[ aquarius records — Rock Pop 60s Psych Garage ]

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Showing results 851 through 900 of 1515.

This 1971 recording is probably everyone at AQ's favorite post-Barrett Floyd album, and the one for Mogwai fans to get!

Got a violent piece of vinyl here for all you proto-metal freaks - a reissue of a killer slice of science-fictional heavy rock, this obscure UK outfit's only album, a private pressing from 1974. Both proto-metal and proto-punk we reckon, heavy stuff with lots of psychedelic Hawkwindiness to it, basically everything you could hope for from a record that has both "Astral Traveller" and "The Ripper" as track titles!! And it does rip, the storming opener "Assasin" sets the tone, with throbbing riffs, wailing maniacal vocals, and wild soloing, reminding us of the Pink Fairies in particular when the guitarist tears into some licks from the old Ventures surf rock classic "Walk Don't Run", though with their amphetamine energy they'd remind us of the Fairies anyway. They also achieve Wicked Lady levels of guitar freakout. And with the use of Moog, and the sci-fi aspects of songs like "Cyborg", they have something in common with Simply Saucer, as well. There's dramatic organ runs, and strident marching riffage, and some softer sounds too - at their mellowest, on tracks like "Bad Omen", they can be fairly melodic and Wishbone Ash-y. There's been a couple hard-to-find, long-gone compact disc reissues of this in the past (one on Little Wing Of Refugees, who changed the cover art and corrected the spelling of 'Assasin' to 'Assassin', and another on Killing Spell, who called it 'Cyborg Assassin', though that one also did include a few live practice space bonus tracks not found here). But this is the first time we've seen it reissued on vinyl, 180 grams to boot.

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Numero Group strikes again! Why Pisces never made it into the canon of classic American psychedelic groups of the sixties like Jefferson Airplane, The Doors and The Grateful Dead is not so much a mystery as it is a latent lament. It's pretty clear why, since none of their music ever got released during their lifetime, but hearing this now, and it sounding so much more fresh and relevant compared to the overrated dinosaurs mentioned above, we sometimes wish the past could get a do-over, or at the very least we wish nostalgia could get a better soundtrack. Pisces would be at the top of our Summer of Love facelift! Not just a curio from what might have been, the songs that this Rockford, Illinois group conjured could have made a classic album, had the core members overcame the obstacles of being an unknown band in the Midwest, perhaps toured or promoted themselves better, or at least hired themselves a decent manager. Focused so much on their sound, they were tireless studio workhorses, constantly augmenting their pop songs with innovative studio effects: delay, phasing, and layers of overdubs. Working with such blinders on is always a difficult proposition to long term success, plus having a sexy female guest vocalist that was never quite a core member of the band, steal most of the spotlight, only to be whisked away to start a failed solo career doesn't bode well for a band in dire need of a solid foundation. But we think if they managed their image better, they could have been as big as Jefferson Airplane. Their songs are definitely better. Pisces were perhaps more influenced by British psych than the stuff that was happening on the west coast, but their darkly tinged lyrics full of creepy wonder and kaleidoscopic imagery are more chilling and beautiful, yet evoking the male and female harmonies of that more famous group. At times, it also reminds us of other obscure weirdo sixties soft-psych groups like Fifty Foot Hose, Neighborhood Children, Peanut Butter Conspiracy and H.P. Lovecraft, yet with a consistent sonic vision unclouded by annoying record label interventions and dated cliches. A Lovely Sight indeed!

MPEG stream: Dear One
MPEG stream: Children, Kiss Your Mother Goodnight
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This well-regarded one-shot '60 psych artifact has now been reissued on vinyl, too, yay! Canada's Plastic Cloud (they have to be psych with a name like that, eh?) issued this, their sole album, on the Allied label in 1968. And if you like fuzz, it's for you! These darkly melodic psychedelic tunes, maybe something like a harder-edged Kaleidoscope (UK), don't stint on the killer fuzz tone. The band - four modish lookin' gents in their early twenties named Brian, Randy, Mike and Don - sure got the fuzz-laced, post-Peppers acid-psych-pop sound down, complete with sinewy pseudo Eastern sitar-ish stylings, vocal harmonies, and trippy lyrics with themes ranging from notions of reality to anti-war polemic. Includes the original J.R.R.-meets-the-Jabberwocky liner notes, lyrics, and an insert facsimile of the press release that heralded the lp's original release. As melodic '60s vocal psych-pop goes, this is pretty decent (though no major threat to the Beatles or the Beach Boys)... but when they unleash the fuzz guitar, that's when your hair will get hard if you're at all receptive to such soundz. A must-have for fuzz-freaks, essential to any serious '60s psych collection, no doubt. And dabblers may be get hooked too. Limited to 500 copies in this new vinyl edition.

MPEG stream: Shadows Of Your Mind
MPEG stream: Dainty General Rides

Here's a new reissue of this well-regarded one-shot '60 psych artifact. Canada's Plastic Cloud (they have to be psych with a name like that, eh?) issued this, their sole album, on the Allied label in 1968. And if you like fuzz, it's for you! These darkly melodic psychedelic tunes, maybe something like a harder-edged Kaleidoscope (UK), don't stint on the killer fuzz tone. The band -- four modish lookin' gents in their early '20s named Brian, Randy, Mike and Don -- sure got the fuzz-laced, post-Peppers acid-psych-pop sound down, complete with sinewy psuedo Eastern sitarish stylings, vocal harmonies, and trippy lyrics with themes ranging from notions of reality to anti-war polemic. Those lyrics are presented in this cd's booklet alongside the LP's original J.R.R.-meets-the-Jabberwocky liner notes, photos, and a facsimile of the press release that heralded the LP's release. As melodic '60s vocal psych-pop goes, this is pretty decent (though no threat to the Beatles or the Beach Boys)...but when they unleash the fuzz guitar, that's when your hair will get hard if you're at all receptive to such soundz. A must-have for fuzz-freaks, essential to any serious '60s psych collection, no doubt. And dabblers may be get hooked too. Fer instance, if you took a shot on the Sam Gopal reish we reviewed recently, and were satisfied, you might wanna make this next item for your personal '60s hit parade.

MPEG stream: Shadows Of Your Mind
MPEG stream: Dainty General Rides

The year is 1965 and a feisty teenage Suzi Quatro is kicking ass on all the boys in town. Yep, that's pre-Leather Tuscadero, sweetcakes! Ultra-raw, raunchy garage rock straight from the day re-issued by the fab garage mavens at Norton Records. Hot!

From the depths of the Impulse label's more "psychsploitaton" side of jazz comes this exotic East-meets-West rarity from 1968. And if you dug Gabor Szabo's Jazz Raga, any of the John Berberian electric oud albums, the Indo-jazz of Joe Harriott, or the even more authentically "Indo" Indo-jazz of T.K. Ramamoorthy recently reissued by EM, this will be right up your alley. You might have second thoughts seeing the buttoned-down suit and tie wearing bass player Plummer seemingly taking the piss out of the sitar jazz craze of the mid-to-late Sixties, but this record's musical qualities far outweigh any trendy novelty or gimmicks. The opening track, "Journey to The East", is a groovy pop number with spoken singing (the only track with vocals) but the flute, tabla and sitar interplay is pretty far out. Things get further out on the sinewy free jazz of "Arc 294" and the quiet intensity of "Antares". Even covers like "The Look of Love" and The Byrds' "Lady Friend" have charms beyond what those songs normally have to offer. A cultish obscurity for years, it's awesome to see this one-off album reissued again!

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Ok, here's this list's special treat for all you proto-metal fans: a reissue of obscure, early '70s UK hard rockers Pluto! This digipack reissue isn't new, it came out a few years back but we missed it at the time - and in fact, as far as we know it's out of print (the whole Breathless label being now defunct), but we found a handful of these at one of our suppliers and grabbed 'em all. So, they won't be here for long, act fast if you want one. Pluto's sole album was originally released in 1971 (yes, once again, 1971 completely blows our minds, good grief!) on Pye's progressive, "underground" Dawn label. But the type of progressive rock Pluto plays isn't, y'know, like Yes or Genesis, or Comus for that matter (whose First Utterance was also a '71 Dawn release). No flutes or tricky time signatures. They just play poppy, heavy rock and aren't afraid to boogie. This digipack reissue contains 13 tracks in all, 3 of 'em non-album bonus cuts from singles. Bonus single track "I Really Want It" is possibly the star of the show, it's been comped several times, on Dawn anthologies and so forth, and for good reason, with suggestive lyrics that are well matched by the song's slow, stomping groove. But there's LOTS of good songs here, from cowbell knockin' fuzz rockers to some more melodic, ballady, even Beatlesy ones. Recommended for folks into the likes of early Wishbone Ash, Orang-utan, Leaf Hound, Human Beast, Power Of Zeus, Three Man Army, Luv Machine, Bubble Puppy, and other vintage, semi-heavy obscurities.

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Heavy psych and metal freaks, perhaps you remember we reviewed a reissue of this power trio Poobah's 1979 album Steamroller a while back? While '79 was a late date for "proto-metal", that's definitely what this Youngstown Ohio outfit sounded like, heavy duty acid rock n' roll action with plenty of psychedelically shredding guitar work. Well, now you can check out where they wuz comin' from, 'cause this "Special Collector's Edition" of their 1972 independently released debut has just been "re-unleashed". Just peep the vintage b&w photos of the band, all long hair, beards, head bands. Total hippies! HEAVY hippies. Hard as nails. But definitely hippies (like the fabulous furry freak bro looking dude depicted in the crude cover cartoon, spitting up into a toilet - or is it the other way around?). So, yeah, Poobah is "proto-metal" fersure on this one, right from the get-go with the aptly titled "Mr. Destroyer", which despite the peace-loving message of the lyrics seems to demonstrate that violence for violence's sake can work, in rock anyway! And aside from one (quite nice) laidback number, "Enjoy What You Have", the six tracks that make up the original release of Let Me In are all similarly raw rifftastic freakrock heaviness, very underground, their unhinged high wattage psychedelia almost kinda punk, a la the UK's Crushed Butler, Detroit's Death, or Australia's Coloured Balls. BAD ASS in other words. Heck the ominous creepy-crawl of "Bowleen" is practically doom metal, though Poobah do have their lighter side, with a penchant for funny voices and trippy rhythmic passages, hippy potsmoking stuff y'know... The bonus tracks (there's 10 on the gatefold double vinyl version and 12 on the compact disc) are all also quite worthy, recorded circa '72-'73, mostly more high energy ass-kickery in the vein of the album tracks, with a few weird noisy studio experiments thrown in for good measure... or maybe not "studio" exactly as most of the bonus cuts were recorded live to 2-track in the guitarist or bassist's living room. It all sounds great though, from the surprise vocal harmonies in the midst of "Make A Man Out Of You" to the Ted Nugent style gonzo goings on of "Going To Rock City"... Quite a treat, now we're waiting on a proper reissue of Poobah's second album, US Music, from '76, that's gotta happen someday too...

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The Poppy Family have long been a favorite around here, as a cult '60s folk-pop group with psych-ish leanings, and it's good to finally see a top-notch collection of singles and album tracks at an affordable price. Fronted by husband and wife Terry and Susan Jacks and hailing from Canada, their signature sound was notably marked by the use of tablas and sitars that gave their songs a groovy but restless and searching edge, relevant to the flower-powered countercultural shifts at the time in the late sixties and early seventies. Like Shocking Blue, Bobbie Gentry mixed with Coven, or The Carrie Nations (the doomed fictional band in Russ Meyer's Beyond The Valley of The Dolls), The Poppy Family played a slightly druggy folk-pop filtered through the lens of a southern gothic sensibility. Songs like "Where Evil Grows", "Shadows On My Wall", "There's No Blood in Bone", and their biggest single, "Which Way You Goin', Billy? were laden with references to death, suicidal heartbreak and the supernatural. They only recorded two albums, but sudden band line-up changes, and hectic touring issues forced the couple to go their separate ways. Terry Jacks subsequently scored the biggest hit of his career with "Seasons In The Sun", while Susan continued down her own career path in a more country crossover vein. A Good Thing Lost is an apt title for a band that for a moment could have had it all. These songs still sound so great! Recommended for fans of any of the groups mentioned above, crate-digger psych breaks and incredible sixties studio production!!!

MPEG stream: Free From The City
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First things first, this Possessed has nothing to do with the '80s Bay Area metal band of the same name. No, this Possessed hails from even further back in time, the early '70s to be precise. And that leads us to say this: oh man, if we only had a time machine! Sure we'd go back and kill Hitler's parents and buy Google stock and all that... but our time machine day dream today is dominated by a flyer reproduced in the cd booklet to this release, advertising a month's worth of "progressive concerts" upcoming at a venue, somewhere in England, featuring performances by T2, Judus [sic] Priest, Israel's Jericho Jones, Thin Lizzy and this very band, Possessed. Good grief. We'd have been very very broke blokes back then, spending our last dime, I mean, farthing, on going out to such shows! What a time for hairy, heavy proto-metal awesomeness! Thinking along those lines, Cathedral vocalist Lee Dorrian *has* built a time machine of sorts, though -- his label Rise Above now has an archival/reissue imprint called Rise Above Relics, dedicated to unearthing the heavy sounds of the past for them to be heard again today. This Possessed album (along with Luv Machine, also reviewed) is one of the first releases and we've gotta say they've dug up a gem, hitherto unknown to us. Possessed, who you'd think might be some sort of occultic, Comusy folk band from the name and the Art Nouveau, Aubrey Beardsley style cover art, actually play a kinda proggy, kinda glammy hard rock that definitely bears some resemblance to aspects of Led Zeppelin. Just coincidence that Possessed's singer and guitarist, the India-born Vernon Pereira, had been in the original lineup of an outfit called The Band Of Joy, which also included Zeps-to-be Robert Plant and John Bonham? In any case, Possessed's most notable attributes would have to be the sinuous, crunchy riffing of guitarist Pereira, and also his Plant-like lead vocals. Furthermore, the band's spiralingly complex and bombastic songwriting ventures into the variety of "funk" displayed by Led Zeppelin on such songs as "Trampled Underfoot". Then there's the acoustic break of "Exploration Pt. II", also very Zeppish to be sure, though besides Zep, we'd compare this to Thin Lizzy and also to obscurities like Hard Stuff and even AQ faves Zolar X! Despite being so worthy, Possessed never released an album, though they did record one in 1971 that, due to label disinterest, was shelved (until now, this is it). Sadly, three key band members, including Pereira, died in a motorway accident in 1976 ("Driver of Pop Group Death Van Dozed Off" reads the headline to one of the vintage newspaper clippings reproduced in the cd booklet), bringing a tragic end to the hopes and history of Possessed. The '70s rock star glory experienced by their chums in Led Zeppelin was never to be for this ill-fated band, though things could have, should have, turned out much differently, as at the time of the accident, they were on the verge at last of a major record deal. And they were supposedly slated to play shows in the USA with the Sex Pistols, bizarrely enough. Of course, that never happened. So we're left with Exploration, while not the best unreleased album of the era ever (Jacula? Bedemon? Sproton Layer?), definitely a pretty darn cool one. It's a bit raw sounding, maybe a still a work in progress with some of the riffing rather similar in a couple of the songs, but it's definitely something that fans of both Led Zep and all the early '70s hard rock rarities we love should investigate! Nicely packaged with a fat, 20 page booklet full of notes and photos, slipcased to boot.

MPEG stream: The Love That You Gave
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Hell yeah, '70s proto-metal from Detroit (and not only that, released on a Motown subsidiary)! These dudes have appeared on some cool comps of heavy psych obscurities we've listed (Up All Night, White Lace & Strange) but this is the first time we've seen a legit reissue of their only album, from 1970, entitled The Gospel According To Zeus. This digipacked reish is from the master tapes. The album starts off with stone classic "It Couldn't Be Me", a track that hiphop headz might recognize as having been sampled on an Obie Trice record a few years back. What we also now realize, is that recent AQ fave band Malachai (the sampledelic UK duo on Domino) essentially sounds, at their best, a whole heck of a lot like that one song by Power Of Zeus - it's as if Malachai based their entire sound on the big beat fuzz pop hard rock of "It Couldn't Be Me"! So that's pretty cool. But Power Of Zeus have a bunch more bellbottomed acid rock goodness to offer here... ten tracks total ranging from upbeat garagey psych nuggets like "In The Night" and "I Lost My Love", to the mellower, harpsichord-laced "Green Grass & Clover" and the epic, aptly titled doomic dirge "The Death Trip", eventually culminating in the freaked out finale of prog opus "The Sorcerer Of Isis (Ritual Of The Mole)", another track that's been sampled by hiphop producers. Along the way, lotsa bangin' fuzz riffs, wailing organ, lofty vocals, and cowbell knockin' grooviness, real good stuff for all you proto-metal (and popsike!) fans into the likes of Sir Lord Baltimore, Granicus, Atomic Rooster, Dust, Frijid Pink, Bubble Puppy, and last list's proto-metal selections by Bang and Elonkorjuu. Way cool. If Power Of Zeus played shows with Funkadelic back in the day, we wouldn't be at all surprised...

MPEG stream: It Couldn't Be Me
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This cd reissue of a 1969 lp documents the Japanese answer to the British blues rock boom of the late '60s. It's from a band called Powerhouse, featuring future members of underground Japanese psych units Food Brain, Strawberry Path, Flied Egg, and Speed Glue & Shinki. Pertaining to the latter, this album's definite selling point is the fuzzed out guitar wailin' of axe-meister Shinki Chen. Though, in keeping with the blues theme, there's plenty of harmonica blowin' too, including on their rendition of the Beatles' "Back In The U.S.S.R.", which is blusified enough to fit comfortably next to the version of "Hootchie Kootchie Man" that follows it on this record. Hmm, a bluesy "Back In The U.S.S.R."? That's maybe not something we think most folks are in the market for these days... The album's in fact all covers, all of 'em with heavily accented English language vocals. There's more Beatles ("Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da"), and Hendrix ("Foxy Lady"), and a bunch of blues standards popularized by the likes of Cream and the Yardbirds. While "Ob-la-di" can't help but be fairly upbeat, many of the other tracks here tend towards the groggy and lumbering. Their version of Willie Dixon's "Spoonful" is downright sludgey, and clocks in at over 15 minutes. Also given an extended (16:08) workout is Sonny Boy Williamson's "Good Morning Little School Girl", doubtless inspired by the Yardbirds' version. Another Yardbirds nod is "Mr. You're A Better Man Than I", Powerhouse's lovely version possessed of the melancholic vibe that Japanese psych bands old and new seem to be so good at.

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Finally, an inexpensive reissue of this classic Beatles-inspired psych-pop album from 1968, and it even includes four bonus cuts. A long-time AQ-favorite. Covered by Barbara Manning, so you know it must be good.

Vinyl reissue of this classic psych-pop 'rock opera' album from 1968. A long-time AQ-favorite.

Christina Applegate's mom! nancy sinatra mamas & papas ny folk scene lee hazlewood

THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY.

Just in case you were wondering, there IS a universe. A universe in which a band from Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley released a privately-pressed lp in 1975 containing some crazy sci-fi jazz fusion prog rock jams. You may not have heard that record yet, but you live in that universe, too. That band was called Probe 10, and that lp was called There Is A Universe. Imagine an underground hippie space rock band, with plenty of acid rock guitar and fuzz bass, teaming up with a groovy trumpet playing jazz cat who wandered in from some '60s nightclub. It's like Herb Alpert, smoking a lot of herb (ha). Usually when obscure private press reissues are billed as long lost psych/fuzz gems, especially when there's any sort of 'jazz' component, you have to be skeptical. But, in this case, it's actually pretty cool artifact. Super over the top with chops, and with the fuzz. The band, obsessed with the likes of Return To Forever, get busy with hectic tempo changes and rollercoaster song structures, brassy attacks, and flute too, lots of flute. And there's a big drum solo on here as well, part C of the five part suite "Invasion Of The Malladroids". Just ridiculous, really. And when they aren't conjuring jazzy sci-fi space battles with their instruments, they get all new agey, check out the babbling brook and spiritual spoken word on "To Improvise A Dream", and then there's the very first song, the title track, the only one with singing on it (courtesy guest vocalist Susan Rudelich), shrill and sweet at the same time, misleadingly melodic and hippified though, setting you up for a surprise as the band kicks into the first of the Malladroid invasion cuts immediately afterwards, some of the fuzziest, freakiest prog fusion absurdity we've ever heard. Nicely packaged in a miniature lp sleeve, the cd booklet featuring personal liner notes from two of the band members, Jim McGee and Barry "Buzz" Bachman. Also, there's five unreleased bonus tracks on the cd (a vinyl version of this reissue is forthcoming too, btw).

MPEG stream: Invasion Of The Malladroids: A. Invasions
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NOW ON LP TOO! The latest collection (after two previous) chronicling the work of Australian outsider artist / primitive folk songsmith Pip Proud, comes courtesy of Japanese label EM, who gather up some of his best tracks from the late sixties and early seventies, selected by Proud's biographer David Nichols, who also provides the booklet's extensive liner notes. Fans of early Flying Nun, Xpressway and Homestead Records, will be immediately smitten. Proud, whose primitive folksmithery falls somewhere between the Tall Dwarfs, the Frogs and Sebadoh, was like a proto Syd Barrett, with a voice that's a dead ringer for Jimmy Flemion of the Frogs (R.I.P.), and his music for all its amateur primitivism, was geniusly crafted, perfect little introspective folk pop gems, the sound, the lyrics, the guitar playing, even the recordings themselves... We're also reminded of Bill Direen, the sung/spoken vocals, the raw guitar style, the lo-fi recordings, almost every track here impossibly catchy, with the oddest bits getting stuck in your head like crazy. Some tracks are haunting and otherworldly, with truly unique and bizarre guitar parts (or are those synths), the guitar playing sometimes folk, but other times percussive and more rhythmic, and still other times, weirdly psychedelic. There's one track with a full band, that is killer, all Velvets-y murky, tense kraut-psych garage pop, with truly twisted vox, and some weirdly atonal melodies, but the rest of the record is made up entirely of home recorded bedroom jams, with only the most minimal and primitively achieved overdubs, sometimes it's strange gamelan like percussion, sometimes noisy fuzz distortion, sometimes weird tangles of multiple guitar lines, all deftly woven into some of the most endearing, and mysteriously mesmerizing music you might never have heard. There are a handful of bonus tracks, as well as a huge booklet, with liner notes, rare photos and lyrics.

MPEG stream: Adreneline And Richard
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Good grief, how rad is this! Another one, where we think, do we really even need to write a review? Authentic African garage groove from the '70s, by a band that was freakin' called THE PSYCHEDELIC ALIENS! From the same label that brought us the likes of Ofege, and the Lagos Disco Inferno comp. C'mon, what else do you need to know? This archival release collects everything ever recorded by this Ghanaian band, who put out just 3 super rare records in their day: two 7"s and a 12" ep. Thanks to a several years of dedicated effort by the compiler, Frank "Voodoofunk" Gossner, all those tracks are here (8 of 'em, 23 and a half minutes total), and they are plenty groovy indeed, bursting with lively rhythms, wildly jamming organ, James Brown influenced funkiness, and not just a little bit o' fuzz guitar, especially on the mind-melting "Okponmo Ni Tisitsi Emo Le" that wraps this up in a throbbingly mesmeric finale. While we can't tell you what that particular title means, there are 3 here in English: "Hijacking", "We're Laughing", and "Extraordinary Woman" which might (or might not) give you a sense of what sorts of things this band was concerned with, lyrically. We've been lucky lately, so many great reissues from the '70s African rock/funk scene, Ngozi Family, Amanaz, Witch, Tirogo, Sweet Talks, now this! Of course if you're familiar with those, these Aliens won't seem quiet so alien. For instance, if you liked that The World Ends comp, these guys (who weren't on it, as that was all Nigerian acts) woulda fit right in! Due to the rarity of these records, and possibly the name of the band, this is considered by some to be one of those "holy grail" releases, though spoiled as we are already by those other great reissues we are just happy to have even MORE great African '70s garage to groove to. The compact disc comes in a swank hardcover package, with a 32 page booklet. The regular vinyl lp edition is nice too... and then we have ONE COPY (though we can maybe get more) of the expensive, ultra deluxe 4x7" box set version for those who need such a fetish object in their collection.

MPEG stream: We're Laughing
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MPEG stream: Okponmo Ni Tisitsi Emo Le

Newest issue of the esteemed Ptolemaic Terrascope. Destroy All Monsters, The Golden Dawn, The Magic Band, Cerberus Shoal, Piano Magic, Mountain Goats, etc. Enclosed cd has Green Pajamas, Sharron Kraus, Comets on Fire, Davis Redford Triad.

Yay! Ptolemaic Terrascope is back! The newest incarnation of this venerable fanzine (or "illustrated occasional") devoted to the underground folk, psych, and otherwise acid-laced, pagan, pastoral musics of the past and present is published right here in the Bay Area, and thus there's a bit more of a San Fran bent to this issue, with a cover pic featuring quite a few faces we recognize both as musicians and as customers here at Aquarius. Taking over the reigns from the UK crew (Phil McMullen et. al.) who originated the Ptolemaic Terrascope institution back in the '80s (more than a 'zine, PT has spawned a series of "Terrastock" festivals and helped nurture a whole scene of Terrastockian bands and fans, y'know), is new editor/publisher Pat Thomas, a longtime PT writer, reissue record label guy, and musician himself. Yes, we'd say Pat's off to a good start with this issue, just look at it: it's got a glossy, full-color cover and perfect binding, a first for the PT. More importantly, what's inside lives up to the PT tradition: interviews with the likes of Shirley Collins, Davey Graham, Vashti Bunyan, Colleen, Ben Chasny (Six Organs of Admittance), and Ron Ashton (The Stooges), amongst much else. Also Devendra Banhart is subjected to a blindfold test on British Folk Rock, a la The Wire's "Invisible Jukebox" feature. And there's lots of reviews of course too. Former editor Phil McMullen also makes an appearance, with a column offering his blessings to Pat and talking about what he's up to now himself (including preparing for the upcoming Terrastock 7, to be held in Louisville, KY in 2008). Oh, and that's not all, you also get a free 20 song cd compilation with rare and/or unreleased material from the likes of Six Organs, Barbara Manning, Shirley Collins, Davey Graham, Kendra Smith, Doug Yule, Fern Knight, Steve Wynn, Ruthann Friedmann, Sean Smith, Colossal Yes, Pat Thomas, and more!

Here's the record that was never released on account of the Manson murders! (More on that in a second.) This double cd contains all the recordings of Public Nuisance, an obscure (but pretty great) teenage garage/psych band that got together in Sacramento circa 1964. As befits their punky name, they looked like a bunch of hoods, decked out in all-black outfits, with two of 'em sporting proto-Ramones style long hair. That, plus the fact that we read they were like an American version of the wild and crazy English freakbeat bands, piqued our curiosity big time. Supposedly, also, they were as "heavy as the Stooges". The truth is, that's a bit of a stretch. Some of this *is* at least heavier than, if not the Stooges, the Stones, but they do a lot of lighter, Beatles-y stuff too. They perform a nice cover of the Beatles' "I'm Only Sleeping" in fact. So they were as much a pop-psych band as they were a down and dirty garage combo. On the other hand, their song "Love Is A Feeling" sounds EXACTLY like the White Stripes! The 28 tracks here actually cover quite a wide spectrum of sounds from sweet, harpsichord and theremin laced pop to raw, primal R&B stomp w/ plenty o' fuzz. This collection mainly consists of 1969 sessions recorded for an LP that never came out 'cause their label was owned by Terry Melcher, the guy who also owned the house where the Manson Family killed Sharon Tate! After the murders, Melcher, afraid for his life, went into hiding and his label folded... But now, decades later, here are those unreleased sessions plus some rare singles tracks recorded under the band's earlier moniker Moss & The Rocks. Maybe a single-disc "best of" would have been more uniformly killer, and cheaper, but we can't really argue with getting to hear it all. The super thick, colorful, photo-filled cd booklet is full of essays written by Mike "Ugly Things" Stax, Clark Faville, and others -- including notes about each and every song! Definitely something for fans of the Seeds, Stones, Creation, and "Nuggets" stuff in general to check out. Even if they're not quite the "unknown Stooges" we'd hoped for, Public Nuisance are pretty cool.

RealAudio clip: Love Is A Feeling
RealAudio clip: Time Can't Wait
RealAudio clip: Daddy's Comin' Home
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Do you like some acid sprinkled into your sun soaked psychedelic G-rated children's television shows, well, what if we added even MORE acid it and made it into a movie... well, then Sid & Marty Krofft were for sure your pushers. The big screen spinoff of HR Pufnstuf, these songs were a crucial part of creating the overall over-the-top fantastical and colorful world of the characters of Pufnstuf. A couple lists back we revelled in there finally being a domestic release of The Bugaloos cd and we gotta say we're rejoicing in just the same drink the crazy kool-aid way for these sounds from Sid & Marty Kroft's other druggy, deliriously metaphor filled, bizarre and bright colored daydream for kids with some winking nods to their parents watching along. With a great weird cast of characters including Mama Cass as Witch Hazel, we wish all family entertainment was this bizarre and jam packed with imagination and pleasure. We're still waiting for folks like The Polyphonic Spree or some Elephant 6 tinged groups like Olivia Tremor Control or Of Montreal to fully embrace our television childhoods and carry the torch of Pufnstuff, the Bugaloos and all of our druggy friends for a new generation of kids to trip out too. So fun and dazzling!

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We listed a reissue of this on cd a while back, that's long out of print, but we're happy to see it's now been done on vinyl... When we first put this on, we were like, damn! Opening track "Living In The Ghetto" is some kick-ass, fuzz-filled, freak funk/rock from this all-black '70s act from Cleveland. And it was perhaps too much to ask for the whole of their eponymous 1970 album to keep up with the heavy acid rock like that track. No, soon Purple Image take a turn into some smooth and tender R&B territory, though weird synth interludes and psychedelic effects keep our interest, and there's definitely some more nuggets of tough fuzz rockin' to be found on here. The album ends with "Marching To A Different Drummer", a meandering fifteen minute mostly-instrumental garage psych R&B fusion jam, with shrill guitars, funky horns, phased drums, wild harmonica... Definitely cool, though they're no Funkadelic. Still, at least a couple of the cuts on here, particularly "Living In The Ghetto" would for sure make this worth it to any big fan of the much beloved Chains And Black Exhaust compilation from way back when!

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We know a LOT of you are familiar with the band Jerusalem, one of thee ultimate holy grails of '70s proto-metal, thankfully reissued by Vintage/Rockadrome a couple years ago. We made it our Record Of The Week at the time, and still sell 'em steadily, every week!! And this list, you'll also find the vinyl version of that reissue, repressed. One of the heaviest, doomiest proto-metal finds ever, coming closer to the gods Black Sabbath than most, but with their own primitive, almost punk charm! Jerusalem only put out that one rare lp, but that's not the end to the story. Rumor had it that there was a second album in the can, never released. Well, as we mentioned in our Record Of The Week write-up, the actual fact was that when Jerusalem broke up, sometime in 1972, 3/5ths of the ex-members immediately formed another band, Pussy, and what we've got here is Pussy's entire recorded output, finally seeing the light of day!! Not to be confused with another British band called Pussy, a psych pop outfit from the '60s (what's with these young men liking Pussy as a band name so much? Cat fanciers, huh?), this Pussy were a power trio, consisting of Jerusalem's rhythm section plus their lead guitarist. Apparently, the lead singer and 2nd guitarist from Jerusalem had wanted to go in a more progressive/polished direction, which lead to the split, and resulted in the formation of Pussy, by those who wanted to keep things rather more raw and rockin'. However, Pussy do sound somewhat different from Jerusalem, and not just 'cause bassist Paul Dean took over on vocals (on the other hand, he was also always the main songwriter in both bands). While their songs are full of throbbing rhythms and crunching distorted guitar riffs, Pussy don't come across quite so doomy and dark as did their previous incarnation. There's a bit more of a poppy "glam" thing going on here, Pussy sounding something like a heavier T.Rex at times! Banging a gong, getting it on, boogying down, complete with handclaps and cowbell. Slade and The Sweet could be other influences/comparisons, which means this has something in common with the proto-metal treat we listed last time, by Incredible Hog... Some songs remind us of Stray ("I Keep Remembering You"), others of early UFO ("Moonshine"), and one ("Pig Mansion") even hints at a proto-metal version of early Brian Eno. There's even a number on here that Andee thought sounded like something from the first Duran Duran album, though we're not sure if anyone else thinks so. These rollicking tracks are all energetic and fuzzed out, with lots of bouncy, rubbery riffing. Definitely a good time, and thus getting played in heavy rotation here at the store ever since it showed up! There's a total of 16 tracks on this cd, including both sides of their only previously released record, a 7" single from 1972, the great "Feline Woman" (inspired by Sabbath's version of "Evil Woman"?) backed with "Ska-Child" (definitely NOT a ska number, though it does feature groovy hard rockin' horns!). Then there's four more songs from demo sessions circa '73, plus the ten tracks, with a new guitarist, from what was meant to be their full-length album, all produced (as was Jerusalem) by Ian Gillan of Deep Purple, who also sings some backup. So cool that this long lost gem is finally available! The 20 page cd booklet includes lyrics, photos, and detailed liner notes about the Pussy story...

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This release from Hertfordshire UK band Pussy was overlooked upon its release in 1969 but over the years it has become a valuable find for prog/psych enthusiasts, selling now for over hundreds of dollars when originally it languished in the bargain bins. Now

RealAudio clip: Come Back June

Q: Do you love '60s psych/beat/garage stuff? Q: Do you have any Q65 records? If your answer to Q1 is Yes, and your answer to Q2 is No, then YOU MUST BUY THIS, NOW! It's that simple. Q65 were Holland's version of the Rolling Stones, seriously just as good. They had the hair, they had the hooks, they had the attitude. Even though they somehow never got huge outside of their own small country. Other good comparisons would be to the Yardbirds, and especially the Pretty Things. If you like the Pretties, make sure you get hip to Q65, and here's just the ticket. This brand new compilation brings together 24 crucial cuts from the Q65, spanning their career from early 1966 singles and their magnificent debut album of killer R&B freakbeat entitled Revolution, to the even more mindblowingly psychedelic stuff they cut afterwards, up through '68. It's a true labor of love from Q65's fans at Rev-Ola, as you can tell from the fancy full-color, 22 page cd booklet, and you'll know why when you hear their songs. There's 24 good reasons here that the back cover blurb so accurately states: "You need this cd more than you need food"! From crunching garage fuzz stompers like "Cry In The Night", "Summer Thoughts In A Field Of Weed", and the Who-ish "I Got Nightmares" with its Bo Diddley beat to the much moodier, more melancholic vibes of the likes of "World Of Birds" and "Sour Wine"... wow, man. Feast on this. They could easily compete with any of the British bluesrock acts of the era (witness their fine covers of "Spoonful", "I'm A Man", etc.), and also any of the most savage Nuggets action out there. When they tripped out in post-Sgt. Peppers agonized ecstasy, they were just as effective. With the tough but melodic vocals of Wim Bieler leading the charge, backed by the wailing axe of guitarist Frank Nuyens (responsible for the post-Q65 solo album Rainman, the reissue of which we highlighted here not long ago), Q65 were a raw, energetic, psychedelic force to be reckoned with. We recommend you reckon with them now if you haven't already.

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Question Mark are indeed obscure... but when you hear 'em it'll be no mystery why we think they're awesome! And, despite some similar garagey allegiances, they're not to be confused with Detroit's ? & The Mysterians from the '60s. This Question Mark is a band from Africa, circa 1974. That's right, yet another one to add to the grand stash of international psych reissue riches being industriously dug up by labels like Shadoks, Soundway, and Now-Again. Yep, we've all been lucky lately, getting reissues of '70s groovy garage fuzz groove monsters from Zambia's "Zam Rock" scene (Rikki Ililonga, Witch, Amanaz, Chrissy Zebby Tembo, Ngozi Family), also from Nigeria (Blo, Ofege, Tirogo) and Ghana too (The Psychedelic Aliens)... Now here's Question Mark, a Nigerian band who recorded this, their sole album, in Kenya. And they totally fit right in with those mentioned. Really, all we should need to say is that, if you like the same label's earlier reissues of Witch and Tirogo and the rest, you'll want Question Mark. Fuzz guitar, pulsating organ, driving beats, it's irresistible stuff, with that definite African "feel" to the rhythms, though the pleasant vocals are all in English (most of the lyrics are about girls: "Oh My Girl", "Hey Hey Girl", "Mary Anne") and clearly Question Mark's music is indebted to Western influences, especially the softer songs like the sunshiney "Oh My Girl" sounding like they could be off an American Nuggets comp. But don't worry, they never get too "ordinary", there's also plenty of off-kilter psychedelic jamming and warbling organ, indeed they they follow that melodic number with the manic "Freaking Out", which by the way is the song here we realized we'd heard before, maybe you have too, it appeared on Soundway's compilation Nigeria Rock Special: Psychedelic Afro-Rock & Fuzz. And they really couldn't have selected anything more appropriate for a comp of that title! Well, unless they'd picked some of the other tracks from this album... First time reissued on cd, complete with fat cd booklet packed with informative liner notes - there's an extensive interview about the history of the band with lead vocalist/organist Frank Izuorah and percussionist Uzo Agulefo, both of whom now reside in Texas (one's a family therapist, the other a Professor of Economics), who also offer their commentary on each of the disc's 8 tracks. Wherein we learn that the title track was their attempt at copying Ofege's style...

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THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY.

Hot dang! Two discs of vintage Frisco ballroom '60s psych from the influential QMS. Disc one comes live from '68, showcasing Quicksilver's advanced abilities at both playing and arranging. The lineup is the same as on their first two classic albums, the self-titled debut and "Happy Trails" (meaning, the acid guitar sound of John Cipollina is in full-effect). Excellent live audio quality too. The material ranges from blues to folk to hardrock, including versions of "Back Door Man," "Codine," "Smokestack Lightning," "Who Do You Love," etc. The second disc features rare demos and alternate, early versions of QMS classics, as well as stuff from a film soundtrack and a single release.

Great English prog group's only album, circa 1975, featuring Charles Hayward on drums (pre-This Heat). Also Phil Manzanera (Roxy Music) on guitar. Includes one of the best song titles ever: "Mummy Was An Asteroid, Daddy Was A Small Non-Stick Kitchen Utensil" (which is also one of the best tracks here, too).

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A heavy, hard rocking Dungen? From actually back in the day? That's kind of what this newly reissued (first time on cd) Swedish hard rock rarity sounds like. Recorded in 1975 by a teenage band with big league chops, equipment, and ambition, the sole album from Rag I Ryggen (Strength And Courage, in English) is what collectors/dealers like to term a "fuzz monster". And it is full of that fuzz we love. The Rag I Ryggen boys were basically trying to be Sweden's answer to Deep Purple and Uriah Heep. And while they've got all the guitar heroics, heavy riffs, and Hammond organ action required, they're a heck of a lot more Swedish sounding, in part 'cause they sing in Swedish (and sometimes English too, on such tracks as "Queen Of Darkness") and also because they bring in a lot of folkiness on tracks like "Jan Banan" that remind us of bands like Kebnekajse. It's very rockin' mix of melody, folkiness, Moog-ed symphonic prog bombast and '70s heaviness. What's not to like? And this reish comes with three live bonus tracks, detailed liner notes, etc. Nice.

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As much as we love the Beatles (and we do), we don't really find ourselves putting on Rubber Soul or Revolver on a daily basis. No, if we're gonna listen to Lennon/McCartney compositions, we'd rather hear 'em done a bit differently, like for instance rearranged by an obscure psychedelic orchestral jazz-rock ensemble from Norway, as found here. Recorded circa 1969-70, Rain's album features epic covers of Beatles classics "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "A Day In The Life", as well as John Lennon's own "Isolation", amidst a bunch of impressive progged-out originals, all heavy on the sweeping Hammond organ, fuzz guitar, horn arrangements, and grand Nordic vocals. The ambitious musicians in Rain shift from jazzy grooves to delicate '60s psych to electro-acoustic avant-classical experimentation (as on the stark and strange "Norsk Suite"), all except the latter staying nicely melodic as well as quite technically complex. George Martin & the Beatles were an inspiration of course, but also apparently Varese, Stravinsky, and Vanilla Fudge too! This Shadoks release includes a 20 minute bonus track of free improvisation, as well as extensive liner notes in the form of an interview with Rain's guitarist/violinist, and plenty of vintage photos.

MPEG stream: A Day In The Life
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Rainbow Ffolly? Sounds ffunny... maybe ffantastic! And it is, for what it is. For those who dig Sgt. Peppery British pop-psych from the '60s, what you've got here is a kaleidoscopic pop concoction whipped up in 1968 by some bright, Beatles-lovin' students who sent their demo in to Parlophone, hoping to score a record deal. The label ended up releasing their demo on vinyl just as it was, which is what we've got here, reissued on cd with a couple of bonus tracks. It's a bit like Yellow Submarine on a student budget, complete with bits of silly dialogue interspersed amidst the songs, but it has some fuzz bite to it as well. Definitely a colorful curiousity (and not just the cover) from a ffar-off but still ffabulous time, in the vein of the Beatles, Blossom Toes, Kaleidoscope, early Floyd...

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Never seen this before, maybe it's the first time it's been reissued... a 1970 solo album from Frank Nuyens, who had been the lead guitar player with one of Holland's top '60s beat/blues/psych rock groups, Q65. We've never listed anything by them, but would if we could, they were a fantastic band, we'll keep an eye out for any available reissues. But we're certainly glad to have this Nuyens solo album, it's great too. Super melancholic and melodic, with gentle vocals and a rustic, folkish psychedelic vibe, but also flashes of psych guitar glory. There's snappy drum shuffle and lovely flutey parts too. We hear definite hints of the Beatles, also the Zombies and the Kinks, at their moodiest. We're also reminded of Roy Harper, maybe it's Nuyens' voice and guitar playing and the whole folky-proggy singer-songwriter thing. Check out the track "Vicious Circle" for evidence of that. Another song on here makes us think of Neil Young. And although Nuyens might not be as well known as any of those artists outside of his native Holland, he and Q65 definitely belong in such company. There's been a lot of great '60s/'70s psych/pop/prog reissues lately, and this is one of 'em!! So many good songs here. A really recommended reissue indeed - and it includes a bonus track, a song from a single that didn't originally appear on the LP proper.

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A few weeks back we made Andy Votel's amazing mix of prog/funk/jazz/acid rock from the Vertigo vaults our Record Of The Week. Now we're reviewing this, a recently-reissued-on-cd Vertigo album from, ta-da, 1971 that (we don't think) made it onto Votel's disc, thereby demonstrating that even by cramming dozens of little snippets of songs into a mix, he certainly couldn't fully encompass everything awesome that was ever released on Vertigo! This one's not heavy rock, nor is it freaky jazz fusion. Rather, Ramases was a unique one-album-only obscurity playing a kind of mystical pop-prog. I guess it reminds us just a little bit of Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come albums. But it's definitely its own thing, as you might expect from a mysterious psychedelic visionary from South Africa who (perhaps) believed himself to be the reincarnation of an Egyptian pharaoh, who performed these Space Hymns together with his wife Sel, and the assistance of others, including production and guitar licks (and sitar and Moog) courtesy of 10cc's Godley and Creme. The results are really rather catchy and quite strange. Maybe what the second Comus album would have sounded like, if it was a lot better than it was! This new reish in Repertoire's Vertigo series (we hope to bring you some other titles soon) is nicely deluxe, packaged in a gatefold digipack cd jacket, adorned with Roger Dean's great church steeple/rocketship cover art. It boasts four bonus tracks as well (alternate mixes and b-sides). Recommended if you want to check out some unclassifiable cult tuneage, weird and folkish and electronically Eno-arty, with sci-fi hippy themes perhaps worth puzzling over.

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