Blue Knights ~ Germany

Blue Night (1992)

Long ago I had made the decision to buy everything I see on the Innovative Communications label, whether on CD or LP. Klaus Schulze had founded the label, and originally it featured artists that followed in his footsteps. Long after he'd sold out (1983), IC went in many directions.

Blue Knights are an offshoot of Dancing Fantasy. Both collectives have a lot of albums, and this is the first one I've heard from either, which happens to be the debut. Both Discogs and RYM curiously label the album as Smooth Jazz or Jazz Fusion. It is neither. When hearing it I was thinking of a very popular artist from the mid 90s. This morning, with the help of AI, I remembered who it was: Swiss artist Robert Miles and his big hit 'Children'. I know within the world of electronica there are dissections to the nth degree on what bucket each musician belongs to. Dream Trance, Progressive House, Eurodance, or whatever blablabla, are much closer in spirit to Blue Knights than Smooth Jazz or Fusion. Kenny G or Weather Report would be the furthest thing on your mind when hearing this.

The primary driver here is the sound of the piano (which is why I thought of Robert Miles). The melodies are simple, yet beautiful. The electronics set the atmosphere perfectly, and yes of course, boom boom boom. It's at the border of dance and chill. I tag them all with the generic term "electronica" for easy reference. The album peaks on the sequence between tracks 8 and 10. Other highlights include 2, 3, and 5. The last track provides a perfect closer.

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of this album, to me at least, is the date. I associate music like this with the end of the 90s, not the beginning. Though I'm sure much of that has to do with my own ignorance of these genres in general. And since the 90s was the great trajectory of my life, the background music of the decade always resonates positively here. Not surprisingly, the CD's theme as noted in the booklet, revolves around high fashion. Such a frivolous decade really. I miss it.

While I wouldn't bother to mail order any of these, I will continue to seek them out in the thrifts or record shop's budget bins. How much of these will I ultimately keep? Not sure, but since that part of my collection still has open space, CDs like this slide in easily.

Ownership: 1992 Innovative Communications (CD). Booklet with fashion / model photos and a narrative about the album. Acquired in 2026.

1/23/26 (review)

1/23/26 (new entry)

Mandragora ~ England

Earthdance (1992) 

You can read my thoughts about Mandragora in the reviews below. I don't have too much to say beyond that. To summarize, Mandragora are one of my favorite bands from the original UK Festival Psych scene. They had a unique disparate approach though their sound is largely familiar. Earthdance is their 4th album (counting their debut cassette), and is closer to the previous Head First than the follow up Temple Ball. Mostly it's the eclecticism that makes me think that. This is the kind of album you just hit play and let 'er ride. Good music from a good era. This is a title I first bought on LP and switched to CD quickly. Today they're worth about the same.

Ownership: 1992 Mystic Stones (CD). Acquired in 1992.

1992; 1/20/25 (review)

Phil Thornton with Mandragora - While the Green Man Sleeps (1993)

--- 9/29/09

Phil Thornton is the main man behind Mandragora and they were one of the great UK festival psych bands. And while this goes under the Phil Thornton name, most of Mandragora is on it, and it sounds like a Mandragora album to be honest. Or perhaps a more electronica version of the band, something the group eventually moved to anyway on their 1998 opus Pollen. This particular release reminds me a bit of Ship of Fools actually, given the relaxed nature and flow of the music. 

--- 10/7/22

As noted already in a couple of places, I'm quite fond of Mandragora, who I felt added a bit more than your garden variety space rock and UK festival act. And this listen resulted in a +1 as well. I didn't mention this above, but While the Green Man Sleeps is a mixed release. The first two tracks are from a concert in Scotland circa 1987. And for whatever reason they included 'Xylem' from Earthdance which is superfluous. The remaining three tracks are newer recordings and apply more to my initial review. The final track 'Rainbow Chant' is nearly 25 minutes, and is worth the price of admission alone.

Ownership: 1993 Mystic Stones (CD). Acquired in 1994.

1994; 9/29/09 (review); 1//10; 10/7/22 (update)

Head First (1991)

There was a time - in the early days of the UK Festival Psych movement - that Mandragora were one of the bigger names of the scene. Perhaps only second to Ozric Tentacles in name recognition. But by the end of the 90s, the band more or less died like most of the genre. And are now largely forgotten. Which is really too bad.

Head First is Mandragora's second proper album, and possibly their first fully realized one. It's disparate in style, but unmistakably Festival Psych. For example 'Pendulum & the Pit' is a solid hard rock number, not too far removed from a late era Hawkwind sound (the aforementioned were Mandragora's idols). 'Talking to God (Pt 2)' is one of the more wacky pieces here, very psychedelic with phasing, warbled voices, and wicked fuzz guitar. 'Raga' goes out East for the obligatory Indian psych trip. Both 'Yesterday's Tomorrow' and the title track offer the best representation of the album as a whole, and includes all of which they bring forth here. 'Grooving in the Dog House' gives us a glimpse to their sound at the end of the decade - more electronica and less rock influenced.

Overall a very solid entry into the English late 80s / early 90s psychedelic underground. I've owned this CD since it first came out, and it only gets better with age.

Ownership: 1991 Resonance (CD). Acquired in 1991.

1991; 1/1/19 (review)

Temple Ball (1994)

For my money, Mandragora were one of the top UK festival / space rock bands of the 1980s and 90s, perhaps only bested by Ozric Tentacles and Omnia Opera (though really obscure bands like Crow and Blim were just as outstanding, but those are more recent discoveries for me).

Mandragora's trajectory was a bit different, however. On album at least, they started with hard rock, moving ever slow slowly to space rock, then onto ethnic tinged electronic rock, some techno, etc... I like all of their albums, but it was on Temple Ball that the band finally unleashed their ferocious guitar fronted space rock style. Like many of the bands of their era, Mandragora mixed in recorded TV and radio bits to add to the ominous atmosphere, before launching into another intense jam.

The banger (hipster talk) here is 'Talking to God (Part IV)', but other great pieces include 'Zarg', 'Inside the Crystal Circle', 'Rainbow Warrior', and the title track. The album claims to be recorded live "in the Crystal Feb '94", but I don't think it's an actual concert. If it was, then it's been completely edited like a studio album and there's no audience noise. I prefer it this way myself.

This is definitely the best album on the space rock specialist Mystic Stones label, and sadly, very close to the label's last release.

Ownership: 1994 Mystic Stones (CD). Acquired in 1995.

1995; 11/17/11 (review); 7/6/22

Also own: Over the Moon; Pollen

11/17/11 (new entry)

Electric Orange ~ Germany

Abgelaufen! (2001)

I've often referred to this album, their 4th (proper), as their "return to form" work. After a couple of diversions into the world of electronica, Electric Orange go back to their Krautrock roots. At times I feel this is more show than content, but that might be a bit of a cynical outlook. Their stock-in-trade is atmosphere, and they do truly capture the kosmiche kouriere in us all. Rhythms galore, wah wah guitar, heavy Hammond, mellotron overlays, and phased voices all play a role in this. There's even some Klaus Schulze styled electronic rock here. Orange Peel meets Can? Sure, why not.

Ownership: 2001 MPL (CD). Tri-fold with photo collage and recording details. Acquired in 2002.

2002; 5/19/24 (review)

Misophonia (2016)

Misophonia is Electric Orange's 11th proper studio album. They were one of the first Krautrock revivalists from the Fatherland, and have more or less stayed on script throughout their 25+ years career. I started with the band at the beginning, and have dutifully picked up all their albums to date. And the all instrumental Misophonia definitely has the right sounds, with rumbling drums, and grungy Hammond organ to the fore. So it comes as a surprise to me that I really don't enjoy this album very much. It's certainly good enough, but for Electric Orange, it's a sub par effort. I picked up the CD upon release, and heard it last year for the first time - and have stuck with it now for over a year. But the needle isn't moving.

So what gives? Well... I've struggled to put my finger on it, but for one thing there is no songwriting. Now with Krautrock that certainly isn't de rigueur, but most at least intersperse a few melodies among the chaos. Electric Orange did not do that either. But if there aren't any songs, then one would look for a climatic payoff of some sort - a build up to an intense jam for example. Nope, not here. Then there's the lack of tonal diversity. A flute, saxophone, or more electric guitar would have helped immensely. The latter is there primarily to set the tone, but doesn't play a major role in the album. In effect, Misophonia is one of those albums that has all the right ingredients, but doesn't taste right. To be honest, it's a bit dull. If I were to characterize the album - it would be something of a new genre - Ambient Krautrock. Not electronic in the slightest - definitely a rock based album. But it's very static. I do think that's what the band was striving for. To create the mood of the original early 70s Krautrock movement. To that end, they succeeded then. But that's all they did. Overall, I expected more.

2016 Studio Fleisch (CD). Acquired in 2017.

7/15/17; 4/29/18 (review)

Morbus (2007)

So here I sit with Morbus, an album that immediately brought to mind the earlier Platte, except it’s even more heavy, intense, and relentless. And I don’t mean that in the I-can’t-take-it-anymore-noise-fests of Acid Mothers Temple, but rather this is far more measured, where they capture a groove and expand upon it, rather than destroy it to the last note. When the group started, they were more or less an extension of Dirk Jan Muller’s one man show. Now it’s a fully fledged five piece group, armed with the latest in technology and a pile of vintage gear (especially in the keyboard department). I like the addition of the German narration, the wordless female vocals, and even the occasional lyrical song in English. Electric Orange are getting better as each year passes.

Ownership: 2007 Sulatron (CD). Booklet with band photos. Acquired in 2007

11/13/07; 6/6/17 (review); 3/23/22

Netto (2011)

In 1993, Electric Orange almost single-handedly restored the cosmic Krautrock genre back to greatness (with the exception of some truly obscure outfits like Attempt to Restore, Nova Express, and Der Kampf Gegen den Schlaf). They took a detour shortly thereafter into the realms of electronica, realized the error of their ways, and returned back to form in 2001 with Abgelaufen!. Since that time, Electric Orange have gone from amateur to professional status, added more band members, and have released a number of quality albums with consistency.

---9/17/24

I've gone back and forth on this title, but in the end, it's too static for my tastes. A lot of rumblin' and bumblin' but it never seems to take off or go anywhere. It's a fine effort for developing a particular kind of atmosphere, yet I couldn't identify what that is.

2011 Sulatron (CD). Acquired in 2012.

2/13/12 (review); 8/18/22; 9/17/24 (update)

Also own: Electric Orange (1993); Orange Commutation; Platte; Krautrock From Hell

Previously owned: Volume 10

2/13/12 (new entry)

CD Weedout - the rest

What this section tells you are the styles that I've been either loading up on or don't have that much to begin with. Especially on CD. A lot of these LPs I've been talking about lately will likely exit at some point in the near future. I've just been having too much fun crate digging and enjoying the sounds. Many will be lifetime keepers, others will eventually fall by the wayside. Jazz funk (or any kind of funk) is the fastest grower in my collection, and I haven't let go of anything in that space. Vintage hard rock / AOR is hot. Psychedelic music - both new and old continues to delight. Proggy/tech thrash is another area I still have excitement for. Fusion is hanging in there nicely as well. 80s music like new wave has been revelatory given that I shunned it initially. But that collection is almost entirely on LP. And of course, old school analog prog will always be my favorite I think. Whether it's vintage or recent.

OK this catches me up on this project from 2022. I've been able to keep up real time this year. I hope I can keep doing so. Also this exercise did have me pull back about 10 CDs that hadn't sold yet. I didn't mention them, so we'll either get them in a future roundup or maybe they will get their own feature after all!

Flairck - Variaties Op Een Dame. Polydor (1978). Is it progressive, classical, jazz, or folk? The answer is yes. I'm not sure how many of the Flairck albums I'll keep, but the debut can go. A little too highbrow for me (and I've got plenty of real classical these days). This was the only one I had on CD - the rest are on LP.

Aktuala. 1993 Artis (1973). I never got into this band that much, though I owned the first 2 albums for a while. Pretty much an Italian Third Ear Band. I struggle enough with the original English group by that name.

St Germain - Boulevard. 2002 PIAS America Classics (1995). Believe it or not, I'm quite fond of Tourist, one of those "unique" albums in my collection. Unique for me that is. This one, though, is too clubby for my tastes.

Som Nosso de Cada Dia. 2001 Columbia (1977). I was certain this would be a hidden gem in my collection. Considering I've been all in for Brazilian music, jazz, and funk. Not to mention their progressive rock heritage. Should be a slam dunk. Not at all. Unfortunately it's very commercially oriented soul for the most part. One of the most disappointing revisits of the last year.

Time. 1993 Croatia (1972). Like the Som Nosso, I was certain this would be a hidden gem. Early 70s vintage hard rock with organ from Croatia? Sign me up! But nah - it's fairly garden variety for this kind of music. More like those identity-less North American hard rock bands operating during this same time frame. The "gray area" reissue didn't help matters.

Tarkus. 2007 Get Back (1972). Like the above really - right down to the barely legal reissue. This is a highly revered bonehead hard rocker. Given that it's from Peru helps, but not enough.

Pescado Rabioso - Desatormentandonos. 2008 Microfon (1972). Let's throw one more on the disappointing hard rock pile. This one was just too bluesy for me to get my arms around. It's a trademark sound of Argentina, but some were better at this style than others.

Side Steps - Points of View. 2001 Musea. Solid modern fusion effort from Japan. Unfortunately I have a lot of solid modern fusion efforts from XYZ. I had a few by this band at one point. I'm down to Verge of Reality (2005) so we'll see how that goes eventually.

Purson - Desire's Magic Theatre.

Nine Invisibles ~ England

Soundbombing (2000)

About a year ago we featured an excellent space rock / festival band called Ship of Fools. Nine Invisibles is Ver 2.0 of Ship of Fools. I had picked up Nine Invisibles' debut Pureheadspace not long after it was released in 1997, but Soundbombing was an album that never made it to these shores back then. In fact, other than money maker Porcupine Tree, this album was the last hurrah for the great UK psych label.  By this time, almost all CD's on Delerium had an electronica / techno angle to their sound - and quite frankly I think they lost their core audience because of it.

So when The Laser's Edge managed to secure a copy recently, I jumped on it. What separates Nine Invisibles from your garden variety techno dance act is the synergy of having a multitude of people involved, along with the occasional use of analog instruments (guitar, bass, flute, etc...). In this way I'm reminded of another space rock band that incorporated techno into their music late in their career: Mandragora on their final release, Pollen.

2000 Delirium (CD). Multi page booklet. Acquired in 2012.

2/23/12 (review); 2/17/22

Also own: Pureheadspace

2/23/12 (new entry)