Graffiti. 1968 USA-New York

When hearing Graffiti for the first time, I was most reminded of Canada's Nucleus. It has that same kind of disorienting feel, while also looking forward to the progressive rock movement. It's more friendly though, demonstrating a melodic sense that was radio ready. A slight strain of Strawberry Alarm Clock can be heard as well, especially with the fuzz guitar work. Like many of the more creative bands from the American psych landscape, Graffiti were one and done and forgotten by all but the most dedicated collectors. An excellent album that is enjoyable throughout and multiple listens will likely be rewarding.

Ownership: LP: 1968 ABC. Gatefold. Picked up from JL before the Denver show. It's nicer than these Discogs stock photos. The album has just been reissued by Sundazed in the last year if interested in obtaining the CD.

6/7/23 (new entry)

Made in Sweden - Made in England. 1970 Sweden

Made in England is Made in Sweden's 4th album, and they continue to progress from the psychedelic era to the upcoming progressive rock movement. After a couple of intense listens, I'm considering them part of my psych collection. Primarily they are a song based band that have added some complexity to their compositions. They proved to be great songwriters, which you can really hear on tracks like A3, A4, B2, and B4. As such this is one of the rare albums that truly represent "psych prog". Great album overall.

Ownership: LP: 1970 Sonet. Thick gatefold and heavy vinyl. This is a well made product! Online acquisition from 2013. My introduction to the album came via the Universal/Mellotronen CD purchased real time in 2001. Features some fine liner notes that I've saved off, but no bonus tracks. As such I put the CD for sale.

2001; 2011; 3/27/23 (new entry)

Watermelon - From the Lemon Drops to Vibrations of Sequence in Order. 1970 USA-California (archival)

This is one of those bands I discovered via an original 45 (very obscure). I'd heard a sample of it, and was intrigued. In researching on Discogs, I couldn't find the 45 but I found this CD! And fortunately that super cool track ('African Song') is on this archival compilation. I know most of my audience is more prog geared than garage, and this comp was marketed towards the latter crowd. But it's for us! The Lemon Drops were a garage band from Chicago who released one highly sought after 45 in their lifetime. Since then, two full archival albums have emerged (I've not heard them). Followed by this title. We are left to guess that the Vibrations are the transitional group from one to the other (and a move to California). The liner notes are more free associative than informative. In any case, what Watermelon bring to the table is a sound I associate more with Group 1850 than anything you're likely to hear in America. Lots of instrumental psychedelia, with organ being prominent. My favorite 45 discovery so far is by a band called Gandharvas. You can find my notes here about them (and I remain the only person who seems to know this 45). Watermelon will give you some idea of that sound - as does Group 1850, especially on their singles. Not all of the tracks are dated, but the ones that are, come from 1970. And that's a bullseye for the era of this kind of sound. Albums like this are very few and far between. I think it's great. Need more time to take it to the first division, but this will be a long time keeper. Take the time to find this. It's already disappearing. 

Ownership: 1996 Collectables. Recent online acquisition (2023). As noted above, there are liner notes, but they seem incomplete. 

3/9/23 (new entry)

Delired Cameleon Family - 'Musique Du Film "Visa De Censure N°X" De Pierre Clementi. 1975 France

After some 20+ years since my last listen, my opinion of this album remains unchanged. Not likely to ever go up or down at this stage. My Gnosis review below is where I still stand (slightly revised):

Around the same time of Forever Blowing Bubbles, another Cyrille Verdeaux project began. Delired Cameleon Family is basically Clearlight in disguise composing music for an obscure film called Visa de Censure Numero X. Essentially this film is a one hour dialogue-less music video. The musicians on this effort are a combination of those found on the first two Clearlight LP's and the music is an amalgam of both. The opener 'Raganesh' is an Indian percussion driven piece similar to the last moments of '1st Movement' from their debut. Meanwhile 'La Fin du Debut' recalls the female vocal-lead tracks found on Forever Blowing Bubbles. Overall the album is much more tripped out and loosely improvised than the Clearlight albums proper. In fact, I could see Delired Cameleon Family fitting comfortably on the German Kosmische Kouriers label. Throughout the album, Verdeaux's familiar nervous staccato piano remains as his signature sound.

Ownership: LP: 1975 EMI. Single sleeve. Acquired at VVV in Dallas in early 1988.

1988; 4/21/01 (Gnosis); 1/29/23 (new entry)

Lightshine - Feeling. 1976 Germany

Feeling is one of those albums that seems to have been made to sound rare. It's really perfect from an underground perspective. It doesn't possess the Krautrock sound as we know it, more like a late era psychedelic band who recently discovered progressive rock. The guitar is higher pitched and maintains an acidic tone. There's flute and synthesizer, but the Krautrock staple of organ is nowhere to be found. Unusual song structures and vocal styling. Lightshine's overall sound is more French than German. 

Ownership: LP: 2012 Garden of Delights. Single sleeve, numbered edition (mine is #486). Online acqusition (2016). Excellent reissue with full band and original label history. More fleshed out than the original CD, which was my introduction to the album (1994). This was one of Penner's (pre-GoD) early releases, before they became more thorough.

1994; 4/24/16; 2/19/22 (LP 3.4); 10/17/22 (new entry)

Oh Sees - Smote Reverser. 2018 USA-California

Up through about 1994 or 1995, I made an earnest attempt to keep up with all new progressive rock releases. Back then, new prog albums came out in a trickle from various places around the globe. And then suddenly, progressive albums were being released from all types of labels and genres, many of them unlikely sources. It became an impossible task. So I begin to focus on what I enjoyed most in the modern era, while continuing to deep dive into the 70s and early 80s. 

Oh Sees is exactly the type of band that I've missed all these years. Originally known as Thee Oh Sees, the San Francisco based group has released close to 3 dozen albums. And I'd never even heard of them. Of course they've changed their styles over the years, and based on what I've read, perhaps their earlier work would be of less interest to me.

On a side note, one of the problems with partnering with a local "hip" record store is the constant "push" for me to use my trade credit on new albums that I otherwise wouldn't consider. Why is that a problem - isn't that a good thing? Yes... and no. The exposure is great, of course I want to hear new things. But I absolutely must downsize, and there's plenty of older albums I still want to get. Remember I prefer CDs to LPs for modern music. So here's what happens: "You should check this out". 9 times out of 10, it's stoner music. I don't really like that stuff - never have. OK, there was a Kyuss stretch in the early 90s, but otherwise... And I usually get this back "You don't like anything... you just like old stuff... like you". LOL. All true, you know. But it's not that I don't like it, it's that I can't own everything under the sun. Which gets us back to the first paragraph.

But it was hard to deny Smote Reverser, as this album contains everything I like about modern progressive. It's psychedelic influenced, and the analog instrumentation is fantastic. You'd think a band that puts out as much product as Oh Sees has, wouldn't be able to bring this kind of creativity, but they certainly do here. They do a great job of laying down a complex beat followed by a jam or other progressions. In many ways I was reminded of late 90s acts such as Mushroom or Cosmic Invention. It's definitely Krautrock influenced. So yea, Can and Neu! are in this conversation. You'll also hear some Group 1850, Hawkwind, and even a little bit of Motorhead. And for another modern comparison, maybe Titan comes to mind.

It would be easy to want to explore the band's full catalog, and maybe I will. But not all at once.

Ownership: LP: 2018 Castle Face. Acquired at What's Next here in the Springs. 2 LP set cut at 45 rpm. Single sleeve cover, with colorful inners and an insert with recording details. Has a download card too. A very nice package overall. Oh, and the cover is entirely misleading. It looks like something Celtic Frost or similar would release. Not a prog like cover, that's for sure.

Quintessence - Dive Deep. 1971 England

It was only some 3 years ago that I wrote about Quintessence's debut, an album that I had only been introduced to in 2014. You can read my thoughts there, but it's remarkable that Quintessence possess exactly the kind of sound I enjoy, yet I was so late to the party. I knew their second and third albums were supposed to be similar, and I secretly hoped I would find them in the wilds. After all, I do recall seeing them in the record bins in the 80s and 90s. But no such luck. Since I was happy with Repertoire's CD of In Blissful Company, I decided to cut in line and grab Dive Deep. 

Dive Deep is the 3rd Quintessence album and is very similar in construct to the debut. They have a distinct psychedelic edge, which I attribute more towards their interest in Indian music. Other than the final track, all of the music is laced with psychy guitar, flute, and percussion. They're a full 6 piece, so you don't get shorted on instrumentation. I'm not quite as reminded of Marsupilami as I was for In Blissful Company, but one could see this as a direction they could have gone as well. Because the album ends with a more traditional Indian piece, it seems many have written the album off as background restaurant music, or something similar. But Dive Deep would be awfully irritating for that setting I would think. Yet another excellent album, and I look forward to hearing their second album at some point.

Ownership: CD: 2005 Repertoire. Recent online acquisition. Colorful digi-pak with excellent liner notes from Chris Welch. The notes contain a band overview, and are slightly different to Welch's notes on In Blissful Company, which he had penned 2 years earlier.

Som Imaginario. 1971 Brazil

For over 20 years, I had misinterpreted Som Imaginario's second album as the weak middle child. That awkward transition album from psychedelic to progressive rock. I was thinking of bands like The Mandrake Memorial or SRC. And, in particular, Italy's Formula 3 came to mind. But last night I heard the album completely different. I went 4 rounds with it, as I was caught off guard. Two straight hours of Som Imaginaro numero 2. It's a heavier album than their debut, and I was reminded more of Modulo 1000 - along with many Italian references, in particular Il Rovescio della Medaglia's La Bibbia and Il Balletto di Bronzo's Sirio 2222. Love the sinister Portuguese narration parts. The album closer 'A Nova Estrela' is brilliant heavy psych, exactly what you want from music of this era. Sure, there's still a bit of 60s pop left in them (especially A2), and their lame attempt at blues is best skipped over (B2). But otherwise, this album surpasses their debut in my estimation, which now puts me in the minority opinion. But I really do think their second album is more innovative and interesting on the whole.

Ownership: CD: 1997 EMI. Part of the Portfolio box set. You can find my thoughts about this package on the debut's post.

Melodic Energy Commission - Migration of the Snails. 1980 Canada-British Columbia

Melodic Energy Commission are one of those bands that are near impossible to write about. Their sound is straight out of the 1971 Krautrock cookbook - it's wildly psychedelic sounding. But they don't have the structure or flow of any of the UK or German bands of the era. And they are completely out of time for 1980. All of which scores huge points in my book. They are truly on their own planet here. Even though they feature Del Dettmar on keyboards, there's not a trace of Hawkwind's type of space rock to be found anywhere. Migration of the Snails needs to be heard a few times in a row, just to get an idea of what they're up to. It's a large ensemble and they play dozens of instruments, all very talented at that. One of a kind group, that's for sure. When they reformed in 2005 with Time is a Slippery Concept, they didn't miss a beat, and sound pretty much like they do here. Genius level, really.

Ownership: LP: 1980 Energy Discs; CD: 1997 Vapor. The single sleeve LP was purchased (or traded for) sometime in the late 90s from an unknown catalog dealer. Sealed copies could still be had back then, and I nabbed one. Comes with a cool insert with trippy cave paintings and a transparent lyric insert. Nothing these guys do is normal. I purchased the CD upon release, entitled Moon Phase Compendium, and it features their debut Stranger in Mystery in full along with almost all of Migration of Snails. In order to fit on one CD, they left off the track 'Perriwinkle St.' - which is more of a soundscape, and probably the best choice to leave behind if forced. The CD comes in what Discogs calls a "soft plastic jewel case", with a few notes and credits behind the plastic. Because of the omitted track, I first listened to the album on LP. Then listened to the CD two more times (only the Migration portion, which opens the disc verse the expected other way around). Really the CD sounds great here, as the original pressing wasn't the best. For an album this great, I'll continue to keep both of course.

Liquid Sound Company - Exploring the Psychedelic. 1996 USA-Texas

Liquid Sound Company is the psychedelic outlet for guitarist and bassist John Perez, from Fort Worth, Texas. John comes from the rich musical background that DFW offered in the 80s and 90s - the same one that I was fortunate to learn and participate in. It would be some years before John and I crossed paths, but he's yet another great individual who represents the sprit of the times. And a super cool guy. John's primary claim to fame is his participation/leadership of the doom metal band Solitude Aeturnus, a group who later provided Candlemass with their lead singer. But he's run the gamut from death metal to psychedelic and everything in between. And he's promoted many such bands through his Brainticket label. I don't know where John first heard of Brainticket, but it's very well possible it was through our radio program in the late 80s/early 90s, or a friend of his was turned on that way. That would be satisfying for sure.

Exploring the Psychedelic is the debut for Liquid Sound Company, a brand name that continues to live on, even though there are only 4 releases in a 25 year timespan (including a new release this year). But way back in 1996, Exploring the Psychedelic was indeed doing just that. Perez and crew were tuned into the scales of Asia, while turning the amps to 11. It's mostly instrumental, and the band were able to avoid falling into the common Stoner traps. There's no metal here,  this is pure heavy psych - 1969 moved forward 27 years. Mostly a guitar based trio, with some fakeatron on the last track. There's plenty of variation of sound and songwriting, so it's a fully realized effort, not a one-trick pony. I have many such releases in my collection that I've grown tired of, but Exploring the Psychedelic isn't one of them. It remains a bright light from the burgeoning 90s retro heavy psych prog scene.

Ownership: CD: 1996 Brainticket. Acquired not long after release, from a catalog dealer most likely. I was living in Denver by this point, so I probably didn't buy it locally. Standard jewel case with a hard to read booklet :-) It was also released locally on LP from Dallas' own Rockadelic Records, a label that was trying to promote newer bands after years of great success releasing rare American artifacts.

1996; 5/21/21 (entry)

Brimstone - Paper Winged Dreams. 1973 USA-Ohio

From Canton, Ohio, Brimstone's Paper Winged Dreams is at that perfect point where psychedelic was transitioning to progressive rock - though by 1973 that would be a bit late for such a move. There wasn't a lot of this kind of music coming from the States, which makes this private press Christian album all the more curious. Concerning the latter, it's not very obvious, so you can enjoy it on a secular level as well. I found the songwriting here to be exemplary.

Ownership: CD: 199? private. Not quite sure when the CD came out (I got this copy in 1997), but it is for certain band released. They didn't even mention the bonus tracks, but the two here are from their 45 single and pretty good at that. Otherwise you get a very short history and some faded newspaper articles. Decent reissue (and the only legit one).

The Mandrake Memorial - Puzzle. 1969 USA-Pennsylvania

Side 2 of the previous album Medium was a harbinger of things to come for The Mandrake Memorial. Gone is the trademark electric harpsichord and its place is the guitar trio - with a fully staffed choir and orchestra in tow. The conventional psychedelic songs are undoubtedly The Mandrake Memorial of the first two albums, but the other tracks show the band pushing the boundaries of rock into exciting new directions, oddly reminding me some of Pink Floyd's 'Atom Heart Mother' suite that had yet to appear. Guitarist Craig Anderton's growing interest in electronics is given a test drive on 'Bucket of Air' - a splendid display of proto Kosmiche Krautrock if there ever was one. Overall, it's definitely an experimental record, and one that did not result in commercial success for the band. The subsequent 45 single sees The Mandrake Memorial heading back towards the middle - not sure where else they could have gone honestly - and then decided to hang it up, having accomplished a great deal in only 2 short years.

Ownership: LP: 1969 Poppy; CD: 1996 Collectables. The original gatefold features a fetching Escher cover (House of Stairs from 1951), and comes with a cool circular insert, which is often missing (fortunately I have it). On the CD, Puzzle adds in the original LP liner notes which are in Dutch and likely come from Escher himself. In addition, the CD has both sides of their final 45 single as a bonus. They also inexplicably "colored in" the Escher sketch - who knows why?

7/5/14

Quintessence - In Blissful Company. 1969 England

Quintessence isn't a band you hear much about when talking psychedelic and progressive rock, and that has to rank among one of the great mysteries of music collecting. I had passed over their albums in the bins for years and years. I never remember anyone talking about, referencing, nor recommending the band. Not via catalogs, nor any like-minded friends. So I just presumed it was a sort of hippy dippy folk rock with maybe a Indian singalong or two.

It wasn't until late 2014 that a friend virtually elbows me and asks: "Have you heard Quintessence before?". And so off I went to some discount seller and retrieved In Blissful Company on CD per his recommendation. How on Earth could this be so obscure - and yet so common? I have no idea. So here we are in 2018 on my second revisit, and I've probably played the album 5 times in a row. It's really an excellent example of the psychedelic / progressive rock crossover blend.

For 1969, Quintessence definitely possessed a pioneering sound. The key sound components are electric guitar (often times fuzzed out) along with flute. And sonorous vocals. It took me awhile to figure out who they reminded me of most - but then it hit me last night. Quintessence laid the groundwork for a similar type sound that Marsupilami pursued a short couple of years later (the vocals were the giveaway). And given this latter band is one of my all-time favorites, then it stands to reason as to why I enjoy In Blissful Company as well. Listen to tracks like 'Manco Capac', 'Body', and 'Pearl and Bird" and compare. Other than 'Chant', which is the obligatory Hare Krishna moment, the rest of the album is divine so to speak. And yes, of course, it has a strong Indian element to their sound, which I see only as a plus.

Ownership: LP: 1969 Island; CD: 2004 Repertoire. The CD is a fine digi-pak with excellent liner notes from Chris Welch and includes 2 bonus tracks which made up the single release. A couple of years ago I also picked up the LP. It comes in a fine gatefold, with a 12 page die-cut book. My copy is the palm tree label (shown here) which dates it to 1970 most likely, but technically copyrighted 1969.

Blood Ceremony - Lord of Misrule. 2016 Canada-Ontario

Lord of Misrule is Blood Ceremony's 4th album, and sees the band time travel even further back than prior. Continuing on with this pattern, perhaps soon Blood Ceremony will sound like The Ventures, while Alia O'Brien dances the Mashed Potato...

Lord of Misrule immerses itself into the 1969 landscape quite successfully, mixing psychedelia, folk, hard rock, with slight traces of prog. Though I've defended Blood Ceremony in the past from sounding just like Jethro Tull, here the band seem to be embracing the tag. So yes, perhaps Stand Up era Tull is indeed the blueprint, with some Jefferson Airplane mixed in, and a cameo from Black Sabbath's first album. All with O'Brien's "witchy woman" vocals layered on top. While the music remains excellent - perhaps I say this due to my predilection for the style - there aren't the standout tracks of the past. It's definitely a very good "mid career" album, with well thought out compositions, but it does lack a certain dynamism.

Let's just hope the next album doesn't feature a cover of Hawaii Five-O. Book 'em Danno.

Ownership: CD: 2016 Rise Above (UK)

8/10/16 (new entry)

Day of Phoenix - Wide Open N-Way. 1970 Denmark

Like a lot of bands from Denmark, Day of Phoenix jogs along in a loose, rambling, jammy style. For whatever reason, the last vestiges of the San Francisco psych scene could still be found in Copenhagen. Not to say that the English variety of progressive had not yet crept in - because it had - just that the outdoorsy open festival atmosphere was still prominent. The album is remarkably consistent, with the title track winning by a nose.

Ownership: CD: 1994 Repertoire (Germany). Fine reissue with liner notes for both Day of Phoenix and the Danish late 60s psychedelic scene overall. It does appear the CD is sourced from vinyl however.

7/6/15 (new entry); 5/13/20

The Human Beast - Volume 1. 1970 Scotland

On the surface, it would seem The Human Beast's sole album to be typical of the era, given the guitar-bass-drums trio format. But these guys aren’t Cream plagiarists, nor did they go the Led Zeppelin, Ashkan, Elias Hulk psychedelic power variation of the blues. No, we’re moving towards the freaky, to the astral zone of Clear Blue Sky, but even beyond. The lyrical concept and overall acid feel gives the feeling that Vangelis may have stumbled onto the album before launching into 666 for his Aphrodite’s Child group. And yes, I’m sure Human Beast digested plenty of Saucerful of Secrets and Ummagumma before heading into the studio. One of the most creative of the UK power trios, no doubt.

Ownership: CD: 2007 Decca (Japan). Papersleeve. Acquired new upon release. This was my introduction to the album.

LP: 2008 Sunbeam. Gatefold with historical liner notes. A mint UK original can set you back 4 figures (one sold recently for over $2,000), so that's a tough option. I'm up for trying to get the German original though.

7/21/07; 3/7/10 (new entry); 9/14/23