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