Niacin - Time Crunch. 2001 USA

Interesting to hear Time Crunch immediately after Love Cry Want. Niacin has many of the same qualities in terms of sound, but Time Crunch is a far more focused effort. The advantage of coming along later and learning from other's mistakes I suppose. Perhaps not as experimental nor raw for some fans, but I prefer this actually. Niacin are a fairly well know band - at least in the world I usually reside, and this is the first album I've heard by them. An interesting response to the guitar fronted trio, as the trusty Hammond B3 proves up to the challenge of maintaining interest throughout. Don't know if I need a lot more of this, but certainly Time Crunch is a fine representative for my personal collection.

As an aside, I recently ran into a psych single that organist John Novello (native of Erie, Pennsylvania) was a part of. The band was called Symon Grace & The Tuesday Blues. From that I learned he later formed a prog group named C.J. Brie in the early 70s based on Emerson, Lake, and Palmer. Not sure if any recordings survived. Would be most interesting to hear.

Ownership: CD: 2001 Magna Carta. Got this in a bulk buy last year, which I forgot all about. Just now digging into the stack.

Ouba ~ Canada ~ Montreal, Quebec

"Freak Out" Total (1968)

With a subtitle of Freak Out Total, and the promise of a psychedelic instrumental tour-de-force, Ouba can only rate as a disappointment. Which is not the same thing as saying it isn't any good. For the time and place, it's a pretty fascinating record. Basically a rambling jam with organ, guitar, and a busy drummer (who manages to get in a four minute drum solo on a 26 minute album). There were a handful of these loose psychedelic groups out  there in the late 60s and early 70s, many of them tied to the sound library industry. Ugly Custard, Blue Phantom, Hungry Wolf, The Free Pop Electronic Concept, and Roland Kovac Set are but a few examples. But while those groups managed to break up their premise-of-songs, Ouba goes with one theme for the duration. In some ways it recalls Maquina's 'Why' instrumental, or even Beat of the Earth - but without the gravitas the latter brings. So a lot of groups to digest here, and Ouba is in that mix. Don't expect anything revelatory though.

Ownership: 2001 Gear Fab (CD). Lengthy liner notes and interviews.

2002 (acquired); 9/3/16; 8/13/20 (review / new entry)

Blessed End - Movin' On. 1971 USA-Pennsylvania

Ah, Blessed End. Woo boy, was this album ever hyped back in the catalog daze of the late 1980s. The ultimate bar band at the edge of the Twilight Zone, if I recall right. There's always been this fascination, I think, with American bands trying to make a go of it - any possible way they could. Especially lounge crooners crossing over to then modern forms of rock, in particular psychedelic. One could put Damon in this category honestly. But for every Damon, there's a Blessed End, or worse, Arcesia. In reading the liner notes, the band members call out various influences, including progressive rock (namely Yes - which is absurd if Movin' On is the end result of that). So when I finally got a chance to hear it some 10 years later, I just sat there quietly and mumbled "huh?"

In retrospect, it's actually not a bad album, and unique enough to hold onto. It very much has all the charm of being in a dive bar in Philadelphia, without dealing with the additional smell and drunken patrons. The vintage instrumentation deployed would be considered old for 1966 much less 1971. The lead singer croons in baritone, on top of the creaky organ, thus leading to the inevitable Doors comparisons, which are ultimately inaccurate.

Basically Blessed End appeals to a certain type of collector, one that isn't that far removed from what I like myself - but this is far too straight-laced to truly embrace. It's not the wonderful freaky underground, but rather the desperate need to get noticed. For those who call it a masterpiece, they are of a different mindset than myself. But is it good? Yea, I'll cop to that.

Ownership: CD: 1998 Gear Fab. Bought this new when it came out at Rocket Scientists in New York City. I had a gig in SoHo at the time and frequented the shop once in awhile in the evenings. They had a great selection, especially for psych.

ExCubus - Lagauchetière. 2011 Canada-Quebec

Incubus were a prog band from Canada during the early part of the 1970s. Some 35 years later they reformed and issued their recorded - but unreleased tracks - plus new recordings of older compositions. They changed their name to ExCubus to avoid confusion with another, more famous, Incubus. The reunion was a success, so they went forward with a new album. I have not heard their "debut" but dived right in with this sophomore effort a few years back.

I'm not going to have a lot to say about the music here (do I ever?). It's a strange phenomenon sometimes on when and where we hear something. For whatever reason, my initial reaction to this album was lukewarm. A revisit proved enlightening and added +2 to the score - and a place in the collection. It's pretty much tried and true progressive rock without a lot of surprises or jaw dropping moments, but the compositions are well written, and the performances and sound are excellent. Pity they stopped here just as they were getting going.

Ownership: CD: 2011 ProgQuebec. Nice new album jewel case layout.

Svarte Pan - Nattvandring. 2000 Sweden

Following up on my ExCubus review, here's another that found its way into a drawer marked "to sell". Hmmm... how about one more listen? And like ExCubus, I had another +2 moment (mind you I'm weeding out albums in my collection at a fairly healthy clip (and not reported here on UMR), so it's not the best environment to be successful - I just have too many CDs of the same type). I've said this before, but it seems every hard rock band from Sweden is trying to be the next November, a relatively obscure early 70s outfit that defines the movement for many musicians back at home. The problem here is that most bands from Sweden cannot eliminate modern influences - if even they are trying to. So what most of the hard rock bands from Sweden I've heard sound like are November meets... Stoner. Yeeuckk. I just cannot absorb that style no matter how hard I try. There's a pattern, and what seems like unbendable rules, to stoner music. The part that sounds like November is the lyrics are in Swedish - and that's about it.

For whatever reason, I think I was predetermined to put Svarte Pan in that bucket. But that's not right. These guys really do make a sincere attempt at a 70s Swedish hard rock sound. Language plays a key role, as does the analog production. It's a bit heavier and meatier than November, but that's not a problem at all. Certainly it's not metal though. Albums like this are going to only draw a certain kind of fan, and it's understandable why it rates lower (and probably sold less) than other bands who did embrace more modern sounds and techniques. Naturally I have to be the oddball. Story of my life.

Ownership: CD: 2004 Ant Nest. Not sure why they reissued this title as it never was really out of print or hard to find. Ah, I just remembered I'm the one who added it to Discogs. In any case, I picked this up in a bulk buy about 5 years ago, and it just now found its way into the collection.

Anacrusa - El Sacrificio. 1978 Argentina

Prior to this release, Anacrusa had primarily been an acoustic Andean folk group. After relocating to France they added many electric instruments to great effect, especially guitar. Some of these tracks had appeared on prior albums in acoustic form, including their masterpiece 'Los Capiangos'. El Sacrificio is arguably their finest album.

Ownership: LP: 1978 Philips (France); CD: 2003 Rayuela. The LP comes in a fine gatefold cover that I've owned since the mid 90s. I've never been entirely sure that the Rayuela reissues are legit. They certainly don't have the markings of a legit release in any case (no provenance, or liner notes). On the plus side, the Rayuela reissue does include as a bonus track 'Los Capiangos' from their 1976 Global album. This version of the song is my favorite and features a completely surprising - and beautiful - Moog solo in the middle of an acoustic album. I wish for a better reissue, but they must include this bonus track! (doesn't look like the Acqua version does - though that would be difficult to do legally given they are on different labels).

On the Raw - Climbing the Air. 2019 Spain

Modern albums who make a claim to jazz fusion usually don't interest me much these days. But On the Raw play a type of instrumental progressive rock with jazz fusion influences. It's interesting that I had just digested the Scope albums again via the new CD reissues, as On the Raw takes a similar approach. They used to call this music "Euro Rock" back in the late 70s and 80s. The compositions have a focus on melody as well as complexity. On the Raw are a full 5 piece including saxophone and flute, along with some guests on trumpet, violin, and female vocals, so the palette set is varied. While certainly a retro mindset prevails, and the instrumentation is decidedly from a past era, the album doesn't really sound like it's from the 70s. I'm scrambling to come up with a modern band that has traversed the same territory as On the Raw has done here. It rocks harder than fellow countrymen Herba d'Hameli for example. Maybe the debut album by Ingranaggi della Valle is a good guidepost. Sure, we're in obscuroland, but that's where On the Raw resides.

Ownership: CD: 2019 Redphone. Nice digipak with cool industrial photography in the booklet.

8/6/20 (new entry)

Superfjord - All Will Be Golden. 2018 Finland

This one took awhile to penetrate. Two full listens over 2 nights - with the always illuminating craft beer by my side - yielded nothing but confusion. OK - need to take this one to the car where I'm sober-as-a-judge and hyper critical. Most albums don't survive that. This one did. On a purely superficial level, Superfjord come across as your modern progressive rock band, demonstrating more ennui than enthusiasm. Nihilism at its finest, a philosophy I abhor. But wait, there's way more here than that. Which is why I was confused - otherwise it would have found itself at Purple Peak Records faster than a cat on a chicken bone.

In the mid 1970s there was an obscure Belgian band called Womega - an LP I own and which I have written about here prior - that trail-blazed what Superfjord are doing here. Here's what I said about Womega: "In a nutshell, the album could be characterized as an all-over-the-map type release.  But - here's the interesting part - all within the confines of what normally constitutes progressive rock, rather than the usual kitchen sink mentality that represents all facets of music in general. Presented here are pomp, Canterbury, proto, symphonic, fusion, and Zappa styles." And that's what Superfjord is about. Add in post rock, space rock, and Latin fusion, and that's the sum of it.

All Will Be Golden isn't as strong as Womega, mainly because it's not as crisp and succinct. The last two tracks in particular have a great premise, but they just drag it out, verse moving it in different directions. Opener 'Cut and Paste' is the epitome song here (including the name...). Starts off in boring (very boring I might add) post rock territory with even duller vocals only to catch absolute fire about 4.5 minutes in with a brilliant guitar break, recalling Camel at their very best.

In summary, it's a frustrating listen, with some fantastic ideas. Would be great if the band could zoom in a bit more though. Seems they're not sure of their own strengths.

Former ownership: CD: 2018 Svart. Comes in a digifile sleeve.

8/6/20 (review / new entry); 4/9/24

S.T. Mikael - Soul Flower. 1996 Sweden

S.T. Mikael (Mikael Sundstrom) was one of those born-too-late types who followed his own muse. His earlier, more obscure albums, tend to me more popular with his followers. To me, they sound more like a guy still learning how to compose and play. There's charm in that, and there's also some hits with the many misses. However, by 1996, it all came together for Mr. Sundstrom. Soul Flower is a sprawling double LP opus that is all over the place, but definitely conjures up the spirit of the original Krautrock movement. This album is slathered in atmosphere, that most unique type of sound that we associate with the art loft in Berlin circa 1971. I've said it many times, but it's difficult to pull that off after the fact, as it's nigh impossible to eliminate contemporary influences. S.T. Mikael managed to do that. He has a few albums, so if looking for which to start with, I'd suggest Soul Flower.

Ownership: LP: 1996 Xotic Mind. Purchased new online upon release. Double LP set. Basically it's a colorful folder (like the ones from grade school) inside of a plastic bag. Comes with a cool booklet insert. Very homemade looking.

The Fatback Band - Raising Hell. 1975 USA-New York

I've said it before, and will continue to say it, I don't intrinsically have an issue with disco music. In the last year or so, I've managed to pick up free boxes of records - or bought collections for pennies on the dollar - that included many (far too many) such albums. Almost all of them not to my taste. And most of them were worth what I paid for them - nothing. Like all genres of music, what's popular doesn't always translate into what is interesting. Of course this argument always goes to personal taste, so that's not a discussion I want to enter into. Rather I can speak to what I like. Most disco tends to be soul music with a steady 4/4 beat and soaring strings. Not for me. But some disco comes out of funk, specifically hard rocking funk, with excellent tight horn charts and electric guitars. Now we're talking.

I'd not run into The Fatback Band before. No doubt having flipped by them for years without notice. Based on the sheer number of albums they've output, it would appear they enjoyed great success in their native New York City and worldwide. But the title of the album and the instrumentation told me this would probably be a good place for one dollar to go. And sure enough, it was. 'Do the Bus Stop', 'Spanish Hustle', and 'Party Time' are your dance floor movers. They're not particularly innovative, but certainly well done, and easy on the ears. 'Put Your Love (In My Tender Care)': OK, there's the expected soul ballad. Fine. 'I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)' is a crap song to begin with, and this is a crap arrangement. Skip it. That leaves the two brilliant tracks IMO. 'All Day' has everything I want in a thoughtful funk piece. Great instrumentation, lyrics, and composition. Reminds me of Mandrill actually (one of my fave funk groups). 'Groovy Kind of Day' is a real throwback - very much a 1968 styled psychedelic soul/funk piece that must have created a few confused looks in the mid 70s. For me, it adds a ray of sunshine to the proceedings. 2 great tracks, 3 good party dancers, one sweet soul ballad, and one tosser. That's a keeper.

Ownership: LP: 1975 Event. Recent pickup from a Catholic charity sale. Can't make that one up...

Traffic - On the Road. 1973 England

In that same stack with Argent's Encore was another double live album, this time by Traffic. Unlike Argent, I'm much more familiar with Traffic's studio albums, and still own a couple. They've never been my favorite band, often questioning their association with progressive rock, or even psychedelic, though they clearly emerged from that era. They always seemed like a band on the cusp of a great album, only to crawl back into the comforts of commercial oriented music. The critics loved them and they had a strong fandom, so why mess with success?

On the Road is what I want to hear from Traffic. This is their classic sound, but stretched out, and here the band shows their true ability as musicians. Traffic seems to conjure up Soft Machine at times, with their jazzy prog display and reckless abandon. For my tastes, this is the best Traffic album I've heard. I realize they have another earlier live album that I should investigate, as well as giving their earlier studio albums another shot.

Ownership: LP: 1982 Island (USA). This is the 2 LP set. Recent thrift store find.