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Ejwuusl Wessahaqqan - Ejwuusl Wessahaqqan (1975)

No, I didn't pass out and hit my head on the keyboard, that's the name of the band. A three piece keyboard/bass/drums outfit from the same Munich scene as Amon Düül II, Embryo, and others. This group plays some very odd, experimental stuff, a real trippy fusion of styles. Hardly any vocals, guitar parts taken by self-made seven string "filouphone". Two of the four bonus tracks are from a later version of the group named Koala-Bär. My rip @320 w/scanned booklet.

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Crazy Mabel - Crazy Mabel (1971)

Crazy Mabel was a British band whose sole album was released in Germany and the Netherlands only. This is superb, bluesy, jazzy, progressive rock that sounds a bit like Colosseum at times. Great guitar work, good songs, heavy saxophone and brass, brilliant vocals. Unusual cover of Sonny & Cher's "The Beat Goes On". Only complaint - this seems to be a faked 'live' album. Highly recommended, this is real good! I got this from ChrisGoesRock back when he was doing torrents, so thanks Chris!

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Muck Groh - Grotesk (1980)

Muck Groh was a founding member of Ihre Kinder, and Aera. At least one of the other players on this was in Aera, so it's not surprising that the sound is similar to that group. Great Teutonic jazz-rock in the same vein as some Embryo and Missus Beastly.

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Ernst Schultz - Paranoia Picknick (1971)

Ernst Schultze was also a member of Ihre Kinder, but his first solo album was much more in the electric folkrock vein. Well mostly - one track is performed on two typewriters! Another track features some real nice sitar, and the title track is a bizarre sound collage. The rest of the tracks are more 'normal', and are very tasty, the musicianship is excellent! Wish I understood German, as the album art features characters from the lyrics. All in all a brilliant low-key piece of German psychedelia.

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The Famous Jug Band - Sunshine Possibilities (1969)

"A highly original recording by a very short-lived esoteric folk outfit from the turn of the 1970's. While it should be noted that the ever-enigmatic Clive Palmer, founder member of the Incredible Sring Band, is featured here, complete with two original out-there, but wonderfully crafted tunes, it's the vocalist Jill Johnson that stand out the most. Although only 18 at the time of this recording, her voice conveys a passion and wisdom of someone who has lived and died and come back as a spirit, boundless in energy and enthusiasm. The lush acoustic arrangements defy classification, an eclectic blend of so-called early music, ragtime, folk, bluegrass, folk-rock, blues and, yes, jug music. The songs, as a whole, are obscure, moody, somewhat chaotic at times, oddly serene at others, which is great if you're into the mystic, neo-acid folk in the String Band tradition, but off-putting, perhaps, to those seeking a more traditional sound. This is an experimental record in the truest sense." (Andrew Shaffer, amazon.com review) My rip @ 320

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Albatros - Garden Of Eden (1978)

This seven-piece band from Hagen, Germany, named after that Fleetwood Mac song, only had this one release, and that's a real shame. Powerful, intense, rhythmic progressive rock with driving guitars and vocals and great use of keyboards. All you get is three long tunes, which were even longer and had to be shortened to fit on the LP.

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Sleepy John - Sleepy John (1970)

"Contrary to popular belief Idaho is not strictly a vast wasteland of libertarian crankiness or to be more precise it may be that on the whole but it has also had its share of hippie nonconformists some of them wielding electric musical instruments. With this archival find Gear Fab has unearthed the work of one of the more worthwhile shaggy-haired Idaho bands of the rock era. The CD pulls together two separate 1970 sessions recorded by Sleepy John and here given their first public airing. The music is quite strong often propelled by David Lee 's overdriven Hammond organ work a sound that might be thought of as the missing link between the aggressiveness of the garage and the gloomy complexity of prog rock -- think Procol Harum crossed with the Crazy World of Arthur Brown . There are a few other hints of progressive influences throughout Sleepy John particularly in the minor-key chord changes the epic episodic song structures of pieces like "Nothing " "Seasons " and "Trying to Fly " and a single lyrical nod to literary fantasy ( "Dragons" ). That said this isn't really artsy stuff doesn't take itself too seriously and even intersperses the heady instrumental passages at which the band excelled with occasional satirical nods to country ( "Losing My Plow " "Cowboy" ) and the blues ( "I Just Happen to Be (In Love With You)" ). Sleepy John isn't really psychedelic either in the generally accepted sense of the term though it's easy to see how dealers could mislabel elements of the band's music in that way especially some of those instrumental explorations. Frank Trowbridge 's intriguing guitar work sometimes approaches the sustained tone of Spirit 's Randy California and Tom Williams ' drumming is effectively elemental (listen to the raw relentless almost tribal stretches of "Al Capa Strong" ). But this is by and large blues-based hard rock albeit considerably more sophisticated, ( "Prelude to a Dream" is adept jazz-rock) inquisitive, and penetrating than the norm. These guys were perhaps only a few hooks and a decent singer -- and a state line or two -- removed from genuine success." (Stanton Swihart - All Music Guide)

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