BRIGMAN, GEORGE Jungle Rot (Obscure Oxide ) lp 22.00
Cool! This '70s underground/outsider rock obscurity has been reissued again on vinyl! Here's what we said about it way back when the our pal Karl and his Anopheles label first turned us on to it some years ago, that version long out of print now:
This is a vinyl reissue of a rare-ass 1975 private press lp from Baltimore that anyone who digs, say, Michael Yonkers should perk up their ears at. It's THAT sort of outsider psych obscurity. Guitarist/vocalist George Brigman, a teenager at the time we're pretty sure, was definitely into such underground (back then) influences as The Stooges and the Velvet Underground. This record consists of fierce, fuzz-fueled punk rockers, lo-fi blues, and VU-inspired melancholia - a downer vibe typified by such songs as "It's Misery", "Worrying", and "I'm Married Too". There's more of the latter, so don't get the idea that this is Raw Power part II or anything. But the Stooges moments, like the killer title track, ARE super Stoogey. So imagine an unholy, amateur, low-budget blend of Iggy, Lou Reed, and some Nick Drake too. Sounds good don't it? It is pretty great.
This new edition comes packaged with a full-color insert.
MPEG Stream: "Jungle Rot"
MPEG Stream: "Don't Bother Me"

BRINCOS World Devil Body [aka Mundo Demonio Carne] (Zafiro) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Another gem from Spain's psychedelic past! We've been getting some very interesting reissues of Spanish stuff lately (Agamenon, Tapiman, Eduardo Bort, Smash, The Spanish Trip comp, etc.) and this Brincos disc is one to add to that list. From 1970, this is psych-pop with a bit of a prog bent, especially on the album's ambitious lead-off / title track, "Mundo Demonio Carne", which clocks in at over twelve minutes long and is a real psych odyssey. Fuzzed out rockin' morphs into gentle folky melodicism and back into dramatic prog soundscapery. Worth it almost for this track alone, though happily the rest of the album is equally excellent and eclectic, from blues rock workouts to handclapping pop to fake raga ("Kama-Sutra"). There's lots of groove, and lots of lush, infectious melodies -- the kind that make you hit 'play' over and over again.
Some comparisons we could make, which may only make sense to those well versed in the pop/prog/psych obscurities of the era: Los Dug Dug's meets The Millenium? Aphrodites Child + Os Mutantes + Kak?? Well, if you know who some/all of those bands are you're probably the sort of person who would enjoy Brincos -- though that's not to say that if you've never heard of any of 'em you wouldn't like Brincos. Far from it. This is some appealing stuff that anyone with an ear for colorful, poppy psychedelia should dig...
This import from Spain is World Devil Body's offical reissue version and includes both Spanish and English language versions of many of the album's tracks.
MPEG Stream: "Mundo Demonio Y Carne"
MPEG Stream: "Esa Mujer"

BROUGHTON, EDGAR BAND Wasa Wasa (Harvest / EMI) cd 15.98
Here's a heavy, hairy hippie band from the late '60s, early '70s British blues/psych/festival scene whom we've never really written about before, but since some cds of their albums just got a domestic reissue, we ought to mention 'em, starting with Wasa Wasa. You could maybe call the Edgar Broughton Band "proto-metal", or maybe even "proto-punk", at least on this album, their 1969 debut, which features such ragged riff sloggers as "Evil" and "Love In The Rain". Their proto-metal never got much harder than here, although their later, less fuzzed/more folked albums are worthwhile too, on their own merits.
The first thing you'll notice about the Edgar Broughton Band are Edgar's vocals, which rasp and wail in an exaggerated, eccentric backwoodsy way, often reminding us of Captain Beefheart, or sometimes a blend of Beefheart and Iggy from the Stooges (check out lead off track "Death Of An Electric Citizen", amongst others, for that). He's great at maniacal ranting too, as on this album's lysergic, 14 minute finale, "Dawn Crept Away". Combined with the heavyish, bluesy guitarwork and general pungent atmosphere n' attitude of radical longhaired freakdom, this is a disc that should appeal to fans of bands like the Groundhogs, Pink Fairies, and Hawkwind, comrades all. Arthur Brown's Crazy World and/or Kingdom Come too. Maybe even the Doors and the 13th Floor Elevators as well.
Definitely a tripped out classic of the era. You surely oughta pick this up before you get that Endless Boogie album we listed last time.
Includes 5 previously unreleased bonus tracks, including a nine minute "Untitled Freak Out"...
Or, in sum, as we said before: If you've been wondering about the EBB... this one's actually kinda heavy in a Pink Fairies psych freakout sorta way. The one to get.
MPEG Stream: "Death Of An Electric Citizen"
MPEG Stream: "Evil"

BROWN, BOBBY The Enlightening Beam of Axonda (Akarma) cd 18.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The minute we first heard this we knew it was something weird and wonderful. Not to be confused with the Bobby Brown of "My Perrogative" and Whitney's boy-toy fame, this Bobby Brown was a Hawaiian surfer dude (check out his hair / shirt / puka shell necklace on the cover as well as song titles like "My Hawaiian Home") who in 1972 decided to share his "Universal One Man Orchestra" as well as his bizarre personal message of physics and religion (that's the Enlightening Beam Of Axonda, dig?) that his one man orchestra was designed to accompany. Confused? The Universal One Man Orchestra was a homemade percussion / string instrument incorporating elements of various instruments as varied as the Irish harp, sitar, hammer dulcimer, thumb piano, flute, koto and more, with a total of 311 strings in all, some of which were adapted to be played with the feet. The whole contraption designed so Brown could perform all of these songs live, as a one man band. As weird as that all sounds the end result is gorgeous, and darkly romantic, and not on the surface noticably 'weird'. A rich bed of buzzing sitar strings, throbbing bass and keening distant sonic wails, over a complex rhythmic framework, sort of African, sort of tribal, but very subtle and simple. Brown's voice is probably the most distinctive element, a thick, rich throaty croon, sounding at times quite a bit like Nick Drake. Supposedly Brown had a vocal range of six octaves (!) but the only time it's really noticable is when he pitches down to a chest rattling rumble, before soaring right back up to a tenor or almost-falsetto. These dreamy, slowly developing songs are scattered with all sorts of bizarre sound effects, presumably also produced by his home made orchestra, but sounding remarkably like some primitive synthesizer or ring modulator. In addition to creating the 'orchestra' he also built his own electronic pickups from discarded computer parts! If it weren't for the instrumentation and the bizarre lyrics, The Enlightening Beam of Axonda is so sweetly melodic and darkly beautiful, it definitely sounds like it could have been really popular outside the trippy hippy folky crowd that dug it at the time. There's even testemonials in the liner notes from Carl Wilson of the Beach Boys and Kenny Loggins! Here's a description of the record in Brown's own words: "An original contribution to the field of Religion And Science -- based on physics -- to my knowledge not yet discovered by other humanoids -- more Evolutionary than Einstein's revelations of Newtonian physics -- the application of this physics will perhaps (in fact) lead to the most significant change in the history of humanity (plus total religious unity.)" Wow. Not so sure about that. But we can guarantee that this will find a perfect home amidst all of your other wild and weird, folky and freaky cds. Note: this is an Italian import and everything's closed there for the month of August, so if when we run out we won't get more 'til September, so act fast or please be prepared to be patient.
MPEG Stream: "I Must Be Born"
MPEG Stream: "My Hawaiian Home"

BRUNER Songs For A Friend (Numerophon) lp 15.98
One-sided lp of fragile loner folk by Linda Bruner, the female singer of recently discovered sixties psych band, Pisces. One original and five covers. Just her voice fraught with sadness and a guitar. Spare and lovely. The B-side features an etching of the cover photo.

BRUSH!? s/t (Shadoks Music) cd 15.98
Kudos to Shadoks for searching this one out! We'd never have heard it otherwise, and we're glad we did. Dude from early '70s Japanese psychedelic proto-metallers Flied Egg (who sounded a bit like Blue Cheer, and recorded for Vertigo!), by the name of Masayoshi Takanaka, made his recording debut in 1971 (yup) with this rare rare rare album of underground hippy conceptual weirdness, called Brush!? (punctuation theirs, but deserved). Quite a few other Japanese psych scenesters of the day participated as well. Results? There's some truly freaked out shit here, and some really lovely, folky parts too. It's an eclectic mix of the following ingredients, and more: acid fuzz guitar rockin', atonal electronic experiments, gentle pop grandeur, organ drones, raga-like jamming, avantgarde piano improv, Velvets/Dylan balladry, and West Coast/Woodstock Nation psych. In other words, all over the place, and pretty darn tripped out!! Hearing reissues of interesting '70s Japanese psych acts like Brush!?, Flied Egg, Far Out, Food Brain, Strawberry Path, Les Rallizes Denudes, etc. etc. it's clear that all the great psychedelic underground outfits active in Japan today, from Acid Mothers Temple to LSD-march to Green Milk From The Planet Orange to (of course) the Boredoms, are keeping alive a grand tradition begun some 30+ years ago!
Includes 20 page cd booklet full of all kinds of cool photos and drawings and lyrics (many of 'em in English). Seriously, we're pretty sure that if you could just take one look inside this cd booklet, you'd want to hear the album! On one of the tracks, in addition to musician credits for sitar and tabura [sic], we see this: "Lafing [sic]: Elf, Fairly [sic], Goblin." and "Effects: Crow, Raven, Fowl, Triton." WTF?? The song titles are good too: "All Most Cut Your Hair (including) I Did Cut My Hair", "Die A Dog's Death (In Vain)", and "Tomb Stone".
MPEG Stream: "The People Of Glass"
MPEG Stream: "Foolish Guy"
MPEG Stream: "Die A Dog's Death (In Vain)"

BRUTHERS, THE Bad Way To Go (Sundazed) cd 13.98

BUBBLE PUPPY A Gathering Of Promises (Charly) cd 15.98
The legendary Roky Erickson and his 13th Floor Elevators are treasured by most psychedelic rock hounds, and deservedly so (recently the subject of a 10cd retrospective box set!). But the Elevators weren't the only sixties Texas psych band to release album on the Houston based International Artists label, of course, there was also the more avant garde Red Krayola... and THESE guys, best known for their hit "Hot Smoke And Sassafras", a song you must have heard at some point in your life, most likely without knowing it was by a band called Bubble Puppy. It starts off with an immediately catchy, chicka-chicka riff, one of THOSE killer riffs, funky and fuzzed, which leads into some primo '60s pop psych. Really it's the next best thing to James Gang's "Funk #49", or even some of Hendrix's classics a la "Purple Haze", in that long forgotten groovy acid rock style bands just don't do anymore. Great title too. "Hot Smoke And Sassafras" appeared on BP's lone 1969 album A Gathering Of Promises, now reissued in a limited edition, impressively thick deluxe "digibook" packaging complete with 8 bonus tracks!
Bubble Puppy are one of those sorta well-known yet still overlooked bands, who will forever be considered one hit wonders, but while "Hot Smoke..." is one REALLY good reason to get this album, they have other songs that are quite worthy too! Ferinstance, the title track is a great example of the other thing that BP do so well, a more mellowed out style of psych pop, another would be the Beatlesy "It's Safe To Say"... And then among the bonus tracks (some of which are merely mono singles versions of album cuts) you'll find "Thinkin' About Thinkin'", another energetic raver very much the "Hot Smoke..." style. Seems like they could have been a bigger band for sure, but International Artists wasn't able to take 'em there. Eventually these guys moved to LA and changed their name to Demian 'cause Bubble Puppy (an allusion to a childrens' game that figures in Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World) sounded too bubblegum, which wasn't at all the intention - Bubble Puppy being a rock act whose very first gig was as support for The Who! Sadly, Demian never made it either, but at least these guys will forever be footnoted at least in the annals of rock n' roll thanks to "Hot Smoke...", though they deserve more than that based on the significant charms of this entire album.
MPEG Stream: "Hot Smoke And Sassafras"
MPEG Stream: "A Gathering Of Promises"

BUCKLEY, TIM Starsailor (4 Men With Beards) lp 16.98

BUGALOOS Songs From Sid & Marty Krofft's Original Television Series (Cherry Red) cd 16.98
All kids should be raised on psychedelic children's television shows! The world would be a way better, or at least way crazier place! The Bugaloos was the follow up show to Sid & Marty Krofft's other totally out there children's TV show HR Pufnstuf. Both shows were filled with psychedelic metaphors and totally infectious rainbow colored pop melodies. Kind of touted as the UK version of The Monkees, but of WAY more airy, trippy and psychedelic, the Bugaloos were a band of insects (cute interracial teens in tight clothes with cute little wings on their backs) who lived in Tranquility Forest, where they flew in the sky, battled the evil Benita Bizarre (played by Martha Raye) and spread their glorious pop, a heady concoction of lush string arrangements, candy coated harmonies and an overall Wizard Of Oz on acid vibe that made them a big hit, not just with the tots but with older folks too. We were so delighted that this was finally made available here in the states. There was a Japanese reissue a few years back but it was still hard to get and was quite pricey. Fans of The Free Design take note as this possesses that same kind of over the top poppy, happy and slightly warped cheerfulness. One listen and you can totally tell that there had to have been plenty of... um... well let's just say all sorts of mind altering goodies, involved in the creation of this far out show and the amazing and sweetly trippy pop soundtrack. Electric kool-aid for all the kiddies!!
MPEG Stream: "Gna Gna Gna Gna Gna"
MPEG Stream: "The Bugaloos"

BULENT Benumle Oynar Misin (World Psychedelic ) cd 29.00
Andee thinks this sounds like Cat Stevens...but that doesn't mean it's not lovely! Benumle Oynar Misin is a rare album from the early '70s by Turkish singer/songwriter Bulent Ortacgil, now available on cd. Recorded circa '73-'74, this is certainly a bit different from the other "Turkish Delights" we've been bringing you lately (Mogollar, Erkin Koray, 3 Hur-el, etc.) as you'll find no fuzzed-out guitars dueling with ouds and ikligs here. No, Bulent is all about mellow, melodic, placid, folk-rock with some bright and shiny horns livening up the proceedings on occasion. It's all sung in Turkish, but the songs should hold up even without any understanding of the lyrics. So nice. It has such a sensitive vibe that it may even appeal to fans of Belle & Sebastian.
MPEG Stream: "Kediler"
MPEG Stream: "Olmali Mi Olmamali Mi"
MPEG Stream: "Sik Latife"

BULL, SANDY & THE RHYTHM ACE Live 1976 (Drag City) lp 15.98
An archival live release from multi-instrumentalist Sandy Bull is a welcome occurrence any day. After the great 1969 live recording release Still Valentine's Day on the Water label from a few years back where Bull opened for John Fahey, we knew his live sets held a charged electric power that wasn't always evident on his studio records.
This set is from 1976 recorded at the Berkeley Community Theater where he opened for Leo Kottke. Like the 1969 date, Bull uses a tape machine to accompany himself for the bass parts, but also adds a Rhythm Ace drum machine (!) which gives the song a soft organic momentum. The Rhythm Ace, an early Japanese manufactured commercial drum machine has a soft percussive sound similar to most console organs of the time, and has been sought out for its natural sense of tempo and warm unobtrusive rhythms. He even demos the various settings to much delight. He opens with one of his oud improvisations, but the songs on this set have a more twangy Americana blues vibe. "Driftin", inspired by the Drifters, has a countrified slide guitar feel, while "Alligator Wrestler" is more swampy, the accompanied rhythm set through beautifully analog phasing and wah effects. He does sing on one song called "Love Is Forever", which has a wonderful charm even though he isn't that great of a singer. But it's the quality of the sound that makes this set so nice. Like the 1969 recording, he's a virtual one man band and how he sets up the pieces, the beautiful energy of his playing, the friendly banter and that warm tube amp sound makes this a satisfying morning or late evening listen.

BULLDOG BREED Made In England (Acme Gramophone) cd 15.98

BULLET The Entrance to Hell (Angel Air) cd 22.00
Our proto-metal pick of the week! Bullet were an early '70s UK power trio led by guitarist/vocalist John DuCann, previously a member of The Attack, Andromeda, and Atomic Rooster. A while back, when we reviewed a reissue of Atomic Rooster's classic Death Walks Behind You, we talked about DuCann, calling his post 'Rooster band Hard Stuff "one of proto-metal's best kept secrets", and guess what? The existence of these recordings by Hard Stuff precursor Bullet were an even bigger secret...
After being booted from Atomic Rooster (despite having written several of that band's biggest hits), DuCann formed this new group, Bullet (briefly before that called Daemon), with a fellow former 'Rooster, drummer Paul Hammond, along with bass player John Gustafson (ex-Quatermass), who could sing and write as well. The idea, it seems, was to play music even harder and darker than Atomic Rooster did... and the results were some high energy, riffy, rippin' stuff indeed, with song titles like "Sinister Minister" and "Hell: Demonic Possession". Distorted, fuzzed out jams for sure, but with a pop side to 'em too. They soon changed their name (for legal reasons) to Hard Stuff, and produced two excellent albums full of heavy-duty "hairy funk", Bulletproof (1972) and Bolex Dementia ('73), before a near-fatal car accident on the German autobahn involving 2/3rds of the band ended their career prematurely.
But it turns out that while they were still called Bullet, back in 1970-'71, they'd privately demoed this rough disc-ful of music, now properly released for the first time (sort of, see below) after resting for decades in DuCann's vaults. Since, currently, there don't appear to be any reissues of the Hard Stuff albums available to us, this is the next best thing. Now, if you already have yourself some Hard Stuff, you might not need this...but you'll probably want it. Many of the best songs did wind up being re-recorded by HS for their debut, but there's also lots of other cool jammy tracks on here where you get to hear DuCann really go off on his guitar, plus it's certainly rad to hear the raw early versions of catchy Hard Stuff staples like "No Witch At All". There's 17 tracks total (well, 15 really, as two of 'em, "Door Opens" and "Door Closes" are both but brief sound FX), that remind us of other proto-metal faves like Dust, James Gang ("Taken Alive" in particular), Stray, Leaf Hound, and Granicus...
The cd booklet contains extensive liner notes, in the form of an interview DuCann himself, getting in depth into the whole Bullet/Hard Stuff story. Though he doesn't have a lot to say about Daemon, who at one point had a singer named Al Shaw who perhaps appears here too. And FYI, this same material was once previously reissued on cd (a bootleg?) under the Daemon name by the Kissing Spell label.
MPEG Stream: "No Witch At All"
MPEG Stream: "The Orchestrator"
MPEG Stream: "Time Gambler"

BUMBLE, B. & THE STINGERS s/t (Collectables) cd 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
An old favorite, that we just got a few (drilled, but cheap!) copies of in stock. B. Bumble & The Stingers were an early '60s combo composed of a bunch of talented studio veterans, who notched a few chart hits with their boogie woogie rock n' roll piano-led instrumentals, often versions of familiar classical and jazz themes. You know ELP's "Nutrocker"? Well The Stingers did it first, taking that Tchaikovsky chesnut to number 23 in '62. That's here, plus their "Bumble Boogie" (Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight Of The Bumble Bee"), Clarence "Pinetop" Smith's "Boogie Woogie", Duke Ellington's "Caravan", Beethoven's "Symphony No. 5" and others, often with a gimmick like the underwater-sounding "Nautilus" (with vocals, even) or the vaguely-Asiatic "Chicken Chow Mein". Sometimes frantic, sometimes slinky, certainly quaint but totally fun novelty stuff. Like we said, an old favorite.
RealAudio clip: "Bumble Boogie"
RealAudio clip: "Nut Rocker"

BUNALIM s/t (Shadoks Music) cd 15.98
Oh yeah. '70s Turkish FUZZ rock in effect here, big time!! Knowing how much AQ customers LOVE the psychedelic Turkish tunes of decades past, this is a no-brainer. Buy it. Now. That is, if you like Edip Akbayram and Erkin Koray and all the others we've gone gaga over as the stack of such reissues gradually grows... These guys actually have membership links to all sorts of Istanbul rock stars, from Koray to Mogollar to Cem Karaca (whose early band Kardaslar we'd love to get a reissue of...). They were a pretty important band in the scene, on an underground level anyway.
The name Bunalim apparently means either Depression or Frustration in Turkish, fitting for a band hailing from a city, Istanbul, who defining mood is melancholy (according to Nobel Prize winning novelist Orhan Pamuk). You can hear both the energy of frustration and the sadness of depression in their music, which consists of blistering, Iron-Butterfly-heavy hard rockers mixed up with the style of traditional Anatolian folk dances and songs. Ballsy bombast and beautiful balladry both. And we're not kidding about Iron Butterfly -- one of the tracks here is a Turkish language cover of "Get Out Of My Life, Woman", a song (originally by Allen Toussaint, actually) that appeared on Iron Butterfly's first album, Heavy. Definitely it's the IB version that inspired Bunalim's rendition! Why so much "Bunalim" with these guys? Well it wasn't easy being a long-haired, underground rocker in that conservative society in those days! Plus even in the West there was much to make the youth feel worried and oppressed.
This disc collects their rare singles tracks (they never made an album) from 1970-'72, and captures them at their most raw and garagey, loud guitar rockin'. They definitely showcase a distinct, kick-ass Middle Eastern take on the acid rock sound of the day, and really what could sound better than that??
This cd reissue includes well-informed liner notes and lots of cool vintage photos in the cd booklet. Shadoks, keep 'em coming!
MPEG Stream: "Basak Saclim"
MPEG Stream: "Tas Var Kopek Yok"
MPEG Stream: "Bir Dunya da Bana Ver"

BUNALIM s/t (Pharaway Sounds) lp 26.00
Now released in a vinyl version too, here's what we said previously when this Turkish fuzz fave was only on cd via Shadoks some years ago:
Oh yeah. '70s Turkish FUZZ rock in effect here, big time!! Knowing how much AQ customers LOVE the psychedelic Turkish tunes of decades past, this is a no-brainer. Buy it. Now. That is, if you like Edip Akbayram and Erkin Koray and all the others we've gone gaga over as the stack of such reissues gradually grows... These guys actually have membership links to all sorts of Istanbul rock stars, from Koray to Mogollar to Cem Karaca. They were a pretty important band in the scene, on an underground level anyway.
The name Bunalim apparently means either Depression or Frustration in Turkish, fitting for a band hailing from a city, Istanbul, who defining mood is melancholy (according to Nobel Prize winning novelist Orhan Pamuk). You can hear both the energy of frustration and the sadness of depression in their music, which consists of blistering, Iron-Butterfly-heavy hard rockers mixed up with the style of traditional Anatolian folk dances and songs. Ballsy bombast and beautiful balladry both. And we're not kidding about Iron Butterfly - one of the tracks here is a Turkish language cover of "Get Out Of My Life, Woman", a song (originally by Allen Toussaint, actually) that appeared on Iron Butterfly's first album, Heavy. Definitely it's the IB version that inspired Bunalim's rendition! Why so much "Bunalim" with these guys? Well it wasn't easy being a long-haired, underground rocker in that conservative society in those days! Plus even in the West there was much to make the youth feel worried and oppressed.
This lp collects their complete recordings, rare singles tracks (they never made an actual album) circa 1970-'72, and captures them at their most raw and garagey, loud guitar rockin'. They definitely showcase a distinct, kick-ass Middle Eastern take on the acid rock sound of the day, and really what could sound better than that??
Includes insert with liner notes.
MPEG Stream: "Basak Saclim"
MPEG Stream: "Tas Var Kopek Yok"
MPEG Stream: "Bir Dunya da Bana Ver"

BUNYAN, VASHTI Just Another Diamond Day (Di Christina Stairbuilders) cd 13.98
We're pretty damn excited that this cd is now available again, domestic and at a much cheaper price. Same album, now six bucks cheaper! Inspiration for this turn of events must certainly have something to do with Ms Bunyan turning up on Devendra Banhart's recordings recently. Without a doubt Vashti Bunyan has played a big influence on the young Banhart's song writing, and fans of Devendra should definitely take note. This record is so incredibly charming! Having been expelled from a London art school in 1964 for not narrowing her field of studies to either music or painting, Vashti Bunyan took to singing her songs on the streets of London. She eventually left the city, hitching up a cart and horse to journey across the countryside, heading for the remote Outer Hebrides islands. It wasn't long before fans tracked her down to record an album. The album was released in 1970 and disappeared in relative obscurity -- only later being sought out fanatically by record collectors. Featuring accompaniment by such notables as Robin Williamson (fiddle, mandolin, Irish Harp) of The Incredible String Band and Simon Nicol (banjo) of Fairport Convention, Robert Kirby (string and recorder arrangements) who played with Nick Drake, Vashti Bunyan's music is an exquisitely delicate folk music with melodies reminiscent of hornpipes and shanties. Her clear voice is so full of innocence, and she sings so earnestly about her horse and the countryside full of hayfields and waiting for love and the simple rewards, like nice tea, that await after a long day's journey. It's so beautiful, it makes me want to dress in peasant garb (like Vashti on the cover) and forget all about the 21st century. Includes four bonus tracks recorded between 1966 and 1969, two of which were mastered direct from unreleased acetates.
MPEG Stream: "Diamond Day"
MPEG Stream: "Glow Worms"
MPEG Stream: "Where I Like To Stand"

BUNYAN, VASHTI Just Another Diamond Day (Di Christina Stairbuilders) lp 14.98
Happy day, the vinyl of this has just been repressed and is available once again!
This beloved 1970 folk album is back on its original format... VINYL LP! Hurrah! Here's what we said about the cd version:
We're pretty damn excited that this album is now available again. Inspiration for this turn of events must certainly have something to do with Ms Bunyan turning up on Devendra Banhart's recordings recently. Without a doubt Vashti Bunyan has played a big influence on the young Banhart's song writing, and fans of Devendra should definitely take note. This record is so incredibly charming! Having been expelled from a London art school in 1964 for not narrowing her field of studies to either music or painting, Vashti Bunyan took to singing her songs on the streets of London. She eventually left the city, hitching up a cart and horse to journey across the countryside, heading for the remote Outer Hebrides islands. It wasn't long before fans tracked her down to record an album. The album was released in 1970 and disappeared in relative obscurity - only later being sought out fanatically by record collectors. Featuring accompaniment by such notables as Robin Williamson (fiddle, mandolin, Irish Harp) of The Incredible String Band and Simon Nicol (banjo) of Fairport Convention, Robert Kirby (string and recorder arrangements) who played with Nick Drake, Vashti Bunyan's music is an exquisitely delicate folk music with melodies reminiscent of hornpipes and shanties. Her clear voice is so full of innocence, and she sings so earnestly about her horse and the countryside full of hayfields and waiting for love and the simple rewards, like nice tea, that await after a long day's journey. It's so beautiful, it makes me want to dress in peasant garb (like Vashti on the cover) and forget all about the 21st century.
MPEG Stream: "Diamond Day"
MPEG Stream: "Glow Worms"
MPEG Stream: "Where I Like To Stand"

BYRDS, THE (Untitled)/(Unissued) (Columbia) 2cd 25.00
What was once a 1970 double LP set of live and studio material is now a double cd, with the original "(Untitled)" now accompanied by an extra disc of previously unissued tracks. The lineup: Roger McGuinn, Skip Battin, Clarence White, and Gene Parsons. Worth it alone for the jammed-out sixteen-minute (a whole side of the original vinyl) version of "Eight Miles High." And with all the other stuff here, this is a great place to start with The Byrds as well as an essential item for longtime fans!

BYRDS, THE Ballad Of Easy Rider (Columbia / Legacy) cd 5.00
**SALE **SALE* *SALE**
Y'know the special $5 sale cd list we did a few weeks ago? Well, there's actually a few more really good $5 deals available that we'll try to list, while they last. We reviewed 1968's Notorious Byrds Brothers before, now here's another Byrds gem for just $5 (or, $30, if you wanna spring for the brand new vinyl reissue that just came out!)É Originally issued in '69, with its title track appearing on the soundtrack to Peter Fonda's countercultural film classic Easy Rider, this was The Byrds 8th album, and their last of the '60s, with Roger McGuinn the only original founding member still on board (the other Byrds here being Gene Parsons, Clarence White, and John York). Still, it's a great bunch of songs, including not just the aforementioned Dylan-inspired title track (he wrote some of the lyrics), but also a fine interpretation of Dylan's "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" (its sad vibes perhaps appropriate for the end of the '60s, the decade's revolutionary promise on the wane). This album also boasts one of our all time Byrds favorites, the rousing, rocking "Jesus Is Just Alright", originally by gospel singer Art Reynolds. Elsewhere, the record is mostly all about melancholic country and old timey folk, lovely songs including a traditional sea shanty and a Woody Guthrie protest number and even a timely drone-folk homage to lunar-landing Apollo astronauts "Armstrong, Aldrin And Collins".
Regarding the cd, this nicely done reissue tacks on 7 bonus tracks, alternates and out-takes, including one written by a young Jackson Browne, and a spaced-out synthesizer / Appalachian folk hybrid from McGuinn called "Fiddler A Dram (Moog Experiment)". And, plenty of informative liner notes are to be found in the cd booklet. Well worth the five bucks for sure!
MPEG Stream: " Ballad Of Easy Rider"
MPEG Stream: "Oil In My Lamp"
MPEG Stream: "Jesus Is Just Alright"

BYRDS, THE Live At The Fillmore, February 1969 (Columbia / Legacy) cd 5.00
**SALE **SALE* *SALE**
Previously unreleased live concert recording from '69, with Roger McGuinn/Clarence White/John York/Gene Parsons lineup. Sixteen tracks.

BYRDS, THE Notorious Byrd Brothers (Columbia / Legacy) cd 5.00
**SALE **SALE* *SALE**
Oooh, we love 1968's Notorious Byrd Brothers. Well, most Byrds albums are pretty great, but this one's a reall beaut. Pedal steel and Moog synth co-exist exquisitely, along with 12-string guitar jangle and lovely vocal harmonies, there's songs about drugs and hippies and Vietnam, it's got "Space Odyssey" and other sci-fi mystical stuff while of course they're kinda country too. This reissue includes plenty of liner notes, and six bonus tracks, including "Moog Raga", which is exactly what you think it is, and rad.
MPEG Stream: "Goin' Back"
MPEG Stream: "Tribal Gathering"
MPEG Stream: "Space Odyssey"

BYRDS, THE The Preflyte Sessions (Sundazed) 2cd 27.00
In 1964 recording engineer Jim Dickson set down on tape the earliest incarnation of the Byrds, even, it seems, before they named themselves that -- they had also used the monikers Beefeaters and Jet Set (a Jet Set single is included here). This is what some refer to as the purest version of the Byrds -- the quintet of Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby, Michael Clarke and Chris Hillman. It's pre-"Mr Tambourine Man", pre-their debut album, pre-Gram Parsons, pre-country rock, pre-psychedelia... this is The Beginning of The Byrds. Some tracks feature McGuinn before Dickson had even introduced him to the Rickenbacher 12-string, so the Byrds-style twangy lushness isn't always present here. Some of you will most likely say, well, if it was pre-everything that made them special, then what's the point? Well, fair enough. This is certainly only for the Byrds collectors amongst us. But the warbly acoustic versions of many Byrds songs are glorious to hear. And as David Fricke rightly says: "This may be the most honest music the Byrds ever made, because they did it without a thought for who might hear it or how it would sell." McGuinn himself recalls, "We *barely* knew the tape was rolling."
The cd comes packaged in a slipcase with an excellent accompanying book of liner notes, many darling photos (those guys were like 20 years old, so young!), 2 nice postcards, discographical info, & comments from all the bandmembers, plus Pamela Des Barres, Domenic Priore, etc.
Annoyingly, the LP version, while it is on 180 gm vinyl and features a nice gatefold sleeve for its two albums, only features 28 tracks. The cd version has 40! Huh? And while the 16 of the tracks on the cd version were previously unissued, only 9 from the LP version have never before seen the light. I never understand the logic with these things -- is Sundazed ripping off the LP buyers amongst us, or are they trying to tell us that the extra tracks on the cd version are kinda throwaways anyway? Sigh...
RealAudio clip: "You Showed Me (Acoustic)"
RealAudio clip: "Boston (vers. II)"

BYRDS, THE The Preflyte Sessions (Sundazed) 2lp 16.98
In 1964 recording engineer Jim Dickson set down on tape the earliest incarnation of the Byrds, even, it seems, before they named themselves that -- they had also used the monikers Beefeaters and Jet Set (a Jet Set single is included here). This is what some refer to as the purest version of the Byrds -- the quintet of Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby, Michael Clarke and Chris Hillman. It's pre-"Mr Tambourine Man", pre-their debut album, pre-Gram Parsons, pre-country rock, pre-psychedelia... this is The Beginning of The Byrds. Some tracks feature McGuinn before Dickson had even introduced him to the Rickenbacher 12-string, so the Byrds-style twangy lushness isn't always present here. Some of you will most likely say, well, if it was pre-everything that made them special, then what's the point? Well, fair enough. This is certainly only for the Byrds collectors amongst us. But the warbly acoustic versions of many Byrds songs are glorious to hear. And as David Fricke rightly says: "This may be the most honest music the Byrds ever made, because they did it without a thought for who might hear it or how it would sell." McGuinn himself recalls, "We *barely* knew the tape was rolling."
The cd comes packaged in a slipcase with an excellent accompanying book of liner notes, many darling photos (those guys were like 20 years old, so young!), 2 nice postcards, discographical info, & comments from all the bandmembers, plus Pamela Des Barres, Domenic Priore, etc.
Annoyingly, the LP version, while it is on 180 gm vinyl and features a nice gatefold sleeve for its two albums, only features 28 tracks. The cd version has 40! Huh? And while the 16 of the tracks on the cd version were previously unissued, only 9 from the LP version have never before seen the light. I never understand the logic with these things -- is Sundazed ripping off the LP buyers amongst us, or are they trying to tell us that the extra tracks on the cd version are kinda throwaways anyway? Sigh...

BYRDS, THE Younger Than Yesterday (Columbia / Legacy) cd 5.00
**SALE **SALE* *SALE**

C.O.B. Moyshe McStiff and the Tartan Lancers of the Sacred Heart (Sunbeam) cd 16.98
This longtime AQ British folk fave from Incredible String band offshoot C.O.B. is back in print again, and with tons of extras, thanks to the fine folks at Sunbeam. Now with vastly improved artwork, tons of liner notes (courtesy of the band themselves!), loads of photos, old album covers and show flyers, and SEVEN bonus tracks, instead of the previous edition's five. Wow! As if we didn't love this record enough already!!!
Here's what we had to say about it the first time around:
C.O.B. (Clive's Original Band) was the creation of Incredible String Band founding member and one of the grandfathers of today's fringe folk scene, Clive Palmer. We don't know if you got the chance to see Mr. Palmer alongside fellow ISB founder Mike Heron at last year's reunion show, but it definitely seemed like his banjo-picking was a little rusty and he looked kind of dazed (no wonder, what with 35 years out of the spotlight). When this record (C.O.B.'s second and best, or at least most exotic and weird) was made in 1972, though, he was in top form, and the result is such beautiful melancholy! Some of the instrumentation here is similar to that of ISB (acoustic guitar, banjo, clarinet) but with lots of harmonium and the addition of a dulcimer with a widened bridge (invented by C.O.B. band member John Bidwell), an odd droning sound that darkens the mood a bit more than most stuff you'll hear from ISB. If you're a fan of British folk in the traditional and/or acid vein such as Shirley Collins, Trees, Forest, Fairport Convention, or current underground folkies such as Espers, Vashti Bunyan, or Current 93, this cd promises to be a true wistful pleasure. WAY recommended!!
MPEG Stream: "Eleven Willows"
MPEG Stream: "Oh Bright Eyed One "

CAESAR, J.A. Jashumon (Phoenix) cd 17.98

CAESAR, J.A. Kokkyou Junreika (Phoenix) cd 17.98
Woah. Only previously available in the form of expensive Japanese imports, this is the first time we've been able to stock and list this amazing album, and we've wanted to for a long time. It's one that anyone into weird heavy '70s psych / prog, particularly of the Japanese variety, should add to their collections posthaste. Seriously. You perhaps have heard of J.A. Caesar (variously, J.A. Seazer, J.A. Ceaser), a Tokyo based playwright and composer, responsible for many wild, psychedelic theatrical productions that we can only imagine were utterly mindblowing to witness, judging by their soundtracks. This disc, reissuing a 1973 record, contains the highlights of his dramatic score for a 5-hour play called Kokkyou Junreika, here about 54 minutes of music. And it's an intense 54 minutes, this album being the best, and heaviest, J.A. Caesar release we've heard, with ceremonial-sounding Buddhist chant and fuzzed out guitars and doomy organ and heavy riffs and moody female vocals out the wazoo. Wow. Magical Power Mako meets Magma would be one good (if potentially puzzling) description. Or perhaps imagine Flower Travellin' Band participating in a freaked out rock opera / ritual, with the fate of mankind hanging in the balance. For krautrockier comparisons, Amon Duul II and Necronomicon are obvious ones, and should suffice as an excellent recommendation. Another would be that this album was highly rated by Julian Cope in his Japrocksampler book (ranking at number 5 of his top 50). This reissue says it's remastered, and is limited and numbered to boot, packaged in a gatefold sleeve.
By the way, one of the tracks here was later covered by druggy doomsters Solar Anus, you can hear it on their tUMULt double disc, Skull Alcoholic...
MPEG Stream: "track 1"
MPEG Stream: "track 3"
MPEG Stream: "track 6"

CAIN Stinger (Vintage / Rockadrome) cd 13.98
Been waiting for this, those of us here into the authentic, ass-kicking Seventies hard rock action that is. After their 1975 debut, Pound Of Flesh, the cd reissue of which we reviewed some time ago (you know, the one with the gross can o' meat cover, to illustrate its title), Cain returned with a second album in '77. Now it's been reissued on cd too, with six live bonus tracks.
Like we said about Pound Of Flesh, this is music made to loudly blare from an 8-track in a muscle car. These long-haired and bushy-mustachioed Minnesota boys, lead by bare-chested, leather-lunged frontman Jiggs Lee (how did he not become a big rock star with that name?) sure knew how to rock n' roll it, in a very '70s swaggery cock rock style that mixes hard riffing and sweet melodies. Lotsa badass boogie here, and some more "sophisticated" moments too - "The Minstrel Song" is their pomp rock opus, recalling early Styx (when Styx were sorta heavy, yes they were) and Queen. There and elsewhere we're also reminded of Rainbow (and Elf) and Starz and other more famous '70s contemporaries. Cain's songs are designed to get a crowd goin' with wailing guitar heroics, soaring vocal hooks, and what might be just the right amount of cowbell - definitely dated but damn good fun, though maybe they didn't really need to do a cover of "Gimme Some Lovin'".
If disco and new wave hadn't come along, Cain might have gone places, 'cause apparently they were one heck of a live band, as you can kind of get a taste of here from the bonus tracks, most of which were recorded at the 1977 Minnesota State Fair. Jiggs was even known to do magic tricks and juggling, in addition to belting it out, wow.
So yeah, Rockadrome/Vintage deliver the '70s hard rock/proto-metal goods again, after the Hooker and Sainte Anthony's Fyre reissues we've reviewed on recent lists. Especially if you liked Hooker, you'll like this. Keep 'em coming, guys! (They have the proto-doom legend Icecross on deck next, yeah!!)
MPEG Stream: "Freedom"
MPEG Stream: "The Minstrel Song"
MPEG Stream: "Stinger"

CALE, JOHN New York in the 1960's (Table Of The Elements) 5lp 64.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Totally gorgeous vinyl reissue of the three archival cds released by Table Of The Elements a few years back, that documented Cale's early sixties minimal explorations. This new version comes housed in a black lacquered 12" box, beautifully silkscreened, with a hand screened oversized booklet (including extensive liner notes and a libretto) inside as well. In addition to the material from the three cds, there are two bonus tracks also previously released, that appeared originally on the Jack Smith compilations also on Table Of The Elements. Here's what we had to say about the three volumes originally.
John Cale's "Sun Blindness Music" is the first in a trilogy of archival recordings from this founder of the Velvet Underground. Much has been made already about Cale's contribution to both the history of rock and the history of minimalism, so we'll cut to the chase and get to the contents of this album, which features three of Cale's earliest compositions from the mid to late '60s. The title track spans almost 45 minutes, with Cale sustaining clusters of notes on a Vox Continental Organ, before indeterminately hammering down Phillip Glass-esque arpeggiations and then returning to the open ended drone. The two following tracks are quite good representations of '60s minimalism - with the proto-Amon Duul guitar strum of "Summer Heat" and the eerie electronic modulations on "Second Fortress."
Second in this trilogy of recordings culled from John Cale's personal archive of material from the late '60s. Upon listening to these visceral documents, one realizes that Cale, a founding member of the Velvet Underground, was more likely than not the one responsible for the wailing screech and howl that makes such Velvets songs as "Sister Ray" so stunning, and that it was the push and pull of his drone-leanings balanced with Lou Reed's more conventional songwriting that made the band great. Here, the Welshman Cale bestows upon us two pieces recorded with kindred spirit Tony Conrad on violin, and Cale on viola -- their twenty minute "Dream Interpretation" is a wonderful shimmering drone that is at once warm and organic yet also metallic and grating. "Ex-Cathedra", our favorite track here, is from 1967/68 and features Cale simply pumping on Vox organ, conjuring up yet another tense yet melodic, trebly drone that's macabre (isn't the sound of an organ often delightfully macabre?) and strangely lulling. Other tracks include Cale making solo electronic sounds, and a 'duet' with Angus Maclise (another founding member of the Velvet Underground) on cimbalon, an Eastern European hammered dulcimer. The only dud features Cale "playing" piano, innards and all, a rather been-there-done-that idea even in the late '60s.
As with volume II of this series, there are a few great tracks on volume III that make the price of ths disc worth it, and some throwaways that are of limited interest. The 10-minute "Stainless Steel Gamelan" track is the highlight here, and it's excellent even though it has nothing to do with gamelan per se. It features the Velvet's Sterling Morrison and Cale both "playing" the same guitar at the same time, an experiment which resulted in shimmering atmospherics and metallic percussive pulses, sounds that're as usefully evocative for today's DJ Shadow or Aphex Twin as they are here, maybe 30 years earlier. Also included on this disc is a funny hoedown of a piece wherein Cale plays with tape delay, Angus Maclise pounds various hand drums, and Terry Jennings -- a free saxophonist and crony of Lamonte Young -- sings on soprano sax. There's also a tremendous piece with Tony Conrad on a Vox reverb unit and Cale on electric piano -- it sounds like the soundtrack to a nightmare that won't end.
If you're a fan of the noise-loving modern heirs to the Cale droneologist throne, bands such as Skullflower, Pelt, and Sunroof!, you've got to hear this. Recommended.

CALE, JOHN Paris 1919 (4 Men With Beards) lp 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
ALSO ON VINYL! We've been meaning to list this for a long time. One of those special records that so many past and present aQ employees hold close to their hearts. This is John Cale's orchestral pop masterpiece! Last list we made his collaboration with Terry Riley one of our records of the week and while this is a different beast all together it definitely shows what a wide range of musical genius Cale had going on during the early 70's. Paris 1919 is most certainly a pop record, but not just any kind of pop record. This is one that immediately transports you to the lavish and lush fantastical worlds these songs take place. Backed by a band featuring members of Little Feat as well as the UCLA Symphony Orchestra, Cale was able to create songs that somehow are as delicate and understated as they are glowing and baroque.
It's a record that always makes us want to wander along pastoral hillsides filled with the greenest grass, a cup of delicious hot tea in our hands as we twirl and daydream through the afternoon. Cale's voice has never sounded better, and it's for sure his most emotive and sensitive statement ever put to tape. It's amazing how many newer bands we love that for sure had to be influenced so strongly by this record. Just listen to The Hidden Cameras, Kelly Stoltz, Jens Lekman, Beck or Belle & Sebastian and you can hear the legacy of Paris 1919 in their songs. Total pop perfection!
MPEG Stream: "Paris 1919"
MPEG Stream: "The Endless Plain Of Fortune"
MPEG Stream: "Hanky Panky Nohow [Drone Mix] "

CALE, JOHN & TERRY RILEY Church Of Anthrax (Wounded Bird) cd 15.98
More music needs to be like this! Open and unfettered yet baroquely mysterious and cryptic; taking strange careening detours that cast endlessly distorting sonic reflections. Minimal but complex, driving and repetitive, yet sloppily unraveling with a ponderous noisy pop undercurrent that is both reverent and perverse. Is this a rock record led by a chamber ensemble? Or an avant-garde composition ambushed by lurching bass and drums? Or both? Makes sense that this album is called Church of Anthrax and both of its high priests are one time Velvet Underground and Dream Syndicate members John Cale and the guru of minimalism Terry Riley.
This one time collaboration from 1971 has just been re-issued and it's never sounded better! Touching on experimental jazz, minimalist composition, free rock and baroque pop yet remaining elusive and restless, never settling neatly into any one genre. It was recorded at a time when such cross-pollination of sounds was not only new but very necessary. John Cale plays all sides of his musical personae returning to his avant-garde roots with LaMonte Young in the Theater of Eternal Music but infusing it with the noisy economy of The Velvet Underground and the poetic pop of his subsequent output. While Terry Riley allows his more purist minimal aesthetic to become looser and emotive, paving the way towards his soundtrack works a few years later. Add to it the shambling drums of Bobby Columby from Blood Sweat and Tears (uncredited here) and the strange guest appearance of little known singer, Adam Miller (probably best known for the sesame street song, "We all Live in the Capital I") and what we have is this truly odd and hypnotically amazing document. Something that sounds more Germany than New York, like a collaboration between Can and Ralf and Florian of Kraftwerk or between Faust and Cluster. Or more contemporarily and unlikely, say between Wooden Shjips and Shogun Kunitoki with a guest vocal appearance by Thom Yorke of Radiohead!
The title track opens with a deep low multi-horned drone before the bass and drums kick into what begins to sound like a more driving version of The Kinks'"Powerman". But instead of going into a formal song structure, the riff repeats with Riley's pipe organ laying circular filigree riffs over the top, maintaining a constant lurch forward, and glassy saxophone stabs and atonal guitar rising from underneath creating an uneasy rhythm that slowly unravels into a propulsively droney stew. The air clears for the beautiful "Hall of Mirrors in The Palace of Versailles" with Cale on piano and Riley on solo saxophone trading off building and lilting riffs that rise and coalesce into shimmering tones. It's the moment that feels unique to each of them: the melodic minimalism of Cale's Dream syndicate days, and the all night time-delayed sax pieces of Riley's "Poppy Nogood and The Phantom Band". But with its mirror imagery and gorgeous repetitions, it feels wonderfully cinematic like a lost score for Alain Resnais' "Last Year at Marienbad". The next track, "The Soul of Patrick Lee" is perhaps the strangest because it's the only one with vocals, which wouldn't be unusual for John Cale as he wrote it and it sounds like him, but oddly he relegates the singing duties to his friend Adam Miller, an obscure singer-songwriter who wrote a Partridge Family tune and sang the above mentioned Sesame Street song. This track provides a breather of sorts, a short baroque folk ballad interlude between the other longform pieces, but it's like a haunting theme that adds to the mysterious soundtrack feel of the whole record. "Ides of March", the longest piece, features chugging piano riffs and skittering drums over a looped but drunkenly lopsided groove that wavers in and out of sync, building in a weird way where all the notes that seem off finally becoming locked in and right. Closing the record is the short "Protege" which ups the vampy piano riffs and Moe Tucker like drums before careening into a swift blast of noisy distortion. A sudden ending to this curious record that leaves us wanting more. Thankfully there's the repeat button!
MPEG Stream: "Church of Anthrax"
MPEG Stream: "The Soul of Patrick Lee"
MPEG Stream: "Ides of March"

CALE, JOHN & TERRY RILEY Church Of Anthrax (Columbia) lp 22.00
Now reissued on swank 180 gram virgin vinyl, an old fave and former Record Of The Week, when issued on cd, about which we said all this...
More music needs to be like this! Open and unfettered yet baroquely mysterious and cryptic; taking strange careening detours that cast endlessly distorting sonic reflections. Minimal but complex, driving and repetitive, yet sloppily unraveling with a ponderous noisy pop undercurrent that is both reverent and perverse. Is this a rock record led by a chamber ensemble? Or an avant-garde composition ambushed by lurching bass and drums? Or both? Makes sense that this album is called Church of Anthrax and both of its high priests are one time Velvet Underground and Dream Syndicate members John Cale and the guru of minimalism Terry Riley.
This one time collaboration from 1971 has just been reissued and it's never sounded better! Touching on experimental jazz, minimalist composition, free rock and baroque pop yet remaining elusive and restless, never settling neatly into any one genre. It was recorded at a time when such cross-pollination of sounds was not only new but very necessary. John Cale plays all sides of his musical personae returning to his avant-garde roots with LaMonte Young in the Theater of Eternal Music but infusing it with the noisy economy of The Velvet Underground and the poetic pop of his subsequent output. While Terry Riley allows his more purist minimal aesthetic to become looser and emotive, paving the way toward his soundtrack works a few years later. Add to it the shambling drums of Bobby Columby from Blood Sweat and Tears (uncredited here) and the strange guest appearance of little known singer, Adam Miller (probably best known for the sesame street song, "We all Live in the Capital I") and what we have is this truly odd and hypnotically amazing document. Something that sounds more Germany than New York, like a collaboration between Can and Ralf and Florian of Kraftwerk or between Faust and Cluster. Or more contemporarily and unlikely, say between Wooden Shjips and Shogun Kunitoki with a guest vocal appearance by Thom Yorke of Radiohead!
The title track opens with a deep low multi-horned drone before the bass and drums kick into what begins to sound like a more driving version of The Kinks' "Powerman". But instead of going into a formal song structure, the riff repeats with Riley's pipe organ laying circular filigree riffs over the top, maintaining a constant lurch forward, and glassy saxophone stabs and atonal guitar rising from underneath creating an uneasy rhythm that slowly unravels into a propulsively droney stew. The air clears for the beautiful "Hall of Mirrors in The Palace of Versailles" with Cale on piano and Riley on solo saxophone trading off building and lilting riffs that rise and coalesce into shimmering tones. It's the moment that feels unique to each of them: the melodic minimalism of Cale's Dream syndicate days, and the all night time-delayed sax pieces of Riley's "Poppy Nogood and The Phantom Band". But with its mirror imagery and gorgeous repetitions, it feels wonderfully cinematic like a lost score for Alain Resnais' "Last Year at Marienbad". The next track, "The Soul of Patrick Lee" is perhaps the strangest because it's the only one with vocals, which wouldn't be unusual for John Cale as he wrote it and it sounds like him, but oddly he relegates the singing duties to his friend Adam Miller, an obscure singer-songwriter who wrote a Partridge Family tune and sang the above mentioned Sesame Street song. This track provides a breather of sorts, a short baroque folk ballad interlude between the other longform pieces, but it's like a haunting theme that adds to the mysterious soundtrack feel of the whole record. "Ides of March", the longest piece, features chugging piano riffs and skittering drums over a looped but drunkenly lopsided groove that wavers in and out of sync, building in a weird way where all the notes that seem off finally becoming locked in and right. Closing the record is the short "Protege" which ups the vampy piano riffs and Moe Tucker like drums before careening into a swift blast of noisy distortion. A sudden ending to this curious record that leaves us wanting more.
MPEG Stream: "Church of Anthrax"
MPEG Stream: "The Soul of Patrick Lee"
MPEG Stream: "Ides of March"

CALIFORNIA, RANDY Kapt. Kopter and The (Fabulous) Twirly Birds (Asana) cd 17.98
Heavy Hendrix-y early '70s psych from the Spirit dude. Pretty cool.

CANTILO, MIGUEL Y GRUPO Sur (Viaiero Inmovil Records) cd 15.98
While there ARE lots of amazing reissues of all sorts of old records -- psychedelic, rock, folk, jazz, reggae, metal, etc. -- coming out all the time (and hopefully you've read about a bunch of 'em here, we do our best to keep up), it's also become evident to us that the vast majority of reissued obscurities were, well, obscure for a reason, and it's hard to understand WHY someone would choose to reissue 'em. But then there's reissues like this one, that make us wonder, why hadn't we ever heard of this band before? Why weren't they HUGE? Well maybe Miguel Cantilo Y Grupo were famous in their native Argentina, they should have been, we certainly can't imagine that there were all that many bands of this quality releasing records in that country back then (this dates from 1975). At any rate, we're pretty excited to learn about 'em now thanks to this reissue. An eclectic psychedelic progressive rock album, with songs ranging from acoustic mellow melodicism to heavy hard rockin' bombast, this is something that we'd rank with a few other '70s reissues that have become big favorites 'round here -- if you loved the Eduardo Bort from Spain, or the more-recently reviewed Tarkus from Peru, you'll want this too for sure! It's got strong songs, a charming heavy-duty hippy vibe (check out the cover art), exotic appeal (all songs sung in Spanish, very emotively), and is definitely Classic Rock worthy (reminding us of Led Zep, Budgie, and even Aerosmith at their most mystical, magical a la "Kings and Queens"). Miguel's vocals are a bit Bolan-esque as well. But what puts it over the top for us is the killer blend of exquisite prettiness and sudden, frantic rock n' roll action, a lot looser and rawer than some other progressives of the era. Very dynamic and surprising. It's weird in all the right places. It's always neat to discover cool stuff like this out of the blue, proving that there definitely are unknown reissues worth taking a chance on... Nicely packaged in a slim colorful cardboard digipacky thing, with the cd itself in a sleeve with the lyrics printed on it.
MPEG Stream: "Algo Esta Por Suceder"
MPEG Stream: "Naturangel"

CAPTAIN BEEFHEART Lick My Decals Off, Baby (Straight / Reprise) lp 14.98

CAPTAIN BEEFHEART The Spotlight Kid (Reprise) lp 14.98

CAPTAIN BEEFHEART AND THE MAGIC BAND Dichotomy (Ozit Morpheus ) cd 15.98
What can we say? Ozit has put together a collection of Beefheart odds and sods spanning the 1960's and 1970's. As can be expected, the fidelity of the recordings ain't the best, but for Beefheart fans yearning for new material there really is less and less that hasn't already been compiled elsewhere at this point. And while much, if not all, of the songs here will be familiar to everyone with a fair sized collection of Captain Beefheart studio recordings, the arrangements here are often completely different and as such are an interest to those curious about the creative process that went into shaping them into their final form on LP. If all of this seems like apologist mutterings, we can't convincingly argue otherwise. But note that all the tracks here, to the best of our knowledge, haven't been released on CD until now, save for one or two tracks (can't speak for all the myriad bootleg LP collections of Beefheart rarities that have been released lo these many years).
MPEG Stream: "Sticks And Stones (Instrumental)"
MPEG Stream: "I Was A Teenage Malt Shop"

CAPTAIN BEYOND Dawn Explosion (Friday Music) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Third album circa '77 from these psychedelic prog stoner heavies... Different singer, pretty much for completists though.

CAPTAIN BEYOND s/t (Capricorn) cd 5.00
**SALE **SALE* *SALE**
Here's an old favorite that we thought we'd list 'cause the name sometimes comes up in our reviews of present day heavy psych/stoner rock bands: LA's legendary Captain Beyond. This cd reissues their classic 1972 debut lp. Psychedelic hard rock from ex-members of both Deep Purple (their original vocalist) and Iron Butterfly. One of Allan's all-time faves, and one of the essential documents of '70s heavy hippy rock, with plenty of swaggering vocals, trippy lyrics, quirky time changes, and of course some memorable, weighty acid guitar riffs. Just don't expect Black Sabbath, as these California boys were still all about '60s stuff like flowers and beads and bellbottoms, not Satan and metal and doom. Though they do get kinda doomy on some of their astral travels.
MPEG Stream: "Mesmerization Eclipse"
MPEG Stream: "Raging River Of Fear"
MPEG Stream: "Frozen Over"

CAPTAIN BEYOND Sufficently Breathless (Capricorn) cd 5.00
**SALE **SALE* *SALE**
While Captain Beyond's 1972 debut was all about proggy proto-metal riffery, the group's quite different but equally classic 1973 follow-up, Sufficiently Breathless, is much less hard-edged, much more Malibu-mellow. Smoother, and spaced out. Indeed you could call it space rock, what with song titles/subjects like "Drifting In Space", "Starglow Energy" and "Distant Sun". It's a definitely trippy album, to match the very bizarre cover painting. But there's some riffage here all right too, with a bunch of the tracks, even including "Drifting In Space", having a rollicking, groovy energy to 'em. "Evil Men" kinda reminds us of Blue Oyster Cult, and also it - and a lot of the record - has a jazzy feel, with Latin percussion, a la Santana.
Our favorite track is probably the majestic and uplifting "Starglow Energy", a somewhat Floydian, New Agey hippie hypnotic bliss out. It's been a long time (since 1973, perhaps!) that an artist could do a song with a title like "Starglow Energy" and sound so sincere about it. Nope, they don't make 'em like this anymore.
So, compared to Captain Beyond's debut, the super stoned and sorta Santana-styled Sufficently Breathless isn't so much astral proto-metal, than, uh, maybe what we could call yacht-psych (?), but we still love it!
MPEG Stream: " Bright Blue Tango"
MPEG Stream: "Drifting In Space"
MPEG Stream: "Starglow Energy"

CAROL OF HARVEST s/t (Second Battle) cd 19.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
German progressive folk-psych with female vocals from 1978, originally a private press rarity now reissued on cd with some bonus live tracks (including a song called "Sweet Heroin", not too pastoral that).
RealAudio clip: "You and Me"

CAROL OF HARVEST s/t (Guerssen) lp 32.00

CARROLL, CORKY & FRIENDS Laid Back (EM Records) cd 22.00
If you know who Corky Carroll is, it's 'cause chances are, you're into surfing. But besides being one of the top champion pro surfers of his era ('60s/early '70s), and in fact considered possibly the first ever professional surfer, he was also way into music. In 1971, at age 23, he released this album, his first of many, on a private label called Rural that he ran with Dennis Dragon (of the Dragons and later of the Surf Punks, and brother to Darryl, aka Captain of the Captain and Tennille). Corky and Dennis brought mobile recording gear with them to visit fellow surfers/musicians all along the California coast, that's where the "& Friends" comes in, as this, in addition to Corky's own guitar strum, features contributions from a variety of fine musicians, including some exquisite Hawaiian slack-key guitar picking by island-born board-crafter Raymond Patterson. Also appearing: Denny Aarberg (lead guitarist from the Santa Barbara hippy-surf band Farm, also later co-writer of the John Milius surf film Big Wednesday), David Lyons, Al Oakie, Kathy Dragon, and the members of the band Hana. All of these people were serious surfers like Corky, though the music they made doesn't sound like your typical "surf music" (though it is warm and beach-ily idyllic).
Mellow, folky, mostly acoustic, largely instrumental, a little bit bluesy in spots, of course this would get reissued by Japan's wonderful EM Records, who have previously brought us a bunch of "psychedelic surf" albums in the past, in their "EM Under Water Series", like the Farm's soundtrack to The Innermost Limits Of Pure Fun.
Certainly this is aptly titled, Laid Back, being so sunshiney and stoned, what what some folks here, who (ahem) know what they're talking about, would consider a perfect "wake 'n' bake" album, that you could file with David Crosby's If I Can Only Remember My Name ferinstance.
Anyone who liked the These Trails album Drag City recently reissued and wants another trip to the islands in their imagination, should check this out!
Packaged in the usual EM cardboard gatefold sleeve, the insert bearing interesting liner notes from Corky himself. Pricier vinyl version also available, fyi.
MPEG Stream: "Haleiwa"
MPEG Stream: "War"
MPEG Stream: "Merrit"
MPEG Stream: "Easy Ride"

CARROLL, CORKY & FRIENDS Laid Back (EM Records) lp 39.00
Now also here on vinyl! Japanese import, pricey but nice.
If you know who Corky Carroll is, it's 'cause chances are, you're into surfing. But besides being one of the top champion pro surfers of his era ('60s/early '70s), and in fact considered possibly the first ever professional surfer, he was also way into music. In 1971, at age 23, he released this album, his first of many, on a private label called Rural that he ran with Dennis Dragon (of the Dragons and later of the Surf Punks, and brother to Darryl, aka Captain of the Captain and Tennille). Corky and Dennis brought mobile recording gear with them to visit fellow surfers/musicians all along the California coast, that's where the "& Friends" comes in, as this, in addition to Corky's own guitar strum, features contributions from a variety of fine musicians, including some exquisite Hawaiian slack-key guitar picking by island-born board-crafter Raymond Patterson. Also appearing: Denny Aarberg (lead guitarist from the Santa Barbara hippy-surf band Farm, also later co-writer of the John Milius surf film Big Wednesday), David Lyons, Al Oakie, Kathy Dragon, and the members of the band Hana. All of these people were serious surfers like Corky, though the music they made doesn't sound like your typical "surf music" (though it is warm and beach-ily idyllic).
Mellow, folky, mostly acoustic, largely instrumental, a little bit bluesy in spots, of course this would get reissued by Japan's wonderful EM Records, who have previously brought us a bunch of "psychedelic surf" albums in the past, in their "EM Under Water Series", like the Farm's soundtrack to The Innermost Limits Of Pure Fun.
Certainly this is aptly titled, Laid Back, being so sunshiney and stoned, what what some folks here, who (ahem) know what they're talking about, would consider a perfect "wake 'n' bake" album, that you could file with David Crosby's If I Can Only Remember My Name ferinstance.
Anyone who liked the These Trails album Drag City recently reissued and wants another trip to the islands in their imagination, should check this out!
Packaged in the usual EM cardboard gatefold sleeve, the insert bearing interesting liner notes from Corky himself. Pricier vinyl version also available, fyi.
MPEG Stream: "Haleiwa"
MPEG Stream: "War"
MPEG Stream: "Merrit"
MPEG Stream: "Easy Ride"

CARTER, DEAN Call Of The Wild (Big Beat) cd 16.98
This is not new, but we only just discovered this head spinning slab of totally demented fifties style (recorded in the sixties) rockabilly genius (or madness!) thanks to our pal Brian Turner at WFMU. And holy crap are we kicking ourselves for missing this. You'd never know from the cover, featuring Carter in a zebra striped jacket mugging with his guitar behind big colored letters, what freakiness lurks inside. And freaky it is. Not all of it. There are of course some straight up old school garage rockabilly jams, but some of the songs are soooooo far out, Carter was a bit like a rockabilly Joe Meek, always after new sounds, on the hunt for new equipment, anything to realize the twisted sounds in his head. He also reminds us of Michael Yonkers!
Take for example the cover of Elvis' "Jailhouse Rock" which opens up this collection, a totally twisted off kilter take on the original, with way more aggressive vocals, some weird high end tones over almost the whole thing, and a completely over the top insanely psychedelic guitar freakout (made by grinding the neck of the guitar against a mic stand) right in the middle, which was meant to sound like an actual jailhouse riot going on. As if that weren't enough, besides the usual rock instruments, Carter gathered up various friends and family members to contribute ukulele, accordion, and clarinet, played by a neighbor's 12 year old daughter!! But that's only the tip of the iceberg, the second track is a super rocking garage jam that sounds like early MC5, but then the third "I Got A Girl" is all buzzy garage stomp, with super raw vocals, and a weird looped female "ahhh" that repeats non stop throughout the entire song. Weird? Oh yeah, and it only gets weirder. "Rebel Woman" is a super heavy organ driven Screamin' Jay Hawkins style workout, and then there's the killer cover of "Fever", a classic jam for sure, but made a little bit more creepy with Carter's occasional croak, and his yelped vox throughout, as well as a droney looped sounding main guitar part. "Run Rabbit Run" is a lurching weirdo bit of gloomy garage pop, with growled vox, an amazing main guitar riff, that sounds almost metal at times, some awesome tribal drumming, and a weirdly innocent sounding female chorus.
But "Midnight Sun" might just be our favorite, after a spoken intro, the main guitar riff seems to slow down, the guitar creating a woozy dizzying seasick loop, the vocals dramatically crooned, some warm warbly organ, and a hook to die for, we've been listening to this track EVERY DAY. But heck, we end up playing this whole disc over and over and over. A perfect mix of outsider experimentation, classic rockabilly garage rock jamming, sixties psychedelia, and that Joe Meek like kitchen sink inventiveness, plus, it's SUPER rocking, suprisingly heavy, killer stuff for sure.
Lots of liner notes and tons of pix too. WAY RECOMMENDED.
MPEG Stream: "Midnight Sun"
MPEG Stream: "Jailhouse Rock"
MPEG Stream: "Mary Sue"
MPEG Stream: "Fever"

CEREBRUM Eagle Death (Shadoks Music) cd 17.98
Fantastico! Here's an obscure Spanish psych rock reissue that we're so glad that Shadoks finally got their hands on. Get ready for some of the weirdest, most badass fuzzed out garage psych rockin' you have ever heard. Cerebrum, from Madrid, released just two 7" singles on Barcelona's progressive Dimension label, both in 1970. Soon after, they broke up, and never made a full-length album. So then, what's this? Shadoks, in cooperation with original Cerebrum guitarist Javier Esteve, have unearthed a bunch of previously unreleased early Cerebrum recordings by the band, five live-in-the-studio demos from 1969, presented here along with the four cuts from their 45s (one of 'em, title track "Eagle Death", heard for the first time in its full 6 minute 18 second glory, the original single track having been an edit).
That extended version of "Eagle Death", which opens the disc, is pretty wild, on par with Japanese craziness of the era like Food Brain or Brush!?, a schizophrenic garage rave-up of fuzz guitar explosions, distorted underwater-sounding vocals, manic harp blowin' and sudden tempo changes. Every element seemingly going off in its own direction, then slipping back together to sync up with urgent rhythmic umph. And, before it's over, into the midst of all this mayhem some nice classical piano melody weirdly drifts in from someplace else! With the harmonica, this track makes us think of some warped version of something by the Yardbirds or the Count Five - maybe even a track off of Count Five's totally fictional, totally grungy Carburetor Dung album, as imagined by Lester Bangs. Yep, it's gotta be one of the most wacked out psych singles cuts everÉ until you hear the NEXT one on here, its B side, the awesomely titled "Read A Book", which juxtaposes some even gnarlier fuzz guitar soloing, with such gentle heartfelt vocals. The songs from their other 45 are equally killer - the percolating, high energy "Times Door" hits hard, and then its flip, "It's So Hard!" could kinda been Cerebrum's take on the sort of thing Cream was doing back then, yer basic blues rock jammingÉ butÉ it's just so SICK. Guitarist Esteve never lets up on the stinging fuzz action, delivering the distortion with demented glee.
Those four singles tracks - which could be aQ faves Los Dug Dugs on a bad, bad trip - are reason enough to get this, essential in and of themselves, but the other, previously unreleased material is woozy cool too. Those earlier tracks add swirling, whirling organ (played by one "Perry") to the mix, and are a bit more murky, and maybe also more good-time rollicking and rollin', than the sharper-edged Cerebrum of the singles. Most of 'em are covers, including versions of songs by Moby Grape, Bo Diddley, and Canned Heat - the endless boogie of "One Kind Favor" by the latter is probably our fave among those.
This reish comes complete with detailed liner notes and vintage photos, its truly a labor of love, and recommended to anyone into garage psych at its most, uh, extreme. aQ customers who bought Blue Phantom last time probably will be the ones who'll want this too.
MPEG Stream: "Eagle Death"
MPEG Stream: "Seven Days"
MPEG Stream: "Times Door"

CHALARD, JACKY Je Suis Vivant, Mais J'aipeur De Gilbert Deflez (B-Music / Finders Keepers) cd 15.98
Boy, were we looking forward to this: A strange 1974 French sci-fi based concept album that claims comparisons to both Alain Goraguer (La Planete Sauvage) and Jean-Claude Vannier (L'Enfant Assassin Des Mouches, Melody Nelson), by some composer we had never heard of, Jacky Chalard, perhaps originally made under the assumed identity Gilbert Deflez (the booklet has the puzzling backstory). We were blown away by the opening number, "L'Agonie", almost fulfilling the promise of the B-Music folks' claims. But then almost all the following tracks are either spoken word, or strange radio plays in French (sort of in the same wacky spirit as Les Maledictus Sound), which we wouldn't mind normally, except the spoken stuff is on almost every track on the record, and after awhile, we want to just hear the backing music alone, because it IS so good! Occasionally, there is a French woman singing which is nice and there's a couple of Massiera-ish disco pop numbers, but overall, the narrative aspects becomes just a bit tedious. At least it's in French, though, that helps. We're sure this is a must have for some folks who dig the stranger realms of french prog-pop, but we can't recommend it as highly as La Planete Sauvage, Jean-Paul Massiera, or Jean-Claude Vannier.
MPEG Stream: "L'Agonie"
MPEG Stream: "La Collecte Des Couers"
MPEG Stream: "Si Je T'Offrais Une Branche D'Amour"
MPEG Stream: "Pollution"
MPEG Stream: "Super Man - Super Cool"

CHALARD, JACKY Superman, Supercool (Cache Cache ) 12" 14.98