Sunday, February 4, 2007

The Fifth Set Of Obscure DIY Classic 7" (compilation e.p.s)



4 Alternatives EP 7”

4 TRACK EP ON THE ‘HEARTBEAT’ LABEL FROM 1979 – FEATURES ‘JOE PUBLIC’, ‘THE NUMBERS’, ‘THE X-CERTS’ & AN AMAZING TRACK BY ’48 HOURS


8 From '80 -A Carlisle Compilation (Matchbox Classics 1980) -7"
1.Maybe It's Different/ Spivs
2.Walk It/ Pedestrians

3.She Knows/ Mr.Bulder

4.Prophetic Justice/ No Support//
5.Bleak/ Veldt

6.Alco/ Toolbox Murderers
7.Sitting In A Disco/ Kirsty & The Husbands

8.So Nice/ Limps
Sex, Violence And The Eternal Truth (Sonic International 1981)

incl: Lost Boys, Venom, What To Wear, Dodos. only 250 copies.


The Epigram EP (Epigram EPI-002 1981)

1.Marion's Flight/ West City 5

2.You Speak German/ Architects
3.Gymslip Mother/ Outputs

4.Another Story/ Between The Smile



Got My Goat EP (1981)
[Jimmy Nipper Five / Earl Paul / Brenda Smith / Islam O'Shea / Bert Wills ]


Second City Static 12" (1980)
[Restricted Code / Positive Noise / The Alleged]

Backlash EP (1980)

[Threats / Victims Of What / End Result / Significant Zeros / Factory Poems]

Some more compilation 7" from the magnificent UK DIY late 70s/early 80s scene!

Saturday, February 3, 2007

ALU-Licht, LP, Germany, 1982


Here's an ultra rare nd great minimal synth/experimental LP from the group ALU.Released in 1982 .The band members were previously playing in the legendary prog/psych/freaked out band SAND!Recently released a new cd with unissued works called:"autismenschen"

LESTER BANGS & THE DELINQUENTS - Jook Savages on the Brazos,LP, 1981, USA


Lester Bangs and the Delinquents

Lester Bangs recorded an album with the Austin, Texas base Punk group "The Delinquents" in 1980, entitled "Jook Savages on the Brazos". It was quoted that, "Lester's album with the Delinquents was the predecessor of so-called alternative-country bands such as Wilco and Son Volt".

Lester Bangs Bio

Lester Bangs died April 30,1982 and his legend still lives on in music, movies, and books.
He started as a rock critic for Rolling Stone magazine and was fired for writing many a negative article, including a slant on the rock group, Canned Heat.
He moved on to a home in Birmingham, Michigan on Brown street where he wrote for Creem magazine and then on to New York to do freelance work for various publications. Lester lives on in the biographical book "Let it Blurt, the Life and Times of Lester Bangs" by Jim DeRogatis who was influenced so much by Bangs that he became a writer for Rolling Stone and was fired as well. DeRogatis is now a pop rock critic for the Chicago Sun Times. Lester is portrayed in the Cameron Crowe movie, "Almost Famous" that features many a Bangism.
Whether you hate or love Lester Bangs, he must be remember as one who brought the musician down to earth and his writings for the most part are pure poetry.
Lester writes about the Delinquents

One solution:you write songs and sing and maybe play an instrument too.
Okay, so do what I've started doing: I just went down to Austin, Texas, where I hooked up with a group called the Delinquents(I hope this doesn't come off like hype, because it's not meant to ), and we wrote music for and rehearsed up 10 of my songs and one cover in three months flat, then recorded a whole album in 16 hours including mixing.
Everybody who's heard the album thinks it's good and nobody believes we did it in 16 hours, and I may well never see any of the Delinquents again, but I tell you this: the last time I tried to get something like this together, with a band called Birdland in New York City, me and the lead guitarist/co-songwriter went through bassist after drummer after bassist after drummer-well, let's see, we started rehearsing and writing in September 1977, finally got this thing on stage in June of 1978, it broke up in August, we finally got it onstage with another bassist and drummer in December of that year, that broke up in April 1979...see what I mean?

A review

The only album to be released while Lester was alive finds him working with the Texas-based Delinquents, who had a pretty hot guitar player by the name of Andy Fuertsch. It wasn't as though he was looking for a roots-rock sound in working with the Delinquents, it was more that they were in Texas and outside of the incestuous New York post-punk scene that Lester was so much a part of. The music contained within these grooves is very good, especially the bitterly funny "Life Ain't Worth Living (But Suicide is a Waste of Time)," which, more than any of the other songs he wrote, gets to the heart of Lester's worldview. His singing is a little thin and inexpressive, but never unlistenable, and the record as a whole has an engaging Richard Hell-influenced psycho blues feel to it.
- John Dougan, All Music Guide
A masterpiece!Absolute classic!

V/A:The waiting room, LP,1980,UK (Object Music)

This one closes the Object records compilations .Magnificent stuff.Released in 1980.

Tracklist:
Slight Seconds -
1. And...
2. Puppet On A String
3. Building Bridges
4. Where Were You?
5. Slight Seconds
6. Lost Love
7. Fallen (Again?)
8. Chameleon Lens
9. "Further Down The Line"
Mediaters -
1. Silent Battles
2. Ego Drift
3. Time's Your Own?
4. The Waiting Room
5. Mirror Image
Picture Chords - A Cause Des Voisins

V/A:A Splash of Colour, LP, 1981, UK

Excellent UK compilation with neo-psychedelic groups!Contains debout appearance of Mood Six along with tracks from The Times,Baraccudas, High Tide,eyc. Very reccomended!
Tracklist:
1. Just Like A Dream - Mood Six
2. I Helped Patrick McGoohan Escape - The Times
3. Something's Happening Here - Miles Over Matter
4. Park My Car - Miles Over Matter
5. Love Letters - The Silence
6. Plastic Flowers - Mood Six
7. Dancing In My Mind - The High Tide
8. Keep Your Voice Down - The Earwigs
9. Mortal Dreams - The Doctor
10. Watching The World Go By - The Barracudas
11. The Long Weekend - The Marble Staircase
12. Electric Blue - The High Tide

Colin Potter-The Scythe, Tape,1981, UK (NWW realated)


Colin has been an engineer for over 20 years now, and along his diverse history he has worked with Nurse With Wound, Current 93, Organum, Jonathan Coleclough, Ora, and many others. Being a musician himself (with many cassette releases and a first solo CD out recently), his contributions to these projects are often more integral than just being the engineer.

Find here his 2nd release from 1981 on IRC label.Excellent minimal electronics/experimental music by one of the pioneers of this genre!

Ame Son-Primitive Expression, LP, 1976, France (NWW list!)

Here's their 2nd L containing recordings from 1969 to 1976, released in 1976.More structured sounding, but yet great!

Ame Son - Catalyse,LP,1970,France (NWW list!)


(alternative cover)

Ame Son Were One Of The Earliest Prog Bands To Cross-Polinate Free Jazz With Psychedelic Music, Especially On Their Full-Length "Catalyse," Released In 1970. Many Tracks Begin In An Avant Free-Form Jam That Eventually Develop Into More Structured Song And Rhythm, With Lyrics In Either French Or English, And Then Slips Back Into Another Wild Free-Form Freak-Out. Prominent Flute, Drugged-Out Vocals, And Fuzzed-Up Electric Guitar Lend This A Definite Late-'60s Underground Vibe, Though Because Of The Originality Of The Material And The Quality Of Musicianship, It Doesn't Sound Dated Like Similar Releases From That Era.

Seatrain-2, LP,1970, USA

Following my previous Seatrain post ,find here their 2nd awesome LP from 1970.

Alrune Rod - Hej Du!, LP, 1971, Denmark

Here's their 2nd(and best ) LP from 1971.
In the late '60s and early '70s, Denmark was full of psychedelic bands, and a few prog rock bands as well. Many of these were the type that were not uncommon to be seen performing at Christiania (an intentional community started in 1971 at Copenhagen, from the remains of an abandoned military base). Certain bands/artists included Steppeulvene (translated as Steppenwolf, but has absolutely nothing to do, musically, or musicians involved, with the well-known American band), Ache, Burnin' Red Ivanhoe, Gasolin', TømrerClaus (Claus Pedersen), Secret Oyster, and many more. Alrune Rod is another, and their second album, Hej Du is a prime example of prog/psych from Denmark. In fact it's really hard distinguishing the prog from the psych on this album, you can comfortably call it proto-prog. This album sorta reminds me of a Danish Pink Floyd, especially when they go off on those psychedelic explorations. The band at the time consisted of:
Leif Roden: vocals, bass and acoustic guitar
Giese: vocals and guitar
Pastor Ziegler: vocals, organ, and piano
Karsten Høst: drums, percussion
Claus From: drums, percussion on "Perlesøen"
The album consists of only three, lengthy cuts, allowing the band to streatch out and explore. The album opens with the title track and it's by far the most accessible cut on the album. This is proof of what proto-progressive was all about (not abandoning its psychedelic roots). Parts of the song even features "I Am the Walrus"-like phasing, which is a bit odd for a 1970 recording, but they did it. The next song is "Du Taler Og Sir'", where the band starts becoming more adventurous. The music has some space rock tendencies, especially the Pink Floyd-like organ. After the organ experiment, then the band goes in to an intense jam. The album then ends with the side length suite, "Perlesøen". This is an odd piece, because while the first several minutes, the band is still exploring their brand of psych/prog, the middle part really goes off the deep end, where everything slows down, and starts sounding something like experimental Pink Floyd, or what certain Krautrock bands, such as Amon Düül II, Ash Ra Tempel, etc., were doing at that time. Overall, a fine example of what the Danish hippie rock scene had to offer us.

Catherine Ribeiro & Alpes - Ame Debout ,1971,France (NWW list!)

And here comes the "desert"!
Magnificent as always!
The wind is blowing, Catherine is singing and the music reaches new levels. It is touching and dark just like Nick Drake. Still it is so experimental and it works really good. Many worlds come together on this album. Makes me feel better.

Catherine Ribeiro & Alpes - Paix ,1972,France (NWW list!)

The previous was the appetiser, i think you can't say no to the "main menu"!

This album is difficult to pin down (as my many different tags indicate) but in a word, it is "mind-expanding" almost to the point of being mind-blowing. It is a trip for sure, to where I don´t know. I have only listened to it twice so I won´t spend much words right now but if you are interested in progressive music that stays way off the usual path of technical wizardry and adheres instead to a punk-attitude of shouting, intense vocalizations, pulsating drum loops and natural echoes, this is your album. Sounds like Nico (if she ever had a proper voice) shouting her guts out to a bewildering vortex of natural forces. You could also imagine a punk band, say, the Stooges, drenched in the soundscape of early Pink Floyd (Saucerful of Secrets) and the Beatles´ most extreme psychedelia (Tomorrow Never Knows). It is that wonderful. Awesome, in fact, and quite addictive too.

Catherine Ribeiro & Alpes - No. 2 ,1970,France (NWW list!)

Here's one more from the magnificent Catherine Ribeiro!

The world stops. The skies open. Sounds surge and whimper. She sings. Thousand-foot wild beasts thrash their claws against the sky. A tender ballad drifts through the meadow. We are alive.
Michael Anton Parker


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

Deep Freeze Mice - Tender Yellow Ponies of Insomnia,LP, 1989, UK


The songs on this album are mostly about how a lot of people would be better off if they had wheels and had numbers on their heads to say how good they are at gardening and what would happen if the government repealed the laws about death and gave you free pizza if you were pregnant with a girl. There's also a lot about looking after goats on some of the tracks.

Friday, February 2, 2007

V/A:Growing Pains, MLP, 1980 ,AUSTALIA, M Squared records



Very rare minimal synth compilation mini lp released in 1980 from M Squared label.

Tracklist

1. Pleasant Peasants - Pussman Polka
2. The Barons - Paint It Black
3. Systematics - Midnight On Balancing Day
4. EST - Yvonne Is Out Again
5. Height/Dismay - Girl From Ipanema
6. Scattered Order - Bent Up
7. The Dead Travel Fast



V/A:Sing as we go, LP, UK,1982

Very rare and great minimal synth/DIY compilation from 1982.
TRACKLIST
side A:THE AUDIENCE - Lost
CHINA MOON - Bitter-Sweet
THE PAPERS - Cinerama
HIS CREATE HE -
THE SPOONS - Seen So Much
VAGUELY DIVINE - Parts Of Me
side B:PRAXIS - Cassandra
GLASS ACTORS - Changes
ZOAWENT - Born Again
SEXAGISMA - Freaks Graveyard
LEFT AT THE LIGHTS - Motorway
THE ISLANDERS - Tirolien Lander
DECADE OF DREAMS - Days of Sun (and Men In White)

Persona - Som, LP, 1975, Brazil





ONE OF THE RAREST/MOST WISHED BRAZILIAN Psych Experimental Record
FUZZ GUITAR FULL OF EXPERIMENTAL SOUNDS. INCLUDES Pic INSERT Poster--WITH INSTRUCTIONS to play the Psych/Mirror/Candle Persona Game while listening to the record.GREAT TRIP EXPERIENCE
Featuring the Members of Tutti-Frutti [Rita Lee's Personnel in the 70s] : Luis Carlini [Electric Guitar, Harmonica, Echo Play Effects], Lee Marcucci [Acoustic Guitar], Franklin Paolillo [Percussion]; Carmem Flores [ Vocals on the Track "Agua"].
If Mr Stapleton had ever come across this one he should put it in the NWW list!

Father Yod(YAHOWA13)- Penetration :An aquarian symphony, LP, 1975, USA (NWW list!)


Ya Ho Wha 13 were formed in 1969 in the Los Angeles area by one of the most eccentric freaks of the time, a middle-aged beatnik called Jim Baker who believed himself a god and went by the nickname of Father Yod. Their extreme psychedelic sound, that employed tribal drums and distorted guitars in a deliberately childish manner (all unrehearsed live and with no overdubs, editing or design), was the ultimate product of the hippie era.
The band (tighly related to Father Yod' religious cult, the "Source", and to a vegetarian restaurant located in Hollywood) frequently changed name to The Savage Sons of Yahowha, Yodship, Fire Water Air, Spirit of 76, but the key players were always the same (Djin Aquarian on guitar, Octavious Aquarian on drums, Sunflower Aquarian on bass, and occasionally Sky Saxon of the Seeds).
Kohoutek (Higher Key, 1973) was the debut album of the Spirit Of 76, which also released Contraction (1974 - Swordfish, 2006), Expansion (1974), All Or Nothing At All (1974) and some singles.
Yahowa 13 are credited for Penetration - An Aquarian Symphony (1974 - Higher Key, 2004 - Swordfish, 2005), which stands as Father Yod's masterpiece (or, better, Djin Aquarian's masterpiece) and one of the milestones in psychedelic-rock.
Djin Aquarian wrote:
"The Penetration sound came out as it is because of all the band members inputs at 4 in the morning, which is when we recorded at this family meditation. Father Yod was the greatest influence in developing this sound with me. Father Yod was the leader and teacher of our commune of 144 people in Hollywood and it was he who felt called to produce, sing and play tympany and 40" diameter gong, on much of the 65 albums we made, most of which have been destroyed (but 9 remain that are being re-released on Swordfish). None of the music or lyrics were pre-conceived. We built our own garage studio, recorded, did the art work, manufactured and distributed all on our own resources from working at our health food restaurant on Sunset Strip."
More typical of their message-driven music were Savage Sons of Yahowa (1974), I'm Gonna Take You Home (1974 - Swordfish, 2004), To The Principles For The Children (1975). At their best Yahowa 13 performed lengthy instrumental jams that could easily swing from silence to walls of white noise.
At the end of 1974 the whole commune moved to Hawaii. The band dissolved, but other Father Yod projects included Golden Sunrise by Fire Water Air and singles released as Yodship.
Father Yod died in an accident in 1975 and Sky Saxon became a full-time member of the band and of the cult.
Ya Ho Wha 13's The Operetta (Swordfish, 2005) documents a previously unreleased album of 1975, presumably one of their last recordings.
The entire Father Yod opus has been collected on a 13-cd boxset, God and Hair (Captain Trip, 2001). Only a handful of people had heard his music before this reissue.
Djin Aquarian has continued making music.

http://www.scaruffi.com/vol2/fatheryo.html
A freaked out psych masterpiece!

The Ex- 'Pokkeherrie' ,LP, 1985,Netherlands


"The Ex, with 'Pokkeherrie' have produced a masterful killer weaponof raw power that rattles up the spine into numbed pink brain cells and fills the vacuum with social issue. "
"They've done it again. While they maintain melody, dissonance, moodiness, and a hard edge, they continue to grow and encompass many styles. (...) Their integrity is rock hard and dependable."
Possibly their best LP.Avant punk at it's best!

Francois Bayle - Voyage au centre, LP(?),1981,France

Born in 1932 in Tamatave, Madagascar where he lived for 14 years. Studies in Bordeaux (1946—54). In 1958-60, François Bayle joined Pierre Schaeffer’s Groupe de Recherches Musicales in Paris, and between 1959-62 worked with Olivier Messiaen and Karlheinz Stockhausen. In 1966, Pierre Schaeffer put him in charge of the GRM which, in 1975, became an integral department of the French National Audiovisual Institute (INA). He maintained this position until 1997.In addition, it was François Bayle’s idea to create the Acousmonium (1974). He also originated the record series Collection Ina-Grm, organizes concerts and radio broadcasts still supports the development of technologically advanced musical instruments (Syter – Grm tools – Midi Formers – Acousmographe).In 1993, he founded the Acousmathèque, a repertoire of some 2000 works composed since 1948, and that also organizes symposiums and composers’ portraits.Upon leaving the Grm in 1997, he created his own studio and the record label Magison.Bayle’s œuvre is notable for its masterly craftsmanship and rhetoric, its agile discourse and its sophisticated thought.To date, he has composed 99 works.Among others: L’Expérience Acoustique (1972), Camera oscura (1976),Tremblement de terre très doux(1978), Son Vitesse-Lumière (1980-83), Fabulae (1990-91), La main vide (1994-95) –Morceaux de ciels (Pieces of heavens) (1996), Jeîta-retour (1985-99), Arc, pour Gérard Grisey (1999), La forme du temps est un cercle (Time’s form is a circle) (1998-2001), La forme de l’esprit est un papillon (The mind’s form is a butterfly) (2001-03), Univers nerveux (2005). – Extra-ordinaire (2005)
Actually music for a performance in 1981....ever officially released?

Free Agents [Pete Shelley] - £3.33 , LP, 1980, UK (NWW list!/Groovy label)

Pete Shelley
b. Peter McNeish, 17 April 1955, Leigh, Lancashire, England. When the Buzzcocks disbanded in 1981, Shelley soon embarked on a variety of solo projects. In fact, his solo history extended before, and during, the Buzzcocks career. As one of the Invisible Girls, he helped out on John Cooper Clarke albums while the Buzzcocks were still active. Around the same time he also launched his own independent label, Groovy. On this he released Free Agents (subtitled Three Pounds And Thirty Three R.R.P., which was also its original price). This consisted primarily of tape loops and feedback, and general free-for-all improvisation. Meanwhile, on New Hormones (the Buzzcocks' original label) came The Tiller Boys EP, another of Shelley's pet projects. The second release on Groovy was Sky Yen, a solo album originally recorded by Shelley in 1974 using electronic instruments. Much akin to work by Kraftwerk, it prefaced the electronic feel of his later solo work. However, it was 1982's Homosapien, a weighty slice of electro-pop concerning bisexuality, that marked the high point in Shelley's solo career. It was produced by Martin Rushent as a launch for his Generic label, and caused much discussion of Shelley's sexuality, and a re-examination of his Buzzcocks lyrics.XL1 in 1983 was more tame, although it did boast the novelty of including a Sinclair computer programme that reproduced the lyrics. One review compounded matters by mentioning no less than five Buzzcocks titles in comparison - a trifle unfairly. Again, it was produced by Rushent, this time with a predominantly disco feel.After 1986's Heaven And The Sea Shelley sought the comfort of a band again, and attempted to retain anonymity in Zip. He re-formed the Buzzcocks in 1989, enjoying an artistic and critical renaissance with the studio recordings Trade Test Transmissions, All Set and Modern. In October 2000 he reunited with the Buzzcocks' co-founder Howard Devoto under the Buzzkunst moniker. The duo recorded a well-received album which owed little to their respective musical pasts.
DISCOGRAPHY: Free Agents (Groovy 1980)**, Sky Yen (Groovy 1980)**, Homosapien (Genetic 1982)***, XL1 (Genetic 1983)***, Heaven And The Sea (Mercury 1986)**, with Howard Devoto Buzzkunst (Cooking Vinyl/spinART 2002)***.
Vinyl 12 inch LP released 1980 on Shelley's own label Groovy STP1
Pete Shelley notes: 'More of a solo project by Francis Cookson. One side features live recording from Tiller Boys gig at YMCA London [w/] Barry Adamson, Eric Random, Francis Cookson [& Pete Shelley]. Other side studio recordings done at Graveyard Studio, Prestwich.Doodles by Francis.'
The following is from a Shelley interview by C.P. Lee in N.M.E. Feb 9, 1980, although this is Lee talking, not Shelley: "The solo album is entitled `Free Agents' and subtitled `Three pounds thirty three, R.R.P' which is (not surprisingly) also the price. `Free Agents' is a collection of tracks about which the sleeve and the label give no information whatsoever. It's a montage of feedback, tapeloops and drum machines, with possibly a bit of the T.V in the background (well, it was made at home). Experiments in rhythmic annihilation and free form improvisation with just a hint of Buzzcock attitudes in the framing of several of the structures."[Gez notes that C.P. Lee is ex-Albertos Y Los Trios Paranoias and journalist / occ.radio/TV personality.]
The C.P. Lee interview also mentions an album that was soon to be released called "Cinema Music And Wallpaper Sounds" recorded 1976.
Pete Shelley notes: '"Cinema Music And Wallpaper Sounds" was never released.'
Greg Earle notes: '6 pieces performed for a film soundtrack using guitars / effects / oscillators, drums and other noises. No vocals. It comes in a plain 12" (with hole) cover, much like a "white label" 12" single would. There is no writing on the record label, and there is a "cover" taped over the outer sleeve which basically looks like a page out of someone's notebook (lined paper, etc. ) that someone did some pen doodles on.'
sorry no pic sleeve scans

Michael Garrison- In the regions of sunreturn , LP, 1979, USA


Michael Garrison or Garri was a synthesist from California, USA. He was born on November 28, 1956 in Oregon and died on March 24, 2004. At the age of 13 he wrote his first song and later, during his musical study at the Idaho University, he formed the basic for the first release on his own label Winspell Records, later Garrisongs Music. The original work was titled In The Regions Of Sunreturn and Beyond and based on the expeditions of Voyager 1 and 2. But when he managed to get a contract with BMG in 1980 the title changed to In The Regions Of Sunreturn and so he became also known in Europe. His style was typical strong sequences with monstrous solos played with various electronic instruments on top. Often a real wall-of-sound experience. An Earth-Star Trilogy differs from the rest of his work by having a much more calm atmosphere. He was strongly influenced by the European innovators of Electronic Music, like Klaus Schulze and Tangerine Dream.


Another space/minimal electronics gem!

Bernard Xolotl & Cyrille Verdeaux - Prophecy, LP, 1980, France


French keyboardist Cyrille Verdeaux studied at the Conservatory of Music in Paris (1964-68) and at the Conservatory of Nice (1969-72). In 1973 he formed the band Babylone with guitarist Christian Boule`. He then assembled a few members of Gong (Steve Hillage, Tim Blake, Didier Malherbe) and some old friends (Christian Boule`, Gilbert Artman) to record the Clearlight Symphony (Virgin, end of 1974), released under the moniker Clearlight. This lush electronic and symphonic work was one of first to continue the mission of Mother Mallard's Portable Masterpiece and Tonto's Expanding Head Band. Forever Blowing Bubbles (1975), performed by a broader ensemble, was a more conventional collection of songs, heavily influenced by the presence of King Crimson's violinist David Cross and by guitarist and flutist Jean Claude d'Agostini and Zao's bassist Joel Dugrenot. The instrumentals (Without Words, Way, Ergotrip, Et Pendant Ce Temps La) are almost as good as the previous symphony.
Delired Cameleon Family (1975) was the soundtrack for Pierre Clementi's one and only movie "Visa de Censure n*X",
Les Contes Du Singe Fou (1977), later re-recorded and re-issued as In Your Hands (Musea, 1994), is a metaphysical piece that features Tim Blake, jazz violinist Didier Lockwood, bassist Joel Dugrenot and vocalist Ian Bellamy (the three-part suite Time Skater).
Verdeaux self-produced Visions (Polydor, 1978), the fourth Clearlight album, which featured a small orchestra comprising rock (Didier Malherbe, Steve Hillage, Christian Boule), Indian and jazz musicians (violinist Didier Lockwood), and marked a return to purely instrumental music (with a minor exception). The four longest suites are also the most significant. Spirale d'Amour and Messe Caline predate new-age music with their languid, calm lakes of chords, whereas Full Moon Raga and Shanti Lotus strike a magic balance between western and eastern classical music.
At this point Verdeaux abandoned the Clearlight moniker and began recording under his real name.
At the border between classical and new age music, Verdeaux recorded in California the electronic chamber music of Offrandes (Fortuna, 1980) and the Nocturnes Digitales (Fortuna, 1980) for keyboards, tablas, violin and natural sounds (Winds Talks, Piano Strings).
Prophecy (Fortuna, 1981) was a collaboration with electronic musician Bernard Xolotl.
Upon returning from a sojourn in India, Verdeaux released Moebius (Soundings of the Planet, 1982), Shambala (Soundings of the Planet, 1982) and Messenger Of The Son (Catero, 1983). The latter balances pomp (Overture) and dynamics (Vibrato), the religious (Full Sun Raga) and the ethereal (Astral Journey, The Key Of Enoch).
Kundalini Opera (2004) is an ambitious seven-CD concept album that began with separate album releases, starting with Kundalini Opera (Eurock, 1984). As completed in 2004, it is an ambitious seven-CD concept album, ranging from the solo piano sonatas of Piano for the Third Ear to the Tangerine Dream-like "kosmische musik" of Journey to Tantraland (1984), that features Dallas Smith on flute and lyricon (and that offers ((Shambala, Journey To The Center Of The Head). Its seven one-hour chapters, that aim at reharmonizing the seven chakras, are: Ethnicolours, Journey to Tantraland, Solar Trancefusion, Flowers from Heaven, Rhapsodies Pour la Planete Bleue, Piano for the Third Ear, Inner Peace Concerto. Best of Kundalini Opera is a selection.
After this opera, Verdeaux recorded sparsely: Rhapsody for the Blue Planet (Emen, 1988), with Creation Synthetique, and Symphony II (Mantra, 1990), a timid follow-up to his masterpiece that belongs more to new-age music than to progressive-rock.
Ethnicolors (Clearlight, 1998) and Tribal Hybrid Concept (Clearlight, 1998) are collaborations with ethnographer Pascal Menetrey, who adds third-world rhythms and chants to the former and samples Inuits, Papoos, Tuvas, Ethiopians and Kurds as well as animals facing extinction on the latter.
Rainbow Music (Clearlight, 1999) is a 6-CD anthology of 25 years of recordings.
Aerobix 99 (Clearlight, 1998) is a soundtrack for aerobic exercise.
Infinite symphony (2003) marked a return of the legendary Clearlight.
Impressionist Musique, whose recording began in 1995, is still unreleased.



Electronic composer Bernard Xolotl was born in France in 1951. As a teen, he was introduced to electronic music through the works of musique concrète composers like Pierre Henry and Pierre Schaeffer, although he found the early recordings of Pink Floyd to be much more inspirational; he left home at age 17 to travel the world, along the way befriending figures including Klaus Schulze, Terry Riley, La Monte Young and Manuel Goettsching. During the early 1970s Xolotl began creating music of his own, working in studios across Europe and the U.S. before settling in California in 1974; there he slowly built his own studio, two years later making his recorded debut with Music by Xolotl. Journey to an Oracle, a collaboration with Bernard Largounez and Jean Baptiste Barriere, followed in 1978, while for 1980's Prophecy Xolotl teamed with Cyrille Verdeaux. Return of the Golden Mean followed, and in 1983 he completed work on Procession; with Last Wave, Xolotl — long associated with his work on the guitar synthesizer — expanded his musical palette to introduce the Yamaha CS60, the PPG Wave 2.2, the Korg Monopoly, the Pro-One, the ARP Sequencer and vocoder. After a long absence from recording, he resurfaced in 1991 with Mexecho; Tristany followed in 1997.

Ghedalia Tazartes - Trans ports (1984)+Check Point Charlie(1990), LPs, Italy, (NWW list)




Sound-splicing French studio trickster employing gibberish vocals at varying speeds, middle eastern cadences and instrumentation, and proto-electronica sound manipulations galore in creating a Residents/Nurse With Wound at a Sufi ceremony collage.Wonderful stuff!

Thursday, February 1, 2007

Supersister - Present from Nancy(1970)+Spiral Staircase(1974), LPs, Holland, (NWW list!)




Supersister can claim to be one of the very first non-British groups to play rock music that was progressive. Although Zappa and Soft Machine were almost certainly big influences, the ironic thing is that the group sounds more like Hatfield and the North or Matching Mole, who didn’t exist until several years after the group recorded their debut album, considered by almost everyone to be their best album. Another irony is that the group basically kept the exact same sound and style on their first four albums, with little experimentation with new sonic possibilities, but of course, those albums were recorded over a pretty short period of time. Supersister’s lineup was keys/vocals, flute, bass, and drums. The lack of a guitarist and dedicated lead vocalist gives their music a very open and spacious quality. The keyboardist sticks to organ most of the time, often with the Canterbury-style distortion, but usually clean. There’s also a lot of electric piano and piano, especially on later albums. The roots of the music are a triumvirate of jazz, pop, and experimentalism, with a significant amount of humor and a whimsical approach. All of the albums sound quite similar to each other, so if you like one, you might as well buy all of them. Basically half of their music is humorous pop music, sometimes with lyrics, and the rest is the progressive instrumental stuff.

Present From Nancy is usually considered to be their best album, and it is a good album. Each side of the album is a long suite of short musical ideas that range from simple to very complex, peaceful to loud and dissonant, and always-changing to very repetitive. The main unifying force is the sound, which leans heavily on organ, and only occasionally does the flute or bass have a very important role. Although I like the album, I can’t really call it the classic that a lot of people do. It starts out great, but by the end, they seem to be resorting to repetitive jamming and noodly instrumentals that aren’t very strong, and already they’re repeating the same stuff that they would end up recycling on subsequent albums.

The last album the group made, Spiral Staircase, was both a return to form and an exploration of new possibilities. It included several whimsical vocal pieces (unlike Iskander) but also marked a turn towards the more avant-garde on a few tracks. The subtle changes in instrumentation on the previous album continued on this one, with the addition of acoustic bass, less reliance on flute (or sax), and very little organ. The end result is an album that’s kind of disjointed but still pretty good.

Big balls & the great white idiot-Same + Foolish guys ,LPs, Germany,1977/78


Legendary German punkers, First German ( or even non UK, european ) punk album. Great german answer to Ramones and Pistols .These are their first 2 LPs!

Luc Marianni-Video Screens Control, LP, 1984, France


Here's one more by this French pioneer of minimal electronics/experimental music!

Normal Brain-Ready Made, MLP, 1981 ,JAPAN, (NWW List/Vanity records)


I guess there were many of you waiting for this one! Excellent minimal electronics/experimental released in 1981 in Japan (VANITY label).

Wolfgang Dauners Et Cetera- Lady Blue (1970) + Knirsch (1972), LPs, Germany, (NWW list!)


German pianist Wolfgang Dauner (1935) was a reluctant pioneer of free improvisation on Dream Talk (september 1964) by a trio with Eberhard Weber on bass and Free Action (may 1967) by a septet with French violinist JeanLuc Ponty, percussionist Mani Neumeier, Weber and tenorist Gerd Dudek. Fuer (april 1969), by a quartet featuring Eberhard Weber mainly on cello, and The Oimels (july 1969) instead embraced the hippy age with an acid-soul-jazz sound replete with fuzz guitars and sitar. So inconsistent as creative, Dauner flirted with choral music in Psalmus Spei, off Fred van Hove's Requiem For Che Guevara (november 1968), fusion on Rischka's Soul (november 1969), with swing on Music Zounds (february 1970) and with electronics on Output (october 1970), all of them for trios with Weber. Dauner-eschingen (october 1970) repeated the experiment with the choir. Dauner even formed the jazz-rock group Et Cetera, that released Lady Blue (december 1970), Knirsch (march 1972), featuring guitarist Larry Coryell and Colosseum's drummer Jon Hiseman, and Live (1973). And even more ambitious was the United Jazz and Rock Ensemble, that Dauner formed in 1975 by gathering progressive jazz and rock musicians such as guitarist Volker Kriegel, trumpeter Ack Van Rooyen, trombonist Albert Mangelsdorff, saxophonist Charlie Mariano, flutist Barbara Thompson, Nucleus' trumpeter Ian Carr, bassist Eberhard Weber, and Colosseum's drummer Jon Hiseman. Their albums ranked among the bestsellers of German jazz: Live im Schutzenhaus (january 1977), Teamwork (january 1978), The Break Even Point (april 1979), with trumpeter Kenny Wheeler, the double-LP Live in Berlin (october 1981), United Live Opus Sechs (july 1984), again with Wheeler, Round Seven (february 1987), with trumpeter Johannes Faber, Na Endlich (may 1992), again with Wheeler. He also co-founded the ensemble Free Sound And Super Brass (october 1975).
In the meantime, Dauner had released his first solo album, Changes (september 1978), followed by Piano Solo (1983) and Zeitlaufe/ Kalender Suite (1988).
Dauner also composed The Primal Scream (1979) for symphony orchestra, choir, tapes, solo voice and solo violin, Trans Tanz (1985) for symphony orchestra, solo trombone and solo piano, the symphonic poem When In Trouble Travel (1992) for orchestra and soloists, etc.

Potemkine - Nicolas II (1978) + Foetus (1976), LPs, France



HISTORY

In 1971, in Toulouse, SouthWest France, Charles and Gilles GOUBIN, two brothers and music fans, decided to form a band. They started out playing covers of rock standards of the time, numbers from the Rolling Stones, Deep Purple, etcΙ
In 1973, they discovered jazz rock, particularly the MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA, WEATHER REPORT and Miles DAVIS. This discovery laid the ground for their future compositions. They chose the name POTEMKINE for the strength and power it evokes, as well as for its phonetic qualities and Koba•an overtones (at the time, the band attended many Magma concerts). As early as 1974, they recorded a self-produced single : "MYSTORE/RICTUS". Charles and Gilles had then been joined by a third brother, Michel, along with Maurice BATAILLE and Xavier VIDAL. In October 1975, the fourth brother, Philippe, joined on drums and Dominique DUBUISSON on bass. POTEMKINE released "FOETUS", its first LP, another self-production distributed on the Pole label. Touring began in the wake of the LP, first in small suburban venues, but they soon found themselves playing bigger audiences thanks to their growing success and to TARTEMPION, a non-profit organization putting up concerts.
For the second LP, POTEMKINE, now turned into a trio, decided to push their musical quest further and to fuse jazz rock with early 20th century contemporary music which had by then become one of their major influences (VARESE, SATIE, DEBUSSY) The result of those sonic experiments, the LP "TRITON", was released in 1977. The title of the LP comes from the musical chord of the same name which in the Middle Ages was considered as the musical work of the devil (during the Spanish Inquisition, musicians were even burned at the stake for having played that particular chordΙ ). The chord was only reintroduced in Western music at the beginning of the 20th century, in particular by STRAVINSKY and BARTOK.
After the recording of "TRITON", a network of bands started to form, with ART ZOYD and MOSAIK in Northern France and ETRON FOU LELOUBLAN in the South, each band organizing concerts for the others. Touring increased, with POTEMKINE playing as many as 100 gigs in one year and opening for MAGMA on several occasions. On stage, the band would fuse the music from "TRITON" with high-energy improvised passages set in a more rock-oriented structure. As this was going down very well with audiences, POTEMKINE decided to explore that direction further. In January 1978, this new orientation was confirmed by the recording of the LP "NICOLAS II", where POTEMKINE developed a high-class, energy-driven European jazz rock recorded in the spirit of a live act. The band was then composed of the three brothers, Charles, Michel and Philippe, and Doudou DUBUISSON. August of the same year saw them opening for SHAKTI, an evening culminating with John Mc LAUGHLIN's warm congratulations at the end of their set. Touring continued with ever-growing success until 1979, the year when Charles GOUBIN died in a road accident on June 11th.
POTEMKINE resumed touring though, and in August played a memorable concert in front of a crowd of 8000 in Bilbao, Spain, with Pierre BENICHOU on guitar and Gilles GOUBIN on cello. The band then had a break, touring having become more difficult with the times. In 1980, Gilles and Michel GOUBIN decided to turn professional and constitute the central unit of POTEMKINE as a quartet with Remy SARRAZIN on bass and Jean-Marc BELKADI on guitar. That line-up went on for a little over a year and disappeared in 1982 without having ever recorded.
http://alain.lebon4.free.fr/soleil/potemkine-gb.html
POTEMKINE - FOETUS (1976, POLE 0010, LP)Face A1. FOETUS (5'30)
2. ZED (5'30)
3. NUIT SUR LE GOLAN (2')
4. BALLADE (7')
Face B1. HYMNE (2')
2. LOOLITT (4')
3. CEDILLE (5')
4. LAURE (5')
5. CYCLES (2'15)
MembersCharles GOUBIN
Guitares electrique et Acoustique, Vocal
Xavier VIDAL
Violon
Michel GOUBIN
Piano, Fender Piano, Vocal
Dominique DUBUISSON
Basse, Contrebasse
Philippe GOUBIN
Batterie, Percussions
POTEMKINE - NICOLAS II (1978, PHAETON 7801, LP)Face A1. TANGO PANACHE
2. RASPOUTINE
3. THEME POUR UN SWING IMAGINAIRE*
Face B1. AIR DE FAMILLE
2. ODES DE MARS
3. AUX MAGES*
4. AMPHITHEATRE MAGIQUE
MembersCharles GOUBIN
Guitares, Cloches, Triangle, Vocal
Michel GOUBIN
Fender Rhodes,Oberheim Polyphonic, Yamaha Grand Piano, Moog, Vocal
Philippe GOUBIN
Batterie, Tambourin, Papier "Voyard" Wood Blocks, Vocal
Doudou DUBUISSON
Fender Bass, Flexatone, Claves, Vocal
Christian ROUGE
Kakou (instr.trad.african), darboukass
Jean Jacques GANGHOFER
Cloches de l'Aveyron, Grelots et Carillon Chinois
 

The Fourth Set Of Obscure DIY Classic 7"

Fatal Charm: Paris/Christine 7"(2nd edition female vocals),UK 1981

Fatal Charm :Paris e.p(1st edition,Dead good records/male vocals) ,UK 1980

Cult hero:I'm a cult hero 7", UK 1979 (aka The Cure)

Plastic Sandwiches:Bayonets and colours/Parties at war , 7", UK 1980
Inertia : Dancebeat attitude e.p., UK 1980

Dodgems :Science fiction/Hard Shoulder 7", UK 1979
Tarzan 5 : Boys game/Different story 7", UK 1981
Delmontes: Don't cry your tears/So it's not to be 7", UK 1981
Vital disorders: Prams e.p. ,UK 1981

Bikini Atoll:The Wall/Russian Doll 7" , UK 1981(sorry no pic sleeve scan)
Basczax:Madison Fallout/Auto Mekanik Destructor 7", UK 1979 (sorry no pic sleeve scans)
B-Troop: Computer Logic/Fade Away 7", UK 1981 (sorry no pic sleeve scans)




Minus Delta T-Opera Death, 3LP, 1987, Germany


Actually a performance art group ,consisting of members of DAF and Der Plan amongst others.This is the musical document of a performance.Great experimental LP!