Roland Hollinger, France

Roland Hollinger - Bardo Thodol. 1978 Scorpios

Here's another one from the CD-R revisit project that is being promoted from the main list.

The term Bardo Thodol is more commonly recognized as The Tibetan Book of the Dead. Wikipedia summarizes as thus: "The Tibetan text describes, and is intended to guide one through, the experiences that the consciousness has after death, during the interval between death and the next rebirth. This interval is known in Tibetan as the bardo. The text also includes chapters on the signs of death, and rituals to undertake when death is closing in, or has taken place." So it's safe to assume the album shouldn't be played for laughs... As such, Roland Hollinger's debut album is primarily a haunting and dark electronic music that befits the solemn subject. Some accent instruments pop up here and there like guitar, piano, saxophone, and percussion - but primarily "Bardo Thodol" is a pretty bleak work as you might expect. I would say this is a logical companion to the two Jean-Baptiste Barriere albums from the same era. It's an album worthy of discovery, thus a CD reissue would be nice, especially for an album with these kind of dynamics.

Priority: 3

Hollinger has at least 4 other albums according to RYM (and 6 from Discogs), of which I know nothing about.

News: Fireballet's two albums to be reissued on CD finally! (but there's a but... of course there is)

Thanks to a comment from TheH, we've learned that these two star crossed albums will finally have ended years of absence on the (legal) CD market! Good news right?

Well maybe.

They are being done by Belle Antique of Japan. So there is good news in that these are legit. And they will be housed in the best possible album cover (their mini-LP jackets are superbly made). There is more possible good news that they may sound awesome. Or... they may not. Belle Antique's record is mixed on this front when they are the first to market, and that's because they don't do their own mastering - or at least they don't typically do their own mastering. Meaning they are reliant on the source provided them. Sometimes great (Old Man & The Sea, Speed Limit), sometimes not (Aquarelle, Eloiteron). I wasn't able to find any corroborating evidence on this reissue to research, but I know the source of the news to be valid. I'll buy it anyway and find out - and report back to the UMR site.

They should be available next month. The first album will feature 3 bonus tracks and "Two, Too", will feature... well duh... 2.

Cynara, USA

Cynara - s/t. 1970 Capitol

Moved to UMR

Priority: 3

Hungry Wolf, England

Hungry Wolf - s/t. 1970 Philips

This one popped up on the CD-R revisit project, and I just had it in the main list prior.

Hungry Wolf's sole album is primarily instrumental pop-influenced soul jazz, with some splendid heavy Hammond organ courtesy of the Mohawks' Alan Hawkshaw. Loosely played electric guitar, simple rhythms, brass charts, and even some vocals which is fairly rare for an album like this. File alongside The Bigroup. The band is related to Rumpelstiltskin and Ugly Custard, the latter of which it is similar to musically.

It's a nice little obscurity, rare as hens teeth in original form, though nothing really that special. Naturally, given its rarity, the album has been often pirated. It would seem that a label who specializes in film library music may pick up on this one - even if that's not the main purpose of the album.

Priority: none

Michael Borner's Sun, Germany

Michael Borner's Sun - s/t. 1981 private

Following on yesterday's Atrium post, I thought I'd pull this one out of the main list - the archives as it were. It did come about via the CD-R revisit project. Like with Atrium, I received this from Midwest Mike - though he sent this one a few years ago, and I just didn't get a chance to give it its own feature.

Michael Borner is a lead guitarist and his band Sun is somewhat dominated by his playing. There's quite a bit of sax too, anything from Coltane-ish squeals to smooth jazz. You can also expect some punchy horns and orchestration too. The fusion on display here is fairly typical for the era - one that possesses a light, sunny, Caribbean influenced tropical sound. Jazz, funk, and yea, fuzak styles are all peppered in as it goes - along with a clear dose of fusion era Santana (and the guitar tones here carry a much needed psychedelic edge). I was reminded of the To Be album on the Brain label, as well as the Surgery album (that was recently reissued by Garden of Delights). A nice record, but nothing extraordinary.

This is a different band from the Sun that released one album in 1980 (and, like Surgery, was also reissued by Garden of Delights in recent years).

Priority: none

Atrium, Germany

Atrium - Color Seed. 1979 BVB Records

Moved to UMR

Priority: none

Pop Workshop, Sweden

Pop Workshop - Vol. 1 1973 Grammofonverket
Pop Workshop - Song of the Pterodactyl. 1974 Grammofonverket

Moved to UMR

Priority: 2

Clarox, Venezuela

Clarox - s/t. 1982 Mucer

This CD-R came in from Midwest Mike's last set. After he first told me about it, I expected the LP would be housed in a bleached white cover...

Clarox fit squarely in the Latin fusion camp, with electric guitar, electric piano, native percussion, tropical melodies and themes. The guitarist adds a psychedelic edge to his solos, giving the album a much needed lift in places. It's mostly instrumental, though there are a couple of vocal cuts that are to its detriment I'm afraid. Without this element, and perhaps if a bit more edge had been applied throughout, I think this one would have gone a half-point up. All the same, Clarox's debut is a fine album for fans of the Spanish fusion scene like Borne, Guadalquiver, Pegasus, and Iceberg.

Priority: none (borderline 3)

MM also informed me of a second album from Clarox, that he says isn't near as good.