BRIAN SANDS-FIXATION, LP, 1980, USA

housed in one of the most singularly twisted album covers in my possession (the Egyptian Ruins as re-imagined by NAMBLA? I dunno...), this is a cornerstone monster of private press "real people" psych poppy art rock weirdity. Fey Bowie-isms, R. Stevie Moore and Tyrannosaurus Rex all factor in Sands' wide-ranging pop remit but so too do sick little interventions of Residential fuckery, suave passages of Carribean cool that sound lifted from Kevin Ayers' "Yes We Have No Mananas", woozily haunting acid folk drifts and musique concret inspired tape mangling. A lost masterpiece! His "Reheated Chocolate Tangos" LP will follow shortly...

***************NEW LINK POSTED SEPTEMBER 2012***************

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FRIEDER BUTZMANN-DAS MADCHEN AUF DER SCHAUKEL, 2x12" E.P.'S, 1983, GERMANY

Both Jim and I have posted umpteen titles by this berserk Neue Deutsche Welle avatar over time. Here's one of his most essential. Butzmann has been plying overt eccentricity for quite some time, as "Wundershone Ruckkoppelungen" (released archivally on Vinyl-On-Demand) documents via his work from the late 60's/early 70's, though he'd find his true metier during the NDW zeitgeist, a period during which his work was hugely influential, having been an early member of D.A.F. "Das Madchen..." was Butzmann's second full length missive to gain release under his own name (he also operated as Din-A Testbild), after "Vertrauensmann Des Volkes" and it's a stunner. While the dadaist tendencies and overt Residentialisms that he's become known for are much in evidence here, the sleeve's Sky Records-like graphics are no mistake either, as much of this successfully situates his mad hatter gambits within more overtly synthy climates, climaxing with the brain damaging "Incendio", a monster track with a vertigo-inducing electronic hysteria to it that begs comparison with none other than Igor Wakhevitch's Dr. Faust!

***************NEW LINK POSTED SEPTEMBER 2012***************

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JASON WILLETT & RUINS-S/T, CD, 1994, USA/JAPAN

One of the more obscure footnotes in the the Ruins vast discography, this fissionable collaborative clusterfuck of free rock action mates Japan's formidable bass/drums monster duo Ruins with Jason Willett (or more accurately, Willett and company), whose proactively spastic work with The Dramatics and The Jaunties (among others) makes him and his Dramatics cohort Martha Colburn a perfect foil for Yoshida and Masuda's garrulous musical churning and girning.

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KEVIN AYERS-JUST FOR OLDE TYMES SAKE (BOOTLEG), CD, 199? (RECORDED: 1970-1974), UK

Following my post of the astounding Ayers boot 'Colours Of The Day", here's a rather more rough sounding one, albeit one filled with essential gems for the obsessed. As was the case with "Colours...", much of this features Ayers' spectacular Whole Wide World band, his first stable unit after his departure from Soft Machine. I've already waxed rhapsodic about this crew in the prior Ayers post, so I'll just note that the delivery here is more loose and liquored up than that captured on "Colours..." (Ayers and crew had a rep for being well oiled back in the day) and the sound quality of the source recordings are rather more wobbly and thick, some of it lamentably so. That said, there's still plenty here to get any Canterbury head hot and bothered, not least a duet with Robert Wyatt on "Clarence In Wonderland" and an unhinged sounding version of "Stop This Train" from "Joy Of A Toy".

***************NEW LINK POSTED SEPTEMBER 2012***************

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MESSEHALLE-LIVE AUF DEM EXTASE FESTIVAL 29.1.81, TAPE, 1981, GERMANY

This entirely obscure Neue Deutsche Welle unit augment their penchant for doleful Einsturzende Neubauten-like ponderousness with interventions of synth, tapes and sax to increasingly compelling ends as this tape unfurls, with filtered vocals, queasy synth swoops and hollowed-out electronic surges adhering to these skeletal song forms in engagingly helter skelter fashion. Very much textbook NDW in a certain respect, but I for one ain't carping...
***************NEW LINK POSTED OCTOBER 2012***************

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Space Art-Play Back,LP,1980,France

Space Art is a French band that was formed by two friends in Paris in 1977. The group consisted of Dominique Perrier on keyboards and Roger Rizzitelli on drums. Their first (self-titled) of three albums was released in the same year as Jean-Michel Jarre’s, “Oxygene.” Knowledgeable Jarre fans will recognize the names, because both went along on the 1981 China tour. Dominique Perrier has since played keyboards on most Jarre albums and live performances and is sometimes credited with artistic collaboration - small wonder, as their styles are very much compatible. But as this and the other albums show, Space Art is not a mere clone and has a distinctive style of its own. This is due in large part to the heavy drums very well employed by Roger Rizzitelli (highly inspired by bands such as Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Soft Machine, etc). It was all about experimenting with new sounds on new machines. They specialize in a certain set of highly tragic/dramatic chords. on their third LP they seem to appeal much the late 70s Kraftwerk sound ,providing a nice example of cosmic synth pop mixed with pseudo disco ,electronic games tunes and pure mid 70s space music.

As requested ,

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Charlie Nothing/Brother Frederic:'The Psychedleic Saxophone/In Eternity,LP,1967,USA

Multi artist Charlie nothing passed away last October.This is his freaky jazz psych improvisation LP from 1967 ,released through Takoma label.Freaked out impovisations for sax and bongos creating an anarchic,noisy soundscape.Charlie was one of the most important underground US performers, but also sculptor and musician.R.I.P.

as requested,

This is going to be re-issued very soon through De Stijl label.I bet it will be very limited edition ,so you guys interested keep your eyes open!

Yiannis Dimitras and Maria Katira - Erana ,LP,1978,Greece

Here's a 6-star rarity from Pokora's Record Collector dreams.A greek LP by Yiannis Dimitras and Maria Katira, both involved in the early 70s greek music idiom called "neo kyma"(new wave).Collaborated in the 70s with M. Hadjidakis,Mikis Theodorakis, these are the so called left winged artists of the greek early 70s( everything innovative and liberal in the junta period was considered left winged).This LP is excellent acoustic acid folk much inspired by greek traditional music (especiaally music from Ipeiros).Acoustic organs mostly,excellent voices,blending the green sunny atmosphere of greek land and the blue sea of Aegean(this sounds a bit like advertisement for Grce,which was not actually intended) .Anyway,highly recommented to every acid folk fan.

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Windflower-st,LP,1974,Alaska

Exceptional acid folk LP, from Alaska released privately in 1974.Melancholic mood,alternating male/female vocals,almost hypnotic psychedelia al through.In parts reminds me much of H.P. Lovecraft 1st LP,minus the female vocals.Excellent LP.

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NOTE: AT THE REQUEST OF THE ARTIST, THE LINK FOR THIS ALBUM HAS BEEN REMOVED, AS IT'S SOON DUE FOR REISSUE. KEEP YOUR EYES PEELED FOR IT...

Stringtronics - Mindbender,LP,1972,France

Damn groovy library music LP,that was released in 1972 through Peer label.Actually a compilation of tracks by some of the "masters" of the genre:
A1 Barry Forgie Mindbender
A2 Barry Forgie Mediterranee
A3 Barry Forgie Ballata
A4 Barry Forgie Haunted
A5 Barry Forgie Catharsis

B1 Barry Forgie Dawn Mists

B2 Anthony Mawer Undercover Girl
B3 Anthony Mawer Freedom Road
B4 Nino Nardini Afro-Samba

B5 Nino Nardini Tropicola
B6 Roger Roger Safari Park
B7 Roger Roger Perdition

Great space funky crased out tunes!Considered as one of the Holy Grails of library music genre!

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Minotaurus- Rain over Thessalia ,LP,1970,Germany/Greece(?)

Strange folk (?)lp by this band,that to me remains mystery if they are Greeks or Germans.The whole LP consists of 10 instrumental songs that are evidently nothing else than rockish re-incarnations of Greek folk dances,titles are mostly in Greek,i dunno...Possibly they were Greeks expelled by junta trying to play greek folk music in hippy vein.Oh, don't fool yourselves they got nothing to do with Minotaurus that released Fly Away in the mid 70s. This was released through Thorofon label just after the release of the EmTiDi first LP.

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Pinja Dzazna-Amuva Heed ,2002+Funky's Dad ,2004,CD-rs,Slovenia(?)

Here's one of my newest finds.Pinja Dzazna,a great slovenian(?) band presented to me by one of it's members ,Klemen(thanks pal). Combining free jazz,distorted pop-ish tunes ,folk and some baroque and classical tunes these guys create a wonderful atmosphere ,rminding a crazed out mix of Univers Zero,Sun Ra, with hints of 60s coctail music(!) and Balkan folkish tunes. Wonderful!If you understand the language be sure to visit their website.Unfortunately no infos were found in languages i can understand.

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V/A-NON DOM, TAPE, 1980, GERMANY

Way back in April, I posted Radierer's five contributions to this legendary Neue Deutsche Welle compilation, which were retroactively reissued as a 10" on Was Soll Das? Schallplatten. Now, here's the original article in all it's glory and it's a topper. The connective thread behind all three acts present (Wirtschaftswunder, Silouettes 61 and Radierer) is Tom Dokoupil, one of the great magi of the whole NDW movement, who's work in Silouettes 61, Radierer and Die Partei can be found elsewhere on MS. Though largely unconnected with the Ata-Tak label, the principal hub for the playful Ralph Records-informed dimension of NDW praxis, Dokoupil's command of this wonky aesthetic is formidable. Radierer's zippy, zany post punk antics I've discussed in the 10" post, though it's the un-reissued bits here that are really jaw dropping. Silouettes 61's wildly fun psycho smurfiness comes closest to the Ralph template but Wirtschaftswunder offer perhaps the most compulsive listen here, a flawlessly fucked sounding synthy post punk amalgam that glances off of everything from Dementia Precox to Null And Void to Christian Lunch.

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BARRY DALIVE-HOMELY ALL AMERICAN SONGS AND STORIES FOR MUTANT SPACE DWEEBS FROM PLANET HELL, LP, 1990, USA

Completely damaged sounding Sylvie and Babs/Kangaroo Kourt/People Like Us/Mixed Band Philanthropist-like dada collage insanity that is easily the peak moment in RRR's vast catalog of releases for moi. Lots of folks try their hand at this sorta thing, but few pull it off with this much sick panache.

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PIMMON-ORQUESTA DEL ARRURRUZ, 4" CD, 2001, AUSTRALIA

One of the finest operators in the universe of abstract electronica, Australia's Pimmon (ne Paul Gough) makes work of profound depth where others are content to skim the surface. Organic is a word that gets bandied about alot in reviews of Gough's work and indeed, it'd be tough to frame a discussion of his activities without citing it, teeming as his work is with strata upon strata of bristling micro-activity; all seamlessly meshed into immersive sonic environments so tactile, they virtually feel protoplasmic. What truly distinguishes Gough from most of his electronica peers though is the array of haunting submerged half-melodies that flit though his constructs. At times, these melodic cells have taken precedence to the point that his work has resembled some mutant DNA strand of instrumental electropop (his Snaps*Crackles*Pops CD on Tigerbeat6 being a good example of this tack), but on Orquesta Del Arruruz, these melodic strands have been teased out to the point of unravelling, as fathoms deep tides of bleary orchestrations swell and recede while dust storms of AI nanoparticles descend in swarms to form fissures in these diaphanous drifts. Pity that those whose only contact with this album is a download will miss out on the beauty of holding the actual article: a cloth-topped 4" CD embedded inside a 1" perimeter of clear plastic, seated on a bed of astroturf!

***************NEW LINK POSTED OCTOBER 2012***************

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ROVO-PYRAMID, CD, 2000, JAPAN

Led by former Boredoms guitarist Seiichi Yamamoto and Bondage Fruit electric violinist Yuji Katsui, the headspinningly immersive and propulsive constructs deployed over the course of this unbroken 43+ minute magnum opus by these Japanese masters (their fifth in a sizeable discography) commences by shepherding you down a rabbit hole of endlessly tumbling polyrhythmic cascades before landing the discombobulated listener in the thick of the great universal OM. From this glazed state of suspension emerges a breed of King Kong sized cosmic funk so absurdly galvanizing, even Funkadelic might be inclined to take a pointer. I feel spent from taking it all in...

***************NEW LINK POSTED OCTOBER 2012***************


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***NOTE: THERE'S A MIRRORED MEDIAFIRE LINK IN THE COMMENT FIELD***

YCLEPT DINMAKERS-EELEEMON MACHINE, TAPE, 1982, AUSTRALIA

Though the snarkily deconstructionist L.A.F.M.S.-like tendencies that this Aussie experimental electronic act exhibited on their debut (posted by Jim many moons ago care of blog friend The Eeleemon Machine, who also provided this gem) begin to creep back into their sonic palatte as this tape passes the half way mark, much of what's present here on their follow-up works a seam of experimentation thats startlingly prescient in both it's approach to electronic rhythm construction (wetly popping and minimalistically percolating) and the turbid pools of quease atmospherics it periodically sets on simmer, some of which wouldn't sound out of place on an Ekkehard Ehlers album. Count me as legitimately astonished. Sorry...no photo is available. Anyone out there that can help?


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Uni Sono-st,LP,1975,Finnland

Great Finnish Jazz-Fusion Featuring Pekka Pohjola, Reino Laine, Paroni Paakkunainen, Olli Ahvenlahti And Nono Sodenberg.Not an extremely innovative work,yet a very enjoyable LP.

As requested

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Liquid Visions - Teonanacatl,1997(?),Unreleased(?) LP,Germany

This is the so called lost LP by Liquid Visions , kindly presented to us by their singer,Psyched Alex.Great trippy organ based sounds ,floating lysergic soundscapes,acid sitar jams...a great psychedelic LP,pity it wasn't released.

Thank you very much Alex!

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Bill Quick-Maravillosa Gente,LP,1972,Spain

"Mysterious Bill Quick..this guy was son of North-American dad and Venezuelan mum, and landed in Madrid in the early 70s, spending most of his time playing music and manufacturing leather belts and other stuff that he later sold at the popular Rastro flea market in Madrid, meeting point for all hippies of the time. He somehow got in touch with famous producer Alain Milhaud, who got really impressed by his work and quickly offered him a deal for recording a long-play to be released in Milhauds own Explosion label. Then Bill recruited some of top studio musicians and foreign friends who were also living in Madrid at the time; the list of people who play on the recordings is impressive: Salvador Dominguez & Chema Pellico (ex-Cerebrum), Rafa Galvez (Vainica Doble), Frank Rojas (Sangre). Jess Lam (Jess & James).. and up to eleven musicians joined Bill in the recording studio. As a result, "Maravillosa gente" (Beautiful people) was recorded. Ranging from beautiful, introspective, acoustic solo tracks like "Beautiful People", "Only the weather" or the acid-folk of "Winters gonna come" to full backing-band hard-edged ones like "Take me away", "Somebody" and the folk-rock sounding of "With you, Lord" or "I sing this song", the album is a real treat from start to finish. It has an awesome sound and amazing production (it was recorded at one of the most advanced Spanish recording studios at the time), along with top musicianship and Bills amazing songwriting. A real big ticket that was absolutely ignored in Spain at the time, and even today remains unknown to most of folk-rock collectors and fans. Curious enough, the album got released in Brazil as well (with poor sales again), with a different cover artwork"(shown above).

Great Folk/psych rock!

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Bazar · Drabantbyrock ,LP,1974,Norway

Great bluesy hard progressive pilit rock from Norway.This is their 2nd LP, much better than the 1st one which was much uninspired and aged for it's time. Great guitarwork,some psychedelic elemments too.

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Alex(aka Alex Oriental Experience) -Alex,1973+That's the deal,1975.,LPs,Germany

Magnificent Kraut meets Oriental albums by one of the considered pioneers of the genre. Members of Can participated in these first two records(inc.Jaki Liebezeit,Helmut Hattler,Horst Stachelhaus and others). These 2 first records of Alex Wiska came with simply his name:Alex and are much more oriental/Turkish rock oriented.His later ones are under the name Alex Oriental Experience and are much more space rock /kraut oriented. Many comparisons were made with the Turkish band Cem Karaca(coming soon here) .Great saz tunes by Alex and good accompanied by some of the brightest names of German rock scene.Highly recommented... not to be missed!

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FRANCO BATTIATO/JURI CAMISASCA/OSAGE TRIBE-LA CONVENZIONE, CD, 2002 (RECORDED: 1972-1975), ITALY

For those with an ear cocked to the kosmiche, Franco Battiato was perhaps the most formidable presence on the Italian 70's scene and the first two of his four tracks here (originally issued as a single in 1972) are the precise sort of mind erasing acid godhead that listeners to his first five albums have come to anticipate; all scything and burbling VCS3 synth haze, Upfull acid guitar filigree and soaring and poignance-twanging vocal keening (the lesser third cut, "Stranniza D'Ammuri" from three years later anticipates his more mainstream pop tendencies that'd manifest themselves later). If I have the story straight, the connective through line for this compilation is that in addition to the four proper Battiato cuts featured here, he was also responsible for producing the remaining tracks here by Casmisasca and Osage Tribe for the Bla Bla label. I've no idea how Camisasca's material squares with that featured on his highly touted solo album from the period (which I've yet to hear), but his five cuts here are a lovely melange of elements, the first two in more of a sophisticated prog pop mode somewhere between Godley & Creme and 801's "Listen Now", the next three veering between Lord Krishna Von Goloka acid folk and explicitly Battiato-ish psychotropic overdrive. The one Osage Tribe cut here is a blazing krautrock-ish sounding power trio shitstorm replete with intoning choral vocals. Please do yourselves a collective favor though and omit listening to the howlingly awful and depressing new version of "La Convenzione" that Battiato felt was necessary to tack on the end here. It's a definitive turd in the punchbowl and after having this monster compilation buffet you from one sublime acid fantasia to another, it's a cold kick in the nuts to be confronted by an 80's-hair-metal-sounding (or whatever this rot qualifies as) version of one of his masterpieces from the 70's, a track that truly proves how much he lost the plot (and evidently the pot) after his glory days in the 70's.

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JUNJI HIROSE/YOSHIHIDE OTOMO-SILANGANAN INGAY, LP, 1989, JAPAN

This, Otomo's hellaciously rare vinyl debut opposite Ground Zero/Shibusashirazu member Hirose (absent his usual sax here) is precisely the delicious clusterfuck of vinyl and toy instrument abuse one would hope for from this era of Otomo's deconstructive praxis. James Brown, Orson Welles, Herb Alpert and Ken Nordine are all grist for these pranksters mill, though the chop 'n' change ratio here is sometimes less intensive than one might anticipate; some passages here appealingly balancing the bricollage with through-lines of rhythm box clatter.

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SOUNDMASCHINE-6.094, TAPE, 1980, GERMANY

With their detuned and wobblingly mutable attack that staggers between lumber/bellow/screech sturm und drang and artfully elusive jerry-rigged constructs of rhythm box, radio and slithering little guitar figures that spit flecks of rust off their corroded strings as they're agitated, Neue Deutsch Welle weirdniks Soundmaschine here effectively set up camp in the theater of operations/theatre of the absurd staked out by the Geniale Dilletanten mob (Die Todliche Doris, Einsturzende Neubauten, Sprung Aus Den Wolken, Frieder Butzmann et.al.). A good 'un.

NOTE: Due to it's idiosyncratic structure, it's nearly impossible to discern where one track ends and another begins on this tape, so I've ripped each side as one track.

Get pt. 1 Here

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CZECHOSLOVAK RADIO JAZZ ORCHESTRA AND THE BLUE EFFECT GROUP (aka MODRY EFEKT)-NEW SYNTHESIS 2 (NOVA SYNTEZA 2), LP, 1974, CZECHOSLOVAKIA-NWW LIST

Largely fabulous and completely over the top orchestrated fusion/hard rock hybrid from this Nurse With Wound-listed crew, though some of the uncouth strained vocalizing might cause some sphincter clenching for our more sensitive patrons. Argentina's all-star La Bibblia project from the mid 70's (featuring just about everyone from the Argentine underground of the era) is about as close as I can come to finding a touchstone for the species of swelling histrionic orchestrated prog bombast found within these grooves. An album custom made for those of you out there for whom the term over the top is a siren song rather than a warning.

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