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Dunaj - Dudlay (1993)


Początki zespołu Dunaj sięgają lat 80-tych i grupy "Kolektiv", założonej przez duet Iva Bittová (skrzypce, śpiew) i Pavel Fajt (perkusja).

Kolektiv pokazał się po raz pierwszy szerszej publiczności podczas festiwalu Rockfest w 1986 r., w składzie: Josef Ostřanský (gitara), Vladimír Václavek (gitara basowa, gitara), Pavel Richter (gitara), Pavel Fajt (perkusja), Jiří Kolšovský (śpiew) i Iva Bittová (śpiew). Ze względu na zaangażowanie członków w innych projektach muzycznych zespół zagrał tylko kilka koncertów.

Pierwszy album został nagrany w roku 1989 przez wytwórnię Panton, która była zainteresowana wydaniem kolejnego nagrania duetu Bittova & Fajt (ich LP z roku 1988 otrzymało nagrodę "Płyta roku"). Ze względu na brak nowego programu Panton zaproponował zarejestrowanie kilku starszych utworów zespołu Kolektiv. Zmieniono nazwę na lepiej brzmiącą "Dunaj" i zaplanowano to jako krótkoterminowy projekt mający na celu nagranie płyty i zagranie kilku koncertów. Płyta okazała się jednak sukcesem, głównie dzięki niezwykłej ekspresji muzycznej.

Bittová dotrzymała słowa i opuściła Dunaj po roku, koncentrując się na karierze solowej. Po odejściu Pavla Richtera, jego partie gitarowe przejął Jiří Kolšovský, który stał się także wokalistą i liderem grupy. Na kolejnej płycie Rosol, wydanej w roku 1991, słychać także klawiszowa Zdenka Plachego, który w tym czasie grał z zespołem.

Teksty utworów pisali Vladimír Kokolia, Karel David, Pavel Fajt i Vladimír Václavek.

Z początku Dunaj został sklasyfikowany jako Art Rock, później stworzono termin "Scena Alternatywna Brna", ze względu na to, że wiele zespołów w Brnie grało podobną muzykę.



Wiosną 1991 zespół oficjalnie się rozpadł, w roku 1992 nastąpiła jego reaktywacja, a rok później światło dziennie ujrzał album "Dudlay" nagrany w nowym i ostatecznym składzie: Jiří Kolšovský (gitara, śpiew), Josef Ostřanský (gitara), Vladimír Václavek (gitara basowa, gitara akustyczna) i Pavel Koudelka (perkusja).

Brzmienie zespołu uległo zmianie, głównie za przyczyną Pavla Koudelki, którego styl był całkowicie odmienny od gry Pavla Fajta. Fajt używał wielkiego zestawu perkusyjnego i tworzył przestrzeń muzyczną zupełnie nietypową dla muzyki rockowej. Koudelka używał minimalnego zestawu (tylko stopa, werbel, hi-hat i china-splash) i grał znacznie mniej dźwięków.

W latach 90-tych zespół zyskał status kultowego w Czechach i nagrał kolejne dwie płyty, IV. i Lalalai. W roku 1995 do Dunaju dołączyli ponownie Iva Bittová i Pavel Fajt, w celu stworzenia projektu o nazwie "Pustit Musíš". Zespół nagrali ponownie materiał z pierwszego albumu z kilkoma nowymi utworami i odbył trasę koncertową.

Zespół został oficjalnie rozwiązany w roku 1998 ze względu na zaangażowanie muzyków w projektach pobocznych i solowych takich jak Rale, E, Ylo Africky Slon, BOO, Václavek solo, Bittová & Václavek,...

Jiří Kolšovský zmarł w roku 1998 w Brnie.

Dunaj został ożywiony w roku 2002 na kilka koncertów, podczas których rolę wokalisty przejął Václav Bartoš (Pluto, Fru Fru).


Dunaj were a Czech art/alternative rock band from Brno active between 1986 and 1998. The band is notable for its inclusion of Czech rock figureheads Iva Bittová and Pavel Fajt, as well as its own international success and influence on the Czech alternative rock scene. The band's name translates in English to Danube, referring to the river of this name.

Calling themselves Kolektiv, the earliest performances by the group occurred in 1986, based around Bittová and Jiří Kolšovský (vocals), Josef Ostřanský and Pavel Richter (guitars), Vladimír Václavek (bass and guitar), and Fajt (drums). The group, all of whose members were active in other projects, performed only sporadically at the time.

In 1989, after the success of the Fajt/Bittová collaborative LP, the members decided to resurrect and record the Kolektiv material. In the process, the group changed their name to Dunaj, released their debut record, Dunaj a Bittová, and performed a handful of well-received concerts.

Bittová and Richter left shortly after this period, leaving Kolšovský to both take over on guitar (replacing Richter) and perform the function of lead vocalist and frontman. Zdeněk Plachý also briefly joined as the group's keyboardist, performing on the group's second album, Rosol (Jelly). This dark album was released in 1991 on the Pavian Records label. After performances supporting the record, the band broke up.


The split was short-lived, however, and in 1992 the band reformed under its third and longest-lasting incarnation, based around Kolšovský, Václavek, Ostřanský and new drummer Pavel Koudelka. The band recorded and released its third record, Dudlay, in 1993, followed by 1994's IV.

1995 briefly saw the four current members rejoined by Bittová and Fajt, who re-recorded their debut album, released, along with new material, as Pustit Musis. The band toured in this incarnation prior to returning to the four-piece lineup and recording La La Lai, their final release.

The group disbanded in 1998, shortly before Kolšovský's death. All surviving members remain active in the Czech music scene.

In 2002, the group played a series of reunion concerts featuring participation from most past members. Václav Bartoš (of Fajt's group Pluto) replaced Kolšovský for these performances. (wikipedia)

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Mad River (1968)



Tak się złożyło, że wśród wielu amerykańskich grup psychodelicznych grających w latach 60-tych na zachodnim wybrzeżu Mad River była niesłusznie pomijana i trochę niedoceniana przez fanów tego gatunku. A szkoda. Zespół z Berkeley zostawił po sobie dwie naprawdę wartościowe płyty, które nagrał pod koniec lat 60-tych dla wytwórni Capitol. Ich muzyka charakteryzowała się innowacyjnością, była eklektyczna, z ciekawymi tekstami, a wszystko to razem wzięte sprawiało, że wymykała się wszelkim szybkim podsumowaniom i stereotypom. Taki na przykład był ich pierwszy niepokojąco brzmiący album, przesiąknięty na wskroś neurotycznym i ciemnym nastrojem.



Mad River were one of the truly unique Berkeley/Bay area groups. In their brief lifetime they released one ep and two lps but have proven to be a durable psychedelic group. People often compare Mad River to Country Joe and the Fish or the Quicksilver Messenger Service but it’s important to point out that the River’s sound was much more neurotic and darker in mood.

Lawrence Hammond was the lead vocalist, principal songwriter and bass player of Mad River. Hammond was born in Berkeley but spent his childhood in the Mid-West where he was exposed to a diverse mixture of country and folk music. In the mid 60s he attended Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. It was here he began studying medicine and met the future members of Mad River. The group performed in dives all throughout Ohio and in 1965 they were one of the few rock n roll groups around. To make a long story short, the group became frustrated with their efforts and eventually packed up and moved to the more progressively minded Berkeley, CA. In Berkeley the group’s lineup looked something like this: David Robinson (lead guitar), Thomas Manning (vocals and 12 string guitar), Gregory Dewey (drums), Rick Bochner (2nd lead guitar and vocals) and Lawrence Hammond (bass guitar and lead vocals). Mad River lived a meager lifestyle in Berkeley but were able to record an excellent ep off a local label in 1967. Two of the songs would end up on their self-titled 68 album albeit in different versions. One song, Orange Fire can only be heard on this great ep and is one of its highlights. Orange Fire is a minor key protest rock gem, with explosive guitar noise and cutting, angular riffs. It was both Robinson’s unique, abrasive guitar style and Hammond’s strange, quavering vocals that made people sit up and take note. Robinson’s guitar style was similar to the Magic Band of the late 60’s and much later, Television’s Tom Verlaine/Richard Lloyd on their classic Marquee Moon lp.

In 1968 the group were signed to Capital (along with the Steve Miller Band and the Quicksilver Messenger Service) and afforded the luxury to record the above debut. Disaster struck though, by way of an old recording engineer who knew nothing about current rock music. Thus, the recording and playback speed were not the same, so everything on the album came out faster and higher than Mad River had played it. When the record came out in 1968 it was savaged by Rolling Stone and hated by many rock critics alike.

Today, the Mad River lp sounds fantastic, unlike anything from the time and often considered a dark, ominous masterpiece of psychedelia. Amphetamine Gazelle is the gem of the album, with hard charging guitar riffs and a pulsing rhythm section that really captures the essence of speed. In Wind Chimes, they created an excellent rock instrumental that’s pure psychedelia and highlighted by dreamy eastern scales. Other tracks like High All The Time and Eastern Light are classic Bay area acid blues notable for Hammond’s piercing vocals and Robinson’s fine, sleazy guitar tones. Summary: Once again Rolling Stone proved to be wrong in their judgment and the Bay area produced another classic album of American psychedelia. Mad River would go on to record one more album in 1969, titled Paradise Bar and Grill. This album has much more of a roots rock vibe but is also highly recommended. (therisingstorm)

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Five Horse Johnson - Blues For Henry (1996)


Grupa Five Horse Johnson powstała w stanie Ohio w Toledo. W swoich muzycznych poszukiwaniach nawiązuje wyraźnie do korzeni bluesa, ale wszystko to w bardzo hard rockowej oprawie. Wydała kilka bardzo "mocnych" albumów, ale debiutancki "Blues For Henry" wydaje mi się najciekawszy i najbardziej "bluesowy". Bardzo mocna muzyka, świetny wokal czasem wpadający w manierę beefheartowską. No co tu dużo opowiadać - mięso!

Eric Oblander- vocals/harp
Brad Coffin - guitar/vocals
Steve Smith - bass
Phil Durr - guitar
Eric Miller - drums


When Five Horse Johnson formed back in the year of 1995, and announced themselves as a Blues Band, their friends may have thought they had cause to worry. After all, it is a well-worn banality that white boys can only ever hope to mimic the blues, isnt it? The band has always understood that the Blues isnt a formula, but a way of looking at the world; their blues is a dirty, sensual thing (it aint for nothin that their new catalog number is 69, people!), and while retaining a more than healthy dose of humor, they are completely and 100% free of the goofy hardy-har-har trappings of some of the other wannabes out there trying to be bluesy (hear that, J. Spencer?). Over the past decade, Five Horse Johnson has happily and thankfully proven the doubters wrong. Never apers, over the course of 6 albums, Five Horse Johnson has honed out a niche all their own, combining their love and respect for the Blues, Classic Rock and other, less dog-eared influences of their youth to become one of the most loved and respected bands in the Underground Rock community. Always a right freight train live, the band has spent a lot of time on the road with the likes of Clutch, Halfway To Gone, etc., gathering fans, friends, and drinking partners all over the world.


Now, however, with The Mystery Spot, and with the help of their good friend and newest collaborator, Clutchs Jean Paul Gaster helming the drums, Five Horse Johnson has created their strongest album to date. The power is there in spades, and the influences are still clear ( wait, do I hear a bit of Captain Beefheart in there?). The Mystery Spot is a polished affair, but its like the polish on a muscle car: it doesnt slow the vehicle down one bit in fact, one may find that the car slips through the air even better, and it makes better use of its enormous engine J.P. Gaster and Steve Smith provide more power than a Super Hemi. Brad Coffins guitar has never sounded more lithe, his voice never stronger. Eric Oblanders harp is as sharp as a tailfin, his gravelly vocal delivery a growling, howling counterpoint to Coffins gruff style. Other collaborators on The Mystery Spot include Roadsaw/Antlers Craig Riggs and Big Chiefs Phil D and Mark Dancey all doing what they do best. The Mystery Spot is a powerhouse of a record, a focused affair that makes the listener want to reach for the bottle, the smokes and the volume knob all at the same time. All dexterity aside, we predict there will be a lot of ugly spillage especially when Five Horse Johnson goes back on the road to bring this baby to the people. We here at Small Stone suggest you dont bother cleaning up, go with the feeling, cause the feeling is good, goddammit!

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Rustic Hinge - Replicas (1970)



Jeśli kiedykolwiek było brakujące ogniwo w historii i rozwoju brytyjskiego nurtu psychedelic, to był to zespół Rustic Hinge. Oczywiście palce w tym zwariowanym pomyśle maczał nestor brytyjskiej sceny psychedelicznej - Arthur Brown. Ba - w tym wariactwie wzięli również udział muzycy z szanowanej grupy High Tide. Album nazywał się oryginalnie T On the Lawn for 3. Muzycy planowali wydać go w wytwórni Dandelion, Johna Peela, ale ukazała się dopiero w 1988 nakładem Reckless Records. Rustic Hinge to kompletnie popieprzona dawka muzyki - to jakby klony Captaina Beefhearta i jego Magic Band. Proszę zresztą samemu posłuchać tej kakofonii - nawet tytuł "Replicas" nawiązuje jakoś dziwnym trafem do tytułu najsłynniejszej płyty Beefhearta "Trout Mask Replica". Kompletna świrownia. W późniejszym czasie kilku muzyków z Rustic Hinge tworzyło składy kolejnego projektu Browna - Kingdom Come.

Android Funnel - Guitars
Pete Pavli - Bass, Cello
Drachen Theaker - Drums, Tablas
Bruce Longhorn - Mellotron (Side One Track 4)
Arthur Brown - Vocals (Side 2 track 2)
Tony Hill (High Tide) - Guitar (on track 1)
Simon House - Violin (on track 1)
Charles X - Drums (on track 1)



If ever there was a missing link in the history and development of British psychedelic music it is Rustic Hinge. 'Replica' belatedly issued by Reckless Records in 1988, displays an abandoned sense of discipline sorely lacking in UK music of the time. Originally recorded as 'T On The Lawn For 3', 'Replica' features the Rustic Hinge tapes before they were re-edited for planned release as a one-sided album for John Peel's Dandelion label. The tape given to Dandelion featured singer Rod Goodway on a couple of cuts and was an edited version of the 'Replica' material.

Essentially the work of Drachen Theaker and guitarist Andy Rickell (also known as Android Funnel), the Rustic Hinge material is undoubtedly an important find. Drachen recalls: "I found a foil in Andy because he could keep up with me. He's the only musician I've ever played with who could watch me and catch the beats. A lot of that Rustic Hinge stuff was me playing gibberish and him cottoning onto it very quickly and solidifying it as a piece. We had a deal with John Peel. It was signed, sealed and delivered as far as I was concerned and I thought, if it breaks, I'll come back. In the meantime, I left for LA." But 'T On The Lawn For 3' took almost 20 years to surface.

Arthur played a series of gigs with the embryonic Rustic Hinge, but audiences were left bewildered. Drachen: "The problem after I rejoined was that we couldn't find another organist so we couldn't go out and play like the Crazy World. We used to play with Android Funnel, Dennis Taylor and this idiot organist called Roy and it was a total shambles. Arthur would start singing 'Fire' and the band would play cacophony behind him. It was atonal gibberish with banal comedy thrown in and the fans hated it."

Finding the work of Rustic Hinge too close to Beefheartian musical wisdom, Brown moved a couple of miles down the road and began to work on forming his next project, Kingdom Come. Recorded at Jabberwocky Studios, Puddletown, Dorset in 1970.

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Grupa Organowa Krzysztofa Sadowskiego - Na Kosmodromie (1972)



Krzysztof Sadowski - absolwent wydziału komunikacji Politechniki Warszawskiej. Gry na fortepianie uczył się w Średniej Szkole Muzycznej w Warszawie. Już w czasie studiów współpracował z klubem Hybrydy, gdzie (w 1957) utworzył pierwszy własny zespół Modern Combo (wibrafonista Józef Gawrych, perkusista Andrzej Kozerski, basista Janusz Rafalski oraz gitarzysta Janusz Sidorenko). Zespół szybko zdobył uznanie publiczności i krytyków, którzy wyróżnili go na Przeglądzie Studenckich Zespołów Jazzowych we Wrocławiu. W tym samym roku wzięli udział w drugiej odsłonie legendarnego festiwalu jazzowego w Sopocie w 1957. Brzmienie zespołu zostało wzbogacone o wiolonczelę Zbigniewa Namysłowskiego. Z tym samym składem oraz ciekawym repertuarem pojawili się także na pierwszej edycji – już odtąd warszawskiego - Jazz Jamboree’58.

Jednocześnie Sadowski współpracował z innymi zespołami: Jazz Outsiders (Jana Ptaszyna Wróblewskiego), Swingtetem (Jerzego Matuszkiewicza) oraz formacją Andrzeja Kurylewicza. W 1961 związał się z pierwszym, sztandarowym wtedy zespołem Z. Namysłowskiego - Jazz Rockers. W 1963 utworzył własny zespół autorski Bossa Nova Combo, grający w modnych wówczas rytmach latynoskich. Zespół koncertował i nagrywał aż do 1966.

Zafascynowany brzmieniem elektronicznym Sadowski był coraz bardziej odległy od tego, co mógł zrealizować w ramach lekkich, łatwych i swingujących rytmów Bossa Nova Combo. Artysta zauroczony brzmieniem organów elektronicznych zakłada (w 1968) swą sztandarową Grupę Organową Krzysztofa Sadowskiego. Zespół ten, pracujący pod bacznym okiem lidera, występował w często zmieniającym się składzie. To w ramach warsztatowej Grupy Organowej z Sadowskim pracowali m.in. perkusiści - Jerzy Bezucha, Kazimierz Jonkisz, Tomasz Butowtt, Andrzej Dąbrowski, Grzegorz Gierłowski, Krzysztof Paliwoda, Wpojciech Morawski, Andrzej Fats Zieliński; gitarzyści – Wojciech Bruślik, Winicjusz Chróst, Paweł Dąbrowski, Sławomir Piwowar, saksofoniści – Tomasz Szukalski, Zbigniew Jaremko, Włodzimierz Nahorny oraz – pojawiająca się regularnie w licznych mutacjach zespołu Sadowskiego – flecistka i wokalistka (ale także i żona) Liliana Urbańska.

Z Grupą Organową oraz jako solista Sadowski współpracował z kwintetem murzyńskiego trębacza Joe Newmana (1973), Januszem Muniakiem, Tomaszem Stańką, jako pianista z Czerwono-Czarnymi, Jerzym Grunwaldem i grupą Test, z Józefem Skrzekiem nagrał album „Swing and blues”, występował i nagrywał ze Studiem Jazzowym Polskiego Radia, Big Bandem Stodoła, Big Bandem Wrocław, grupą Novi Singers. (Dionizy Piątkowski)



Krzysztof Sadowski (born December 15, 1936) is a Polish pianist, organist and jazz composer. He debuted in 50s and initially performed with Modern Combo founded by him in 1957. In the years 1964-1967 Sadowski was the leader of the Polish National Radio Broadcaster group: Bossa-Nova Combo. He spent the next two years in Sweden and returned to the country as an organist with a new model Hammond organ. Ever since he has been playing with his own Organ Group.

Krzysztof Sadowski is known for cooperation with lead polish jazz artists (Zbigniew Namysłowski, Jerzy Duduś Matuszkiewicz, Jan Ptaszyn Wróblewski, Andrzej Kurylewicz, Tomasz Stańko, Janusz Muniak).

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JPT Scare Band - Jamm Vapour (2001)



JPT Scare Band to swoisty klejnocik w plejadzie psychodelii. Muzycy ewidentnie byli pod wpływem sfuzowanych eksperymentów Jimi Hendrixa i hołdowali tej pięknej tradycji. Grupa zdążyła zrealizować tylko kilka nagrań pomiędzy 1973-1976 rokiem - ukazały się one na płycie "Sleeping Sickness", która moim zdaniem powinna znaleźć się w kolekcji każdego szanującego się konesera. Nie wiem z jakich powodów grupa rozwiązała się. Później pojawiały się inne "wykopaliska" z tego czasu, które znalazły się na płycie "Past Is Prologue". Ale o dziwo! - Muzycy postanowili się reaktywować w latach 80-tych i wskrzesić dawnego ducha Fuzza :) I powiem szczerze, że z przyjemnością słucham tego bardzo archaicznego lecz "współczesnego" brzmienia.

Jeff Littrell - drums
Terry Swope - vocal, guitar
Paul Grigsby - bass



JPT Scare Band has been blazing psychedelic trails for quite some time now. Over the years and decades they have managed to progress from totally unknown to painfully obscure. In spite of all that... they are still together, with the original lineup intact. Still making meaningful music in the 21st century, this veteran group of jammers is also proud of their vast legacy of classic twisted insanity recorded back in olden analogue times.

Here and there, in odd corners of the world, growing numbers of those who love the old school guitar crazy heavy rock have somehow become aware of the existence of JPT.

The band was featured in an article in the March 2007 issue of Classic Rock Magazine titled, "Lost Pioneers of Heavy Metal" in which they were included in the same exalted company with Iron Butterfly, Bloodrock and Leafhound. Although they have never considered themselves to be a true heavy metal band, they will take any positive press they can get.

The members of JPT are extremely proud of the fact that their first two albums were released on vinyl only. Good luck finding a copy of one, as they are long out of print. Their first CD, Sleeping Sickness, was originally released on Monster Records and featured tracks from the two vinyl albums. Sadly, Monster Records imploded and simply vanished into thin air due to heavy craziness and the suicide of one of the two founding partners. The Sleeping Sickness CD was out of print for many years, but was reissued in April 2009. Two of the tracks on the Past Is Prologue CD ("Sleeping Sickness" and "Time To Cry") were originially featured on vinyl and then reprised on the Sleeping Sickness CD.

Their Past Is Prologue CD is still in print and is available at CD Baby and Amazon.com. For any visitors from Europe, JCR Music News in Paris can fix you right up. You can also download JPT Scare Band tunes and albums to your iPod from iTunes.com.

The band released an album of all new original material titled Jamm Vapour in 2007. There are a few tunes from the Jamm Vapour CD up on this site. "Jello Jamm," "Right Mind" and "Amazons" are featured tracks from Jamm Vapour.

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Massacre - Killing Time (1981)



Massacre – awangardowe amerykańskie trio rockowe. Grupa powstała 14 lutego 1980 na życzenie Petera Blegvada w składzie Fred Frith (gitara, głos), Bill Laswell (gitara basowa) i Fred Maher (perkusja i instr. perkusyjne). Wszyscy trzej grali aktualnie w zespole Material i przez okres dwu lat oba zespoły koegzystowały ze sobą.

W 1981 r. grupa wydała nowatorski, instrumentalny album Killing Time, który wywarł olbrzymi wpływ na ambitniejsze zespoły rockowe. Album ten powstał pod wyraźnym momentami wpływem awangardowej grupy Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band. Zawierał 13 przeważnie dość krótkich utworów o zwartej konstrukcji i wyszukanej rytmice. Mimo odniesionego sukcesu z zespołu odszedł perkusista Fred Maher. Pozostali dwaj muzycy zajęli się więc swoimi prywatnymi projektami.

Grupa reaktywowała się w 1997 r. z nowym, wybitnym perkusistą Charlesem Haywardem (były muzyk awangardowego tria This Heat) i w styczniu 1998 r. nagrała a potem wydała swój drugi album Funny Valentine, na którym znalazło się 11 stosunkowo długich kompozycji o zdecydowanie luźniejszej formie w stosunku do pierwszego albumu i bardziej improwizatorskich.

W 2001 r. ukazałe się ich trzeci, tym razem koncertowy, album Meltdown, który jest niezwykłym popisem technicznych i improwizatorskich umiejętności muzyków. Po nagraniu tej płyty Frith, Laswell i Hayward ponownie zajęli się swoimi indywidualnymi projektami.

W maju 2007 ukazał się ich czwarty album Lonely Heart. Dysk ten jest zapisem wybranych utworów nagranych na festivalu Sons d'Hiver w Paryżu i na Roskilde Festival w 2003 r. (wikipedia)



Massacre was an improvising and experimental rock band from New York City, formed in 1980 by guitarist Fred Frith, bassist Bill Laswell and drummer Fred Maher. They performed live for just over a year and recorded a studio album, Killing Time (1981). Frith and Laswell reformed Massacre in 1998 with drummer Charles Hayward, and released three more albums, Funny Valentine (1998), Meltdown (2001) and Lonely Heart (2007). Their last album was recorded live at two European festivals in 2003.

Guitarist Fred Frith, who was a co-founder of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow, moved to New York City in 1979 after Henry Cow split up. There he met and began performing with bassist Bill Laswell and drummer Fred Maher, both of the jazz ensemble Material. In 1980, when Peter Blegvad was looking for an opening band for his Valentine’s day concert at Soundscape in New York, Frith volunteered and invited Laswell and Maher to join him as a power trio they called Massacre. The band was well received and soon began performing at venues all over New York City.

Massacre was a high-energy experimental rock band, manipulating rhythm and timbre freely. They intended to recapture the raw energy of early rock and roll, adding elements of improvisational jazz.

Their live sets consisted of both composed and improvised numbers, often short but always loud. They toured the United States and Europe in 1980 and 1981, and their performances at progressive rock venues in France were well received.

In 1981 Massacre released their only album Killing Time, comprising studio recordings made at Martin Bisi's studio in Brooklyn, New York City in June 1981, and live recordings from their Paris concerts in April 1981. They also featured on part of Frith's 1981 solo album Speechless. Massacre's farewell performances took place at Manhattan's Inroads performance space over the course of a July 4th weekend in 1981 (July 2-4), after which Maher left and the band split up.

In 1983 what was left of Massacre joined The Golden Palominos, founded by drummer Anton Fier. The closest thing to another Massacre performance came at a concert, Two Against One, in Boston in February 1985, when The Golden Palominos performed with only three members: Frith, Laswell and Fier on drums. They played as if they were Massacre, including a number of pieces from Killing Time in their set. This unit also played in Tokyo around the same time.

Massacre reformed in 1998 when Frith and Laswell asked This Heat's drummer Charles Hayward to join them. The new line-up released Funny Valentine in 1998 and two live albums, Meltdown (2001) recorded at Robert Wyatt's Meltdown Festival in London in June 2001, and Lonely Heart (2007) recorded during performances at two European festivals in January and June 2003. All three albums were released on John Zorn's Tzadik label. (wikipedia)



Of the many obscure and wonderful albums recorded by members of the downtown avant-garde elite in the early 1980s, this is one of the most obscure and most wonderful. Massacre (despite its heavy-metallish moniker) was a challenging but quirkily charming "power trio" consisting of guitarist Fred Frith, bassist Bill Laswell and drummer Fred Maher, all of whom had already established themselves as movers and shakers in the experimental-music world. Some of the tunes, such as the charmingly offbeat "Legs" and "Aging With Dignity" were clearly composed ahead of time -- probably by Frith, given his already-established penchant for combining weird instrumental textures and unusual time signatures with cute melodies. Others, just as clearly, are group improvisations. Those who think they don't care for improvised music are advised to give "Subway Heart" and "Tourism" a try before making any judgments. Again, the credit for the consistent appeal of these performances goes largely to Frith, whose bag of sonic tricks is bottomless and who (unlike most of his peers) seems genetically incapable of making an uninteresting note choice. It's difficult to imagine anyone with a taste for unusual rock & roll not being seduced by this rough gem of an album. (Rick Anderson)

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Jazz Q - Pozorovatelna (1973)


Czesi zawsze mocni byli w jazzie. Nigdy nie bali się eksperymentów i, trzeba przyznać, już w końcu lat 60. tworzyli muzykę, o jakiej w Polsce (prawie) nikt nie słyszał. Wpływ na taki stan rzeczy miało zapewne kapitalistyczne sąsiedztwo zachodnich Niemiec i Austrii, skąd docierały do Czechosłowacji najnowsze płyty, skąd przesączały się najnowsze trendy w jazzowej i rockowej awangardzie. Muzycy czescy chętnie zapraszani byli na Zachód, a ich trasy koncertowe owocowały później - najczęściej udanymi - próbami dostosowania własnej muzyki do standardów zachodnich. Sztuka ta na pewno udała się grupie Jazz Q Praha, na której czele stał, począwszy od roku 1965, pianista Martin Kratochvíl. Postać to niezwykle intrygująca i barwna. Nie dość, że studiował w konserwatorium, to na dodatek mógł się pochwalić dwoma ukończonymi fakultetami na praskim Uniwersytecie Karola (po inżynierskich studiach technicznych obronił nawet, w roku 1972, doktorat z filozofii).

Od początku istnienia Jazz Q (także pod taką, skróconą nazwą zespół niekiedy występował) najbliższym współpracownikiem Kratochvíla był saksofonista i flecista Jiři Stivín. To oni odpowiedzialni byli za repertuar zespołu, który znalazł się na debiutanckiej płycie "Coniunctio" (1970), dzielonej z inną jazz-rockową kapelą Modry Efekt. Kratochvíl, zakochany w jazzie spod znaku Dave'a Brubecka, Ornette'a Colemana, Theloniousa Monka i przede wszystkim Milesa Davisa, starał się jednak nadać swej muzyce bardziej rockowy charakter. Stąd wzięły się jego eksperymenty przywodzące na myśl dokonania "elektrycznego" Chicka Corei, Weather Report czy Mahavishnu Orchestra, a nawet bardzo bliskie związki z kraut-rockiem (vidé Amon Dűűl, Embryo, Can, Gila). Czesi mieli zresztą ogromny wpływ na rozwój tego typu muzyki; wystarczy zdać sobie sprawę z pochodzenia Jana Hammera (Mahavishnu Orchestra), Miroslava Vitousa (Weather Report) czy Hanusa Berki (niemiecki zespół Emergency). W takim kontekście dzieło Kratochvíla rozpatrywać można jako naturalną formę rozwoju stworzonego przezeń zespołu.



Prawdziwa historia Jazz Q rozpoczęła się na początku lat 70., kiedy to po rozstaniu ze Stivínem - obaj muzycy zdążyli jeszcze nagrać wspólnie album "Five Hits In A Row" (1972) - prawą ręką Kratochvíla został gitarzysta František Francl. Nie był on już na czeskiej scenie muzycznej postacią anonimową, dał się bowiem znakomicie poznać jako jeden z muzyków progresywno-jazzowej kapeli Flamengo. Grupa zdobyła sporą popularność pod koniec lat 60., koncertowała nawet w Niemczech zachodnich, gdzie zresztą Francl poznał swoją przyszłą żonę, angielską piosenkarkę rockową Joan Duggan. Joan przyjechała wraz z mężem do Czech i niebawem - po wydaniu przez macierzystą kapelę płyty "Kuře v hodinkách" (1972) - oboje znaleźli się w składzie Jazz Q. Najbardziej udany dla zespołu Kratochvíla był rok 1973, w którym wydał on dwa albumy: najpierw ukazała się anglojęzyczna płyta "Symbiosis", nagrana już z Franclem i Duggan, a następnie - zawierająca chronologicznie wcześniejszy materiał (a więc bez udziału państwa Francl) - "Pozorovatelna". Obie płyty to prawdziwe mistrzostwo progresywnego jazz-rocka!

"Symbiosis" to pięć utworów, wśród których opus magnum stanowi ponad szesnastominutowa kompozycja Kratochvíla do tekstu Duggan zatytułowana "The Wizard". Całość to w zasadzie concept album, w którym jednak ważniejsza jest mimo wszystko warstwa muzyczna. Na pierwszy plan wybijają się instrumenty klawiszowe, co nie dziwi, biorąc pod uwagę profesję lidera, ale Kratochvíl pozwala rozwinąć skrzydła także pozostałym muzykom. Nie brakuje tu bowiem miejsca na improwizacje - zwłaszcza gitarowe (Francl); imponująca jest także lista zaproszonych do nagrania tej płyty gości, wśród których znajdujemy m.in. Jana Kubíka i Vladimíra Mišíka z Flamengo oraz Leška Semelkę z Modrego Efektu. To wszystko wpływa na muzyczną różnorodność i bogactwo tego materiału.


Jednak kto wie, czy jeszcze lepiej nie prezentuje się nieco uboższa aranżacyjnie, dzięki temu zapewne bardziej rockowa, płyta "Pozorovatelna", zawierająca materiał, który powstał w latach 1971-72. Zaczyna się ona od potężnego uderzenia w postaci trzynastominutowej mini-suity "Pori 72" (przygotowanej specjalnie na jazzowy festiwal w fińskim Pori); kończy natomiast dosłownie wbijającymi w fotel numerami "Klobásové hody" i "Kartágo". Ważna jest tu nie tylko wirtuozeria muzyków, ale również niepowtarzalny mroczny klimat i nieco schizofreniczny nastrój (typowy dla niektórych kompozycji Krzysztofa Komedy, w tym także dla "Dziecka Rosemary"). Do kompaktowej reedycji tego krążka (2001) dodano jeszcze cztery, wcześniej niepublikowane, instrumentalne utwory z 1971 roku; przynajmniej dwa z nich - "Pozorovatelna II" i "Percenta pro hnízdovku" - zasługują na miano małych jazz-rockowych arcydzieł. Obie płyty Jazz Q trafiły w tamtym czasie na Zachód i zapewniły zespołowi niemały rozgłos; Kratochvíl i spółka zaczęli więc podróżować niemal po całej Europie, koncertując m.in. w Austrii, RFN, Jugosławii, Francji, Belgii, Luksemburgu, Szwajcarii, Hiszpanii i... Polsce (Wrocław); trafili nawet do Tunezji.

W kolejnych latach znaczenie zespołu na czeskiej scenie zaczęło maleć. Po wydaniu, w roku 1976, instrumentalnego albumu "Elegie", Kratochvíl wyjechał na krótko do Bostonu (gdzie studiował muzykę); gdy wrócił do Czechosłowacji, skompletował nowy skład i wydał krążek "Zvešti" (1977); od tej pory grupa stopniowo zaczęła odchodzić od swych jazz-rockowych korzeni, coraz bardziej zmierzając ku ambitnemu jazz-popowi. Często zmieniano wokalistów; począwszy od roku 1979 za mikrofonem w Jazz Q stawali: Oskar Petr (to z nim Kratochvíl nagrał muzykę do filmu Otokara Vávry "Temné slunce", będącego remakiem wcześniejszego o trzydzieści lat "Krakatitu" na motywach fantastycznej powieści Karela Čapka), Michael Kocáb, Jana Koubková, Lucie Bílá, Petr Flyn i wielu innych. Powstawały nowe nagrania, ale nie wychodziły płyty. Dopiero w roku 2001 z części owych utworów skompletowano "Album, které nikdy nevyšlo". Płyta zdecydowanie zawiedzie tych, którzy rozkochali się w "Symbiosis" i "Porozovatelnej", w większości zawiera bowiem - mniej lub bardziej banalne, ale jednak - piosenki oscylujące w okolicach popu, bluesa czy boogie. Potraktować ją można jedynie jako ciekawostkę - i tyle! Na więcej nie zasługuje. (Sebastian Chosiński)



Jazz Q was formed in 1964 by Martin Kratochvil (piano) and Jiri Stivin (woodwinds). In their early years, they were inspired by the late 50s free jazz happening in America. By the late 60s though, after becoming familiar with the English rock scene, Kratochvil decided to go in a more electric and groove-based direction. Jiri Stivin wasn't keen on playing this style and left shortly after recording their debut LP from 1970 "Coniunctio", which was a collaboration with a severed line-up of Blue Effect, and stylistically was a mish-mash of rock, fusion and free jazz. Kratochvil completely revamped the line-up with guitarist Lubos Andrst (Framus 5, Energit), bassist Vladimir Pudranek (Energit, ETC) and drummer Michal Vrbovec. In this line-up they recorded what may be their best known album "Watchtower". Frantisek Francl replaced Andrst and the band also worked with the English singer Joan Duggan on their next LP, "Symbiosis" from 1974. Amongst the scores of sound-alike jazz-rock bands present at the time, Jazz Q really found their own voice, although it could be argued that later stuff was more stylistically definable. Jazz Q was also one of the few long-lasting Czech fusion bands, being active from 1964 till 1984. In 2004 they have regrouped in a classic lineup, although Francl is substituted by Zdenek Fiser, another jazz-rock veteran from the Impuls fame. (progarchives)

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Ry Cooder - Johnny Handsome (1989)



W wyniku wady genetycznej John Sedley (Mickey Rourke) rodzi się z potwornie zniekształconą twarzą.Wydaje się, że ta ułomność - i związany z tym brak akceptacji przez społeczeństwo- popchnęła Johna na drogę przestępstwa. Jest przestępcą - geniuszem. Wszystkie napady z jego udziałem są zawsze udane, gdyż są perfekcyjnie zaplanowane. Jedynym przyjacielem Johna jest Mickey (Scott Wilson). On nigdy nie naśmiewał się z brzydoty Johna. Gdy więc Mickey prosi go o pomoc przy organizacji następnego skoku ten nie odmawia. Napad się udaje. Niestety przy podziale łupu John i Mickey zostają zdradzeni przez resztę bandy. Mickey ginie a John ląduje w
więzieniu. Tam John zostaje wyznaczony do nowatorskiego eksperymentu. Zgodnie z nowym programem łączenia resocjalizacji z rehabilitacją John, po serii operacji plastycznych otrzymuje nową, normalną twarz i nowe nazwisko. Zostaje również warunkowo zwolniony z więzienia. Johny może rozpocząć nowe życie. Otrzymuje pracę, poznaje ładną dziewczynę. Jednak gdzieś w nim tkwi wspomnienie dawnej zdrady. Postanawia się zemścić na byłych kumplach (filmweb)

Ry Cooder (ur. 15 marca 1947 w Los Angeles w Kalifornii) – amerykański gitarzysta, piosenkarz i autor tekstów piosenek. Ry Cooder jest najbardziej cenionym żyjącym gitarzystą grającym techniką ślizgową. W swej twórczości sięgał do wielu gatunków muzycznych, m.in. do muzyki folkowej, bluesowej, hawajskiej, teksańsko-meksykańskiej, muzyki wyspy Okinawa, oraz afrykańskiej. Na ich bazie stworzył własny charakterystyczny styl. Jego muzyka stanowiła inspirację dla szerokiego grona artystów, między innymi dla Duane'a Allmana i grupy The Rolling Stones. Cooder, artysta o niezwykłej sile ekspresji, brał udział w wielu sesjach nagraniowych oraz skomponował ścieżki dźwiękowe do wielu filmów. W 2003 pojawił się na 8. miejscu listy magazynu Rolling Stone 100 największych gitarzystów wszech czasów.

Jego pierwszym zespołem była świetnie zapowiadająca się bluesowo-rockowa grupa Rising Sons, w której wokalistą był Taj Mahal. Po jej rozpadzie na skutek złego prowadzenia grupy przez menedżera, wstąpił do wtedy bluesowo-rockowej, a później radykalnej awangardowej grupy Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band. Nagrał z nią jej pierwszy album Safe as Milk w 1967r. Następnie rozpoczął karierę solową. (wiki)



Because ''Johnny Handsome'' is a film by Walter Hill (''The Warriors,'' ''Streets of Fire''), it crams the following things into its first five minutes: gunfire, screeching brakes, a drug-popping hoodlum, a moll in black leather, a violent robbery, one murder, sinister masks, shattering glass. But because this is Mr. Hill's work, these ingredients are slapped together with high style. The moll is Ellen Barkin; the masks are eerie and sleek; the robbers are after rare antique coins; the guns shoot flames. Love it or hate it, Mr. Hill's work has hot blood and an ethos that is uniquely its own.

'' 'Johnny Handsome' is a good example of the Greek maxim that character is destiny,'' Mr. Hill has said, a remark that gives credence to the thought that he may be his own worst enemy. ''Johnny Handsome'' would have been much better off without its silly side. The entire first half-hour of the film treads water and tries the patience as it explains how Johnny, played by Mickey Rourke behind pounds of disfiguring makeup, overcomes the obstacle of being, as his doctor rather indelicately puts it, ''born with physical defects that 99 percent of all humanity consider totally disgusting.''

In addition to this esthetic problem, Johnny has a character flaw: he's scum. Or at least he's a low-life loser and crook with few friends, and he loses one of them (played by Scott Wilson) in the opening slam-bang heist scene. Even worse, he is caught and sent to jail, while his surviving partners, Sunny and Rafe (Ms. Barkin and Lance Henriksen), go free. And to add injury to insult Johnny is roughed up by his fellow prisoners, which lands him in the care of Dr. Steven Resher (Forest Whitaker). It is the doctor's novel idea that extensive, costly plastic surgery to improve Johnny's ''Beauty and the Beast'' countenance would be a practical way to fight criminal recidivism.



There was a time when a transformation like this would have been accomplished in a scene or two, with the removal of bandages, as if by magic. Here it means medical conferences and computer graphics and Johnny's counseling sessions, in which he remembers how the other kids used to say, ''Johnny doesn't need a mask on Halloween.'' In any case, Johnny slowly comes into his own. He evolves into someone with Mr. Rourke's flirty good looks and an unflagging desire to get even with those who betrayed him.

From this point on, ''Johnny Handsome'' picks up considerably. It becomes a flashy crime drama played by a furiously vibrant cast in the hardboiled yet over-the-top manner that Mr. Hill favors. In addition to mastering the tricky New Orleans accents required by the story - saying ''wuckuhs'' for ''workers'' - the actors enliven their stock roles with fierce posturing of all kinds. Ms. Barkin enthusiastically tarts up the story's standard-issue floozy (''Don't think about things, cowboy - you ain't a thinker,'' she snaps), and Elizabeth McGovern gets equal mileage out of her nice-girl counterpart.



Morgan Freeman, as a shrewd police detective, makes himself a magnetic presence and flashes a killer smile. Mr. Henriksen, as the villain of the piece, bristles with a lean, mean style borrowed equally from Clint Eastwood and Keith Richards. As the film's star, Mr. Rourke is engaging but in a sense has less to do than the supporting players, since his character's personality is quite literally skin deep. Johnny's transformation becomes little more than a ruse for tricking the other characters and an excuse for sadism at the story's end.

''Johnny Handsome,'' which opens today at the Gemini and other theaters, is more notable for its mean streak and its doom-laden flashiness than for anything of substance. Ry Cooder, whose music has done wonders for other Walter Hill films like ''The Long Riders,'' contributes another fine score. In the Eye Of the Beholder JOHNNY HANDSOME, directed by Walter Hill; screenplay by Ken Friedman, based on the novel ''The Three Worlds of Johnny Handsome'' by John Godey; director of photography, Matthew F. Leonetti; edited by Freeman Davies; music by Ry Cooder; production designer, Gene Rudolf; produced by Charles Roven; released by Tri-Star Pictures Inc. At Gemini, 64th Street and Second Avenue, and other theaters. Running time: 93 minutes. This film is rated R. John Sedley ... Mickey Rourke Mikey ... Scott Wilson Sunny ... Ellen Barkin Rafe ... Lance Henriksen Lieutenant Drones ... Morgan Freeman Dr. Resher ... Forest Whitaker Donna ... Elizabeth McGovern (nytimes.com)

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Rage Against The Machine - Renegades (2000)



To trochę dziwna sprawa, ale początkowo gardziłem tym zespołem. Trafiła mi się jednak płyta "Renegades", która zupełnie odmieniła mój punkt widzenia na temat Rage Against The Machine.

To - Ostatni Tacy Renegaci - jedna z najważniejszych załóg mijającej dekady. To pierwszy i z pewnością niebagatelny powód, dla którego warto mieć ich album.

12 numerów RATM tworzy krążek strategicznie wyjątkowy w ich dyskografii! Jego wyjątkowość polega na oryginalności interpretacji i przywróconej mocy coverów (traktujących o równie ważnych sprawach co przekaz RATM), które zespół wziął na warsztat z myślą o nagraniu... płyty koncertowej. Część z nich kapela miała w swoim repertuarze od lat, ale dopiero zarejestrowane w tak typowych dla Rage'ów wersjach brzmią jak testamentgrupy!

"Renegades" to hołd złożony takim artystom jak MC5, The Stooges, EPMD, Bob Dylan, Minor Threat, The Rolling Stones, Afrika Bambaataa, Devo, Volume 10, Erik B i Rakim, Cypress Hill oraz Bruce Springsteen. Ale nie tylko! "Renegades" to przede wszystkim tracktat filozoficzno-społeczno-polityczno-moralny – przystępny i przekonujący.



"Pistols Grip Pump" Volume 10 (o prawie do samoobrony), w którym Zack przechodzi samego siebie! Ten numer ociężały rytmiką przypomina mi stan konwulsyjnych torsji, kiedy o 3 nad ranem obejmując kibel (żołądek rytmicznie doznaje skurczy), chce ci się rzygać, ale nie możesz, a i tak micha ci się śmieje, bo warto było się nawpieprzać najlepszego żarcia na świecie! (przepraszam wszystkich anorektyków i chorych na bulimię za porównanie, ale to naprawdę najlepszy "rzygający" muzycznie numer jaki słyszałam). Jeśli tego będzie Wam mało, zapraszam na scenę, tj. własny, najlepiej własnościowy balkon o 5 nad ranem z backgroundem i okrzykiem na ustach "Kick Out the Jams" wzywającym do pobudki okoliczną klasę pracującą. O 7.15 możecie rytualnie odtańczyć szamańską wersję "Renegades of Funk" (zajebista partia bębnów i pojechanych gitar), po czym wołajacym o pomstę do nieba (i najbliższej spółdzielni oraz niebieskim szamanom osiedlowego spokoju) sąsiadom wywrzeszczeć "I'm Housin'", i że żadna cena nie wykupi Waszego szaleństwa i tego kim jesteście! A jak już opadniecie z sił, to refleksja "Beautiful World" duetu Morello & Rocha zmiażdży Wam korę mózgową z przysadką włącznie.

Po zażyciu pobudzającej dawki "In My Eyes" Wasz wzrok powinien odzyskać moc na tyle, by wczytać się w treści takich numerów, jak "How I could Kill A Man" czy "Street Fighting Man", a przytomność lub raczej samoświadomość (w tym popieprzonym polityczno-społecznie świecie) powinniście odzyskać po wsłuchaniu się w dylanowską "Maggie's farm" i springsteenowskie "The Ghost Of Tom Jordan" – to zamiast porannej prasy (Morello zagrał tu jak The Edge w "Bullet on the Blue Sky" i w ogóle ta wersja, jakże odmienna od oryginału, jest też moim skromnym zdaniem hołdem złożonym U2, kapeli, której żaden numer nie został przerobiony przez RATM, ale równie "zaangażowanej"! Tezę swą wspieram wiedzą – U2 i Tom Jordan to Irlandczycy...). Przed wyjściem do pracy/szkoły zalecam "Down on the Street", tak byście "świecąc twarzą" czuli się jak prawdziwe "Dzikie dziecko" dzikiej ulicy, w dzikim społeczeństwie, dzikiego kraju, dzikich czasów... i dzikiej, nieokiełznanej mocy muzyki! (nuta.pl)

UWAGA !!! Archiwum zawiera mój subiektywny wybór nagrań, a nie cały album.



The word on Renegades is that it happened by accident when rap-rock agitators Rage Against the Machine got together with rap-rock eminence Rick Rubin to wham out a couple oldie B sides. They kept thinking of additional goodies until the project blew up into a full cover album—which proved the last with the original lineup when singer Zack de la Rocha decided to take his bat and go solo. So it's possible that the most penetrating and engaging album of their career was a lark that turned fateful. But RATM are one band that could justify a whole album of covers by insisting that those who do not repeat history are condemned not to know it, and as it ends up, hearing rock and rap past through their ears is a pop education. In the wake of a flood of stillborn tribute collections, cover albums don't have much status these days. But in fact they reinterpret history, as their own history demonstrates.

In his track-by-track rundown, Rubin stumbles on the revolutionary potential of cover albums: "An interesting thing about this record is the band was able to kind of move musically in different directions because they're starting with the format of someone else's song. It kind of allowed them more freedom to kind of try different things. And I think it's probably more diverse than Rage's other albums." Poets write in forms for much the same reason. The poet concentrates so much on fitting the words to the meter that his or her subconscious censor shuts off and the language can reveal more. United by the struggle of making the swatch of killer tunes their own, de la Rocha, guitarist Tom Morello, bassist Tim Commerford, and drummer Brad Wilk clicked with each other even as they notoriously failed to agree on anything else. They tell more about their artistic mission than they ever have before, maybe even more about the world. Renegadeshas the potential of firing up those who haven't thought much about political pop, and that will be its long-term value. By gathering some of the favorites that formed them as activist artists, Rage Against the Machine join an extended, little-noticed lineage of rockers who have worked to affect the future by rendering history more coherent.



Unless you consider the British Invasion an onslaught of cover bands that got played on the radio where the originals didn't, the first modern albums in the remake mode were Dr. John's Gumboin 1972 and the Band's Moondog Matineeand David Bowie's Pin Ups in 1973. In an era when yesterday didn't matter if it was gone, these were defiant moves—history, how freaky. But although Dr. John had reinvented himself as an LSD shaman in the late 1960s, in fact he was a secret r&b veteran revisiting the New Orleans foundation of his career. The Band were already obsessed with the past, though their rehabilitations outclassed those of the hokey '50s-revival groups in vogue at the time. Bowie's camp trip had its Sha Na Na side, but a spaceman futuroid doing vintage tunes made the gesture seem cooler and less decrepit. The next year Roxy Music's Bryan Ferry ran roughshod over Bowie's pirouette into the past with These Foolish Things. Ferry advanced toward

Renegadesin that he grabbed not just Dylan, Lennon-McCartney, and the Stones but the Brill Building and Tin Pan Alley and gave them roles in his glitter-lizard cabaret while trashing the niceties of the original music. Style sense, and Ferry's puce-velvet voice, conquered all. You could tell he loved these songs even as he throttled them. Renegades' only equal, however, is Guns N' Roses' 1993 "The Spaghetti Incident?" Axl 'N Slash ('N sometimes Duff) played around with rock-clod and punk-neurasthenic archetypes like they didn't have a drug habit in the world. Any band that could make the connection between the Skyliners' "Since I Don't Have You" and the Damned's "New Rose" had way more smarts and humanism than nonzealots could detect in "Paradise City" and its ilk. "The Spaghetti Incident?"has become the G N' R album for those who don't like G N' R, but in 10 years it'll be more cherished than Appetite for Destruction.

Renegadesshares the same sense of adventure and self-discovery, though it has more of Bryan Ferry's feral irreverence toward its musical sources. Since the material includes Eric B. & Rakim's "Microphone Fiend," the MC5's "Kick Out the Jams," Afrika Bambaataa's "Renegades of Funk," Minor Threat's "In My Eyes," Cypress Hill's "How I Could Just Kill a Man," the Stones' "Street Fighting Man," and Dylan's "Maggie's Farm," if Renegadeseven equaled the originals, it could establish a new pop order. As it is, there are a couple mere curiosities: Devo's "Beautiful World" redone as a bitter croon-toon and "Street Fighting Man" booted with a guitar-as-synth figure that's more vintage electrofunk than techno retouch. And there are a couple rallying points: a howling "The Ghost of Tom Joad" that surpasses Bruce Springsteen's sepia-dignified original and a relentlessly shouted "Maggie's Farm," an oldie that needed its case of rabies renewed.



The other tracks parallel Run-D.M.C.'s "Walk This Way" with the rap-rock proportions reversed: not replacements, but side trips to help the listener fully savor the songs. Bassist Commerford has gained more muscle and ideas than any player in the band and is now as expressive as Morello in all his sweet savagery. De la Rocha, on the other hand, has failed to develop, and remains as awkward as Mick Jagger taking on Slim Harpo back when. But Renegadesmay be his monument. The stark groove-and-hush of "Microphone Fiend" gets Morello's crunch treatment as de la Rocha takes off from the memory of Rakim's words rather than simply reciting them, adding a particularly effective "in E-F-F-E-C-T" chant. De la Rocha would never come up with Rakim's "silly rabbit" aside, but you know he appreciates the gag, just as he knows the reverberated "Housin' . . . housin' " refrain on EPMD's "I'm Housin' " is the kind of oratory-free dramatic fillip he never manages on his own. Morello has referred to the "odd Iggy Pop vocal performance" of "Down on the Street," but the discomfort is all de la Rocha's, the limitation of his righteous anhedonia—unlike Axl Rose, who had no trouble maintaining a full-body erection for "Raw Power." Then again, de la Rocha has the rhetorical chops to put every verbal lick in place on "Maggie's Farm."

Renegadesrevels in its historic shrewdness down to the Robert Indiana "LOVE" send-up of the booklet art, and will fascinate, inspire, and instruct for a long time. There are outtakes lurking, too—Gang of Four's "What We All Want" and a bizarro hybrid of Eazy-E's "Ruthless Villain" and Rush's "Working Man." Successor bands who hear Renegadeswill know enough to plow ahead to Fela, Bob Marley, Patti Smith, Ani DiFranco. More than expanding our views of established performers and demonstrating that punk, rap, and metal can feast together on meaty hooks and high-fat beats, Renegadesestablishes radical-pop protest-racket as more than just an aberration in the music that descends from Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley. In the sequence of songs RATM have selected, sly words and assault music bridge years and races. After this record, no one can dismiss amplified activism as the fleeting howls of isolated hotheads. It's the forever underground. (The Village Voice)

ATTENTION !!! The archive contains only my personal choice.

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Warsaw Pakt - Needle Time (1977)



Warsaw Pakt to zupełnie zapomniana grupa pierwszej fali brytyjskiego punk rocka. Powstali w Londynie wiosną 1977. Zespół koncertował w lokalnych klubach, m.in. z Siouxsie and the Banshees w barze w Exeter College (na Uniwersytecie Oksfordzkim).Pierwszy album zespołu, "Needle Time", powstał w ciągu jednej doby, nagrany między 26 listopada 1977 (godzina 22), a 27 listopada (godzina 19). W ciągu pierwszego tygodnia sprzedało się 5 tysięcy egzemplarzy, jednak pod koniec tygodnia wytwórnia Island Records zdecydowała o wstrzymaniu sprzedaży (z niejasnych dla zespołu powodów). Zespół rozwiązał się w marcu 1978, wydając jeszcze zbiór odrzutów z sesji nagraniowej, "See You In Court". Swoją drogą bardzo ciekawe są motywy jakim kierowała się Island Records - może grupa miała politycznie niewygodną nazwę?

Lucas Fox – drums
Jimmy Coull – vocal
Andy Colquhoun – guitar
John Walker – guitar
Chris Underhill – bass



Formed in Spring 1977 around Ladbroke Grove, London. Guitarist Andy Colquhoun had been in a London R & B band called The Rockets, which played support for The Clash a few times and poto punk band The Zips. Lucas Fox had previously been drummer in Motörhead’s first incarnation. The Pakt could obviously play a bit, unlike many overnight punk bands, but to the best of my knowledge they weren’t session men.

I saw Warsaw Pakt in late 1977 supporting Siouxsie & The Banshees at a very bizarre gig which took place in the Refectory of Exeter College, Oxford. Imagine, if you will, an ancient gothic university building right out of "Inspector Morse", steeped in tradition, its wainscotted hallways decked with the portraits of former Professors stretching back to Tudor times: suddenly invaded by upwards of 500 local underage punk rockers, of whom I was one.

Needless to say, the place got well and truly trashed. Warsaw Pakt were good, definitely out of the punky pogo-a-gogo mainstream. The gig was marred by flurries of violence, as the “security staff” (consisting of the college rugby team) tried vainly to keep a lid on the barbarians who’d invaded their sacred grove of academe. Andy Colquhoun’s abiding memory of the gig is having to dodge the stream of bottles hurled stagewards by the crowd; but, as he puts it, “it made a change from gobbing.”



The album “Needle Time” was recorded for Island in November 1977 and was indeed recorded, mastered, produced, packaged and distributed within a 24-hour timeslot, from 10 p.m. on Sat 26 November to 7 p.m. on Sunday 27 November – the band were trying to make a point about the way technology, etc. had opened up the potential for music to be truly immediate.

The album sold 5000 copies in its first week. Unfortunately, its first week was also its last: at the end of the week Island Records decided (for reasons not made clear to the band) that they would press no further copies, and shelved the master tapes. The Pakt soldiered on for a few months more, and even managed to release a set of outtakes from previous recording sessions (called “See You In Court”) but, faced with such record company capriciousness, it was inevitable that they would fold.

After the Pakt, guitarist Andy Colquhoun joined Brian James’s Tanz Der Youth, and subsequently played with the Pink Fairies and ex-MC5 star Wayne Kramer. (Phil Jones, punk77.co.uk)

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Magical Unicellular Music - Inconceivable (2009)



Magical Unicellular Music to bardzo interesujący projekt muzyczny, który powstał w 2004 roku w Mińsku na Białorusi. Z czasem pomysł przerodził się w międzynarodowy ruch działający w kilku miastach, m.in. w Mińsku, Moskwie czy Kijowie. Jak dotąd na swoim koncie mają kilka wydawnictw, z którymi naprawdę warto się zapoznać. Muzyka jaką tworzą to w wielkim skrócie hipnotyczny krautrock, pełen energetycznych eksperymentów dźwiękowych, momentami wręcz wtłaczających słuchacza w intrygujące psychodeliczne rejony. W 2008 roku w ramach międzynarodowego festiwalu wspierał ich z powodzeniem swoją energią Damo Suzuki we własnej osobie.

***

Magical Unicellular Music – the project was started in 2004 by Solntsetsvety artistic group in Minsk (Belarus). Solntsetsvety are famous for their explosive psychedelic performances and especially bold sound experiments that paradoxically mix primitivistic lo-fi and delicate sound-work, vital juices of afro-american music and visions of Vienna symphonists. All this mash up happens within the formal frame of a standard rock band line-up (almost standard, except for the use of radio and noise pickups), and just maybe, somewhere in the distance one could catch a glimpse of that notoriously famous ‘russian soul’.

Magical Unicellular Music is a desperate attempt to form and deliver somewhat valid shape of the ever-evading fabric of life. The result turned out to be simple, even primitive. Basically it turned out as protest against time, against continuous loss of memory and manic desire for changes. This manic craving for constant changes so familiar to all of us probably is the factor that makes human beings not take notice of objects and phenomena that require some in-depth study. One shouldn’t mix V.O.M. with most of the psychedelic culture, that is frequently filled with memory loss – V.O.M. suggests remembering. Remembering as much as one can, bit by bit. This is true, primitive music.

Several bands simultaneously function in the context of the Magical Unicellular Music project in different cities – V.O.M. III and V.O.M. V in Minsk, V.O.M. IV in Moscow.

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Pekinska Patka - Plitka poezija (1980)



To teraz przez parę postów zaszalejemy - ten jest pierwszy z serii i poświęcony nie byle jakiej grupie. Pamiętam początek lat osiemdziesiątych i początek punkowego boomu w Polsce. Pierwsze koncerty Kryzysu w Aninie i Polandu, pierwsze zadymy (wtedy jeszcze z milicją) np. w Starej Prochowni. Zaczynały pojawiać się pierwsze longi z nagraniami brytyjskich kapel punkowych, którymi ludzie głównie się wymieniali między sobą np. na murku przy Pałacu Kultury podczas Targów Książki. Można jednak było czasem upolować coś na prawdę egzotycznego. Do takich pozycji należała debiutancka płyta kapeli z Jugosławii (wówczas jeszcze nie podzielonej) - Pekinska Patka się nazywała. Prawdziwa konsternacja - nie wiadomo czy muzycy robili sobie jaja czy grali na poważnie. Nie mniej cała płyta była energetycznym strzałem. Pekinska Patka dla Jugoli była legandarną kapelą punkową, czyli tym samym czym dla nas były wspomniane Kryzys, Poland, wczesny Tilt, KSU czy Deadlock. Muzycy nagali chnyba tylko dwa albumy, z tym że drugi jest w zupełnie innym klimacie - bardziej cold-wave'owym.



Pekinška patka's roots are found in a another band called Trafo. That short-lived group, formed in 1976, featuring Nebojša Čonkić on vocals and Sreten Kovačević on guitar, performed cover versions of rock standards by the Rolling Stones and Santana. The following year Kovačević formed a pop band Café Express that featured Čonkić as guest vocalist.

During the summer of 1978, Čonkić (often referred to by his nickname Profesor Čonta), at the time a 25-year-old teacher at Mihajlo Pupin High School in Novi Sad, went to London where, among other bands, he saw The Clash and The Specials as the opening act, Midge Ure and Glen Matlock's Rich Kids, The Skids and Magazine perform live and returned to Yugoslavia full of impressions and ideas about putting together a band with a new sound.

During July 1978, Kovačević, drummer Laslo "Cila" Pihler, and Čonkić decided to form a punk group inspired by the British punk bands. The first lineup also featured bassist Miloš "Žure" Žurić. The band held rehearsals at the University of Novi Sad's Faculty of Mechanical Engineering building where their first live performance took place. Four people attended the gig, all of them friends of the band members. In the meantime Čonkić and Kovačević started working on new material, mainly in English which was performed at the first appearance. After the gig Srbislav "Srba" Dobanovački became the new bassist.



Their very first official live appearance took place in December 1978 in Novi Sad's Klub 24 venue and immediately got the local public talking for the commotion it raised among the club's staff who were sufficiently shocked by the performance that they stepped in and interrupted it, sending the crowd of about 200 people home. The reason for the interruption was the band's performance of a vulgar punk cover of the communist Youth work actions song featuring the lyrics "Brižit Bardo bere čičke; Vidi joj se pola pičke" ("Brigitte Bardot is picking thistles; you can see the half of her pussy").

The band based its sound on melodic punk and vivid public image, while their high-energy live show became an exercise in physical endurance with constant jumping and gyrating that had an infectious effect on the young crowds. Being one of the first groups in the country with this kind of sound and performing style, they ruffled plenty of feathers initially, generating media interest before even releasing any material.

Čonta often used those media appearances for unabashed self-promotion, delivering sweeping statements like: "We're the first important thing to happen to Yugoslav rock since the days of Ivo Robić and Marko Novoselić". He also purposely courted controversy with soundbites he knew would create a stir such as referring to his group as the "first Orthodox punk band", which did not sit well with the officials of the ruling Communist League that very much promoted atheism in Yugoslav society.



The band quickly developed a fierce following among the sections of Novi Sad youth who expressed their devotion by spraying "Čonta je Bog" ("Čonta is God") graffiti throughout the city. All of this unconventionality also got the band plenty of attention from local distinguished communists who saw subversive and incendiary potential in their sound and appearance. As a result, despite generating a lot of interest, not only in the city but also throughout other parts of Vojvodina, the band experienced enormous problems with live performances, many of which would get canceled on the day of the show on suggestions from above. In December 1978, the band played the last BOOM festival, which was being held in their hometown that year. (....)

Following the debut album release, the band went through some personnel changes with certain members changing instruments and others leaving altogether. Guitarist Kovačević expressed a desire to play saxophone so he moved to that instrument while new member Zoran "Bale" Bulatović, a 17-year-old Pečat member, took over the vacated guitar spot. Second guitarist Prosenica, and bassist Oslovčan also left the band. Oslovčan was first replaced by Aleksandar "Caki" Kravić and then the former bassist Srba Dobanovački until Marinko Vukmanović joined the band. Prosenica's spot stayed vacant as the band continued with only one guitar. That lineup did not last long as Kovačević left the group during fall 1980 to form his own band, Kontraritam.



The new lineup went on the successful tour of Bosnia, ending with a sold-out show at Sarajevo's Skenderija Hall. The band recorded the cover of the popular Dragan Stojnić chanson, with altered lyrics, and released it on single with "Buba-rumba" as the B-side. Another cover version, this time The Hollies hit "Stop! Stop! Stop!" appeared on the "Rokenroler" show broadcast on TV Belgrade. The song was used by JTV (Yugoslav television) station for representing Yugoslavia at the Montreaux Golden Rose festival. Čonta also planned to cover the "Saint Sava anthem", which was not approved by the rest of the band.

During December 1980, the band performed at the Grok festival held at the Novi Sad Fair. The band left a good impression, but also caused an uproar by burning a copy of the Borba newspaper. During the intro for the song "Biti ružan, pametan i mlad", Čonta said that the song was dedicated to Goran Bregović. Soon after the show, Dnevnik journalist Bogdan Četnik wrote an article demanding the band to be completely banned.

From October 1980 until March 1981 the band prepared new material inspired by Joy Division, The Stranglers, The Cure and Magazine. The band changed the style to post-punk and dark wave, presenting a different sound and image, which mostly failed to connect with the audiences the way their debut did. The album Strah od monotonije, released in May 1981, was sold in about 8,000 copies.

The band performed rarely and their last notable shows were at the Zagreb Velesajam (performed with Riblja Čorba, Haustor, Film, Prljavo kazalište, Leb i Sol, Parni Valjak, etc.) and the Kalemegdan park which was their last concert, During the summer, Čonta went to serve the Yugoslav People's Army and by the time he returned, Bale was already the member of Luna and Vukmanović formed the pop band Primavera. (wiki)

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Michael Yonkers Band - Microminiature Love 1968 (2002)



Amerykańska grupa Michael Yonkers Band została założona pod koniec lat 60-tych w Minneapolis przez kreatywnego gitarzystę i kompozytora Michaela Yonkersa. W 1968 roku nagrali jedyną rewelacyjną płytę, która niestety na wydanie musiała poczekać aż do 2002 roku. Muzyka na niej zawarta to bardzo swoista i wypaczona psychodelia przemieszana z poszarpanym garage rockiem a nawet proto-punkiem. Całość brzmi prosto i surowo a dźwięk wszystkich instrumentów oraz charakterystyczny wokal jest lekko rozstrojony i zniekształcony, co sprawia, że nagrania wydają się jeszcze bardziej niesamowite.

Michael Yonkers - guitar, vocals, electronics
Tom Wallfred - bass
Jim Yunker - drums



A cult artist the likes of Captain Beefheart, the Fugs and the Godz, Minneapolis' Michael Yonkers has been toiling in obscurity since the late '60s. With a solid foundation of surf rock and garage, Yonkers pushes the limits of distortion with guitar and effects modifications, and a raw and blunt approach to underground rock & roll.Born in 1947, Yonkers began playing guitar in the early '60s. Raised on Link Wray and the Trashmen, he officially started his music career as the leader of Michael & the Mumbles who played proms and dances in the Twin Cities area. Constantly redefining and stretching the limits of their sound, the group eventually evolved into Michael Yonkers Band with Michael's brother Jim on drums and Tom Wallfred on bass.In 1967, Yonkers cut his Telecaster down to a plank and began the other modifications on his equipment that would solidify the band's unique approach. Soon, Minneapolis music impresario Peter Steinberg landed the band a contract with Sire Records -- not unusual for a time when major labels were combing the underground for bands like the Mothers of Invention.Microminiature Love was the group's first full-length and was intended to be released in 1968, but for reasons still unknown, the deal with Sire fell apart and the band broke up, their brilliant debut left languishing on a shelf.In 1971, Yonkers' back was broken in an on-the-job-accident at an electronics warehouse -- a twist of fate that led to years of exploratory surgery that only made matters worse, and an allergic reaction to X-ray dye that left the guitarist with a degenerative spinal cord condition. But Yonkers kept recording, and released three solo albums on his own label in 1974 -- Grimwood (recorded in 1969), Michael Lee Yonkers (recorded in 1972) and Goodby Sunball (recorded in 1973) -- as well as Borders of My Mind with Jim Woehrle. Thy Will Be Done followed in 1976 and then Yonkers was relatively unheard of for two decades.In 1997, Get Hip Records released a compilation of songs recorded at Richfield, Minnesota's Dove Studios called Free Flight: Unreleased Dove Recording Studio Cuts 1964-69 which contained two songs from Microminiature Love, "Puppeting" (which was mislabeled as "Microminiature Love") and the anti-Vietnam war song "Kill the Enemy." These stripped-down, seminal art rock tracks caught the attention of De Stijl's Clint Simonson, who spent over a year searching for Yonkers. Simonson released the virtually forgotten Minneapolis psychedelic-garage album Microminiature Love in 2002. The vinyl-only edition quickly became a record collector favorite, and in 2003 Sub Pop put out the CD of this strange, lost album complete with six bonus tracks recorded circa 1968. (Charles Spano)

Recorded in Minneapolis in 1968, but not released until about 35 years later, Microminiature Love is both of its time and out of time. Certainly there's some late '60s power trio hard rock- psychedelia to the way Michael Yonkers Band grinds out his creepy, unrelentingly minor-keyed songs of gloom. The bashing of the drums is as shaky in tempo as his voice is in timbre, wailing in a tormented tone that's something of a somewhat less off-key, more powerful forefather of later auteurs like Jandek. There were few other rock songwriters of the era as plugged into such an incessantly downer mood, and when he sings "heaven's turning into hell, life is turning into death" on the title track, you believe it, or at least you believe it's happening to him. Perhaps the closest reference point might be the Stooges, but Microminiature Love is much rawer in some respects than the Stooges' first few albums, sounding as if it's the product of a basement rehearsal that was caught on tape unbeknownst to the band. (Indeed, it's hard to believe that this was intended for release on Sire Records, although the deal never came to pass.) Some-of-the-time anti-establishment ethos is present in the anti-war protest of "Kill the Enemy," though rarely has it been offered in such a bluntly horrific and ugly fashion as Yonkers did here. Though limited melodically, Yonkers also cooks up some impressive guitar pyrotechnics here and there, particularly on "Boy in the Sandbox," which climaxes with truly frightening bursts of machine gun guitar. All that said, this isn't a great record or a lost masterpiece. It's far too monotonous for that, with most of the material sitting on a minor E chord as if it's trying to bludgeon itself to death by repetition. The CD reissue adds six additional bonus demos from 1969 cut in Yonkers's parents' basement that are quite similar in feel to the recordings that made it onto the projected LP. (Richie Unterberger)

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Greenhouse Effect - Total Sonic Fuzzdom (2004)



Greenhouse Effect to amerykańska grupa grająca tzw. stoner rocka, ale będąca pod wpływem amerykańskich grup psychodelicznych i garażowych z końca lat sześćdziesiątych. Kiedy pierwszy raz tego słuchałem zalatywało mi Monster Magnetem jednak z każdym kolejnym przesłuchaniem przekonywałem się do tej muzyki. Polecam !!!

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Formed in 1999, Oakland based rockers Greenhouse Effect take their fuzzed-out big muff sound very seriously. Often labeled as a psychadelic/stoner/metal/doom/sludge/spacerock band.....these guys like the green. Much more reminiscent of the classic blues based heavy bands of the 60s and 70s, Greenhouse Effect is influenced by such bands as...Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, The Doors...as well as recent ground breaking bands like...Kyuss, Soundgarden, and Queens of the Stone Age. After playing their very first show at Lindees in Concord with Growth of Alliance, the band secured the talented Thilo Fehlinger to record the bands first release. "Blast Shield Down" was released in 2001 and has recieved lauditory reviews both locally and overseas. The band has since changed drummers three times without skipping a beat...from Doug Weldy(x-Heavy Silver, Six Liter)to Johann Zamora(x-Totimoshi, x-Anhedonia)to Craig Sitter from the band Dysfunctional Family who has solidified the band immensly. During 2000, 2001 and 2002 Greenhouse Effects mission was to play as many shows as possible and then record the second record. Some highlights from those shows were the Paradise Lounge gigs w/Acid King, Totimoshi, El Buzzard, Canyon Creep, Cold Mourning, Operator Generator, and Gammera. With 2003 on the horizon, Greenhouse Effect plans on hitting the road and putting out the second record in Sept. Join Greenhouse Effect on their journey towards "Total Sonic Fuzzdom".



Guitarist Eric Hagen set the tone with a fine repertoire of chugging, doomy sounds. Whereas a lot of other bands falter by developing a good riff and then repeatedly beating the listener over the head with it until it simply doesn’t sound so interesting any more, Hagen steers clear of that trap and throws several well thought-out musical ideas around over the course of a song. Before one groove gets too long, a change takes you down a different path. The end result gives the band a lot texture and variety, as well as a great opportunity to showcase their creativity and chops.

Rock-solid drummer Danny Stevenson kept the beat barreling along while rhythm guitarist and vocalist Eric Hagen quickly overcame a few equipment troubles and never missed a beat. Hagen also provided some great vocal work as well, as he possesses a strong voice that fits the band’s mold. Greenhouse Effect did their thing with finesse, getting the crowd going and banging their heads to a litany of grungy, dirty riffs and sudden breaks. With minimal chit-chat or pretension, they delivered the goods in spades. A few times they took a sudden detour into feedback and distortion drenched soundscapes, crafting a bizarrely engaging, almost avant-garde sonic effect out of what could easily have been grating noise in the hands of many other bands.

All in all, this is a band to drag yourself off the couch and go see if they come to your neck of the woods. Greenhouse Effect has got the songs and the style to win over fans of heavy rock. (powerslave.com)

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