Jupu Group ~ Finland ***REISSUED***

Ahmoo! 1975 Hi-Hat

***Reissued by Svart Jul 2018

UMR review

Priority: 3

11/7/09 (new entry); 7/2/18 (complete)

Grasland ~ Germany ***REISSUED***

Echt Null! 1981 Torpedo

***Reissued by New Music - Green Tree 2018

I was a bit surprised at the heaviness of the first track, almost a proto metal sound permeates. There are other times further in where the guitar is grungier than you would expect. Overall, I'd say it's like a harder edged Rousseau, around the time of Retreat (but minus the flute), mixed with some straightforward rock with German vocals. This latter element made me think of late 70s Novalis. Overall a pretty decent album, and worth seeking for a couple of listens.

Priority: 3

12/16/10 (new entry); 7/15/18 (complete)

Noa ~ Japan ***REISSUED***

Tri-Logic. 1987 Pam

***Reissued by Belle Antique Jun 2018

In the 1980s there were a lot of Japanese progressive bands flying well under the radar (a few examples would be Nishin, Dada, Heretic, Saisai Koubou, Orpheus, Picaresque of Bremen - and many more). Noa would have to be considered in this group of bands. Musically a strong guitar fronted fusion / King Crimson hybrid, with typical 1980s era sounding keys. I've seen one Heldon reference in researching, but I don't hear it myself. Good album and worth seeking out.

Priority: none

1/30/10; 6/20/18 (complete)

Ex Vitae ~ France ***REISSUED***

Ex Vitae. 1978 private

***Reissued by Musea, Jun 2018 No bonus tracks unfortunately

UMR review

Priority: 3

2/18/11 (new entry); 6/19/18 (complete)

Sukellusvene ~ Finland ***REISSUED***

Vesi- Ja Lintumusiikkia. 1979 Love

***Reissued by Svart, Jun 2018

UMR review

Priority: 2

11/11/09 (new entry); 6/17/18 (complete)

Shuichi "Ponta" Murakami ~ Japan ***REISSUED***

Introducing "Ponta" Murakami. 1976 Toshiba EMI

***Reissued by Universal Music Apr 2018

Starts off pretty much in the funky fusion bag, similar to many European fusion albums of the era. Plenty of funky Rhodes, clavinet, and bass. But then by the third track, Murakami goes all George Hirota, and delivers spacey electronics with indigenous Japanese percussion. Suddenly the album becomes more interesting, though unfortunately the drums become a bit too dominant. Last track brings it altogether. A good album, though not as consistent as it could have been, especially with the percussion focus being a bit strong. 

Priority: none

10/9/10 (new entry); 4/4/18 (complete)

Earthrise ~ USA ***REISSUED***

Earthrise. 1977 ArcEden

***Reissued by the band properly in Apr 2018

UMR review

Priority: 2

6/18/15 (new entry); 3/18/18 (complete)

Fondation ~ France

Sans Etiquette. 1980 Eurock (MC)
Metamorphoses. 1980 private (MC)
La Vaisseau Blanc. 1983 Tago Mago (MC)

***Compilation issued by Bureau B Jan 2018. Since none of the albums have been reissued in full, the entry stays.

Fondation were a duo made up of Ivan Coaquette (Spacecraft, Musica Elettronica Viva) on guitar and electronics and Annanka Raghel on organ and voices. For Sans Etiquette the first side contains one long, dark electronic soundscape (primarily droning organ), with haunting female voice. The other side is more rhythmic with some fine guitar. Metamorphoses is the best of the three featuring a more varied palette, and tracks closest to the Heldon / Spacecraft model (though more dynamic and interesting than Spacecraft). No less worthy, the final album features female French narration from Annanka (she has a beautiful speaking voice), with plenty of excellent guitar and electronics floating on top.

Priority: 2

***La Vaisseau Blanc reissued on LP by Tunnel Vision (2017)

8/4/10; 1/12/18

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

UMR review

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."

Sway / Sante Palumbo ~ Italy ***REISSUED***

Sway. 1973 CPT

***Reissued by Schema Nov 2016 LP/CD

UMR review

Priority: 2

7/7/10 (new entry); 12/3/16 (complete)

Iliad ~ USA

Distances. 1976 Northern Lights

UMR reviews

Sapphire House. 1978 Northern Lights

Priority: 1 (for Sapphire House)

2/22/15 (new entry); 11/8/16 (update)

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

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

UMR review

6/19/15 (new entry); 10/15/16 (complete)

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..."

Osamu Kitajima ~ Japan ***REISSUED***

Benzaiten. 1975 Antilles

***Reissued by PSI (Germany) 2016

Definitely one of the more recognizable albums in the CDRWL. Kitajima's album received relatively good distribution in the US due to it being on the Antilles label, benefiting no doubt from Jade Warrior's presence. I've had this album for well over 20 years, and I'm pretty sure it's still somewhat easy to find on LP. 

This past December we featured extremely rare albums by Toshiaki Yokota (Primitive Community) and Rock Joint Biwa (Fulukotofumi). Kitajima's debut album fits squarely in the same mold. This is truly a world fusion - a melting pot of Western rock and Japanese indigenous music. Very few have pulled it off so well as Kitajima does here. Either they fall prey to new age sappiness, or worse, move towards amateurish exploitation. This is a serious work, and the type of rock influenced world music that still hasn't been explored much at all. I for one would like to hear more.

Priority: 2

2/23/11 (new entry); 10/14/16 (complete)

Amos Key ~ Germany ***REISSUED***

First Key. 1973 Aamok / Spiegelei

***Reissued by Long Hair 2016

UMR review

Priority: 2

12/18/10 (new entry); 9/15/16 (complete)

Hydravion ~ France ***REISSUED***

Hydravion. 1977 Cobra
Stratos Airlines. 1979 Carrere

***Reissued by Cleopatra in 2016 as part of the Philippe Besombes Anthology

UMR review

Priority: 2

8/28/09 (new entry); 8/12/16 (complete)

Laurence Vanay ~ France ***REISSUED***

Galaxies. 1974 SFP (Societe Francaise de Productions Phonographiques)
Gateway Evening Colours. 1975 Galloway (aka "Evening Colours" 1976 CAM)

***Reissued by Lion Productions 2013; 2016

Moved to UMR

Priority: 1

6/14/09 (new entry); 9/11/13; 7/28/16 (complete)

Tyll ~ Germany ***REISSUED***

Sexphonie. 1974 Kerston

***Reissued by Mental Experience Jun 2016

UMR review

Priority: 3

10/27/09 (new entry); 6/2/16 (complete)

MacArthur ~ USA

MacArthur. 1979 private
MacArthur II. 1982 private

***Debut album reissued by Out-Sider, Apr 2016

UMR reviews

Priority: 1

7/22/10 (new entry); 4/1/16 (debut reissued)

Circles ~ Germany ***REISSUED***

Circles. 1983 Einhorn
More Circles. 1984 Einhorn
Third Cycle. 1987 Einhorn

***Mental Experience has reissued the first two (Feb 2016)

***Third Cycle reissued by Bureau B (2016)

UMR review

Priority: 2

9/27/13 (new entry); 2/17/16 (complete)

The return of the CDRWL News feature....

And with the original 2003 website "Monopoly Newsboy"!

I was somewhat heartbroken when I read how many people read my news items. Clearly that was the most popular item amongst the readership at the CDRWL. Many asked that I at least keep that portion alive.

So I have. But somewhere else from here on. I'll be keeping an RYM list, as promised from an earlier post.

The CDRWL News feature lives on!

Stud ~ USA ***REISSUED***

Stud. 1975 Baron

***Reissued by Out-Sider Dec 2015

UMR review

Priority: 3

9/14/10 (new entry) 12/15/15 (complete)

Missus Beastly ~ Germany ***REISSUED***

Dr. Aftershave and the Mixed Pickles. 1976 April
Spaceguerilla. 1978 Schneeball

*** Dr. Aftershave and the Mixed Pickles reissued by Garden of Delights, Jun 2011
*** Spaceguerilla reissued by Garden of Delights, Dec 2015

UMR review

Priority: 2

10/29/10 (new entry); 12/15/15 (complete)

Proyecto A ~ Spain ***REISSUED***

Proyecto A. 1970 RCA

***Reissued by Sommor Dec 2015

UMR review

Priority: 2

7/8/10 (new entry); 12/9/15 (complete)

White Summer ~ USA ***REISSUED***

White Summer. 1976 private

***Reissued by Out-Sider Nov 2015

Michigan based hard rock and funk. Most of the tracks are under the 3 minute mark, tritely executed, and are scarce worth mentioning. However, there are 3 long pieces (5+, 6+ and 13+) that are absolutely fantastic with great guitar soloing, changes in dynamic and rhythms - not to mention excellent songcraft. 

Priority: none

5/27/10; 11/24/15 (complete)

Minoru Muraoka & New Dimension Group ~ Japan

Lupus. 1974 Victor

UMR review

Priority: 2

11/11/15 (new entry)

I think it's fitting to end the CDRWL blog Version 1.0 with an insanely rare Japanese album as submitted by The AC. I can assure you that I would not know any of these were it not for his incredible research!

His notes were: "Shakuhachi master and band leader Muraoka recorded scores of records over the years, covering all kinds of ground, with a focus on integrating the traditional Japanese shakuchachi flute into modern western-style music. His most interesting period (from a rock/jazz listener's perspective) unsurprisingly coincided with the experimental New Rock boom in Japan circa the early/mid 70s. His most well-known works are from earlier on in this timeframe, when he released albums like "Osorezan" and "Bamboo", which have long been popular with the rare groove/DJ crowd. But after this he developed a darker, more experimental streak, releasing a string of albums with his New Dimension Group where he started to twist and mutate traditional Japanese music to his own ends, leading to fascinating efforts such as "Jigen" (1972) and "So" (1973). However, these were still probably too traditional to catch the ear of many prog/psych listeners. This all changed in 1974, when he unleashed "Lupus", a live concert hall recording (as many of his works were) that takes his earlier concepts and finally goes off the deep end with them. The eponymous side-long first track is an immense piece of hybrid far eastern psych/prog/jazz-rock which, aside from the hypnotically pulsing electric bass, amazingly consists of nothing but traditional Japanese instruments and drums, although you'd scarcely know it. Everything is put through the fuzz/wah blender, creating sounds and textures more reminiscent of electric organ and fuzzed out guitars. It starts out tranquilly, but then builds and builds in intensity, climaxing in a totally frenzied freakout conclusion that will leave your brain in a puddle-like state. Awe inspiring. The second side is unfortunately much more traditional, consisting of three shorter pieces, although the quality is still high. But that first side... Wow. Deserves to be much more well known."

Skeptical Eye ~ Canada

The Devil's Playground. 1984 Puretone

UMR review

Priority: 3

11/10/15 (new entry)

The AC says: "Bizarre homemade Christian prog/psych anachronism out of Belleville, Ontario. You know when a Christian-themed LP has track titles like "Tortured From Inside" that it's probably something beyond the ordinary, and that's certainly the case here. Psych guitar and organ, ineptly performed prog breaks, off key male and female vocals (including a children's choir section that seems to have been done by a group of random local school kids who couldn't sing at all) weird and disturbing sound effects, spacey Pink Floydian sections, and even a weepy ballad and terrible blues rock jam. Yet, it all flows together somehow as a cohesive concept work. I think. I don't really want to know, to be honest. A few keyboard tones aside, the whole thing sounds like it was recorded about a decade earlier. And as far as the amateurism level is concerned, I'll paraphrase myself from the Rhea review I did here a few years back: To put it in Canadian progressive terms, these guys make VIIth Temple sound like Rush in comparison. Very rare, but perhaps that's for the best? Completely demented."

Fractals ~ England

Fractals. 1986 Surface

UMR review

Priority: none

11/9/15 (new entry)

AC's notes: "Obscure little instrumental jazz-rock/fusion offering from the lean years of the genre. The main hook here is that the rhythm section consists of Jerry Soffe and Frank Hockney, formerly of cult favorites Red. Like other releases of its ilk from the mid 80s, there is no attempt whatsoever to hide its all-digital "modernness" (ironically now much more dated than the earlier analog tones), but if you can get past that it's actually a solid album. Sedate jazzy pieces alternate with more driving, progressive-minded tunes, which keeps things interesting. Hard to track down, as it seems this was only distributed in their local Oxford area during the band's relatively brief existence, but worth a look for hardcore genre fans."

Early Times ~ Japan

Second Album. 1976 private

UMR review

Priority: 2

11/8/15 (new entry)

This was the last of The AC's submissions from early 2015. I have not heard from him since. He left as he came - shrouded in mystery. What I most appreciated about The AC was his ability to filter and discern the best of the obscurities. There's tons out there, and many aren't worthy of discussion.We didn't always agree, but we saw eye to eye on music more than most anyone else I've encountered. Thanks again my friend for all the great submissions!

His notes: "Not to be confused with the contemporaneous Early Times String Band (a Japanese 70s folk-rock ensemble that has become slightly better known due to a couple of reissue/archival releases), this incredibly obscure album was the second effort of a local Sapporo based group. Their first is so rare that, while it must exist, has apparently never been glimpsed a single time by even the most hardcore Japanese collectors after all these years. All that aside, what we have here is a very interesting anachronism that sounds more like an underground Japanese take on early 70s British proto-progressive styles than anything else. Even the Monty Python-esque cover art seems to point in that direction. It kicks off with with an extremely cool horn rock-ish affair, featuring vintage organ, electric piano, funky percussion and psych guitar backed by a female chorus to great effect. This is followed by a lengthy proto-prog style guitar/organ led jam that slowly builds in intensity, with some great soloing. The rest of the first side then kind of puts on the breaks, with a couple of slow blues rock pieces that still have a very palpable early 70s UK feel to them. The second side starts with another gradually building instrumental jam, that eventually hits an awesome groove while the soloing breaks out overhead, before slowing down again into a more pensive mood. We then reach the real climax of the album, with the nearly 13 minute long final track. Building slowly once again (a hallmark of theirs, it seems), this starts out in a jazzy/bluesy horn rock mode, then builds in intensity as the soloing picks up and the vocals join in again, ending in a long crescendo of bluesy psych guitar soloing over the horn rock/proto-prog style jamming. Great stuff, and the whole album has a very loose, underground sound and vibe that is just flat out cool."

11/8/15 (new entry)

Love Live Life (& related) ~ Japan

Satsujin Jissho [Ten Chapters of Murder]. 1974 CBS/Sony

Kosuke Ichihara & Love Live Life - Datsu Nippon Minyou - Now Sound '75. 1975 Victor

UMR reviews

Priority: 2

According to a comment from an anonymous reader, Satsujin Jissho has been reissued (1997 Super Fuji). 

The AC has countered the above comment: "This CD doesn't actually exist. It was supposed to come out in 2007 (not 1997), but Sony (who own the rights) killed it off at the last minute. The "Super Fuji Discs" mentioned is a subsidiary of the Japanese record store Disk Union, who sell tons of rare LPs throughout Japan. They were involved in the mastering of the CD, but the whole thing had to be shelved after a while. "

As of 3/4/25, Discogs shows no mention of a CD, so the AC was correct in his retort.

The AC's notes for Kosuke Ichihara & Love Live Life : "The common misconception of Kosuke Ichihara's group seems to be that Love Live Life were a regular, comprehensive band in the Japanese rock scene, a la Flower Travellin' Band and the like, but that's not really the case. Ichihara came from a jazz background, and even the seminal "Love Will Make A Better You" was really more along the lines of the typical "band leader and revolving cast of studio hired guns" scenario that for the most part dominated the output of Japan's New Rock explosion. So it should come as no surprise then that their trail afterwards becomes more diverse and obscure. Most well known in the west is obviously the quirky "Satsujin Jissho", but around the same time there were also entertainingly silly exploitation cash-ins like "Rock In Bacharach", "Rock In X'Mas" and other less notable studio sessions and collaborations. But perhaps the most interesting of this little known latter-day output is "Now Sound '75", an attempt to cross traditional Japanese "minyou" folk songs with the then-rising genre of jazz-rock fusion. This concept had already been done umpteen times by this point in other styles, some of which have been covered on this very blog (Toshio Tanioka, Dosojin, etc.). However, as the title indicates, the difference here is that the "sound"  was very "now", as in funky mid 70s instrumental fusion. The traditional themes are woven in smoothly to create atmosphere in a well-produced set of tunes that would have made a good soundtrack for a classic Japanese cop/detective show. Oddly enough, I'm also reminded a bit of the contemporaneous French fusion sound. Smooth and funky, but with enough atmosphere and instrumental acumen to hold your interest. Recommended to fusion fans, and I'd wager it would also go down a storm with the rare groove crowd. Unfortunately, one of their harder titles to find."

9/30/10 (new entry); 11/7/15 (update)

Rollsplytt ~ Germany

Flappergranny. 1982 private

UMR review

Priority: 3

11/6/15 (new entry)

AC's original notes: "All instrumental prog/fusion with a distinctly early 80s sound, but not in the way that you might expect. It's as if a 1982 British synth-pop band decided to take a break between albums and do a prog side project or something. The copious synths, sax/flute, as well as the guitar and bass lines just have that certain sound, as do the very "bouncy" (for lack of a better word) and straight forward rhythms that propel this lengthy (almost 50 minutes) and well-produced album along. There are some definite fusion touches (mostly of the Weather Report variety), but I'd label it more as "funky synth-driven instrumental prog" than full-fledged jazz-rock, if that makes any sense. It's quite consistent, and has some real period charm, which won me over in the end."