Just when you thoug-..

NEW! William Parker Orchestra! Five New 'Clean Feed' CDs: Gebhard Ullman, Mark Dresser, Adam Lane, Wilber Morris, Kevin Norton ..! Stephen Gauci! Jack Bruce Birthday Box! Gen Ken Montgomery!...


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Our Free In-Store shows continue [sporadically] with..

THIS Sunday, August 3rd at 6pm -

DAVID DOVE & JAWWAAD TAYLOR!
Trombone, trumpet and electronics duo from Texas!


Sunday, August 24th at 6pm -

CASPEROUS VINE!
Progressive sounds from another planet!


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OMIGOSH!

Reserve your copy of this Fantabulous LATE OCTOBER Release NOW!
[and save $10!]

ANTHONY BRAXTON - The Complete Arista Recordings Of Anthony Braxton: The Complete Braxton 1971/New York Fall 1974/Five Pieces 1975/The Montreux & Berlin Concerts 1976/Creative Orchestra Music 1976/Duets 1976/For Trio/For Four Orchestras [Composition 82]/Alto Saxophone Improvisations 1979 [LTD ED 8 CD Box Set + Book] (Mosaic LTD ED; USA)
[price will be $175 upon release, so make your reservation NOW!] Anthony Braxton is the sort of artist who triggers those heated "Is it jazz?"debates; whatever his music is, it is brilliant. By the time he signed with Arista Records in 1974 at the age of 29, he had emerged as one of the major figures in Chicago's AACM, joined with the Arc trio [Chick Corea, Dave Holland and Barry Altschul] to form Circle, and lived the expatriate life in Paris and moved freely in jazz and contemporary classical circles.
What made his output at Arista (1974-80) so unique was the range of projects he was able to realize thanks to the supportive budgets of a major label. This 8-CD set rescues his entire 14-LP Arista output from forgotten vaults. From live and studio recordings with his quartet (with Kenny Wheeler or George Lewis, Dave Holland and Barry Altschul) to solo alto excursions to a duet with Muhal Richard Abrams to Creative Orchestra Music to trios with Roscoe Mitchell/Joseph Jarman and Henry Threadgill/Douglas Ewart to his thoroughly composed pieces for two pianos and for four orchestras, Braxton explored every aspect of modern music through his own creative vision with astonishing results.What made his output at Arista (1974-80) so unique was the range of projects he was able to realize thanks to the supportive budgets of a major label. This 8-CD set rescues his entire 14-LP Arista output from forgotten vaults. From live and studio recordings with his quartet (with Kenny Wheeler or George Lewis, Dave Holland and Barry Altschul) to solo alto excursions to a duet with Muhal Richard Abrams to Creative Orchestra Music to trios with Roscoe Mitchell/Joseph Jarman and Henry Threadgill/Douglas Ewart to his thoroughly composed pieces for two pianos and for four orchestras, Braxton explored every aspect of modern music through his own creative vision with astonishing results.
The 14 LPs issued by Arista and included here in CD form are:
*The Complete Braxton 1971 [2 LPs] with Wheeler, Holland, Corea, Altschul
*New York, Fall 1974 [1 LP] duet, quartet, and quintet: includes Jerome Cooper, Julius Hemphill, Oliver Lake, Hamiet Bluiett, Leroy Jenkins, Wheeler, Holland *Five Pieces 1975 [1 LP] quartet with Wheeler, Holland and Altschul
*The Montreux/Berlin Concerts [2 LPs] quartet with Wheeler [Montreux], Lewis [Berlin], Holland and Altschul
*Creative Orchestra Music 1976 [1 LP] with Leo Smith, Karl Berger, Philip Wilson, Garrett List, Cecil Bridgewater, Jon Faddis, Lewis, Wheeler, Holland, Mitchell, Teitelbaum, Altschul, et al
*Duets 1976 [1 LP] with Muhal Richard Abrams
*For Trio [1 LP] with Mitchell/Jarman or Threadgill/Ewart
*For Four Orchestras [Composition 82] [3 LPs] Yep! Four orchestras + four conductors [woods/brass/string - but no saxes], all playing and conducted by Braxton at the same time!
*Alto Saxophone Improvisations 1979 [2 LPs] solo!
(this set DOES NOT include the Time Zones [1 LP] duet with Richard Teitelbaum [so much for 'complete'], nor the For Two Pianos [1 LP] which is performed by Rzewski and Oppens)
8 CD Box + Book for $160.00 PREORDER

[price will be $175 upon release, so preorder now. PLEASE SEND A SEPARATE EMAIL FOR YOUR RESERVATION, apart from any order you may be making now, with the SUBJECT LINE "Arista Braxton Box Reservation"

We must have ALL your info on file to consider this a valid reservation
BUT your card will NOT BE CHARGED until the day it actually ships to you

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[a slight pause here whilst we all change our underwear!]


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Great Stuff - just in - starts with [drum roll]:

WILLIAM PARKER ORCHESTRA - Double Sunrise Over Neptune (AUM 47; USA) The third (of three) Arts for Art, Inc. productions to be released in cooperation with AUM Fidelity in 2008. This one got us high long time in process...a major new William Parker release = always a reason to celebrate, and this his first large ensemble recording in a number of years already and something new altogether. Getting Gerald Cleaver and Hamid Drake playing the trap kits together on one session is reason enough; Joe Morris' guitar and Brahim Frigbane's oud meshing together is another; string section lines and brass and reed section lines and Sangeeta Bandyopadhyay, masterful classically trained Indian vocalist who flew in from Bombay for the occasion is yet another. An orchestral work featuring immensely gifted individual and collective voices from around the world, meshing as one to manifest a pair of deep double-drummer-and-bass driven mantras; this is serious (other) World teleportation music that achieves psychedelic proportions of sonic interplay. Go deep into this on long drives my friends, whether it involves the road or not. "The second set on the first night of Vision Fest 2006 was a world premiere of William Parker's "Double Sunrise Over Neptune" for a large 16-piece orchestra. It was a most ambitious work that was partially marred by sound problems, which were ironed the following day by recording in the same space before the night's festivities resumed. The instrumentation was unique and included 3 saxes, 2 double reeds (Bill Cole & William Parker), four strings, oud, banjo, two basses and two drummers, plus a fabulous Indian woman vocalist who was one the evening's highlights. The piece was one long work that developed a handful of themes. It had a middle Eastern/Indian sort of sound and evolved and repeated like a raga. Rob Brown took one of the most lyrical and breathtaking of all on his alto sax and later traded lines with the Indian vocalist, adding even more magic to the piece. William left the bass duties to the young but ambitious Shayna Dulberger, while William played some fine kora in the second half." - Bruce Lee Gallanter from his Vision Fest 2006 review
CD $14


Five great new ones from Clean Feed!

CONFERENCE CALL [GEBHARD ULLMANN/MICHAEL JEFRY STEVENS/JOE FONDA/GEORGE SCHULLER] - Poetry In Motion (Clean Feed 118; Portugal) If the axis of this band - now commemorating its 10th year - is defined by two of its most complicit collaborators, pianist Michael Jefry Stevens and bassist Joe Fonda, co-founders of the Fonda/Stevens Group, then the involvement of woodwind player Gebhard Ullmann and drummer George Schuller reinforces the universal idea of group interdependence. However, there's still enough room for each to add their own unique concepts to an ever-evolving and most rewarding project. And what a project it is, in some ways tied to the late Sixties sound of the BYG free jazz records, while in other ways teetering on the edge of the vast unknown personified, for instance, by the recent developments of the Wayne Shorter Quartet. With original compositions offered by all four members and special attention paid to timbre and harmonic integration, there's a certain bold affirmation about the music in Poetry In Motion revealing a relaxed sense of purpose and musical fortitude. All four are active in both mainstream and avant-fields and all have notable CVs: Stevens's toe-dipping classical constructions, Fonda's open inventiveness (of course, stemming from his Anthony Braxton tutelage), Ullmann's extended reed skills and Schuller's knit-work craftsmanship - all combining to create music that swings outwardly, while at the same time, allows the listener to follow its inner abstractions. The liner notes of the CD speak of the joy, mystery and wonder felt by the performers during the recording sessions (their first studio recording
in eight years), and we can surely recognize that essence. It's a measure of true artistic accomplishment when music so demanding can touch an emotional thread, proving that even a street full of concrete and glass can turn green and lush. Poetry in motion, indeed.
CD $16

MARK DRESSER/ED HARKINS/STEVEN SCHICK - House Of Mirrors (clean feed 117; Portugal) Being Mark Dresser, the most "classical" of jazz/improvised music bassists today, it is no wonder we find him in the company of two of the most accomplished improvisers coming from the new and classical contemporary fields, Ed Harkins with the trumpet family (piccolo, reed, 2-bell, slide and modular) and Steven Schick on everything percussive, from skins to Chinese temple bells and gongs. But House of Mirrors project isn't similar to the interpretations of Iannis Xenakis, Roger Reynolds or John Luther Adams which the last two musicians are famed for. It was born from Harkins' and Dresser's investigations of complex rhythm, pitch and timbre, enriched by the contribution of Schick in terms of sound and texture. In the end, this is a proposal emerging from the frontier between what we call "jazz" and the experimental lab of the academic music world, combining in defiant and playful ways, under a solid concept, written open scores and structured improvisation. And if you think that the double bass has a limited range when compared to the varied palette of timbres of the trumpeter and the percussionist, think again: in the hands of Mark Dresser the bass is permanently reinvented. He's known for finding unusual ways to amplify his instrument. Here he uses a "surrealist" (not our term: you find it in the technical sheet of the CD) pick-up system designed by Kent McLagan, and sometimes he even prepares the giant fiddle very much like John Cage prepared the piano. In one instrument you have several. The magnification of sounds from the bass and the mutation of the other instruments will cause you to relate to them in surprising ways. The collaborators themselves said in an interview with music critic Bill Shoemaker, that in some passages of this recording they have difficulties recognizing who plays what. That says it all-the difference of roles assumed by the performers of this trio in relation to both conventional jazz and contemporary music is really something else, and undoubtedly superb.
CD $16

MAUGER [GERRY HEMINGWAY/MARK DRESSER/RUDRESH MAHANTHAPPA] - The Beautiful Enabler (Clean Feed 114; Portugal) Members of the much remembered classic quartet of Anthony Braxton and bandleaders in their own right, Mark Dresser and Gerry Hemingway are the first names we consider when asked to mention the best improvisers on their respective instruments, the double bass and the drum kit. Extraordinarily gifted musicians, innovators of defining and expanding the meaning of contemporary jazz, and being of wholly creative minds, Dresser and Hemingway are always capable of surprising us. On 'The Beautiful Enabler' these two veterans of creative music join forces with the younger, but equally notable, saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa. His versatility and virtuosity combined with the depths of his multi-cultural roots (he was born in Italy to South Indian parents, raised in Colorado, educated in Boston and Chicago, now living in New York), justify his fame as a 'rising star'. This CD is a fine example of empathy and group interaction, something only possible when the musicians involved are selflessly concerned with the musical results of the ensemble and not their own individual performances. While this is always considered to be the ultimate goal of jazz (which at its core defines itself as a collective music), it is generally not easily accomplished. How many times have great virtuosos been unsuccessful in creating a cohesive message with their musical partners in the ways displayed on this recording?
On this album, overcoming this ostensibly difficult task seems easy and natural, and this fact alone speaks volumes to the approach and outlook of this trio. In his liner notes, Dresser writes about 'musical chemistry', a notion that cannot simply be desired but perhaps can only arise under uniquely extraordinary circumstances. There is no recipe for this sense of gathering as its occurrence transcends skill and creativity and journeys into the realms of fraternity and humanity. It's no wonder that the artists thought it was necessary to give this group a name of its own: Mauger is more than the combination of these three human beings; it's an entity in itself.
CD $16

ADAM LANE/LOU GRASSI/MARK WHITECAGE - Drunk Butterfly (clean feed 116; Portugal) In addition to being a superb bassist, Adam Lane is a composer with superior skills. Drummer Lou Grassi and saxophonist Mark Whitecage are better known as improvisers, but as it turns out they have wicked composer chops too. "Drunk Butterfly" draw on the scores from all the three members of this trio. There's improvisation here - astonishing improvisation - but listen to these moving structures, buildings morphing like clouds in the sky. There is a democratic division of authorship in the band and of, shall we call it, "performership" as well. This is not simply the gathering of a soloist with a rhythm section. The trio demonstrates a rare quality of collective thought. And, curiously enough considering the free jazz creds of the musicians, be-bop flavors every track (in fact, the first piece is titled "The Last of the Beboppers) and the music swings like crazy. You can dance to it.
CD $16

TRIO VIRIDITAS [ALFRED 23 HARTH/WILBER MORRIS/KEVIN NORTON] - Live At Vision Festival VI (clean feed 115; Portugal) Bassist Wilber Morris' contribution to contemporary jazz is still being documented, after his death. Such a rich career certainly deserves that attention. The idea for this trio came from the mind of Alfred Harth, a German (now living in South Korea) saxophonist, composer, improviser, and visual artist. He invited Morris and a drummer of Morris's preference to form a trio. The choice couldn't have been more fitting: Kevin Norton, a new presence then but now mainstay of the New York scene. This is indeed an uncommon band. Harth is active in the experimental field with projects defined by the influences of jazz, rock, and contemporary classical music, exemplified by his associations with Heiner Goebbels and by the band he co-founded, Cassiber and nowadays with Otomo Yoshihide.
He wanted to return to his roots of free jazz. Wilber Morris seemed to him the ideal companion to do this, and Norton represented the bridge between the worlds of avant-jazz and experimental music. The first CD of this not-as-strange-as-you-may-think combination was Clean Feed's 'waxwebwind@ebroadway.' This new release documents a memorable concert. The music boils, faithful to the tradition it comes from, but with a twist that refreshes it and adds another dimension to everything that happens. Live At Vision Festival VI turns the page and envisions the future.
CD $16


STEPHEN GAUCI'S STOCKHOLM CONFERENCE With MAGNUS BROO/MATS ALEKLINT/INGEBRIGT HAKER FLATEN/FREDRIK RUNDQVIST - Live At Glenn Miller Cafe [2 CD set] (Ayler 93/94; EEC) Featuring Stephen Gauci on tenor sax, Magnus Broo on trumpet (disc 2), Mats Aleklint on trombone (disc 1), Ingebrigt Haker Flaten on bass and Fredrik Rundqvist on drums. It is always a blast to hear downtown tenor sax great Steve Gauci, especially in a new setting with not one, but two Scandinavian quartets. Gauci has already worked and recorded with The Thing & Scorch Trio bassist Ingebrigt Haker Flaten on that amazing Clean Feed disc 'Nidihyansana' from last year recorded here at DMG. Magnus Broo has worked with Ingebrigt in Brotzmann's Chicago Tentet as well as with playing in Atomic School Days. Steve composed all but one song here, a cover of Sonny Rollins' "Sonnymoon for Two".
For the opener, "No Color of Its Own," Steve has found some strong yet subtle like-minded players. Steve's tenor and Mats' trombone simmer together quietly, while the bass and drums play skeletally underneath. Both Steve on tenor and Mats on trombone take great slowly burning laid back solos that get more intense as the rhythm starts to erupt in the second half of this long piece. What I dig most about this is that even when the quartet is playing free, they remain tight, focused and consistently spirited. In the middle of "Talk Whatever Comes," the quartet suddenly break into a great groove and swing hard for a bit before the spin into more freer terrain. It seems like a most natural flow to what has come before and what comes after. Trombonist, Mats Aleklint, is someone with whom I was not previously familiar, but here he is a truly a creative and feisty partner who can and does spar with Gauci, the two pushing each other higher and higher. The rhythm team is also consistently on target, swirling powerfully together and around one another amazingly well throughout. On disc 2, Magnus Broo, who can be heard with Ken Vandermark on '4 Corners' (Clean Feed0, as well as with Atomic School Days, is yet another gifted player. Magnus spews forth furious streams of notes that would give Peter Evans a run for his money. Again the quartet flows together tightly up and down valleys and mountains, spinning together as one strong force of nature. Two excellent and inspired quartet dates on all counts. - BLG
2 CD set for $24


JACK BRUCE - Can You Follow: 65th Birthday Retrospective 1962-2003 [6 CD Box Set] (Cherry Red/Esoteric BOX1; UK) Jack Bruce is one of the greatest popular musicians Britain has ever produced. A supremely talented instrumentalist and vocalist, eminently respected by his peers, Jack's pioneering bass playing style has influenced successive generations of bassists, including such luminaries as Paul McCartney, Jaco Pastorius and Sting, alongside more contemporary musicians such as Flea of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. He is also the possessor of one of the most powerful voices in modern music and a composer of some of the most original and influential music of the past forty years. As a song writer he has written some of popular music's enduring classics such as "Sunshine of Your Love", "White Room", "I Feel Free" and "Theme from an Imaginary Western". Recording a series of ageless solo albums, covering all musical styles and moods, Jack's music is a master class in the art of song writing and musical delivery, standing the test of time and ever changing musical fashion. With the majority of his life spent as a professional musician, the legacy of legendary recordings graced by Jack's musical presence is immense and his innovation unique, touching the worlds of rock, jazz, blues and ethnic music. The list of those he has worked with is impressive and includes most of the leading lights of British rock music. In May 2008 Jack celebrated his 65th Birthday and to celebrate this Esoteric Recordings are releasing a lavish 6 CD boxed set anthology entitled "Can You Follow?" on June 23rd.
This lavish and ambitious set gathers together material drawn from all aspects of Jack's career, beginning in 1962 with the earliest released recording of Jack performing as a member of Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated and continuing with recordings made with the Graham Bond Organisation (comprising Jack, Graham Bond, Ginger Baker and Dick Heckstall-Smith), John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Manfred Mann and then on to Cream (the band which brought Jack Bruce along with Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker to world wide prominence), selling over 33 million albums in the process.
Following the demise of Cream in November 1968 Jack embarked on a distinguished career as a solo artist, recording fifteen albums in his own right, all of immense creativity and diversity. Beginning with the classic album "Songs for a Tailor", the "Can You Follow?" boxed set encompasses material from all these solo albums and also adds selected material from other projects including those with Tony Williams' Lifetime, West, Bruce and Laing, Frank Zappa, Rocket 88 (with Charlie Watts and Alexis Korner), Robin Trower and BBM (with Gary Moore and Ginger Baker). Importantly, the set emphasises Jack's enormous talent as a song writer and composer. As one of popular music's most respected innovators, Jack Bruce is in a class of his own. "Can You Follow?" celebrates his enduring talent and musical legacy. JACK BRUCE: "Can You Follow?"
A 6CD deluxe anthology featuring selections from Jack's work with Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated, the Graham Bond Quartet, Duffy Power, The Graham Bond Organisation, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Manfred Mann, Cream, Tony Williams' Lifetime, West, Bruce & Laing, Frank Zappa, Rocket 88, Robin Trower, BBM along with selections from his fifteen solo albums. Includes a lavishly illustrated 68 page book documenting Jack's career with his own exclusive personal comments and previously unseen photographs. A 110 track selection, including 29 never before released on CD in the UK.
6 CD box set for $110


BUSRATCH - Memorium (Paradisc 10; Japan) BusRatch are a turntable duo of Katsura Mouri and Takhiro Yamamoto from Kyoto, Japan. Their turntable style combines the more abstract jump cut approach akin to Otomo Yoshihide (with whom they have collaborated with),Toshio Kajiwara, and Christian Marclay. BusRatch stick to a strict code of utilizing and brutalizing records, drum cymbals, wire, etc...to expand the the sonic palette of the spinning platters. When I shared a bill with them in Kyoto at Club Metro, many years back, I was mesmerized by their sounds and the promoter literally had to come and grab me and put me and my band on stage. "Memorium" is reminiscent of that night in Kyoto. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! - Chuck Bettis/DMG
CD $18


ASTRO [HIROSHI HASEGAWA] - The Echo From The Purple Dawn (Important 197; USA) Astro is the solo work of Hiroshi Hasegawa from legendary Japanese noise outfit C.C.C.C. and this is his first release for Important.
"The Echo From The Purple Dawn" is 58 minutes of delay soaked wall of synth that hit you like a tidal wave! Low end that pulsates between the legs and skittering highs that penetrate your cerebral cortex. Perhaps this is an audio response to the 1923 Hollywood film "Purple Dawn" (one of those early racist films where white people play charactictures of people of Asian or African descent...this one being white people playing Asian stereotypes) which this cd shares a close affinity to the name and close to the total time (the film is 53 minutes long). Whether my accusation is right or not, Astro has created an intense psychedelic noise that is a soundtrack for your third chakra. RECOMMENDED!!! - Chuck Bettis/DMG
CD $14


ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE & THE MELTING PARAISO U.F.O. - Acid Motherly Love (Riot Season 16; Japan) "Returning to their Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso UFO moniker, Kawabata Makoto and his fellow psych jam explorers have let loose one of their most varied, extensive discs to date. Acid Motherly Love is a prog rock banquet, which maintains its fuzzy psych credentials without losing a sense of narrative. Take the twenty-one minute three-parter 'Douchebag': it all starts off as a tranquil spoken word piece set against a backdrop of organ and acoustic guitar, only to switch to full-blown hard rocking sonic blitzkrieg, eventually winding down into a lengthy passage of feedback and oscillator tones. It's like the Grateful Dead tackling Rush's 'A Farewell To Kings.' Probably. After all that, there's a bit of a comedown in the shape of 'Traitors With Beautiful Hearts', a sprawling four minutes of disconnected sound elements, and palate-cleansing loopiness that piles into 'Astro Elvis ESP', an all-out fuzz fest and ring modulator workout. Weirdest of all is set closer 'Johnny Johnny Jerusalem', a nutty a cappella piece featuring the kind of sound poem silliness you might hear from a jetlagged Jaap Blonk." --Boomkat
CD $19

KAWABATA MAKOTO - We Don't Know Where We Came From (Important 204; USA) "Limited edition of 500 copies in a letterpress jacket by 43rd Parallel Press. We Don't Know Where We Came From features Acid Mothers Temple leader Kawabata Makoto on both electric and acoustic guitars. Recorded at Kaccho-Buu Matsuzaka by Takayama Manabu. Live recordings."
LP $22


ELODIE LAUTEN With ARTHUR RUSSELL & PETER ZUMMO - The Death of Don Juan: An Opera in Two Acts (Unseen Worlds 004; USA) "CD debut of this 1985 post-minimal landmark by Elodie Lauten. Lauten has been active in the downtown New York classical and punk scenes since moving from France in the 1970s. The Death of Don Juan is a breakthrough for its lyrical minimalism in combination with drama that actively engages a contemporary emotional experience. Originally self-produced and released as a small LP edition on her own label, it has been touted ever since by Kyle Gann, who adds notes to this edition, and was recently included on one of Alan Licht's Minimal Top Ten lists. Features performances by Arthur Russell and Peter Zummo."
CD $15


JOHN BAKER TAPES - Vol 1: BBC Radiophonics - Rare & Unreleased Workshop Recordings 1963-1969 (Trunk 028; UK) This groundbreaking release represents the first major retrospective of any BBC Radiophonic composer. The legendary BBC Radiophonic Workshop, one of the sound effects units of the BBC, was created in 1958 to produce effects and new music for radio. Sounds for programs were created by using recordings of everyday sounds such as voices, bells, gravel and other raw materials for "radiophonic" manipulations, in which audio tape could be played back at different speeds, pitches, cut and joined, or processed. The Workshop's innovations in manipulative sound is akin to those used in musique concrete, and has had a profound influence on the evolution of modern electronic music. By the early 1960s, John Baker (1937-1997) had become permanent Radiophonic staff, and one-third of the holy trinity of composers (the other two being Delia Derbyshire and David Cain), working there throughout the golden 1960s and early 1970s. The 50 tracks on volume 1 of this set represent the major body of important work he produced there, and most tracks have remained unissued, until now. Together, these tracks give an incredible, diverse and magical insight into the man and his methods of working. Rare archive recordings here reveal his production techniques and highlight his innovative trademark sounds and humor. We have jingles, themes, stings, soundtracks and soundscapes from a wide variety of BBC TV, radio and public information broadcasts, as well as exceptionally rare cues from Radiophonic non-broadcast commissions. Highlights include the proto-techno opening for "Dial M For Murder," the electro-jazz intensities of "Vendetta," the plugged-in bossa nova of "Au Printemps," and the revealing "Woman's Hour (Reading Your Letters)" archive interview. All classic stuff. As mentioned before, most of these recordings have remained either lost or unissued until now -- this really is a rare treat and a significant release for followers and fans of vintage British electronics, electroacoustic work, and for buffs of the Delaware Road output. Many of these tracks were even thought lost until they were recently discovered in (his brother) Richard Baker's archive.
CD $16


GEN KEN MONTGOMERY - Drilling Holes In The Wall (Monochrome Vision 17; Russia) Honestly, up to this point, most electronic music Bruce has played for me I have had little to no interest in. This one caught me by total surprise! Gen Ken Montgomery, a veteran of homemade electronics, has created an album solely using a circuit-bent casio as a sound source. Going into "Drilling Holes In The Wall" completely raw, not knowing of Gen Ken's history, I willingly immersed myself in his sound world of glitched out 8-bit alien synth sounds with aid of a few effects and/or tape trickery. My initial reaction was astonishment and wondering where Gen Ken was coming from. Thinking this might have been a modern recording with sounds and artwork that were borderline dated for kitsch value, I was surprised when I dove deeper into the recording. After listening to the entire cd, I read the liner notes. "Drilling Holes In The Wall" was recorded in the 90's at Conrad Schnitzler's studio! To some degree there are some parallels to Schnitzler's exploration of the synth. It was only when I read the liner notes that I was schooled on this great electronic musician who has been doing music going on 3 decades. Hoping to hear more of this artist work. If you have not heard Gen Ken music before, do yourself a favor and start here. RECOMMENDED! -Chuck Bettis/DMG
CD $14


RAYMOND SCOTT - Manhattan Research Inc. [3 LP set] (Basta 9045; EEC) Repressed for the first time in a few years... Astounding triple LP version of this collection of unreleased electronic music from Raymond Scott's studio, from the 1950s & 60s. Previously issued as a double CD w/ book (BASTA 9078). This vinyl edition is presented as three LPs, each packaged and in it's own full color gatefold jacket, all shrinkwrapped together (the LPs are not available individually). Contains all 69 tracks found on the CD version.
"WFMU's Irwin Chusid and the Basta label has brought us material from the legendary Raymond Scott before - the three volume reissue of Soothing Sounds For Baby in '97. Now they've released Scott's music from his advertising agency and experimental music archives. Frantic tribal rhythms, sputnick sine tones with a lot of echo, quirky oriental melodies - if you liked Soothing Sounds for Baby, you'll love this well designed book with two cds. Subtitled "New Plastic Sounds and Electronic Abstractions", included are not just the music but also '60's vintage commercials for Baltimore Gas and Electric Co., Bendix, Lightworks, Gillette, Sprite, Ideal Toys, IBM, Vicks, Auto Light spark plugs, Nescafe, Bufferin, GM, Hostess Twinkies, and even reinvents Scott classics like the Toy Trumpet in the new electronic medium. Some collaborators included the young Robert Moog (circuit builder) and the Muppett's Jim Henson (soundtracks for film). Some seriously wacky music" - David Beardsley
"Basta Records unveils Manhattan Research, Inc., a 2 CD, 69 track edition of over two hours of Raymond Scott's unreleased electronic recordings from the 1950s and 60s. These works feature such homebuilt Scott music machines as the Electronium, Clavivox, Circle Machine (early sequencer), Bandito the Bongo Artist, and more. The album includes maverick (and decidedly 'non-kiddie') collaborative works with pre-Muppet-era Jim Henson, and comes packaged in a 144-page, full-color, hard-bound book. The text features interviews with those who knew and worked with Scott (e.g., synthesizer pioneer Robert Moog, wife Mitzi Scott, electronic music authority Tom Rhea), along with countless previously unseen photos, lab notes, US patents, and scrapbook items. In 1946, Scott formed Manhattan Research Inc. (MRI), billed as 'Designers and Manufacturers of Electronic Music and Musique Concrete Devices and Systems'. His colleague Robert Moog said, 'Scott was definitely in the forefront of developing electronic music technology and in the forefront of using it commercially as a musician.' Soothing Sounds For Baby was just a warm-up. With MRI, prepare yourself for something beyond the pleasant parameters of pop. Scott's electronic experiments took him to uncharted netherworlds. The results are intriguing, compelling, and occasionally diabolic. Where SSFB offers relaxing ambience, the grotesqueries of MRI promise a sonic excursion to the realms of weightlessness, moon-craters, and six-armed aliens with twittering antennae. The 'personnel' on MRI consists of such Scott inventions as the Clavivox, a keyboard theremin that was later modified to produce an array of sounds similar to a synthesizer; the Electronium, an instantaneous composition-performance console (conceived in the '50s, developed in the '60s, used at Motown in the '70s); polyphonic sequencers, including his 'Circle Machine"; the Rhythm Modulator; and the Bass Line Generator; along with existing sound devices (e.g., the Ondioline and tone generators). The recordings range from detergent jingles to decidedly non-commercial -- uncommercial, even -- experimental adventures in sound sculpture. Aside from several samples of Scott re-tooling old titles (e.g., 1937's "The Toy Trumpet" and "Twilight in Turkey"), the remainder is new material. Also included, for the first time in commercial release, are several mid-1960s film soundtrack collaborations between Scott and Jim Henson."
3 LP set for $48
also 2 CD set for $30


MINIATURES 1 & 2 [V.A. curated by MORGAN FISHER With ROBERT FRIPP-TREY GUNN/FRED FRITH/ROBERT WYATT/ANDY PARTRIDGE/THE RESIDENTS/LOL COXHILL/TERRY RILEY/GAVIN BRYARS/MICHAEL NYMAN et al] - Two Sequences Of Tiny Masterpieces From 1980 & 2000 [2 CD set] (Cherry Red 361; UK) each artist's [unique to this compilation] contribution is a minute or less in length; the CD is indexed every 5 or 6 cuts. "Featuring artists as diverse as The Residents, Robert Fripp, XTC's Andy Partridge, Pete Seeger, Robert Wyatt and The Pretenders' Martin Chambers, as well as cover artwork contributed by Ralph Steadman, Morgan Fisher's 1980 release Miniatures truly was a first. Overwhelmed with concepts for potential releases, Fisher decided to see how many of these ideas he might be able to squeeze onto just one LP. Rather than performing everything himself, he invited 50 musicians he admired to send in tracks of up to one minute in length. They responded with unanimous enthusiasm, and Miniatures was born out of Morgan's precise editing and sequencing of these tracks, providing a unique snapshot of the cutting-edge music of the period and achieving legendary status amongst those who cherish such creativity and individuality in the process.
Fast forward 15 years, several projects and the development of new realms of communication and data transfer afforded by the internet, and Morgan decided the time was right for a sequel. Little did he know that this project would take six years to complete and involve an international cast of players (taking in 18 countries across five continents), but it proved truly worth both the effort and the wait. The astounding Miniatures 2 brings together over 60 musicians and artists of all genres -- the bizarre, the eccentric, the contemplative, the rebel-rousers, the pioneers and the philosophers and no stone was left unturned in its creation. As with the original album, one minute creations were composed, then sequenced and edited by Morgan, again meeting with rave reviews and an acknowledgement that Fisher had produced something both original and vital to those with any interest in music existing outside the mainstream. Comprising both legendary tiny masterpiece collections, this new set brings together all one hundred and thirteen tracks (yes, 113!) in one two-disc collection for the first time, freshly boosted and tweaked for 2008. New artwork and sleeve-notes have also been provided by Morgan himself." Among the 113 artists included: The Residents, Robert Wyatt, Fred Frith, Lol Coxhill, Steve Miller, Robert Fripp, Ron Geesin, Ralph Steadman, Trevor Wishart, Ivor Cutle, Metabolist, Gavin Bryars, 1/2 Japanese, David Cunningham (The Flying Lizards), Etron Fou Leloublan, Terry Riley, Meredith Monk, David Cunningham, & Moondog (Louis Hardin).
2 CD set for $20


EMBRYO - Live At Burg Herzberg Festival 2007 (World in Sound 2504; Germany) "Are you ready to bring the authentic roots of free-flowing Krautrock jams and true festival feeling to your home? Embryo and the Burg Herzberg Festival (Europe's biggest hippie event) is a long story. Forty years ago, when the first one happened in the old castle, Embryo was there. After that performance they even got robbed, a blue painted violin and a good amp were gone forever. In all the years following, the festival got bigger and changed to a different place to find room for the growing audience and stages. Embryo played there many times in different line-ups. This performance was a sort of chill out act for the whole festival. The nucleus of this band (Jens, Lothar, Mik. Marja, Christian) had grown through all the many years on tour to a steady line-up, supported by five other friends: On trumpet is Werner, who was introduced by Mik, one of the few good oboe-players around. On guitar Valentin Altenberger, whose father is a modern jazz drummer and mother a jazz singer who grew up in the family of Bobbie Jones, known for his work with Charles Mingus. On oud and guitar is Andy Rust who knows much about Indian culture and has been with Embryo for many years. The third electric guitar is played by Bjorn Eric Munz from Ensemble Orient-Express, also good friends of Embryo. On Percussion is Norbert Keck who had been playing with the band almost on almost all of the Herzberg gigs in the last years. This CD presents a rawer electric set by Embryo (because the wet and cold wind at the festival weekend made it too hard to tune the acoustic instruments!) So, this CD will satisfy the early '70s Kraut-jam-improvisation-rock fans a lot, but also features jazzy vibes and structures. Comes with an eight page booklet with nice liner notes by bandleader C. Burchard (German & English, great sound quality, three extended pieces, 75 minutes, analogously mixed and mastered). Highly recommended for jam and improv freaks!"
CD $19


JASPER VAN'T HOF'S PORK PIE With CHARLIE MARIANO et al - Transitory (MPS/SPV; Germany) (24 bit re-mastered/mini-lp sleeve) Featuring Charlie Mariano on soprano & alto sax, flutes & nagaswaram, Philip Catherine on electric & acoustic guitars, Jasper van't Hof on electric & acoustic pianos, organ & celeste, J.F. Jenny-Clarke on bass and Aldo Romano on drums plus guest Ivanir Do Nascimento on percussion. This is an excellent studio effort from 1974 featuring one of the finest European jazz/rock bands. Led by keyboard wiz, Jasper van't Hof, who left the legendary Association PC a year earlier and featuring a stellar international line-up. Boston-born reeds hero, Charlie Mariano, has had a surprising career, playing with an extremely diverse cast of greats like Charles Mingus, Stan Kenton, Toshiko Akiyoshi and Steve Kuhn, before moving to Europe to play with jazz/rock/prog bands like Embryo and Supersister. Belgian guitarist, Philip Catherine, was a member of the Jean Luc Ponty Experience, like van't Hof, previous to Pork Pie and remains as one the finest jazz/rock guitarists to emerge from Europe in the past 30 years. French bassist, JF Jenny-Clarke, is another creative and diverse musician who has played on hundreds of sessions for jazz, modern classical, as well as for Gato Barbieri, Baden Powell and Egberto Gismonti. Italian-born and Paris-based drummer, Aldo Romano, is another gifted musician who also has worked a diverse array of players: Joachim Kuhn, Don Cherry, Steve Lacy and Enrico Rava.
"Epoch" opens with an infectious theme and groove. Charlie's sax sails over the top while the electric piano, guitar and slamming rhythm team burn intensely below. I haven't heard such a smokin' electric piano solo since the grand old days of Jan Hammer in Mahavishnu Orchestra or Chick Corea in Return to Forever. Yeah! The title track features some great, spacy, echoplex flute, sly soprano sax and suspense filled electronic keyboard sounds. Philip Catherine's "Angel Wings" features some great sustained guitar playing at the center with Jasper's haunting web of electric keyboards providing a cosmic cushion. "Pudu Kkottai" is a traditional song from South India with Charlie on a nagaswaram, a double reed instrument with a snake-charming sound. Again, Jasper's swirling keyboards adds a magic vibe to this song along with Philip's guitar playing that enticing theme. Jasper's electric piano intro to "Something Wrong" is also immensely hypnotic. "Bassamba 1" features some incredible amplified acoustic bass and drums dueting together. One of the things I dig most about this disc is the unique sound that Mr. Van't Hof's electric piano has, sort of clavinet-like and consistently engaging. The interplay between Jasper's el. piano, Philip's guitar and Charlie's alto sax on "Bassamba 2" is astonishing. In a time when fusion was soon to become filled with high-speed and funky cliches, it is refreshing to hear this treasure of international jazz/rock at its best. - BLG
CD $21

JOHN TCHICAI AND CADENTIA NOVA DANICA With WILLEM BREUKER/PIERRE DORGE/HUGH STEINMETZ/J C MOSES - Afrodisiaca (MPS/SPV; Germany) (24 bit re-mastered/mini-lp sleeve) Ex-New York Art Quartet member John Tchicai goes wild with 25 fellow musicians on this Free Jazz masterpiece from the year of the moon landing. Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore comments: "beautiful, baby. BEAUTIFUL!" Originally released in 1969
"A 28-piece ensemble featuring John Tchicai on alto & soprano sax, Willem Breuker on tenor sax & bass clarinet, Hugh Steinmetz on trumpet, Pierre Dorge on guitar and J.C. Moses on percussion. This album was recorded in 1969 and each side features compositions by either John Tchicai or Hugh Steinmetz. The instrumentation for this large ensemble consists of 11 reeds, 4 brass, 2 organs, guitar, bass and 6 percussionists. Side 1 features the 22 minute epic title piece, "Afrodisiaca," written by Steinmetz. It begins with a haunting unaccompanied trumpet solo. Soon layers of percussion with balafon, gongs, drums, cymbals and assorted hand percussion enter with another of simmering horns on top. Each section features different subgroups, hypnotic flutes, a fine alto solo from Tchicai, bent guitar & bass parts and eerie-sounding music too difficult to describe adequately, but fascinating nonetheless. John Tchicai wrote three of the four pieces on Side 2 and again we are in store for some strange surprises. "Heavenly Love on a Planet" opens with some great, growling, squawking bass clarinet and odd minimal percussion. Weird yet most affective. "Fodringsmontage" features some bent harmonies for various layers of flutes, saxes, brass, guitar and percussion. Strange yet wonderful. "This is Heaven" sounds like a salvation army band and is short but just the right length. Finally, "Lakshmi" brings this bizarre gem to grand close with more bent trombones and "Revelie"-like reeds. In some ways this is like music from another dimension or at least another time or place, long lost in the halls of hallowed memory." - BLG
CD $21

BARNEY WILEN & HIS AMAZING FREE ROCK BAND - Dear Prof. Leary (MPS/SPV 441062; Germany) Featuring Barney Wilen on soprano & tenor sax, Mimi Lorenzini on electric guitar, Joachim Kuhn on piano & organ, Gunter Lenz on acoustic & electric bass and Aldo Romano & Wolfgang Paap on drums. Certainly an unusual offering from the famous French saxist who played with Miles Davis in the late fifties, traveled across Africa and recorded with African musicians in 1970 & '71 and then recorded with a synthesizer ensemble in the mid-seventies. German pianist, Joachim Kuhn, has had a long and diverse career that still continues today as have the Italian-born,Paris-based drummer, Aldo Romano. who also still records with a variety of other creative musicians in Europe. Prior to this, Mr. Wilen, had recently recorded with the early Irene Schweizer Trio, which included Mani Neumeier (future Guru Gurur) on drums. I can't say that I had heard of guitarist, Mimi Lorenzini, or drummer, Wolfgang Paap, before this.
Unlike any of Wilen's records from the same era, this one contains five out of seven cover songs. The covers include then some sixties pop songs like "Fool on the Hill." "Ode to Billie Joe" and "Keep Me Hangin On". It seems strange for Wilen to start things off with a somewhat funky version of "Fool on the Hill." Guitarist, Mimi, plays some fine, funky wah-wah guitar while Gunter Lenz's electric bass throbs at the center melodically and forcefully. The title track is one of the two original tracks and it features some wailing order from Joachim Kuhn, as well as some fine soprano sax. Another rather funky treatment is a version of the 60's hit single, "Ode to Billie Joe." The band rocks out with some more over-the-top organ, squealing sax and twisted wah-wah guitar. The other original song is called "Dur Dur Dur" and it is intense rocker with more crazed guitar, wailing organ and screaming sax. "You Keep Me Hangin' On" was already covered by Vanilla Fudge, but here gets an equally rambunctious version with bent-note wah-wah guitar, sailing soprano sax and insane piano. The song sounds as if the band is about to erupt into totally free space before they break into the melody once again. Ornette Coleman's signature song "Lonely Woman" seems like an odd choice for this record, and it gets a strange free-floating rendition with eerie bowed bass and circus-like piano. Aretha Franklin & Otis Redding's hit, "Respect" closes this disc with another fine funky groove. While I wouldn't say that this disc was inspired by the psychedelic philosophy of the Timothy Leary of the title, I would say that this disc is pretty schizophrenic and filled with surprises. It is certainly fun and even inspired in part, but I wouldn't take it too seriously. - BLG
CD $21

RICCARDO PITTAU CONGREGATION With PAOLO ANGELI/GIANNI GEBBIA/VINCENZO CASI/FRANCESCO CUSA - V IV MMV Death Jazz (Improvvisatore Involontario 07; Italy) Featuring Cap. Paolo Angeli on prepared Sardinian guitar, Gianni Gebbia on alto sax and Riccardo Pittua on trumpets, Vincenzo Vasi on el. bass, theremin & vocal and Francesco Cusa on drums & percussion. In last week's newsletter I reviewed some 8 discs on this same label and thought that I was done. Manny pointed out that I had forgotten this disc, which features an all-star ensemble with members from the other groups on this label. It also features the great Paolo Angeli who designed and plays that unique custom made Sardinian guitar (w/ 3 discs on ReR) and one new name, their leader, Riccardo Pittau.
This appears to be some sort of concept disc with 26 relatively short tracks. "Agonias" opens with some suspense-filed trumpet, alto sax and strange bowed guitar sounds. Riccardo's trumpet is most impressive as he works his way through different styles and sounds, sometimes distorted, sometimes microtonal and sometimes Miles-like smears. The ever-inventive Gianni Gebbia also consistently changes the sound of his alto sax. The music itself is well-written, diverse and full of surprises. On "Bosambo" the guitar and bass play their intricate lines around one another perfectly with some poignant trumpet to top it off. Each piece creates a different mood as well as a different change for each member of the quintet. Paolo Angeli uses a variety of techniques on his custom-made guitar, bowing, plucking and altering the sound in a number of different ways. This disc is over an hour and unfolds like a series of short stories, all connected and always engaging. Each member of the quintet shines throughout since each piece provides a different challenge. This is the final gem from the consistently strong II catalogue. - BLG
CD $15


We printed the WRONG review with this LIO listing last week, [Manny, you dummy!] So here it is again with the proper BLG recommendation..

LONDON IMPROVISERS ORCHESTRA - Improvisations for George Riste (Psi 08.06; UK) The London Improvisers Orchestra was founded in 1998 and features some of the finest modern musicians from the UK. The LIO are featured on seven discs on the Emanem label and each is worthy of our attention - their standard is that high! This disc features four long pieces, three from 2003 and one from 2007, taken from the LIO's monthly appearances at the Red Rose. The personnel ranges from 17 to 20 musicians and includes such luminaries as Harry Beckett, Evan Parker, John Butcher, Steve Beresford, Pat Thomas, Marcio Mattos, Simon H Fell, Lol Coxhill, Mark Sanders and Tony Marsh. I quite enjoyed the thoughtful liner notes by Evan Parker which explained the difficulties of keeping this large ensemble together in these harsh and hostile times in London town. I feel the same pride and stress in keeping the DMG ship afloat on the now bum-free Bowery. As for the dedication..."For about a decade starting in 1981 British Columbia's power company, BC Hydro, had owned most of the block where they planned to build their new office tower. The Del Mar Hotel, owned by George Riste, occupied the missing piece. The Del Mar is a small, unassuming building providing clean, affordable housing for the poor. Despite all the weight brought to bear by the Hydro Goliath, including what must have been enormous amounts of money, Riste refused to sell. Hydro eventually had to redesign to build around the hotel." An inspiration to us all.
"Improvisations for George Riste 1" is from February of 2003 and does not sound like 20 musicians when it begins, there is a lightness the evolves but never gets too dense or difficult. Amy Denio's accordion and the voice of Filomena Campus float on top of layers of different swirls. Although this music is wholly improvised, what we hear is evolving combinations of players and the intricate connections made between them. The closer that I listen, the more sounds, textures and connections I hear. Rather than large stretches of loud cacophony, there is a good deal of more restrained sounds. At one point, I hear those intense, bent Xenakis/Penderecki-like strings and horns. "Improvisations 2" is from July of 2003 and includes 4 brass, 6 reeds, 5 strings, el. guitar, piano, amplified objects, electronics and percussion. The sounds is restrained yet quite intense. There is so much going on, yet no one gets in anyone else's way. This music is consistently fascinating and filled with surprises, we never know when those magical connections will take place but they do time and again. Sections do sound as if someone is conducting when tight parts erupt and emerge from from the occasional focused chaos. "Improvisations 3" is from August of 2003 and this is the smallest version of LIO and the shortest piece here. This piece is begins quite minimally with just a few sprinkles of sounds, evolving slowly and spaciously. Once again, if you listen closely you hear more in the little details. This piece is delicate in part, yet it reveals a great deal below the surface of calm and eventually erupts in spurts. "Improvisations 4" is from June of 2007 and this time it is one trumpet, six reeds, four strings, two el. guitars, piano, vibes, 2 percussionists and Adam Bohman on amplified objects, once again. The final piece is the longest and most playful in parts. I dig the way certain subsections emerge from the constant churning ocean of sounds. It sounds as if certain parts were charted as combinations of players are brought into focus. It rarely if ever gets too chaotic as there is a balance or thread that seems to hold it all together. This piece, for me, brings back the ghost/influence of John Stevens who had his own wonderful way of directing varying sized ensembles into a unified conglomeration. This piece is the most successful as different scenes evolve and interact and begat stories within stories. In conclusion, this is a particularly successful gem. BLG
CD $20


TERRY RILEY//FABRIZIO OTTAVIUCCI - Keyboard Studies 1 & 2, Tread On The Trail (Stradivarius 33793; Italy) Although best known for his landmark composition In C, there are a few other mid-60's pieces by composer Terry Riley that are not as well known. Keyboard Studies 1-2 (1964) resembles his psychedelic classic A Rainbow in Curved Air and his legendary all night concerts of the '60s and '70s. With a series of modal figures of different lengths, melodic cells repeat and overlap in a hypnotic fabric of sound along with sections with the pulse of of early minimalism. The jazzy Tread on the Trail (1965) shows the obvious influence of Riley's honky-tonk piano blues and ragtime studies. It's about time we had a solid recording of these relatively obscure keyboard pieces and pianist Fabrizio Ottaviucci brings the music to life. - David Beardsley
CD $16


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The great MIO label was based in Israel and reissued a good number of avant, progressive, electronic and other assorted challenging discs. The label is now gone, but we have able to get a handful of their treasures and can offer them to you at a discount price..

PHILIPPE BESOMBES - Libra [sndtck] (MIO 008; Israel) [originally $17!] Originally released in 1975 on the French Pole label, this classic electronics-oriented film soundtrack is reissued here from the master tapes (and a good thing to have, as the LP pressings were all awful) and with almost 30' of bonus material added! "A chemist by training, Philippe Besombes was engaged in the French avant-garde scene from the early 1970's. Abandoning his doctoral degree for his pioneering work with new electronics in different musical contexts, he supported himself through the seventies creating the sounds for theater and ballet, and was a well-known audio engineer in the French contemporary concert scene. Perhaps best known for his group Hydravion, Besombes still records and releases music at his studio in Versailles. Conceived as the soundtrack (and, in fact, the ONLY sound in the movie) for the avant-garde film Libra, the music on this 1973 album ranges in style from electronic pop mixed with music concrete ala Parmegiani/Henry to psychedelic exercises, progressive rock, and fusion. The album includes a mix of rock musicians and electronic treatments, a very new way of working at that time."
CD $12.00 7 for 6 SALE.

PHILIPPE BESOMBES - Cesi est Cela (MIO 010; Israel) [originally $17!] Quite, quite rare album of electronic and electro-acoustic music from this composer, written for theatrical performances and originally released in 1979. The material here was recorded between 1972-1979 and there is a lot of interesting bonus material that was left off of the original album's release due concerns about sales in 'the market'. "Besombes, the French musique concret composer and electro-acoustic musician, supported himself for a number of years in the 1970's writing music for ballet, dance, and theatrical performances. This incredibly rare album has been reissued with phenomenal, unreleased bonus material to comprise a suite of accessible, electronic avant-garde and musique concret compositions that blend the contemporary classical composers (Pierre Henry, Luc Farrari, Pierre Schaeffer) of the time to rock music."
CD $12.00 7 for 6 SALE.

PHILIPPE BESOMBES/JEAN LOUIS RIZET - Pole (MIO 009; Israel) [originally $17!] It's really great to see this French electronic/rock classic reissued, especially as the vinyl pressing was quite poor. This double album is a collaboration between these two electronic musicians working with a huge array of keyboards and the latest technology. It includes a large number of guest musicians (who are not credited in the booklet, unfortunately) and the electronics and rock band instruments combined lead to certain comparisons with Heldon, although the actual music is quite different than Heldon.
"Highlighting a huge variety of electronic keyboards, the album's seven tracks (ranging in time for three to well over twenty minutes) create a variety of moods and declarations. Ethereal choruses waft and float through the pulsing synths while drums weave the unusual sounds together. Full of electronic and electro-acoustic ideas and a variety of disparate moods (from the dark and beautiful Armature double to the off-handed faux blues of Rock a Montauban)... Fans of 1970's synthesizers, Krautrock and the French scene will find much here to love. Completely and carefully remastered from the master tapes for incredible sound, the 76-minute release is a MUST for lovers German and French avant-rock of this era."
CD $12.00 7 for 6 SALE.

DECIBEL - Fiat Laux - Complete Recordings 1977-2000: El Poeta Del Ruido/Furtuna Virilis/In Concert/ Plus.. [3 CD set] (MIO 022-24; Israel) [originally $50!] The complete recordings by this legendary Mexican chamber/rock group "...who made original, complex and structured music in the vein of Art Zoyd, Univers Zero, Henry Cow and Nazca..." This includes the 3 CDs "El Poeta Del Ruido", "Furtuna Virilis" and "In Concert" See the individual listings for more information about the 3 CD's included in this box. Includes a really nice full color booklet with photos and history of the band as well as comments from the individuals involved, which is only available in this box.
"... As a response to the cultural malaise of the time, RIO also reached backwards into musical roots that subsequently insured their limited financial success. Stockhausen, Cage, Kagel, and Boulez were drawn from, as well as the radical strains of European and American jazz. As with most avant-garde movements in the 20th century, this led to an international communion of sorts, both in and out of Europe. Bands that had existed in solitude found an idiom and, most importantly, a small market for their efforts. It was in this era that the Mexican group Decibel achieved a small amount of success and produced some stunning music. All the studio work and some live material by this band are collected on the 3-CD MIO Records set Fiat Lux, featuring their 1979 full length El Poeta del Ruido, a track contributed to a 1982 Recommended Records quarterly LP, and several albums recorded in the 1990s by a revamped lineup. While Mexican psych rock goes back to bands such as The Spiders and Los Dug Dugs, the 1970's brought more symphonic groups like Nueva Mexico and Al Universo. Decibel were a rare exception to the prog acts of this period in Mexico, and were well versed in European groups such as Faust, Magma, Gong, and the Italian prog masters Il Balletto di Bronzo. The lineup centered around keyboardist Carlos Robledo, bassist Walter Schmidt, and percussionist Jaime Casteneda (Scmhidt and Robledo began playing together as Decibel in 1974). Three months after the original 1978 RIO festival in England, Decibel performed at a RIO festival at the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City, which can also be heard on the Fiat Lux set.
CD $30.00 7 for 6 SALE.
DECIBEL - El Poeta Del Ruido (MIO 022; Israel) Decibel were a legendary Mexican chamber/rock group with improvisational leanings who released this very hard to find album in the late 70's, but are probably best known for their very fine contribution to the excellent and fondly remembered Recommended Records Sampler double album. The original album is here, as is that track from the Sampler and another unheard track from the same radio show, their performance from the first Mexican RIO festival from 1978, and a couple more odds 'n' ends from the 70's. All tracks have been remastered from the original masters.
CD $12.00 7 for 6 SALE.

MOSAIC - Ultimatum (MIO 029; Israel) [originally $17!] A lost jewel in the crown of the French underground. Mosaic made this, their only album, in 1978. You'll hear similarities to Zeuhl bands, Hatfield and the North, King Crimson, National Health. The music is mostly instrumental fusion/progressive performed on acoustic and electric guitars, synths, cello, double bass, electric bass, keyboards, drums and percussion. This reissue includes their 1977 demo tape Cuve 77 and two additional bonus tracks.
"I owned this French fusion album in the late 70's and never really thought much about it, but when I read that this was coming out, I listened to it again, and it really grabbed me. Why now and not 25 years ago? Dunno. Mostly instrumental fusion/progressive with a definite French air performed on acoustic and electric guitars, synths, cello, double bass, electric bass, keyboards, drums and percussion. This excellent reissue includes all of their only album from 1978, of which only 500 were made, all of their 1977 demo tape and two additional bonus tracks. This will appeal to those who like their fusion music on the 'out' side of things, and especially to avant/proggers who enjoy fusion as well. Excellent stuff; don't you wait 25 years to discover this highly recommended album!" - Steve Feigenbaum
CD $12.00 7 for 6 SALE.

MR. TOAD - Trench Art (MIO 028; Israel) [originally $17!] The Israeli band Mr. Toad was formed by Maor Arbitman and Shimry Mesica in 1998. The band started its way named 'Katross'. All the musicians are mostly classical trained. The lyrics written in English while as the music was characterized as British folk-rock reminding of Nick Drake , Gryphon, After Crying and Fairport Convention. The band decided to try and combine baroque reminiscence along with the original material. For that matter Dana Eizen, a baroque flute player came along. With Dana's arrival and her McDonalds like flute playing, the group established it's music as progressive rock in the early King Crimson spirit. The music material was rearranged and the band started recording it's debut album. The musical substance in the album Trench Art included along with the progressive basis classical music and jazz influences. The best references to compare the band are: Early King Crimson, Celeste, Lalo Schifrin, Gryphon, After Crying but Mr.Toad is not a clone but truly unique
"Trench Art is the debut album from the Israeli band Mr. Toad. The sound that they are going for is interesting and unusual; sort of a cross between early UK progressive folk/rock ala Gryphon, Fairport Convention, or early Nick Drake combined with a more orchestrated symphonic rock ala early King Crimson's most spacious moments (as in "I Talk To The Wind"). This actually reminds me of what White Willow's first demo and album were doing as well. The main instrumentation used is acoustic and electric guitars, mandolin, bass, flute, piano and vocals, but there are a lot of musical guests, including clarinet (which fits in beautifully), bassoon, trumpet, recorder, cello, violin and drums." - Steve Feigenbaum
CD $12.00 7 for 6 SALE.


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ETRON FOU LELOUBLAN - Les Poumons Gonfles (Gazul; EEC) Etron Fou Leloublan's third studio album came out four years after its second, but the group had released the live En Public aux Etats-Unis d'Amerique in the interim. The trio lineup from that live album (drummer Guigou Chenevier, bassist Ferdinand Richard, and saxophonist Bernard Mathieu) is here expanded to a quartet with the arrival of Jo Thirion on Farfisa organ, piano, and trumpet. The music has also changed considerably. Gone are the long, multi-part epics and the free-form improvisations; now the songs are tighter and shorter (between two and seven minutes). The album is overall more accessible, but only because the previous two were so off the wall. But while previous studio efforts were indescribable manifestations from unique creators, Les Poumons Gonfles falls more easily into the early-'80s current of avant-garde rock. Parallels can be traced back to Samla Mammas Manna, the Art Bears, the Muffins, Quebec's Wondeur Brass and Andre Duchesne, and most of all Fred Frith, who produced the album and performed on two songs (Etron Fou had played backup band duties for half of the ex-Henry Cow member's solo LP Speechless a few months earlier). Despite the presence of a fourth member in Thirion, the songs sound colder and fleshed out, but they gain in focus without losing their wacky lyrics (still no English translations in the CD reissue; too bad). Highlights include the story of "Christine," who left her newborn child on the train (if you think that sounds dramatic you should guess again), the angular "Nicole," and Chenevier's instrumental piece "Upsalla," a tribute to Samla Mammas Manna (based in Upsalla, Sweden). Especially for non-French speaking listeners who can't grasp the Dadaist stories central to the LPs Batelages and Les Trois Fous Perdigagnent, Les Poumons Gonfles is the best point of entry in Etron Fou's discography. - Francois Couture / AMG
CD $20

ETRON FOU LELOUBLAN - Le Trois Fou's Perdigagnent (Au Paysdes...) (Gazul; EEC) The full title of Etron Fou Leloublan's second album is Les Trois Fous Perdigagnent (Au Pays Des...), which could translate to "The Three Fools Lose'n'win (In the Land Of...)" -- granted, it doesn't make more sense in English than in French. On this opus from 1978, Francis Grand picks up the saxophone where Chris Chanet (aka Eulalie Ruynat) had left it. Despite his inventive growls and screams, he simply cannot tame the devastating rhythm section (and madcap creativity) of Ferdinand Richard and Guigou Chenevier. This album is a studio construction, filled with overdubs and intro/outro collages. The group has gained better knowledge of the possibilities offered by a recording studio, but still operates on a shoestring budget. The writing marks a step forward in cohesion, excitement, and zaniness. Instrumental tunes and passages are complex and fast (the opener, "Face a l'Extravagante Montee...," makes a good example). The songs absolutely make no sense, part Henry Cow circa In Praise of Learning, part pataphysical surrealism and circus freak show (the Mothers of Invention meet Camembert Electrique-era Gong). The album culminates in "Le Desastreux Voyage du Piteux Python" (The Disastrous Journey of the Pitiful Python), a loosely knit narrative backed by illustrative music and dominated by the many voices of Chenevier. French proficiency is not that important to appreciate Etron Fou's provocative Rock in Opposition, but you'd better have a sense of humor. - Francois Couture /AMG
CD $20

ETRON FOU LELOUBLAN - Batelages (Gazul; EEC) Batelages is Etron Fou Leloublan's first LP, recorded in late 1976 for the French label Gratte-Ciel. It has all the flaws of a first album: meager sound quality, overlong songs, a group identity still in its infancy. Despite all that, it remains an interesting record for two main reasons. First, it is the only Etron Fou featuring original singer/saxophonist Chris Chanet (aka Eulalie Ruynat). Second, what this group was playing was completely nuts. Ferdinand Richard's bass work had already reached a virtuosic level, enough for him to lead in two cuts. Guigou Chenevier's mad drumming, nevrotic, depressive-compulsive -- a cross between Magma's Christian Vander and free improv's original madman, Han Bennink -- challenged recording engineer Thierry Magal, who poorly captured his dynamics (with the exception of the drums solo "Sololo Brigida," crisp). The album opens with the 18-minute epic "L'Amulette et le Petit Rabbin," half complex avant-prog - la Henry Cow, half Zappa-esque comedy routine. The lewd adventures of the "short rabbi" have badly aged, but the provocative spirit of the song still brings a smile. Chanet/Ruynat sings lead. Following the drums solo is a very short ditty ("Yvett' Blouse"), the instrumental "Madame Richard/Larika," and "Histoire de Graine," another crazy epic, this one sung by Richard and featuring loud sax howls and forced melodies to match the uneven rhythmic motifs. This group would record much stronger material down the years, but this first effort holds historical significance for those interested in the formative years of the Rock in Opposition movement. - Francois Couture / AMG
CD $20


ANNEXUS QUAM - Osmose (Captain Trip 628; Japan) "Annexus Quam is known as the first German rock band to play in Japan. They came to Expo'70 (Osaka) in 1970 and played at some places in Japan. This is their first album from 1970 originally on the Ohr label. Reissue with special pop-up gimmick paper sleeve [hence the higher price], same as the original LP! 2008 digital remaster version, limited to 1,000 copies!"
Annexus Quam's first record, originally released in 1970, is a peculiar mix of psychedelic rock and jazz, one of those distinctly Krautrock records from that era. There are plenty of spacy sound effects as well as drugged-out vocal moaning, while primitive rhythms pound away with savage ferocity, especially on the second track. The longer third cut slows things down slightly, with plenty of soloing of guitar, keyboard, and more vocal moaning over the rhythmic washes of sound and ragged percussion, and then adds in some cosmic electric guitar riffing toward the end. The side-long fourth track is far mellower, as a piano leads into a relaxed but swinging number that is far jazzier than the rest of the disc, though still based more in underground rock than jazz. The piece soon takes on the psychedelic weirdness of the earlier tracks as it starts to sway off kilter with more wordless vocals and studio effects and many transitions of sound. Annexus Quam (Osmose) is not quite rock and not quite jazz, but is a very nice listen for more adventurous listeners from either school, especially in the light of more recent post-rock developments. - Rolf Semprebon, AMG
CD $30

ANNEXUS QUAM - Beziehungen (Captain Trip 629; Japan) "The second and the last album by Annexus Quam originally released in 1972 on the Ohr label. Sound engineer: Dieter Dierks. Reissue with elaborate miniature paper sleeve of the original LP (full color print, coated sleeve). 2008 digital remaster version, limited to 1,000 copies!"
In the two years between Osmose and their second album, Beziehungen, Annexus Quam had honed their improvisational chops at many jazz festivals, pared the band down to a quintet, and were ready to delve much further into the avant-garde free jazz that their earlier record barely hinted at. This album, originally released in 1972, contains just four tracks that are far more free-form than their earlier material, especially on the entirely improvised "Leyenburg" pieces. These move from just two or three instruments interacting with each other in dialogue to everyone letting out squalls of sound. "Dreh Dich Nicht Um," on the other hand, is a bit closer to cosmic folk music and to space rock, as an acoustic guitar riffs steadily while the other instruments fly in and out of the mix, adding a jazz component that makes the track quite unique and interesting. About halfway through, the guitar stops and a sax solos for a while, followed by a flute, until the piece eventually coalesces once more with a more forceful acoustic guitar strum. Though the record lacks some of the psychedelic weirdness that made Osmose unique, its still a nice little gem, and those into the looser jazz side of Krautrock might even appreciate this one more. - Rolf Semprebon, AMG
CD $23

GURU GURU [MANI NEUMEIER et al] - UFO (Captain Trip 625; Japan) "The first album by Guru Guru in 1970 originally released on the Ohr label. Featuring Mani Neumeier (Dr.), Ax Genrich (G) and Uli Trepte (B). Historical masterpiece! Reissued with elaborate miniature paper sleeve of the original LP (day-glow + trait ink print, coated gatefold sleeve). 2008 digital remaster version, limited to 1,000 copies."
Guru Guru's debut album shows why the band, even if it never reached the levels of appreciation and influence the likes of Can or Neu! did, still maintained a healthy reputation over the moons for its early work. Opening number "Stone In" has a quite appropriate title for a starting track -- it is wonderfully tripped out, to be sure, and if Manuel Gottsching was more of a guitar god, Genrich kicks up a lot of frazzled noise. The principle of the Trepte/Neumeier rhythm section seems to have been "find loud weird grooves and then play them, sometimes chaotically." Again, they aren't Can's wickedly effective combination of Holger Czukay and Jaki Leibezeit, but they're not just falling over themselves either. The title track is the most memorable song, almost entirely eschewing conventional rhythm for an inward collapse of feedback and noise that sounds either like the Stooges' "LA Blues" even more strung out or early Main with a conventional band lineup. "Girl Call" and "Next Time See You at the Dalai" (a classic example of a just-groansome enough Krautrock pun that only Germans seemed to love) makes for a good combination, the increasing freakiness of the one leading into the start-stop chug and explosion of the latter. Genrich really gets to show off a bit on both, demonstrating that there is such a thing as technical ability that doesn't equal pointless fret abuse. "Der LSD-Marsch" is actually the most conventional of the tracks -- while a good-enough slow burn up to a freakout (mostly provided by Neumeier's drum solo), it's too short to be truly epic and not otherwise distinguishable from many similar songs by the likes of Amon Duul II, say. For all that, though, it ends this enjoyable effort well enough. - Ned Raggett, AMG
CD $25

GURU GURU [MANI NEUMEIER et al] - Hinten (Captain Trip 626; Japan) "The second album by Guru Guru in 1971 originally released on the Ohr label. Featuring Mani Neumeier (Dr.), Ax Genrich (G) and Uli Trepte (B). Sound engineer: Conny Plank. Reissued with elaborate miniature paper sleeve of the original LP (full color print, coated gatefold sleeve). 2008 digital remaster version, limited to 1,000 copies!"
Guru Guru's second album starts off on a chaotic note, but "Electric Junk" soon resolves itself into a full-on band jam and takes it from there, showing again that the band readily trod the fine line between merely skilled and truly inspired. There's always a nagging sense on this album that the group is but one step away from prog rock wank of the worst kind, but then there'll be a thick blast of righteous noise or a suddenly lovely dark chime that feels more Blue Oyster Cult than Emerson, Lake & Palmer, say. This can even happen out of nowhere, like the odd spoken word pronouncements interrupting the attempted drum solo on "Electric Junk" or the open-ended electronic moans and echoed calls during the floating midsection of "Space Ship." "The Meaning of Meanings" has the most "way deep, man" feeling on the whole album, as the title perhaps demonstrates, but even it has room for a rather bizarre midsection where the lyrics aren't sung or shouted as much as groaningly sighed over a slowly building full-band burst. Neumeier's drumming here is actually some of his best, while Genrich sounds like he's inventing some of Daniel Ash's feedback freakouts years in advance. The oddest number of the four mostly is such due to the name -- one would figure that calling a song "Bo Diddley" and clearly chanting the title at various points during the song would mean a full-on rave-up in the rock legend's vein. Anything but! There's enough of a smoky feel going on to suggest the influence the likes of Quicksilver Messenger Service incorporated, say, but a Diddley-beat workout this isn't, though there are a few game attempts here and there to try -- sort of. - Ned Raggett, AMG
CD $25

MYTHOS - Mythos (Captain Trip 627; Japan) "The first album by Mythos in 1971 originally on the Ohr label. Featuring: Stephan Kaske (G, Vo, Sitar, Synthesizer...etc), Harald Weisse (B, G, Effect), Thomas Hildebrand (Dr, Per). Produce: Dieter Dierks. Reissue with elaborate miniature paper sleeve of the original LP (full color print, gatefold sleeve). 2008 digital remaster version, limited to 1,000 copies!"
Mythos' first LP starts with a rock-meets-classic interpretation of Georg-Friedrich Handel's "Feuerwerksmusik" with Stephan Kaske playing the melody on the flute. "Oriental Journey-Hero's Death" presents Middle Eastern percussion, acoustic guitar, and flute. Sitar and Mellotron sounds add a psychedelic mood to the song. Like the following track, it paints a dark and pessimistic picture of the past and the future of the world. "Encyclopedia Terrae" is the highlight of the album and mixes quiet parts with power drumming, hard guitar riffs with sounds of war like marching soldiers, sirens, and bomb detonations. The text on the final sequence is inspired by H.G. Wells' novel The Time Machine. A man travels 3,300 years into the future to find a better world, only to discover a dead and destroyed planet at the end. Stephan Kaske sings in a proclaiming style, the voice treated with excessive use of reverb and phasing effects. By the way, this is an early production of Dieter Dierks, who later worked for bands like the Scorpions. - Klaus Kehrle, AMG
CD $23

..or pay EVEN MORE than purchasing the five above individually [?!?!?] and buy the box set..

OHR LABEL BOX SET: GURU GURU/ANNEXUS QUAM/MYTHOS - Paper Sleeve Seires: UFO/Hinten/Osmose/Beziehungen/Mythos [5 CD Box Set] (Captain Trip 625-629; Japan) "This stricltly-limited special outer box set, showing the beautiful Ohr logo and containing these classic 5 Kraut titles (CTCD-625-629)! All CDs housed on papersleeve mini repros of the original LP sleeves. CTCD 625: Guru Guru - UFO CTCD 626: Guru Guru - Hinten CTCD 627: Mythos - Mythos CTCD 628: Annexus Quam - Osmose CTCD 629: Annexus Quam - Beziehungen."
5 CD box set for $150


GIVE ME LOVE [V.A.] - Songs of the Brokenhearted: Baghdad, 1925-1929 (Honest Jon's 035; UK) This is the second in Honest Jon's series of albums exploring the earliest 78s held in the EMI Hayes Archive. In the mid-1920s, The Gramophone Company -- soon before it became EMI -- employed two or three Europeans to criss-cross Iraq. They logged regional demographics, assessed the German competition, and checked out the scores of record shops and hundreds of musical venues. In Kerbala, its man fearfully disguised himself as an Arab. This was the groundwork for three sessions, conducted in Baghdad in the second half of the decade, which produced nearly 1,000 recordings. Business was good -- the first group of records, though deemed aesthetically unsuccessful by the Company, immediately produced 12,000 sales to just two outlets in the city. Drawing on the full range of these Baghdad recordings, it is a wondrous, deeply poignant glimpse of social living since obliterated, in which ethnicities, faiths and traditions appear woven richly and meltingly together, however precariously. There is dance music featuring Arab folk singers from the countryside, backed by professional Jewish musicians in Iraqi styles popularly termed "Egyptian," and perfected in nightclubs where the first duty of the secular women singers on this album was prostitution. Also including some Arabic word-play, in a nod to the musical form of the Arabic mawwal, a Hebrew hymn is kick-started with a cry of "Allah!," most likely from one of the Jewish performers. There are pieces from Bahrain and Kuwait; sometimes mixed together in one performance -- the different dialects are far-flung. There are beautiful, high and lonesome Kurdish violin improvisations; and some unaccompanied circular breathing on a zourna so unearthly it seems to cross late Coltrane with Sun Ra. All the songs are characterized by searing emotion and crises of feeling, many by erotic urgency. As with the other titles in the series, the recordings have been startlingly restored at Abbey Road; and they are presented with full translations, rare photographs (in this case, several performers), and notes -- including an extensive interview with a citizen of Baghdad throughout this period, who knew many of the musicians here personally.
CD $17
also available as 2 LP set for $22


INSECT TRUST [NANCY JEFFRIES/ROBERT PALMER et al] - Insect Trust (Phoenix 3012; UK) classic first album! Combining elements of rock, jazz, bluegrass, soul, Dixieland, folk, ragga, blues and practically every genre there is, The Insect Trust's classic debut (recorded in 1968) reveals one major difference between them and almost all other U.S. psych bands of the time -- while the majority were in thrall to Eastern sounds, they sound resolutely homegrown. Despite featuring banjos, fiddles and bottleneck guitars, the band still sounded absolutely contemporary, with superb tunes, gorgeous vocals and some mindblowing freakout passages. Tuneful, intelligent and highly musical, they truly forged something new out of the past, and this is one of the most beguilingly strange and original rock albums ever recorded
CD $17


QUINTESSENCE - Self (Cherry Red/Esoteric 2076; UK) Quintessence came from the Ladbroke Grove scene of the late 1960's. A group of musicians who became darlings of the hippy scene and the underground press along with contemporaries Hawkwind. Quintessence played a freaky form of rock music that embraced Indian music, Psychedelia and Jazz. They came to public attention in 1969 when they signed to Island records, for whom they recorded three classic albums. In 1971 they signed to RCA records, recording this classic [4th] album as their debut for the label. Comprising studio tracks and a live recording from Exeter University, Self was a classic of the 'underground.' This Esoteric Recordings reissue has been remastered from the original master tapes and also adds two bonus tracks drawn from the band's only single for RCA Neon label. The album's debut on CD is sure to attract the attention of the legions of collectors of progressive rock."
CD $20

MAN [DEKE LEONARD et al] - Back Into The Future + Live At The Roundhouse [3 CD set] (Cherry Red/Esoteric 2060; UK) "Expanded 3CD release for this classic album from the masters of Welsh rock. Remastered from the original tapes with two previously unreleased, newly mixed bonus discs recorded live at the Roundhouse. Originally released in 1973, Back Into The Future was the first UK chart album for Welsh rock legends Man. A fabulous double album, the set originally comprised a studio album and a live LP recorded at the Roundhouse in June 1973. For this set Man were joined on stage by a male voice choir, possibly the only time spaced out free flowing rock had fused with the unique sound of Welsh voices. The result was a wonderful album which charted in the UK and Germany and broke Man to a wider audience in Britain. As part of Esoteric's reissue program of the Man catalogue we are proud to present the remastered album and two bonus discs of Man's entire Roundhouse set. As a final treat, two previously unreleased studio tracks complete this essential release."
3 CD set for $30

WALRUS - Walrus (Cherry Red/Esoteric 2071; UK) "Walrus were a jazz-influenced progressive rock outfit who formed in 1969. They recorded one of the most collectable and sought-after albums to be released by Decca Records' progressive imprint, Deram. A superb mixture of styles, the album was notable for a cover version of Traffic's 'Coloured Rain,' alongside original numbers. This Esoteric Recordings reissue has been remastered from the Deram master tapes and also adds bonus tracks drawn from Walrus' single releases for Deram The album's debut on CD is sure to attract the attention of the legion of collectors of both progressive rock and the Deram label."
CD $20


FREEDOM'S CHILDREN - Astra/Battle Hymn of the Broken-Hearted Horde/Galactic Vibes [3 CD box set] (Shadoks 104; Germany) Deluxe 3CD box set edition of these albums, previously issued on vinyl by Shadoks. These 3 CDs will also be available separately, but this version puts these together in a heavy cardboard box, like the Blops CD on Shadoks. This box set edition is limited to 300 copies. Shadoks Music presents all three records by Freedom's Children, now collected together, after two years of struggle and hard work with tons of help from collectors in South Africa, England, Austria and the U.S.A. Since all mastertapes were lost in a big fire, they had to be mastered from the original vinyl, using two or three mint copies of each album to make the best possible sounding product. All three albums are the most wanted albums ever from South Africa. Some call them "The Pink Floyd of South Africa," and if the political situation in S.A. at that time would have been easier, they would have had the same status in the international music market as Pink Floyd. Beautifully composed songs, amazing instrumentation, well-crafted guitar work and great singers. The extra-heavy prog sound beats most albums in the same direction coming from the UK or U.S.A. Three absolute masterpieces.
3 CD set for $60


GALE GARNETT AND THE GENTLE REIGN - Gale Garnett and the Gentle Reign: An Audience With The King Of Wands/Sausalito Heliport (Cherry Red/Rev-Ola 257; UK) "Like a lot of folk-pop performers who began their careers in the early- to mid-'60s, by the end of the decade Gale Garnett seemed to have drifted into the rock and psychedelic scene, hooking up with the band The Gentle Reign to cut these two bizarre albums for CBS. Singer, journalist, actress (from cult '60s movie Mad Monster Party to My Big Fat Greek Wedding), star of Scopitones (check YouTube for some delights!), Gale Zoe Garnett is a marvel and a one-off. Listening to this album one has to wonder who is she taking on here? Bobby Gentry with her smoky voice and good looks, Grace Slick with her swooping rock stylings, or even Frank Zappa with the satirical tone and radio acting? Gale Garnett is a law unto herself. Rev-Ola is proud to bring you her two undeservedly obscure late '60s albums with The Gentle Reign, a mere smidgen of the woman's immense and unique talent. Re-mastered in top Rev-Ola style by Norman Studio 3 Blake and with beautiful repackaging for a beautiful lady! Includes both amazing albums in their entirety! A must for all fans of out-there psych, sexy femme pop, avant-garde stylings and cult '60s artifacts!"
CD $17


GENE SHAW QUINTET - Break Through (Dusty Groove 3015; USA) "Rare genius from trumpeter Gene Shaw -- a player who worked famously with Charles Mingus (under the name Clarence Shaw) on the albums Tijuana Moods and East Coasting -- then disappeared from the scene after having a famous fight with his leader. After a few years of silence, Shaw resurfaced in Chicago with this brilliant debut as a leader for Argo Records -- a wonderful album that's filled with as much soul and emotion as his sessions with Mingus. The group have a slightly modern take on hardbop -- often straight and hard-swinging, but with plenty of room for the players to really stretch out with a great deal of expression. Shaw's trumpet tone is amazing -- right up there with Lee Morgan or Kenny Dorham at their Blue Note best -- and the rest of the group is wonderful too -- especially tenorist Sherman Morrison, whose work here is a real discovery. Chicago dates like this never got their due back in the day -- and this CD reissue finally brings Shaw's post-Mingus work into focus."
CD $14

SHADES OF BROWN - S.O.B. (Dusty Groove 3016; USA) "A lost nugget from the Chicago soul scene, and one of the rarest '70s albums on Chess! The album's filled with great tracks in a range of soul styles -- sweet, funky, and Northern Soul -- all wrapped together with a tightness that rivals The Dells or Temptations at their best, and topped with harmony vocals that are simply mindblowing. Producer Bobby Miller really helps the group find their groove -- and arrangements by Richard Evans and Charles Stepney tie the whole thing together beautifully. All tracks are originals, and completely fresh -- the kind of lost soul tunes you'd normally find only by digging through a pile of rare 45s. Sampled famously by Tribe Called Quest and others -- and reissued here for the first time ever!"
CD $14


MODERN SHIT - Will Make You Ill (Alga Marghen 071; Italy) "After surfacing briefly in 2007 in a very limited number of copies on slim-jewel-box together with the 'Artkoustics' catalog, Alga Marghen is now proud to present the final edition of Modern Shit, a very singular chapter in the Amos/It's War Boys/Milk from Cheltenham/Homosexuals history. Directly taken from the original It's War Boys catalog, here is one of the most obscure sonic works of the early 1980s, Modern Shit! First 'issued' on tape (cat No. $21) this work circulated only privately among the close friends of the label and was never officially distributed. Actually it represents one of the most intense and experimental outputs of this creative London period. The idea was to create a contemporary 'non-stop,' vaguely in emulous contradiction to product by people like Cerrone and Biddulph (1970s disco queens). Lepke and Amos, the two minds behind this project (and 2/3 of the Milk from Cheltenham adventures), each constructed a half hour near-continuous non-stop using only the foulest materials. In those days they had their 8-track studio in a moldy basement below Brixton Road, South London and they happened to occasionally record some awful wannabe pop bands. It was a truly horrible experience but with a good side. Almost as soon as the idiots left the studio, Lepke and Amos would start re-mixing their music, often stealing and sticking it (suitably mangled) onto new tracks, the basis material for Modern Shit! The CD is presented in a new digipack edition with full color cover. Final edition of 500 copies."
CD $19

URINALS - Negative Capability (Warning Label 003; USA) 2008 repress! "Now in their 25th year, what better time to reissue this collection of songs that inspired a generation of punk, art-punk, post-punk, and pop-punk bands, from the Minutemen and Gun Club to Yo La Tengo and Butthole Surfers, in addition to newer bands such as The Dishes, The Reds, and ST-37. A 31-song collection featuring such Urinals classics as 'I'm a Bug', 'Black Hole', and 'Ack Ack Ack Ack', in addition to a selection of madcap covers such as the 'Jetson's Theme,' and songs by Soft Machine and Roky Erickson. Recordings were made between 1978 and 1980, during the heyday of American punk. Includes the complete Urinals, Another EP, and Sex/Go Away Girl 7" material, 3 tunes from long out-of-print compilations, several unreleased studio and rehearsal pieces, and samples from the band's archive of live tapes, including their very first performance as a three-piece."
CD $14


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