Cyklus ~ Germany

Planet of Two Suns. 1979 Erlkoenig

UMR review

Priority: 2

12/31/09

Pascal Duffard ~ France

Dieu est Fou. 1976 CBS

Two words that go well together are wacky and.... French. And this album fits that statement like a glove. Only in France would an album like this find its way onto a major label. I could imagine hearing Albert Marcouer, upon listening to Dieu est Fou, saying something like "Pascal Duffard? Yea, now that guy is different!".

Throughout the album, there's a distinct flavor of French Pop music of the male vocal variety (ala Serge Gainesbourg or Julien Clerc). Combine this with an avant garde mindset (opera, laughing, cries, electronics, etc..) and you have a French Chanson meets Pierrot Lunaire type vibe. Unique and worth seeking out.

Priority: 3

12/30/09

Exil ~ Germany

Fusionen. 1975 FHZ

If you can imagine the 1975 era Embryo band releasing Embryo's Reise from 1979, then I think you'd have a good idea of Exil's Fusionen release. Amongst the usual rock instrumentation there's lots of violin, cello, electric piano, and sax playing Eastern European and Asian influenced jazz rock. Aera's Hand und Fuss is another good reference as is Emma Myldenberger circa Tour de Trance. A very fine work.

Priority: 1

12/29/09

Le Groupe X ~ Italy

Frrrrrigidaire. 1973 CPT

Out, Off. 1978 Radio

UMR review

Priority: 2

12/27/09 (new entry)

Hot Flash ~ USA

First Attack! They'll Never Take Us Alive. 1977 Rockwell

UMR review

Priority: 3

12/26/09 (new entry)

It's My Head ~ Sweden ~ Wales

It's My Head. 1987 Studio Urania

Odd one here. It's My Head was a duo based in Stockholm, but prominently featured Welsh percussionist Steve Hubback. Album received a glorious review in Audion at the time, which propelled me to pick up a copy. Musically it's a fascinating hybrid of fusion, cosmic, electronic and industrial styles. Like a stripped down version of David Torn's Cloud About Mercury. The kind of album that would've given the 1980s a good name, but there are scant examples such as this. 

They also have two cassettes that I haven't heard to date.

Priority: none

12/25/09

Jox ~ France

Joxifications. 1982 FLVM

A nice find from the always surprising FLVM label. Starts off heavily in the French folky bag recalling Troisieme Rive's Banlieues or Manu Lannhuel, but after a few minutes, the mood changes and the music moves into a primarily instrumental direction. In the end, you come away feeling like you've just heard a French Gryphon circa Red Queen to Gryphon Three (sans drums). Just replace the bassoon with an oboe. Other than the last, and short, three minute instrumental, the album does not use drums (a primitive drum machine was applied on the last track, for no purpose it seems). The music is driven by piano, acoustic guitar, Moog and bass guitar, the latter doing its part to keep the music driving forward. Memorable melodies, based on traditional themes, also define this album. 

A gray area reissue exists.

Priority: 3

12/24/09

Kornet ~ Sweden

Kornet. 1975 Manifest

Fritt Fall. 1977 Manifest

Kornet 3. 1979 Svenska Love

UMR review

Priority: 2

12/23/09 (new entry)

Living Force ~ New Zealand

Living Force. 1977 Atlantic 

UMR review

Priority: 2

12/22/09 (new entry)

Mutha Goose ~ USA

Mutha Goose I. 1975 Alpha Omega

Typical Midwest prog, this time from Indiana. Recalls the southern Illinois group Thunderpussy in the compositions, though there's a strong presence of keyboards here. One of the better US private progressive rock albums.

Priority: 3

12/21/09

Oz Quartet ~ France

Instant. 1984 Egide Concept

Nice progressive fusion with violin and guitar leads, somewhat typical of the time and place. File alongside Bedjabetch.

Priority: 3

12/19/09

News: MNW releases Arbete & Fritid's "Se upp för livet"

Thanks to reader Gal who points out that long time Swedish underground label MNW has reissued another one of their own 1970s albums - Arbete & Fritid's "Se upp för livet" (1977). Originally a double LP that apparently was part of an exhibition. I'm familiar with some of Arbete & Fritid's work, but I've not heard this title.

Pumpkin ~ Netherlands

Pumpkin. 1975 Bubble

Frequently noted by dealers as the "Dutch Placebo", I would say that prize should be awarded to Crypto if comparisons must be made. Placebo is a buzzword band that adds dollars to the prize, and it isn't a flat out lie that Pumpkin gets mentioned in the same breath - but in reality this Dutch band is a jazz fusion outfit, pretty far removed from the cool funky vibes of Placebo. With the abundance of sax and electric piano solos, Pumpkin are a far more generic outfit very much of their era. However, on a positive note, their ensemble playing is quite nice. Add a splendid cover, and the overall package is decent, though non-essential.

Priority: 3

12/17/09

News: Garden of Delights latest releases

A diverse batch this time that contains an obscure folk rock band as well as a 5th Xhol live album (4th from GoD alone). Most promising, to me anyway, is the archival release of Zoppo Trump - a band I'm not familiar with at all.

Zoppo Trump review on UMR

Label descriptions below:

"Zoppo Trump from Dortmund are known in collectors' circles only for the sampler LP 'Scena Westphalica'. In addition to these tracks, this CD contains another seven studio recordings. The style of Zoppo Trump can be described as progressive rock, slightly influenced by jazz and classical music, however mostly without any wind instruments. Band member Nicky Gebhard later played in Wallenstein and Martin Buschmann, son of the well-known jazz-musician Rainer Glen Buschmann, joined Cochise."

"(Yggdrasil) The sole album by this hippie-folk group from Munich in 1972 originally didn't make it past the acetate stadium. Now these wonderful sounds, with flute, violin and English lyrics, are finally available for the first time. The CD contains the five tracks from the LP plus eight instrumentals from 1970, including the soundtrack to the TV series 'Sommer in Sizilien' ['Summer In Sicily'], as well as five demo tracks recorded in the rehearsal room. "

"XHOL - ESSEN 1970. Xhol's sound was a mix of jazz-rock and psychedelia. The band from Wiesbaden (formerly known as Xhol Caravan) stood out for their lengthy improvisations, holding barely any vocals. The band became an established underground act with their two LPs released on Ohr. This release features amazing remastered live recordings dating from 1970."

Synopsis ~ France

Gamme. 1981 FLVM

Synopsis’ second album was released at the tail end of the original French theatrical prog movement, and thus was pretty much ignored by everyone. Released on the quintessential cult label FLVM (Nuance, Flamen Dialis, Kha-Ym, etc...). What strikes me most about Gamme is the lengthy instrumental passages, something that was sorely missing on the Mona Lisa albums for example. Plenty of that patented French tortured guitar, old vintage keyboards and complex rhythms. A slight improvement on their debut.

Their debut Minuit Ville was reissued by Si-Wan in 1994, but remains very scarce.

UMR review

Priority: 2

12/15/09

News: Pan reissues Ruphus "Man Made" album

Pan Records, the consistent - albeit sparse, Norwegian reissue label has released Ruphus' last album "Man Made" from 1980. Not the highlight of their catalog, but completists will certainly be interested. And Pan always does a solid job, working with the master tapes.

Charlies ~ Finland

Buttocks. 1970 Love

UMR review

Priority: 2

***Reissued on LP by Shadoks 2013

12/13/09

News: RPM reissues the first two BLO albums from Nigeria

Apparently December, 2009 is the time to reissue Nigerian psych albums. Earlier we announced the Academy reissue of Ofege. Now comes word that RPM, another of the many Cherry Red labels (Esoteric being the main one we follow), has reissued the first two albums by BLO (Berkeley Laolu Odumosu).

Here's what we said about the debut album:

"BLO (Berkeley Laolu Odumosu) - Chapter One (Nigeria) 1973 private. One of the more famous underground psych albums from Sub-Saharan Africa. Does contain a US psych funk vibe and isn't too far from the works of Fela Kuti, minus the deeper grooves. Shadoks has already done the LP reissue, so expect a CD sometime in the next couple of years."

Well obviously it appears Shadoks was only interested in the LP issue, or only had to rights to that format.

Should we expect an announcement for the Question Mark (Kenya) album next?

Thanks to Laser Ken for the heads up!

Vent d'Est ~ France

Vent d'Est. 1980 Music'AL

Melodic progressive rock somewhere between Camel and Pink Floyd. The instrumental work is quite good, especially the guitarist who lights it up quite a bit more than most from this era. However, there's plenty of commercially oriented material to wade through as well.

Priority: none

12/9/09

Tamalone ~ Netherlands

New Acres. 1979 Crossroad

Jethro Tull soundalikes, though strangely minus the flute (except on one song). But in every other way, it sounds like Ian Anderson and Co. I quite like it myself.

Priority: 3

12/8/09

Sailor ~ USA

The Sailor Band. 1974 private

UMR review

Priority: 3

12/5/09

Release Music Orchestra ~ Germany

Life. 1974 Brain

Garuda. 1975 Brain

Get the Ball. 1976 Brain

Beyond the Limit. 1978 Brain
News. 1979 Brain

UMR reviews

Priority: 1

12/04/09

Didier Paquette ~ France

Le Souffle Noir. 1981 FLVM

Interesting French electronic record, with real and digital drums (early 80s style). Some sequencer and the odd outburst of fuzz guitar. More amateurish and less dark than Richard Pinhas' solo works, but not too far off stylistically.

Priority: none

12/3/09

Odyssee ~ Germany

Odyssee - White Swan. 1978 MPA

Excellent German symphonic progressive album. This one has a lot more meat on its bones than most of the somnambulant snoozers coming from there during this time. For one thing, the tempo is faster and they mix in some complex time changes, to help keep it interesting throughout. Full fledged band sound with a thick production. The thematic sections are well developed, and a melody or two can actually be committed to memory. There's a definite Genesis influence, but not quite as much as Neuschwanstein, Ivory and Sirius. 

Priority: 2

12/2/09

News: Rocket Records to reissue Paroni Paakkunainen and Kaamos

It wasn't long ago we mentioned there didn't appear to be any active label in Finland interested in reissuing classic Finnish progressive rock. I wasn't familiar with Rocket Records prior, but they're based in Finland and have reissued many albums already (outside of our scope here).

Today we learned on Progressive Ears, two albums from our wishlist are coming out on CD for the first time from Rocket Records:

Paroni Paakkunainen: Plastic Maailma (1971)
Kaamos - Deeds and Talks (1977)

Excellent news!

Nanu Urwerk ~ Germany

Irgendwo... Nicht Weit von Hier. 1980 Tonstudio Bieber

Highly creative fusion effort from unknown German band. Flute, trombone and electric piano are the primary instruments with a few nice guitar licks thrown in for good measure. There's also some interesting voices in German. It's hard to pin the tail on the donkey with this one, so easy reference calling is a tough challenge. Certainly an encyclopedic knowledge of the German fusion scene from 1976-1984 helps, and you may want to yell out "Mosaik" or "Surgery" to your puzzled friends. Zappa and Canterbury get cameos as well. Nevertheless, it's an album that needs repeated listening to fully appreciate, the perfect justification for a much needed reissue.

Priority: 2

12/1/09

Malachi ~ England

Malachi. 1971 Columbia

UMR review

Priority: 2

11/30/09 (new entry)

Laurelie ~ Belgium

Laurelie. 1970 Triangle

UMR review

Priority: 3

***Reissued on LP by PhilMarie 2011

11/29/09

News: Academy Annex reissue Ofege from Nigeria

Academy Records of Brooklyn have established a new reissue label, and their first reissue is Ofege's "Try and Love" (Nigeria), one of Sub-Saharan Africa's best psych albums.

George Jinda ~ France

Wheel Of Love. 1976 Motors

UMR review

Priority: 2

11/27/09 (new entry)

Inserts ~ USA

Out of the Box. 1983 Nozzle

UMR review

Priority: 2

11/26/09

News: Black Widow to reissue Victor Peraino's Kingdom Come

While surfing around to the various label sites, I noticed that Black Widow of Italy plan on reissuing one of the United States' rarest albums: Victor Peraino's Kingdom Come. Currently all that exists is a rather awful bootleg taken from a scratchy vinyl. The album itself is a mix of early 70s American popular rock and balls out progressive, similar to the Italian style at that time. So a good fit for an Italian label like Black Widow.

UMR review here

Gass ~ England

Juju. 1970 Polydor

Strange album, this one is. Hard to describe, but I'd say that Gass is to UK blues rock what East of Eden's Mercator Projected is to world fusion. It's a grab bag of styles, including much of what we track here (psych, prog, underground). Blues rock is the root system, with plenty of instrumental sections featuring organ, flute, fuzz guitar, percussion - and of course, downer vocals. Peter Green joined them for awhile after leaving Fleetwood Mac. 

Priority: 3

11/24/09

Falstaff ~ France

Falstaff - Prononcez G. 1981 private

UMR review

Priority: 2

11/23/09 (new entry)

News: Captain Marryat CD to be reissued by Shadoks

As predicted in our Captain Marryat entry back in June, Shadoks will release the CD version of this incredibly rare album. Generally Shadoks waits longer between LP and CD issues, but I suppose they want to capitalize on the name while its still relatively hot within the collector's market.

I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the music. I expected the worst, but it's one that is definitely worth owning, especially if you're a fan of the distinctly UK style of early 1970s rock as found on the Dawn, Vertigo or Neon labels.

Captain Marryat ~ Scotland ***REISSUED***

Captain Marryat. 1974 Thor

***Reissued by Shadoks Nov 2009

UMR review

Priority: 2

6/20/09 (new entry); 11/22/09 (complete)

News: Long Hair to release early archival material from Aera!

As we've said before, no one turns up more interesting unreleased studio and live material than Long Hair. And usually in perfect sound! The CDRWL just learned of a new archival set coming soon from the very good German fusion band Aera. All the music here predates their original albums.

Aera - Mechelwind. 1973 Germany

The label says: "This double CD (1. 44:15 / 2. 41:41) unites absolute rarities of famous German band Aera. AERA founded in 1972 by "Ihre Kinder" guitarist Muck Groh and 2066 & Then keyboard player Steve Robinson were in their very beginnings, when they recorded their special extended version (26 minutes) "Mechelwind Suite" of their later classic title "Mechelwind" (on album "Hand und Fuss"). The Mechelwind Suite is divided into 5 parts and is rather different from the later album-version, not only because of Steve Robinson's excellent keyboard playing but also because of Muck Groh's fine guitar playing and Klaus Kreuzeder's pleasant sax tunes. CD 1 finishes with two SWF-recordings "Hodibbel" and "Mechelwind" from Oktober 1973 again with 2066 & Then keyboarder Steve Robinson. CD 2 contains a live performance of AERA from 23.12.1973 with the same line up as on CD 1. Highlights are the 15-minutes-version of "Hodibbel" and 12-minutes-version of "Papa Doing". The recordings show AERA at their very best during their first decade. Both CDs are digital remastered from the original tapes. Double CD comes with comprehensive booklet with a lot of unseen photos and band history told by founder-member Steve Robinson. A must have."

I don't believe Robinson is on any of the studio albums.

Baxter ~ USA

Baxter. 1973 Paramount

Dance of Delight. 1974 archival  

UMR review

I haven't heard Dance of Delight to date but it's being touted as far more progressive than their sole release.

Priority: 2

11/19/09 (new entry)

Abraxis ~ Belgium

Abraxis. 1977 Bestseller / IBC

UMR review

Priority: 2

***Reissued on LP by Replica Sep 2019 

11/18/09 (new entry)

News: World in Sound reissues Headstone

In news that's a bit out of scope for this list, but will surely interest our hard rock audience, Germany's World in Sound has reissued Headstone for the first time. It's a fine album, very representative of the Indiana-Ohio underground scene of the early 1970s. I'm personally fond of the album, as I lucked out out and found a pile of sealed ones in the basement of a small town Indiana music store (not a record store, but a place that sold trombones and the like to high school kids) in the early 1990s. I traded all but one of those to obtain rare progressive rock albums back in the day. I kept the other one, and plan to own it til the end.

Burning Candle ~ Germany

Burning Candle. 1981 Steyrer

Keyboard trio with a mix of period instrumentation - 1980's tinny synthesizers and 1970's meaty organ. Sort of nutty / unpredictable like El Shalom and Saffran, but perhaps a little less diverse. 

Priority: 3

11/16/09

Frankie Dymon Jnr ~ Germany

Let It Out. 1971 BASF

This is sort of a side project to Achim Reichel's A.R. & Machines circa their Die Grune Reise debut. Reichel wrote most of the music and it features the AR&M group. Dymon provides the poems in words and music. Basically a proto-rap album, and heavily influenced by early 1970's anti-everything street politics. One has to wonder if Gil Scott-Heron didn't get ahold of a copy prior to launching his 'The Revolution Will Not Be Televised' epic. Naturally, with Reichel at the controls, Let It Out is far more freaky. Cool.

Priority: 3

11/14/09

Ezra Winston ~ Italy

Myth of the Chrysavides. 1988 private

A bit of a surprise that this modern classic has yet to find its way on CD. Ezra Winston's debut was created at the dawn of the digital age, when LPs still outsold CDs. The LP itself features a nice cover and a 14 page accompanying booklet.

As for the music, Ezra Winston also pioneered the Italian progressive rock renaissance that we still enjoy today. It's not a typical Italian album though, with lyrics in English and the music possesses a distinct UK and Dutch "neo prog" sound. Still, for us fans at the time, it gave us hope that our favorite style of music wasn't dead just yet. It wouldn't be long before other Italian progressive rock bands joined the parade. Myth of the Chrysavides deserves its place in history.

Priority: 3

11/13/09

Furekaaben ~ Denmark

Prinsessevarerelset (Prinsesseværelset). 1970 Spectator
Rode Roser (aka RR1; aka Furekåben). 1971 RR

Technically spelled: Furekåben

As the great mail order catalog writer Paul Major once wrote, listening to Furekaaben is like "peeking through the bushes at an ancient mystic religious ceremony." That encapsulates the sound of both of these Christiana albums better than I could hope to achieve. I suppose the original Berlin commune group Amon Duul (sans II) is a guidepost, but Furekaaben are far more exotic, and rather than pound mercilessly on whatever percussive instruments are lying around, they choose a far more melodic route - though not in any kind of traditional sense. I also can hear the New York utopian group Children of One as a possible comparison. The first album managed a release on the Danish cult label Spectator. The second is an extremely rare private pressing, that I somehow managed to own for a number of years. If the psych scene existed in the year 723, this is probably how it would've sounded. Ancient roots stuff here folks.

Priority: none

11/12/09

Gutura ~ France

Des Etres Au Cerveau Apparent. 1980 Sterne

UMR review

Priority: 2

11/10/09

Hydrus ~ Italy

Midnight in Space. 1978 PDU

Hydrus is one of the three indigenous electronic albums on the PDU label along with Eletriktus and Robert Cacciapaglia's Sonanze. Of these, Hydrus is the only one that remains without a CD reissue. Hydrus could have been named Hybrid, as they mix spacey, non sequencer based electronic music with tiny hints of disco. Lovely wordless female vocals adds an exotic atmosphere. Not a bad record at all, though they should've let loose a bit more as the electronics get a bit static after while.

Priority: none

***Reissued on LP by Wah Wah 2012

11/9/09

Izvir ~ Slovenia

Izvir. 1977 RTV

Of all the obscure former Yugoslavian progressive rock albums, I think Izvir remains the most elusive. Album starts out in spacey psychedelic territory ala Igra Staklenih Perli, but oddly enough abandons that sound altogether after the lengthy first track and opts towards a funky fusion direction. Somewhere between mid 70s Santana (notable in the song craft, guitar, and organ sounds) and Dunajska Legenda era Fermata, you will find the music of Izvir. Sounds like a Slovenian Malo, if that's even possible to fathom! This one is a grower, as the disco era melodies hold a certain nostalgic pull. Lots of clavinet, almost defining the funky sounds within.

Priority: 3

11/8/09 (new entry)