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!

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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!

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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.

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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!