News: Mediterranea to be reissued by BTF

This one sort of fell under the radar, but noticed while browsing around this afternoon. A pretty good Italian progressive rock album from 1981. I never published my entry separately, but here it is!

Mediterranea - Ecce Rock (Italy) 1981 Amiamoci. Relatively simple, but fun, instrumental guitar trio with quite a bit of mandolin as well. As is expected by the title and the cover of the Italian version (frankly the Japanese cover that was issued simultaneously is nicer), it has a Turkish/Greek/Arabian vibe. (note: Fortunately BTF agrees and they used the Japanese cover)

Topper ~ USA

At Last. 1977 Scot

UMR review

Priority: 3

5/29/10

Vindication ~ USA

Vindication. 1974 Custom Fidelity

Vindication were a trio from Columbus, Indiana, who released only this one very obscure album. Once again we're dealing with American teenagers still in high school, similar to Tom Nehls and Richie Duvall. And like both those gentlemen, they were the good kids in class, not rebellious types that are usually rewarded in musical circles. Turns out that the members of Vindication were also all hardcore prog heads, very much into Yes, Gentle Giant, ELP, and King Crimson. And like a lot of youth in the middle of the country, they were also very much into exploring their Christian faith. And this is reflective in the lyrics, but not in the music. This isn't a lame progressive album so as to get the message out. No these kids really went for it, in the same manner as other Midwest bands of the era did such as Yezda Urfa, Xebec, and Graced Lightning. Perhaps not quite as accomplished as the great Yezda Urfa, but for certain they had talent to burn and some intriguing compositions. According to their bio, they recorded and released the album - in very limited quantities, which is most certainly true seeing how few have ever been spotted - between their junior and senior years of high school in 1974 (so the "accepted" date of 1973 seems to have been off by a year). Quite an accomplishment for 16 to 17 year old young men.

Unfortunately they let their faith get the best of them on the closing track 'You and Me and God', and it's a typical youth group sing-a-long (similar to Michigan's Earthen Vessel in that way). So skip over that (unless you happen to like Christian folk songs) and enjoy the rest!

Priority: 1

5/28/10 (new entry)

Fernando Yvosky ~ Venezuela

Dos Mundos. 1975 private

Yvosky's sole album is a good example of the pastoral progressive rock that was coming out Italy in 1972/1973, and perhaps closer to home, in Argentina. Early PFM combined with Aucan is what you can expect here. Well worth discovering. Features a beautiful gatefold cover, which is hard to imagine given that it's a private press from a country not known for that.

Priority: 3

5/25/10

Rancid Poultry, England

Rancid Poultry - Controlled Exposure. 1989 Poultry Productions. Cassette only release.

Rancid Poultry came out of the 1980s festival scene, but arrived with some influences out of the industrial movement. Had they stuck around another year or two, most likely they would've been on a label like Mystic Stones or Demi Monde. Good raucous space rock - with some interesting screamed vocals. They had other cassettes, but this is the only one I purchased back then. Comes with a nice booklet as well.

Priority: 3

Thanks to the Alaskan Connection, we know their other cassettes as the following:

Rancid Riffs (1985) Land of Yrx
Leyline Lords of the Motorway Web (1986) Land of Yrx
Midnight Disendowed (1986) Land of Yrx
* Delicate Creatures (1986) Land of Yrx
* Rock 'N' Roll Won't Never Die! (1987) Poultry Productions
* Lungs Full of Lead (2xMC, 1989) Poultry Productions
HTIABR! (1990) Poultry Productions
* Live In Leads (But Steve Doesn't) (1992) Poultry Productions
* Musicide (19??)
* Qaotic Pestilence (19??)

The AC has provided me with many of these (noted with an *), which will probably take me until summer to get to. He's also provided me with the AMA album, which is related to Rancid Poultry.

Stefano Pantaleoni ~ Italy ***REISSUED***

Alle Muse. 1989 LMC

Dark and brooding electronic album that recalls Arturo Stalteri's debut or maybe even Franco Leprino's Integrati...Disintegrati. Very obscure album that I owned on LP for a few years after first hearing it in Rome.

Update: Well, leave it to Laser Ken to let me know this has already been reissued on CD! Looks like a private job on the Maestro label. Still no original cover, but I've pasted in the CD front. And I've also updated the year to 1989.

Priority: none

As I update this post (6/12/24), the CD still isn't listed in Discogs. I'm going to mark it complete for now given the credibility of the source. I also had his name misspelled this whole time.

5/17/10 (new entry); 2002 (complete)

Omega Plus ~ France

Omega Plus - How to Kiss the Sky. 1969 Pitch

Featuring Claude Engel on guitar (later with Magma, Dayde, Univeria Zekt and many others), How to Kiss the Sky is generally considered France's first psychedelic record (see also Dickens, Octopus 4, and Popera Cosmic). This is a good example of the Hendrix psych sound, and with the addition of flute, adds more than the usual copyist acid psych rock that many American bands were doing during this time. Also includes one long free rock improvisation that's pretty interesting. A short record, that doesn't even break the 30 minute mark. 

Priority: 3

5/16/10

Chris Neal ~ Australia

Winds of Isis. 1974 M7

Winds of Isis is an instrumental, mellotron heavy, symphonic rock work. At its best, the music recalls the early albums by Duncan Mackay and Mike Oldfield. The music is relatively simplistic, but highly melodic. I was also reminded some of the French group Catharsis and even Roland Bocquet's Paradia. This is certain to appeal to fans of lush symphonic rock and comes recommended. 

Priority: 2

5/15/10

Magic Spell ~ Switzerland

Is There Anywhere a Gasstation? 1980 Musk

Just when you think you've heard all the private press progressive albums from Switzerland, on comes another one. I first heard of Magic Spell through a German catalog a few years ago, but given the title of the album, I just presumed it was another hyped piece of trash, which this catalog was prone to do. But in this case, they were right! This is fastball-down-the-middle progressive rock, with clear nods to early Genesis, late 70s Eloy, mid 70s Grobschnitt and a host of other Swiss bands like Agamemnon, Elysium, and Eloiteron. One of the better ones I've heard from this peculiar Swiss scene. Side 1 is particularly strong, whereas Side 2 takes on a bit more of a commercial stance.

Priority: 2

5/13/10

News: Esoteric to reissue rare Asgaerd album

Other than a rare Japanese press from the 90s, this is the first reissue of their sole album. Here's our entry from the OCDRWL:

Asgaerd (Asgard) - In the Realm of Asgaerd (England) 1972 Threshold. I had this on LP many years ago, and recently received a request to add here. I don't recall much about it but ProgArchives says "A sound very reminiscent of the Wooden Nickel era Styx, Asgærd combine Dennis deYoung-like vocals with Uriah Heepish guitars and the overall pastiche of bands like Rhapsody, only at the height of the progressive (aka art) rock era. In other words, they were dead-on for their time. The sound doesn’t wear all that well with time, but some accommodation must be made since this album was released in the very early seventies."

Other Esoteric reissues include:

June
Aphrodites Child-End of the World (rain and Tears)
Aphrodites Child-Its Five O clock
Soft Machine-Softs
Brainticket-Psychonaut (Reactive)
Brainticket-Celestial Ocean (Reactive)
High Tide-High Tide
High Tide-Sea Shanties
Flash-In the Can
Lloyd Langton Band-Night Air (atomhenge)

July
Soft machine-Land of Cockayne
Fields-Fields
Jade Warrior-Waves
Jade Warrior-Floating World
Eela Craig-One Niter (Reactive)
Trifle-First meeting (jazz rock)

Many of these have also fallen OOP.

(Feta) Heta Linjen ~ Sweden

Heta Linjen - Won't You Step Inside? 1971 Odeon

Feta Heta Linjen - Med Kisa, Brass & Brudar. 1971 Polydor

Won't You Step Inside? is truly a mixed album, but generally is a good effort. Heta Linjen are loosely tied to the horn rock genre, but with a distinct Zappa vibe throughout (i.e. early jazz rock, some silly humor), along with a few Canterbury references to boot. The album open dubiously with the not-good title track, only to be followed by the extraordinary 'You Shall Find Your Way', arguably the album's finest moment. Then it settles in from there. 'Black Eyes' is another highlight. Overall, Won't You Step Inside? is a solid record, that follows the early 70s Scandinavian underground rock tradition alongside bands such as Dr. Dopo Jam, Splash, Solar Plexus, and Made in Sweden.

Priority: 3

5/10/10 (new entry)

Gemini ~ England

Counter Balance. 1981 Airship

Counter Balance is the sole release from England's Gemini. Coming out just before the NWOBPR boom, Counter Balance represents a strong album for both melody and composition. If there's a complaint, it's the over reliance on period synthesizers, which are a bit thin sounding and could use some heft. And the lack of other lead instrument vehicles like sax, flute, organ, etc… makes this a bit monolithic to sit through, given that it's an all instrumental album. The rhythm section is quite good however, maybe not crisp, but precise all the same. And the final long track features quite a bit of electric guitar soloing, adding exactly what the album calls for. Overall an excellent progressive rock album in an era when few were to be found, especially in England. Certainly on par with Protos - the other very rare Airship label album.

Priority: 2

5/8/10

The First International Sex Opera Band ~ Netherlands

Anita. 1969 Sexclusief

Despite the band name, and the location of said group, this is decidedly NOT erotic in the least bit. The female vocals (more like nagging shrieks, heavy sighs, rollercoaster screams and other irritants) are completely annoying. On this front, the closest comparison would be to Japan's JA Caesar, but without any of the purpose and tension they bring. Musically, FISO is fairly interesting, as the band pretty much play in a loose free rock style with decent guitar and organ leads. My guess is this album was influenced by the Vampyros Lesbos movie/album from Germany, that enjoyed a cult following even back then.

Priority: none

***Reissued on LP by Music on Vinyl 2021

5/7/10

Champignons ~ Canada

Premiere Capsule. 1972 Les Jeunes Artistes Associés

UMR review

Priority: 1

***Reissued on LP by Return to Analog (2019)

The label above stated at the time they were to reissue this album on CD as well but apparently lost interest. Pity.

5/6/10 (new entry)

Victor Brady ~ USA

Brown Rain. 1970 Polydor

UMR review

Priority: 2

5/5/10 (new entry)

Alcatraz ~ Germany

Energie Programm in Rock. 1978 private
Live: Trockeneis zum Frumstruck. 1980 private
No. 4. 1982 private

UMR reviews

Priority: 2

5/4/10