Psych /
Not Available
Tip! This is one of the strangest and most interesting recordings in rock history, which speaks volumes coming from one of the strangest and more interesting bands in rock history. Not Available used what was referred to as "the theory of obscurity" (which called for the album to not be released until its makers literally forgot about its existence). It is said to be, questionably, the Residents' second recorded album (in 1974, only to be released in 1978 after utilizing "the theory of obscurity…
So far and further on ...
*6 Colour variants limited to a total of 276 numbered copies* Introducing a meticulously crafted DIY limited vinyl box set housing 3 LP’s and a comprehensive illustrated booklet. This set is highlighted by a captivating textured sleeve handmade with deluxe Bookbinding Savanna Cloth combining the timeless charm of vinyl records with the tactile allure of vintage materials. Immerse yourself in the depths of folk-rock’s best hidden gem and the thrill of a collector's treasure trove. This limited ed…
Stockholm & Göteborg
Temporary super offer! Originally released on CD as part of the 40th anniversary Henry Cow Box and reissued here for the first time on vinyl, these high quality Swedish Radio live recording, made in 1977, include previously unreleased material including Tim Hodgkinson's "Erk Gah", a long, epic, large scale composition considered as one of Cow peaks, a breathtaking rendition of Phil Ochs' "No More Songs"- in fact the only real song ever played by Henry Cow - and Fred Frith's "The March", plus the…
The Apple Tree
*2023 stock* Jon Brooks (the Advisory Circle) and Tim from Broadcast aka Hintermass – have released their first actual LP. It has apparently been over four years since their single came out on lovely, timewarpy-designy/retro-futurey /evocative-of-memories-we-never-really-had Ghost Box.
The title track leads the album and it features Tim’s surprisingly rich and warm vocal, bearing comparison here to the sound of Gruff Rhys in there somewhere. The album is full of lovely fuzzy synth and a bit of …
Origin Myths
Bobby Lee trades in a wide screen brand of cosmic country-folk, full of space and pawn shop guitars. There are touches of JJ Cale's analogue Americana, the swampy groove of Tony Joe White and Richard Thompson's sinewy, modal guitar work. Amps hum in the warm afternoon sun, kids and dogs snooze on the grass and broken drum machines keep time with the universe... Open sky/scorched earth improvisations recorded to four track tape during the rare moments of solitude afforded by lockdown and early fa…
'Igginbottom's Wrench
*2023 stock* 'Igginbottom's Wrench is a studio album by the band 'Igginbottom, released in 1969 through Deram Records originally on vinyl only. It has been reissued a number of times (sometimes under the group title of "Allan Holdworth & Friends"), most notably on CD for the first time on 5 March 1989, as well as a remastered edition in 2000 through Angel Air Records with extensive liner notes detailing the band's history. It is one of the first recordings to feature guitarist Allan Holdsworth.
Music Or Not Music
*2023 stock* "Produced by Erick Van Huls, Recreation's sophomore release "Music or not Music" featured 15 tracks, many of them quite short and linked together in a continuing suite arrangement. With all three members sharing creative duties the all-instrumental set simply wasn't the lost classic slice of progressive magic some dealers would have you believe (the fact it was included in one of the Hans Pokora books merely added to the hype). The three members were all quite talented, but the majo…
It's A Beautiful Day
*2023 stock* "It's a Beautiful Day were no less memorable for their unique progressive rock style that contrasted well with the Bay Area psychedelic scene...It's a Beautiful Day remains as a timepiece and evidence of how sophisticated rock & roll had become in the fertile environs of the San Francisco music scene." - All Music
Rot
** 500 copies. Limited 50th Anniversary Edition: embossed, reverse board, hand numbered, limited edition red vinyl ** There was a particular type of artist who could only have emerged in the legendary early 1970s. Few musicians fit the bill better than Conrad Schnitzler. Revolution, pop art and Fluxus created a climate which engendered unbridled artistic and social development. Radical utopias, excessive experimentation with drugs, and ruthless (in a positive way) transgression of aesthetic fron…
Kip Of The Serenes
*2023 stock* Ireland's answer to the Incredible String Band, Dr. Strangely Strange engaged in the same type of psychedelic acoustic music with folksy arrangements. With traditional instruments like penny whistle, fiddle, harmonium, and mandolin, Dr. Strangely Strange was more solidly rooted in melody and structure than the group's flaky Scottish counterparts. Produced by British modern folk guru Joe Boyd, Kip of the Serenes is built around simple and repetitious melodies occasionally interrupted…
Heavy Petting
*2023 stock* On their first album, Irish band Doctor Strangely Strange declared themselves to be "strangely strange but oddly normal," and by their time of their second effort, 1970's Heavy Petting, it's possible that "oddly normal" no longer applied. The spiritual cousins of the Incredible String Band, although less rooted in folk traditions, their music flitted around like a butterfly, rarely settling anywhere for long -- and certainly never for the length of an entire song. "Gave My Love an A…
Hiro Yanagida
*2024 stock* Gatefold cover. Second Yanagida Hiro album, with Kimio Mizutani at the helm, swirling acid leads, heavy psych moves: a fuzzed out guitar record reminding me a little of Human Instinct. Like this guitar was dipped in fuzz! The grooves are great, and there are folky Japanese tunes that are nice. The album stays on the lighter side of groove, even on the uptempo joints, but this album is worth exploring for lovers of that Japanese rock sound in progressive and soloing. The 50's homage…
First
*2023 stock* German proto heavy metal and proto doom metal has always been more of an underground topic due to the fact that most bands only reached a regional level in every aspect. Dies Irae are certainly something of an exception to the rule when it comes to the quality. What you get here is a heavy and dark music with open song structures that leave much room for experimentation. Despite the fact that the simmering fuzz guitar cuts through your burning soul like a chainsaw there are still ma…
Carmen Maki Blues Creation
*2023 stock* Folk singer-turned-rock singer Carmen Maki collaborated with Blues Creation on this album ('71).Immediately after the release of her masterpiece 'The Devil and the Eleven Children', Carmen Maki's youthful voice, which was influenced by Janis Joplin, fused with a sturdy sound reminiscent of Bruce Creation's Led Zeppelin, and it was a miracle of the early days of Japanese rock music. Later on, Kazuo Takeda's Blues Creation was active as Creation, and Carmen Maki formed OZ. This is a m…
Ben
*2023 stock* “A reissue of Ben's self-titled album, only album, originally released in 1971. Canterbury-based progressive jazz-rock act Ben only released one obscure album, issued on Philips' prog subsidiary Vertigo in 1971, but it's a lovely collective of extended instrumental jams, worthy of discovery for those that missed it the first time around. Peter Davey's saxophone and clarinet melodies push the material to high peaks, against an understated backing from future Nashville Teens bassist, …
Cymande
*2023 stock* Invigorating head music done Rastafarian style by Cymande. "Zion I" is a spiritual chant put to music, setting the mood for Cymande. A laid-back "One More" lulls you into subliminal meditation before "Getting It Back" jolts you into some scintillating Jamaican funk-fusion. There's a message in many of Cymande's cuts, with "Listen," and "Bra" (a recognition of the women's lib movement), the most inspiring. Both are sung with passion, and are skillfully executed; the former is slow an…
Larks' Tongues In Aspic
Larks' Tongues In Aspic is the fifth in a series of audiophile King Crimson vinyl reissues. Newly cut from masters approved by Robert Fripp, this super-heavyweight 200gm vinyl re-issue is housed in a reprint of the original sleeve. With its raw tone, inspired improvisations and hard hitting odd-metered rhythms, the album marked a radical departure for this most forward thinking of groups and was the first to include Bill Bruford and John Wetton as band members. King Crimson reborn yet again -- t…
Infinity
*2023 stock* "Infinity" is the only album by Planetarium, a band of which nobody knows who the players are, since the musicians are not listed on the LP. There is, as some reviewer noticed before, an evident Ennio Morricone's influence on this work, which is most of the time instrumental, with very few sung moments ( "The Beginning" and "The Moon"). According to the liner notes the musicians devoted their attention to the birth and to the flow of life from its origin to its end in infinity, ling…
Full Horn
*2023 stock* 1973's Full Horn was Cornucopia's only release, but the seven members of this German progressive rock band made sure that it was a worthwhile accomplishment. From the onset of "Day of a Daydreambeliever," the album's opening track, Cornucopia's misty, phantasmal sound is set adrift with the softness of numbing vocal harmonies that emerge from the background. But from here, the song begins to breed patient rhythms and a certain sci-fi milieu that wonderfully sets the mood, picking up…
Electric Sandwich
*2023 stock* This only album by the German band Electric Sandwich is a pretty strong record from the start to the end. It's a wonderful highly enjoyable album. Songs like "Devil's Dream" and "Archie's Blues" have some impressive guitarwork and some of the songs also have a jazzy feeling because of the sax playing. Electric Sandwich's S/T only LP is a very solid and also a highly consistent package. No bad moments on this album. These seven songs all do their job very well. While it's not a total…