Random, USA

Random - Nothin' Tricky. 1977 Hell Yes Productions.

I received this tip from my Gnosis friend Lev back in the summer. You can download their entire album from the band directly.

Random are a very interesting avant progressive band from Illinois. Starts off with a disco(?!) track, but you know it's a head fake from the beginning. Mostly the band goes for a chamber music sound, with all sorts of other styles mixed in, most notably jazz. Highly inventive for 1977, and one has to presume Henry Cow were an influence here.

Priority: none

Columbus Circle, USA

Columbus Circle - On Saint John's Eve. 1976 Pharoah (PHA-105)

We still have a few great ones coming in from Midwest Mike, The AC and Strawbsfan, but wanted to get this one out there. This was a recommendation from Moe Curly this past summer, and now I've finally heard it.

Columbus Circle are a very interesting group from Connecticut. Side 1 is a bombastic serious symphony with rock elements thrown in. Almost like a proto-Art Zoyd if you can imagine that. Side 2, on the other hand, is almost the complete opposite and features a more simplistic horn rock sound with female vocals, organ and guitar. The second side of the album is about half a dozen years too late on the pop scene, but I found it the more enjoyable portion. Really strange, almost anachronistic album. Worth seeking out!

Priority: 3

Apprentice, USA

Apprentice - Rough Draft. 1982 Mainstream Records (not the Mainstream Records presumably)

Another good one sent in by Mike. Apprentice could be classified as a straight ahead fusion album, but it has just enough of an edge, especially in the 70's inspired guitar work, to add it here as a featured item. There's no mistaking its 1980s heritage though, especially noticeable in the thin sounding synthesizers, warm bass tones and slick production qualities.

I'm probably going to be peppering more of these types of albums into the main blog as I revisit them. Many are sitting in the main list, but haven't been featured here yet. There seems to be an ever growing audience for late 70s and early 80s fusion. Perhaps its time has come.

There's an excellent review over at Prog Not Frog

Priority: none

Updated post: The Search Party

So a quick glance over at what Vincent is up to at Lion Productions shows that The Search Party is indeed going to be reissued soon! Cool. Look for it in 2012 maybe?

Here's our original feature.

Smoke, USA

Smoke - Everything. 1973 MPS. Released only in Germany.

Here's another one that found its way to my door recently. We haven't focused much on the early 70s jazz / jazz-rock here, but I thought this one crossed the line nicely to our interest area.

"Everything" is a varied, but super cool atmospheric jazz rock album. Freaky in the MPS tradition, though group is California based (rather than German as is often thought). The bass clarinet piece recalls Lard Free on I'm Around Midnight. Speaking of which, lots of great midnight lounge organ sounds. No other album like this one. A kozmigroov classic.

Since this one is on MPS, we can only hope that it ultimately gets reissued with the others from the label (the current reissue series goes in fits and starts).

They have another album from 1970 that I understand to be different (more jazz influenced), though I haven't heard it.

Priority: 3

Toshiyuki Miyama & His New Herd, Japan *** REISSUED ***

Toshiyuki Miyama & New Herd - Tsuchi No Ne (Nippon Densetsu No Naka No Shijou). 1973 Columbia.

There are other albums by the New Herd, but for now, I'll just list this one.

It's been reissued in 2012 by Columbia!

Entry moved over to the UMR.

The Mannheim Rock Ensemble, Japan *** REISSUED ***

The Mannheim Rock Ensemble - Rock Of Joy. 1971 Columbia.

*** Reissued by Nippon Columbia Dec. 2012

While still working through the Midwest Mike stack, I also recently heard from another county: The Alaskan Connection. And he's back with another batch of insane rarities. And most of them are from the mysterious early 70s Japanese underground.

As we stated last year at this time, I feel no other country is harboring more hidden treasure than Japan. Rock Joint Biwa and Toshiaki Yokota's Primitive Community were the highlights from Heavyrock's stash last year. Who knows what this batch will bring, but the first one I heard (this entry) was a lot of fun anyway, though not something we're dying for a CD reissue or anything. The instrumental psych rock sections are excellent though, and the album as a whole is better than you might think at first glance. The AC's hysterical notes below explains the album far better than I ever could. Take it away AC!

"So, during the boom days of the great Japanese New Rock gold rush, many, many exploitation albums were released. Major label bosses, stacks of yen gleaming in their eyes, would corral a well-known studio/jazz musician, sign him to a contract and tell him something like "Here, go and get a bunch of your weirdo hippy friends and record a rock album! What? Original material?! Are you out of your mind? Just do a bunch of show-tunes or something. The kids will love it! By the way, you have 2 days to knock this one out, so I better not see your face outside that studio until Monday! Now get lost!". Well, I don't know if that's how these conversations ACTUALLY went, but it is how I like to imagine them. In any case, most of these things were completely silly and utterly forgettable, as you might imagine. But a precious few times, a mystical thunderbolt appeared from the heavens and struck these poor bedraggled groups of talented musicians with a type of divine inspiration (or temporary insanity), and something magical was born. Well, maybe I'm getting a bit carried away here, but... Anyway, the infamous People "Buddha Meet Rock" is one such example, and here is another. Nobody's certain who actually played on this thing, as despite the extensive liner notes related to the classical pieces themselves, there are no musicians credited anywhere ("Musical credits? Who needs those?! Now take your damn checks and get outta here!"). However, it's almost a certainty that some of the usual suspects were on the job, meaning Akira Ishikawa on drums, Kimio Mizutani or Ryo Kawasaki on guitar (I'm going with Mizutani here based on style), and of course the one and only Yusuke Hoguchi and his magical exploito-organ to really get the party rolling. So, what we have here is obviously rock exploitation covers of classical music. But to leave it at that would never do this album justice. No, you just can't properly understand the true beauty of classical music until you've heard it played as crazed early 70's Japanese psych/prog full of blasting fuzzed-out wah-wah guitar solos, vintage organ assaults, and a fat, thumping rhythm section (including the wholly incongruous but oddly effective use of congas). There's even a couple of more mellow tracks, backed by a real string quartet, for you fussy types that might want to listen to some "real" classical music. Whatever, man. All things considered, this is probably one of the most entertaining albums you'll hear (or not hear, as the case may be) any time soon. Of course, it should go without saying that this thing is rare beyond belief, only a few copies known to exist, almost totally unknown, yadda yadda yadda. ("How did it sell?! Don't make me laugh! We decided to print up around 50 copies, but we gave most of them away to the secretaries at the office Christmas party, and... What's that? You want one copy to show your wife and kids?! What do you think this is, a charity?! Now get back in the studio and don't let me see your mug again until next Friday!") Sadly, an album of this ilk is unlikely to ever see a legit (or even non-legit) reissue, but the People album did, so hope springs eternal! (maybe...)."

Priority: none

Tony Palkovic, USA

Tony Palkovic - Deep Water. 1980 Deep Water Records.

And, as you'll see below, guitarist Tony Palkovic has a couple of other 1980s albums. I've only heard this title.

Throwing this one out there for you fusion fans who are looking for new items to uncover. Mike sent this along with the batch, and it's definitely worthy of consideration. The one element of Palkovic's music I enjoyed is the heavy use of electronic-music styled synthesizer within the usual guitar fronted jazz rock instrumental setting. The guitar tone is a bit too light for me to sink my teeth into, and it's not exactly a tear-up session ala Bill Connors on "Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy". But that's not the purpose of the album I'm sure. Apparently Palkovic is an artist who has received great praise from the guitar playing community. The below segment is taken directly from Palkovic's own website. Best I can tell, none of his 1980s works are available, and the original LPs currently sport a high price tag.

"Praised by the prestigious Guitar Player and 20th Century Guitar Magazines, Tony Palkovic has performed in clubs and concert halls including the BET television network... He studied music and film for six months at Columbia College in Chicago before transfering to Berklee College of Music in Boston where he spent the next four years finishing with a Bachelors Degree in Composition... After graduating, he started leading his own band playing jazz-fusion in the Midwest, but eventually moved to Los Angeles which has been his home since 1983... In 1980, Palkovic released his first album "Deep Water" which made many Top 10 lists for airplay on Jazz Radio stations all over the U.S. , Canada and eventually in Europe. This led to the recording of his second album "Every Moment" following the same path in '83, "Born With a Desire" in ’85...

...If you haven't yet heard Tony Palkovic's brand of music, you don't know what you're missing - Guitar Player Magazine"

Priority: none

Pollen, Belgium

Pollen - Ry d'Oxhe. 1978 Beo.

Another album I sold from my first Creativity & Chaos mail order catalog in 1995. And like The Machines Have Landed, it was something I didn't have a copy of. So Mike sent it along with the others. It's not something I regret selling, but it's good to have for the archives.

Pollen's sole album is an odd combination of Dylan-esque street folk, depressing blues and dramatic Ange inspired progressive rock - all sung in French. A bit outside my interest area, but there's some challenging and compelling music to be found here. Worth seeking out for a couple of listens.

Priority: none

Wolfgang Duren, Germany

Wolfgang Düren - Eyeless Dreams. 1980 WPL.

Back in the 1980s, there used to be a really cool store here in Dallas called The Record Gallery that stocked all sorts of European imports, with a strong slant towards the avant garde. Electronic music was one of the specialties of the owner (who now lives in Portland and still sells on ebay). It was here that I discovered bands like Ashra, Heldon and many others. Oh, and he sold original art paintings as well - thus the name of the store.

I remember seeing Wolfgang Düren's sole album back then, but there was just too much for me to still discover, and this one looked a bit synth-poppy to be honest. But it's nothing of the sort. Mike sent this along as he thought I'd enjoy it, and as usual he was right.

Eyeless Dreams is a solid entry for those into 1970s Berlin School sounds. Sequencers and synthesizer solos are the order of the day. Lots of Klaus Schulze, some Adelbert von Deyen and even a little Kraftwerk. Since I'm fond of the genre, this is an easy one for me to recommend.

Priority: 3

(9/29/2012 update: I now own the original LP. As such, I've attached the correct cover which is silver - not white. As well, there isn't a date anywhere on the LP itself. It's generally attributed to 1980, however the only notes I could find on the internet is that it was recorded in the late 1970s. )

Mike Warren + Survival Kit, USA

Mike Warren & Survival Kit - Please Yourself First. 1978 Dobre Records.

Ah, we found a little more gold here. Maybe not as exciting as the Werkhoven (for me), but this one is almost certainly going to put the fusion fans in a lather.

Another completely new name for the CDRWL, Warren's sole album is a fine mix of typical late 70's fusion (side 1) with a more ferocious side 2, bordering progressive rock and even includes some psychedelic guitar. Progressive rock laced fusion with acid guitar is one of my favorite mixes. And this has to be the only jazz rock album I've heard that uses timpani extensively. Overall a mixture of Pierre Moerlin's Gong, Colosseum II, Randy Roos and Frank Zappa. I'm sure the latter was a major influence and one hopes Frank's outlook is the inspiration behind the title of the album. Otherwise, a rather unfortunate choice of words.

In looking for the album, it appears there's already some buzz about it in the jazz rock collecting world. It's easy to see why, as this one separates itself from the norm of the day. I could see Modulus going for this one.

Priority: 3

Henk Werkhoven, Netherlands

Henk Werkhoven - Orphical Positions. 1982 VMU.

I'm reporting from down here in the mine, and we already struck gold! The Midwest Mike stash has already paid off.

Prior to Mike sending this over, I'd never even heard of Henk Werkhoven. But once I saw the album cover, I was intrigued. After hearing this once, I bought an LP on the spot. You can read about Mr. Werkhoven here. Another one of those Renaissance guys, constantly in creativity mode, yet few know who he is or what he does. As you read the bio, you could come away thinking this is a new age album. Couldn't be further from the truth.

Basically "Orphical Positions" is good old fashioned instrumental progressive rock lead by flute, violin and guitar (acoustic and electric), along with exotics like sitar. A crack rhythm section keeps the proceedings moving along at a crisp pace. At once I'm reminded of Camel's "Snowgoose" and Rousseau's"Flowers in Asphalt". But I also hear Anthony Phillips, Kenso, Flairck, Coda and Verdaguer. A very fine release, and definitely a new discovery for the CDRWL.

Apparently this is one of those albums reissued by the Dutch company Fonos. Basically you can walk up to the Fonos offices, hand them your LP and they'll go off and make a custom CD (or CD-R? I'm not sure). And of course they'll make a handful to sell to others to cover costs. And they'll obtain the rights first. It's a totally legit operation, but not the kind of CDs we want to see here (master tapes, liner notes, bonus tracks, etc...). This would be a perfect fit for a label like Musea.

Priority: 2

White Wing, USA

White Wing - s/t. 1976 ASI.

I recently got back into the Asia (Rapid City, South Dakota) albums that were diligently reissued on CD by Michael Piper / The Wild Places back in 1995. While reading the liners, I had forgotten that the precursor to that band was White Wing, an album I heard way back when and completely forgot about (didn't even have it rated anywhere). So I asked Midwest Mike to send along a copy to revisit. Of course he has it! Mike has everything (well just about!).

There's nothing really special about White Wing. It's pretty much a mix of hard rock and AOR styles with some good organ runs and mellotron strings. Recorded in the same studio as the Minnesota group Cain, and there are some similarities regarding the hard rock aspects. Not at the same level as the successor band Asia, especially Armed to the Teeth, but an album worth hearing a couple of times for certain.

Priority: none

The Machines Have Landed, Canada

The Machines Have Landed - Part One. 1981 North Shore Records.

The Machines Have Landed (aka Machines) is an interesting mix of spoken word, space rock via the mid 70's Pink Floyd lens, and early 80s synth-pop. Somewhat like the Body Album from England, mixed with the Human Adventist Concept and FM. I had this album years ago, and sold it. Not something I'm actively looking for someone to press on CD, but an interesting artifact all the same. Special thanks to Midwest Mike who gave me a chance to hear this album for the first time in 16 years!

Priority: none