Monday, November 20, 2006

Talix - Spuren (1971)
Way back in May, maybe June, I put out a call for this German rarity, and never heard a word until a little over a week ago, when I heard from "Dave K" who said he had a CDR of this and would rip it, scan the covers and upload it!! This has never been officially released on CD and the vinyl goes for big bucks - we all owe "Dave" a big thank you. The music - nothing here is going to shock anybody, but this is great vintage prog, very quirky, mostly based on guitar and saxophone with lashings of keyboard and flute. German vocals sound jarringly poppy at times - this may take a few listens to get into!! This was their only release as Talix - they renamed themselves Pinguin and released a real nice keyboard-based album called "Der Grosse Rote Vogel" (posted 7-5-06).

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Family - Anyway (1970)
This is the fourth release from one of Britain's best bands of the 1970's. Roger Chapman's vocals may be an acquired taste, but I think the music they made is nothing less than powerful. Charlie Whitney's guitar playing is remarkable - his solo on "Lives and Ladies" is so damn good right on the mark. The original LP release had eight tracks, four live and four studio. This reissue has three live bonus cuts, including a version of "Part of the Load" that is twice as long as the original.

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Can - Paris 12 May 1973
Disc One: 01 - Whole People Queueing (36:38) 02 - One More Night (9:08)
Disc Two: 01 - Spoon / Stars & Lines (32:09) 02 - Vitamin C (13:44)

Holger Czukay - Bass
Michael Karoli - Guitar
Jaki Liebezeit - Drums
Irmin Schmidt - Keyboards
Damo Suzuki - Vocals

Part 1 Part 2

Woody Kern - The Awful Disclosures Of Maria Monk (1969)
I found this sweet little obscurity on e-bay by accident while I was searching for the book the album is named after. British group Woody Kern's only album was out of print for 30 years, and their main claim to fame seems to be that the bass player was with Roxy Music for 8 months in the 1980's! The music is a little bit prog, a little bit psych, and a little bit "British Blues" in the vein of Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation. Great use of flute and saxophone, some real nice lead guitar. All in all a real solid effort which doesn't deserve the obscurity it has had all these tears. All fans of vintage British rock will enjoy this one!

Part 1 Part 2

Friday, November 10, 2006

Kluster - Zwei Osterei (1971)
Before Moebius & Roedelius were Cluster, they were, with Conrad Schnitzler, Kluster. Zwei Osterei is the second of Kluster's two studio albums, recorded live in Feb. 1970. Consisting of two LP- side long pieces, this experimental minimalism is chaotic, noisy and metallic, with weird dronings, strange industrial sounds, feedback - you get the picture. The second piece is 'instrumental', while the first piece features a very serious sounding spoken narrative in German.

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Brainticket - Psychonaut (1972)
Brainticket's second album is a lot calmer, a lot less frantic than their first release, "Cottonwood Hill" In fact this is Joël Vandroogenbrock with a whole new band. Probably their most accessible album - trippy and relaxed, with some attempt at actual songs. As different as it is from their first classic release, this is still one of the great psychedelic albums, and will be enjoyed by any fan of psychedelic music. Short, though - only 32 minutes or so!

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Hawkwind - Lost Chronicles (1987)
This two disc live recording of a performance at the Batschkapp, Frankfurt, on May 26, 1987 is one of the better bootlegs of mid-80's Hawkwind.

Setlist:
Intro
Angels Of Death
Assault And Battery
Lost Chronicles
Needle Gun
Rocky Paths
Waiting For Tomorrow
Master Of The Universe
Dreaming City
Moonglum
Brainstorm
Dream Worker
Dust Of Time
Hassan I Sabha
(Bitrate 192)

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Stan Ridgway - Poolside With Gilly (1991)
Fans of ex-Wall Of Voodoo Stan Ridgway will get exactly what they are looking for on this two-disc set, recorded live at The Strand in Hermosa Beach, CA. in 1991. Brilliant songs, wit and humor, great playing from the band Chapter Eleven.

Part 1 Part 2


Captain Ilor - Mindfuck (1998)
This CD features remastered recordings made in Germany between 1974 and 1977 by the mysterious Captain Ilor and his mysterious lyricist Swara Samrat, and the just-as-mysterious Mindfuck Band. This is one of those albums that when I heard just part of a track, I decided I needed to buy the CD. Man this is so good I can't believe I never heard of these boys until just recently! The music is maybe somewhere between Can and Amon Düül II. Excellent spacey psychedelic rock. Let me say again this is some hot stuff!!! If you like your music psychedelic, you need this. Then buy the CD! My rip @320, and I made jewel case artwork out of one of those awful digi-paks.

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