And last and only slightly least...
26. Association P.C. - Rock Around the Cock
This unfortunately titled and covered masterwork is maybe only marginally the best of the five Association P.C. albums, of which only one seems to be reissued in the still all too slow MPS reissue series, which seems to be dallying with mediocre titles at the expense of masterpieces like this one (although I should cut them some slack as they initially took one of these off the list.) This is a rather perfect example of what the Europeans brought to the American jazz rock movement, a little bit of freakiness, a slightly askew and dissonant electricity to it and a rise and fall like breathing. Like the Chris Hinze albums mentioned earlier in this series, Courbois and co. start mellow and bring most of the work to screaming climaxes of intensity, all with a fuzzy subtlety than enhances the whole. As a sidebar, lets tag on Erna Morena to this title which if it didn't make this top 30 was only a few slots behind.
27. Peter Frohmader - Spheres
The last of his three early cassette releases and unlike Jules Verne Cycle and Orakel/Tiefe, I believe this one was released privately. It's a surprisingly inside release for the experimentalist but Frohmader's one of those guys I'd always wanted to hear do something inside and this spacy masterpiece foregoes the usual dark, macabre atmospheres for something a bit more Berlin school and a bit more new agey. It's gigantic on resonance and even beautiful in spots and is nothing at all like the Cuneiform albums to come which also concentrate a bit more on pure electronics but take it in a much weirder direction. So how about a two CD release, JVC, O/T and Spheres. Am I the only one who wants this?
28. Makam es Kolinda - s/t (aka Szelscend Utan) (Reissued by Seven Seas 1989)
Apparently this once was reissued on CD in Japan in micro quantities, or at least I remember seeing the catalog number at a store once, but at a time when I could have nabbed any Japanese reissue I wanted this one went in and out with a bang and when a disc is this rare, to the point where you know nobody who actually owns one, you have to still count it in the unreissued spot. This was the first of at least two collaborations between Hungarian and post-Hexagone label folksters along with the more Cage/Riley-esque Makam ensemble and it's possibly the very best work by either group. Recorded in the early 80s it definitely cants towards the Kolinda direction but excels in that it continues the band's progression from the early albums into more angular and progressive directions to create a lively East European gypsy folk prog that's weird, mystical and unmatched in its field.
29. Carnascialia - st (Reissued by Mercury 2010)
Like the previously mentioned album, this is another that came out on CD (apparently under the names of the original musicians rather than the Carnascialia band name) and disappeared almost immediately. Along with members of Area, the duo created a bizarre late 70s avant-folk release with the typical Arabian motifs and weirdness that area also sported, lots of unusual modal riffs that flirt with high energy while remaning almost toe tappingly tuneful. Not exactly progressive rock, like most Italian albums this late (such as Venegoni e Co., the first Mauro Pagani etc) its experimentation is more a collision in various world styles that includes just enough rock to make it buzz as well as a Battiato-like penchant for exploration and collage.
30. Clivage (Andre Fertier) - Regina Astris
An ancient and psychedelic world fusion with an impressive cover, the debut album of the Fertier-led Clivage, who released three albums, exudes the type of electricity built up from trancey type structures that got their cue from bands like Third Ear Band, Between, Oregon and Aktuala, Clivage approach the same formula from a more restrained base, with hints of classical music and jazz that would become more apparent on later albums, all of which I reviewed a while back
here
