Trace s/t
Trace – Birds

OK, what I really want to see is Rick van der Linden and Richard Groove Holmes “Giants Together in Concert.” For a classically trained pianist, VDL definitely has some nice chops, although in the format of the classical trio, you don’t get to hear them nearly often enough. Especially on Trace’s debut, you tend to get quite a few segments where VDL will just lay down big minor chords over the rhythm section, and if that’s not lazy, it’s definitely pretty boring. Everything sounds quite good, a big sound and the Hammond is definitely crunchy. Parts of this remind me quite a bit of the Italians doing the same thing around the time, Le Orme, Latte e Miele and the Trip in particular. But as for the excitement factor, it’s pretty low, except when VDL gives us a solo, which brings me around again to the Giants Together in Concert thing, I’d love to see him put down some of these moves over a soul jazz groove (which makes me think Brian Auger). Anyway, as classical rock goes, most of which I find rather tedious, both these Trace records, the first two of three, are definitely good examples of the format. Birds shakes it up a little more, adds diversity and future Marillion drummer Ian Mosely to the mix, in fact I’d always though of the album as a step down, rather than the step sideways it is. Hard not to give 9s to both really, although fans of the genre are likely to rate both a lot higher. Maybe I’m too much of a guitar man.

Deluge Grander – August in the Urals. 2006. D:11. Dan Britton of Cerebus Effect has hatched a new unit for his ever creative mind, Deluge Grander. Cerebus Effect was crazy enough, but this goes to the next level. Greg Walker enthused in his catalog: “One of the best American albums ever! Banco meets Anglagard meets Crimson with lots of tron and long tracks.” Well, that should setup everyone for a disappointment. Or does it? “August in the Urals” is so far in the old fashioned progressive camp, that it will appeal to one kind of fan – the old fashioned progressive rocker. This is very much in the over the top 1970s American school of complex proggy prog ala Cathedral, Mirthrandir, Pentwater and Yezda Urfa. It was bound to happen sooner or later, a band would be completely and totally influenced by obscure worldwide progressive rock. Not jazz, psych, blues, beat, classical, or anything else. Not Yes, Genesis and ELP but rather Locanda Delle Fate, Pulsar, Dun and Anglagard. Much like Wobbler, if you turn your nose up at it, then it’s probably time to admit you just don’t like progressive rock anymore. Or at least anything new that sounds old. It’ll be condemned as so darn uncool by the hipsters, that it’s likely to be considered interesting by a passing stranger. As for me, well this is the style of prog rock I like most, so almost anything like it will get a gushing review. Hardly an unbiased, fair and balanced outlook I realize. Not that it’s perfect by any means, the vocals being one of the areas that could use some improvement (maybe they could get Di Giacomo to guest?). And it’s a little short of memorable melodies and good grooves. But no complaints from me, there’s so little of this kind of music anymore, I’ll take whatever is given me. Appropriately enough, the cover is a grandiose Thomas Cole painting, the same one used by doom metallers Candlemass on “Ancient Dreams”. Who’d a thunk Baltimore would end up being the center of the universe for European prog?

GAM (Schickert, Axel, Michael) – Eiszeit. 1978. D: 10. Even though the liner notes state this was a completed album that never was released during its day, it seems more like outtakes and random studio recordings (noting sound quality and style differences). The best tracks are the ones you expect to involve Schickert, the sound on sound guitar rave-ups with great soloing. But there are other songs covering industrial, rock, ambient and even a weird vocal number. Did catch an early Ash Ra Tempel space vibe on 2 of the cuts as well. By far the best is 8 minute “Ich Bin Ein Teil” which closes the album in monster fashion. Good, but not essential.

Mushroom – Glazed Popems. 2004. D: 11. “Glazed Popems” is a 2 CD set, each representing a different side of the band. The “London” side captures the spirit of 1970, with long drifting space rock cuts, reminiscent of Pink Floyd in their “Ummagumma” state of mind – with a nod to the earliest Ohr based Krautrock scene. When Mushroom first started out, they were typical of the retro Krautrock chic crowd – that is to say, everything began and ended with Neu! Mushroom have really developed since those easier times. They no more are just a simple copy group, rather one that has completely immersed themselves into the zeitgeist of the original movement. Mellotron, flutes, electric piano, woodwinds, strummed guitar, hand percussion. Non rushed, not of our time. You almost would expect them to ask for Ethyl at the gas station. An extraordinary work, if not always satisfying. The second disc is titled “Oakland” and is consistent with their recent pursuits into the freaky funk fusion ala “Foxy Lady”. So it’s more 1974 than 1970, but still a play for an another era. Even though Mushroom perform a style of music from the past, they don’t really recall any one band or album. It’s as if they took a time machine to the past, and created their own piece of history. Mushroom are one of my favorite current bands, and their releases are uniformly strong. Nice period photos of hot naked chicks might persuade downloaders to own their own copy.

WLUD – Carrycroch
WLUD – Second

I used to think WLUD was just some sort of weird capitalization thing, but apparently it’s the first letter of the last name of all four musicians. Anyway the quartet represent that weird and wonderful late 70s/early 80s range of French independent progressive rock when so many countries and regions had long stopped producing it, in fact it’s usually only in the progressive rock underground where you’ll come across names like Shylock, Carpe Diem, Arachnoid, Step Ahead, Laura etc. WLUD are minor, at least in comparison to 3 or 4 of those names, creating a style of music well above the musicians’ innate talents, something that can often be quite charming. The drummer, in particular, makes me chuckle out loud, hitting accents microseconds off and generally sounding like an amateur, imitation Bill Bruford. In some ways, the late 70s was the era of the micromoog and other single oscillator synthesizers, a sound that makes many late 70s French and Spanish progressives tinny and dated, often made worse by generic string synths. Fortunately there’s not too much of the latter on either album, but the synths, like everything else, the production, drums, guitars etc, are a little thin.  Musically it’s straight symphonic progressive, although I can imagine this would fall under symphonic fusion for the nonjazzers. Yes, Genesis and likely Ange and Atoll act as the looming influences, but WLUD are barely up to snuff when it comes to any of those bands’ professionality. But, like I mentioned before, there’s a naivete and charm to all of this, that coupled with the desolate environment for the styles, ends up impressing to some extent. Nowadays you’d be less conspicuous wearing a Starfleet uniform and saying “Live Long and Prosper.” (I moved both 7s to 9s, although I’d give a hair to the second.

Pink Floyd – Harvested Video Anthology 1 (DVD)

Whoa, this I didn’t expect. In collecting Pink Floyd live audios, one gets the distinct impression that there are very few before 1969 with decent sound quality. So I didn’t really expect to be astonished by what was a number of amazing, perfect quality (well, not all of them) clips from the Barrett and early Gilmour era. The first clip itself was a gigantic Intersellar Overdrive, clocking in at somewhere between 10 and 20 minutes with Barrett on guitar. Then, another Interstellar Overdrive from different footage, and then loads of videos and clips of various Barrett tracks through the ages. In many ways, this early Pink Floyd live jamming (the Overdrives anyway) ought to be heard by just about any progressive rock or psych collector as its influence on various European bands is more intense than one would expect just from the albums. For example, it was pretty obvious that some of the Can footage I mentioned from the early Beat Club era obviously had this Floyd on the brain (one has to mention Igra Staklenih Perli as the 3rd gen here). It’s hard to get excited about Pink Floyd these days, mostly due to overexposure, but this was just fascinating material – I had no idea the early band was this well-documented.

John McLaughlin Trio, John – Jazz Festival,Antibes, France 7/21/90 (DVD)

Rather dull (and I expected it) 50+ minute trio show with McLaughlin and that awful clean tone he used around the time. Looks like it was Trilok on drums, but I’m not sure who the bassist is, Victor Wooten maybe? Not totally sure on either, but there’s some Shakti-esque call and response stuff later in the show to break up what is generally rather generic trio jazz. For the most part it freed me up to do other things. 

Weather Report – Montreux Jazz Festival, Casino, Montreux, Switzerland 7/8/76 (DVD)

This clocks in at a good 80 minutes or so and features a Weather Report a little outside my interest range (for the record, I prefer the dirtier early band). However, Weather Report were a lot more dangerous live than on album, which generally means I can tolerate the band a couple years later than I would on album and this falls barely within those limits. It’s Jaco on bass of course and they’re mostly performing stuff from Black Market and recent albums. Zawinul always sounds a bit squirlier live thanks to the analogs and that helps quite a lot here. A nice show, but they’re starting to get a bit too mannered for me.

AC/DC – Cleveland 79 (I think) (DVD)

This is a C-ish bootleg quality perfomance whose specific date I don’t remember at the moment. I’ve seen some live AC/DC from a year or two earlier that was as inspired and intense as this isn’t, the whole band seems a bit drunk or out of it or something and there’s very little fire. A one listen and file sort of thing. Now to find that Powerage show…

Rolling Stones – Cocksucker Blues (bonus disc) (DVD)

This came with or separately from the torrent of the actual movie and thus represents a rather large wealth of outtakes, concerts and interview footage, a lot of it choppy and incomplete. The movie itself is somewhat controversial for its occasionally pornographic nature, but there’s actually some decent Stones footage to be found on both (and some awfully lousy stuff as well). Apparently there were no pornographic outtakes, which strikes me as fortunate, given the movie.

Level Pi – Entrance. 2006. D: 11. A rare modern album on the Garden of Delights label, Level Pi is the work of one Uwe Cremer, who plays all the instruments here. What Uwe has done, quite simply, is take the ethos of Manuel Gottsching / Ashra and dragged it kicking and screaming into the 21st Century. The guitar playing is exquisite throughout. 8 long tracks of cosmic guitar and electronics. Nice variety too – some more rock oriented, other ambient, a little Berlin School sequencing, and again others have an industrial edge. Cosmic Hoffman and even some of Electric Orange’s more earnest Krautrock efforts would be other reference points. Very, very good.

Immune – 1/F. 2006. D: 9. I’ve had Immune’s album for 3 months and still can’t put words together for a review. I struggle with the more mainstream newer bands like Porcupine Tree (Version 2.0), Pure Reason Revolution, Tool, Radiohead, etc… I like them all, but more from the mind than the heart. I think they all took too much of the grunge movement with them. Certainly I don’t expect, or want, all new bands to have influences that stop in 1972, so it’s cool they incorporate what they themselves grew up with. But the whole whiny/serious/pouty/shoegaze thing never spoke to me. Their troubles are not anything I can relate to, plus I’m not sure I care anyway. They could all stand to read a book like Gregg Easterbrook’s “The Progress Paradox.” Anyway, as I said, I do like it, because of the sheer variety of the material. Very much a big budget professional release, or at least sounds like one. As usual, Pink Floyd is the group of choice from Dad or Grandpa. The other influences are the popular alternative/indie/grunge bands of their peers or youth. No surprise, but the instrumental parts work far better than the vocal ones. The most surprising sounds are the atmospheric symphonic jazz parts – highlights for sure.

Blue Sky Theory – Good Place, No Place. 2006. D: 10. Like I said about Crime in Choir, the Bay Area’s Blue Sky Theory are probably more of what I expect out of a modern progressive group. The first 4 tracks are really something – highly spirited rock, that’s extremely compact and complex. Sort of how Echolyn were in their early 90s prime. In a couple of places even the ghost of Yezda Urfa makes an appearance – and when was the last time you heard a modern band sound like that? They can be that dizzying! Vocals are primarily female, and she has that full bodied voice that reminds me of Tale Cue – in fact, that’s another reference overall for their sound, along with possibly Leger de Main due to the pace they keep. A traditional 5 piece, it’s the guitarist that really stands out. He rarely solos, but plays all sorts of complicated charts, in the rarified distorted sound category. Has to take some gumption to lay it all on the line like that. Like a lot of modern bands, BST have a lot to say, which frankly gets in the way of the good music. I can appreciate a good story, maybe more as context for the music, rather than explicitly sung. Strangely, the hyper intensity of the first 4 tracks are completely abandoned afterwards for a much more straightforward sound. Closer to a typical indie rock, with a few surprises here and there, but nothing at all like the opening. It’s almost two different albums. To be fair, it fits more with the story line… but I did find my mind wandering. According to the band’s website, it appears the band will focus more on an “atmospheric” sound. Can’t blame them – all that complexity can be tiring to many audiences, plus it’s not typically a good thing for the personal ledger. No matter, Blue Sky Theory have an entirely unique album here. One that could be considered a landmark for future fans and bands.
 

Egba – s/t. 1974: D: 10. I’d picked up “Jungle-Jam” on LP earlier in the year, so it’s nice to hear the debut. Once again, more towards jazz than rock. Nice flute, (e) piano and jazz-tone guitar runs within the confines of tightly arranged compositions. Some African moves foreshadows what Archimedes Badkar would do on “Tre”. Long track on the backside contains a funk rave-up with fiery solos from sax, guitar and electric piano. This copy includes a live cut with a distinctly Latin jazz vibe with quite a bit of solo percussion. Not an Earth shaker, but I get a little more mileage out of Egba than I did from the similarly minded Swedish group Kornet. The addition of flute makes the difference I think.

Purple Image – s/t. 1971. D: 10. One foot in the uniformed Motown soul pop sound and the other well entrenched in the ghettos of Cleveland. Opening 2 tracks plus side long close display the latter, with tough hard rock guitar. The others are more soothing / traditional for the era. Despite a lengthy amount of the heavier side, it never really funks it up the way you expect it to. Del Jones’ Positive Vibes this ain’t. And so 10 seems it’s ceiling. Too bad, I had really high hopes for this one.

Velvert Turner Group – s/t (rock mix). 1972. D: 10. For all the guitarists who are said to be “just like Hendrix” – Robin Trower, Frank Marino, Uli Jon Roth – I honestly don’t hear it. Oh sure, I get the influence, but they’re not direct copies. Velvert Turner, now HE sounds just like Hendrix. According to one source, Hendrix taught the teenaged Velvert how to play the guitar and they were hangout buddies. Could just be urban myth too. Well, anyway, if you wanted more of that Jimi Hendrix Experience of the first 2 albums, may I suggest you track this down? Be sure to get the rock mix as there exists a soul mix, which  I presume to mean the album minus fuzz guitar. And, really, what’s the point of that?

Saxon – Denim and Leather. 1981. 8+9. Bought this in high school right when it came out. Opener ‘Princess of the Night’ is one of the finest anthems from the NWOBHM era, and was one of my favorite songs in HS. The rest doesn’t keep pace, but it’s solid biker metal. Fits comfortably with all their early 80s albums. One to have on the shelf.

Annihilator – Alice in Hell. 1989. 9=9.
Annihilator – Never, Neverland. 1990. 9=9. Solid thrash metal from Vancouver. A few progressive moves here and there keep the riffing interesting. Primary difference between the two are the change in vocalist from the first (a little gruffer) to the second. Second album a bit more polished and a little better. Guitar work exemplary, as expected. If you’re jonesin’ for straightforward “post Bay Area” thrash, these are about as good as they get.

Jericho Jones – Junkies, Monkeys & Donkeys. 1972. D: 9. The album released between the psychedelic Churchills and the progressive hard rock of Jericho. And those elements are present here as well. Though primarily the album was a product of its day, and contains a good dose of UK styled blues rock. Nice fuzz tone too. I feel the band were at their strongest with the hard rock ala the Jericho album, but all 3 are worth hearing. Easily Israel’s best collective from the classic era.

Recreation – Don’t Open. 1971. D: 10.
Recreation – Music or Not Music. 1972. D: 12.

The debut by this Belgian trio is a kick – somewhere between the avant space psych of Group 1850, the rigid metronomics of Egg and exploito organ-led covers of classic psych tracks. Great fuzz bass and go-go organ sounds throughout.

For “Music or Not Music”, the music takes a decidedly creative turn while adding guitar to the mix. An all-over-the-map type release, totaling 15 tracks, that reminds me some of Aphrodite’s Child’s “666” album, minus the pop songs. The quirkiness and overall demeanor recall some of the earlier work by Supersister. Like the debut, this is entirely instrumental. One of the best new-to-me obscurities I’ve heard in a long time.

John Bassman Group – Filthy Sky. 1971. D: 8. In the late 1980s, at the point I first started collecting “heavily”, the Netherlands’ John Bassman Group was a new discovery for many of the catalogs and big name dealers. But unlike many such “new” discoveries, “Filthy Sky” pretty much disappeared right away. So almost 20 years later, I’m finally hearing it. Could’ve gone another 20. Mostly run of the mill blues rock – a couple are closer to the barn than to the brick alleyways. There are a couple of great tracks – especially the second one, which has some of the coolest wah wah effects this side of Amon Duul II’s “Tanz Der Lemming”. Mix of XX and XY vocals. Might appeal to fans of Affinity and Goliath, but it’s not that meaty really. 8 is generous.

Malachi – s/t. 1972. D:10. Been told the group is from England, Wales and Belgium and then all the above. No matter, it’s always been hard to track down – and I’ve known about this record for 15 years at least. Was it worth the effort? Sure! Combines the feel-good groovy instrumental organ rock of Eden Rose with the more measured introspective UK scene like Cressida or Still Life. Sounds a bit dated for 1972, more like 1969 – probably due to the “carnival” sound of the organ, which is the dominant instrument. Flute is put to good use as well. No guitars, which is unusual for the era. Also pick up some Julian Jay Savarin in places. Yet another creative version of “Eleanor Rigby”. A good one.

Eccentric Orbit – Attack of the Martians. 2004. D: 11. A couple of weeks ago I reviewed a new album by the Israeli group Trespass. The review basically states that if you like keyboard trio proggy prog circa 1972, then you must own “Morning Lights”. Well, same deal here. Maybe less Trace and more Motoi Sakuraba, but still this delivers the goods all day and night. With some added instrumentation, these guys could create that extra dimension similar to how Pochakaite Malko did on “Laya”. Special recognition to bassist Bill Noland, who likes to rip some fuzz bass from time to time. Fuzz bass + mellotron = me like. Opener and closer were the highlights, as the aggressiveness plays well for EO. Album drew almost straight 10s from the Gnosis rat pack, and guessing it’s more a reflection of the “nothing new” assessment. But I tend to be generous to “cheeseburgers”. Big league stuff from the next iteration of Pye Fyte, itself a much neglected late 90s winner.

Saint Steven – Over the Hills / The Bastich. 1969. D: 9. Folky hippie psych from Boston – though they (or he, Steven Cataldo) weren’t a name band there and album was recorded in NYC with session players. Lots of different bits, styles and themes typical of the era. Decent vocals, unmemorable melodies. A few hints of fuzz, especially on “The Bastich” side which is heavier overall. Middle tier psych stuff. Nice legit reissue on Eclectic  – and quite a departure from their normal UK classic releases.

Ersen – Dunden Bugune. 1975. D:10. I haven’t heard a lot of the Turkish psych albums, but Ersen have one of the better reputations from what I can tell. It’s appropriately exotic and Middle Eastern sounding. The temptation would be to state that Ersen are to Turkey what Triana are to Spain. But they’re not progressive in that sense. Take out some of the fuzz guitar (great sound BTW), and it’s not that dissimilar from a lot of popular music that comes out of the Arab world (and presumably Turkish world too). How would I know? Well one of my many brother-in-laws is Palestinian and gets all the Arab TV networks. He usually just has it on when we’re over, and despite what it might seem here in the US, they pretty much play Egyptian soap operas (with some scantily clad women, which can be a surprise…) and pop music shows just like everywhere else. And much of the music is quite interesting. These TV bands are regional pop rock music through and through and some of the instrumentation isn’t half bad. So Ersen would fit comfortably there, even if Ersen are Turkish. And besides it’s fun to hear with the large quantity of psych guitar and old organ sound.

Christodoulos Halaris – The Tropic of the Virgin. 1973. D:10. A mega rarity sold on ebay as a prog rock record with lots of mellotron. There are a lot of snake oil salesmen out there. Not to say it’s straight Greek folk or anything. It has it’s share of unusual music with clarinet, bouzouki, violin, bodhran, soprano vocals. More so than progressive rock, this is the Greek equivalent of some of the UK folky prog stuff from the same era. After hearing this record I wanted to head out for some souvlaki.

In Concert Volume 1
In Concert Volume 2

My organizational scheme has created something of a loophole in my listening, I’ve neglected box sets and mini LPs pretty badly. In fact I think I may have only played these once or twice after I received them a year or two ago. My mistake. These CTI sessions feature a sextet, a band you think might would solo frequently over comping. Strangely enough, given that CTI stalwart Hubbard gets the first bill, both albums seem to be all Herbie Hancock action, from the choice of his compositions to his awe-inspiringly frequent soloing. In fact on both albums, Herbie seems to be the highlight and unlike in his own bands where composition and texture always seemed to take the forefront, here he shows off his very considerable chops ripping Rhodes solos off like there’s no tomorrow. In fact, much of this is what could be considered “on,” and there are moments in “Hornets” and the second volume’s “Gibraltar” that are jawdropping in their intensity. Most of the rest of the band, Hubbard, Turrentine, Jack DeJohnette, and Eric Gale are rather subdued or backstage. Anyway both are basically jam sessions but prove pretty soundly that Hancock could stay with the best in such an environment. Some of it even matches the intensity of the Headhunters band circa Thrust.