Monday, February 27, 2006

Hi everybody - another week has passed, bringing Spring a little closer. Where I live, anyway!

German Oak - German Oak (1972)

No, I haven't lost my mind, well not much of it anyway! I know I posted this back in November, but if you remember the rip that I uploaded had an error at the end of track one. Well after much searching and downloading, I finally found another rip of this album that has track one, "Swastika Rising" the way it is on the CD. Honestly it's not much different - the abrupt ending is intentional. But this is such a great album I thought I'd re-post it. Why did I go to all this trouble? Because I care! Edit: forget all that. I found a copy of the CD and this is a fresh rip - the breaks at the end of track 1 are on the disc itself.

Bitrate 320 w/scans Part 1 Part 2

German Oak - Niebelungelied (1972-1976)

So while I'm at it I thought I might as well post this one too. This appears to be a collection of demos, outtakes, maybe practice sessions, I'm not sure - information is scarce. The tracks are named after characters from German folklore, and they are kind of spotty. Some are real good, some not so much. In the end though, this is a pretty cool album - not as cool as their self-titled release, but worth having nonetheless.

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Kraan - Kraan (1972)

The debut album by Kraan is as good as any and all of their later efforts. Smooth flowing jazz/krautrock/fusion is the sound established on this release that continues throughout all of the Kraan releases. Much of this one has a distinctive percussion sound that is almost latin! Check the cut "Kraan Arabia" for an example. As with all Kraan albums the recording and sound quality is flawless! Stand out cuts are "M.C. Escher" and the nearly nineteen minute long cut "Head! A proghead and krautrock lovers dream! (progarchives.com)

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Spermüll - Spermüll (1973)

Sperrmull's only album has all the musical variety you'll ever desire from an early 70's German album - the jolly mandolin tune on "Me And My Girlfriend", Floydian effects on "No Freak Out", Deep Purple-like guitar and organ lines on "Rising Up" and powerful solo work with dynamic arrangements on "Right Now" (the longest track). The rest, "Land Of The Rocking Sun" and "Pat Casey", were more conventional rock songs, and could very well have been the A and B sides to a catchy single (but weren't!). The recordings were done at the Dierks Studio, Stommeln, produced by a certain Chazadu, surely a more famous character appearing under a pseudonym. Sperrmull consisted of: Helmut Krieg (guitar, mandolin, vocals, he also wrote most of the songs), Harald Kaiser (bass, vocals), Reinhold Breuer (drums, percussion) and Peter Schneider (organ, electric piano, synthesizer). Their album is one of the rarest of the whole Brain 1,000-series, mint originals selling for more than 250 DM. In 1989, a limited edition of 1,000 copies (on black Brain) was made available through the influence of Second Battle. This edition sold out quickly, so the album is once again hard to obtain. (alexgitlin.com)

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Wild Turkey - Turkey (1972)

This second album from the band formed by ex-Jethro Tull bassist Glenn Cornick ("This Was", "Stand Up" and "Benefit"), is real good straight-ahead bluesy rock, with maybe some progressive leanings, though not many. The nice guitar-work and Cornick's sparse and tasty use of piano are the most dominating elements in their sound, together with Gary Pickford-Hopkins' (ex-Eyes Of Blue) vocals. The opener, "Good Old Days" and "Eternal Mother/The Return" are real good rock tunes as is the instrumental "See You Next Tuesday". "Universal Man" and "Telephone" are both good hard rock tracks, with nothing particular progressive about them. Tracks like "Tomorrow's Friend" and the boogie tune "Ballad of Chuck Stallion and the Mustangs" won't be of much interest if you are mainly a prog fan, but this is still a good example of early 70's rock.

Part 1 Part 2

Ash Ra Tempel - Ash Ra Tempel (1971)

Simply one of the all-time great Krautrock albums, this is the original Ash Ra Tempel lineup with Manuel Göttsching, Hartmut Enke, and Klaus Schulze (who just left Tangerine Dream following the release of "Electronic Meditation"). Still at this point, Schulze was handling the drums, rather than keyboards that he's most famous for. There are only two side-length cuts. "Amboss" is a totally mindblowing guitar-oriented jam and "Traummaschine" (German for "Dream Machine") is a much more relaxed, spooky sounding piece, mostly relying on ambience, with the guitar only rearing its head occasionally. Another mindblowing piece for the total opposite reason as "Amboss". This is truly one of the first Ash Ra Tempel albums you should try, especially because there are no vocals (except for some wordless vocals on "Traummachine" which are rather pleasant). A true must have for all space rock and Krautrock junkies out there! (progarchives.com)

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Sunday - Sunday (1971)

Although recorded in London, this album of very atmospheric and melodic progressive rock by what seems to be a Scottish crew was only released in Germany. The music is generally very thoughtful and in quite a few places bluesy. Still there is your usual share of guitar solos and organ riffs, at times provoking Beggars Opera at their least arty. The album is undoubtedly as good as most in this class and it is hard to understand why they couldn't secure a UK release. The cover depicts a miraculous painting by Lyonel Feininger, a sure sign of good taste. The opener, “Love Is Life”, is a rambunctious rocker with a relentless drum beat, great dynamic breaks and an underlying organ riff, kicking the doors open in style. “I Couldn’t Face You” is a ballad with an interesting bluesy melody and a piano-organ arrangement reminiscent of Procol Harum. Following the slow melancholy of “Blues Song”, there’s the odd “Man In A Boat”, a psychedelic trip featuring once again Gary Brooker-like Hammond sound – slow-paced and majestic and set to an almost marching beat. Mid-song it resolves into an energetic mid-paced rocker. “Ain’t It A Pity” captures and preserves for posterity the freewheeling spirit of the times perfectly – complete with free-flowing organ, piano and guitar parts and uninhibited, commanding and attention-grabbing vocals. “Tree Of Life” takes the pace down a notch but continues on in much the same style; and tells a story. The most meandering track on this otherwise near-perfect album is “Sad Man Reaching Utopia” – clocking up at 10:51. Almost great, and a shame they didn’t go beyond this debut. The CD was “mastered” from a vinyl copy, as the original master tapes were most likely lost. (Tapestry Of Delights-alexgitlin.com)

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Blues Magoos - Psychedelic Lollipop (1966)

A Bronx-based quintet, denizens of the Greenwich Village club scene, and originally known by the tres psychedelic moniker the Bloos Magoos, the Blues Magoos made their mark in 1967 with a rousing, full-throttle, sub-literate, psychedelic garage rock single, "(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet." It wasn't a spacy, pretentious song, nor did it contain vague attempts at hippie-era mysticism, but was rather the kind of simple, direct, infectious rock & roll you could imagine five guys from the Bronx making. With a snotty lead vocal from keyboardist Ralph Scala and some wild-eyed guitar playing courtesy of then-16-year-old Emil "Peppy" Thielheim, America made the Magoos' debut single a Top Ten hit, sending it to number five in January 1967. With this impetus, the band used all the trappings of marketable psychedelia to promote their second album, Psychedelic Lollipop, which, despite the title's obvious pandering, was a fairly cool chunk of psych-garage rock. The album featured trebly, crappy-sounding guitars, a whiny Farfisa organ, yelled vocals, and a rhythm section that shelved nuance for thudding simplicity. A great example of mid-60's American psychedelic garage rock.

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Arzachel - Arzachel (1969)

This spacey psychedelic album is notable for the involvement of Steve Hillage. Musically it's at times a little over the top. But, the opening cut, "Garden Of Earthly Delights" is of interest and "Azathoth" has a rich 'church' organ backing. On side two "Clean Innocent Fun" previews Hillage's fine guitar work and "Metempsychosis" opens full of weirdness and sound effects (which recur at regular intervals throughout) before pursuing a similar vein. The latter track, in particular, begs comparison with Pink Floyd around the Saucerful Of Secrets era. Arzachel is a very keyboard-dominated album, featuring some of the most explosive psychedelia by an English group. The sound of sustained keyboard and guitar passages are full blown drawn-out psychedelia of the highest order. (Tapestry Of Delights)

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Brainchild - Healing Of The Lunatic Owl (1970)

Lennie Wright from Web and Samurai produced Brainchild's first and only album, so it's no surprise that "Healing of the Lunatic Owl" is in a similar style to both "I Spider" and Samurai's self-titled album. That means early 70's progressive rock dominated by horns and organ. The opener "Autobiography" starts as a straightforward rocker, but turns in the middle into a complex instrumental section that lasts for the rest of the song. Although it's one of the shortest tracks on the album, it sums up nearly every side of the band's music very well. The swinging title-track is one of the highlights, and the structure is really not that far away from "Autobiography", but the track returns to the main part at the end again. The slow and bluesy beat of "Hide From the Dawn" is a bit more basic, but the long instrumental passages and complex arrangements make it well worth listening to. "She's Learning" is the catchiest song on the album, and has almost hit-potential. However, the longest tune is "A Time A Place", featuring dramatic vocal parts mixed with more intricate instrumental parts. "Two Bad Days" is for me the least good song, but the ballad "Sadness of a Moment" is really beautiful, consisting of nothing else than flute, guitar and vocals. And the album finally closes with the excellent instrumental "To "B"". I'm not sure if I would rate this album as high as "I Spider" or "Samurai", but it's still a very good LP worth finding if you enjoy the two mentioned bands or progressive rock with horns in general. (vintageprog.com)

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The Rolling Stones - Beat Beat Beat At The Beeb (1963-1965)

This 2 CD set comprises the long lost session recordings the Rolling Stones made especially for British BBC Radio between 1963 and 1965. They are in chronological order and as complete as possible. Every effort was made to track down the best sources, be it from the BBC archives or from avid fans who taped those shows off the radio in the early 60's. This was necessary since the BBC itself erased most of it's programmes as in those days they were not considered worthwhile enough for preservation! The tapes were equalized, de-noised, de-clicked and speed-corrected in order to make the overall sound quality as perfect as can be. (back cover)

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

OK there it is. While you're downloading, take some time to check out some of the blogs on the link section on the right - I've found some pretty cool stuff on those blogs! See ya!

40 Comments:

Blogger Jupiter Bulldog said...

Big thanks for being so meticulous with regards the German Oak - one of my favorite Kraut gems you've served up along with Necronimicon. That's the one they recorded in a bunker, right?
Collosal gratitude as always for your conscientiousness and all the great music you've unearthed.

3:21 PM, February 27, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey GarColga,

Keep learning all the time. Thanks for this music. Downloaded German Oak today. Will be back for more.

Cheers.

3:25 PM, February 27, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks for your excellent blog. I have one request: late-Krautrock of "E2-E4" by Manuel Göttsching.

Erb

3:47 PM, February 27, 2006  
Blogger GarColga said...

Hi Madame Candyman - Thanks for the positive comments you've been making!
Hey speaking of Necronomicon, I think I'll repost that one too - I have a version now with 4 bonus tracks, about 35 minutes worth.

Hi anonymous - you're welcome!

Hi Erb - you're welcome, but didn't I just ask for you guys to lighten up on the requests? Don't have that anyway.

4:02 PM, February 27, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey man, thanks for the awesome blogging work. Every week there's something new and interesting to discover..
somehow you're always able to seperate the bland and generic stuff from the vibrant living and colourful music of that era.
Thanks for that, and keep it up :)

(I sent you a mail aswell, with some of my fav. albums I haven't seen on here yet)

Bye,

Uli

4:31 PM, February 27, 2006  
Blogger GarColga said...

Hi RJ/EightE1 & gypsum gypsy - Thanks for the positive feedback!!

9:45 PM, February 27, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks for the killer Stones post!! What a fine collection. I really appreciate all your hard work

kicks66

11:07 PM, February 27, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Fantastic,I've been searching long time for Spermull-First and Kraan-First and here they are !!!
And the rest is also fantastic.This monday is especially for me full of gems.
THANK YOU !!!

12:47 AM, February 28, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

thousands thanks for arzachel album and kraan, and,...
i think all mondays (tuesdays for me with the hour change) i''ll visit your blog with big interessment

2:11 AM, February 28, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks for a very nice update.

One strange thing though. Has anyone tried listening to the new German Oak rip and the old one side by side? The new rip actually plays slightly faster than the old (and thus at a slightly higher pitch).

I wonder wich one is correct...

5:28 AM, February 28, 2006  
Blogger freaky_lady said...

Again a fantastic post. Thanks especially for the Kraan album. I'd say it's one of their best.

7:47 AM, February 28, 2006  
Blogger Hmenonprog said...

Hi, monday is one day very special.
Wonderful post, especially "Sunday", fantastic sound and fine artcovers.
Thanks very much.
Hmenonprog

8:30 AM, February 28, 2006  
Blogger Lipton said...

German Oak! Grrreat! No wonder the earlier download from your blog did not work, as it didn´t. Simple... Thanks!

9:25 AM, February 28, 2006  
Blogger Eddie Riff said...

Another great mix o'music! Thanks for all the hard work and super sounds!

11:03 AM, February 28, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks once again GarColga! I am a loya visitor to your blog man and your tunes are always the best! Thanks for all the efforts and coolness.

11:04 PM, February 28, 2006  
Blogger GarColga said...

Hi kicks66 - you're welcome & thanks for the comment!

Hi anonymous - Glad you are finding albums you want!

Hi anonymous - you're welcome for the Arzachel & Kraan.

Hi Giorgio!

Hi Vilse - you're welcome.

Hi freaky_lady - I love your blog & thanks for the input! Check out her blog, everybody!

Hi Hmenon - I like that Sunday album a lot also.

Hi McOrbit - you're welcome, thanks for taking the time to post a comment.

Hi Eddie Riff - you're welcome!! Check out Eddie's blog you all.

Hi x-d - thanks for the positive comment!

7:36 AM, March 01, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sorry but your posts are of a very poor quality... I know this post is free but time that I wasted in the download and reading your blog the quality should be at least acceptable.
irei comprar os CDs originais. Piracy is a shit!! I'll going to buy the original CDs.
----Gengis Khan----

3:43 PM, March 01, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sorry but G. Khan's post is of very poor quality... the time that I wasted in reading it would have been better spent listening to these fine quality downloads, and if I liked them, then going out to buy the original recordings if only I could find them. Sometimes I wonder why people bother to leave a comment.

GarColga, you rock.

Ghengis, you... ummm... slaughter and pillage, evidently.

7:29 PM, March 01, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This Kraan is kicking my ass! Great stuff!

9:17 PM, March 01, 2006  
Blogger GarColga said...

Hi anonymous - Thanks!

Hi x-d - Maybe you should learn Karate or something!

10:01 PM, March 01, 2006  
Blogger GarColga said...

You're welcome, anonymous!

6:49 AM, March 02, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Nice to visit you again, Garcolga! And again - where i have to begin from ;-)!!!
Thanks for Kraan - and for extra- Ger. Oak (may be i'll check the reposted link too... later).
Is there a working site with info from "tapestry of delights"? apart from al.git.? http://www.soybomb.com/BorderlineBooks/uk6070s/tapestry.html doesn't work any more :-(
And, please, do not take this offer as rudeness - do you think to put some banner saying "not extra quality" for those, spending their 'precious' time with your posts?
Take care, see you soon...
well, you know, next monday :-)

1:30 PM, March 02, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Garcolga:

Just writing to thank you for your post of the Wild Turkey album. Im the guy from Spain who requested that one a month ago... ¿do you remember me?

Anyway, Nice to see that my petition is answered!
Thank you again and keep on proggin in this excelent blog,

Greetings from Spain!

Alberto

(Something from the Canterbury scene next time, like In Cahoots or Delivery? ;)

2:31 PM, March 02, 2006  
Blogger GarColga said...

Hi anonymous! You're welcome for the Kraan.

I actually have a downloadable version of "Tapestry Of Delights", also "Fuzz, Acid & Flowers" that I got off a torrent site some time back. I will post it sometime.

As far as a banner about quality, I feel that anyone expecting all files to be at 320 bit-rate with high quality scans is new at this music blog business and will soon learn, or they are delusional.

I would think about posting a disclaimer about low bit-rate files when I post them, however so far I have only posted a few lower than 192. I feel 192 is good enough.

Hi Alberto - Yes I remember you. You're welcome for the Wild Turkey. Sorry But I don't have anything by 'In Cahoots' or 'Delivery'. In fact I haven't heard of them except from your earlier request!

6:32 PM, March 02, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey GarColga - I was born + raised in Mtn. Home, lived in Boise for several years.....I'm not there anymore, but I might have stayed had I met more people like you with amazing, impeccable taste....I've downloaded a whole pile of stuff from you and just wanted to give a huge "thank you" for it - yrs, M

9:17 PM, March 02, 2006  
Blogger GarColga said...

Hi M - Boise is still pretty nice, getting a little crowded though. In my real life I don't know anybody that gives a crap about most of this music LOL! But I suspect that might be the case for a lot of places.

10:03 PM, March 02, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Regarding sound quality, I suspect a whole lot of people fail to realise that often bad quality isn't due to lossy encodings but rather because that's what the original sounds like.
Either because the master tapes has been rotting away in some dank basement for 30 years, or because it was recorded with dodgy equipment to start with.
Especially true for the kind of music that tend to turn up around here...

10:02 AM, March 03, 2006  
Blogger GarColga said...

Right vilse - these mostly are not major label productions with a large budget. I know that some of these German CD's were actually 'mastered' from old vinyl copies, the master tapes having been lost.

11:13 AM, March 03, 2006  
Blogger Donno said...

Thanks so much for the Arzachel, a brilliant late 60s psych monster of an album. For those that don't know this band were actually called Uriel and became Egg when Hillage left. As well as Hillage it features the keyboards of Dave Stewart later of Hatfield & the North and National Health.
Thanks again, much appreciated.
Cheers
Donno

2:42 PM, March 03, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi - I am looking for any CDs by Young Flowers a danish psychedelic band from the end of the 60ies.
Thanks
Thorsten

3:31 AM, March 04, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Awesome repost...I picked this up on Radioactive last year and was like...no wonder this didn't make it in the German Krautscene! At the time (pre-punk!) we wouldnta tolerated such a thing...Stahlhelm on the cover, ww2 bunker...air raid...man, what a bummer...we came from the Dutscke school of repenting the past and peace and love with a bit of politics, no doubt...but I digress... yes the bonus tracks are what I was getting to! Time wounds all heals! Excellent! They really are on the mark here more so than Niebelungen but argggghhh must...hear...again.... all this stuff is great...I gotta get my vinyl posted...

9:58 PM, March 04, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I do not know how to post a comment on an album not having any
Cannot mail you as well

This post is not about the Stones but about

Hairy Chapter

You said your big fat mama song was few seconds long and that you found the full version on the weeb
Well , not really , the long version you found is in fact

Life 69

Play both and you will 'see' it
So we still do not know what the 4:35 Big Fat Mama Blues sounds like ..

Anyway a great great thanks for the music you share
zev

3:15 PM, March 05, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi GarColga - couldn't resist till Monday as I promised and visited the blog earlier :-)
Man, you did really get that proposal with 'the banner quality' too seriously! You can't please everyone whatever you do. Soon you'll be asked to rip under UberStandart and that's ok but I bet it will work only for a short time also for some. And the problem is not quite related to the quality or alike... it seems mostly that some people need to nag smb just to feel better...
OK let's speak business :-) Didn't revew the new post of germ.oak yet but, man, where did you dig that Arzachel up?!! Still 2 days on that!... and don't want to switch with smth else
take care, thanks again and see you soon

4:13 PM, March 05, 2006  
Blogger GarColga said...

Hi zev - Damn! I guess I'll start looking for Big Fat woman Blues again! I night just re-rip the whole album - when I played the two versions side-by-side, my rip definitely sounded a little thinner. I'm using EAC now, so maybe that will make a difference.

Hi anonymous - sorry, but if you post anonymously it's difficult to understand when you make reference to previous comments that you made! Anyway, I'm not taking that complaint that seriously. But I will start noting posts that are under bitrate 192.ismrcjn

6:44 PM, March 05, 2006  
Blogger Paxjorge said...

My turn to share with all of you:
paxdiero.blogspot.com

There's not much there yet, but I guess time will provide me with itself!

8:01 PM, March 05, 2006  
Blogger GarColga said...

Way to go, Pax! Can't wait to see what you come up with in the future.

9:03 PM, March 05, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

well your rip is 192 kps and the song you found is 256 kps
and , yes , there is an hudge difference
concerning quality
the APX ==Alternative Preset Extreme is the best
If time to upload ect an issue , APS is still quite ok

~~~~~~~~~
zev
--alt-preset standard (~190 kbit/s, typical 180 ... 220)

--alt-preset fast standard (~190 kbit/s, faster but potentially lower quality)

--alt-preset extreme (~250 kbit/s, typical 220 ... 270)

--alt-preset fast extreme (~250 kbit/s, faster but potentially lower quality)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

3:53 PM, March 06, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

German Oak!!!What a shelter-trip! Great!THANKS!!!

2:28 AM, March 12, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

About Kraan first album: certain parts are good, but less "spacey", "cosmic" than we expect from a kraut group, but the album is pleasant, good material

8:41 PM, January 12, 2008  
Blogger Alex B said...

About Arzachel: great! a freak-out spacey-psych, amazinng cover art., some passages are macabre! And the singer remembers great Arthur Brown. Fucking stuff!

2:53 PM, April 17, 2008  

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