Thursday, May 17, 2012
Sevda Live on Swedish Television 1972 (clip only)
http://www.discogs.com/Sevda-Sevda-Exclusive-Collectors-Edition/release/2958164
collectors edition:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sevda-Exclusive-Collectors-Edition/dp/B007IJKLB4
thanks to Ergin to let us know about this set!
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Ricotti & Albuquerque - First Wind 1971

When a new band appears on the scene, the same old question always arises.
Are they really new?
Do they have a new sound?
For once the answer is a definite YES
The line-up is as follows.
Frank Ricotti, whose style and musical ability voted him the No 1 vibes player in Britain, doubles occasionally on alto and percussion.
Michael Albuquerque, who wrote most of the material for this album uses his distinctive voice and relaxed country-style guitar to give this band a fantastic edge.
John Taylor who was responsible for a lot of the very good arrangements performs on electric piano with a high degree of subtlety and skill.
Chris Lawrence plays bass just like it ought to be, both electric and acoustic string.
Trevor Thomkins' flawless drumming holds together an awful lot of very good sounds.
Sounds you ought to hear.
Special thanks to Michael Keen and Henry Lowther for solos on Go out and get it and Give a damn.
Pegasus Records, London W.1
Additional credits:
Producer Stuart Taylor
Arrangement: Frank Ricotti, John Taylor, Robin Sylvester
Sleeve Design: Jane de Albuquerque
This album is always hugely in demand, an incomplete copy has been annoyingly

Musically, I'd say this is all over the map, with some soul songs, a cover or 2(from J. Sebastian and James Taylor, of all people), some more progressive jazzy passages (the first track in particular), and some really nice tunes all with a strong soul-blues feel. Note that the songs tend to run into each other, but I chopped them up. In typical early seventies british style there is studio talking and noise between many of the tracks. For sure M. de A. is the strongest songwriter here, with the last 2 tracks on side a for me the standouts. Please enjoy this gem which really should be rereleased to cd-- I hope our friends agree.
Priority: 3.14...
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
John Natchez "Listen" (USA,1977,Jazz rock?RIO ?)

I'm not sure that it is what kind of prog.

Highly recommended !!!
Further information here
RYM
track1
Monday, May 07, 2012
Dog Watch "Penfriend" (1979,UK,Genesis-style)

As you know,
there are a lot of bands that have Genesis-style all over the world.
Dog Watch is one of them.

Almost tracks are also attractive and fantastic !!!!!
Moreover,it is one of the best obscure prog LIVE albums.
We can get excited with the audience in this album.
They released this sole live album as a private press.
Highly recommended.
RYM
side one
1. Discopath ....5:22
2. Man In A Cage .....4:27
3. Captain ....9:06
4. Doughnut On The Pier ....3:41
side two
1. Queen Of The Nile .....5:49
2. Ice Cream Man ....4:55
3. Moments .....5:28
4. Oh Joanna ....6:00
Roy Weard ...vo
Roger Clynn ...g
Nick Sack ...ds
Tony Morley ...b & vo
Linda Kelsey ...key
John Trelawney ...violin,trumpet,vo,flugelhorn,guphonium
Wednesday, May 02, 2012
Das Pferd - Kisses 1988

Here we have an interesting case, not uncommon, in which the band is being pulled in two different directions.

Das Pferd went on to make some more albums, including a live in 1989, "Blue turns to grey" in 1991, and lastly "The world of das pferd." Would it be a pretty good bet that the commercial songs won out over the progressive instrumentals?
As sample, the most progressive track, note the great tritone opener and gorgeous bass line, and the electric violinwork of Billy recalling Michel Ripoche.
Porta da Barra, track 9
Das Schwere Los, track 6
Finally I really have to mention the coverart... It clearly seems to imply the threatening situation of a stranger in a trenchcoat abducting a little girl. I doubt such a taboo cover would be tolerated today, even in metal music. Remember, this was the eighties, long before the zero tolerance for child abuse became commonplace in western society. In this regard I want to mention a formidably interesting book by Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker called "Better angels of our nature" in which he talks about the very slow evolution of our society towards less and less violence, based on less social tolerance for all forms of aggression, whether school bullying, anti-gay, animal cruelty, even children's cartoons, all things that were not given a second thought as recently as 30 years ago. He points out that the decline in violence in our world has been ongoing since long before history and is evidenced in all kinds of ways today, esp. notable is the shocking drop in crime that sociologists and criminologists find so perplexing in all western societies since the sixties. Correctly, he provides the statistics that make clear this trend started long before the sixties thus, the mystery of dropping violent crime is really a progression of our society that is ongoing and not at all inexplicable-- if viewed within the deepest historical context. What occurred was a reversal in the previous trend, when the drug use and anti-social tendencies of the sixties became fashionable.
So looking at this cover today, we get a completely different visceral reaction from what was intended, 34 years ago when the record was released. For those in N America, who can forget the hysteria of the 'satanic ritual child abuse' cases (remember Geraldo's obsessive anatomizing of it on his show?) and multiple personality disorder obsession of the eighties, leading to the daycare sex abuse convictions of so many innocent people? Some of whom-- believe it or not, are still in jail in the US today.
On a personal note, let me point out how for all my life I thought it would be ok to spank my kids if they misbehaved. Then, when I became a father, I realized I could never really do it-- hit my child. Why? Dr Pinker articulates perfectly (and carries through to the society-wide scale) my personal reasons: It is not effective; there are better punishments; the actual lesson being taught is the power of anger to make one lose control and regret one's actions; another lesson is the strong can hurt the weak with impunity, purely by virtue of being stronger; but most importantly why not strive for a world in which violence or aggression is minimized in every interaction, isn't that a good lesson to teach children too?
For me, it seems obvious now that to a child, the lesson from corporal punishment is a lesson in anger management, it's very easy-- every day-- to lose control and start screaming at them. Far better is it to teach the child that anger control is always better than losing one's temper. And one thing I really didn't understand before is that one can be strict without resorting to violence, it's a classic knee-jerk behaviour. This is the big lesson society learned too, the multiplicity of rules and laws in our world are far more effective than any kind of cruel punishment as was commonplace in medieval times.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Pierre Moreau (L'Engoulevent) - Attentif Piano Solo 1979

Here we have the full range of his creative talents on display, with some gentle songs, quasi-atonal material (Cinquieme), playful passages (Cascade), and the plucked-strings style of piano that

It is highly unfair that the impressive works in this record have been lost to time. Like so many others, I would love to let him understand how much I love his work, especially in the master prog-folk band L'engoulevent.
Cascade:
Cinquieme:
Friday, April 27, 2012
astrë "foresight" (1981,USA,sympho,ELP type)
astrë "foresight" (1981,USA,sympho,,ELP type)
astrë is a trio with ELP influences. from Oklahoma,USA.
This album is famous for the poor sound quality recording although the tracks are brilliant ones.
I tried to improve them in order to enjoy their excellent tracks than before.
Ripped from the LP
RYM
astrë is a trio with ELP influences. from Oklahoma,USA.
This album is famous for the poor sound quality recording although the tracks are brilliant ones.
I tried to improve them in order to enjoy their excellent tracks than before.
Ripped from the LP
RYM
- Recorded at Star Track Studios on August 24,1981
- except "lar-asia" recorded live on October 6,1981
- Bill Tankersley .....b,bass pedals,key,vo
- Mark Loveless .....key,g
- Les Mobley .....kit,talking
- Side 1
- Hole in the Sky pt1....6:20
- Through the Looking Glass.......6:08
- Lar-Asia .....6.37 (live recording)
- Before the Gods ......6:42
- Side 2
- The Doorway.....9:33
- World Class.......13:40
- Nadia
- Free and expressive Beauty
- Competition
- The Waiting
- The Glory
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Gerard Entremont & Co {France}[1975, Pathe EMI]

Album: Gerard Entremont & Co
Year: 1975
Label: Pathe EMI
Genre: Chanson
Format: Flac (separate) +Artwork + 3% Recovery
Size: 206MB
Lineage: VINYL Rip 16bit 44.1khz
Source: Album Collection
Track Listing
1. A faire l’amour
2. Tire-toi à tire d’ailes
3. Simplement
4. Août 1989
5. Fais comme un rat
6. La folie est en toi comme en chacun de nous
7. Lettre à mon petit frère
8. Mon amour, mon amour
9. Était-ce un rêve ?
Line Up/Musicians
Dominique Blanc-Francard : piano, basse et choeurs
Patrice Cramer : batterie (1, 2, 5, 8, 9), percussions (6), guitares (4)
Jacques Brély : guitares (1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9), basse (2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9), contrebasse (3), choeurs (1)
François Ovide : guitares (1, 6)
Hervé Derrien : violoncelle (1, 3, 6)
Patrick Amar : guitares (3)
Alain Potier : flûte à bec (3), saxophone alto (6, 8), saxophone baryton (8), saxophone soprano (9), harmonica (7), larynx (9), murmures (6)
Éric Miggliaccio : guitares (4, 9)
Geza Fenzl : percussions (5)
Denis Brély : basson (7, 8)
Jean-Luc Quillet : tuba (8)
Dominique Widiez : piano (8), orgue (9)
Jean-Jacques Leurion : orgolia (9), murmures (6)
Jean-Fançois Benatar, Roland Stepczak, Pierre Louis, Hervé Derrien : cordes (5)
Alain Manneval : choeurs (1)
Mauricia Platon : voix (4)
Gérard Entremont chant, choeurs (1), murmures (6), glockenspiel (3)
Hard to classify album with definite prog influences and great musicianship...an unfortunately unknown gem and a delightful album
Friday, April 20, 2012
Das Pferd (1987) (Deutschland)

Tracks are composed by Kazda and Schmidtke.
Credits:
Bass– Jan Kazda
Drums– Diethard Stein
Flute– Wolfgang Schmidtke
Guitar– Markus Wienstroer
Keyboards– Jan Kazda, Wolfgang Schmidtke
Saxophone– Wolfgang Schmidtke
Vocals– Jan Kazda, Wolfgang Schmidtke
Vocoder– Wolfgang Schmidtke
Samples:
01 Dynamo Dresden
03 Sie Kommen
11. Komm
Iviron 1981

The second track is typical progressive bizarreness-- note the really weird underlying elec. guitar riff passing into gentle-giant like acoustics with the added classical elements (soprano and alto female singing), and note how abruptly it switches between

It's absolutely astonishing what some classical training and education provides in terms of harmonic subtlety, originality, and competence for these tracks; essentially they are chamber orchestral works which somehow found their way from a packed concert hall (where they should have been played) on to a 1981 rock record for a few hundred lucky buyers... Musically, the number of creative ideas in the Tales of Iviron is legion, powers of ten beyond any contemporary radio-played weekly set list. Why did this music burn out and die??? And I love how the whole record closes out with a kind of exclamation or question mark, suddenly after an ascending chord pattern, as if an unfinished short story in which you're left hanging as to the death of the hero...
I understand some may feel this is an uneven album but to me, the first half of side 1 and second half of 2 really are stellar -- without the "junk DNA" filler, this would be a superb product of progressiveness.
Now this album was reviewed 2 years ago by our friend ashratom on his sister blog the cd reissue wishlist (sister in the same way Chattanooga Tenessee is the sister city to Marsupilamipotamia, Iraq) where he gave it for the first time a priority 1 five times over, agreeing with me on its masterpiece status, here:
http://cdreissuewishlist.blogspot.ca/search/label/Iviron
And I quote:
" Unusual fusion album with many disparate but incredible ideas. Iviron constructed their album more in an early 1970s exploratory style, though the sound was more relevant to the late 70s / early 80s time frame. There's a real sense of adventure here (a lot of East-West references), and even a touch of the psychedelic. It even has jazz-rock or fusion elements, two synonymous terms as my readers well know. A very interesting find by my excellent contact TS [Tristan Stefan - editor]. At the level of Missus Beastly, I'd say--and readers of this blog will know we take Missus Beastly pretty seriously! Y'all 'll like it [= you all - ed.]"
Tom did tell me recently he has thrown in the towel and given up his blog, due to the competition from us-- he'll never catch up to all the rarities we've posted, in several lifetimes, acknowledging in a personal communication "your collection is so much bigger than mine, Tristan, I admit defeat. As well, you've lived too many lifetimes for me, I'm only on my first here!" For regular readers of the cd reissue wishlist (cdrwl) this comes as a devastating blow, we loved being able to feel superior as Tom was frantically trying to catch up on all the rare progressive records. He continues, "with your four houses and 5 executive positions, and 6 blogs, Tristan, I have no way of competing unless I marry some models (like you) and move to Salt Lake City, Utah". Well sorry Tom-- been there, done that. Before I moved to Wurstenburg, Bavaria, to become CBO (chief burgomeister officer) after getting rich with my fast food burger joints in the midwest (which I sold to AOL Time-Warner at the peak of the dotcom craze for half a billion dollars) I actually was a polygamist mormon personal trainer cum lifecoach who taught Tony Robbins how to be born-- at that time of course he was merely a lost soul without a body who had befriended Oprah's spirit at the local starbucks in purgatory. This is how I made my fortune -- I told Oprah the secret to success was to always change weights, never stay fat or thin for too long, and look at the millions she made off my advice! So RIP cdrwl.
Btw for those curious about the name, from wikipedia:
"The name Iviron originated from the ancient Georgian Kingdom of Iberia (Iveria) where the master architect of the monastery Ioannes was from...
The Holy Monastery of Iviron (Greek: Ιερα Μονή Ιβήρων, Georgian: ივერთა მონასტერი) is an Eastern Orthodox monastery at the monastic state of Mount Athos in Greece. The monastery was built under the supervision of Ioannes the Iberian and Tornikios between 980-983 AD and housed Iberian clergy and priests."
Credits▼
written and arranged by H. Scherner and I. Schleicher-Atanasov
Lyrics by Ronals Bergmayr (Sister Magic) and I Schleicher-Atanasov (Bernie the Faust)
Bass– Thomas Gang
Cello– Dan Fahlbusch
Drums– Peter Hackspiel
Engineer– Bernhard Klein, Walter Brüssow
Flute, Whistle– Ronald Bergmayr
Guitar [6-string Guitar, 12-string Guitar], Mandolin, Mellotron, Vocals, Written-by, Arranged By– Ingo Schleicher-Atanasov
Guitar, Tambura, Vocals, Written-By, Arranged By– Helmut Scherner
Piano– Robert Säbel
Saxophone– Karl Takats
Tabla, Congas, Percussion– Fritz Schoisswohl
Vocals [Alto]– Gerlinde Mayr
Vocals [Soprano]– Eva Meindl
Sample tracks:
Bernie the Faust
Wings of Perception Part I
Wasn't I right when I said we'll all be spoiled with recent and coming material on our blog? Well, you don't know about the coming material yet, but I guarantee we'll feature several albums that don't even exist and never did exist! How's that for a treat?
Kreuzweg (Germany ,1983 ,symphonic rock)
Kreuzweg (Germany ,1983 ,symphonic rock)
This very famous but obscure private Xian's conceptual prog album is one of the best German symphonic rock.
Highly recommended to those who love Novalis, Grobschnitt,
and Anyone's Daughter . You will be able to wander into German mystic forests.....
If you hope to watch the pictures of the album carefully ,click it.
I tried to show the original color of my LP using software "Picasa3".
The left peaceful one is the front cover.
The right apocalyptic one is the back cover.
Seite A
1. Menschenkind ...4:30
2. Die Zeit ....4:35
3. Zeichen der Zeit .....8:43
Seite B
1. Schuttle den staub ....9:44
2. Wirst du geh'n ....5:26
3. Passion .....6:50
Markus Greibler ...lead voc
Joachim Haas ....g,vo
Alfred Kirst ....ds
Daniel Pahls ...key
Ellen Muller ...key,vo
Roger Muller ...b
(guest)
Mario Schaub ....sax,flute,oboe
Jorg Botticher ....key
track4
This very famous but obscure private Xian's conceptual prog album is one of the best German symphonic rock.
Highly recommended to those who love Novalis, Grobschnitt,
and Anyone's Daughter . You will be able to wander into German mystic forests.....
If you hope to watch the pictures of the album carefully ,click it.
I tried to show the original color of my LP using software "Picasa3".
The left peaceful one is the front cover.
The right apocalyptic one is the back cover.
Seite A
1. Menschenkind ...4:30
2. Die Zeit ....4:35
3. Zeichen der Zeit .....8:43
Seite B
1. Schuttle den staub ....9:44
2. Wirst du geh'n ....5:26
3. Passion .....6:50
Markus Greibler ...lead voc
Joachim Haas ....g,vo
Alfred Kirst ....ds
Daniel Pahls ...key
Ellen Muller ...key,vo
Roger Muller ...b
(guest)
Mario Schaub ....sax,flute,oboe
Jorg Botticher ....key
track4
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Mimi Lorenzini and Ann Ballester - Orchestra II (1983) [Post-Edition Speciale]

Well, things got to a head this past week when she saw the postman come day after day delivering those big square packages that could only be records, and each time she said

I wonder what the experience of others is (our very own master shige for ex.) in the same situation, if he has to use a secret credit card for his purchases too? Of course this kind of secrecy can work against you in a marriage, she might be wrongly imagining I'm spending thousands on records each month. (When in reality, I'm spending thousands in massage parlours.)
Obviously that was a joke. And what about the lonely world we live through with our tiny minority taste-- will progressive ever become more popular in the future, or, considering the average age of the true fan of two score plus or four dozen plus, is it likely to die off in a generation? Will we really be like the monks of the dark ages, preserving for the future the greatest music the human mind could ever create? Or will it all die off when we do, and digital files can no longer be exchanged in an altogether different world post-population peak? In my darkest moments (i.e. every second) I certainly believe this is true, it has happened before, in fact, every civilization before ours has collapsed in time. I know my dear brother Shige disagrees: "Keep the fire of prog burning!"
Edition Spéciale are by far my favourite prog-fusion group from France, if not from anywhere in the world. From progarchives:
"Martial "Mimi" Lorenzini, one of France's most famous guitarists for his contribution to Canterbury band TRIANGLE, got together with female singer/keyboard player Ann Ballester, bass player Josquin Turenne des Prés and drummer Jean-François Bouchet D'Angely to form ÉDITION SPÉCIALE in 1975. Their style of groovy, accessible jazz-rock is highly comparable to that of RETURN TO FOREVER and BRAND X. Their first album "Allée des Tilleuls" received mixed reviews, in part due to Ann's vocals that spoiled the effect of the excellent musicianship. Featuring virtuoso drummer and newcomer Alain Gouillard, the subsequent "Aliquante" and "Horizon Digital" were a definite improvement. Gouillard's drumming is so tight he could probably rival Bill Bruford. Both albums are rhythmic concepts based on very complex tempo cuts, where the guitar and violin interplay will remind the listener of MAHAVISHNU. Two [3 -- ed.] excellent albums of world-class French fusion."
Good descriptor, though I think the first album is genius too. The duo went on to record more records after the break-up of the band in the eighties, including this slightly less fusion outing, more mainstream jazz and classical-composed, but in a sense it is definitely a follow-up to the amazing Edition Speciale records, taking into account the changing of the guard in that era, wherein progressive and hard fusion were no longer in style, sadly. Same thing as we saw happened to my favourite underrated genius Toto Blanke.
Moving forward into the nineties, from Discogs:
" After having worked together during the Seventies in the same Progressive rock band EDITION SPECIALE, Mimi LORENZINI and Ann BALLESTER unite again for new musical adventures, accompanied by bass-player Jean-Luc PONTHIEUX. The three of them are famous and experimented musicians of the French school, and they perform a kind of music definitely rooted in a mainly acoustic and strongly Americanised jazz. However, it also shows exotic or ethnic ideas, and is particular due to its brilliant and truly elaborated guitar style. Recorded in 1999 on Musea Parallèle, "Question De Temps" is the second record by this band, after the excellent "Le Diable Bleu" (1994).
What an impressive musician this Lorenzini was, particularly when you listen to the ever-inventive riffs he came up with for Ed. Speciale.
His discographie until the present :
BARNEY WILEN “ FREE ROCK BAND “
PHILIPPE MATÉ,RACHID OUARI, CHRISTIAN TRITCH “ EDF “
TRIANGLE ( 3 albums et plusieurs 45 T chez E.M.I )
RENÉ URTREGER - Album compilation sur les pianistes français
EDITION SPECIALE ( 3 albums chez RCA )
DUO LORENZINI / BALLESTER ( Mélodie )
ARESKI / BRIGITTE FONTAINE
5tet ORCHESTRA 5 ( Muséa )
LORENZINI TRIO “S” ( Muséa )
1994 Le Diable Bleu, Lorenzini . Ballester . Ponthieux dist Harmonia Mundi
1996 Percussive Compagnie-Philippe Laccarriere dist Harmonia Mundi
1997 BLUE PHEDRE- François TUSQUES dist Harmonia Mundi
1998 QUESTIONS DE TEMPS - Trio LORENZINI-BALLESTER - PONTHIEUX
2002 Percussive Compagnie-Philippe Laccarriere - acte 2 -
2004 Sortie du CD en duo D’Improvisation (F.Toullec/M.Lorenzini) avec pour invité le poète et comédien J. Luc Debattice
In this record we get that really gorgeous old progressive melancholy carpe diem french sound with the intro 'ballade' (thanks to that intergalactic synth sound), moving into an almost-ed.speciale guitar tune in 'bip bop,' then some pat metheny-like wordless singing on 'feria' in an annoying nod to the eighties, but listen to the incredible fourth track on side 1, 'La ville en rose--' even the title recalls the old group's 'ville en beton'. The two duet quite remarkably on this track moving through some unusual minor chords. Equally the title track has some reminiscences of the old days in the 70s... ah those beautiful angular tritonal prog days of hammering guitars and space-synths!!! (sigh) Beautiful Sophia Domancich guests on the track Salsita from side 2. Note the last track, Grasy M, starts with Bill Evans' chords from Blue in Green.
In some sense this record makes me sad when I think of how much it sounds like the old progressive masters, but is lacking that genius spark of unconventionality and hard amplified guitar/synth edge. In another sense I'm happy to hear more from a group I love so so profoundly. Then the sad desolation returns when I remember how wonderful and beautiful it was to discover those 3 Edition Speciale albums for the first time so many years ago, with my old proverbial friend...
Sample track, the prelude-like intro to the album:
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Marguerite (Patrick Lemaitre) - Mr. Ford {France}[1973, CBS]
Artist: Marguerite (Patrick Lemaitre)
Album: Mr. Ford
Year: 1973
Label: CBS
Style: Progressive Rock
Genre: Prog-Psych-Folk
Format: 320mp3 + 3% Recovery
Size: 80MB
Lineage: VINYL Rip 16bit 44.1khz
Source: Album Collection
Track Listing
01. Monsieur Ford
02. Etrange Animal En Cavale
03. On Est Un Fleuve
04. La Bataille D'Eldorado
05. Un Bon Caractere Ca N'A Pas De Prix
06. Ailleurs
07. L'Annonciation
08. Parabole
09. Moi Le Jour
10. Sur La Grande Roue
11. Monsieur Ford
12. Epilogue (A Moins Que Je Ne Recommence)
Line Up/Musicians
Patrick Lemaitre - Guitar, Vocals
Georges Varenne - Clarinet, Organ, Vocals
Michel Mouffron - Piano, Organ, Vocals
Alfredo Sarto - Bass, Vocals
Jean Altana - Drums, Vocals
Special thanks to Master Olaf_alien for his help and patience with the restoration work
Hope you enjoy it!
Album: Mr. Ford
Year: 1973
Label: CBS
Style: Progressive Rock
Genre: Prog-Psych-Folk
Format: 320mp3 + 3% Recovery
Size: 80MB
Lineage: VINYL Rip 16bit 44.1khz
Source: Album Collection
Studio album released in 1973
Relatively unknown band/project fronted by Patrick Lemaitre who worked with french psych Gerard Palaprat. Recently rediscovered french progressive/late psych pop gem! Sounds like another great French band IRIS. Good organ/guitar work,some little studio effects. A good addition to any Euro Psych/Prog collection.
Track Listing
01. Monsieur Ford
02. Etrange Animal En Cavale
03. On Est Un Fleuve
04. La Bataille D'Eldorado
05. Un Bon Caractere Ca N'A Pas De Prix
06. Ailleurs
07. L'Annonciation
08. Parabole
09. Moi Le Jour
10. Sur La Grande Roue
11. Monsieur Ford
12. Epilogue (A Moins Que Je Ne Recommence)
Line Up/Musicians
Patrick Lemaitre - Guitar, Vocals
Georges Varenne - Clarinet, Organ, Vocals
Michel Mouffron - Piano, Organ, Vocals
Alfredo Sarto - Bass, Vocals
Jean Altana - Drums, Vocals
Special thanks to Master Olaf_alien for his help and patience with the restoration work
Hope you enjoy it!
Monday, April 16, 2012
Michel Ripoche - Equinoxe {France}[1975, Atlantic]
Michel Ripoche first solo album released in 1975.
Artist: Michel Ripoche
Album: Equinoxe
Year: 1975
Label: Atlantic
Genre: Jazz-Rock-Fusion
Format: Flac (separate) +Artwork + 3% Recovery
Size: 217MB
Lineage:VINYL Rip 16bit 44.1khz
Source: Album Collection
Studio Album Released In 1975
Track Listing
A1 Neptune 2:15
A2 Vimanas 4:18
A3 Hier Aujourd'hui Demain 7:55
A4 Mirage 5:08
B1 Tirer Pousser 2:08
B2 Equinoxe 5:59
B3 Entre Le Ciel Et La Terre 2:15
B4 Ballade Pour B-B. 3:08
B5 Divertissements 3:12
Credits
Bass – Janick Top*
Drums, Percussion – Jean Schulteis*
Engineer – Dominique Blanc-Francart*
Piano, Electric Piano, Arranged By – Philippe Briche
Viola – Hervé Derrien
Violin – Michel Noel*, Michel Ripoche, Pierre Louis
Violin [Alto] – Pierre Llinares
Vocals – Anne-Marie Briche
Artist: Michel Ripoche
Album: Equinoxe
Year: 1975
Label: Atlantic
Genre: Jazz-Rock-Fusion
Format: Flac (separate) +Artwork + 3% Recovery
Size: 217MB
Lineage:VINYL Rip 16bit 44.1khz
Source: Album Collection
Studio Album Released In 1975
Track Listing
A1 Neptune 2:15
A2 Vimanas 4:18
A3 Hier Aujourd'hui Demain 7:55
A4 Mirage 5:08
B1 Tirer Pousser 2:08
B2 Equinoxe 5:59
B3 Entre Le Ciel Et La Terre 2:15
B4 Ballade Pour B-B. 3:08
B5 Divertissements 3:12
Credits
Bass – Janick Top*
Drums, Percussion – Jean Schulteis*
Engineer – Dominique Blanc-Francart*
Piano, Electric Piano, Arranged By – Philippe Briche
Viola – Hervé Derrien
Violin – Michel Noel*, Michel Ripoche, Pierre Louis
Violin [Alto] – Pierre Llinares
Vocals – Anne-Marie Briche
Michel Ripoche & Andre Demay - Contes Musicaux {France}[1977, Atlantic]
Artist: Michel Ripoche & Andre Demay
Album: Contes Musicaux
Year: 1977Label: Atlantic
Genre: Jazz-Rock-FusionFormat: Flac (separate) +Artwork + 3% Recovery
Size: 208MB
Lineage: VINYL Rip 16bit 44.1khz
Source: Album Collection
Michel Ripoche was one of the founding members of Zoo, he was also a very popular session musician and played with Emmanuel Booz and Michel Zacha. He was also involved on early Vangelis albums (Dragon, Hypothesis) and the Aphrodite's Child masterpiece 666. Better known for his Violin work he is also a talented Sax and Trombone player.
Studio Album Released in 1977
Track Listing
A1 Danse Du Crabe
A2 Crépuscule
A3 Violon Fantôme
B1 Sonatélectrique
B2 Nouvelle Valse
B3 Récréation
B4 Sept Boules De Liège
Credits
Guitar – André Demay
Percussion – Charles Benaroch*
Violin – Michel Ripoche
Enjoy!
Album: Contes Musicaux
Year: 1977Label: Atlantic
Genre: Jazz-Rock-FusionFormat: Flac (separate) +Artwork + 3% Recovery
Size: 208MB
Lineage: VINYL Rip 16bit 44.1khz
Source: Album Collection
Michel Ripoche was one of the founding members of Zoo, he was also a very popular session musician and played with Emmanuel Booz and Michel Zacha. He was also involved on early Vangelis albums (Dragon, Hypothesis) and the Aphrodite's Child masterpiece 666. Better known for his Violin work he is also a talented Sax and Trombone player.
Studio Album Released in 1977
Track Listing
A1 Danse Du Crabe
A2 Crépuscule
A3 Violon Fantôme
B1 Sonatélectrique
B2 Nouvelle Valse
B3 Récréation
B4 Sept Boules De Liège
Credits
Guitar – André Demay
Percussion – Charles Benaroch*
Violin – Michel Ripoche
Enjoy!
Friday, April 13, 2012
Noctett - Contrasts (Germany 1979)


Long live European Jazz and Fusion (and synonymously, jazz-rock, because of course, fusion and jazz-rock mean exactly the same)!
Members:
-Peter Herborn (trombone)
-Thomas Dörr (alto saxophone)
-Remy Filipovitch (saxophone, flute)
-Bernd Krämer (trumpet)
-Raimund Hüttner (trumpet)
-Thomas Ophelders (trumpet)
-Thomas Hufschmidt (piano)
-Martin Engelien (bass)
-Peter Walter (vibraphone, drums)
Tracks:
A1 Springtime 7:10
A2 Polly's Phone 9:14
B1 To Go Is to Think - To Sing Is to Go 4:48
B2 Thoughts to Anthony B. 7:59
B3 ...And Neverthless: Adriana! 9:04
The sample below is the most composed and proggy track, the last one with the very odd title, as in the Full Score album (which came next year) they saved the best for last...
Expresso - First Cup (USA, 1981, Jazz-Rock/Fusion)

This obscure private-press LP was the sole release by this California fusion group. There's a distinct Dixie Dregs influence at work here, and some Al Di Meola too. However, this is generally lighter and more relaxed sounding than those comparisons would imply. Nothing mind-blowing to be sure, but excellent guitar playing (the band was led by two guitarists) and some good melodic compositions make this an enjoyable listen. (This review was written by my friend "F".Thanks to him !)
RYM
BTW,this record is hard to arrange to listen to.,because your cartridge is easy to pop and skip again and again if you miss the control of the weight of your cartridge with the turntable .
Side 1
1. Vegetable Death (3:29)
2. Telluride Falls (5:02)
3. Moody Shoes (4:49)
4. Skid Row (4:50)
5. First Step (4:25)
Side 2
1. Ice Cuba (4:35)
2. Under The Wing (1:39)
3. Line 'Em Up (3:52)
4. Dear Mr.Food (3:19) ....trad.
5. First Rain (6:30)

Kurt Kieffer ....lead guitar
Rick Sigman ....guitars
Phil (L.G.)Chidester ...key
Dennis Harper ...b
Casey Smiley ....ds & per
(additinal musicians)
Michael Horne ...per
Mark Ford ....harmonica
Recorded at the Music Annex , Menlo Park ,CA ,Oct & Nov ,1981
track3
Thursday, April 12, 2012
HASARD "Embarque si ca t'tente " (Canada,197?-198?) Jazz rock,Canterbury-vein

Still many unknown,obscure prog & jazz rock gems are waiting for us to dig it out in the world.
This Québec jazz rock band from Canada is one of them.
This is not instrumental album although it is the jazz rock .
Seven tracks among all the nine tracks are vocal tunes (in French) ,and the other two ones are instrumental(Tr 8 and Tr9).
Male vocal is elegant and intellectual...sometimes reminds me of Richard Sinclair (ex-Caravan).
So,if you like early-Caravan ,such as "In the Land of..." ,you will surely like this one.
I believe ....most of the tracks are brilliant ones.
RYM
FACE A
1.Paysage Bleu (3:16)
2. En Colere (3:37)
3. "Embarque si ca t'tente (4:15)
4. C'est Ouoi L'Amour (6:39)
FACE B
1. Monsieur Tout Le Monde (4:45)
2. Un Enfant (3:45)
3. Ensemble (2:34)
4. R.S. (4:01)
5. Nuit D'Amour (4:13)
(members)
Pierre Vigeant ....Guitar
Gaetan Mongeau .....Vibraphone,key,vo,percussion
Guy Arcand ....bass ,percussion
track5
track8
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Bipsautru Chu Content (Canada, Private 1978)


Coverart: a drawing of musical instruments as spaceships--? I can't help but quote from Spinal Tap: "there's a fine line between clever and stupid". The back cover is really hilarious too for its DIY quality. Check out those doodley drawings under the tracklist.
On track 12 if you notice some loud bumps in the background that sound like the steps of bigfoot himself, it's my three-year old Julian arranging his Thomas wooden railroad track from his bedroom to my feet at the record player and I apologize for this, what you won't hear luckily is me gradually losing my voice telling him to stop stomping over and over. Hey c'mon-- it's not that loud, he's only three.

I've included two samples, an acoustic guitar instrumental and the third track with its crystalline guitarwork recalling CANO, it sounds almost like it could've been a hit.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Michel Mailhe et Bernard Meyer - Le Bateau Ivre (1979)

As much as I love french poetry though, I gotta say it's a shame we can't separate the speech from the music when it's of this calibre. There is a lot of variety in the compositions here, with a nice pleasing rock style to it-- similar to Janko Nilović or Laurent Petitgirard. All of the composing is credited to Bernard Meyer, with the exception of the Jacques Brel poem (this was done by Ange too, wasn't it?) Strangely each composition's title is different from the poem so I included both.
In fact I primarily bought this for the remarkable cover painting, which I include in toto. Credit to un certain Jean-Pierre Blanchard for the very three-dimensional and structural style of the troweled-on paint. I've said before what a lost art this was-- creating graphics for LP covers. Now with the amazing pollux for help we can get some really awesome high resolution scans of the art - check out the work he has done on all the covers using a small scanner and photoshop to repair the images.
Credits:
Poumy Arnaud - batterie
Alan Jones - basse
Bernard Meyer - guitares, basse, synthetiseur
Claude Meyer - Percussions (1,2)
Jean-Robert Rossi - orgue, synth
Jean-Claude Touzet - guitarre electrique
Peinture - Jean-Pierre Blanchard
Track 2
Poeme de Guy Demaysoncel - Femme de longtemps, Tentative de Poeme;
Musique de Meyer: Catherine M
Instrumental intro to the side-long bateau ivre:
Stay tuned to our show because there's a lot still coming, some more french material, some british jazz-rock, then back to my country of Germany to complete a few bands and a huge progressive masterpiece that I'm dying to feature, all guaranteed rarities of the highest calibre. One album I mentioned earlier, that's so rare it doesn't exist, I will not even post about given the fact of its nonexistence.
Unless I get a lot of requests for it.
Monday, April 09, 2012
Alpha Omega (Steve Maxwell von Braund) 1976

I am very happy to present this new rip from master shige of Alpha Omega, an album whose style is impossible to pin down, in fact

Or consider the first track, after the drum solo, the re-intro guitar riff is first played a minor 3rd above on the keys, but then again he plays it a minor 2nd above-- I'm like, "Could it be--?" is it a mistake? it couldn't be, it's the same riff but a half-tone above. Totally against any god-fearing compositional rule there. Then near the end of same song, he plays a D octave up in the pattern: duh dee duh duh dee, a dead giveaway that he had a classical education, which almost of all them did back then, of course. I want to thank master shige again for this incredible-sounding new rip, despite the slightly scratchy record, I love you bro (and your work). And finally, I won't even get into the crazy guitar solos Bellamy plays, which are so off the blues scales or any scales they are functionally atonal in the Arnie Schoenberg way.
And I would love to say, John Bellamy, if ever you read this, please comment and tell us more! I love this work of yours.
A1 Constellations 9:32
A2 Silent Voices 6:33
A3 Sundance 5:56
B1 Alpha Omega 8:40
B2 Dawning 9:25
B3 Reflections
Credits
Bass – Tony Hargreaves
Guitar – John Bellamy
Percussion – Ray Dick
Saxophone – Dave Brown
Synthesizer – Stephen Maxwell Von Braund*
Finally check out the band picture, esp. the madonna-like smile on Steve's face-- chemically induced or not? My wife would say yes, she would say the same about the music. I love the side-part on the bassist's long hair, that's a classic.
Priority: 1
(I know someone is going to disagree)
track 5
track 6
Thursday, April 05, 2012
André Demay - Generic (1980)

I love how pollux is highly in tune with the covers of these albums. I often


To me this record is quite a find, a genuine rarity, not expensive, and with a load of progressive elements, with a very high dynamic that is sustained throughout. Notice the high quality of the musicians too (incl. credits below).
In terms of music, think Patrick Moraz' Story of I as interpreted by Heldon and Jannick Top and I think you can get a rough idea, a mix of electronic and jazz fusion with excellent synthesis or heterosis (hybrid vigour) as the biologists would say, including great guitar effects and some really throbbing (erect?) bass (as the cliche goes). The song "Private Entrance" in particular really sounds like a Jannick Top late-fusion song, full of odd vocal effects, great jumping bass figures. Or perhaps imagine if Michel Moulinie's masterpiece Chrysalide was played twice as fast and twice as deep with a ton of heavy drums due to several complaints about its wimpy nature, or maybe if some drunk and crazy deejay wanted to use it for house techno trance electro-jungle music or whatever it's called, tritones and dissonances and all, horrifying the partiers with progressive music their small and simplistic ears could never handle... Or perhaps think Stravinsky as played by a US-made flamethrower educated at Juilliard with some extra lessons from jazz great Herbie Hancock (in his fusion period) who however is the reincarnated electric guitar maker Les Paul after he was killed in a bizarre industrial accident involving an electric kazoo and a robotic amplifier made at MIT by the artificial intelligence lab headed by Walt Disney's head in suspended animation, recently revitalized by area 51's extraterrestrial metabolism lab... I think you get the point.
Tracklist
A1 Generic Cycle 5:50
A2 Nervous Structure 4:50
A3 Musical Syntax 4:20
A4 Sybarite Island 4:50
B1 Private Entrance 5:15
B2 Telepathically Yours 4:30
B3 Razzia Man 4:35
B4 Automatic Stop 5:00
Credits
Guitars - Andre Demay
Bass – Jannick Top
Drums – Joe Hammer
Guitar – André Demay
Other [Artwork] – Razzia
Percussion – Fred Desplan
Producer – André Demay, Paul Scemama
Synthesizer – Celmar Engel
Song Samples and links up soon -- or rather, maybe never, given the trouble with uploads these days.
Please enjoy this wonderful 'lost' record.
Absent from the credits (and record) are compositional information, but I think it's safe to say Demay wrote everything, since all songs feature strong guitar leads. Although the titles sound like a kind of electronic library record, in fact there is a huge variety to the music. I was praying it would not turn out to be droney boring electro music, and looks like my prayers were answered.
1
5
Wednesday, April 04, 2012
Galorn - "Galorn" {France} [1978, Velia]

Album: Galorn
Year: 1978
Label: Velia
Genre: Prog Folk
Lineage: VINYL Rip 16bit 44.1khz
Source: Album Collection
Track Listing
1.Jezaïg
2.Saute-Ruisseau
3.Kergadig
4.Mélodie-Valse
5.Scottisch Occitane
6.Arrests Under Special Powers
7.Le Mendiant
8.Sabbat (Rond De St-Vincent)
9.An Dro
Line Up/Musicians
Gilles Floury - Violin
Xavier Harivel - Vocals, Percussions, Dulcimer
Gilles Le Bigot - Guitars
Bruno Le Masson - Bass
Jean Michel Veillon - Flute, Tin Whistle, Low Whistle
Kergadig...
Scottish Occitane...
link in comments
An Dro - "Les Jeux Sont Faits" {Germany} [1982, Private]

Artist: An Dro
Album: Les Jeux Sont Faits
Year: 1982
Country: Germany
Label: Private
Genre: Prog Folk
Lineage: Vinyl Rip 16bit 44.1Khz
Source: Album Collection
Track Listing
A1 Pont Ar Vilin 3:09
A2 Le Pommier 6:05
A3 P Stands For Paddy 4:41
A4 C'Est En Passant La Riviere 2:50
A5 An Dro 3:52
A6 Farewell Air 1:10
B1 Les Jeux Sont Faits 7:34
B2 Sur Le Pont De Nantes 5:06
B3 Hugh The Graeme 4:40
B4 Avalon 6:22
Credits
Bass – Michael Fechner
Guitar – Werner Vaillant
Mandolin, Pipes, Dulcimer, Flute, Guitar, Glockenspiel – Rüdiger Kebe
Vocals, Bodhran, Dulcimer, Psaltery – Rita Schmidt
Vocals, Celtic Harp, Guitar, Cister, Whistle, Bombard, Pipe – Klaus Stammer
Les Jeux Sont Faits...
Hugh The Graeme...
Avalon...
link in comments
PRISMA (1980.,Light and soft symphonic rock,Netherlands )

RYM
Recorded in October ,1980
side A
1. moving up fast (6:02)
2. eagle flies (4:12)
3. outing to spain (3:32)
4. masquerade (5:19)
side B
1. what made you change (6:47)
2. natassja (5:15)
3. chimera (4:09)
4. no time for tears (3:01)

Rob Van Der Sande....key,vo
Paul Bruinenberg....g
Carl Beukman....b
Robert Meyran....ds
additional musician
Huib Quitz....congas (A3 & B2)
track 1
Tuesday, April 03, 2012
Ophiucus - Salade Chinoise (Barclay 1973)

Artist: Ophiucus
Album: Salade Chinoise
Year: 1973
Label: Barclay
Style: Progressive Rock
Genre: Folk-Psych-Prog
Format: 320mp3 + 3% Recovery
Size: 82.3MB
Lineage: VINYL Rip 16bit 44.1khz
Source: Album Collection
Studio Album Released in 1973
Track Listing
A1 Oh Ma Douee
A2 J'Oublie
A3 Canadian Bar
A4 Cacaoutchouc
A5 L'Instant D'Une Nuit
A6 Dans Toute La France
B1 Bonte Divine
B2 Je Joue Toujours De L'Harmonica
B3 Cette Chanson Vient D'Autrefois
B4 Recreation No1
B5 Quand On A Besoin De Rever
B6 A La Claire Fontaine
Line Up/Musicians
Percussion, Flute, Harmonica – Bernard Labacci
Piano, Strings, Brass – Michel Bernholc
Synthesizer – Roger Loubet
Vocals, Bass, Guitar – Jean-Pierre Pouret
Vocals, Bass, Guitar, Flute, Percussion – Michel Bonnecarrère
Vocals, Guitar – Alain Labacci
B4 Recreation No1
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