Saturday, September 29, 2012

News: Panko (Musik) coming soon on Garden of Delights!

WOO-HOO!! A quick glance over to the Coming Soon list at Garden of Delights shows they are to reissue this album (recorded in 1971 but originally released on cassette in 1983) - officially titled "Weil es so Schön Perlt". We first learned of its existence from Eric over at Mutant Sounds, and added it to the CDRWL back in June of 2009.

We had even mentioned back then: "This would be perfect for a Garden of Delights reissue, especially if the master tapes are still around and could be cleaned up." Could GoD be peeking over at the CDRWL? We have zero evidence that they know of this blog, but whatever the case, we'll be delusional here and take .00001% of the credit.

This is super news, and yet another piece of the grand Krautrock puzzle will eventually be filled in. As always with GoD, remember that albums can sometimes sit for 5+ years on their Coming Soon list. But they are very good about eventually getting them out!

They also will reissue the first two Virus albums. And while both of those have been out on CD legit for many years, these will most certainly be the definitive editions to own. I'll probably consider upgrading. Also for vinyl fiends, they are also planning to reissue "Revelation" on LP as well.

News: Firyuza may be reissued soon on Melodia!

This news comes courtesy of our friend Lev from Russia, and I'll quote what he wrote in Progressive Ears this week: "Earlier this year Melodia celebrated its 50th anniversary. Coinciding with that, they announced that they are going to reissue 50 most wanted items from their catalog. Mind you, this includes audioplays, children's tales and other stuff like that, because having been basically the only music label in the entire country for a good quarter of the century, they naturally had a very eclectic roster of releases. But anyway, three separate polls were run to determine which albums are going to be rereleased. As a music critic, I participated in the critic's poll and added the Firyuza album to a list of works that were put to vote. And lo and behold, it made it into a final top 50 after all votes were counted!" 

Outstanding news and nice to see folks we know adding some influence!

Here's our feature on Firyuza.

Friday, September 28, 2012

Mick Clarke, England

Mick Clarke - Games. 1978 Blubber Lips (Germany)

Another quality album sent in from our friend SF. Clarke's sole work is a fine electronic album in the Klaus Schulze tradition. There are two major breaks from the norm though, and both feature guitarist John Carrick. First is the 'Walls of Night', where Carrick lays down some vicious electric leads over the Moog sequencer runs - in the Richard Pinhas or Edgar Froese tradition. And on 'Time is Now', he adds acoustic accompaniment to great effect. These two additions add greatly to this otherwise standard one man electronic musician show.

Album was recorded in Newcastle, lending credence that Clarke is an English musician. It's anyone's guess how he ended up on the Heidelberg based Blubber Lips label (Pancake, Chameleon, Steve Robinson, etc...).

This is a good one for Berlin School electronic fans.

Priority: 3

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Kyaldan, France

Kyaldan - Breiz. 1978 Arfolk.

Here's another one from our good friend SF. Kyaldan is basically Breton folk meets electric rock. Some of this album, especially early on in, reminds me of Rush oddly enough (?!). I don't use Rush as a reference much. A very interesting album, though probably a bit too Celtic folk oriented for my personal taste. If what I said above excites your imagination, then you're a good candidate for checking this one out!

SF states it better than I when he says: "Housed in a beautiful gatefold cover on the Arfolk label, Kyaldan explores traditional Breton/Celtic themes like the Dead, Merlin the Fishermen lost at sea...What makes this record special to me is the unique blend of vocals harmonies and the electric treatment of Breton Folk along with a powerful rhythm section. I have always been fond of synths mixed with acoustics and this album falls right in my sweet spot.
It is mostly sung in French with two English songs and the title track Breiz in Breton. All listed as original compositions. Kyaldan is a family outfit backed with a core of strong musicians."

Thanks again SF!

Here's a Kyaldan tribute page. Thanks John!

Priority: none

Friday, September 7, 2012

Jack Hammond, USA


Jack Hammond - Open the Doors. 1980 private
The Jack Hammond Group - A Fatal Beauty. 1982 Fatal Beauty Records

moved to UMR

Priority: 3

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Life, England

Life - Life After Death. 1974 Polydor.

There are so many bands out there with the name Life, it's near impossible to keep up. I thought I'd heard them all, but MM had sent this one in this past Spring, and it was one Life that had escaped me.

Side 1 is pretty much all good times rock n' roll with honky tonk piano and party-time themes. But even on these tracks, Life throws in some sophisticated organ breaks and even a little flute. Side 2 dumps the easy life, and focuses more on their serious side. Here, Life demonstrates a strong early Uriah Heep influence. Organ dominates the sound, and there's quite a bit more thought injected into these compositions. Tough album to evaluate. I could go Priority 3 based on Side 2, but probably will keep at None, as the first side is pretty weak IMO.

There's a newly pressed CD out there that just arrived on the market, but honestly it looks dubious to me. I'm more than willing to be proven wrong. Just send me the hard data.

Priority: none

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Après la Pluie, France


Après la Pluie - La Célèbre Ascension Abyssale de Joseph Celsius. 1978 De Plein Vent

Following on yesterday's notes about Theatre Aleph, I figured I should post this album that I had made a reference to - one that MM had sent in a couple of years ago. These are all a bit out my normal scope, but I know there are fans out there. Some exposure is better than none.

Apparently this album is a full story represented in song. As such, it can be unbearably vocal heavy. Lead and sung by Roger Lombardot, the album on the surface at least, has some resemblance to Ange or Mona Lisa or perhaps even La Saga de Ragnar Lodbrock. In fact he wrote the lyrics for at least one Ange track, so the comparison is more than cursory. But the lack of instrumental breaks takes away any chance that non-French speakers will come out with anything but a Parisian Sunday-Morning-Comic-Book reading. Strangely enough, there is some mellotron interspersed that might endure the odd specialist to the album.

Priority: none

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Theatre Aleph, France

Theatre Aleph - La Nuit Suspendue. 1982 Kiosque d'Orphee

This one comes courtesy of our friend SF. He had sent me a batch of rare French albums in the late Spring, so its high time I get some of these out there!

" La Nuit Suspendue" is a theater play set to music. So a bit of a slog if you don't speak French, though there is some wonderful piano, string synthesizer and flute here to enjoy. References include Après la Pluie, Chene Noir, J.A. Seazer, and even Mike Oldfield.

SF further adds: "I was drawn to this record for the cover and also the mythical label...Kiosque d'Orphee who brought us many wonderful obscurities such as Didier Bocquet, Jean Luc Hamonet, Orval, Emeraude, Kennlisch and Rictus to name a few. I had seen it on want lists as well so when I came across it, I bought it.

I did not know what to expect when I put it on. I had done some research and found out that Theatre Aleph was a group of performers started by Oscar Castro in the late sixties in Chile, who was imprisoned in the seventies by the Pinochet government and later exiled in Paris where he created La Nuit Suspendue a stage play put in music by Desiderio Arenas. The play was recognized with an award in 1982. As for the record itself, there's not a lot of information to be found.

Listening to it I found the record original and was quite taken by the play and the different actors coming in and out adding layers upon layers, I have always been partial to concept albums and narrated text on music...this was no exception. I know I am not doing the record justice so you will just have to listen to it and decide for yourself :)"

Thanks SF!

Priority: none

Rayuela, Argentina ***REISSUED***

Rayuela. 1977 Orfeo ***Reissued by Fonocal, Dec 2024 Moved to UMR Priority: 1 3/16/14 (new entry); 12/10/24 (complete)