Tasavallan Presidentti. 1971 Finland

Tasavallan Presidentti's second album, released only in Sweden oddly enough, is very much in the spirit of other albums from the UK and Continental Europe during this time. Bands as disperse as Colosseum, Ahora Mazda, Tonton Macoute, Zior, and Ikarus come to mind. Strong woodwinds (flute;sax), gruff vocals from Englishman Frank Robson, and excellent guitar from Jukka Tolonen highlight this excellent period piece. If you're already a fan of early 70s European progressive rock, then Tasavallan Presidentti's sophomore effort is one more to add to your stack.

Ownership: LP: 1971 Columbia / EMI (Sweden). Single sleeve and it still has the original EMI audiophile inner. Online acquisition from 2013. Almost 9 years later, I'm finally hearing this copy (and add another decade since I heard the album at all). Because it was released in Sweden, and not Finland nor the UK, it's by far the scarcest of the Tasavallan Presidentti albums. Prior to the LP, I did own the CD (2002 EMI Finland), which offers a nice history (preserved below) and lyrics. No bonus tracks. Just not enough there to keep it.

new entry

xxx

yyy

Irish Coffee. 1971 Belgium

Irish Coffee's debut is practically the definition of the Continental European rock sound of the era. Heavy guitar and Hammond organ are the main instruments, while the English vocals are delivered in a forceful gruff style. The music is deceptively complex, and a casual listen will likely result in labeling the album as "hard rock" and it definitely rides that fence. Tracks like 'Can't Take It', 'When Winter Comes', and 'Hear Me' pack a lot of ideas and meter shifts into their sub 5 minute time frames. The single tracks are indeed more straightforward, and the last recordings come from 1974 where it appears the band hadn't progressed at all.

Ownership: CD: 2007 Thors Hammer / Garden of Delights. Full historical liner notes, new photos, scans of all their singles (and all 7 extra singles are here as bonus tracks), and great sound. 

My first taste of the album, along with dozens of other people I'm sure, came via the Voodoo CD reissue (1992) which I picked up sometime in the 90s. Over the years, this reissue had been tagged a pirate edition, but I was pretty certain it was legit. And sure enough, the band themselves reissued it in a limited edition (Voodoo was an early name for the band). It featured 7 bonus tracks and a small history. Naturally it vanished into various collections over the years, and the bootleggers hit the market hard. 

Fortunately Garden of Delights came to the rescue (under their non-German Thors Hammer moniker), and this is the de facto reissue. Here we learn of the authenticity of the original CD (but points out one glaring recording error), as well as confirming the original LP release date as July 1971 (I still see 1972 appended on some discographies). It would be great to get an original, but that's not likely to ever happen. While I think it's a great album, I don't think it's worth four figures honestly (and yea, I do think some albums are worth that - personally speaking of course).

8/20/14 (review / new entry) 

San Michael's - Nattåg. 1972 Sweden (archival)

Honestly I wasn't too impressed with the sole LP from San Michael's (also reissued in 2009 by Transubstans). But this archival recording of their second album from 1972 shows considerable improvement. Here the arrangements are more sophisticated, the instruments (especially the Hammond organ, electric guitar, bass, flute, and horn section) are allowed more latitude, and the album is definitely geared towards the burgeoning progressive rock movement, rather than the bubblegum orientation of their California label album. Of course, it should come as no surprise to us, since San Michael's is the root system for none other than Kaipa - who themselves later spawned The Flower Kings (which begat Kaipa's own reunion, and is still active as I write this). And while San Michael's clearly hadn't shed its pop orientation, most of these short tracks are still quite complex in their own right.

The reason the album wasn't released in its day was due to the bankruptcy of the California label, and the unwillingness of any other label (major or minor) to sign them. They were about 2 years ahead of their time for Swedish audiences, but no doubt a band as majestic as Trettioariga Kriget would have lent an ear to this group while touring throughout the land.

CD: 2009 Transubstans