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Taste of Blues - "Schizofrenia" [1969] @224kbps Swedish Metronomic Farfisa Voodoo Madness

OK, fans of early Can!… hold up your arms! A lot of hands, aren’t it?! Let’s see now… fans of the “Farfisa sound”!, say Here!… whoa man!, cool!. And at last, all the fans of cheesy 60’s “witch doctor wannabe” vodoo films soundtracks!, Jump!… Is that a bunch of crickets making noise or what? Were all the people went? Why that man is turning off the light?!

Ok people let’s calm down. If you are a person that likes –at least- one of the above-mentioned categories, certainly you will love Taste of Blue’s “Schizofrenia” album. They were from the same bunch of remarkable Swedish bands like Mecki Mark Men, International Harvester or Panta Rei, just a little detail… they didn’t gained the international recognition of that bands, they stay in the underground circuit but they sounds like nobody!

The first track (Schizofrenia), is -as I told you before- an epic 17 minute hypnotic vodoo spell: A metronomic journey full of Hawaiian guitar sounds, spacey effects, groovy jazz-sax, flutes… in short, a hysterical apocalyptic a go-go dance, NOT TO BE MISSED.

All the tracks besides Schizofrenia are short –max 4’ 52”- but they all are killer bluesy themes sang in English by the only American in the band, Mr. Don Washington. Here you will find effective complex guitar solos, great Farfisa presence and nice vocalization… by the way they play an awesome version of John Mayall’s “Another kinda love”.

Ok, go pick your miniature heads, put your bone in your head, and let’s dance the Voodoo!

Keep Listening

Link on the comments

Taste of Blues-on the road to nidaros

Lonnie Liston Smith - Astral Traveling (Expanded) [1973] @ 224-320 (spacy jazz)

There was a request for Lonnie Liston Smith, so here is, in what I think is his finest moment.

This Smith should not be confused with organ wizz, Dr Lonnie Smith, a very different beast indeed.

This was made a a time when the keyboardist was heavily influenced by Pharoah Sanders and you can hear that in this album. Some of Sanders band are also here, bassist Cecil McBee and percussionist, Mtume. If I recall correctly, it was Smith who provided keyboards to the Sanders classic"The Creator Has A Master Plan"

If you need to gain a detailed background to this album and Smith, I suggest you enlarge the back cover, it should be readable.

I just say this, I have listened to this album with great affection for 30 years and still find it fresh and immensely enjoyable. There is great sax playing from George Barron and wonderful Indian percussion from Badal Roy (former Miles Davis band member).

Enjoy!

In Search Of Truth

Links in comments

Keep listening !!!

Old Posts Revisited, Part 1

Marc Benno - Lost In Austin (Eric Clapton & Albert Lee) [1979] @320 (rock)

When virtual unknown Marc Benno wanted to make another album of his songs, he felt it only natural to ring his mates to be the backing band. In this case, Benno was a part of the Leon Russell / Shelter Records group of musicians.

Clapton had had his "sea change" as a result of listening to The Band' "Music From Big Pink" and had earlier toured with Delaney & Bonnie, so he had a connection with Benno's band. So here Ben

no the unknown manages to get together a dream band including:

Eric Clapton, Albert Lee - guitars
Jim Keltner - drums
Carl Radle - bass

You'll find Radle on a heaps of 70's albums, including George Harrison's "Concert For Bangla Desh".

That said, Benno writes good songs and has a distinctive vocal style, the sample below is a good guide, note the dirty slide from Clapton.

Enjoy!

Hotfoot Blues

Links in comments

Keep listening !!!

Flaviola e o Bando do Sol - "Flaviola e o Bando do Sol" [1974] @256kbps Brazilian Acid Folk Gem

Hello, I’m new here, I will share with you some reviews from music that I usually listen and enjoy a lot. I hope that you will be pleased with that music as much as I am.

So let’s start:

What would happen if Robin Williamson, Mike Heron or Vashti Bunyan had been born in Recife, Brazil? … How they would sound? Probably, we will never know, but for me the closest answer lies in 1974’s album “Flaviola e o Bando do Sol” (Flaviola and the Flock of the Sun).

Williamson, Heron or Bunyan weren’t in Brazil at that time, but Flávio Lira, Lula Côrtes, Pablo Raphael, Robertinho of Recife, and Zé Ramalho certainly were, and they could have been perfectly the "Incredible String Band Brazilian counterparts”, their self tiled lp sounds astonishingly fresh, full of native acoustic Brazilian instruments, gloomy at times [canto funebre], hysterical [asas (pra que te quero)] or extremely poetical [noite].

If you like the folkier side of other Brazilian kids Called Os Mutantes (I know that you like them) you certainly will love Flaviola, as Forced Exposure points: “this is a brilliant album, full of strange moments (cellophane crinkled into the microphone as percussion), some deft acoustic guitar, and some of the prettiest songs this side of Vashti Bunyan”

This mystical album alongside Zé Ramalho & Lula Côrtes “Paêbirú” (recorded the same year and almost with the same lineup as Flaviola…) and Satwa’s “Satwa” constitute the three jewels of Recife’s acid folk crown.

What are you waiting?, put your headphones, turn on the music, and smell the perfumed night of Recife. This could be the cheapest and exciting Holidays ever!

Keep Listening…!!!

Links in comments.

Flaviola e o Bando do sol-como os bois

C Cat Trance – “Les Invisibles” [1989] @256 Spectacular and Intense World Music Flavoured Post-Punk

There are things in the history of music that I just can’t understand. Why has this band been so utterly forgotten? How is possible that they never achieved any decent degree of international recognition? The only possible explanation for this is that their albums distribution was done really bad, or possibly, the late edition of the cd’s was too limited. Otherwise I will need to lose the little hope for humankind that’s left in me. (At least in terms of our race’s musical tastes)

But well… life’s unfair…but C Cat Trance … they were incredibly, spectacularly intense.

This is the story: during the mid 80’s singer and sax player Rees Lewis was in a band called Medium Medium which had some success with the punk anthem So Hungry, So angry, included in the legendary Glitterhouse album. With this cult hit Medium Medium toured extensively around Europe although in small venues and punk hang out bars. Eventually, as any dweller of the small but good side of punk, Rees wanted to do more serious and complex stuff and left Medium Medium with drummer Nigel Stone to form the fantastic muslimrock combo that we came to know as C Cat Trance. (which I am most pleased to present you today)

They retained the dark, strong mood of Medium Medium but added middle eastern scales and tempo to the mix and gave a much deeper starring role to Rees fierce, teeth grinding and very wicked saxophone playing.

The result is stunning, unexpected and amazing. In my never so humble opinion, they became one of the most energetic, effective and peculiar bands in rock history. C Cat Trance gave us the oppressive atmosphere and mood of a big Islamic metropolis in the future, under layers of a great rhythmic section. They sound like a band of renegade hip muslims gone wild in a bar in Mars. They sound like a calvary of Sarracens on speed. They sound like the King Crimson, playing Ladies on the Road in a hash den in Morocco accompanied with an intoxicated Arabic ensemble.
But, sadly, they were ignored and misunderstood. Actually, C Cat Trance was years ahead of its time and that’s another reason for they not having the success they deserved.. They introduced Gregorian Chant in rock, years before The Prayers or Enigma. They drank from the waters of Algerian Rai, or Pakistani Qawaal, before we even start thinking about world music.

They did a kind of post punk that no one dared at the time, taking their anger beyond the western world.

They explored not the crappy nice side of new age & world music but the sound and vertigo of the crowded streets of big modern cities like Cairo or Baghdad. They sound honest and very mad.

Welcome to the craziest hours of the 1001 nights. You can dance if you need to.

Extremely recommended. Open your ears.
And…

Keep Listening…!!!

Links in comments, Baby.

C Cat Trance - Shake The Mind...

Alphonse Mouzon - "In Search Of A Dream" [1977] @ 320 (Jazz Fusion) Kindly submitted by Martin

Alphonse Mouzon is the Chairman/CEO of Tenacious Records. He composes, arranges and produces, as well as acts, but he is most well-known as a percussionist. Born on November 21, 1948 in Charleston, South Carolina of African-American, French and Blackfoot Indian background, Alphonse Mouzon's popularity as a performing artist first became realized in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

He received his first musical training at Bonds-Wilson High School and moved to New York City upon graduation. He studied drama and music at New York City College as well as medicine at Manhattan Medical School. He continued receiving drum lessons from Bobby Thomas, the drummer for jazz pianist Billy Taylor. He played percussion in the Broadway show "Promises, Promises", he then worked with pianist McCoy Tyner, then he was a member of Weather Report with Larry Coryell on guitar, Joe Zawinul on keyboard and Wayne Shorter on saxophone. After that Alphonse Mouzon signed as a solo artist to the Blue Note label in 1972.

This is an obscure Alphonse Mouzon recording, which, along with Mind Transplant, accounts for Mouzon's best work as a solo artist. The presence of former Weather Report band mate Miroslav Vitous provides for much of the session's excitement ("The Light" being a standout). Fusion vets Philip Catherine, Stu Goldberg, and Joachim Kuhn also turn in fine performances, as does the relatively unknown Bob Malik. There is a great deal of integrity on this session, a quality that was often missing from Mouzon sessions both before and after this. Highly recommended.

-- pieces of this review by Robert Taylor @ www.music.com/

Musicians:
Alphonse Mouzon: drums, percussion, organ, electric piano
Philip Catherine: electric guitar, 12-string acoustic guitar
Joachim Kühn: electric piano, acoustic piano
Stu Goldberg: electric piano, acoustic piano, mini moog, organ
Bob Malik: tenor saxophone
Miroslav Vitous: electric bass, acoustic bass, mini moog, electric piano

Samples coming soon

Keep Listening!!!!

Link in comments....

Charlie Mariano, Philip Catherine, Jasper van't Hof - Sleep My Love [1978] @ 256 (European modern jazz)

I have posted a few albums with Mariano and Catherine elsewhere in this blog. They were in the context of fusion, heavily relying in electric instruments.

This is different in that it is mainly acoustic and is in a trio setting, much more intimate and personal.

That's not to say that you won't hear an electric piano or guitar, but the use and context are a mile away from Pork Pie's

"Transitory" and Michael Gibb's "The Only Chrome Waterfall Orchestra", both of which you'll find in this blog.

A modern jazz album, not a fusion album.

This is about the dymanics between great musicians in a small group setting, their interplay and invention, great stuff.

Here we also get to hear Catherine, the electric bass player. He's good, so good that there is no doubt that he could also have been a very successful bassist.

Enough from me, enjoy.

Janet

Link in comments

Keep listening !!!

Sensiva Immagine - "E Tutto Comincio Cosi" [1977] @224 (italian prog rock)

This time our prog plane is going to Italy :) here is some copy/paste: Sensitiva Immagine was an Italian group that released one album in the late seventies. The group consisted of Alfredo Olivieri (vocals), Massimo Buriani (guitars), Stefano Bertonazzi (keyboards), Andrea Pavinato (bass) and Franco Buriani (drums). The music is somewhat reminiscent of the other Italian symphonic groups like Locanda Delle Fate and later group Nuova Era but with some foreign influence as well.

Keep Listening! Links in comments..

intro/Sensitiva Immagine........

overture/Sensitiva Immagine...

BlackwatchPlaid's Electronic Mix @ VBR (3 Part Electronic/Psytrance/Ambient Mix)

Hey there, bloggers. I thought I would go out on a limb here and try something radically different for this blog. Diversity is celebrated and encouraged amongst the members of the prog not frog team, and in keeping with that motive, I figured I would showcase an alternate side of my tastes, electronic music. I couldn't ethically bring myself to post any full albums by these artists, as they are fairly recent acts, so instead I decided to make a 3 ZIP mix.

The 4 groups showcased here are, in my opinion, the heavyweights of their respected genres. Infected Mushroom has taken the psychedelic trance medium and used classical musical training to take it to new heights. Orbital were an English techno duo formed in 1989, consisting of brothers Paul and Phil Hartnoll, who proved that techno music can be enjoyable as more than just "dance music". Shpongle is a collaboration of jazz flautist Raja Ram and trance artist Simon Posford who fuse trance music with regular instruments that takes alot of inspiration from folk music around the world. You can hear some relations to spanish, india, african countries among others. Steven Wilson is the founder and major creative talent behind the modern progressive rock band, Porcupine Tree. In 2004, he released a very limited (350 total copies pressed in CDR format) album called Unreleased Electronic Music, Vol 1, which contains exactly what the title suggests; more precisely, music created since 1990, somewhat similar to that of SW's ambient project Bass Communion but more rhythmic and mostly in an ambient/electronic vein. Some pieces were created for television commissions, but none were ever fully developed.

I'm not quite sure how this compilation will be received, maybe you like electronic music, maybe you hate it. I just wanted to be able to have all of my tastes displayed on this blog. Hopefully it will allow a few people to open their minds a little and expand their listening tastes.

Tracklisting:

Part 1:
1. Infected Mushroom - B.P. Empire - 09 - Dancing With Kadafi (320)
2. Infected Mushroom - Classical Mushroom - 01 - Bust A Move (256)
3. Infected Mushroom - Classical Mushroom - 05 - Disco Mushroom (256)
4. Infected Mushroom - Converting Vegetarians (CD 2) - 02 - Elation Station (192)
5. Infected Mushroom - Converting Vegetarians (CD 2) - 03 - Drop Out (192)
6. Infected Mushroom - Converting Vegetarians (CD 2) - 10 - Selecta (192)
7. Infected Mushroom - Converting Vegetarians (CD 2) - 12 - Jeenge (192)
8. Infected Mushroom - Merlin - 06 - Classical Mushroom (192)

Part 2:
1. Infected Mushroom - I'm the Supervisor - 10 - Stretched (VBR 217)
2. Orbital - In Sides - 01 - The Girl With The Sun In Her Hair (256)
3. Orbital - In Sides - 02 - P.E.T.R.O.L. (256)
4. Orbital - In Sides (Disc 2) - 05 - The Box (Radio Edit) (256)
5. Orbital - In Sides (Disc 2) - 06 - The Box (Untitled Version 1) (256)
6. Orbital - In Sides (Disc 2) - 07 - The Box (Untitled Version 2) (256)
7. Orbital - In Sides (Disc 2) - 08 - The Box (Vocal Reprise) (256)

Part 3:
1. Orbital - The Middle of Nowhere - 02 - Spare Parts Express (192)
2. Orbital - The Middle of Nowhere - 06 - Nothing Left 1 (192)
3. Orbital - The Middle of Nowhere - 07 - Nothing Left 2 (192)
4. Shpongle - Tales of the Inexpressible - 01 - Dorset Perception (256)
5. Steven Wilson - Unreleased Electronic Music Vol.1 - 01 - King of the Delta Blues (VBR 257)
6. Steven Wilson - Unreleased Electronic Music Vol.1 - 03 - Dub Zero (VBR 243)
7. Steven Wilson - Unreleased Electronic Music Vol.1 - 11 - Apres-Mortes (VBR 176)

Samples can be heard on a previous post on this blog: BlackwatchPlaid's Playlist

Keep Listening!!!!

Links in comments....

Ensamble Musical de Buenos Aires- La Biblia [1974] @ 256 South American Progressive Masterpiece

Undoubtedly Argentina was, during the 70’s, the place where rock had its deeper roots in the Latin-American environment.. Of course there were great bands in Mexico, Perú, Brasil and Venezuela, but the Argentineans were more articulated and coherent, they had more venues for rock and psych and the music labels were bolder. They also have more bands, and better. One of them was Vox Dei, a seminal psych prog combo whose members had ( as any South American catholic) a love-hate relation with religion. Due to this obsession with religion images and tales, Vox Dei released La Biblia in 1970 and the album became and immediate successes although the band itself was never as big as others like the fantastic Charly García and Nito Mestres’ Sui Generis or the incredible psychedelic troupé Los Gatos.
Anyway, La Biblia was a conceptual album too big to be capitalized by only one band. This was soon understood by Jorge Alvarez, music producer, and Billy Bond, leader of the band Billy Bond and La Pesada. Both started planning a big event in which La Biblia was to be performed as an Opera Rock (going thus beyond the conceptual album format).
What had begun as a reflection on sacred scriptures was now a project of epic proportions. Bond convinced some academic musicians from the classical orchestra “Ensamble Musical de Buenos Aires” and all of a sudden everything was ready for La Biblia to become a glorious page in the history of South American prog.
It was recorded during 1974 for the second time with the Ensamble (more than 400 hours of work!) and performed at Buenos Aires national Theatre with a line up that was the Argentinean rock dream team of that era, including big names like. Mestre, García and Juan Rodriguez from Sui Generis, the singer author Raul Porchetto, the pop icon David Lebon, The pianist Carlos Cutaia, and many more, all of them produced by the guru Jorge Alvarez under the academical direction of Gustavo Beytelman.
The result is a very complex and baroque mix of symphonic prog rock, grandiloquence and pomposity, incredibly good encounters of the orchestra and the rock musicians, and overall a magnificent, bigger than life, piece of work, as any real symphonic progressive rock opera should be.
Those who don’t speak Spanish do not need to worry about the lyrics, just grab your grandma’s bible and start reading until you reach alpha state and fell in trance. Once under this hypnotic influence, travel back to Buenos Aires, 1974. And enjoy.

This album contains all that is great about prog, all that is ridiculous, silly, magnificent and glorious. Listen to the roar of the opening of the Red Sea Waters, Fear the Lord and His Wrath, Watch the God’s Opus, See the Archangels that Dwell in Heaven, listen to Miracles and Wonders and Inspiring stories from the Voice of the Prophets.

Welcome to The Bible.

Unforgettable.

Keep Listening…!!!

Link in comments as usual.

Ensamble Musical de Buenos Aires -Profecías...

El Polen - "Cholo" [1972] @192 (peruvian psychefolk)

Hola! This time our plane goes thru peru. i must say since i have the mp3's of this band..i stucked on listening some songs..i am sure you will like this band too..here is copy/paste: 1972 was the year of El Polen, one of the first Andean Acid Rock groups ever. Their first lp was the soundtrack of an European movie, "El Cholo", based on the life of the Peruvian soccer player Hugo Sotil. Their music was a mixture of psych rock and andean music played on native instruments,quenas and antaras, with traditional rock instrumentation, creating a unique style where violins sounded like fuzz guitars. El Polen’ s "Cholo" and Los Jaivas "El Volantin", were the first acid folk lps from South America. You can find a very good review here Dreamy listenings.. :) Links in comments..

Valicha/El Polen...