Hey! - The blog is still here! Blogger changed my settings for some reason, not allowing reader comments - all fixed I hope.

Amon Düül (UK) - Hawk Meets Penguin (1982)

OK first of all this is the British Amon Düül, despite saying on the artwork that it is Amon Düül II. This is bassist Dave Anderson, who played on the first two ADII albums (Hawk), and guitarist John Weinzierl, who also played with ADII (Penguin). I don't know who else was involved on this. Consisting of only two pieces, this sounds like it could be a throwback to the early days of krautrock, from 10 years earlier. A lot of this will sound like noise to some, and maybe a little annoying too! Seems largely improvisational, but there are sections that sound composed, and they are very good, and measure up to anything from the early days of Amon Duüü II. Be aware though - not for everybody.

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Agitation Free - Malesch (1972)

The first album from Agitation Free is a classic of early krautrock. There are short bits of Arabic music between some of the the tracks, and some of the material has a Middle Eastern flavor, but this is largely superficial. This is pure spacerock - cosmic, moody, atmospheric, and sometimes droney. A series of soundscapes that sometimes sound like jams, sometimes like complex arrangements - only the best musicians could pull this off. The whole thing sounds very original, restless and impulsive. This is an essential album for any krautrock fan.

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Clear Blue Sky - Destiny

Their self-titled album was brilliant, and this material for a supposed second album was never released until 1990, though I am not altogether clear on when the material was recorded. Most sources say 'early seventies', 1971, one says 1976 - I think that's wrong though, this has early seventies written all over it. Whatever, this is some great stuff. This is some fine hard rock that has a mature sound that belies the age of the guys making the music; supposedly they were only 18 or so at the time. Brilliant guitar, backed up by some very able bass and drums. This stacks up well against most of the better-known British band of the period. Too bad this wasn't released as a follow-up to their first album when it was recorded - these guys might have had quite a nice career I think. I mean, look at Budgie - Clear Blue Sky was every bit as good, and Budgie is still around! Although, 1971 was a tough year to get noticed probably. Lotsa good stuff got released that year. That's the way it goes I guess.

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Guru Guru - In The Guru Lounge (2006)

Man - these old farts are still going at it, and they still got it goin' on!! Holy Jeebus these guys are good. The first half of this is good old fashioned Guru Guru; anarchic, experimental music played by great musicians. The second half of the CD is the "Guru Lounge Suite", Guru Guru's version of retro lounge jazz - anarchic, experimental music played by great musicians - you get the picture.

Part 1 Part 2

The Who - Live At Woodstock

On August 17, 1969 The Who took the stage at Woodstock - it was 3 o'clock in the morning. Man that must have really been something. Anyway, this great sounding bootleg has 21 tracks from their performance.

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Someone's Band - Someone's Band (1970)

There's not much information available on this obscure UK band. A mixture of material that ranges from bluesy to 'heavy prog'. Good musicianship, tasty songs, and a great vocalist - there's a couple tracks, you'd swear you were listening to Steamhammer. Edit: Got an e-mail from "M' with just a little info on this release: "the album was issued in 1970 – on Deram. The catalogue no. was SML 1068. The musicians to the four piece band were Buckley (main writer), James, Coxen and Martin (first names are not noted on the original album). The production was undertaken by Steve Stevenson. The engineer was Mike Cooper; the black and white single sleeve was designed by Dave George (whom I believe worked at Decca as an in house designer)." - Thanks M.

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String Driven Thing - String Driven Thing (1972)

String Driven Thing was a group from Glasgow, and their first major-label release was a brilliant, though uneven, effort. A mix of folk, soft ballads and rock, and some very early electric folk - the guy sawing away on the violin is Grahame Smith, later of Van Der Graaf Generator. A couple tracks sound downright progressive. The best track in my mind is "Circus", whick is a real rocker that has an almost punk thing going on.

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Weed - Weed (1971)

In between "Salisbury" and "Look At Yourself", Uriah Heep guitarist Ken Hensley went to Germany and made this album with the German band Virus. Pretty much straightforward progressive bluesrock, this thing starts with a sonic blast and barely lets up to the end.

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Virus was a great band in their own right - check the archives for "Revelation", posted September 2005, and "Thoughts", posted April 2006.

OK then - see ya.