Happy Monday!!

Chris Bell - I Am The Cosmos (1992)

Chris Bell was a founding member of Big Star who unfortunately died in 1978 while recording his first solo album. This album then is basically a collection of a couple single sides, demos, and whatnot. Awesome sensitive, depressed, melodic 1970's singer-songwriter stuff with a few rockers thrown in the mix.

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Klaus Schulze - Moondawn (1976)

Klaus Schulze with an array of synthesizers and a drummer, Harold Grosskopf, lay out two long tracks of spacey, cosmic, sonic soundscapes. One of Schulze's best, according to some reviewers.

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Made In Germany - Made In Germany (1971)

Made In Germany was a band with a split personality! A lot of the tracks here are very good three-minute pop songs, while there are a few longer tracks, like the nine-and-a half minutes long "Man In History" that are great early 70's progressive rock. Singer Rita Peuker had a great strong Teutonic voice. They shoulda stuck with the prog material I think!

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Moebius, Neumeier, Engler - Other Places (1996)

I just picked this up in a used CD store yesterday and haven't really checked it out, but what I've heard seems to be pretty cool. Anyway, this is Dieter Moebius (Cluster), Mani Neumeier (Guru Guru) and Jürgen Engler (Die Krupps), nine tracks improvised in the studio with no overdubbing.

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Paul Kossoff - Live At Croydon Fairfield Halls (1975)

This turned out to be the last concert for Mr. Kossoff and his band Back Street Crawler. He died the following spring of a drug overdose. Great playing from a rock legend.

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FROM THE ARCHIVES:

The Sons Of Champlin - The Sons (1969)

One of the more obscure groups of the late 60's San Francisco ballroom scene, their sound is based on the Hammond B-3 organ and a prominent horn section, making their sound distinctly different from their Bay Area cohorts. They were a "Musician's Band", meaning that their releases were well received by other musicians, but really didn't connect with too many music buyers. The shorter songs are sometimes introspective and low-key, and the longer songs have the complex structures and time signature changes that one associates with progressive rock. This is their second album and probably does suffer a bit from 'sophomore slump', as all the songs were written for the album, as opposed to their first release, where they had been playing the material for a long time live. Regardless, they knew where the groove was and had no trouble getting there.

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Electric Sandwich - Electric Sandwich (1972)

No historical information is known about Electric Sandwich, though they are reputedly ex-Vinegar. Typical of many Krautrock bands of the era, they drew on a wide range of influences: jazz, blues, psychedelia, etc., and moulded their own fusion with that typically cosmic yet powerful edge. Their sole album is oddly balanced, opening with the lengthy Xhol/Kollektiv-like instrumental "China" with excellent electric sax, and thereafter establishing a more unique brand of song fronted by a gruff vocalist, in a blues and jazz accented progressive blend. Really, every track on the album is different, though a recognisable Electric Sandwich style does ride throughout.

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Epidermis - Genius Of Original Force (1977)

The songs on this release from German band Epidermis have multipart vocals, and occasional instrumental counterpoint, so they’re often compared to Gentle Giant. But their music is a lot darker and less refined than typical Gentle Giant, and I can imagine lots of people who like Gentle Giant not liking Epidermis at all, and some people who don’t like Gentle Giant liking Epidermis.

The lyrics are about the creation of the universe by God. Though the band is German and the lyrics are all in English, they’re actually only rarely bad, and accents are barely noticeable. I really like them since they’re so unique, both in topic and style. Instrumentally, the band has a lot of interplay, but not a lot of variation in their sounds or style. The keyboardist sticks almost exclusively to clavinet, the guitarist and bassist both have their own sounds they stick to as well. There are several passages with vibes or acoustic guitar though, all of which are played pretty well. Typically the compositions are centered around riffs played on the guitars and/or keyboards, few of which are very complex, but each bandmember frequently plays their own lines, and it all seems carefully thought-out in advance even if it’s not always professionally–executed.

This was obviously a low-budget album, but it’s also an extremely distinctive one - the kind of thing that is easy to find fault with but also very endearing in a lot of ways. I really like it. (dnieper111, rateyourmusic.com)

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Haboob - Haboob (1971)

This German release is a mixture of jazz-rock, soul, blues, psychedelia, really difficult to pin down. Plus it's not really a German band, the players are Americans or maybe Brits living in Munich. Star of the show is American keyboardist Jimmy Jackson, better known for his appearances on the classic early Amon Düül II albums, and albums by Embryo and Klaus Doldinger's Passport. Jackson plays something called a "Choir Organ", which seems to have been a one of a kind instrument that only he played. Best cut, for me, is the first track "Israfil" a nine minute long affair which probably wouldn't have seemed too out of place one one of the first three Amon Düül II albums. Weirdness prevails throughout the rest of the album, there's bluesy psychedelia, keyboard freak-outs, percussion extravaganzas and an unusual version of "Soldier Boy" by the Shirelles! (Vinyl Rip)

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Minotaurus - Fly Away (1978)

Minotaurus were an obscure 70’s band from Germany, who recorded 2 albums with only one ever being released "Fly Away". Inspired by the story of the Mintaurus living in King Minos' Labyrinth on Crete this 6 piece band deliver an album full of organ roaring progressive rock. This album although essentially a symphonic mindmelt does also blend in psych and space dimensions into their sound. Their overall sound is quite rich with a good chunk of mellotron and deep bass lines. Vocals (Peter Scheu) are sung in English and fit the music quite well. Instrumentally this band were amazing with inspiring and pompous keyboard leads, mellotron atmospheres , great guitar , bass and drum interplay. Overall sound carries allusions to Novalis, Marillion and Eloy. (James Unger progarchives.com)

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OK see you later!!