2022 Prog Journal Vol. 1 - Complete

Magic Bus - The Earth Years. 2020 Back to the Garden (LP). Magic Bus are one of many bands trying to capture the glory years of the Canterbury movement, mixing psych, prog, pop, and jazz. Unfortunately Magic Bus can't seem to shed a 90's indie/alt influence in their songwriting. In fact, concerning the songwriting, that element is almost nonexistent here. And that's the indie thing - strum a few chords and sing out of tune about things that are important to them and no one else. The opposite of what the Canterbury groups brought. Not all is a loss, as there's plenty of good neo psych to be found here too. But not enough to save it from the sell bin. (May)

Vance - An Epitaph for Mary. 1982 private (LP). As the years go by, my appreciation of the original neo prog movement has gone considerably up. Much of that can be attributed to nostalgia versus objective analysis. I had fallen hard for prog in the early 80s, but there were very few contemporary bands, and many of those I didn't know about until many years later. By that time I was already dismissing neo prog too lol. But in the last 10 years I've slowly added more and more albums from that era in (or back in) to the collection. Vance is a band I remember, but never heard, primarily because no one suggested I do. Sadly, in this case, they were correct. Vance is one of those Dutch bands that have their heart in the right place, but didn't have the proper background to understand the allure of prog that audiences were craving. The melodic songwriting, lengthy tracks, and guitar work are definitely prog rock motivated. But the canned production and plodding rhythms are stilted and boring. They were a product of the early 80s and I think they wanted to fit in with modern audiences while bringing a decade old approach. It didn't work then, and it still sounds wrong. An Epitaph for Mary is like a proto SI label album. I really wanted to like this and gave it more time than usual. But I just can't get into it. (Apr)

The Brotherhood Of Eternal Love - Green Morning Baby. 2000 Garageland (CD). Collection revisit (Apr). From the same heads that gave us Holy River Family Band, The Brotherhood Of Eternal Love would be their jam outlet. Similar to Humus / Frolic Froth in that way. Featuring one 73 minute track, some of this indeed does get tedious, but for much of it, I found it enjoyable. It really will test your tolerance of the space rock style, as it can jam for what seems like three hours. Find something to do while listening to it though, or you will doze off.

Frolic Froth - Eponymous. 1997 Smogless (CD). Collection revisit (Apr). As you have read in these very pages, I'm a huge fan of Humus. They were one of the few bands to take a page from the Sensations' Fix playbook for space rock. That is to say, they add a strong progressive / Canterbury rock component. Frolic Froth, on the other hand, is mostly the same cast of characters, but here they give up any composition aspect for pure Krautrock jamming. It's one of many albums shooting for the Guru Guru UFO sound. This is probably the best example of something I enjoyed in the late 90s (bought new when it came out) and I'm just tired of it by now. I can listen to Guru Guru and others from that era all day, but these newer bands just don't possess the same magic or background. Pretty tedious stuff, and this listen resulted in a -1.

*3rd Ear Experience - Boi. 2013 private (CD). Collection revisit (Apr). I misunderstood this title. It's not really just space rock, but has a strong hard rock prog angle to it as well. These kind of albums are much more interesting to my ears. More Nektar and less Hawkwind that is to say. Easy keeper.

The Vocokesh - Smile! And Point At The Mountain? 1995 Drag City (CD). Collection revisit (Apr). I got this in a collection buy in the late 90s, and I think it's been in the weedout stack ever since. The Vocokesh were related to F/i and are a Milwaukee based collective of freaks who were one of the first bands of the 1980s to try for a cosmic Krautrock sound. Almost all of their early albums are noisy, and lack the focus of the 70s masters. They were to improve, but this one remains chaotic to my ears.

*Our Solar System - Origins. 2018 Beyond Beyond Is Beyond (LP). OK, what's with the annoying label name? I recently found a new sealed copy that was heavily marked down. I hadn't heard of this Swedish collective even though this is their 5th album and features Dungen members. Yea, it's Brooklyn Hipster alright. As I stated about Earthless, I'm pretty much filled to the brim with music such as this, but it's also hard to shuffle it out the door. I still enjoy a good old fashioned psychedelic Krauty jam here and there. It's nowhere near as engaging as the original masters, nor does it take the sound to the next level as the aforementioned Earthless recently did. It's definitely style over substance, but if this is considered mundane, then we must live in a very exciting world. Keeping it for now, and sometimes music like this clicks later on. (Mar)

Seventh Wave - Psi-Fi. 1975 Janus (LP). Seventh Wave is post Second Hand and the ultra obscure Fungus. They were popular with my runnin' set in Dallas in the early 90s, though I never took a shine to their two albums. But as been reported here often, time has been good to many of these revisits. Not so much with Psi-Fi. There's a strain of music coming from England that I've never really enjoyed, and Seventh Wave dabble in that here. It has glammy and theatrical elements, somewhat like Queen in that way. There are some pretty good progressive rock moments here, and I enjoyed a +1 listen. But not enough for a spot in the collection. (Mar)

*Earthless - Night Parade of One Hundred Demons. 2022 Nuclear Blast. 3 sided LP package with etched 4th side, all on gold vinyl. Yippee yayhoo. Hipster Essentials. But I might as well get my money's worth. As I mentioned before, when you have trade credit at a local store, there's pressure to take on new albums to settle the debt. I was familiar with Earthless, from their Rhythms from a Cosmic Sky album, which I heard not long after release (2007). If there's a style of music that I need less of, it's the kind Earthless peddle - that of the long form space rock jam. But if you're going to do it, you might as well do it right, and Earthless most certainly does. There are three long jams here, with the first being broken up into two parts. The last track 'Death to the Red Sun' is something special, with the kind of rave-up one rarely hears from modern bands who seem content to go along with image and sound, but little else. 52 years on from Guru Guru's UFO, and bands are still plowing that field looking for yields. Earthless takes the core of that sound and stretches it out. I really appreciate the energy the band brings to this recording. So yes, highly recommended, though I really didn't need another example. But this will likely outlast many others that are similar. (Mar)

Mike Keneally - Boil that Dust Speck. 1995 Immune (CD). Thrift shop find (Mar). There's a style of progressive rock that I'm predisposed not to like, and Mike Keneally exists exclusively in that area. At least on Boil that Dust Speck. It lacks focus, is incredibly self-conscious on how complex it is, and comes across as more virtuous and superior to what you and your friends tend to like. Oh look how smart we are! Despite all of these preconceived notions, I almost kept this one. There are some truly fantastic progressions to be found, but sometimes I feel artists like this wouldn't know the difference. As my wife likes to say (in an unrelated context) "they can't see the dirty from the dirt". 

*Ruphus - New Born Day. 1973 Polydor (LP). Collection revisit (Feb). We talked about this debut a bit in the recent Ranshart entry. New Born Day is their heavy prog debut, and is more in line with the Norwegian scene of the day like Junipher Greene, Aunt Mary, Popol Vuh and their ilk. There are hints of the UK prog scene here, and the odd Yes reference, but nothing like Ranshart. Really strong work if early 70s Scandinavian styled heavy prog is your bag. Like with Murple, I hadn't heard this album in 20+ years, at the point of procuring this LP. Also checked out the bonus tracks on the CD, which is their 1974 single. Both of these are heavily Yes influenced and should have been included with Ranshart, rather than here. Given they are unique to this release, and quite excellent, I'm holding onto the CD as well.

* - Keeping for the collection

2022 Fusion / Jazz Journal Vol. 1 - Complete

Dave Grusin - Discovered Again! 1976 Sheffield Lab (LP). I'm always interested in hearing things on the audiophile label Sheffield Lab, and Grusin is an excellent candidate for the imprint. Pretty decent smooth jazz, with a little bit of that early 70s TV soundtrack sound still left. Good on the whole, but inessential. (Mar)

Quincy Jones - You've Got it Bad Girl. 1973 A&M (LP). Similar to the above actually, but even more constrained and saccharine. This one is way too polished. Last year I picked up Smackwater Jack (1971) for the first time, and enjoyed that title better. (Mar)

Streetlife. 1981 Black Gold (LP). Ah, this ended up being a bummer. I was very excited to find this for $3 at a local store (signed no less). I'll buy anything on the collectable Black Gold label out of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Two of my treasures of the collection were released by them: Message (hard rock) and Genre (jazz fusion). Looking at the cover I thought I may have found something like the latter, or perhaps even a soul or funk album. No such luck. The cover, as it turns out, is truly indicative of the music. It's jazz vocal revival music, the sort of thing one would hear in the 1940s and brought back by the likes of Diana Krall in the 90s. Nothing wrong with that of course, just not what I'm into. It'll sell though (it did). (Mar)

RMS - Centennial Park. 1985 MMC (LP). Long ago I had an associate who would determine how good an album was by who was on it. A "names guy" I'd call him. Well, he'd certainly love this album then! Why RMS indeed stands for Ray Russell, Mo Foster, and Simon Phillips. No need to listen to the album - it's great! Ha. In any case, Centennial Park is a fine instrumental fusion album with decent guitar from Russell, but it has 1985 written all over it. The tones are cheap and the compositions are somewhat ordinary. I think if I didn't already have dozens of albums just like it, I would keep it. But enough is enough. (Mar)

*Ruphus - Let Your Light Shine. 1976 Brain (LP). Seems I've been on a Ruphus kick of late, but it's pure coincidence that this album came along after hearing the first two recently. I've had those on LP for many years, but never owned this title. Like with Release Music Orchestra's Get the Ball, you'd think this album was readily available, but it's surprisingly elusive here the States, at least at a decent price. Finally secured one online at a fair deal. This is where Ruphus switches gears from being a prog band to a jazz fusion group. The music is a superb example of the Euro fusion movement of the time, and the piercing female vocals of Gudny Aspaas adds to the allure, though requires a mental adjustment. On this listen, I was most reminded of Embryo's Bad Heads and Bad Cats, a major compliment indeed. (Mar)

Jack DeJohnette's Directions - Untitled. 1976 ECM (LP). I was hoping for a rough jazz rock album here similar to early Rypdal or Abercrombie. Well, not quite. This definitely isn't "ECM Jazz", but it is most certainly "Jazz". I could have gone for a rawer edge, similar to some of the greats from around 1970, but this one plays it safe for the most part. Oh well, not the best week for my jazz rock / fusion collection. (Feb)

Stanley Clarke - School Days. 1976 Nemperor (LP). Standard issue - but very good - fusion album from one of the legends of the genre. Followed the pattern of the day with a pastiche of styles, from heavy electric, to soft acoustic, and everything in between. Sometimes albums penetrate deeper into our psyche depending on when we hear them. For me, this comes too late, after absorbing many albums like it. But certainly a very fine album for the style. (Feb)

Art Lande - Rubisa Patrol. 1976 ECM promo (LP). Another ECM styled late night noirish jazz album. Peaceful and soothing. Though credited to pianist Lande as the marquee, it's just as much Mark Isham's album as well. He contributes half of the compositions and his muted trumpet is the dominate instrument. An old friend was a huge Isham fan, so I heard a lot of his work 30+ years ago. It was too tranquil for me then, and I still feel that way - at least on Rubisa Patrol. Borderline keeper, but have to draw the line somewhere. (Feb)

*Rainer Bruninghaus - Freigeweht. 1981 ECM / Warner Bros (LP). Bruninghaus was the keyboardist extraordinaire for Eiliff, so I was most curious how this solo album would turn out. It was only a couple of bucks, so why not? First off, this is nothing like Eiliff or has anything to do with Krautrock. And yes, it is most certainly "ECM Jazz", so we're all adults now. Mostly it's an atmospheric album with Bruninghaus' soothing piano and Kenny Wheeler's Flugelhorn, backed by scattered drums, oboe, and English Horn. It's very well done, and calms the nerves nicely. It's side 2 that really draws you in, as the music becomes more cyclical and entrancing, while Bruninghaus introduces more synthesizer to the mix. The 12+ minute title track is a whopper. Sounding all the world like Klaus Schulze's 'Crystal Lake' as a backdrop to the soothing jazz up front. Brilliant really. The US press translates the titles on the back cover (but not the label) to English. The title track is set to mean 'Set Free By the Wind', which tells me it's not a straight translation ('Blown Free' would be that), but an interpretation. I like the album's take because it fits the music perfectly. Wonderful surprise. (Feb)

Egberto Gismonti - Danca das Cabecas. 1977 ECM (LP). Acoustic based world fusion album from Gismonti. More towards proto New Age than "ECM jazz". Reminds some of Pat Metheny's acoustic works, also on ECM. It's not a bad album, but not very enjoyable either, at least for me. More academic than interesting I'd submit. (Feb)

Urban Ensemble - The Music of Roland Vazquez. 1979 Arista GRP (LP). This was a pleasant surprise. Somewhat standard fare late 70s fusion but with a full stage band behind it. Great horn charts. Think something along the lines of an instrumental Earth, Wind and Fire minus the soul and disco. Or, maybe more to the point, Caldera. (Feb)

* - Keeping for the collection

Ruphus - Ranshart. 1974 Norway

Ruphus had a somewhat unfocused start of their career. Their debut was very much part of the Norwegian underground, and fit comfortably with Junipher Greene, Aunt Mary, Popol Vuh, etc.... Then they took a major diversion by attempting to emulate the UK megastars known as Yes. And finally they settled into a jazz rock groove that continued through the rest of their career, with mixed results.

That Yes album above would be Ranshart, our focus of today's post. The first side, strangely enough, predicts the American variation of copying Yes, in particular Starcastle comes to mind. It's a mix of radio friendly tunes blended with obvious progressive rock tones and meter shifts. Asle Nilsen's bass work recalls Chris Squire, and that can only be a good thing. The second side throws off the commercial ambition and goes all-in prog rock, with the lengthy instrumental 'Pictures of a Day' being a highlight. Nilsen also pulls out the flute, proving he may be the progger of the bunch. Keyboards are provided by Hakon Graf, he later to play on the jazz fusion Blow Out album. On Ranshart, he adds the requisite mellotron throughout the recording. For those that are allergic to classic 70s "UK big name prog" albums, you'll probably want to steer clear of Ranshart. Otherwise this is fastball-down-the middle proggy prog.

Ownership: LP: 1974 Polydor; LP: 1978 Brain (Germany). I couldn't quite remember when I obtained the Brain release, which remains my primary listening copy. I recall seeing it at a Dallas record store in the early 90s, but I think PPR Jeff snapped it up ahead of me (damn!). My database has the facts though - acquired from a mail order dealer in 1994. The Brain release is a reissue of course, and was released on the orange/multi-color label. The original Norwegian pressing was a gift from a great friend of UMR in 2017. It wasn't in the best shape (still worth plenty of $, so a very nice gesture). But I love the cover, so it allows me to hang it up high on my wall of albums, since I won't likely need to play it. 

I picked up the CD dutifully upon release, but it doesn't offer anything but a very short history (preserved below), so I released it.

1994; 2009; 1/15/22 (new entry)

xxx

Ruphus - Inner Voice. 1977 Norway

I once owned this album in the late 1980s and early 90s but eventually sold it. Now I understand why. Bought the LP again on a whim anyway and... time to say bye-bye to Inner Voice! By this time in the band's career, they had moved completely into jazz rock waters. There's nothing left of their progressive rock legacy as even found on their previous album, which this does share some similarity with. All the same, there's some blistering guitar work here, along with some nice Fender Rhodes. What's holding me back from appreciating it more is, quite frankly, the raspy female vocalist. You will be hard pressed to find a more tolerant fan of female vocals, in a rock or jazz setting, than I. But this gal really pushes the limits of her range. And she's pretty dominant on the recording, so there's no hiding from it or rationalizing it away (like with say, Epidaurus). I mean she ruins every track on the album. It's a decent album, especially when one considers the instrumental work by this veteran band. And it sports an even better cover. Too bad, that. The band - and she in particular - improved on the followup Flying Colours. So I recommend skipping this one, and going for that instead.

LP: 1977 Brain (Germany)

Ruphus - Flying Colours. 1978 Norway

When I buy albums like Flying Colours, I'm not expecting a wall to wall classic, but rather I'm looking for at least one or 2 strong compositions to make it worthwhile. And that's just what I received with Ruphus' 5th effort. The title track and 'The Rivulet' are both very pretty numbers, with a good groove, and fine melodies. The female vocals are very pleasant in this context (much better than any of her contributions on Inner Voice). Both these tracks reminded me most of the debut by the Canadian band Contraction, of all albums. 'Joy' is a powerful fusion track with great use of clavinet, and represents the 3rd really great song here. 'Frysja' goes to Ruphus' Norwegian roots, and recalls what bands like Kebnekaise were doing over in Sweden. Unfortunately the opener 'Foodlovers' Diet' is very off-putting, where the vocals are strained (as they were on the previous album), and the music is somewhat irritating to be honest. So best to start with 'Frysja' and enjoy the soft moods and warm afternoon. Overall a fine effort from Ruphus, who managed to tap into the best characteristics of the late 1970s funk fusion fad. A surprising improvement on their preceding effort.

Personal collection
LP: 1978 Brain (Germany)