Art Boys Collection - Stoned Wall (Austrian Prog-Rock in Flower Power style 1972)

Austrian Progressive Beat Band in flower power style from Andorf, Upper Austria, Austria. Active from 1970-75.
The Art Boys Collection started as pure The Boys in Upper Austria in 1969, when Gerhard Egger and Hans Joachim Holz met in a student jam session in 1970. They changed their name and outfit and performed several shows in G.I. Clubs in Austria and Bavaria. Three months later, the band went to Vienna to record their first single at Austrophon-Studio and organ player Walter Holz fixed a record deal with the Swiss/Austrian label Lesborne. The song was on power play in the radio and they got offered to release another record ("Life Is A Dream") by the German label Intersong, which only got released in small quantities due to technical problems in the end of the recording process. After that they returned to Vienna to record Art Boys Collection - Jesus Said / Station Nowhere, which was number one in the charts for six weeks. The Art Boys Collection didn't bill themselves as a progressive rock band, as they were a beat band. After having problems with journalists from the Austrian Radio Broadcasting, the band was banned by them. Their shows often got opened up by Waterloo & Robinson who started their career at that time. Gerhard Egger left the band and got replaced by Hubert Perfahl. Before he quit, Egger finished the recording of their only album "Stoned Wall".
The Art Boys continued and played shows till 1972, also opening stages for Golden Earring and Deep Purple. The band finally disbanded and 1972 and stopped playing live in 1975

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Art+Boys+Collection

Durutti Column - The Guitar and Other Machines (1987 Alternative/Experimental)

Following up the band's second live album, A Night in New York, Durutti's composition changed slightly, with both Kellet and Metcalfe off to pursue other ventures, the former ending up in Simply Red. The core Reilly/Mitchell duo settled down in studio to create another striking development in Durutti's story, The Guitar and Other Machines. So named because of Reilly's choice to explore and use newer instruments, specifically a Yamaha Sequencer and a DMX Drum Machine among others, while also trying out new approaches with his guitar playing, first signaled on Circuses and Bread. Opening track "Arpeggiator," one of several cuts originally previewed on A Night in New York, gives a sense as to the result. There's a more straightforwardly soaring lead guitar line; quick, gently perky synth loops; a heavy drum punch; additional strings; and other touches to fill out the busy but strong arrangement. While technology in general was no stranger to the band, these instruments and approaches were, resulting in a generally lusher record than most recorded by Durutti before it, with more rather than fewer instruments being the key motif while still retaining an economy of performance. Both Metcalfe and Kellet appeared on an album highlight, "When the World," recalling the band's mid-'80s highlights while Reilly turns in a surprisingly loud, kick-ass solo, contrasting his acoustic work on the immediately following "U.S.P." Otherwise, a variety of other performers assisted the duo as needed, including producer Stephen Street, who sat in on bass on "English Landscape Tradition," and guest singers Stanton Miranda and Pol (a high point of "When the World" who ironically enough doesn't appear on "Pol in B"). Rob Gray's mouth organ work adds a nicely rootsy feel to "What Is It to Me (Woman)" and "Jongleur Grey," a notable contrast against Durutti's generally futurist approach. Continuing the string of excellent Durutti reissues, its 1996 reappearance included several other studio tracks done around that time, notably the moody and mysterious "LFO Mod," which only appeared on the Valuable Passages compilation in the U.S., and "Dream Topping," featuring a reunion with A Certain Ratio singer Jeremy Kerr. Concluding the reissue are four further tracks from a performance at Peter Gabriel's WOMAD festival, with guest appearances from Chinese opera singer Liu Sola and Swing Out Sister keyboardist Andy Connell, both of whom would feature on the Vini Reilly album.

AMG Review by Ned Raggett

Earth Opera - Earth Opera (1968 Boston Psychedelic Pop)

The stylistic explorations pursued by the Beatles in 1966-1967, and the commercial success the group continued to enjoy, inspired other popular musicians to be similarly ambitious and persuaded record companies to take chances on more daring music. Earth Opera is a good example. The Boston-based group's self-titled debut LP featured a heady mixture of pop, rock, folk, jazz, and classical elements in involved arrangements played on such unusual instruments as mandocello and harpsichord. Less a rock band than a highly eclectic chamber orchestra, Earth Opera played in an arty style that suited singer/songwriter/guitarist Peter Rowan's songs, with their complicated structures and highly poetic lyrics. Rowan sang those lyrics, which dealt here and there with anti-war and more generalized sentiments of social dissatisfaction, in a distanced, somewhat artificial tone of voice, using an accent that sounded vaguely British, even when he was mentioning the Red Sox. But he was rarely so specific, more often concerning himself with "the stage inside my mind" or "the picket fenceposts of your mind," internal landscapes in which wordplay and allusions substituted for specific meaning. It was a psychedelic language matched by the music, which hurried and slowed, making room for sudden solos and unexpected juxtapositions of instruments. The result ultimately may have been too ornate and inaccessible for a pop recording, even in 1968, but Earth Opera was very much of its time.

AMG Review by William Ruhlmann

Graham Parker - Howlin' Wind (Great debut album 1976)

For most intents and purposes, Graham Parker emerged fully formed on his debut album, Howlin' Wind. Sounding like the bastard offspring of Mick Jagger and Van Morrison, Parker sneers his way through a set of stunningly literate pub rockers. Instead of blindly sticking to the traditions of rock & roll, Parker invigorates them with cynicism and anger, turning his songs into distinctively original works. "Back to Schooldays" may be reconstituted rockabilly, "White Honey" may recall Morrison's white R&B bounce, and "Howlin' Wind" is a cross of Van's more mystical moments and the Band, but the songs themselves are original and terrific. Similarly, producer Nick Lowe gives the album a tough, spare feeling, which makes Parker and the Rumour sound like one of the best bar bands you've ever heard. Howlin' Wind remains a thoroughly invigorating fusion of rock tradition, singer/songwriter skill, and punk spirit, making it one of the classic debuts of all time.

AMG Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Bow Street Runners - Bow Street Runners (US Psychedelia 1970)

Sounding like a blend of Jefferson Airplane and the Doors, Bow Street Runners was a Fayetteville, North Carolina-based psychedelic band who released one eponymous album in limited quantities on B.T. Puppy Records in 1970. While the group was ignored at the time, Bow Street Runners became a collectible item among psychedelic aficionados during the '80s and '90s.

Flushed from Fayetteville, North Carolina-where they thought they could remain comfortably obscure-by our release of their only album, the Runners have recently re-surfaced. Issued in ultra-limited quantity by B.T. Puppy in 1970-and now changing hands for sums more familiar to NASDAQ-this is an other-worldly blend of sweet female blotter acid harmonies, hypnotic Farfisa and high-octane fuzz guitar histrionics.

01. Electric Star
02. Watch
03. American Talking Blues
04. Leaving Grit America
05. Another Face
06. Eating From A Plastic Hand
07. Rock Fish Blues
08. Push It Through
09. Spunky Monkey
10. Steve's Jam

Post by CGR

Cowboy Junkies - The Trinity Session (Beautiful Alternative Country-Rock 1987)

Who says you can't make a great record in one day -- or night, as the case may be? The Trinity Session was recorded in one night using one microphone, a DAT recorder, and the wonderful acoustics of the Holy Trinity in Toronto. Interestingly, it's the album that broke the Cowboy Junkies in the United States for their version of "Sweet Jane," which included the lost verse. It's far from the best cut here, though. There are other covers, such as Margo Timmins' a cappella read of the traditional "Mining for Gold," a heroin-slow version of Hank Williams' classic "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry," "Dreaming My Dreams With You" (canonized by Waylon Jennings), and a radical take of the Patsy Cline classic "Walkin' After Midnight" that closes the disc. Those few who had heard the band's previous album, Whites Off Earth Now!!, were aware that, along with Low, the Cowboy Junkies were the only band at the time capable of playing slower than Neil Young and Crazy Horse -- and without the ear-threatening volume. The Timmins family -- Margo, guitarist and songwriter Michael, drummer Peter, and backing vocalist and guitarist John -- along with bassist Alan Anton and a few pals playing pedal steel, accordion, and harmonica, paced everything to crawl.

That said, it works in that every song has its own texture, slowly and deliberately unfolding from blues and country and drones. An example is the Michael and Margo song "I Don't Get It," ushered in with a few drawling guitar lines, a spooky harmonica, and brushed drums. Margo Timmins doesn't have a large range and doesn't need it as she scratches each song's surface like an itch until it bleeds its truth. This is also true on "Misguided Angel," another original where the verses become nearly a round alternating between her voice and Michael's snaky spare guitar lines to fill an almost unimaginable space. The Williams tune becomes a dirge in the Cowboys' hands. It's a funeral song, or an elegy for one who has dragged herself so far into the oblivion of isolation that there is no place left to go but home. Michael's guitar moves around the changes as bassist Anton plays them; he colors the space allowing for Margo to fill the melodic space spot-on, yet stretching each syllable out to the breaking point. For most, this was the Cowboy Junkies' debut -- Whites Off Earth Now!! was re-released in the States a few years later -- and it established them firmly in the forefront of the "alternative" scene with radio and MTV. As an album, it's still remarkable at how timeless it sounds, and its beauty is -- in stark contrast to its presentation -- voluminous and rich, perhaps even eternal.

AMG Review by Thom Jurek

Siloah - Sukram Gurk (Kraut-Rock 1972)

Siloah was an almost completely different band when they recorded Sukram Gurk, their second and final album. On the record, released in 1972, the group turns up the volume a couple notches as the acoustic guitars are traded in, and the group is pared down to an electric three-piece of organ, bass, and drums, with an extra percussionist thrown in. The record is darker and edgier than the earlier album, but at the same time, it is not a complete about-face, as Siloah retains their unpolished sound, amateurish playing, and loose improvisational feel, with long instrumental jamming and bare-bone riffs. The record opens with the garage-band attack of "Milk Blue Mind," with vocal chorus caterwauling "Mother, I'm dying," before the piece drifts into long improvisations, more energetic vocal screams and wails, and even a drum solo. Except for some more rough vocals on "Feast of the Pickpockets," the rest of the record is instrumental, though no less effective, whether the mid-paced "Magic carpet Ride" or the slowly building organ grind that begins "Feast of the Pickpockets," or the avant-funk of "Stony," with its thundering drums and driving bassline. The bonus track, "She Is on My Mind," done a year later by a couple members of Siloah with a couple members of Os Mundi, sounds like a wretched attempt at a commercial pop song, and not at all up the standards of the material on the CD, and does neither Siloah nor Os Mundi any justice.

AMG Review by Rolf Semprebon

Paladin - Charge! (Great Hard Rock 1972 - bonus tracks)

A good progressive/hard rock outfit, their first album was recorded live
in the studio and their strength was really as a live act. Lou Stonebridge
went on to play for McGuinness Flint. Joe Jammer also recorded as a solo artist.

Paladin may only have ever released two albums, but their second 'Charge'
is an absolute classic of early 70ís prog. There are many different styles and
sounds on the album, yet the whole is nothing less than a coherent masterpiece.

The Roger Dean sleeve may not be an absolute guarantee of quality,
but Paladin sit well with their peers such as Yes, Uriah Heep, Asia, etc.,
whom Dean graced with his artwork.

There are four feature tracks on the album. The opening "Give me your hand"
sets the tone, with rich organ and guitar backing a strong vocal for a fine
piece of melodic hard rock. "Good lord" is a slightly softer but still upbeat
song with some excellent guitar work by Derek Foley. It leads into the album's best track,
the wonderfully atmospheric "Mix your mind with the moonbeams".
The multi-tracked vocals and trippy lyrics are pure early 70's
("Let the cosmic light diffuse itself, in all its magic ways").
The track is awash in keyboard layers, and chiming guitars.
This is PENDRAGON years before Pendragon existed! Also included is an
all too rare Hammond organ solo, similar to the one on URIAH HEEP's "July Morning".

The closing track "Watching the world pass by" has everything in about 9 minutes.
It starts with some interesting keyboard moods, before breaking into an almost
funky harmonica led wall of sound backed piece. About midway, we suddenly
lurch into a barn dance, before a superb guitar solo of some length brings
the album to its climactic conclusion.

The album is rounded out by three shorter tracks. "Well we might" is an almost SLADE
(yes Slade!) like rocker with some great guitar and some very effective stop go interludes.
"Anyway" is a melotron backed ballad which contrasts superbly with the
generally upbeat nature of the album. This track appears to have been a
late addition to the original LP, as it appears on a sticky label added
to the track listing. "Get one together" is the only dip,
being a pretty nondescript instrumental.

"Charge" is a truly superb album, very much of its time,
but still highly enjoyable. The band were destined to split before
recording any further albums, but at least they went out on a high.


01.Give Me Your Hand
02.Well We Might
03.Get On Together
04.Anyway
05.Good Lord
06.Mix Your Mind with the Moonbeams
07.Watching the World Pass By
08.Give me Love to you (Bonus)
09.Sweet Sweet Music (Bonus)
10.Any Way (Variation - Bonus)
11.Sweet Sweet Music (Variation - Bonus)
12.Well we Might (Variation - Bonus)
13.Fill up your Heart (Instrumental - Bonus)
14.Bad Times (Instrumental - Bonus)

Post by CGR

Sapphire Thinkers - From Within (1968 Fine Fuzzy Californian Psychedelia)

Excellent 1968 Californian band who with their mix of male and female vocalists and fuzz lead guitar bear comparisons with Yankee Dollar or Peanut Butter Conspiracy.
If anything this band are better than those acts and their album features some excellent harmonies and nice trippy touches - in particular the Doors like keyboards and backward effects.
Other than Vernon Joynson's entry in Fuzz, Acid and Flowers and his very similar summary of the album in "Flashback", used in the sleeve notes for the CD re-issue, there is very little information on this excellent band and their work. Joynson's summary from the sleeve notes was as follows " ...similar to Jefferson Airplane and Peanut Butter Conspiracy...based in LA, they were probably Californian. The album contains some pleasant vocal arrangements/harmonies and nice touches of acid and fuzz guitar and is recommended". I couldn't agree more. If it's light and breezy West Coast psych inflected pop you're looking for, then this band make all the right moves. In addition to melodies and male/female vocal harmonies to rival The Mamas & The Papas, and a groovieness in the vein of Ultimate Spinach, there's a few more things that really stand out on the album for me. These are the technically brilliant snappy keyboard backing on most tracks, the stunning lead guitar breaks that really lift several of the tracks, and the sprinkling of flute over the album.
The standout tracks are the title track "From Within" and the amazing "I Got To You" which is contains the best harmony work on the album and some beautifully introspective guitar pieces. Yet another talented bunch of musicians that never received the attention they deserved.

1. Melancholy Baby
2. I Feel A Bit Strange,
3. Get Along Boy
4. Blues On You
5. From Within
6. I Got To You
7. Not Another Night
8. Let Her Come In
9. Please Understand
10.Blind With A Borrowed Light
11.There's A Woman
12.Doin' Alright

Post by CGR

Paul Kossoff - Back Street Crawler (Great Blues-Rock 1973)

Back Street Crawler, despite being Paul Kossoff's first post-Free album, contains contributions from all members of that band. "Molten Gold," the most accessible song on the album, features the talent of Free vocalist Paul Rodgers, and is an overlooked shoulda-been hit. Otherwise, the album is highlighted by Kossoff's blues- and rock-based guitar. "Time Away" is a haunting, atmospheric instrumental duet with avant folk-jazz guitarist/singer John Martyn that originally registered 18 minutes in length. The full version was eventually released on the Free box set Songs of Yesterday, but here is edited down significantly in favor of the 17-minute A-side track "Tuesday Morning," a more upbeat but less interesting choice. Regardless of this fault, this is one of those albums that deserves a place in the pantheon of classic rock.

AMG Review by Rob Caldwell

Barclay James Harvest - Baby James Harvest (Great Art-Rock 1972)

"Baby" is all right, I guess, as out of all the early period BJH records this one's the most seriously flawed. Said to be rushed over the course of four weeks, it also featured the band members working separately (Wolstenholme was in London recording the orchestra part while the rest of the band were recording everything else in the States), and this probably was a major factor adding to the album's lifelessness. Of course, maybe they had just temporarily run out of their minor hooks and tiny ideas. Like, totally. Overall, the sound is pretty depressed and tired, and this is obvious from the very first track, 'Crazy (Over You)', with its tired riffs (as usual, monotonous ones but also pretty devoid of energy, tired solos, tired vocals and tired lyrics. It just doesn't seem to particularly go anywhere except for pointing out the fact that the band was tired. Well - I gotcha. Next time, try some Prozak. The bulk of the album is completely eaten up by two 'epics' this time around, a bad sign even before actually hearing the numbers, as their best album of that period didn't include even a single ultra-lengthy epic. Lees' Summer Soldier' is a stately bore that could have been moderately nice for two minutes; for some reason, it goes on for more than ten. I appreciate the boys writing a harsh anti-war epic, with soldiers marching and shouting 'kill!' and all, but I don't feel the melody. Maybe it's just a subjective feeling of my own, but there's no hook I'm aware of. Just a lot of mid-tempo acoustic rhythms, a strained wah-wah lead tone and prophetic lyrics with not a single interesting twist of the vocals. I hate that kind of crap when it's done by a band like Kansas, but turns out Kansas weren't the first to invent the "completely wasted time epic" genre. (Of course, there was also Van Der Graaf Generator, but at least you could actually ponder over Pawn Hearts trying to guess its mysterious message; here, the message is as clear as water). Even worse is 'Moonwater', though. If that's the kind of stuff for which Wolstenholme travelled to London, I wish somebody'd hijacked his plane on the way. Seven and a half minutes of a pure orchestral composition with a few vocal lines thrown in for good measure. And ALL of that composition sounds like the prelude to a Hollywood musical, something like that. Where's the sense of measure that so far has not eluded these guys? Down the drain it goes. I don't want to even talk about that shit, it's so painful to realize that the very thing that had once been the saving grace of these guys - amazingly economic and up-to-the-point use of their orchestration - has now turned against them due to just one silly member's 'ambitions'. Aaaarggh. So the day is only saved by the remaining fifteen minutes of music, without which the album would have been an absolute disaster. 'Delph Town Mom' is one more try at an upbeat uplifting folksy hymn, and a successful one. It reminds me of Elton John a lot, maybe because the vocals sound Elton Johnish and the piano is very prominent, but it sounds like good Elton John. There's also 'Thank You', a somewhat corny, but effective pop-rocker, introduced by a distorted riff not unlike the one used in CCR's 'Up Around The Bend' and all drenched in that unbeatable Britpop essence that somehow adds taste and dignity to even the weakest songs when applied with knowledge of the subject. But, of course, the absolute winner, and one of the absolutely best Barclay James Harvest songs ever, hell, maybe THE best pop song of 1972, is the ballad 'One Hundred Thousand Smiles Out'. Has it got an undeniable BJH identity? Heh. It's about 50% McCartney, 25% The Move, and 25% Elton John with extra points going to the Bee Gees. That probably means it GOT an undeniable BJH identity. But forget about abstract generalizations, the bare fact is - this is a gorgeous, absolutely breathtaking ballad, devoted to the perennial subject of space travel (you may be pretty sure the boys spent a long time studying Honky Chateau what with all the subtle Elton John influences on here). See, even the subject is not original. Nothing is. Just the actual hook, although I believe the line where Lees sings 'can you hear me down below?' is borrowed directly out of some Roy Wood number, just can't remember which one exactly. Whatever, the vocals do their job so beautifully I just love the song, and urge everybody to hear it. The good news is that since Baby James Harvest is usually available packaged together with its predecessor, you actually get it for free when you purchase the band's best early album! Ha! Then just be sure to program out the two hideous 'epic' perversions and enjoy a solid fifty minutes of vintage Harvest, spraying it down with some first-class Barclay. And the James? Don't forget the James!

http://starling.rinet.ru/music/barclay.htm

Martha Veléz - Fiends & Angels (Blues-Rock 1969)

Martha Velez only issued five albums in her recording career of the 1960s & 1970s. But she has a cult fan following and her albums feature a host of guest musicians. Recorded in 1969, Fiends & Angels is making its worldwide CD debut & features Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, Brian Auger, Christine McVie, Jim Capaldi, Mitch Mitchell and the list goes on.
38 minutes approximately. Good warm sound. How could you go wrong with Clapton,Webb(of Chicken Shack)and Kossoff on guitar? Add to that Jack Bruce on bass,Brian Auger on organ,Christine McVie on keyboards,Jim Capaldi(Traffic)and Mitch Mitchell on drums,plus the rhythm section from Chicken Shack,the great Duster Bennett on harmonica,and the cream of session horn players at the time-it added up,hopefully,to some good music.
Combining several originals with a number of well-known tracks made this a great if unknown album. Velez's voice is similar to Bonnie Bramlett(of Delaney and Bonnie)with just a touch of Julie Driscoll. As was mentioned previously,the sound is straight out of the late sixties-a slight blending of instruments and voice that makes for a good,naturally warm sound. This is an advantage,for Velez's voice could easily sound harsh and cold in a digitally stark remastered version. As expected,the quality of the backing band is great and helps place this album above the average run of the mill release. On various tracks its easy to hear which guitarist is playing,and while there are no long solos,the arrangements are just fine.
It's a shame this album was not more well-known upon it's release,but with so many other albums,by so many great groups during this era,Velez's album was here and gone. Hopefully,it's release on cd may rectify this oversight-because this album is a prime example of the music recorded in an era of much great music. It's good to hear it again,and isn't that the mark of good music?

http://www.amazon.com/Fiends-Angels-Martha-Velez/dp/B0015I2Q0S

Greg Sage - Straight Ahead (Wipers' frontman solo album 1985)

Finally, the Wipers' incredible frontman finds a new label to release his records, and in this case, he tries a solo outing instead of convening a fourth Wipers album to go with the three stunning ones they did from 1980-1983. Side one is Wipers-type guitar songs from an uncharacteristic folky approach, and fans will likely lap them up with the same joy that they did the output of Is This Real?, Youth of America, and Over the Edge, which every fan needs. This is what we expect from Sage, in terms of his characteristically involved guitar playing pegged to more simple riffs, a formula that still works so well for him. Side two, though, now that's a totally different kettle of fish, one no one could have expected. How to describe it? Let's call it all strange-echo-soundtrack experiences/insights on the human race. There are no drums; it's almost like a soothing but spacey guitar orchestra, the man testing the outer limits of the moods a mere six strings can manage without other sounds' interference. It all adds up to another interesting look into a true and obvious talent. Get his Wipers LP too, though, you need everything this man does.

AMG Review by Jack Rabid