The folks at P&P know they've got a good thing going with this Electric Asylum series; appropriately monikered compiler The Psychomaniac keeps coming up with winners. In the grand tradition, here's Volume 4, and it's a relatively hard 'n heavy one, subtitled "Rock Hard British Freakrock", as if they knew that Vol. 3, fun as it was, didn't entirely deliver the dunt rock we crave. Well Vol. 4, as befits that unintentional Sabbath reference, is a lot more tough, less bubblegummy... and that even includes the band on here called Bubbles! (Whose badass glammy proto-punk strut "Zap n' Cat" reminds us of Ronno or maybe even Hard Stuff). Oh yeah, this Electric Asylum is again populated with some goofy names, most of whom we'd never heard of before. Here's the full line up: Hector, Slowload, Rog and Pip, Wolfrilla, Incredible Hog, Smoke, Spunky Spider, Ning, Quiet World, Henry Turtle, Bear Brothers, Hard Horse, Mustard, Tuesday, Godson, Bubbles, Sunshine Kid, Clutch, Jackal, and Sundance. 20 tracks in all, mostly taken from one-off, 45 rpm single only releases from flash in the pan bands we're lucky to get to hear at all, most never made an album and did just one or two 7"s... Actually, the only bands we really knew was Incredible Hog (whose entire album is great), and Wolfrilla (a fave from Vol. 2).
Coming from circa 1970-75, a lot of this can be summed up as a bit Sabbath, a bit Slade, platform boots in each camp. Though, each individual band often seems to emulate other, specific, better known acts. Like, Godson sound kinda the Rolling Stones, Hard Horse are a lot like Nazareth, and Incredible Hog come closest to Led Zep... while Ning's "Machine" is somehow part Steppenwolf, part Gary Glitter. And then there's Smoke's "That's What I Want", which is almost like The Kinks' "All Day And All Of The Night" re-written with a "Sweet Leaf" fixation.
While we're not all that surprised that nobody here really ever "made it", that doesn't mean their attempts to do so are without merit! Not if you like lotsa fuzz 'n distortion, acid guitar soloing, and grunting wailing vox! Get yer fix of obscure '70s proto-metal groovy rockin' pop here.
The booklet contains the usual detailed-as-they-can-be trainspotting liner notes on each and every track (from which we learn useful minutiae such as that Sundance featured original Judas Priest drummer Alan Moore, ferinstance) plus full color sleeve/label graphics and vintage b&w photos... too bad about the crap cover art though.
If they can keep digging up records like these, we'll keep digging these comps! After this, we halfway expect P&P to jump ahead a few years to the late '70s / early '80s and bring us the killer NWOBHM rarities comp we know ol' Psychomaniac has got in him too...
Subtitled: "Hip shaking grooves from Germany 1966-1974". Hence the "kraut" in the title -- nothing to do with the "krautrock" of Can/Faust/Amon Duul/etc., though. Nope, this very entertaining collection of twenty obscure cuts culled from rare soundtracks, singles, and library music sources is all about swingin' stuff for lounge pad hipsters, with a Teutonic twist. It starts off with the Marlene Dietrichish "From Here On It Got Rough" by Hildergard Knef, which could be a campy cabaret classic, and then ventures on into red light district funk, stoned jungle soul, and big band psychedelia, a lot of it performed by middle aged German jazz and pop musicans cashing in on the younger generation's trends. The Peter Thomas Sound Orchestra even does a cool cover of "Jumpin' Jack Flash", believe it or not (never thought I'd really enjoy hearing that particular song again so much). And there's definitely a spirit of the age, tongue-in-cheek sense of humor on display, from Kuno & The Marihuana Brass's "Marihuana Mantra" to Vivi Bach and Dietmar Schonherr's "Molotow Coctail Party". And (applause, please) the compilers have provided a cd booklet full of detailed notes on each track, full color cover pictures of the original records, and bad puns like the title ("kraut-pleasers").
The In-Kraut, the delightful sassy compilation of German '60s jazzy lounge pop music that we got almost exactly one year ago today got played like crazy around here! What a treat! And while its follow-up The In-Kraut Vol. II seems a bit more subdued in mood, it looks likes it too is gonna keep our toes a-tapping for a long long while. As we mentioned in the review of the first volume, despite the "Kraut" in the title, you should definitely not expect anything remotely resembling "Krautrock". You will not find anything by Can, Kraftwerk nor Faust, but you will find ultra shimmy shakin' tracks by the likes of Hazy Osterwald Jet Set, Charly Antolini's Power Dozen, The Inner Space (wait, that band actually IS Can, before they called themselves Can!), Joy & The Hit Kids and many more! Oh yes, and the swingin'est, big-band version of Deep Purple's "Black Night" we've ever heard!! Hot stuff!
We reviewed the Dean Carter disc a few lists back, a killer collection of super twisted rockabilly and garage rock, ultra distorted, tons of weird effects, super rocking and far out, especially for the time. We sold a ton, and still can't seem to stop listening to it. In the liner notes, they kept mentioning a comp called The Midnite Sound Of The Milky Way, a collection of singles from the label that Dean Carter called home, and we figured if it was even half as weird as the Carter disc, we had to have it, and guess what, it totally is.
This one is not new either, a few years old in fact, but somehow we missed out both on the Carter, and the Milky Way, so we figured maybe some of you did too. More twisted garage rock, weirdo rockabilly, some proto-doom (really!) and some stuff that we're not exactly sure how to describe. One name keeps popping up all over this disc, with NINE tracks, and that's Kookie Cook, who just so happened to be a member of Dean Carter's band, and judging from these tracks, had much to do with that twisted sound. "Workin' Man" is a total classic, with a killer main riff, a bunch of whistling, some weirdly delivered sung spoken vocals, lots of "HEY!"s, some awesome drumming, and a screaming lead that lasts all of two seconds. Woah. "Don't Lie" is a slithery twisted swampy bit of blues, with frenzied howled vox, and some strange female back ups. "Revenge" is a total reverbed surf jam, with some more super strange vocals, frenzied and maniacal, all over some shimmery twang, and some seriously pounding drums. "Misery" and "I Feel Alright" are classic fifties sounding rockabilly blues jams, with bad ass guitar wrangling, all super distorted and tangled. "Ooby Dooby" is another fifties style groover, with lots of nonsense lyrics, and some really weird female back up vox, and finally, "Drums" begins with Cook shouting "Drums! Baby!" and then two minutes of wild drum freakout and occasional shouts. So good. We hope this guy has a lost album somewhere. Cook also contributes two tracks with his band the Satalites, one of which sounds a little like the Benny Hill theme mixed with surf rock, while the other is a weird slow jam, all wild manic laughing, and weird horns and 'whoop!'s in the background. And that's just Cook's tracks (which are more than enough reason to buy this), there's also the mysterious 12th Knight, whose "Death Row" is total fuzz drenched proto-doom, like Sabbath played on shitty little amps, so grim and weirdly heavy, and there's a bunch of other groups, The Cobras, Dave Marten, Four A While, George Jacks, Jack Johnson, The Grapes Of Wrath and Willie & The Travelaires, all of them cool, although not as weird or far out as Cook or as heavy and haunting as 12th Knight. Such a killer comp. Anyone who dug the Dean Carter, or just loves lost outsider gems from the sixties, this is definitely well worth checking out!
Cup got positively giddy when she saw that The Goblins were on this record, but she soon found out that they're not Thee Goblins from Vancouver - the jawdropping spectacle lead by Nardwuar The Human Serviette (interviewer extraordinaire and leader of The Evaporators who actually do an appropriately blistering, bizarre cover of The Monks' "Higgle-ly Piggle-ly"). Despite the liner notes (written by The Monks' Eddie Shaw!) describing these versions as bringing "30 year old music into the 21st century", they're really much more controlled, faithful renditions courtesy of The Goblins, The Cuckoos, The Graves Brothers and Kelley Stoltz.
Of course, the wonder of The Monks was their absolute raging fearlessness especially taking into consideration the time in which they existed... 1966! Five GIs stationed in Germany formed this strange strange band. They shaved the tops of their heads monk-style, worn long black robes, and thumped out the most amazing primal rock. Vocals were howled, yelped and ranted. Lyrics were filled with bile and dark wit. Everything was completely untethered, so truly punk, badass and one-of-a-kind! That said, it seems kinda odd to cover them - either attempting to recapture the songs' raw energy or to completely rework them - 'cause there was so much more to The Monks than the songs.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
It might seem silly to list the second of two 10cd boxsets before we list the first, but we to be honest, both are equally awesome, and there's really no specific chronology. And odds are, most folks who buy this one, either already have the other one, or are gonna want that one too. If you're the latter, and do want both, go ahead and order this one, and we can order you the first one, we're hoping to have more in the next week or so.
Anyway, most record nerds and certainly most garage / beat freaks are no doubt well aware of the Rubble series of lps collecting all manner of garage, psych and pop rarities on killer comps, each filled with all time favorites and tons of should have been classics. Super grungy garage stomp, sunshiney pop, groovy psychedelic jangle, shimmery hippy grooves, fuzzy flower child folk, tripped out acid psych, druggy dream pop, fuzzy proto metal, Beach Boys-ish surf rock and every possible stop in between. Just a list of some of the hundred plus bands should have most music obsessives drooling: The Accent, Fairy Tale, The Californians, Ice, Cherry Smash, Felius Andromeda, The Attack, Turquoise, Bulldog Breed, Virgin Sleep, Human Instinct, The Timebox, Outer Limits, Tintern Abbey, East Of Eden, Ozworld, Buzz, Blue Bous, Southern Sounds, Force Five, The French Revolution, The Peep Show, Espirit De Corps, Our Plastic Dream, Nirvana, Ghost, Groove, Sub, Science Poption, Strawberry Children, Curiosity Shoppe, Noah's Ark, The Zipps, The Pretty Things, Tuesday's Children, Jackpots, Wonderland, Wallace Collection, Jason Crest, The Sound Barrier, House Of Lords, St. Valentines Day Massacre, Mint, Carriage Company, Dreams, Chasers, Remo Four, Sea-Ders, Fox, The Oscar Bicycle, Gentle Influence, The Lion Tamers, Wild Silk, Spice, The Afex, Philamore Lincoln, Andwella's Dream, Argosy, Time Machine, Oct'Opus, Dee & Quotum, The Still Life, Doomsday Machine, Infantes Junilate, Pregnant Insomnia, Fruit Machine, Lions Of Judah, Cymbaline, Together, Protobello Explosion, The Fourmyula, Icarus, The Moving Finger, Cinnamon Quill, Blossom Toes, Soft Machine, Bump Of Chicken, The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown, Pandemonium, Adjeef The Poet, Apple and more more more!!!
Besides having some of the most awesome band names ever, these are some of the most amazing tracks you'll ever hear. It's like the greatest pop psych fuzz surf garage hippy folk proto-metal mixtape EVER!!!
LIMITED TO 1000 COPIES. Each disc in it's own sleeve, a huge booklet with liner notes, housed in a super nice acid drenched full color box, each one machine numbered.
Way recommended! ----* ----* In Stock, Not Yet Reviewed : ----* If you want to order one of these, just search for the item you're looking for, then click on the buy button and it will be added to your cart! 1-2-6 "Graveyard Paradise: The Complete 1 2 6 & Taboo Recordings, 1966-68" (Ugly Things) cd 15.98 ABSOLUT NULL PUNKT "Absolute Magnitude" (Blossoming Noise) cd 14.98 AETHENOR "Betimes Black" (VHF) cd/lp 13.98/14.98 AIR "Moon Safari" (EMI) cd + dvd + book 26.00 ALLIEN, ELLEN "Sool" (BPitch Control) cd 15.98 ALTER EGO "What's Next?!" (Klang Electronic) cd 16.98 AMBARCHI, OREN & Z'EV "Spirit Transform Me" (Tzadik) cd 16.98 AMEBIX "No Sanctuary" (Alternative Tentacles) cd/lp+7" 14.98/13.98 AMON DUUL II "Hijack" (Revisited Records) cd 17.98 ANAKRID "Banishment Rituals of The Disenlightened" (Beta-lactam Ring) cd 16.98 ANCESTORS "Neptune With Fire" (North Atlantic Sound) cd 19.98 ARC "Arkhangelsk" (Epidemie) cd 15.98 ASCEND "Ample Fire Within" (Southern Lord) cd 15.98 BAKER, AIDEN "Book of Nods" (Beta-lactam Ring) cd 17.98 BALDWIN, MATT "Paths Of Ignition" (American Dust) cd 14.98 BATTLEMASTER "Warthirsting & Winterbound" (Forcefield) cd 13.98 BLACK ANGELS, THE "Directions To See A Ghost" (Light In The Attic) cd 13.98 BLACK MOTH SUPER RAINBOW "Zodiac Girls" (Suicide Squeeze) 7" 4.98 BON IVER "For Emma, Forever Ago" (Jagjaguwar) cd 14.98 BRUHIN, ANTON "Vom Goldabfischer" (Algamarghen) cd 21.00 BUN B "II Trill" (Rap-a-lot) cd 14.98 CAVE, NICK & THE BAD SEEDS "Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!" (Mute Records) cd 16.98 CHILD READERS "Music Heard Far Off" (Soft Abuse) cd 14.98 CIRCLE X "Prehistory" cd 14.98 COLDWORKER "Rotting Paradise" (Relapse) cd 14.98 COUGH "Sigillum Luciferi" (Forcefield Records) cd 10.98 COURTIS, ANLA / SEIICHI YAMAMOTO / YOSHIMI "Live At Kanadian" (Public Eyesore) cd 10.98 CROM "Hot Sumerian Nights" (Underdogma) cd 14.98 DANIEL, TED QUINTET "Tapestry" (Porter Records) cd 14.98 DISKJOKKE "Staying In" (Smalltown Supersound) cd 16.98 DJ SCOTCH EGG "Drumized" (Load) cd 15.98 DRUMM, KEVIN "Imperial Distortion" (Hospital) cd 19.98 EAT SKULL "Sick To Death" (Siltbreeze) lp 14.98 EATER "The Album + Singles Plus" (Anagram) 2cd 17.98 EIKO, ISHIBASHI & TATSUYA YOSHIDA "Slip Beneath The Distant Tree" (Rhythm Tracks) cd 15.98 EREB ALTOR "By Honour" (I Hate Records) cd 16.98 FLAMES OF HELL "Fire and Steel" (Draconian Records) cd 18.98 FREE POP ELECTRONIC CONCEPT, THE "A New Exciting Experience" (Vampisoul) cd 23.00 FRICARA PACCHU "Midnight Pyre" (Lal Lal Lal) cd 15.98 GIANT / TIDES "Split" (Level-Plane) lp 13.98 GOTO80 "Made On Internet" (Pinipung) cd 17.98 GREGOR SAMSA "Rest" (The Kora Records) cd 14.98 GUILTY SIMPSON "Ode To The Ghetto" (Stones Throw) cd 14.98 HAINO, KEIJI & MASAMI AKITA "Kikuri" (Victo) cd 15.98 HATCHET "Awaiting Evil" (Metal Blade) cd 13.98 HEAVEN AND "Sweeter as the Years Roll By" (Staubgold) cd 17.98 HEAVY, THE "Great Vengeance and Furious Fire" (Counter) cd/lp 14.98/22.00 HOWLIN' MAGIC "The Dreaming" (Lal Lal Lal) cd 15.98 JAY, JEREMY "A Place Where We Could Go" (K Records) cd/lp 14.98/13.98 JAZKAMER "Art Breaker" (Smalltown Superjazz) cd 16.98 JEX THOTH "s/t" (I Hate Records) cd 16.98 JEX THOTH / PAGAN ALTAR "split" (I Hate Records) 7" 12.98 JOYNER, SIMON "The Cowardly Traveler Pays His Toll" (Team Love) cd 14.98 KALMA, ARIEL "Le Temps Des Moissons" (Beta-lactam Ring) cd 17.98 KAWAGUCHI MASAMI'S NEW ROCK SYNDICATE "Cat Vs. Frog" (Palindrone) lp 17.98 KAYO DOT "Blue Lambency Downward" (Hydrahead) cd 14.98 KLUSTER "1970 - 1971" (Water) 3cd 27.00 KLUSTER "Admira" (Important) cd 14.98 KLUSTER "Vulcano: Live In Wuppertal 1971" (Important) cd 14.98 KOSS "Four Worlds Converge As One" (Mule Electronic) cd 16.98 KULTIVATOR "Barndomens Stigar" (Mellotronen) 2cd 28.00 LIL MAMA "VYP Voice Of the Young People" (Zomba) cd 17.98 MANIACS DREAM "Turku Hold 'Em" (Lal Lal Lal) cd 15.98 MANITATSU "Reason For Travel" (Rhythm Tracks) cd 15.98 MAYER, NATHANIEL "Why Don't You Give It To Me?" (Alive) cd 15.98 MELOY, COLIN "Colin Meloy Sings Live" (Kill Rock Stars) cd 14.98 MONOPOLY CHILD STAR SEARCHERS "Infant Spirtuality Rates Coconut Percent" (Pacific City) cd-r 9.98 MONOTONIX "Body Language" (Drag City) cd/lp 12.98/12.98 MUDHONEY "The Lucky Ones" (Sub Pop) cd/lp 13.98/14.98 NADJA "Desire In Uneasiness" (Crucial Blast) cd 14.98 NAKED ON THE VAGUE "Blood Pressure Sessions" (Dual Plover) cd/lp 16.98/13.98 NATURAL FOOD "s/t" (Porter Records) cd 16.98 OLD 97'S "Blame it on Gravity" (New West) cd 15.98 ORCHESTRA BAOBAB "Made In Dakar" (Nonesuch) cd 16.98 OSBORNE "s/t" (Spectral Sound) cd 17.98 OSMONDS, THE "Crazy Horses / The Plan" (7T's / Cherry Red) cd 17.98 PATTON, MIKE "A Perfect Place" (Ipecac) cd 16.98 PENTEMPLE "s/t" (Southern Lord) cd 15.98 POLLARD, ROBERT "Robert Pollard Is Off To Business" (GBV) cd/lp 14.98/14.98 QUIET VILLAGE "Silent Movie" (!K7) cd 14.98 ROOTS, THE "Rising Down" (Def Jam) cd 14.98 RUBIES FEATURING FEIST "I" (Italians Do It Better) 12" 9.98 RUSALNAIA (FEAT. SHARRON KRAUS) "s/t" (Camera Obscura) cd 15.98 RUSSIAN CIRCLES "Station" (Suicide Squeeze) cd 14.98 SANTOGOLD "s/t" (Downtown) cd 14.98 SARAH'S CHARITY "Code Of Red Twin" (Arbor) cd-r 9.98 SARMANTO, HEIKKI "Moonflower" (Porter Records) cd 16.98 SEMIMUUMIO "Vamos" (Lal Lal Lal) cd 15.98 SHIT AND SHINE "Kuss Miche, Meine Liebe" (Load) cd SHY CHILD "Noise Won't Stop" (Kill Rock Stars) cd 14.98 SIAN ALICE GROUP "59.59" (The Social Registry) cd 14.98 SIC ALPS "Fool's Mag" (Folding) cassette 5.98 SILVER MT ZION MEMORIAL ORCHESTRA & TRA-LA-LA-BAND "13 Blues For Thirteen Moons" (Constellation) cd/lp 15.98/22.00 SONIC YOUTH "J'accuse Ted Hughes" (SYR POB) 12" 10.98 SPRING HEEL JACK "Songs & Themes" (Thirsty Ear) cd 16.98 STAR STANGLED BANGER "s/t" (Aztec) cd 24.00 SUN RA "Some Blues But Not The Kind Thats Blue" (Atavistic) cd 15.98 TABATA, MITSURU "Lumrapideco" (Utech) cd 16.98 TAPE "Luminarium" (Hapna) cd 16.98 UNEARTHLY TRANCE "Electrocution" (Relapse) cd 15.98 V/A "Disco Italia" (Strut) cd 14.98 V/A "IVG Vol 1" (Born Bad) cd 15.98 V/A "Living is Hard: West African Music in Britain, 1927 - 1929" (Honest Jons) cd/2lp 17.98/22.00 V/A "Nashville Sputnik: The Deep South / Outer Space Productions Of Jack Blanchard and Misty Morgan 1956-2004" (The Omni Recording Corporation) cd 16.98 V/A "Nigeria 70: Lagos Jump" (Strut) cd 14.98 V/A "Steppas' Delight Vol. 1" (Soul Jazz) 2lp 26.00 V/A "Steppas' Delight Vol. 2" (Soul Jazz) 2lp 26.00 V/A "Steppas' Delight" (Soul Jazz) 2cd 25.00 V/A "Thank You Friends: The Ardent Records Story" (Big Beat) 2cd 29.00 V/A "The In-Kraut Vol.3" (Marina) lp 19.98 VEGETABLE ORCHESTRA "Remixed" (Karmarouge) cd 17.98 VON TILL, STEVE "A Grave Is A Grim Horse" (Neurot) cd 14.98 WALKER, PETER "Echo Of My Soul" (Tompkins Square) cd 14.98 WE ARE SCIENTISTS "Brain Thrust Mastery" (Astralwerks) cd 10.98 WEED "s/t" (Revisited / Phillips) cd 17.98 WELLES, ORSON "Your Obedient Servant" (El Records) cd 17.98 YA HO WHA 13 "Feather Of Wisdom" (Phoenix) lp 23.00 YELLOW SWANS "Deterioration" (Modern Radio Record Label) cd 11.98 _______________________________________________________________________ ABOUT MAILORDER
So we've actually already had quite a few amazing compilations of '60s and '70s popular music from Thailand, including a whole bunch of discs from the infallible Sublime Frequencies label (Thai Pop Spectacular, Siamese Soul, Molam: Thai Country Groove, Shadow Music Of Thailand, etc., etc.), and also the Subliminal Sounds label's Thai Beat A-Go-Go series, but we were still super excited when we heard about the upcoming release of this new comp of vintage Thai tunes, 'cause it's been put together by Soundway, the UK-based label that also seemingly can do no wrong when it comes to international crate diggin'. Soundway is responsible for all those Nigeria Special comps, and the Ghana Soundz ones too, among other fine collections and reissues, most focused on music from Africa or Latin America. This is their first venture into Southeast Asia, as far as we know, and boy did they do the job well! A more lively, colorful comp could hardly be imagined. The compilers, who have spent hours and days on the ground in Thailand searching out vintage vinyl, know their stuff (their DJ night, "Bangkok Paradise", must be a blast).
Nineteen tracks, 66 minutes of music, ranging from yearning love songs to super groovy funk, all of it quite undeniably 'exotic' to our ears, so that even with Western psych and pop influences, incorporating surprise rock riffs, synths, and brass sections, it's most definitely music from Thailand, utilizing Thai folk traditions, sung in the Thai language, though some of it also reminds us of Bollywood stuff (which makes sense), or possibly the Ethiopiques series as well (a less likely connection there). We recognize a few of the artists' names from those other abovementioned comps, though they seem aware of what's been comped already and we're assured that most of the tracks here have never been released outside of Thailand before.
The subtitle doesn't say "leftfield" for nothing, this probably isn't the most typical mainstream Thai pop from the period, more like the hippest and freakiest, though often from quite popular artists, many revered to this day. Soundway treat us to some wonderfully eccentric picks, gems like Waipod Phetsuphan's "Ding Ding Dong", a song inspired by a dumb 1971 Italian sex comedy about prehistoric cavemen (and cavewomen) that was inexplicably a hit film in Thailand. And the spaced out lounge-jazz of The Viking Combo band's "Pleng Yuk Owakard" must be mentioned. Mindblowing. Walking bass, spooked out electric organ, maniacal vocals, loud shuddery chords, sudden percussion, woah it's a weird one, almost disturbing. Whichever DJ/collector first dug that one up must have been stoked. So much good stuff here, our point is, the treasures of vintage Thai pop are plentiful enough to require this comp, those that came before, and hopefully many more to come. You gotta be thankful when you think about it, without the efforts of labels like Sublime Frequencies, and Soundway, etc., we'd be missing out on so much incredible music that we now listen to on a daily basis, whether it be from Thailand or Nigeria or wherever.
This comes in a digipack with a thick 24 page booklet that boasts plenty of full-color graphics (lots of vintage record sleeves and labels, plus pics of some of the artists, and a couple shots of the interior of a vinyl shop in Bangkok) and extensive liner notes. There's a lengthy essay discussing the development of, and distinctions between, such popular musical forms as luk thung, luk krung, and molam, with the impact of Western sounds such as surf rock and Santana also being discussed. Then each track gets its own detailed explanatory note as well, often giving some insight into the sometimes peculiar lyrical content the songs. (Also one mentions that Ethiopian groove-master Mulatu Astatke once spent time in Thailand, and has been quoted as having found some of the sounds of Thai music quite similar to those of his own country, so it's not just us.) Super thorough and informative, much as we expect from Soundway. Yay!
Whoo-hoo! Awesome to have this on dvd at long last, in a nice, complete "collector's edition" with various bonus features. One of the most exciting rock/R&B audio-visual documents ever, The Teenage Awards Music International Show live concert film was originally screened in theaters in 1964, and has never been on dvd before.
It features James Brown, Marvin Gaye, Chuck Berry, The Rolling Stones, Jan and Dean, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, The Supremes, Lesley Gore, and more... including, in footage cut from most previous versions of this film, the Beach Boys. Watch Mick Jagger trying to cop James Brown's moves, watch James Brown do stuff that Mick could never do in a million years, watch garage band The Barbarians bash out their mop topped pop backed by a drummer with a hook for a hand, it's all here... an all time classic, now you can take in the whole thing rather than just watching individual clips on YouTube!
Restored and remastered. Bonus features include director's commentary, the original trailer with commentary from John Landis, and radio spots.
This one's pretty much an "add to cart" no-brainer; the subtitle says it all, "Afro Rock & Psychedelia In 1970s Nigeria". And it's on the wonderful Soundway label, who've brought us such prior treats as Nigeria Rock Special, Nigeria Disco Funk Special, and Ghana Soundz. Really, do you need to know more? There's 32 killer cuts spread across the two cds here, from almost as many bands, exuberant electric guitar wielding garage acts most of 'em, and funky too, super funky. Anyone eager for a sequel to that Nigeria Rock Special in particular, start freaking out now! Some of the names here are familiar from that comp or other reissues, but we don't think there's any overlap songwise. Others are way more obscure to our ears. So you get Ofege, Ofo The Black Company, The Mebusas, The Hygrades, Colomach, and The Action 13, alongside, among others, P.R.O. (People Rock Outfit), Chuck Barrister & The Voices Of Darkness, The Thermometers, The Comrades, The Ceejebs, The Funkees, The Hykkers, Bongos Ikwue, The Lawrence Amavi Group, The Ify Jerry Krusade, Sonny Okosuns & Paperback Limited, Cicada, The Identicals, and even a band called The Semi Colon! The Semi Colon's song is pretty badass, by the way, with Moog-y "Blow Your Head" style synth and wicka-wicka chicken scratch guitar, shades of The JB's for sure, James Brown's backup band probably a big influence on a LOT of these groups, along with psych rock from the West as well, especially various Frisco ballroom jammers. While there's variety, there's definitely a Nigerian scene "sound" of the era on display here, and that scene must have been a pretty competitive one, these bands are HOT. While there's some lovely, mellowed-out moments (like PRO's laidback ballad of "Blacky Joe"), mostly this collection consists of uptempo, dancefloor filling groovers, full of percolating percussion, wild wah-wah, and soulful vocal exhortations. A few have horns, there's a lot of funky electric organ, and in all cases, the rhythms are, not surprisingly, first and foremost the focus, driving these songs into your heart, mind, and soul via the involuntary head nodding, foot tapping, get up and get down reaction your body will have to 'em...
The compilation takes its name from The Black Mirror's "The World Ends", found on disc two. Meanwhile, "Soundway" by Wrinkars Experience, from disc one, could be the theme song for the label! Kinda akin to a Nigerian "Nuggets", this is indeed yet another awesome Soundway comp, one of our faves from them so far and that's saying a lot. Can't argue with two discs this funky and fuzzed, though! Comes nicely packaged with a 44 page booklet featuring a plenitude of liner notes and vintage photos. Totally recommended.
Record Store Day alert! Here's a 2013 RSD release that we thankfully managed to get enough copies of to list...
Please don't ask us to pronounce Theppabutr, but do ask us why this is so awesome - though the best answer is: just listen to it!
International vinyl diggers, seeking out vintage grooves in far flung parts of the world, have made Molam music from Thailand into something that's now definitely a 'thing' in our world music section - we've had some other great Molam collections on the Sublime Freqencies label, for instance, so of course it's exciting to hear from 'The Man Behind The Molam Sound', Theppabutr Satirodchompu, responsible for the production work on the 17 tracks collected here from a variety of Molam artists. It's Molam of the modern variety (modern circa 1972-1975 that is, in this case), a form of electrified vocal music from Northeast Thailand that combines traditional folk melodies and ethnic instrumentation with electric guitars and electronic keyboards. Great stuff, all of it, lively and rhythmic, emotive and ear-wormy. Even though we don't understand a word, it's still immediately captivating. We love the keening singers and warbly organs, groovy beats and exotic vibes. If you haven't yet given Molam and closely related genre Luk Thung a try, this would be a great place to start. Seventies Molam like this is mighty fine stuff, up there with those 'Ethiopiques' recordings and certain Jamaican reggae of the same vintage, though we'd imagine the vocal stylings here might work for some folks and not so much for others.
This limited vinyl version is a Record Store Day 2013 release - there is also a (presumably less-limited) non-RSD compact disc edition too, that we'll be stocking and will list next time, but we wanted to get this RSD vinyl listed now before they were gone! Especially since the double vinyl includes two bonus tracks not found on the cd version - as well as a 12"x14" poster, and download card for mp3s of all the tracks. Gatefold sleeve in faux woodgrain wrapper, liner notes, foldout poster inside.
Subtitle: Indonesian Hard, Psychedelic, Progressive Rock And Funk: 1970-1978. Maybe that's all the review this needs, it worked for us, but we'll go on...
Damn. Now THIS is what all comps/reissues should be like. Just the physical thing itself, both cd and lp formats, makes us go wow. And then there's the music, amazing stuff by bands we've NEVER ever heard of before, for the most part.... international psych-rock grooviness from the '70s, Indonesian division. Twenty tracks, all killer no filler for damn sure. So, to start with the elaborate, you're-getting-your-money's-worth packaging, packed with content: exhaustive liner notes, vintage photos, colorful album cover graphics, in a 64 page book in the cd version (and it really thick enough to be called a BOOK, not a booklet) or a 16 page (but lp-sized of course) booklet with the massive 3lp set. Both are solid, hefty items indeed. The cd itself comes in a sturdy cardboard mini-lp style sleeve, tucked tightly along with the book inside a wraparound slipcover. The vinyl, in a triple gatefold sleeve about a half inch thick. Impressive presentation, topping even that of another recent anthology of non-Western psych/funk stuff we made a Record Of The Week as well not long ago, the Sa-Re-Ga collection. What that was to India this is to Indonesia.
And Indonesia is definitely full of hidden treasures for us Westerners into exotic "hairy funk" and heavy rock sounds of the past. We knew about a few bands on here, that we'd had reissues by before, the Ariesta Birawa Group, Shark Move, Koes Plus, but that's it - all of those are awesome though, so the fact that we'd never heard of the other 16 acts on here (there's 20 tracks, but one band appears twice) just made us more excited to hear this: Rollies, Super Kid, Freedom Of Rhapsodia, Murry, The Brims, Black Brothers, Ivo's Group, Golden Wing, The Gang Of Harry Roesli, Benny Soebardja and Lizard, Aka, Panbers, Rhythm Kings, Rasela, Terenchem, and Duo Kribo.
The music of these groups ranges from heavy progressive bombast to hippie trippiness to out-and-out groovy dancefloor filling fodder, often all at once, and then some. Eastern-tinged (no surprise) psychedelic Sgt. Pepperisms and stomping acid funk are blended in the very first selection here, "Haai", by a band called Panbers, who once opened for the Bee Gees in Djakarta. Off to a good start! A tough act to follow (we imagine the Bee Gees thought so too), but track two's The Brims manage to hold their own with "Anti Gandja", a song apparently with a message of "just say no", though it sure sounds a lot like they said hell yeah. Then the third cut, "Bad News" by Rollies, suddenly introduces a healthy dose of James Brown worship, the others were funky but this one is straight up FUNK. After that, we're treated to one of the highlights from the Shark Move album, one of the few tracks here we knew, the fuzz-heavy shambolic riff-tumble with prog-classical soloing of "Evil War". Up next, the stoned lope of Golden Wing's love song "Hear Me" is a bit more primitive, akin to Japan's Speed Glue & Shinki, or Juan De La Cruz from the Philippines.
So, that's just the first five tracks, so far they're all smokin', and guess what? It just gets better and better believe it or not. Turn it up, play it loud! We can't go into detail about EVERY track, though they all deserve mention, from the spacey soul of Super Kid to the greasy groove of The Gang Of Harry Roselli, but we should at least let you know that the Koes Plus cut is NOT from the cd of theirs you may already have that Sublime Frequencies put out, it's taken from a latter record, 1976's ln Hard Beat 2, and it's a rad one, with a nice la la la vocal chorus echoed by some much more maniacal LALALA screaming, crazy.
Oh, and we know why they put two tracks from AKA on here, how could they chose between the badass hard rock of "Do What You Like" with its headspining psychedelic breakdowns, and the same group's seriously funky, James Brown inspired "Shake Me", which begins with call-and-response chant, the band saying "No" to grass, morphine, and LSD, but "YEAH" to sex.
Ok, we'll leave it to you get this and experience all the fuzzy, funky riffery here for yourself. Familiar in its '70s vibe - ferinstance Benny Soebardja (ex-Shark Move) and Lizard's "Candlelight" is so '70s, classic radio rock, maybe the Indonesian answer to the Steve Miller Band? - yet fresh, definitely from somewhere and somewhen else!!
Kudos to compiler Jason "Moss" Connoy for tracking down all these gems, and to everyone else involved with putting this package together, doing the research, writing, and graphic documentation... obviously an immense job but well done and well worth it. So, if you've been enjoying Sa-Re-Ga, Thai! Dai!, Sound Of Siam, Psych-Funk 101, The World Ends, or any other disc of crate-digging discoveries from around the world we've recommended lately, this one is definitely for you too! Highest recommendation.
Listing this, at last. We know a lot of you have been enjoying DJ Andy Votel's Vertigo label mix cd that we made Record Of the Week last summer. Advertised in the booklet for that cd was this triple disc box set, compiling 41 full (unmixed) tracks from the Vertigo vaults. So here it is. If you liked that Vertigo Mixed disc but you're not ready yet to hunt down the collectable original LPs (or cd reissues, which aren't always available either) by all those bands, this 3cd set is just the ticket to get to hear more. Some of these tracks were included in Votel's mix (but here you get the entire song!), and some not.
Of course, with a vast, three and a half hour collection like this, a review is superflous for the curious. First off, though, if you don't know: Britain's Vertigo label, in its early '70s heyday (characterized by the "swirl" logo), specialized in both heavy psych and jazz-rock, often finding bands that blended the two into progged-out grooves that Votel likes to call "hairy funk". Not every Vertigo "swirl" album was incredible, but there's enough gems amidst the many, many tracks released by the label circa 1969-1973 to make putting together a fairly bountiful compilation like this pretty easy on the compliers.
Vertigo's most famous signing was Black Sabbath. Perhaps unnecessarily, there's two Sabbath tracks included here. Being the best band ever (sez Allan anyway) you should already have 'em. But chances are you don't already have tracks by a lot of the other bands found here, ranging from the fairly well-known to the totally obscure: Gentle Giant, Gracious!, Affinity, May Blitz, Juicy Lucy, Jade Warrior, Dr. Z, Tudor Lodge, Warhorse, Freedom, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Beggars Opera, Nucleus, Atlantis, Ramases, Colosseum, Aphrodite's Child, Ben, Cressida, Patto, Clear Blue Sky, Gravy Train, Uriah Heep, Mick Ronson's Ronno, and more. A diverse array ranging from folky flutes to hard rock riffage to jazzy romps (sometimes all in the same song). All these cuts are contained on three cds in cardboard sleeves, housed inside the box alongside a 48 page booklet with a page or paragraph on each band, and an introductory essay about Vertigo's history. The whole package is a Vertigo primer, if you will. Definitely a good sampler to help direct your further exploration of the Vertigo (and early '70s psych/prog/jazzrock) legacy, or maybe just enough for your needs in that direction...
We always love a good heavy psych/proto-metal mix, that's what you get here on this new comp, twenty tracks of fairly obscure heaviness circa 1968-1974 from the UK, USA, Holland, and elsewhere; as the subtitle says, "a lesson in devilish psychedelics", sure! Making it more of a lesson, they've thoughtfully provided some notes about each band/track in the full-color illustrated cd booklet. Now, what's interesting is that we used to get comps like this and everything was new to us, but now, we know a lot of this stuff, you might too, bands like Incredible Hog, The Way We Live, Armaggedon (the German one), Skid Row (the Irish one!), Rotomagus (with their punkiest tune, "Fightin' Cock"), Schizo (Richard Pinhas' pre-Heldon band, with 2 tracks from their rare 7", sounding like a spaced out Steppenwolf), and big aQ hits Jerusalem (represented here by their devastating "Primitive Man"). We've had full-length reissues from several of these acts, most recently the Francais Metal de Proto of Rotomagus. Great stuff, all of it, and so if you don't know 'em all, this would be a good introduction.
And then, there's actually, on the other hand, quite a few tracks here from band we DIDN'T already know, and thus are glad to hear. Seems that many of them were singles-only bands, so comps like this are one of the best ways to find out about 'em. Some names: The Hook (pretty dang wild and heavy for '68!), Sound Of Imker (both sides of their '69 single), Dickens, Spirit Of St. Louis, Bintangs, Henry Schifter, The Gallery, Inca Bullet Joe, Demian, Zendik, and Rapunzel. Some of those now we're gonna be on the lookout for more by - if there IS any more, 'cuz what's here might be all of it in some cases.
Definitely a expertly-curated dose of old school, fuzz-filled heaviness for folks who dug similar comps like Up All Night, White Lace & Strange, and Downer Rock Genocide. A good range of frantic garage, manic psych, & plodding prog, all proto-something, either metal or punk or both. And by the way, interesting to note that a good 40 percent of these tracks date specifically from 1971, once again THEE year for awesome rock music.
A great compilation of '70s Japanese psychedelic folk, loungey crooning, organ freakouts, wah wah guitars, and melodramatic pop from a variety of names you've probably never heard of, except perhaps for The Jacks, The Mops, and Cosmos Factory. No? Anyway, this is a collection of singles released by Japan's Toshiba label back when I, at least, was a little kid. Similar in spirit to the equally good "Love Peace And Poetry" comp of Latin American psychedelic music that we were always raving about.
This great comp disappeared quickly right after we first listed it back in December, but now at last it's been repressed and is back in stock again!
How can you argue with a comp of totally obscure, French and Belgian and French Canadian, late sixties / early seventies psychedelic rock? Especially when you most likely haven't heard of a single one of these artists, and the cover features people in bear suits IN space suits hanging out on the moon and the disc art features a band dressed up like psychedelic Indians and the songs are so completely whacked and weird? Well, you can't. Nor should you. Why deny yourself the drugged out damaged beauty contained herein? Eighteen tracks of completely out-there psych rock, rife with all sort of wild and wooly outerspace effects, funky horns, fuzzy lead guitars, hooks galore and sung mostly in French!
The opening track by P.B. + 3 1/2 is a funky soft porn soundtrack (well, sounds like it, the liner notes assure us it is not even though the artist did indeed to porn sountracks) slowly loping bassline and the melody played by a kazoo. Yep, a kazoo. Complete with summery feel-good background vocals and bizarre Perrey And Kingsley sound effects. Apparently P.B moved to L.A. and recorded music for Star Trek: The Next Generation! Track two is just as wacked with a total head nodding groove, the main riff played on a violin and booming Morricone choral style men's choir background vocals, swirling cinematic strings and a wailing Scott Walker-ish vocal, super dramatic and WAY over the top. The third track is a fuzzy, psychedelic girl-group-groove from Sixties French pop idol Stella, a totally guitar heavy workout, with a super Hendrixy 'scuse me.. type riff, kick ass horns and her throaty, over affected vocals, but totally catchy and wonderful. And the whole record continues in the same fashion, Just when you think it couldn't get weirder or cooler, it does. Big time! Partridge Family style Sixties summer pop, dipped in acid and left to fry in the sun, keyboard heavy ? And The Mysterians style repeating grooves dissembled and put together again like some psych rock Frankenstein and on and on and on...We get flooded with comps of 'lost classics', but this one definitely holds up as one of our favorites (and definitely one of the most bizarre). All the tracks were collected by some guy named Satan Belanger, a legendary underground musician and record collector in Quebec. Really funny liner notes too, in both French and English, though we could have used even more info. Highly recommended!
The first Total Freakout comp from years ago (which was in fact purportedly the third, although we've never been able to find the first two, if they even exist) has become an all time AQ favorite. An amazing collection of totally obscure French, Belgian, and French Canadian late sixties/early seventies psychedelia. So many cuts from that record have been mainstays on every mix we've made and DJ sets we've played. It's where we first heard what has become an all-time favorite song of ours, "Ani Kuni" by Madeleine Chartrand.
We've been waiting for a long time to see if there would ever be a follow up to that classic comp and now finally there is! But before we go on and gush about how great it is, we should warn you that they only pressed 500 of these and it won't be coming out on cd or any digital format. So it's probably best just to get this asap, because who knows, by the time you finish reading this it could already be out of print!
We had great faith that the same folks who brought us that first collection wouldn't put out another one unless it could pack the same thrilling punch, and we have definitely been proven right. This time out we get fourteen tracks spanning 1967-1973 filled with one mind blowing slice of French/French-Canadian psych after another. Besides another track by Madeleine Chartrand, it's a completely different roster then the first collection which means we now have thirteen artists we never knew about before who are totally blowing our minds.
The music is a lot grittier, spacier, and more damaged then the ye-ye side of French pop, but it still maintains such amazing melodies and songs that totally intoxicate. One of our favorite collections of the year!
Latest in the recent spate of killer international funk / soul / psych reissue collections. The trick here being that these tracks are SO obscure (and so densely mixed together), that the folks at Dis-Joint are counting on most folks not knowing ANY of these. SO much so that there is no track listing on the disc at all, and they are having a contest on their website, the first one who can name all the tracks will get a nice cash prize!!! We've got to admit it, we're stumped for the most part (although we did recognize part of one track, it's San Ul Lim from Korea!). But that doesn't mean we aren't loving all this fun and funky and bizarre music. A chaotic blend of sixties and seventies psych rock, funky soul, soulful psych, and funky rock from all over the world, Turkey, Korea, Italy, Israel, China, Spain and loads more. Any one who has been loving the Love Peace & Poetry comps, the Steam Kodok collection, the In-Kraut compilation or, especially, any of the Andy Votel mixes definitely NEED this. From groovy laid back porno movie / action adventure funk, with lots of bolero guitars, and sound effects, like a Morricone Western mixed with some Euro sleaze flick soundtrack, to fluttering folk with super distorted psych rock guitar and everything in between, with plenty of borrowed hooks from popular songs, fuzzy organs, lots of James Brown style yelping and whooping, squiggly little guitar licks, funky drumming, carnivalesque analog synthesizers, tons of breaks hip hop headz would kill for, a bunch of bizarre movie snippets pertaining to hippies, wiggly wavy spaced out ambient warble, jazzy horns, skronky and otherwise, wheezing harmonicas, tablas and sitars, wild Santana-like leads, cocktail pianos and tons and tons of very strange sound effects. A wickedly wild, mind blowing, head spinning party record if there ever was one!
We are all quite excited about the cd release of Turkish Delights comp (though Byram's a bit irked 'cause he bought the original vinyl and now is faced with a cd version that adds 11 extra tracks!). In total, there's 26 tracks here, dating from 1965 to 1971,
Along with the new cd version, we now have more copies of the "Turkish Delights" LP (which was so hard to get when it first came out that we only ever had a handful and were never able to list it). 15 tracks on this baby instead of the 26 on the cd, but what you lose in bonus cuts you gain in, uh, vinyl. And the art looks better, we think.
Three little words guaranteed to get us all excited: Turkish psych comp. That's all it takes. (A fourth word, used in the title here, "Freakout", doesn't hurt either.) Compilations like Turkish Delights, Hava Narghile, and the Turkish installment of Love Peace & Poetry have all been staples here at AQ, and have turned us on to so many amazing bands like Mogollar, Ersen, and 3 Hur-el. Our only worry with a new Turkish psych comp is that it will redundantly duplicate tracks we've already got, but fortunately that's not the case with this one, only a few of the 18 tracks here had we heard before, with some of the artists being completely new to us. And, also, awesome!
Focusing solely on selected rare 45 rpm 7" singles releases, dating from the late '60s to 1980, this comp is evidence that it was a groovy decade in Istanbul for sure. Funky -and- folky (yes, often at the same time), these tracks incorporate all the fuzz guitar, ethnic instrumentation, percolating percussion, exciting rhythms, and soulful vocals we've come to expect from the Turkish psych scene. It's a mesmerizing mix, there's a lot of highlights here, we can't really mention 'em all, but just to give you an idea, the first track, by Okay Temiz, sounds almost like it could come from that soundtrack by Rockford Kabine we made Record Of The Week recently, a sultry and "exotic" instrumental groove with some wild whoopin' elements that remind us of a Jean-Claude Vannier production. Then there's the cinematic strings and quasi doomy-riffing of Erkin Koray's dramatic "Sev Digim". And Alpay's "Seni Dilenyorum" is one we'd play for a friend wondering what all the vintage Turkish psych fuss is about. If they didn't dig that, we'd feel real sorry for them.
In addition to those, the line-up of artists here includes Kardaslar, Cem Karaka, Apaslar, Beyaz Kelebekler, Ajda Pekkan, Sevil & Ayla, Baris Manco, Rifat Oncel, Ersen, Onder Bali, and Arif Sag. And fortunately, the deluxe digipack includes a thick 40 page booklet, full of liner notes about 'em all, along with original 45 sleeve art. Nicely done, as comps/reissues go. And on top of that, most of the other Turkish psych collections we mentioned at the top of this review are now out of print, so this will become a go-to comp for us in one of our favorite genres.
We're always saying we just can't get enough of that vintage Middle Eastern psych music, hence a sequel to last year's great Turkish Freakout comp is quite freaking welcome! Here 'tis, 17 more tracks from rare Turkish records (mostly 7" singles) of the seventies, by some artists we'd heard of, and plenty of others we hadn't. As with volume one, there's definitely lots of great tunes here we hadn't come across before! The lineup includes: Baris Manco, Edip Akbayram, Cem Karaca + Mogollar, Afet Serenay, Kerem Guney, Gokben, Gulcan Opel, Sevil and Ayla, Kamuran Akkor, Ozel Turkbas, Perihan, Sakir Oner Gunham, Sirin, and Kenan. Lush and lively stuff all of it, like belly dancing music taken to psychedelic extremes.
Amongst these tracks, you'll hear lots of lovely female singers, moody men too, and the rhythms of stately folk dances infused with FUZZ, with orchestral strings, electric saz, synth, indeed wild Moog madness, flutes and whistling, wah wah guitar and funky drum breaks, stuff that's groovy and spacey and exotically poppy. The usual in other words.
There's a thick 36 page booklet stuffed inside this digipack, one reason it's so thick is they devote a whole page to a full color reproduction of the single sleeve or lp jacket from which each of these tracks is taken. On the facing page, some commentary from the anonymous compiler.
If you look through the booklet, you'll no doubt notice Afet Serenay. She has two cuts on here, both from her 1978 full-length lp Bir Of Ceksem. So that album cover is reproduced twice, and that's cool 'cause she's worth a second look for her fashion sense alone, posing on the cover of her record wearing a colorful rainbow striped wool sweater/dress and matching legwarmers. Wow. Also, one of Serenay's tracks, "Maden Dagi", you might recognize from the beloved Selda's somewhat different version of the same tune (they're folk songs after all) on her album Vurulduk Ey Halkim Unutma Bizi (aka Vol. 2). Likewise, the Edip Akbayram track here, "Mehmet Emmi" was also done by Selda.
Just like the first installment, worth freaking out over if you love Turkish psych - or any such international sounds - like we do. FYI, the gatefold double lp vinyl version we have now comes with a limited, bonus 7".
Proto metal fiends, come get your fix! This new collection of "20 Heavy Nuggets From The Golden Age Of Hard Psych" is definitely in the tradition of other cool comps like White Lace And Strange, Downer Rock Genocide, The Electric Asylum, A Visit To The Spaceship Factory, Psychedelic Minds, etc. Just check out the lineup, names we know (and love) include the likes of Highway Robbery, Bang, Sir Lord Baltimore, Granicus, Power Of Zeus, Haystacks Balboa, Yesterday's Children, Tin House, SRC, and The Litter. Heavy hitters, all of 'em. Now you might already have some of these cuts, if you really are a hard psych / proto metal fiend, but you surely don't have 'em all. And even though we were familiar with a bunch of these bands, there's plenty more here we'd never had the pleasure of hearing before, and these obscurities fit right in with such illustrious company. Most of these tracks are taken from LPs, not singles, usually the band's one and only album, many of which have never been properly reissued or even if they have been, aren't in print anymore anyway.
So what we've got here is a deep survey of vintage late '60s, early '70s North American hard rock action, (proto) metallic, garagey, and psychedelic, chock full of crunching riffs, wild wailing guitars, and rough n' tough vocals. It's all pretty darn heavy for the era, if not quite to the extreme reached across the pond by heavy metal progenitors Black Sabbath (though Bang comes quite close - and hey look there's a song titled "Wrought Iron Man" by a band called Steeplechase). This comp includes the the most fuzzed out and stompin' version of frat rock chestnut "Gimme Some Lovin'" you've ever heard (by Euclid, from their album Heavy Machinery). Of course, fuzz is in copious supply all across this disc, erupting perhaps most savagely on the classic "Kingdom Come" by Sir Lord Baltimore, a majestic six and a half minute epic mixing tripped out lyrics with bursts of ultra distorted guitar. Being one of the tracks, like a few others here, that'd we'd have chosen ourselves for an all time ultimate proto metal mix.
FYI, the other bands on this disc we haven't mentioned yet are: Liquid Smoke, The Finchley Boys, Damnation Of Adam Blessing, Dragonfly, Jamul, Third Power, Head Over Heels, and Landslide. Among all 20, it's hard to pick faves, some are heavier, some are weirder/proggier, some are blusier, some are groovier, some are more melodic, you'll have to decide for yourself. But this is definitely a pretty badass acid rock comp! And thankfully the cd booklet includes informative commentary on each band/track.
Been listening to this non-stop since we got it. And selling 'em too, as soon as customers hear it (or even just hear about it, if they're like us). Wow. Now, you probably know that here at Aquarius we're partial to the prog. So, when we heard that a DJ mix of obscure tracks from the catalog of '70s UK label Vertigo, who specialized in prog, heavy psych, and weird-ass jazz rock was to be released, we were, well, psyched. And jazzed. And, uh, progged? Indeed. We were thinking that this could be something really great, as after all there were a lot of great records released on Vertigo (home of the famed "swirl" label). And great it IS, both in terms of the source material and the "60 course psychedelic smorgasbord" medley-like sound-collage approach taken to putting it together, which maximizes the amount of brilliant hooks and grooves that could be packed into one cd, while making for one dizzying, "swirl" worthy ride.
The story there is that DJ Andy Votel (who compiled the Folk Is Not A Four Letter Word disc we listed last time, among other things) was asked, in a dream-come-true moment, to put together a "best of Vertigo" collection. But since, in his own words, progressive rock tracks are "not short, they're EPIC" he was faced with a dilemma. How to fit more than just three or four songs on the cd?? His solution was to boil down his favorite Vertigo LPs to short excerpts, stitching together these many "vinyl snippets" into a 68 minute mega-mix. The overall effect is still very "prog" indeed, as it's definitely a prog move to jump around from one motif to the next, dynamically or schizophrenically changing things up in a short span of time. Yet it all flows well together, this could almost be one tour-de-force album from one AMAZING band!!
The credits list 38 songs by 29 artists, all from Votel's personal Vertigo vinyl collection -- Aphrodite's Child, Gracious, Colosseum, Affinity, Juicy Lucy, Uriah Heep, May Blitz, Warhorse, Gravy Train, Baker Gurvitz Army, Cressida, Patto, Flied Egg, Nucleus, Atlantis, Frumpy, Freedom, and many more, most of 'em hailing from the UK but also some from overseas, including Japan and Greece. Vertigo's best known signing has to be Black Sabbath, and while they don't appear in the credits I trust you'll hear something from 'em on here too, first thing (and later on as well, when Votel mixes the harp blowing from "The Wizard" into a May Blitz tune).
Thusly loaded with heaviness, groove, and Mellotrons, you get everthing from (old school) acid jazz to flutey prog to raw proto-metal -- all kinds of what gets called "hairy funk" here. Votel also makes use of interjections from what might be radio promo spots for Vertigo -- voices exclaiming "Vertigo! Vertigo!" and the like -- in order to smooth up his segues. In some ways, this might remind you a little bit of DJ Shadow's Entroducing, actually, not that these tracks have been fully edited into new compostions. But the love of dusty old prog grooves is the same.
Votel provides liner notes elaborating his enthusiasm for Vertigo (the label's role in his musical development, as a hip hop DJ with a fondness for prog) and his agonies over this project. Also you get a profile of Barry Winton, famed as the world's foremost Vertigo vinyl collector. And in addition, a portion of the cd booket is devoted to an appreciation of Keef, resident cover artist/graphic designer for Vertigo...which makes us think it would have been cool if they also presented a selection of covers here to look at, ah well.
Could be the best comp/DJ mix we've heard in ages. Boiling down an entire label to its essence over the span of one cd has got to be a tough task, and of course what Votel has selected is only a portion of the whole Vertigo story. But we can't nitpick with what he's done, this is a classy piece of work and deserving of kudos from all lovers of ye olde prog/psych. It might even convert some new lovers too! Recommended!!!
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Documenting the sound of Middle American hippie rockers heavying it up and heading to Middle Earth, singing songs about wizards, sorcerers, Sauron, and Satan, this is just so up our alley. Heck, there are several of us here, who by virtue of our particular, peculiar subcultural enthusiasms, were primed to flip out HARD over this. So if anything was ever meant to be a Record Of The Week, this sure was! Man, those nerds over at Numero have outdone themselves. It's not like Numero hasn't brought us some great compilations of long lost gems before - heck that's what they DO - they've got a well deserved rep for digging up truly obscure vintage soul music that's also totally top notch stuff. But as you've surmised, this ain't no soul. In the past, Numero have unearthed some wonderful rarities in other genres, from folky female singer-songwriters to Southern rock to power pop. But now, with this latest entry in their Wayfaring Strangers, er, WARfaring Strangers, series of comps, entitled Darkscorch Canticles, they've entered another dimension entirely, a dark and mystical hard rockin' realm of fuzzed-out, bellbottomed, pot-scented, proggy proto-metal basement jams!!
There are 16 tracks of fantastical garage rock from the depths of the '70s to be savored here, rescued from one-off, privately pressed 45 singles done by sub-sub-sub-Sabbath acts that seriously nobody has ever heard of before. That's kind of what's most amazing about this, that these tracks are so great, and yet also so unknown. We've talked to a few friends who consider themselves proto-metal experts, some of whom were rather incredulous about this, halfway suspecting it must somehow be a fake just cuz they didn't already know of ANY of these bands! By the way, we're convinced it's not a hoax - though if it were, that would actually be even more amazing - especially considering there's a densely-packed cd booklet / lp insert filled with vintage band photos, original 45 label graphics, and in-depth, highly detailed liner notes provided about each artist in tiny, tiny print (backgrounded by graph-paper dungeon drawings).
Last year Numero put out a vinyl-only archival collection of tracks by one of the bands found here, Chicago's Medusa, that we thought was pretty cool, and really should have reviewed but for some reason never did (we do still have a copy in stock, in all its black velvet glory!). At the time, Numero told us that release was a teaser for an entire compilation of obscure "D&D" rock of the same ilk that they planned to do, and they spoke the truth. Through the mastery of the dark arts, presumably, they somehow assembled this, digging up an outrageous assortment of over-the-top tunes from all these forgotten bands, whose names alone conjure vibes of myth and magic, sword and sorcery: Wrath, Triton Warrior, Stone Axe, Stonehenge, Dark Star, Stoned Mace, Hellstorm, Wizard, Arrogance, and more - including not just the aforementioned Medusa but also another band from Chicago called Gorgon Medusa. The earliest entry is from 1970, the latest from 1980, but they're all equally ancient-sounding. More like rickety sixties-ish heavy psych really, than anything metallic from the '80s or beyond, the stress here being on the "proto" side of the proto-metal tag. Stuff in the vein of Iron Butterfly and Bloodrock and Bubble Puppy and Captain Beyond.
You get low-budget occult organ prog epicry, and uber-distorted riff-rockin', and spaced out downer rock balladry, and badass boogie in Satan's service. We won't go track-by-track, though we're tempted, but a few of the standout faves for us include Wrath's "Warlord", especially due to the zombified vocals from someone who sounds like a brainwashed adolescent girl / cult victim (the guitarist's wife, apparently) intoning the scary lyrics about "living in lust as Satan must"; Inside's "Wizzard King", a blown-out, lo-fi rocker that asks the musical question: "Don't you wanna be a wizzard king, don't you wanna be free? / Don't you wanna be a wizzard king, don't you wanna be me?"; and Stone Axe's "Slave Of Fear", which sounds like Arthur Brown fronting a very early Black Sabbath or Blues Creation. But there's so much good stuff on here, enough to require a saving throw vs. acid rock or else become completely addicted, spinning this repeatedly.
The art and design deserve a mention as well. Both formats come in slipcased cover art consisting of newly-rendered stylized logos (embossed, in metallic ink!) for each band on the comp, like some artistically-inclined burnout teen doodling on a school binder. In terms of packaging, this really couldn't be any cooler - oh, wait, well, maybe it could - we should tell you, that if you wait a couple months, Numero will be selling (direct mailorder only, not in stores, grrrr!) a special edition of this consisting of the lp, the cd, AND a vaguely D&D-esque BOARDGAME, where the players take on the roles of these rock bands competing with each other in the fantastic realm of Darkscorch. Even if you never actually play the game we're pretty sure it will be an amazing artifact just to look at. It's gonna be, like, $100 though.
Ok, to wrap up: trying to explain why this comp is so rad is kind of like trying to explain the appeal of The Lord Of The Rings to someone who hasn't read it. Or D&D to someone who hasn't played. So just trust us, and we recommend trying those two things as well if you haven't!
'60 British beat singles compiled by Bevis Frond's Nick Saloman. 20 Tracks by the likes of, uh, The Little Darlings, Freddie Ryder, The Toggery Five, The Boston Crabs, The Huskies, Danny King, and more.
Could it really be time to take a look at the influence of Joni Mitchell? We never would of thought it before, but then again reissue label Numero Group oftens make strange and surprising choices in their releases. After releasing 3 compilations in a series of eccentric soul from the DeepCity, Capsoul and Bandit labels they do a complete 180 and begin a new series called Wayfaring Strangers. This first one is dedicated to the immediate influence of Joni Mitchell's Ladies of the Canyon and the wave of femme folk it inspired throughout the early seventies. Here, they focus on 12 gems from obscure or little known female recording artists. A lot of customers who gave no second thought to immediately buying up all of the Eccentric Soul series, seem to be in a quagmire about this one, and not many people are taking the bait”yet.
While Joni haters will probably steer clear of this comp, for those of you on the fence let us assure you that the twelve rare cuts on this disc, culled from mostly private press releases, are not all Joni imitations. While Mitchell's influence is obvious, each artist brings their own unique and varied take to their songs (all originals with the exception of Ellen Shaw's cover of Marianne Faithful's "Sister Morphine"). The Numero Group does an outstanding job with the packaging as always, devoting a full 2 page spread to each artist with full color original album artwork and profiles on each artist. These records are crate digger's dreams, and the visuals and bios only serve to enhance the fragile homemade sincerity and beauty of some of these songs. Highlights include Shira Smalls "Eternal Life", a rumination on math and spirituality recorded at a Quaker boarding school, and Collie Ryan's "Cricket". Like the mighty Ladies of the Canyon itself, this CD may take repeated listening to work its charms. But there is no doubt in our minds that if you saw any one of these original records in a thrift store, bargain bin, or garage sale, you would whisk them away immediately, heart pounding as you brought them home and put them on, thanking your lucky stars that there is still magic in such simple things. Nice!
Peru's biggest Paul McCartney worshippers, We All Together, came out of a community of bands in Lima that shared the same love for dreamy Beatlesque pop. Eight of the bands are collected here: Monik, Cerro Verde, Laghonia, Smog, Illicit, FE 59 and others. Chronicling singles from the Mag label recorded between 1968-1974, the songs range from original compositions to covers of songs popularized by The Doors, Malo, and Lesley Gore. All quite nice.
One of the most kick ass comps we've heard in a while! And there's been some good ones lately, of Nigerian '70s disco funk and French '80s electro punk, among others. But how can you beat funked up, progged out psych rock from Communist Hungary?? This comp resoundingly answers that question: you can't.
While this disc's title might be in poor taste this comp's curators exhibit EXCELLENT taste in groovy Hungarian psych/prog rarities from the sixties and seventies!!! Which is as you might expect, since these are the djs/diggers also responsible for such top notch sets as Welsh Rare Beat, Vertigo Mixed, and Prog Is Not A Four Letter Word. If you like those, you'll like this. (And, like us, will be eagerly anticipating volume 2, to be titled Hung Over, of course).
A couple of the bands here we know, only really 'cause of another B-Music related release, the disc by swingin' Hungarian sex symbol Sarolta Zalatnay, which featured her work with bands such as Locomotiv GT and Skorpios, both of which appear here along with a track by Zalatnay. In fact, the Hungarian scene was highly intertwined, as diagrammed by the handy "Well Hung Family Tree" that compiler Andy Votel has provided in the cd booklet... a cd booklet that by the way is super thick, packed with all the detailed liner notes from the knowledgeable Votel you could desire, color photos of the artists, album and singles covers, and a forward by none other than "Cini" herself, Sarolta Zalatnay! All the tracks are licensed from the source, Hungaroton Records, the whole thing sounds and looks great, it's an obvious labor of love. And what's not to love, 'cause all 20 tracks here are awesome. Tons of FUZZ guitar, swirling organ jamming, flutes going off, crazy instrumental breaks, wailing vocals, dancefloor filling beats galore. High energy stuff, man. Makes it seem like living under the heel of the Soviet boot of oppression wasn't all bad, at least these folks found the freedom of getting funky and freaky...
So, here's who's on here: Anna Adamis & Gabor Presser (the latter of whom has a big presence in many of these groups), Omega Redstar, Omega (2 cuts), Metro, Hungaria, Kati Kovacs (who sounds like Janis Joplin fronting Hard Stuff!), Katie Kovacs and Gemini, Corvina, Neoton, Tamas Somlo & Omega, Meteor & Demjen Ferenc, Illes (2 cuts from them too), Sarolta Zalatnay, Locomotiv GT, Nemenyi Bela and Atlantis, Piramis, Skorpio, and Bergendy.
From the fuzzy Bo Diddley shake of Omega Redstar, to the badass organ excess of Locomotiv GT, to the frantic funky synth sizzle of Illes (a band whom we recall from Prog Is Not A Four Letter Word as well)... well it's hard to pick highlights, they're all mega. Maybe Omega (sans Redstar) gets the nod for their epic 8 minute groover "Kergeskeziu Favagok", a full 3 minutes of which at least is occupied by a killer drum solo laced with field recordings of bird twitter! They also contribute a fuzzed out stomper a little later in the disc.
Ah, but it's all so good, Well Hung bringing together an amazing Eastern European melange of hard edged acid rock funk freakbeat that's part Chains And Black Exhaust, part wah wah '70s cop show kitsch, part Iron Curtain exotica... fun times in other words! Recommended.
Compilations of long-lost '60s and '70s psych/pop/rock gems dug up from the far corners of the world by dedicated crate-digging record collectors are always considered a good thing here at AQ. We can just point to the Hava Narghile, Cambodian Rocks, Love Peace & Poetry and Thai Beat comps for some easy examples. But while we've been stoked on all sorts of stuff from Turkey, Thailand, Brazil, Mexico, Japan, South Africa, and elsewhere, there's always room for more, and for new unexplored territories to freak out about. For instance, what about Welsh psych/prog/folk??? Aha, that's what Welsh Rare Beat is devoted to, as you've already surmised. The 25 tracks here, all of 'em pretty fantastic, were selected from the vaults of the home-grown Welsh indie record label Sain, which could easily be (as this comp argues) the coolest record label you've never heard of before. As the liner notes put it: "You like prog-rock with blueprint trip-hop beats? So did Sain. You like ethereal girl groups with mystical acid folk overtones? So did Sain. You like psychedelic rock operas based on druidism and witchcraft? So did Sain..." And they're not kidding. Psyche-Celtic hoe-downs, dreamy folk singing, Cymru pride protest rock, and incredible grooves abound. These songs are all sung in Welsh (a pleasing tongue we trust you'll find), and due to the language barrier (and doubtless related cultural/political issues) these artists are pretty much unknown outside their own land, despite being just as good as a lot of better known folks from elsewhere in the UK. Really, looking at the names here, we'd only ever heard of Meic Stevens before. Never Bran, Heather Jones, Endaf Emlyn, Y Tebot Piws, or Yr Atgyfodiad, let alone Y Dyniadon Ynfyd Hirfelyn Tesog! But that's what's so great about discs like this, getting turned on to the denizens of a whole new realm of record-collector fantasy. The cd booklet helps mightily in that department, featuring a great deal of text -- there's very detailed track-by-track info plus a lengthy essay that treats this music scene in a political/historical context. VERY thorough indeed. And it even includes an annotated map of Wales. This really well put-together labor of love was compiled by Andy Votel (so recently responsible for the fab Vertigo Mixed comp), Dom Thomas, and Gruff Rhys of the Super Furry Animals who of course hail from Wales, and is released on the same label, Finders Keepers, that also brought us those equally obscure and awesome Jean Claude Vannier and Yamasuki discs.
That the Welsh well of groovy folk and psych rarities from the '60s and '70s hasn't run dry, is plentifully proven by this album. Finders Keepers presents a second volume of Welsh Rare Beat, again compiled by DJ Andy Votel and two of the guys from Super Furry Animals. Lots of w's and y's in the artist and track names here, there's tunes from the the likes of Galwad Y Mynydd (also the subject of a separate reissue on Finders Keepers), Y Gwenwyn, YNhw, Y Tebot Piws, Chwys, Meic Stevens, Bran, Sidan, Morus Elfryn, Heather Jones, Edward H. Dafis, AD 73, Bara Menyn, Hergest, and more. No, we haven't heard of most of 'em either -- and the ones we do know, we probably heard first on the original Welsh Rare Beat. And while we'd rate that volume a little higher, there's treats galore here, from rustic acid folk to glammy rock to disco prog! Even a kids TV show character takes a stab at rock n' roll. All with a unique Cymaru bent, often with glorious traditional melodies woven through, and gentle voices singing in the slightly phlegmy and certainly indecipherable (to us) Welsh tongue. Informative liner notes are provided, though, to clue us to who these artists were and what they were on about.
Damn. Bevis Frond fan or not, you've gotta be impressed with Bevis's Nick Saloman's new career as the curator of kick-ass comps for the Psychic Circle label. We've already highlighted one of 'em recently, the On The Brink collection of instrumental swingin' psych groovers. Also reviewed this list: the fine British popsike comp Fairytales Can Come True. But this one might just be our favorite so far, seeing as how we're all into the early proto-metal HEAVINESS thing. "Heavy Psych And Power Fuzz From The USA 68-72" is the mouth-watering subtitle here. Sounds right up our alley, and it is.
Saloman must have a heckuva record collection. Taking a look at this disc's track list, we only recognized a few of the twenty bands/songs: Thunder & Roses, The Power Of Zeus, Banchee, Road, Fields... that's about it. And we figured if the unknown others were half as good as we knew those to be, we were in for a treat. Well such is the case, for the most part!! Saloman has dug up some beauts, plenty of ultra-rare, fuzzed-out examples of greasy garage muscle, freaky hairy funk, and Purple Hazey proto-metal riff rockin' from all over the US of A that are making our day in a big way. It starts off strong (and stays that way) with the wailing acid rock guitar and equally wailing vocals of "Penetration" by Detroit outfit Third Power. Next up, this comp takes its name from the contribution by Philly's Thunder & Roses, a very Cream-y track that was later covered by Nirvana (whose punked-out version was a worthy tribute). We also hear from Detroit's The Power Of Zeus, with their stone classic "It Couldn't Be Me" that hiphop headz might recognize as having been sampled on an Obie Trice track. LA's Road, featuring former Hendrix bassist Noel Redding, sound very Captain Beyond on their "Spaceship Earth". And then there's the Zeppish "Steel Dog Man" by a Boston outfit saddled with the unfortunate name Brother Fox And The Tar Baby (can't see 'em hitting the stadiums with that handle). In fact, names might be what held a bunch of these bands back, like The Lemonade Charade and The Yellow Payges, ferinstance. Hardly indicative of the long haired biker badassitude and Hendrix/Steppenwolf/Yardbirds worship found here in abundance. This comp also proves that said badassitude can coexist with some groovy horns on occasion, no problem.
For the record, here's the names of the other bands appearing here that we don't have room to discuss individually: The Hook, Blue Mountain Eagle, Genesis, The Illinois Speed Press, Eden's Children, T.I.M.E., Underbeat, The Uniques, and The Fort Mudge Memorial Dump! And yes, the cd booklet includes notes from NS on each track. Oh and for those heavy psych devotees keeping up / keeping score, you might want to know, is this as good as that excellent Psychedelic Minds Vol. 1 comp from last year on World In Sound? Yes, yes indeed.
Psychic Circle is rapidly becoming our favorite compilations label for '60s psych (and related genres). Can't go too wrong with any of the discs we've stocked so far -- On The Brink, White Lace And Strange, A Visit To The Space Ship Factory, Fairytales Can Come True -- and this one's a winner too. Compiled by Nick Saloman of Bevis Frond fame, a bloke whose record collection is probably more impressive than yours (certainly beats any of us!) as far as '60s rarities goes, there's 20 "nuggets" here from almost no one we'd ever heard of before. The theme this time is American (and Canadian) sixties garage bands and that covers a broad scope of song stylin's -- flowery psych to folky pop to frat house stompers -- so it's a varied comp as regards the music, but not in terms of quality, which is uniformly right on. We'd say what really ties all this together, is that when you hear these tracks, you'll wonder why you'd never heard 'em before, 'cause many should be minor classics. And we guess they are, forgotten classics we can thank Mr. Saloman for turning us all on to. And you really probably have never heard them, 'cause when Saloman sez they're "previously uncomped" we're pretty sure he knows what he's talking about. Our favorite among these would have to be the stark drama of Simon T. Stokes' "Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction" but that's not the only gem to be found here, from The Love Society's fairly heavy version of "Tobacco Road" to Kinetic Energy's moody "Margaret Ann" to the groovy "Cloud 76" by Peck's Bad Boys, among selections from other artists including: Randy Johnson, The Love Society, The Liberty Bells, The Great Train Robbery, The Will-O-Bees, The Yankee Dollar, The Lords Of T.O.N.K., Merrell Fankhauser & HMS Bounty, The 13th Precinct, The Countdown Five, The British Walkers, The Moanin' Glories, Cast Of Thousands, Kin Vassy, The Good Feeling, and The Blue Things.
Oh and of course, the cd booklet is full of text, graphics, and photos to help these tracks to be a little bit less obscure than they otherwise would...
Psychedelic Swedish obscurity n' awesomeness from the late '60s and early-to-mid '70s, yeah!! 18 rare tracks from 18 long-forgotten (but oh-so-good) bands are compiled on this, the third volume in a series that has yet to peak. Basically if you like fuzz groovers and wild freakbeat rockers, you've come to the right place. Likewise, from bluesy stomp to folky harmonies, vol. III has it covered. Melancholic psych-pop too -- check out the underground 1969 sounds of "Love Love Love" by a band appropriately named Drugs! Some of the '70s tracks verge on proto-metal, especially Bjorn Famne's "Vampire" (1975) which the liner notes rightly suggest sound like "the missing link between Led Zeppelin and the Jesus And Mary Chain", and Zane's garage-punk Sabbathy "Step Aside" (1976). Others tend towards manic progginess (the Ga Runt Show's big production "Bara Skrot" from '67 for instance). And all are pretty great! Here's the full list of bands, besides the ones mentioned above, for what it's worth: Scorpion, Uppat Vaggarna, Match, Red White & Blues, Fruit, Candle, Harambee, East-West, New Creation, Atlantic Ocean, The Junk's And the Angels, After Life, and Contact.
With interesting liner notes on each track, and cool, old-school collage-style psychedelic graphics incorporating original 45 sleeve artwork, we can only applaud the packaging job that the Dolores label has done on this comp (and previous volumes). Likewise we applaud the selection of music, it's like having an insane Swedish '60s record collector DJ'ing his most valued, mind-blowing, impossible-to-find psych treasures for you for a full hour...which is basically what this is, actually!
The original Wicker Man movie has got to be one of our all time favorite films as well as pretty much one of our all time favorite soundtracks. The movie falls into an elusive subgenre of psych-folk films like The Ballad of Tam-Lin, or Herzog's Heart of Glass, that mix pre-Christian folkloric musical elements and themes with a modern or counter-cultural revivalism often with darkly beautiful and sometimes terrifying results. There is no doubt that the Wicker Man as both a film and soundtrack was a key touchstone in the recent freak-folk movement. That the songs featured on that soundtrack with all their barely concealed bawdyness and lyrical waxing of the cycles of nature, sexuality and death were actually based on traditional British folk music is at this point no surprise either. Finder's Keepers does a lovely job here collecting much of the traditional material that formed the basis for the songs performed in the Wicker Man movie. Although the most remembered song from that movie, "Willow's Song" was not traditionally based, it's the song that let us into the perverse mysticism of the movie's characters and made us pay attention to the duplicitous meanings found in the traditional material. Here, that song is represented by a beautiful instrumental version taken from the original soundtrack recordings but not featured on the actual soundtrack release. The cd also features traditional versions of "Corn Rigs", based on a Robert Burns poem, "Gently, Johnny", the Maypole song "Rattlin' Bog", and "Highland Lament", as well as children's songs and instrumental jigs.
This peppy French compilation is so good. So stylistic and classy, people in the store took notice immediatley when I put it on. The songs are fast and a bit psychedelic. There're silly backup vocals and sexy girl voices throughout. The years span 1966-1971,
