Peter Gabriel - Live at Rockpalast Essen, Germany, Sept, 15, 1978 {UK} [1978] (Excellent Bootleg) (Kindly Submitted by Blplus)

This was submitted by Blplus, a friend of ProgNotFrog. And these are his enthusiastic comments about this bootleg:

I must say first of all that I have been a Gabriel fan over the years, and being disappointed by the long wait (10 years without a new studio album) and the subsequent below par Up-Growing Up-Still Growing Up stuff; it’s been a privilege to have access to this material from the 1978 tour.

The first impression is that this one sounds great for a boot.
The setlist is based on PG´s first and second albums, plus the closing with The Lamb. The musicians that contributed on both albums are here, Larry “Synergy” Fast on keyboards providing the atmospherics (listen to the intro), Levin the master of the bass and stick in conjunction with Marotta giving a strong rhythmic base, John Ellis on guitar is the least known member, this gig and another one with Peter Hamill have been his more important milestones. And of course, there´s Robert Fripp. What else can be said about the master? I was very curious when I learned that Fripp was playing in the 1st Gabriel album (eventually on the 2nd and 3rd as well). Anyway, this collaboration worked both ways (Levin began working with KC shortly after these gigs and made his first appearance in the 1981 Discipline album).

This concert is pure Gabriel energy, starting with a strong “On the Air”, following with the Genesis-like “Moribund the Burgermeister” (would have fit in the Lamb, I think), then on to a GREAT “Perspective” where Levin and Marotta kick asses. The credits don´t mention the sax player who makes a great solo. Then, a Gabriel standard up to these days “Here comes the flood”. This ballad sounds a bit different here thanks to the mysterious sax player again. Following is my favourite from this concert, “White Shadow” with a synth intro by Fast that blends with the rhythm section. This is a great song that seldom appears in Gabriel live cds. A bit of Frippertronics at the end. “Waiting for the big one”, the longest track, features Gabriel on piano and vocals swimming on non familiar waters (blues by the way), there is an interesting duel between the guitar and the sax (Timmy Capello from what I hear Gabriel introducing the musicians).

“Humdrum” is not one of my favourites and this version is no exception, but I have to say that the interesting thing is that it represents a period where PG hadn’t completely separated from the prog influence of his Genesis days. Then a track that represents the complete opposite “I don’t remember” makes you want to get up and dance. Another survivor in today’s PG concerts is “Solsbury Hill”, nothing special to comment. “Modern love” is full of pure Gabriel force that we miss so much nowadays.

The encore, a salute to the past: “The Lamb lies down on Broadway”. This is the only time that I am aware of that PG has played this track with his band.

In short, great sound, awesome musicians, and Gabriel at his best, what else can you expect? If only we could have some of this magic on these Growing Up days. Enjoy!

Angel Gómez, July 2006


I guess that says it all,

Keep listening...!!!

Links in the usual place.

Peter Gabriel - Humdrum...

Carmen - "Dancing On a Cold Wind" {US, UK & Spain} [1975] @256 (Very Good Flamenco Prog)

Carmen is an unfairly forgotten band. Formed in Los Angeles in 1970, they were, since the very begining, under the influence of the west coast psych movement and andalusian flamenco.

In an attempt to expand their audience, Carmen members moved to London in 1973, where they underwent the process of transformation that would lead many bands like Procol Harum (another heavy influence on them) or Moody Blues into the early shape of what we call now Progressive Rock.
But Carmen was a bt different and they were metamorphosed into prog and sometghing else. Something with the flavor of a good spanish wine.

The line up at the time was:Roberto Amaral & Angela Allen, singers, footworking, spanish percussion and dancing.
David Allen, Angela's brother, (not the Gong founder), played the Guitar (both acoustic and electric), John Glascock: bass and Paul Fenton, Drums and percussion.

In London they found shelter under the wings of Tony Visconti, a man who had produced many good artists, including David Bowie. Visconti saw the potential of the band and arranged the production of their first album, "Fandangos in Space", mixing the energy of rock with the strenght and vertigo of flamenco. "Fandandos in Space" is a good album, but it lacked certain maturity that happeneed a bit later, after some gigs and TV presentations. Although the album was not a super success, it called the attention of people like Ian Anderson, who had driven his own band, Jethro Tull to the status of a super group. Meanwhile David Allen, a virtuoso guitar player heavily influenced by Sabicas' frantic way of playing the flamenco scales, started to prepare the new Carmen album.

By 1975, harder prog bands like King Crimson influenced Carmen. Allen wanted a more abrassive and hard sound for his band. They entered the history of Prog that year with the publication of "Dancing On A Cold Wind", a conceptual album of sorts which opened with the mind expanding track Viva Mi Sevilla, a strong and very solid mix of flamenco whirlwinds with hard rock and intense footworking that makes you feel like jumping out of your chair and dance.

The album is complemented by the epic suite Rememeberances (Recuerdos de España) a narrative musical journey accross the exotic landscapes of the moorish occupied Spain.

That was Carmen's zenith. That year they toured with Jethro Tull and were well received by the audiences although the albums sales were never too good. It was probably too early for ethnic flavored rock.

Let's remeber that the Franco's rigid dictatorship was still in control of Spain. Rock and liberal thoughts were not well received there and extraordinary flamenco-rock bands like Triana or I man had never crossed the spanish border. Flamenco-rock was then an unexistent contraption outside the Iberic peninsula, so Carmen's sound was something odd. Never heard before and maybe too alien.

After the tour, John Glascock was invited to join Jethro Tull (an invitation he couldn't refuse). The Allen brothers and Amaral wanted to go back to the USA. Eventually they managed to built a third album with some previously unreleased material and a few new songs, but by 1976 the fate of Carmen was sealed.

Another brilliant but ephimerous spark in the history of rock had illuminated the sky for a split second.

Today, 31 years later, we bring this memory from the past for you.

Listen to it loud.

The track Viva Mi Sevilla will make your blood boil.

España y Olé!

Keep Listening...!!!

Dance your way down to the links, which are in the comments section.

PS. I Included some rare video footage of Carmen at David Bowie's TV show 1974. This was not included in the CD reissue.

Carmen – Table Two For One…

Laszlo Hortobagyi & The Gayyan Uttejak Society (Mind Blowing Futuristic Ethno Psych For Free!!! )

"The members of the Gâyan Uttejak Society and The Gáyan Uttejak Orchestra in Budapest have made it their duty practice and to study the world heritage of the traditional cultures - among them the classical Language of the Hindu-Moslem Tradition of the Hindusthani Music - but also the bioastronomy, Kathakali, songs of the whales ("whale-canto"), Tinctoris'compositions, nigromania, computed fractal engines, Raga-mala paintings, cyborgs, Kuandalini sex, reports from the Arecibo Radiotelescope's Post Ozma Project..."

This fragment is what you find at the very begining of Laszlo Hortobagyi's website. It is sort of a satement that works as the base on which the opus and research of Gayyan Uttejak Society is build.

Now, what is the Gayyan Uttejak Society?

Well, that's a difficult question because the society and the orchestra only exist inside the amberine laberynths that lie deep in the mind of a Prefessor os Musicology at Budapest University, Hungary, whose name is Laszlo Hortobagyi.

He is also a composer, remixer, editor, sitar player, record collector and musical engineer.
My first encounter with El-Horto (as he calls himslef) and his out-of -this-world conception of art, was at an obscure record store located in the biggest town of an island at the north west african coast. How the CD ended there is a major mystery. The amazing cover of the album called my attention and I bought the cd out of a hunch. ("...an album with this cover and this name can't be bad...")

The album was "Traditional Music of Amygdala" . Two years later I was the happy owner of all his albums.


As Jorge Luis Borges, who used to invent whole philosophical countries and academical planets, Hortobagyi is a civilization maker.

In his mind Amygdala and many other societies exist. And he composes and play their folkloric and ritual music.
In most cases, these musical-imaginary civilizations are parallel to ours (Amygdala, Arcadia) in other they are just one possible variations of the ones we know (The futuristic and vertiginous India of " The Conference" , or the remote past of the Tribes of Aeon)

Hortaobagyi has created one of the most intriguing body of musical work of modern music. As professor of musicology Hortobagyi commands one of the biggest collections of Middle Eastern and Eastern music on the planet. With this musical archive and his technical skills he creates new harmonic and sonic universes.

Some might think that we're facing another pseudo shaman, that uses synths to cmake cheap new age albums from samples. But this is far from being the cae. Actually Hortobagyi's music is not easy at all.

It is deep. Ritual. Subterranean. Telluric. Even Scary.

He goes, down the rabitt hole of the collective conciousness and takes back to light odd objects, forbidden jewels, magical artifacts and beautiful monstruosities.

The Gayyan Uttejak Orchestra moves with a frightening easiness from the distant and unknown future to the remote and dark past. Those travels end in our troubled present.
To end this cronic I must add that Hortobagyi is Mad.


He is Crazy.

He gives away his music for free.

Seventeen albums, including the covers which are a total trip. (Most are not only worth seeing but also reading!)

Plus: never published material, videos, amazing cyber-art.

Welcome to the twisted personal Nirvana of a mad genius.

If you want to know how to get his stuff , see the comments section.

And,

Keep listening!!!

ProgNotFrog Radio Presents The Voice of The Moon #006 With The Herbalist (Mix of great tracks with strange words from a messed up mind)

Another week has sunk into the past and millions of songs have been performed, played and aired on this troubled planet. This is our humble contribution to the general cacophony.
We start in Brazil with Milton Nascimento, one of the founders of the Tropicalia movement. We’ll let ourselves flow with Francis Cabrel who will take us to the border between France and Spain. One high point in this week's travel is going to be Charming Hostess a peculiar female band founded in Israel some years ago.

We’ll visit Sweden with Midaircondo, We’ll be amazed by an Italian cover of a Robet Wyatt tune and finally we’ll go back to the south American jungle with Simon Diaz and Caetano Veloso.

Thanks for your encouraging comments about the previous shows. I hope you like this sixth blend.

It was done for you. Keep Listening…!!!

If you are interested, please go here.

To The Jerk - "It's Over" {Earth} [2006] @ 320 (Logical and Proggressive Answer To The Bad Comments We have Been Receiving)

Well... it seems that there's somebody out there who doesn't like us. It also seems that he can’t read.

I have explained several times that this is an eclectic blog and that it is impossible that anyone will like everything we post here, because we cover many styles.

Anyway... to this person, who disguises behind several usernames for unknown reasons, (Is he shy? Does he suffer from split personality?)…I'd suggest to go somewhere else to look for the music he likes.

There are dozens of good blogs out there! Why coming here?

If you don't like what we post why do you keep coming back?

It is very obvious that you don't really care about music, all you want to bother us, and that you have free time to do it.

We won't stop posting whatever we think we should post, no matter what you say.

I insist, if this blog is so horrible, why do you keep coming back?????

You have serious issues inside you, it seems. (homophobia, insecurity, envy…)
We, at ProgNotFrog, are free-thinkers. We do not, and will never, discriminate people because of race, gender, religion or sexual conditions.

We respect your opinions about music. But you keep disrespecting us.

From now on, comment moderation will be enabled. Thanks to you. That doesn’t affect us. But it affects the users of this blog, because I am sure they want to see their comments posted as soon as they write them. We’ll do our best to keep pleasing them.

Have you taken one minute to read Algarnas enthusiastic reviews, for example? Man, We’re serious about this. We’re already in Usenet. We’ll be soon in E mule, MySpace, torrents, rss feeds, etc. Surprises are coming!!!
We act with deep respect for musicians and we believe in their rights. That’s why we only post out of print and old music. For new music we have ProgNotFrog Radio.


Actually no matter what you do or say, we’ll keep posting great music, which it seems you’re totally unable to appreciate. (the Vangelis album is a good example, you seem to know and like only the most common and mainstream-ish Vangelis (which is also good by the way, but you are unable to understand an album which is regarded by serious critics and one great pice of Greek contemporary music. I’d like to know what you think of “Beauborg” , hehehe…)

Our goal as Nahavanda says, is to get people together. Your schizoid goal is to take people away from each other and to tear good things apart. Not good for you, buddy.

Have a good life!

And..Keep Listening…!!! …But somewhere else…!

ProgNotFrog Orchestra – Our Song For The Jerk…

Extradition – “Hush” {Australia} [1971] @320 kbps - (Aussie Primeval Folk Brotherhood)

OK kids, what would happen if you put in an Australian blender: Incredible String Band, Shirley Collins, crazy experimental field recordings, oriental acoustic instruments, droney analogical sounds & the most pure hippie earthly feeling? Ok!, ok! I know you hate the fucking “what if”, but certainly with the above characteristics is a nice way to start this review, and of course you know the answer to that blend: “Extradition”

Extradition was an Aussie hippie brotherhood, they belong to the earth and surely they showed it. Our cycle begins with water, pure and crystalline, as the first title “A Water Song” claims, you can actually hear calm water flowing mixed with the sounds of acoustic guitars; wooden sticks hitting each other accompanying the wind, distant flutes and of course the unearthly lush vocals of Shayna Karlin.

“A Love Song” opens with the same lush vocals with some quiet guitar, but then a shamanic beat of a mute drum and a harpsichord appears in this litany of love.

For me “Original Whim” it’s the earth speaking, screaming and singing by herself, I know, I know… it sounds extremely hippie, but you can actually feel a very deep and organic vibe (no bullshit pal). Gerald Van Waes describes this piece better than I can possibly do ever: “It's an experimental meditative track, again as if driven and carried forth from the elements itself, starting from a more aerial element, like wind, with wood clicking sounds (Actually, according to the booklet, these must be stones, sticks, palm leaves, a tree, a Lebanese bell, Chinese and Turkish gongs, with some percussion instruments), becoming more melodic through Tibetan bells and chimes, and ending with the more deeply penetrating gong, all with the effect of an introductory musical "OM" for the next track.

… Thanks Gerald!, the next track “Minuet” it’s a transitional piece, a very simple but effective and beautiful tiny classical repetitive dance with a piano laying in an harmonium, a joy for the spirit!

A static holded note appears at the beginning of “A Moonsong”, sonically I interpret that holded whistle as a unique concentration point for what it comes… a litanic repetitive kinda prayer-chant, with a tabla marking the beat an a chorus repeating the prayer… mystical.

“Dear One” is the lengthiest track of the lp, again quoting Gerald Van Waes: “On this track, Richard Lockwood sings as well”… “This is created with piano and harpsichord mostly, with similar balancing and slowly evolving individual notes, on chord organ near the end, and with some acoustic guitar”

“A woman Song" is a melancholic theme with some violin indian vina.

In the beginning “I feel the sun” It’s a classic woman vocals folksy song a la Anne Briggs with piano and Harpsichord, but surprisingly at the middle it turns into “Ice” certainly a Hammillean epic tour de force with solid male vocals, developing with drums, keyboards organ, cello and choir into an kind of anthem.

With "Song for Sunrise”, the cycle ends as calm as it begins with the primeval wind blowing his message.

Extradition’s Hush instead of be just a folk album, it’s a tradition breaker using the tradition itself, an “Ouroboros” (snake swallowing its own tail), a perfect circle amidst the chaos, creator and destroyer itself. I mean, you got all the traditional folk elements, but used in an innovative and effective way… this is no crappy “elfish” stuff, as I said previously, this is the Earth speaking, screaming and singing herself, The Real Deal!

Extradition - "A water song"

IMPORTANT: THE SONG "ICE" IS INCLUDED INSIDE "I FEEL THE SUN"

Keep Listening!

Links in the comments

Vangelis O. Papathanassiou – Earth {Greece} [1973 ]@256 (Must-Have-Deep-Ethno-Trip)

THIS POST IS DEDICATED TO MANELIS

…. AND TO THE GUY WHO SAID THAT THIS BLOG WAS GOING DOWN FAST...

This album has been in my all-time-best list since I was 17, and that was many, many, many years ago. The thing is that I have never tired of listening to it. I believe that this album is perfect. I know it might be bit too much to call something perfect, but this musical object is as close to perfection as any rock album can be. (Although…If this is a rock album is something that belongs to the realm of controversy).

If you know Vangelis only from his electronic compositions or only because of the awarded soundtrack to Chariots of Fire be prepared for a major surprise. This one is different. This is not solo Vangelis with a paraphernalia of Synthesizers. There’re keyboards here, of course but there’s also a rocking band and a good lot of uncredited Mediterranean and Asia Minor sublime instruments. That blend gives Earth an exotic and otherworldly quality that very few albums have achieved in the last four decades.

Earth was the logical consequence of Vangelis previous epic work with Aphrodite’s Child, the band that catapulted him as a keyboardist. That work was the extraordinary and extremely essential “666” one of the best conceptual albums of all times, based on the biblical Apocalypse. It is obvious that Earth was made of some 666 ashes. One feels that some Earth songs would have fit perfectly there, but as this album wasn’t made to tell a story it doesn’t classify as conceptual and thus, it flows as a free form sonic experience, showing the influences that Vangelis had gathered during the psychedelic years and drawing for us a precious draft of what was going to be his majestic solo career after this jewel.

That flow of thing starts with the energetic track “Come On” a repetitive scream that has something deeply shamanic and cathartic. Then it blends (in the middle of the best recorded thunderstorm ever) with the song-poem “We’re all uprooted”, a metaphysical and cosmic lament that could well be a parable of the human condition. (yes, it is that deep). It follows then a sublime, inner and meditative past aided by middle eastern and greek influences and goes back to psych and pop in incredibly beautiful songs as “My Face in the Rain”, or enigmatic musical vignettes as He-O. You will not miss Demis Roussous angelic voice because Robert Fittousi’s vocal works are so good that one might thing he could have replaced Roussous or Jon Anderson in any band. The rest of the journey is as trippy as the parts described. There’s not even a fraction of a second wasted in this listening experience.

This is a sideways approach to the mind of a genius. After this one, Vangelis decided to go solo and started a career that lies in the middle ground between classical, electronic and prog. Nonetheless, Earth still stands as a great album and one that has value of his own.

As I said at the beginning it is in my favorite’s list. Actually it is in my 10 Albums For A Desert Island List. (Don’t panic! I don’t plan to get marooned in any desert island any soon. I’ll keep blogging).

In his excellent Clivage post, our friend Algarnas makes a list of great ProtoWorld Music albums. This is my answer to him.

Listen to it.
I say that perfection is possible.
You tell me if I am wrong.

Meanwhile,

Keep Listening…!!!

You’ll find the links if you look inside you.

Or where they used to be.

Vangelis – He-o…

--->ATTENTION: REPOST/ALBUM RE-RIPED<--- Vytas Brenner - “Hermanos” {Venezuela} [1974] @256 Essential South American Prog

Hello! Someone complained about the rip of this album so I re-ripped it and decided to post it again. Sorry for the inconviniences. I'd recommend that you get it again.
Thanks

Vytas Brenner, was a Venezuelan in his heart although he was born in Tubingen, Germany in 1946. His parents emigrated to South America in 1948 and he studied in the famous Emil Friedman School, an institution dedicated to form composers and performers since an early age.

In 1958 he travelled to Italy and Spain and there he formed several juvenile bands like Vytas Brenner Quartet, Brenner’s Folk or The Pic Nics. In 1967 he went to USA to study electronic music in Tenesee Conservatory and later in Nashville College where he graduated with honors in 1972. That year he went back to Venezuela and started a long relation with Venezuelan folkloric music, an influence that permeates all his posterior works. At that time he was also obviously influenced by the electronic kraut scene (specially Cluster and Tangerine Dream) and devoted himself to the possibilities of synthtizers and the potential of the fusion of modern electronic sounds, progressive rock and acoustic aboriginal and folk elements.The unique and marvellous results was edited in 5 albums, with his band “Ofrenda” (Offering) at the time the most important prog rock outfit of Latin America, with great albums as “Hermanos” , “Jayeche", and others including the spectacular “En Vivo” (Live).

In all of them one finds a dizzying connection that bonds afrolatin percussion, Venezuelan cuatros and maracas, frantic Joropo and Golpe rhythms, abstract pre ambient noise, natural effects, all that seasoned with rock combo of bass, electric guitars and drums.

Although he could have followed the path of other latin musicians as Santana, or even go to join the Fusion Army that plagued vinyl industry at the time, he choose to stay on the symph-prog and art side of things. Nevertheless he was very successful in Venezuela and achieved certain local fame in Latin America.

Sadly the political and economical situation of the country after the currency crash in 1983 (The Black Friday) , obliged Vytas to leave to Europe. He never achieved there the success he had in South America and preferred to stay in the shadow, semi retired and managing a recording studio, although he visited Venezuela briefly during the 90’s and gave a free concert at Plaza Morelos with a simpler line up: only his keyboards and percussionist extraordinaire Nené Quintero.

His last two works where the suite Oro Negro, Performed by Venezuelan Symphonic Orchestra in 1989 (Oro Negro means Black Gold, an obvious refrence to the Venezuelan richness in oil) and later the aboriginal ethnic-new-agey “Amazonia" (1995).

Sadly Vytas’s untimely death caused by a heart attack in 2004 took from us a great musician, which I believe was about to give us more surprises. Life seems truly absurd at times.

Eventually I will post all his albums.

Ladies and Gentlemen, prog fans or not, it is an honour to give you, Vytas Brenner.

Keep Listening…!!!


Links in comments, as usual.

For a sample please go here

Tony Williams Lifetime’s –Emergency [1969] {USA}(Frantic Psych-Jazz) (Posted by kind request of an anonymous friend of this blog)

Honesty is important in this blog so here I go:

Jazz Rock was my cup of tea in 1978, and maybe in the first semester of 1979, (God, I even have Bob James and Earl Klugh albums!)
Nowadays Jazz Rock is not even my glass of water, because I have been immersed in other genres, sub-genres, supra-genres, proto-genres,meta genres and ultra-genres.

Anyway, somebody asked anonimously for this album and as I was able to grab a copy, so I will help this guy get it. Why not? I needed to listen to it anyway. To know myself better. And to know what I like (in my wardrobe).

My job is I saying something about this piece of work and this is it: This album is frantic. Pure Energy Outbursts. Vertiginous and Explosive.

The trio is a virtuosity paradigm: Larry Young on Organ, John McLaughlin on guitar of course, and Mr. Tony Williams himself, beating the soul out of his drums and cymbals. The combination is frightening.

They really delivered here… delivered everything they got, with a vengeance.
Williams, one of the best drummers ever, was truly committed to make a Jazz-Rock album and extreme Rock-Jazz was what he got.

Actually, Emergency was very badly received by the jazz audience of its time. They were caught totally unprepared. I am sure this is one of the most outrageous albums ever edited by Verve, a label which direction is good jazz but not schizoid experiments, like this one. And like it or not, that’s what we have here, a most radical experiment.

Extremely influenced by the psych scene of its time, specially in its deepest manifestations, Williams wanted to made a noisy free rock album that was too much for jazz audience (and maybe too complex for the pop drenched public) He even sings in some tracks, which makes things even harder.

I think it a failed experiment, but don’t get me wrong. Failed doesn’t mean bad, actually it is a hell of an album!

Failed might mean, too excessive for its time. It might also mean avant-garde rock years before musicians dare to perform avant-garde rock. Failed might mean that Emergency fell, unfortunately, on deaf ears.

It was a bold and brave attempt at taking madness by assault

We, almost four decades later, will be the judges of this exquisite musical atrocity.

Schizophrenia is my playground

Enter the realm of vertigo and,

Keep listening…!!!

The links are in the usual place.

Tony Williams -Vashka...

Kim Eu Chul – “Norae Moem” {Korea} [1974] @192 (accoustic folk psyche)

Late here..and tomorrow gonna hard day for me..i will sell some routers to some companies & will configure them..iyyk..
before flying thru bed i start listening kim eu chul. i like to go sleeping with accoustic music. a few days ago i uploaded this album to rapid. maybe my sleepy condition or a need of accoustic music remind me to share this album with you now.
i am not sure the history of this album..as i learned some songs are lullabies.soft guitar chords/solos follows sweet voices in a dreamy scene.i love all the songs in the album..but especially lover's lullaby & the cloud of that sky it follows are awesome..wish i know korean language to understand them..the lyrics must be awesomme..i would like to learn the english meanings of the lyrics..there is one instrumental song in that album also..that many may like..now i start listening this album..and flying thru bed..goodnight to me..and goodmorning/afternoon/evening/night to you all :) links in comments..

Kim eu chul/the cloud of that sky it follows...
Kim eu chul/lover...

Dakila – “Dakila” {Philippines} [1972] @320 (funky jazz rock)

hallo!! so you like santana? you did like the bwana? you may feel the same taste on this band.a bit rare..but good music wont be rare after then :) i really had hard times which song could i put to that mini players..cuz all of the songs in this album is excellent.you dontbelieve me? download and listen this energic band and let you decide yourself..i am curious about your comments after listening..leave a comment eh? ;) dont hesistate to share info/knowledge for the band in comments..happy listenings..

Links in comments..



Dakila/El Dubi...
Dakila/Gozala...

Assagai – “Assagai” {Zimbabwe} [1971] @320 (funky jazz rock)

bonjour tout le monde!! last time we visited many countries all together like
Usa, UK, Columbia, Philippines, Japan, Fiji, Bahamas, Canada..now our travel begins from Zibabwe with Assagai..here is a review by motown67: Assagai was an Afro-Beat group consisting of South Africans and Nigerians that recorded in England. What I like best about their sound is that they had concise, well structured songs unlike some Afro-Beat groups that composed epic tracks that devolved into extended jam sessions. Telephone Girl makes an excellent beginning with two full measures of open drums before short horn stabs come in on the one. Eventually the vocals and the rest of the band join in. That’s followed by a nice instrumental entitled Akasa that also features an Afro-Beat drum break. The equally funky Cocoa follows. The rest of the album is more Afro-Beat oriented with the laid back Irin Ajolawa and Ayieo comparing well with the more upbeat Beka..Links in comments.. keep listening!!

Assagai/Akasa...
[Edit] i uploaded Assagai - Zimbabwe (@192) & their rare first lp (only 2 songs on it @192)..here is the samples:
Assagai - Zimbabwe (1971) / Barazinbar....
Assagai - rare unrelaised(?) (197x) / Kondo...

Roger Bunn – “Piece of Mind” {UK} [1970] @192 (Cleaned Vinyl Rip) ( Superb Jazz Psych Crooning)

I must be honest… The name Roger Bunn didn’t ring any bell 48 hours ago. Now I know many things about him and about this album. Actually the more I read, the more I wanted to know. Bunn was a master guitar player and specially a virtuoso on the double bass. Actually he was the first guitar player of Roxy Music. The story goes like this. Brian Ferry asked him to shave his beard and moustache and to dress properly for Roxy’s first tour (We all know Ferry's horrendous sense of fashion and clothing aesthetics). Well, Bunn was an incorrigible rebel and his answer was leaving the band for good.

That's how Bunn faded out of the mainstream music scene and that’s how a legend was born.

When I first listened to this album sent by Princess Guadalupe I couldn’t believe what my ears were telling to my brain. Questions started to explode out of my head at a dizzying rate:

> What’s this pop-psych artifact?
> Are these the best arrangements I’ve ever heard in a rock album for a long time?
> Can such an unknown album be this good?
> Jesus! Should I make room in my all time top 100 list for Roger Bunn’s Piece of Mind?

Well, I haven’t answered these questions yet but I truly hope you help me with them, by listening to this secret jewel that we just got.

These are the words that come to my mind while I listen to it: Jazzy, Orchestral Crooning, Extraordinary Horn Touches, Soul?, Singer-Author, Folk, Bing Crosby on Acid, Smart, Honesty , Beauty, Uplifting , Deep, Blue, Great Voice! What? Who?

The BBC DJ Pete Drummond said about Piece of Mind "It is a wonderful album. It’s far too musical and intelligent to succeed."

In 1969 Bunn entered the studio to record this album with the aid of the Dutch National Orchestra due to the fact that he got a contract from Phillips which is based in Holland. As far as our research has gone that was the last professional thing he did on a recording studio under his own name although he played double and electric bass with dance orchestras, Blues bands and Jazz ensembles as a session man. (Spontaneous Music Ensemble is probably the best known of all these combos)

But his story doesn’t end here. There’s another side of Bunn we need to mention. He spent his life fighting for different Human Rights organizations. Living of sporadic guitar and bass lessons, it seems that he decided to forget stardom and instead he became a rabid defender of the dispossessed and a paladin for the common man. (I haven’t mentioned that Bunn’s father was a highly decorated war hero, so there was a sense of duty and a deep wish of fighting for peace in him)

In the early 90’s he managed to get a cheap old computer that he used to fight Apartheid and Corporate Corruption with all his strength. In 1994 he founded MIHRA – Music Industry Human Rights Association.

The rest of the facts are the matter of legend. Very little has been published of his personal life and his last years.

He died on July 28th , 2005.

After having read his biography I believe he was a giant. Musically and Morally.

These are the things that are worth to get serious about.

Keep Fighting and…

Keep Listening..!!!

Roger Bunn - Crystal Tunnel...

The links are in the usual place, baby.

Clivage – “Regina Astris” {France} [1977] @192 kbps – French-Ethnic Space Prog

Nowadays, some people points David Byrne and Brian Eno's masterpiece “My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts” (1981) as the beginning of modern “world music” as we know it. Certainly this work is a truly landmark, but for me there’s no a unique beginning, as a matter of fact, in the 60’s and 70’s were also landmarks of the genre, some examples: Czukay And Dammers “Canaxis V” (shows Vietnamese women's voices, using an early idea of sample), Between-“And the Waters Opened” (they made a really middle orient fantastic sound specially in the track Uroboros), Aktuala -“Tapeto Volante”, Embryo-“Embryo's Reise”, Third Ear Band, etc…

Clivage -the band reviewed today- certainly deserves an honor place among the above-mentioned bands: “Instrumentally, the rhythm section is based on Armand Lemal's percussion and Patricio Villaruel's tablas, upon which Fertier (guitar and keys), Jean Pierre de Barba (sax), Claude Duhaut (bass), and Mahmoud Tabrizizadeh (violin) weave a spellbinding tapestry”. Works like “Regina Astris” should not remain among the “obscurities” of rock.

In this album features four long tracks:

“Moving Waves” begins with some familiar sound to the fans of Dead can Dance –a hammered dulcimer, I presume-, mixed with some analogue-synth atmosphere that will develop in wild percussion for a droney jazz improvisation.

The title track (track #2) begins with an echoing fiddle, which will be accompanied by an acoustic guitar, creating -with some synth sounds and tablas percussion- a mesmerizing meditative atmosphere that will develop into a chameleonic masterpiece; it produces to me the same feeling of Mauro Pagani’s first solo work.

The Third track “Mama Swat”, the most jazzy of all, it's a fantastic crescendo of improvisations that lies on a metronomic Indian tablas percussion, very exciting indeed!

And for lovers of space rock, Tabarkha, is epic: full of strings, oriental percussion & dark saxophones, kinda Van der Graaf’s David Jackson trapped in a Indian droney hell!

As Gnosis 2000 claims: Clivage is “a virtual delight transcending several genres that should appeal to fans of east-meets-west music”

Keep Listening!
Link in the comments

Clivage-"Moving Waves"

Traffic – Welcome to the Canteen {UK}[1972]@ 192 (Semi Acoustic Folk –Jazzy –Psych Masterpiece) (Kindly submitted by blplus)

Traffic don’t need to be introduced to the visitors of this site. But it will be good if we spend some time thinking about the many qualities of this band.

Traffic was different. Although they were immersed in psychedelia and noise as every other band of those years, they created a unique sound that was somehow more “open” and more “musical”. They did know how to exploit their rockier side, but they also had something in common with bands like Crosby, Stills and Nash or John Mayall (Room to Move era). That something was the acoustic, moody and lighter side of the 70’s scene, an obvious influence of rural folk and jazz.

I think that this is the reason why Traffic music still sounds so pleasant after decades. They had a timeless flavor, that can be well defined as simplicity. They were masters in musical economy. Nothing is excessive in Traffic. Every organ riff sublimely done by Winwood, every sound executed by Capaldi, everything blown by Chris Wood on sax or flute fell in place without saturation.

“Welcome to the Canteen” is the perfect example of this. Listen to the second track (“Sad and deep as you”) or to the third (40,000 Headmen) and delight yourself in the sweetness of the acoustic folky psych waters they used to navigate on. Mr Blplus is right when he said that this is the father of all unplugged albums. There’s electricity here but it is there only to add color to the organic sound of a what was a great and very honest band.

One curious thing about the story of this album is that although it was performed live by all the Traffic members, it wasn’t technically credited to the band but to the individuals due to some contractual problems with United Artist. The silly solution achieved was not to put the word “traffic” on the cover although everybody knew that it was a Traffic album. (Isn’t the Musical Industry grand?)

Traffic had all that was good of the 60’s and early 70’s and very little of what was wrong and boring. This is the kind of album that makes you go back to the cellar to take the dust out of old vinyls. Albums like this make you listen to entire discographies for a week.


Welcome to the Canteen was recorded at the Fairfield Hall, Croydon in July 1971

Have hippie dreams and…

Keep listening…!!!

Unless you're on acid I am sure you still remember where the links are.


PS.- Thanks to blplus for this one

Traffic - "Sad and Deep as You" ...

Larry Young - Love Cry Want [1972] @ 192 (heavy fusion)

"June 1972, Lafayette Park, Washington DC. Richard Nixon ordered aide, J.R. Haldeman, to pull the plug on the concert fearing that this strange music would 'levitate the White House.' This is that music." [Newjazz.com press release]

Love Cry Want is a monstrous piece of psych-jazz, sorta like the most zonked moments of Tony Williams' Emergency Mark I further extended into some unimaginably degenerate mutation. Over the course of an hour, Larry Young's space organ is repeatedly injected into a maelstrom of primitive guitar synths, spastic ring modulated moans and an abundance of percussion. Technically-speaking, it's probably closer to free rock than free jazz and in the end, it's one of those discs so dissociating that I wouldn't dare listen to it outside of sobriety. Heavy? No shit. That this group was never documented until 1997 only hints at how much of this genre has fallen through the cracks. So yeah, muchos gracias to Love Cry Want percussionist (also the mind behind Newjazz.com) Joe Gallivan for embracing his past work... and thereby allowing us other freaks to do the same. [DW]

Did manage to track down Love Cry Want & it is indeed all that & a bag of chips! This is some of the most whacked music ever made! The drummer & guitarist are both playing through prototype drum & guitar synthesizers, Larry Young's doin' his outer space organ thing-- sheer Nirvana! Each 10+ minute song has more musical ideas bubbling around (in a remarkably cohesive & flowing fashion) than you can shake a stick at! Moments of unholy beauty &
red-hot scree bumpin' right next to each other, never losing the flow. That this music was created & '72 & more importantly, that this music was *heard by* & *scared the shit out of* Tricky Dick Nixon brings a smile to my face a mile wide. Get it if you know what's good for you! [JW]

The above comments are enough I think, listen and be amazed.

Angels Wing Track


Links in comments

Keep listening !!!

ProgNotFrog Radio Presents The Voice of The Moon #005 With The Herbalist (Another Eclectic Blend of This and That Seasoned With Some Inspiring Words )

Well, this fifht show has gone a bit deeper and darker than the previous ones. That doesn't mean we're following that direction from now on. It just developed itself that way.

This is meant to be an eclectic show (as the blog is meant to be as eclectic as possible). So it is impossible that one person likes all the songs in the show as it is impossible that someone might like every recommendation we put here. (See the comments under Tom Robinson's North by Northwest)

Our goal is to open people's ear and expand their harmonic references to new forms of sound organization. We encourage a "progressive" way of appreciating music, and here progressive means an attitude, not a musical genre (and for sure not that rock genre, although we have deep respect and admiration for it)

Ok. Having that in mind, this week's journey starts with percussionist Glen Velez, and his dazzling frame drumming, then we'll move to the meeting point of Pablo Neruda's poetry and Avant-garde propositions with Pan Optikon, from german., Soon we'll find ourselves in the depths of the nocturnal ensemble Woven Hand, and after that we'll fly back to Trugunska with our old acquaintance Alan Parson and we'll end in the sweet embrace of Anja Garbarek's voice.

But do not believe all I write. Listen for yourself because there are a few hidden surprises.

The Moon is a Lunatic Factory.

Get Crazy. Become a Selenite by coming here.

Langley Schools Music Project – “Innocence & despair”; [1976-77] @320 kbps- Canadian Children sings the songs that never were taught to them.'til now

Quick!, for 100 points: around 1976-1977 what had in common David Bowie, Brian Wilson, Fleetwood Mac, Paul McCartney and the children of three elementary schools in the rural Langley District of western Canada?

Contestant 1
Ahhh, ahhh… Can I buy a vowel?

NEXT!

Contestant 2
Maple syrup! They all love Maple Syrup!

WRONG!, the correct answer is that with songs of the above mentioned artists those kids change the history of modern music with the help of one outstanding individual… Mr. Hans Fenger.

Contestant 1
Can I still buy a vowel?

Shut up pal, I’m doing my work… According to Jennifer Mathieu of the Houston Press the story is the following one:

“As is the case with most "outsider art," the tale of the Langley Schools Music Project is full of serendipity. It begins in the mid-1970s, when a longhaired, underemployed hippie named Hans Fenger takes a job teaching music at three elementary schools in the rural Langley District of western Canada. Bored by conventional kids' songs he believes are "condescending," Fenger chooses instead to instruct his students on the finer points of the Beach Boys, Fleetwood Mac and David Bowie. He also exposes them to all sorts of instruments, including Orff xylophones and metallophones (because they have removable keys, Fenger can adjust the instruments so no "wrong" notes are played).

Eventually, Fenger gathers the kids in the school gymnasium and captures their covers of such songs as "Help Me, Rhonda" and "Band on the Run" on a two-track tape deck. Later, he presses 300 LPs for the kids and their families. And that's that -- until, more than 20 years later, a Canadian man discovers one of the original records in a thrift store and turns it over to New York radio DJ/outsider music connoisseur Irwin Chusid to play on his Incorrect Music Hour. Chusid, taken by the strange collection, tracks down Fenger (still teaching in Vancouver), discovers he has a second LP from another recording session, and soon the complete collection is being released by Bar None Records for the whole planet to enjoy.

And enjoy it we should. These children are not professionals or prodigies, but that's what makes this odd assemblage so endearing. The naïveté of their performances carries the music above the kitsch level to a place that is magical and good. Wavering from tinny to boisterous, Fenger's students belt out the tunes with no worries about how they'll sound. They fling themselves with reckless abandon into their playing (check out the overstimulated drummer in "Space Oddity"). And the wistful catch in nine-year-old Sheila Behman's voice as she sings "Desperado" will make any feeling person choke up. The longing and exuberance in these creations will stay with you, reminding you of that brief but wonderful time in life when you were never afraid to sing out loud.”

Beatiful indeed, let’s see what said some of our guests stars:

"The backing arrangement is astounding. Coupled with the earnest if lugubrious vocal performance you have a piece of art that I couldn't have conceived of, even with half of Colombia's finest export products in me."
David Bowie (on the Langley students' rendition of "Space Oddity")

"This is beauty. This is truth. This is music that touches the heart in a way no other music ever has, or ever could."
John Zorn

"The effect of all those young voices singing 'Calling Occupants' is charming."
Richard Carpenter, The.Carpenters

"When I heard about the Langley Project, it seemed very interesting, but I did have the thought that it might sound like children singing off-key in a gym. The reality blew me away -- a haunting, evocative wall-of-sound experience that is affecting in an incredibly visceral way. What an Amazing Record!"
Fred Schneider, The.B-52s

"The Langley Schools Music Project is the celebration of passion over skill. They understand these songs better than the people that wrote them. This is real folk music."
Penn Jillette (Penn and Teller)

Well readers, the rest it’s up to you, a nice opportunity to hear the record of your entire life

Keep Listening!

Link in the comments

The Langley Schools Music Project-"Space Oddity"

Tom Robinson {UK} – North by Northwest [1982] @256 Very Good Art Pop, With a Little Help From Peter Gabriel.

If you are prejudiced about the 80’s music you should listen to this work with open ears.
Mr. Tom Robinson is a British bass player /singer and one of the most notorious artists from the so called New Wave movement that flourished in England after the Punk implosion around 1980.
He is be a good proof against the extended myth that states that “everything done during the early 80’s is crap”.
As many other acts at those troubled times Tom Robinson’s Band (or TBD, his first project) was very political oriented. Later he became involved in Gay Rights movement and wrote a hit titled “Glad to be Gay” which became an anthem for the British gay community.
Robinson also participated in several anti war organizations and played a role in other left wing and liberal political and environmentalist activities transforming himself in some kind of Political Gay Hero.
Anyway, beyond these issues he was a fine musician who knew how to craft great pop songs with an intense sensibility way beyond the usual Music Industry crappy productions of those years. He never fell into the cheesy techno abyss that swallowed so many bands at the time. One clear proof of his abilities is this album which contains a very nice collaboration with Peter Gabriel (also deeply involved in political and Charity activities at the time). That collaboration is the track “Atmospherics” which, I repeat is very nice, although not the best song of this very good album. North By North was produced by Richard Mazda who also played guitar and made all the studio wizardry.

Probably the most enjoyable element of the album is Robinson’s dark but very pleasant voice. It is a pity his career was so short. In 1985 he stopped performing music and started a new career as a Radio DJ for the BBC. He has been very successful. As a DJ he has been there for more than 20 years. I haven’t heard his show but it has been highly recommended as an excellent blend of old and new, mixed with very good interviews.
For all of you who might be interested, the name of the show is “Evening Sequence” on BBC RADIO 6 MUSIC, from Monday to Friday 7-10 PM UK Time.
If his radio show is as good as this album, I am afraid I’ll become addict to it.

Tom Robinson’s last surprise is that he quitted being gay, married a woman and now has a family. That resignation form homosexuality was well exploited by the never satisfied British gossip press. The Headlines on the Sunday People said: “Britain’s Number One gay in love with girl biker”

Isn’t life weird?

Weirdness is the salt of the earth.

Got Weird Too by Following the link in the comment section and…

Keep Listening…!!!

Tom Robinson -The Night Tide...

Henry Flynt-“Purified by fire”. [1981] 256 kbps; Henry Flynt and the Insurrections – “I don’t wanna”; [1966] @192 kbps-Heidegger as a Hillbilly

Ok this is a tuff one… Henry Flynt: philosopher, art activist, instigator… Musician.

Born in 1940 in Greensboro, North Carolina, this man got the best of 2 worlds: as an academic/artist he was member of Fluxus -art movement noted for the blending of different artistic disciplines, primarily visual art but also music and literature-, philosopher, friend of La Monte Young, Yoko Ono & John Cale -among other-, critic of modern conceptions about art and reality. As a North Carolina native/musician he was deeply interested in his musical roots plus an interest with non-conventional musical structures.

I'd like you to get an idea of this character’s uniqueness with the following story: Someday Velvet Underground’s John Cale got sick, so he asked Flynt -who’s mutual friend was LaMonte Young- to replace him as fiddler for a while. Cale’s request was accurate -Flynt wasn’t only a violin player but a connoisseur of VU droney violin structures- well, the day came when Henry meets Lou for an update about the band… quoting Flynt’s own words:

“Reed taught me their repertoire in about five minutes, because basically he just wanted me to be in the right key. At one point I got in a fight with him onstage because I was playing a very hillbilly-influenced style on the violin and that upset him very much. He wanted a very sophisticated sound; he didn’t want rural references in what was supposed to be this very decadent S&M image that they were projecting.”

The story didn’t end here, Flynt play with them for a while (“play” is a nice word that could be changed for “fight”, hehehe), and when the situation became hard, the band resolved that instead of gave him money as payment, they payed him with some guitar lessons by Reed Himself.

Now the lp’s:

Henry Flynt and the Insurrections-“I don’t Wanna”
Could be Flynt 60’s early “garage rock band”, but believe me, this aint a “garage rock band” as the traditional sense implies, don’t expect “We the People”, or “the Troggs” or Even “the Monks”. As usual, quoting my friends at Aquarius records: “…with The Insurrections (with Walter de Maria on drums, later famous for his Lightning Field sculpture in the New Mexican desert) Flynt plays guitar instead of fiddle. It's weird country bluesy drone protest rock as only an academic hillbilly Fluxus artist could conceive. The Velvets meet a jug band at an acid test? Not quite, but close.”

Henry Flynt- “Purified by Fire”
Again quoting Aquarius:
"Purified By Fire is much like a sequel to the much-loved Flynt album C-Tune. Like that album, Purified By Fire features Cathrine Christer Hennix on tamboura and Henry Flynt on amplified fiddle. Over the steady metallic drone of Hennix's tamboura Flynt weaves together Hindustani and Appalachian modes in a 40-minute improvisation. At the risk of over using a tired homily these really are two great tastes that taste great together. Bringing together the modal droniness of Appalachian folk music and classical Indian music in a completely unpretentious way"

Well Kids it’s time to know if you love or hate Mr. Flynt I’m certainly among the first ones, let me know which group you belongs.

Keep Listening!

Link in the comments

Henry Flynt & the Insurrections-go down
Henry Flynt & the Insurrections-jumping

Prof. Wolfff – “Prof. Wolf” [1972] @192 (Very Good and Very Rare Kraut Folk Psych) (Kindly Submitted by Guadalupe)

From time to time the Gods Of Music are good to me. This is one of those very fortunate moments. In this case They inspired that nice Mexican lady known as Guadalupe.com to send me this marvelous album.

I think that if I had seen this LP in any record store back in the 70's (yeah I was already alive then) I would have buy it anyway just because of the marvelous and enigmatic cover art.

The only think I know for sure is that out of pure luck buying this album wouldn’t have been a waste of money.

Prof. Wolfff is a very rare (and also well crafted) piece of early symphonic psych or proto–prog.

It seems that there’s not much information about this band. They only released this album which is a nicely balanced blend of early but not abusive psych, some subtle and beautiful folk arrangements, surprisingly well performed and way above average vocal harmonies (in german) and excellent instrumentation including the driving force of a dense but not intrusive Hammond Organ.

This album was recorded in Stuttgart in 1972 and edited a year later but the classic Kraut label Metronome.

Give it a try. I promised you won’t be disappointed.

This was the line up (notice the lack of bass!)

Klaus Peter Schweitzer – Guitar, Piano, VocalsRomi Schickle – Hammond OrganMondo Zech – VocalsFritz Herrmann – Guitar, Vocals, Harmonica

Porf Wolff is pure, delightful musical lycanthropy.


I believe that in Heaven it rains lp’s like this one.

Be well, and…

Keep Listening…!!!

You know where the links are…right?

PS: Gracias Guada….!

Post PS: This album was previously posted at http://tump.blogspot.com with a different bitrate. We didn't notice that at the time we posted it. The important thing is that you get it, from here or from there.

Prof. Wolfff - Das Zimmer...

Stephan Micus - Implosions [1977]@320 (world? jazz?)

This truely is a desert island disc to this contributor. It has been held a special place since I first heard it many years ago. One of an amazing collection of albums by the enigmatic Micus.

Unless you have heard him before, I can assure you that you have heard nothing like this before, mainly because his music comes from another place, literally.

Micus is a master of an ever increasing range of world instruments that he uses, not to play the music of the instruments origin, but rather to create something totally new. For example, the instrument he plays on the cover is a sho, a Japanese mouth pipe organ. The sounds he makes from it are truely modern. You can hear a little of it in the first sample.

Micus plays all the instruments, as he always does and overdubs to create his sonic pieces. He has been a long time artist for ECM Records, so the recording and production is second to none.

The centerpiece of this album is "As I Crossed The Bridge Of Dreams" and what a centrepiece it is. A long instrumental (all vocals are wordless things of beauty) which slowly builds to a beautiful climax and finale.

I cannot recommend this album too highly, it is an important and magnificant. Just listen.

For The Beautiful Chan
For M'schr And Djingi



Keep listening !!!

Exuma - Life [1973] @192 (bahamas folkpsyche)

Comming soon!!

Exuma - iko iko..
Exuma - Paint it black...




hello..hola..merhaba...my friends :)
would you like to join me for a small journey thru these sweet countries :) well i am off to work today..and i selected some treasures from the past..some friends of mine with me..playing instruments..sun shows its full power..drinking peach nectar..
i am now uploading samples for this bands..oh i am sure you will like them..some of them are really rare..some of them are well-known in their own country's..with my 8-10k upload speed..i try to upload all of them today..i think everybody happy with those mini players..by the way you should listen prognotfrog radio podcast the herbalist show now :) when the radio goes online i am sure..it will be no:1 online radio on the world..i talked much..i dont wanna let you wait much..uploading process started..let me try to find some useful information for the bands..see you later and take care all of you :)

Mantis - Turn Onto Music [1973] @192 (fiji hard rock)

Links in comments..


Mantis - Island Suite...
Mantis - You don't Love Me...

Kamijo - Martha [1971] (japanese rock)

this album must not be that rare and need to be listened..here is a copy paste from a recording company: since this record appeared in hans pokoras 3001 book most collectors (including those in japan) were searching for this album with no luck. so now its the time to solve another mystery. beside the other unknown album shown in the same book '3/3' (who will be also out next year on shadoks) martha is the one everybody was talking about. what is it, somebody seen it, it must be so rare, is it any good? this album came to us in a big deal (the guy who owned it wanted $7000 cash for it). martha is the first of three albums composed by the japanese artist kamijo. the other two are tomo (also incredibly rare) and tomoaki kamijo kk band -- dear my friend (pretty too). but martha is the best of them all. all english vocals, lots of fuzz guitar, percussion, piano and great vocals. an underground-rock album with folky elements and a west coast touch. kamijo is the mick stevens of japan. ...you need a gun...i need a son.. five musicians, 10 great songs... (ps: if you have some more info you are very welcome to share them in comments) Keep Listening!

Kamijo - Turn Off The Light....
Kamijo - You Need A Gun.......

Links in comments..

Asin - Himig Ng Pag-Ibig [1979] @320 (philippines folkrock)

"Now, more than ever, the message of peace must spread throughout the country and the whole world. And one of the best ways to reach out is through music. Music that uplifts the spirit, music that challenges the mind, music that simply says, “We are here, let us communicate our dreams, our aspirations, our sentiments, and our hope for a peaceful land. Let us all work together to attain it.” This is the music of ASIN. Ito ang HIMIG NG KAPAYAPAAN. Ito ang HIMIG NG PAG-IBIG ng ASIN"

Keep Listening!!

(this paragraph was taken from Asin's website)
you can visit their site here: http://www.asinpilipinas.com/

Asin - Sandaklot...
Asin - Balita.........

Links in comments..

Bwana - Bwana [1970] @256 (nicaraguan funky jazzrock)

Unfortunately i couldnt reach a good information from net. You are very welcome to share your knowledge/links in comments..i can also add them to here..This energic band from columbia must not be missed..i am sure most of you will like that band..not only a few tracks, all tracks at the album is awesomme..Let you listen the samples and let you decide yourself :) drums awesomee..vocals awesomme..integrity of instruments awesomee..what to say more?

Keep listening!!




Bwana - Tema De Bwana...
Bwana - Motemba............

Links in comments..

PS. By coincidence this album was posted almost at the same time by our friend Garcolga from 8daysinapril.

Pererin - Haul Ar Yr Eira [1980] @256 (welsh folkrock)

Our musical journey starts from uk. today we will go to columbia,philippines,japan,fiji and we will stay at bahamas for a few days :) first i listened that album maybe 5 years ago,and i must say it is still in the same taste. for a few days ago i found a great quality version of this album (mine ripped from a normal condition vinyl i think) and that reminds me to post and share this album with prognotfrog fans :) Pererin is one of the noticible band from the past. a lady with a great voice sings the songs with traditional instruments at the background that implemented to rock form. nowadays most of the albums stands for 1 good song and crap others. well when you get the album you will notice every song is unique and delicous..in a review it says it was released in 1980, and is sung in the Welsh language by both male and female singers, featuring many Celtic influences and adding some great electric lead guitar, as well as flute and violin work. An unsung classic in the folk-rock genre..Keep Listening!

pererin - llongau caernarfon.....
pererin - ni welaf yr haf...........

Links in comments...

Hair - The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical (first lp 1968)

Hello my friends! is there something more to say about hair? well yes, this is the first lp! not the 69' one nor the soundtrack version. so what makes hair that popular? only the reasons; thats because it is a broadway musical & have a good movie? well i think a lot more than that. that album translated in many languages (spanish,french,german...), some artists covered the songs, some djs used the album material as samples,lyrics of the songs used in many propagandas..somehow some of my aged hippie friends (i dont like the sentence: i was a hippie in 60's instead i am a hippie way better :) ) dont like hair. i am a 90's guy honestly i dont like the projects/movies/musicals which aimed to tell the lifestyle of youths of 90's. so i can understand why some hippies dont like hair. finally i wanna say: we need that kind of albums,lyrics more than usual..world goes crazy..and better to believe oneday we fix all problems one by one all together :) vinyl ripped by one of my precious friend: Borlando.

i got life.....

hair............................

the flesh failures (let the sun shine in)....
Keep Listening!! Peace :) Links in comments..

(PS: world will be in aquarius age after 2010s..mebbe unbelieveble amazing 1000 years waiting all of us.. ;) )

Back Door - 8th Street Nites [1973 ] @ 224-320 (more British jazz blues rock)

I have already posted one Back Door album and as that was well received, it made sense to add another.
By the time the band recorded the second album, they had come from obscurity with the first self recorded album to acclaim and real interest. There was a buzz, particularly with Colin Hodgkinson's brilliant bass playing
Fortunately, for this second album, they resisted the temptation to overproduce, noting that they were now in a studio with a budget and producer.


The raw essence of the band remained intact, as the sample "Linin' Track", demonstrates perfectly.

I provided comments about the band in my earlier post, so just enjoy this second helping of blues with jazz overtones.

Linin' Track

Also check out the earlier Back Door post on this blog at:

http://prognotfrog.blogspot.com/2006/06/back-door-back-door-1972-var-btr.html

Link in comments

Keep listening !!!

Prog Not Frog Radio Presents The Voice of The Moon # 004 With The Herbalist (Another Collection of Great Music Followed By Comments by You-Know-Who)

Here we go again.
As you know, in The Voice of The Moon, we play music that we will never post in ProgNotFrog sites for a variety of reasons, although we think it must be made known by all of you.

The Voice of The Moon is still in an experimental stage and we're doing efforts to make every new chapter better.

It is also the first step of ProgNotFrog Radio, a project we will be developing in the next few months.

Thanks to all the people who have commented the previous shows.

This week we'll start by appreciating some artists that belong to the Americana movement (16 Horsepower, some rare Sufjan Stevesn songs) then we'll jump to France (with the exquisite Jorane), Norway (guided by Ketil Bjornstad), Germany (to be psyched out by Fit & Limo and finnally we'll end in England with Michael Brook and Sir Robert Wyatt (What? Haven't them named him Sir yet...?).

But that's not all, there other surprises in this new Voice of The Moon broadcast that mixes the Sublime (Ostrich Janota) with the Cruel (Nick Cave), The Modern (Millenium) and the Antique (Garmarna).

I blend my elixirs and infusions, just for you. Enjoy them and...


Keep Listening...!!!


Follow The Voice Here.

Abstract Truth - "Silver Trees" [1969] @320kbps South African Well Crafted Prog Musical Toy Box.

Days Ago a friend of mine gave me the Abstract Truth “Silver Trees” lp with the usual…

“C’mon man, this aint soft rock!, you only heard it once… and you were completely drunk”

“Yeah right… the same you told me with the Bee Gees…” (MENTAL NOTE: 1st and 2nd BeeGees albums are AWESOME, don't miss them!)

-“No way man,! –mmmmm- believe me it’s kinda a South African Big Star + Belle & Sebastian + Lots Sax & Flutes”

“Ok, I was drunked that time, but right now you are totally stoned...”

Finally I agreed, so, when I arrived home, after dinner & take a shower, I put the lp on my Thorens TD-145 while sat on my bed, start reading a novel and giving that lp the benefit of the doubt, shortly I began to put more attention to the lp than to the novel…

Surprisingly I noticed myself that Abstract Truth’s 2nd certainly is an unpredictable experiment!, Jazzy at moments (In a Space), truly avant-garde (Silver Trees) or Beautifully folksy (Moving away), indeed a truly well crafted musical piece, not to be missed.
After some readings, I realized that Abstract Truth -alongside Freedom’s Children- got a well-deserved place in the South African Rock history.

I have become a great fan of this band, got their other lp (totum) and my friend is still begging, trying to recover his lp… now, he’s gotta be drunk!

Keep Listening

Abstract Truth-in a space

Links in Comments

Goblin – “Il fantastico Viaggio del ‘Bagarozzo’ Mark” [1978] @256 (Excellent Italian Prog)

Goblin was a high quality prog band from Italy, although they were better know for being the composers and performers of the soundtracks of horror films, notably those directed by the extravagant blood-spilling dilettante Dario Argento.
Their work for bloody masterpieces like “Deep Red” or “Suspiria”, is incredibly effective. No one can doubt that Goblin’s keyboardist Claudio Simonetti achieved with his scores a sense of dread and ominous threat that was enough to create a whole new style that was coined by Spanish psychologist Rafael Llopis as “Horrorrock”
That doesn’t mean that Goblin’s music is pure sonic terrorism or cacophonic noise. On the contrary, it can be extremely harmonic and delicate (which makes things even scarier and weirder).
Goblin’s scores are plagued and parasited with mysterious and arcane music boxes, the tick-tock of the soft and viscous steps of a killer marked with the bass one by one, the muted but horrendous laughs of mechanical clowns, faint beyond the grave whispers…. and the list of suggested fears goes on and on, and on…
The real value of Goblin’s music comes from the fact that they needed to “imagine” the music for the film situation. So they had to create incidental background with a rock ensemble, thus expanding the possibilities of the typical bass, guitar, keyboards & drums combo. Before them film scores in italy belonged to the orchestral spectrum. Argento had the vision to use rock. It worked horrendously well.

One could think that with keyboards those possibilities of sound are limitless but Claudio Simonetti was never a keyboard abuser. (Like Wakeman or Emerson were at some point). For him the keyboards were just another colour in the whole painting. His organ playing would have pleased Vicent Price and Boris Karloff very much.

Due to the need of creating an abstract canvas on which the scenes were drawn, Goblin’s music is quite different from the rest of the Italian prog ensembles. I believe that Goblin sound can stand the flow of time much better than many other bands of the 70’s. They were, thus, ahead of its time.

Beyond the horror scores Goblin released two simple prog rock albums. One is “Roller” another good exercise in the psychology of musical fears. And the other is this one “Il fantastico Viaggio del ‘Bagarozzo’ Mark” which is Goblin’s conceptual album of sorts.
The story told here is the recovery of a drug addict and his painfuil rehabilitation process. It was written by Massimo Morante, singer and guitar player of the band.

It is topld in the form of an initiation trip for the “Bagarozzo” Mark, the guy embarked in a long and painful travel to save his soul and body from the deceptive embrace of chemical pleasure. Isn’t that scary enough?

Save yourself too and…

Keep Listening…!!!

Don't ask for links. You know where they are.

Goblin - La Danza...