My first encounter with trumpeter Harry Beckett, who was born in Barbados in 1935, was as a session player on the debut album by Manfred Mann Chapter Three, then he turned up on the Keef...
» Read moreArktis have a style like a mix of Cream, Black Sabbath, Steamhammer, and German bands like late Frumpy or Atlantis. Unlike some of the sub-par bands on Garden of Delights, Arktis make up for a...
» Read moreThe King Biscuit archives are vast commodity of lost recordings of live bands in action, as they were: warts and all. One of the many missing chronicles in live music history is the early period of...
» Read more[Note: This review from 1994 refers to reissues on the TRC label. The albums involved have since been legitimately issued, and those releases are listed at the end of this...
» Read moreIf you are looking for a fun-filled album of Turkish psych music, look no further than this 2019 reissue of Grup Doğuş’ 1975 cassette. Grup Doğuş was formed by brothers Tufan Aydoğan...
» Read moreThis was reviewed in #1 and certainly deserves second mention. Nova was the best known offshoot of Osanna and Cervello and this, their debut was by far their best. Later albums include performances...
» Read moreHere's a title I don't really need to relisten to to remember, having played it countless times in the past to the point of having it stamped in the memory. Hatfield were one of music's...
» Read moreBack in 1974, Humble Pie was in a very uncertain state. Founding member Steve Marriott had left the band briefly, but was coaxed back to work with Dave Clempson and Jerry Shirley for sessions at...
» Read moreOho is an American progressive rock group in the symphonic style that unfortunately didn't get to release this album when it was recorded, and was only reissued by Little Wing many years ago on...
» Read moreOne of the fundamental limitations of mining and other industries that rely upon non-renewable resources is that those resources will eventually run out. You would think the same rule would apply...
» Read moreOne of the fundamental limitations of mining and other industries that rely upon non-renewable resources is that those resources will eventually run out. You would think the same rule would apply...
» Read moreOne of the fundamental limitations of mining and other industries that rely upon non-renewable resources is that those resources will eventually run out. You would think the same rule would apply...
» Read moreI hate to admit it, but this is one English import LP I just plain loved for the album cover alone, an amusing rock 'n roll version of the children's game Snakes and Ladders (e.g.—...
» Read moreWith their second album, a year after their outstanding debut, Trettioåriga Kriget put out another classic in Krigssång. Musically, it picks up right where the previous record...
» Read moreIn 2016 Guerssen reissued Jodi’s first album, Pops de Vanguardia, and since then Joern Wenger unearthed a set of unreleased recordings in his basement that had been sitting there for...
» Read moreKeith Tippett and ian Carr may be better known, but they were far from the only active jazz practitioners in Britain in the late 60s and early 70s. Bassist Graham Collier was another part of this...
» Read morePeter Frohmader was in a number of groups in the early 70s that predated his tenure with the moniker “Nekropolis.” Kanaan is one of these groups, presented here live in concert in 1975....
» Read moreThe musical world suffered a major loss in May of 1981 when Alan Gowen died of leukemia at the age of 33. Perhaps best known for his work with National Health, Gowen had also been the leader of his...
» Read moreAt long last, the Strawbs catalog is given proper treatment by the band’s first label, A&M, as one of five albums getting a much needed overhaul, Ghosts was the seventh album...
» Read moreSynergy is, of course the name of the ongoing electronic music project of keyboardist / engineer / producer Larry Fast, also known for his work with Peter Gabriel, Nektar, and numerous other bands...
» Read moreAt long last, the first Genesis box arrives. The compilers have chosen an interesting tack with this collection. Whereas many box sets consist primarily of (someone’s) favorite tracks, plus...
» Read moreA logical precursor to Brand X, Nova is an Italian fusion band that features the mind-numbing bass and drum interplay of Brand X, but follows through with guitar, sax and vocals as well. Vocals are...
» Read moreOn February 22 the Guerssen sub-label Sommor released the first reissue of a rare Swedish album that was privately released in 1975, Till Den Sträng Som Brast Än Att Aldrig...
» Read moreThe one and only LP by this band from Bottrop-Vanderort in the Ruhr area of Germany exists only as a single copy (dub plate), created by the band as a gift to drummer Reinhold Stania in 1975. Why a...
» Read moreAs far as Embryo albums go, Bad Heads and Bad Cats is one of the cornerstones of their career in the early to mid-70s, a turning point where the band was celebrating its new-found freedom...
» Read moreEmbryo is one of the seminal German bands from the 60s that have continued to record and perform. Surfin', released in 1975, was their seventh album. Their earlier albums featured...
» Read moreEl Reloj is an Argentine group influenced by the more harder rocking bands of the early 70s like Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin. Their sound on their first album is a dual-guitar rock that keeps a...
» Read moreA strange release at first glance. One CD, 70 plus minutes, 21 tracks, one track is 23 minutes long. Hmmm. This is a compilation of outtakes and general weirdness from 1975. The Muffins are often...
» Read moreRichard Hudson and John Ford (drums and bass respectively) began as the rhythm section of Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera, who later, sans-Elmer, with the addition of guitarist and singer Paul...
» Read moreIn 1974, drummer Billy Cobham took advantage of a break in activity for Mahavishnu Orchestra by putting together a band to play Montreux and other shows in Europe. His band included the musicians...
» Read moreWhile credit is due to Alan Stivell for being the first great figure of the modern French folk revival, my favorite group of the entire genre is Gabriel Yacoub's Malicorne. Even though it was...
» Read moreThe two studio albums released by Hatfield and the North sit firmly in my mind as two of the highlights not just of the Canterbury scene, but of all music recorded in the 70s. They embody so many...
» Read moreThe two studio albums released by Hatfield and the North sit firmly in my mind as two of the highlights not just of the Canterbury scene, but of all music recorded in the 70s. They embody so many...
» Read moreBy the early 90s, Seventh Records had showed up, started reissuing the original Magma albums along with some offshoots, and began to open Magma's considerable live vaults. The...
» Read moreMy first copy of this in high school was probably like most, with the die cut windows starting to wear. Back then I liked some of the songs, but over the decades the album has improved with every...
» Read moreCromwell was an obscure Irish band that self-released an album in 1975, then promptly disappeared. Over the years At the Gallop has become a much sought after collectible, claiming prices...
» Read moreIn 1974 Brinsley Schwarz’s began work on It’s All Over Now, the album intended to relaunch their career in the United States, but things did not go as planned. At that time the...
» Read moreSo before the internet, one of the best sources of musical information was the series of books called Rock Record, I think the one I owned was the 4th edition. I nearly tore this book...
» Read moreAs I was playing this again this morning, my coworker came around the corner during the absolutely blazing version of "Truckin'" that starts the second of the two discs of this show...
» Read moreThe original cover of the Tangerine Dream leader's second solo album is what I'd probably call a fernscape and it's one of those covers that really sets the tone and mood of this...
» Read moreThe final two albums by this seminal British band, always seeming to straddle the line between many styles, have finally been brought to CD. Unlike the early albums, which were solidly committed to...
» Read moreConrad Schnitzler was one prolific composer. Six years after his passing we are still presented with music from his archives. In 1975 he recorded a number of untitled pieces intended as soundtracks...
» Read moreConrad Schnitzler was one prolific composer. Six years after his passing we are still presented with music from his archives. In 1975 he recorded a number of untitled pieces intended as soundtracks...
» Read moreOne of the heretofore undocumented periods in Spirit's career began shortly after Epic's rejection of Potatoland in '73. Randy California left the group (for the second time)...
» Read moreLed by composer/keyboardist Alfredo Tisocco, and fronted by vocalist Donella del Monaco, Opus Avantra – much like their name might imply, offers a music based in avant-garde classicism mixed...
» Read moreThe reissue of Heldon's first album is one that this writer has surely been anticipating for quite some time. What's even better is that Heldon's very elusive double third album has...
» Read moreThe reissue of Heldon's first album is one that this writer has surely been anticipating for quite some time. What's even better is that Heldon's very elusive double third album has...
» Read moreThese two discs contain material culled from three albums released in the early 70s. The earliest album, Kivinen tie Dublinniin (Rocky Road to Dublin), was released in 1972, and finds this...
» Read moreThe long awaited fourth release on Christian Vander's AKT label is a legendary concert from September 24th, 1975 in Toulouse. The lineup here includes Christian and Stella Vander on drums and...
» Read moreRecorded in Toulouse roughly three months after the concerts from which Live were taken, this two CD set was released for the first time in 1994 on Christian Vander's AKT label. The...
» Read moreMcLatchey's Second Tier
This post will be umlaut free for efficiency. Hhai Live is the top Magma on my list if for no other reason than it was probably the first one I...
» Read more1975 saw several personnel changes in Magma's lineup, but the instrumentation which recorded the brilliant Köhntarkösz remained virtually unchanged, only adding Didier...
» Read moreCrystalaugur’s Terranaut has been one of those rarities from the 70s that has collectors drooling whenever a copy surfaces. This private pressing of 200 copies has been bootlegged...
» Read moreTyll was a German band formed in the early 70s when Kerston Records approached Det Fonfara about releasing a Krautrock album. Fonfara and former bandmate and ex-Eulenspygel drummer Günter...
» Read moreMuch ink has been spilled about the drumming of Furio Chirico and for good reason: the guy is phenomenal. He is all over the place using all available musical space yet is never bombastic or...
» Read moreA very rare Italian solo, Enzo Capuano's music cuts the line between Italian canzone (Battisti, early Storm Six and many more) and a symphonic soundtrack type of music. The vocal music is...
» Read moreTolonen is a Finnish guitarist who spent the early 70s toiling with the progressive band Tasavallan Presidenti. After leaving that band, he put out a series of obscure but very worthwhile solo...
» Read moreOften unjustly dismissed as "Rick van der Linden's post-Ekseption band" or "Ian Mosley's pre-Marillion band," Trace certainly deserve to be remembered for what they...
» Read moreMcLatchey's Top Tier #27
Top 5 probably this one, the first Tangerine Dream album I ever owned. Features the pivotal Berlin electronic school moment on "Part 2."...
» Read moreNext in the Revisited reissue series after Blackdance is Timewind, Klaus’ fifth release, the one he considers his breakout album and the one that brought him worldwide...
» Read moreThe first two Kansas albums contain some of the group's best material and show a band on the way up in their formative years. Commercial success for the band would not arrive until two albums...
» Read moreAlfredo Tisocco's solo career apart from Opus Avantra, began in 1975 with the release of...
» Read moreAt the core of this classic Finnish prog-fusion unit were two brothers, Pekka and Jussi Tegelman, on guitars and drums respectively. They recorded three albums in the mid-late 70s; the first two...
» Read moreIn the vein of bands like Perigeo, Agora, Duello Madre, and Dedalus; Napoli Centrale are an Italian jazz rock outfit playing music quite different from their symphonic contemporaries. They're a...
» Read moreThis Dutch four-piece produced a spirited instrumental rock during the mid 70s, leaving one album behind as the only recorded evidence. Their sound is very progressive, constantly changing tempo...
» Read moreGoma was a five piece in the grand Spanish tradition, mixing a hard rock sound with elements of folk, in many ways similar to bands like Triana and Bloque, but Goma came several years earlier, and...
» Read moreBirds, released in 1975, was the second album by the Dutch progressive band Trace. This CD reissue contains the complete original album plus two bonus tracks, "Birds" and...
» Read moreI always thought of Atoll as being the number two French symphonic rock band in the 70s, after Ange. Like Ange, they applied the ideals and techniques of progressive rock to French culture and came...
» Read moreKeyboard fans take note. Cherry Five was a predecessor to Goblin; Claudio Simonetti (keyboards) and Massimo Morante (guitars) were later in that band. Cherry Five's sole release is a true...
» Read moreO Terço are a Brazilian rock group that I've always found to be overrated. They suffer from being unclassifiable, and therefore, like many bands are given the label...
» Read moreRemember Tangerine Dream's Green Desert? Many a time have I discussed its legitimacy as a long lost album with people. Hailing from 1985, yet claiming to be from 1973, it just...
» Read moreAs best I can tell (my Hungarian is a little rusty) this release is an archive recording from 1975 that was originally a Hungarian radio broadcast. The band has a "big band" line-up,...
» Read moreHere's another mid-70s British prog rock albums with Mellotron and sounding like Fruupp, Spring, Fantasy, and all those I mentioned in the
The travels of guitarist David O'List (from the Nice to Roxy Music) eventually found somewhat of a home in Jet, a splinter group from the remains of John's Children. O'List fit in well...
» Read moreUpon the demise of Delivery (Phil Miller's quartet augmented by Janis Joplin stylized blues vocalist, Carol Grimes), Grimes moved off to join another blues-based, less improvisational group,...
» Read moreFor the latter part of their career, Satin Whale were a commercially oriented rock group who's music fell way outside of much of the more progressive German rock of the era. However, their...
» Read moreFor readers familiar with In Praise of Learning I need say no more than, “Here it is, come and get it.” This release captures all the wonderful strangeness of the original in...
» Read moreThis reissue is a long time coming for Musea, as this nifty piece of French history has only seen one Japanese LP reissue since its Arcane release in 1975 (that is barring a French reissue). This...
» Read moreMcLatchey's Second Tier
There's a lot of historical information missing if you chart the evolution of Gong from You into Shamal and Steve Hillage's...
» Read moreThis 1975 release by Scottish folkster St. Field was released only in Spain, originally on the renowned Movieplay label. I don't know if St. Field actually lived in Spain (all the musicians are...
» Read moreAtila dates back to 1973, when guitarist Eduardo Alvarez Niebla formed the band as a trio with two of his friends, Paco Ortega (keys) and Juan Punet (drums). This, their first album – so rare...
» Read moreGualberto is Gualberto Garcia, a young guitarist and songwriter who recorded two albums in the late 70s. The first album was A la Vida, al Dolor ("To the Life - To the Pain), and...
» Read moreLux Aeterna is one of the few successful early examples of the fusion of rock music and orchestra. Masterminded by William Sheller, who at the time was a successful French singer, he...
» Read moreEnough has been said about No Pussyfooting, a record of singular stature and importance to the gradual adoption of the avant-garde by popular artists, that if its creative success and...
» Read moreMcLatchey's Second Tier
No matter how many times a young future guitarist will plug his or her axe into an amp and echo/delay pedal in years to come, this sixth album by Manuel...
» Read moreMcLatchey's Second Tier
As a whole I believe Area's third album Crac! is generally considered their best album, it was definitely the first one I heard and if...
» Read moreIn their early years, the Swedish band Kaipa were a quartet playing music in the symphonic rock vein as typified by Yes or Genesis. Vocalist/Keyboardist Hans Ludin is nearly a dead ringer for a...
» Read moreMcLatchey's Top Tier #22
OK now for the deep dive into 70s German electronic music. When I was 16 or 17, some friends and I did radio shows at our high school radio station. One of...
» Read moreMcLatchey's Top Tier #19
I was in my early to mid teens when I was at a friend's house down the street. One end of a long living room sat the record player was and there were LPs...
» Read moreMcLatchey's Top Tier #23
This album had a massive impact on my teenage brain; it was often the soundtrack of many... voyages. "Bayreuth Return" is still one of those pieces that...
» Read moreExit was an obscure Swiss band dating back to 1972. In 1975 they recorded and privately issued their only album of 350 copies that rapidly became a collector’s item. Exit continued to perform for...
» Read moreArtman's Lard Free project has received considerable amount of documentation in progressive periodicals, so I won't bore you with the details. Here's a quick overview; all are essential listens —...
» Read moreFormed from the ashes of Subject Esq., Sahara got lost among the mass of other mid-70s German prog groups (Grobschnitt, Novalis, SFF, et al.) in spite of their good distribution, though they didn't...
» Read moreGentle Giant’s headlining and support tours are further documented in three more marginal bootleg renditions from Voiceprint in the UK. Artistically Cryme is the first release, and a...
» Read more[Note: This review was written upon the release of the albums on DRT in 2005.]
DRT is Derek Shulman’s US based label, which has taken ownership of the band’s North America CD...
» Read moreAfter 30 years Eroc’s solo albums are now available on CD and finally finding their way to the US in 2007. Eroc remastered them from the original tapes, added bonus material, and included liner...
» Read moreNovalis was a Krautrock band from Hamburg, Germany and their self-titled second album is part of Revisited Records’ reissuance of the Brain back catalog. This album is an amazing mixture of folk...
» Read moreSubtitled “Electronica Ragas of the 70s” Le Temps des moissons was Ariel Kalma’s first solo recording. Ariel had spent a lot of time in India learning the basics of modal music and...
» Read moreAh yes, yet another great Italian band. The closest comparison that I can make is with Locanda delle Fate, but that doesn't quite describe Maxophone. While Locanda was a full, rich seven piece that...
» Read more
2021-02-14
SoundQuest Fest 2021 –
SoundQuest Fest, first experienced as a live festival in Tucson Arizona in 2010 was created by ambient music pioneer Steve Roach. This 2021 event will unite a worldwide gathering of artists and audience members together for a 3-day online event unique in the realm of ambient music. From March 26-28th a continuous flow of streamed performances, audio-video wonder worlds and deep immersion zones will burn bright on Roach’s YouTube channel. »
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2021-02-10
Chick Corea RIP –
The sad news has reached us that Chick Corea has Returned to Forever, so to speak. The innovative keyboardist and composer died on February 9 at the age of 79. With a career that spanned from the 60s until shortly before his death, Corea touched many listeners with the incredible variety of music he produced in his lifetime. »
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2021-01-18
Asia Minor Third Album on the Way –
On January 29, AMS records will be releasing the long-awaited third album by classic Turkish-French band Asia Minor. Released last year in Japan, this will be the widespread debut of Points of Libration. The album features original members Setrak Bakirel (vocals, guitar) and Eril Tekeli (flute, guitar). »
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2020-12-09
Harold Budd RIP –
Harold Budd, one of pre-eminent American composers of avant-garde and minimalism, has died of complications from the coronavirus. Budd came to prominence in the 70s, championed by Brian Eno on his Obscure Records label, with music that blended academic minimalism with electric jazz and electronic music. Much of Budd's best known work was done in collaboration with other artists, including Eno, Daniel Lanois, Robin Guthrie, Andy Partridge, John Foxx, Jah Wobble, and many others. »
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2020-11-20
25 Views of Worthing Finally Gets Released –
A while ago, we wrote about the discovery of a "long lost" Canterbury-style gem by a band called 25 Views of Worthing. And now we're pleased to find out that Wind Waker Records has released their music on an LP. »
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Larry Kucharz - Blue Drawings and Text – Kucharz' latest work is split between seven softer flowing ambient pieces composed or reworked in 2007, most somewhat reminiscent of the work on some of his earlier 'Electrochoral' and... (2008) » Read more
As Lonely as Dave Bowman - Pod – The genesis of this floating ambient side-project by Sam Rosenthal, founder of Black Tape for a Blue Girl, is an interesting one. It began with Rosenthal’s four year old son playing with a... (2008) » Read more
Rosenberg 7 - R7 – This Swedish group has a different take on modernizing Nordic folk music. Instead of adding electric instruments or ethnic percussion, they mix the traditional with a bit of 20th Century classical.... (2000) » Read more
Ayuo Takahashi's Rok Grouppa - Blue Eyes, Black Hair – This is a very unusual release, at least in the context of the other material Belle Antique has to offer, and another archival one as well (most of the recordings here are from the 1989 timeframe).... (1996) » Read more
Arti e Mestieri - Quinto Stato – Formed by ex-Trip drummer Furio Chirico, Arti e Mestieri was one of Italy's best jazz-rock / fusion bands (certainly equal to Perigeo and Area), and they launched their career with two classic... (1997) » Read more