★Trading Places
Mona The Carnivorous Circus
The adventurous singer, guitarist and music journalist Mick Farren launched his solo career after being sacked by his fellow Deviants, the protopunk band he fronted from 1967-69. Suffering from depression and other mental health issues, Farren teamed up with an all-star cast, including members of Quartermass and ex-Tyrannosauros Rex honcho Steve Peregrin Took for debut opus Mona The Carnivorous Circus, mixing hard rock, spoken word, spaced-out interludes, radio cut-ups and garage rock, rendering…
Prayer For Peace
Big Tip! While stationed in Germany in the RAF during the late 1950s and early 1960s, York-born alto and soprano saxophonist Trevor Watts met the drummer John Stevens, with whom he would form the Spontaneous Music Ensemble upon returning to the UK in 1965, which became an important vehicle for British free improvisation. Watts’ spin-off project Amalgam came two years later with Stevens and bassist Jeff Clyne, previously in the Jazz Couriers with Ronnie Scott; their debut LP Prayer For Peace is j…
Gipsy Blood
Japanese country rock act Gypsy Blood must be heard to be believed. Released on Vertigo in 1971, their sole LP showed the group simply bursting with talent, Kiyoshi Hayami’s mandolin exceptional and the masterful soft-rock production courtesy of Miki Curtis; drummer Eiichi Tsukasa had earlier been in the Helpful Soul, organist Katsuo Ohno had been in the Spiders, and guitarist/vocalist Hiroaki Nakamura later played in Buzz with future YMO member Yukihiro Takahashi, while none other than Alan Mer…
Snafu
Reissue, originally released in 1970. By the time of East Of Eden's sophomore set Snafu, future Wings drummer Geoff Britton and Scottish bassist Andy Sneddon were in the fold, furthering the tough blues rock underpinning beneath Dave Arbus's electric violin, Geoff Nicholson's rocking guitar and Adrian Martins's meandering sax. Easily one of the most experimental albums to reach the UK top 30, this is a delightful excursion into experimental prog, with free jazz and dada elements at its margins. …
Mercator Projected
Reissue, originally released in 1969. Experimental prog act East Of Eden's daring debut album Mercator Projected was released by Deram in 1969. Former Graham Bond Organisation bassist Steve York and drummer Dave Dufort supply the tough rhythmic backbone on which frontman Geoff Nicholson weaves his edgy guitar, with Dave Arbus's electric violin supplanting what would normally be played on rhythm guitar, Adrian Martins's sax and flute completing the picture with central European melodies. Hard roc…
Changes
Trading Places present a reissue of Catapilla's self-titled album, originally released in 1971. Jazz-infused prog rock act Catapilla began in London in 1970, with saxophonists Robert Calvert (who later worked with Daevid Allen in various Gong spin-off projects) and Hugh Eaglestone, bassist Dave Taylor (of chart-topping pop act Edison Lighthouse, and later active in hard-rock group, Liar), along with drummer Malcolm Frith, guitarist Graham Wilson, and clarinet player/flautist, Thierry Rheinhardt;…
Catapilla
Trading Places present a reissue of Catapilla's self-titled album, originally released in 1971. Jazz-infused prog rock act Catapilla began in London in 1970, with saxophonists Robert Calvert (who later worked with Daevid Allen in various Gong spin-off projects) and Hugh Eaglestone, bassist Dave Taylor (of chart-topping pop act Edison Lighthouse, and later active in hard-rock group, Liar), along with drummer Malcolm Frith, guitarist Graham Wilson, and clarinet player/flautist, Thierry Rheinhardt;…
Jade Warrior
After backing future Mike Oldfield producer Tom Newman and playing in psychedelic outfit July, percussionist/flutist Jon Field and guitarist Tony Duhig joined forces with bassist Glyn Havard to form experimental prog act Jade Warrior, their non-standard 1971 self-titled debut a work of excellence unjustly overlooked. Veering between acou-stic introspection, searing acid rock and world music interludes, with melody and percussion from Africa and India and nary a drumkit in sight, this pure musica…
Live In Ankara
Recorded in November 1969 at the US Embassy, Live In Ankara saw the adventurous jazz trumpeter Don Cherry performing with saxophonist Irfan Sümer, bassist Selçuk Sun, and drummer Okay Temiz, with arrangements by trumpeter Maffy Falay, who had introduced Cherry to Temiz in Stockholm. Mostly comprised of Cherry originals and adaptations of Turkish folk songs, there are one-off takes of compositions by Ornette Coleman and Pharoah Sanders as well, the sparse musical ensemble giving Cherry ample room…
My Brain Collapsed
The roots of 80s English psychedelic freak band The Tryp lie in a hoax perpetuated by Steve Lines’ indie mag Mardenbeat, based in the town of Calne in the Marden Delta, which reviewed a gig by a non-existent band; former JP Sunshine main man Rod Goodway and partner Christine Cotter then gave flesh to the beast with Lines and Paul Ricketts of Unhinged mag, cutting My Brain Collapsed! as an exploration of mushroom-fuelled mental instability. First issued on cassette label Mardentapes and later by …
Death May Be Your Santa Claus
After their excellent Polydor debut suffered from lack of promotion, Second Hand’s sophomore LP surfaced on Mushroom, the noncommercial label formed by Vic Keary, Mike Craig, and Neil Richmond, allowing for unfettered experimentation. With George Hart on bass, new frontman Rob Elliott and drummer Kieran O’Connor on vibraphones, Ken Elliott takes melodic command on Mellotron, piano and organ, the disc a freakily esoteric juggernaut. This lost masterwork here comes with rare bonus tracks ‘Dip It O…
Reality
Obscure prog rockers Second Hand began as the Next Collection, formed at a south London secondary school; engineer/manager Vic Keary scored them a contract with Polydor as the Moving Finger, but their legendary debut LP was credited to Second Hand, due to a rival Moving Finger. Channelling psych and spacey acid hues, there is blues-rock underpinning Bob Gibbons’ guitar and keyboardist Ken Elliott helps aim the sound towards deep space; this edition features rare tracks ‘James in the Basement’ an…
A Jug Of Love
Originally released in 1971, Mighty Baby's second and, for nearly a quarter of a century, final release is a deft, understated, and often magical synthesis of any number of musical strains. Stepping further away from the group's louder roots in the Action and taking in everything from an embrace of Sufism to further explorations ranging from Gram Parsons and the Band's country-rock to jazz and obscure folk, A Jug of Love is all the more remarkable for being a rushed effort, recorded in barely a …
Samurai
Trading Places present a reissue of Samurai's self-titled album, originally released in 1971. In 1971 the group called WEB changed its name to Samurai and started working on their eponymous studio album released on the obscure Greenwich Gramophone label. Samurai is a great gem of early British progressive rock, and although it was clearly influenced by legendary groups such as King Crimson and Gentle Giant, it represented a unicum in the music panorama. Unfortunately, the group disbanded shortly…
Fantabulous
Roman saxophonist and clarinettist Sandro Brugnolini began his long recording career in the Junior Dixieland Gang in the early 1950s and came to greater prominence as chief composer in the Modern Jazz Gang, awarded best original composition for his ‘Arpo’ at Italy’s National Jazz Festival in 1958. Of the many film soundtracks he scored in the 60s, Fantabulous is the most legendary, Brugnolini bringing a jumble of mod jazz, psych-beat, freaky soul, and off-kilter pop into the mix, as an aural acc…
Mighty Baby
The obscure British prog band Mighty Baby evolved from an earlier group called The Action, a London Mod act that signed to Parlophone after building a strong live reputation, with guitarist Alan King, bassist Mike Evans and drummer Roger Powell, later expanded to include former Savoy Brown guitarist Martin Stone and keyboardist/sax player, Ian Whiteman. Moving heavily into experimental psychedelia in 1969, they cut this incredible debut album for the Head label, which is rightly hailed as one of…
Heron
Trading Places present a reissue of Heron's self-titled album, originally released in 1970. Short-lived British folk-rock band Heron was formed in the suburban town of Maidenhead, Berkshire, in 1967, when guitarist/pianist Roy Apps and singer Tony Pook began playing with guitarist Robert Collins, inspired by the music of Bob Dylan and The Incredible String Band. Collins soon quit the group, yet Heron solidified into a noteworthy entity upon the entry of the broadminded and perceptive guitarist a…
Thank You For...
The English singer and guitarist Bridget St John was introduced to the London folk scene by guitarist John Martyn, her rich and unusually deep voice making John Peel one of her greatest champions, and when Peel formed the Dandelion label in 1969 with former Elektra record plugger Clive Selwood, the original intention was to issue St John’s music. Following debut album Ask Me No Questions and follow-up Songs For The Gentle Man, 1972’s Thank You For had Martyn’s stunning guitar on “Fly High” and a…
Ben
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, Len Surtees and former Graham Bond drummer, David Sheen, keyboardist Alex Macleery and guitar…
Sound Trek
Pioneering space music duo Emerald Web, comprised of Bob Stohl and soulmate Kat Epple, made some of the most ethereal, divine and healing sounds between 1979 and 1990. Crafting their debut album in a haunted mansion in northwest Connecticut, their second disc was created in a small log cabin.
A subsequent move to the San Francisco Bay Area brought an extended stay at an Indonesian martial arts ashram, which led to the Valley of the Birds, a remote avian haven in which the duo produced Sound Trek…