Elohim, France

Elohim - A l'Aube du Verseau. 1975 Philips

Another one from Thursday night's CD-R revisit program. Had this in the main list, and it's one that has grown on me over time. It's much more progressive than it appears on initial impact.

Screwball rock / folk / progressive album that is part theatrical, part glee club, part hippy dippy mysticism. Dual male/female vocals dominate the proceedings, but this isn't a traditional folk album by any stretch of the imagination. The instrumental sections definitely come off the bench in relief, but are creative enough to warrant a few listens. If you're looking for something entirely unique, this may fit the bill. Different Elohim than the 1983 neo prog group, which was reissued by Musea years ago.

Priority: 3

Nya Ljudbolaget, Sweden

Nya Ljudbolaget - s/t. 1981 MNW

This title came up via the CD-R revisit project. Not a favorite style of mine, but I know many of you would like to see this one reissued.

Very much a product of the Swedish Progg (note spelling) MNW label, Nya Ljudbolaget carries a blend of late era Archimedes Badkar, along with Arbete och Fritid and Samla Mammas Manna - the latter two each featuring representatives on the album. One track is even called 'Ramlösa mammas fritid', a giveaway if there ever was one. In effect, it's a world music / jazz hybrid, where India and the Middle East meets the West via the avant garde. Features some fine flute, hand percussion, and cello amongst the usual melodic and free blow saxophone/trumpet. Vocals are sung in the always lovely Swedish tongue. Albums like this tend to rate well, but personally I find them somewhat academic and highbrow. I prefer some dirt with my music. All the same, a pleasant listen, especially if inclined towards the genres and bands mentioned above.

Priority: none

Agharta, Canada

Agharta - s/t. 1980 Jam

While on the topic of obscure fusion, let's cover off on this one that Midwest Mike sent me years ago. It's been in the main list since then, but I do think it's worthy of its own feature. On reflection, it's a fine album, falling just a smidge onto the other side of the Priority fence.

Agharta's sole album can be summarized as a light and breezy instrumental fusion work with piano and various woodwinds (sax, clarinet, flute). Lead by keyboardist Jacques Mignault (and released on his own label) with the help of other local Quebec jazz musicians, most notably Michael Seguin. Very much a product of its day, with strong overtones of same era Weather Report and Spyro Gyra. The flute, piano, and odd electronic piece give it a warmth perhaps missing in similar type efforts. Well done for the style. Neat cover art.

Quick update: The AC commented that he remembered this one being reissued on CD. And he found a couple of (expensive) copies on Amazon. It appears to have been solely distributed through CD Baby from 2006. And many of those were just CD-R's, so we're not sure if this was factory pressed or not, since it's long gone (and not mentioned on any of the discography sites). So we'll leave the post as is for now.

Priority: none

Bellvista, USA

Bellvista - The Painter. 1982 En Route Records

Moved to UMR

Priority: 2

Natdamperen, Denmark

Natdamperen - s/t. 1975 Abel

moved to UMR

Priority: 3

It should be noted that Natdamperen went on to release two other albums, but with one of them named Boogieman Eats Frikadeller, and considering the above review, I think I can pass unless someone convinces me different.

Jiro Inagaki and His Soul Media, Japan ***REISSUED***

Dousojin (Yabunirami Minyoukou). 1972 Columbia

***Reissued by Columbia May 2015

Moved to UMR

Here are the details from the AC, with his usual fantastic review:

"Nippon Columbia: NCB-7017 (Adventure In Sound series), 1972, Japan

Jirou Inagaki & Soul Media (Music) Yasushi Sawada (Vocals) Yasuhiro Koyama (Composer, Arranger)

Side 1: 1 - Inanome 2 - Kigishi 3 - Susomi 4 - Kusakahi 5 - Arisobe

Side 2: 1 - Tabute 2 - Sasara 3 - Yabunirami No Isan

Saxophonist and band leader Jirou Inagaki was a familiar face to Japanese jazz audiences in the 1970s, putting in countless hours as a studio session man, collaborating with most of the other big names on the scene, and fronting his own group, the Soul Media. Their early 70s catalogue is a real mixed bag of serious jazz (including collaborations with luminaries such as Masahiko Satoh and Hiromasa Suzuki), exploitation/covers LPs and a few albums worth of easy-going jazz-funk, such as "Head Rock" and "Woodstock Generation", which unsurprisingly later found favor with the hipster DJ types, leading to easily available CD reissues. However, in the midst of all this they also produced one album that should hold great interest to fans of progressive and psychedelic rock. Would it surprise you to hear that it also just happens to be horrendously rare and virtually unknown? No, I didn't think so. In any case, "Dousojin" (a type of Shinto fertility deity, often depicted on stone statues such as those seen on the album cover) is yet another attempt at fusing traditional Japanese music with "New Rock", in this case an interesting fusion of prog/psych and a uniquely Japanese sort of folk-rock. The songs, arranged by composer Yasuhiro Koyama (who also penned one side of Toshiyuki Miyama's "Tsuchi No Ne", another of Columbia's "Adventure In Sound" albums), are all actually variations and elaborations on traditional Japanese "minyou", old folk songs known to people all across Japan for countless generations. The whole album flows very nicely, running seamlessly from solemn folky songs to fuzz-guitar and piano led progressive pieces and back again, always maintaining a deeply Japanese atmosphere. The musicianship and production are both top-notch, as well. Another of Japan's truly excellent "lost" albums, terribly rare and barely known even in its own homeland. Hopefully a proper CD reissue will rescue this from obscurity someday, as I believe it could have wide appeal to fans of prog/psych, folk-rock, and enthusiasts of Japanese music in general."

Priority: 3

1/5/12 (new entry); 5/20/15 (complete)

PBX, USA

PBX - Milktoast Repose/Gangplank. 1978 Collage Records

moved to UMR

Priority: 1  

Manzanita, USA

Manzanita - Pirate Lady. 1979 private

Back to the rare AC stash that was recently sent in. Wow - what a cover! If I had run across this LP at a store, I would have bought it immediately, and asked questions later. So AC, what is it? "San Diego based group's sole release of pleasant instrumental fusion. Melodic sax and electric piano are the main ingredients here. Tends towards the smooth side, but has just enough compositional interest to keep you listening. Another one of those obscure private fusion LPs that boasts surprisingly excellent production values."

I'll admit this one was too jazz-light-fusion for me. Certainly easy to listen to, even though it's not pushing any of my buttons. As we know, though, there's a large audience for this sound, and the AC is zeroed in tight with it, so this is one of those times you probably need to ignore my comments (perhaps good advice in any event). For fans of high quality, yet smooth, fusion.

Priority: none

TCB, USA

TCB - Open for Business. 1970 Traffic

moved to UMR

Priority: 3

Myrth, USA

Myrth - s/t. 1969 RCA

Here's a title that would have been certain to be part of the CD-R revisit project, but I bought the LP in the meantime, and thus it gets its debut ahead of that. It's a relatively common album, but finding one without a cut corner, saw cut, or any other such damaging mark proves to be quite a challenge. I finally found one, and in fact the cover above is that copy.

Near the bottom of the main CDRWL post, I have a number of horn rock bands clumped together. These are albums that I haven't featured yet, and perhaps some will never be, as they aren't very good IMO. But Myrth is certainly worth further consideration.

I'd say within the horn rock spectrum, Myrth tracks closest to Ides of March. The vocals are gruff, and the music is hard charging. The horns are tight and well charted. And, yes, there's a commercial slant to some of the material, that is wonderfully offset by more progressive leanings. This is exactly the style of music you'd find on Ides of March's "Vehicle", a much under appreciated album in my eyes. It remains debatable if the horn rock era will ever find a new fan base after its initial run. But if it does, Myrth should be an early consideration. I would be a first day buyer.

I haven't been able to discern where Myrth originated. The album was recorded in Hollywood, and it would seem given the logistics of a large ensemble, that southern California would be the logical source. But I've also found references to Utah and Arizona, that are possible but not conclusive. More great info about the band can be found here, where I queried about the location of the group. As you can see, it remains inconclusive.

Priority: 3

Pandora, Sweden

Pandora - Measures of Time. 1974 SMA

moved to UMR

Priority: none

Azabu Ongaku Shudan, Japan

Azabu Ongaku Shudan - s/t. 1971 private

And now we arrive at the serious rarity hinted at a few days ago. I tried every database trick in the book, including image recognition and kanji translations, and could not find one thing about this album. As we know with Japanese albums, it's not uncommon for a name to take hold even if it's entirely incorrect. And the AC always give us the correctly translated version, so I thought maybe I'd find an erroneous entry somewhere. But alas, I did not. So it appears we are introducing the world to this most intriguing album. As stated here on the CDRWL before, Japan is the final frontier for super rare / unknown albums from the original psychedelic and progressive rock time frame. Sure... Germany, England, and our own beloved United States seem to still be harboring some undiscovered gems (Metaphysical Animation perhaps the greatest of them all), but it is in Japan where we continue to find the most unknowns. And where we often find the AC doing his deepest exploration.  Before reading one sentence, I started listening to the album. The first track is heavily influenced by 1968 era Chicago Transit Authority, which is a really good thing in my book. Then there's some random messing about in the studio, with some chamber/classical bits, and in comes a guitar freakout - and once again Terry Kath leaped to straight to mind. What is this anyway? Off to the notes I went...

"This large "group" was actually an amateur musical collective from the exclusive Azabu section of Tokyo who recorded this singular document of avant-psych freakout and then dispersed back into the void. Things get underway with a blast of driving brass rock-esque jazzy psych, before some spacey classical flute leads into a weird piano and percussion motif that repeats over and over, starting again just as you think it's finally done. You can tell that they're just trying to mess with your mind at this point. Soft acoustic folk-psych follows, but is disrupted by a noisy outburst and radio speech that is swallowed up in ominous avant-garde piano dissonance. A brief flute interlude precedes a headlong dive into wild garage psych, morphing into a full-on psychedelic jam with organ and absolutely insane fuzz guitar soloing. Quietly, a rising chorus of birdsongs emerges, backing a return to the gentle acoustic folk guitar and flute heard previously. But then, a strange surge of fluttering electronics heralds a chaotic collage of Japanese phone conversation, backed by a sinister electronic dirge. Clattering percussion rises from this seething mass, heralding an onslaught of pounding rhythms, droning horns and destructive psych guitar, with wisps of strange noise and moaning in the raging storm. Abruptly, the haunting acoustic folk psych and flute cut in, ending the chaos in a moment of zen. This is a truly harrowing piece of music, encapsulating the bad acid freakout visions you're glad you never had. Unfortunately, side two can't keep up this kind of all-out delirium, and the group's roots as a large-scale amateur music collective come to the fore, with some strange and inept jazz and folk songs, rambling detuned jazz bass and piano, and even a lengthy late night jazz club jam session. However, a few moments of interest are still lurking within. A couple of somewhat experimental classical piano and flute pieces, and a very Third Ear Band-esque number with percussion, flute and droning strings are the highlights, and the album closes with one final brass rock/orchestral blast with bleeping electronics to come full circle. Privately pressed in micro quantities and still only known to a few hardcore Japanese collectors, this album, while by no means a consistent masterpiece, is still an essential snapshot of authentic psychedelic freakout on the outer fringes of the era's underground scene."

This is one of those albums that really strikes a chord because of the time and place. Truly a group stretching the boundaries of what was known - very much a product of 1971, an era when this mentality was the norm rather than the exception. The highs go really high here, and so the corresponding down time is more tolerable. Because there's some serious payoff action to witness. Always a hallmark of an album worth repeated listens. And, as such, I christen this a:

Priority: 3

Zone Time, Japan

Zone Time - s/t. 1976 private

So here's the first of two albums we are introducing to the world (this week, that is...) - or at least I think we are! Of the two, this one is definitely more mundane (relatively speaking), but still worthy of discovery. Tomorrow we have a real humdinger. (Note that the term "humdinger" has now officially been sighted in the CDRWL). The AC tells us: "Very obscure private press LP by a group of Keio University students. An extremely long (almost 55 minutes) and well-produced album that's all over the map musically, from keyboard driven semi-prog to ultra-heavy guitar psych/hard rock, soft rock, crooning balladry, etc. It's like they took every idea from the early/mid 70s rock scene that they could think of and tried to cram it in here. Quite inconsistent obviously, but with some real moments of interest. The guitar work stands out in particular, with some excellent psych and hard rock style soloing. Sort of fascinating, but it will probably try your patience by the end. Beautiful cover art, and comes with a nice booklet."

Can't add much to this. A diversified album, with an obvious background of the great acts of the day, perhaps once again The Beatles being a primary influence here, despite the late date. It is indeed more 70s rock than 60s psych, but in effect, the kitchen sink mentality is at play here. And do I hear some Peter Frampton in these grooves? Why I think I do! 55 minutes is an extraordinary length for the era. Perhaps too much so.

Priority: none

News: Collusion to be reissued on Audio Archives

I'll be honest and state upfront that a lot of these Audio Archives discoveries of the past few years have been disappointing. I actually thought this was another archival release, but it appears to have been released in 1971 on the SRT label. Guessing SRT to be some sort of custom pressing plant, similar to our own RPC. In any case, I couldn't find any evidence of the original vinyl, have never seen one for sale, and it hasn't been on ebay before. Which means little of course, just data points.

Having said all of that with a pall of doom, I do have to admit this album looks to be intriguing. It certainly reads that way in any case. We'll keep an open mind, and hope to be pleasantly surprised.

Label says: "Reissued on compact disc, this is a genuine prog rock obscurity from 1971, originally released in a tiny run on the custom SRT label. Collusion was a Dagenham-based six piece with twin guitars and interwoven male/female vocals as the main ingredients. Expect hard-edged prog-rock with tasty folk and jazz elements. This engaging CD features seven original tracks with the stunning 'Bluebirds' and the epic 'Sweetbread Line' as the undisputed highlights. The CD is presented with a special poster sleeve offering rare pics and memorabilia. There also are extensive sleeve notes and a band history by singer Tony Davison, plus an additional comment by their manager and esteemed promoter Darrol Edwards."

Cruciferius, France

Cruciferius - A Nice Way of Life. 1970 Barclay

Moved to UMR

Priority: 3

Apartment One, Netherlands

Apartment One - Open House. 1970 Pink Elephant

I first came across this title around 1990 or so from a Dutch catalog, circled it, and then never saw it again. Ever. Over time, it became one of my top curiosities. And then about 10 years ago, it was pretty much the top curiosity. Not long after that, I was fed a CD-R copy, and of course disappointment ensued. Just as in my experience at the beginning with this album, I totally forgot about it. Until the CD-R revisit project unearthed it again. There's been an entry on the main list of course, but now we're giving the album its own page.

Apartment 1 (or Apartment One as noted on the label itself) is a straightforward late psych / early hard rock record. Sounds more like what was happening with their fellow countrymen in the 1960s Dutch scene with albums from Cosmic Dealer, The Outsiders, and Q65. Plenty of excellent fuzz guitar and soloing to enjoy here. All on top of some splendid older organ sounds. The opening tracks on each side are instrumental, and represent the best material on the album. The vocals are in machismo English - with a gospel tinge. As such, it reminds me of the vast bone yard of US post psych albums from 1970 on labels like Paramount, ABC, Verve, Rare Earth, and Mercury.

Priority: none

News: Wolfgang Dauner Group's Rischkas Soul coming soon on Long Hair!

Big news today! The great German reissue label Long Hair is releasing the much wanted Rischkas Soul on CD and LP soon. I was wondering if Dauner would ever get to his (IMO) best title. Now we know he will!

Label says: "For the first time on CD and Vinyl reissue Dauners famous release 'Rischkas Soul'! Recorded in November, 1969 and first released as a so called private pressing the recordings had a second release nearly three years later on famous German label Brain (1016, 1972). Dauner with his strong sidemen Sigi Schwab, guitar and Eberhard Weber, bass and cello with two drummers (Braceful and Wittich) played cool jazz fusion with fluiding organ play from Dauner, sometimes heavy, sometimes dreamy and psychedelic guitar eruptions from master of guitar Sigi Schwab, tuneful and melodic and mostly straight on rhythms. CD and LP come with informative booklet/ insert and liner notes from Wolfgang Dauner himself. A must have!"

And since I have that Brain label LP copy, I'll probably just get the CD this time. But if you don't have the LP, it's worth getting for the gatefold artwork!

Phrydderichs Phaelda, Germany *** REISSUED ***

Phrydderichs Phaelda - Bruch=Stuecke. 1975 private

*** Reissued by Ultra-Vybe (Japan) in 2020  

Phrydderichs Phaelda, well.... you know it's something that should be given full attention! So exactly what do we have here AC?

"This group hailed from the town of Dinslaken, and apparently the odd name was a play on their pianist/group leader's, Friedrich Schepers. It seems that he was a music teacher in the area, and the rest of the group consisted of students from his school. Musically, this is a nice instrumental jazz rock set, driven by electric piano, jazzy guitar and a dextrous rhythm section. Angular but melodic, with a few compositional twists and turns to keep the interest level up. Quite well-recorded for a small local private press, too. It should be noted that this album was actually recorded and released in 1975, not 1981 as is usually listed."

So... as the AC said, it's a nice instrumental jazz rock set. Keyword here is jazz.... followed well behind by rock. Overall, this is inoffensive music that is sure to please all, and wow nobody. Sounds like a US album too, not even a small hint of its German heritage. Not Krautrock, Kraut fusion, or even sauerkraut. Instrumental music lead by lightly amplified guitar, electric piano, and a tight rhythm section. As far as jazz music goes though, this is a mighty fine listen, and flows by with much ease and comfort. A good one for a late night drive down the interstate. Professional to a fault, and well recorded as the AC notes above. I'd buy one if a CD came along.

Priority: 3