Psych /
Happy French Band
This French group started out under the spelling of Maajun and their debut album from 1971 is supposed to be a bit of a classic in a mixture of early underground styles. It's not on CD however. They changed the spelling of the name and a released a couple of albums for Saravah in '73/'74 and then this last album in 1977 (on Gratte Ciel). There's a post-Zappa influence involved and they supposedly "melded Arab, Free, and folk influences, doling out derision through satirical lyrics and music whic…
Music To Eat
"Why would we reissue a record that is reputed to be the second worst-selling release in the history of Columbia Records? (Legend has it that it was undersold only by a yoga instructional album.) Well, because in the 47-some years since its release, the Hampton Grease Band's Music To Eat has steadily ascended the list of Greatest Cult Records of All Time so that now it resides at the tippety-top. Indeed, modern-day jam bands genuflect at the sight of the trippy cover art alone (Col. Bruce Hampto…
Ja Tik Butu
Originally released 1978 on Pennine Records, two catalogue numbers before they issued the famouse "Rosemary Lane" album by Tickwinda! Even European music might have quite an exotic feeling and Latvian ethno rockers Alva are the living proof. Based in England at the time they released their sole album “Ja tik butu” they fell straight into the folk rock genre with their cross of melancholic, even slightly psychedelic rock and colorful, mystifying Baltic folk and all of this in the middle of the UK…
The Truth
Genuine reissue of D.R. Hooker's The Truth (1972) from the original audio sources; new analog transfer with improved mastering. "It's a miracle any copies of this privately pressed album survived -- but be thankful it did, for here is an individual vision. Some people worry about when we'll run out of oil. A rather smaller proportion of us worry about when we'll run out of discoverable, deep-end thrills like this. Connecticut-based Hooker -- a tall, slim hippy with a history of substance abuse -…
Paternoster
Paternoster, that UFO of a rock album released unceremoniously on a custom-pressed CBS Austria long player in 1972, is the stuff of legend. It's been known to the rock collecting elite since the 1980s, when it was first rediscovered, and it quickly became one of those rock records, the records you hear about only if you know someone who knows someone with a copy, much like Damon's Song of a Gypsy. Paternoster is a terrifying album, a collection of songs that traverses the sublime, and thus neces…
Dreptul De A Visa
The '70s were the decade of progressive rock music of all calibers. And it seems not one country of this world was spared when the new kind of sound spilled over like a giant wave of inspiration. Even the European Eastern Bloc countries, where rock music was regarded as subversive by the authorities, had their share of rock bands with a hippie, heavy, or freaked-out direction. These include Omega from Hungary, SBB from Poland, Modry Efekt from the Czech Republic, and, of course, Phoenix from Rom…
The First
Gentle garage-psych with a dreamy west coast flair and tons of awesome fuzzed-out guitars... with Korean-language lyrics. Originally released in 1977, South Korean trio San Ul Lim's debut album sounds like the best psychedelic power pop and garage stuff you could get in the UK and USA ten years before its release. One of the most popular acts on the Korean scene, San Ul Lim had exactly this typical 1966 garage sound, with fuzzy axes and some thin but sympathetic Farfisa organs. These composition…
O Mistério Dos Quintais
Quintal de Clorofila's O Mistério dos Quintais, originally released in 1983, contains a wild and captivating crossover between Celtic and South American folk from the Andes plus many elements of traditional music from Southern Europe and some more contemporary singer/songwriter aspects with a mystical atmosphere. All the participating musicians are enormously skilled, and the distinctive multi-voice vocals capture your attention in just a second when you take a closer listen to the 12 songs on t…
Reflection
AKA's 1970 debut album Do What You Like (GM 201CD) combines earthy, heavily buzzing, and fuzzed-out rock monuments in the vein of classic UK and US bands with a few tunes in the Continental European heavy rock style, with big chorus lines and a bit of a pop thrown in for good measure, plus great melodic ballads and pop tunes in their native Indonesian language. The Indonesian band carried their trademark sound through whole recording career, including Reflection, their fifth album, originally re…
Circus Days: A Collection of Demos and Studio Recordings 1967-69
Sink into a vision of a dreamy psychedelic universe which seems to have been Peter Dunton's own on Circus Days, the third collection of previously unreleased recordings from Dunton's late 1960's British psychedelic band, Please. If Sonny Rollins is the 'Saxophone Colossus', surely Peter Dunton is a top contender for Underground Psychedelia Colossus: Neon Pearl (1967); the Flies (1968); Please (1967 and 1969); Gun (1969); songwriting for Infinity (1969-70); and of course, the band he is best know…
The Growing Concern
This self-titled album by The Growing Concern curiously first saw the light of day in 1969 on Bob Shad's Mainstream label, an imprint more familiar to jazz and blues fans than devotees of psych/pop. Shad, who had worked as an A&R man for Mercury, Savoy and Emarcy in the '50s, working with the likes of Sarah Vaughan, Blue Mitchell and Curtis Fuller, had the fortune to sign the then-unknown Big Brother And The Holding Company, whose contract, along with that of the band's vocalist Janis Joplin, Sh…
Sarofeen And Smoke
Hailing from New York, the band was led by singer Anne Sarofeen, who's described in the album's own liner notes as 'a lady both fierce and gentle, whose music knows truth, tragedy and beauty. We don't really know if she's fierce or gentle, but her incredible voice has often been compared to that of Janis Joplin, Ellen McIlwaine and Mariska Veres (of Dutch stars Shocking Blue); unfortunately rock history is cruel and she never received the credit she deserves for being right at the top with other…
Bohemian Vendetta
Reissue of legendary and classic, one and only, 1968 album by US Psychedelic Rock band! The Bohemian Vendetta are also known for playing as backing group for Faine Jade on their '68 album "Introspection". This is one of the best acid-punk CDs ever! Excellent Vox organ/fuzz teen garage psych and the covers are pretty fantastic as well. The cough syrup high school play vibe of 'Deaf, Dumb & Blind' must be heard to be believed. Easily one of the best on the label with lots of classy psych-punk orig…
Pacific Ocean
Early Dawn present a reissue of Pacific Ocean's self-titled album, originally released in 1968. It's a wonder they weren't touring the whole world and playing on huge stages in front of thousands of fans. This 1968 album smashes in like a hot stone with that soulful drive otherwise only Steve Marriott and Humble Pie could provide. A definite recommendation for fans of good old hard classic rock.
In The Woodland Of Weir
Formed in Chicago in 1964, The Little Boy Blues soon became local heroes, opening for The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, Paul Revere & The Raiders, and many others. Having played innumerable live dates and appeared on top TV shows, their sound took a psychedelic turn in 1967. Their sole album - made with a revised line-up and originally released in October 1968 - incorporates jazz, classical and acid-rock influences, and makes its long-overdue return to CD here, complete with all their non-album…
Hinten
German krautrock band Guru Guru was formed in 1968 as The Guru Guru Groove by Mani Neumeier (drums),Uli Trepte (bass), and Eddy Naegeli (guitar) (later replaced by AmericanJim Kennedy (guitar)). By the time of Guru Guru's debut in 1970, Ax Genrich had replaced Kennedy to solidify the classic Guru Guru line up. Guru Guru were related to the free jazz scene both through their work with Swiss pianist Irène Schweizer and through Neumeier, who had already won several jazz prizes before forming the ba…
Miley Smile / Stage Recall
Burnin Red Ivanhoe, in their most fertile phase of existing from 1969 till 1972, were one of Denmark's finest groups from the period. Their innovative and powerful mixture of psychedelic and progressive rock along with mild experimental or jazz influences gained some international recognition in Germany, UK and the U.S.. Comparisons might be drawn to Traffic, Jethro Tull, Pink Floyd and Colosseum (Dag Erik Asbjornsen). Being tired of demanding tours, Burnin Red Ivanhoe decided to disband in spri…
The Ultimate Prophecy
**140-Gram Vinyl. This edition is presented in a gatefold sleeve and includes a CD of the entire LP with an additional eight rare non-album bonus tracks including both sides of the elusive debut-single** J.D. Blackfoot's The Ultimate Prophecy, originally released on the Mercury label in 1970, is widely regarded as one of the top US psych albums of all time. The band, which was from Columbus, Ohio, began as a combination of two local groups, The EbbTide and Tree, the latter winning a recording co…
Maledetti (Maudits) - Color LP
**2020 Remastered Reissue. Red Vinyl** 1976 was a year of flux and change. For the recording of the fifth Area album, the core membership of Stratos, Fariselli, Tofani and Tavolazzi were present, but drummer Capiozzo only appears on about half of the album, replaced on various tracks by either Walter Calloni or Paul Lytton. Steve Lacy augments the band, as do several other studio musicians (including a string quartet). Perhaps it was the contributions of this eclectic group of guests that gives …
Biglietto Per L'Inferno
**2020 stock** Born in 1972 in Lecco, in northern Italy, from the ashes of Gee and Mako Sharks, Un Biglietto per l'Inferno are still regarded as one of the most influential Italian prog bands, despite a single LP release, their magnificent eponymous album from 1974. The band had an intense live activity, that took to a very powerful sound driven by the twin keyboards of Baffo Banfi (of Klaus Schulze fame) and Cossa and the lead guitar of Mainetti, with flute intermissions by singer Claudio Can…