Friday, 30 April 2010

The Electric Flag - The Trip (1967)

The Trip was the first album recorded by The Electric Flag and their only Soundtrack.
The first idead to make the film came from Peter Fonda and Jack Nicholson (Who wrote the script). It didnt turn out the way they wanted, but its still a big cultural reference to anyone who likes the 60's. A guy decides to take a trip (Peter Fonda) and goes to a LSD guru to help him do it. He ends up running away and have a trip in the middle of the town.
"Peter's Trip" opens the album, it's a great song, very groovy. It has a great melody and the music is very well played. "Psyche Soap" was made in the fashion of old radio advertisements, i dont quite enjoy but it has some nice lyrics. "M-23" is quite beautiful, very calm with some weird sounds in the back and a slow guitar solo. Violin's are not a common instrument in rock music, "Synesthesia"'s mainly interest is the sad violin that cries throughout the song. "Hobbit" i guess (only guessing, not sure) that this is the part where the black riders appear during the movie. Thats a nice scene lol, the music is just some weird Synthesizer sound, soundtrack like. "Green & Gold" guitar work is pretty good, Mike Bloomfield is a great guitarist. "Flash' Bam' Pow'", Insane synthesizer and powerful drum beats. Soon afters he runs away (Fonda) he enters a bar and the band is playing this "Practise Music", the main focus of the song is the guitar again. "Fine Jug Thing" is the longest song in the album reaching 7 minutes, an awesome jam.
Only "Psyche Soap" had vocals on the album, the rest is all instrumental. Its Worth the time spent on listening it. The movie is also great, if you like the 60's youll like it.

The Electric Flag:
- Bobby Notkoff - Violin
- Peter Strazza - Sax(Tenor)
- Paul Beaver - Synthesizer
- Barry Goldberg - Organ, Harpsichord, Piano
- Nick Gravenites - Guitar, Vocals
- Harvey Brooks - Bass
- Marcus Doubleday - Trumpet, Flugelhorn
- Buddy Miles - Percussion
- Mike Bloomfield - Guitar

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Wednesday, 28 April 2010

Stoned Circus - Revisited (1970)

Revisited was the first and only album by the Psychedelic band Stoned Circus (not to confuse with Stone Circus, i did that mistake, listened to Stone Circus before i found out this was what i was looking for).
This album was lost for some time but was discovered in 1994 when it was re-released. The male-female duet is very simillar to Jefferson Airplane, so anyone who loves Grace|Balin i advide listening to it. They have been touring Europe and America after many years inactive.
The album opens with "Gotta Find A Way" one of the strongest songs in the album, we dont listen to the womens voice yet. it has a great beat and a nice guitar solo. The next song "Feel" was the first song i heard from them, i especially like the part when they're singing Barabaraba... "Try Love" starts with a kick-ass guitar work and her voice, in this song i always get to think of Janis Joplin voice, the back vocals are also very good. "New World" has some really beautiful flower power lyrics, about a new world formed on the basis of Peace, Love and Justice. "Sweet Lovin´" returns with the male voice. "Instrumental" is, as the name tells, an instrumental piece, with some very good guitar, organ and percussion works. The song Led Zeppelin popularized "Gonna Leave You", is one of the highlits of the album, the song is much calmer than Zeppelin's take.
Great psychedelic album!

Stoned Circus:

Johnny Isom - Guitar, Back-Vocals
Nancy Lake Whedon - Back-Vocals, Percussion
Donna Kurtz Nugent - Drums, Percussion
Richard Van Sant - Keyboards, Keybass, Vocals
Joe York - Keyboards, Vocals
Harald Haney - Bass, Vocals

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The District Six - Unreleased Songs (1966-1967)

This are the only songs recorded by The District Six.
There isnt much information (none i mean) about The District Six. We only know they were a cover band. All their songs appear in the compilation CD The Psychedelic Sixties, Volume 6. . Still they recorded enough to release a nice album. I heard them in Technicolor Web Of Sound.
"She Cried No" the 'Album' starts well, the singer is pretty good and the musicians know how to play their thing. The drums are especially well here. "7 + 7 Is", a Love song, this song is quicker than the original, i think i like it better than the original. "Remember" is a really nice ballad. The Jewel of the all thing is the instrumental "Pandora's Golden Heebee Geebie" by the
The Association, its just a great psychedelic tune. "Everybody Needs Somebody (To Love)" is quite strong also, really groovy song. I love the way they start playing very slow at the middle of "Turn On Your Love Light" and then return with renewed power. There are some nice back-vocals in "Come On Up" and a great guitar work in "Show Me". "More" is a fantastic psychedelic instrumental. It's really great with some nice organ work.
Theres no image or name to tell\show you soooo... i guess you just have to download and listen.

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Tuesday, 27 April 2010

Hookfoot - Hookfoot (1970)

Hookfoot is the first album by Elton John's backing band Hookfoot.
There isnt much information about them. they never got successful.
"Bluebird" a cover from Stephen Stills (a major success for Buffalo Springfield) opens the album. It is much heavier than the original, with some nice arrangements and some great guitar solos and riffs. I think that the best thing about"Mystic Lady" is the vocals, theres something magical about them, again a great guitar work by Quaye. "Movies" has a delicious rhythm guitar and vocals, one of my favourite songs right now. "Nature Changes" is much on the style of Buffalo Springfield. "Wim Wom" is a 3 minutes jazz instrumental, its very different from the previous songs, but shows how good the musicians were. Neil Young has a song covered in this album, "Don't Let It Bring You Down" it may be abit more rocking than the original, but even if you dont know the song (i knew) youll recognise it as being a Young's song. In "Golden Eagle" we return to the Jazz style, it has a really cool piano, and the guitars effect is really superb. If theres any expert in guitars could you please let me know what effect was he using here please.
The cover picture features Pope and Duck sitting rather bored in an odd looking house.

Hookfoot:
- Ian Duck - Vocals, Harmonica, Guitar
- Dave Glover - Bass
- Roger Pope - Drums, Percussion
- Caleb Quaye - Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals

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Sunday, 25 April 2010

Hoover - Hoover (1969)

Hoover is the first album by the American Folk musician Hoover.
Hoover wrote and composed all the songs, his the only player in the album, playing the guitar and singing. He later left the music industry and became a writer.
"I'll Say My Words" starts the album with a great guitar line, it is a great mood, everything is cool, the music seems to say. "Leave That For Memories" has many simillarities with Nick Drake. "Kommst Du Doch Mit Mir (Come With Me)" is a great song, one of the best in the album. "All That Keeps Ya Going" has alot of Bob Dylan in it. In "I'm Not That Kind Of Man" instruments start to join in as the music goes along, creating a crescendo effect. He tries the Blues in "One Man's Family", its the smallest song in the album, but one of the most enjoyable. "Theme From "tick, tick, tick" (Set Yourself Free)" this was written for a movie, it earned him an ASCAP Award. Best song in the album! fantastic chorus, fantastic vocals, fantastic lyrics, fantastic everything in this song!
The cover picture is very nice too. He sits by a grave with his own name written, with an expression on his face that lets us know that he his superior to death itself.
The only information i got is that Hoover plays everything and that Bill Purcell and Chuck Glaser did the arrangements.

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Friday, 23 April 2010

John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers - Bluesbreakers With Eric Clapton (1966)

Bluesbreakers With Eric Clapton is the second album by the Blues-Rock band John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers, with Eric Clapton playing as lead guitarist.
This is one of the most influential albums in the Blues-Rock history. It also features the guitar of the young Eric Clapton and his first vocal recording, he would leave the band some months after this album was released to form Cream with Jack Bruce, whom he had met in the Bluesbreakers. The extended edition features all the tracks played by Clapton and Bruce in John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers.
The album kicks off with "All Your Love", writen by Willie Dixon and Otis Rush. we can imediately distinguish Clapton's guitar here.The joyful mood of "Hideaway" a cover from Freddie King and Sonny Thompson, is a full three minutes of guitar solo. Its damn nice to hear it. The first original song follows, "Little Girl", has a really nice rythm. "What'd I Say" features a really nice organ intro, it blends with the guitar perfectly, theres also a cool drums solo and a stolen Beatles riff (Day Tripper). "Parchman Farm" a song about an old Penitentiary, where many Blues musicians were imprisoned, it has been covered by the likes of Blue Cheer and Jeff Buckley. "Have You Heard" main instrument is a sax, it kind of sounds like an 80's song. "Ramblin' On My Mind", a Robert Johnson's song, is the first recording of Clapton's voice ever. Theres another instrumental piece, "Steppin' Out" by James Bracken.
Most influential Blues-Rock album in history probably.

John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers:
- John Mayall - Lead Vocals, Hammond Organ, Guitar, Harmonica.
- Eric Clapton - Lead Guitar, Back and Lead Vocals.
- John McVie - Bass.
- Hughie Flint - Drums.
- John Almond - Baritone Saxophone.
- Dennis Healey - Trumpet.

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Wednesday, 21 April 2010

The Savage Rose - In The Plain (1968)

In The Plain is the second album by the Danish Psychedelic band The Savage Rose.
The opening song is "Long Before I Was Born" it starts with quite strong almost violent vocals. It contrasts with the next song "I'm Walking Through The Door", much calmer. It has some really nice guitar work and the female back vocals are amazing. "Let's See her" is really beautiful, youll start to notice that the songs have a big organ presence. "Ride My Mountain (Jade)" has a quite nice two guitars solo at the end. They get a quite folky sonority in "The Shepherd And Sally", again the highlights are Annisette's vocals and the guitar solo. In "His Own Happiness" we can hear all the guys siging over a guitar line which is quite nice. "Evening's Child" has a really nice beat, and a nice country sound. The last music style they played is the Hard-Rocker "A Trial In Our Native Town".
It has a very nice picture. The perspective is really good, and the colours create quite an ambient.

The Savage Rose:
- Annisette - Vocals
- Maria - Harpsichord, Piano
- Nils Tuxen - Guitar
- Jens Rusted - Bass
- Alex Riel - Drums
- Anders Koppel - Organ, Vocal
- Thomas Koppel - Piano, Vocal

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Tuesday, 20 April 2010

Taj Mahal - Taj Mahal (1968)

Taj Mahal is the debut album by the American Blues musician Taj Mahal.
Most Blues players were changing their sound towards psychedelia. Taj Mahal recovers the old Blues sounds, but brings them with the last technological advances in the field of musical studios.
"Leaving Trunk" written by Sleepy John Estes, opens the album with a wonderful harmonica work. Blind Willie McTell is covered also in "Statesboro Blues" with an atonishing work with the slide guitar. In "Checkin' Up On My Baby" by the great Sonny Boy Williamson, we return to the old style Blues. Another song by Estes "Everybody's Got To Change Sometime", this time the highlights are the guitar solo and the amazing voice of Taj Mahal. "E Z Rider" is the only original song in the album, it is a bit different from the other songs in the album. It's not so close to Blues as the others. "Dust My Broom" follows, Robert Johnson, another great blues guitarrist, is the author. Mahal's voice sounds alot like Bob "The Bear" Hite from the Blues band Canned Heat (check out Canned Heat's album posted here).
The album cover is pretty nice. It's a pick of Taj Mahal sitting with his guitar in front of a tipically American house, just chilling. Some album covers appear with lots of animals standing next to him. i dont know if that is a special edition or the original.

Taj Mahal:
- Taj Mahal - Guitar, Harp, Vocals, Slide Guitar
- Ry Cooder - Guitar
- James Thomas - Bass
- Sanford Konikoff - Drums
- Jesse Ed Davis - Lead Guitar

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Friday, 16 April 2010

Forest - Full Circle (1970)

Full Circle is the second and last album by the British folk trio Forest.
Their music is very connected to the Increbible String Band and Dr.Strangely Strange. Theor sound draws much inspiration from medieval music.
The opening song "Hawk The Hawker", has some great harmonica and vocal work, i especially like the chorus. The voice in "Bluebell Dance" seem quite distant, like if it was recorded away from the microphone. Im not really into recording studios and their functionalities, so, i cant say how they made it, but it sounds great with a beautiful guitar line. Everyone who is a die-hard fan of ISB will find many similarities in "The Midnight Hanging Of A Runaway Serf". The instrumental "To Julie" shows them, as some seriously virtuos players. They change their style for awhile and appear with a nicely done Blues song called "Do Not Walk In The Rain". None of the lyrics from the songs before were about flowers and hapiness. They were mostly about death and violence, and "Graveyard"shows that. combined with some impressive vocals and Whistle work. "Autumn Childhood" is a nice ending for the album.
This is a great folk album. It's nice to have a break from all the others who just talk about peace and stuff (i am a pacifist by the way) and entering the real world of destruction and death of our society.

Forest:
- Derek Allenby - Mandolin, Whistle, Harmonica, Percussion, Vocals
- Hadrian Welham - Guitar, Violin, Bass, Cello, Percussion, Whistle, Vocals
- Martin Welham - Guitar, 12 String Guitar, Piano, Violin, Whistle, Harmonium, Electric Harpsichord, Percussion, Vocals

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Friday, 9 April 2010

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Murder Ballads (1996)

Murder Ballads is the ninth album by the Australian band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.
The album consists entirelly of murder ballads as the title says. A murder ballad is a sub-genre of the traditional ballad in which the story is about a murder. Cave's voice addapts very well to this kind of song.
"Song Of Joy" the music is just some haunting noises and wicked guitar, drums, bass lines. The most important is the lyrics, in this one we listen to the story of a doctor whose wife and daughters are brutally murdered. "Stagger Lee" is definitively my favourite song. A crazy guy starts shooting people in a bar and then has sex with a whore and the whore's husband... i like especially the fact that they repeat the name stagger lee throughout the song. PJ Harvey appears in the song "Henry Lee" Cave and her do a nice la la la la la. a fantastic chorus. "Lovely Creature" has some great female back-vocals and a nice drum line. "Where The Wild Roses Grow" a duet with Kylie Minogue, MTV played it like hell, its not the best song, probably its the worse in the album. "The Curse Of Millhaven" is really catchy, with some weird, weird lyrics about a girl teenager who kills people and is only sorry because she could have killed many more. "O'Malley's Bar" is the story of a man who enters a pub and kills everyone just for killing. The album ends with Bob Dylan's "Death Is Not The End".
The most important thing are the storys.

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds:
- Nick Cave - Vocals, Keyboards
- Mick Harvey - Guitar, Vocals, Keyboards
- Blixa Bargeld - Guitar
- Thomas Wydler - Drums
- Martyn P. Casey - Bass
- Conway Savage - Piano
- Jim Sclavunos - Percussion

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Dragonfly - Dragonfly (1968)

Dragonfly is the debut album by the American band Dragonfly.
They were actually called The Legend but their debut was victim of the record company, and so they decided to change their name and pursue other interests. And try to hide the fact that they made that album too.
We can get a taste of whats to come with the opener "Blue Monday", the raw vocals and the guitar solos are a constant. The formula of the first music is repeated in "Enjoy Yourself". Theres a great rocking version of "Hootchie Kootchie Man". There are alot of other fuzzy guitar hard songs like "I Feel It" and "Crazy Woman". There are also two 30 seconds song "Darlin'" and "Trombodo".
This is a fantastic album, with a great cover. The drawing is badass.

Dragonfly:
- Jack Duncan - Bass
- Barry Davis - Drums, Back-Vocals
- Gerry Jimerfield - Vocals, Rythm Guitar
- Randy Russ - Guitar, Back-Vocals
- Ernie McElwaine - Keyboards

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Hardwater - Hardwater (1968)

Hardwater is the debut album by the American band Hardwater (Formerly known as The Astronauts).
The album was produced by the legendary David Axelrod.
The album starts with the wonderful psychedelic song "Medley:My Time - Take A Long Look", Mark Bretz is the principal figure on this song, he does a great solo here, the rhythm guitar is very cool too. "City Sidewalks" has some great vocals (before the chorus, i dont really like the chorus part). "Love And I" sounds abit like CSN, maybe a bit harder, but still it reminded me of them. Songs like "Good Ole Friends" and "Sanctuary" features their west-coast influences (some of The Astronauts moved to California in 1965).
A great west-coast psychedelic rock album.

Hardwater:
- Mark Bretz - Guitar
- Richard Fifield - Vocals, Guitar
- Tony Murillo - Drums
- Robert Carl McLerran - Bass

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Thursday, 8 April 2010

Devendra Banhart - Rejoicing in the Hands (2004)

Rejoicing in the Hands (full title, Rejoicing in the Hands of the Golden Empress) is the third album by the Psychedelic Folk musicican Devendra Banhart.
Banhart together with Joanna Newson are some of the leading figures of a new movement called New Weird America. The return of Freak music to America.
"This Is the Way" is a great introduction to the rest of the album. If you dont like this song, Banharts strange vocals or his simplistic guitar playing, then you wont like the rest and i advise to go listen to something else. The guitar lines may be simplistic but they work very fine like in "Poughkeepsie" and "Dogs They Make up the Dark". His weird voice is a delight, "A Sight to Behold", "This Beard Is for Siobhán" and "Rejoicing in the Hands". The latest features vocals by
Vashti Bunyan. There is a very catchy song, "Fall", and "Insect Eyes" does some of the coolest vocals ever in here.
Maybe this century isnt so bad as it seems...

Devendra Banhart (Rejoicing in the Hands Personnel):
- Devendra Banhart - Bass, Guitar (Acoustic, Electric), Piano, Vocals
- Vashti Bunyan - Vocals
- Paul Cantelon - Violin
- Thor Harris - Percussion, Vibraphone
- Julia Kent - Cello
- Joe McGinty - Organ, Piano
- Steve Moses - Percussion, Drums

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Wednesday, 7 April 2010

Nazz - Nazz (1968)

Nazz is the debut album by the Psychedelic garage-rock band Nazz.
Their manager, John Kurland, thought that they could be a new teenybopper boy's band, so he prevented them from playing regularly and changed their looks. Their first concert was an opening for a Doors concert in 1967.
The opener "Open My Eyes", steals The Who's "I Can't Explain" riff, it's a nice song nonetheless. "Back of Your Mind" has got some distinct Cream influence. "Hello It's Me" is the album's single, it got much more attention when Nazz guitarrist Todd Rundgren re-recorded it in his solo album several years later. "Wildwood Blues" after the ballad the Rock 'N' Roll, Rundgren's guitar solo is great. There is a great deal of energy in "Lemming Song".
Rundgren's guitar is the main interest of this album. They would only appear in teen magazines and they rarely played, even when every music magazine said that they played handsomely live.

Nazz:
- Todd Rundgren - Guitar, Back-Vocals
- Robert "Stewkey" Antoni - Keyboards, Vocals
- Thom Mooney - Drums
- Carson Van Osten - Bass, Back-Vocals

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Friday, 2 April 2010

Bill Fay - Time Of The Last Persecution (1971)

Time Of The Last Persecution is the second and last album by the English singer Bill Fay.
It has now achieved mythical status due to the lack of copies in the last 30 years. Fay wrote the album as a visceral and spiritual response to the murder of four students at the hands of National Guardsmen at Kent State University in Ohio on May 4, 1970. It was recorded in only one day.
"Omega Day", the opening song couldn't have been better chosen, it has a great piano line. Followed by the haunting mood of "Don't Let My Marigolds Die". In "Inside The Keepers Pantry" the guitar matches the voice perfectly with a great guitar solo. "Til The Christ Come Back" the chorus of this song is fantastic. "Time Of The Last Persecution", again the guitar sounds fantastic, the whole music is haunting, the piano, the voice etc..
Another musician that could have achieved a lot but due to lack of support from Decca, the company, failed to get the attention he deserved.

Bill Fay (Time Of The Last Persecution Personnel):

- Bill Fay - Vocals, Piano
- Ray Russell - Guitar
- Alan Rushton - Drums
- Darryl Runswick - Bass
- Nick Evans - Trombone

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