Pacific Sound - Forget Your Dream! (1972)

Pacific Sound is a band formed by four dudes in the French-speaking part of Switzerland in the 1960s. They were happily gigging away doing covers of their favorite British Invasion bands and West Coast psychedelic groups, hence the name. Talked into writing their own material, they released a single which was well received, and that led to the recording of this album, their only one. Released originally on Switzerland's Splendid! label, two of their label mates were After Shave and Country Lane. No great lost treasure of Krautrock or anything, this is nonetheless a mighty fun album, full of great early Procul Harum-like Hammond organ riffs and some really good guitar playing. The louder you play this the better it will sound!

1. Forget Your Dream
2. Erotic Blues
3. Drive My Car
4. Thick Fog
5. Gyli Gyli
6. Ceremony For A Dead
7. If Your Soul Is Uncultivated
8. Gates Of Hell
9. The Drug Just Told Me
10. The Green Eyed Girl
11. Ballad To Jimi

Roger Page - Keyboards
Diego Lecci - Drums
Mark Treuthardt - Guitars, Bass
Chris Meyer - Vocals

Alright see ya.

Oxford Circle - Live At The Avalon 1966

"Oxford Circle was a legendary psychedelic blues band primarily due to the fact that drummer Paul Whaley and vocalist/fuzz guitarist Gary Lee Yoder were members of the cult proto-metal band Blue Cheer. This set "Live at the Avalon 1966" contains 14 live cuts in good sound quality for the time period. In addition it also contains four studio cuts. "Foolish Woman" a garage/psychedelic favorite and "Troubles" another band original appear here in both studio and live versions. These are the strongest group originals on the disk. The live cuts are mostly classic blues or British blues/rock covers. Versions of "You're A Better Man Than I" (Yardbirds) and "We Gotta Get Out Of This Place" (Animals)and some songs by Van Morrison illustrate that their main influences were British blues/rock bands of the mid to late sixties with a California psychedelic take. Blues covers "Baby Please Don't Go" and "I'm A Man" are especially energetic. The Yardbirds-like rave-up at the end of the latter contains some Jeff Beck inspired guitar work by lead guitarist Dehner Patten with some psychedelic fuzz and distortion added by Yoder. Drummer Whaley is solid throughout and it easy to imagine why Dickie Peterson tapped him to fill the drum chair in the power trio Blue Cheer. Jim Keylor's bass is noticeable now and again weaving in and out of the guitar histrionics. Yoder's harmonica pops up occasionally and gives the proceedings a bluesier feel. The band broke up after Whaley left to join Blue Cheer. Yoder and Patten reunited to form Kak another psychedelic band before Gary Lee Yoder also joined Blue Cheer. Fans of California's psychedelic scene and rare blues/garage rock will find this to be a hidden treasure. Kudos to Ace/Big Beat for unearthing this rare psychedelic gem and providing great liner notes with a detailed history and pictures of the band. " (boogaloojeff amazon.com)

1. Mystic Eyes
2. Since You've Been Away
3. You're A Better Man Than I
4. Soul On Fire
5. I Got My Mojo Working
6. Baby Please Don't Go
7. Foolish Woman
8. Troubles
9. We Gotta Get Out Of This Place
10. Today
11. Silent Woman
12. Little Girl
13. Hoochie Coochie Man
14. I'm A Man
15. Foolish Woman
16. Mind Destruction
17. The Raven
18. Troubles

Gary Yoder - Vocals, Guitar, Harmonica
Dehner E. Patten - Vocals, Guitar
Paul Whaley - Vocals, Drums
Jim Keylor - Vocals
Jack Hills - Saxophone
Bruce Turley - Organ

Later

Fotheringay - Fotheringay 2 (2008)

Been a long time since I posted any British folk!

38 years after the band had broken up and decades after Sandy Denny and Trevor Lucas had passed away, guitarist Jerry Donahue was given access to tapes that had been recorded for a second album. Donahue did a brilliant job of remastering the tapes, and he and the other surviving members of the band, rhythm section members Pat Donaldson & Jerry Conway, did a little discreet overdubbing. Only complaint - the use of a wildly inappropriate saxophone solo on one of the tracks. All these tracks are infinitely superior to the later versions of the songs that appeared on compilations or on Sandy Denny's solo albums. I have always loved that Fotheringay album and have to say that this is probably better. Except for that damn saxophone.

1. John The Gun
2. Eppie Moray
3. Wild Mountain Thyme
4. Knights Of The Road
5. Late November
6. Restless
7. Gypsy Davey
8. I Don't Believe You
9. Silver Threads And Golden Needles
10. Bold Jack Donahue
11. Two Weeks Last Summer

Sandy Denny - guitar, piano, vocals
Trevor Lucas - guitar, vocals
Jerry Donahue - guitar, vocals
Pat Donaldson - bass, vocals
Gerry Conway - drums

Bye!

Island - Pyrrho (1975-1976)

This is the same Swiss band that put out the excellent album "Pictures" in 1977. Not altogether sure what is going on here because there are no liner notes at all. Pyrrho was an ancient Greek philosopher and the inside cover says "Based on a story by Akron" So I'm assuming this is a concept album, maybe even written to accompany a performance of some kind. The first disc is 14 nameless tracks listed as a "home recording". The second disc is the material performed live the following year. The music is comparable to that found on "Pictures" though not as dark and obviously lacking any studio wizardry. Also there's a bass player on both discs. For archival material from 35 years ago the sound is pretty good. Complex keyboard driven progressive rock, classical/jazzy, with excellent musicianship throughout. The label, Z-Records, is actually a CD store in Switzerland and this is their only release, so I'm suspecting this is quite a rarity outside of Switzerland - well probably in Switzerland too!

Disc 1 Home Recording 1975

14 Unnamed Tracks

Güge Meier - Drums, Percussion, Vocals
Egon Eggler - Bass, Vocals
Dani Rühle - Guitar, Vocals
Beni Jäger - Lead Vocals, Percussion
Peter Scherer - Keyboards, Vocals

Disc 2 Live Version 1976

24 Unnamed Tracks

Beni Jäger - Lead Vocals, Percussion
René Fisch - Saxophone, Vocals
Alfio Sacco - Bass, Vocals
Güge Meier - Drums, Percussion, Vocals
Peter Scherer - Keyboards, Vocals

Bye!

Mogul Thrash - Mogul Thrash (1970)

"This progressive jazz-rock combo's lone release is largely of interest to John Wetton and Asia fans, as evidenced by mentions of it on various web pages throughout the net. However, it is worth noting that this group may also be of tremendous interest to all British rock, blues and jazz enthusiasts, as it sported a blinding pedigree of musical luminaries of its era. Firstly, jazz keyboardist extraordinaire, Brian Auger, produced and guest-starred on the album; he played piano on "St. Peter". Secondly, saxophonist Roger Ball, later a mainstay in the Average White Band is a well-recognised name on the British session scene, for he has contributed to the recording of albums by such prominent artists as Kiki Dee, Dana Gillespie, Bryan Ferry, Gordon Giltrap, Vinegar Joe and more. John Wetton, of course, went on to find fame and glory with such noteworthy rock acts as Roxy Music, Family, Uriah Heep, Asia, King Crimson, Wishbone Ash, and so forth. Guitarist James Litherland's name instantly brings to mind 70's jazz-rock giant Colosseum, although he's also recorded with Long John Baldry, Bandit, Alexis Korner and Leo Sayer.

The band's sound was primarily brass-driven and very jazzy, akin to the likes of Colosseum, Keef Hartley Band, If and others in the same vein; it was also greatly reliant on guitar and saxophone jamming, which has been, in turn, responsible for many a goosebump tingling down the spine of any serious prog-jazz nut worth his salt (including yours truly), over the years... Not to be missed!" (www.alexgitlin.com)

1. Something Sad (7:32)
2. Elegy (9:37)
3. Dreams Of Glass And Sand (5:07)
4. Going North, Going West (12:00)
5. St. Peter (3:39)
6. What's This I Hear (7:17)
7. Sleeping In The Kitchen (2:45)

James Litherland - Guitar and Vocal
John Wetton - Bass, Guitar and Vocal
Bill Harrison - Drums
Malcolm Duncan - Tenor Saxophone
Michael Rosen - Trumpet, Mellophone and Guitar
Roger Ball - Alto, Baritone and Soprano Saxophones
Brian Auger - Piano Track 5

See you later!

Annexus Quam - Osmose (1970)

German band Annexus Quam's first album is a strange one. Good, but strange nonetheless. A "Kosmische" stew of avant-garde, jazz fusion and rock with great lashings of guitar, and unusual use of brass and woodwind instruments and psychedelic studio effects. And then there's the wordless vocals and weird chanting! All in all a very satisfying, lysergic album probably best listened to with headphones. Damn I don't even own a pair I should really get some. Take the more jazzy parts of Pink Floyd's "Atom Heart Mother" and go all krautrocky on them and you may have an idea of what this sounds like.

1. Osmose I (4:15)
2. Osmose II (3:11)
3. Osmose III (10:36)
4. Osmose IV (18:20)

Uwe Bick - Singer, Vocals, Percussion
Jürgen Jonuschies - Bass, Vocals, Percussion
Werner Hostermann - Clarinet, Vocals, Percussion
Peter Werner - Guitar, Vocals, Percussion
Hans Kämper - Guitar, Vocals, Percussion
Ove Volquartz - Saxophone, Flute
Harald Klemm - Flute, Vocals, Percussion, Trumpet, Trombone

Bye, and have a happy Labor Day if you're American, or have a happy regular day if you're not!