News: Aztec reissues Company Caine's debut on CD

Nice to see Aztec still plugging along downunda. This is one of the titles they had on their Coming Soon list for about a year or so. I haven't heard it personally. Looks to be a bit of a fringe piece for the CDRWL, but certainly fits the overall genre.

Label says: "It’s rare to find an album from the early 1970s that has never been officially reissued on CD (ED: Not as rare as we would wish...). A case in point is the legendary 1971 underground milestone from COMPANY CAINE – A Product Of A Broken Reality. This highly regarded artefact is one of the last albums from the glory days of the Australian progressive-psych scene to attain a new lease of life in the modern digital age.

On Digitally Remastered CD for the first time, Aztec presents a Classic Aussie Rock album brimming with the superior and adventurous sounds of Psych-rock, Blues and Avant-jazz. The band recorded A Product Of A Broken Reality at TCS Studios, Melbourne in July 1971 and it was originally issued on the Generation label in November 1971. Only a rock scene as rich and diverse as that which proliferated in Australia at the time could have produced an album of such varied moods and exploratory styles.

Alongside the likes of celebrated entities such as Spectrum, Kahvas Jute and Blackfeather, the name Company Caine continues to fire the imagination of progressive-psych aficionados around the world. Original and rare vinyl copies of A Product Of A Broken Reality are highly sought after and can fetch high prices on the international collector market.

The story of Company Caine is based around delightfully eccentric singer / song writer Gulliver Smith and nimble fingered guitarist Russell Smith who formed the band in March 1970. Gulliver had started his career in the 1960s as Little Gulliver, recording R&B singles for the In label. Russell came out of the Melbourne blues scene and alongside Gulliver and the other important early member, multi-instrumentalist Jeremy Noone, set out to create a band that played purely original material. Several line-ups came and went before the band broke up at the end of 1972.

A Product Of A Broken Reality included the sprightly single ‘Trixie Stonewallʼs Wayward Home For Young Women’, with the rest of the album ranging from pastoral moments such as ‘It’s Up To You’ and ‘Woman With Reason’ to the spacey sounds of the 10-minute ‘Symptoms’ and on to the head-spinning, Avant-jazz leanings of the unhinged ‘The Day Superman Got Busted’. Included on the CD are six bonus tracks: the 1972 single ‘Dear Carolyn’ / ‘Now I’m Together’ and live sessions from 1971.

Package Contents

Packaged in a deluxe 6 panel Digi-Pak. Digitally remastered by Gil Matthews, with a 20 page colour booklet and liner notes by Ian McFarlane, it's a must-have for fans of Classic Aussie Rock."

News: Aztec Records of Australia is back!

So this one is complicated. I thought that Aztec had become Sandman Records. Of course that would seem logical if you follow this link. Ever since Sandman came onto the scene, I've made it a point to check their website every once in awhile to see if they're going to dip back into Australia's progressive past. To date, it appears they have been reluctant to do so. I thought the story ended there.

Until yesterday...

Then our good friend Achim in Germany tells us that the Steve Maxwell von Braund album "Monster Planet" has finally been reissued on Aztec. Huh? So I went over to Sandman, but didn't see it. Then I followed the link Achim provided us. And, well.... there it is.... on Aztec Records. Huh? I then asked a long time friend of the CDRWL as to what is going on. Apparently this Aztec was bought out by Gryphon Music. And apparently they refuse to export their product outside of Australia (wholesale that is). OH GREAT. You can order it online of course, and it does appear the price includes postage, but I'm not entirely sure of that. I'm going to sit tight and watch what transpires here. For those who don't want to wait, then you can purchase this on CD from the label direct. We first announced this reissue well over two years ago! In addition to the CD label, Aztec started a sub label called Dual Planet (according to the comments section, Dual Planet is a separate entity from Aztec), Dual Planet have they've released Monster Planet on LP as well as the official/unofficial "bootleg" album Sunday Night at the Total Theatre (on both LP and CD). I guess that leaves only Cybotron's debut as the only album missing a CD reissue.

In additional reissue news from the resuscitated Aztec, look for Company Caine's 1971 debut "A Product of a Broken Reality" as well as the Ayers Rock "Big Red Rock" album to come soon. I haven't heard either, though the latter was originally licensed in the US. Looks like a good one that I'll have to investigate.

Welcome back Aztec!

News: Aztec Records is back up and running!

Thank goodness for this. Back in April we learned that Aztec had gone bankrupt. Some new investors have arrived, and Australia's best CD reissue label is again in business. It remains to be seen if they continue reissuing their more progressive oriented titles. But we're cautiously optimistic.

According to their website: "Aztec Music, the Melbourne based music distributor which has been releasing, distributing and importing music since the late-nineties, has been acquired by a consortium of strategic investors led by Paul Dainty. The consortium assumes immediate ownership of Aztec’s suite of assets (including a vast catalogue of DVDs, CDs and LPs) after the business was placed into receivership in March 2012. The news was announced via a joint statement today.

“Aztec Music has left an indelible mark on the Australian music scene. The new team looks forward to continuing the tradition through the reissue of classic Australian albums and the importation of rare and highly collectible compilations from overseas”, said Paul Dainty.

Gryphon Entertainment will handle distribution. Gryphon Entertainment Managing Director, Glenn Elliot, is also delighted to be supporting the new direction for Aztec, commenting: "Gryphon Entertainment is excited to be associated with Aztec whose passion and expertise sets it apart as a proudly Australian brand".

Aztec Music stalwart Ted Lethborg, who will head up the new operation, is excited about the future: "To get a second chance to continue the preservation of Australia's rich musical heritage (via the Aztec Music reissue label) is an unexpected and welcome surprise. We are all looking forward to both working towards resurrecting the label and continuing our unique music importing model.""

News: Aztec Music goes belly-up

This is the first bit of bad news I've had to report in awhile: Aztec Music of Australia has had to call it a day (credit goes to Chris for first alerting me). That's really a shame, as they were by far the best ever CD reissue label from downunda. There's still so much great music to be reissued from there. They were currently working on 2 CD Reissue Wishlisters with Jackie Orszaczky and Steven Maxwell von Braund. They also never got around to the second Dragon (New Zealand) or second Mackenzie Theory albums. And years ago they announced the Pirana albums, but eventually removed them from consideration. It's not an easy business to be pressing CDs, especially in this digital age. All the more reason to continue supporting those that keep up the good fight.

Speaking of which, I'm going to be pretty much out of pocket all of April. I have a pretty wicked convention show/ training schedule for the entire month. Work has really picked up, which is ultimately good news even though it has a negative impact on my hobbies. Maybe when (if?) I ever retire I'll be able to focus more. That's many years away I'm afraid to say....

I'll try to keep up with news items though.

News: Aztec working on Jackie Orszáczky's "Beramiada" album

Like the Steven Maxwell Von Braund, here's another one that Aztec is working on!

We featured this former Syrius and Bakery bass player's sole album here.

News: Aztec working on Steven Maxwell von Braund album

This morning I wandered over to the website of Australia's Aztec Music, and saw that they are "currently working on" Steven Maxwell von Braund's (Cybotron) solo album. Excellent news for those of us who like pioneering Berlin School styled electronics. Here's our review.

News: Dragon - Universal Radio out now on Aztec!

Aztec Records, the high quality Australian concern, has reissued Dragon's debut album "Universal Radio" from 1974. It will be the usual high quality Aztec product, with a 6 panel design, bonus tracks and a 24 page history. This is the first legit CD of this album, and was issued on July 2nd.

Dragon were a New Zealand progressive rock band that found pop success in Australia with their 3rd album.

Look for the followup "Scented Gardens for the Blind" later this year.

As well, back in March, Aztec reissued the debut album from Madderlake called "Butterfly Farm" (1973), thus completing their discography with "Still Point" reissued not long ago.

March 2011 update: Still waiting on Scented Gardens for the Blind!