Taipuva Luotisuora - I. 2005 Finland

Deep in the dark forests of Finlandia, where lurks the mysterious Hidria Spacefolk, hushed whispers abound of another pagan tribe nearby known as Taipuva Luotisuora. On one dark misty night we ventured carefully over, and while peeking through the leaves, we listened to the tribe perform their magical brew. A small, furry group, only numbering five, armed with guitar (electric and acoustic), bass (fuzz), drums, percussion, synthesizers galore (some even fuzzed like the Farfisa’s of previous civilizations), piano, violin, flute, and even kantele (a Finnish zither like instrument). They played with a strong sense of the groove, with gorgeous melodies. They are sometimes quiet, sometimes intense. Always mesmerizing. Sometimes they’d even use modern percussion. In fact this infatuation with modern electronica reminded us of that distant tribe from the land of Hungaria known as Korai Orom. Sometimes we even thought of the ancients like the Ozric Tentacles people. For as much as we tried to walk away and head home, we were entranced, no one could stop their endless stare. We hadn’t felt this way, well, since the last time we visited the Hidria Spacefolk. When it was finished, we looked at each other and thought, Taipuva Luotisuora are the best new tribe we’d visited in years. We raced home to tell what we had saw, but no one knew who we spoke of. Go to the mountaintops and yell ‘Music For Kortela Space Hood Elevators’ we said. And o’er the land, our people were wiser and filled with joy.

Ownership: CD: 2005 Kaakao

I bought this album not long after release, and penned the review above at that time. It's a bit silly, but it does still capture my feelings on it. I listened to it a lot initially, and haven't heard it in 12 years since. Oddly though, my musical memory of it is very strong, so I must have let it inculcate into my brain. In retrospect, perhaps not quite enough depth for a 5 star masterpiece, but still a super album, and one that fans of the genre will not want to miss.

6/7/06 (review); 8/31/18 (new entry)

Redshift - RW2 (Redshift Wild 2). 1996-2002 England

Redshift's Wild series is their name for the band's archival material. Originally conceived as a CD-R only project (similar to country mates Radio Massacre International), they decided the material was worthy of factory CD status. And I agree. Wild 2 is an odds n' sods release of unreleased recordings made up from 1996 to 2002. Only Redshift could release a masterpiece made up of leftovers! The 2 early tracks from 1996 are brilliant 'Prime' (their first ever recording) and 'Heaven Is a Turquoise Avenger'. If you're looking for that thick Moog sound, with complex sequencing, mellotrons, and Edgar Froese styled psychedelic guitar, well then... here you go. I'm always looking for that! Redshift were (are?) the best of the Berlin School revivalists IMO.

Ownership: CD: 2006 Distant Sun

8/30/18 (new entry)

Elohim - Mana Perdu... 1983 France

Start with Seven Stories Into Eight era IQ (that is to say... the beginning), then toss Peter Nicholls out of the band, and invite instead Christian Decamps or Dominique Le Guennec. Now Tim Esau, time for you to leave, and we'll bring in Bernard Paganotti. Well, not Paganotti himself, but maybe a first year student of the master. Paul Cook - yea I think you're probably too good, and we'll just bring in some bum from the street to play drums. Holmes and Orford, you get to stay, though Martin you need to keep the palette of keyboard sounds to a minimum.

OK then.... Mana Perdu!

There's something incredibly charming about these old early 80s amateur prog bands. I first heard this album on LP in 1988, and it did nothing for me at the time. Now I hear it as something of a classic. Funny how that works... You really need to be a fan of the genre though, or otherwise this is not likely to resonate at all.

BTW - vocalist Jean-Paul Trutet went on to form Hecenia, whose second album La Couleur Du Feu is something of a modern masterpiece.

Personal collection
CD: 2000 Musea

For some reason the CD changed the band moniker's font. I like the original better (as pasted here).

Corsair - Ghosts of Proxima Centauri. 2010 USA-Virginia

I have a review up for One-Eyed Horse (2015), and that applies to every album I've heard from Corsair, including this early EP (30 minutes). This is exactly the type of late era hard rock I love. Their last Facebook posting was in 2016, so I hope they haven't called it a day. They have a lot of miles left on these tires.

Ownership: CD: 2013 Shadow Kingdom

8/25/18 (new entry)

Midnight Sun - Midnight Dream. 1974 Denmark

I'd wondered why I kept this LP all these years. That thought continued as I listened to the first 5 tracks on display here. Sounding very much like the North American commercial rock style of the day, it's a chore to sit through. In fact the album sounds like Blood, Sweat, and Tears without the horn section. Then comes 'Batum'. Well now, OK, this is what I'm looking for. It's a psychedelic interpretation of a traditional Swedish folk song and sounds every bit like Kebnekaise and Flasket Brinner. The exact type of psychedelia that modern bands like Agusa are mining today. Flip over the record only to completely lose momentum for the worst track on the album 'The Same Dream'. 'When You Sleep Alone' is quite good though, and that leads us to 'Where Ever You Are'. Bad start, like most of the above. And then comes... one of those irresistible Danish jams that just slays. We're talking primo debut album era Culpeper's Orchard type jamming. Brilliant really. And then for the album closer... it blows. A true pisser of an album. One I can't let go of mind you.

Personal collection
LP: 1974 Sonet

Yea, I'm keeping it.

Davie Allan and The Arrows - Fuzz Fest. 1996 USA

In the year 2000, I had a friend who owned a record store in the Denver area, and who owed me a few dollars from a previous transaction. He told me to stop by and pick out anything I wanted. So after finding a couple of gems, I was still about $10 short. I couldn't find anything of interest, so after mulling about for 30 minutes, I just settled on a sealed LP of Fuzz Fest.

I'd heard of Davie Allan & The Arrows, but never heard their music prior. That remains true even today, 18 years later (I mean the classic mid 60s stuff of course). Based on the reviews I've seen, I can pretty much ascertain where the music will fall. And I think that bias tainted my initial listen, as 1) I recall little about it and 2) I just figured this was some dude in his 50s recreating - or cashing in on - a past legacy.

Wrong! Hold that thought.

In the early 90s the American label I.R.S. had a popular series (in the underground anyway) called Guitar Speak. In effect, these were various artists albums where a famous guitarist from the 60s and 70s (anyone from Montrose to Akkerman to Iommi and beyond) would provide a unique guitar based instrumental track. These albums were surprisingly quite good, and most of the guitarists did not succumb to showboating or shredding.

Davie Allan would have been a perfect fit for the above series (many released a full album of similar). Of course the biker themes are still prevalent throughout, but this is not some cornball soundtrack - and it most certainly is not Surf Rock! The Ventures will not enter your mind here. What you get is 15 (14 in my case because I have the LP) quality guitar instrumentals. Every once in a while a mid 60s styled motif would appear, but mostly this sounds every bit like a modern instrumental rock album - with lots of cool fuzz guitar. All the songs are well thought out, and there's plenty to derive out of each one.

Really surprised the heck out of me. A definite keeper.

Personal collection
LP: 1998 Total Energy