The album's titled Afro Progressivo, but it's got a sound that's also as
spacey as its cover image – served up here in a great blend of electric
instrumentation mixed with a fair bit of percussion – all then given
some very strange effects in the studio! The sound library set was
issued in early 70s Argentina, and it's got this great mix of the tribal
and the cosmic – not unlike the wonderful Mandingo albums from the UK
70s scene – which also had a similar blend of fuzz and funk!
Value American actress, novelist, singer and former model, who has lived
mostly in Britain and Ireland. She achieved national fame when she
appeared in London as Dionne in the long-running rock musical Hair. She enjoyed close relationships with Marc Bolan and Mick Jagger, who is the father of her only child Karis.
According to Hunt, The Rolling Stones' controversial hit song "Brown Sugar"
was based on her. She has written three novels, as well as three
volumes of autobiography, which include a frank account of life as a
breast cancer sufferer.
Το 1973 ο Κώστας Τουρνάς ηχογραφεί το δεύτερο προσωπικό του albumμε τον τίτλο
“Αστρόνειρα”. Οι επιρροές του απο το “ZiggyStardust” του DavidBowieήταν αρκετά εμφανείς από
το εξώφυλλο του δίσκου μέχρι και το περιεχόμενο του. Η θεματολογία του παρέπεμπε
σε αστρικές αναφορές και μελλοντικές προφητείες γύρο απ την τύχη του πλανήτη ενώ
το κομμάτι “Η Μηχανή του Χρόνου” μέσα απ αυτό επιλέχθηκε για να αποτελέσει το παρθενικό
του σόλο single. Το “Αστρόνειρα”
αλλά και το πρώτο προσωπικό του albumμε τον τίτλο “Απέραντα Χωράφια” θεωρούνται φωτεινά ορόσημα
για το εγχώριο ροκ και απαραίτητα για κάθε σοβαρή δισκοθήκη.
This double LP by Sandro Brugnolini under the pseudonym of Narassa, is a
mix of funk and progressive rock with drums, electric guitar, organ and
flute lead the way. Recorded in early 70’s there are clear references
to those who at the time was the international rock and prog standard,
but clearly all reread and interpreted in the Italian style that
distinguished us.
To 1975 στο φεστιβάλ Καννών προβάλετε το πορνογράφημα του
Lasse Braun (κανονικό του όνομα Alberto Ferro) με τίτλο
"Sensation".Το φιλμ προκάλεσε έντονες αντιδράσεις. Λογικό, αφού η ιστορία
έχει να κάνει με δυο Αγγλιδουλες οι οποίες ταξιδεύουν ως το Άμστερνταμ αναζητώντας
την απόλυτη σεξουαλική εμπειρία δίχως όρια και ενδοιασμούς. Προσπερνώντας το
στορρυ και παρατηρώντας τα πλάνα τη φωτογραφία (Falcon Stuart συνεργάστηκε με
Peter Blake και Robert Altman) την παράγωγη και την αισθητική βλέπουμε ένα αποτέλεσμα
που όμοιο του δεν υπάρχει. Ακόμα και η μουσική είναι γραμμένη εξ ολοκλήρου γι αυτό
το φιλμ απο κάποιον Richard Moore. Ένα mix απο prograssive rock,pop και funk! Δεν
ξέρω ποιος κρύβεται πίσω απ το όνομα Richard Moore. Ξέρω όμως ότι στο μπάσο ήταν
ο Adrian Shaw (The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown και Hawkwind) και στη παράγωγη
του δίσκου ξανά βλέπω τον Falcon Stuart ο οποίος ήταν μάνατζερ και μουσικός παραγωγός
αργότερα των X-Ray Spex,Adam and the Ants και της Danielle Dax. Τέλος το
Sensation είναι η πρώτη πορνογραφική ταινία που κυκλοφόρησε επίσημα στις ΗΠΑ.
Sensations is a 1975 hard core pornographic film written by Veronique
Monet and directed by Alberto Ferro. It stars the writer and Brigitte
Maier and features an appearance by Tuppy Owens. It was exhibited at the
Cannes Film Festival and became the first European pornographic film to
be distributed in the USA.
The music is a mix of prog rock , funk, and strange French 70s pop, with a small funk group backing.
"Looking Back" was recording in the summer 1974 in Athens in a 4 channel studio.I arranged and produced it. To Nicos Despotides recording and mixng engineer, for his help and encouragement. I am deeply indebted. I also wish to thank Jim Poulikakos and Clive Hodgson for their valuable contribution.The cover layout and photos are by George Maniatis. The front cover painting by Dorl. Looking Back is deditated to noboby. From inlay liner notes.
A nice prog folk 45's for this group from Argentina.
Very calm with some acoustic guitar parts with nice folk vein. Nice lirics with a female balanced voice. Is
not a masterpiece but it's a good work made in Argentina in 70 décade.
Turkish rock is weird. Whether it's the psychedelic wanderings of Erkin Koray or the wild-haired boogie of Bunalim, the folks in Istanbul just have their own unique approach to rockin'. Hardal, basically a footnote in Turkish rock history, have now had their debut album reissued by the indefatigable Shadoks label, and it's a worthy nugget of late-'70s prog. Had it been heard in the West at the time of its initial release in 1979, it would likely have seemed a little behind the times; there are plenty of stinging guitar leads and weird Theremin-like synths, and the rhythms are pretty pumping, but it sounds more like a product of the '60s, or early-'70s Krautrock, than the dawn of the '80s. Still, the female vocals on "Unuttum" are quite lovely, and those guitars (by Sukru Yuksel and Cahit Kukul, for those who are curious) do really tear it up. The six-minute title track (which translates to "Where From? Where To?") is a drifting, psychedelic journey with electric piano backing a raw, soulful vocal and some fuzzed-out guitar soloing, plus a long and weird synth interlude in the middle. Other tracks, like "Zor" and "Baska" offer a melodic, poppy take on boogie, with more acid-fried six-string action and oddly smooth vocals. This is decidedly not for everyone, though fans of Turkish rock will doubtless enjoy it.
Esoteric Recordings are pleased to announce a newly re-mastered edition of the classic debut album by Danish Progressive Rock group ACHE. Formed in 1968, with a line-up of TORSTEN OLAFSSON (bass, vocals), FINN OLAFSSON (guitar, vocals), PETER MELLIN (organ, piano) and GLEN FISHER (drums and percussion),
ACHE first came to attention in Denmark with their work DE HOMINE URBANO ("About Urban Man”) which was the first ever Rock ballet, performed by the Royal Danish Ballet Company in Copenhagen in 1969. Influenced by groups such as The Nice, Iron Butterfly and more, ACHE’s music was a powerful Psychedelic Progressive Rock driven by Peter Mellin’s powerful Hammond Organ and the fluid guitar playing of Finn Olafsson. ACHE’s second album,
"GREEN MAN” was released in June 1971 in Europe and was arguably the band’s finest hour, featuring classics such as ‘Equatorial Rain’, ‘The Invasion’ and ‘Shadow of a Gypsy’. Hailed by JULIAN COPE in his on-line DANSKROCKSAMPLER, ACHE’s two albums for Philips are now hailed as Psych / Prog classics.By cherry red
For many years the target of counterfeiters, the sole 1971 LP by Alabama guitar prog/psych-rockers Felt was an early candidate for the ‘under the counter’ reissue market. If you don’t know the record it’s an excellent psychy prog outing with twin lead guitars, melodic vocals and keyboards combined into a melancholic anglophile sound clearly influenced by the UK progressive rock invasion. The guitar solos retain something of a West Coast feel reminiscent at times of Wishbone Ash.
Originally issued on the Nashville-based Nasco label (also home to the similar, yet less interesting Whalefeathers) within months of its original release the band had fallen apart due to a drug bust, leaving this as their only legacy.
One of the rarest albums of the entire British prog-rock scene, Pussy's Plays
is undoubtedly also one of the most obscure and beautiful. Their line
up has always been a mystery as they never revealed their identity. A
must for keyboard lovers and prog connoisseurs.
The most successful Hungarian rock band in history, OMEGA is one of the
rare bands to have been known outside in his country. The legend has it
that as albums were released in other countries it became necessary to
brake the language barrier. Their music is a combination of Eastern
European prog with a bit of symphonic and a bit of psyche prog. The
result is a dark orchestrated sound combined with extended
improvisation. Their discography actually starts in the early 60's, and
goes in till today in a more modern register. Several albums were
released in Hungarian as well as English. I'd prefer the "accented"
English version of the albums. The more so, the music remains the
same...
1968 to 1975: OMEGA issued their first Hungarian
"Trombitás Frédi és a Rettenetes Emberek" (1968) that became their first
golden album. The band sealed their success with two subsequent LPS:
"10 000 Lépés" and "Omega 3" / "Éjszakai Országút". Their first
releases, such as "Omega 3" / "Éjszakai Országút", "Élö Omega" and
"Omega 5" were basically pop rock some very good songs. "200 Years After
The Last War" is a brilliant album, solid rock and roll with beautiful
ballads.
1976 to 1981: From 1976 to 1981, they released four
albums of Progressive Spacey Rock with great arrangements: echoes of
PINK FLOYD and ELOY elements. "Time Robber" / "Idõrabló", their best
work work, is the most commercial with various electronic "space
sounds", though "Skrover" / "Csillagok Útján" is probably the most
musically diverse. More albums in the similar style followed:
"Gammapolis" / "Gammapolisz" and "Working" / "Az Arc".
1981 to
today: Afterwards, the band kept the electronic and pop rock genre with
bits of Progressive elements. However, the band's 1980s began to show
the obvious signs of creative stagnation. Soon after it 13th album,
OMEGA disbanded. After 7 years of long silence, the musicians went on to
produce a new album in 1995, "Transcendent" / "Trans and Dance". This
release is a good album with nice keyboards playing. Also check out
their equally superb album .... their latest "Egy Eletre Szol" (1998).
Well..., after nearly 40 years OMEGA is still together, they are LEGENDS
!By progarchives
Recorded in 1977, Dragon's second album is in fact a DEMO the band
recorded at home with a more atmospheric proggy sound with lots of
vibrant Pink Floyd'esque moves,
mellotron, saxes, flutes, trumpets..., including an epic 18 minutes
psychedelic jam on B-Side. Comes in colourful gatefold cover with
gorgeous outer and inner artwork.
The Tea Company were one of the
early birds from the US psychedelic underground scene, Come And Have
Some Tea With The Tea Company stands for the evolution of the 45 rpm
psych-garage bands to the upcoming LP-generation with extended
improvisation parts.The tea company evolved from the Naturals, which
were founded in 1963 and played the big ballroom supporting Mamas and
the Papas, The Lovin Spoonful, Bob Dylan, Ritchie Havens, and many
others. The band describes themselves as an assemblage of possessed rock
performers; retinue preparing the unusual; alternating with the roots
of soul whose purpose is to cause sensation, due to stimulation of the
auditory centers of the brain!. They became famous in San Francisco for
spectacular live shows and lyrical hippie statements. The music is
influenced by the Beatles, because they used exactly the same equipment.
The group played with lots of freaked-out-echo-organ/-guitar
noises on a 12 string Rickenbacher and various stereo madness reminds
strongly of Syd Barrett´s spirit but more driven by hard hittin´ drums.
Being buddies of Vanilla Fudge and inspired, the Tea Company also did an
outrageous 9 min. version of "You keep me hangin on", which is
celebrated among 60s collectors as a true milestone. The album is a
mindblowing intense production. A must for those who wanna free their
minds with unusual "early"Rock´n´Roll experiences!
Value :
Taking their name from Bob Dylan's 1966 LP,
Blonde On Blonde were originally formed in Newport, South Wales in
1967 by vocalist/guitarist Ralph Denyer, drummer Les Hicks, bassist/organist
Richard Hopkins andguitarist/sitar player Gareth Johnson. It was this line up of the band that signed to Pye Records in late 1968 and who released the single, 'All Day All Night'/'Country Life' (7N 17637) in November of the same year. The same foursome also recorded the
band's debut LP "Contrasts" (NSPL 18288) which was issued by Pye in
mid-1969 - complete with a colourful gatefold sleeve which housed twelve
fine slices of psychedelic-tinged progressive rock that earnt the band strong
critical acclaim and a slot on the same year's legendary Isle Of Wight
Festival which was headlined by Bob Dylan.
By the time of 1970's 'Castles In The Sky'/'Circles'
single (EMBS 279) and the LP, "Rebirth" (NR 5049), Denyer had left
to form Aquila, who released one album, "The Aquila Suite" (SF 8126)
for RCA Records later that same year, after which vocalist/guitarist Dave Thomas took over from Denyer, making
his debut on the aptly-titled "Rebirth" LP, which once again was
released in a striking gatefold sleeve with liner notes by future Radio 1
DJ Tommy Vance. Richard John (aka Richard Hopkins) only stayed with the band for
another year and was replaced in mid-1971 by bassist/guitarist/banjo player
Graham Davis. This Davis/Thomas/ Hicks/Johnson incarnation of Blonde On
Blonde recorded October 1971's "Reflections On A Life" album (Ember
NR 5058) at Monmouth's Rockfield Studios though the lack of commercial success
finally took its toll on the band and they went their separate ways soon
after the LP's
release.
Today all of the band's releases are expensive highly
sought after collectors items, not just because of their rarity, but because
they contain some of the late 60s/early 70s finest progressive rock. However,
the whereabouts of the various members of Blonde On Blonde remain
something of a mystery though it is generally assumed that, following the
demise of the band in early 1972, none of them pursued careers in music.Mark Brennan Taken from the CD reissue.
The legendary Brain label was set up in 1971 as a sub-label of Hamburg-based record label Metronome. The German rock music scene was just evolving at that time, and the goal of the Brain label was to further talents in this field. Apart from top selling acts it also signed on bands that may not have got much attention from the broad public but nevertheless have to be counted among the most remarkable and outstanding bands of their times. Among them is Electric Sandwich, a jazz rock/fusion band from the city of Bonn, who released their only, self-titled album in 1973 (Brain catalogue number 1018).
Electric Sandwich were formed in late 1969 out of a loose formation of session musicians. Instead of working out a standard repertoire, they agreed early on to just start playing whatever came to mind. Having fun was the motto of the hour. Out of these sessions, a steady line-up slowly evolved with a complete programme of arranged pieces that left lots of room for improvisation and showed a high degree of vitality, especially on stage.
The band initially consisted of four musicians, all of whom had already played with other bands: bass player Klaus Lormann, a law student, had been playing with "Chaotic Trust"; lead guitarist Jorg Ohlert studied physics and used to be with "Slaves of Fire"; drummer Wolf Fabian, the founder of the band, had been touring with a band called "Muli and the Misfits", and singer Jochen "Archie" Carthaus sang with the "Flashbacks". Fabian confessed: "We were fed up with playing other people's songs so we immediately started to play our own material. Jochen and Jorg were responsible for texts and compositions, but our music is always constructed in such a way that we have to play together. If one of us is missing, we cannot go on stage."
It was Brain's product manager Gunther Korber who discovered Electric Sandwich on a nation-wide talent festival organised by German TV guide magazine, "Hor Zu", which took place in the Niedersachsenhalle in Hannover. The band had applied to take part in the competition. but did not make it into the final round of the contest. In spite of not being invited and not having rehearsed, the four musicians appeared at the festival and convinced the organiser to let them play - the jury voted them second best band. That same evening, Ohlert, Fabian, Lormann and Carthaus signed a contract with Brain for a trial recording session. The people in charge at Metronome were enthusiastic about the results of that session, and in 1972 Electric Sandwich signed a contract with Hamburg-based Rudolf Slezak Musikverlag (which held the song rights for works by Jane and Epitaph to name but a few). They went into the Dieter Dirks-Studio in Stommeln to record their debut album, which was released in early 1973, comprising seven songs somewhere between jazz, blues, rock and psychedelic rock.
The track "China", for example, (released not only on the album, but as a single B-side to "On my mind" [Brain 507] as well) showed strong influences from German fusion stars like Xhol or Kollektiv and impressed through a wonderful saxophone. Singer Jochen Carthaus sang in a blues-like style that gave the songs their unique touch.
What's so fascinating about "Electric Sandwich" is the fact that each of the seven songs is different from the rest even though the band developed a homogeneous sound concept. Asked about the diversity of styles his band toyed around with, songwriter Ohlert replied: "Electric Sandwich are not limited to one single style of music. We change styles, even in the middle of a song, because we want our music to be alive." To achieve this goal the band not only rehearsed every week but also reserved one evening of the week to discuss their respective creative visions. The lyrics deal with stories that complete a full circle from birth to death. In "Nervous Creek", for example, Electric Sandwich tell the story of a river eventually flowing into the sea. "Material Darkness" deals with the life of a city dweller. In the release information, Wolf Fabian comments: "We deliberately like to create an intellectual attitude. We try to design our lyrics in a way that allows a listener with poor knowledge of English to understand them."
Following the release of their album, Electric Sandwich went on a radio and press tour through Germany. They appeared on the "Saturday Show" on BFBS, and a 45-minute special was shot for the ARD programme, "Rhinozeros". The band then took aboard Ralf Kroczek, an organist and choir leader at the Cologne college of music, and toured with acts like British rock stars Uriah Heep. Kroczek helped fill the gap that saxophone player Carthaus created when his army duty did not allow him to attend a concert. Starting in late 1973, Electric Sandwich worked on their follow-up album which unfortunately was not finished. Disputes over the future direction of the band (Fabian: "Jorg Ohlert wanted the band to become more jazz-oriented whereas I was a committed rock drummer.") and the desire to finish their various career studies led to the split-up of Electric Sandwich.
Today, drummer Wolf Fabian runs a company and a recording studio in Bonn and works as a teacher. Singer Carthaus has a farm in the Eiffel where he breeds horses. Bass player Klaus Lormann is a government official in Cologne, guitar player Jorg Ohlert a senior consultant living close to Lake Constance and organist Ralf Kroczek still works as a music teacher.
Electric Sandwich's only album had a most outstanding opening track, the 8 minute instrumental "China", with a repetitive, percussive rhythm and fuzzy wah-wah guitar. Other tracks had an impressive electronically treated sax style reminiscent of Ian Underwood. The guitar work was fine, but the creaky vocals less impressive! Fortunately, large parts of the album were instrumental. "Devil's Dream" and "Nervous Creek" had a slight blues feel and loud rock arrangements. Side two mellowed a bit, with softer jazz and slow boogie blues styles. Again this was a Dieter Dierks production, and one you should check out! It was released on the green Brain label in 1972 in a funny fold-out cover, picturing a fancy, electric sandwich! The quintet was from Bonn. They were: Jorg Ohlert (guitar, organ, mellotron), Klaus Lormann (bass), Jochen Carthaus (vocals, sax, harmonica) and Wolf Fabian (drums).
