Well here we are again!

Irish Coffee - Irish Coffee (1971)

Irish Coffee was a terrific 'underground' group from Belgium that left behind only this one album of hard progressive rock. The music brings to mind at various time the stalwarts of early 70's hard rock, like Deep Purple, Uriah Heep etc. Powerful vocals, great keyboards and an obviously Hendrix-inspired guitarist make this something that will appeal to fans of vintage 'hard' progressive rock.

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Gila - Free Electric Sound (1971)

The first album by Gila is top of the line Krautrock, an absolute progressive rock masterpiece. The "Freak Emporium" catalog says "Regarded by many as one of the finest Krautrock albums of all time"! The "Ultima Thule" catalog calls it "The best LP Pink Floyd never made"! This album will appeal to every Krautrock fan . Long, spacey jams, exotic rhythms, electronic effects, some mixing-board hoodoo from Dieter Dierks all anchored by a crisp rhythm section.

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Paladin - Charge! (1972)

This is the second album from the unjustly neglected band Paladin. This is hard rock with progressive touches and various influences like jazz, blues, soul, folk, and latin music. The use of two keyboards gave the band a unique, really full sound. Critics of the time pegged this as a landmark album, however it had little success and the disappointed band eventually broke up. This is a brilliant album, if you like vintage hard rock you'll love it.

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Silberbart - 4 Times Sound Razing (1971)

An underground German heavy progressive power trio that recorded a legendary collector's item titled 4 Times Sound Razing. This album contained just four songs: "Chub Chub Cherry" (a short heavy rock song like a freaky Cream), "Brain Brain" (16 minutes of acid nightmares, continuously shifting tempo in an amphetamine-driven mayhem), "God" (a much more melodic attempt with powerful guitar arrangement, sounding like Black Sabbath meet Hendrix with a collective paranoia) and "Head Tear Of The Drunken Sun" (finished it all with 12 minutes of hazardous power trio pyrotechnics). As you will have gathered, this is an extreme album in many ways: the raw power, the cranky vocals, the restless arrangements, not forgetting the ugly silver gnome on the front sleeve! All trace of Silberbart disappeared after this album, which in itself gained them no recognition at all. A real shame, as some of their ideas were quite remarkable. Silberbart were a true power-trio. (Cosmic Dreams At Play)

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Amenophis - Amenophis (1983)

Great German progressive/symphonic rock in the Yes-Genesis-Camel vein, with intricate and complex song structures, lots of dynamic instrumental interplay between guitar and keyboards and occasionally flute. A lot of the reviews I've seen call this one of the best progressive rock albums ever! Elegant and sophisticated, this is a great album.

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OK then - that's it. Hope everyone finds something to download, and hope everybody has a great week. Comments, criticisms, appreciated!

Hi all - some great music this week, so let's get on with it!

Creepy John Thomas - Brother Bat Bone & Creepy John Thomas (1968-1972)

Creepy John Thomas was a British band that played a kind of progressive blues-rock that still sounds great! Their records were released only in Germany, ensuring that their music remains largely unknown everywhere else! Band leader John Thomas went on to play guitar in the Edgar Broughton Band.

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Bobby Beausoleil & The Freedom Orchestra - Lucifer Rising

Bobby Beausoleil's name will be familiar to anybody who has read about the Manson Family and the murders committed in Southern California in the late 1960's. His story and the story of this album is fascinating, and I recommend using Google to find out more. I was expecting some agressive, 'satanic' music, but instead I found this album to be one of the most beautiful psychedelic recordings ever. It's hard to believe this was made by men who were in prison. The first disc is a soundtrack to a 1970's underground film by Kenneth Anger, the second disc contains some of Mr. Beausoleil's recordings from the 1960's, the highlight being a 24 minute piece by "The Magick Powerhouse Of Oz".

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Jerusalem - Jerusalem (1972)

OK this isn't progressive rock, not even close. Oilton from Brazil asked me if I had this so I put it up. This was produced by Ian Gillan and is some great heavy, hard rock that fits in with "In Rock" or "Fireball" era Deep Purple.

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Can - Tago Mago (1971)

Krautrock!! Jason from Scotland requested this masterpiece. One thing is for sure - Jaki Leibezeit on drums and Holger Czukay on bass were the best rhythm section ever to come from Germany. Add Michael Karoli's brilliant guitar and Irmin Schmidt's amazing keyboards and "Damo" Suzuki's impassioned vocals and Can may be Germany's best band ever. Driving, funky, and experimental, Tago Mago is an enormous work, one of Can's best.

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Deuter - D (1971)

George Deuter's first album is one of the finest of the early 70's German rock scene. At times reminiscent of Amon Düül II, Tangerine Dream or Popol Vuh, this was all done by George himself with no outside help whatsoever. Spacey, atmospheric, dramatic, pastoral, percussive, this is an overlooked gem of Krautrock.

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Kalacakra - Crawling To Lhasa (1974)

The general weirdness, the trippy, stoned psychedelia of this slab of German acid-folk will appeal to a lot of people. Eastern-tinged and dreamy, eclectic and strange, this meditative and reflective combination of mantras, blues and folk music definitely is worth a listen.

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OK! I hope everyone finds something to like this week. See ya!

Wow man - the White Sox won the Pennant! That's great. Can't wait for the Series to start. OK - the blog

Werwolf - Creation (1982)

Outside of the fact that the lyrics today sound a little, er, trite, though well-meaning, this is a beautiful symphonic/progressive rock album, the only release from this German band. Gorgeous female vocals, with a sometimes spacey, cosmic sound kind of like early 'Eloy' and at other times an intense, melodic Pink-Floyd-ey guitar remind us that this is a rock album. Includes bonus tracks.

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Lightshine - Feeling (1976)

Yet another fine German band that has only a self-released album as a legacy, Lightshine was a terrific psychedelic outfit composed of great musicians. They toured with some of the best bands of the day, but were unable to secure a recording contract. What a shame, because there is such promise here, given more time they would have been brilliant.

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Guru Guru - Mani Und Seine Freunde (1975)

This is a solo album by Guru Guru drummer Mani Neumier, and his friends on the album include the bass and guitar players from "Kraan", keyboards and conga player from "Karthago" and sax player from "Mangelsdorff", not to mention Roedelius and Champion Jack Dupree. This is a real adventure, alternately bluesy, weird, humorous, jazzy and new-agey.

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Krokodil - An Invisible World Revealed (1971)

Despite the fact that the members of Krokodil were Swiss (and there was one English guy), Krokodil's masterpiece is known by all as one of the biggest of all Krautrock monsters! When you realize that the dominant instruments are mellotron and harmonica, it seems like it shouldn't work, but it does. Don't worry though there's plenty of exotic instrumentation and great guitar leads and inventive percussion. This is a truly progressive work. Bonus material makes this clock in at over 70 minutes.

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Orang-Utan - Orang-Utan (1971)

I read somewhere or other that this album was one of the few genuine "Acid-Rock" records from a UK band. This may or may not be true, but the first track is titled "I Can See Inside Your Head" so I'm pretty sure these guys were trippin'!! My god this is some heavy stuff here. In fact this may be one of the heaviest releases from this period, including Hendrix and Led Zeppelin!!

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Cressida - Cressida (1970)

British group Cressida put out two albums in the early seventies, this is their debut and the more song-oriented of the two which is OK because far as I can tell, singer Angus Cullen had one of the best voices in 70's prog music. One reviewer called this "easy-listening prog" but don't you believe it. There's plenty going on musically, but it gives off a upbeat kind of warmth that could possibly be mistaken for blandness at first half-listen. I mean, even the song "Depression' is positively good-natured.

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OK ladies and germs that's all! See you next week.

OK I'm back. Got a new dang computer too. Man it's sweet. I never really realized how slow and clunky my old one was. Anyway, yee-haw!! Here we go -

Troya - Point Of Eruption (1976)

Troya made this privately to sell at gigs, and though the production was low-budget, the original records now sell for hundreds of dollars. The music is classically influenced symphonic progressive rock dominated by a Hammond organ with some inspired guitar solos now and then. They were good musicians who wrote some dynamic material, with a sound similar to their countrymen Novalis and Epidaurus. For fans of German progressive rock.

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Out Of Focus - Out Of Focus (1971)

While overshadowed by some of their contemporaries, Out Of Focus was actually one of the best German groups of the 1970's. Playing a kind of jazzy psychedelic rock, they created a unique, powerful sound that focused on extended jams, featuring organ, flute, and guitar. This is their second recording and is a very solid step towards their landmark album "Four Letter Monday Afternoon". I'll post that one sometime, the file size is huge! I wish my upload speed was a little better. Most fans of vintage progressive rock will enjoy this.

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Gygafo - Legend Of The Kingfisher (1973)

A British group from Yorkshire, Gygafo recorded this material for the Holyground label in the early 70's and no album was released until the late 80's. They play a kind of dreamy acid-folk, sometimes whimsical, sometimes aggressive, that most people who like vintage progressive rock will find very appealing. If you've ever heard "Astral Navigations" also on Holyground, it's something like that. The story is their name comes from being told to "Get Your Gear And F@#k Off" by a pub-owner after an audition.

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Mon Dyh - Am Galgen (1982)

This was the third and final album, and the best one, from Mon Dyh, and the only one that they sang in their native language, German. While this isn't really progressive rock, more like blues-based rock, I posted it because it's one of my favorite albums. So there. This is a great album. The musicianship shines, the production is flawless, and the songwriting is brilliant. I guess it is anyway, I have no idea what they're singing about LOL! The song "Salvador" (Their are 2 versions on this) sends chills up my spine, it's dramatic and uplifting. I wonder what it's about! Hope some of you give this a try.

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Amon Düül II - Live In London (1973)

Not much to say about Amon Düül II is there? I mean these guys are legendary giants of Krautrock, and almost all their releases are essential. This one is absolutely necessary for any psychedelic/krautrock fan. This is nothing less than a blistering psychedelic assault, featuring live versions of songs from two of their best albums, "Yeti" and "Dance Of The Lemmings". Download this! Don't be a fool!!

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Dies Irae - First (1971)

'First' is a heavy progressive effort owing much to Black Sabbath's debut album. Song titles such as 'Lucifer', 'Harmagedon Dragonlove', and 'Witches Meeting' display the groups interest in the dark side. The standout track for krautrock fans is sure to be the seven-minute freak out 'Trip'. Fans of the heavy progressive sound will find 'Lucifer' and 'Witches Meeting' to be the best cuts. 'Lucifer' contains an ultra aggressive guitar and harmonica riff slightly reminiscent of 'The Wizard' from 'Black Sabbath'. 'Witches Meeting', a long track encompassing numerous musical sections, contains a rocking guitar solo and a furious ending. As a whole, the album is a must for all Krautrock fans.

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Audience - House On The Hill (1971)

This is a classic of progressive rock, a great album from a great band from the early 70's, now all but forgotten. The combination of Howard Werth's strong vocals, an electric guitar strung with nylon strings, the sax and flute of Keith Gemmell, together with the beat of Trevor Williams' stomping bass and Tony Connor's inventive drum work make this one of the best unknown albums of all time!

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Led Zeppelin - Hotter Than The Hindenberg

Classic bootleg from Led Zeppelin!

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The Three Stooges - Nonsense Songbook (1959)

My Thrift Store/Garage Sale/Bargain Bin Find of the week! Got the MCA reissue on cassette for 25 cents! Made some Mp3's of it, found a cover on the internet and we're all set. I defy anyone to be in a bad mood after listening to this thing!!

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OK that's it then. Next week everybody!