Snakes Alive ~ Australia ***REISSUED***

Snakes Alive. 1974 private

***Reissued by Belle Antique, Nov 2017

UMR review

Priority: 3

9/13/10; 11/25/17 (complete)

A.R. & Machines ~ Achim Reichel, Germany ***REISSUED***

Echo. 1972 Polydor
A.R. 3. 1973 Zebra. Turns out there was a reissue on the Spectrum label from 1996. 
IV. 1974 Zebra
Autovision. 1974 Zebra. Exact same with A.R. 3
Erholung. 1975 Brain

***Sept 2017 update: All albums reissued in late 2017 as part of a 10xCD set on Warner/BMG

UMR review

Priority: 1

7/7/09 (new entry); 10/27/17 (complete)

White Wing ~ USA***REISSUED***

White Wing. 1976 ASI

***Reissued by Blood and Iron Sep 2017

I recently got back into the Asia (Rapid City, South Dakota) albums that were diligently reissued on CD by Michael Piper / The Wild Places back in 1995. While reading the liners, I had forgotten that the precursor to that band was White Wing, an album I heard way back when and completely forgot about (didn't even have it rated anywhere).

There's nothing really special about White Wing. It's pretty much a mix of hard rock and AOR styles with some good organ runs and mellotron strings. Recorded in the same studio (ASI) as the Minnesota group Cain, and there are some similarities regarding the hard rock aspects. Not at the same level as the successor band Asia, especially Armed to the Teeth, but an album worth hearing a couple of times for certain.

Priority: none

12/4/11 (new entry); 9/20/17 (complete)

Zanov ~ France ***REISSUED***

Green Ray. 1977 Polydor
Moebius 256 301. 1978 Polydor
In Course of Time. 1983 SFPP

***In Course of Time reissued by Groove Unlimited Apr 2015 
***Green Ray reissued by Groove Unlimited Nov 2016 
***Moebius 256 031 reissued by Groove Unlimited Sep 2017 

UMR review

Priority: 2

5/26/10; 9/3/17 (complete)

Dennis ~ Germany ***REISSUED***

Hyperthalamus. 1975 Nova

***Reissued as part of a 5xCD set called Krautrock 3. Unfortunately the rest of the set includes unrelated CDs that have already been reissued. But technically it has been reissued on CD. Sort of like those Sensations Fix albums.

UMR review

Priority: 2

1/16/11 (new entry); 8/4/17 (reissue complete)

Mingo Lewis ~ USA ***REISSUED***

Flight Never Ending. 1976 Columbia

UMR review

***Reissued by Wounded Bird Jun 2017

2/24/10 (new entry); 6/16/17 (complete)

Saluki ~ Norway ***REISSUED***

Saluki. 1977 Compendium

***Reissued on CD and LP by the Norwegian record shop Big Dipper May 2017

So.... I completely blew the call on this one. My initial review some 8 years ago tagged this as a failed funk attempt by Norwegians emulating a distinctly American style (which Norwegians are wont to do on occasion). And ya know, after hearing opener 'Come Down', few among you will disagree with said claims, though it's pretty good for the style if pressed. Then comes 'Autumn', and I could already see my story breaking apart. Some sort of Muffins confusion on whether to go Canterbury or Henry Cow-styled avant prog annoyance. I'm sure that was the internal band debate anyway... (sure). 'The Awakening' is a waste of time, I think we can all agree on this - including the band. 'Love to the Sun'. Yea, OK Mahavishnu John, where are we taking this? There apparently. With a funk angle. Hmmm. 'Uranus in Cancer' is a title already asking for trouble. It's kind of emotional proggy, a bit AORish, and pretty good actually. 'Fantasy Suns' is a waste of time, I think we can all agree on this - including the band (sound familiar?). At this point, I'm OK with my initial assessment. Then comes 'Hidden Path III'. Ah damn, this is really good. Deep jazz with a bit of funk in that Miles Davis sort of way. But more toward Kraut Fusion (1970s /early 80s) actually. And this leads us to the closer 'Take the Road Across the Bridge'. I swear I recognize this music! So time to Google for a reference per chance. I KNEW IT! It's a cover of a Junipher Greene track - in fact the opener to their landmark/brilliant 1971 'Friendship' suite. I mean, who covers Junipher Greene? In 1976? Oh yea, author Freddy Dahl was in both bands. I could not find another reference to this observation on the internet. A job well done, ashratom. And how about that naked genie-out-of-a-bottle cover? These guys had it going on, that's for sure. Problem is, I'm starting to look like the dude with the magic book. Uh-oh.

Priority: 3

5/7/12 (new entry); 5/30/17 (complete)

PSI ~ Germany ***REISSUED***

Horizonte. 1977 Bacillus

***Reissued by Chickadisc Mar 2017

UMR review

Priority: 2

6/3/10; 3/17/17 (complete)

Rob Thomsett ~ Australia ***REISSUED***

Yaraandoo. 1975 Kubernete

Hara. 1976

***Both albums reissued by Now-Again Mar 2017

UMR review

Priority: 1

2/1/12 (new entry); 3/1/17 (complete) 

The AC's original notes: "Fascinating and somewhat unique psychedelic/progressive jazz-rock artifact from down under. Originally released as a tiny run of 100 copies with handmade covers, and finally reissued last year by small Australian label The Roundtable. Unfortunately, it's an LP only reissue, and while it does include a nice insert, I'd much prefer to see a proper CD version with more extensive liner notes, photos, etc. In any case, this one is certainly deserving of wider exposure. It's a short album (barely topping 30 minutes), but the interconnected suite of tracks flow together seamlessly on both sides, being a sort of concept album based on ancient aboriginal "dreamtime" mythology. It's highly evocative and dripping with the hazy, surreal atmospheres of the Australian outback. Flutes, percussion, droning synthesizer and mellotron, and of course Thomsett's excellent guitar-work make for a very pleasing sound overall, despite the somewhat primitive nature of the recording. Thomsett actually returned to this work years later and released a new, re-recorded version of it on CD in 2004. While obviously not at the same level as the original, it's still quite good in its own right and is well worth tracking down if you enjoy this LP."

In regards to this 2004 CD, I have one on the way to me now so I can compare for myself. And, as the AC points out, the only flaw of the original is it's too short. I could have easily digested 45-60 minutes of this!

Dusty Groove writes: "A strange, cool and stylistic boundary busting set from Australian jazz rock guitar player Rob Thomsett! Yaraandoo is a 1975 set inspired by Aboriginal folklore. It has some spare, dryly wispy bits of percussion and bamboo flute that feels that gives it that feel – but Thomsett also brings in some loose, proggy and jazzy rock dynamics with heavy drums and electric guitar, some improvisational jazz inspired passages, plus some tape delay and other effects."