Bahamas - Le voyageur immobile (Fra 76)

I almost want to feature this just because of the cover. As I've said before these 70s albums are always worth checking out for their cover art-- the ingenuity and artistry that went into them is astounding. Nothing like today's stuff, although the alternative records from the 90s really came close with a very fresh spirit towards art. Here we have a beautiful homage to Rene Magritte, complementing the album's title.
A bit like countrymen Ocean's hard rock style with prog, on the dial going from jazz to rock to prog to chamber, it's a bit on the right side of the rock setting. The songwriting here is really masterful and interesting, sometimes achieving pop rock greatness with the basic rock quartet of bass drums guitar and piano, some really inventive guitar melodies are woven together with bashed out piano chords. Eerie synth figures occasionally make an appearance, but those are very lightly used unlike the traditional french sympho-prog.

The second song is the prog masterpiece, starting with an eerie scale on top of the classic augmented fourth that is so essential to this genre, it passes on to a more traditional rock composition soon enough but without leaving the progressive roots. The third song painfully reminds me of 10cc's big hit "I'm not in love," which because it came out in 1975, predates this album by a year. Same sustained major chord moving into its minor counterpart with long background curtains of vocals throughout. By mentioning this I hope I don't ruin it for anyone. Could be a coincidence, but 10cc's hit was a number one I think-- hold on, I'm probably wrong about that, please no comments.
Really enjoyable album with enough progressive to keep us happy, very much indebted to mid-70s rock-pop, sadly and unfairly forgotten. These are the songs that should be played on your local AM radio station, not more led zeppelin and "I've got a brand new pair of rollerskates". No tracklist, I apologize.

Motel...

Vindharpen - Rejsen til Yenan (Denmark, 1975)

Antoine de St Exupery disappeared on a night flight over Africa in the second world war, presumably shot down in the desert. This is what makes it so ironic that he is best known for "Le petit prince" the greatest of all children's books, in which the prince dies in the desert to return to his home planet. The work is great because it can be read on so many levels. On the one hand it's clearly a hallucination, on the other it's a fable about a homesick space-traveling child, mainly it's about the overwhelming sadness of losing your childhood in the world of adults. It's odd that no other artist (to my knowledge) has used the story for a concept album, but here we have one from Denmark. Curiously absent is the planetary or sci-fi angle. Instead we get a very varied instrumentation with some accordeon, fiddles, a lot of basic acoustic stuff, piano, guitar, flute, plus sitars, mandolins.

It starts strong with a gentle intro leading into hard and fast piano with xylophones, congas, some synthesizer in a subtle use. Some songs evoke the bazaars of north africa, which never really make an appearance in the book, maybe this belongs to the hollywood version of the story. But there are very delicate acoustic folk ballads, with the melancholy so typical of northern european music, which reflect the sadness of the book. The overall quality is similar to Camel but slightly less sophisticated and smooth and with a middle eastern vibe.

Aasteroide b612...

Sensazioni - "Doctor Faust Suite" {Italy} [1981]

It amazes me that there are still true progressive gems out there to be shared, not yet released to cd, not well known. I wonder just how bottomless the pit is, of 70s albums in this genre, or when we will finally start scraping the bottom of that barrel. One thing I do know is we're close to the end when it comes to St Pierre et Miquelon progressive bands.

Regarding Italy, here is a true late progressive treasure which to my knowledge is not out generally for the fans. It is mostly memorable for a fantastic side-long track, which recounts the famous story of Dr. Faust in symphonic style, beautiful arrangements with string synths, guitars and piano, a dark atmosphere, reminiscent of masters Banco in the way the themes are worked and redeveloped throughout. Starting out with three notes of a minor scale then an augmented fourth, very atmospherically it moves into some mysterious sounds, some piano invention, then some sung passages... A gritty uptempo end part full of minor seconds harkens back to the energy of Banco's Darwinian album. How odd, to hear this true-blue prog in 1981 Italia! I guess this band exchanged their afterlife in posterity for the ability to write great music -- exactly the opposite of most pop bands. Their curse was to write advanced music no one would like, at least no one but maybe a couple thousand in a population of almost 7 billion now.
A couple of tracks are poppish or discoish in a way that reminds me of Il Volo's albums, still some progressive elements pull us fans back from the edge of nausea, well, maybe some of you will require antiemetics on the third track. A fourth track of reflections of autumn really hits the spot in good songwriting. The last track incorporating some 80s beats makes me feel sad since the band was really trying to come up with a single style of radio-friendly unit style-shifting song.
Fabulous side-long though all in all makes this worth a listen or twenty.

Doctor Faust Suite...

Xalph Demos 1975-1980

Touchdown. We've landed on planet zeuhl.
Volcanic bass erupts in repetitive lava flows and atmospheric drones swirl in the dark and methaned scratchy air.
A dim dark sun, pregnant with red hydrogen, casts for radioactive nuclei in the brass rocks that pump up a strange and discordant, disharmonious wind, full of unfamiliar dreams and memories... Snatches of keys and chords break through the magmatic surface of this cratered planet, continental drift passes in fast-forward, thundering through hurricanes to a smashing closing... Far, far in the future, where we travel the galaxy clusters and walls and voids of deep space to eerie planets of ghostly life, gloriously insane, S. J. Gould Wonderful Life, our starship powered by the amplification of bass, drums and guitars, we discover a sonic boom that makes our long, long hair trail in the solar wind and cosmic rays...

An unknown masterpiece of this french style, released only on cassette, I think this should be ranked and evaluated next to the other musical masterpieces of the 20th century like The Rite of Spring or Prokofieff's ballets, studied in music schools and conservatories, the compositional quality is not inferior in any way. I hope I'm not the only one who will hold this opinion...
Actually the music is not as dissonantly difficult as Yog or Yochk'o or Shub, more similar to early Abus or later Eider.

One track from this band appeared on the zeuhl compilation "Enneade". I find it odd that musea has not rereleased this yet to CD. Tracklist is as follows, the rip here is continuous from the cassette:

01 - Gya Tei 1-2
02 - Exorde
03 - Morceau D'hommage
04 - Mi
05 - Ballade A Xalph
06 - Passage Du Peuple Joyeaux
07 - Ter
08 - Xessamdereleph
09 - Migrations
10 - Entree
11 - Suite A L'Entree

Xalph Demos...

Musikpatruljen - "Musikpatruljen" {Denmark} [1972]

Danish hippieband featuring Nils Skousen, Tömerclaus and Björn Ugleberg (orignal drummer of GASOLIN) with freaking rocking hippie musik ranging from more guitar dominated songs to more jazzy flower power tunes. Songs like "Stenlöse" just never dies..

01 Den fremmede 6:26
02 Du kan enten være ligeglad 3:25
03 Stenløse 4:40
04 Far far krigsmand 3:35
05 Eec 1:18
06 Bondens klage 7:30
07 Jeg tænkte 1:50
08 Når livet ta'r afsted 4:50
09 Skoven 4:30
10 Motorvejen 2:35

- Peter Ingemann (bass, vocals, violin)
- Tømrerclaus (guitar)
- Niels Skousen (guitar, vocals)
- Stig Møller (guitar, vocals)
- Knud Bjørnø Jensen (saxophone, flute)
- Bjørn Uglebjerg (drums)

Den fremmede...
Stenløse...

Link in comments...

Orphée (St. Pierre et Miquelon) - Venant du même rocher 1978

The Territorial Collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon is a group of islands in the North Atlantic as close as ten kilometres to the Canadian island and province of Newfoundland. It is the only remnant of the old north american french colonies that still belongs to France, an accident of history a bit like the Falkland islands. There have been many groups called Orpheus or similar in the history of music but none have been as undeservedly rare as this one.

A typical product of seventies progressive rock with a very sunny bright sound, it reminds me of australian Pirana or canadians Ungava, it has a kind of California sound perhaps to make up for the coldness of the origins, like an antidepressant-treated Dionysos. It is very likely they were the only prog band on St. Pierre et Miquelon. I think I would put a lot of money on that, or at least the cost of this vinyl.

The title of the album means "Coming from the same rock" and all the songs appear to be connected to the history of the islands, having to do with the explorers who crossed the oceans. The quality of the songwriting is what makes this album so unfairly forgotten. Several tracks use double guitar riffs a la Allman, all are upbeat, singable, enjoyable. Wouldn't it have been great to dance to this music in the days of disco? OK maybe not, but our headphones can still dance to it.

The lines on the cover say:

One day St. Pierre will be
One day Miquelon will be
One day our islands will be
One day our cities will be

Link follows a random number of comments, thanks to the guy who asked where the link was after ten seconds
Le reve nature...

Gallery - "Gallery" {Germany} [1981]

Gallery is ecm 1206. It has never been released to cd. Why is this? Does the world really need another box set of Ella's greatest hits? If there are indeed some of you out there who have yet to buy one, please do so quickly, so the music industry can get to the lost ecm treasures like this one, by far my most wished-for cd rerelease (altho by now I've listened to it so many times I would never actually play the cd if I bought it...)

The first song is the most apt musical description of a bird in flight I've ever heard. A vibraphone (Dave Samuels) repeats a broken chord of F minor and cello and oboe take over melody, with that classic ecm sound of slow musical patterns soaring over a 16th note beat, slow over fast (Michael DiPasqua, percussion, Ratzo Harris, bass). The use of cello (David Darling) creates a plaintive sound throughout the album. Frequent modulations are the 'key' to this song, every phrase is succeeded by a change into another unrelated minor key, exactly the kind of unexpectedness that makes good jazz or prog so intellectually recharging.

The second song "Prelude" sounds like a Chick Corea composition as in his children's pieces but quite classical influenced being played by cello with vibes accompaniment. "Painting" consists of maddeningly complex chords gradually transfiguring into one another, like a roomful of Rothkos maybe. In "Pale Sun" a soprano sax dialogues with the cello evoking those old sci-fi paintings of white dwarfs sunrising over cold dead planets. "Egret" returns to the ornithological exposition, cello melody, flightlike song structure. When I hear these albums it saddens me to think someone spent so much time writing these elaborate compositions, probably months committing them to paper, after likely years of musical training, only to be lost to the fourth dimension. I would like to live to hear these musical works being performed at the local symphony hall by a chamber group. Well, obviously that's a crazy dream.

There is not a single throwaway song. The cohesiveness of the composition and style are remarkable. One must mention the cover art as well, a very beautiful image, almost a cartoon in black and white on a greying page: a yellow clothed figure running away in the left upper quadrant appears to be watched by a quartet of shadows in the foreground and a streetlight, like a nineteen seventies Georgio di Chirico, enigma of the late dusk. A mysterious quatrain is handwritten below the image.

Egret...

S.O.S 1975

For my first post I would like to give you a very original and unusual album that has really entranced me.

SOS is:
John Surman (baritone & soprano saxes, bass clarinet, synths), Mike Osborne (alto sax, percussion), Alan Skidmore (tenor sax, drums, percussion).

Like a british Urban Sax or Budi and Gumbls, this constitutes a trio of saxes that performs jazzy prog with some really interesting and varied compositions. Well worth checking out, not only for the jazz fan, but for any progressive interested person or educated musical individual. This kind of experimentation of course was very much a part of the late seventies. Though often imitated nowadays, the mastery of all three different streams-- rock, jazz, classical-- is something that is difficult to find in current music.

from http://nostudium.blogspot.com/2004_04_01_nostudium_archive.html:
Before WSQ or Rova, there was SOS, one of the most startlingly original and certainly one of the most popular acts to appear on Ogun. Surman, Osborne and Skidmore had long since contrived to work together in each other’s respective musical environments, and when hired for big bands (Brotherhood, Westbrook, Gibbs) they always came as a unit. They worked brilliantly and naturally together.

While much of this album is naturally given over to ruminations and explosions by the three saxophones – as tender as Ellington on “Where’s Junior?” – Surman also uses liberal doses of his then new electronica, and Skidmore takes a rare turn behind the drumkit, such that the awesome “Goliath” virtually invents prog-improv, Osborne’s alto howling over Surman’s stately synth chords, like ELP, only good. And the closing, lengthy “Calypso” investigates an area of candidly troubled electronic music which would not be properly followed up until Autechre two decades later.

Please enjoy this magnificent 'lost' (no longer) album. Oh, and please-- check out their hair, on the cover.

Where's Junior...

4 years with PrOgNoTfRoG! ,)

a piece of cake 
for the musician friends that we love and reviewed,
a piece for the folks at prognotfrog,
and a piece of cake for you!

Acyutananda Swami - "India: Songs of the Bengali Vaisnavas" {Bengal, India} [1970] hare krishna/bhajan

vinyl-rip at 320 k/Bits. Propably recorded around 1970. Following informations are taken from the LP. Acyutananda Swami is an American sannyasi, who left his homeland at the age of 16 years and has been living in India since the last 10 years studying the spiritual culture and music of India. He is world renowned for his masterful singing of Bengali Vaisnava folk songs and playing on mrdanga (clay drum, unique to Bengal). The recordings on this LP were taken in Mayapura, India, and we beg the listeners to excuse the obvious shortcomings due to circumstances beyond our control. This record has been produced especially with the idea of helping the needy people of Bengal by sending the profits above the cost of actual production to our international center in Mayapura, India (Bengal), where thousands of people are fed each day from contributions coming through the sales of this record. Give generously.

1. Gaya Gour 5:09
2. Radha Govinda 4:55
3. Jasomati Nandana 5:10
4. Kesava Kali Mala 5:21
5. Manasha Deha Geha 6:12
6. Nama Sankirtana 7:09
7. Gopinatha 7:55

play track 4 "Kesava Kali Mala":

Tirogo – "Float" {Nigeria} [1977] afro psych/blues

tirogo is another great sample of lost african psychedelic music. it was recorded in nigeria in 1977 and originally released on emi, same as the great album blo – chapter one. this nigerian rock-psych band tirogo is similar to bands such as ofege, blo, founders 15, doves, and aktion. great african songs covered with wild guitar solos, spooky organ, great beats and strong vocals. 4 guys on the cover / 6 were actually in the band looking pretty young. it is getting harder and harder to find lost african bands since there is a big rave in the international music scene to hunt for good material. with the massive help of collectors and now again records in the usa, who actually went to nigeria to sign the boys, we are able to present this amazing album to you. it will suit the same music lovers who like amanaz, the witch, question mark and blo… read more.

TiRoGo...

Psico – Al’s/Epitáfio {Portugal} [1978] (Single)

Psico ou as vicissitudes de um grupo rock em Portugal
A formação dos Psico tem algo de romanesco: os Espaciais, do Porto, tinham participado no I Concurso Académico de Música Moderna, em 1968, mas insatisfeitos com a pontuação obtida, resolvem concorrer de novo com outra designação. Surgem assim os Psico, que alcançam a vitória desejada, mas que acabam também por trazer a dissolução do primeiro grupo, que veria publicado nesse ano o seu último disco - O Circo / When I'm Sixty-Four / Dies Irae / Take Me Back, Back, Back. Em 1970, com José Calvário como teclista do grupo ainda e sempre liderado por Toni Moura, os Psico anunciam a edição de um EP que aparentemente nunca se veio a concretizar. Um ano depois, apresentam-se ao vivo no Festival de Vilar de Mouros, mas no segundo concerto que dão, a 8 de Agosto, vêem-se impossibilitados de subir ao palco na hora estabelecida devido a um dos músicos não estar presente.
Ao longo do resto da década de 1970, os Psico acolheram músicos como António Garcez (voz, futuro Arte & Ofício e Roxigénio), Fernando Nascimento (guitarra, ex-Grupo 5 e futuro Arte & Ofício), Álvaro Marques (bateria, futuro Jafumega), Sérgio Castro (guitarra, futuro Arte & Ofício). Em 1977, e após a morte do baixista Gino Guerreiro, o grupo é constituído por Toni Moura (guitarra), Filipe Mendes (guitarra baixo), Zé Carlos Almeida (teclas) e Álvaro Marques (bateria). Apresentam-se ao vivo no Teatro Sá da Bandeira, no Porto, com o espectáculo cénico Epitáfio Sinfónico (que dedicam à memória do companheiro desaparecido), e no ano seguinte vêem finalmente publicado aquele que é o único disco conhecido do grupo. Trata-se de um single com as composições Al's e Epitáfio (excerto da obra anteriormente referida), um trabalho em que ficou bem patente a versatilidade e a técnica musical dos Psico. Infelizmente, apenas o primeiro destes temas conheceu reedição em suporte digital, através da compilação Biografia do Pop/Rock. http://bissaide.blogspot.com/2006/03/psico-ou-as-vicissitudes-de-um-grupo.html

01 - Al's...
02 - Epitáfio...

Link in commments...

Finn Olafsson - "Savannah" {Denmark} [1976]

Danish guitarist & producer Finn Olafsson is an expert on acoustic steel-string guitars. He began his career in 1968 as co-founder of the legendary rock band Ache - a band that became known all over Europe.
Around 1970, Finn Olafssson started working with acoustic guitars, first with Ache and later as a sideman for many prominent Danish artists.
Finn is featured on well over 150 Scandinavian releases.
But it is with his solo albums and his concerts and duo records with Anders Roland that his guitar artistry is most profoundly expressed. more

05 Inclination...
07 In the Countryside...

link in comments...

Massimo Giuntoli & Roberto Meroni - "Diabolik e i Sette Nani" {Italy} [1980]

At Italianprog site it says; "A very rare album with an odd title by this duo, often described as Canterbury-inspired. The album includes all-instrumental music, a sort of contemporary classical music built on piano and clarinet interplay." Duo members are Massimo Giuntoli on piano and Roberto Meroni on clarinet and sax. melancholic, mystic, weird and rich free form classical music.

I Rac. di Canterbury..

Percewood's Onagram - "Tropical Brainforest" {Germany} [1972]

Percewood's Onagram, a band of German and American musicians was founded by singer, guitarist & songwriter Michels in a small, grey industrial city in North-Germany in 1969.- At that time nearly all German bands were just playing the English and American charts up and down, only copying their originals. Only a handful of German bands were just starting to experiment and trying to find their own styles - mainly electronical music, later described as "Kraut-Rock" (more an insult than a striking describtion or label), such as Amon Düül, Kraftwerk, Can, Tangerine Dream ...
more http://www.percewoods-onagram.de/biography.html

01 - Doing It
02 - Tropical Brainforest
03 - Who's the Sailor
04 - Creature Called Man
05 - The Car Crash
06 - That Singer Is Right
07 - Grey Sunday
08 - It's All Over
09 - Chicago

02 - Tropical Brainforest...
04 - Creature Called Man...
08 - It's All Over...

Link in comments...

Steinwolke - "Steinwolke" {Germany} [1979]

Die Band wurde von drei Mitgliedern der kinderreichen Familie Haas gegründet: Clemens Maria (* 6. Mai 1960), Konrad und Andreas, dazu stießen der in Uganda geborene Inder und Adoptivsohn der Haas-Familie Dominik Diaz sowie Uli Schmid (* 1952 in Leonberg). 1983 erschien die erste deutschsprachige LP der Band mit dem Hit Katharine, Katharine. Er erreichte als Single-Auskopplung Platz 21 der deutschen Charts und hielt sich insgesamt 18 Wochen in der Hitparade. Diesem Erfolg lief Steinwolke danach weitestgehend hinterher; zumindest Zugvögel und Wenn du willst hatten aber durch hohe Positionen in den Radiocharts noch einigen Erfolg. more... http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steinwolke

Info in English welcome :)

A1 Walda Lady
A2 Wüstentanz
A3 White Goats
A4 Eagle's Wings
A5 Morgens Um Drei
B1 Lied Für Ulli
B2 Pepe Im Urwald
B3 Kaspar Hauser
B4 Tecumseh's Wife
B5 Kuckuck

- Andreas Haas - Bass
- Konrad Haas - Flute, Sax
- Clemens Haas - Vocals, Guitar
- Dominigos Diaz - Percussion, Congas, Vocals
- Uli Schmid - Piano

A3 White Goats...
B2 Pepe Im Urwald...

Thanks to Tristan ;)

Link in comments...

Mehmet Ozan - "Istanbul Express" {Denmark} [1979] turkish folk jazz/fusion

Like Okay Temiz, Mehmet Ozan also built his music career outside of Turkey. As far as i know he was member of several great bands such as Balkan, Bazaar and worked with several musicians like Anders Koppel, Alex Riel, Mads Vinding who are also premier jazz musicians of Denmark today. The album name, Istanbul Express, later become the name of the band. Under the name Istanbul Express they did two more albums. This is their first. Sound of the album is between Okay Temiz's works and early Moğollar. Various Music styles such as Brasilian samba, forró; Caucassian lezginka mixed with traditional turkish folk fusion added a nice colorful mood to the songs. A hidden gem for the lovers of east meets with west works.

iStanBuL eXpReSS..
uRfA..

Mercury Magic - "Mercury Magic" {USA} [1980] progressive rock

vocal driven soft prog released at 1980, unfortunetly i couldnt find any information. some songs on this album has very nice mood, lyrics are about love and social issues. i like the coverart. this is an album with some songs that fits perfect for 14feb. ;-)


5th. tRack..

Y.Poulopoulos, Maria Douraki & Y.Thomopoulos - "Maria" {Greece} [1970]

Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Nikos Skembris.

Songs of M.Violaris & Maria Douraki.

Lyrics: Dionyssis Tzefronis

More info welcome

A3. Death's Bitter Breath...
A6. Pursued Dream...

Link in comments...

Head - "Red Dwarf & Blackpool Cool" {UK} [1975-77] prog jazz/fusion

for a few days i am amazing myself listening this band over and over again. last time i was that happier to listen a similar sounding band was the day i listened Probe 10. think of early king crimson albums with more jazzier sound and more sharp edges. some information about the band that i found; "Sometimes known as "the haggis of fusion jazz bands," Head was a small combo active in Glasgow in the '70s. The rhythm section of drummer Billy Kyle and bassist Graham Mince were consistent factors in the three albums released by the group over a fiveyear period, as was the presence of multiinstrumentalist John Davies, who doubled on keyboards and trumpet. Other members of the group changed from album to album, guitarist Charles Alexander drifting away to be replaced by Lachlan McColl, saxophonist Gordon Cruickshank taking up where previous honker Howard Copland had left off. Selfdetermination, an important concept in documenting improvised during the '70s, was vital to the Head liturgy. The group's debut releaseentitled GTF in reference to a crude Scottish way of suggesting someone should depart quicklywas released through SRT, basically a vanity consortium. The band started up its own label, Head records, for its final and most commercial production, Blackpool Cool. This Head should not be confused with other bands that use this name such as a more recent outfit fronted by Gareth Sager..." read more here. a hidden gem!

eaRthsonG SuiTe..
KicK Me quicK..
White GiAnT..


thanks to osurec & tristan.

Zoppo Trump - "Zoppo Trump" {Germany} [1971-76]

The progressive band from Dortmund was only known for their two tracks on the LP "Scena Westphalica". On the CD there are in addition seven hitherto unreleased studio recordings.

Zoppo Trump from Dortmund are known in collectors’ circles only for the sampler LP “Scena Westphalica” (Förderturm Records UP I/76), on which they are represented with their highly praised pieces “Wellengang” and “Fluktuation”. In addition to these tracks, the CD contains another seven tracks of a perfect sound which had been studio recordings and had not been released until then. Style: progressive rock slightly influenced by jazz and classical music, however mostly without any wind instruments. There was a sporadic use of the Mellotron and English vocals. Comparable to Streetmark. Udo Preising had come from Electric Mud. Nicky Gebhard later joined Wallenstein, and Martin Buschmann, son of the well-known jazz- musician Rainer Glen Buschmann, joined Cochise. For some time, by the way, Dieter Gorny was on bass for Zoppo Trump. There are, however, no recordings from this period of their band history. http://www.diregarden.com/god154.html

01 Man of Peace (1971)
02 Queen of War (1971)
03 Get Out of the Fixer Circle (1972)
04 Confusion (1972)
05 From my Window (1972)
06 Six of Eight (1972)
07 Dream of Hope (1972)
08 Wellengang (1976)
09 Fluktuation (1976)

- Ferdi Eberth (voc, g, sax, org)
- Ulrich Beck (g)
- Martin Buschmann (p, org, Mellotron, alto sax)
- Thomas Laleicke (b, backing voc)
- Udo Preising (b)
- Nicky Gebhard (dr, perc)
- Wolfgang Hahn (dr)

02 Queen of War...
03 Get Out of the Fixer Circle...

Link in comments...

Yggdrasil - "Yggdrasil" {Germany} [1972]

From Munich. With violin and flutes. Their only LP was recorded in the summer of 1972 but only 10 copies of the metal acetate were made. From a first-grade copy of the master tape

Yggdrasil from Munich named themselves after the world ash or yew tree of the Germanic tribes and played progressive rock of a calmer nature, with flute, violin, and English lyrics. They are hardly known, as their own LP, recorded in the Robert Meilhaus Studio, didn’t get beyond the so-called metal acetate, a pre-state which can be played. In summer 1972, only 10 copies were produced by Meilton; they have never appeared in collector circles. These records could probably be sold for a four-digit amount today. The CD contains the five LP tracks plus eight instrumentals from 1970, then soundtrack to the TV series “Sommer in Sizilien” [Summer in Sicily], as well as five demo tracks recorded in the rehearsal room. Fortunately, there was still a copy of the LP master tape. http://www.diregarden.com/god153.html

- Walter Waidosch (vl, rec, b)

- Peter Jakob (fl)

- Werner Vill (voc)

- Fred Beck (g, fl)

- Uli Kellner (g, b)

- Reinhold Fries (dr)

01 Something on My Mind...
02 Birds Still Flyin’ in the Rain...
03 Mothers and Seeds...
15 A Long Distance Call...

Link in comments...

Mozzarella - "2 - For Export" {Ecuador} [1983]

Mozzarella , banda de rock de fines de los setentas y comienzos de los ochentas radicada en Quito, Ecuador.Los inicios ... Despues de un poco deambular por la pequeña escena rockera setentera del Ecuador se reunen, saliendo de pequeñas bandas, los miembros originales que son Oswaldo Valencia ( batería), Andres Jarrín (guitarra), Antonio Alarcón (guitarra) y Wellington Flores (bajo), con los que se forma el grupo llamado "Hechizo Fuxia", grupo que experimenta por primera vez composiciones propias como son "El Puente" y una canción inédita que recibe el nombre de Mozzarella, jamas impresa en discos, y referida a cierto delicia culinaria preferida por los músicos de esa época... more... http://www.myspace.com/mozzarella81

first album "in vitro"

alpha centauro...
opus 69 (part I)...

Link in comments...

Magic Spell - "Is There Anywhere a Gas Station?" {Switzerland} [1980] kraut/progressive rock

after isabel's nice post from switzerland, let we continue from switzerland with another mysterious band, magic spell. unfortunately there is no information about the band other than the back cover, one german review i found at net indicates the sound is pretty much similar to eloy. i like the atmosphere and the psychedelic feel of the album. any informations welcome. a hidden treasure for cosmic kraut lovers. enjoy!

Is theRe aNyWheRe A...

Sicher - "Sicher" {Switzerland} [1981]

Swiss ensemble roughly similar to countrymen Eloiteron, Flairck and Wurtemberg.

I could not find a review for this band, informations be welcome

Sicher...

Thanks to progman :o)

link in comments...

Beausoleil Broussard - "Journal de Bord" {Canada} [1976-1980]

Beausoleil Broussard, is a group of acadian music formed in 1975, with members Isabelle Roy, Claude Fournier, Jean-Gabriel Comeau and Jacques Savoy.
In 1978 at Paris they won one prize about young french pop. In four years of activity Beausoleil Broussard recorded three albums. You can listen some of these beautiful works in this album.



Le reel de la Nouvelle-Écosse


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Bowl - "Bowl" {Netherlands} ['75-'77] progressive rock

bowl appeared in the scene of netherlands at mid seventies. they did several concerts. as far as i know they never came up with a release under a label, however several songs recorded on their live concerts in time, and what we got in this album is the songs that rescued from old tapes. about the album, it has so nice atmosphere beautified with baraque elements. the sound is similar to the bands like camel, alquin and kayak. there is not even a dull song on the album, and for some songs i like to listen over and over. as the time passes some members changed, some new joined. musicians in the records were; Hessel Hoornveld(Bass guitar, guitar), Hans Elmers(Vocals), Johan Spiering(Keyboards), Bas Blom(Guitar), Hans Andringa(Drums), Herman Meyer(Guitar), Bob Schaafsma(Guitar). A hidden gem for the lovers of 70s progressive rock.

tHe pLacK..
staNding beFoRe thE winDoW..

thanks to ertwen :)

Giger Lenz Marron - "Beyond" {Germany} [1977] jazz/fusion

Formed by former Dzyan members Peter Giger and Eddy Marron, along with jazz bassist Günter Lenz, this super trio offered a more jazz oriented yet similar music to Dzyan, but with a jazzier feel. Without the electronics and weirdness of Dzyan, their music centred around Peter Giger's flowery percussion and Eddy Marron's multi-guitars and ethnic saz, and was much more jazz-fusion based. Giger.Lenz.Marron dabbled with unusual time signatures and lots of experimentation with Eastern musics and off-beat rhythmic structures. read more here

beYoNd..

Mara! - "Images" {Australia} [1984] prog folk

Mara!’s musicians are among the most highly regarded world and jazz players in Australia. Together in Mara! they create one of Australia’s most exciting, innovative and uplifting ensembles.
Over the last 25years, Mara! have developed a unique musical style which fuses folk roots with modern jazz expressionism, adding influences from rock to early music, while journeying through Anglo-Celtic, middle Eastern, Balkan and Mediterranean traditions. Nowadays Mara! perform many original works which are a musical mirror where these flavours find their dazzling reflection. Fronted by the remarkable and magnetic voice of Mara Kiek, Mara! have brought their virtuosic concert performances…read more here

dAance oF ZalonGou..
sAdina jaNA..
NeSa NeSa..

The Helpful Soul - "A Thousand And One Night" {Japan} [1969]

The career of the Helpful Soul was a real case of wrong place, wrong time - for they hit their blues stride just as heavy blues was becoming hard rock, and graduated to heavy rock too late to capitalise on even that brief fad. However, they recorded one outstanding track, the ten-minutes-plus of "Peace For Fools", which appeared on their otherwise bog-standard blues dirge debut LP. This track in itself separates them from all Japanese blues bands for it is a Kim Fowleyan masterpiece of Jim Morrison mystical doggerel/truly possessed nihilist genius. Unfortunately, leader Junio Nakahara was so inspired by witnessing a performance by Blues Creation, when his band supported them at the Too Much Festival, that he was soon after driven to change his own name to Tstomu Ogawa while his band became known as ... Too Much. http://www.japrocksampler.com/artists/japrock/helpful_soul/



I think this album is a soundtrack of a movie and I'm sorry but I'm not sure it is complete. Maybe I just have the tracks of the band Helpful Soul. Any information or help is welcome. (New link with complete album in comments)

- Junio Nakahara – lead vocalist and slide guitar
- Gene Shoji – lead guitar
- Charles Che - bass
- Eiichi Tsukasa – drums

Discography:
- A Thousand And One Night (Victor, 1969)
- Aladin's Theme 7" EP (Victor, 1969)
- The Helpful Soul First Album (Victor, 1970)

The Dance Of The Bandits...
The Torture...

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