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Wojciech Karolak - Easy! (1974)


Wojciech Karolak  – polski muzyk jazzowy, pianista, kompozytor, saksofonista altowy i tenorowy, aranżer, wirtuoz organów Hammonda.Jego żoną jest Maria Czubaszek.

Urodził się w Warszawie jako syn profesora Akademii Sztuk Pięknych Jerzego Karolaka (1907-1984) i Marii zd. Kotschy-Orwid, córki Józefa Orwida.

Kariera muzyczna Wojciecha Karolaka zaczęła się w 1958, kiedy nawiązał współpracę z zespołem Jazz Believers jako saksofonista. W zespole tym występowali także Jan Ptaszyn Wróblewski oraz Krzysztof Komeda. W latach 1959-60 grał na saksofonie w grupie The Wreckers Andrzeja Trzaskowskiego.

W 1961 poświęcił się grze na fortepianie w zespole Andrzeja Kurylewicza. Współpracował także z Swingtetem Jerzego Matuszkiewicza. Był też aranżerem i kompozytorem Studia M-2 i Big Bandem Polskiego Radia.W 1962 założył The Karolak Trio wspólnie z Andrzejem Dąbrowskim i wydał pierwszą autorską płytę. W 1963 współpracował z Ptaszynem Wróblewskim w zespole Polish Jazz Quartet. W 1966 wyjechał do Szwecji, gdzie dorabiał, grając w klubach i restauracjach. W 1973 stał się właścicielem organów Hammonda-B3. W latach 1973-1978 współpracował z Janem Ptaszynem Wróblewskim w zespole Mainstream.

W latach 80. XX wieku razem z Tomaszem Szukalskim i Czesławem Bartkowskim stworzył formację Time Killers. Wspólnie nagrali album, który został uznany (w ankiecie krytyków "Jazz Forum") za najlepszą płytę jazzową dekady. W 1988 Karolak brał udział w nagraniu płyty Obywatela GC, grał tam na organach Hammonda. Od lat 90. XX wieku współpracuje regularnie z Jarosławem Śmietaną, z którym nagrał kilka albumów. Udziela się także w projektach jazzowych Piotra Barona i Zbigniewa Lewandowskiego, w projekcie gospel Magdy Piskorczyk W hołdzie Mahalii Jackson, a także występuje jako członek zespołu Guitar Workshop Leszka Cichońskiego.

Eksperymentował również jako kompozytor muzyki filmowej. Jednym z obrazów, do którego pisał muzykę była Konopielka w reżyserii Witolda Leszczyńskiego, do której napisał m.in. bardzo charakterystyczny motyw, oddający specyfikę barokowej, polifonicznej muzyki organowej. Pisał też muzykę do tekstów żony. W 2007 roku pojawił się w filmie Ryś w roli Boogiewoogiewicza. (wikipedia)


Wojciech (Wojtek) Karolak (born on 28 May 1939 in Warsaw, Poland, where he still lives today) is a notable Hammond B-3 organ player who refers to himself as "an American jazz and rhythm and blues musician, born by mistake in Middle Europe". He has also played saxophone and piano professionally.

In 1958, he started working with the band the 'Jazz Believers' playing alto saxophone. The Jazz Believers consisted of the future top Polish jazz players, among them Andrzej Trzaskowski, Trafica Giant, Krzysztof Komeda (famed for writing music for Roman Polanski’s landmark film Rosemary's Baby), and Jan Ptaszyn Wróblewski. It took a particular level of dedication to play jazz under the Soviet system of the 1950s.

Next, Wojciech Karolak played tenor saxophone in Andrzej Trzaskowski’s The Wreckers. In 1961, Karolak switched from saxophone back to piano. In 1962, he formed his own trio and started recording his own music. This trio become the premier jazz band in Poland and backed most Western/American artists visiting Poland, among them Annie Ross, Ray Charles, and Don Ellis, with whom he recorded. In 1963, he started playing with Ptaszyn Wróblewski’s Polish Jazz Quartet.

In 1964 Karolak (under the name of the Kurylewicz Quintet) recorded an album called Go Right - the first Polish jazz LP ever released.

In 1966, he left Poland for Sweden where he played rock and blues in music clubs in order to, in his own words, "make enough money to buy an apartment and a Hammond B-3", which he eventually bought in 1973. From then on, Karolak spent more time composing and arranging though he did continue to collaborate and perform with others. He cooperated with famed violinist and future Miles Davis alum Michał Urbaniak in Europe and the U.S. While in Western Europe he also played with Red Mitchell, Putte Wickman, Leroy Lowe and others. He then returned to Poland and co-led the group Mainstream and worked as a composer-arranger for the Polish Radio Studio Jazz Orchestra.

In the 1980s he established, with Tomasz Szukalski and Czeslaw Bartkowski, a "superformation": 'Time Killers'. The resulting recording was voted the best Polish jazz record of the decade.

Since the 1990s Karolak has played with the guitarist Jarosław Śmietana (who counts among his fans Pat Metheny), and recorded three records with him. With Piotr Baron and Zbigniew Lewandowski, Karolak has started The High Bred Jazz Trio. He has played in numerous concerts with Leszek Cichoński’s Guitar Workshop and continues to write, arrange, and perform in Poland and abroad.

Polish President Aleksander Kwaśniewski awarded him the Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta, Poland's second highest civilian honor after the Order of the White Eagle. (wikipedia)

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Re: The Pyramids - Birth/Speed/Merging (1976)

  • Mark Anthony Williams - bass, vocal
  • Kimathi Asante - bass, talking drum, harp, flute, percussion, vocals
  • Kenneth Nash - congas, bongos, rosenbow, guantemalan drum, vocals
  • Augusta Lee Collins - drums, talking drum, percussion
  • Margo Ackamoor - flute, piccolo, percussion, vocals
  • Bruce Baker (Idris Ackamoor) - saxophone, bongos, flute, talking drum, percussion, vocals
“We were really like a family band, and about creating ritual on stage. It was about creating community on stage, about ritual, magic and costume drama.”

The Pyramids, a criminally under-recognised spiritual jazz collective, were birthed at the dawn of the 1970s in Ohio, and included saxophonist Idris Ackamoor, flautist Margo Simmons, bassist Kimathi Asante and drummer Donald Robinson. Delving deep into a world of pan-African rhythms and melodies, they combined them in novel ways with the psychedelic modal jazz simmering in America at the time. The group released three private-press records in the US throughout the 70s, highly regarded by collectors, which consistently fetched incredibly large sums of money. 2010 saw the group reform for a tour across Europe, and last month they released a brand new album, Otherworldly. Max Cole investigates their fiery legacy.

The original cosmic-minded afro-psychedelic ensemble from the 70s are back and playing harder than ever. With a new album and live shows around the world, The Pyramids prove that playing with fiery intent and spreading an interstellar message of equality and freedom will never go out of fashion.

Like their geometric namesake, The Pyramids seem like they’ve been around for a very long time. Their three self-released LPs command a certain hushed reverence over jazz collectors and fans of Sun Ra’s Arkestra, the Art Ensemble Of Chicago, and the AACM. With no more than 1000 copies of each album, fans were lucky if they clapped eyes on an original copy, let alone owned one, and they are considered treasured artifacts of an era. In the aftermath of riots and social upheaval over assassinations and civil rights in the USA around the turn of the 70s, The Pyramids eschewed conventional jazz and major record labels, and took matters into their own hands, linking directly with Africa and their ancestors across the Atlantic. Only too aware of the power of the media and the entertainment industry, having witnessed Curtis Mayfield and Superfly capture the imaginations of millions of young Americans, the battle for the consciousness of a people was waged in earnest.

The Pyramids and their avant-garde, theatrical performances are part of a long lineage of musicians who used jazz and free improvisation to express a global, humanist music. With one foot firmly in the camp of John and Alice Coltrane, Ornette Coleman and Horace Tapscott, and the other in the politically-conscious funk of James Brown and On The Corner era Miles, they captured something of the quest for alternate ways of living in the 70s, as America looked to the stars and ripped up the rule book. Witnessing the band in 1973 performing the title track of their first LP Lalibela, zoning out for nearly half an hour of extended motifs and cross-rhythmic grooves with the ensemble decked out in full colourful African costumes, could easily have brought on a revelation, even without any psychedelic substances. Their move from Ohio to San Francisco seems a fairly natural progression, as they set to work on their third LP Birth Speed Merging in the sun-drenched, acid-soaked capital of liberalism.

“San Francisco,” remembers Pyramids leader Idris Ackamoor, “in particular in the early 70s, was really known for mind expansion: mind expanding drugs, communal living and the psychedelic nature of the music. It was a little bit after the space race, and we were searching. Particularly in San Francisco people were searching for other ways of existence, whether it was the communal connection with the hippies, the free love movement or the mind expanding drugs, to transcend some of the negative things that were happening here on Earth and to reach out to something else.”

This sense of quest and discovery is at the heart of The Pyramids and what drives them. While their musicianship is perhaps more accomplished than it was back in the 70s, their exploratory drive is still as strong as ever. It’s the same drive that sent them to Africa in the first instance, and it set them apart from many of their contemporaries. Koki Emura of EM Records, one of the first to trigger the recent resurgence of interest in The Pyramids with his 2006 retrospective, asks:


“Do you know of any other African-American spiritual free jazz group from the late 1960s to early 70s, who had visited or stayed in African countries while still active in the US? When many people mentioned Mother Africa by calling for unity, revolution and recurrence? Even Pharaoh Sanders didn’t, as far as I know, but Idris Ackamoor and the Pyramids were one of a few, or perhaps the only group who actually visited their roots in those turbulent times. It should have given their performance a crucial difference from other jazz units in the US, no doubt. You can hear it in every direction of their music, and in the abstruse philosophy of their costumes.”

Back in the early 70s the band made use of their college program. They met at Ohio’s Antioch College, and began studying under visiting professor Cecil Taylor. The college had a strong tradition of activism and progressive political thought, as well as a pioneering senior year program called Antioch International Abroad, where students could use their tuition money to travel and study for nine months in foreign countries. “We went to Europe and played in Amsterdam and Paris,” percussionist Bradie Speller reminisces. “Then we travelled to Africa, where we gathered instruments, costumes, and melodies. It’s what really helped shape our music. Then when we came back to the United States, we had something no one else had before.”

For The Pyramids, the main way to empower the poor, and break the grip that America’s urban ghettos had over the mindset of its inhabitants, was to introduce a new set of rituals. Their live performances were directly inspired by their trips to Morocco, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia and Egypt, combining tribal rituals, with the sense of belonging they shared when playing with Cecil Taylor. “We were really like a family band,” Idris explains, “and about creating ritual on stage. We really departed from being a jazz band, we were different. Playing with Cecil, that was about creating community on stage, about ritual, magic and costume drama. It was very theatrical. It was in the same breath as Sun Ra.”

After a reunion concert in 2007 re-sparked The Pyramids’ musical friendships, they embarked on a European tour in 2010 and started a new chapter in their story. Unlike the cheque-book-driven tours that fuel many band reunions, The Pyramids point out that their re-assembly is all about the music. Speaking on the start of the tour, Bradie Speller said, “The core of The Pyramids are together again, and it’s the music that has brought us together. The cycle of time, the seeds that were planted over 30 years ago, have spouted and they’ve gotten strong. This is a very special moment, in musical history and in our own personal history, cause the music we’re about to do is gonna be fire!”


The exuberance and feeling of discovery that characterises their first three LPs hasn’t been tempered over time, but rather fine-tuned, and their constant search for new techniques and rhythms are put into practise on their recent fourth LP Otherworldly. It shows these musicians at their masterful best, combining styles and motifs that they’ve picked up over the decades and honed to fluent perfection.

There’s a definite nod to the Art Ensemble and their Dada-esque drama, especially on tracks like “Time Capsule”, with its mixture of flutes and whistles and percussion. But they can also create soundscapes that are wholly unique. On “Nebulosity”, a dense cloud of free guitar and electronic improvisation conjures up shimmering stardust from distant galaxies, while the beguiling “Boundless Eternities” sounds like the band were trapped inside Lord Quas’s bong, with pitched out chants amidst plucked strings and bubbling whistles. The album isn’t all mind-bending, reality-shifting tunings, though. “Memory Ritual”, which book-ends the record, harks back to classic 70s Pharaoh, with its modal bass motif and gentle groove that you could imagine the band stretching out for a whole week. And while they show they can even twist a simple funky backbeat into their own strange shapes, they still keep true to their mantra of creating music “to make the soul burst from the body.” In that respect, The Pyramids will stand as a testament to the incorporeal for many more decades to come.  (source)
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Bitter Blood Street Theatre Vol. 2 (1978)


Bitter Blood Street Theatre was a performance art troupe-slash-acid rock band from Cincinnati active in the early 1970s. Their music was a swirling dervish of bong-hitting psychedelia with slashing hard rock guitars and a penchant for exotic instrumentation, including a few saw solos.

The band were colourful kooks in Kiss-style masks, draped in capes and/or dominatrix outfits, and the ‘street theatre’ bit involved exactly that: extras culled from the local freak scene who would perform on stage with the band, or in the audience, or out on the sidewalk in front of the club. Perfomances would range from a guy in a wheelchair calmly eating live locusts out of a cigar box, to flashers showing their private bits to whomever caught their eye.

 The band played with all the heavy-hitters of the era and the area, from The MC5 to Alice Cooper (who, some believe, nicked a thing or two from Bitter’s stage performance), but never made any headway beyond Ohio’s borders. In 1975, the band were briefly part of the Columbia Records roster, but the exec who signed them was reportedly fired the same day, and the band was unceromoniously dropped.

They did manage to eke out one single in ’75, but the band broke up soon after, morphing into still-active ‘fringe-rock’ outfit, Blacklight Braille. In the late 70s, BBST mainman Tom Owen was able to cobble together the band’s various demo tracks and release them as a two-volume anthology. Both are now considered minor masterpieces of 70s weird-psyche. Sadly, no vintage footage of the band has surfaced yet, so we are left to imagine what it might be like to catch these pioneering maniacs live. (source)


Patrick McMahon - Drums, Wind Instruments
Richard Von Nida - Guitar, Vocals
Keb Jar - Bass, Soprano Saxophone
Luthor Lindenschmidt - Percussion
Eric "El Sandor" Waits - Lead Vocals, Keyboards, Percussion
T.H.O. Knight - Saw, Percussion, Producer
Gwenivere - Lead Vocals, Maracas
Fred R. Elig - Bass

Both Bitter Blood Street Theatre albums show up for sale often (as do those of their less “rock” offshoot band Blacklight Braille), so they must have had a pretty big local fan base. The band’s name implies some kind of cult ritual or performance art, but the “theatre” is limited to a couple of brief monologues and one song that’s recited rather than sung. This is straightforward rock with a few quirks (wild singing, some sax, a band member who plays a saw, which sounds a lot like a theremin.) Some of the guitar is pretty heavy; the rhythm guitars have a great punchy distortion sound that reminds me of the Stones’ “Monkey Man.” There are three vocalists, two men and a woman. All of them are reasonably distinctive, and the woman sounds pretty eerie when she sings backup. All of the elements are there for this to be a cool band. With maybe two exceptions, though, the songwriting is uninteresting. In the end, this is one of those albums that seems like it’s going to be really great but just isn’t. [AM]
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Angus - London (1996)


I rate it very high .Maurizio "Angus" Bitoli are From Italy (50years old now as they said). "London" lp has originally released as a tape (early 90's I think). Finaly released in lp at 1996 from the tapes . The sound isn't good . It's one of the worst soundrecording ever heard !! The problem is bigger because, the vinyl is very cheap, a bad press. But nothing can destroy the amazing music of Angus !!!! This lp remind me the story of MARIANI , a lost gem with bad sound & high colectable after decades. Maybe some of you known Angus as guitar player of FINGERNAILS. (source)
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Purba (2000)


Svyatoslav Ponomaryov has been known as a jazz musician, photographer and visual artist for many years. In the mid-2000s his interest in Tibetan culture resulted in the formation of a “theatre of Tibetan music” called Purba – also spelled as “Phurpa” and named after one of the five tutelary deities of the Father Tantra in the pre-Buddhist Bon tradition. Purba draws inspiration from both acoustic jazz, which Ponomaryov has been playing for years, and Bon. Performances feature a lot of exotic and unique instruments, such as dunchen telescopic tubes, gyaling flutes made of human bones, damaru double-drums, shang bells and nga – a drum of 1.5 meters in diameter, which Ponomaryov made from cow hide. Another highlight is Purba’s use of the rgyud-skad tradition of Tantric overtone chanting. 



Purba “Theatre of Tibetan music” - Live recording of an improvised performance – Tibetan music and experimental instruments called “ovaloids”. Recorded live in DOM, Moscow, February 12, 2000. Tracks 1-9 were composed and performed by Sviatoslav Ponomarev, Igor Yanchoglov, Vyacheslav Koleychuk and Stanislav Kreitchi. Tracks 10,11 wear performed by Sviatoslav Ponomarev, Igor Yanchoglov, Alexei Tegin. 
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Blondie - CBGB 23/12 (1976)


Debbie Harry - Vocals
Chris Stein - Guitar
Jimmy Destri - Keyboards
Gary Valentine - Bass
Clem Burke - Drums

This is an excellent early 2-setter from the home base. A fine recording that SKOTF got from the taper way back when. Tracks 5 and 16 , Euphony, it's a Gary Valentine song, which is why it never got recorded. The co-author is Lisa Persky who was Valentine's girlfriend. -"We started working with Peter Leeds, who had been Debbie's manager before. I didn't trust him from the moment I was him. Nobody asked him to, but he set up some gigs for us in LA and flew us out. At the Whiskey he came backstage and said he didn't think we should be doing a song I'd written called Euphony. I said, hang on, you're not our musical director. From that moment I'm sure he wanted me out."-
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Mr Bo Weavil - As A Striving Lonesome Bull (2013)



Mr Bo Weavil is the direct heir to Bo Weavil, once hailed as the best blues band in France by no less than Ben Harper. Matthieu Fromont has chosen to continue his musical voyage solo this time, writing all of the tracks of this new album. Matthieu also illustrates his instrumental proficiency on this As a Striving Lonesome Bull, playing guitar, bass, percussion, banjo, Jew's harp, flute and drum loops. A gifted alchemist, he throws into his blues mix a touch of rock, a pinch of rap, and a few drops of African gris-gris. A total success!
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Pete Seeger - American Folk Songs for Children (1954)


Pete Seeger, właśc. Peter Seeger (1919 - 2014) – amerykański piosenkarz i działacz polityczny. Dzięki niemu rozwinęła się Muzyka folkowa, był także pionierem protest songu w latach 50. i 60.. Jest najbardziej znany jako autor lub współautor utworów "Where Have All the Flowers Gone", "If I Had a Hammer" i "Turn, Turn, Turn", które zostały nagrane przez wielu artystów, zarówno tych spod znaku muzyki folk, jak i tych, którzy nie mają z nią nic wspólnego i które są śpiewane do dziś na całym świecie. "Flowers" były przebojem The Kingston Trio (1962), Marleny Dietrich, która śpiewała ten utwór po angielsku, niemiecku i francusku (1962) i Johnny'ego Riversa (1965), a w Polsce Sławy Przybylskiej (pod tytułem "Gdzie są kwiaty z tamtych lat"). "If I Had a Hammer" okazał się hitem w wykonaniu Peter, Paul and Mary (1962) i Trini Lopeza (1963). Amerykański zespół The Byrds spopularyzował zaś "Turn, Turn, Turn" w połowie lat 60. W 1996 Pete Seeger został wprowadzony do Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Miał korzenie niemieckie. Jego ojciec, Charles Seeger był muzykologiem i badaczem muzyki niepochodzącej z Zachodu. Rodzeństwo, Mike Seeger i Peggy Seeger również osiągnęli sukces jako muzycy. Brat przyrodni z kolei, Mike Seeger założył zespół New Lost City Ramblers. Sam Seeger uczył się w Avon Old Farms w Connecticut, a następnie na Harvard University, lecz opuścił go w połowie lat 30. będąc w drugiej klasie. W 1943 ożenił się z Toshi-Aline Oshtą (zm. 9 lipca 2013), której wsparcie – zdaniem samego Seegera – pozwoliło przeżyć artyście resztę życia. Z tego związku miał trójkę dzieci, Danny'ego, Mekę i Tinyę.

W późnych latach 30. i 40. – po tym jak opuścił Harvard, na którym studiował dziennikarstwo – Seeger spotkał i uległ wpływom wielu ważnych piosenkarzy, Woody'ego Guthriego czy Leadbelly'ego. Guthriego spotkał podczas "Gron gniewu", koncertu zorganizowanego dla robotników-imigrantów i niedługo po tym wydarzeniu dwójka zaczęła ze sobą współpracować.

Seeger był jednym z założycieli grupy folkowej The Almanac Singers z Woodym Guthrie i The Weavers z Lee Haysem i Ronniem Gilbertem. The Weavers odnosili znaczne sukcesy we wczesnych latach 50. zanim zostali wpisani na czarną listę podczas makkartyzmu. W 1954 Seeger został wezwany przed oblicze Komitetu do spraw ruchów antyamerykańskich, a potem, przez następne 17 lat, był bojkotowany przez publiczne media.


Seeger rozpoczął karierę solową w 1958 roku, znaną z utworów "If I Had a Hammer" (napisanym wspólnie z Lee Haysem), "Turn, Turn, Turn" (inspirowanym Księgą Koheleta) i "We Shall Overcome", zaczerpniętym z murzyńskich pieśni religijnych, który w latach 60. (z nowym już tekstem) stał się hymnem amerykańskiego Ruchu Praw Obywatelskich.

W latach 60., Seeger napisał klasyczną już książkę Jak grać na pięciostrunowym banjo, która sprawiła, że wiele osób zaczęło grać na tym instrumencie. Artysta wynalazł również tak zwane Seeger Banjo, które jest dłuższe od normalnego o trzy progi i nieco dłuższe od gitary basowej, posiada też nieco niższy dźwięk.

Początkowo Seeger był gorącym poplecznikiem Boba Dylana, lecz w 1965 roku, podczas Newport Folk Festival, gdy Dylan zaczął wprowadzać do muzyki folk dźwięki instrumentów elektrycznych, wpadł w furię i podobno wkroczył na scenę z siekierą, by porozcinać kable; sam Seeger wyjaśniał natomiast, że gdy odmówiono mu ściszenia aparatury, powiedział "Niech to wszyscy diabli, gdybym miał topór, poprzecinałbym te kable".

Seeger był członkiem Clearwater Group, organizacji założonej w 1966 roku, mającej na celu zwrócenie uwagi na zanieczyszczenie rzeki Hudson i podjęcie działań zmierzających do jego ograniczenia. W ramach tych działań, w 1969 po rzece zaczął pływać slup Clearwater, który raz służy jako sala lekcyjna, scena lub laboratorium, a jego załoga jest złożona z wolontariuszy. Seeger był znany ze swoich komunistycznych przekonań. Początkowo wysławiał nawet stalinowski Związek Radziecki, jednak po ujawnieniu zbrodni tego systemu, zaczął się od niego odżegnywać.


The eleven songs on this album were specifically selected from an identically titled book anthology of folk songs for children collected by Seeger's stepmother, Ruth Crawford Seeger. Pete Seeger renders them plainly and simply, singing and playing and banjo, on a program designed especially (but not solely) for children between three and seven years of age. "Jim Crack Corn," "Frog Went A-Courting," and "She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain" are some of the better-known tunes on the record, but not all of them are as overly familiar. It's been reissued on a single-disc CD that also includes a similar Pete Seeger album, 1962's American Game and Activity Songs for Children. --- Richie Unterberger
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Vzyadoq Moe - O Ápice (1988)


A highly original and fascinating rock band with a truly unique sound, Vzyadoq Moe was formed in the interior of the state of São Paulo in the late 1980’s. Their aggressive, dark and unpolished lo-fi sound is stark contrast to the usual overproduced and polished rock and pop music of that time. Appart from their hightly unique sound, the band's lyrics ( though decidedly odd) are heads and sholders above typical main stream rock lyrics. (greatbrazilianmusic)

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The Jitters (1980)



PK Dwyer - rhythm guitar & vocals
Donna Beck - vocals
Pete Pendras - lead guitar & vocals
Dave Hutchison - bass guitar & vocals
Rick Tassin - drums & vocals

Some call them "cow-punk ancestors of alt-country" others say "hey, it's original rock & roll that stands the test of time!"

Drooling over The Jitters . . .
Excerpt of original review by Grant Alden [review is from either The Seattle Sun or The Rocket early 1980 - probably The Sun] . . . "Now that the record is finally out, there is a real danger that I will slobber all over the newsprint trying to convey its merits, and end up with some sort of parochial platitude like 'it ain't bad for a local band.' Well, to hell with that noise. This album can get up and compete with any national product. Flat out, it's the best, most creative music to come out of Seattle since the Sonics -- the band responsible for 'Psycho' and 'The Witch' . . . Dwyer's songs, and the entire group's performance capture all that sidewalk exuberance, and the lyrics are just a whole lot of fun to listen to. The whole thing seems to be a wonderful amalgamation of folk, rock and blues tradition, fostered in an environment more conducive to fun than money".

The Jitters Gyrate . . .
Excerpt of album review by Scott McCaughey [I believe this review is from The Rocket early 1980] . . . "The Jitters aren't New Wave, but open-minded New wavers should like them (sez me), They're not country (well, there's some mixed in there), and they don't sound anything like an acoustic folk duo gone electric. P.K. Dwyer is not Bob Dylan, though he has sort of a strange voice and writes edgy lyrics to fairly basic music. Donna Beck is not Grace Slick -- there's no comparison (sorry Grace). The Jitters are a rock 'n' roll band with guts and a sense of humor; they play tight but not so damn 'professional' that each upcoming note is a foregone conclusion . . . The nine songs on The jitters are all brimming with this healthy attitude . . . a remarkable first album in every artistic sense . . . And despite the fact that just about every song deals with the neurotic and unfulfilled aspects of love, I get a lift each time I hear this album. That's not sick; that's the way it's supposed to work."

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Radio Moscow - 3&3 Quarters (2012)


Ostatnia płyta Radio Moscow to prawdziwa perełka z przeszłości. Przynosi potężną dawką, mocnego garażowego grania. nagrana w 2003 roku przez frontmana Parkera Griggsa. O ile do tej pory grupa przyzwyczaiła do mocno osadzonych w bluesie utworów - tu mamy do czynienia z zupełnie innym obliczem - z brudnym, prawdziwie punkowym brzmieniem spod znaku Count 5, The Sonics  i 13th Floor Elevators. Piękna sprawa.

The newest album features the oldest material from Radio Moscow. Noisy, lo-fi, garage rock played with passion.

Think of this album as the start of the big bang! Here, the building blocks of the Radio Moscow universe just begin to burst forth preluding the insane explosion that has created an absolutely brilliant band.

This is considered their ‘unreleased debut album’, a prequel I suppose.

Apparently, Parker Griggs, who basically was all there was of Radio Moscow at the time, recorded this album all by himself, playing all the instruments and, apparently designing the album cover as well. He began this project when he was 17, originally under the name Garbage Composal. I don’t know about you, but this fact impresses the hell out of me (the age/solo production thing, not the Garbage Composal part, although that is a cool name).


Now, it is a bit rough around the edges at times, but that’s part of this albums charm. Well, that, and some downright great songs. There is a whole lot of raw and loud wall-shaking garage music here, which makes sense seeing as it actually was recorded in a garage.

It has an almost completely live and off the cuff, one-take feel which is pretty amazing again seeing as it would be physically impossible to do this with just one guy. The vocals are nicely distorted and fuzzed out making them sound as though some serious damage is being done to Griggs’ tonsils. Tambourines are smashed to bits, guitars are chugged upon and cymbals are obliterated. Again, all very impressive seeing as it is just one dude doing all this damage.

Listening to this is like listening to Turbowolf, The Hives or The Hellacopters through a pair of ratty speakers from an Oldsmobile station wagon lifted from the trash can in the back of a pawn shop. Imperfectly perfect! Spotlessly dirty!

You can’t help but mention and make a few comparisons to The Black Keys who thankfully got Radio Moscow hooked up with indie garage/blues-rock/punk label Alive Records (who the Black Keys were previously signed with). Now, Radio Moscow have developed more of a stoner, psych-blues band sound and reputation on more recent (er, older?) albums (2007's “Radio Moscow”, 2009's “Brain Cycles” and 2011's “The Great Escape of Leslie Magnafuzz”?) and have about mastered that, partly through stunning guitar work by Griggs.

But on 3 & 3 Quarters it’s still pretty straight ahead rock with a ton of un-stoner-esque energy. These are brief, powerful, fun, songs played with passion and love.

Cherish them because this kind of stuff doesn’t come along often. And, there aren’t many Parker Griggs’ out there these days either. He and his band deserve all the attention and praise they can get. Go buy everything they’ve made! Now! --- Chris Hearn

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Phantasia - A Psychedelic By Phantasia (1971)


Demo press LP that very few had heard of before the first reissue appeared. Powerful UK-influenced psych/prog-rock with strong, heartfelt vocals, some long fuzz excursions and recurring folk influences. The band obviously put a lot of work into this totally pro-sounding affair, and it's strange that no label picked them up. The Austrian reissue is a bit screwed up as it features only about half the original LP, adding several inferior tracks from the Trizo 50 LP, which was a later incarnation of this band. This is unfortunate as the original demo LP plays through like a fully realized and very impressive album, which is lost in that rag tag reissue. The more recent WIS releases correct this." (Acid Archives)


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Rare Jazz. Fusion Gems From Czechoslovakian Vaults vol.2 (2000)


Ennio Styles  - Australia (Revolver Club/ RRR FM / modalforces.com)
With the latest instalment in the "Discoveries From the East" compilation series, selector and label boss Zeljko Kerleta again demonstrates an ear and a feeling for jazz which extends way beyond just the obvious hammond funk stompers. This was just as evident with his own music on the superb "Space Runner" album and you can hear in "Wizard" the connections and the influence which he carries through into his own productions. There's even a track here from Jazz Celula, who supplied sampler food for Kerleta's "From Island to Island". For me the real killer on this album is a hot mid-60s version of "Cubano Chant" by SHQ (who also appeared on volume 1) - jazz dance heaven. There's some nice mellow fusion cuts, of which Milan Svoboda's pretty "Wait For Me" is another highlight. And if you haven't yet heard Jazz Q's storming "Wizard" (aka "Carodej"), you're in for a real treat. My only quibble is that a couple of the harder fusion selections feature rock guitar solos which for my taste could have done with the re-ed it treatment. Interestingly, Kerleta translates the track titles into English, but it's certainly not an attempt to thwart eager collectors chasing the originals, since he's kind enough to give the original album titles and even catalog numbers. Between JCR and Cosmic Sounds, rare groovers and jazz lovers a getting a superb insight into the deep and unique Eastern European jazz scenes of the 20th century. I, for one, am grateful. Ennio Styles.

Dusty Groove Chicago
Excellent funky jazz work from Eastern Europe -- very much in the spirit of recent compilations on the Jazzanova label, or similar sets on Cosmic Sounds. The album collects sublime material from the vaults of Supraphon, a hip Czech label that cut records so cool they're beyond description. The 8 tunes on the set are a mixture of Latin jazz, big band grooves, and funky electric fusion -- but they all share a wonderfully fresh approach to arrangements, with modal bits hitting straighter jazz bits hitting choppy rhythmic grooving, in a blend so cool it'll have you digging through record shops for all things Czech. There's a lot of similar styles to some of the best 70s MPS work on the record -- and you can also hear the influence of the music on some of the current European groove scene

ECHOES magazine (April 2001, page 39) Elia Rulli
Volume 2 takes it's name from an amazing competition care of a collective called Jazz Q. Wizard is a kind of jazz-rock fusion with enough energy to power half of London. Amazing.
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F.J. McMahon - Spirit of The Golden Juice (1969)


On his sole, rare album, F.J. McMahon's style has been compared to a couple of other folk-rock singer/songwriters of the era, Tim Hardin and Fred Neil. Indeed, there are similarities, though they're not blatant. There's an understated, introspective quality to the compositions and the vocals, and a laconically bluesy flavor to some of the melodies and guitar work. McMahon's singing isn't as rich as Neil's and Hardin's, however, nor as sorrowful as Hardin's, and the production and arrangements are quite a bit more barebones. Nor are his songs as outstanding, or varied in flavor. Bringing up all these qualms is picking on him a bit; by the standards of LPs that were likely only heard by few local or regional listeners, it's above-average, and a pleasant enough fit for a slightly melancholy mood. --- Richie Unterberger


The first LP release produced by The Circadian Press, the brainchild of Sacred Bones printmaker Keegan Cooke. We could not be more proud to present F.J. McMahon’s only album, Spirit of The Golden Juice. This is the first faithful and fully licensed reproduction of the album originally released in 1969 on the Accent label. Pressed in a tiny quantity and scattered around the California coastline, Spirit of The Golden Juice has become a top item among collectors and folk/psych lovers alike. Its a spell-binding blend of heartfelt singer-songwriter emotion and spiraling acoustic guitar accompaniment, standing up proudly alongside heroes like Hoyt Axton, Kris Kristofferson, and Fred Neil, but with a raw and adventurous spirit all its own.

As his sole musical release, F.J. McMahon created one of the most emotionally compelling and cohesive albums ever. (source)
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Roy and The Devil's Motorcycle - Because Of Women (2006)


For the past 20 years, Roy and the devil's Motorcycle have been tenaciously and joyously doing their own thing. The 3 brothers picked up guitars and set out on a mission to set their, and our, little worlds on fire. All this time and attitude have given them a raw power, where reverb, distortion and harmonics swirl and boil, lurch and whip in the melting pot.

Initially, their influences seem obvious: old, dusty blues records, gospel, dirty garage, Spacemen 3, 13th Floor Elevators, the Velvets, Souled American, Gibson bros; but dig deeper and their love of free-running experimentalists like Lee "Scratch" Perry, Red Krayola and Godz becomes disorientatingly clear. After a few singles on the super-underground Record Junkie label, they unleashed their raging punk-blues FORGOTTEN MILLION SELLERS cult classic l.p. on the Swiss primitive Voodoo Rhythm label in 1998. Some maturing (and only a little mellowing) led to the scorched-earth soundtrack BECAUSE OF WOMEN in 2006. By this time they’d already been regularly touring across the continent, playing with the likes of Acid Mothers Temple, Sonic Boom/Spectrum, Black Lips, Disappears, Strange Boys, Psychic TV, and Martin Rev (SUICIDE).


Always self-made to the bone, cutting their own path at their home studio in rural Switzerland, the band released their 3rd album in spring 2012, TELL IT TO THE PEOPLE, a knife-cut crystalline transmission from the psychedelic world of Roys.

This LP caught the ears of J Spaceman and the band toured across Europe with Spiritulaized later that year. 2013 studio efforts concentrated on the soundtrack to Adrian Winkler's biopic about the original Swiss Hells' angel, "Tino, Frozen Angel". The film debuted in Feb 2014 and the soundtrack is out on Voodoo Rhythm later this year. (source)
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The Mood Mosaic Collection Vol.1-14 (1997-2011)



Vol. 2: Barnie's Grooves succeeds because it delivers a solid mix of soundtrack and easy listening cuts (plus the occasional soul track) that blend together nicely because they all have strong funk and jazz elements. Several of the tracks are studio-band covers of popular film and television themes: Henry Mancini takes the already-potent The Streets of San Francisco theme and transforms into a relentlessly grooving monster that switches back and forth between horn-driven funk and keyboard jazz without missing a beat, and Bobby Forrester does an interesting jazz version of the theme from Sanford & Son that uses the original theme's melody as a springboard for some tasty keyboard improvisations. There are also several strong original soundtrack cuts: Sammy Davis, Jr.'s classic "Baretta's Theme" finds that usually elegant crooner getting down over a surprisingly funky track driven by horns and a discoish bassline, while Alexandro Jodorowsky's "The Desert Is a Circle" is an epic, multi-part instrumental that covers everything from easy listening to jazz-funk as it restates its central, Ennio Morricone-styled theme in a variety of ways. Mood Mosaic, Vol. 2: Barnie's Grooves also features the occasional straightforward soul cut; the best of these is Jimmy Smith's "Root Down," a classic jazz instrumental whose throbbing bassline and scratching rhythm guitar riffs were later sampled by the Beastie Boys. This diverse batch of tracks hangs together nicely thanks to their similar reliance on jazz and funk mannerisms, making the disc a fun and consistently engaging listen from start to finish. As a result, Mood Mosaic, Vol. 2: Barnie's Grooves is one of the best volumes in this series and a treat for lounge fans who like their lounge music funky.--- Donald A. Guarisco


vol. 3: After two volumes' worth of straightforward lounge tunes, the Mood Mosaic compilation series pushed in a more adventurous direction on its third installment. Mood Mosaic, Vol. 3: The Sexploitation makes for a highly amusing listen because it is dedicated to erotic music; that is, sleazy-sounding lounge music and soundtrack cuts used for the love scenes in exploitation movies. As one might expect, several of these cuts incorporate orgasmic female moaning into their sonic attack: "Continental Exchange" is a Sounds Nice cut that paces its funky combination of wah-wah guitar and swirling organ licks with the sound of a woman's amorous-minded heavy breathing, and Ray Brown's amusingly titled "Coming and Going" is a guitar-led slice of light funk that prominently features the sound of a woman driving herself into an erotic frenzy while the band jams along behind her. Other cuts present a different but no less sexy take on the album's concept: "Good Time Woman" by Dan Seepers Soul spices up its horn-drenched soul by throwing in a female chorus that romantically coos along with the melody and De Giafferi's unhinged "Sado Maso" features a man raving in French about the titular subject while sweet female voices back him up. Despite these amusing tracks, Mood Mosaic, Vol. 3: The Sexploitation doesn't entirely succeed because some of its cuts fail to fit the concept. Clay Pitts' "Caribbean Sunrise" is a pleasant bossa nova track that lacks the erotic elements of the other tracks and Lil Louis' "French Kiss" is a techno track whose purely electronic style makes it stand out like a sore thumb amongst the band-driven tracks that surround it. However, the majority of Mood Mosaic, Vol. 3: The Sexploitation works and the rare nature of most of its tracks ensures that it will appeal to hardcore lounge fanatics.--- Donald A. Guarisco


Vol. 4: After a couple of volumes that pursued specific themes, the Mood Mosaic lounge series returned to a grab-bag approach on its fourth installment. Thankfully, it is a good grab bag. Mood Mosaic, Vol. 4: Les Yper Sound contains everything from bossa nova and jazz to synth-spiked soul and psychedelic pop, but it works nicely because the cuts are all catchy and share a pleasant, easy listening feel despite their differing genres. Highlights in the jazz vein include "Sound Machine," a smooth Oliver Nelson cut whose stately, horn-led melody periodically breaks for some nice electric piano solos, and an elegant, sax-driven version of "The Look of Love" by Stan Getz. In the psychedelic arena, some of the best cuts are Peter Thomas' organ-fuelled instrumental reworking of "Jumpin' Jack Flash," and "Bond Street," an Enoch Light cut that spices up its peppy, easy listening version of this Bacharach instrumental with bleeping synthesizers and some wild stereo-separation effects. There are also plenty of tracks with a bossa beat, the best being Connie Francis' "Bossa Nova Hand Dance," a tune that finds the vocalist slickly crooning in both Spanish and English, and an instrumental version of "Mas Que Nada," by John Scott, that replaces the vocal melody with a combination of slick organ leads and jazzy horns. There's also the occasional fun novelty; the most amusing is Gary McFarland's "Bloop Bleep," which features the vocalist complaining about the sleep-thwarting sound of a dripping faucet while the band grooves along behind him in a Latin jazz style. In short, Mood Mosaic, Vol. 4: Les Yper Sound is an eclectic batch of delights, but they all flow into each other because all the cuts benefit from the tight, pop-flavored arrangements and the slick production that defines the best lounge music. As a result, Mood Mosaic, Vol. 4: Les Yper Sound is a worthwhile spin for anyone who enjoys lounge music in all its diverse forms.--- Donald A. Guarisco


Vol. 5: 1997 release, the fifth in this series of campy remakes of cult TV & film themes from the '70s. Subtitled 'Supervixens- A '70s Modal Collection', it features 11 tracks fromEuropean porno flicks of the day. The cover contains female nudity. 1997 Yellowstone Records release. Full color pictureCD. After putting out four volumes of lounge-oriented music, the compilers of the Mood Mosaic compilation series did an abrupt about-face on their fifth installment. Mood Mosaic, Vol. 5: Supervixens -- A '70s Modal Collection is radically different from its predecessors because it abandons lounge entirely to concentrate on disco. However, this doesn't mean it features tracks like "Heart of Glass" and "Y.M.C.A."; instead, Mood Mosaic, Vol. 5: Supervixens -- A '70s Modal Collection focuses on a series of obscure, lengthy tracks that will probably be known only to veteran clubgoers. Sadly, obscure doesn't always mean lost gem and this is the case with the often-inconsistent track listing of this compilation. The first half of the album is loaded down with run-of-the-mill disco tracks: Marta Acuna's "Dance Dance Dance" suffers from a repetitive melody and a weak, wobbly-sounding lead vocal, while Hiroshima's "Lion Dance" is a snoozy bit of jazz-disco that relies too much on the novelty overdubbing koto solos over a throbbing dance beat. Despite these frequent dull spots, patient listeners will be rewarded with a few solid disco gems if they can make it to the second half: Black Devil's "Follow Me" combines rhythmic programmed synthesizer and live drums in a way reminiscent of Giorgio Moroder, and Sylvia's "The Lollipop Man" is a sexily voiced and charmingly over-the-top tribute to television detective Kojak. Unfortunately, choice moments like these pop up too infrequently on this compilation and are surrounded by too much dancefloor filler. As a result, Mood Mosaic, Vol. 5: Supervixens -- A '70s Modal Collection can only be recommended to disco completists and will probably leave the lounge fans who bought the series' other volumes cold. ~ Donald A. Guarisco











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Art Of Primitive Sound - Musical Instruments From Prehistory (1993)


Walter Maioli (Milan, 1950) is an Italian researcher, paleorganologist, poly-instrumentalist and composer. Specialized in experimental archaeology and music, in particular that of archaic civilization. He has been researching the music of antiquity and prehistory for more than thirty-five years. Always interested in the music of the Mediterranean, he has gone on journeys to discover the folkloristic Italian and Mediterranean traditions learning the Arabic, African, Oriental, and European music since the beginning of the seventies.

In 1972 he founded the pioneer world music group Aktuala group, dedicated to folkloristic African and Asian music.

In the eighties Walter Maioli’s researches focused on the field of prehistoric instruments, his work was presented at the Archaeological Symposium of Amsterdam for the opening of the Den Haag Museum. In 1987 he prepared the Natural Art Laboratory of Morimondo in the Ticino Park, working on the Art of the Nature, publishing books on the subject for the Jaca Book: “Origins, sounds and music”, and for Giorgio Mondadori: “Orchestra of the Nature”.

In 1991 he displayed the collection called “The Origins of Musical Instruments” to the History of Nature Museum in Milan and presented “Art of the Stars” sounds for the planetarium, at Ulrico Hoelpi Civic Planetarium in Milan in collaboration with Fiorella Terenzi. Starting in 1994, for one and a half years he was coordinating the musical part of the Archeon Archaeological Theme Park in Alphen aan den Rijn in the Netherlands, producing the CD called “200.000 years in music”.

In 1995 he founded Synaulia, a team of musicians, archeologists, paleorganologists, and choreographers dedicated to the application of their historical research to ancient music and dance, in particular to the ancient Etruscan and Roman periods, carrying out an intense activity of conferences, seminars, and concerts in Europe, in particular in the Netherlands and Germany. In Italy, some of his performances were presented on archaeological sites such as Mausoleo di Augusto, Mercati Traianei, Terme di Diocleziano, Ostia Antica, Villa Adriana, Preneste, Pompei and Stabia, with the scope of recreating the sound atmosphere and executive context of the Roman age. When Michael Hoffman (American director), chose the Synaulia group to participate in the shooting of the movie A Midsummer Night's Dream in 1998, Walter Maioli took care of the reproduction of the musical instruments.

Among the collaborations of Walter Maioli and Synaulia, there are performances with Giorgio Albertazzi: “Eros voglio cantare”, “Intorno a Dante”, and “Mammi, Pappi e Sirene in Magna Grecia, and the music composition for the first two episodes of the television program on TV RAI 2 “Albertazzi e Fo raccontato la storia del teatro italiano”.

Two songs of Synaulia were used in Gladiator, directed by Ridley Scott.

Walter Maioli and the Synaulia took care of the musical parts of Rome of BBC-HBO, Empire of ABC and the New Line Cinema’s Nativity (2006), let alone other documentaries of the BBC, CNN, Japanese TV, Discovery Channel, National Geographic Society and experimental archaeological videos for the RAI, CNN, Museo Nazionale Etrusco of Villa Giulia in Rome and other museums in Germany. From November 2007 Walter Maioli with the Fondazione Ras has started the laboratory “Synaulia in Stabiae” in Castellamaare di Stabiae.
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Philipa And John Cooper - The Cooperville Times (1969)


This South African psych-pop rarity was buried so far beneath the drifts of history that even the skilled archivists of the Shadoks label had a hell of a time digging up the original recordings for reissue. Recorded right in the psychedelic sweet spot of 1968 and released the following year, The Cooperville Times is the only album by brother-and-sister duo John & Philipa Cooper. It blends the pop and folk ends of the ‘60s U.K. psych spectrum, with John leaning toward the former and Philipa toward the latter as they alternate lead vocals (there's not a lot of two-part harmony on the album). All the hallmarks of the paisley-patterned era are here -- Baroque bits of harpsichord accompaniment, pastoral flute lines, tremolo guitar -- just the sort of touches guaranteed to make psych collectors foam at the mouth. And in a genre where obscurities sometimes tend to remain obscure for a reason, The Cooperville Times proves to be a quality piece of work, with John Cooper's songcraft standing apart from the pack. And while he's got a strong melodic sense with memorable hooks to spare, his lyrics are particularly meritorious; on the surface, they seem to delve into the trippy, canyons-of-your-mind territory so common to psychedelia, but a closer listen reveals that Cooper has a well-developed sense of poetic imagery, and a gift for surreal settings. When he sings about the "Man in a Bowler Hat," for instance, he's in keeping with the surrealist tradition of the legendary Magritte painting that is the song's namesake. And though he's an effective singer, things take a particularly striking turn when his sister steps up to the microphone; her haunting vocal style is very much in line with the work of contemporaneous U.K. psych-folk sirens like Jill Child of Midwinter and Alison O'Donnell of Mellow Candle. --- James Allen


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Musikalische Gruppen - Improvisation (1971)


An experimental LP recorded in Germany 1971 to 1973, released 1974. Some say MUSICAL GROUP IMPROVISATION is the great lost third ANNEXUS QUAM album, but we also have members of KOLLEKTIV and BRÖSELMASCHINE here...among other very seriously improvising musicians from very different backgrounds. Together they demonstrate how it should be done. Jamming without illicit drugs! (In the daylight anyway...) 

Produced for the use at secondary schools and universities by The Study Group Musik North-Rhine Westphalia, on authority of The Ministry Of Work, Health And Social Affairs, Düsseldorf. A CD-reissue of this rare artefact is long overdue, but the mastertapes seem to be lost, and it took us half a lifetime to find a mint vinyl copy. 

The sessions, or weekend workshops, were led and co-ordinated by Harald Klemm between 1971 and 1973. The improvisations were either totally free, or inspired by shown paintings and projected colour slides of landscapes. Nr.7 is an outdoor recording wiih panting dogs and chirping birds. An all instrumental album, except for some ethereal, non-verbal femal voices. A certain affinity to the second album of Annexus Quam is obvious, but there also are moments that remind of a less aggressive, more disciplined Limbus, a less classically trained Between, Popol Vuh without the religious ambitions and a lot more. Draw your own conclusions, put up your own list of comparabilities and let us know about it in the comments. 

PETER and MARITA BURSCH (BRÖSELMASCHINE), KLAUS DAPPER (KOLLEKTIV, BRÖSELMASCHINE,GLATTER WAHNSINN), JÜRGEN HAVIX (KOLLEKTIV), HARALD KLEMM, HANS KÄMPER, GABRIELE and PETER WERNER (ANNEXUS QUAM) Plus:
KARL GODEJOHANN -WERNER SCHERMEIER - JOHANNES HOBBING - EDWIN STILLER - ANKE and GERHARD LISKEN - MARGRET BREUKELGEN -  MARGRET CONZELMANN - BRIGITTE GÖBEL - MICHAEL GOEDECKE - ROLAND GRÄBE  -JOHANNES HOBBING - EGON HUNEKE -  GERLINDE PAULUS - WILHELM SCHULZ - UWE NIEPEL 
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Alexis Korner - New Generation Of Blues (1968)


A basically competent, though hardly enthralling, effort from the British bluesman that alternates between minimal, acoustic-flavored production and fuller arrangements with jazzy touches of flute and upright bass. Korner wrote about half of the material, leaving the rest of the space open for R&B/blues covers and adaptations of traditional standards. "The Same for You" has a strange, ever-so-slight psychedelic influence, with its swirling flute, fake fadeout, and odd antiestablishment lyrics. Korner's voice is (and always would be) a tuneless bark, but it sounds better here than it did on the first album to prominently feature his vocals (I Wonder Who, 1967). As such, this album is one of the best representations of Korner as a frontman. --- Richie Unterberger

Alexis Korner: vocals, electric guitar
Ray Warleigh:
Danny Thompson: string bass
Steve Miller: piano
Terry Cox: drums

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The Orient Express (1969)


The Orient Express' sole LP from 1969 stands today as an early experiment in world fusion - and a pretty successful one at that, at least artistically. Guitarist Guy Duris is a Frenchman who became enamored with the oud, a classical Arabian guitar. Belgian Bruno Giet is a bass player with a rock background. Iranian Farshid Golesorkhi is an award-winning percussionist in the Persian tradition. As a trio, they only left 35 minutes for posterity, but these minutes are filled with interesting ideas and kitschy songs, all originals. All three men sing in English, with an accent so thick most lyrics become undecipherable (and, from the bits you can make out, they don't seem worth deciphering), but the songs are quite good and very positive: "Dance with Me" features greatly ornamented vocals Arab-style, while "A Little Star" and "For a Moment" are straightforward pop songs of their time, albeit with dumbek battling the drum kit for percussive prominence, and sitar providing a background texture. Duris and Golesorkhi get solo features ("Layla" and "Impulse (Forty-Two Drums)" respectively), and "Azaar" is a canon song. The other tracks are instrumentals ranging from Indian-tinged psychedelic tunes to crosses between French pop and Middle-Eastern classical music. The Orient Express uses a lot of the clichés associated with Middle-Eastern music, except that these were not cliché yet back in 1969 and they are being used here in good faith. It explains why this LP still sounds fresh and exciting today. (amg)

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G.I. Gurdjieff - Improvisations (2011)


"Gorgeous harmonium improvisations from 1949 by Georges Ivanovitch Gurdjieff a Greco-Armenian mystic and philosopher who was an influential spiritual teacher of the early to mid-20th century who taught that the vast majority of humanity lives their entire lives in a state of hypnotic "waking sleep," but that it was possible to transcend to a higher state of consciousness and achieve full human potential.

These harmonium improvisations date from his last musical period, during which these improv sessions took place following dinners Gurdjieff held in his Paris apartment during the Nazi Occupation and the immediate post-war years. (psychicsounds)

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Sisters - The Mono (2012)


Dwóch poszukujących muzyków Raphael Rogiński i dj Lenar, którzy raczej z tradycjonalistycznym, jazzforumowym środowiskiem mają mało wspólnego, prezentują płytową odsłonę projektu, znanego dotąd tylko z koncertów.

Współpraca Rogińskiego z didżejem Lenarem to zetknięcie się dwóch stylów muzycznych. Alternatywny turntablizm konfrontuje się z awangardową gitarą elektryczną. Są to międzygatunkowe poszukiwania i improwizacja na styku muzyki instrumentalnej oraz muzyki opartej o dynamiczne post-hiphopowe przetwarzanie sampli na gramofonach.

Płyta duetu Sisters "The Mono" powstała jakby na przekór tym, którzy twierdzą, że muzyce jazzowej bliżej dzisiaj do świata sztuki akademickiej niż do tej aktualnie powstającej. Pomysł projektu powstał po koncercie w ramach imprezy "Deckonstrukcji" (warszawskiego cyklu warsztatów i koncertów muzyki alternatywnej konfrontujących muzyków instrumentalnych i elektronicznych). dj Lenar (Meritum, Pink Freud), jego gramofony i loopstacja to dynamicznie "zeskreczowana" sekcja rytmiczna, sonorystyka avanturntablismu oraz plądrofonia muzyki etnicznej. Raphael Rogiński (Shofar, Cukunft, Żydowski Surf) na gitarze elektrycznej uzupełnia całość harmonią i melodią czerpiącą z tradycji jazzu oraz muzyki ludowej związanej z kulturą amerykańską i żydowską.

Wszystko dzieje się tu bardzo powoli, muzycy doskonale czują się w zwartej, oszczędnej i precyzyjnej formie, kilkoma dźwiękami zarysowują wyraziste, sugestywne światy, a każda z kompozycji jest przekonująca, pełna i satysfakcjonująca.

Nieposkromiona wyobraźnia Rogińskiego i Lenara raz po raz rozsadza ramy realności, przenosząc słuchacza to w świat snów, to marzeń, to czystej surrealnej fantazji. (serpent)


It must be quite a challenge walking into a recording session, looking directly across the room, and seeing nothing but a set of eyes and cables, lots and lots of cables linking and powering electronics of every possible conceivability. Compared to all the firepower that DJ Lemar (turntablist) brings to the sonic soup, Raphael Roginski (guitar) is relatively effect free mostly relying on a clean tone to cut through whatever he is faced with. It must have been similar to what Garry Kasparov saw when he sat down to face Deep Blue; seemingly unlimited moves to defend against by a machine with it's programmer looking on.

But it isn't as cut and dry as that. Like a well seasoned and experienced musician playing a traditional instrument, DJ Lemar's muscle control and speed in changing a mood as the song dictates is up there with anybody while never letting the machines control him. He is molding the arrangement with a confident hand the same as Roginski is doing with his guitar, and considering the nature of duos, this is a positive arrangement.

Despite Lenar's turntables, samplers, and loopers, there is a personalized sound coming from all the machines. He uses a vinyl scratch effect on multiple tracks very effectively, grounding the listener in the familiar. From here he adds his own flare. On the opening number, Wait Till The End, for example, he uses orchestral samples to give it a bright ending. On Windmill Love, his percussion manipulation is the track's excitement. Roginski keeps it all in the pocket as Lemar ramps the drum's tempo until it becomes a single sound.

Roginski very much has his own voice. Whether it be recreating a tone from a spaghetti  western soundtrack, Can I Die With You? or experimenting with some simple effects of his own like the very understated Death Left On Pavement.

They save the best for last as both musicians come together to stretch the blues as far as they can take it. It is on Between Zone Settler, that a thin twangy guitar meets a processed vocal full of pain and hurting mixed over a bed of rumbling beats. The voice gets shifted in both time and pitch squeezing everything out of it. Sometimes making it sound more human, sometimes less. The guitar keeps to a relative blues blueprint but emotionally keeps up with the vocal with ease.

This recording was not the man versus machine battle I was first expecting. When it comes to expectations in music, it is sometimes really good to be wrong. There was no winner here or "I told you so", just an album I found myself putting on again and again, and  with each listen appreciating just what a DJ can bring to this type of setting. A musically satisfying stalemate as it were. (freejazzblog)
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Pip Proud - Eagle-wise (1968-69)


If any Australian performer of the Sixties deserves the description "cult figure", it's Sydney singer-songwriter-poet Philip "Pip" Proud (b. 1947). Among his fans are Ian McFarlane, who likens him to Britain's legendary Syd Barrett and American Tom Rapp (Pearls Before Swine). One of his most ardent champions is Sydney writer-musician David Nichols (The Cannanes), who describes Pip as "Australia's first pop primitive" and hails him as "the greatest Australian singer-songwriter of the 1960s". In the late Sixties Pip was touted as Australia's answer to Bob Dylan, but this was a simplistic comparison. Nichols suggests a commonality with other distinctive solo artists like Nick Drake, Richard Thompson, Melanie, Donovan and Sandy Denny, but perhaps more so with some of the 'underground' artists of the last 10-15 years:

"He was, of course, twenty-five years ahead of his time. Listen to Lou Barlow's Sentridoh, or the Folk Implosion's Kidssoundtrack. Listen to other cutting-edge U.S. artists like The Mountain Goats, Beck, Guided By Voices or The Spinanes. Or listen to New Zealand's Alistair Galbraith, such a Proud fan he led off his 1994 Cluster EP with a song called "Pip Proud". Then listen to Pip Proud and tell us he doesn't fit so snugly with those sounds it's almost uncanny."

Pip's style was unique. He wrote strange, plaintive song-poems about modern urban life and love, which he sang in his distinctive high, quavering voice. What made his recordings really stand out was that he accompanied himself by strumming or tapping on the strings of his unamplified electric guitar. Italian music writer Piero Scaruffi describes Pip's songs as

"... bizarre, childish rants of an hallucinated mind, accompanied by an out-of-tune guitar and paced at irregular tempos. The only precedent was the acid-folk music of the Holy Modal Rounders."

Like Syd Barrett, Pip recorded two remarkable solo Albums of original music in the late Sixties -- which now fetch hundreds of dollars apiece on the collectors' market -- and then he more or less disappeared from view. But interest in his remarkable music was kept alive by a dedicated few, and in the mid-1990s his musical career was revived, thanks largely to the efforts of super-fan David Nicholls. We are delighted to report that, since then, Pip has recorded and released several CDs of new music, which have gained international release.

Information about Pip's life and career is scant. What we know so far is that Pip was born in Adelaide and moved to Sydney in his late teens, where he began creating a large body of poetry, songs, novels and plays and also -- like most of his contemporaries -- became involved in the anti-war movement. Ca. 1967 he was 'discovered' by stockbroker and art patron Michael Hobbs, who financed Pip's first recording, the privately-recorded album De Da De Dum. It was released on the Grendel label, and apparently only about fifty copies were pressed, which must qualify it as one of the rarest and most collectible of all Australian recordings of that era.

Fortunately for posterity, Pip's album was heard by Bob Cooley, A&R manager at Phonogram Records (the Australia branch of what later became the Polygram group). He was impressed by the unqiue qualities of Pip's music and signed him to the Philips label. Pip's first commercial LP was a re-recording of the songs from his debut album, released in 1968 under the title Adrenaline and Richard . It was well-reviewed in Go-Set which led to Pip making a few TV appearances and giving a handful of live performances.

Another person who became fascinated with Pip's music was Sydney artist and underground filmmaker Garry Shead, who was part of the now-legendary Ubu film collective. There are several connections between Hobbs and Shead -- Hobbs had purchased Shead's portrait of fellow filmmaker Albie Thoms, which had been exhibited at the 1968 Royal Easter Show in April (it is now in the collection of the the Wollongong City Art Gallery), and he later financed Shead's film Live Between Evil.


With backing from Hobbs, Shead made a 15-minute experimental film documentary about Pip, also called De Da De Dum. It was shot in early 1968 with a crew drawn from the cast of Terror Australis. This experimental theatre production, which had premiered at the Jane St Theatre in Sydney in March that year, featured a number of future "big names" of Australian arts, including Shead, furture film/TV stars Garry McDonald, Helen Morse, Jennifer West, Dean Letcher, Johnny Allen (who went on to organise the 1973 Aquarius Festival), Jim Sharman and Oz co-editor Richard Walsh.

The publicity sheet for the film is reproduced in Peter Mudie's brilliant 1997 book on Ubu:

"This experimental documentary observes Pip and his constant companion Alison in a variety of settings which project Pip's attitudes to urban life. Slow, fast and single frame filming are used, and some images are drawn on and punctured. Pip sings his own songs on the sound track."

The film was completed in May 1968 and it premiered on 16 May at the (now demolished) Rose Bay Wintergarden cinema as part of a program of underground films by American filmmaker Bruce Conner, which also featured new Australian works including De Da De Dum, Matuta (the debut film by renowned director Paul Cox), and Bruce Petty's anti-war film Hearts and Minds, which Petty had been unable to get screened on Australian TV. This event was a major success, with over 1600 people attending, and the De Da De Dum was also screened as part of Ubu's "Underground 68" program at the Playhouse Theatre in Canberra on June 27-28.

Some time during this period Pip formed a band, The Pip Proud Group, and he recorded his second solo album A Bird In The Engine, which was released in 1969. He then travelled to the UK, apparently on the promise of a possible signing to The Beatles' Apple Records. But like so many other Australian musos of the time, his sojourn in the UK was a frustrating period spent living on the breadline, waiting and working for breaks that never came his way. On his return to Australia he was dropped by Philips, effectively ending his recording career, and it would be more than 25 years before he returned to the studio.

During the '70s Pip continued to write, producing poems, novels and plays, and around 1970-71 he was living in Sydney in the same building as his friend, noted 'underground' poet Michael Dransfield. Most of Pip's work remains unpublished, but in the late 1970s the ABC's rock station Double Jay produced radio adaptations of two of his plays, Vlort Phlitson, Intergalactic Trouble Shooter and Don Coyote and presumably these are preserved in the ABC archives.

Nothing else was heard from Pip until the mid-1990s, when he was tracked down by David Nichols. With the help of Nic Dalton, the wonderful Half A Cow label remastered and reissued Pip's two Albums as the CD Eagle-Wise, which was released in July 1996. Nichols and Dalton also took Proud into the studio for his first new recordings in since 1969, which resulted in the album Oncer, which also received a US release on the Emperor Jones label.

By this time Pip was a father of five, living on the north coast of NSW; since then he has apparently moved to Healesville, on Melbourne's eastern fringe. Over the last ten years Pip has released several more CDs in collaboration with other artists and most released on the Emperor Jones label. (milesago)
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