Finch - Beyond Expression. 1976 Netherlands

I could have sworn I wrote about this album before. This was one of my earliest mail order purchases while still in college, and is yet one more important album that encouraged me to continue my deep dive into obscure European progressive rock. Glory of the Inner Force is one of the most important records in my collection, so I was very excited to be able to get this title for reasonably cheap, even back then.

From a style perspective, it's largely a continuation of the aforementioned Glory album. I'm going to quote from the other two studio album reviews, as that will likely auto-write this one. 

"Glory of the Inner Force is quite simply hyper kinetic instrumental progressive rock, or what we used to call symphonic fusion...  One criticism I've constantly heard about Finch is that they're more about chops than composition, and yet I hear it completely different. Despite the fast paced nature of the recordings, and the many twist and turns that goes on throughout each track, there is also a strong melodic component as well - very similar to Focus regarding this latter characteristic."

(Galleons of Passion): "But on close inspection, one can hear that Finch had already moved in this direction on Side 2 of Beyond Expression. And what makes it successful is the superb guitar playing of Joop van Nimwegen. He clearly is one to wear his emotions on his guitar sleeve, and his playing here is incredibly expressive. In this way, Nimwegen could be compared to Mario Millo over in Australia. In fact, that to me is what Galleons of Passion reminds me of most: Sebastian Hardie. The appropriately named 'Reconciling' closes the album in more kinetic fashion, hence reconciling with their past Glories."

Beyond Expression has three long tracks that use the same heavy / soft formula of instrumental symphonic fusion with plenty of thematic and meter changes throughout. Essential.

Ownership: LP: 1976 Negram. Single sleeve. Acquired from a California based dealer through Goldmine Magazine while still in college (1986). Mine fortunately does not have a tear on the back like the Discogs stock copy. 

CD: 1994 Marquee / Pseudonym. Jewel case with gold disc.

1986 (first listen); 1994; 2009; 1/10/24 (review)

Thirsty Moon - Blitz. 1976 Germany

After all these years, I'd never heard Thirsty Moon's 3rd album, despite being a huge fan of the two prior, especially the debut. I had expected a typical mid 70s fusion, of which I've warmed up to greatly in the last 20 years. But one title that didn't do much for me was their 4th album A Real Good Time, which has become somewhat collectable in recent times. Blitz not so much, so I figured not to spend much effort to find. That was my mistake. Information about this album tends to be scarce, but essentially it's an all instrumental rock album. Unusual in its simplicity for style, though musically it most certainly belongs to progressive rock. This is not the Krautrock style of its predecessor's nor is it fusion or symphonic either. More American or British sounding than German, and somewhat unique overall. I quite like it.

Ownership: LP: 1976 Brain. Single sleeve. Green label. Online acquisition (2022).

3/19/22 (LP 3.8); 12/20/23 (new entry)

David Sancious and Tone - Dance of the Age of Enlightenment. 1976 USA (archival)

I can't remember the last time I preordered a CD or LP. I don't need to be "first on the block" to own a piece a music, especially now as I'm reducing the collection. But I made an exception here. For one, I know the label Iconoclassic from finding a couple at thrift shops. Their items do go out of print, and can get expensive. The other is this is a very significant reissue. Or really "issue" as it were. There have been many reasons attributed to why this album remains extinct in original form. David Sancious himself says in the liner notes that the album wasn't mixed as it was recorded - either an error in the machinery or that the engineer thought it sounded better speeded up. So he put the kibosh on it until it could be remixed. The label then decided to shelve the project altogether and asked for a replacement, which would ultimately be True Stories. A few promo copies were released, hence its extreme rarity today. Very high demand and no supply makes for a very expensive item. 

Until now, almost everyone has heard this album via bootlegs taken from what we now understand to be a flawed release. I'd heard it before, but I'm not familiar enough with the "other version" to skew my viewpoint here. For those that have ingested the bootlegs, then this new version will likely disappoint, though it could be the opposite. In general we accept music as it is presented and alterations are disturbing.

Even though Sancious is rightfully considered a jazz fusion artist, heavily influenced by Mahavishnu Orchestra, Weather Report, and the like - Dance of the Age of Enlightenment is a departure into progressive rock waters. He was swimming against the tide already for 1976/77. A couple of tracks feature vocals but otherwise I'd submit this to be an instrumental prog album. Keyboards are front and center as to be expected. A mix of synthesizers and rock instrumentation, with those complicated rhythms expected in prog and fusion. Not an immediate likeable release (has an odd sound and approach - at least to my ears), but multiple plays reveal a sophisticated work that grows on you. 

Ownership: CD: 2023 Iconoclassic. Jewel case release with booklet that gives a short explanation of the history of the album. Seems the sound could have been better? Who knows in what shape the tapes were in.

11/14/23 (new entry)

Kaseke - Poletus + Sonum (EP). 1983; 1981 Estonia

Kaseke were a band that straddled the line between instrumental progressive rock and jazz fusion with sparse vocals. The CD combines all of their output, though in reverse order. Personally I think the stronger - or at least more consistent - material is on the EP, so I would have started chronologically. Mostly Kaseke will remind the listener of the lighter Scandinavian progressive rock acts like early Ragnarok, Dice, Atlas, and Finnforest. The production and some of the instrumentation is Soviet style so brace yourself for that. There's some really strong songwriting on these. I'm particularly fond of B3. And the EP features flute, which adds more spice to the stew.

Ownership: CD: 2000 Boheme (Russia). Jewel case release with a nice history in English. I originally started with the Melodiya LP (1996), but sold it off once the CD came out. To no regret.

1996; 2000; 9/25/23 (new entry)

Attila Kollar / Musical Witchcraft - II: Utopia. 2002 Hungary

Attila Kollar was the x-factor in Solaris, and his flute playing and melodic structure is what made that band so special. His next venture - working under the band name Musical Witchcraft - is very similar. At first the all-instrumental album sounded too familiar and a bit stilted, but as the disc goes on, Kollar manages to rise to the occasion and add interesting thematic developments, including easy listening / cocktail jazz. The music possesses an uncommon warmth. A gifted composer, Musical Witchcraft provided the audience with the next generation of Solaris as the group had splintered by then. Very much recommended to Solaris fans, or the groups that influenced them such as Camel and Rousseau.

Ownership: 2002 Periferic. Jewel case release with recording details. 

4//06 (first listen); 12/31/08; 9/18/23 (review / new entry)

Iris - Crossing the Desert. 1996 England-France

Iris' sole release is one of those albums that doesn't look good on paper. Essentially it's an instrumental one man project led by former Arrakeen guitarist Sylvain Gouvernaire bringing the rhythm section of Marillion along for the ride. And the CD makes sure you know that latter fact in the hopes it would generate more sales (and it probably worked too). I mean, these guys can keep a beat but they don't shine in any other way. So the entire album falls on the shoulders of Gouvernaire. I have not heard the French group Arrakeen myself, though the name rings a bell from that era. In reading about them they sound like the kind of band I was avoiding in the late 80s and early 90s, but probably would love today. With all of that, and an overly digital production, I would predict Iris has little chance of making the grade. Shelf space comes at a premium these days.

As the music starts out, my self-fulfilling prophecy was going as expected. But you know, the guitar is very melodic, and I kind of like those Tangerine Dream middle 80s synth tones. And there's some real songwriting going on here. I had wondered why I picked this up in the first place, because by 2010 the days of trying every prog rock album under the sun were way behind me. Something had to impress me about it. It's sort of like the 3rd Malibran album that I just spoke about. You just have to let this one rip - and it grows from there. The song placement is particularly adept as the album builds quite nicely in intensity. Gouvernaire is completely embroiled into this work, and I enjoy his guitar style very much. I can see why only one album was released from this project. The idea was spent.

Ownership: CD: 1996 private (Germany). Jewel case with colorful booklet. Acquired much later (2010).

8/28/10; 12/6/11; 9/7/23 (new entry)

Gotic - Escenes. 1978 Spain

Gotic's sole release in their lifetime is one of the most positive and joyous albums ever made. Life affirming, cheerful, satisfying, heartwarming, uplifting, and whatever other adjectives come to mind here. Primarily a quartet of flute, keyboards, bass, and drums, this is the blueprint of what I call "European Warm Progressive". You also hear this sound quite a bit in Quebec during the same era. Led by Jep Nuix's flute and Jordi Vilaprinyó's electric piano and synthesizers, Gotic's compositions are constantly on the move in true progressive rock fashion. This while Rafeal Escote's bass is always propelling the compositions forward in a kinetic way. Guest guitar adds color but is never the focus. Escenes is the album to bring you back to a happy state. A true masterpiece of the style.

Ownership: LP: 1978 Movieplay. Gatefold. Mail order acquisition (1994). I consider this LP to possess the most beautiful cover in my collection - numero uno. In fact in 2014 I bought a second copy so I could display the incredible Doroteo Puebla cover. See 3rd photo on how beautiful the gatefold looks side to side. It's a centerpiece of my collection.

CD: 2002 M2U (Korea). Stiff but beautiful papersleeve edition. This was the first mini-LP to hit the market and I snapped it up quickly. It's a bit tape hissy, but after putting on the LP to compare, I can understand why they jacked it up like they did. Interestingly enough, I also bought the Japanese box to house it in, even though I never bothered to pick up their own papersleeve edition. This is one of those albums that I first discovered via CD (in 1990), and I played it nonstop in the car after obtaining it. That would be the 1988 Fonomusic edition which is incredibly basic. No matter, I for certain got my money's worth before swapping out for the M2U version.

1990; 1994; 2003; 12/1/22 (new entry)

Crime in Choir - Trumpery Metier. 2006 USA-California

Not long after release in 2006, I penned the following: "This is their 3rd album and the grades on the first 2 are mediocre. Wow – I like this one! I guess this is what I expect out of a modern progressive group. It’s all instrumental but accessible – not esoteric in that European way that seems to turn off more mainstream listeners. But not so vapid as to turn off more grizzled veterans like myself. Complex and mathy, nice mix of modern and vintage instrumentation including keys and reeds. Another band who’s heritage can be traced to the At The Drive In family tree (Mars Volta, Sparta)."

In 2017, I reviewed the predecessor, where I did a better job of capturing the essence of Crime in Choir: "San Francisco's Crime in Choir are like a number of bands to appear in the second millennial landscape. The music is exceptional, and the audience for it at the time was nil or fleeting. Especially here in America where creativity was at a high, but the data to find such gems was hard to filter. I only knew of the band because they wrote me directly to review their 3rd album Trumpery Metier, which impressed me on impact (2006). So a little exploration had me going back one album further, which would be The Hoop... As I arrive on RYM's entry, I see math rock as the genre. Crime in Choir is math rock in the same sense as an instrumental Soft Machine and Egg are. Don Caballero, Crime in Choir is not. And thus lies the problem with our modern situation. I can certainly understand the assertion (perhaps the band themselves made it...), but for those of us raised in a different generation, instrumental progressive rock is what we would have thought on first listen. And so had it been marketed to such an audience, the end result would have probably been the same from a financial perspective. And totally different from an artistic one. The music found on The Hoop is highly melodic, and keyboard driven. Even space rockish at times. No, Crime in Choir are not Canterbury, and they are certainly modern. And yet my comparisons hold."

---

In hearing it again last night, all the observations I made for The Hoop hold here. In my initial review, I did use the word "mathy". Now I recall the details: The band had sent me an online download - not the CD. And of course a promo package to go with it. I stopped dealing with these "zero dollar investment" review pleas almost before I started. And the respective groups rarely would even say thank you. In any case, they did refer to themselves as math rock, but that was more the term of the day as I noted above. The timing of hearing this recently is that, interestingly enough, it reminded me quite a bit of Mahogany Frog, another similar band operating at the same time but up north a ways. 

Ownership: CD: 2006 Gold Standard Laboratories. Purchased a year later from my initial review. Interesting artwork. Comes with a tri-fold booklet with photos of the band. Seems they didn't market themselves correctly, as they were clearly a retro prog band with a different motivation. Maybe not a financial boon, but certainly from an artistic legacy perspective.

7//06 (review); 3/26/07 (acquired); 11/27/22 (update)

Twelfth Night - Live at the Target. 1981 England

As mentioned many times on this blog, when I first started collecting progressive rock, there was no contemporary scene for me to relate to. Nothing from my generation to follow and collect. Everything I was gravitating to was from the 70s - and likely the early part of the decade at that. It was late in my high school years of 1983 that I began to learn of a new movement coming out of England called The New Wave of British Progressive Rock (from UK metal magazines no less). And Twelfth Night were one of the more prominent bands receiving attention along with Marillion and IQ. I was in college by the time I finally heard Twelfth Night. Live and Let Live (1984) was being imported into the States, and I snapped up a copy "like a bulldog on a pork chop". My reaction was positive but not wowed. The one exception to that comment is the finale 'Sequences'. After this, I also picked up quickly their new album Art and Illusion, and it was clear Twelfth Night were no longer interested in being a progressive rock band, and those dollars were forever lost. Buying import records on a college budget was a very expensive endeavor. At least before I landed that plum engineering intern job in 1985...

And that was my initial history of Twelfth Night. Around 1990 or so, we (the Dallas contingent) were visiting a local friend in Fort Worth - someone who was to release many prog albums of his own or in groups. Underground Railroad would be one band you may recognize him in. In any case he was selling off a number of records and CDs, and one of those was Live at the Target (1989 UGUM). There's 'Sequences' again with 3 other tracks. Once home, I spun the disc and was listening to something completely different than expected. First thing to note is the album is all instrumental. Secondly, this album has nothing to do with what is normally associated with neo prog. This is space rock of the highest order. More in line with Nektar, Gong, or Hawkwind than anything Genesis related. Had I heard this album first, I would have been a big Twelfth Night fan from the off. Which I guess would have ultimately led to a great disappointment similar to what I experienced with IQ in the mid 80s. All 4 tracks here are great. Well written tunes, executed perfectly, and the jams are exhilarating. Andy Revell is a master of the wah-wah peddle, Brian Devoil's drumming is kinetic, while Clive Mitten distinguishes himself as a strong bass lead. Rick Battersby's keyboards provide more color than solos, but is seamlessly blended. Even though I was familiar with this album for over 30 years, I enjoyed a +1 listen.

In addition to the album, the Definitive Edition CD offers a full second disc of mostly live material, some of it unreleased, or only on other archival issues. The music found here is very similar to the Target concert. Some of the recordings are a bit rougher, but still enjoyable throughout, especially as bonus material. And at 73 minutes, it's a double LP's worth of extra music.

Ownership: CD: 2011 Festival. Brilliant reissue with the extra CD as noted above. Purchased new not long after release and quickly replaced the original bare bones UGUM reissue. Incidentally that reissue is called out in the liner notes as "unauthorized", though no one on Discogs has bothered to label it as such. I doubt I'll do it either. Anyway, not only do you get the bonus disc, but also a thick booklet with many historical perspectives, photos, newspaper articles, and other memorabilia. A first class job all the way, and this remains my primary copy.

6//90; 2//11; 2/20/12; 11/13/22 (new entry)

Sepsis - A Liturgy of Madness. 1991 Russia

Or more properly... Сепсис - Литургия Безумия (aka Liturgia Bezumia)

I had an old review for this, but I couldn't remember who I wrote it for! Found it - for Gibraltar (remember them?*) in 1995 (not that long after its release). So here is that review, slightly altered:

Sepsis in a word are remarkable. Even before you pull the vinyl out of the jacket, you realize that Sepsis is completely in the right frame of mind. The cover depicts a human head with the brain outlined so they are definitely foreshadowing the fact that this will be a cerebral affair. The album features just 2 side long tracks broken up into many sub-themes. The lineup is the basic guitar, bass, drums trio. Simple in format, ultra complex in their approach. You will not miss the keyboards believe me. Liturgia Bezumia is an all instrumental album that will make one sweat trying to keep up with the time signatures. From the first notes of throbbing bass and screaming acid guitar, through rapid fire acoustic strumming, to the Area-like experimental bits, back to screaming guitar, this album will leave you dizzy afterward. All the while the drumming is superb, adding many surprises and keeping it exciting the whole way.

---

I fear to say it looks like it's been 22 years since I last heard it, after acquiring the supplemental CD. The review above holds up well and my high rating is maintained. It's one long track translated as 'Mad Cucumber' Parts 1 and 2. Generally the idea of one 40 minute track of instrumental prog rock sounds pretty snoozy, but Sepsis keeps it exciting throughout. Eastern Europe had so many interesting bands during this period - isolated but connected enough to create something familiar yet still foreign. I recently mentioned this with the Czech Republic on the Stromboli review. Even more to the point would be the one two punch of Survolaj and Talitha Qumi from Romania - both possessing the recklessness found here. Now we all wait for Russia to rejoin us again. I think (and hope) it will be soon - and I'm sure the residents there would wish for that too.

Ownership: LP: 1991 AnTrop. Single sleeve. Looks like I bought this online from Ultima Thule in 1994. Speaking of losing your way, the Freeman's used to be a pioneering guide of new music, especially from Eastern Europe. Now they fight with everyone over matrix details. I try to remember the good times.

CD: 2000 Boheme. Jewel case release with liner notes in both English and Russian. Bought this as soon as it came out and it's going nowhere. Music like this is perfect for mobility.

3/19/95 (Gibraltar); 10/1/22 (new entry)

* - Looks like the website was taken down in 2019. It's too bad it's not archived. However it does exist on the Wayback Machine. Who knows if that will be up forever. I tried to look up Sepsis and a couple of other bands but it didn't work.

Finch - The Making of... Galleons of Passion / Stage '76. 1976-77 Netherlands (archival)

I've written about Finch extensively in the past as they were one of the earliest obscure European prog bands for me to discover in the early 80s (via the ATCO (USA) issue of Glory of the Inner Force), so I won't cover that again here. Suffice to say when this archival discovery was released in 1999 it was a huge boon to fans like myself. Though oddly enough, after dutifully buying the set immediately and hearing it to great satisfaction, it has sat patiently another 23 years for its second visit (there's that number again...). As such I didn't remember anything about it.

The first disc is The Making Of... Galleons of Passion, and is essentially an earlier version of what was to be released. All five tracks are represented here, and to my ears the rougher mix is more pleasurable. Galleons of Passions was a bit too slick for a band like Finch. So I find this to be the definitive version. Even better is there are three unreleased tracks from the same session, any one of them could have - or should have - been on the original album. It's a short album and there was room for all of them. The best of these three IMO is 'Phases'.

Disc 2 is the Stage '76 portion. Here you have 71 minutes of live Finch in their prime. There are two tracks from Glory of the Inner Force and two from Beyond Expression. All of them energetic recreations, though they don't deviate much from the original material. Best of all is the unreleased 17 minute 'Necronomicon', sounding all the world like a missing track from Glory. Instrumental progressive rock like only Finch could do. Overall a must pickup for fans of the group.

Ownership: CD: 1999 Pseudonym. Fatbox 2xCD set with superb liner notes detailing the full history of the band (and the only place I have this).

1999 (first listen); 6/27/22 (review/new entry)

Atlas - Blå Vardag. 1979 Sweden

Atlas were another group from northern Europe that played a highly melodic and pleasurable instrumental progressive rock. Similar to Rousseau in that way, as I just spoke about in the Flower in Asphalt review. Atlas are a bit more fleshed out and complex, but I found myself enjoying the more compact and punchy Rousseau on these revisits. I also hear the Dutch band Pantheon in these grooves. The type of music Atlas projects on "Blue Tuesday" has aged very well for me, and has proven to be timeless.

Ownership: LP: 1979 Bellatrix. Single sleeve. Online acquisition (2020). Cover projects the mood of the title. 

CD: 1995 APM. Jewel case. Booklet contains recording details. Also includes three very relevant bonus tracks: One from their next album when known as Mosaic; another from a 1995 reunion recording; and finally, an archival rehearsal from 1978. This CD is becoming as rare and expensive as the LP.

1995 (first listen); 6/24/10; 8/9/13; 6/23/22 (review / new entry)

Lisker. 1979 Spain

Lisker's sole album is a rather simplistic, primarily instrumental album filled with fuzz guitar and flute, nice melodies, and a healthy amount of energy. From the above statement, two items are worth calling out: 1) The melodies are well thought-out, and are memorable long after the music has stopped. And 2) the guitar tone is decidedly psychedelic, which is quite the rarity for a 1979 recording. Lisker tracks close to the French band Triode in terms of overall sound. And the melodic quotient could make one state that Lisker is to the Basque Country what Gotic is to Catalonia. Plus the psychedelic influences of course. Excellent album.

Ownership: LP: 1979 Xoxoa. Gatefold. There was a time when this was highly sought after and very expensive. I obtained my original copy in a trade back in 1994 from a well known European dealer. When the CD came out, I couldn't resist trading it to a friend / dealer for 30 new CDs. Even today, I question whether or not that was a good idea. But money was much more scarce then for the UMR. However, as is often the case, I reacquired arguably even a better copy, at a cheaper price from a good friend of the UMR in late 2018. This replaces the aforementioned CD that offers nothing else. 

7/7/13; 12/9/18

Blue Phantom - Distortions. 1971 Italy

Blue Phantom's sole album contains 10 heavy psych instrumentals, and is technically under the category of "incidental music for film and TV". That would be one hell of a film if anyone checked this one out of the "library". Apparently the trash master Jess Franco did in fact borrow some tracks for one of his sleaze-a-thons (of course he did). All the same, unlike most film music, these tracks are fully realized and not just sketches of songs. So not only do you get the cool period instrumentation - heavy fuzz guitar in particular - but the tracks are well written with memorable melodies. File Blue Phantom next to your Braen's Machine, Fourth Sensation, and Psycheground albums.

Ownership: LP: 1971 Kaleidoscope (UK). Recent online acquisition that replaces the AMS reissue LP that made up this original entry. Single sleeve with cool psychedelic artwork. My first copy of this album goes back to the early 90s and a white label bootleg, with the same cover as this (cheaply made, however). 

9/25/17

Kimio Mizutani - A Path Through Haze. 1971 Japan

In 1971, it seemed as if Kimio Mizutani contributed to at least 365 albums. So it's hard to imagine he also had time to release his first solo album. On A Path Through Haze, Mizutani brings along some of his like minded studio buddies such as Takeshi Inomata (drums), Masahiko Sato (organ, piano, Moog), and Hiromasa Suzuki (electric piano), along with 3 others on bass and vocals, a string quartet, and a woodwinds quartet. That's quite a crew! For a guy who is known for his unhinged fuzzy guitar solos as a guest, A Path Through Haze is remarkably subdued. Nonetheless, Mizutani puts together eight wonderful instrumental progressive rock tracks. Honestly this album has little to do with the experimental 1971 Japanese jazz/rock/psych landscape, but rather predicts the more measured prog rock scene of the mid 1970s. In particular I hear flashes of a band such as Camel circa Moonmadness. Often times you'll read that A Path Through Haze is a Canterbury album. While I doubt it was a major influence at the time, the musical conclusions of the two are similar. Fuzz bass, electric piano, searing guitar all within the confines of beautiful songwriting will draw those comparisons. Also of note is the very early use of the Moog synthesizer, still not a common presence in 1971, especially in Japan. 'Sail in the Sky' is my favorite of the eight tracks on display here, but every song is delightful. Easy recommendation to global progressive rock fans.

Ownership: CD: 1998 P-Vine. Wonderful thick gatefold mini-LP with an insert in Japanese. Also includes the original recording details in English. Purchased this real time at Other Music in Manhattan (which is sadly no more) - a nice brisk walk from my hotel in Chinatown. For all the summer of 1998 I had a DBA gig in Soho and would often times dine in Little Italy. Needed that walk.... 

BTW, if looking for an original LP, be prepared to get a second mortgage. I'm not sure I've actually ever seen this album. It looks like only one copy has sold on ebay over the years (the same album sold twice - lots of flakeroo buyers out there).

1998 (first listen); 6/28/15; 1/30/21 (review/new entry)

Tortilla Flat - Fur ein 3/4 Stundchen. 1975 Germany

Tortilla Flat's debut album is an instrumental exercise in superb jazz composition combined with tight rhythms and driving rock guitar. Tortilla Flat were a six-piece with flute, electric and acoustic guitar, bass/fuzz bass, drums, percussion, and electric piano. The primary lead instrument here is the flute, with plenty of room given to the Rhodes piano and biting fuzz guitar, while the melodies are bouncy and playful, recalling Supersister's 1970 masterpiece Present From Nancy. The primary difference is that Tortilla Flat is a bit more jazzy and less psychedelic than their next door neighbors. This fact probably has more to do with the trends of the year 1975 than anything else. The seven tracks on display feature plenty of room for improvisational jamming over complex rhythms while the compositions are memorable and, at times, beautiful. One of the all-time Euro prog greats.

Ownership: LP: 1975 private. Fold open cover with a lyric insert. I bought this from a well known German dealer (2000) for about a tenth of its going rate. 

CD: 2019 Long Hair. Jewel case with great sound, full liner notes, photos, and two excellent bonus tracks not found elsewhere. 

The CD had been long anticipated. Various labels including Laser's Edge and Musea had intentions of reissuing it. The band even sent me a masters tape CD-R sometime in the mid 2000s to assist in the matter. 

As for the date, the recordings were completed on Dec 22, 1974. It's highly unlikely it was pressed and released in the next 9 days - during Christmas! Unfortunately the liner notes do not specifically address this matter. But 1975 stands to reason.

3/30/01 (Gnosis); 7/11/06; 11/11/20 (new entry)

On the Raw - Climbing the Air. 2019 Spain

Modern albums who make a claim to jazz fusion usually don't interest me much these days. But On the Raw play a type of instrumental progressive rock with jazz fusion influences. It's interesting that I had just digested the Scope albums again via the new CD reissues, as On the Raw takes a similar approach. They used to call this music "Euro Rock" back in the late 70s and 80s. The compositions have a focus on melody as well as complexity. On the Raw are a full five piece including saxophone and flute, along with some guests on trumpet, violin, and female vocals, so the palette set is varied. While certainly a retro mindset prevails, and the instrumentation is decidedly from a past era, the album doesn't really sound like it's from the 70s. I'm scrambling to come up with a modern band that has traversed the same territory as On the Raw has done here. It rocks harder than fellow countrymen Herba d'Hameli for example. Maybe the debut album by Ingranaggi della Valle is a good guidepost. Sure, we're in obscuroland, but that's where On the Raw resides.

Ownership: CD: 2019 Redphone. Nice digipak with cool industrial photography in the booklet.

8/6/20 (new entry)

Don Caballero - Don Caballero 2. 1995 USA-Pennsylvania

If there was ever a genre I only needed one album of, it's Math Rock. A friend sent me a cassette dub not long after this release, and I was very much intrigued by it, and subsequently bought the CD. To my ears, it sounded like a condensed extract of the most intense parts of King Crimson's Starless & Bible Black, and Red. It was later that I learned that Pittsburgh's Don Caballero were a pioneer in a movement known as math rock. Well, I concluded, I must be a fan of math rock then! I owned a couple of other Don Caballero's, plus a handful of other groups playing in a somewhat similar style. None of which excited me too much, and now they're all gone from the collection, except Don Caballero 2. And I'm keeping it because it reminds me of the intense parts of King Crimson's mid 70's era :-) . Pretty much what you get here is a powerful, guitar fronted, instrumental progressive rock. It can be a bit monotonous and annoying in places, but mostly it delivers the goods. One just has to be in the mood for an onslaught like this. Melodies aren't their strong suit. For what it's worth, Don Caballero apparently distanced themselves from the term math rock as well, which makes sense to me.

Ownership: CD: 1995 Touch & Go. Simple jewel case release, but do love the imagery of Pittsburgh's industrial past. Bought this at Rush-Mor in Milwaukee in 1997, nearby to where I was working at the time.

6/27/97; 7/16/20 (new entry)

Hecenia - La Couleur du Feu. 1994 France

Hecenia's sophomore album La Couleur du Feu is exactly the type of progressive rock that has fallen out of favor with the cognoscenti. The sound and textures scream early 1990s technology. Vintage analog was out, and new shiny and bright was in. And while there are few among us who favors the old instruments of yore more than moi, I have no qualms in stating that I love the early 90s progressive rock renaissance. And La Couleur du Feu is one of the finest albums from that era. There are stunning piano driven melodies here, along with harp, and a hyperactive rhythm section. The all instrumental album is always on the move, and never a dull moment arrives. If Trilogy of Here It Is fame had continued on into the early 90's, La Couleur du Feu would be a reasonable facsimile of what we could have expected. A stunning album really, and an exponential leap from their awkward debut.

Ownership: CD: 1994 Musea

1994; 7/21/19 (new entry)

Of Petra - So Onto Itself. 2018 England

Of Petra is currently an unsigned band from London, England and So Onto Itself is their second album. The band themselves list Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis, and Herbie Hancock as influences, so its something of the "usual suspects". However, as is usually the case, a band like Of Petra finds their own voice within these parameters. The music is instrumental, slight jazzy - even funky - but with a strong psychedelic streak. This is most notable with guitarist Cyril Meleiro's decidedly acidic tone. I feel he does a fantastic job throughout the album, giving it the rough-hewn sound the band needs. There's a distinct UK festival styled neo psych here, though not near as slick and synthesized as say Ozric Tentacles, but more toward some rundown club in East London. The heavy use of samples recalls the 90s UK group Ship of Fools. The instrumental psychedelic nature of the music also points me to fellow countrymen Lunar Dunes. Of the big name artists the band lists, I would say Led Zeppelin is the least influential, and Pink Floyd and early 70s Miles (minus the trumpet of course) is the most.

Bandcamp

10/18/18 (new entry)