Fire - "Could You Understand Me" {Yugoslavia} [1973] (Heavy psych fuzz monster)

This one my dear friends its maybe on of the best heavy fuzz albums ever from Europe. A true power trio that camed from Yugoslavia but recorded their one and only album in Holland back in 1973. Pretty cool that it is lyrics in both yugoslavian and english. And so much fuzz that it will be enough for ten albums. Now days this is a very rare record, it was originaly released on the private label Killroy in Holland. I think this is a rip on one of the first cd releases of this album that camed 1994(but the pics I have downloaded on the Internet) on the label Coven this one got the number Coven 2. If you know what more they have relesed please write in comments. Their influences most have been groups like Cream, Blue Cheer and Hendrix. So if you like heavy fuzz rock this one is for you


Jura Havidi`c Guitar, Vocals
Miljenko Bali`c Bass
Emil Vugrinec Drums, Vocals

Songs:

Could You Understand Me (Havidi`c) 3.36
Dedicated To Love (Fire/Dui`c) 3.02
Memory Of Love (Dui`c, havidi`c) 5,08
Jedan Divan Dan (Bali`c, Havidi`c) 7,33
Hey You (Havidi`c) 6,38
Where Are You (Vugrinec) 3.21
Flames (Fire) 9.00

Download link in comments

Best wishes from Sweden

Kaveret - "Poogy Tales" {Israel} [1973]

Kaveret (Hebrew: כוורת, meaning "beehive") was an Israeli rock band in the 1970's that won much fame around the world for their often humorous songs and unique style of music.

The band, several of whose members met during their service in the IDF, formed in 1973. It broke up in 1976, by consensus of the band members. Subsequently, Kaveret veterans Gidi Gov and Danny Sanderson along with female vocalist Mazi Cohen and other musicians, formed a spinoff band named "Gazoz", and later, another named "Doda".

Many songs by Kaveret became embedded in Israeli culture and are familiar also to the new generation of Israeli youth.

In 1974, Kaveret represented Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest with their song, "Natati La Chaiai" (נתתי לה חיי, "I Gave Her My Life"). It finished 7th.

Once every decade or so, Kaveret holds a reunion tour with performances in Israel and abroad. Their last tour with the entire ensemble was in 2000, raising money to fund lifesaving surgery required by band member Yitzhak Klapter. more here

The Grocery Store..

Spilld Mjölk - "Svart Mjölk" {Sweden} [1975] (Progressive rock/Hippie)

Very little known about this group. It was made by a couple of students from the town Kalix in the north of Sweden. This is there only release and are one of the rarest records from Sweden. It is a mono recording but we love it anyway.











Erik Ahlstrand Vocals, Guitar, Drums
Gunnar Strömberg Vocals
Kerst Lindkvist Vocals
Lars Fryxholm Drums, Violin
Sven Kestikalo Sitar
Thomas Eklund Vocals, Guitar, Harmonica
Tommy Skotte Vocals, Flute, Saxophon, Guitar

I hope you will enjoy it : )
Your Hippie from Sweden

Links in comments
It was a large folder so I was forced to split it in
2 halfs. Thats why its two links.

Modality Stew - "Modality Stew" {USA} [1978] (psych folk)

"Guitarist Sid Brown's first brush with popular recognition came as a member of Detroit's The Spike Drivers. Following the group's mid-1960s breakup Brown followed half of the country to Berkeley, California where he remained active in music, as well as writing a yoga column for the Bezerkly Tribe.

By the mid-1970s Brown was living in Vancouver, Washington where he continued to write and record material. I'll let the liner notes to 1978's "Modality Stew" pick up the story: "The creation of a spontaneous and purposely under-produced album free of technologic overkill and deified gadgetry began in Spring, 1978. For more than a year I had been involved in a mostly unsatisfactory, negative and painful recording project. For me it was a year of alienation, loneliness and a gnawing-knowing stress. As a disabled and dissapated (sic) rock n' roll veteran, it was painfully reminiscent of the not-too-goof-old-days of working for a major label recording company, a cynical manager and jaded producers: a nightmare of exploitation and greed. The depression of repeating history as I guilt-tripped myself into signing an oppressive recording contract lifted as I flew to Athens. Floating in a transcontinental limbo I felt bewitched, bothers and bewildered. Escaping, arriving, still hauling lots of psychic baggage, I did almost all of my site seeing within ..." read more here

Sound Express - "Sound Express" {Sweden} [1969] (prog/psych/jazz)

Sound express was formed in a smal town named Vänersborg in Sweden. And was appointed as the best debut album of the year back in 1969 by evening paper Aftonbladet. The band consists by the duo Tillbjörn Persson and Ingemar Landén. That have been playing Beatles influenced music during the 60's under the name Tilles. But when the band disbanded they created Sound Express. Their first suggestion of band name was Regis Gotorum that means Götarnas Konung. But it wasent a good suggestion so they changed it to Sound Express. And was signed by the record label Anette. they only released one album but what a masterpeice! It sounds like Hansson & Karlsson and sometiems even better. Heavy jazz influenced psych with just drums and organ and some elements of harmonica and guitar.

Ingmar Lanén Drums and Harmonica

Tillbjörn Persson Organ and Guitar

Best wishes from Sweden : )

The download link is located in comments

Ola

Grits - "Rare Birds" {USA} [1976] (psych fusion)

All I know about the band is based on what Steven Feigenbaum, the person behind Cuneiform Records, wrote on occasion of the "Rare Birds" being released by his label in 1997. Grits are said to have been Washington D.C.'s most popular progressive group back in the 1970s. Recorded live in 1976 in Gaithersburg, Maryland (where the band shared the stage with The Muffins) this album shows Grits at their pinnacle. It has seven long psychedelic tracks with jazzy leanings, showing masterful interplay between guitar, violin and keyboards, and featuring tons of tasty inventive jamming. Recommended to fans of both jazz fusion and psychedelic prog.

Tracklist:

1. Jupiter Jam
2. Inside Straight
3. Communa Lacrimosa
4. Easy For You
5. Glad All Over
6. As The World Grits
7. Rare Birds

Line-Up:

Rick Barse - keyboards, vocals
Tom Wright - guitar, viola, bass, vocals
Amy Taylor - bass, violin, vocals
Bob Sims - drums, vocals

Wurtemberg - "Rock Fantasia Opus 9" {France} [1980] (symph/folk prog)

There's not much to add to the excellent review by Greg Northrup:

"Wurtemberg were a chamber rock ensemble of an extremely high caliber, fusing classical, renaissance music, French folk and progressive rock into relatively unique and satisfying amalgamation. Subdued, and not particularly "rock" at all, the group places a heavy emphasis on sophisticated arrangements, as piano, woodwinds, acoustic guitar and authentic medieval stringed instruments dominate the proceedings. The album is astoundingly beautiful at times, as on the stately opener "Rockopus 7", or the jaunty, flute-led melodies of "Prefixe et Danse - Faites L'Humour", while restrained and perhaps a bit overly-reverential at others. The melody and forward momentum of "Concerto Pour un Minout" is quite simply gorgeous, featuring interlocked flute and guitar theme that soars higher and higher. My one criticism comes towards the end. The two bonus tracks, "Jesus Que Ma Joie Demeure - Cantate 147" and "Neuvieme Symphonie - Extraint", renditions of pieces by Bach and Beethoven respectively, were recorded by Alain Carbonere with different musicians in 1986...

Nonetheless, it would be an understatement to say that this reissue of Rock Fantasia Opus 9 is a hotly anticipated and totally necessary item. The album proper is uniformly excellent. Fans of early After Crying, classic Popol Vuh and Malicorne will undoubtedly find much to love here, and the album ultimately comes as a essential addition to any collection of French symphonic music".

Tracklist:

1. Rock Opus 7
2. Sous-Titre
3. Berceuse Gratinée - Faîtes le Mur
4. Préfixe Et Danse - Faîtes l'Humour
5. Allemandes
6. Concerto Pour un Minot
7. Invitation - Vous Avez Bien Trois Minutes?
8. Rockopus 1
9. Jesus Que Ma Joie Demeure - Cantate 147
10. Neuvième Symphonie - Extrait

Line-up:

Alain Carbonare -keyboards, guitar, lyre, tenor-bass psaltrey
Bernard Maître - keyboards, dulcimer, metallophone
Michel Richard - guitar, soprano psaltrey
Jean-Pierre Garbin - drums
Jean-Marie Hausser - drums
Alain Demeusy - bass
Gilles Michault-Bonnet - flute, saxophone

The link is to be found in the comments.

Edward Artemiev - "Warmth of Earth" {Russia} [1986] (electronic prog)

One of the visitors who liked 'Ode to the Herald of Good' which I posted yesterday asked this album to be made available again. I gladly post here the 'Warmth of Earth', the heavy electronic symph effort by Edward Artemiev and his 'Boomerang' group. On this album, Artemiev gets as close to the ideology, sound and format of rock music as nowhere else in his extensive discography. Most of the compositions are in essence rock songs with vocal parts, refrain structures, relatively straight rhythmic patterns etc. At the same time 'Warmth of Earth' retains - at least partially - the special feeling peculiar to Artemiev's pure electronic works. Those who are into the kinds of music in between of electronics, hard rock and symphonic prog will probably enjoy this one.

Tracklist:

1. Birth of earth
2. Who Am I?
3. Warmth of Earth
4. Meeting
5. Farewell
6. Expectation
7. Rekkens
8. Hope
9. Where Are You?
10. The Sky Full of Light
11. Finale

The exact line-up for this album I don't know. The link is to be found in comments.

Joel Dugrenot - "Boomerang" {France} [1982] (jazz fusion)

In response to a respective request, here's another album of fine European fusion. This one is by Joel Dugrenot, the bass player with Zao. Dugrenot's solo discography features two full-fledged LP albums named 'Boomerang' and 'Mosaiques', and a mysterious tape release called 'See' which I haven't heard. 'Boomerang' is a record of fine mellow aerial jazz-rock with slight touches of spaciness. Some similarities can be found between this effort and late releases by Zao, although Dugrenot's music is generally softer, dreamier and more reflective. 'Boomerang' also reminds me of solo works by David Rose - which is not surprising given the extent of his participation in the creation of this album. Overall, this is an excellent work which I would strongly recommend to lovers of progressive fusion and zeuhl.

Tracklist:

1. Sweet and hard
2. Cycles
3. Like eagles
4. Blood pressure
5. Green
6. Rainy day
7. Just by love
8. It's game

Line-up:

Joel Dugrenot - bass, percussion, synths
David Rose - violin
Marc Bonnet Maury - violin
Manuel Villaroel - piano
Claude Olmos - guitar
Jean My Truong - drums
Marc Hazon - drums

The link is to be found in comments.

Extra Ball - "Birthday" {Poland} [1976] (jazz fusion)

This is an album of good, juicy electric jazz fusion with occasional references to Polish folk music. A debute effort by the band, it was recorded at the time when Polish jazz scene was - in my humble opinion - at its acme, so the album somehow captures the elevated spirit of its era. I don't know much about the band in excess of what is written on the LP cover (which is enclosed in case anyone is curious). Extra Ball issued 3 more LPs in late 70s which are supposedly just as good as 'Birthday'.

Let's thank Mr. Arkady Medvedev from Kurgan, Russia for kindly sharing the rip of a vinyl from his personal collection with us.

Tracklist:

1. Narodziny
2. Taniec Maryny
3. Bez Powrotu
4. Podroz W Gory
5. Siodemka
6. Szczesliwy Nieszczesliwiec
7. Blues For Everybody
8. Hengelo Almelo Deventer

Line-up:

Jaroslaw Smetana - guitar
Wladyslaw Sendecki - keyboards
Andrzej Olejniczak - saxophone
Jan Cichy - bass
Benedykt Radecki - percussion

The link is to be found in comments.

Edward Artemiev - "Ode to the Herald Of Good" {Russia} [1980] (electronic prog)

I always thought of Edward Artemiev as of a daring experimenter who has been pioneering electronic music in the USSR since as early as 1960. He is generally most known for his ambient alien-sounding dronesque soundscapes, and for his numerous quite recognizable film scores. Having that said, I was quite surprised when I discovered his "Ode to the Herald of Good", an experimental cantata composed on account of Olympic Games held in 1980 in Moscow. The approach taken by Artemiev and his band on this album resulted in the 'Ode' becoming a full-blown electronic progressive album with synthesizers and sequensors largely giving way to performances by three choirs, a rock group and a symphonic orchestra. The album still shows noticeable traces of what is Artemiev's core competence, but it is definitely much more in the rock - namely symphonic progressive - vein than most of his heritage that I know of. The only exception would probably be "Warmth of Earth", another Artemiev's work so screamingly falling into the category of prog that it was re-released by Musea some time ago.

Tracklist:

1. A Torch
2. Herald of Good
3. Harmony of the World
4. Perpetual Progress
5. Beauty of the Earth
6. Interlude
7. Sport, You are the World

I don't know the exact line-up for this album. It must be quite extensive as it includes Artemiev's rock group called "Boomerang", "Melodiya" Jazz Band, State Orchestra of Cinematography, State Russian Choir and many others. The original LP cover is also not available, so I used that of the CD re-release of early 2000s. Th re-release was called "Three Odes" and contained two relatively short pieces in addition to the "Ode to the Herald Of Good".

The link is to be found in comments.

Do Major - "To Go Out" {Russia} [1991] (avant prog)

'Do Major' and its leader Andrei Suchilin were an important driving force in Russian experimental rock movement from mid-80s to early 90s. They released two albums at the turn of the decades, both being no less than groundbreaking in the context of then-current local scene. While earlier effort called 'Noema' introduced the aesthetics of post-modern ambient fusion into independent rock music, the second album named 'To Go Out' showed what a seed sown by the Fripp's guitar school can grow into in the Russian soil. Andrei Suchilin attended Guitar Craft classes early 90s, and it was after that when "To Go Out" was recorded and released. "To Go Out" is quite an eclectic work, which at times resembles Fripp's "Exposure" as well as his early collaborations with Andy Summers, but also shows a number of other influences, including obvious references to oriental music. Overall, it is edgy guitar-lead avant-prog with bits of modern jazz, new-wave and world music carefully and creatively planted in. Citing RAIG: "Stylistically the album is all over the board... The band uses sampled voices taken from the Soviet-archives, driving and occasionally off center rhythmic schemes, Tchaikovsky themes mixed with angular, dangerous guitar and percussion interplay, 16th century Russian liturgies sung with Enoesque backdrops, deceptive rhythms, and songs that grind masterfully in a surreal way. The result is a completely unique sense of time and space".

Lovers of structured avantgarde music will most likely appreciate this album.

Tracklist:

1. Watch Goes Sofa Stands I
2. Here Comes the Dream
3. Ding Here
4. To Go Out
5. Ha-Ja-Ja
6. Rahmantica I
7. Pattern Brown
8. Lei-Ha-Ha
9. Rahmantica II, III, II
10. Ding There
11. Watch Goes Sofa Stands II

Line-up:

Andrei Suchilin - guitars, keyboards, percussion, programming, voices
Mikhail Plotnikov - drums, percussion
Alexander Naumov - bass
Alexander Voronin - saxes, flute, keyboards

The link is to be found in comments.