Monday, June 22, 2015

News: Garden of Delights reissues Embryo - Live!

While we had been anticipating the Sunbirds reissue, Garden of Delights did manage to sneak this one in on us. It's been on their Coming Soon list for many years, but we had no indication of an imminent reissue. This CD is most welcome, and I believe this represents the last Embryo "proper" LP to be reissued on CD. Of course, they have tons of archived live material that remains in the vaults, and GoD has promised us at least one of those from their late 70s' jazz funk fusion heyday. Note that there's a lengthy bonus track as well!

Label says: "Neatly recorded in February 1976, it was released on LP in 1977 (April 0003), but has not yet appeared as CD. The gig had taken place in a town near Munich. The album features the jazz-rock typical of Embryo, influenced by ethnic music, with scarce vocals and some unusual instruments like marimba, dilruba, oud, and nagasuram. Christian Burchard and Roman Bunka wrote most of the songs together. Only 'The orange man' was written by Charlie Mariano. The long CD bonus track 'Just arrived' was recorded in Northern Italy on March 6th, 1976, by the very same Embryo line-up and was as yet unreleased. The cover was then designed by Roman Bunka and was used for the CD without any changes."

News: Garden of Delights reissues Sunbirds - Zagara!

We've talked about this a couple of times in the last few years, and now the CD from GoD has been officially released! Includes one bonus track as well. Great news for fans of "Kraut jazz fusion". This is a very worthy album, and I'll buy one as soon as possible. Thanks to reader Gal for the heads up!

Label says: "Fusion from Munich, some smoothly relaxed kind of music with Latin influences. After the first Sunbirds LP from 1971, with Philip Catherine on guitar, the album at hand is the band's second and last one, recorded in 1972 and released in 1973 (Finger 2396101). It is the first CD version, drawn from the master tapes, including the bonus track 'Mbira' which was then recorded during the same session. All of the musicians were masters of their trade. Drummer Klaus Weiss, keyboardist Fritz Pauer and bassists Jimmy Woode and Ron Carter were world-famous even back then, and the others were in no way inferior. The nine artists were so skilled that nearly all recordings were perfect at the first attempt. Unfortunately, the two studio albums should remain the band's only releases. There weren't any Sunbirds gigs for lack of time."

Innervisions, USA


Innervisions - Beginnings End. 1977 Visions Ltd

moved to UMR

Priority: 3

Sunbirds, Germany ***REISSUED***



Sunbirds. 1971 BASF
Zagara. 1972 Polydor

***Sunbirds reissued by Garden of Delights, June 2011
***Zagara reissued by Garden of Delights, June 2015

Moved to UMR

Priority: 1

6/19/09; 5/30/11; 6/22/15 (complete)

Friday, June 19, 2015

Kiyoshi Tanaka and Super Session, Japan (aka Seiji Tanaka To Super Session) ***REISSUED**

Kiyoshi Tanaka & Super Session - British Rock Live In Japan. 1972 Teichiku

Moved to UMR

Leaving the original AC's notes here: "While drummer Tanaka is ostensibly the leader of this particular studio group, it's really just another incarnation of the Hoguchi/Mizutani gang heard on so many of these sessions. However, by this time they had lost their minds entirely and exited the studio having belched out one of the most insanely over the top instrumental psych/prog freakouts ever to defile the ears of man. This thing was touted to be a live concert of popular British/American psych/rock tunes by artists such as Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix. Except that it's absolutely none of the above. A little fake audience noise can't hide the fact that this is a (very well recorded) "live in the studio" jam session, and there's nary a hint of any cover material at all. Instead, we're assaulted with an amazingly long (almost a full hour!) instrumental blowout, divided into two continuously running side-long tracks. It all seems to be semi-improvised, driven by pummeling rhythms that sort of ebb and flow while the bass, guitar and organ converge and coalesce into one freaky jam after another. Even the most stoned-out-of-their-minds krautrockers would have been shocked by this level of depravity. This is so excessive in fact, that one might imagine modern Japanese psychonauts like Acid Mothers Temple having descended directly from this family tree. Except that they didn't, and this is about ten thousand times cooler. Needs a reissue ASAP, but I'm not sure these guys even remember recording it at this point..."

Thursday, June 18, 2015

Earthrise, USA *** REISSUED ***

Earthrise - s/t. 1977 ArcEden

*** Reissued by the band properly in April, 2018 (still nothing great unfortunately) ***

moved to UMR

Priority: 2

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

News: Lion to release Laurence Vanay's mythical 4th and 5th albums in the Fall! + Many other announcements (Wapassou+)

We just heard from Vincent at Lion and he shared the great news. These two* La Petite Fenêtre and Les Soleils de la Vie have been on their Coming Soon list for some time, but now it has become reality. As you all know, we're big fans of Vanay, and I just hope these latter albums are at (or near) the same level as the breathtaking Galaxies or Evening Colours. Obviously we haven't heard them to date, but this will be for certain one of our most anticipated albums of the year. They will be reissued on both CD and LP and each album will feature many bonus tracks. I don't have covers to share at this point, but will post them as soon as I can.

*It can be argued that these are the 3rd and 4th albums, as many discount Magic Slows as a true Vanay album.

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In addition to these two albums, Lion will also issue a double LP version of Galaxies. The second LP will include one side of the Glaciers Interdits soundtrack (which we have also not heard) plus alternate takes (CD bonus tracks) on the other side. Sounds like a worthy purchase!

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One other major announcement is that Lion will be reissuing the first Wapassou album on LP and CD. And Vincent says this is the best sounding version for certain! If you've read my UMR blog, I've waxed on about how great this album is. I already own two CDs (Musea & Belle Antique) and one LP (Omega Studios). I think I'll add one more LP to that stack!

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There is also plenty more coming out from the Lion camp, much of it falling on, our outside, the margins of the CDRWL, but noteworthy all the same - especially for psychedelic fans. Some of these are out already, some are on the way:

July - Second of July. Digipak CD + 12 page booklet. These are the demos of the legendary July album (pre Jade Warrior).

Nihilist Spasm Band. CD + 32 page booklet. Free improv from Canada circa 1968.

Tin House - s/t. LP + EP.

Wilson McKinley - Spirit of Elijah. LP
Wilson McKinley - Heaven's Going to be a Blast. LP

Ray Pierle (McKay) - Time and Money + Rhythm of the Highway. Both albums on one CD.

Michael Angelo - s/t + Sorcerer's Dream + Nuts (as Michael Nitro). 2 CD set of all 3 albums. +28 page booklet. All for the price of one CD!

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Wow! We're fortunate there are still reissue labels like Lion fighting the good fight. Please support them when and where you can!

Monday, June 15, 2015

News: Akira Ishikawa & His Count Buffalos "African Rock " to be reissued in July!

Well, that was fast! Perhaps a new record for the CDRWL. We just featured this title back in April, thanks to the AC.

Special thanks goes to reader Bacoso (who runs the popular Orgy in Rhythm blog), who tipped us off that African Rock will be reissued July 29th! The Instagram feed he sent the blog was in Kanji, but it translates to: "[Deep Jazz Reality New] Finally on CD! Ishikawa Akira and count Buffalo's took a shot in the 1971 "African Rock". Suzuki Hiromasa, Kimio Mizutani, it is a masterpiece of Tribal Jazz rock participated Muraoka Ken-ra. July 29 release." A little bit of translation issues there at the end, but the main point is presented.

Friday, June 12, 2015

News: Michal Urbaniak's Atma has been reissued. Plus more!

Some of you may recall our posting at the beginning of the year regarding Urbaniak's reissue of Inactin. Well yesterday we learned, directly from inside the Urbaniak camp, that his most highly rated fusion album Atma has just been reissued! And on WEA (Warner Bros.) Poland, so it should be easy to source as well! I found copies on Amazon (US) this morning.

In addition to this great news, we were also told: "There is also new (2014) pressing of "Fusion III" and "Body English" - first one also contains a booklet (first pressing on UBX label didn't have it), second just short new notes inside digipack." and "There will be a CD version of "Parathypus B"! Maybe this Q3-Q4 this year? We've got also extended material from his concert album "Constellation In Concert". But I think it will wait until next year, as in 2015 the priority are LP reissues. The LPs will be by "Atma" (1974), UrbSymphony (1994) and probably another 90s album. But I guess when the "Parathypus" will be released, it will receive a CD and LP version."

So exciting news all around for fusion fans!

Monday, June 8, 2015

Jukka Linkola, Finland

Jukka Linkola - Banana. 1976 Hi-Hat

Here's another title from the ongoing CD-R revisit program. I'm promoting this title from the main list.

Linkola, today a renowned classical pianist, was once a prominent fixture on the Finnish jazz fusion scene - most notably on Jukka Hauru's "Episode" album. Here he presents a typical-of-the-time light, tropical, and sunny fusion work with electric piano, sax, warm bass, guitar, and island percussion. Some moody interludes foreshadow his later work. A well done period piece.

It would appear his 1979 album Protofunk (on Kompass) would also be of interest to the CDRWL, but I haven't heard the album to date.

Priority: 3

Saturday, June 6, 2015

Ted Moses Quintet, Canada

Ted Moses Quintet - The Farther You Go, The Farther You See. 1979 Mother Necessity

After 3 albums of crazy early 70s Japanese psychedelic cover tunes, I was looking for a bit of normalcy, and as luck would have it, Ted Moses Quintet was appended to Sound Creation's Rock Fantasia. Ah.... instrumental fusion. Wholesome fusion at that.

The AC says: "Sandwiched in between his electric modal/jazz-rock classic "Sidereal Time" and appearance on Ken Ramm's well-regarded "Dragon", Canadian pianist/keyboardist Moses and his group released this relatively unknown fusion platter. Although his piano/keyboards are definitely in the classic Chick Corea mold, the prominent use of trumpet and mixture of energetic funky fusion with more somber, haunting themes is somewhat reminiscent of Eddie Henderson's mid 70s work. Comes in a nice gatefold with some weird psychedelic artwork inside."

Those Chick Corea styled keyboards really dominate here.This is Fusion 101, so if you're a fan of the genre, then this is right in the middle of the railroad track. I'd prefer a bit more dirt and edge, though coming off Rock Fantasia, I have to admit this did sound pleasing to the ears.

As noted above, Ted Moses recorded a highly regarded jazz album from 1974 that is also without a CD reissue, though it would appear that title falls outside the boundaries of our blog. As well, we featured Ken Ramm years ago.

Priority: none

Friday, June 5, 2015

The Freedom Unity, Sammy, Singers Three ~ Japan

The Freedom Unity, Sammy, Singers Three - Dynamic Rock. 1971 Toshiba

As fortune would have it, I had appended this album to Sound Creation's "Progressive Rock" (see yesterday's feature), thus unwittingly subjugating myself to nearly an hour and a half of early 1970s Japanese psychedelic cover tunes. Woo! That was some experience I tell ya.

The AC defines this one as: "This one's been a hit for years in the Japanese DJ scene, but just now seems to be gaining some notice in the outside world. It's your typical pop hits cover album of the time, but the frenzied execution and stylistic focus elevates it above the norm. Most of the covers are of the then popular horn rock variety (Chicago, BS&T, Traffic) with a few schmaltzy numbers thrown in that drag things down a bit. But when they let it rip, watch out! The husky-voiced Sammy belts it out over a turbo-charged horn rock attack, complete with crazed fuzz bass and Kimio Mizutani's patented ripping psych solos. Not an immortal masterwork by any means, but still a lot of fun."

I found the Chicago covers '25 or 6 to 4' and 'Free' to be the highlights here, with tight horn charts and Mizutani doing his best rendition of Terry Kath. On the other hand, the opening track is Creedence Clearwater Revival's 'Proud Mary'. Oh you haven't lived until you've heard 'Lorrin.... Lorrin.... Lorrin on a Liver'.

As the AC accurately states, the album is fun - perhaps fun-ny at times - and worth at least one listen.

Priority: none

Thursday, June 4, 2015

Sound Creation, Japan


Sound Creation - Progressive Rock. 1971 Teichiku
Sound Creation - Rock Fantasia. 1972 Teichiku

Lots to talk about here. I'm moving this post forward from December 14, 2014 as we've now heard  both of the albums in full. Both of these were in the batch from the AC's latest exploration. In a nutshell, the misnamed "Progressive Rock" album is not very worthwhile, but Rock Fantasia ended up being a full album worth hearing. Another bizarre occurrence here is that CDRWL friend Julian Ryan featured this album on his blog just two days ago, unbeknownst to us, and I encourage you to visit, as he has the killer cut (mentioned below) readily available on his site. I'm going to start with our original notes on Dec. 14 and then please scroll down to see the new notes.

------ DECEMBER 14, 2014 -----

I've been sitting on "Rock Fantasia" for awhile. This came via a tip from Laser Ken a couple of months ago. I've only heard one side of the album, but it's really quite an amazing side! We've been talking about the early 70s Japanese underground for a few years now on the CDRWL. It's amazing to me just how many treasures there are to be found over there - and they are all ridiculously obscure. In the last few years, we've seen CD reissues of these gems - always limited and expensive. But they've been worth the time, money, and effort for me at least. Perhaps this will be another title we will see? I hope so...

Here is the description that came from the dealer that was selling this (and where I got the sound clip, which is no longer available.... however for the clever amongst you, do a Google search and use the cache feature...).

"The monster Japanese progressive psych LP...!!!! Same series of "S.Tanaka - British Rock Live" LP by Teichiku label. Pink Floyd type progressive rock music. The arranger is Yusuke Hoguchi! He is the leader of People - Ceremony"Buddha meet rock"!! Sound Creation is a secret band. All band member's names are hidden. The inside of the sleeve has liner notes. Even the reviewer of the liner notes does not know it. However, I think the band is same of "Buddha meet rock."...! Because the arranger is Yusuke Hoguchi... If it is right, the guitarist is Kimio Mizutani!!!! This LP is really rare, so Pokora's book does not list this LP yet." 

Well there you have it. When he says "Pink Floyd type progressive rock music", he means Ummagumma era. This is the good stuff. Space rock with a psychedelic freakout backdrop provided by no less than the legendary resident freakmeister himself: Kimio Mizutani.

Priority: 1 or 2 (if it's like the track I heard, we'll go Priority 1... but for all I know Side 2 is a choral piece, or children's music, or God knows what. The Japanese albums from this period are crazy like that. Even if that's the case, it's worth a CD for the one side which is over 20 minutes long).

The AC has also chimed in regarding this band with his usual expertise on the Japanese scene: "As you suspected, it was your typical exploitation studio project that was so common at the time in Japan. It was indeed another Yusuke Hoguchi-led session (People, Mannheim Rock Ensemble, etc.), and was actually the second Sound Creation LP. The first one was also released on Teichiku (in '71) and was called (wait for it...) "Progressive Rock"! (scan attached). Anyway, both of these were basically covers/arrangement albums, but given the psychedelic "New Rock" makeover. As you might expect, the side that the dealer featured is the more interesting of the two. And both LPs, while they have their moments, are rather patchy. Other LPs of this ilk that are still not too well-known include the aforementioned "British Rock Live in Japan", a couple of the "Warner Beatniks" LPs featuring Kimio Mizutani and even one or two of the later, lesser-known Love Live Life records. Again, most of this stuff is fun but inconsistent, and not always as shockingly rare/expensive in Japan as certain dealers catering to western collectors make them out to be."

----- JUNE 4, 2015 -----

Let's move straight to the AC's dig notes: "Sound Creation was yet another name for Yusuke Hoguchi's group of studio gunslingers who recorded so many of these sessions back in the early 70s New Rock heyday, in this case for Teichiku. They also appeared on a number of other exploitation/covers LPs during that timeframe, and if I recall correctly a later version of the group also existed that cut a few cheesy direct-to-disc jazz-funk EPs. But the albums they're best remembered for (if they're remembered at all) are these two rarities. The first, "Progressive Rock", sports an eye-catching (but completely non sequitur) "African woman" cover and was released in the same "Lover Creation" series that the infamous People "Buddha Meet Rock" album was, complete with an identical yellow textured fabric sleeve (there were other releases in this series, but like most of these things back then, there was really no consistency or logical connection between any of them). It comes with an insert, which oddly rambles on about the New Rock explosion that was taking Japan by storm, focusing particularly on the influence of (you guessed it) progressive rock on this "happening scene". Yeah, man! But if you flip it over, you'll notice that the album consists of nothing but instrumental covers of then-recent pop/rock hits, like most of these albums tended to. Uh oh... But wait, all is not lost! Because the group at least tried to psych-up some of these standards, so a few are transformed into slowly creeping late-nighters echoing off into space, and a couple get the more energetic treatment, with groovy organ and ripping Mizutani fuzz leads. However, that can't save around half of it from being pretty mundane. It's quite fun for a spin or two, but not really worth what it might cost you to track down, and really has very little to do with its musical namesake. Amusingly, Teichiku also released another Sound Creation LP right around the same time called "Trip To Beautiful Rock World - Mamy Blue" (don't get me started on the bizarre "Mamy Blue" fixation that these Japanese exploitation records had...) that has the exact same track list (just in a different order) but dropped the prog/psych pretense entirely and let the cheese flow free. Unsurprisingly, that one is much cheaper and easier to find today (cover pic included, just for fun).

Fast forward just a couple of months (they knocked these suckers out fast back then!), and Sound Creation were back in the studio, probably with more vague instructions to do another quick and easy cover songs cash-in, but it seems like the guys were on a bit too much acid at this point, so instead they decided to take the list of songs they were given and work them into some kind of semi-conceptual psychedelic/space-rock opus. Released as one of those 4 channel discs, opening up the gatefold will reveal a truly bizarre set of Japanese liner notes, giving you some clue that things had taken a turn for the weird. They ramble on about hallucinatory visions, surrealist French poetry, Walt Disney (I guess the "stoners love Fantasia!" thing was going on in Japan too) and most importantly, the influence of Pink Floyd. But what this all translates into musically is quite interesting indeed. You'll hear fleeting bits and pieces of the tunes they're supposed to be covering (most amusingly when the iconic "Theme From Shaft" is transformed into a thunderous psych-funk/space-rock jam), but for the most part they decided to drift off on their own and lay down the prime-era Floydian space psych nice and thick. It can be a bit slow going at times (as Floyd themselves often were, in all honesty), but it's good stuff. However, the jackpot is really hit around halfway through side 2, as the deep end is reached and left behind in chilling fashion. The moment where a crystal clear rendition of the main theme from "Sweet Caroline" (backed by disturbing dissonant noises) emerges briefly from a pool of abstract synths and noise guitar, only to be swallowed by a sinister space-rock march into a pounding krautrockian "end of the universe" freakout is truly hair-raising, and elevates this album into a must-listen experience."


And so we now have the full story. The first album "Progressive Rock" is a pretty mundane set of covers, though anything with Kimio Mizutani (the busiest man in Japan?) is bound to bring a wry smile to any self-proclaimed psychedelic fan. Meanwhile I think we were all scared to hear the "other side" of Rock Fantasia, but it turned out fine as both the AC and JR noted. Personally, I find the highlight to be the end of Side 1, that climaxes into a wonderful Ash Ra Tempel / Pink Floyd thundering jam. But the whole album is excellent.

Priority: 2 (for Rock Fantasia only. "Progressive Rock" would make a nice set of bonus tracks)

Nova Express, Germany

Space Khmer. 1987 Syndicate Germany's Nova Express, a common band name derived from William Burroughs' novel title, are a band I fi...