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Corpus 2 - "Rice" {Russia} [1991] (prog rock)

This is a really obscure record. It was released on a vinyl only by a small private label in Russia in early 90s - very unfortunate time for progressive rock - and sank into oblivion before a new wave of interest in this kind of music emerged in the second half of the decade. I have neither cover art nor line-up information for this one, and I don't know anything about the band's history. All I know is what my ears tell me - this is rather fresh sounding, albeit somewhat crude and naive at times, melodic progressive rock embellished with stylizations for Oriental music and timid avant try-outs. Most of the album is instrumental, few tracks have vocal parts sung in Russian. Overall, a nice and wrongly forgotten effort which may appeal to a wide circle of listeners. I am really thankful to a person who made this album available at Ru_Tape.

Tracklist:

1. The pearl
2. Deuterium
3. Riding a white elephant
4. Tai fai
5. Dance of shadows. Rice
6. Flamper zamper
7. Fai tai
8. The glimpse
9. The spring

The link is to be found in the comments.

PS: Actual cover art added, thanks to Flora.

Nazca - "Nazca" {Mexico} [1985] (neoclassical/avant)

For many reasons, it took me quite some time to post this excellent (and requested) upload by our friend Francisco Ayes. This is a piece of dark, sinister and somewhat disturbing experimental music in neoclassical avant-garde vein. Neither frog, nor prog, but probably still not out of place here..

"All of the album's compositions contain anywhere from a few to a dozen musical pictures that are different among themselves: in tone, mood, and the level of loudness. Although there are more low rather than powerful arrangements on the album, all of them are highly complex and at the same time very intriguing. Rather silent crossing solos and passages of oboe and piano change with the moderately loud interplay between a bass guitar, bassoon, two violins, and a wide variety of percussion instruments, etc, again and again, and over.For the most part, precisely the fact of the predominance of low and even silent (in places) arrangements makes the music of Nazca so distinctly unique. Unlike all of the other musical contents of the album, the RIO-sounding parts are rather dark and sinister, and these are the only instances that remind me of Univers Zero" (Vitaly Menshikov, Progressor.net).

The download link is to be found in the comments.

Once again, our thanks go to Francisco Ayes.

Landberk "Indian Summer"{Sweden}[1996](Progressive)

This is a totally new band to me, I decided to buy one of Landberk's albums after hearing how good they are from several people. I agree, to some extent. Landberk are a relatively typical Swedish band with lots of Scandinavian melancholy in their music. However, do not expect to hear another Änglagård here, all the songs here are rather simple, with influences from alternative rock, I hear something similar to "Spirit of Eden" era Talk Talk too. I was told they are somewhat similar to KC and Gentle Giant, but I do not hear it here. This is the only Landberk album I own, so I don't know about the others. The musicianship is excellent, I especially enjoy Stefan Dimle's tasty bass-lines and Reine Fiske's crunchy guitar playing. Some mellotron can be heard too. As others have pointed out, Patri Helje's singing sounds much like Bono of U2.

The compositions are mainly excellent, the album has many hauntingly beautiful melodies. My favs are "Humanize" and the beautiful "Why Do I Still Sleep". Actually, the only flaw I can find here, is that the songs are not diverse enough to keep you satisfied forever. "Indian Summer" is a perfect album for an occasional spin in your cd-player, but with repeated listening, it might get a bit boring after a while. Much recommended anyway. (Progarchives Review).

Tracks:
01 - Humanize
02 - All Around Me
03 - 1st Of May
04 - I Wish I Had A Boat
05 - Dustgod
06 - Dreamdance
07 - Why Do I Still Sleep
08 - Indian Summer

Lineup:
Reine Fiske - Guitar
Sebastian Öberg - Cello (04)
Simon Nordberg - Keyboards
Patric Helje - Vocals
Sara Isaksson - Vocals (07)
Stefan Dimle - Bass
Jonas Lindholm - Drums
Lotta Johansson - Saw (01)

Sevda - "Live At Jazzhus Montmartre" {Sweden} [1972] (turkish oriental folk fusion)

Hello Friends. Forum is OK. 4 days before i came to another city for my cousin's wedding & a small vocation, and it happened a Dns problem. Unfortunately i cant solve this right now, because i am far from my desktop pc. 3 days later i will be at home again..and i will fix it. Sorry for this.
[Edit]: Solved

While i was talking about a wedding, i decided to upload an album of Sevda. The band name "Sevda" means love (passion). The songs inside the album; gypsy flovered free ride for some anonymous classic songs that take place in weddings, entertaintments, fasıls. Every region at Turkey has its own traditional sounding, as a result folk music, from place to place way different. These tunes are dominant mood at north west side (according to its gypsiesh sound & style), but probably the most common style all over the country. As i know this is the first band of famous percussionist, drummer Okay Temiz. Band members: Bernt Rosengren (Tenorsax, taragot), Björn Alke (Bas), Maffy Falay (Trumpet, piano), Okay Temiz (Drums), Peter Smoliansky (Darbuka), Salih Baysal (Violin), Tommy Koverhult (Tenorsax, sopransax)

more info in swedish language here

Ya Mustafa..

Donovan "Celtia - Unreleased Album"{UK}[1990](Folk Rock)

Guess everyone knows there was some sort of World Wide event happening in the Music Industry yesterday to promote the awareness of Global Catastrophe's arising due to the proliference of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

I dunno about you but, I have been aware of global problems in this area ever since my teens - Sort of a gift of the Psychedelic influences I had in my formative years. Third Eye stuff!

So. I get to thinking. Who - in their musical abilities would best suggest the theme the BIG boys wanted to push yesterday. Well, I could only think of Donovan. I love all his work. My favourites are Essence To Essence and Open Road. Essence to Essence contains the song "Operating Manual For Spaceship Earth" I wonder if Al Gore would choose to listen to what WE knew in 1973.

You see, Mysticism offers far more scope for imagination and delving into the unknown than science does. Not that Science is wrong - Indeed Science is excellent and can be combined in many ways with other areas of exploration.

The same goes for Religion!

OK. On to the album.

"Celtia" is an unreleased studio album from Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. Had it been released it would most likely have appeared sometime during 1990. The music on the album was arranged by Maire Bhretnach and engineered by Dan Fitgerald.

Musicians:
• David Gilmour (guitar)
• Nigel Kennedy (violin)
• Sharon Shannon (box accordion, fiddle)
• Noël Bridgeman (congas, drums, percussion)
• Anthony Thistlewait (mandolin, slide mandolin)
• Colin Blakey (whistles, flutes)
• Eleonor McIvoy (violin, backing vocals)
• Maire Bhretnach (violin, celtic strings, backing vocals, electric violin)
• Dan Fitgerald (tambourine)
• Steeve Cooney (bass, didgeridoo, lead acoustic guitar, bass, finger picking guitar)
• Mandy Murphy (backing vocals)
• Astrella Celeste (spoken)

History:
In February 1990, Donovan entered Sulan Studios in Ireland to record tracks for what was likely intended to be his eighteenth studio album and nineteenth album overall. The songs were produced by Donovan's manager Patrick Hehir, who had recorded several of Donovan's concerts for Mellow Records throughout the 1980s. Those recordings would be released in 1990 as Rising in the UK, The Classics Live in the U.S., and 25 Years in Concert in Europe.

The songs recorded during the Celtia sessions were written at various stages throughout Donovan's life. "The Ferryman's Daughter" was originally written and recorded for Moon in Capricorn, another unreleased album whose sessions dated from 1968 and 1969. "Everlasting Sea" was reportedly written during the sessions for The Hurdy Gurdy Man and later appeared on Donovan's 1996 album Sutras. "Lover O Lover" was originally released on Donovan's 1981 album Love Is Only Feeling and later recorded and released on his 2004 album Beat Cafe.

While it is not publicly known why Celtia was not released, it has been speculated that Donovan and his manager and producer Patrick Hehir had disagreements about the running of Donovan's business affairs. Celtia was released in 2002 by Durga Records and was made available on Patrick Hehir's "Donovan's Friends" website. The album was quickly withdrawn, however, and that release of the album is now viewed as a bootleg.

An interesting piece of Trivia is the fact that there was a Bootleg called Donovan and the Waterboys - He appeared live with Colin Blakey and Sharon Shannon (Both of whom played on the Waterboys album "Room To Roam". Not missing a chance the Bootleggers released the concert as "Donovan And The Waterboys" - I guess their attempt at profiteering from both sets of fans. Note - Colin Blakey and Sharon Shannon appear on this album (As does Dave Gilmour and Nigel Kennedy). So maybe we should name this as Donovan and The Waterboys accompany Pink Floyd and Nigel Kennedy in the Studio!

Ok - Tracklisting:
01 - 3'52" - Watchin' The Sun Go Down - Feat Nigel Kennedy
02 - 2'40" - Moon Over Clare - Trad. Donovan sounding fresh.
03 - 3'19" - Glasgow Town - Let's get a Convention Goin'
04 - 3'47" - The Ferryman´s Daughter - Pure Magic (An Old Song).
05 - 8'36" - Ghost of Pagan Song - Donovan up close - Beneath the lonely tree. ***
06 - 3'59" - Where Are You Now - A Love Song - Unrequited.
07 - 2'30" - Living On Love - The Hope Of Man.
08 - 2'56" - Madrigalinda (On Neutronica - Wonderful song)
09 - 2'36" - Lake Isle of Innisfree (A Challenge to choose Peace)
10 - 4'56" - I Love You (I Love You All Too)
11 - 4'43" - Wahine (True Love)
12 - 4'36" - Down By The Harbour (Donovan Turns Tables)
13 - 3'46" - Against Your Will (Magic in the Air)
14 - 4'26" - Rock Me (Gilmour Appears)
15 - 4'49" - Love O´ Lover (Majestic Mover)
16 - 2'13" - Awakening Year (The Year Is Awakening)
17 - 4'17" - Everlasting Sea (Everlasting Sea - Everlasting Sea)

Man "To Live For To Die" "The Honest One" {Wales}[1970](Prog)

"To Live For To Die" is the original bootleg of the Man Band from 1970. The concert was Hamburg, October.

Originally 2LPs also a CD release in Italy.

The Songs

1. Spunk Box 13:08 (Jones/John)
2. Conscience 6:38 (Man)
3. The Storm 12:45 (Leonard/Jones)
4. Would The Cristians Wait Five Minutes...? 10:08 (Man)
5. Alchemist Of The Mind 19:32 (Man)
6. Daughter Of The Fireplace 4:08 (Leonard)
7. Scholar Of Consciousness 5:55 (Man)

THE BAND

George Ace--Vocals

Martin Ace--Bass

Clive John--Keyboards, Vocals

Mickey Jones--Guitar, Vocals

Deke Leonard--Guitar, Vocals

Terry Williams--Drums

The sample is just 128. The Honest One (the official release of this same concert) is a 192 sample. However, there are times when I prefer the lower rated sample as it has more clarity.

The album, originally titled 'To Live For To Die' and released as a double vinyl album on the Violet Systems label, came about by a roundabout route explains Deke 'The gig in the Ernst-Merck-Halle in Hamburg was a corker. The promoter surreptitiously recorded it, and a week or two later a bootleg was released. Bootleggers, like drummers, are a necessary evil. It's a curious feeling, being flattered and ripped off at the same time.'

The release of 'Man' several months later on a new label, United Artists, marked a new beginning as its eponymous title suggested. It also featured just five tracks as opposed to their first album's eleven, indicating that the extended, improvisatory approach they favoured on stage was being carried through to the studio.

Three tracks the band previewed in their October (not May, as billed) 1970 performance were presented in definitive form: Deke's 'Daughter Of The Fireplace' (introduced with the words 'if you like 'Purple Haze" you'll know what it's all about'), 'Would The Christians,..' and 'Alchemist', here split into two tracks called 'Alchemist of The Mind' and 'Scholar Of Consciousness'. As guitarist Micky Jones, normally the most reticent Man member, says: 'If you listen to "To Live For To Die", It's very embryonic. Some tunes came out of that tour, like 'Many Are called": you can see the development of things. 'This, then, is work in progress... not only that, but amazingly the first ever gig of the Leonard Jones John Ace Williams line-up. (Best line up IMHO).

'To Live For To Die' reappeared in digital form in 1992, retitled 'The Honest One' and with its sound re-EQ'd. The band have now bootlegged the bootleg, and why not? One final mystery remains, though: the gig was also filmed for an unknown German Kids' TV programme. If we could locate that historic footage, 'The Honest One' would be even more of a blast from the past. But even without the visuals, this is a prime piece of early- 1970s prog.

Commentary

This is the earliest live recording of Man I know of (1969 Beat Club videos exception), predating "Live at the Padget Rooms" by nearly two years , and recorded about the time of their third album "Man" (if you can rely on the dates given by Italian bootleggers, more about this in my notes for "Live in London 1975"). The sound quality is better than average considering the age of the recording, the vocals are mixed well back making them difficult to understand at times, but the quality of the instruments, especially Clive's keyboards is quite good. This is the only acknowledged appearance of George Ace (Martin's wife) on a Man album whose vocals appear most prominently on "The Storm". This is a good example of what the early shows must have been like and includes the two long jams from the third album, "Alchemist" and "Would the Christians Wait" plus "Spunk Rock" and "The Storm" from the second album. Of the shorter cuts "Conscience" and "Scholar of Consciousness" are otherwise unreleased, while "Daughter of the Fireplace" appears as the obligatory "medley of our hit".

The Point Records reissue is not an improvement over the original bootleg, actually the sound is much more muddy and the vocals even harder to decipher. This was probably mastered from a LP copy of the original boot without the re-EQ'd mix of the Italian CD.

Notes taken from http://www.gsd.harvard.edu/users/staffba3/manb1.html which has the Man Band homepage.

Tim Dawe "Penrod" {USA}[1970](Psychedelic)

I may not be a fan of US Prog but US Psych is possibly the best and this little beauty is one of them.

From: Stephane Rebeschini (source: Borderline's Psychedelic Archive) Tim Dawe appeared on the scene in 1969 with an album on Frank Zappa's Straight label. Penrod was a superb debut, full of psychedelic folk rock with lots of organ, harpsichord and brilliant acid guitar. Four masterpieces are included:- Nite Train Home, Junkie John, Sometimes Alone (with strong percussion) and
Didn't We Love.

The result stands comparison to another more well known Straight artist, Tim Buckley. Quite surprisingly, however, the backing group doesn't seem to have played on other albums (unless they were using pseudonyms).

Dawe then wrote songs for Rod Taylor and It's A Beautiful Day (Places Of Dreams and Bitter Wine, on Choice Quality Stuff/Anytime).

In 1976 he returned with an interesting west-coast album produced by the ex- It's A Beautiful Day member Mitchell Holman, who also played bass on it. Another ex-It's A Beautiful Day, member Hal Wagenet, also played guitar, whilst Patricia Pickens, was an excellent vocalist. On this album Dawe included versions of Bitter Wine and Junkie John together with nine new songs. It was recorded in Coos Bay, Oregon.

In 1978, he produced A Night On The Wine Cellar (Cabernet GWC 101), a live folk/ blues album on which he sang three new songs, along with Billy Roberts and other Californian local artists.

Album Credits

Side One
1. Scarlet Women 2:25
2. Nite Train Home 3:45
3. Nothing At All 4:20
5. Little Boy Blue 2:15
6. Junkie John 7:20

Side Two
7. Sometimes Alone 4:10
8. No Exit (Cafe and Gallery) 5:20
9. I'm Comin' 3:45
10. Some Other Time 3:48
11. Didn't We Love 4:46

Tim Dawe- Guitar, Vocals
Arnie Goodman- Keyboards
Chris Kebeck- Guitar
Claude Mathis- Drums
Don Parrish- Bass
Jerry Yester- Producer

Man "Slow Motion" {Wales}[1974] (Rock)

When I first bought this album I was somewhat disappointed. The merging of Man and Help Yourself into one band for 'Rhinos' and the subsequent 1999 Space Party tour, was exciting. And the loss of Malcolm Morley and the reduction of the band to a four piece was a let down. Gone was the arena rock majesty of Roy Thomas Baker production. What followed was seemingly a hastily slapped together collection of very sparsely arranged songs.

Looking back on the album over thirty years later, however, it has held up surprisingly well. There are a number of great songs here, and they are performed with great energy. It's not surprising that this material stayed in the live set while 'Rhinos' was left by the wayside. Even when I saw them during the 1999 Space Party there was no material from 'Rhinos' in the set. True they only played four songs. This was also their last studio album for United Artists. They turned in one last live album to finish the contract and went off for a brief stay at MCA.

SIDE 1
1. Hard Way to Die (Williams/Whaley/Jones/Leonard)
2. Grasshopper (Williams/Whaley/Jones/Leonard)
3. Rock & Roll You Out (Williams/Whaley/Jones/Leonard)
4. You Don't Like Us (Williams/Whaley/Jones/Leonard)
SIDE 2
1. Bedtime Bone (Williams/Whaley/Jones/Leonard)
2. One More Chance (Williams/Whaley/Jones/Leonard)
3. Rainbow Eyes (Williams/Whaley/Jones/Leonard)
4. Day And Night (Williams/Whaley/Jones/Leonard)

THE BAND
Micky Jones--Guitar and Singing
Ken Whaley--Plays Bass
Terry Williams--Plays Drums, Sings and Does all the Effects
Deke Leonard--Plays Guitar and Some Piano and Sings

Trapeze "Medusa" {UK}[1970](Classic Rock)

Not only is Medusa the finest offering from '70s outfit Trapeze , it is one of the decade's most underappreciated hard rock recordings. With a lineup that consisted of future Deep Purple , Judas Priest , and Black Sabbath members, there seems to be proof that at least a few fellow musicians appreciated this 1971 offering. Fans of his later work might be surprised by Glenn Hughes ' soulful vocal delivery, especially on the mid-tempo blues-rockers like 'Black Cloud' and 'Your Love Is Alright.' Guitarist Mel Galley also deserves mention for his sparse approach to classic rock riffing that is catchy and affective. Even the ballads are focused, memorable, and unique. There are some melodic moments on the closing title track that sound almost as if a '90s alt-rock crooner composed them. Considering that Medusa predates many similar, and more successful, classic rock LPs from the likes of Bad Company , Nazareth , Foreigner , and others, it's a wonder that the record isn't mentioned more when influential albums of this era are discussed. ~ Vincent Jeffries, All Music Guide

Tracks:
1. "Black Cloud" (Galley; Galley) 6:13
2. "Jury" (Hughes) 8:10
3. "Your Love Is Alright" (Galley; Hughes; Holland) 4:54
4. "Touch My Life" (Galley; Galley) 4:06
5. "Seafull" (Hughes) 6:34
6. "Makes You Wanna Cry" (Galley; Galley) 4:41
7. "Medusa" (Hughes) 5:40

Personnel:

Dave Holland - Drums
Glenn Hughes - Bass, Piano, Guitar (Bass), Vocals
Mel Galley - Guitar, Vocals

Produced by John Lodge

The Trip "Caronte" {Italy} [1971] (Progressive)

This was one of the first groups to emerge from the new Italian rock scene. They formed in London in 1967 on the initiative of pop singer Ricky Maiocchi (ex-Camaleonti) who needed a new backing group. Many British beat bands moved to Italy in the late sixties in search of gigs, among them The Sorrows, The Primitives and The Talismen. Most of the original Trip members were also English, including (future Deep Purple axeman) Ritchie Blackmore, who eventually became homesick and returned to England. When Joe Vescovi was recruited in 1969, he quickly became the leader of the group, updating their sound with the current (pioneering) Anglo-American attempts to expand the rock format, blending it together with the inspiration and composing techniques of 17th and 19th century classical music.

On their eponymous first album, The Trip almost sounded like a cross between Vanilla Fudge, The Nice and Quatermass (another group that had a great deal of influence on the early Italian rock scene; they released their only album in 1970). "Prologo" almost pastiched the organ work of Mark Stein on Vanilla Fudge's first album. Other enlightening features were Billy Gray's Blackmoresque guitar parts and Joe Vescovi's distinctive, high-pitched voice. The album showed great promise, but didn't quite succeed in creating an integrated group sound. Organ parts of great emotional intensity were sometimes followed by almost banal vocal arrangements in a more pop tradition.

However, better things were soon to come when The Trip released their masterpiece, "Caronte" in 1971. The powerful interplay between Gray and Vescovi is excellent throughout the album. If the "dream collaboration" between Jimi Hendrix and Keith Emerson had ever happened, then I imagine it would have sounded close to this! The finest example of this is on "Two Brothers", which merged psychedelic, heavy and classical flavours of rock. By now, Vescovi could afford a mellotron, offering mellow string textures on the track, "Little Janie". The excellent rhythm section throughout the album, courtesy of Andersen and Sinnone, was also notable. Speaking of Jimi Hendrix, the album also included the mournful requiem "Ode a J.Hendrix".

Personnel:
William Gray guitars,vocals
Arvid Andersen bass,lead vocals
Pino Sinnone percussion
Joe Vescovi organ,piano,church organ,mellotron

Tracks:
1. Caronte I 6:48
2. Two Brothers 8:18
3. Little Janie 4:02
4. L'Ultima ora e Ode a Jimi Hendrix 10:16
5. Caronte II 3:33

Agincourt "Fly Away" {UK} [1970] (Folk)

Recorded 1970 released on private pressing 1974 (99 copies) this CD release is most welcome.

A beautiful blend of folk and psychedelia -- carried off with a bit of a Sunshine Pop twist as well! The recording's got a homespun sort of feel -- one that's a lot less polished than other efforts like this of the time, in a way that really furthers the charming nature of the tunes. There's clearly elements of bigger, more established acts filtering through the music -- but the end result is deeply personal and homespun. John Ferdinando and Peter Howe sing in a harmony-based style on some of the best tracks -- more Sunshine than folk, despite the acoustic guitars on the set -- and the lovely Lee Menelaus also delivers some great vocals too, further sweetening up the sound! Many tunes have a catchy, jingly-jangly quality -- a bit like post-folk work from the west coast of the late 60s -- and titles include "Mirabella", "All My Life", "Going Home", "Joy In The Finding", "Get Together", "When I Awoke", and "Lisa". CD features 2 bonus tracks -- "Going Home (alt)" and "Though I May Be Dreaming (stereo)" -- plus a well-done booklet, filled with plenty of notes!

This particular album is folkier than Ithaca, for example, but like the latter still has a strong Moody Blues influence, particularly on the best track Through The Eyes Of A Lifetime, which begins with a poem and ends with some lovely piano-dominated instrumentation. The opening cut When I Awoke is a very pleasant folky number with some lovely female vocals. Next up is Though I May Be Dreaming, which has a gorgeous acoustic guitar intro and more delicious female vocals. There's some nice flute work on instrumental Joy In The Finding, Dawn and Kind Sir. All My Life is a nice piano-led piece with a spooky sounding ending. All the material is written by either Ferdinando or Howell and whilst I'd be reluctant to recommend people to fork out hundreds on the album, the CD reissue is essential for fans of progressive folk.

Personnel:
JOHN FERDINANDO A
PETER HOWELL A
LEE MENELAUS A

Tracklist:

01. When I Awoke 3:21
02. Though I May Be Dreaming 3:18
03. Get Together 2:56
04. Joy In the Finding 3:15
05. Going Home 2:34
06. All My Life 3:00
07. Mirabella 1:45
08. Take Me There 2:38
09. Lisa 2:40
10. Dawn 3:24
11. Barn Owl Blues 3:09
12. Kind Sir 3:04
13. Through the Eyes of a Lifetime (in 3 parts) 5:21