OK I'm back, I know you were all worried about me (hehe). Since my brush with death (not really) I have decided to reform and be a better person. I hereby apologize to everyone who has e-mailed me in the last month or two and gotten no answer. In the next week or two I will definitely clean up my inbox.

Popol Vuh - In den Gärten Pharaos (1971)

In den Gärten Pharaos was the second release from Popol Vuh, and the last of their electronic albums, being a sterling example of German underground spacey electronica. Atmospheric, sometimes ethnic, experimental, minimalist, trance-y and ambient. Julian Cope calls this "One of thee great Meditational Holy works".

High VBR w/artwork Part 1 Part 2

Indian Summer - Indian Summer (1971)

Indian Summer's self-titled album was the only release by this progressive rock band from Coventry England. Mainly keyboard driven but with lots of great guitar and vocals which suit the music perfectly. Good songs, with a darkly atmospheric bent. Lots to listen to here, these guys were great!

Bitrate 320 w/artwork Part 1 Part 2

Eiliff - Bremen 1972

Eiliff released only two albums in their lifetime, this is a previously unreleased excellent quality radio broadcast. Brilliant instrumental jazzy rock, krautrock in it's way with maybe a nod to the Mothers Of Invention. All the musicians (Rainer Bruninghaus on keyboards!) are terrific, and guitarist Houschng Nejadpour stands out - he later played briefly with Guru Guru then sunk from sight. Great stuff!

High VBR w/artwork Download

Jefferson Airplane - Sweeping Up The Spotlight (1969)

Recorded at the Fillmore East on November 28 & 29, 1969, this is an awesome sounding recording of Jefferson Airplane blowing the roof off the joint. They were really on top of it for these shows, this is some smokin' stuff. All Jefferson Airplane fans need this. Great liner notes by Jorma.

1. Volunteers
2. Good Shepherd
3. Plastic Fantastic Lover
4. Uncle Sam Blues
5. 3/5 Of a Mile In 10 Seconds
6. You Wear Your Dresses Too Short
7. Come Back Baby
8. Medley: Won't You Try/Saturday Afternoon
9. The Ballad Of You & Me & Pooneil
10. White Rabbit
11. Crown Of Creation
12. The Other Side Of This Life

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Island - Pictures (1977)

As you might surmise from the H.R. Geiger artwork, Island was a Swiss band, led by Benjamin Jäger formerly of TOAD. The music is very un TOAD-like however, there aren't even any guitars, not even a bass player. The sounds on this disc are over-the-top complex progressive rock with great keyboards and sax/flute. Darkly sinister sounding, matching the cover artwork exactly, you might get scared if you listen to this alone late at night.

Bitrate 320 w/artwork Part 1 Part 2

FROM THE ARCHIVES:

Irish Coffee - Irish Coffee (1971)

Irish Coffee was a terrific 'underground' group from Belgium that left behind only this one album of hard progressive rock. The music brings to mind at various time the stalwarts of early 70's hard rock, like Deep Purple, Uriah Heep etc. Powerful vocals, great keyboards and an obviously Hendrix-inspired guitarist make this something that will appeal to fans of vintage 'hard' progressive rock.

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Gila - Free Electric Sound (1971)

The first album by Gila is top of the line Krautrock, an absolute progressive rock masterpiece. The "Freak Emporium" catalog says "Regarded by many as one of the finest Krautrock albums of all time"! The "Ultima Thule" catalog calls it "The best LP Pink Floyd never made"! This album will appeal to every Krautrock fan . Long, spacey jams, exotic rhythms, electronic effects, some mixing-board hoodoo from Dieter Dierks all anchored by a crisp rhythm section.

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Werwolf - Creation (1982)

Outside of the fact that the lyrics today sound a little, er, trite, though well-meaning, this is a beautiful symphonic/progressive rock album, the only release from this German band. Gorgeous female vocals, with a sometimes spacey, cosmic sound kind of like early 'Eloy' and at other times an intense, melodic Pink-Floyd-ey guitar remind us that this is a rock album. Includes bonus tracks.

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Lightshine - Feeling (1976)

Yet another fine German band that has only a self-released album as a legacy, Lightshine was a terrific psychedelic outfit composed of great musicians. They toured with some of the best bands of the day, but were unable to secure a recording contract. What a shame, because there is such promise here, given more time they would have been brilliant.

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OK see you next week!

HAPPY MONDAY!

Saffran - Blue In Ashes (1975)

Saffran were five musicians from Munich, whose sole album was recorded in 1975, but never released until 2004. Included is a single from 1974. These guys played a sophisticated brand of jazzy progressive rock, using sax, guitar, vocals, keyboards, bass, flute and drums. Very nice.

Bitrate 320 w/covers Download

Quicksilver Messenger Service - Lost Gold And Silver (1999)

Real nice two disc set of unreleased material from Quicksilver Messenger Service. Well unreleased in 1999 anyway! The star of the show is disc one, featuring live performances from 1968, including a couple blues classics, material from their first album, and live versions of Who Do You Love/Mona/Maiden Of The Cancer Moon that rival the versions on Happy Trails. The second disc has a dozen studio tracks recorded in 1967/1968, including a couple early versions of tunes that later made it to an album. These guys were undeniably awesome.

Bitrate 256 w/front & back covers Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Ash Ra Tempel - Schwingungen/Seven Up (1972)

This out of print two-fer has Ash Ra Tempel's second and third albums, both from 1972, on one disc. I've posted Schwingungen before, a long time ago, but not Seven Up. These are both great albums, and Seven Up is especially interesting for the involvement of Dr. Timothy Leary.

High VBR w/scans Part 1 Part 2

Frozen Ghost - Nature Of Magic (1979)

I haven't been able to find out much about this thing - all I know is that Frozen Ghost is actually a Swiss dude named Helmut Müller, who played all the instruments and did all the voices. Probably recorded in some remote Swiss village, this is a garagey heavy-duty guitar orgy - psychedelic and spacey! I don't have the back cover, I'm not really convinced this is the proper front cover, but this was released on Black Rills Records, who have put out some awesome vintage Swiss psych/prog.

High VBR w/front cover Download

Orange Peel - Orange Peel (1970)

Little is known about the origins of Orange Peel, though on their debut single the band featured Michael Winzkowski (also of Nosferatu and Epsilon), and they proved quite seminal, with Heinrich Mohn later following Winzkowski to Epsilon, Peter Bischof moving on to Emergency, and Curt Cress becoming amongst the most prolific of drummers. Orange Peel's LP was amongst the most psychedelic of heavy progressive albums, not least side one's opus "You Can't Change Them All", a veritable masterwork of heavy riffing organ rock, kind of Egg and Pink Floyd jamming Krautrock style, featuring vast guitar excursions, and Peter Bischof's gutsy blues vocals. And then there's "We Still Try To Change" encompassing half of the second side, which trips out beyond the realms of side one's opus, like a crazed Arzachel, close to Os Mundi at their freakiest. The odd track out is an unusual arrangement of "Tobacco Road". (The Crack In The Cosmic Egg).

Bitrate 32-w/covers Download

OK see ya! Comments in any language are appreciated!!

FROM THE ARCHIVES:

Pyramid - Pyramid (1976)

From the same label as that Nazgûl album I posted a few months ago. Same deal - very little information, virtually no liner notes, about all the back cover says is "personnel unknown". This consists of only one track, basically a long jam, coming in at 33 minutes. Two guitars, bass, drums, and keyboards. This is very trippy, stoned-sounding stuff, recommended for anyone that loves 1970's German space music.

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Alex Oriental Experience - Tales Of Purple Sally

Unfortunately there is very little in English about this band on the net, but as far as I can gather, this German dude named Alex Wiska is really taken with the "Turkish" sound. This is a compilation of tracks from the early 70's, and this is some very tasty Turkish-sounding stuff! Appearing on most if not all of the tracks are Holger Czukay, Jaki Liebezeit, and Michael Karoli of the band Can. The other musicians seem to be well-known in their fields too. This really needs to be checked out - wish I knew more about it.

Line-Up
- Holger Czukay
- Jaki Liebezeit
- Michael Karoli
- Gerd Dudek
- Alex Wiska
- Cem Karaca
- Huseyn Sultan Oglu
- Seyhan Karabey
- Ünol Buyükgönenc

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Charge - Charge (1973)

Charge was a studio band that only did a few gigs to support this album, which did not sell well. Two of the better known musicians on this are Neil Hubbard and Ric Grech. My only complaint is that it is so short - half the album is a 17 minute piece called 'Child of Nations'. The second track, 'To My Friends' is maybe one of the coolest thing I've heard lately. One reviewer says this is a "loud, blistering sonic attack that rarely relents" - OK it's probably not all that 'blistering' but it's pretty damn good. My rip 320 w/covers.

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P2O5 - Vivat Progression Pereat Mundus (1978)

Great album of German hard rock, a little on the mystical side. I actually first posted this way back in December 2005! Well, blog visitor Franz from Deutschland thought the rip was a little lacking sonically, possibly due to a worn stylus, so he purchased the 180 gram vinyl reissue and ripped it himself @ 320. I have to say his version does sound better. OK way better! He also photographed the covers for us. Thanks Franz for this first-class share! Edit: forget all that, this is Franz's rip of the remastered CD with bonus tracks.

Part 1 Part 2

Moolah - Woe Ye Demons Possessed (1974)

This is a very strange album, the work of two guys - Walter Burns and Maurice Roberson. A variety of keyboards, percussion instruments, found sounds, studio funny business, tape loops, weird voices - truly a subversive underground classic. From an out-of-print Japanese 'gray-market' CD reissue. The reissue LP can still be purchased. One reviewer describes this as "America's Krautrock album"! The performers say this is a "a cosmic rock relaxation creation to elevate sensory awareness to include the aura of intuitive perception of higher realm of human/divine consciousness using the astral body projection experience vehicle to pierce time/space/logic dimension barriers on the return voyage to the ultimate concept."

Download

Saffran - Blue In Ashes (1975)

Saffran were five musicians from Munich, whose sole album was recorded in 1975, but never released until 2004. Included is a single from 1974. These guys played a sophisticated brand of jazzy progressive rock, using sax, guitar, vocals, keyboards, bass, flute and drums. Very nice.

Bitrate 320 w/covers Download

Quicksilver Messenger Service - Lost Gold And Silver (1999)

Real nice two disc set of unreleased material from Quicksilver Messenger Service. Well unreleased in 1999 anyway! The star of the show is disc one, featuring live performances from 1968, including a couple blues classics, material from their first album, and live versions of Who Do You Love/Mona/Maiden Of The Cancer Moon that rival the versions on Happy Trails. The second disc has a dozen studio tracks recorded in 1967/1968, including a couple early versions of tunes that later made it to an album. These guys were undeniably awesome.

High VBR w/scans Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Ash Ra Tempel - Schwingungen/Seven Up (1972)

This out of print two-fer has Ash Ra Tempel's second and third albums, both from 1972, on one disc. I've posted Schwingungen before, a long time ago, but not Seven Up. These are both great albums, and Seven Up is especially interesting for the involvement of Dr. Timothy Leary.

High VBR w/scans Part 1 Part 2

Frozen Ghost - Nature Of Magic (1979)

Hey - anybody out there! Who's doing all this downloading? Is it you? How about leaving a comment?

Colosseum - Live (1971)

As live albums go, this is probably one of the best - originally released as two LP's, this CD version has a bonus track. These guys were virtuoso musicians and you can tell they really enjoyed performing. Energetic and classy, this thing sounds great 36 years later. This is an awesome album of progressive jazzy rock and everybody really should buy the CD and add it to their collection.

High VBR w/scans Part 1 Part 2

Elfenbein - Made In Rock (1977)

Obscure three-piece German band Elfenbein put out one album of straight-ahead, Anglo-American sounding hard rock. Nothing spectacular probably, still an enjoyable slab of bluesy rock a little boogified at times.

Bitrate 320 w/covers Download

Samurai - Samurai (1971)

Samurai, with the addition of one member, was essentially the same bunch that made the third album by Web, the great "I Spider". Since Dave Lawson, later of Greenslade, wrote most of the material on both albums, this is the logical follow-up to "I Spider", there's even a live track of "Concerto For Bedsprings" as one of the bonus tracks. Anyway, this is heavy duty progressive rock with a lot of classical and jazz influences. A real nice piece of prog history.

Bitrate 256 w/covers Part 1 Part 2

Quiet Sun - Mainstream (1975)

While all the players on this are excellent, the stars of the show are guitarist Phil Manzanera and keyboardist Dave Jarrett. Sometimes mellow and sometimes dramatic, this seems to be a blend of the "Canterbury" sound and Space-Rock, and will appeal to fans of jazzy prog and to lovers of space rock.

Bitrate 320 w/scans Download

La Düsseldorf - Viva (1978)

La Düsseldorf was formed by Klaus Dinger and Hans Lampe after the breakup of NEU!. Their second album is a real gem of late 70's krautrock, the music is brilliant and powerful, clearly having NEU! influences, but also maybe some of the attitude of 70's punk! The last track, the 20 minute long "Cha Cha 2000" is a krautrock classic.

High VBR w/artwork Download

FROM THE ARCHIVES:

Might Of Coincidence - The Birth Of Might Of Coincidence (1971)

Only album from this Swiss psych/folk group, who recorded and released this in England in 1971. Very ethereal and drugged-out sounding, lots of flute and hand drums. This was a very crappy vinyl rip that I worked over with my trusty copy of Adobe Audition. Didn't do a perfect job; I'm no expert and I didn't want to spend my life on it, but this is very listenable, not that bad of a job I must say! Anyway, I really like this.

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Moira - Moira (1984)

Also known as "Reise Nach Ixtlan", the second release from hopelessly obscure band Moira is a monster of Krautrock fusion. Neither of their albums has had a legitimate CD reissue, and I was lucky enough to locate a rip of a bootleg CD, there is at least one real bad vinyl rip floating around. Mostly straightforward instrumental jazz-rock dominated by a Hammond organ, Moog, and some great guitar playing, some incredible drumming and brilliant bass playing. The second track is a short piece with only flute and percussion. Favorite track is "Einsame Schatten", the only track with vocals. Man these guys were good.

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Sergius Golowin - Lord Krishna Von Goloka (1973)

Sergius Golowin was (is) a Swiss painter (responsible for the original cover painting of Ash Ra Tempel's 'Seven Up' as well as his own sleeve) and a friend of Walter Wegmuller. The sessions for this concept album in late 1972 were arguably the start of all the Cosmic Jokers-related sessions between 1973 and 1974. It brought Wallenstein together with Klaus Schulze and Witthuser & Westrupp. The 'Lord Krishna von Goloka' album really sounds like a cross between the styles of the participating musicians (the cue word here is "space"!!!): Floyd-like space rock (Wallenstein), electronic spacious effects (Klaus Schulze) and traces of cosmic folk (Witthüser & Westrupp). Add that to the talents of a certain Jörg Mierke and the mostly spoken, mysterious lyrics of Golowin, you've got the album in a nutshell. Not as trippy as Seven Up, but certainly out on a limb, featuring three continuously running tracks likely to shuttle you into far distant realms of space...! Of course this record is a necessity for Ash Ra Tempel, Cosmic Jokers, Schulze and Wallenstein fans (and I figure there ain't a few!). Fans are also in need of his album's logical successor: Walter Wegmuller's large scale opus 'Tarot', featuring most of the musicians above and more [posted 1 October 2006]. The next logical step was to be the Cosmic Joker sessions. (Cosmic Dreams At Play) (My rip @ 320 w/scans)

Track listing

1. Der Reigen (16:34)
2. Die Weisse Alm (5:49)
3. Die Hoch Zeit (19:25)

Line-up

- Sergius Golowin / voice
- Jerry Berkers / electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass, bongo's
- Jürgen Dollase / piano, melotron, vibrafon, triangel and guitar
- Jörg Mierke / electric guitar, organ, percussion, voice choir, flute, electronics, conga's
- Klaus Schulze / drum, organ, mellotron & electronics
- Walter Westrupp / acoustic guitar, flute, mouthharp, windspel, psalter, tablas and percussion
- Bernd Witthüser / guitar

Part 1 Part 2

Jane - Cologne 1-8-77Great sounding boot of an FM broadcast by Germany's favorite melodic hard rock group.

The Band:
Peter Panka, drums, vocals
Klaus Hess, guitare, vocals
Martin Hesse, bass
Manfred Wieczorke, beyboard, vocals

The Songs:
01 Lady - 3:37
02 Radio Talk 1 - 2:44
03 Fire, Water, Earth & Air - 3:44
04 Another Way - 5:16
05 River - 4:17
06 Out In The Rain - 6:08
07 Hangman - 14:34
08 Radio Talk 2 - :49
09 Windows - 20:22

Part 1 Part 2