January 2007 pt.1

Saturday, January 06, 2007

V.A. - The Synthetic Side Of Psychedelia

Side 1
01 The Cedars
For Your Information (2.38) Single (Decca) 1968
Israeli five-piece create balalaika-driven psych-pop classic with rather fetching pidgin English chorus: "It's time I settled down/Stopped roaming like a nomad/It's time I looked around/For a girl who would keep me glad" Group perform said platter on TOTP's new releases spot. Record sinks without a trace.

02 Paul and Barry Ryan
Pictures of Today (2.25) Single (MGM) 1968
The story so far: after a couple of breezy beat ballad outings, Mrs Ryan's lovely boys are transformed into shining-brained psychsters. Cue play-in-a-day sitar intro and conspicuously clever wordplay ("Ever blowing, ever glowing/never showing signs of latent fear at all"). At one point they appear to sing "someone's reading from a book and turning into Lucozade". All delivered in butter-wouldn't-melt-but-blotting-paper would harmonies.

03 Locomotive
Mr Armageddon (4.35) Single (Parlophone) 1969 Album: The Great British Psychedelic Trip Vol 3 (See For Miles)
"I am everything you see and what is more/I am father of a thousand children/Mother of a thousand million more". Blimey. Tony Blackburn's Radio One Record Of The Week, but best enjoyed in full LP version with extended intro, this heavy-on-the-swell-pedal piece of profundity was the work of Norman Haines, whose solo albums are now so rare you aren't even allowed to point at them.

04 Topo D. Bill
Jam (3.05) Single B-side (Charisma) 1969
The B-side of the legendary Withi Tai To, a cod Indian war chant originally done by American group Everything Everything. Topo D. Bill featured 'Legs' Larry Smith and probably other contract-busting chums of Bonzo too. On the evidence of this oddball B-side penned by Tom E Cross ("We're covered in jam/Tommy and me"), a certain Who drummer wasn’t far away either. Complete with sound effects and bib-dribbling chorus of "they washed it away boo-hoo…"

05 The Nerve
Magic Spectacles (2.46) Single (Page One) 1968
Larry Page's record label was a rich source of second division paisley pop and this gem was produced by Reg "sprinkle some fucking fairy dust on it" Presley. With the aforementioned spectacles you could apparently see "magic everywhere", although you half expect Ronnie Bond to put them on during the outro and go "ere Reg, oi can zee your 'ouse in these".

06 Wallace Collection
Daydream (4.10) Single (Parolphone) 1969
"I fell asleep amidst the flowers/For a couple of hours/On a boo-tee-fool day". The majestic string intro has been sampled by everyone from Pharcyde to Portishead. Unfortunately daylight gradually encroaches upon magic during the Hey Jude ending as the singer- a Belgian - shouts out what he presumably thinks are convincing rock 'n' roll exhortations to "get amidst the flowers. Yeah"

07 Cliff And Hank
Throw Down A Line (2.45) Single (Columbia) 1969
Strung out on cake and still smarting from losing the Eurovision Song Contest to a Spanish entry which bore a distinct resemblance to Death Of A Clown, Cliff teams up with his old Shads spar for a venture into the unknown. Accompanied by a trade secret guitar sound that’s nearer to Bolan's Beard Of Stars than Foot Tapper, Cliff sings of "hanging in a nowhere tree". A hit, so they try to repeat the formula with the eco-conscious Joy Of Living. A miss, so Hank goes back to selling Watchtower, and Cliff follows Lennon down the revolutionary trail with Power To All Our Friends.

08 Studio Six
Strawberry Window (2.58) Single (Polydor) 1967
Scottish beat merchants who sounded like they would rather be playing soul covers: "Ok boys, we're going to try and entice the flower children with this one, so Ronnie, if you could quote from Molly Malone and The Association's Windy in your 'freaky' intro, then we'll bring in the Strawberry Fields Forever coda before hitting Tremeloes tra-la-la territory at full tilt. Oh, and don't forget the Ivy League harmonies. We don’t want to alienate Radio One…" Warning: a strawberry window can only be looked through while wearing "magic spectacles"

09 Roger Earl Okin
I Can't Face The Animals (2.40) Single B-side (Parlophone) 1967
A true obscurity. Even the freak-beat faithful don’t know about it. That’s because it owes its cult status to the Northern Soul crowd, whose role in retrieving psych oddities has frequently been overlooked. Earl Okin now makes his living as a Radio Two-friendly song-and-joke man, but back then he was hiding genius like this on Bsides. Animals is what reviewers at the time would have referred to as "a brass-led stomper". Baton-wielding by Zack 'Mr Bloe' Lawrence.

10 Cilla Black
Abyssinian Secret (2.11) EP: Time For Cilla (Parlophone) 1968 Album: Liverpool 1963-68 (See For Miles)
Cilla wants to show you something that’s "quite unique" which she picked up on a "trip" to Abyssinia. (You can be sure she didn’t inhale. Better hide it in the pantry with your cupcakes). Our Cilla's one and only entry into kaftan-and-bells territory was penned by - well knock me down with an eight-foot chillum - Roger Earl Okin. He also wrote Helen Shaprio's psych-soul classic Stop And You'll Become Aware. Step forward, sir, your 15 minutes await.

11 Stavely Makepiece
I Wanna Love You Like A Mad Dog (3.40) Single (Pyramid) 1969
A phasing-drenched bit of English oompah whose flip, Greasy Haired Woman, was 30 seconds long. Alan Freeman regularly featured both sides in Unit 2 of Pick Of The Pops. But what's this? The tack piano, the bouncing beat, the Woodward-Fletcher writing credit. Can it be the future Lieutenant Pigeon? 'Fraid so.

12 The Fortunes
The Idol (2.50) Single (United Artists) 1967
Lieber & Stroller rated their Greenaway & Cook-penned You've Got Your Troubles as one of the best English pop records ever, but by the Summer of Love The Fortunes were floundering. This self-penned, Glyn Johns-produced, raw-edged item was all about a pop icon with designs on saving the world but meanwhile he had all these groupies to service. Lots of pirate station foreplay. Zero chart penetration.

13 Harpers Bizarre
I Love You Alice B. Toklas (2.20) Single (Warner Bros) 1969
"I love you Alice B. Toklas and so does Gertrude Stein/I love you Alice B. Toklas/I wanna change your name to mine." Well we've all been there, haven't we? Peter Sellers starred in the film of the same name, loosely based o the woman who indeed gave us the recipe that we'll never have again.

14 The Hollies
Pegasus (2.35) Album: Butterfly (Beat Goes On) 1968
"I'm Pegasus the flying horse" tweets the lead singer. In fact, you're Alan from Salford and you'd be happier supping a pint than dressed in a kaftan and embracing all this mythological malarkey. Within a year you will be so annoyed with your mate Graham for making you sing this twee nonsense that you will banish him to the West Coast of America where he will be forced to make records with David Crosby. He'll be back with his tail between his legs before you can say Jennifer Eccles. You'll see.

15 The Garden Club
Little Girl Lost And Found (3.00) Single (A&M) 1967
Covered in the UK by the less convincing Peter And The Wolves, this swirling fairground organ opus in 3/4 is, in its own sweet way, as beautiful a song about the loss of innocence as Brian Wilson's Caroline No. "They are all searching for clues for the whereabouts of the girl with the polka-dot eyes" chirps the singer. Weren't we all?

Side 2
16 Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick And Tich
The Sun Goes Down (2.55) Single B-side (Fontana) 1967
Cue Gregorian-lite chant and an ultra-brittle wah-wah guitar solo for a lost epic tucked away on the B-side of Zabadak. Not so surprising-Dave Dee could always enunciate his Os in the fluting Syd style. The final verse commences with Dee screeching, apropos of nothing. "The mentals!" Probably a Wiltshire thing.

17 DBM&T
Mr President (3.05) Single (Fontanta) 1970
"When I grow up to be a man/I wont lie for you/I wont die for you…" DBM&T from their post-Dave Dee 'going heavy' period. (A doctor writes: "Going heavy was a condition which afflicted many otherwise sane beat groups in the late 1960s. In extreme cases it resulted in a shortening of the group's name - eg Love Affair became LA and an immediate withering away of the 'hit' gland. The Tremeloes are thought to have been the source of the virus") Naturally Mr President failed to dent the charts but it does contain the best wooh-weeeeow synth solo this side of ELP's Lucky-Man.

18 Manfred Mann
Ski 'Full Of Fitness' Theme (3.05) Single (Ski) 1971
Like many others of a purist persuasion (The Yardbirds, Simon Dupree, Jethro Toe, etc) the Manfreds were not content with just making great pop singles; they couldn’t wait to inflict their technical proficiency upon us. Ask yourself this: would you rather listen to For your Love or Renaissance? Kites or Gentle Giant? Life's A Long Song or Passion Play? Manfred Mann's Earth Band or a chirpy yoghurt commercial. Lets ask the girls first, shall we?

19 Dave Diamond And Higher Elevation
Diamond Mine (2.10) Single (Chicory) 1967
Dave Diamond was a DJ on KFRC Los Angeles who specialised in alliterative gobbledegook - a cosmic Slim Gaillard, if you will. On this number he uses up a lifetime's quota of psychedelic wordplay in just over two minutes. But here's the twist: at a time when the authorities were looking for drug references in every innocuous sentiment, Dave sneaks through a song of explicit carnality dressed in druggy imagery. "The fur lined volcano"? "The peach fuzz forest"? "The gentle radiation of the one-eyed cufflink"? I mean, c'mon.

20 Napoleon XIV (actually The Emperor)
I'm Normal (2.16) Album: They're Coming To Take Me Away Ha Ha (Warner Bros) 1966
"I painted everything in my house purple/My fingernails/My potato peeler/STAY AWAY FROM MY FROGS!" Using the same backing track as They're Coming To Take Me Away Ha Ha (a zeitgeist record if ever there was one), Napoleon once again exploits the misfortunes of the unstable. Apparently they did come and take him away as well.

21 Matt Munro
We're Gonna Change The World (3.35) Single (Capital) 1970
A rousing affair in which the former Luton bus conductor with the Sinatra tonsils adopts a social conscience, urges us all to "throw away our ostrich notions" and join those nice flower children on the long march towards peace and free duffle coats on the National Health. Possibly the only protest song to contain the line "stopped and had a Thermos brew".

22 Vince Hill
When The World Is Ready (3.11) Single (Columbia) 1967
An Exodus-style opening. The clouds part to reveal the likeness of Vince in convincing Afro wig and love beads. "When the world is ready/All wars will cease", he decrees. A session sitarist wails plaintively. Come to think of it, has anyone tried smoking Edelweiss?

23 Grimble Weed And The Vegetations Aka Peter Cook
Bedazzled (2.23) Album: Bedazzled soundtrack (Decca) 1968; and Circus Days: Pop-Sike Obscurities Vol 1 1966-70 (Strange Things) 1988
From Stanley Donen's irreverent take on the Seven Deadly Sins in which Cook ("Does the name Price of Darkness mean anything to you?") plays the devil and ruins Dud's dreams (many involving Eleanor Bron). Although conceived as a pastiche, some of the go-go dancing is the best ever seen in a '60s film. "You drive me wild" coo the girls. "You fill me with inertia" drawls Cook, with drop-dead ennui. We'll not see his like again

24 Friends
Mythological Sunday (5.16) Single (Deram) 1968 Album: The Flowerpot Men Lets Go To San Francisco (Beat Goes ON) 1988
Aka Carter-Lewis and heavy friends. Aka The Ivy League. Aka The Flowerpot Men. Never let it be forgotten that these guys wrote the Nuggets classic My World Fell Down. Mythological Sunday is the full kitchen sink job. Every psych cliché in the book is dusted down and given a fresh coat of day-glo. Bassist Neil Landon subsequently joined Fat Mattress. Singer Tony Burrows joined Edison Lighthouse. It’s a thin line, all right.

25 Dick Shawn
Love Power (2.45) Album: The Producers soundtrack (RCA) 1967
The best moment in Mel Brooks The Producers occurs when they audition the Fuhrers. Onto the stage steps the Bobbitly-monikered Dick Shorn aka Lorenzo Say Dubois (geddit?) as the befuddled off-Broadway hippy. Backed by a swinging chick trio he commences a gentle ode to the joys of flowers before rising to a Mansoneque crescendo of thwarted ambition and crushed petals. "THAT'S OUR HITLER!"

26 The Four Seasons
Genuine Imitation Life (6.15) Album: The Genuine Imitation Life Gazette (Philips) 1969
Reviled at the time as an ingratiating attempt to get a little underground action, the Seasons Four indicate that you can still pull it off if you had a lead singer as good as Frankie Valli and producers as sharp as Gaudio and Crewe. Genuine Imitation Life is a bittersweet an observation on hippy foibles as Joe South's Games People Play. Obligatory Hey Jude ending.

27 The Beatles
What's The New Mary Jane (6.07) Album: Anthology 2 (Apple) 1996
"She like to be married with yeti/He groovin' such cookie spaghetti/She jumping as Mexican bean/To make her body more thin" Imagine a parallel past in which this had been seriously offered up as the new Beatles single. Even now we would all have evolved into other dimensional cube beings with suction pads instead of senses. Lennon's lysergic visions could be as there as anything Syd Barrett conjured up. No one, I think, was in his tree.

28 Richard Harris
Paper Chase (2.13) Single B-side (RCA Dunhill) 1968
Pressed neat underneath the epic MacArthur Park as this baroque little gem from the inky quill of Jim Webb. "Accompany me on your trusty harpsichord, James" spoke Richard. "For I am going to apply my finest thespian brogue to your delightful ditty of unrequited lust. And this time I will endeavour to hit some of the right notes"

Oh! i had to post this.it's so goooooooooooood.
I don't know who made this,i got it in soulseek and is fantastic!!!
sorry ,no covers this time

Synthetic_Side_of_Psychedelia.part1.rar
Synthetic_Side_of_Psychedelia.part2.rar
tracks_9_22

Spherical Objects

Spherical Objects - 1978 - Past and Parcel

01.Born To Pay
02.Situation Comedy
03.You Can Become
04.The Crystal Tree
05.If I Can Choose (Oh Babe)
06.Lover Flow
07.Drama Queen
08.The Face I Want To See
09.What Goes On
10.Past And Parcel

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spherical Objects - 1979 - Eliptical Optimism

01. Metropolis
02. Show Me
03. Comedians
04. Eliptical Optimism
05. Ten To Nine
06. Another Technique
07. I Should Have Left Him
08. It's So Good To Be Alive (Tonight)
09. Lying Again
10. I Don't Remember
11. Walk Away
12. Lucy
13. I Remember You

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spherical Objects - 1980 - Further Ellipses

01 Regular Condition
02 Take A Chance
03 The Root
04 Don't Worry About Me
05 The Final Part
06 Buy It
07 Moving On The Run
08 Mama Tried
09 Places And Spaces
10 The Conductor-Set Free

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Spherical Objects - 1981 - No Man's Land

01 One Way Out
02 Terminal Romance
03 Cruelest Twist
04 Jericho
05 Memories In Blue
06 Twist
07 Don't Ask
08 Wipe
09 Resting Place
10 No Man's Land

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Manchester's Spherical Objects were led by Steve Solamar, a singer with an intensely personal viewpoint. His songs concern typical subject matter, but utter lack of selfconsciousness invests his writing with more openness and introspection than you're probably hoping to hear. . .
Elliptical Optimism has the same lineup and a more textured sound, featuring organ (prominently) and trumpet (occasionally). The songs are instrumentally inventive. Further Ellipses takes a danceable turn, playing it smooth and rhythmic with more horns and synthesizer and less guitar. Solamar's singing continues to resemble David Thomas. The musical development is impressive, the songs are good. No Man's Land, which announces itself to be the final Spherical Objects album, has a different lineup from the previous three and sounds it. Gone are the keyboards and horns, replaced by rudimentary guitar/bass/drums plus patches of Solamar's wailing harmonica. There are some very pretty songs that are slowed down to add emotion, but overall the initial impression isn't as strong as Further Ellipses. A strange way to go out, No Man's Land is a record that slowly reveals itself to be quite lovely in spots. With the help of Manchester indie scene fixture Steve Miro, Solamar managed to dam his stream-of-consciousness long enough to allow for the collection of the Noyes Brothers' atypically unrevealing double-LP set. More experimental than the Objects' concurrent work, Sheep from Goats owes more than a little to German groups like Can. While a few of the redundant, largely free-from instrumentals could easily be dispensed with, there are moments worth remembering, from the amusing (an apparent Fall parody dubbed "Bo Scat Um I.D.") to the lovely (the side-long "It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time") to the freakishly prescient (an excursion into what sounds like modern-day computer-enhanced hip-hop christened "Byte to Beat").

The Screaming Tribesmen - 1987 - Bones + Flowers

1. I've Got a Feeling
2. Igloo
3. She Said
4. Girl in My Dreams
5. Casualty of Love
6. In His Shoes
7. Our Time at Last
8. Dream Away
9. Talk Another Language
10. Living Vampyre
11. Colour Me Gone
12. Don't Turn Away

Bones + Flowers is the most appealing effort by Australian combo Screaming Tribesmen -- a melodic pop album that resembles a muscular Let's Active. "I've Got a Feeling" was distributed internationally and featured on MTV's 120 Minutes at the time, and the Tribesmen's appearance in the midst of the Church's breakthrough with Starfish seemed to presage an Australian Invasion that never came to pass. Screaming Tribesmen might have better reached the "alternative" audience if they hadn't looked like a heavy metal band; likewise, the band's name and album art didn't come close to matching the mood of their music. The Tribesmen didn't last long after the commercial disappointment of Bones + Flowers, but the album remains a sturdy collection of recordings, with the catchy, jangly "Girl in My Dreams" and "Dream Away" as highlights.

AMG


The Screaming Tribesmen was a band formed in Brisbane by Mick Medew, John Hartley & Murray Shepherd. They took the Australian independent scene by storm with a series of singles on Citadel Records. Their earliest hit "Igloo" was penned by Medew and Died Pretty frontman Ron Peno.

After relocation to Sydney, and a number of line-up changes the band settled on its most successful lineup of Medew, ex-Radio Birdman & The Hitmen guitarist Chris Masuak, bass player Bob Wackley & drummer Warwick Fraser (ex-Feather & Hoi Polloi) who replaced Michael Charles after the recording of the "Date With A Vampyre" EP.

The "Vampyre" EP reigned at the top of the Australian independent charts for over 40 weeks, while the band toured constantly in support. The follow up "Top of the Town" EP released on the boutique Rattlesnake Records label saw a change in direction for the band as it morphed into the sound of their first full length release "Bones and Flowers".

"Ive Got A Feeling" - Rage - 1988

The band toured the US on the strength of the album and at home they enjoyed a run of Australian Alternative #1 hits as well as gaining Stateside attention with regular airplay on the US College Radio circuit. Their 1988 single "I've Got a Feeling" featured heavily on US MTV's 120 Minutes, hitting #1 on the KROQ charts in LA and #7 on Billboard's modern rock chart.

There's nothing tribal about the sound of these Aussies, and they don't scream either. Their music is full of pop-song harmonies, including "oohh" and "ahh" background singing, jangle chords and repeated refrains. From beginnings as a post-Ramones punky ensemble (on the first four-track EP), they've gone through an assortment of members and sonic textures but all of their releases have been exercises in good old pop-rock. Move a Little Closer, a compilation of the band's first two Australian singles ("Igloo" and "A Stand Alone") could easily mix and match with a stack of mod-revival albums, while the squealier and grungier guitar chords of Date with a Vampyre (also four songs) nudge their sound closer to garage territory.

Top of the Town contains six songs by a new lineup that reveals an ongoing transition towards more mainstream pop-rock. "You Better Run" is the most impressive track, and a fair precursor to the excellent Bones + Flowers. The album launches the Tribesmen into a new international league, offering richly played rock-melody songwriting (by ex-Radio Birdman guitarist/pianist/producer Chris "Klondike" Masuak and singer/guitarist Mick Medew) that's got all the needed attributes for major stardom. Standouts: a new version of "Igloo," the wittily '60sish "Our Time at Last," the peppy Anglo-popping "Dream Away" and the Rockpiling "Living Vampire." The CD has two bonus tracks.

Despite the album's appeal and high commercial prospects, nothing much came of Bones + Flowers. By the time of the disappointing 1989 12-inch (five songs, including covers of Lou Reed and the Dictators), Medew was the only member remaining from the LP's lineup.

[Andrea 'Enthal/Ira Robbins]

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=118877769


DownloadLink:

http://rapidshare.com/files/10417877/tribesemen.rar.html

The Leaving Trains - 1997 - Favorite Mood Swings : Greatest Hits

1. Cigarette Motel
2. She's Looking At You
3. A Drunker Version Of You
4. Black
5. What Cissy Said
6. With Dr. A.W.O.L.
7. 27 Days
8. So Fucked Up
9. Temporal Slut
10. Sue Wants To Sleep
11. The Worst
12. Any Old Time
13. Dude The Cat
14. I Love You
15. Dream Until You're Sore
16. Submariney
17. Relapse, Recover
18. Fuck You, God!
19. Gas, Grass Or Ass
20. Bob Hope
21. Rock 'N' Roll Murder
22. Kids Wanna Know
23. Ice Cream Truck
24. Osmosis
25. Stowaway

Too many indie bands have never really learned how to rock & roll. Fortunately, for 18 years, L.A.'s Leaving Trains have never forgotten. Not many of their eight LPs have been true masterpieces (there is one for sure: 1986's killer Kill Tunes, which serves up the first four tracks here); Singer/guitarist "Falling" James Moreland, the band's lone constant, always insists on warts-'n'-all, crank-'em-up, let-'em-fly productions. Hey, he was doing that long before it became fashionable (before Sebadoh and GBV even formed), without ever resorting to lo-fi home studio production. Every Trains record has sounded loud, not cheap! So while Moreland can be accused of inconsistency, both in his albums and his myriad lineups, there's no denying that Moreland's untamed, unwieldy, humming punk-'n'-roll records have rumbled through a dozen post-R&B rock & roll styles with real abandon. This collection leaves today's legions of smug and ironic, or (most of all) horribly insular, one-dimensional bands gasping in the restrictive boxes they've nailed themselves into. Thus, now is a good time for a Trains overview -- a smart idea for a hit-and-miss band, too. There's not a boring minute on this extended-length, 25-cut CD. Perhaps a case can be made that two dozen tracks are AWOL, but FMS heads for the songs that smack one silly in adrenaline rush and pent-up pounding. In your face? You betcha! In short, Moreland wants to mess with you, because he thinks rock is a challenge, an incitement, a need to get wild and free, not a polite party or a postmodern reflection. This CD is the best evidence that Leaving Trains would gladly destroy your party instead, with the sheer force of brash, soul, chops, and attitude, and they won't wait around for your gratitude.

AMG


DownloadLink:

http://rapidshare.com/files/10402757/leavingtrains.rar.html

Kristyl - 1975 - Kristyl

Kristyl - 1975 - Kristyl

01 - Together
02 - Deceptions
03 - Like A Bird
04 - The Valley Of The Light
05 - Woman
06 - Blue Bird Blues
07 - Morning Glory

Personnel:
DAVID ATHERTON bs A
SONNY DEVORE ld gtr A
BOB TERRELL gtr A
BRUCE WHITESIDE drms A

ALBUM:
1(A) KRISTYL (Private Pressing) 1975

NB: (1) reissued in 1986 (Hype 01) and has also been issued on CD (Titanic 001).

This album is homemade guitar psychedelia from Kentucky. A nice mixture of gentle dreamy passages, heavier
acid guitar and wah-wah fuzz along with charmingly teenage vocals. It had a limited repress in
1986 and if you can buy a copy cheaply do so.

Highly regarded local Christian guitarpsych with an open late-60s vibe, dual guitars and great organic playing/vocals all around. They have a very distinct sound which makes the tracks seem similar at first, opens up after some plays and remains that way. Personal fave, one of the big ones in the style.

Timeless pinnacle of teenage, rural, Christian psychedelia. The consensus seems to be that this is a 1975 recording, but dealers always (accurately) describe it as sounding much earlier. The psychedelic playing on ‘Deceptions of the Mind’ often contrasts with the anti-drugs/sex lyrics: “Alcohol and sex unclean, copping drugs all over the scene/What is it that we need, Lord it’s love and it’s for free”. Kentucky can’t have been an easy place to strike a deal to have this recorded, so maybe they felt they needed to put an anti-drugs message in here and there. The music is consistently wonderful, side 1 in particular, with side 2 ending with the beautiful ‘Morning Glory’. The dual guitars are laden with effects and full of interesting twists and turns. The singing is honest and clear. Not as crazed as Fraction, but in the same league of expressive, sincere musicianship. A beautiful, naive feeling pervades the whole LP, like they believed anything could happen, the world could change as a result of their sounds. For me, they were right. Why is the drummer wearing a shirt with a hash leaf on it, perhaps it says “hash free zone” underneath? The sleeve art is also top-ten, being a monochrome crudely drawn snake encircling the earth.

The Worst (Canada)

Creepy Thing EP, Screaming Apple Records, SCAP 013, 1992

Creepy Thing/She’s Wrong/You’ve Been Laughin’/I’ve Got A Curse

Greg Johnson, vocals
Grant, bass
Gord, guitar
Karen, organ
Brian, drums

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Play Tunes From The Tomb EP, Screaming Apple Records, SCAP 019, 1993

Werewolf/She Gives Me The Creeps/I Don’t Dig you (But I’ll Dig Your Grave)/Dracula’s Daughter

Greg Johnson, vocals
Joel Valentine, guitar
Jenny Willson, organ
Mark Manhattan, bass
Colin Raesler, drums

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Get the above 2 EP's
here!

You can also find a full length album
here!!

...and here is a interview with Greg Johnson!!!

Seeing Eye Gods - 1985 - The Seeing Eye Gods

The Seeing Eye Gods - 1985 EP

This is probably the rarest Bad Religion collectible there ever was, even MORE RARE than the infamous "Into the Unknown" LP! Only 1000 copies were ever pressed of this self-titled picture disc EP from the band "Seeing Eye Gods", which was Brett Gurewitz's first side project, released in 1985 on Epitaph Records at a time when he was heavily into drugs, and not on good terms with his Bad Religion band-mates. Brett goes by the nickname "Billy Pilgrim" on this album and he co-wrote all the songs with his friend and pusher John Bertini (who nicknamed himself "Ripped Van Winkle"), except for "Happy", which Bertini wrote alone, and "Pictures of Matchstick Men", which is a cover of a Status Quo song. Brett sings on all tracks, and him and Bertini played all the instruments. The album has a pop-psychedelic feel to it, as you can see by the paisley covered picture disc and very psychedelic cardboard insert, with artwork drawn by Johns Strauss and Mr. Brett himself!

The album was produced by Brett Gurewitz and Jon Bertini, engineered by Bret Gurewitz and Recorded and Mixed at Westbeach Recorders, Los Angeles, CA. Vinyl says " 33 1/3 RPM Unauthorized duplication would be appreciated " and in the dead wax, you can read "WE ARE BEATRICE", "EPI - SEG -1" and "22801" ! and the cardboard insert has the "story" of the Seeing Eye Gods printed on it, very psychedelic too! A lot of Bad Religion fans never knew this EP existed until Suzy Shaw, Brett's girlfriend at the time and the inspiration for the songs "Psychedelic Suzy" and "Strawberry Girl", told people about it a few years ago. There are only a few copies still out there-- Suzy Shaw has one, Jay Bentley has one, Greg Hetson has one and there are a few copies here and there. (SubGenius - RateYourMusic)


All the above were from the only page which knows what he's talking about. Musicaly, this 5-song EP is standing beside the Things' or the Eyes of Mind records, and has all the necessary studio effects (Timothy Gassen in 'Knights of Fuzz' writes that they used a drum machine!). It may not be the unknown psychedelic masterpiece, but is sure enjoyable and, coming from Brett Gurewitz, a big surprise.

Tracklist
1. Only One
2. Psychedelic Suzy
3. Pictures of Matchstick Men
4. Strawberry Girl
5. Happy

William Penn and His Pals - The Historic San Francisco Band of the Sixties

Mike Shapiro, lead guitarist for William Penn and His Pals, said that "We used to battle-of-the-bands with [the Warlocks] at the Cinnamon Tree on Industrial Road in San Carlos, We actually lost to them and I thought they were the shits."(Quote from Blair Jackson's book Garcia, pp70)Shapiro was actually pretty good friends with Garcia and used to talk and jam with him frequently down at Dana Morgans in Palo Alto. "Jerry was destined for great things because he understood the social change that was taking place at that time". I was there the day he figured out the solo to Heart Of Stone by the Rolling Stones and based his entire early triplet based solos on that track". Shapiro later said.Check out the other group from Palo Alto, California in 1965 who used to be in Battle of the Bands with the Warlocks. Who Mickey Hart actually played drums with before he joined The Dead. Who Gregg Rolie got his first break with! Who Creedence Clearwater and many other famous San Francisco acts opened up for and looked up to.Who penned one of the most famous Psych Pop classics, Swami, that sells for $300.00 per copy. Plus Plus Plus. Read the liner notes and get the inside scope.

Listen Here

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Friday, January 05, 2007

Pink Floyd - Fat old gigs (4cd boxset)

HAPPY NEW YEAR ! ! !

cd1.rar

cd2.rar

cd3.rar

and the last one with all the art

cd4.part1.rar

cd4.part2.rar

Stone Breath - 1998 - A Silver Thread To Weave The Season

Stone Breath - A Silver Thread To Weave The Season
(psychedelic folk )

Seed
Silver Thread
Rainbow-Gilded Leaves of Autumn
Peppermint and Clover Honey
Clouds of Red Twilight
Evening Air
Summer's Night
My Heart Is an Acorn Buried in the Black Earth
Odalisque
Fleance
Rain of Days
Listen, Listen, Listen
Leaves About Our Feet, We Reached for the Moon
Devotional (One)
Devotional (Two)

Stone Breath was not a part of any collective, or any commune. Stone Breath was not a part of any scene. Stone Breath was part of the earth. Metal, hair, wood, skin, flesh, leaf, breath, and bone made our songs. We sang hymns to God and the green wood.

Stone Breath was not new. It was cracked. Broken. Imperfect. Hidden. Weathered by the seasons.

Stone Breath began in 1995 and ended in 2006.

source: http://www.myspace.com/stonebreath


Finally, an American inclusion into the apocalyptic folk genre that does not pale in comparison to its European counterparts, and a recording that Stone Breath should be proud of. Timothy Renner writes songs like a true-born troubadour and lyrics like some sort of a modern day William Blake, crafting them into gentle, yet jarring compositions that equal no other. Acoustic guitar that sounds folk, but not like beatnik or hippy folk, but like the music that one must have heard at the formation of the American nation. Bluegrass sounding Banjos, whistles, flutes, dumbeks, dulcimer, catfish guitar, and harmonium all lend a uniqueness to this recording that stands out amongst the crowd, evoking a time when studios, filters, and electricity were not needed to make finely crafted music.

Download Link

Various artists - 1983 - Warfrat Tales

Warfrat Tales (1983)

Once upon a time, Los Angeles was the breeding ground for what we now call "alternative rock." That was when "alternative" actually meant something (alternative to what was on top-40 and AOR radio), instead of being simply a marketing term. Now every city in the world has an underground music scene, with interesting bands emerging ad nauseam. But back in the early 80s, you had L.A. and New York and that was pretty much it. Originally issued in 1983, WarfRat Tales: Tracks From the Murky Bowels of L.A. captured the throbbing pulse of the City of Angels, starting with its garages. You can hear new wave morphing into the Paisley Underground or devolving back into garage punk. You can hear early, lo-fi tunes from future underground stars the Rain Parade and the Leaving Trains. You can hear the first recordings from talented, luckless hopefuls like Wednesday Week, the Point, the Urinals (and their alter-ego 100 Flowers), and the Last, whose manager Gary Stewart paid for the rehearsal space in which most of these tracks were recorded. And you can hear the first and last shots from the Question?, Earwigs and the Clockwatchers, bands that never made it past the borders of this compilation. Regardless, there's enough good stuff on it to make it more than just a history lesson for Trouser Press devotees. Michael Toland-High Bias

Chronicling the underground garage rock scene of early 80s Los Angeles, Warfrat Tales is a series of tracks recorded in The Last's makeshift Lyceum Sound "studio," actually a refurbished garage filled with barely functioning equipment stolen from venues and the like. Lo-fi? Yes, but ain't that the point? This compilation was actually originally released in '83, giving listeners at the time a chance to check out The Last, The Leaving Trains, The 100 Flowers, and others at their grittiest. If none of these names mean anything to you, then obviously you haven't been schooled well enough in the 80s LA indie rock scene.
The two biggest names here are doubtlessly The Last and The Leaving Trains; The Last contribute two gems coming off their (much-desired) escape from their record label at the time - and it's good stuff. If you dig danceable, keyboard-heavy garage, then irresistible "Try To Rise" and "Brand New Drug" are for you. The Leaving Trains are caught before any of their studio albums, and add two goodies to this cause. "Leaving Train" and "Creeping Coastline Of Lights" are juicy little rock numbers, essential for fans of the band. On the other hand, we get a number of lesser-known acts that also turn in great stuff. Among the highlights are long-lost post-punkers 100 Flowers, psychy popsters Rain Parade, and youthful invigorators Question. Garage fans need to pick this one up immediately. (Indieville)


Warfrat Tales re-released on CD on Averbury Records in 2005, with bonus tracks (featuring 13 bands and 28 songs, including Gun Club, To Damascus, The Up & Out and Urinals).

SIDE A
The Last - Try To Rise
The Leaving Trains - Leaving Train
100 Flowers - 100 Flowers
Earwigs - Stop The Clock
Wednesday Week - Boy You Got Me Good
The Rain Parade - I Look Around
The Question? - Brand New World
The Point - Pothead
SIDE B
100 Flowers - From The Fire
The Question? - Shall Be Love
The Rain Parade - This Can't Be Today
Wednesday Week - Anyone Like Me
The Clockwatchers - Misshap At Greebsley's
The Leaving Trains - Creeping Coastline of Lights
The Last - Brand New Drug

Human Beinz - Live in Japan 1968

Human Beinz - Live in Japan 1968

01 - Hold On Baby
02 - Foxey Lady
03 - This Lonely Town
04 - My Animal
05 - Turn On Your Lovelight
06 - Two Of A kind
07 - The pied piper
08 - My Generation
09 - Gloria
10 - Mr Soul
11 - Boogie
12 - I've Gotta Keep On Pushin'
13 - Dance On Through
14 - I'm All Right
15 - Nobody But Me
16 - The Times They Are A-Changing
17 - Nobody But Me (different version)
18 - Evil-Hearted You
19 - Little Girl Of Mine (studio outtake)
20 - I've Gotta Keep On Pushin' (studio outtake)

A frenetic concert performance from the US psych punks, originally only released in Japan (and now incredibly rare). This contains songs from their first album as well as some storming cover versions including "Mister Soul" and "Foxy Lady"... Bonus tracks include non LP 45 cuts too!
~from freakemporium

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Merrell Fankhauser & H.M.S. Bounty - 1967 - Things

Personnel:

MERRELL FANKHAUSER - guitar, vocals
BILL DODD - guitar
JACK JORDAN (aka JACK METZ) - bass
LARRY MEYERS – percussion

After cutting some fine folk-rock and psychedelia on ultra-rare records with his group the Exiles, guitarist, singer, and songwriter Merrell Fankhauser moved to Los Angeles, retitled his backing group H.M.S. Bounty, and recorded a fine, if obscure, slice of pop-psychedelia in 1968, Things. The diverse offerings on the group's sole LP recalled such fellow Californian heavyweights as the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, Moby Grape, and even Captain Beefheart. They weren't quite in the same league as those legends, but the album has a light and enigmatic air all its own, and is well worth investigation by fans of late-'60s West Coast psychedelia. The group evolved into the interesting mystical avant-garde/blues/progressive rock group Mu in the early '70s.

source:AMG

Download Link:
http://rapidshare.com/files/10208449/HMS.rar

Oddjob - 2003 - Koyo

Oddjob - 2003 - Koyo

01 Their Song
02 Malmo - Lund,
03 Man Machine
04 Titanic
05 Leadhead
06 I Am Sailing
07 Return Of The Party Animal
08 Must

Oddjob is one of Sweden’s most tightly-knit bands, and a life-affirming reassurance for our times that jazz is still alive and well. The band was formed in the new millennium by five veteran studio hounds.

Trumpeter Goran Kajfeš, saxophonist Per “Ruskträsk” Johansson, pianist Daniel Karlsson, bassist Peter Forss and drummer Janne Robertson have all played with “everyone” – meaning the likes of Eagle-Eye Cherry, Eric Gadd, Rebecka Törnkvist, Roy Hargrove, Randy Brecker, Lester Bowie and Don Alias.

They have melted these wildly differing impressions together, creating a distinctive, characteristic sound.

“Jazz with a beat, rooted in the jazz of the 60s and 70s, with echoes of Miles Davis and a hard-boiled detective tone. But there’s also a dash of blues, Ellington and New Orleans. Eddie Harris, Pharaoh Sanders and Jimi Hendrix all conjoin in shabby freeform, fine playing and a hell of a swing,” says Daniel Karlsson.

Koyo, the band’s second CD, differs from their debut album Oddjob mainly in their interplay, now more tightly-knit, freer solos and a more skewed tonal picture.

oddjob_-_koyo__2003_.rar

posted by mafalda

The Great Society with Grace Slick - Conspicuous Only In It's Absence

The Great Society with Grace Slick - Conspicuous Only In It's Absence

Live at San Francisco's Matrix Club 1966

01. Sally Go 'Round The Roses
02. Didn't Think So
03. Grimly Forming
04. Somebody To Love
05. Father Bruce
06. Outlaw Blues
07. Often As I May
08. Arbitration
09. White Rabbit
10. That's How It is
11. Darkly Smiling
12. Nature Boy
13. You Can't Cry
14. Daydream Nightmare
15. Everybody Knows
16. Born To Be Burned
17. Father

Before joining Jefferson Airplane, Grace Slick sang lead and played various instruments for the Great Society, who were nearly as popular as Jefferson Airplane in the early days of the San Francisco psychedelic scene. Instrumentally, the Great Society were not as disciplined as Airplane. But they were at least their equals in imagination, infusing their probing songwriting with Indian influences, minor key melodic shifts, and groundbreaking, reverb-soaked psychedelic guitar by Slick's brother-in-law, Darby Slick. Darby was also responsible for penning "Somebody to Love," which Grace brought with her to Airplane, who took it into the Top Five in 1967. The Great Society broke up in late 1966 after recording only one locally released single; after Jefferson Airplane became stars, Columbia issued a couple of live albums of the Great Society performing at San Francisco's Matrix Club in 1966.
~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide

This album it's also known as "Collector's Item".

Get it here @320
Part I ~ Part II

Hamana - st (1974)

Very rare debut album recorded in 1974, originally issued on the local Phoenix label, Canyon Records. To most 60´s psychedelic rock/folk fans this is almost an unknown album, with only a few copies known to exist. Hamana was a native American, who went in 1969 to college in the white man's world, and the album expresses perfectly the sunny California peace, love & freedom feeling, The music itself is emotive with strong vocals, lots of West coast psychedelic guitar flashes, a bit garage feeling but also loner folk style with native American elements. The appeal of this album reminds one of Quicksilver Messenger Service, The Byrds, X.I.T, Neil Young, Buffalo Springfield, Garrett Lund - Near unbelievable that on these recordings all instruments, bass, guitars, vocals and drums have been played by Hamana himself, later to be overdubbed into a tasty and atmospheric stereo acoustic/electric mix. This CD-reissue is a mastertape release licensed by Canyon Records, and contains an 8 page booklet + 2 unreleased bonus tracks. Highly recommended!

1974_-_hamana__canyon_records_.rar

track 1

Cheepskates - 1984 - Run Better Run

Cheepskates - 1984 - Run Better Run

The mercurial Cheepskates began life as an anomaly on New York's garage-rock scene: when most of their peers were scouring exurbia for vintage paisleys and vinyl (the more primitive the better, on both counts), this low-key quartet was creating some of the most carefully crafted pure pop to escape from those Seed-y halls. Run Better Run, dominated by Shane Faubert's bouncy (but not overly retro) Farfisa organ and clear, expressive voice, attests to the group's originality. Usually smart, occasionally precious songs like "Gone for Good" and "That's When I Say Goodbye" are reminiscent of the Zombies' art-school pop. Refreshingly cover-free (all four members write; three swap lead vocals), the disc is a timeless pleasure.(Trouser Press)

Led by singer/guitarist Shane Faubert, the Cheepskates were a big part of the '80s revival of the garage rock scene on the East Coast. They released two albums with their first lineup, a four-piece that concentrated more on the retro side of the sound. ~ Bradley Torreano, All Music Guide

Considered "too pop" by garage fans and "too garage" by pop fans, the Cheepskates broke up in 1985, after their masterpiece, RUN BETTER RUN, failed to find its audience. (Goldmine)


After their second album "Second and Last", Cheepskates disbanded and guitarist David John Herrera released the "A Handout From a Cheepskate" in 1989, with members of the Optic Nerve. The Cheepskates reformed as a trio with Shane Faubert, Tony Low and new drummer Jeremy Lee and continued until 1993, with pop-oriented records, nothing to do with the garage scene.
Shane Faubert released two solo albums, and in 1992, Tony Low and Jeremy Lee formed Static 13, which became a tuneful hard-rock quartet.

"Run Better Run" released originally in 1984 on Midnight Records, re-issued on CD in 1997 by Music Maniac, and recently (2005) on CD with three extra tracks.
You can find it in Shane Faubert’s website.

Line-up: Shane Faubert vcls, gtr, organ/ David John Herrera vcls, gtr, hmnca/ Tony Low bs, vcls /Van Keith drms

tracklist:
A-side
Run Better Run
Read Your Mind
That's When I Say Goodbye
Gone For Good
Shadows of Loneliness
Big Bad World
You Can't Change

B-side
Drive In Movie
Xtra Colestrial
Take It Easy
I'd Give All I Got
Far Far Away
Why Is Love

Edit: David John Herrera has a great web site, with much more info about the band, as well as an amazing page about the early 80s NYC garage scene

Blandbladen - 2003 - I Grevens Tid

Blandbladen - I Grevens Tid

Date of Release: 2003
2003 CD: Private Release

Encoded with Lame 3.92 at 192/44/Stereo

Tracks
01 - I Grevens Tid
02 - Pε Grφn Kvist
03 - I Afton Trans
04 - Dimland

Sebastian Wellander - Guitar, Sounds
Ola Eriksson - Synthesizer, Fender Rhodes
Dave Janney - Bass
Kaufmann Cosmo - Drums, Percussion

Notes:
- Blandbladen means "among the leaves" in Swedish.
- I Grevens Tid was recorded live Dec. 30-31, 2002
in the rehearsal studio.
- Only congas and percussion have been overdubbed.

Blandbladen are a quartet from Malmφ, Sweden who play a killer
instrumental brand of Space Rock that blends Ozric Tentacles,
jamming lysergic Psychedelia, Trance, and Progressive Rock. The
band consists of Solen (Ola Eriksson) on Fender Rhodes &
keyboards, Sabana (Sebastian Wellander) on guitar & sounds,
Kaufmann Cosmo on drums & percussion, and Dave Janney on bass &
fishmouth. I Grevens Tid is their first album and includes three
tracks in the 12-13 minute range and one at 6 minutes.

The set opens with "I Grevens Tid", laying down a cool
psychedelic groove and the Rhodes gives the music a 70's
prog-jazz flavor, while blending in more modern Space Rock
stylings α la Ozric Tentacles. But the band stretch out nicely,
transitioning through several themes, including a trippy Blues
psych segment peppered with liquid FX and hypnotic floating
atmospherics. "Pε Grφn Kvist" is a heavily Ozric influenced tune
that builds the pace and intensity to smokin psych-rock levels.
"I Afton Trans" and "Dimland" include some of the most high
energy trip rocking moments of the set. The music consists of
searing space rock with hints of Zappa amidst the Ozric styled
space vibe and old time kosmiche prog and heavy rock feel. The
rhythm section on "Dimland" is particularly heavy, pounding away
furiously while shooting alien synths and wah'd guitars wrap
themselves around your brain. Absolutely mind-bending and the
way the music evolves and builds positive energy and intensity
they could have easily gone on for 20 minutes or more and never
lost the listener's attention. So chock another one up for the
Swedes. This is 100% totally spaced out rock and prog played by
a band with pure psychedelic hearts. You are commanded to check
these guys out now!
-- Jerry Kranitz (Aural Innovations #24, July 2003)

---------------------------------------

Blandbladen is a new band from Malmφ, Sweden, playing
instrumental progressive space rock. This four-piece band
reminds at times of Ozric Tentacles and through that also the
Finnish Hidria Spacefolk, but they've got a more organic style
than these two bands. They don't use sequencers, backing tapes
or machine beats, so they might have been around in the 70's, as
well.

This stuff is also more progressive, in the mellow 70's style.
At times the bubbling analogue synths do bring to mind the
Ozrics, and this band certainly has listened a lot to Gong and
Steve Hillage.

This, about 45 minutes long album has four long tracks. "I
Grevens Tid" is a long prog giant with many parts, also
including some jazz and folk influences. The reggae styled "Pε
Grφn Kvist" sounds a lot like early Ozric Tentacles, and one
bass riff is a rather direct loan. In the end the track grows
nicely into a more groovy direction. Very good guitar solos and
nice percussions.

"I Afton Trans" starts very peacefully and slowly, the comp
comes along after about two and a half minutes. There are some
wacky, spacey analogue synth effects to create a pretty
psychedelic atmosphere. At seven minutes point, the track cools
down, a nice Fender Rhodes part begins, and it's being stretched
out until 13 minutes.

The last track, "Dimland", grooves very well with its bluesy
rhythm. This faster track also has some oriental Gong feel to
it. After 5 minutes and a very quiet part, an interesting and
very fine delay guitar thing starts, which reminds a bit of
Ashra. After this, reggae rhythms give way to an Ozrics-like end
climax.

Blandbladen is a very talented and welcome newcomer to the space
rock circles, and will for sure also get the interest of a lot
of the fans of more traditional prog.
-- Santtu Laakso (Space Rock)

Download Link

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

It's a Beautiful Day - 1972 - Live at Carnegie Hall

It's a Beautiful Day - 1972 - Live at Carnegie Hall

01 Give Your Woman What She Wants
02 A Hot Summer Day
03 Angels and Animals
04 Bombay Calling
05 Going to Another Party
06 Good Lovin'
07 The Grand Camel Suite
08 White Bird

As the title implies, this disc captures the Bay Area-based It's a Beautiful Day in concert at the venerable New York City performance Mecca Carnegie Hall. Although the band was on the road supporting their third long-player, Choice Quality Stuff/Anytime , the track list contains only "The Grand Camel Suite" from that disc. So, rather than re-treading material, Live at Carnegie Hall includes several new tunes from the band, as well as a couple of classics and well-chosen covers. As with many of the San Francisco groups to gain prominence during the late '60s and early '70s, It's a Beautiful Day is best experienced in the interactive and reciprocal atmosphere of a live performance. The band uses their ability to stretch and reshape familiar works such as "A Hot Summer Day" or their incendiary reading of "Bombay Calling" -- the latter featuring some jaw-dropping contributions from future Frank Zappa bassist Tom Fowler . His counter melodies and fluid timekeeping add a fullness and an additional dimension to the rocking version of "White Bird" and the cover of Taj Mahal 's "Give Your Woman What She Wants." Fowler's own composition, "Going to Another Party," highlights the amazing ensemble work of this incarnation of It's a Beautiful Day. Particularly inspired is the frenetic violin of David LaFlamme , who gives a workout to the new track "Good Lovin'" and the extended "Hot Summer Day." It is a shame that this platter has been out of print on CD since the early '90s, as it reveals an edgier side to the band, primarily known for their one hit, "White Bird." Live at Carnegie Hall is not only more representative of the group's true nature, but also the way they deserve to be heard and remembered. ~AMG

Lazy - Some Assembly Required (1994) @320

Two gals and one guy from Cincinnati. A great album from the 1990s- lots of nice guitar-y jangle pop and female vocals (like an underproduced Let's Active), and then the guy shows up with his crappy distortion pedal and makes it sound like Beat Happening's snotty little brother.

And then the third track, "Let's Smoke," and the eighth track, "Pussy Strut" could be the a- and b-side of some lost garage 45.

Download it here.

Enjoy, and Happy New Year!

The Maharajas - 2004 - Unrelated Statements

Medication
I'm Fooled Again
Another Turn
Please Leave A Message
Odd Socks
Dead
Maggot Mocker
Alright!
You For President
Remember Our Love
Papas Dead
Taste Of Tears
I Won't Die
Nice Guys Finish Last


Band Members

Jens Lindberg-Vocals Guitar
Mathias Lilja-LeadVocals Guitar
Ulf Guttormsson-BackingVocals Bass
Ricard Harryson-Drums


The Maharajas were formed in the late 90's by Jens Lindberg with the intention of playing Greek-inspired moody 60's music. After being in fuzzdriven, hard stompin´garagerock bands since the mid 80's (Crimson Shadows, Stomachmouths, Highspeed V, Blind Shag...) he was looking for a new take on the genre. In the beginning the band saw some members come and go until finally drummer Anders Öberg brought his long time friend Ulf Guttormsson in on bassguitar. The trio cut one 7" on Loser Records and in 2001 ex Strollers singer Mathias Lilja joined the band forming the current line-up. They were now ready for their first full-length album. 13 songs were recorded during 5 hectic days in the autumn of 2001 and "H-minor" saw the light in spring of 2003 on the Italian label -Teen Sound Records. 2004 ment a new record, also a new label. Low Impact Records(responsible for all Strollers releases) decided they wanted to sign the band and with "Unrelated Statements" the Maharajas presented a tighter and more genuine sound. Still true to the trademark of moody songs with a lot of sad harmonies, it had a lot more fuzzguitars, farfisa organs and howlin´vocals than earlier recordings with the group. It was produced by Måns P. Månsson, the singer of The Maggots, a band that he along with Jens & Anders had started together previous to Maharajas. The record was well received especially among 60's enthusiasts but it seemed to strike a nerve with all kinds of people. It was heavily rotated on the "Little Steven's Underground Garage" radio show. A few smaller tours in Europe followed apart from playing in Sweden and the rest of Scandinavia every now and then. In 2005 they released "A Third Opinion" in the same tradition as always manifesting what they love in 60's Garage/Pop/R&B and Rock'n'Roll music in general "A Third Opinion" is a must have for all you kiddies! This year a new member, Ricard Harryson, is taking over the drum stool and the band will continue as always with new recordings and an even more solid sound.

source :
http://www.myspace.com/themaharajas


Download Link

Sons of Champlin - 1970 - Minus Seeds and Stems

The Sons of Champlin are very much a part of the rich tapestry that was the San Francisco music scene of the Fillmore and Avalon Ballrooms.

Their funky Hammond B-3 and horns sound was utterly distinctive and quite unlike the rest of the Bay Area’s psychedelic guitar bands.

Celebrating the human spirit, philosophical themes driven by funk infused R&B and jazz based tempos continued to set the Sons apart. Often hard to define because of their eclectic mix of material, the Sons were playing acid jazz before it had a name.

Always known for their outstanding musicianship, they have become the benchmark against which other players have measured their chops.

The Sons released seven albums between 1968 and 1977. After a twenty year hiatus, the Sons reunited for a series of successful reunion gigs in 1997. In cooperation with Grateful Dead Records, the Sons recorded and released their first ever "live" CD in 1998. The earlier studio releases never quite captured the magic of their live shows. Quoted in the San Francisco Chronicle, the Grateful Dead's Mickey Hart said of those earlier shows, "they were breathing fire... they were the most talented of all the bands."

sons_of_champlin_-_1970_-_minus_seeds_and_stems.rar

Human Beinz - 1968 - Evolutions

Human Beinz - 1968 - Evolutions

01. Face

02. My Animal
03. Every Time Woman
04. Close Your Eyes
05. If You Don't Mind, Mrs Applebee
06. I've Got To Keep On Pushing
07. Cement
08. Two Of A Kind
09. April 15th
10. Pied Piper
11. This Little Girl Of Mine

Rewiew:
In 1967, the Human Beinz scored a hit single with their feeback-laced cover of The Isley Brothers' "Nobody But Me", and for a brief and fleeting moment the boys from Youngstown, Ohio were bone fide rock stars. While their first album wasn't anything out of the ordinary, when they went into the studio to record their second LP, they were determined to create something unusual, and you can't argue that they succeeded with Evolutions. An amusing pastiche of neo-psychedelic excess, Evolutions is a far cry from the slightly trippy frat rock of their hit; "The Face" is a tale of lost love drenched with horns and strings, "Close Your Eyes" is a delicate mostly-acoustic plea for hippie-era togetherness, "My Animal" is an oblique pseudo-protest number leavened with sound effects, and "I've Got To Keep On Pushing" is a showcase for Richard Belley's snarling guitar leads. But the real descent into the maelstrom comes with the album's last two tracks; the country rock workout "Two Of A Kind" concludes with the sound of someone tearing apart a piano for several minutes, and the seven-minute "April 15th" gives Belley room for all the guitar freak-out-age he ever dreamed of, which may be a bit more than most fans actually wanted to hear. The Human Beinz are a better and more imaginative band than one might expect on Evolutions; Mel Pachuta, Ting Markulin and Mike Tatman are a solid rhythm section, the songs (mostly written by Lex De Azevedo, who also produced and arranged the album) are pretty good, and even when the album's pretensions seem silly, they don't quite sink into embarrassment. But a cloud of Nehru folly hangs over this album, and while the Human Beinz pull it off (just barely), Evolutions is still the work of a band struggling desperately to chew what they've bitten off.
~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide

Bio:
Best-known for its version of "Nobody but Me," Youngstown, OH's frat rock quartet the Human Beinz featured rhythm guitarist Ting Markulin, lead guitarist Richard Belley, bassist Mel Pachuta, and drummer Mike Tatman. Originally known as the Human Beings, the group was a local favorite and was discovered playing at a Youngstown bar. Their early releases include covers of Bob Dylan's "Times They Are A-Changin'" and Them's "Gloria," as well as renditions of the Who and Yardbirds songs; they released their first singles on the local Gateway imprint. In 1967, the group signed to Capitol Records and scored a Top Ten hit with their cover of the Isley Brothers' "Nobody but Me." On their debut album, which was also named Nobody but Me, the band found their name changed to the Human Beinz, a play on the hippie phrase "be-in." The following year, the group issued Evolutions, which showcased a more original side to the Human Beinz' music, but the album did little and the band ultimately broke up.
~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide

Viv Akauldren - 1985 - Old Bags & Party Rags

Viv Akauldren - 1985 - Old Bags & Party Rags

Jeff Tarleton: "As a teenager the inevitable happened and I formed my first and only band. We were a three-piece named Trancegland. When the drummer quit to join the army, Deb Agolli joined and we changed our name to Viv Akauldren. With me on vocals, guitar and bass and Keir McDonald on synths, farfisa and bass we toured five hard years on the US underground scene. I don't want to go into details here about the band but the hard facts are we made 3 LPs, an EP and a couple of singles. (All are out of print but you can still find them if you're lucky). There were amazing performances too, that I will never forget as long as I live and I know there's a lot of people out there that feel the same way.
We played with a lot of great bands. Quite a few got famous in the 90s but then was really an innocent time, before the reality of making it occurred to anyone. It was the void known as the 80s but I think we made our mark, and absolutely no one was out there doing what we were. We would have seen them."

Viv Akauldren were a trio from Detroit, active from 1984 to 1989, which made great psychedelic music, combined with eastern folk and prog/ambient influences. In "Old Bags & Party Rags" (released in local Akashic label in 1985 and a year later in the Dutch label Resonance) all the above are present, plus echoes of british post-punk and Hawkwind. In some tracks it reminds me of Savage Republic with more aggressive guitars and synthesizers.

Viv Akauldren were Jeff Tarleton (Phry) vcls, gtr, bs/ Keir McDonald kbds, synth, bs/ Deb Agnolli drms, vcls
After their demise, Deb Agolli went on to Outrageous Cherry, Keir McDonald recorded solo, under the name Medusa Cyclone, with much critical acclaim, and Jeff Tarleton, quit music for a few years, released a solo psych-folk album in the late 90s, (which I would like very much to listen), and now lives in Berlin as a street musician.

tracklist
1 - Life Expectancy
2 - Tanzil
3 - As You Wish
4 - Flooding Crawl Space
5 - Lost
6 - Censored
7 - Null
8 - Catabolic Blues

V.A. - The V-Lips_Greatest Hits

V.A. - The V-Lips_Greatest Hits

01 Cuby & The Blizzards - Your Body Not Your Soul (Grollo, Holland)
02 The Rob Hoeke Rhythm & Blues Group - When People Talk (Haarlem, Holland)
03 The Jay-Jays - Got Love If You Want It (The Hague, Holland) *
04 The Scarlets - Please Go Home (The Hague, Holland)
05 The Skope - Be Mine Again (Heerlen, Holland)
06 The Heralds - I Wish I Was Strong (Breda, Holland)
07 The Falcons - Louie Louie (Hilversum, Holland)
08 Groep 1850 - I Know (The Hague, Holland) *
09 The Sound Of Imker - Train Of Doomsday (Assen, Holland)
10 Q65 - And Your Kind (The Hague, Holland)
11 The Tykes - Let's Dance (Groningen, Holland)
12 The Sound Magics - Don't You Remember (Doesburg, Holland)
13 The Rob Hoeke Rhythm & Blues Group - Rain, Snow, Misery (Haarlem, Holland)
14 The Beat Buddies - Pins In My Heart (Amsterdam, Holland)
15 The Shane - Gotta Hold On (The Hague, Holland)
16 Cuby & The Blizzards - Back Home (A Man) (Grollo, Holland)

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

The Stems - Mushroom Soup ( The Citadel Years )

The Stems came roaring out of Perth in the mid Eighties with a sound and style that definitively captured the spirit and enthusiasm of sixties garage music - lurching fuzz-tone guitars, brooding organ and solid gold garage-trash! At the core of it all though The Stems wrote some awesome songs, made great records and put on exciting live shows. Tracks like Make You Mine, Love Will Grow and Tears Me In Two mark them out as one of the truly great Australian acts of the Eighties.


The Musicians:

Richard Lane - Keyboards, Guitar & Vocals
Dom Mariani - Guitar & Lead Vocals
Julian Matthews - Bass
Gary Chambers - Drums


Download Link

The Heart Throbs - 1990 - Cleopatra Grip

The Heart Throbs - 1990 - Cleopatra Grip

01 Tossed Away (3:56)
02 Dreamtime (3:54)
03 Big Commotion (Remix) (5:04)
04 In Vain (4:30)
05 Slip & Slide (3:19)
06 Here I Hide (Remix) (4:32)
07 Calavera (6:01)
08 I Wonder Why (3:31)
09 She's In A Trance (3:44)
10 Blood From A Stone (Remix) (3:25)
11 Kiss Me When I'm Starving (4:34)
12 White Laughter (5:15)

* Rose Carlotti - Lead Vocals/Guitar
* Rachel Carlotti - Bass/Backing Vocals
* Mark Slide - Drums
* Stephen Ward - Keyboards
* Alan Barclay - Guitar

The debut album by Liverpool's Heart Throbs (led by the twin sisters of late Echo & the Bunnymen drummer Pete DeFrietas) slots neatly into the overriding musical styles of U.K. indie pop circa 1990, mixing the post-punk directness of the Primitives, the swirling, dreamlike textures of the shoegazers, and the flirtations with dance rhythms introduced by the previous summer's Madchester explosion. However, the Heart Throbs definitely had their own unique style; for one thing, singer Rose Carlotti's lyrics, from the suggestive album title on down, are forthrightly female-centric in the manner of the Au Pairs' Lesley Woods or early PJ Harvey. It can be difficult to hear Carlotti behind Martin Hannett's echoey, hollow production, which shifts the guitars to the forefront, but the intent of songs like "She's in a Trance" and the searing, My Bloody Valentine-like "Kiss Me When I'm Starving" remains clear regardless. The slightly poppier singles "Tossed Away" and "Dreamtime" are the album's highlights but, while a couple of the songs coast by simply on atmosphere, Cleopatra Grip is a luxurious and compelling listen. ~ Stewart Mason, All Music Guide

7 X 7 is - U.S. garage singles pt.3

Third part of the U.S. 80s singles series...

Black Angel's Death Song - Nothing Equals Nothing/What Do You Mean (Dionysus ID074522)
Black Angel's Death Song were form Los Angeles, formed by J Francis Connors (Pirate Radio, Trash Can School), and Jack Gould (Flower Quartet, Trash Can School). They managed to release 3 CDs, and 5 7"s. Their sound in this single is raw 60s garagepunk, with loud guitars and primitive drums, although in later releases you can hear some VU influences.





Boys From Nowhere - No Reason To Live/1966 (Rubber RUB 003)
Boys From Nowhere, from Youngstown, Ohio, was in fact Mick Divvens (the rest of the band was anybody he could find). From 1984 they released at least 2 LPs, a 12 EP and 4 singles, in four different countries, yet they never were "succesful" even in their hometown. Imagine something between the Stems and the Stooges and you almost get the sound of this australian 7", which came out in 1989 in red vinyl.




Fall-outs - Don't Want The Sun/Another Fad/She's Out There (Estrus ES723)
This single by the Seattle Fall-Outs recorded in 1998, but released in 1991. Since then the Fall-outs released several albums and singles and they're more or less active until today. Their sound is typical for the early Estrus releases: raw, fats, primitive garagepunk, in fine 1965 beat.







Thee Fourgiven - She Shines (dedicated to Candy DelMar)/Be My Lover (Mystery Scene MS-002)
Thee Fourgiven was formed by Rich Coffee, out of the ashes of the Unclaimed, with Ray Flores (bass/vocals) & Matt Roberts (drums,garbage can,screams), both also from the Unclaimed, and lasted 'till 1989. Although Rich Coffee insists that his influences for this band were more MC5 than Count V, in this german 7's, and particularly in "She Shines" (b-side is a cover)we listen to a perfect nugget, which has little to do with the hard side of garage - more like raw Plasticland!




Plasticland - Let's Play Polyanna/Enchanted Forestry (Repulsion RE-001)
Speaking of Plasticland, here's a 7" from 1990, in UK label. Plasticland from Milwakee, WI, is well known, so all I'll say is that this single continues their Syd-Barrett-in-the-80s tradition, gathers all their experience and proves that they had much to offer.







Tommyknockers - Snake Lightining/Old Enough To Know Better/You'll Find Out (Sympathy for the Record Industry SFTRI 21)
The second single from Rich Coffee for this post, this time with the Tommyknockers, a band he formed in 1989 with Lee Joseph (of Yard Trauma and head of Dionysus label). In Coffee's own words "The Tommyknockers were never as easy band to describe - once called "voodoo-acid-blues-rant-and-roll" fronted by the bastard son of Alice Cooper & Joey Ramone (a frightening thought!), they eventually evolved into almost a power-pop band! But the emphasis was always on the power!" Gladly, here is their first 3-song 7", which has nothing to to with power-pop. "Snake Lightning" is a dynamite, flirting with the Estrus sound of the same era, while in b-side we return to the known Unclaimed/Fourgiven garage.


True West - Lucifer Sam/Mas Reficul (True West TWW 666, 1982 -reissued on Skyclad hell(CUT)100, 1990)
Last, a true historic single from Davis, CA True West, their version on Floyd's "Lucifer Sam". Although TW were known from their next releases (Holywood Holiday and Drifters), in this 7", their Steve-Wynn-produced first single, which came out in 500 copies, they gave us their most wild psychedelic side, something that would never again repeat. Also worthy is the b-side: it's just "Lucifer Sam" played backwards, but it's totally listenable and a real psychedelic experience!
If you're further interested, you can watch True West performing "Lucifer Sam" live at The I-Beam, SF, 1984 here


Here's the seven singles

Monday, January 01, 2007

Pink Floyd - 1971 - Live at Pompeii (@320)

A classic recording and a great film.Here your links.

pink_floyd_live_at_pompeii__1971__320_.part1.rar

pink_floyd_live_at_pompeii__1971__320_.part2.rar

The Savages - The Savages Live & Black Scorpio

Perpetually handicapped by the lack of sophisticated sound equipment which in BEAT music constitutes a critical factor in the success of the group, The Savages never lost their spirit . They arrived on 17/10/1967 at a annual Beat Competition and were acclaimed as Bombay's best. Immediately after this success ,they cut their first single "Girl Next Door" / "Pain".

On 28/2/1969 The Savages strike again earning the Sound Trophy for their "Curiosity Satisfied". More singles continued...but they never managed to make a major success.

Fortunately some of their material was published on cd many many years later.

Amazing lost diamond highly recommended for fans of beat music.

DownloadLink:

http://rapidshare.com/files/9688314/savages-black_scorpio.rar.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/9698925/savages-live.rar.html

Spring - 1971 - Spring

For the new years day i decided to choose one of my ten favourite albums of all time.

One of the finest progressive rock album in history.

i am very lucky i have the triple gatefold cover from Akarma Records.

The two opening songs should be in any serious prog – art rock anthology and I dedicate them to all of you,

wishing you a happy new year 2007!

Side One

1.THE PRISONER (EIGHT BY TEN) - 5:34 2. GRAIL - 6:44 3. BOATS - 1:50

Side Two

4. SHIPWRECKED SOLDIER - 5:12 5. GOLDEN FLEECE - 6:59

Side Three

6. INSIDE OUT - 4:49 7. SONG TO ABSENT FRIENDS (THE ISLAND) - 2:47 8. GAZING - 5:54

Side Four Bonus Tracks:

9. FOOL'S GOLD- 6:26 10. HENDRE MEWS- 7:14 11. A WORD FULL OF WHISPERS- 3:57

Between King Crimson and Genesis there is only one band. Spring. Their one and only album is a mixtue of mellotron, rock felling and that special kind of thouch that only symphonic groups have. When i first heard that lp I cried. It's so beautiful... Ok, now the facts. There are three mellotrons, a very good guitarist and a vocalist who can sing. Great compositions, especially Eight To Then, Grail, Boats, Golden Fleece and Hendre Mews (it's a bonus track).

MASTERPICE. This album is the true definition of art rock! (PROG ARCHIVES)

I find it amazing how many group's there were on the cusp of something as big as the development of an entire genre of music. Progressive rock was just starting to kick it into high gear in 1971 and bands like Spring were working on important recordings like this self-titled set.
At first, I was not sure what the picture of the dead soldier meant but after listening to the albums lyrics, it makes more sense. The album certainly has a theme. "The Prisoner," "Fool's Gold," "Shipwrecked Soldier," "Golden Fleece," and "Grail" certainly have an explorer war like premise.

The tone created by this talented group on this outstanding effort needs a much harder look than ever before. Perhaps the reasons why you have not heard too much of this band is that giving credit were credit was due has been part of the problem…not an all together unusual circumstance in a business full of unfairness and corruption. Part of this entire process of recollection for us all interested in learning more about some of the pioneers of prog-rock is discovering important contributors such as Spring. Lead vocalist Pat Moran's style is reminiscent of the dreamy and smooth vocal engagements of the legendary Jon Anderson of Yes. I use Anderson as a benchmark for vocalist in this genre for obvious reasons. His influence can be heard everywhere in rock music from past to present. Spring's music is tasteful with compositions featuring elegant keyboards and guitars and equally powerfully intoxicating measures of the same when needed to emphasize the lyrics and give listeners chunks of instrumental passages that have become typical for this type of music.

Download link
http://rapidshare.com/files/9686502/spring_-_spring.rar