Update: Italian box sets are out

Earlier in the month we had been a bit dismayed by the fact that the only way to buy the new Sensations Fix CDs, is to buy the box sets with 5 other releases, most of which have been already reissued (many times).

Well, the good news is that the box sets are only $45 each. At that price point, they make more sense, especially considering that all of these have been newly remastered. They do come with sleeve inserts, as suspected, so they aren't something one would sell or buy individually.

Pyranha ~ Switzerland

Pyranha. 1972 Epsilon

Pyranha's sole album sounds 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 ('Time 13'), a misguided improvisation that seems to serve no purpose whatsoever. 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 as a Priority 3. A fascinating listen though.

Priority: none

***Reissued on LP by Flow Motion 2013

10/31/09 (new entry)

Round House ~ Germany

'Scuse Me. 1972 Harvest

Down to Earth. 1973 Harvest

UMR reviews

Priority: 2

10/29/09 (new entry)

Von Zamla ~ Sweden

No Make Up! 1983 JA&RO

UMR review

Priority: none

10/26/09 (new entry)

Windy Corner ~ Netherlands

The House at Windy Corner. 1973 Deroy

The House at Windy Corner is one of the most sought after and expensive albums in the world, with copies fetching deep into 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. 

Priority: none

***Reissued on LP by Sommor in 2014

10/24/09 (new entry)

Xaal ~ France

Xaal. 1989 private (MC)

One their debut 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 claiming one. And indeed they are more fleshed out than on this cassette. Still, Xaal in their formative years is worth seeking out.

Priority: 2

10/23/09 (new entry)

Zyma ~ Germany

Brave New World. 1979 private

I first heard Zyma on the Proton 1 compilation that was released by Kerston in 1974, which featured five new up and coming 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. 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.

---  

This album has been on Garden of Delights Coming Soon list for well over a decade. It's still there indicating they probably will reissue it at some point.

Priority: 3

10/22/09 (new entry)

Zartong ~ Armenia

Zartong. 1979 Dom. Recorded and released in France.

Musically similar to Asia Minor, though a bit more traditional and less symphonic. Zartong is a raucous fuzz filled party album, some of it dare I say is "danceable", with great indigenous melodies and some bonafide progressive rock moves as well. Mixes traditional Armenian instruments into a standard rock setting. 

Priority: 2

10/21/09 (new entry)

X-Tet ~ France

Premiere Ligne. 1981 F.L.V.M.

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.

Priority: 3

10/20/09 (new entry)

Warm Dust ~ England

And It Came to Pass. 1970 Trend

Peace For Our Time. 1971 Trend

Warm Dust. 1972 BASF

UMR review

Priority: 2 (for the first two albums)

10/19/09 (new entry)

Talix ~ Germany

Spuren. 1970 Vogue

In short: A German psych album (not to be confused with Krautrock). The music found here 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 those Canadian psych rockers The Plastic Cloud. Overall for this style in Germany, better than the more known Bokaj Retsiem. Talix is pre-Pinguin.

Priority: none

10/17/09 (new entry)

Saga ~ Netherlands

To Whom It Concerns. 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. Countless bands on the labels such as SI, 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. 

Priority: 3

10/16/09 (new entry)

News: Sensations Fix to be reissued (sort of)

The good news: We are finally going to have an opportunity to own two of the best Sensations Fix albums on CD! The bad news: In what can only be considered aggravating, you can only get them with albums that have ALREADY BEEN AVAILABLE FOR MANY YEARS. I cannot even imagine the thinking behind this. Sensations Fx would sell well enough without the assistance of other albums. And anyone who already has the others, aren't going to buy these to obtain 1/6 of the package price. I suppose the second box set isn't as bad, since you can also pick up the rare Carnascialia album, that has been OOP on CD forever.

So here are the packages:

"Boxset Vol. 1: Featuring 6 CDs among the best known names in italian progressive rock of the seventies. For some of the titles this is the first release on CD.
All masters have been digital remastered by Maurizio Biancani at Fonoprint in Bologna.

Balletto di Bronzo - YS
De De Lind - Io non so da dove vengo
Jumbo - Vietato ai minori di 18 anni
Sensations' Fix - Portable Madness
Latte e miele - Passio secundum Mattheum
Mauro Pelosi - Al mercato degli uomini piccoli"

(I'll say this for it - WOW, what a package!! The first 5 in this list are in my Top 10 of Italian prog albums! I think the Pelosi is making its debut on CD as well. (Nope! Nobuhisa is keeping me honest here - turns out Si-Wan reissued this in the late 1990s))

"Box Set Vol. 2: Featuring 6 CDs among the best known names in italian progressive rock of the seventies. For some of the titles this is the first release on CD.
All masters have been digital remastered by Maurizio Biancani at Fonoprint in Bologna.

Locanda delle fate - Forse le lucciole non si amano più
Sensations' Fix - Finest Finger
Ibis - Ibis
Roberto Cacciapaglia - Sei note in logica
G. Vivaldi/P.Minieri - Carnascialia
Stradaperta - Maida vale"

(Definitely a lesser package with only the first two being essential (and the former is easy to find). As mentioned prior, the rare Carnascialia is part of this package, so that's nice. I'm not familiar with Stradaperta).

I believe these are being released in Japan. (As Ken clarifies in the comments, they are being released in Italy and will be available for a budget price. Thanks Ken!)

Quel Giorno di Uve Rosse ~ Italy

Quel Giorno di Uve Rosse. 1976 PCC (Pro Civitate Christiana)

UMR review

Priority: none

10/14/09 (new entry)

P. P. Zahl ~ Germany

P. P. Zahl - Alle Türen Offen. 1978 Antagon

UMR review

Priority: 3

10/13/09 (new entry)

News: Stud - SWF Session 1972 (Long Hair)

When it comes to cool artifacts from the past, no one turns up more interesting items than the Long Hair label of Germany. Here's the latest, from the English band Stud (who were based in Germany by then, like Nektar and Odin), which should be released before the end of the year.

Long Hair says: "Another true classic from the SWF (German Radio Station) vaults comes with the STUD recordings from summer 1972. At that time the STUD members had said "farewell" to their English record label Decca and spent most of their time on the Continent, mainly in Germany where they were rather successful. With John Weider on violin and guitar they had just an album (September) out on BASF and played a lot of Club gigs and festivals. During their 1972 tour they were invited by radio station SWF to play a recording session at radio stations main studio U1 in Baden-Baden. There were two sessions that took place in April and Mai 1972. STUD recorded titles from their first and second album but varied the material to give the recordings a special claim. From hard rocking "Good Things", to fourteen minutes epic title "Horizon" and shining ballad "Make Me High" these recordings are an impressive prove of the bands musical bandwidth and the bandmembers' excellent technical skills. CD comes with band story. Digitally remastered from the original tape. For the first time on CD. Don't miss it."

Machine ~ Netherlands

Machine. 1970 Polydor 

UMR review

Priority: 3

10/10/09 (new entry)

Lacewing ~ USA

Lacewing. 1970 Mainstream

Lacewing is one of the rarest and most collectible albums on Mainstream. Based in Kent, Ohio, this album was released near the time of the Kent State shootings, 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 collectibility of this rarity.

Priority: none

10/09/09 (new entry)

News: Esoteric's October and November reissues

From Vicky Powell:

"Our October remastered releases are all dropping in to the office now . Details of tracklistings can be found on the Esoteric website www.esotericrecordings.com

These are as follows

Tony Banks-A Curious Feeling-2CD deluxe with 5.1 surround mix and promo footage and interview with Tony
Tony Banks-A Curious Feeling -standard edition

Quite a lot of interviews with Tony were done for promotion and no doubt will be popping up shortly as well as on the various Genesis specific web sites.

Barclay James Harvest-Sea of Tranquility-3CD polydor years mini box set with extended booklet and lovely artwork.

Camel-Nude-extended
Camel-I Can see Your house from here-extended
Camel-Pressure Points-extended

Steve Swindells-Messages

Igginbottom-Iginbottoms Wrench-
Stray Dog-Stray Dog (our Manticore imprint)
Stray Dog-While Youre Down there (our Manticore imprint)

Novembers titles as follows-tracklistings will be up on the site as of 1st November but if anyone desparately wants them in the meantime please email me

Pete Sinfield-Still (2Cd with large amount of alternative mixes etc) on Manticore imprint

Flash-Flash

Peter Banks-Both sides of Peter Banks

Sweet ok supersister-Spiral Staircase

Darryl Way-Concerto for Electric Violin

Made In Sweden-Made in England

Robert Calvert-Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters (will not be any different to the Eclectic release in early 2007--just made re available)"

Katamaran ~ Germany

Katamaran. 1977 Plane

Cafe Florian. 1978 Plane

Footprints. 1980 Plane

UMR review

Priority: 2

10/8/09 (new entry)

News: Musea releases Acanthe (archival)

It's been a long time since Musea has released anything from the 1970s. Here we don't have a reissue, but a very intriguing looking archival release, which I was unfamiliar with until today. Certainly one I'm interested to learn more about.

Musea says: "From the beginning, one of Musea's aim has been to re-release major French Progressive rock albums from the Seventies. The French album was proud enough to create digital versions of works by ATOLL, MONA LISA or ANGE, together with more obscure, but talented bands. How many others existed during that period, composed and performed live, without leaving any discographical trace ? ACANTHE was one of them: a group from the Grenoble area, it existed from 1973 to 1977. Thanks to Frédéric LEOZ, the original writer and composer, some original tapes were recently re-discovered, leading, after a lot of re-working effort, to "Someone Somewhere" (Musea, 2009). This release is kind of a miracle for every French Progressive rock and Seventies lover: the music of ACANTHE, although never released before, easily takes place among the best French bands of this period. It reveals influences from PINK FLOYD, GENESIS, KING CRIMSON, ANGE or THE DOORS (Some organ parts especially), but offers a personal music, mixing instrumental and sung sequences, in English or French. Well played, refined and worked-out, with beautiful guitar solos and suggestive keyboards, "Someone somewhere" is intense, full of musical ideas and inspiration. Let's also mention a recording sound many current bands would have been proud of. A must-have."

Jessica ~ Germany

Jessica. 1975 Knoterich

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.

A nice title, in league with bands like Tetragon and Hax Cel.

Priority: 3

10/7/09 (new entry)

Indigo ~ Germany

Meer der Zeit. 1977 Haddenhall

Germany's Indigo - not to be confused with the Austrian post-Kyrie Eleison pop group - were a melodic progressive rock band that seem to be clearly influenced by Novalis, maintaining the slower pace, with plenty of organ, early polyphonic synths, fine nice electric lead guitar, and spacey vocals defiantly sung in German. Other references include mid to late 1970s Pink Floyd, Faithful Breath's Fading Beauty, Fly, and Minotaurus. 

Die Angel Im Gras. 1979 Stall-Studio

UMR review

Herbstwind. 1982 Stall-Studio

Priority: 3

10/6/09 (new entry)

Gash ~ Germany

A Young Man's Gash. 1972 Brain

UMR review

Priority: 2

One of the very last classic Brain albums still not reissued.

10/2/09 (new entry)

The Great Imperial Yo-Yo ~ England

Blink. 1992 private (MC)

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.

Priority: 3

10/1/09 (new entry)