Friends (John Abercrombie and related) ~ USA ~ New York

John Abercrombie Quartet - Arcade (1979)

A very pleasant and soothing album with particularly strong rhythm work. Very good on the whole (and better than the follow-up). Can't keep them all, and this is the sort of album I don't tend to gravitate to.

Source: 1979 ECM (LP)

2/24/22 (review)

John Abercrombie - Timeless (1975)

Timeless is one of those albums I thought I'd heard back in the day, but after plopping it on the turntable, it was quite apparent I had not. This is Abercrombie's debut with ECM, a few years after the brilliant Friends album. Joining Abercrombie for this session is the new "it guy" on organ and piano - Jan Hammer. And Jack De Johnette on drums. The mid 70s ECM sound was much rawer than what was to come, and here Abercrombie recalls Norway's Terje Rypdal with a decidedly psychedelic tone applied to the guitar. Hammer is having fun on the Hammond while De Johnette is definitely playing in jazz mode, versus a more anticipated rock. His drumming could be called "sporadic". Timeless is on the border of jazz rock and pure jazz. The opening 'Lungs' is definitely the highlight along with the proggy 'Red and Orange' and the moody title track closer. The other tracks are more acoustic and introspective, foreshadowing the label's own move into contemporary jazz. Overall it has some similarities to the aforementioned Friends release minus some of the Krautrock textures that fine band managed to unconsciously obtain.

Ownership: 1975 ECM Germany LP

12/11/21 (review)

Abercrombie Quartet (1980)

Prior to this release, John Abercrombie had been a major player in the jazz rock field for some years, and we just mentioned him very recently on one of Billy Cobham's albums. And his best work, in my opinion, was with the band Friends, one of America's great hidden underground treasures (see below). Instinctively I kind of knew this was going to be too late in the game for me to appreciate much. And that preconceived notion proved to be true. Very adult. There's a reason ECM Jazz has its own genre. In fact, let me quote my thoughts on a recent post about Pat Metheny: "More adult contemporary jazz... fusion. I'll never mature enough for this style of music it seems, but have to admit it provided a pleasant mid-evening listen. Calms the nerves, while not offending anyone. Likely will not keep." That.

Source: 1980 ECM (LP)

4/25/21 (review)

Friends (1973)

Underground America comes through once again. With Europe, especially in places like France and Germany, it's relatively easy to spot the pigeon. For every pop album, there was an experimental avant-garde release not far behind. But not the US of A. The land of the quick buck. No, you have to dig deep and far. And in all genres. Because you never know where the next great album lies. Friends. Yea, good luck in finding info with a name like that. But one name jumps out once you've been exposed to this treasure: John Abercrombie. What on Earth? That's TWO discoveries for me recently that features this well known ECM guitarist. The other being Stark Reality.

And since we spoke of Germany earlier, that's exactly where I'd guess this album had come from had I not known any better. Let's first discuss the lineup of instruments: Guitar, sax, bass and drums. Big deal right? We'll start with Abercrombie, since he's the marquee name thrown around. He was clearly in his Mahavishnu John era, and has no problem playing jazz guitar like Jimi Hendrix on steroids. So we already have an edge. Most of the bass work is stand-up, like I'VE NEVER HEARD ANYONE before. Louisiana born Clint Houston is all over his instrument, like a pissed off Jimmy Garrison. Love Supreme my ass - Hate Supreme and get out of my way homeboy. Drummer Jeff Williams puts in the most ordinary performance, and he's still nothing short of excellent. And then there's Marc Cohen. He MUST HAVE KNOWN Tim Belbe. Any jazzer reading this page is going who is Tim Belbe? But the Krautrock heads know - were talking Xhol Caravan here. Wah-wah, fuzz, phased, echo-plexed and just flat out tortured. What Mike Ratledge did to the Lowrey Organ is what Tim Belbe did to the saxophone. And Marc Cohen FREAKS OUT even more than Belbe did - at least on vinyl. Elton Dean might as well be Charlie Parker when we're in this game. So basically we have four long, very freaked out instrumental tracks of jazz rock underground avant insane madness. And it rocks like nobody's business.

This album is just ridiculous. Awesome.

Ownership: 1973 Oblivion (LP).

Still not been reissued as I update this post (2/21/25).

10/19/07 (review)

6/22/09 (new entry)

Earthstar - Humans Only. 1982 USA-New York

Utica, New York's finest electronic musician, Craig Wuest, had always marched to a different drummer. Earthstar's debut Salterbarty Tales has elements of the French progressive electronic masters. Somewhere along the line he befriended a one Klaus Schulze who produced his first album for the Sky label, French Skyline. Though despite the name and his debut's predilection, the album definitely fits well within the Berlin School. Their 3rd album is one I obviously need to revisit, and will refrain from comment until then.

Which gets us to Humans Only. With that title and a modern cover, I just presumed all these years this was a typical 80s throwaway electronic album, or perhaps an NDW influenced work. As I've been reliving the X Wave years, I threw this in with another purchase. No one talks it up and the grades are consistently in last place for the group. Pssst... I have a tip for you underground heads out there: This is their best album. Huh? At least as I hear it today. I think sometimes we have a pre-conceived notion that late era releases from the 80s are uniformly worse than their 70s predecessors. More often than not, that premise remains true. But sometimes...

...you get Humans Only. Earthstar here are a 4 piece with a cast of thousands helping out. Hard to say what Wuest was thinking when he composed this album, but he's reaching deep in the early to mid 70s here. Opener 'Rainbow Dome' and 3rd track 'Indian Dances' are upbeat, sunny, and positive pieces reflecting the mood of the era, similar to Ashra in that way. But the music recalls Mike Oldfield's Ommadawn more than anything. The second track 'Don't You Ever Wonder?' is stunning, with some beautiful song passages. And 'One Flew Over the Bridge' isn't that far behind. Side 1 is super. A feel-good underground proggy electronic album.

Then we get to side 2. Now it takes a turn for the weird. 'TV Funk' has funky rhythm guitar with Lisa Gerrard styled vocals channeling the music of SPK. What? Yea, read that one again. This leads to 'Tip Toe Funk' which doesn't have an ounce of funk. But what it does have is hardcore Krautrock, with minimalist electronics, dark atmospheres, percussion, eerie voices, and psychedelic guitar interludes. It's jaw dropping, more in the contrast of tone to the rest of the album, than evaluating it by itself. The album is backloaded with both mellotron and Birotron, the latter not something you will hear much.

You just never know where your next new brilliant album will come from. 

Ownership: LP: 1982 Sky (Germany). Single sleeve. Recent online acquisition. These albums are always a bit more expensive for us Americans than in Europe, where it's practically a commodity. 

CD: 2023 Made in Germany. 5xCD.

2/24/22 (first listen / review / new entry); 5/1/24

Moolah - Woe Ye Demons Possessed. 1974 USA-New York

To put it succinctly, this is America’s Krautrock album. The real deal, circa 1974, not a revisionist history job, or a cheap hipster imitation. Moolah were the duo of Walter Burns and Maurice Roberson, who play a variety of keyboards, percussion, voices/tapes, anything that looked like an instrument, and other found sounds. And, naturally, all blown through the funz-a-poppin’ blender of studio trickery (backwards masking, phasing, filtered, you name it, it’s here). This is the type of album to compel Julian Cope to write volumes to the gods at the top of ziggurats. If I were half the writer Cope was, I would have a blast describing the imaginary movie that this soundtrack inevitably goes with. If someone blindfolded me, and said "Check out this unreleased Annexus Quam album that was to be originally issued on Ohr", I would’ve believed it... For a slice of pure underground subversive America, via Greenwich Village, you absolutely can’t go wrong with Moolah.

Ownership: LP: 1974 Atman. Single sleeve. Etched gold signatures. Online acquisition (2004). 

Sealed copies were available for many years, though I think it's dried up now. For years, this rarity was mislabeled as being on the relatively common Annuit Coeptis label (most known for US issues of German bands like Ramses and Bullfrog). The reality is the original private LP displays a dollar bill which, of course, leaves the Latin phrase intact. Though it didn't sell well in its day, most of the original pressings were preserved. The only CD is the Japanese pressing on EM from a decade ago. At first I thought it might be a bootleg, but it was confirmed legit, and the label has no history of pirating. It's a straight jewel case reissue with good sound, and no other extras. My best guess is permission was granted via e-mail. As such, since it offers nothing else, I decided to move it out.

1//2004; 10//2006; 2009; 2/14/2022 (new entry)

Mads Vinding Group ~ Denmark

Danish Design (1974)

There are two solid reasons to chase down this otherwise more typical fusion album: 1) Guitarist Janne Schaffer absolutely blazes on two extraordinary tracks (especially the opener). 2) The really cool album cover. For reason 1), on these two tracks, it sounds more like the Dutch hard hitting instrumental progressive rock of Finch, Bonfire, and Scope.

This is another case where the dates are confusing, as the album is copyrighted 1977 Sonet. But the original Swedish press is indeed from 1974, as it says on the label of that release. Considering the cover, it probably doesn't pass modern cancel culture, but I still think it's pretty awesome.  

No reissues as of 3/30/25.

Ownership: 1977 Peters (LP)

1/18/11 (first listen / review); 2/4/22 (update / new entry)

Treacle People. 2006 Germany

Another nice discovery here. I remember when this came out, as I tracked it real time. Not really sure why I didn't pursue it, because the descriptions had my name all over it. Then again, there were seemingly hundreds of interesting new products coming out then, and I just didn't have the time or funds to pursue them all. Treacle People can easily be described as retro hard rock with Hammond organ. Very much sounds like an album of the 70s, and the tracks have a slight proggy vibe, typical of the German landscape a generation before. For fans of Birth Control, Jane, Nektar, Galaxy, Gift, etc...

Ownership: LP: 2006 World in Sound. Nice gatefold sleeve. Recent online acquisition and cheap at that. It's a bit surprising to me that LPs like this have actually depreciated in the marketplace. BTW, the date of the LP is clearly marked as 2006 on the back cover. I should add it to Discogs. All the discographies have this originally released in 2005, and it's possible the CD did come out then, but I cannot find visual evidence of that either.

new entry

Encyrcle. 2015 Denmark

Taking a break from posting about the commodities and collection revisits. Only so much time in the day. But definitely want to point out the more unknown pieces that need attention. Like Encyrcle!

I'm always on the lookout for retro bands who capture that weird strain of 80s metal - that bizarre amateur hour way of composing and putting things together. Seemingly without rhyme or reason, but not necessarily technical either. Denmark's Encyrcle is that band, and their sole album is just a fun listen. You'll see the band tagged with the speed metal genre, but it's way more interesting and meaty than that implies. This is far more Iron Maiden than Exciter if that makes sense. Nor is this the great late lost 80s tech thrash that I've been going on about for the last few years. There's some blast beats in here, but it goes perfectly with the compositions. The singer is perfect, no death growls and barks to endure, nor does he try to be Rob Halford. A couple of good Udo Dirkschneider (Accept) shrieks here and there, which is so perfect. There's some piano too, go figure that one out. Has some really killer riffs, and they're all placed where you want them to be. The production captures the era just right. If you like the more interesting aspects of 80s metal, you'll want to explore Encyrcle.

Ownership: LP: 2015 Dark Descent (USA). Single sleeve with lyric/picture inner. This will no doubt prove to be the pick of the litter from the 25 cent each find late last year. Dark Descent, as reported on the Crypt Sermon posts, are based here in Colorado Springs. In reviewing their entire catalog last night, 98% of what they release is death and black metal, so not to my tastes. Best I can tell, Encyrcle is the only album like this from the label. According to inside sources, they have done remarkably well from a sales perspective. More power to them!

new entry