George Hirota ~ Japan

Sahasurara. 1976 King

UMR review
 

Priority: 2

6/29/09 (new entry)

Mosaik ~ Germany

No.1. 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.

Thanks goes to Heavyrock for this one!

Priority: 2

6/26/09 (new entry)

News: Picap reissues Jazz rock bands Barcelona Traction, Blay Tritono and Musica Urbana

The following jazz rock and jazz funk albums have been reissued by Picap of Spain. The first two, I believe, have never been reissued prior.

Barcelona Traction - s/t. 1975
Blay Tritono - Clot 20. 1976
Musica Urbana - s/t. 1975 (repress)

Ram ~ USA

Where? (In Conclusion). 1972 Polydor

For many years, since I first bought the LP in the late 1980s, I've felt that Ram is one of America's more unheralded progressive rock albums. The first two tracks are straight ahead rockers, almost like Rare Earth or similar US street rock groups. But the last two tracks on Side 1, and especially the 25 minute side long suite 'Aza', show a remarkable progression.

'Aza' is fascinating, as it sounds like synthesizers, or even mellotron, are the dominant instruments. But on a careful listen, you can hear they are using saxes, flutes and contact mics to emulate the synthesized sounds. The electric guitar and fuzz bass are blistering on this track. I find it hard to believe a creative band like Ram doesn't have other similar sounding tracks sitting in a vault somewhere. Can you imagine a CD reissue with one or two extra epics like 'Aza'? For me, that could raise Ram to the very best the US ever put out, especially from the early 1970s.

In researching the group on the Internet, there's very little info. Apparently they're from New York (that may not be the case either - as all we know is the LP was recorded there), and one of the members showed up in a later incarnation of Hot Tuna (maybe).

Any former Ram band members, producers out there who would like to get in touch with me and set the record straight? Anyone out there know more about this group? I sure would like to know more.

Wikipedia says this: "Ram is a musical group that was based in New York City in the United States and was active in the early 1970s. Band members included brothers John and Ralph DeMartino as well as Bob Steeler who later played with Hot Tuna. Many reports state that a mellotron was the instrument used for the spatial and electronic effects of Ram's music. Actually, they were the result of electronic flute and in some cases, tenor alto and soprano saxophones (sometimes played 2 at a time) by John DeMartino. The band produced one album on Polydor in 1972 entitled Where? (In Conclusion). "

Fuzz, Acid & Flowers - American Garage, Psychedelic & Hippie Rock 1964-1975 says: "This heavy progressive album by a New York progressive outfit is becoming rare and in demand. It consists of five long tracks (one occupies the whole of one side). The music's full of complex arrangements, with lots of mellotron and flute as well as some vicious guitar leads."

Band members:

Dennis Carbone - Piano, Tambourine, Vocals
John Demartino - Sax, Flute, Clarinet
Ralph Demartino - Guitar, Vocals
Michael Rodriguez - Bass, Vocals
Steeler - Drums (As it states above, the prevailing opinion is this is Bob Steeler, but maybe not?)

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After all these years, the album remains something of an unknown. The Akarma reissue is extremely iffy. Comes from vinyl without any corroborating data. I own it and will probably keep it until something better emerges. I also have the original LP as noted above (not expensive even these days).

Priority: 1

6/23/09 (new entry)

News: Wounded Bird to reissue Stardrive soon

Stradrive's 1974 self-titled album, sometimes known as "Stardrive featuring Robert Mason" will be coming out soon on the Wounded Bird label.

Kaleidoskop ~ Germany

Kaleidoskop. 1974 Lava

At the crossroad 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. Thanks to Midwest Mike for this one!

Priority: 3

6/21/09 (new entry)

News: Luc Henrion's "Galerie" out in September????

Luc Henrion's highly regarded 1977 album "Galerie" will be reissued on September 15, with many bonus tracks.

March 2011 update: Well, scratch that. Never happened. False alarm from Mauro at Mellow.

January 2013 update: And, now, it has finally been reissued.

News: ProgQuebec to reissue the Sloche albums in September!!

This is an announcement we've been waiting on for some time. Congratulations to Sean and the whole ProgQuebec team. Great news!

"Today, ProgQuebec signed a licensing agreement with Sony Music Canada to reissue the two albums by Quebec-based 1970s symphonic fusion artists Sloche. This agreement is the culmination of close to four years of communication with various groups within Sony in an effort to make a legal, high-quality reissue of these essential progressive rock albums a reality. Both albums, 1975's "J'un Oeil" and 1976's "Stadaconé", will be released on September 15th 2009 and will be available at the 2009 edition of the FMPM.

Originally released on the now defunct label RCA, the masters for these two albums have been located in Sony's archives, and the reissues will be remastered from these tapes. This is ProgQuebec's first licensing agreement with Sony, and follows the 2007 licensed reissues of the Morse Code and early Maneige catalogs from EMI.

Sloche is one of the best-loved 1970s groups from Quebec, having created two albums of exceptional quality inspired by symphonic rock, in particular Gentle Giant, and jazz fusion. The line-up that recorded these two albums was virtually a complete turn-over of the original Sloche line-up, driven by a relentless search for superior musicianship by the conservatory-trained keyboardist Rejean Yacola. While their instrumentals can be compared to groups such as Finch or Gentle Giant, the atmospheric vocal passages on the first album also bring to mind other Quebec groups such as Opus 5 or Morse Code.

Sloche has been one of the most hotly requested progressive rock reissues from any part of the world for over a decade, and has been our top priority for a while. For years, the only way to get this album was to find it on vinyl, or buy unauthorized knockoff pirate releases. It will be one of ProgQuebec's proudest moments when properly licensed and high quality editions of these CDs are finally available. And after 30 years, the members of Sloche will finally start getting paid for their work again.

ProgQuebec also hopes this will be the start of a fruitful relationship with Sony Music Canada, who have the rights to a number of excellent projects that have been largely forgotten by the mainstream markets but are beloved to progressive fans. We intend to pursue further collaborations with Sony Music Canada going forward.

Thank you to everyone who has waited patiently and held off on buying bootleg versions while we pursued this through the proper channels. It has taken a long time to get to this point and we are very excited about it. "

News: Ruphus - Flying Colours has been reissued!

Pan Records, the high quality, but slow releasing Norwegian concern, has reissued Ruphus' 1978 jazz fusion album "Flying Colours".

News: Melodiya Ensemble and Certain Lions and Tigers have been reissued

Thanks to long time friend Alex, we just learned of two reissues, buried under other guises.

To quote Alex:

"Certain Lions & Tigers - (El) Soul Condor was re-issued by MPS as a part (CD1) of 4cd box set: Peter Herbolzheimer - "Big Band Man - The MPS & Polydor Studio Recordings." All the compositions go in the proper order. I have also heard about an earlier cd-re-issue with alternative track order. Never seen it though...

Melodiya Jazz Ensemble – Labyrinth was re-issued (in 2004) by Melodia (Russia) as a beginning part of the compilation: George Garanian - "All that Jazz. " "

Thanks Alex!

Sometimes this is how reissues are done. In fact, I was talking with Mike M the other day about the first Smak album, which was reissued in its entirety under the name "Best of Smak".

Womega ~ Belgium

A Quick Step. 1975 Skruup

UMR review

Priority: 2

6/15/09 (new entry)

Saino ~ France

Saino. 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 haven't heard their second album from 1984 to date.

Priority: 2

6/12/09 (new entry)

News: Sony of Belgium to release the Kandahar albums!

Well as unbelievable as it sounds, Sony Music of Belgium (I didn't even know Sony had a special division in Belgium?) has reissued the first two Kandahar albums "Long Live the Sliced Ham" and "In the Court of Catherine Squeezer". Kandahar were a Belgian group influenced by Zappa and Canterbury, somewhat like Supersister and Pazop, though perhaps more zany like Dr. Dopo Jam. I need to listen to these again!

News: Sireena to begin reissuing albums from Sky Records!

It was bound to happen sooner or later, but it looks like the very German label Sireena (that is to say, they don't bother describing anything in English) have begun to license the more progressive rock leaning albums from the classic post Brain label, Sky Records.

In the next couple of months look for Octopus' classic "The Boat of Thoughts", both Shaa Khan albums, Bullfrog's "High in Spirits", and the Harlis album.

UMR review of Shaa Khan

Perhaps Sireena will be the label that finally penetrates the Schneeball label?

October ~ USA

October. 1979 Charisma Sound Studios

October were 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. 1980 private

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.

Priority: 2

6/7/09 (new entry)

The Viola Crayola ~ USA

Music: Breathing of Statues. 1974 Fautna

UMR review

Priority: 2

6/7/09 (new entry)

Pascal Languirand ~ Canada

Minos. 1978 Kebec

De Harmonia Universalia. 1980 Minos

Vivre Ici Maintenant. 1981 Minos

UMR review

 

Priority: 2

6/5/09 (new entry)

Kraftwerk / Organisation ~ Germany

Organisation - Tone Float. 1970 RCA
Kraftwerk. 1971 Philips
Kraftwerk - II. 1972 Philips
Kraftwerk - Ralf and Florian. 1973 Philips

15 years later and nothing has changed. Kraftwerk themselves are the reason for this. Hence there are dozens of bootlegs. I own the spaceship Vertigo 2xLP of the first two albums and a bootleg CD of Organisation (that includes a cool bonus track). Probably the most obstinate reissues left to go, as they would sell plenty of copy even in this day and age.

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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.

Priority: 2 

6/4/09 (new entry)

Del Jones' Positive Vibes ~ USA

Del Jones' Positive Vibes (psych mix). 1972 Hikeka

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. 'Cold Turkey' has some of the most anguished freaked out madness since John L. on 'Flowers Must Die' from Ash Ra Tempel's "Schwingungen"!

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 is 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!

Priority: 1

Recently reissued as a 2xLP from Now-Again (2023). I own the first LP reissue from 1997. This version still remains without a CD however. The more common version of this album was reissued many years ago on CD.  

6/3/09 (new entry)

Ibis ~ Sweden

Ibis. 1974 Grammofonverket - Europa Film

UMR review

Priority: 2

6/2/09 (new entry)