A Double-Barrel of Sonic Blasts from:

Dave Douglas Brass Ecstasy! Darius Jones & Matthew Shipp! Sunny Murray & Sonic Liberation Front! Joe McPhee & Chris Corsano LP! Billy Bang & Bill Cole! Harris Eisenstadt Canada Day II! Radu Malfatti & Keith Rowe! Theo Travis & Robert Fripp! King Crimson Live! Richard Skelton!

Nels Cline Trio reissue! Henry Flynt! Psychic TV 'Themes' Box! John Cameron! Smegma! Jon Rose! Hugh Hopper! Soft Machine: Alive And Well 2CD set! PFM triple-live! Gilgamesh! Pierre Moerlen's Gong! Here & Now! Keith Christmas! Brainbox! Crazy World of Arthur Brown! Tony William's Lifetime!

..And Loads More!




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DMG 20TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION!
Sunday, May 29th from 9pm til 1am at Bowery Poetry Club!
Featuring: Louis Belogenis, Shanir Blumenkranz, Michael Wimberley, Weasel Walter, Peter Evans, Sam Pluta, Burnt Sugar + Special Guests!

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The DMG Free Weekly In-Store Performance Series Continues With:


Sunday, April 10th Double-Header:
6pm: RAS MOSHE & THE MUSIC NOW ENSEMBLE Featuring:
KYOKO KITAMURA/SHAYNA DULBERGER/ANDREW DRURY & RAS MOSHE!
7pm: From Brussels OLIVIER STALON - Electric Bass & PABLO MASIS - Trumpet!


Sunday, April 17th Double-Header:
6pm: DANIEL CARTER & PASCAL NIGGENKEMPER!
Legendary multi-winds player & new acoustic bass wiz!
7pm: GL DIANA - Electronics & BEN GERSTEIN - Trombone!


Sunday, May 1st Triple-Header:
6pm: JACQUES DEMIERRE & VINCENT BARRAS - Sound Poetry!
7pm:LA PART MAUDITE from Montreal! Featuring: Philippe Battikha - trumpet & pedals, Mivil Desch�nes - bass & Patrick Dion - drums!
8pm: SEUNGMIN CHA - Daegeum (Korean flute) Solo!


Sunday, May 8th - Two Sets Featuring:
6pm - TEUN VERBRUGGEN - Solo Drums & Electronics from Belgium!
7pm - ANDY HAAS / WILL McEVOY / DAVID GOULD - Amazing Sax/Bass/Drums Trio!


Sunday, May 15th Double-Header:
6pm: TRIO CAVEAT Featuring: STEVE SWELL / JAMES ILGENFRITZ / JAY ROSEN!
7pm: PINKBROWN - Featuring: XANDER NAYLOR - Guitar / JOHAN ANDERSSON - Saxes & MAX JAFFE - Drums!


Sunday, May 22nd - No In-Store (Why'cha visit Victo Festival in Quebec?)


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DOWNTOWN MUSICIANS COME TOGETHER IN NYC FOR JAPAN


two of the five concerts organized by Zorn & Friends for Japan disaster relief will be..


THIS FRIDAY, APRIL 8 at

ABRONS ART CENTER 466 Grand Street (at Pitt Street)


6:30pm Performance [one admission]

JACK QUARTET
MILFORD GRAVES
MARK FELDMAN & SYLVIE COURVOISIER
ELLIOTT SHARP
IKUE MORI & JOHN ZORN
JAMIE SAFT AND NEW ZION TRIO
MIYA MASAOKA
AYA NISHINA and FRIENDS
ERIK FRIEDLANDER
ALHAMBRA TRIO WITH ROB BURGER
NED ROTHENBERG
MASADA STRING TRIO
GYAN RILEY
MATTHEW SHIPP
THURSTON MOORE

(purchase tickets to this set here:
https://www.ovationtix.com/trs/pe/8931105 )



9:30pm Performance [one admission]

JESSE HARRIS
SEX MOB
NORAH JONES
JG THIRLWELL'S MANOREXIA
BUKE AND GASS
VINICIUS CANTUARIA
ELYSIAN FIELDS

(purchase tickets to this set here: https://www.ovationtix.com/trs/pe/8931165 )


Individual donations can be made directly by going to the website https://www.japansociety.org/earthquake


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We kick off this week with..

DAVE DOUGLAS BRASS ECSTASY With VINCENT CHANCEY/LUIS BONILLA/MARCUS ROJAS/NASHEET WAITS - United Front: Brass Ecstasy At Newport (Greenleaf 1018; USA) Originally recorded by WBGO Jazz 88 and presented as part of NPR's live concert series, the album captures the group's spectacular performance during the 2010 Carefusion Newport Jazz Festival.
"There was a special feeling for us on taking the drive out to the festival grounds at Fort Adams State Park," said Douglas. "On the day of the gig, each of us was flying in from a different location. The weather was cooperating, and I remember watching boats in the harbor - such a magnificent setting. During the set each of the tunes grew into new proportions that day, stretching in all sorts of directions from their original studio release."
Picking up where their critically acclaimed debut Spirit Moves (Greenleaf 2009) left off, United Front (Douglas' 32nd release) sees this all-star band plunging into Douglas' compositions (plus one Hank Williams Sr. tune) with an intensity and exuberance garnered only at a live jazz concert, particularly one with the legacy and spirit of Newport. The album features tunes from Spirit Moves including the 12-plus minute set closer 'Bowie' - a tribute to Lester Bowie - that steadily works the crowd into a loud and appreciative frenzy. Also included are two previously unreleased songs, Spirit Moves and United Front.
CD $12

CURTIS MACDONALD - Community Immunity (Greenleaf 1018; USA) Curtis Macdonald, Alto Sax; Chris Tordini, Bass; Greg Richie, Drums; Jeremy Viner, Tenor Sax/Clarinet; David Virelles, Piano; Michal Vanoucek, Piano; Travis Reuter, Guitars; Becca Stevens, Voice; Andrea Tyniec, Violin
Saxophonist/composer Curtis Macdonald's debut album, Community Immunity. Greenleaf president and trumpet luminary Dave Douglas notes, "The pieces on this recording are like little puzzles with moving parts that fit together in the strangest ways. The moving parts lock in with uncanny seamlessness." Throughout the recording, strong and catchy melodies are supported by rhythmic motifs that churn each piece in an often cinematic style. Macdonald and his ace crew of players create effortless buoyancy as they bounce off the parameters of each new conundrum.
Macdonald grew up near one of the most desirable artist communities in North America, the Banff Centre for the Arts - a carefully balanced, fertile environment tailored exclusively for community development within the arts. In 2007, he graduated cum laude from the New School University in NYC where he immediately became faculty. Through his research of sound, acoustics, and digital audio processes, Curtis has begun to exploit natural aural phenomena within his compositions, such as binaural beating in the form of a modified rhythmic vibrato heard in his piece Childhood Sympathy. A quick look at his website will reveal his probing creativity on the cutting edge of computer music technology.
Based in Brooklyn, Macdonald is part of the next generation of great saxophonists. Community Immunity is the first of what will surely be many great Curtis Macdonald projects in the years to come.
CD $12


DARIUS JONES & MATTHEW SHIPP - Cosmic Lieder (Aum Fidelity 66; USA) Cosmic Lieder, an exquisite & expansive 13-part song-cycle, is a deeply emotional & illuminated narrative by two highly attuned and intelligent musical voices commenting on an alien world's landscape as they are simultaneously creating it. The songs range from entrancingly lyrical & gentle to mercurial flows to pieces which mightily defy common description.
This momentous duo project exists because of the mutual admiration that Darius Jones & Matthew Shipp have for one another's prodigious musical gifts, and it bridges two generations of distinctly shining lights in the jazz world. Shipp, now celebrating his 50th year on this planet, is a veteran of invention and one of the few truly original pianists in jazz history. Jones is a profoundly gifted young alto saxophonist-composer-bandleader whose 2009 debut, Man'ish Boy (AUM057) , received an across-the-board wave of critical acclaim - it was chosen as among the best Jazz Albums of 2009 by Village Voice-Jazz Critics Poll, NPR, JazzTimes, Boston Globe, Destination:Out, RVANews, AccuJazz and many more.
CD $14

SONIC LIBERATION FRONT + SUNNY MURRAY - Sonic Liberation Front Meets Sunny Murray (High Two 027; USA) Sonic Liberation Front Meets Sunny Murray is the culmination of a 25-year friendship and musical relationship between SLF's Kevin Diehl and Sunny Murray. After the release of SLF's debut album, Water and Stone, Sunny Murray engaged the band for a series of collaborative concerts, including a 2002 appearance at the Vision Festival. The circulation of recordings from these concerts among fans enticed Murray and SLF to head into the studio together for the first time in 2008. Sonic Liberation Front Meets Sunny Murray features those studio recordings plus bonus recordings of Murray's appearance with SLF in Philadelphia in 2002. "I had an image in my mind as to how things would play out," says Diehl. "But as is normal with Sunny Murray, it ends up being something else. I envisioned Murray playing freely over the folkloric bata rhythms. But I found myself playing freely over the bata rhythms, and Murray tapping into something more fundamental. Something which actually permeates his approach to his music -- his Native American heritage. Murray plays rhythmically with the bata. He does so using a Native American approach to pulse. It then tied in what I heard with early Albert Ayler recordings where Murray's vocal chanting is as much as part of the experience as the drumming."
CD $14


BIILY BANG/BILL COLE - Bang-Cole (Shadrack; USA) Recorded live at the University of Virginia Chapel in April of 2009 and featuring Billy Bang on violin and Bill Cole on shenai, nagaswarm, flute, digeridoo, and sona. William Parker calls Bill Cole "the number one master double reed player on the planet" and the proof is in the pudding. For this superb duo effort Mr. Cole plays three double reeds, the shenai, the nagaswarm and the sona (or suona, a Chinese wind instrument) as well as flute and digeridoo. Another master musician is the ever-amazing Billy Bang who is fine form here. Together, they make a perfect pair of heavy spirits. Bill Cole, who has some half dozen previous discs on the Boxholder label, always evokes a more spiritual side with his music. His music often deals with a cosmic drone which that is ethereal or hypnotic. Choosing to collaborate with Billy Bang is a wonderful idea since both musicians deal with sympathetic vibrations. The opening piece, "Improvisation" features the low-end hums of digeridoo and careful acoustic violin. For the "Shades of Kia Mia", the nagaswarm and violin are especially well-matched since they cover a similar solemn terrain. The nagaswarm is a rare Indian instrument that I've only heard Charlie Mariano playing in the past. It sounds like an animal singing sadly to itself. Billy Bang takes a powerful unaccompanied violin solo midway before Mr. Cole lets loose his own poignant solo. On "Poverty is the Father of Fear", the violin and sona play the twisted melody together bending their tones around one another in a most intense and enchanting way. Even when Mr. Cole calms down and switches to flute, the duo find a way of blending their notes into a special organic tapestry together. Perhaps the best and certainly the most revelatory duo is the shenai & violin, which seem to connect on a variety of levels. Billy Bang reaches deep into his history and quotes lines from "Space is the Place", "Take the A Train" and "Jeepers Creepers" while Bill Cole twists his notes inside-out and also quotes a few familiar melodies. Bang-Cole are a most extraordinary duo to be reckoned with. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD $15


RADU MALFATTI/KEITH ROWE - Phi [3 CD set] (Erstwhile 60; USA) Keith Rowe and Radu Malfatti are two of the most influential experimental musicians in recent decades, each with extensive bodies of highly distinctive work and a combined 80+ years at the forefront of their respective areas of exploration. On "Phi", their first meeting ever is documented via one disc of selected compositions (Frey and Cardew), one disc of their own compositions, and one disc of improv.
Radu Malfatti has been a major presence in the European free improv scene since the early seventies. He's been a member of such stellar bands as the Brotherhood of Breath, the London Jazz Composers' Orchestra, and the King Ubu Orchestra, as well as countless small groups. Malfatti's recent focus on developing a unique style of superspare, tranquil music led him to join the Wandelweiser collective, a group of like-minded composers, in 1994. Since 2006, Malfatti has been releasing recordings spanning the past 12 years of his compositions on his own b-boim label, which cumulatively are one of the important bodies of work of recent times.Phi is his third release for Erstwhile, following 2001's ground-breaking dach and 2009's gorgeous imaoto (recorded at Amann Studios like Phi)
Keith Rowe was in the forefront of the initial wave of European free improvisation, co-founding the AMM collective in 1965 and originating the tabletop guitar. The tabletop guitar has remained at the center of his ever-evolving table of electronics and gadgets ever since, becoming increasingly stripped down and minimal in recent years. Having mostly performed within AMM until the late 90's, he's since been involved in a wide range of projects, including a slew of the most prominent Erstwhile releases. He's the cornerstone musician of the label, and his wide range of releases over the last decade stands with the strongest bodies of work of the last century in improvised music.
Malfatti and Rowe met in Vienna in November 2010, their first musical meeting of any kind, for three days of recordings at Amann Studios. They began with Jurg Frey's Exact Dimension Without Insistence, selected by Malfatti, then proceeded onto Cornelius Cardew's Solo with Accompaniment, selected by Rowe. Next was Malfatti's nariyamu, then a version of Rowe's Pollock '82, and lastly an extended improv. Almost all of the recordings are included on Phi in the order in which they were made, and three of the four compositions (excluding the Frey) only required one take. The playing order allowed the two musicians to gradually build a rapport of sorts, finding a remarkable amount of common ground despite their widely differing perspectives. The progression over the three days and the connections between the pieces are quite evident, leading to an improvisation meeting that is both confident and thoroughly uneasy. Phi is housed in a stunning eight panel digipak, the four outside panels contain original paper on paper artwork by Rowe and the inside panels contain photos of the scores and a photo of the musicians with recording engineer Christoph Amann.
3 CD set for $30


JOE McPHEE & CHRIS CORSANO - Under A Double Moon (Roaratorio 22; USA) "With a career now spanning over 40 years and more than 100 recordings, Joe McPhee has shown that emotional content and theoretical underpinnings are thoroughly compatible -- and in fact, a critically important pairing -- in the world of creative improvised music. Since recording The Hated Music with Paul Flaherty in 2000, Chris Corsano has been hyper-active in far-reaching corners of the free improvised world. Under A Double Moon, recorded live in Paris during their spring 2010 tour of Europe, is their first album together (and, given how phenomenally simpatico a partnership they've forged, we hope it's not the last). With cover artwork by Judith Lindbloom and liner notes by John Szwed. Download coupon included."
LP $16


HENRY FLYNT/[CATHERINE CHRISTER] CHISTER HENNIX - Glissando No 1/Stereo Piano [CD + Booklet] (Recorded 025; USA) Henry Flynt and Chister Hennix worked separately and together on their own genre of music which was known as "Illuminatory Sound Environments" (ISEs) during the second half of the 1970's. Hennix recorded a piece called "The Electric Harpsichord" in the summer of 1976 while Flynt contributed two pieces to this genre in 1978 & 1979 called "Celestial Power" and "Glissando No. 1". John Berndt, whose Recorded label has released a number of important discs by Henry Flynt calls "Glissando No.1" the darkest and most feverish of the ISE genre. This disc features both "Glissando No. 1" by Henry Flynt as well as "Stereo Piano" by Chister Hennix, both pieces are prime examples of the illuminatory sound environment genre and both are extremely effective. This is the first time both of these important works have been readily available so we are all in luck.
The overall sound of "Glissando No. 1" is like the kaleidoscopic sound of Indian music with layers of drones (sitar, violin & tablas) all swirling together in separate but connected orbits. The effect is most mesmerizing and dreamlike. Similar to the heights reached in a great raga. It sounds like Mr. Flynt is looping a series of different drones in a rich psychedelic tapestry. Although I rarely get stoned nowadays, the effect is similar - keeping me off-balance yet helping me to reach another altered state. The Hennix piece "Stereo Piano" creates a similar effect. Multiple layers of fluttering piano lines interweave in soothing hypnotic waves. It reminds me of where "Out-Bloody-Rageous" from Soft Machine 'Third' ends with those wondrous mesmerizing looped piano lines fading slowly into the distance. Both of these pieces are classics of the so-called minimalist school yet they are more dense and effective than most of the other gems of their era. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD $16


NELS CLINE TRIO With MARK LONDON SIMS/MICHAEL PREUASSNER - Silencer (enja 9568; Germany) Essential reissue from guitar god Nels Cline's incredible (jazz/rock) power trio. I caught this trio at the old Knitting Factory in the late eighties/early nineties and both Thurston Moore & myself were completely blown away by their colossal performance. All I can say is "Hallelujah", 'Silencer' is finally back in print. This amazing trio made four fabulous albums and we might still have copies of 'Chest' & 'Sad' on Little Brother around. If only someone would reissue the ultra-obscure title 'Ground', then those newer Nels Cline fan-addicts could die happy. - BLG
CD $13


HARRIS EISENSTADT With NATE WOOLEY/MATT BAUDER/CHRIS DINGMAN/EIVIND OPSVIK - Canada Day II (Songlines 1589; EEC) Featuring Nate Wooley on trumpet, Matt Bauder on tenor sax, Chris Dingman on vibes, Eivind Opsvik on bass and Harris Eisenstadt on drums & compositions. This fine all-star sextet has been around for about four years and has continued to evolve. This is a great, swinging ever-crafty band that always makes me smile. The first track, "Cobble Hook" features some quick spinning vibes and a smokin' tenor solo from Matt Bauder. Instead of using a pianist, vibe-man Chris Dingman is consistently well-utilized playing tight lines with the rhythm team and interacting intricately with each soloist. When the band slows down for "To Seventeen", Harris writes some lovely harmonies for both horns with a touching trumpet solo the ubiquitous Nate Wooley. "Song for Owen" was written for Harris' baby boy and it is a fine laid back ballad with some delightful solos from the tenor & vibes. There is something very positive and hopeful about this music, an uplifting somewhat melodic charm. There is still a sense of adventure but without the usual downtown sarcasm or overt outness. My favorite piece is called "To See/Tootie" and I dig the way it shifts between different sections with some spirited, twisted trumpet from Mr. Wooley. The sextet seems to move in separate directions yet they end up in the same play no matter what. The final piece "Judo with Tokyo Joe" is dedicated to John Zorn who inspired Harris to get back to work after a short period off from composing & bandleading. The piece has a fine dreamy vibe with Harris' drums as the central figure within spacious skeletal structure. 'Canada Day II' is a strong release that never erupts harshly yet maintains a crafty well-conceived balance. This sextet played at The Stone earlier this week (4/5/11) and are currently on tour further south. Check them out if you get the opportunity. They rule! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD $15

EQUILIBRIUM [MIKKEL PLOUG/SISSEL VERA PETTERSEN/JOACHIM BADENHORST - Walking Voices (Songlines 1587; USA) The first disc by Equilibrium was one of those wonderful under-recognized gems that graces us from time to time. Since then I've gotten to know and hear young former Amsterdam-based reeds wiz Joachim Badenhorst on many occasions. A promo was shipped earlier this week & I can't wait to hear & review it. The personnel features Mikkel Ploug on electric & acoustic guitars, Sissel Vera Pettersen on voice & live electronics and Joachim Badenhorst on clarinet, bass clarinet & tenor sax. If it is nearly as good as the last one, it will probably make many top lists this year. - BLG
CD $15


THE CHIVES [STEVEN LUGERNER/MATTHEW WOHL/MAX JAFFE] - For Brian Wilson (private release; USA) Featuring Steven Lugerner on clarinets & alto sax, Matthew Wohl on bass and Max Jaffe on drums. Earlier this week (4/3/11), drummer Max Jaffe played here at DMG for the second time in the past few months and this time with another band - the Chives. Considering that they are relatively young, their set was indeed strong as is their new 30-minute CD-EP. "Grape on a Beach" features a fine, stripped down bass clarinet-led trio that lurches ahead slowly into a somber yet enticing groove. What makes the Chives so good is the way they use less notes to evoke certain feelings and images. At times the rhythm will spin their own web of activity while the alto sax or clarinets will just provide the right amount of notes to create subtle melodies. For "Right Up My Street" it is the bass that outlines much of the structure while the clarinet plays the plaintive melody coyly with elegant restraint. Thus every note counts, nothing is superfluous. Although the title track is called "For Brian Wilson", I am not sure why. It is a rather Monkish, slightly bent yet charming song with thoughtful melody that gets beneath your skin if you give it a chance. All of the six pieces here are ballad-like, often haunting and thoughtfully executed. Perfect music for a romantic dinner by candle-light with the one you love. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD $6


JOACHIM KUHN With MAJID BEKKAS/RAYMON LOPEZ - Chalaba (Act 9502; EEC) Joachim Kuhn: piano & sax, Majid Bekkas: vocals, guembri and Ramon Lopez: drums & tabla. Kuhn, Bekkas, and Lopez are already a dream team; a magical trio that has developed a totally organic and harmoniously evolving world music. This trio, despite the great degree of individual freedom, manages to find a compelling form with which to conjure up increasingly resonant songs. "We continue playing together because the music develops in such a unique way, always becoming better," says Kuhn. "The band has priority, for all three of us." The tune Enjoy is a future hit, created by Kuhn's full and rapid piano playing, Bekkas' memorable guttural vocals, and the powerful drive of Lopez's drums.
CD $15


DOLLSHOT [ROSALIE KAPLAN/NOAH KAPLAN/WES MATTHEWS/GIACOMO MEREGA] - Dollshot (Underwolf 01; USA) Noah Kaplan - sax, Wes Matthews - piano & prepared piano, Giacomo Merega - bass & prepared bass guitar and Rosalie Kaplan on voice. Dollshot are a local quartet who cover an unusual selection of songs by modern classical composers like Arnold Schoenberg, Francis Poulenc & Charles Ives, as well as a an old jazz standard and a couple of originals. It is rare to hear a local ensemble cover such odd material, but this is no regular quartet. Schoenberg's "Galathea" is first and although it seems like an odd choice, the group do a splendid version with lilting sax, piano, bass and Rosalie's exquisite voice. Schoenberg's twelve-tone music seems to lend itself to a more challenging area of modern jazz. On Wes Matthews' "The Trees", Wes mutes the piano and creates a sly effect which enhances Rosalie's charming voice along with Giacomo's busy bass bubbling underneath. With no drummer in this quartet, the bassist often holds down the bottom and keeps the rhythm solid when need be. Rosalie sings dreamily in French on Poulenc's "La Reine de Coeur", while Noah bends notes on the sax keeping things a bit off-balance. I like what the quartet does with Ives' "The Cage, Maple Leaves, Evening", turning it inside out and twisting it in odd shapes while the voice keeps the innocent vibe at the center. The one standard here is "Here's That Rainy Day" which gets a lovely treatment again with strong support from Mr. Matthews' muted piano and sublime sax hovering underneath. Noah's equally delectable "Fear of Clouds" begins gingerly yet soon spirals into some spirited tenor sax, piano & bass interaction with Rosalie's voice spinning a web around the rest of the trio. I really dig that it is adventurous, often restrained, simultaneously forcing us to look closer at the crafty arrangements. Dollshot is/are one of the most unexpected gems I've heard recently. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD $12



New Fripp goodies!

KING CRIMSON [ROBERT FRIPP/BILL BRUFORD/ADRIAN BELEW/TONY LEVIN/TREY GUNN/PAT MASTELOTTO] - Live in Chicago, Il - Nov. 29, 1995 [2 CD set] (DGM KCCC 43; USA) [ORIGINALLY ANNOUNCED AS #42; NO #42 HAS BEEN RELEASED YET] "What's left to say about the brief two-year sextet [double-trio] incarnation? One of the most dense, heavy sounds ever hurled, this is one the best recordings now available from the '94-'96 period. Topping the untamed '94 South American shows is tough nut - but here it is!" - MannyLunch
[A note to the suspicious: These are the legitimate DGM product, not the Russian counterfeit copies that are found on eBay and elsewhere!]
2 CD set for $18

KING CRIMSON [ROBERT FRIPP/ADRIAN BELEW/TREY GUNN/PAT MASTELOTTO] - Live in New Haven, CT November 16, 2003 [2 CD set] (DGM KCCC 44; USA) The 44th Collectors' Club release (January 2011). King Crimson Live in New Haven, CT November 16, 2003 "You know it's been one hell of gig when Robert Fripp gets off his stool, wanders centre stage and says "It's exceptional nowadays that I step to a microphone and say 'good evening, Hippies', but at the completion of this stage of King Crimson touring in America, perhaps something more is needed." At which point he holds up a bra that's been thrown onto the stage during the show and then proceeds to give away the undergarment with a KC trivia quiz!" - Sid Smith
[A note to the suspicious: These are the legitimate DGM product, not the Russian counterfeit copies that are found on eBay and elsewhere!]
2 CD set for $18


THEO TRAVIS & ROBERT FRIPP - Live At Coventry Cathedral (DGM/Panegyric 02; USA) Taken from the last of four UK concerts performed in May 2009, Live at Coventry Cathedral captures an atmospheric and melodic performance and highlights Travis's incisive lyricism and Fripp's unique solo guitar voice.
This is the second collaborative album by the duo, following the warmly received Thread (2008) and includes a rare performance of the King Crimson classic, Moonchild.
"A music that is as poetic as it is powerful." - Sid Smith (Classic Rock/Record Collector)
CD $15

still available..

THEO TRAVIS & ROBERT FRIPP - Thread (DGM/Panegyric 01; USA) 2008 release, a collection of nine improvised pieces by Theo Travis [alto flute, soprano sax] and Robert Fripp [guitar, soundscapes]. It was recorded at DGM Soundworld by David Singleton, with reediting/mixing and mastering courtesy of Steven Wilson [Porcupine Tree]. The collaboration has yielded a very beautiful sequence of recordings that neatly avoid many of the cliches routinely associated with terms such as 'ambient' and 'improvised', while encompassing the core elements of both forms of music
Theo Travis is a London based saxophonist, flautist and composer. In conjunction with famed guitarist Robert Fripp, Travis releases nine improvised pieces, mastered by Steve Wilson (Porcupine Tree). This collaboration has yielded a very beautiful sequence of recordings that encompass the core elements of ambient and improvised music, while avoiding being cliche in any form.
CD $15



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corrections and further copies of last weeks "moneyed sound-art collectors" listing

PLUNDERPHONICS [JOHN OSWALD] - PrePlexure (2009) [Limited Edition of 33 Plexiglas-cut LP] + Plunderphonics Ep (1988) [2 LP set] (Fony; Canada) PrePlexure: An edition of 33 numbered copies [2009] of this phonograph album, individually cut one-at-a-time into PLEXIGLASS [not vinyl, and yes, it's playable] by/for John Oswald. This features two new mixes - "prePlex" and "PlexureConcentrate" - of Oswald's 1993 composition Plexure, which was originally commisioned for John Zorn's AVANT label, released as a CD of the same title.
As to the packaging, the plexiglas masterdisk comes in a clear vinyl envelope, sandwiched between two acetate sheets, one of which is a reproduction of one of 33 different famous musical personality's signatures which also bears the specific copy's numbering; and the 'title card' with an image of a skull.
Additionally, only two of the 33 made had a third acetate sheet, with an image of Michael Jackson's face. Those two were #1/33, whose signature sheet bore the Michael Jackson reproduced signature [already sold for $2000], and #22/33, whose signature sheet bore a Jon Bon Jovi reproduced signature [sold for $600]. The rest of the run do not have this MJ image as a third sheet.
(The bonus item, sold with this extremely rare limited edition LP, is a sealed copy of the never-for-sale Plunderphonics 12" Ep from 1988 [on Oswald's Mystery Lab label] with four cuts: Elvis Presley, Dolly Parton, Igor Stravinsky, and Count Basie)

Most of this edition is already sold out. We can offer you a choice of the following #s.. Whitney Houston #11/33 - $600
Billy Idol #16/33 - $500
Sinead O' Connor #29/33 - $500
Julio Iglesias #33/33 - $1400

Now for you OTHERS: There is also a 'within anyone's reach' regular vinyl with regular cover edition for $17

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AMSTERDAM KLEZMER BAND - Katia (Essay 28; Germany) This is the ninth album by Amsterdam Klezmer Band. The story started in 1996. A few boys from Amsterdam with a Jewish background got inspired by the catchy sounds of klezmer and Balkan music and started busking. Since that time, the band has evolved into a seven-strong line-up, representing one of the finest among the klezmer and Balkan music scene in Europe. The Amsterdam Klezmer Band is blessed with an enthusiastic following in the Netherlands, the whole of Europe and even in Brazil. Their refreshing approach to klezmer and Balkan music transcends the traditional aspects of this music and results in a very lively mix of Eastern-European sound. Their strength lies in their ability to appeal to a remarkably broad audience across all age groups; they play clubs or theaters, festivals, parties, weddings or formal functions and can both fire up a crowd and create pure listening pleasure with the vibrancy of their playing. Popular Amsterdam Klezmer Band tunes are being covered and Amsterdam Klezmer Band remixes are found in many clubs from Berlin to Sydney. Now, the unmistakable Amsterdam Klezmer Band sound is optimally encapsulated once again in 14 brand-new tracks which are all original compositions written by the band members themselves. Sirba, turbo-polka and booty-shaking cocek, oompah and motley rhythms, all with the characteristic and inimitable Amsterdam Klezmer Band virtuosity, are to be found on this album. Also, of course, no Amsterdam Klezmer Band album is complete without front men Alec Kopyt (a cult singer from Odessa, who's a renowned specialist of prison songs) and Job Chajes, singing and rapping their way through this new treasure trove of highly-infectious and original Amsterdam klezmer-style repertoire. Katla is the name of the biggest volcano in Iceland. This title possibly implies this new album's explosive, joyful character. Other members include: Jasper de Beer (double bass, guitar banjo, backing vocals), Gijs Levelt (trumpet, backing vocals), Joop van der Linden (trombone, percussion), Janfie van Strien (clarinet, backing vocals), Theo van Tol (accordion, davul), Midou Akhrif (darbuka), and Bokkie Vink (cymbalon).
CD $17


LEI LIANG//MERIDIAN ARTS ENSEMBLE - Milou (New World 80715; USA) The Meridian Arts Ensemble; Takae Ohnishi, harpsichord; Kate Hatmaker, Jeff Zehngut, violins; Chia-Ling Chien, cello; Pablo Gomez, guitar; The Radnofsky Quartet; John Fonville, Jane Rigler, flutes; June Han, harp; The Manhattan Sinfonietta; Jeffrey Milarsky, conductor; New England Conservatory Chamber Singers, Tamara Brooks, conductor; Lenny Bretton, Eric Hewitt, Conrad Kline, Shyen Lee, Samuel Lorber, Greg Ridlington, saxophones; Christopher DeChiara, Jeremy Friedman, Phillip Kiamie, Matthew Masie, Eric Millstein, Mei-Ying Ng, Gary Wallen, percussion; Van Weng, electric guitar; Jon Sakata, piano; Lei Liang, harpsichord/conductor
Lei Liang (b. 1972) is a Chinese-born American composer whose work can be situated within the lineage of the new wave of Chinese composers (such as Chen Yi, Zhou Long, Tan Dun, Bright Sheng), yet whose vivid musical imagination and philosophical interests place him in a league of his own. The distinctiveness of his compositional approach, first and foremost, can be noted in Liang's avoidance of exoticized Chinese elements: one would not find stylized quotations of familiar folksongs or cliched treatment of instruments. Born into the Cultural Revolution (1966-76) and denied access to older traditions of art forms in China, Liang considers himself raised in a cultural and spiritual "ground zero." Liang's displacement from his homeland has led him to intensify his search for a deeper cultural connection to Asian musical practice and aesthetics at large, as his interests cover the Beijing opera, guqin (Chinese zither), Inner Mongolian music, as well as music of other parts of Asia. In searching for an appropriate framework for transforming these resources, he often embarks on a sonic exploration of a philosophical concept or idea to create music that contains multiple surfaces and trajectories for the listener to decipher. On Milou Liang offers a labyrinth of sounds in musical space, deploying various modernist and avant-garde procedures (post-serial techniques involving canons, indeterminacy, extended techniques for acoustic instruments, spectral analysis) to express music as a form of ritual-its rich layers of meanings to be experienced and deciphered through the act of listening and reflection.
CD $15


PHILIP GLASS - Kepler (Orange Mountain 5004; USA) "Mountain Music's recording of Philip Glass' opera Kepler is now available on DVD. The opera was filmed by Austrian Broadcasting in 2009 and broadcast on Austrian and German television in 2010. The DVD presents the full opera, filmed in HD, sung in German and Latin with German, Latin and English subtitles. The opera explores the life of scientist Johannes Kepler, continuing Glass' interest in scientists following operas on Einstein and Galileo. Performed by Landestheater Linz with the Bruckner Orchestra Linz under Dennis Russell Davies, Kepler is a refreshing return to large-scale symphonic writing for the opera house." All-region NTSC format: 120 minutes.
DVD $28


NICCOLO CASTIGLIONI - Altisonanza; Le Favole di Esopo [H-SACD] (Neos 11031; Germany) Altisonanza (1990-1992) and Le Favole di Esopo (1979) performed by WDR Sinfonieorchester Koln, WDR Rundfunkchor Koln, Emilio Pomarico, conductor. Stereo/multichannel hybrid SACD that can be played on any CD player
CD $21

DONAUESCHINGER MUSIKTAGE 2009 [V.A.] - Vol. 2 [H-SACD] (Neos 11052; Germany) Featured works: Frank Bedrossian's Swing; Raphael Cendo's Introduction Aux Tenebres; Christopher Trebue Moore's Strange Attractors. Performed by: Peter Veale, oboe; Carl Rosman, clarinet; Alban Wesly, bassoon; Dirk Rothbrust, percussion; Ictus Ensemble, Michael Schmind, flute; Dirk Descheemaeker, clarinet; Dirk Noyen, bassoon; Rico Gubler, saxophones; Bruce Richards, horn; Toon Van Ulsen, trombone; Pascal Roussea, tuba; Jean-Luc Plouvier, piano; Gerrit Nulens/Miquel Bernat, percussion; Hughes Kolp, guitar; George Van Dam/Igor Semenoff, violin; Bram Bossier, viola; Francois Deppe/Geert De Bievre/Arne Deforce/Severine Ballon, violoncello. Stereo/multichannel hybrid SACD that can be played on any CD player.
CD $21

MICHAEL QUELL - Chamber Music (Neos 11046; Germany) Performed by Maria Gyurkovics, Edit Gancs, Timea Cser, Iren Szecsodi, sopranos; Magda Tiszay, contralto; Endre Rosler, Tibor Udvardy, tenors; Gyorgy Littasy, Andras Farago, basses; Budapest Chorus; Hungarian State Orchestra; Budapest Philharmonic Society Orchestra; Zoltan Kodaly, conductor.
CD $21


RICHARD CHARTIER - Transparency (performance) (LINE 49; USA) "In 2010, sound artist Richard Chartier was awarded a Smithsonian Institution Artist Research Fellowship to explore the National Museum of American History's collection of 19th Century acoustic apparatus for scientific demonstration. Chartier focused on the works of the German physicist Rudolf Koenig, including the Grand Tonometer (c. 1870-1875). This beautiful and precise set of 692 tuning forks expresses the frequency range 520 v.s (vibration simple) (260 hz) to 8192 v.s. (4096 hz). The pitches of the forks extend over four octaves, affording a perfect means for testing, by enumeration of the beats, the number of vibrations producing any given note. The Grand Tonometer is the only instrument of its kind in existence. During his Fellowship, Chartier individually recorded each of these unique instrument's existing tuning forks as well as many other instruments, devices, and their tonal interactions. Rudolph Koenig considered the Grand Tonometer and his other creations to be purely scientific instruments. His precise workmanship extended the Grand Tonometer's range to frequencies across the field of human perception, thus allowing the listener a chance to witness the nature of sound itself. Chartier's own compositions juxtapose soft and hushed, almost imperceptible, fragments with high and low frequencies, bursts, and static in an asymptotic process that cuts away from and deepens the nature of sound, finally achieving compositional focus in the spaces between them. Chartier was particularly drawn to the Grand Tonometer, feeling a distinct connection to Koenig's approach to sound, and to his aim of a new, or enhanced, way of listening."
CD $13

SETH CLUETT - Objects Of Memory (LINE 48; USA) "These works occupy a position between an expanded notion of composition and a gallery-based art practice. The content of the works presented on this disc produce a slow series of gestures that give the illusion of stillness amidst a texture of continually developing material. The central concern in all of these pieces (the three fully scored works, the installation documentation, and the live-performance) is the construction of a sound world that is able to be environmental rather than temporal, proceeding slowly enough that it might be explored without the anxiety that it will move away too quickly. Like much of my output, I am interested in providing the listener with material that allows for an active agency of perception and that affords the ability to move through the sound autonomously. Whether the work is gallery-based, conceptual, or created for a concert hall, I am interested in viewing simple, everyday actions at extreme magnification, acknowledging failure by amplifying impossible tasks, and exploring the role of memory in forms that respect the contract between the composer, performer, and listener." --Seth Cluett.
"Cluett uses minimal materials derived from close listening and observation of the environment to point up the way in which we personalize our objects and actions. Through creative misuse of post-consumer goods, adaptive re-use of raw architectural elements, and a nostalgic obsession with dead technologies, these materials become instrumentalized. In this way, many of his pieces investigate the movement, patterns, and social organization of both work and play, while others explore the acoustic signature of specific locations, where sound is exposed as the result or goal of a social activity, a characteristic of architectural space, or a by-product of a geological process."
CD $13


EVIL MADNESS - Super Great Love (Editions Mego 018; Austria) Evil Madness has been described as the Traveling Wilburys of Icelandic electronic music. Behind the name stand men like Petur Eyvindsson, Johann Johannsson, Sigtryggur Berg Sigmarsson, Helgi Thorsson and BJ Nilsen (who is not "quite" Icelandic but was born in a country "very" near Iceland). This album, Super Great Love, presented by Editions Mego will be their fourth album since the time of their formation in 2006. Now for those of you reading who know the music of Evil Madness will know for sure that this band does whatever they damn well please when it comes to making music. With Super Great Love they want to get people in a "good" mood for 2011 and present them with some upbeat Icelandic "disko" tunes. Cover artwork by Helgi Thorsson. Recorded and mixed 2007-2010.
CD $16


CHARLES-ERIC CHARRIER - Silver (Experimedia 14; USA) "On Silver, multi-instrumentalist Charles-Eric Charrier directs his collaborators Ronan Benoit and Cyril Secq through a lesson in tension and release. Dismissing genre boundaries Silver deftly plants its roots on a plateau in a strange land somewhere between the worlds of psychedelic post-rock, electronic, improv jazz and modern composition. Over the course of five movements, Charrier and company illustrate how to successfully kaleidoscope an eclectic range of influences into a cohesive and unique whole. From the smokey sludged psych rock blues jam of '21 Echoes,' the jazz lounge pitter-pat of brushed snares and tapped hats coalesced with analog synth and brass vibrations on '12 From,' to the plucked and bowed folk strings and hand drums of '9 Moving,' Silver draws a new musical blueprint for the post-everything generation." Housed in Experimedia's stylish six-panel, 5"x7" packaging.
CD $14


ISRAEL MARTINEZ - El Hombre Que Se Sofoca (Sub Rosa 319; Belgium) This is #5 in Sub Rosa's Framework series -- an extension of their Concrete Electronics Noise series. Israel Martinez (Guadalajara, Mexico 1979) is a sound artist, empirical composer and has developed his works in different fields: electroacoustic and experimental music, composition, sonic installations and sculpture. He has participated in several festivals in Mexico, such as Radar, Mutek, Muestra Internacional de Arte Sonoro, Interface, Estacionarte, and also in one of the most important art & technology events worldwide: Austria's Ars Electronica Festival, where he was awarded the Award of Distinction in the Digital Musics category in 2007, with his work Mi Vida. He has performed and his work has been played live in Mexico, England, France, the U.S., Austria, Spain and Colombia. He's co-founder of the electronic music label Abolipop, producer of the Nebula 3 project and also half of the electronic improvisation duo Lost Martinez. Limited to 700 copies only.
CD $16

VULTURES QUARTET & PHILIPPE PETIT - Tourbillon d'Obscurite (Sub Rosa 320; Belgium) This is #6 in Sub Rosa's Framework series -- an extension of their Concrete Electronics Noise series. Philippe Petit is interested in soundtracks; even if he creates original music, he'd rather be introduced as a "musical travel agent" than a composer. He uses a computer to build up electronic layers and process acoustic and field recordings. To accompany the machine, he likes to move various glasses or percussive objects, and take advantage of vinyl material. A journalist for various magazines and radio as well as a musical activist, he has celebrated his 25th year of sharing his musical passions as the man behind the cult labels Pandemonium Rdz. and BiP_HOp. This release features a collaboration between Petit and London-based Vultures Quartet, whose musicians come from industrial, jazz, improv, rock, classical and various other style backgrounds. Limited to 700 copies only.
CD $16

SURVIVAL RESEARCH LABORATORIES [MARK PAULINE] - Survival Research Laboratories (Sub Rosa 177; Belgium) Mark Pauline, founder of Survival Research Laboratories, is a Californian artist, sculptor and robot-machine builder. Since the late '70s he has created some of the most destructive events ever imagined. He and his crew organize battles of intelligent machines until their final auto-destruction in the desert. This album presents the destructive mood of these shows. GX Jupitter-Larsen is a musician and a sound designer involved for more than 10 years in the American radical noise band The Haters. He composed for Mark Pauline some introduction music to push people who will watch with a certain degree of anxiety the coming of these self-destructive machines. On other parts of this album is a mix-up of machines, screams, motors, bombs, music and noises. Survival Research Laboratories was founded in November 1978. Since its inception, SRL has operated as an organization of creative technicians dedicated to redirecting the techniques, tools, and tenets of industry, science, and the military away from their typical manifestations. Since 1979, SRL has staged over 50 mechanized presentations in the United States, Europe and Japan. Each performance consists of a unique set of ritualized interactions between robots and other machines. SRL shows provide both a catharsis and a philosophic lesson in man's mortality and his relationship with machines, including texts, explanations and unpublished photos.
CD $16


D CHARLES SPEER & THE HELIX - Leaving the Commonwealth (Thrill Jockey 264; USA) "Leaving the Commonwealth is the third full length by D. Charles Speer & the Helix and features their most accomplished playing and songwriting yet, setting a high watermark for narrative honky tonk rock at this late date. Inspired by swaggering, outrageous and engaging sonic tales like Cowboy Jack Clement's 'Miller's Cave,' this album features byzantine songs which flow surprisingly quickly and with natural grace. The album opener 'Razorbacked' emits nourish cinematic imagery and twists which are matched with music sparked from a wasted mid 70s cassette from Peaches or Turtles. Numerous musical luminaries, including Freddie King and Clifton Chenier, are invoked and celebrated in song. Other tracks like 'Cumberland' and 'Battle of the Wilderness' are historically detailed and geographically specific chronicles. Dense tones flow from all corners, with guitar sounds reminiscent of Fripp or Manzanera on one end and the pedal steel tones of Emmons and Mooney on another. Beautifully recorded by Jason LaFarge of Seizures Palace in the urban environs of Brooklyn, this album is southern by lyrical setting, country by instrumental arrangement, rocking through its rhythmic heft and most certainly contemporary in attitude."
CD $15

ZOMES - Earth Grid (Thrill Jockey 267; USA) "The music of Asa Osborne forms a corpus, still evolving, that spans 30 years, growing through early projects in Southern Maryland, The Clits and Pig, to the Baltimore song-lab of Lungfish and the sub-group The Pupils, and until presently his compositions are crafted in solitude and offered to the listener as Zomes. Melody is rhythm, tone is proportion, tempo harmonizes, synchronizing with life, akin to the morphological architecture of trees, rivers, reaching from root to fruit, from mountain to sea. Asa Osborne's songs are artifacts of his trust in the Wisdom of Music. Earth Grid, Zomes' second solo album, is the culmination of Osborne's years of exploring meditative modal models. Written, played, and recorded entirely at home on cassette tape, Earth Grid, is an intimate and intentionally primitive recording."
CD $15


RICHARD SKELTON - Marking Time (Preservation 18; Australia) The Preservation label presents the reissue edition of Marking Time from UK artist Richard Skelton. Richard has recorded in various guises -- as Clouwbeck, Heidika, Carousell and A Broken Consort. Marking Time was his first work released under his own name, and also the first on a label other than his own, Sustain-Release. Through the prolific output on Sustain-Release, Richard stamped a singular vision with his music: a sound that is at once complex and elemental in its questing nature, corporal feel and ultimately life-affirming quality. Marking Time represented a new beginning for Richard, finding him at his most direct and intimate, slowly turning on relatively bare textures of bowed strings, piano and guitar. A meditation on loss and the passing of time, its measure of transcendence accumulates in instrumental passages that work like gestures drifting towards a sense of space both rich and real. In reviewing Marking Time, The Wire wrote: "Not a single note is wasted ... utterly beautiful." After being one of The Wire's notable albums for 2008, it's something he continued to explore on his follow-up for the Type label, Landings (TYPE 055CD), in 2010 -- another similarly acclaimed album. And as with Marking Time, it is with his music that Richard impacts on and affects that environment, by documenting his ever-changing shape in it by means not only uniquely personal, but universal in a devastatingly beautiful way. This new edition of Marking Time features a new piece called "Ford," specially recorded to complement the album's existing pieces in this updated version featuring a reworking of the original artwork by Mark Gowing. Limited edition of 400 copies only.
CD $16

CAROUSELL [RICHARD SKELTON] - Black Swallow & Other Songs (Digitalis 020; USA) In the last decade or so, Richard Skelton has cemented his place as one of experimental music's most favored sons. Through a multitude of projects (under his own name and otherwise) and his own Sustain Release label, there has been an absolute treasure trove of music to sink your teeth into. The first project of Skelton's that the Digitalis label-head heard back in 2005 was Carousell (and the lovely A Dead Bridges Into Dust album) so it felt poetic to reissue the Carousell album, Black Swallow & Other Songs. Originally issued on Sustain Release in the criminally low run of 100 CDs, Black Swallow & Other Songs is a soft and sparse exercise in understated melodies. This is music rich in texture and heavy on the emotional impact it makes. The nine minute "Artery" opens the album and slowly coalesces from a fractured whisper to leave its marks on your skin. Blurry violin notes stretch to the breaking point while Skelton loosely strums and plucks his guitar into a warm, aural embrace. The title track continues with this theme, but adds a heavy dose of nostalgic melancholy to proceedings. It's like you have to look back, accept things and head down the winding path to a new future. On the closing suite, "Owl Lanterns" and "The Clearing," we get a full dose of hopefulness. A child's laughter flickers by while the bowed strings add an unfaltering lightness. Skelton's guitar plucks are floating on clouds, passing by with a buoyant spirit. As Autumn Grieve's wordless vocals bring everything to a close there is nowhere else to go but up. Her voice is the exclamation mark, powerful and restrained as it leads the minimal bowed & plucked strings to rest. Black Swallow & Other Songs is a potent mix of darkness and light, expertly crafted by one of the UK's premier composers. Vinyl cut at Dubplates & Mastering in Berlin. Limited to 700 copies only for the world.
LP $20


THE MEMORY BAND [STEPHEH CRACKNELL et al] - Silver (Spinney/Hungry Hill 01; UK) Glorious album from The Memory Band, released on Spinney Records (Vashti Bunyan, Barry Dransfield, etc.) offshoot Hungry Hill. This record features Stephen Cracknell (ex-Badly Drawn Boy), Adem from Four Tet, assorted members of Hot Chip and Polly Paulusma. Best described as 21st century folk, the album will appeal to fans of Four Tet, Adem, The Wicker Man OST, Fairport Convention, Lambchop and Calexico. The Memory Band was conceived as an imaginary band, built inside a computer and made flesh by the contributions of the artists mentioned above. Featuring violins, harmoniums and guitars, the intention is to leave behind 20th century notions of fusion and purity and to simply explore new musical languages, with plenty of singing and dancing on a Sunday.
CD $16

THE MEMORY BAND [STEPHEH CRACKNELL et al] - Oh My Days (Spinney/Hungry Hill 03; UK) This is the third album by Stephen Cracknell's The Memory Band. In a decade which has seen a wide ranging and fruitful revival of interest in folk music, The Memory Band has established itself in that fine English tradition of slightly schizophrenic projects pointing in several directions at once. From the outset, The Memory Band has embraced change and for Oh My Days, the ever-fluid line-up of the band has shifted once more, with a fresh emphasis on rhythm courtesy of the powerhouse team of bassist Jon Thorne from Lamb and drummer Tom Page of Rocketnumbernine, as well as an all-new vocal frontline featuring Jess Roberts, Jenny McCormick, Hannah Caughlin and Liam Bailey. Sam Carter, winner of the Horizon award at the Radio 2 Folk Awards, plays and sings on a number of songs, while there are contributions from names new and old; Nancy Wallace, Dot Allison, Sam Genders on vocals, guitarists John Smith and Pete Greenwood, bassist Jonny Bridgwood, string players Quinta, Rob Spriggs, Jennymay Logan and Laura Moody, Sarah Scutt on accordion and recorder, and Serafina Steer on harp. Oh My Days is a warmly-textured, delicately-balanced blend of the best elements from its predecessors. Low-key electronic pulses and loops purr away gently beneath material that radiates a quiet strength, having expanded its palette to embrace soul, gospel, Laurel Canyon rock and country blues alongside the folk and jazz elements of the earlier albums. It's a beautifully-poised piece of work, with the usual handful of inspired covers: Sandy Denny's "By The Time It Gets Dark," Graham Bond's "Love Is The Law" and Jeff Alexander's "Come Wander With Me" nestling amongst ten originals, several of which are already live favorites.
CD $16


TREMBLING BELLS - The Constant Pageant (Honest Jon's 055; UK) Glasgow four-piece Trembling Bells release their third slice of Caledonia dreaming, following on from the acclaimed Carbeth (HJR 043CD/LP) and Abandoned Love (HJR 047CD/LP). From its very first notes, The Constant Pageant flies the flag -- a banner of arms -- with a more confident, anthemic sound than ever before. Trembling Bells are 21st century troubadours who know their history, on a quest to connect with the core tradition of Song, and live deep within its mysteries. Medieval ballads, Frank Sinatra, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen are amongst the guiding lights in a music that embraces British folk-rock, American roots and electric psychedelia. The album title pays tribute to folkloric culture as "omnipresent in my thinking, and a source of personal joy and affirmation," says the Bells' Alex Neilson. "A kind of florid, seething, creative wellspring that taints everything I do. Though, with this collection of songs, there were a number of other influences too. I think of traditional folk music as being like my first serious girlfriend, and all subsequent dalliances with other forms have been indelibly affected by it." It's a record of windswept bitterness and joyous elation: "Cold Heart Of Mine" is a paean to embattled lovers written in the shadow of Verona's ancient amphitheatre; "Where Do I Go From You" and "Torn Between Loves" describe doomed romance, dramatized by Mike Hastings' screaming fuzz guitar. There's also a strong sense of place. Neilson's native Yorkshire is the setting for "Goathland" -- home of folk's first family, the McCarthy-Watersons (not to mention the BBC's Heartbeat) -- and "Otley Rock Oracle," in which a small Yorkshire market town is re-imagined as a place of dead roads, where severed golden heads and cauliflower-clouds clue in a young adept. Classical and early music come to the fore on "Colour Of Night" -- in which a medieval feast seems to be taking place behind the song's stately gavotte -- and the melancholic closer, "New Year's Eve's The Loneliest Night Of The Year," a tribute to favorite modern songwriters like Gordon Jenkins, Nelson Riddle and Hoagy Carmichael (with a cheeky aside about stolen Roman marbles). The Constant Pageant is a rhapsodic celebration of the power of Song, from one of the UK's most eclectic and inventive groups.
CD $17


JON THORNE/DANNY THOMPSON With GILAD ATZMON et al - Watching The Well (Naim 152; UK) Jon Thorne & John Smith: acoustic guitars, Danny Thompson: double bass, Gilad Atzmon: clarinet and Stuart McCallum: electric guitar. Featuring the iconic Danny Thompson, founding member of Pentangle and bass player to stars such as Kate Bush, Tubby Hayes, Ronnie Scott, Donovan, Nick Drake and John Martyn. Highly acclaimed in the UK, Watching the Well is a unique, cinematic, neo-classical odyssey, inspired by the double bass playing of British icon Danny Thompson and written by friend and apprentice Jon Thorne. Initially conceived as a performance piece, 'Watching the Well' debuted as a sold-out gig at the Manchester Jazz Festival in 2007. The concept has since grown into an album produced by Thorne, featuring some of the most exciting musical voices on the contemporary UK scene including award winning jazz saxophonist Gilad Atzmon (The Blockheads & Robert Wyatt collaborator), Cinematic Orchestra guitarist Stuart McCallum and John Smith, one of the leading talents on the modern folk circuit.
CD $16


LAST MONTH..
..Sam Pluta, who plays laptop with Peter Evans on two recent discs left us with some half dozen releases on his own Carrier label. I initially assumed that many of these discs dealt with electronics or noise based on the sonic manipulation that Pluta brings to Peter Evans current quintet. This was pretty far from the truth since most of these discs deal with chamber group-like instrumentation, selective drones and other more subtle explorations. The entire label is an unexpected breath of fresh air; here are some brief reviews...


PETER EVANS/JIM ALTIERI/SAM PLUTA - Sum and Difference (Carrier 008; USA) This extraordinary trio features Peter Evans on trumpet, Jim Altieri on violin and Sam Pluta on laptop. The first thing I noticed was how well this is recorded and balanced. Peter Evans' distinctive and bizarre trumpet sounds are upfront and often bent into an assortment of odd shapes while Pluta's multi-layered laptop manipulations swirl and erupt and shimmer in different densities. There is a great deal of attention to detail since each sound is so well utilized. Pluta's electronics sound more like old school music concrete and this works well with Evans' lower case trumpet & breath explorations. I can only make out violinist Altieri on occasion when he is scraping the strings. There are a number of times when it is difficult to tell who is doing what yet everything is highly concentrated and most effective. Peter Evans & Sam Pluta will be playing in a trio with Weasel Walter at our anniversary celebration on Sunday May 29th, 2011. That gig and this disc should not be missed if you consider yourself an adventurous listener. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD $12

ARCHITEUTHIS WALKS ON LAND [AMY CIMINI/KATHERINE YOUNG] - Natura Naturans (Carrier 005; USA) Architeuthis (AWoL) features Amy Cimini on viola and Katherine Young on bassoon. We got this mysterious promo in the mail last year and if it wasn't for the sticker attached to the outside of the disc, I would have no clue who the personnel are since they are not mentioned anywhere else on this disc or cover. A strange way to advertise who you are. Both Ms. Cimini & Ms. Young have worked with James Falzone in the past and Katherine Young does have a disc out on the Porter label. Considering that the viola and bassoon are acoustic instruments, for this disc they are amplified or recorded closely and sound somewhat strange. Both instruments shimmer and vibrate together creating an intense buzzing sensation. Although both of these instruments are associated with modern chamber ensembles, here they are pushing those barriers further out. On "Below the Thermocline" both the viola & bassoon play a series of bent drones which slowly move around one another and create a most unsettling feeling. Both players often work in similar sonic terrain bending their notes together or around one another in a sympathetic way. Although both of these instruments are on opposite ends of the tonal range, they work well together since both women are pushing the extremes in similar textural ways. Much of this music is quite intense and impossible to not be affected by. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD $10

YARN/WIRE - Tone Builders (Carrier 007; USA) Yarn/Wire are a chamber quartet with two pianists (Jacob Rhodebeck & Laura Barger) and percussionists/marimba players (Ian Antonio & Russell Greenberg). They perform seven pieces by composers I am not familiar with except for Sam Pluta who also runs this, the Carrier label. All of the pieces were written in the 21st century. Each pieces comes with an explanation and each is fascinating in its own way. I've always had particular appreciation for percussion music thanks to composers like Frank Zappa and Edgar Varese. The piano can be viewed as a percussion instrument so this is mostly a percussion quartet. Each piece explores different textures and combinations of similar instruments. Alex Mincek's "Pendulum VI: Trigger" deals with various back & forth movements (of opposites) and the way repetition affects our perception. It allows us to concentrate on opposing materials and the way we perceive them. If you ever thought that percussion music might be boring or predictable, then you haven't heard this diverse and engaging gem. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD $10

WET INK ENSEMBLE - self/titled (Carrier 2009) The Wet Ink Ensemble are ten piece sort-of chamber ensemble with instrumentation that includes three reeds, two strings, electric guitar, piano or accordion, electronics, percussion and voice. They perform five pieces by members of the group: Alex Minceck, Eric Wubbels, Kate Soper and Jeff Snyder, as well as one by Sam Pluta who also runs this label. Commencing with Mincek's "To Nowhere from Nowhere", the ensemble repeats certain patterns which slowly mutate into other odd patterns, sometimes spacious and sometime abrupt. Unlike the explanations for the pieces performed by the other chamber ensemble (Yarn/Wire), there is no text here to explain anything. Still, the music is here consistently engaging or fascinating. Flutist Erin Lesser stands out on the four pieces he or she performs on. Except for her own work, vocalist Kate Soper uses her voice as just another instrument. Although there are ten musicians involved, much of this music is stripped down. Sam Pluta's "American Tokyo Daydream IV" is the most intense and abrupt and exciting of the batch. I dig the way her uses the intricate noise guitar and accordion together. Quite the opposite is Jeff Snyder's "Traceries" which deals with a series of long tones which fade in and out at select intervals with occasional electronic spice added short bursts bent activity. Vocalist Kate Soper is featured on her six part suite called "Door" but no more than accordion, sax and flute which play different counterpoint with each other. Another gem form the rich Carrier catalogue. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown MUsic Gallery
CD $10

GLISSANDO BIN LADEN - Drone Level Orange (Carrier 003; USA) Glissando Bin Laden features Jim Altieri & Caroline Mallonee on violins, Meighan Stoops on bass clarinet, Sam Pluta on laptop and Alex Ness on laptop & vocals. This is one of the earlier Carrier discs and the quintet features Jim Altieri & Sam Pluta who have a recent trio disc on this label with Peter Evans. The unique instrumentation (2 violins, bass clarinet & 2 laptops) makes for some strange yet compelling sounds or music. Alex Ness adds some Indian-sounding drone vocals on the opener "Rumble Seven" with cool laptop electronics & strings spinning around his voice. "PPS Dream Starring Harry Patch" consists of eerie layers of strings and electronic drones which are both hypnotic and rather disturbing. After a while I started to realize that each series of drones is varied and has a different effect. The weazing back and forth, expanding and contracting, certain tones overlapping and other creating multiple bent harmonies, all having a strange mesmerizing affect. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD $10



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Last chance to get these Rare BYG/Actuel CD releases..
[you'll weep when we begin charging $25+ for them as rarities!]

ALAN SILVA and His CELESTRIAL COMMUNICATION ORCHESTRA With ARCHIE SHEPP/ANTHONY BRAXTON/GRACHAN MONCUR III/DAVE BURRELL/MALACHI FAVORS - Luna Surface (Actuel 12/Sunspots 539; Italy) Super session recorded in Paris on August 17, 1969. Alan Silva brought together many of the top free jazz players of the time in an amazing 11-piece ensemble featuring Grachan Moncur III, Archie Shepp, Anthony Braxton, Dave Burrell, Leroy Jenkins and Malachi Favors. As a result, this is a very free record and a historical document of Pan-African music. Here it is on CD in a Miniature replica of the original BYG-Actuel LP gatefold cover.
THERE IS NO OTHER CD EDITION OF THIS
CD $12.00 7 for 6 SALE.

SUNNY MURRAY With ARCHIE SHEPP/ROSCOE MITCHELL/KENNETH TERROADE/ARTHUR JONES/LESTER BOWIE/DAVE BURRELL/ALAN SILVA - Sunshine (Actuel 48/Sunspots 530; Italy) Complete album of incredible American free-jazz insanity at its finest, recorded in a Paris studio in August of 1969. Led by the very drummer who helped invent this style/world of avant jazz - Sunny Murray (while playing with Cecil Taylor and Albert Ayler) in the mid-sixties. After two astounding releases on the ESP label which were about as out or free as one could get, this was the next album that Sunny did as a leader. 'Sunshine' features a stellar cast with Arthur Jones, Archie Shepp, Roscoe Mitchell & Kenneth Terroade on saxes, Lester Bowie on trumpet, Dave Burrell on piano and Alan. Here it is on CD in a Miniature replica of the original BYG-Actuel LP gatefold cover.
THERE IS NO OTHER CD EDITION OF THIS
CD $12.00 7 for 6 SALE.

SUNNY MURRAY With BYARD LANCASTER/KENNETH TERROADE/MALACHI FAVORS - An Even Break [Never Give A Sucker] (Actuel 32/Sunspots 540; Italy) "Avant-garde jazz drummer Sunny Murray was a major player in the experimental jazz community throughout the 1960s. After three years as a member of Albert Ayler's band (1964-1967), Murray traveled to France where, after releasing two lps on the BYG label, he recorded An Even Break, (recorded on November 22, 1969) for Affinity. Although his first release for the Affinity label, this was Murray's third release of the year! Featuring Byard Lancaster, Malachi Favors and Kenneth Terroade."Here it is on CD in a Miniature replica of the original BYG-Actuel LP gatefold cover.
THERE IS NO OTHER CD EDITION OF THIS
CD $12.00 7 for 6 SALE.

DON CHERRY With ED BLACKWELL - "Mu" First Part (Actuel 1/Sunspots 515; Italy) 1st volume of recordings at Studio Saravah in Paris on August 22, 1969 by Don Cherry (pocket trumpet, piano, Indian flute, bamboo flute, voice, bells, percussions) with Ed Blackwell (drums, percussions, bell). 'His duets with Ed Blackwell, a drummer whose playing Cherry was very conversant with through a shared history in the Coleman group, were the first recordings released in the Actuel series. Here it is on CD in a Miniature replica of the original BYG-Actuel LP gatefold cover.
CD $12.00 7 for 6 SALE.

DON CHERRY With ED BLACKWELL - "Mu" Second Part (Actuel 31/Sunspots 544; Italy) 2nd volume of recordings at Studio Saravah in Paris on August 22, 1969 by Don Cherry (pocket trumpet, piano, Indian flute, bamboo flute, voice, bells, percussions) with Ed Blackwell (drums, percussions, bell). 'His duets with Ed Blackwell, a drummer whose playing Cherry was very conversant with through a shared history in the Coleman group, were the first recordings released in the Actuel series. Here it is on CD in a Miniature replica of the original BYG-Actuel LP gatefold cover.
CD $12.00 7 for 6 SALE.

SUN RA & His SOLAR-MYTH ARKESTRA - Vol 2: The Solar-Myth Approach (Actuel 41/Sunspots 520; Italy) "A wild and passionate interstellar mix of free jazz, solo synth and intense cosmic philosophy. Recorded in NYC around 1970/'71 and featuring a heavy cast of cosmic characters - John Gilmore, Marshall Allen, Danny Davis, Pat Patrick, James Jacson & Danny Thompson on reeds, Kwame Hadi & Ahk Tal Ebah on trumpets, Hassan Ali & Charles Stephens on trombones, June Tyson & Art Jenkins on vocals, and Clifford Jarvis, Lex Humphries, Nimrod Hunt on drums & percussion. This album captures the creative mood and the impassioned message that was going down as the sixties drew to a tired end. In the cold dawn of the early seventies, Sun Ra & his Arkestra sent out their musical ray of hope to all who would listen. Thirty years later it still sounds both blinding and illuminating.-Edwin Pouncey/The Wire. Here it is on CD in a Miniature replica of the original BYG-Actuel LP gatefold cover.
CD $12.00 7 for 6 SALE.


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ALI REZA GHORBANI/DORSAF HAMDANI - Rapture/Ivresses (Accords Croises 142; EEC) "Accords Croises presents Rapture -- a disc that brings together Iranian singer Alireza Ghorbani and Tunisian singer Dorsaf Hamdani for the first time. It presents a unique dialogue between the Arabic and Persian worlds. The Rubaiyat, written by poet and Persian philosopher Omar Khayyam, is filled with mysticism. Nourished by the Sufi philosophy, it concerns an existential questioning about mankind, the enjoyment of living and the relation of men with the Creator. Khayyam's verses describe a lover in search of the mysterious and forbidden secrets of life."
CD $22


GIRIJA DEVI - Girija Devi (Ocora 561056; France) "The esteemed north Indian singer Girija Devi is featured in a live recording of a concert given in Paris in 1992. Born in 1929, Devi is a specialist in classical and light classical thumri."
CD $19

NHA MITA PEREIRA - Batuque et Finacon (Ocora 561151; France) "The popularity of Cape Verdean music has grown exponentially thanks to great artists such as Cesaria Evora. Through the vocals of Nha Mita Pereira, a legend of batuque tradition, the very soul of Cape Verde is exposed."
CD $19

UGANDA [V.A.] - Music of the Baganda People (Ocora 561161; France) "A collection of music of the Baganda people, Uganda's main ethnic group features selections including dances, religious invocations and secular songs."
CD $19


PSYCHIC TV [GENESIS P-ORRIDGE With PETER CHRISTOPHERSON/JOHN GOSLING/LARRY THRASHER et al] - Themes I-IV [6 CD box set] (Cold Spring 123; UK) For the first time, all three Themes albums by Psychic TV are released together - along with a PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED 4th album - in a sumptuous, embossed box set. The music itself was designed not only as a soundtrack but also for subsequent use by Initiates of The Temple Ov Psychick Youth in their rituals as Functional music intended only to aid in the process of making things happen. It is a practical tool. Thee essential collection of rare, archive and modern PTV ritual/esoteric musick! Each CD is presented in its own matte laminate, spot-varnished mini-LP sleeve. The box also includes a 28-page booklet of rare photos and essays.
Themes was originally released in 1982 as a limited bonus LP with the first 5,000 copies of the legendary Psychic TV album Force The Hand Of Chance. Musicians: Stan Bingo, Peter Christopherson (Coil, Throbbing Gristle, Soisong), Genesis P-Orridge, and David Tibet (Current 93).
Themes 2 was originally released on LP in 1985 by Temple Records and subsequently reissued as an extended CD version by Cold Spring in 1997. Musicians: Genesis P-Orridge, Alex Fergusson, John Gosling (Zos Kia, Coil, Mekon). Themes 2 is presented here as a 2CD set, including the full vinyl version, plus the original Unclean 12" and its two B-side tracks that were recorded in the same sessions.
Themes 3 was originally released on LP in 1986 by Temple Records and is presented here for the first time on CD, completely remastered. Musicians: Genesis P-Orridge, John Gosling (Zos Kia, Coil, Mekon), Mark Sangerman, Monte Cazazza. Themes 3 is presented here as a 2 CD set, with an unheard version performed in Boston, U.S. by Genesis P-Orridge and John Gosling. Themes 4 is a brand new Psychic TV album, recorded by the late partner of Genesis P-Orridge, Lady Jaye and Psychic TV. Compiled by Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Ryan Martin and Bryin Dall. Musicians: Lady Jaye Breyer P-Orridge, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Larry Thrasher, Bryin Dall.
6 CD Box Set for $42


SMEGMA - I Am Not Artist [6 LP + DVD Box set] (Vinyl On Demand 70; Germany) "This astonishing 6LP/DVD box-set compiles most of Smegma's long out or print and impossible to find vinyl-releases and contributions on labels such as their own legendary Pigface Records, LAFMS, Trap, Dom And Selekton. The box includes their first three 7" inches Disco Diarrhea, Flashcards, Pigface Chant, their LPs like Pigs for Leper or Glamour Girl 1941 as well as a 2LP-sided extract of the Live 73-82 double tape Spontaneous Sound, all in one place. Smegma started collectively by Ju Suk Reet Meate, Cheese it Ritz, Chucko Fats, Dennis Duck, Amazon Bambi and Cheesebro and found many other avantgarde/freejazz/improv-musicians to participate in the next 3 1/2 decades to come. This box is taking you on a journey with the least likely folk-primitive-avant-gard band in Pasadena, California, through Portland Oregon's punk rock revitalization and first melt down, to become the serious force in weird music that continues today. Box is accompanied with a DVD version of the original amazing video The First 10 Years by Mike Lastra released in 1983 plus 2 bonus tracks of performances from 1978 & 80."
6 LP + DVD Box Set for $150


FLIED EGG - Dr. Siegel's Fried Egg Shooting Machine (Phoenix 3043; UK) Japan's proggers Flied Egg, consisting of former Strawberry Path alumni Shigeru Narumo and Hiro Tsunoda, supported by former Brush leader, Masayoshi Takanaka, released two albums in the early '70s, Dr. Siegel's Fried Egg Machine being the first and undoubtedly the better of the two. Dr. Siegel's..., originally released in 1972, is a much more keyboard-oriented affair, with Narumo adding a Moog, celeste and harpsichord to his usual Hammond and piano line-up. On this album, the musical influences are more Uriah Heep than the previous Hendrix-inspired leanings, although touches of Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Deep Purple, Birth Control and even Black Sabbath find their way into the musical melange. Dr. Siegel's... presents a rich selection of musical styles, culminating with "Guide Me To The Quietness," a glorious prog epic that brings an inventive and enjoyable album to a climactic finale. Digitally remastered. Numbered, limited collector's edition housed in an LP-replica gatefold card wallet.
CD $17


ARTERY - Afterwards: Recordings From 1979-1983 (Spinney 008; EEC) "Artery are one of the most unsung of all the Sheffield bands to emerge from the post-punk era. At that time the city was a hotbed of creative activity, with the punk movement having broken down the barriers, leaving room for new and original ideas. Artery were certainly original -- unique even -- the evidence of which is amply displayed on this compilation of some of the band's finest moments. John Peel was a fan of the band and invited them to record two sessions for his Radio 1 show. So impressed were the band by the results they achieved at Maida Vale that some of the tracks were included in the mini-album Oceans and are included here. Compiled by Simon Hinkler from the band (and later of The Mission), this album includes all the early singles 'Mother Moon,' 'Unbalanced,' 'Cars In Motion' & 'The Clown,' most of the Oceans mini-album and the excellent and never-previously released INPUT Studios demos. Please do not confuse this album with the recent Cherry Red release Into The Garden which was not sanctioned by the band and confusingly, seemed to have been originally entitled Afterwards - A Collection. Available as a strictly limited edition utilizing the themes of the original artwork of the singles and mini-album, this is the introduction to one of the UK's most innovative and intense groups of the past thitrty years."
CD $17


PRINCESS NICOTINE [V.A.] - Folk and Pop Music of Myanmar [Burma] Vol. 1 (Sublime Freq 006; USA) Limited edition full-color gatefold LP version of the Sublime Frequencies CD release from 2004 [CD now out-of-print]
How is it possible that one of the most unique, perfectly composed and performed, intense and awe-inspiring musical legacies the world has ever known is looming north of the equator physically tucked-between world cultural giants India, China, and Thailand, without more than a whisper from ethnomusicologists or those who define themselves as 'purveyors of world music'? Not only are the roots of this music unique, but so are the results after incorporating outside instrumentation from modern colonial and (unavoidable) international influence. What the Burmese have done with a piano is so precise in its adaptation to existing form and melody that one would think they invented it. Burmese music has a very distinct sound and whatever instrument is assimilated into its core only seems to magnify its original intent without depending upon outside ideas as they relate to each component of it. This collection will immediately bring you up to speed to what you have been missing all along. This is the first TRUE compilation of this phenomenal scene from Yangon to Mandalay and beyond. Here are some of the greatest names from the past 50 years of Burmese musical history from the original recordings featuring Mar Mar Aye, Bo Sein, and the incomparable Tonte Theintan. Listen and be truly amazed.
LP $24


AFROLATIN [V.A.] - Via Dakar [2 CD set] (Syllart 3237562; EEC) In the first half of the 20th century, European powers drew rough chalk lines to reorganize African borders and force development throughout the continent. Cities and ports bustled with new energy as electricity made its timid entrance. With the development of sea transport, 78s from America brought over by Latin American sailors, Cubans particularly, made a lasting influence on a new musical orientation all along the African coastlines. From town to town and port to port, Syllart's Via collection aims to explain the different musical fusions that happened between Cuban and African styles of music. From Dakar to Kinshasa, Conakry to Abidjan, Bamako, Cotonou and Brazzaville, Via speaks of permanently-evolving musical scenes, touched by candor, depth and spontaneity. This volume details the evolution of the Cuban influence in Dakar. Following their success as part of Dakar's Star Band, the Nigerian saxophonist Dexter Johnson and the Gambian singer Laba Sosseh developed their own repertoire. In 1965, they quit the orchestra and would eventually create the Super International Band, a historic orchestra composed of Senegalese musicians such as the percussionist Aziz, singer Pape Fall, guitarists Cheikhna Ndiaye and Laye Salla, singer Sada Ly and several Ivorian musicians. Unbridled and full of life, the Super International Band's version of "El Guanguanco," interpreted by Laba Sosseh, is without a doubt one of the freshest ever recorded. Raymond Fernandez, a Cape Verdean like his guitarist friend Jose Ramos, belonged to Dakar's first Afro-Cuban movement and was a faithful companion of Amara Toure, Laba Sosseh and the Star Band and formed Raymond & The Negro Orchestra. His haunting guitar chords, his magnificently present voice, a bed of hypnotic percussions and lyrics make his songs absolutely captivating. This first formation of Xalam was composed of lovers of Afro-Cuban rhythms such as Skhir Thiam who founded it, and Bassirou Le and Cheikh Tidiane Tall who directed it. The second formation of Xalam laid the foundations of the mbalax, reviving the traditional Wolof sounds with the tama armpit drums. Idy Diop, a veteran of the Rio Band Of Dakar and Xalam, had strong Latino influences and established himself in Abidjan for a while. The deeply moving "Dioubo" appears on his first solo album released in 1974. The arpeggios evoke the best of Latin jazz, with a smooth saxophone and his voice seemingly suspended throughout this refined track. Pioneers of modern Gambian music, the Super Eagles were among the first orchestras to record in Europe. They made a beautiful album in London in 1969, with subtle pop, soul, Afro-Cuban and Wolof influences. Of all the great Senegalese orchestras, the Orchestre Baobab remains the one with the largest body of work with over 20 albums figuring prominently in the pantheon of Senegalese music. An offshoot of the Star Band, their many influences from Guinea-Bissau to Mali, Morocco and Togo, were due to its member's different origins, but the main influence remained Afro-Cuban. Produced by Ibrahima Sylla. Includes a 24-page booklet with full-color photos and notes in French and English by Florent Mazzoleni.
2 CD set for $20

AFROLATIN [V.A.] - Via Kinshasa [2 CD set] (Syllart 3237582; EEC) In the first half of the 20th century, the carving up of much of Africa by the European powers imposed modernity across the continent. In its cities and ports, Africa bristled with a newfound hustle and bustle, while electricity began to make a slow appearance. With the boom in maritime transport, the American 78s brought back by Latin-American and in particular Cuban sailors had a lasting influence on new musical trends along Africa's coastlines. As early as the 1940s in coastal cities like Saint-Louis, Dakar, Conakry, Abidjan, Cotonou, Porto Novo, Lagos, Douala or Luanda, local bands picked up by ear the 78s that Cuban sailors played on their gramophones in small cafes in exchange for a coin or two. Ports, capitals and cities began to resound with guajiras, boleros, pachangas, biguines, merengues, cha-cha-chas and the like. All of these tempos shaped the new dances in fashion in many African towns. In the Congo, those dances became a must under the generic heading of "rumba." Over time, Cuban but also Caribbean music, jazz and rhythm'n'blues were given a new take. Many dances and rhythms drawn from African traditions evolved as they came into contact with cities, but also with modern instruments -- especially saxophones and trumpets in particular -- and amplified guitar from the late 1940s onwards. Joseph "Grand Kalle" Kabasele's African Jazz (which evolved into African Fiesta and African Team) -- the heroic ensemble livening up the Leopoldville nights -- perfectly synthesised the fusion of African and Cuban music, while laying the foundations of much of modern Congolese music, known as rumba. The influence of African Jazz and the number of careers it inspired is quite simply incalculable. Guitarist Nico Kasanda gradually established himself as a key player in Congolese music. He became a leading influence in the modernist trend by assimilating foreign playing techniques. In Brussels, in 1960, a radio journalist nicknamed him "docteur" because of his guitar skills. He was to use the nickname for the rest of his career. Even more imposing than African Jazz or African Fiesta, OK Jazz epitomised modern Congolese and African music, with the orchestra recording hundreds of songs between 1956 and 1989. Former African Jazz member Rochereau was inspired by a visit from James Brown to Kinshasa and formed the Rocherettes, and in 1970, he became the first black African artist to play at prestigious Parisian venue the Olympia. From town to town and port to port, this Via collection aims to give an account of the grandiose musical fusions that occurred between Cuban and African music, reflecting constantly shifting musical scenes, characterized by performances steeped in candor, depth of feeling and sincerity. Includes a 24-page booklet with full-color photos and notes in French and English by Florent Mazzoleni. Produced by Ibrahima Sylla.
2 CD set for $20



Back in stock:

ERNST REIJSEGER - My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done [sndtck] (W&W 169; Germany) This gem came in last month and sold out immediately so we had to get more! Soundtrack to Werner Herzog's film of the same name produced by David Lynch. Vocalist Chavela Vargas was recently named one of NPR's 50 Greatest Voices in recorded history. Featured artists: Ernst Reijseger, Julie Laderach, Djoeke Reijseger, Tom van Lent, Bonno Lange: cellos; Harmen Fraanje: piano; Mola Sylla: voice ; Sandip Bhattacharya: voice, tabla ; Chavela Vargas: vocals and Alan 'Gunga' Purves: percussion
CD $17

OTOMO YOSHIHIDE - Core Anode (IMJ/Meenna 332; Japan) Core Anode is the roaring-sound project of the versatile and multifaceted Otomo Yoshihide, who works in genres ranging from free improvisation to jazz to rock to movie and TV music. The CD contains 3 pieces recorded live at concerts in Tokyo (2002), Copenhagen (2006), and London (2006). The players/numbers of players differed at each performance. In all cases the musicians were outside the audience area, surrounding the listeners, and in all cases they put out nothing but roaring sound.
In Tokyo the players were Otomo Yoshihide (guitar), Atsuhiro Ito (optron), Masahiro Uemura (drums), and Itoken (drums); in Copenhagen, Otomo (guitar), Ryoichi Saito (guitar), Mads Heldtberg (guitar), Nis Bysted (guitar), Yasuhiro Yoshigaki (drums), Andreas Hauer-Jensen (drums), and Toke Tietze Mortensen (drums); and in London, Otomo (turntable, guitar amp), Andrea Neumann (inside piano, mixing desk), Uemura (drums), Sachiko M (sinewaves), Rhodri Davies (harp), Yoshimitsu Ichiraku (drums), Stefano Tedesco (vibraphone), Tim Barnes (timpani, tam-tam, cymbal), Sarah Washington (electronics), Ko Ishikawa (sho, electronics), Matt Davis (trumpet), Angharad Davies (violin), Tom Chant (tenor sax), and Mark Sanders (drums).
CD $17

JOHN CAMERON With HAROLD McNAIR/TONY CARR et al - Kes [sndtck] (Trunk 001; UK) Following the massively successful Clangers and Wicker Man soundtracks, Trunk Records is only too proud to present Kes..... One of the most beautiful unreleased soundtracks of all time. It may be short, but no score is sweeter or more memorable. Artwork comes with sleevenotes by Jarvis Cocker.. "This is the real thing. This is beauty so fragile it hurts. This is music with the Jesses Well & truly off'. Mid priced CD plus limited edition vinyl. Originally recorded at Olympic Studios in 1969, the master tapes have sat silently with the composer John Cameron for over 30 years. The recording itself is a beautiful mixture of wistful pastoral compositions with slight jazz tinges. The musicians themselves read like a who's who of late 60's British Jazz: Harold McNair, Ronnie Ross, David Snell, Tony Carr, and Danny Moss; any recording by these musicians are exceptionally rare and valuable [eg. Harold Mcnair's first LP changes hands for 500 pounds!]"
CD $16



Last copies on SALE!

PRODUCERS [V.A. of LEE 'SCRATCH' PERRY & NINEY THE OBSERVER Productions] - Lee Perry Vs Niney The Observer (One Stop 05; UK) "Lee 'Scratch' Perry needs very little in the way of an introduction. Like so many other Jamaican artists, he began his career at Clement Dodd's legendary Studio One. Apart from his recordings there, Scratch often supervised auditions, and was instrumental in shaping the early career of Delroy Wilson. Indeed, he penned several songs for the latter, mostly casting musical stones on Dodd's behalf, at rivals Duke Reid and Prince Buster. After leaving Studio One, Scratch spent some time working as in house producer for Joe Gibbs. Feeling he wasn't receiving his full due, Perry eventually moved on to set up his own operation, subsequently launching the Upsetter label in Jamaica. In 1969 he signed a deal with Trojan Records, which resulted in the formation of a counterpart Upsetter outlet in the UK. The venture proved almost instantly successful. Perry scored an international hit with only the second release on UK Upsetter, Return Of Django, an instrumental from his Upsetters house band (featuring Val Bennett on sax). Between then and the following year, Perry built a solid reputation for himself, with a series of similarly styled instrumentals. In terms of his signature sound, Scratch continually reached for higher ground, and honed his skills at the console. From 1972 onwards, his productions became increasingly quirky, moving in a similar direction to King Tubby. At the end of 1973, after striking fresh licensing deals with a number of record companies in the UK, he fulfilled his dream by opening his own Black Ark studio. It was here that Perry, finally the master of his own musical destiny, produced groundbreaking music. Using minimal equipment, he produced multi-layered rhythm tracks, which to this day, nobody has been able to emulate. A deal with Island Records followed, but some of his better work was confined to Jamaica, issued on a bewildering variety of his own labels, in 7" and 12" format. These now rank amongst the most sought after records with collectors of Perry's music, and the producer has gained near cult status through his willingness to experiment at the mixing desk. Winston 'Niney' Holness (otherwise known as Sir Niney The Observer, and George Boswell), also spent time at Studio One. In addition, he worked with Bunny Lee, before moving on to join Joe Gibbs. It was here that he came into contact with Lee Perry, and took over the latter's role as in house producer, following Perry's departure. After producing hits on Ken Parker, and Nicky Thomas for Gibbs, he too decided to go his own way. Towards the end of 1970, Niney hit the big time with his second release: Blood And Fire. The single reportedly sold in excess of 30,000 copies in Jamaica, and took the Record Of The Year title for 1971. Indeed, so successful was it, that he cut further versions, including Brimstone And Fire, Mud And Water, Psalms 9 To Keep In Mind, and Lightning And Thunder, which is included here. Like Perry, he launched his own (Observers) label, and applied the same name to his house band. During the period that followed, Niney collaborated with Scratch (and Max Romeo) on some distinctly cultural sides, including When Jah Speak (humorously credited to Murt, Turt & Purt), Rasta Bandwagon (featuring Perry on the intro), and Babyloose Burning (featuring Niney, Romeo and Perry). These, and other recordings, marked out both as 'rebel' producers. It would take a whole series of compilations, to do justice to the output of Niney and Lee Perry. Whilst this is acknowledged, One Stop put a great deal of thought into sampling their output. Not only does this collection aim to showcase the main talents of both producers, it hopes to illustrate their contrasting, yet complimentary signatures sounds as well. Perhaps more importantly, it presents some superbly enjoyable examples of Jamaican popular music, in a sound clash style." Artists include: The Upsetters, The Sons of Selassie, Junior Byles, Niney the Observer, Leroy Sibbles, The Observers, Lee Perry, George Boswell, The Reggae Crusaders, Junior Murvin, David Isaacs, Horace Andy
CD $10.00 7 for 6 SALE.



HUGH HOPPER With ELTON DEAN/PIP PYLE et al - Best Soft (Mantra 806191; EEC) Though poorly annotated, it's a great compilation featuring 12 of the most interesting songs composed by Hugh Hopper, ex-Soft Machine bass player, from solo albums and Hopper-led sessions issued under his name 1973-1983:
Hopper Tunity Box, Gnatprong, Spanish Knee, Lily Kong, Golden Section, Minipax 1, Brass Wind Bells - Anguishy, Waffle Dust, Punkom, Minitrue Reprise, Oyster Perpetual, and [Ornette's] Lonely Woman
CD $12.00 7 for 6 SALE.


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Top-Notch remasters by engineer whiz/prog archivist Mark Powell & Esoteric:

SOFT MACHINE [KARL JENKINS/JOHN MARSHALL/JOHN ETHERIDGE/RICK SAUNDERS/STEVE COOK] - Alive And Well: Recorded Live In Paris, July 7-9 1977 - Expanded Edition [2 CD set] (Esoteric 2 2234; UK) The long overdue release of an expanded 2CD remastered edition of the classic 1978 live album Alive & Well Recorded In Paris by the celebrated Jazz and Rock group Soft Machine. The album was the band's third for EMI's Harvest label and featured a line-up of KARL Jenkins (Piano, Electric Keyboards, Synthesiser), John Marshall (Drums), John Etheridge (Acoustic and Electric Guitars) and new members Steve Cook (Bass Guitar, formerly East Of Eden) and Ric Sanders (Violin; formerly Fairport Convention).
The final live recordings to be released by the band during their lifetime, Alive & Well was the product of several nights of excellent concerts at Le Palace Theatre in Monmartre, Paris, July 7-9 1977. The album was initially released as a single album, although the discovery of multi-track masters of more tunes in the archives has resulted in a CD of additional material from those 3 days
Unavailable officially on CD for nearly fifteen years, this Esoteric Recordings reissue has been re-mastered from the original master tapes and fully restores the original artwork. Additional bonus: both sides of the Soft Space 7" single added at the end of CD 2!
2 CD set for $24

PFM [P.F.M.: PREMIATA FORNERIA MARCONI] - Cook: Complete Central Park NYC 1974 Concert.. PLUS! [ltd 3 CD set] (Esoteric/Manticore 1011; UK) Premiata Forneria Marconi, better known in English speaking countries as P.F.M., were arguably the finest Italian Progressive rock band of the 1970 s and certainly one of the most well known.
A successful act in their home land, they came to international attention when they signed to Emerson, Lake and Palmer's label Manticore in 1973. In 1974 the band toured the United States and Canada to great acclaim, Recording material at concerts in Toronto University 8/22/74 and Central Park New York City 8/31/74. The following year edited highlights were released by Manticore as the live album cook. Disc One is the remaster of that album's original mix.
This newly re-mastered limited edition boxed set of the album also includes two additional CDs featuring the band s entire set of their concert in Central Park, NYC on August 31st 1974, newly remixed from the original 16-track master tapes!
3 CD set for $33

GILGAMESH [ALAN GOWEN/PHIL LEE/JEFF CLYNE/MIKE TRAVIS/AMANDA PARSONS] - Gilgamesh (Esoteric 2242; UK) Gilgamesh was Canterbury keyboardist Alan Gowen's first professional band that he led, before he joined National Health. Re-mastered release of the classic 1975 self- titled debut album by Gilgamesh.
These Canterbury stylists were formed in 1972 with the core of the band built around Alan Gowen on keyboards and Mike Travis on drums. At various times the line-up included former caravan and hatfield & the north member Richard Sinclair, Mont Campbell (formerly of Egg) and Neil Murray
The group's debut album was recorded for Virgin's Caroline label in 1975 and featured a line-up of Alan Gowen (keyboards), Phil Lee (guitar), Jeff Clyne (bass) and Mike Travis (drums). Unavailable on CD for over ten years, Gilgamesh is a classic of the Canterbury style and is sure to be a much sought after release by all aficionados of the genre.
CD $20

PIERRE MOERLEN'S GONG With HANSFORD ROWE/ROSS RECORD/BENOIT MOERLEN/STEVE WINWOOD/MIKE OLDFIELD/MICK TAYLOR et al - Downwind (Esoteric 2235; UK) The impressive Downwind is the first release from the band under its new moniker, Pierre Moerlen's Gong, as Moerlen assumes creative control and dominance. The release marks a return to vocals/lyrics, which proves only partially successful. Moerlen's voice is a hit on the opener, the rocking "Aeroplane," and the collective vocals on the fast-paced, percussive "Jin-Go-Lo-Ba" (popularized by Santana) are right on target. His singing is weak, though, on "What You Know" and detracts from the song's quality. Mick Taylor makes his only appearance here with an exceptional guitar solo. Downwind is also a return to compositions dominated by rock structures and styles, the jazz element minimal this time around. The instrumental cuts are sublime: "Emotions" and "Xtasea" are relaxing; "Crosscurrents" and "Downwind" are energetic and exciting. The title cut is easily the highlight of the album, featuring guest appearances by Steve Winwood (moog, synth) and guitarist Mike Oldfield. At almost 13 minutes, this thrilling composition resembles the early work of Oldfield, particularly strains of "Tubular Bells, Pt. 1," and specifically the section used for the film The Exorcist. On "Downwind," Moerlen's percussives are ablaze, recalling his "Percolations" performance from Gazeuse. Bassist Hansford Rowe is prominent, and saxophonist Didier Malherbe, a longtime Gong staple, makes his only appearance on the album. ~ David Ross Smith, AMG
CD $20

PIERRE MOERLEN'S GONG With HANSFORD ROWE/BEN LOZAGA/PETER LEMER/ALLAN HOLDSWORTH et al - Time Is The Key (Esoteric 2236; UK) The instrumental Time Is the Key ushers Moerlen's Gong into the new age. A lighter version of their previous release, Downwind, the band plays mostly progressive rock-based compositions with a drastically different personnel. Peter Lemer's keys, coupled with the sound of vibes and electravibe in particular, give the music a generic, new age sound at times. Hanny Rowe is a prominent figure on most of the cuts, his playing being one of the most memorable aspects of this album. Gong never had such a strong bassist -- their music never stressed it -- but Rowe is up front here, displaying leadership capabilities by occasionally carrying the music. This is most evident on the carnival-like "Supermarket" and "An American in England." As on Downwind, the jazz element is minimal, showing up only in "Arabesque Intro & Arabesque," the most impressive material on the disc. Here, Allan Holdsworth (who appears on only three cuts) plays lead over Bon Lozaga's rhythm, and Moerlen's heavyweight percussion and tympani take the prize. Other percussive highlights include the opener, "Ard Na Greine" (vibes and tympani), and the guitar-rocking "Bender." ~ David Ross Smith, AMG
CD $20

PIERRE MOERLEN'S GONG With HANSFORD ROWE/BEN LOZAGA et al - Leave It Open (Esoteric 2250; UK) By the late 1970s percussionist Pierre Moerlen had taken over the leadership of Gong and had Steered the band away from psychedelic space rock and took the band into a jazz rock direction, one in which the band Excelled. After recording several albums with virgin, Moerlen signed with Arista Records in 1978. Following the albums Downwind , Time Is The Key and Live (also available on Esoteric), Moerlen's band recorded. This classic final album with Hansford Rowe on bass and Bon Lozaga on guitar.
CD $20

PIERRE MOERLEN'S GONG With HANSFORD ROWE/BEN LOZAGA/DIDIER MALHERBE/MIKE OLDFIELD et al - Live (Esoteric 2251; UK) Following the albums Downwind and Time Is The Key (also available on Esoteric), Moerlen's Band recorded this classic live album. With Hansford Rowe on bass and Bon Lozaga on guitar. The live recordings also saw saxophonist and flautist Didier Malherbe contribute along with special guest Mike Oldfield.
CD $20

HERE & NOW [PLANET GONG] - All Over The Show (Esoteric 2223; UK) Esoteric Recordings are pleased to release a newly re-mastered and expanded edition of the classic 1979 live album All Over The Show by the underground New Wave Hippy outfit HERE & NOW. Following their partnership with Daevid Allen and Gilli Smyth in Planet Gong, the group recorded their debut album for Charly Records. Embraced by DJ John Peel, Here & Now found favour with both the emerging Punk audience aswell as a more traditional Hippy and Underground following. The release of Give and Take led to the band undertaking a series of live dates which were recorded for this live album issued in 1979. All Over the Show perfectly captures the mood of Britain in the late 1970s and is long overdue for reappraisal.
CD $20

HERE & NOW [PLANET GONG] - Give And Take (Esoteric 2222; UK) Esoteric Recordings are pleased to release a newly re-mastered and expanded edition of the classic 1978 album Give & Take by the underground New Wave Hippy outfit Here & Now. Following their partnership with Daevid Allen and Gilli Smyth in Planet Gong, the group recorded this debut album for Charly Records, along with a three track EP which features as bonus tracks on this release. Embraced by DJ John Peel, Here & Now found favour with both the emerging Punk audience as well as a more traditional Hippy and Underground following.
CD $20

KEITH CHRISTMAS - Tomorrow Never Ends - The Anthology: Brighter Day/Stories From The Human Zoo ..Plus! [2 CD set] (Esoteric/Manticore 2 1012; UK) Keith Christmas had a respected and acclaimed career prior to signing to ELP's Manticore label in 1973. He had played guitar on David Bowie's Space Oddity album and had recorded three albums for RCA Records and B&C Records before arriving at Manticore to record the album Brighter Day for the label.
Featuring a host of guest musicians such as former King Crimson members Ian Wallace, Mel Collins and Ian Macdonald and produced by Greg Lake and Pete Sinfield, the album was both imaginative and varied and enjoyed a world wide release bringing Keith smusic to a wider audience. Enjoying a series of prestigious support slots for artists such as The Who, Frank Zappa and Roxy Music, Keith recorded a clutch of singles and a second album for Manticore, Stories From The Human Zoo in 1976 in California. A polished work, the album featured contributions from noted Stax session musicians Steve Cropper and Donald Duck Dunn and Snuffy Walden from fellow Manticore act Stray Dog.
This anthology has been re-mastered from the original analogue master tapes and includes every track from both of Keith's Manticore albums, rare singles and three previously unissued out-takes from the Brighter Day sessions. Tomorrow Never Ends is a fine tribute to a fine musician.
2 CD set for $24

BRAINBOX [JAN AKKERMAN et al] - Brainbox: Expanded Edition (Esoteric 2241; UK) Formed in the winter of1968, Brainbox was a legendary dutch rock group that featured star guitarist Jan Akkerman and vocalist Kaz Lux within their ranks he band's debut album featured such incredible work as Dark Rose,Summertime, Scarborough Fair and the epic 16 minute Track Sea Of Delight. Inspired by British acts of the day, Brainbox were equal to the talent of groups such as Taste and Jethro Tull and their debut album secured a world wide release by EMI records in 1969.
Soon after the album appeared Jan Akkerman departed to join Focus, but Brianbox continued to record a host of classic singles and a second LP with drummer Pierre Van Der Linden also joining Focus.
This Esoteric recordings re-mastered edition is the first ever UK CD release of the album and features ELEVEN BONUS tracks taken from the band single releases of 1969 and 1970: quite simply Brainbox is a Dutch classic.
CD $20

THE CRAZY WORLD OF ARTHUR BROWN/RUSTIC HINGE - Strangelands + Replicas (Esoteric 2258; UK) Esoteric Recordings are pleased to release the classic lost album by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Strangelands. Recorded in the Autumn of 1969, the sessions were an attempt to resurrect the Crazy World by Arthur Brown and featured some classic material. Divided into four sub-headings, ( The Country, The City, The Cosmos and The Afterlife ), Strangelands was certainly ahead of its time but failed to gain a full release for nearly two decades. In hindsight, the material can be seen as the blueprint for Arthur's next project, the innovative Kingdom Come.
This Esoteric Recordings reissue also adds the legendary Replicas sessions by Rustic Hinge. Featuring Crazy World drummer Drachan Theaker and guitarist Andy Rickell, the project was originally intended to feature Arthur Brown as vocalist and also featured the legendary High Tide guesting on one track. With Brown leaving the group to form the first incarnation of Kingdom Come, Rustic Hinge would eventually release material on John Peel's Dandelion label, whilst the Replicas sessions would remain unreleased for a further 20 years. This Esoteric reissue has been newly re-mastered and includes a new essay
CD $20

TONY WILLIAMS LIFETIME With JOHN McLAUGHLIN & LARRY YOUNG - Emergency (Esoteric 2256; UK) 2011 Mark Powell remastered edition. First album by the legendary jazz / rock / fusion outfit Tony Williams Lifetime. The group was founded by former Miles Davis drummer Tony Williams in 1969 out of his desire to fuse the influences of modern jazz and rock music. Recruiting legendary British guitarist John McLaughlin and organist Larry Young, Williams recorded the album Emergency!. It was a stunning and seminal work that divided critics in both jazz and rock but is now rightly regarded as being a groundbreaking work. This Esoteric Recordings edition is newly re-mastered and restores the original album artwork and includes a new essay. "Tony Williams' Emergency was one of the first and most influential albums [originally a 2 LP set found complete here on 1 CD] in late-'60s fusion, a record that shattered the boundaries between jazz and rock. Working with guitarist John McLaughlin and organist Larry Young, Williams pushed into new territory, creating dense, adventurous, unpredictable soundscapes. With Emergency, Tony Williams helped create the foundation of the style and sound of fusion - and I don't mean the pretty wallpaper/slick unison chops stuff, but the abrasive collision between the worlds of rock and jazz, predating even Miles's work, who freely admitted that this came first!
One of the essential recordings of all time - and a key McLaughlin recording alongside his first 3 solo albums and the first edition ['71-'73] of Mahavishnu Orchestra!!!" - MannyLunch
CD $20
also available as 1997 mastered U.S. CD for $15

TONY WILLIAMS LIFETIME With JOHN McLAUGHLIN/LARRY YOUNG/JACK BRUCE - Turn It Over (Esoteric 2257; UK) [This 2011 Mark Powell remastered edition adds the singles cut One Word]Recruiting legendary British guitarist John McLaughlin and organist Larry Young, Williams recorded the album Emergency!. It was a stunning and seminal work that divided critics in both jazz and rock but is now rightly regarded as being a groundbreaking work. In 1970 legendary bassist & vocalist Jack Bruce joined the group to record the outstanding Turn It Over. Far ahead of itstime, the album was to influence future fusion groups. "The better of the two albums the Tony Williams Lifetime recorded in 1970, Turn It Over, is a far more focused and powerful album than the loose, experimental Ego, and one of the more intense pieces of early jazz-rock fusion around. In parts, it's like Jimi Hendrix's Band of Gypsys with much better chops. It's more rock-oriented and darker-hued than their debut, 1969's Emergency!, and the temporary addition of ex-Cream member Jack Bruce on bass and vocals alongside stalwart guitarist John McLaughlin [with whom Bruce recorded the instrumental album'Things We Like' just before this] makes this something of a milestone of British progressive jazz. The album's primary flaw is that unlike the expansive double album Emergency!, these ten songs are tightly constricted into pop-song forms -- only a swinging cover of Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Once I Loved" breaks the five-minute mark, and then only barely -- which reins in these marvelous soloists too much. This is particularly frustrating since pieces like the two-part "To Whom It May Concern" feature some outstanding solos (especially from McLaughlin and organist Larry Young, the group's secret weapon) that are frustratingly, tantalizingly short. Expanded to a double album, Turn It Over would probably surpass Emergency! as a pioneering jazz-rock fusion release; as it is, it's an exciting but mildly maddening session." - Stewart Mason, AMG
Too bad Esoteric didn't take the opportunity to release Bill Laswell's re-produced expanded/unedited version - with several tracks that have never seen the light of day - which has been completed and in the can for over twelve years, but put on indefinite hold ever since Universal bought Polygram/Verve. I've heard that and it's a joy! Shame!!! - MannyLunch
CD $20
also available as 1997 mastered U.S. CD for $15

RANDY CALIFORNIA - Kaptain Kopter And The Fabulous Twirlybirds (Esoteric 2227; UK) Recorded after the guitarist had departed legendary West Coast outfit Spirit after their classic 4th album Twelve Dreams Of Doctor Sardonicus, the album would be California's first solo venture and soon became a Psychedelic Rock classic. Among his own compositions, California recorded imaginative cover versions of material by other artists such as The Beatles and Paul Simon. Joined by SPIRIT drummer Ed Cassidy and bass player Larry Fuzzy Knight, this trio would soon take on the Spirit moniker. The re-mastered Esoteric edition includes three bonus tracks: both sides of a rare promotional-only single and the instrumental track Rebel.
CD $20

GINGER BAKER/ADRIAN GURVITZ ARMY - Hearts On Fire (Esoteric 2249; UK) a newly remastered edition of the classic 1976 final album by the legendary Baker Gurvitz Army. Formed by former gun and three man army members Adrian Gurvitz (guitar, vocals), Paul Gurvitz (bass, vocals) and virtuoso drummer Ginger Baker, the Baker Gurvitz Army Recorded three of the finest british rock music of the mid-1970s.
The recording of elysian encounter saw the band expanded with the addition of vocalist Mr. Snips(Steve Parsons) and keyboard player Peter Lemer. By the time hearts of fire was recorded John Norman Mitchell had replaced Peter Lemer on keyboards and vibes. Another fine work, the album featured such classic material as flying in and out of stardom , Thirsty For The Blues and Night People . This Esoteric Recordings reissue has been newly remastered and features the live bonus track 'wotever It Is' and booklet with new essay and fully restored artwork.
CD $20

GINGER BAKER/ADRIAN GURVITZ ARMY - Elysian Encounter (Esoteric 2248; UK) Re Mastered edition of the classic 1975 second album by the legendary Baker Gurvitz Army. Formed by former Gun and Three Man Army members Adrian Gurvitz (guitar, vocals), Paul Gurvitz (bass, vocals) and virtuoso drummer Ginger Baker, the Baker Gurvitz Army recorded three of the finest British rock music of the mid-1970s.
The recording of Elysian Encounter saw the band expanded with the addition of vocalist Mr. Snips (Steve Parsons) and keyboard player Peter Lemer. Arguably the Band's finest work, this edition of the CD includes 2 bonus live cuts.
CD $20

RENAISSANCE I [KEITH RELF/JIM McCARTY/JANE RELF et al] - Renaissance (Esoteric 2231; UK) newly remastered and expanded edition of the classic 1970 debut album by RENAISSANCE. Although the band would later find fame with a completely different line-up, Renaissance began life as a group formed by former Yardbirds members Keith Relf and Jim Mccarthy. Joined by vocalist jane relf, keyboard player john hawken and bassist Louis Cennamo, Renaissance successfully melded Classical, Folk and Rock influences into a unique sound that perfectly suited the emerging Progressive era.
Released by Island Records in 1970, the album featured the mighty Kings & Queens, along with the excellent Island and Bullet. This Esoteric Recordings edition is newly re-mastered and adds both sides of the band's first single as bonus tracks
CD $20

RENAISSANCE I [KEITH RELF/JIM McCARTY/JANE RELF et al] - Illusion (Esoteric 2232; UK) Esoteric Recordings announce the release of a newly remastered and expanded edition of the classic second album by Renaissance.
Although the band would later find fame with a completely different line-up, Renaissance began life as a group formed by former Yardbirds members Keith Relf and Jim Mccarthy. Joined by vocalist Jane Relf, keyboard player John Hawken and bassist Louis Cennamo, Renaissance successfully melded Classical, Folk and Rock influences into a unique sound that perfectly suited the emerging Progressive era. Recorded soon after the band's self-titled debut, (also released by Esoteric thismonth), Illusion sessions saw the departure of Jim Mccarthy and John Hawken and was completed with a different line-up. As a result the album only gained a European release by Island. Despite this fate, the album contained excellent material such as the lengthy Past Orbits Of Dust.
This Esoteric Recordings edition is newly re-mastered and adds three bonus tracks, two recorded for the 1970 unreleased film Schizom and a 1976 demo by Keith Relf.
CD $20

ILLUSION [RENAISSANCE I: JANE RELF/JIM McCARTY et al] - Out Of The Mist (Esoteric 2259; UK) Esoteric Recordings follow the successful reissues of the first two Renaissance albums with the re-mastered edition of this classic debut album by Illusion. Jane Relf (Vocals), Jim Mccarty (Vocals, Guitar, Percussion), John Hawken (Keyboards) and Louis Cennamo (Bass), came together in 1976 as a re-uniting of the original Renaissance [Mark I], using the name of the second Renaissance album as the groups new name. Keith Relf unfortunately died from an electocution accident at home while working on demos for this new venture. Recruiting Lead Guitarist John Knightsbridge and drummer and percussionist Eddie Mcneil, the band signed to Island Records. Their debut album was an updated version of the classical and folk inspired Progressive Rock that had been explored on the first two Renaissance albums. Featuring outstanding material such as Isadora, Roads to Freedom and Candles Are Burning, the album Out Of The Mist was a fine debut.
CD $20

ILLUSION [RENAISSANCE I: JANE RELF/JIM McCARTY et al] - Illusion (Esoteric 2260; UK) Esoteric Recordings follow the successful reissues of the first two RENAISSANCE albums with the remastered edition of this classic second and final album by ILLUSION. Featuring original RENAISSANCE members JANE RELF (Vocals), JIM McCARTY (Vocals, Guitar, Percussion), JOHN HAWKEN (Keyboards) and LOUIS CENNAMO (Bass), ILLUSION came together in 1976 following the death of original RENAISSANCE vocalist KEITH RELF (originally vocalist with The Yardbirds). Recruiting Lead Guitarist JOHN KNIGHTSBRIDGE and drummer and percussionist EDDIE McNEIL, the band assumed the name of ILLUSION (taken from the title of the second Renaissance album) and signed to Island Records.
Their debut album was an updated version of the classical and folk inspired Progressive Rock that had been explored on the first two Renaissance albums. Well received, this was followed by the release of the self-titled ILLUSION in 1978. Produced by former Yardbird PAUL SAMWELL SMITH, the album was as fine as its predecessor, featuring such material as MADONNA BLUE, WINGS ACROSS THE SEA and THE REVOLUTIONARY.
CD $20

MACHIAVEL - Jester (Esoteric 2224; UK) the release of a newly re-mastered and expanded edition of the classic 1977 album by Belgian Progressive Rock legends Machiavel. Signing to EMI'S Harvest label in 1976, the band recorded this, their second album the following year. Featuring Mario Guccio (vocals), Jean Paul Devaux (Guitar), Albert Letecheur (keyboards), Roland De Greef(Bass) and Marc Y Saye (Drums), this excellent group sang in English and drew on many influences to create their own brand of Progressive music. Extremely popular in Europe, Machiavel blended power, melody and symphonic touches to create a style uniquely their own.
CD $20

MACHIAVEL - Mechanical Moonbeams (Esoteric 2225; UK) classic 1978 album by Belgian Progressive Rock legends Machiavel. Signing to EMI's Harvest label in 1976, the band recorded this, their third album, in 1978. Featuring Mario Guccio (vocals), Jean Paul Devaux (Guitar), Albert Letecheur (keyboards), Roland De Greef(Bass) and Marc Y Saye (Drums), this excellent group sang in English and drew on many influences to create their own brand of Progressive music. Extremely popular in Europe, Machiavel blended power, melody and symphonic touches to create a style uniquely their own. Mechanical Moonbeams is arguably their finest hour, hailed by many as a Mellotron soaked masterpiece. This Esoteric Recordings reissue has been re-mastered from the master tapes and includes two bonus tracks
CD $20

LOCOMOTIVE - We Are Everything You See (Esoteric 2228; UK) classic album We Are Everything You See by Locomotive. Issued by Parlophone in January 1970, it was the only album by the Birmingham based group fronted by keyboard player Norman Haines and was recorded in 1969.
Featuring the psychedelic classic Mr. Armageddon , the album was a marvellous fusion of jazz, psychedelia and early progressive music and was produced by Gus Dudgeon and graced by guest musicians Dick Heckstall Smith, Henry Lowther and Chris Mercer.
Featuring such wonderful material as Lay Me Down Gently , You Must Be Joking And Rain , this remastered Esoteric edition includes six bonus tracks, comprising the Mono single versions of Mr. Armageddon and You Must Be Joking , rare B-sides and both sides of the band's final single.
CD $20

THE DOG THAT BIT PEOPLE [LOCOMOTIVE] - The Dog That Bit People (Esoteric 2229; UK) the release the classic album by Birmingham outfit The Dog That Bit People. Issued by Parlophone in 1971, it was the only album by the group that had evolved from the ashes of legendary band Locomotive by Bass player Mick Hincks and drummer Bob Lamb. Joined by keyboard player Keith Millar and guitarist John Caswell, the group recorded this album for EMI Records in 1970.
Bizarrely issued on the Parlophone label instead of EMI s Progressive imprint Harvest, the album originally failed to sell and original LP copies now command sums in excess of L500 among collectors. Featuring such excellent material as Goodbye Country , The Monkey & The Sailor and Reptile Man , the album combined harder edged rock with more subtle acoustic influences.
CD $20

DOG SOLDIER [KEEF HARTLEY/MILLER ANDERSON et al] - Dog Soldier (Esoteric 2252; UK) the first official cd release of the album Dog Soldier. Formed by Miller Anderson and Keef Hartley upon the demise of the Keef Hartley Band. Also featuring Mel Simpson (Keyboards), Paul Bliss (Bass) And Derek Griffiths (Lead Guitar), The Album Was Recorded In 1974 And Featured Excellent material such as Pillar To Post , Thieves And Robbers and the twelve minute long Looks Like Rain . Originally released on the United Artists label in 1975, the album has never received an official CD release until now. This Esoteric Recordings edition has been remastered from the original master tapes and features a previously unreleased version of looks like rain as a bonus tracks
CD $20

PETER BARDENS - The Answer (Esoteric 2221; UK) Esoteric Recordings are pleased to release a newly remastered and expanded edition of the classic 1970 album The Answer by the legendary keyboard player and Camel member Peter Bardens. Prior to Bardens joining Andrew Latimer and co. to form Camel, he recorded two excellent solo albums for Transatlantic Records. The first of these was The Answer. The album included the side long opus Homage To The God Of Light, later performed by Camel in their live sets. The album is expanded with both sides of the only single released by Bardens outfit Village, a group who also included future Elvis Costello band member Bruce Thomas and lasted just a few months in 1969.
CD $20

PETER BARDENS - Peter Bardens (Esoteric 2220; UK) Esoteric Recordings are pleased to release a newly remastered and expanded edition of the classic 1971 selftitled second album by the legendary keyboard player and Camel member Peter Bardens. Prior to Bardens joining Andrew Latimer and co. to form Camel, he recorded two excellent solo albums for Transatlantic Records. The first of these was The Answer (also released thismonth on Esoteric) and this superb eponymous second album. The album included such excellent tracks as Write My Name in the Dust and did much to enhance Bardens reputation as a musician and composer.
The music on both of Bardens solo albumswould also map the route that he would take as a member of Camel. Both Peter Bardens releases have been newly re-mastered from the original master tapes.
CD $20

GRAHAM BOND - Mighty Grahame Bond (Esoteric 2240; UK) In 1968 Graham Bond left the britain after the collapse of the Graham Bond Organisation to make two legendary albums for mercury records in the us. In Los Angeles, he recorded love is the law, soon followed by Mighty Grahame Bond. Both records saw Bond play all instruments on the album (except drums) & featured material that featured jazz influences alongside emerging psychedelic & underground rock influences resulting in a truly unique and highly sought after work,
Laced with fine musicianship and mystical lyrics. Previously bootlegged on cd with poor quality sound, this esoteric release of Mighty Grahame Bond joins the release of love is the law and has been re- mastered from the original master tapes and restores the original artwork with a new essay to make the definitive edition of this classic album
CD $20

GRAHAM BOND - Love Is The Law (Esoteric 2239; UK) In 1968 Graham Bond left the Britain after the collapse of the Graham Bond Organisation to record two legendary albums for mercury records in the us. Recorded in Los Angeles, Love Is The Law saw Bond play all instruments on the album (except drums) & featured material that featured jazz influences alongside emerging psychedelic & underground rock influences resulting in a truely unique and highly sought after work, laced with fine musicianship and mystical lyrics.
Previously bootlegged on CD with poor quality sound, this esoteric release of love is the law has been re-mastered from the original master tapes and restores the original artwork with a new essay to make the definitive edition of this classic album.
CD $20

BOX OF FROGS [CHRIS DREJA/PAUL SAMWELL-SMITH/JIM McCARTY et al] - Strange Land (Esoteric 2254; UK) a newly remastered edition of the second and final album by Box Of Frogs. The band comprised former Yardbird members Chris Dreja, Paul Samwell-Smith, Jim Mccarty who were joined by former Medicine Had and British Lions guitarist and vocalist John Fiddler. The band's debut album for epic records featured special guests Jeff Beck and Rory Gallagher, along with harmonica player Mark Feltham and keyboard players Mx Middleton and Geraint Watkins. For their final album John Fiddler departed half way through recording and guest vocalists Ian Dury, Roger Chapman and Graham Parker guested. Strange land also featured guest appearances by guitarists Jimmy Page and Steve Hackett. This Esoteric recordings edition has been remastered from the original master tapes and features the bonus track I Keep Calling .
CD $20

BOX OF FROGS [CHRIS DREJA/PAUL SAMWELL-SMITH/JIM McCARTY et al] - Box Of Frogs (Esoteric 2253; UK) a newly remastered edition of the eponymous debut album by Box Of Frogs. The band comprised former Yardbird members Chris Dreja, Paul Samwell-Smith, Jim Mccarty who were joined by former Medicine Head and British Lions guitarist and vocalist John Fiddler. Their debut album for epic records featured special guests Jeff Beck and Rory Gallagher, along with harmonica player Mark Feltham and keyboard players Mx Middleton and Geraint Watkins, resulting in a special album. This Esoteric Recordings edition has been remastered from the original master tapes and features the bonus tracks x-tracks and nine lives .
CD $20

JON ANDERSON - In The City Of Angels (Esoteric 2246; UK) Esoteric Recordings are pleased to release a newly re mastered edition of Jon Anderson's1988 studio album in the City Of Angels. The Yes front-man recorded the album in Los Angeles with members of the band Toto and featured the hit single Hold On To Love (co-written by Anderson and Motown records genius Lamont Dozier).
Arguably the most commercial album recorded by Jon, in the City Of Angels boasted fine musicianship From Luminaries Such As Jeff Pocaro, Steve Luthaker And Mike Pocaro, And Excellent Production By Stewart Levine. Unavailable on CD for some time, this Esoteric Recordings reissue is newly remastered and includes the single edit of hold on to love as a bonus track.
CD $20

JOHN LEES - A Major Fancy [2 CD set] (Esoteric 2 2233; UK) the release of an expanded 2CD re-mastered edition of the classic 1977 album A Major Fancy by Barclay James Harvest guitarist and vocalist John Lees.
Although originally released in 1977 by EMI's HARVEST label, the album was recorded between December 1972 and January 1973 at Abbey Road studios and Strawberry Studios in Stockport. Produced by WALLY ALLEN of the PRETTY THINGS, the album sessions featured a host of notable guest musicians including ERIC STEWART and KEVIN GODLEY (of 10CC), SKIP ALLEN (PRETTY THINGS), GORDON EDWARDS (PRETTY THINGS) and ROD ARGENT (ZOMBIES& ARGENT). The sessions for A MAJOR FANCY also gave birth to the classic CHILD OF THE UNIVERSE along with impressive material such as UNTITLED No. 1 HERITAGE , LONG SHIPS , WITBURGNIGHT and KES (A MAJOR FANCY). Deleted for some years, this Esoteric Recordings edition has been newly re-mastered and includes a bonus CD featuring five previously unreleased out-takes including the song UNTITLED No. 8 and a first version of CHILD OF THE UNIVERSE with different lyrics. Also included are both sides of John's rare 1974 Polydor single, THE BEST OF MY LOVE / YOU CAN'T GET IT , and an out-take from those sessions, Please Be With Me.TI
2 CD set for $23

SKIN ALLEY - Two Quid Deal (Esoteric 2244; UK) Esoteric Recordings are pleased to release a newly re-mastered edition of the third album by legendary Ladbroke Grove underground act Skin Alley, Two Quid Deal.
Formed in 1969, Skin Alley were part of the infamous Clearwater stable that included fellow acts such as Hawkwind, High Tide and Trees. Skin Alley's infectious fusion of jazz and rock was suited to the time and the band became a regular attraction on the underground festival and concert circuit.
Signing to CBS records in the autumn of 1969, the band recorded two albums for the label and underwent a change to their line- up before departing cbs and appearing at the 1971 Glastonbury Fayre. Soon after the band signed to transatlantic records and recorded their third album at Rockfield studios with producer fritz fryer. Arguably their finest effort, two quid deal includes the classic sun music (recorded in a different version for the album Glastonbury Fayre ), Nick's Seven, Skin Valley Serenarge & Graveyard Shuffle. This reissue is re-mastered from the original tapes, restores all of the original album artwork & includes two bonus tracks.
CD $20

SKIN ALLEY - Big Brother Is Watching You : The CBS Recordings Anthology [2 CD set] (Esoteric 2 2243; UK) Esoteric Recordings are pleased to release a two CD anthology by legendary Ladbroke Grove underground act Skin Alley. Formed in 1969, Skin Alley were part of the infamous CLearwater stable that included fellow acts such as Hawkwind, High TIde and Trees. Skin alley's infectious fusion of jazz and rock was suited to the time and the band became a regular attraction on the underground festival and concert circuit. Signing to cbs records in the autumn of 1969, the band recorded their debut album with producer dick taylor (former guitarist with the pretty things).
Famous for its Policeman cover, the album featured excellent tracks such as Living In Sin, Tell Me, Country Aire & Night Time. Prior to the release of their second album skin alley recorded a soundtrack album for the film Stop Veruschka! About the infamous German model. A wonderful set of music & songs, the album was shelved in favour of a new set of recordings that was released as the album to Pagham & Beyond. This anthology includes all tracks from that second album, plus the entire unreleased Stop Veruschka! Soundtrack. Re-mastered from the original master tapes, Big Brother is watching you is a fine tribute to one of britain's greatest underground acts of the early 1970s.
CD $23

TITUS GROAN - Titus Groan (Esoteric 2226; UK) newly remastered and expanded edition of the classic 1970 album by British Progressive Rock band TITUS GROAN. The band signed to Pye's Dawn imprint in 1970, recording a sole album and three track Maxi Single for the label. Featuring a line-up of STEWART COWELL (vocals, guitar, keyboards), TONY PRIESTLAND (sax, oboe, flute), JOHN LEE (bass) and JOHN TOOMEY (drums), the band's only album was a jazz influenced early Prog classic and included the epic track Hall Of Bright Carvings (recently featured on Esoteric Recordings acclaimed 3cd Pye / Dawn anthology Cave Of Clear Light ). This expanded edition has been re-mastered from the original master tapes, restores the album artwork and features three bonus tracks.
CD $20

UTOPIA [TODD RUNDGREN/KASIM SULTON/ROGER POWELL/WILLIE WILCOX] - POV (Esoteric 2255; UK) newly remastered & expanded edition of the classic 1985 album Pov by Utopia. Pov was the final studio album by Todd Rundgren, Kasim Sulton, Roger Powell & Willie Wilcox. Following on the heels of Oblivion, the album retained the usual qurikyness & musical excellence associated with Utopia. Featuring classics such as Zen Machine, Mystified and Play This Game, this new edition includes three bonus tracks taken from a rare single b-side and two songs recorded in 1986 for the utopia compilation trivia. The reissue also includes an essay with an exclusive interview with Todd Rundgren.
CD $20

UTOPIA [TODD RUNDGREN/KASIM SULTON/ROGER POWELL/WILLIE WILCOX] - Oblivion [CD + DVD] (Esoteric 2 2237; UK) the release of a deluxe CD & DVD set featuring a newly re-mastered edition of the classic 1983 album oblivion by Utopia and the first ever European DVD release of the concert film live at the Royal Oak, Detroit filmed in 1981.
The album oblivion saw Todd Rundgren, Kasim Sulton, Roger Powell & Willie Wilcox strike out on their own, funding the recording themselves and in the process producing an album of startling originality. Featuring such classic tracks as Itch In My Brain, Cry Baby, Love With A Thinker And Winston Smith Takes It On The Jaw,Oblivion Was One Of Utopia's Finest Later Albums.
The concert video Live At The Royal Oak was shot in Detroit towards the end of utopia's tenure with Bearsville records and saw the band in fine form. The DVD includes superb renditions of Utopia classics such as One World, Caravan, Love In Action And Lysistrada.
In this set the DVD element is completed by the inclusion of the 1983 promotional video for the single release of Cry Baby from the album Oblivion.
CD + DVD for $23

UTOPIA [TODD RUNDGREN/KASIM SULTON/ROGER POWELL/WILLIE WILCOX] - Redux 92: Live In Japan [CD + DVD] (Esoteric 2 2238; UK) the release of a deluxe cd & dvd set featuring a newly remastered edition of the classic 1993 live album Redux 92 by Utopia and the first ever European DVD release of the concert film of the same name.
Following the release of the album Pov in 1985, Todd Rundgren, Kasim Sulton, Roger Powell & Willie Wilcox disbanded Utopia. Seven years later the group were coaxed out of mothballs to undertake a tour of Japan, during which the band recorded a live album at a concert in Tokyo on 10th may 1992. The concert was also captured by a video crew resulting in a live DVD release which accompanied the live album the following year. Despite a seven year hiatus, Utopia were in fine form.
CD + DVD for $23

MOUNTAIN [LESLIE WEST/FELIX PAPPALARDI/STEVE KNIGHT/CORKY LAING et al] - Crossroader: An Anthology 1970-1974 [2 CD set] (Esoteric 2 2230; UK) Formed in 1969 by guitarist Leslie West and bass player and Cream producer Felix Pappalardi, Mountain also initially comprised a line-up that featured Steve Knight (Keyboards) and N.D. Smart (Drums). Prior to securing a recording contract, the band made an impressive impact at the Woodstock Festival in August of that year. Soon after this appearance N.D. Smart was replaced on drums by Corky Laing and Mountain began their recording career with their debut album CLIMBING, issued in March 1970. Featuring such classic tracks as Mississippi Queen, For Yasgur's Farm and a cover of Jack Bruce's Theme From An Imaginary Western, Mountain established their hallmark sound of powerful rock combined with a more subtle side.
Nantucket Sleighride issued in January 1971 was even more polished, featuring the infamous title track along with Don't Look Around and You Can't Get Away. Later that year Flowers Of Evil continued the pattern of success by featuring studio material such as Crossroader and the album's title track along with a side of live recordings. The live side of the band, a notable attraction on the concert stage, was also represented with the album LIVE (The Road Goes Ever On). Following a hiatus (during which time Leslie West and Corky Laing teamed up with Jack Bruce in West, Bruce & Laing), Mountain reformed with West and Pappalardi joined by keyboard player Robert Mann and drummer Allan Schwartzberg, recording the mighty Twin Peaks live album in Japan in August 1973.
Mountain's final studio offering of the 70s was the album Avalanche which saw Corky Laing return to the band. With the death of Felix Pappalardi in 1983, Leslie West would continue to resurrect Mountain in various guises, but the recordings made between 1970 and 1974 remain the finest work under the Mountain name. This anthology is the most concise collection of Mountain's recordings to date and features the best of the band's work both in the recording studio [Disc 1], and in concert [Disc 2].
2 CD set for $23

DELERIUM [V.A.] - The Last Daze Of The Underground Delerium Records [3 CD set] (Esoteric 3 2245; UK) - 3 CDs!! Over 70 Minutes In Length Detailing This Legendary 1990s UK Underground Psychedelic Label
- Includes the Unique Short Version Of Porcupine Tree's Radioactive Toy Unavailable Elsewhere.
- Detailed Booklet Including For The First Time Ever The History Of The Label By Founder Richard Allen Along With Many Unseen Photos
Delerium Records germinated in 1991 when Richard Allen (free festival frequenter, Freakbeat magazine co-editor and music columnist for Oz/ it revivalist's Encyclopaedia Psychedelica) was encouraged by the legendary us journalist/rock maverick Greg Shaw to create a UK label that would appeal to the many underground bands that had emerged in the uk during the late 1980s. The label's first release was a compilation of international recordings entitled Psychedelic Psauna, which United American, European and UK bands who were then producing a diverse range of psychedelic, space rock and garage rock linked in spirit if unconnected by style. That first release included not only the debut CD appearance of hugely popular free festival act Ozric Tentacles but also the first commercial excursion by a mysterious band called Porcupine Tree, the bedroom project of a young Steven Wilson.
Between 1991 and 2004 Delerium would go on to issue not only the core catalogue of the now world famous Porcupine Tree - including their land mark albums The Sky Moves Sideways and Signify - but would also be responsible for ensuring that a number of important underground UK free festival and neo-psychedelic bands from the 1980s and 1990s were able to secure a recorded legacy including Omnia Opera, Dead Flowers, Treatment, Nukli, Mandragora, Kava Kava, Sons of Selina, Suicidal Flowers, Praise Space Electric, Saddar Bazaar, Dean Carter, Zuvuya and others. The label, driven primarily by Allen's love for Psychedelic Music also signed up European and American artists including us freak folk pioneer Jeff Tarlton (ex Viv Akauldren) Germany's Electric Orange, Italy's Kryptasthesie, Swedens Spacious Mind, Ireland's Steppes, Norway's Tangle Edge and two albums featuring Terence Mckenna the late and legendary Ethnobotanist, and psychedelic philosopher. Delerium sub-label molten saw the release of the first two albums by acclaimed UK heavy rock stoner trio Josiah as well as albums by Danish band On Trial, members of whom would later form danish Garage Rock band Baby Woodrose. Delerium was to be perhaps the last label of the UK musical underground that could directly trace its cultural lineage directly back through the free festival movement to the 1960s Psychedelic Explosion.
3 CD set for $36


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