Thursday, March 25, 2010

Musikpatruljen - "Musikpatruljen" {Denmark} [1972]

Danish hippieband featuring Nils Skousen, Tömerclaus and Björn Ugleberg (orignal drummer of GASOLIN) with freaking rocking hippie musik ranging from more guitar dominated songs to more jazzy flower power tunes. Songs like "Stenlöse" just never dies..








01 Den fremmede 6:26
02 Du kan enten være ligeglad 3:25
03 Stenløse 4:40
04 Far far krigsmand 3:35
05 Eec 1:18
06 Bondens klage 7:30
07 Jeg tænkte 1:50
08 Når livet ta'r afsted 4:50
09 Skoven 4:30
10 Motorvejen 2:35

- Peter Ingemann (bass, vocals, violin)
- Tømrerclaus (guitar)
- Niels Skousen (guitar, vocals)
- Stig Møller (guitar, vocals)
- Knud Bjørnø Jensen (saxophone, flute)
- Bjørn Uglebjerg (drums)

Den fremmede...
Stenløse...

Link in comments...

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Orphée (St. Pierre et Miquelon) - Venant du même rocher 1978

The Territorial Collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon is a group of islands in the North Atlantic as close as ten kilometres to the Canadian island and province of Newfoundland. It is the only remnant of the old north american french colonies that still belongs to France, an accident of history a bit like the Falkland islands. There have been many groups called Orpheus or similar in the history of music but none have been as undeservedly rare as this one.

A typical product of seventies progressive rock with a very sunny bright sound, it reminds me of australian Pirana or canadians Ungava, it has a kind of California sound perhaps to make up for the coldness of the origins, like an antidepressant-treated Dionysos. It is very likely they were the only prog band on St. Pierre et Miquelon. I think I would put a lot of money on that, or at least the cost of this vinyl.

The title of the album means "Coming from the same rock" and all the songs appear to be connected to the history of the islands, having to do with the explorers who crossed the oceans. The quality of the songwriting is what makes this album so unfairly forgotten. Several tracks use double guitar riffs a la Allman, all are upbeat, singable, enjoyable. Wouldn't it have been great to dance to this music in the days of disco? OK maybe not, but our headphones can still dance to it.

The lines on the cover say:

One day St. Pierre will be
One day Miquelon will be
One day our islands will be
One day our cities will be

Link follows a random number of comments, thanks to the guy who asked where the link was after ten seconds
Le reve nature...

Gallery - "Gallery" {Germany} [1981]

Gallery is ecm 1206. It has never been released to cd. Why is this? Does the world really need another box set of Ella's greatest hits? If there are indeed some of you out there who have yet to buy one, please do so quickly, so the music industry can get to the lost ecm treasures like this one, by far my most wished-for cd rerelease (altho by now I've listened to it so many times I would never actually play the cd if I bought it...)

The first song is the most apt musical description of a bird in flight I've ever heard. A vibraphone (Dave Samuels) repeats a broken chord of F minor and cello and oboe take over melody, with that classic ecm sound of slow musical patterns soaring over a 16th note beat, slow over fast (Michael DiPasqua, percussion, Ratzo Harris, bass). The use of cello (David Darling) creates a plaintive sound throughout the album. Frequent modulations are the 'key' to this song, every phrase is succeeded by a change into another unrelated minor key, exactly the kind of unexpectedness that makes good jazz or prog so intellectually recharging.

The second song "Prelude" sounds like a Chick Corea composition as in his children's pieces but quite classical influenced being played by cello with vibes accompaniment. "Painting" consists of maddeningly complex chords gradually transfiguring into one another, like a roomful of Rothkos maybe. In "Pale Sun" a soprano sax dialogues with the cello evoking those old sci-fi paintings of white dwarfs sunrising over cold dead planets. "Egret" returns to the ornithological exposition, cello melody, flightlike song structure. When I hear these albums it saddens me to think someone spent so much time writing these elaborate compositions, probably months committing them to paper, after likely years of musical training, only to be lost to the fourth dimension. I would like to live to hear these musical works being performed at the local symphony hall by a chamber group. Well, obviously that's a crazy dream.

There is not a single throwaway song. The cohesiveness of the composition and style are remarkable. One must mention the cover art as well, a very beautiful image, almost a cartoon in black and white on a greying page: a yellow clothed figure running away in the left upper quadrant appears to be watched by a quartet of shadows in the foreground and a streetlight, like a nineteen seventies Georgio di Chirico, enigma of the late dusk. A mysterious quatrain is handwritten below the image.

Egret...

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

S.O.S 1975

For my first post I would like to give you a very original and unusual album that has really entranced me.

SOS is:
John Surman (baritone & soprano saxes, bass clarinet, synths), Mike Osborne (alto sax, percussion), Alan Skidmore (tenor sax, drums, percussion).

Like a british Urban Sax or Budi and Gumbls, this constitutes a trio of saxes that performs jazzy prog with some really interesting and varied compositions. Well worth checking out, not only for the jazz fan, but for any progressive interested person or educated musical individual. This kind of experimentation of course was very much a part of the late seventies. Though often imitated nowadays, the mastery of all three different streams-- rock, jazz, classical-- is something that is difficult to find in current music.

from http://nostudium.blogspot.com/2004_04_01_nostudium_archive.html:
Before WSQ or Rova, there was SOS, one of the most startlingly original and certainly one of the most popular acts to appear on Ogun. Surman, Osborne and Skidmore had long since contrived to work together in each other’s respective musical environments, and when hired for big bands (Brotherhood, Westbrook, Gibbs) they always came as a unit. They worked brilliantly and naturally together.

While much of this album is naturally given over to ruminations and explosions by the three saxophones – as tender as Ellington on “Where’s Junior?” – Surman also uses liberal doses of his then new electronica, and Skidmore takes a rare turn behind the drumkit, such that the awesome “Goliath” virtually invents prog-improv, Osborne’s alto howling over Surman’s stately synth chords, like ELP, only good. And the closing, lengthy “Calypso” investigates an area of candidly troubled electronic music which would not be properly followed up until Autechre two decades later.

Please enjoy this magnificent 'lost' (no longer) album. Oh, and please-- check out their hair, on the cover.

Where's Junior...

Saturday, March 20, 2010

4 years with PrOgNoTfRoG! ,)




a piece of cake 
for the musician friends that we love and reviewed,
a piece for the folks at prognotfrog,
and a piece of cake for you!

Friday, March 19, 2010

Acyutananda Swami - "India: Songs of the Bengali Vaisnavas" {Bengal, India} [1970] hare krishna/bhajan

vinyl-rip at 320 k/Bits. Propably recorded around 1970. Following informations are taken from the LP. Acyutananda Swami is an American sannyasi, who left his homeland at the age of 16 years and has been living in India since the last 10 years studying the spiritual culture and music of India. He is world renowned for his masterful singing of Bengali Vaisnava folk songs and playing on mrdanga (clay drum, unique to Bengal). The recordings on this LP were taken in Mayapura, India, and we beg the listeners to excuse the obvious shortcomings due to circumstances beyond our control. This record has been produced especially with the idea of helping the needy people of Bengal by sending the profits above the cost of actual production to our international center in Mayapura, India (Bengal), where thousands of people are fed each day from contributions coming through the sales of this record. Give generously.

1. Gaya Gour 5:09
2. Radha Govinda 4:55
3. Jasomati Nandana 5:10
4. Kesava Kali Mala 5:21
5. Manasha Deha Geha 6:12
6. Nama Sankirtana 7:09
7. Gopinatha 7:55

play track 4 "Kesava Kali Mala":

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Tirogo – "Float" {Nigeria} [1977] afro psych/blues

tirogo is another great sample of lost african psychedelic music. it was recorded in nigeria in 1977 and originally released on emi, same as the great album blo – chapter one. this nigerian rock-psych band tirogo is similar to bands such as ofege, blo, founders 15, doves, and aktion. great african songs covered with wild guitar solos, spooky organ, great beats and strong vocals. 4 guys on the cover / 6 were actually in the band looking pretty young. it is getting harder and harder to find lost african bands since there is a big rave in the international music scene to hunt for good material. with the massive help of collectors and now again records in the usa, who actually went to nigeria to sign the boys, we are able to present this amazing album to you. it will suit the same music lovers who like amanaz, the witch, question mark and blo… read more.

TiRoGo...

Friday, March 12, 2010

Psico – Al’s/Epitáfio {Portugal} [1978] (Single)

Psico ou as vicissitudes de um grupo rock em Portugal
A formação dos Psico tem algo de romanesco: os Espaciais, do Porto, tinham participado no I Concurso Académico de Música Moderna, em 1968, mas insatisfeitos com a pontuação obtida, resolvem concorrer de novo com outra designação. Surgem assim os Psico, que alcançam a vitória desejada, mas que acabam também por trazer a dissolução do primeiro grupo, que veria publicado nesse ano o seu último disco - O Circo / When I'm Sixty-Four / Dies Irae / Take Me Back, Back, Back. Em 1970, com José Calvário como teclista do grupo ainda e sempre liderado por Toni Moura, os Psico anunciam a edição de um EP que aparentemente nunca se veio a concretizar. Um ano depois, apresentam-se ao vivo no Festival de Vilar de Mouros, mas no segundo concerto que dão, a 8 de Agosto, vêem-se impossibilitados de subir ao palco na hora estabelecida devido a um dos músicos não estar presente.
Ao longo do resto da década de 1970, os Psico acolheram músicos como António Garcez (voz, futuro Arte & Ofício e Roxigénio), Fernando Nascimento (guitarra, ex-Grupo 5 e futuro Arte & Ofício), Álvaro Marques (bateria, futuro Jafumega), Sérgio Castro (guitarra, futuro Arte & Ofício). Em 1977, e após a morte do baixista Gino Guerreiro, o grupo é constituído por Toni Moura (guitarra), Filipe Mendes (guitarra baixo), Zé Carlos Almeida (teclas) e Álvaro Marques (bateria). Apresentam-se ao vivo no Teatro Sá da Bandeira, no Porto, com o espectáculo cénico Epitáfio Sinfónico (que dedicam à memória do companheiro desaparecido), e no ano seguinte vêem finalmente publicado aquele que é o único disco conhecido do grupo. Trata-se de um single com as composições Al's e Epitáfio (excerto da obra anteriormente referida), um trabalho em que ficou bem patente a versatilidade e a técnica musical dos Psico. Infelizmente, apenas o primeiro destes temas conheceu reedição em suporte digital, através da compilação Biografia do Pop/Rock.
http://bissaide.blogspot.com/2006/03/psico-ou-as-vicissitudes-de-um-grupo.html

01 - Al's...
02 - Epitáfio...

Link in commments...

Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Finn Olafsson - "Savannah" {Denmark} [1976]

Danish guitarist & producer Finn Olafsson is an expert on acoustic steel-string guitars. He began his career in 1968 as co-founder of the legendary rock band Ache - a band that became known all over Europe.
Around 1970, Finn Olafssson started working with acoustic guitars, first with Ache and later as a sideman for many prominent Danish artists.
Finn is featured on well over 150 Scandinavian releases.
But it is with his solo albums and his concerts and duo records with Anders Roland that his guitar artistry is most profoundly expressed. more

05 Inclination...
07 In the Countryside...

link in comments...

Massimo Giuntoli & Roberto Meroni - "Diabolik e i Sette Nani" {Italy} [1980]

At Italianprog site it says; "A very rare album with an odd title by this duo, often described as Canterbury-inspired. The album includes all-instrumental music, a sort of contemporary classical music built on piano and clarinet interplay." Duo members are Massimo Giuntoli on piano and Roberto Meroni on clarinet and sax. melancholic, mystic, weird and rich free form classical music.

I Rac. di Canterbury..