980 private. One man band fancies himself as a Richard Pinhas virtuoso (dark synthesizer and guitar journeys). Cheesy synths bog down a promising album, especially considering the mad bursts of fuzz guitar that come out of nowhere.

Other Music - Prime Numbers (USA) 1980.
Other Music - Incidents Out of Context (USA) 1983 Flying Fish.

P. P. Zahl - Alle Türen Offen (Germany) 1978 Antagon. Complex polit-rock similar to Oktober. Also, fellow German language compatriots Novalis seem to also have played an influence, primarily in the spacey texture of sound. Minotaurus also comes to mind.

Seppo Paroni Paakkunainen - Plastic Maailma (Finland) 1971 Scandia. Fairly typical all-over-the-map kitchen sink mentality dominates this obscure work. Eastern ragas, groovy hippy rock with cute female Finnish vocals, blues rock with tough male vocals (from Apollo lead singer), moody atmospheric jazz, soft religious revival music, heavy organ proto prog, Nosferatu-like guitar/flute rockers etc... Paakkunainen is the winds player and he provides some nice sax and flute leads. More focus would have lead to a strong album, as the production and playing are top notch. Would probably do well as a CD reissue.

Palass - Private Property (Belgium) 1981 Imavox. Belgium, like Switzerland, possessed a slew of small pressing progressive albums in the late 70s and early 80s. Nothing special here, other than it's a decent attempt at the Genesis inspired symphonic rock sound. File next to Flyte, Isopoda, Nessie, etc...

Pancake - No Illusions (Germany) 1979 Blubber Lips. "No Illusions" is a much better German symphonic prog album (compared to its two predecessors) with female vocals which veers towards the sound of bands like Rebekka and Werwolf. It's my favorite of the 3. Garden of Delights has already done their debut "Roxy Elephant" and followup "Out of the Ashes" so I suspect they'll ultimately finish their canon (and it is listed on their future release section).

Pandora - Measures of Time (Sweden) 1974 SMA. Same label as Lotus, but the similarities end there. A pretty weak, vocal heavy album.

* Het Pandorra Ensemble - III (Netherlands) 1978 Disaster Electronics. Taking Side 2 of King Crimson's "Starless and Bible Black" as a blueprint, Het Pandorra Ensemble went about releasing one of the stranger progressive rock album of the era. There's quite a bit of ambient atmospherics, augmented by louder rock sections with compressed fuzz tone Frippian guitar. But unlike the decidely atonal Crimson, Pandorra follow the European model of melodic, almost jazzy, progressive rock. This is a one of a kind album, with no regards to any kind of pre-conceived audience. See also Zog, their followup group, who also play an entirely unique music, yet still different from Pandorra Ensemble. These guys were on their own planet. Despite the title, "III" is their debut. Strange lads.

* Panko Musik - Weiles So Schon Perlt (Germany) Recorded 1971 / released on cassette in 1983. Out of nowhere comes this obscure Krautrock tape, that reminds me most of the Erna Schmidt archival release from Garden of Delights. Also the first album of Thirsty Moon, especially their 'Yellow Sunshine' opus. Guitar, sax, flute, fuzz bass, German narration, and echoed voices. It screams 1971 Germany. Would've probably slipped into the black hole of time, save a cassette release from the former drummer back in 1983. There was no audience for this in 1983! The recording quality is a bit rough - not sure if this is a later generation tape, or if it's just the source. This would be perfect for a GoD reissue, especially if the master tapes are still around and could be cleaned up.

Panos Dracos - 2000 B.C. or A.D. (Greece) 1984 Minos. Very much a product of its time, with thin sounding digital synths and drums. The long tracks and heady concept point clearly to the progressive rock tradition, similar to many of the Japanese artists of the era.

* Panta Rei - s/t (Sweden) 1973 Harvest. Panta Rei are a difficult group to describe. On the song front, they are relatively weak. It appears they're going for a US West Coast psych sound mixed with a dash of Wishbone Ash thrown in. But the instrumental sections, with emphasis on guitar soling, is absolutely extraordinary. And fortunately the last 70 percent or so of the album is primarily instrumental. Closest band I can think of when they're jamming is the Dutch group Cargo, who are one of my personal favorites. I'm sure it's the dual guitar setup that makes me think of this. Last track's ethnic approach gives off a whiff of Kebnekaise as well. I've been expecting Mellotronen to reissue this for years. Maybe one day they will. Multiple bootlegs exist.

Stefano Panteleoni - Alle Muse (Italy) 1987 LMC. Dark and brooding electronic album that recalls Arturo Stalteri's debut or maybe even Franco Leprino. Very obscure album.

* Pantha - s/t (aka Dowaydo Dowaydo) (Australia) 1975 Wizard. A mixture of that unique Austalasian take on symphonic rock (Sebastian Hardie, Dragon) combined with some early Santana grooves. Somewhat poppy in places, but highly infectious. It's an album I reach for more often than usual.

Pantin - Welcome to the Palace (France) 1977 EMI. Now here's a strange one. Two side long brooding electronic pieces with piano dominating are what Pantin are about. Very slow moving but does crescendo towards the end making the investment of time worth it. Not sure what the label executives at EMI were thinking here, as this one has no commercial potential. Far too experimental for that. And the cover of an electric guitar has to be one of the most misleading ever. Underground heads take note.

Pao Com Manteiga - s/t (Brazil) 1976 Continental. Band name translates to "Bread and Butter" in Portugese, so good luck in finding info on this obscure album. The most surprising aspect is the date, as it sounds more like a flower power psych album from 1968, which were pretty typical in South America back then. It's an interesting listen though. The Brazilian group Spectrum comes to mind here.

Didier Paquette - Le Souffle Noir (France) 1976 Pavillon. Here's an album I had many years ago, but ultimately sold. Interesting French electronic record, with real and digital drums (early 80s style). Some sequencer and the odd outburst of fuzz guitar. More amateurish and less dark than Richard Pinhas' solo works, but not too far off stylistically.

% Paragon - Looking For You (Netherlands) 1982 Delta Music. Upbeat, straightforward, 4/4 pop-AOR styled album with female vocals, melodic guitar leads, organ and synth leads. Recalls late era versions of Earth & Fire, Hoelderlin, etc.. and barely qualifies for this list. Not something that needs to be sought for, unless you're a fan of said style. Leaving only due to the private press rarity factor.

Park - November Lady (Germany) 1983 private. Rather ordinary Teutonic rock album with a few progressive moves, barely qualifying for this list.

Claudio Pascoli - Naifunk (Italy) 1978 Mirto. More known as a studio sax player, Pascoli put together this all-star fusion session. Light and breezy funky fusion, with plenty of featured sax (naturally), hot bass playing, flute, sweeping strings and fat, danceable beats. Harmless and fun.

Pataphonie - s/t (France) 1976 Pole / Tapioca. Pataphonie's second album "Le Matin Blanc" is a super avant progressive album filled with innovation. Musea, under their Gazul banner, reissued that album many years ago and is highly recommended. Pataphonie's debut, however, remains without issue. Good thing. Their two albums couldn't be any more different from each other. It sounds like a never ending rehearsal. No melody, no structure, no form, no atmosphere, no compositions, no musicianship. Just noodling in the studio for what seems like forever. Awful really.

Patch - The Star Suite (Australia) 1977 Harvest. revisiting soon.

Patchwork - Ouvertures (France) 1978 Cobra. Light and breezy fusion with sax and flute leads. Some funk as well. The high melodic content makes this one worthwhile. Very different from most electronic rock oriented releases on the RCA subsidiary Cobra label.

Guntram Pauli + Christian Kabitz + Klaus Haimerl - Rock Requiem: Concert For Orchestra Choir And Band (Germany) 1980 Jupiter. One of the many Christian progressive rock albums coming out of Germany at this time (Eden, Credemus, Yavanna, Gloria's Children, etc...). Typically varied album with uplifting tones and lyrics. Nice flute (some nice echoing towards the end of the album) and acoustic guitar. Some latin mass overtures. And some regular rock tracks with early 80s digital synths. Naturally there are some full orchestra classical bits to sit through. A hit and miss affair, but better than you might think.

Pegasus - Seems a Long Time Gone (Germany) 1975 private. A very rare album, but musically not so interesting. 5 long and aimless tracks, that is more or less what is usually called "West Coast" rock. Sung in English and is extremely amateurish. Some halfway decent jangly guitar leads keeps it from a total waste of time.

Victor Peraino's Kingdom Come - No Man's Land (USA) 1975 private. boots exist.

Laurent Petitgirard - s/t (France) 1972 ???. One of the more interesting instrumental rock albums from early 1970s France is Pop Instrumental de France, which was a pseudonym for Laurent Petitgirard. This album represents the followup. Perhaps a little less "Le Fun GoGo Pop" and a bit more towards serious jazz rock with classical overtones. For soundtrack fans, Petitgirard is a household name, and he's still scoring films and concertos all these many years later. While PIdF received a legit reissue on Vadim not long ago, his followup has fallen into the deep chasm. Laurent himself seems to have disowned it, as not a word about it appears on his own website. That's too bad, because this a lovely set of instrumental tunes, perfect for that spring afternoon drive on a winding two lane trek through the mountains. Perhaps Vadim has their eye on this one as well. Let's hope so.

Pi Corp - Lost in the Cosmic Void (USA) 1976 / 2001 Rockadelic. Archival LP uncovered by Rockadelic, certainly one of their more progressive oriented releases. Pi Corp were a space rock band from Cleveland. Not issued on CD yet, but I could see Germany's World in Sound tackling this project.

Piano Conclave (directed by George Gruntz) - Palais Anthology (Germany) 1975 MPS. Hard hitting fusion from an all-star cast of Europe's finest ivory ticklers. A mix of funky fusion, Canterbury rock and piano jazz. A nice surprise and not an album one would likely buy if they saw it - except for the marquee names, which is more than impressive: Gordon Beck, Wolfgang Dauner, George Gruntz, Jasper Van't Hof, Joachim Kuhn, Martial Solal, John Lee, Alphonse Mouzon. Yea, pretty ridiculous lineup right there. Since the MPS label is starting to be reissued, I would imagine this would be a high priority for fans.

Picaresque of Bremen - Tales of an Alchemist (Japan) 1985 private. Dime a dozen 1980's Japanese symphonic progressive album. I think they had at least three other albums.

Ping Pong - About Time (Italy) 1969 Emiliana. Second album "Ping Pong" from 1973 was reissued by Mellow many years ago.

* Pinguin - Der Grosse Rote Vogel (Germany) 1971 Zebra. Flute/electric sax/organ/guitar with complex rhythms and superb vocals in German define this still criminally unknown prog record. Even has one experimental Ohr style Krautrocker. File along with Ikarus, Prof Wolfff, Nosferatu and Murphy Blend. boots exist.

Pirana - s/t (Australia) 1971 Harvest.
Pirana - II (Australia) 1972 Harvest. (both albums listed on Aztec's coming soon list - probably be 2010 before released)

Placebo - Ball of Eyes (Belgium) 1971 CBS.
* Placebo - s/t (Belgium) 1973 CBS.
* Placebo - 1974 (Belgium) 1974 Harvest. Marc Moulin's three Placebo albums are the "Holy Grail" for the rare groove crowd, a sector of music fans who love that unique 70s style of cool. The beat and the mood of the sound are key. For an album from the 1971 jazz scene, "Ball of Eyes" is remarkably focused, without any experimentation or free jazz moments which were still in vogue during that time. Not edgy like same era Miles Davis, Wolfgang Dauner or even other rare Euro groovers like the Sunbirds. In fact when I first heard it, I was certain it was from 1975 or later. The horn charts are all very well done and they do catch that certain 70s spy groove. It's all a bit too laid back for me to get hugely excited over, but it's wide appeal is undeniable. The 1973 self-titled album continues in the same vein as "Ball of Eyes", though it's definitely more funky and head boppin' than the debut. And the real ear grabber is the superb Moog soloing by Moulin. Strangely, the album finishes in a completely different direction. The next to last track is more towards straight jazz and the closer has more in common with Electronik Musik, than anything one would associate with Placebo. I thought the sophomore effort surpassed the debut, and from what I could tell, many considered it their best. But my vote goes to the 3rd and last album titled "1974". Here the grooves go deeper, the solos more intense, and the ideas are, to a greater degree, unique. In all, a two CD, three album comprehensive reissue would be ideal.

Plamp - Und Uberhaupt (Switzerland) 1978 private. Like many albums from Switzerland, Plamp's sole album is a private press that time forgot. The CD Reissue Wish List is full of such albums (Nautilus, Agamemnon, Schakta, Eloiteron, etc...). From the northeastern town of Chur, Plamp went boldly forward with their native German language. As for the music, it's a hodge podge of late 70s rock with jazz and classical accents highlighted by flute, violin and sax. A bit too diverse for its own good, but plenty of nice fuzz leads and organ bursts. Reference groups: Flaming Bess, Novalis, Sicher, Novaks Kapelle and El Shalom.

Planes - s/t (aka I'll Remember the Landscape on Your Face) (Germany) 1974 private. 2 long brooding electronic pieces that reminds me of the two Kluster albums. Droning voices add some uniqueness on Side 1, while Side 2 has some nice touch guitar amongst the usual dark electronic moods.

** Plat du Jour - s/t (France) 1977 Speedball. Super album. Great throbbing bass, fuzz guitars, organ, sax, madcap vocals, deep grooves. And it's so VERY French in sound but with an almost Italian progressive approach to songwriting.

Plebb - Yes It Isn't It (Sweden) 1979 private. Twin guitar attack hard rock. Sounds more like a US private press. A little Ravjunk maybe in the jams.

Plum Nelly - Deceptive Lines (USA) 1971 Warner Brothers. Electric blues rock, heavily influenced by Led Zeppelin, a band that wasn't imitated as much as you'd think from back then. Plum Nelly employ a lighter jazzy touch in places, with some sweet guitar and flute solos, which make this a more attractive listen from my perspective. Vocalist emulates a decent variation of Robert Plant. Side 1 is pretty strong, but Side 2 bogs down into a blues/gospel mix that can be difficult to get through.

Pluto - Voyage Into a Dreamer's Mind (Norway) 1980 Strawberry.
Pluto - Ouverture (Norway) 1982 Strawberry.

Pole - Kotrill (France) 1975 Pole.
Pole - Inside the Dream (France) 1975 Pole. Pole is the pseudonym for label owner and bandleader Paul Putti. "Kotrill" is an avant garde mess, favored by those who worship at the altar of the NWW list. It holds nothing back in its experimentation, but is difficult to sit through. Followup "Inside the Dream", on the other hand, is far more interesting. More atmospheric, with nice synth and guitar leads. Rizet helped on this one, and he foreshadows his next move with Phillippe Besombes.

Polestar - Flying Through the Universe (USA) 1980 Rascal.

Poliphony - s/t (England) 1973 Zella. Very nice instrumental jazz psych record. Not too far from some of the Italian film library bands like Fourth Sensation or Psycheground or even the UK group Hungry Wolf. Some nice fuzz leads and flute. Also some jazz-tone guitar and plenty of Rhodes. I think a little more fire in the belly would have lead to a tier 1 wishlister, but it's still close. Well worth seeking out. Not to be confused with the more well known US band Polyphony.

Pollen - Ry D'Oxhe (Belgium) 1978 Beo. Melodic progressive with Eastern tendencies and some excellent acid guitar work. Somewhat like Patrick Bernard's "Exil" album.

** Polyphony - Without Introduction (USA) 1971 Eleventh Hour. Leads the league in bootlegs. One reason for this is apparently the owner of the tapes has disappeared. What a shame. Would love to see this reissued from tapes. Word out says there are some great tracks never issued as well. One of the best from the US.

Pondus - Myrornas Frammarsch (Sweden) 1979 COOP. Complex fusion album. Much more on the jazz side than rock (light amplification, jazzy rhythms and structures).

Pop Workshop - Song Of The Pterodactyl (Sweden) 1974 Grammofonverket - Europa Film. Interesting all-star fusion band including Janne Schaffer and Tony Williams. Definitely a Coltrane-ish jazz album with strong overtones of Mahavishnu era fusion and Herbie Hancock "Headhunters" funk. A nice mix and not too far from that other Swedish based jazz rock ensemble Ablution, though I found that one to be more unique. Those that like the early 70s jazz fusion sound, will most certainly enjoy this release. On the same label as the recommended Ibis album. Borderline one star album, though it's just a bit too predictable to give it such a high recommendation. They also have a 1973 album that I haven't heard.

Popera Cosmic - Les Enclaves (France) 1969 CBS. I've had this on cassette forever, and totally forgot about it until recently. This is a very early William Sheller effort, and is pretty close to an exploitation album (there's even a cover of 'Batman' for crying out loud!). But it can't be written off so easily, as there are many experimental, avant garde, and flat out interesting rock segments that are way ahead its time for 1969. Also sung in French which was still unusual for the rock scene in those days. I actually think this would do well in the reissue market - especially with DJs who love to sample vintage sounds.

Gianpiero Pramaggiore - Chan (Italy) 1981 ???. One of the most obscure albums in this list. I only know it as I received a CD-R from a good friend of this list. There is absolutely zero info on the internet about the album. Pramaggiore himself shows up as a contributor to some of Don Cherry's mid 70's Italian concerts on guitar, flute and voice (aka Jayadeva). Here the music features primarily acoustic guitar, soprano sax and a variety of flutes in a rock setting along with some wordless voice. Definitely a variation on a post jazz fusion display. Good album, with a high energy level. Today, Pramaggiore is active in conducting music workshops.

%Predmestje
- Brez Naslova. 1977 RTB
- Danes, Vceraj In. 1978 RTB
- Hazard. 1980 RTB
- Kamasutra. 1982 RTB. Standard issue late 70s jazz rock fusion with non-consequential vocals, this time from Slovenia. Some nice guitar and sax leads, but overall pretty generic. Only heard "Danes..." to date, but understand later albums move towards disco.

Primevil – Smokin’ Bats at Campton’s (USA) 1974 700 West. Review here: Primevil Bootlegs exist.

Prisma - s/t (Netherlands) 1980 private. On the surface, Prisma are a commerical rock band typical of the era. But there's a depth to the musicianship and quality of compositions that belies its superficial tendencies. With that in mind, I'm most reminded of those Canadian FM staples Saga, or perhaps the obscure Indiana group Stencil Forest. Even a slight nod to the great Kestrel, especially in the piano work. Memorable music and a group that probably should've hit the big time with the right breaks. Original LP features a nice die cut triangle cover, supposedly representing a (I guess) prism. If this came out on CD, I'd buy it instantly, even though it's not necessarily even a one star album. Nostalgia for the time and place I suppose.

*** Probe 10 - There is a Universe (USA) 1975 Blue Universe. Insanely good progressive psych horn rock.

Project Tyme - Clockwyse (USA). 1985 private. A 4 piece from Iowa (but pressed in Dallas) lead by double neck guitarist Scot Jon Schwestka (mullet is intact and functioning). This is mid-80's all the way, with electric drums and warm bass. Early 80's Rush seems to be the main inspiration for the compositions. What keeps this from being a laugher, is the guitar work which is quite good actually. Expressive, skillful, energetic and no shred to be found (a common problem is those days). Once you get past the first 2 tracks, the rest is quite good as it's almost all instrumental from there on out. The production is excellent considering it's a homemade job. Neat cover art as well.

Proteus - Infinite Change (USA) 1981 private.

Proyecto A - s/t (Spain) 1970 RCA. At the meeting point of psych and progressive rock. Surprisingly sophisticated for an album from Spain during the Franco era (especially as early as 1970). Lots of fuzz bass and guitar, along with a horn section. All the album tracks are planet names, and it seems to be a concept album of some sort. Probably Spain's first progressive rock album, pre-dating Maquina and Pan y Regaliz. Nice gatefold cover.

Psi - Horizonte (Germany) 1977 Bacillus.

Psopho - Sheer Profundity (Belgium) 1982 New Sound. Early neo progressive work, that recalls fellow countrymen Isopoda and Now. Also the German band Tibet comes to mind here.

Psy-Nukli - Number Nine (England) 1988 private. Cassette only release. This is actually a collective of two related bands: Psy and Nukli. Both groups were intimately involved with the UK festival space rock psychedelic scene. And the recording media choice of the day was the cassette. By 1989, most had moved on to CD, so this was released at the tale end of the movement. It's about 90 minutes, so it uses the full length of the cassette. It could use a good editing, and contains about 60 minutes of great space rock / experimental found sounds material. Like a more unhinged and unfocused version of Ozric Tentacles. Would be nice for someone to tackle this project, as the potential is mighty. Nukli finally managed a CD on Delerium sometime in 1997, but the group was just a shadow of their former selves by then. Psy-Nukli has at least two other cassettes during the 80s, but as with most of the scene, info is scarce and dodgy at best.

Psynkopat - Har Vi Nagen Stil (Sweden) 1978 Mistlur. Primarily heavy progressive fusion mixed with experimental bits and a dollop of humor. If that sounds familiar, then yes, Psynkopat are indeed influenced by "Waka Jawaka" era Frank Zappa. The highlight of the album is the instumental work, which remarkably manages to stay focused, with some fiery guitar work - again emulating Zappa at his best. The sophomoric goofball elements drag it down considerably though. Other Scandinavian references are Storm (Sweden) and Dr. Dopo Jam (Denmark).

Public Foot the Roman - s/t (England) 1973 EMI/Capitol.

Pugh's Place - West One (Netherlands) 1973 Decca. revisiting soon.
Pugh's Place & Others - Child in Time (Netherlands) 1974 private.

Pumpkin - s/t (Netherlands) 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.

Purple Image - s/t (USA) 1971 Map City. Primarily a hard rock album with slight touches of Motown soul pop. From the ghettos of Cleveland. Not as intense as I'd hoped, but still good. Boots exist.

Puzzle - s/t (France) 1983. revisiting soon.

Pyranha - s/t (Switzerland) 1972 Epsilon. Pyranha's sole album seems like a lost recording from the Futura label. There's quite a bit of psychotic ranting in French over studio effects, vibes, guitar and percussion. Also some organ and electric piano driven rock sessions. Album opener is even a bit funky. Only misstep is the second song on side 1, a misguided improvisation that seems to serve no purpose whatsover. Unfortunately it's also the longest track at nearly 13 minutes long. Had that track just been merely average, and not so obtrusive, I think I would've considered this for a one star CD wishlister. A fascinating listen though.

Pythagoras - Journey to the Vast Unknown (Netherlands) 1980 Syntone. Fairly simplistic instrumental keyboards / drums duo, where melody and atmosphere are more important than complexity. Trends towards electronic music (Klaus Schulze, Wolfgang Bock) rather than symphonic progressive (Sixty Nine, Eden, Twogether). Apparently was a relatively big seller in its day, and strictly via word of mouth and late night cult radio. E-Music has always had a strong foothold in The Netherlands, which continues to this day. Pythagoras must be considered pioneers of that scene. Most of the music is laid back, and the keyboards of choice are string synthesizers and Moogs, thus missing some depth with organ or mellotron (which does make an appearance on Side 2, along with some nice sequencer action). Not as rocking as Schulze's "Moondawn" for example, but pleasant overall. Their second album "After the Silence" has been reissued by the Korean label Media Arte (in 2008).

* Quad - II (England) 1997 Acme Prescription Drug. Their debut LP album has been reissued, but it remains to be seen if any of the limited Drug series will ever see the light of day on CD. An Indian stringed instrument sets the tone (or drone) while tribal drums and acid guitar slowly float the listener away. Lots of mellotron and acoustic guitar. One of the most blissfully tranced Krautrock albums since Dom's "Edge of Time". See also Ohr Musik.

Quasar - Nebular Trajectory (Australia) 1979 private.
Quasar - Man Coda (Australia) 1980 private.

Quel Giorno di Uve Rosse - s/t (Italy) 1976 PCC (Pro Civitate Christiana). Pleasant symphonic Italian prog. Elements of Latte e Miele circa "Passio Secundum Mattheum" can be found, but this is more soft and pastoral. Lots of harpsichord, flute and female voice (sometimes narrated).

Question Mark - Be Nice to the People (Kenya) 1974 private. One of a handful of interesting African rock albums. This one is in the same genre as B.L.O., Witch, Chrissy Zebby Tembo, etc... Features some nice old organ sounds, a lot of scratchy fuzz and 1960s psych style melodies. Better than most Sub Saharan African albums I've heard - closest comparison would be the Nigerian band Ofege. Album has been reissued on LP by Shadoks, so I'd expect a CD issue to follow shortly.

* Ra Can Row - s/t (USA) 1982 private. Before there was the Ozric Tentacles, there was Ra Can Row, a Cincinnati based group who also liked the Hillage-era Gong space jam. An amazing album when it arrived, it's too bad they stopped with only this one album.

xx Radio Noisz Ensemble - Yniverse (Germany) 1983 private. Now that the Emma Myldenberger's have been reissued, I would expect Garden of Delights to tackle this one soon (and so it became reality - look for the reissue in May 2009). Similar folk based genre, but even more in the progressive rock camp. **reissued by Garden of Delights, June 2009**

Radio Piece III - Tomato Pie Blues (USA) 1987 ZNR. This was a cassette only release. Good Egg-like organ metronomic trio action. Don't think this ever was put out on CD. I thought this was better than their later CD releases.

Ragnarok - s/t (New Zealand) 1975 Polydor.
Ragnarok - Nooks (New Zealand) 1976 Polydor. Japanese CD long OOP. With Aztec announcing the Dragon reissues, is it possible they'll tackle these two NZ gems as well? boots exist.

Ragnarok - Fjarilar i Magen (Sweden) 1979 Silence.
Ragnarok - Fata Morgana (Sweden) 1981 Silence. Silence did manage to reissue their debut years ago, but stopped before getting to these two acclaimed modern Nordic fusion classics. Both contain fiery guitar work and some fine sax passages. "3 Signs", released in 1983, is of lesser interest. Boots exist.

Ken Ramm - Dragon (Canada) 1981 private. This Canadian prog album looks like the Robert Connolly album. And lo and behold the entire FM team is playing on this! Surprisingly good.

Rancid Poultry - Controlled Exposure (England) 1989 Poultry Productions. Cassette only release. Rancid Poultry came out of the 1980s festival scene, and were just a little early. Most likely they would've been on a label like Mystic Stones or Demi Monde. Good raucous space rock - with some interesting screamed vocals. They had other cassettes as well, but this is the only one I owned and have heard.

Recreation - Don't Open (Belgium) 1971 Bellaphon.
* Recreation - Music or Not Music (Belgium) 1972 Bellaphon. The debut by this Belgian trio is a kick – somewhere between the avant space psych of Group 1850, the rigid metronomics of Egg and exploito organ-led covers of classic psych tracks. Great fuzz bass and go-go organ sounds throughout. For “Music or Not Music”, the music takes a decidedly creative turn while adding guitar to the mix. An all-over-the-map type release, totaling 15 tracks, that reminds me some of Aphrodite’s Child’s “666” album, minus the pop songs. The quirkiness and overall demeanor recall some of the earlier work by Supersister. Like the debut, this is entirely instrumental. Both of these would be great to see on CD (there does exist a bootleg). Pseudonym would have done this a few years ago - would love to see a label like Musea tackle it!

** Red - s/t (England) 1983 Jigsaw. This was released amongst all the other New Wave of British Progressive Rock albums (now known as Neo Prog). But Red were nothing like IQ, Twelfth Night, Marillion, Haze, etc... nor were they like mid period King Crimson ala their name. Nope, this is a very strong fusion oriented album, with some early 80s keyboard sounds. What separates this album from the pack is the ferocious guitar playing, and the outstanding melodies. I bought this when it came out, and it's still one of my favorites.

Release Music Orchestra - Life (Germany) 1974 Brain.
Release Music Orchestra - Garuda (Germany) 1975 Brain.
Release Music Orchestra - Get the Ball (Germany) 1976 Brain.
Release Music Orchestra - Beyond the Limit (Germany) 1978 Brain. They have one more called "News" that is better left unknown.

Alain Renaud - s/t (France) 1975 Disjuncta.
Alain Renaud - Out of Time (France) 1976 Disjuncta. Alain Renaud played on some of the early Heldon albums, and his sound is somewhat similar, especially on the first. Long drifting cosmic pieces of electronics and guitar. Not as menacing or as immediate as Pinhas' works. I've had the first Renaud album since the mid 1980s, so I have a sentimental soft spot for it. "Out of Time" is a completely different affair. Here, Renaud mixes instrumental rock fusion with some vocal oriented tracks (extremely ill advised I must add) that have me coiling in despair. There is one longish electronic piece similar to the debut, that's quite nice. A reissue of the first, with a couple of bonus tracks taken from the second would be ideal.

% Renia - First Offenders (England) 1973 Transatlantic. In aggregate, a pretty dull UK early 70s rock album. There is some nice organ runs to keep it from being a total yawner, but ultimately this is the kind of album makes Fantasy's "Paint a Picture" seem like speed metal by comparison. Comparisons to Humble Pie wouldn't be out of place, minus the versatility of said group. Only track to put it in high gear is called 'Slow Down' ironically enough.

Resan - s/t (Sweden) 1973 Epic. A very unusual album indeed, this Resan is. Starts out in a similar terrain to the The Beatles "White Album", before drifting off into a folky flute number ala Träd, Gräs och Stenar. But then the real party starts, with the remainder containing long, energetic, acid guitar driven numbers, some freaky percussion bits, dreamy cosmic pieces and an overall general sense of the psychedelic. Would've been a perfect fit for the Silence label. I could see where this album wouldn't be well received by many, given its eclectic nature, but I found most of it interesting at least. I could see this being a reissue for Transubstans or Mellotronen.

* Catherine Ribeiro + 2 Bis - s/t (France) 1969 Philips.
*** Catherine Ribeiro + Alpes - No. 2 (France) 1970 Festival. Second album by gorgeous model who is completely anguished in this amazing set of tunes that has as much in common with Ash Ra Tempel as it does with something that could have been on the Futura label. Debut is sublime as well. Surprising no one has put these out yet. The rest of her extensive catalog has been reissued and is still available.

Rictus - Christelle ou la Decouverte du Mal (France) 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 bit 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.

* Claudio Rocchi - Essenza (Italy) 1973 Ariston. Some of the Rocchi albums are out on CD, but this, his best IMO, is still elusive. On "Essenza", the first track has phased voices, tablas, droning synthesizers (similar to Battiato's early work) and a little child's voice reciting something in Italian. This reminds me of Picchio dal Pozzo on their debut and sends chills down my spine. Other tracks have flute, sax, organ, piano and quite a bit of acoustic guitar strumming. Rocchi sings in a very unique way, though not that dissimilar from others of his ilk in the 1970's Italian scene. In fact, parts of this remind me of Sergius Golowin's album with an obvious stoned vibe (the phasing has a lot to do with this perception).

Rockcelona - La Bruja (Spain) 1979 CBS. Straight ahead hard rock album that sounds like it's from the American Midwest. Nothing Spanish at all about it, other than the lyrics. Great fuzz guitar sound and nice leads. Strictly for rock and rollers.

* Rodan - s/t (USA) 1974 Pandora. Super horn rock album, that absolutely kills on most of the 12 short tracks. There are a couple of bluesy moves and at least one James Brown styled funker, but mostly this just rips from start to finish. The kind of album you wish all horn rockers were. Smoking guitar and great brass charts. The rhythm section never stops. California based group was actually known as MAX, and toured extensively with groups like Malo and Tower of Power. One of the band members has started his own label called Digital Cellars, and there's a chance this obscurity will be reissued eventually. Album sports a fantastic drawing on the cover.

Henri Roger - Images (France) 1975 Pole.

Round House - 'Scuse Me (Germany) 1972 Harvest.
Round House - Down to Earth (Germany) 1973 Harvest. German group who spent a lot of time with their Chicago Transit Authority album collection obviously. And they do a pretty convincing job of their variation of the horn rock sound. Some good grooves and they veer towards the jazzy side, always a plus in this genre. Much better than the more known Brain label horn groups like Emergency and Creative Rock. I wrote those words having heard only the debut "'Scuse Me". Followup album "Down to Earth" is more adventurous and includes a near side long suite similar to Chicago's 'A Girl from Buchanon', but less pop oriented. Both albums lack consistency, but plenty of great stuff here, especially the Terry Kath inspired wah wah guitar. The Freeman's say the album is 'lightweight' and of 'marginal interest', but I disagree with them here (I do usually see it their way).

Round Robin Monopoly - Alpha (USA) 1974 Truth. There are a lot of funky soul albums from the early 70s, and most were geared towards the radio hit machine. But bands like Mandrill and Funkadelic burned another trail, where musicianship and composition also mattered, while still kicking major boo-tay. Round Robin Monopoly are one such band. They still had their eye on the charts for most of the songs, but mostly "Alpha" grooves in the red zone. Probably a bit too song oriented for the general audience of this list, but there's enough here to warrant a couple of listens.

Il Rovescio della Medaglia - ..Giudizio Avrai (Italy) 1988 private (1975 recording). Here's one I totally forgot about until rummaging through my vinyl collection. It's a live demo recording taken after the band had slimmed down after the "Contaminazione" sessions. All instrumental, it's pretty much a loose space rock jam with plenty of keyboard and guitar solos. Closer in sound to the raw debut "La Bibbia" than the bombastic classic Italo-prog of "Contaminazione". Not a great recording, but certainly listenable. For the general progressive rock buying public, I would think this holds more historic, rather than music, interest. Strange the band self-released this when they did, though I do know it was specifically for the Japanese market, which is where my copy came from. Originals came in a brown gatefold cover, some with an embossed felt logo.

Rozz - Eisbrecher (Germany) 1981 Telefunken. Latin inspired fusion with good guitar, as was typical from this era of German jazz rock. Reference Syncrisis or To Be. I believe this is their second album.

S.T. Mikael - Claustromania (Sweden) 1991 Xotic Mind.
S.T. Mikael - Psychocosmic Songs (Sweden) 1994 Xotic Mind.
S.T. Mikael - Soul Flower (Sweden) 1996 Xotic Mind. A pioneer of the DIY psychedelic movement along with Bevis Frond, S.T. Mikael's first two albums "Visions of a Trespasser (1989) and "The Unknown" (1991) were released in impossibly scarce 100-200 editions on LP. Fortunately both of these were reissued in the US by Gallium Arsenide in 1997 as a double CD called "Visions of the Unknown" with extra bonus tracks. I did pick up "Soul Flower" on LP not long after it was released, but unfortunately don't remember much about it, except it was far more developed than the two primitive, but still interesting, early albums. The 3 albums listed have never been issued on CD. In 2007, he returned with a new album called "Mind of Fire", that is available on CD for the first run.

Sadja - s/t (Germany) 1974 cassette only release. Featuring Roman Bunka and Christian Burchard along with Ken Wells and his wife, this is an all instrumental acoustic jam session, primarily featuring Indian stringed instruments and percussion. This would be a style Embryo would later pursue in full force on "Embryo's Reise" (1979), and albums beyond. Mostly out of the scope of this list, but will leave here due to the Embryo connection.

Saga - To Whom It Concerns (Netherlands) 1978 UAP. The Godfather of the Dutch neo progressive movement. Long before IQ and Marillion were reinventing the Genesis model for the 1980s, and even before the German school (Ivory, Neuschwanstein), Saga took on the task of replicating the "Foxtrot" sound (maybe they knew the Austrian group Kyrie Eleison?). Countless bands on the former SI label and continuing today on InsideOut, Musea and Cyclops can point to Saga as a band who pioneered this trail for our friends in The Netherlands. Lots of mellotron here, which unfortunately is something that the neo's were keen to get away from. It's not a bad example of the genre, not as inspired as the German school like Sirius' "Running to Paradise" or Ivory's "Sad Cypress", but better than most of the Dutch Genesis imitators I can think of. UAP also had Kracq amongst its ranks, and they've self-released their one fine album, so perhaps Saga will do the same?

* Saga - s/t (Sweden) 1974 Harvest. Post November guitar based hard rock. Great fuzzed blues guitar played over jazz, hard rock, folk and progressive styled tunes. Similar in sound to many 70s Swedish groups, though this is a bit more expressive in places. Mellotronen has announced its intention to reissue this.

Sailor - s/t (USA) 1974 private. Sometimes known as Sailor Band, though we could find no evidence of that on the LP itself. 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 amped up electric guitar and Hammond organ. Almost all instrumental except the final track. A nice surprise.

* Saino - s/t (France) 1982 private. Far superior to most instrumental fusion albums coming from Europe during this time, Saino provides much more firepower than expected, plus the melodic content is very high - keeping this from a cold technical academic exercise. Five piece group that employs both a lead and rhythm guitar, which seems to be the magic formula that propels Saino's music forward. I've had this LP for well over 15 years, and it never fails to satisfy. Apparently they have a second album, though it isn't touted as high.

* St. Helena - Hello Friend (Norway) 1974 / 1992 Colours. St. Helena play a very complex progressive sound akin to the UK scene at the time. Matches closest with the band Gracious! on their debut. I also hear parallels to another classic Norway band, Junipher Greene, especially from their "Friendship" album. Unfortunately the album is under 25 minutes, but it's time well spent. Only an archive LP exists, from the late great Colours label. Would be nice to pair this with the archival Hades album, that is also under 25 minutes.

Saisei-Koubou - s/t (Japan) 1987 private.

Sakre - Bizitako Gauzak (Spain) 1979 Elkar.

Saluki - s/t (Norway) 1977. revisiting soon.

xx San Michael's - s/t (Sweden) 1971 California. San Michael's is a typical early 70s song-based organ rock band with Swedish vocals, with an occasional creative instrumental to keep it interesting. Most notable for featuring Hans Lundin (Kaipa) on organ, though this isn't anywhere near the progressive rock sound of his next venture. There are rumors a reissue may be coming soon. Mellotronen, Transubstans or Musea would be my 3 guesses as to who will do it. **Transubstans is the winner - slated for November 2009, along with a second archival release. Also reissued by Belle Antique September 2009**

Sapphire Thinkers – From Within (USA) 1969 Hobbit. Earlier in the year I queried a panel of psych experts on the topic of Strawberry Alarm Clock. Is there anyone else like SAC I asked? I was pleased to see the answer is quite simply “no”. I was pleased because they didn’t overlook what SAC had done, and they knew exactly how much deeper the band was than the general media would ever understand. However, a couple of the wise men suggested a few bands that I should investigate as they had the “spirit” of the almighty Clock. First and foremost on the list was Sapphire Thinkers – and here I am with a copy. Elements of Soft Machine, Guns & Butter, and Crosby, Stills and Nash. At times complex, and others a naïve simplicity is brought forth. All the tracks save the close are between the 2 and 4 minute mark. I could see where the recommendation came from, a good one it was.

Sapo - s/t (USA) 1974 Bell. Smokin' Latin rock with guitar, organ and horns. Not top tier like Santana, Chango or Dakila, but certainly at the next level like early Malo and Macondo.

*** Satin Whale - Desert Places (Germany) 1974 Brain. Now that Kollektiv is out on Long Hair, that leaves Satin Whale's debut as the last GREAT Brain album not yet reissued legit on CD (there's a boot from the 90s). The band's other (and lesser) catalog is out, but this heavy organ / guitar interplay albums remains elusive. Maybe Long Hair will do this one as well? Or SPV?

Robert Savage - The Adventures of Robert Savage Volume 1 (USA) 1971 Paramount. Guitar fronted trio playing a type of psychedelic soul rock. Savage's guitar work is way out front, with plenty of wah and fuzz. Hendrix is an obvious influence here. Probably a bit too song oriented for most fans of adventurous progressive rock, but when the group stretches out, the results are powerful and pleasing. A decent period piece. File next to Velvert Turner and Purple Image. A bootleg exists.

Scapa Flow - Uuteen Aikaan (Finland) 1980 Kompass.

Schakta - Tales (Switzerland) 1980 private. Not as fully developed as most of the private press albums from Switzerland during this time (Eloiteron, Nautilus, Sicher). Thin sounding and amateurish. Reminds me of some of the embryonic Japanese sympho groups from the early 80s (Picareque of Bremen, Orpheus, Jankees).

* Gunther Schickert - Samtvogel (Germany) 1974 private (1975 Brain). Schickert also has some archival tapes and CD-R's that have never been issued on CD properly.

Schtung - s/t (New Zealand) 1977 Atlantic. For the first three tracks, these New Zealanders make other goofball acts like Dr. Dopo Jam and even Storm (Sweden) sound like Univers Zero by comparison. But everything changes on `Au Revoir', a stunning moody instrumental that provides amazing contrast to what has taken place before. The band doesn't look back again, though they never get close to this brilliant piece. All of Side 2 is a pleasant, almost Canterburyish, piece of light jazz prog.

Scorpion - s/t (USA) 1969 Tower. Hard rock / soul album by obscure group from Detroit. Vocal heavy, and quite frankly an exceedingly boring album overall. Little to grab onto besides some nice fuzz bass here and there. This one is for specialty collectors only.

* Scope - s/t (Netherlands) 1974 Atlantic.
* Scope - II (Netherlands) 1975 Atlantic. Exactly the type of instrumental progressive rock I like. Has a slight jazz edge, and rocks hard with plenty of great guitar, Rhodes and flute solos. Like a cross between Finch, Secret Oyster's "Sea Son", Bill Connors era RTF, and the Swedish band Energy. Both albums are smokers!

The Second Coming - s/t (USA) 1970 Mercury. Old school horn rock on Mercury Records. I’m probably one of the world’s biggest horn rock fans, but it’s rare to find albums in this style with any kind of consistency. And The Second Coming is no exception. They’ll mix a brilliant 7 piece instrumental with simplistic blues and pop music. Their arrangements were a little tighter than most, and they actually allowed their guitar player to go in frenzied Terry Kath mode, which is what kept the early Chicago albums interesting (not to mention rocked out). Worth seeking out for fans of the style, but otherwise not much here to sway an opinion. Better than bands like Illustration, Rastus, Swallow and Big Foot. But Brainchild, McLuhan or Heaven they aren’t.

Seedog - We Hope to See You (Germany) 1974 Delta Acustic. On a label most known for two highly regarded avant Krautrock albums - Code III and Sand - Seedog couldn't be more different. This album has a poor reputation, most likely a reaction to the fact its not anywhere near the same style of the two aforementioned bands. It's not Krautrock in the traditional style, yet many of the elements are present: Soaring flute, long tracks and loud guitar solos. It would be passable as an album on Brain, perhaps a companion piece to albums by Cornucopia, Lava and Satin Whale. "We Hope to See You" is song oriented, with way too many vocals in accented English. But its surprisingly listenable with a chugging acoustic guitar driving the generally happy tone of the album. Had Agitation Free added a multitude of vocals after their "Second" album, then I could imagine Seedog coming from that. And, as it turns out, a former Agitation Free member indeed is a member of Seedog. Much better than I expected.

* Sensations Fix - s/t (Italy) 1974 Polydor.
*** Sensations Fix - Portable Madness. 1975 Polydor. (Now available as part of a 6 CD box set)
** (Sensations Fix) Franco Falsini - Cold Nose (Italy) 1975 Polydor.
* Sensations Fix - Finest Finger (Italy) 1976 Polydor. (Now available as part of a 6 CD box set)
Sensations Fix - Boxes Paradise (Italy) 1977 Polydor. How can it be that while most of the Italian progressive scene has been reissued, that most of the Sensations Fix catalog has been ignored? Legal reasons I'm sure. One of the best space rock bands ever and "Portable Madness" is their peak. Along with Achim Reichel, Franco Falsini and troupe are probably the band that is the most requested for a reissue. Mellow was successful in getting out their "Fragments of Light" album, before Phonogram put the kabash on licensing. Until very recently, I didn't even know that Sensations Fix had a self-titled debut album. Apparently it was only a promo and not sold through stores (even though it does sport a unique cover). It's a little more underproduced than the others, but unmistakably has the Sensations Fix space rock sound. Much of the material represents earlier versions of songs that would show up later on "Fragments of Light". I feel there's a distinct downward turn on "Boxes Paradise" and that's as far as I'll go for a reissue. One of my favorite bands from the 1970s. I just hope someone will get these out legit (03/19/08 update: We have word that BTF is working on it!).

Sensory System - s/t (Denmark) 1974 HØrekiks. Released in Germany on Nova as the group System. Like many Danish rockers, Sensory System has their basis in rural rock, and are not that dissimilar from Day of Phoenix, Culpepers Orchard and Midnight Sun. It's a bit more straightforward than these groups, but does feature some fine guitar work. Also reminds me of the debut by Rush, oddly enough. I understand their second album is more straight forward rock n roll.

** Sepi Kuu - Rannan Usvassa (Finland) 1980 Help. An amazing find... intense droning Finnish vocals and searing fuzz guitars with hand percussion. Sounds like the more serious tracks on the Walter Wegmuller "Tarot" album.

* Session - Unikuva (Finland) 1974 EMI/Odeon. A strong progressive rock album with loud guitar solos, organ, electric piano, horns and most significant, a fiercely driving bass. In fact the bass playing reminds me quite a bit of Trettioariga Kriget's first album. The occasional happy chorus lines call to mind Haikara circa "Geafar" mixed with a quaint late 60s psychedelic style. Lots of cool vocals in Finnish. And there's more than a nod to Wigwam from their "Fairyport" days. For a major label effort, this has to be considered one of the most obscure. I spent time with some big time Finnish collectors about 15 years ago and pretty much heard every progressive album from the country (I can say that with some authority now that so much time has passed). The Scapa Flow and Sepi Kuu above are but two examples of that experience. Except no one mentioned this title and I have to wonder if they even knew of it then (I'm sure they do now!). Would make a great CD, so more than 10 of us can say we heard this record.

Seventh Seal - s/t (Japan) 1987 private.

xxShaa Khan - The World Will End on Friday (Germany) 1978 Sky. Before Sky became an almost exclusive electronic label, they experimented some with symphonic progressive rock. Shaa Khan, Octopus and Ramses are three of their most known bands in this area. Shaa Khan is yet ANOTHER laid back German prog rock band. Bands like Novalis and Grobschnitt were huge influences in their day and Shaa Khan draws directly from this well. Of course, Pink Floyd must be mentioned as well. The English vocals are awkward, a feeble attempt at performing a Peter Gabriel style. Nice guitar leads and 5 long compositions, so I'm sure a reissue would sell pretty well actually. They have a second album that I'm told is much more commercial. File along with Faithful Breath, Indigo, Pancake, Fly, etc... They have another, more pop oriented album, as well. **reissued by Sireena, August 2009**

* Shampoo - Volume 1 (Belgium) 1971 Motors. In my personal favorite style of jazzy psych prog. In the same genre as "Hot Rats" era Zappa, Moving Gelatine Plates, Xhol Caravan and Placebo. Plenty of sophisticated ensemble work, with energetic solos (love the electric sax work) and psychedelic dreamy vocals. Not all works (opening psych track, overlong drum solo on Side 2), but still worthy of attention. Very much a product of a much missed period in music history. Beautiful, but simple, day-glo pink gatefold cover. Would make for a nice Japanese mini-LP. Bootlegs exist.

Shivananda - Cross Now (Switzerland) 1977 Gnome.
Shivananda - Headlines (Switzerland) 1979 Gnome. Standard issue fusion, with sax and guitar leads. If you like mid 70's European jazz rock, then you're certain to enjoy "Cross Now". I haven't heard "Headlines" but gathering it's a similar record.

xx Shub Niggurath - s/t (France) 1985 private. Cassette only release. When Shub Niggurath released "Les Morts Vont Vite" in 1986 (on Musea), hardcore Zeuhl fans everywhere were frothing at the mouth, dirtying their dogeared copies of Lovecraft, while frantically chanting "Kobaia" and envisioning a world of Magma and Univers Zero dominance. Personally, while I found the album quite good (and still do), I did feel it lacked a bit in the melody, groove and soul departments. It was all manic depressive, all the time. And they were quite the noisy bunch if truth be told. Well before that, unbeknownst to but a few of some Secret Order of the Golden Fleece, there was a privately released cassette. And if you loved "Les Morts Vont Vite", then a CD reissue of this puppy will put you in Hog Hell. Not much variation of their classic sound, doom/gloom and still a bit noisy... but, yea, that would make you happy wouldn't it? **reissued by Soleil Zeuhl, April 2009**

Sicher - s/t (Switzerland) 1981 private. There was a major boom in private progressive albums from Switzerland in the late 70s and early 80s. Not sure why that's the case, but here's another one. Featuring two flute players, and possessing a strong affinity for classical music, Sicher put out a better than average progressive album when compared to many of their peers. Some semblance to Eloiteron. Well worth seeking out for a listen or two.

Tony Sidney - Play it by Ear! (Italy) 1978 RCA. Italian / American guitarist Sidney, most known for being a founding and long time member of Perigeo, as well as a session man for many a famous solo artist, struck out on his own with "Play It By Ear". A jazz rock similar to Perigeo, though most (not all) of the guitar is acoustic. Wordless voice a nice touch. Pleasant music for that Italian villa holiday along the coast.

Siebenstern's Abfahrt - s/t (Germany) 1978 private. I had this album a few years ago, and I thought I took some notes, but can't find them. Pretty average rock album, with a few progressive moves (6 of the 7 tracks are over 5 minutes long) and a couple of decent melodies. I saw comparisons to Tortilla Flat, but that's utterly ridiculous. I remember liking the album somewhat, but it didn't justify the high price, so I sold it pretty quickly. I'm sure a reissue would appeal to Krautrock completists.

* Silberbart - 4 Times Sound Razing (Germany) 1971 Philips. 4 long freaked out blues psych tracks similar to early Guru Guru. Not many folks talk this one up, but it's a real winner, and blows away albums like Hairy Chapter, Haze, Light of Darkness, Dies Irae, etc.... Bootlegs exist.

Lourivale Silvestre - Fiction Musicale (France) 1976 Disjuncta.

Sinto - Right on Brother (Germany) 1972 Philips. Interesting multi-national rock-funk group released in the heyday of the Krautrock scene. Pretty straightforward in the composition department, with a few progressive ideas to keep things somewhat hopping. The only instrument that stands out is the heavy use of violin (from Hannes Beckmann, who it appears would be the leader), which is unusual in this setting, and creates a nice contrast to the usual pseudo-hippyisms that abound. The group went on to release 3 more albums, that presumably are more commercial Latin styled efforts, if covers and song titles are any indication.

Sirius - Running to Paradise (Germany) 1982 Brutkasten.
Sirius - The Three Bushes (Germany) 1984 private. Sirius' debut is one of the better Genesis inspired albums out there and compares favorably to other German bands like Ivory or Neuschwanstein. I've been higher on this album in the past, but my 2008 ears are hearing too many Genesis knockoffs to get too carried away with the contents. Still, as far as these kind of albums go, Sirius is better than most of their contemporaries, and are nowhere near as laughable as a band like Deyss or most of the SI stable, for example. In fact, had they been part of the UK new wave of progressive rock, then I could imagine them having the same kind of success as IQ, who they resemble perhaps the most. "The Three Bushes" has a more modern sound, with a more determined pop approach, though still no mistaking their early 1970s Genesis minded heritage. I would imagine that Marillion was also an influence at this stage.

Sixty Nine - Circle of the Crayfish (Germany) 1973 Philips.
Sixty Nine - Live (Germany) 1974 Philips. Sixty Nine were a rock based instrumental organ drums duo following in the footsteps of Hansson and Karlsson. Given the limitations of such a small setup, it takes quite a bit of imagination and sound variation to keep things interesting. On "Circle of the Crayfish", they do manage to get some outlandish sounds out of the organ, and combined with the riproaring tempos, the group do keep things hopping for the most part. There's even an introspective electronic piece. Even with all of the innovations applied, the album still sounds too monolithic for its own good. As expected, the live album loses some of the studio effects, and is even more one dimensional than the debut. Sixty Nine are to be commended for their mighty efforts, and both of these do deserve a CD reissue. But it's for a niche within a niche audience.

Skogie – There’s a String Attached To Everything We Do (USA) 1974 General. Minneapolis based group who put out only one album. Overall a spotty affair, with Zappa complex and humor bits, rock, funk, etc.. Some great guitar and Moog leads. Worth a listen anyway.

xx Sloche - J'Un Oeil (Canada) 1975 RCA.
xx Sloche - Stadacone (Canada) 1976 RCA. **reissued by ProgQuebec, September 2009**

Snakes Alive - s/t (Australia) 1974 EMI. In the early 70s, the music world was teeming with jazz fusion bands. The major two schools were a) The technically proficient, as defined by the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Return to Forever and Weather Report. And b) The Miles Davis long track deep groove, with many followers in Germany (in particular the MPS label), Poland, Italy, USA and beyond. These were jazzers who were fascinated with rock's rhythms and power. But finding rockers who were fascinated by jazz was a much more rare breed. Guess that's why they call it jazz fusion. Snakes Alive are a rock fusion band. Of course bands like Mahavishnu come to mind. Even early Zappa and Xhol Caravan. But, you know, Finch did too - for example. There are vocals, but they're sparse. Trumpet, sax, flute, organ, guitar are the solo instruments. And it rocks with a capital R. This is a good one, that's slipped way under the radar. Despite some initial reservations about its authenticity, I just found out that Pokora lists it in his 4001 guide, and it's on the EMI label. Looks like it may have been a demo, without wide release, however. This would be a good one for Aztec to reissue.

Greg Sneddon - Mind Stroll (Australia) 1975 Mushroom. Well done symphonic progressive rock from multi-instrumentalist Sneddon. Nice keyboard work in particular. Reminds me of other Australian artists of the day like Mario Millo ("Epic III" and leader of Sebastian Hardie) and Chris Neal's "Winds of Isis". There's a certain commercial slant found here, which is not uncommon for progressive rock artists operating in Australasia. Wouldn't be surprised to see Aztec eventually reissue this album.

Soffgruppen - Greatest Sits (aka Soffgruppen) (Sweden) 1975 Nacksving. Splendid emotional heavy jazz rock album with trumpet, electric piano, organ and fuzz guitar highlighting the accent instruments. Somewhere between Ibis (Sweden), Berits Halsband and the French school of 1970s underground rock.

* Solar Plexus - s/t (Sweden) 1972 Odeon.
Solar Plexus - Solar Plexus 2 (Sweden) 1973 Odeon.
Solar Plexus - Det Är Inte Båten Som Gungar - Det Är Havet Som Rör Sig (Sweden) 1974 EMI-Harvest.
Solar Plexus - Hellre Gycklare Än Hycklare (Sweden) 1975 EMI-Harvest. The self titled album is two LPs of groovy jazz psych. Organ, electric piano (with lots of effects applied), guitar, bass, active drumming. Primarily instrumental, though a few Swedish vocals that add a joyful disposition to the mix. Even some elements of Bacharachian pop lounge, and when combined with the Swedish vocals, makes for an interesting smorgasbord. Side 3 is a long suite for classical orchestra and jazz rock, and is definitely the weakest portion of the album. The idea is good, but it's poorly executed, with long stretches of noodling/down time. But the other 3 sides are exemplary, and thus a Tier 1 album that is in definite need of a CD reissue. I feel that "Solar Plexus 2" is a huge drop off in quality from the first. Sounds as if they wanted to be the Swedish equivalent of Blood Sweat and Tears, but without the horn section. Plenty of lounge, gospel and pop tinged tracks with only one interesting instrumental towards the end of the album. Disappointing considering the strength of the debut. "Det Är Inte Båten Som Gungar - Det Är Havet Som Rör Sig" sees Solar Plexus back on track, though still not at the level of the debut. But most of the overt commercial moves of the second album have been traded in for a more jazzy approach, which helps. I haven't heard the 4th album.

Sonorhc - Purf (France) 1972 Disques du Cavalier. I've seen this album compared to Agitation Free, but it's far more unstructured than that might imply. Basically what we have here is some unhinged experimental avant psych. Closer to some of the loons on the Futura label like Mahogany Brain and Fille Qui Mousse than anything typically associated with the Krautrock tag. Much recommended, though, for those whose tastes run to the exotic and extreme. They have a second album from 1982 as well, which I haven't heard and is presumably a bit more toned down.

Soular System - Birth of Paradise (Canada) 1971 BASF. Not much is known about this mysterious electronic album. The only name associated with it is James Bolden, and the album was released in France, thus the deduction of it being a Canadian affair. The music sounds more late 1970s than 1971, as the electronics have a late 1970s sound especially the electronic percussion (though the computer drums are primitive sounding, similar to Klaus Schulze's "Picture Music"). Some psychedelic guitar on Side 2 adds much needed variety to an otherwise mundane album. Similar to Didier Paquette or Alain Renaud's first album.

Spacious Mind - Garden of a Well Fed Head (Sweden) 1997 Lone Starfighter. LP only release from great space rock group. The LP is a die cut very similar to Yatha Sidhra's "A Meditation Mass". One of those 1990's "LP only" albums that probably should be released on CD to a wider audience.

Spektar - s/t (Croatia) 1974 Suzy. A keyboard trio, Spektar's sound vacillates between funk (lots of clavinet), progressive (with organ featured) and straight ahead rock with some marginal vocals. There's definitely some weeds to clear here, but underneath is some prime turf. All the 8 tracks are short. Probably the most obscure album coming from the former Yugoslavia, even more so than Izvir. Adding to the obscurity factor, Suzy was generally known for releasing straight pop music, and Spektar was sort of the odd album out.

Splash - Ut På Vischan (Sweden) 1972 Polydor.
Splash - s/t (Sweden) 1974 PLA.
Splash - Splash 2 (Sweden) 1978 PLA. On "Ut På Vischan" one will hear a typical horn rock album very much modeled after Chicago or Blood, Sweat and Tears. Except it's sung in Swedish (which is kinda neat). Like most horn rock albums, there are some great instrumental charts offset by some lame songs. Not bad, and does sport a great cover. On "Splash 2", the group has moved from standard pop rock structures to an improvisational jazz rock unit. I hesitate to use the word "fusion" here, as they clearly weren't emulating the usual suspects like Return to Forever or Weather Report. And at times they have that college level stage band type tightness. There's also a little bit of silliness calling out their Zappa influence (not to mention some fine guitar soloing). And even a little dancing around the barn music to open the album. On the self-titled second album from 1974, the music is closer to "Splash 2", though there's only 3 tracks here, so the instrumentals are more stretched out. The highlight being the Latin jazz rock piece that closes the album. Of the three, this album is probably the best, but they're all worth seeking out. Great fantasy design cover graces the 1974 album as well.

xx Stardrive - Stardrive featuring Robert Mason (USA) 1974 Columbia. Second album by this instrumental space funk group. Apparently the debut had quite a bit of sax, that is missing here. Robert Mason was/is a talented synthesist, who actually built his own instruments! Which gives it a nice fat analog sound. The music sounds almost like a demonstration record, with a solid rythmic beat. But it's not disco or anything. Very intriguing album, and definitely one of a kind. You can still find original LPs for under $10. First album "Intergalactic Trot" (originally on Elektra) has been reissued on CD by Wounded Bird. **Wounded Bird will also reissue this title**

Starfire - s/t (USA) 1974 private. Great fuzz guitar, old organ (Farfisa or Vox) and good compositions. Sounds more like a 1969 recording than something from (presumably) 1974. A bootleg exists with no info (of course).

Stefan - Consecration (Sweden) 1995 Xotic Mind. While most albums on the Xotic Mind label tended towards an ethereal psychedelic aesthetic, label owner Stefan's sole album is a bit more rock based than most. Closer to The Word of Life than Adam, S.T. Mikael or the Entheogens. The only drawback is the vocals, which are amateurish at best. But otherwise, this is one of the better albums from this proto Subliminal Sounds collective.

* David Stoughton - Transformer (USA) 1968 Elektra. Way ahead of its time experimental psychedelic album. As adventurous as they come for such an early date, I was reminded of groups such as the United States of America, Friendsound, Music Emporium, Fifty Foot Hose and The Beat of the Earth. Female vocals, trumpet, guitar, sound collages, and much more. Pure genius.

Streetdancer - s/t (USA) 1974 private.
Streetdancer - Rising (USA) 1977 Dharma.

Styff Nack - Sundial (Germany) 1978 private. There's some nice instrumental work here to offset the poorly executed Genesis-inspired vocal moments. The funk bits really go off the cliff in a bad way...

Subversion - s/t (France) 1976 Pole. Certainly the most obscure album on Phillippe Besombes' Pole label. I hadn't even heard of it until recently (2008), and I think I'd heard every other Pole/Tapioca album by 1992! Featuring a crude black and white cover, it's exactly the sort of album you would expect to find on the FLVM label a few years later. This pre-Falstaff outfit mixed complex prog in the Memoriance / Pulsar vein, along with jazz rock sections and some introspective folky moments. Not much cohesion, but they did well with each style they attempted. Very different from anything else on the label, except maybe Emergency Exit. And, like EE, Subversion was also not repressed by Tapioca later in the decade, adding to its obscurity.

* Sudden Death - Suddenly (USA) 1971 / 1990's Rockadelic. Another Rockadelic archival discovery that was put on LP, but never on CD. The group remained a mystery until one of the band members (John) reached out to the CD Reissue Wishlist. We share their story here . Sudden Death are quite a find for fans of the hard rock psych underground. They have that much desired underproduced hard guitar sound with a Robert Plant like vocalist. Rockadelic's cover is awesomely creepy and whoever does put it on CD should leave that intact (and I think John of Sudden Death agrees with me on this point).

Sukellusvene - Vesi- Ja Lintumusiikkia (Finland) 1979 Love. Very nice fusion album. Primary instruments are sax, synthesizer and guitar. Sounds much more like an album from 1973/74 than anything as late as 1979. More of a gritty edge, and one track sounds like a lost organ freaky fusion number that would've shown up on the German MPS label (and naturally my favorite track). Another anachronism is the use of the wah wah pedal as a rhythm component. Not a totally breathtaking release, but executed perfectly for the 70s jazz fusion sound. Overall the album recalls early Weather Report and Bill Connors era Return to Forever. File next to the Jupu Group album. Band translates to "Submarine" and the album to "Water- And Bird Music".

** Sunbirds - s/t (Germany) 1971 BASF.
* Sunbirds - Zagara (Germany) 1972 Polydor. Both are great albums that sound like a cross between Wolfgang Dauner and Chris Hinze, played for the Brain label! Garden of Delights has had these on their “coming soon” list for some time, so hopefully they’ll eventually get around to it, as they’ll be an immediate buy item for me. More thoughts here .

Sunday - s/t (England) 1972 Bellaphon. Mix of organ rock, hard rock and progressive. Another UK band who's only release was in Germany (like Diabolus or Odin). Good record and an even better cover that would make a nice choice for a mini-LP from Japan. Boots exist.

Super Freego - Pourquoi es-tu si Mechant? (France) 1982 RCA. I've always imagined this to be the album Eskaton might release after "Fiction" (even though this is earlier). A slightly commercial new wave bent on the classic Zeuhl sound.

Supply, Demand and Curve - s/t (Ireland) 1976 Mulligan.

Surgery - Übermorgen (Germany) 1980 private. Yet another unknown German fusion album from the late 70s and early 80s. File along with the "German M" groups like Moira, Mosaik, Munju, Missus Beastly and Morpheus. Some pretty hot psychedelic guitar, especially on the first side. Superb unison melodies with the sax and electric piano. Can get to be a bit breezy on Side 2, though some of it reminded me of Ash Ra's "Correlations" in the guitar work, oddly enough.

The Surprise Package - Free Up (USA) 1968 LHC. Another one from my collection that I'd forgotten about until recently. Pretty adventurous for the date, with one decent side long cut, many times compared to Iron Butterfly, though the Surprise Package weren't near as ominous. Good fuzz and organ can be found here. So far, only bootleg CDs exist.

Sustain - s/t (Netherlands) 1978 private. One of those big time rarities that have collectors turning every stone over for. However, Sustain are about as generic as it gets. Slow to mid tempo rock/jazz tracks, amateur thin production, slightly spacey textures, poorly executed accented English vocals, some mild sax and guitar leads. I suppose if you look at some of the other Dutch/Flemish albums from the era, like Flyte and Isopoda, you can get an idea of their sound. Probably a CD reissue of a very limited number would sell, just due to the curiosity factor.

Sway - s/t (Italy) 1973 CPT. Excellent album heavily influenced by early 70s Miles Davis, even without the presence of trumpet. Throughout, the album features wah wah guitar rhythms and tribal drumming. The first side is a bit looser, with some shrieky sax, drum solos and some piano noise bits. But Side 2 is absolutely sublime. The sax is traded in for flute, there's an actual melody line carried throughout, and the guitar fuzzes out some wonderful solos.

Swegas - Child of Light (England) 1971 Trend. Nice mix of horn rock, Brit-Jazz, progressive rock and even some jazz improvisation. Definitely not the typical simple blues based horn rock album. Very good, borderline one star consideration.

% Symphonic Metamorphosis - s/t (USA) 1971 London. Fascinating nine piece horn rock band formed by (then) active members of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. The horns are exquisitely performed, though the rock sections are a tad more restrained and pedestrian for a band with these kind of quals. Still, the guitar and organ work is efficient. The vocal harmonies have a 60s vibe to them. Worth seeking out for a listen or two.

Syncrisis - Reflections In Musical Power (Germany) 1981 private.
Syncrisis - Sunny Crisis (Germany) 1982 Inside. Syncrisis were led by guitarist Titus Köstler-Philipp, and his superior technical playing on "Sunny Crisis" is featured throughout. Similar to other German fusion bands at this time like Lindwurm, but with more emphasis on the smoking guitar. I also hear some of the same type of sounds as on the Red album (1983 UK - also featured here above), which may be the first time I've ever said that. With the technical fast playing on the guitar, one can't help but to compare "Sunny Crisis" to Al Di Meola's best work like "Elegant Gypsy" or "Casino". The debut "Reflections in Musical Power" isn't quite as successful. Here Syncrisis trades in on some jazz fusion cliches like swapping guitar/keys solos, breezy tropical themes and the requisite tedious drum solo. Would be nice to see both of these on the same CD. Köstler-Philipp is still playing today and his latest group is called Dokapi.

Synopsis - Gamme (France) 1981 FLVM. An improvement on their first. In the Mona Lisa, Ange school of French progressive. Very good and surprised this has escaped reissue (especially since the first was reissued). An obvious candidate for Musea.

Hermann Szobel - Szobel (USA) 1976 Arista. An album that is complex as all get out by 18 year old prodigy pianist. Album has a distinct RIO flavor to it, though I suspect there's no intention of going for that sound, as it really didn't exist as a genre by then. Instrumental Frank Zappa an obvious influence here, with some tight wind charts, and I'm betting that Szobel may have heard a Henry Cow album or two. Arista started as a "progressive" label, much like Virgin did, but by 1978 they were already hopelessly signing commercial slop. Szobel's sole album remains the most obscure on the label. He's pretty much disappeared into the ether, though there are rumors of a reissue possibly coming soon.

* Tabletom - Mezclalina (Spain) 1980 RCA. Such a strange little album, perhaps mirroring the surrealistic cover. On the surface, Tabletom seem to opt for a light, Spanish flavored, jazz rock sound. Flute is the initial featured instrument of choice. Then comes these crunchy power chord guitars, and irregular flamenco style rhythms. Violin and sax also make appearances. The vocalist reminds me of some of the more gravelly Italian guys as found on Jumbo or Odissea. It takes a bit to get into, but this one has a lot to recommend. The last 9 minute track is a barnburner. I had thrown the Mezquita name out in the past, but that's a bit misleading, as Tabletom aren't quite as Andalusian influenced as that may imply. Certainly worthy of a CD reissue! They had a few albums after this debut, but I understand they are of less interest to the scope of this list, but don't know for certain. Great Dali-esque cover would be perfect for a Japanese mini-LP.

Talix - Spuren (Germany) 1970 Vogue. A German psych album. The music is somewhere between thoughtful, almost progressive, songwriting and fun saxophone lead exploito dance numbers. The guitar is a constant highlight, fuzzed out to the maximum, reminding me of the guy from The Plastic Cloud. Overall for the style, better than the more known Bokaj Retsiem. Pre-Pinguin, which is also listed above.

Tamalone - New Acres (Netherlands) 1979 Crossroad. Jethro Tull soundalikes, though strangely minus the flute. But in every other way, it sounds like Ian Anderson and Co. Pretty decent record actually.

Tamarisk - s/t (England) 1982 private. Cassette only release.
Tamarisk - Lost Properties (England) 1984 private. Cassette only release. Just as I'm trying to get my arms around the UK free festival cassette culture of the mid to late 80's, I'm also digging back into one of my early loves - the original UK neo prog scene of Pallas, Marillion, iQ, Pendragon, LaHost, Abel Ganz, et al... Tamarisk was one I missed from back in the day, but a good friend of this site sent me both of these albums on CD-R, and I was reminded of everything I like about the scene. They're tight, melodic, fast and reasonably complex. The vocalist sounds like every other UK vocalist who spent a wasted youth with his dogeared Genesis albums. The guitar playing, in particular, is well done. And lots of mellotron on "Lost Properties". All in all, very satisfying material. I'm not sure how many EP's and full albums I'm still missing from the NWOBPR scene (not to be confused with NWOBHM), but I'm curious what's still out there to be discovered. (for example, I just found out recently that LaHost's full works were released on CD in 1992. And I was pleasantly surprised by how strong the material was there too.)

Taste of Blues - Schizofrenia (Sweden) 1969 SSR (released only in Denmark). One side is a cool free rock jam, like the best of the Krautrock and Swedish artists like International Harvester. The other side is more traditional electric blues, so the album is indeed schizophrenic. Was scheduled to be reissued on CD by Transubstans, but it doesn't appear that happened. Garageland reissued it on LP in 1992.

Tau - s/t (Germany) 1981 private. A total unknown to me until very recently, Tau play in the symphonic rock style, with bits of humor spread throughout. The progressions are very much out of the early Genesis school, and Tau could be considered contemporaries of Ivory or even Neuschwanstein. But there's also a strain of late 70s Grobschnitt found throughout, both in the zaniness and even in the AOR moments. Sung in German, which is unusual for this type of prog rock. Lots of mellotron for an 80s album. Not a monster or anything, but fans of neo progressive rock are likely to really enjoy this one.

Mama Bea Tekielski - La Folle (France) 1976 Isadora. Mama Bea's debut album is clearly indebted to Catherine Ribeiro & Alpes' early 1970s works, but honestly this is much more dense, and truth be told, completely unhinged. Perhaps its Ribeiro's Portugese heritage verse Tekielski's Polish background, but there's something far more disturbing going on with "La Folle" than anything Ribeiro coughed up (literally). While Ribeiro is far from an easy listen, she still comes across as the mysterious troubled damsel in distress. Perhaps it's her runway-fashion-model looks, but Catherine seems to be reaching out for help while still dominating all that is around her. With Mama Bea, you get the ragged 100 straight nights of booze, pills and rock and roll look and attitude. The cover of her smoking a cigarette, with a face that says that she's had just about enough of the crap she's been dealing with, is priceless. And so she takes it out on this recording. There are times that it would seem appropriate for the medics to come in and hustle her off to safer pastures. Meanwhile all the earmarks of a classic underground album are going on in the background, with plenty of psychedelic guitar, rumbling bass (a trademark of the French scene) and pounding percussion. It's all a bit unsettling, but it's also too real to ignore. A real grower if I ever heard one.

Telefon Paisa - Sogmusobil (Sweden) 1971 Gump. Starts off promising enough in the Hendrix bag with fuzz overload and a similar song style. But it quickly deteriorates from there into a drunken mess. Sounds like a frat party while they left the tapes rolling. Some bright spots here and there, but otherwise not one of Sweden's strongest efforts.

Chrissy Zebby Tembo & Ngozi Family - My Ancestors (Zambia) 1974 private. Some research will reveal that Zambia had "an unusually high amount of fuzz boxes shipped there". And, with that in mind, this album is pretty typical African rock EXCEPT there is screaming FUZZ on every track! Better than Witch's "Lazy Bones" from my perspective.

Terraced Garden - Melody and Menace (Canada) 1982 private.
Terraced Garden - Braille (Canada) 1984 private.
Terraced Garden - Within (Canada) 1988 private.

Think - We'll Give You a Buzz (New Zealand) 1976 Atlantic. A mix of mid to late 70s British pomp prog ala England or Nostradamus, combined with some obvious pop moves and the required boogie rock number that all Australasian bands felt obligated to do back then. Great cover would make this a good candidate for a Japanese mini-LP.

%Third Eye - s/t. 1976 Ring.
%Third Eye - Connexion. 1977 Ring. On the surface, Third Eye would seem to be a typical mid to late 1970s kraut fusion album, of which there are dozens. That is, until you hear the mellotron being played like a flautist would play his solo! It's really odd to hear this traditional symphonic prog / electronik musik instrument used in this context. For this alone, Third Eye is worth seeking out. There's also a classically inspired romantic piece, cocktail piano, a drum solo, typical fusion runs. Bizarre. "Connexion" is a completely different animal and far more traditional jazz than its predecessor. Gone is the mellotron and all the interesting fusion of styles.

Third Quadrant - Seeing Yourself As You Really Are (England) 1982 Rock Cottage. Released a few months prior to the New Wave of Progressive Rock movement (aka Neo Prog), Third Quadrant's debut album arrived just a tad early to receive the press and distribution it needed to survive. Is still considered one of the major rarities from the era, along with the Airship label groups like Protos and Gemini. Musically it's fairly underproduced, but does possess a strong mid 70's Genesis to late 70's Pink Floyd feel. Mellow Records reissued a later album "Layered" over 15 years ago, but never did tackle this one. Not essential, but nice to have from an historical perspective. I've read from the band's bass player that there are 2 albums prior to this one, but not sure if they were on LP, cassette or just on their own personal reel to reels.

This Oneness - Surprize (USA) 1975 private. Minnesota based group who performed a Mahavishnu styled heavy fusion with Canterbury touches. The song portions are of the Midwest prog variety ala Ethos, Albatross. A good one that Syn-Phonic would have reissued in the 90s. There's a website dedicated to this band now and maybe the band will reissue it! We'll see...

Jacques Thollot - Watch Devil Go (France) 1975 Palm.
Jacques Thollot - Resurgence (France) 1977 Musica.

Thomas Flinter - s/t (Netherlands) 1978 private.

Thunder and Roses – King of the Black Sunrise (USA) 1969 United Artists. After a promising kick ass opener with ripping guitar, the remainder of the album bogs down in a post Cream, post Hendrix humdrum. Throw in a country tune and a I-got-the-blues-real-bad type song, and you have something along the lines of just above average.

** Time - s/t (England) 1975 Buk (BULP 2005) also released in Germany on Buk (17 22536-4). I have the catalog numbers here so you, the reader, have a slight chance of finding this album (good luck in searching for Time and Buk). What a great album. Very complex for the time and place. Somewhat like Yes' "Relayer" crossed with "Power and the Glory" Gentle Giant (you won't see me use these type of mainstream comparisons much, because they rarely apply - but they do in this case!). And the vocalist reminds me a bit of Yezda Urfa (and the complexity of the music too). I also hear a little Fruupp and Jonesy here too. This is one of the last great major label British albums not on CD (OK, maybe Buk wasn't major, but they were definitely a AAA minor league label).

To Be - s/t (Germany) 1977 Brain. Latin rock / fusion that capitalized on "Borboletto" era Santana, but came a bit late to find its audience. However, the beatdigger crowd has gone nuts for it in recent years, sealing it as probably the most sought after "multi-colored / orange" Brain release.

Tocabiol - Es El, Es Ela (France) 1979 Revolum. Sung in Occitan, a language found in southern France and northern Spain. I need to revisit, as I think the old cassette copy I had wasn't labeled right.

* Tomorrow's Gift - Goodbye Future (Germany) 1973 Aamok. One of the more well-known Krautrock albums without a CD reissue. First album was done by Second Battle almost 15 years ago now! "Goodbye Future" is completely different and is a keyboard centered Canterbury styled album - a little like same period Supersister, especially the Zappa influence. Band evolved into the fusion oriented Release Music Orchestra, who also lack reissues - as does related band Dennis. There's a very convincing boot out there, which even has "bonus tracks", which was also taken from an obscure compilation vinyl. Hopefully Long Hair or Garden of Delights will set the record straight.

* Tonic - This Way (Germany) 1980 Peak. If it weren't for a cassette tape a friend sent me over 10 years ago, I'd still not know this record. One of the most obscure albums in this list, I've never seen an original for sale. There's now a review on the excellent Planet Mellotron site as well. For the late date, this has a remarkably complex sound – similar to the classic Italian prog scene. With choir mellotron, organ, bells, speedy guitar solos, flute, sax and complex meters. When the vocals kick in, I'm reminded of Grobschnitt's "Rockpommel's Land" era.

*** Tortilla Flat - Fur Ein 3/4 Stundchen (Germany) 1974 private. Extraordinary Canterbury fusion album like the very best of Supersister or Soft Machine. Even better is the unreleased SWF Sessions from 1973 - one of the best recordings I've ever heard period. Long Hair, Garden of Delights, Musea - someone - anyone!

Total Issue - s/t (France) 1971 United Artists. One of the earliest French progressive rock albums. Has that loose jazzy quality that recalls Moving Gelatine Plates with flute and fuzzy guitar leading the way. Not as Canterbury influenced nor as consistent as MGP, but still a very strong early effort. There's also a fair amount of acoustic guitar / flute based SSW material, but arranged in a progressive manner, similar to how the Italians would do. Album is mostly sung in French (a rarity for rock bands in those days), with some English tracks, which are more commercial (but all thankfully short). A natural choice for Musea to reissue.

Totty - s/t (USA) 1977 private. Reliable hard rock from Oklahoma, similar to other like minded jamsters such as Missouri, Cain and Truth & Janey. The kind of album that would've been reissued by Monster and probably will be by Rockadrome in the future. Their second album is straight AOR music and not worth mentioning. boots exist.

TOuCH - Traumwerk 1 (Germany) 1980 private. Band name stands for "Tom und Charly".

Trefle - Reflet (France) 1979 private. In the Ange school of French progressive rock. More of an underproduced effort, recalling Grime or the first Synopsis album. A good one that Musea would've typically reissued in the early 90s.

%Tribu - Cuauhtemoc Agulia Solar (Mexico) 1987 Pentagrama. Tribu have a lot more albums than this, in fact Gnosis lists 10 of them, many without any ratings. Finding any info about Tribu has proven to be a challenge. The above album is the only one I've known about for years, and remains the only one I've heard. Tribu collaborated quite a bit with Jorge Reyes during this period. Sometimes the album is known as "Fusion Etno-Rock" as it's stated that way on the cover, but that was to inform the buyer of the style of music. "Cuauhtemoc Agulia Solar" is a fusion of pre-Hispanic indigenous tribal music and modern day rock. Most of it is the former, but there are some supreme examples of the latter, with wonderful fuzzed out guitars and synth soloing. On these pieces, I'm most reminded of the Arco Iris album I recently listed, as well as Lula Cortes & Ze Remalho's "Paebiru" album. Had it been more fusion and less indigenous, I'd probably have rated this a Priority 2 or 3. I'll go with a no priority, but it's borderline, and fans of ancient world music in general will love this album.

El Trio (Lapouble / Lew / Cevasco) - Todo En Su Medida y Armoniosamente (Argentina) 1974 Music Hall. Highly inventive, and primarily instrumental, guitar trio with fuzzy electric and some well placed acoustic bits. The two tracks with female vocals are the highlights, and add to the jazzy psych allure of the material. Like a looser, more improvisational take on the second El Reloj album. Very short album clocking in around 28 minutes.

Troc - s/t (France) 1973 CY. Andre Ceccarelli and Jannick Top's jazzy / funk / soul group. Good instrumental segments are offset by awkward vocal moments. Best to leave this kind of music to the streets of America.

Trocarn - s/t (Switzerland) 1977 Studiovox. In that charming, but hopelessly low budget, maudlin, prog folk genre. Epic but confused. Loud burst of fuzz guitar near end gets heart rate up, and little else. From the Frenchy areas of Suisse. File next to Emeraude and Alpha Centauri.

Troisieme Rive - Banlieues (France) 1978 private. Part of the electrified French folk movement, which had gained quite a bit of traction in Brittany with Malicorne and Gwendal. There's even a hint of Gabriel era Genesis here and there. Good for the style.

Troyka - s/t (Canada) 1970 Cotillion. Pretty wild guitar trio, with plenty of experimental bits. Edmonton based group, who pulls some material from the local Ukrainian immigrant culture. Good album, if not a bit silly in places considering the vocal approach. boots exist.

True Myth - s/t (Canada) 1979 Warner Brothers. Much was made at the time that True Myth's sole album was the first ever all digital recording. 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.

Trust - Le Mutant (France) 1970 Philips. Probably too early in the game for the French to try pulling off the English melodic pop psych prog schtick. They'd get there – but this definitely has the "but the Moody Blues would've done it this way…" angle. Similar to Iris and M.O.T.U.S. Not adventurous like Alain Markusfeld for example. Non essential fluff, but good for archivists. Not related to the later French hard rock group of the same name that featured a couple of Iron Maiden's drummers.

Velvert Turner Group - s/t (USA) 1972 Family. The one that needs reissue is the "rock mix". Heavily, and I mean heavily, influenced by classic Jimi Hendrix.

Tyll - Sexphonie (Germany) 1974 Kerston. Tyll were one of those obscure groups on the Kerston label (Gaa, Epidermis, Proton 1 concert). Optimistically (that would be VERY optimistically) you could almost call this the Hatfield and the North of Krautrock. Maybe Zappa is closer - but not in the same way as the first Nine Days Wonder. Each track is different, some are fiery fusion workouts, others are German folk, while still others are hard rock. The German vocals make it unique and thus remind me of groups like Drosselbart, Professor Wolff and Franz K (circa Sensemann). The latter gets a further comparison due to the supercool use of heavily affected electric guitar. It is this element that makes Tyll attractive for multiple relistens. On the spacier tracks, labelmates Gaa are a fair comparison. In many places I also hear the weird composition style of Lily's "V.C.U.". In the end, this would make a good reissue for a label like Garden of Delights.

Uludag - Mau Mau (Germany) 1981 Recommended.

Ungava - s/t (Canada) 1980 33 Records.

Vacation - Resurrection of (Belgium) 1971 Majestic. Standard issue guitar fronted blues rock in the Cream / Blue Cheer tradition, all very typical of the day. Sound is quite raw, supposedly a live recording, though I suspect the crowd noise was added later (I'm a bit suspicious of the delirious crowd, as if Vacation were The Beatles or somethin'...). Guitarist is a cut above the rest. Opening track is a fast paced instrumental, and not in step with the rest of the album. Reminds me of another Belgian group called Kleptomania. Fans of American garage music may take a shine to this, like Saint Anthony's Fyre for example. Other guideposts include France's Amphyrite and Quebec's Ellison.

Valhalla - s/t (USA) 1969 United Artists. Mixed bag of hard rock, psych, blues, classical. Similar to how the Beatles would utilize many different styles. Good, but lacks cohesiveness.

*** Laurence Vanay - Galaxies (aka Laurence Vanay) (France) 1974 SFP (Societe Francaise de Productions Phonographiques)
** Laurence Vanay - Gateway Evening Colours (France) 1975 Galloway (aka "Evening Colours" 1976 CAM). Laurence Vanay is the pseudonym for Jacqueline Thibault, wife of famed French music producer and musician Laurent Thibault. The two albums above are pure genius. Almost all instrumental with gorgeous organ, flute, acoustic/electric guitar. Even a little Zeuhl bass to knock things around. She provides some wordless voice through many of the tracks. And on "Galaxies" occassionally sings in a soft, seductive female manner - all in French of course. If anyone can help me hear her other three albums, I'd be very grateful.

Vanessa - City Lips (Norway) 1973 On.
Vanessa - Black and White (Norway) 1976 Compendium. I've only heard "Black and White" which is a better than average instrumental jazz fusion album, with some tight rhythms and occasional funky lines. Primary leads come from the sax, but plenty of good guitar and keyboard leads as well. Comparisons to the French group Spheroe wouldn't be out of place. This album received pretty good distribution in the US, and it wasn't too difficult to find in the used bins in the 1980s. Because of this, I'm surprised it still hasn't been reissued to date. I have a copy of "City Lips" here, but haven't heard yet.

Vangelis - Sex Power (Greece) 1970 Philips.
Vangelis - Hypothesis (Greece) 1971/1978 Charly.
Vangelis - The Dragon (Greece) 1971/1978 Charly. "Sex Power" is Vangelis' debut solo album, which is a pretty crude, but well done, soundtrack to a soft core erotica flick. Not sure why this hasn't been reissued, given its historical value at the very least. "Hypothesis" and "The Dragon" are loose rock jams recorded just prior to his masterwork "666" with Aphrodite's Child. Vangelis treats these two recordings much in the same way as Klaus Schulze does with the Cosmic Jokers, in that he's distanced himself from them and claims they were never meant to be released to a larger audience, as evidenced by the original LP releases coming out 7 years later. Naturally these thrive in the bootleg CD market - unfortunately.

Vatten - Tungt Vatten (Sweden) 1975 Prophone. Straight ahead blues rock with Swedish vocals. But considering the fuzzy bass and raucous electric leads, this one is a little more interesting than most in the genre. Even a couple of Latin groovers to keep it from being all depressing, all the time. Vatten also had three albums from the 1980s that I don't believe are on CD either.

Vecchio - Afro-Rock (Spain) 1971 Music DeWolfe. Vecchio is lead by one Luis Vecchio, resident of the Canary Islands, and his album for the Sound Library label DeWolfe is one that is frequently mentioned in hushed reverence amongst the beat digger DJ collecting crowd. And it's easy to see why, given its massive brass charts, funky bass lines, fluttering flute, choppy organ and additional hand tribal percussion. Unlike most incidental film music, the album works as a whole and isn't just a disparate bit of sounds and rhythms. Up there in the big leagues of rare groove with Mandingo, The Feedback, and the Roland Kovac Set.

Vega - Jara (Spain) 1980 Movieplay.

Vent d'Est - s/t (France) 1980 Om. Melodic progressive in the Camel / Pink Floyd vein. The instrumental work is quite good, especially the guitarist who lights it up quite a bit more than most from this era. Plenty of commercially oriented material to wade through as well.

Versylus - s/t (USA) 1982 private. New Jersey based group who put out this "hedged" progressive LP and held out hope that the AOR/commercial songs would take hold and send them to the big time. That strategy never did work. The progressive cuts are nice, showing an almost neo approach to the early Genesis sound (guessing here that the band wasn't aware of what was going on in the English underground at this time). There's also some nice Gentle Giant chorus-counterpoint bits to grab hold of. Pretty decent for a self produced album. I think there were no covers - just released in generic white sleeves.

* Verto - Krig Volubilis (France) 1976 Pole.
Verto - Reel 1936 (France) 1978 Fleur. Verto is the one man guitar/electronic pseudonym of Jean-Pierre Grasset with multiple guests that seems to be modeled directly after Richard Pinhas and Heldon. And the results are similar, though less structured and more amateurish. If "Krig Volubilis" is Verto's "Electronique Guerilla", then "Reel 1936" is the "Interface" except far more experimental, sometimes to its detriment. Would make a great 2 for 1 CD.

Vestenvinden - Gummimasker (Denmark) 1971 Polydor. Danish flower-power folk rock with male and female vocals (at their best when singing, but without words). All lyrics in Danish (a plus). Good melodies, but not a very adventurous album, and thus fails to capture the imagination. Guitarist Uffe Steen was later in the jazz fusion band Kamæleon.

Patrick Vian - Bruits et Temps Analogues (France) 1976 Egg. A long way from Red Noise, this is an eclectic brew with sequencer based electronic music at its base. Was a standard $5 import back in the 1980s, but not around as much anymore.

Vildkaktus - Tidsmaskinen (Sweden) 1970 MNW.
Vildkaktus - Vindarnas Vagar (Sweden) 1971 Polydor. Both albums are like a Swedish Crosby Stills and Nash, especially around CSN's debut. Which means some jazzy sections, that adds flavor to an otherwise bland dish. Also some peppy Yes-like progressions circa "Time and a Word". Lyrics in Swedish add an exotic vibe (for us English speakers anyway). A couple of swell albums here.

Vindication - s/t (USA) 1973 Custom Fidelity. Indiana based Christian progressive rock band. I've had a copy of this for years, so not sure why I didn't have in the reissue wishlist prior. No mistakening its Midwest identity, with those unique bowling alley beer binges meets barbershop quartet harmony vocals. Music is insanely complex for the time and place, and especially for the subject matter. It would seem Ohio's The Load may have heard or known Vindication as well, though they weren't near as complex as their brethren to the West. This one seems to get better with age.

* The Viola Crayola - Music: Breathing of Statues (USA) 1974 Fautna. You know, there are great guitar trio albums and then there's San Antonio's Viola Crayola. This jazzy psych freakout jam album is just remarkable and sounds about 15 years ahead of its time in technique. And fortunately it IS of its era soundwise. This thing just rips and shreds and wahwah's until you collapse from exhaustion. The last 2 minute goofball track allows us to see Viola's mentor - Mr. Zappa. If these guys released this in 1991, there'd be a monthly feature in Guitar Player for him. Unfortunately, Tony Viola died tragically later in 1974. Album is only about 29 minutes long. A bootleg exists.

Virgin's Dream - Sophisty (Germany) 1980 Elm Records. A couple of years ago, I received a package from Rolf Trenkler, former leader of Virgin's Dream. It contained a CD compiled from unreleased demos called "The X-Tapes" and dated primarily from 1972 (and I reviewed it for Gnosis). But there was no mention of this "Sophisty" album (maybe because he wasn't on it)! In fact, I see no similar members between the 2 albums. A similar thing happened with the band Moira, and yet there was a tie-in, just not on album. So this certainly could be the same band. The Krautrock Musikzirkus website lists them together, as a band from Essen. But the history provided is strictly from "The X-Tapes" era. In any case, I never knew of its existence until a good friend of this site recently provided me with a CDR burn. Virgin's Dream, on "Sophisty" at least, are very much a product of the late 70s and early 80s German fusion scene. Perhaps a bit more tropical, and funky, than most. Comparisons to Michael Borner's Sun or some of Syncrises' work wouldn't be out of line. As usual, the guitar work is exemplary, a trademark of the time and place.

%Visitor 2035 - s/t (England) 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.

Adelbert Von Deyen - Sternzeit (Germany) 1978 Sky.
Adelbert Von Deyen - Nordberg (Germany) 1979 Sky.
Adelbert Von Deyen - Eclipse (Germany) 1981 Sky.
Adelbert Von Deyen - Planetary (Germany) 1982 Sky. Von Deyen was one of Sky's more prolific artists, and the above represents only about half of his catalog. Von Deyen primarily performed a typical German electronic music ala Klaus Schulze, though as on "Eclipse", he would mix in a slower paced space rock reminiscent of Pink Floyd. His 1980 album "Atmosphere" has been reissued by Sky, a label that never quite embraced CDs.

Von Zamla - No Make Up! (Sweden) 1983 JA&RO (Exil). My review here: Von Zamla

Vos Voisons - s/t (Canada) 1971 Polydor.

Warm Dust - And It Came to Pass (England) 1970 BASF.
Warm Dust - Peace For Our Time (England) 1971 BASF.
Warm Dust - s/t (England) 1971 BASF. Warm Dust released 4 albums worth of material in two years (first album was a double). When this band is on, they have some of the finest jazz infused prog rock one can ever hear. Somewhere between Nucleus and If. And there are some really beautiful grooves here. Sometimes they're a bit too diverse for their own good, especially in their feeble attempts at free jazz or straight blues rock numbers. But the good outweighs the bad - especially on the first two albums. Bootlegs exist for all unfortunately.

Eddie Warner - Progressive Percussions Vol. 1 (France) 1971 I.M.
Eddie Warner - Progressive Percussions Vol. 2 (France) 1974 I.M. 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. 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.

Warrior - Invasion (England) 1972 private. Demo release. This one has an interesting past and features a well-known 1980s pop star in Howard Jones. Yes, that Howard Jones! I contacted him and spoke with his publicist, who mentioned the album received some coverage in a Record Collector article (a UK specialist magazine). Musically, a mix of early 70s pop rock and long psychedelic journeys with Moog synthesizer and guitar solos. Long album, over 50 minutes. Though I now suspect that my CD-R copy includes some late 1970s demos as well. No CD for this, and I suspect that Jones would just assume keep it that way.

The West Coast Workshop - The Wizard of Oz and Other Trans Love Trips (USA) 1967 Capitol. One of the better exploitation albums you can hear. It's primarily orchestrated pop music geared for a mature adult crowd. That is until they break into these cool long jams featuring flute, tablas/hand percussion and sitars. In the end, you have a "psychedelic" version of the original soundtrack + a handful of originals. Get hip man. Solid. As one online zine (Scram) states it's "easy listening gone horribly awry". Well said.

Wild Wind - s/t (USA) 1975 Sound Triangle. French label Sound Triangle has become all the rage with the "rare groove" crowd, and so I'll include this Miami based group here. I'm always looking for bands with the early Santana sound, and Wild Wind come through in a big way on about half the album. The rest is unfortunately typical Latin pop music. File along with Coke, Toro, Yaqui, Azteca and a host of others.

Windy Corner - The House at Windy Corner (Netherlands) 1973 Deroy.
Windy Corner - Lost Garden (Netherlands) 1998 Buckly (1972 recording). "The House at Windy Corner" is one of the most sought after and expensive albums in the world, with copies known to fetch four figures. Windy Corner play a delicate and sparse folk rock with acoustic guitar, organ and dreamy vocals. One distinguishing characteristic about Windy Corner is the use of harmonium, especially featured on the archival "Lost Garden" album (LP only). Pleasant stuff, one where a reissue will most likely satisfy the curious.

* Womega - A Quick Step (Belgium) 1975 Skruup. Very interesting release. It's an all-over-the-map type album, but all within the confines of what normally constitues progressive rock (rather than the usual kitchen sink that represents all facets of music in general). There's pomp, Canterbury, proto, symphonic, fusion, Zappa. Lots of mellotron and flute, in the most unexpected places. Some parts are more simplistic, giving it a radio friendly sound, and then followed by something entirely difficult and complex. Maybe a little too diverse for its own good, but undeniably fascinating!

Woorden - s/t (Netherlands) 1968 Omega. Freaky jazz / beat poet / psychedelic album - primarily sung / spoken in Dutch, with some nonsensical English. Real underground sounds here. Imagine hitting North Beach circa 1967, and thinking those cats in Haight Ashbury are nothing more than a bunch of peacenik punks who'd run under Mommy's skirt the moment the "pigs" and "fuzz" broke up the party. But these guys would keep on smoking their cigarellos while still vehemently protesting against The Man..... Man.

X-Tet - Premiere Ligne (France) 1981 private. Strange album here. Weird in its construction more than its purpose. Mixture of straight jazz, fusion, electronic and new wave / minimalist synth. A little something for everyone for the early 1980s collector.

Xaal - s/t (France) 1989 cassette. Until recently, I didn't realize Xaal had a debut cassette prior to their two CDs, which I became familiar with upon release. Here, Xaal is more barebones than on subsequent albums. The Zeuhl influence is there, as is a sedated jazz perspective. The ideas aren't quite as developed and the compositions seem like mere skeletons of what they could be. In fact, two of the five tracks will indeed show up on the next two albums, each album claiming one. And indeed they are more fleshed out. Still a pretty adventurous album for the time, and worth seeking out.

Yellow – Keltakuume (Finland) 1975 Finnlevy. Take the blue collar factory hard rock of the US Midwest and move it to Finland, and you have Yellow. Simply substitute the oval patches of Joe and Billy with Timo and Jukka. Mix of Finnish and English language tracks, most not varying too far from the 3 minute mark. Not surprising, but the Finnish sung tracks are the more varied (hard rock, good time psych) while the English ones are more radio friendly rock anthems. Guitar work is the highlight with aggressive moves, solos and loud tone. Extremely rare to find on LP, and not on CD, I’ve only seen a couple of times over the years. Qualifies as a curio piece.

* Yellow Sunshine - s/t (USA) 1973 Gamble. Philadelphia based group recorded one of the best of the Afro psych albums. Strong hard rock edge, that is usually missing in most of these soul-oriented works. In the big leagues with Funkadelic and Mandrill. Band evolved into MFSB, a very fine mid 1970s funk/disco group, that recorded the fantastic 'K-Jee' track, by far the best song on the "Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack. Gamble is one Kenny Gamble and his label was a part of Epic Records. There is a legit LP reissue, but no CD as of yet.

Yog Sothoth - s/t (France) 1984 Cryonic. Like a more free jazz version of the 80s Zeuhl based efforts by Yoch'ko Seffer or Bernard Paganotti. Can get a bit annoying in places.

The Young Brothers - High Energy Rock (USA) 1978 GDS. More aggressive than most Christian rockers. So much so, that I didn't even realize it was one until I saw the song titles. Midwest group (Ohio?), that fits well with others from the area.

Ys - Madame la Frontiere (France) 1976 Philips.

Zanov - Green Ray (France) 1977 Polydor.
Zanov - Moebius 256 301 (France) 1978 Polydor.
Zanov - In Course of Time (France) 1983 SFPP. Only heard "Moebius 256 301" so far. Sequencer based electronic musician, whose real name is Pierre Zalkazanov. Given the one man nature of the recordings, Klaus Schulze would be the obvious influence. Though musically there's more Tangerine Dream "Stratosfear" than "Mirage" or "Blackdance". And surprisingly very little Heldon touches, given how influencial Pinhas was in his own country (at least in the underground). There were very few artists in this field in the late 1970s (today there are hundreds), so Zanov deserves credit for being one of the pioneers. Though from a purely musical perspective, "Moebius 256 301" isn't as well developed as his peers of the day. Still, always nice to hear those fat analog synths battle it out.

Zartong - s/t (Armenia) 1979 Dom. Recorded and released in France. Musically similar to Asia Minor, though a bit more traditional and less symphonic (and like Zartong, Asia Minor also immigrated to France - though from Turkey). This is a raucous fuzz filled party album, with great indigenous melodies and some bonafide progressive rock moves as well.

* Zog - Do ze Funkie Wiz Me (Netherlands) 1983 Disaster Electronics. Entirely unique album from post Het Pandorra Ensemble guys. While still very much a product of the 1980s (song structures, vocal style), Zog also possess a strong admiration for 1960s psych and even the early 70s Krautrock pioneers. Some wonderful acid guitar soling belies its 80s heritage. There's also the occassional reference to their fondness for "Red" era King Crimson, featured more prominently in the Pandorra Ensemble days. About the only other album I can think of that sounds like this is Iskander's "Boheme", another oddity from the 80s. Maybe the best way to describe is to call it 1980s psychedelia, and I don't mean neo-psych, if that makes any sense. Over the years, I've come to appreciate Zog's album more and more, perhaps due to its uniqueness. This, Zog's only album, is a live recording. And at 56 minutes, quite a lengthy album for one disc.

Zyma - Brave New World (Germany) 1979 private. I first heard Zyma on the "Proton 1" compilation that was released by Kerston in 1974, which featured five up and coming new German bands. Of those, Zyma and Sun were the only groups to eventually get a full length LP. And with Zyma, they managed two releases, "Thoughts" and "Brave New World". "Thoughts" was reissued by Garden of Delights a few years back, which allowed me a revisit of that fine album. And now I'm finally returning to hear their followup. Zyma were similar to many of their late 1970s contemporaries, with a strong melodic sense, female vocals, and a slight fusion edge. Groups like Eden, Credemus, Rebekka and Werwolf all come to mind. One significant difference, however, is the use of scat vocals. And she can get quite hysterical at times, which reminded me of early Zao strangely enough. Lots of violin and flute as well. I would expect GoD will eventually reissue this one as well. And it would be worth the effort.

various artists - Posicoes (Brazil) 1971. A live concert featuring Tribo, Modulo 1000, Som Imaginario and a couple of others. Only 22 minutes long, but not a moment wasted. These should be added as bonus tracks to the respective releases of the bands listed.

various artists - Proton 1: Penicillin / Sun / Zyma / Nexus / Andorra (Germany) 1974 Kerston. revisiting soon.

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Long time collaborator Mike M. has provided me a list of other albums I haven't added, and I thought I would add them here until which time I hear them myself. Thanks Mike!

Jose "Chepito" Areas - s/t (USA. ex Santana solo)

Atmospheres featuring Clive Stevens & Friends (USA. 2 LPs - early 70s jazz rock)

Avaric - s/t, Pauvre Sens et Pauvre Memoire, Rotrouenges du Mechant Amour, Stances de l'Impossible (France)

Babel - s/t (France. world-ish psychy stuff a la Atman, Clivage).

La Bamboche - Nee de la Lune (France)

Bayete - Worlds Around the Sun
Bayete Umbra Zindiko - Seeking Other Beauty (USA. strong kozmigroov releases, closer to the Pharoah Sanders side than the electric Miles side)

Ron Berry - Osiris, Wastelands, others (English electronic artist)

Caldera - Second through fourth albums (USA. fiery jazz rock, first and fourth are the best, first one's been reissued (Tom says: Yep - and I have it. Excellent CD!)

Confluence - Four Voyages + other two (France)

Joe Farrell - Upon This Rock, Canned Funk (USA)

Peter Frohmader - Two Compositions (Germany. EP release, the only one of his cool early period not to see a reissue to date)

Giants - s/t (USA. another Santana related item)

Le Grand Rouge - first two (France)

Jan Hammer - Oh Yeah (USA)

Happy Family - Live at Kichojoji 8/23/92, 5/10 (MC) (Japan. legit tape released by the band before the Cuneiforms came out)

Rolf Kuhn/Joachim Kuhn - The Mad Rockers (Germany)

*Teddy Lasry - E=MC2 and Seven Stones (France)

David Liebman - Sweet Hands (USA. Still well within his good early jazz rock period)

Makam es Kolinda - Uton (Hungary)

Maneige - Composite, Montreal 6 AM, Images (Later albums by Quebec fusion group)

Richard Tinti - Osmose (the second LP in the Ariel Kalma set)
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The titles listed below are but a small sample of albums I still need to go through. They are here, but I'm hundreds and hundreds of albums behind. I haven't researched all the titles yet, and some may already be on CD. Or they may even be out of the scope for this list. I won't know until I hear it and do the proper research. A special thanks to friends of this site that have directly provided me copies of some of my wants/curiosities.

Arakontis - Live at the Quasimodo (Germany) 1981.
Bakmak - Out of the Blue (Germany) 1977.
Baracca E Burattini - Hinterland (Italy) 1981.
Claude Barthelemy - Jaune et Encore (France) 1980.
Blow Out - s/t (Norway) 1977 Compendium. Post Moose Loose.
Boomerang - Ornament (Kazakhstan) 1984 Melodia.
Didier Bonin - L'Arbre Vevre (France) 1979.
Didier Bonin - L'Air Lumiere (France) 1983.
Breche - Carapace et Chair Tendre (Canada) 1979.
Jean-Louis Bucchi - Sunflower (France) 1978.
Buki-Yamaz - Segundo (Denmark) 1976.
Chameleon - s/t (Germany) 1979.
Chute Libre - Ali Baba (France) 1978.
Circles - s/t (Germany) 1983.
Circuit Rider - s/t (USA) 1980.
Coincidence - s/t (France) 1978.
Cyklus - Planet of Two Suns (Germany) 1979.
Dada - Jyo (Japan) 1978 Vanity. I have their second album on LP, not sure if it's on CD either.
Einstein in Eden - s/t (Germany) 1982.
Etc - s/t (France) 1979.
Maurizio Fabrizio - Movimenti mel Cielo (Italy) 1978.
Leticia Garcia - Magamaquiaverica em Canturbano (Brazil) 1984 private.
Gebarvaterli - Im Tal der Emmen (Germany) 1978.
Ginbae - s/t (Japan) 1976.
The Jack Hammond Group - Fatal Beauty (USA) 1982.
Heavy Joker - Caesar's Palace (Denmark) 1978.
Horizont - s/t (Sweden) 1978.
Incroyable Jungle Beat - Edelweiss (France) 1984.
Kalavela Orchestra - Abraham's Blue Refrain (Finland) 1979 Crypto.
Lanny MacDowell - Balance of Power (Germany) 1984 Bellaphon. CD reissue long OOP.
Gérard Manset - La Mort d'Orion (France) 1970.
Morning Sky - Sea of Dreams (USA) 1976.
Noa - Trilogic (Japan) 1987.
Ocean - Sunrise (USA) 1982.
Oktagon - s/t (Germany) 1980.
Orpheus - s/t (Canada) 1979.
Oz Quartet - Instant (France) 1984.
Persimfans - Quinta Dimensione (Italy) 1978.
Persona - s/t (Brazil) 1976.
Prazsky Vyber - Zizen (Czech Republic) 1978 Panton.
Reifrock - Unter Einem Hut (Germany) 1981.
Sanctuary - s/t (USA) 1978.
Semaja - Hear My Cry (Germany) 1980.
Serene - s/t (Germany) 1979.
Seventh Temple - Under the Burning Sun (Canada) 1978.
Solaris - Misty Morning (Norway) 1977. w/ Ole G Nilssen.
Solenoid - Almost Tender (USA) 1977.
Solstice - Mirage (Canada) 1978.
Summerhaze - s/t (Australia) 1987.
Sunhouse - s/t (Belgium) 1977.
Topper - At Last (USA) 1977
Yasutaka Tsutsui / Yamashita Yosuke - IE (Japan) 1976.
UHF - Timeless Voyager (USA) 1981 Rofer Music.
Unobstructed Universe - s/t (USA) 1976.
Raymond Winter - Tropic Woods (France) 1981. w/ Didier Lockwood and Jean My-Truong.
Wooden Ear - Fantasy (France) 1978.