PATRON SAINTS, THE Fohhoh Bohob (Time-Lag) cd 18.98

PATRON SAINTS, THE Fohhoh Bohob (Time-Lag) lp+7" 20.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
**SALE **SALE* *SALE**
We've found a couple copies of Time-Lag's fancy vinyl reissue of this obscure private press psych pop record, recorded by some teenage weirdos in 1969. VERY underground and DIY, quite charming in that regard.

PAX s/t plus 7 Bonus Tracks (Walhalla) cd 21.00
Those of you who dig the '70s heavy rock proto-metal stuff like we do, need to check out this rad Peruvian band. This new cd reissue is better'n previous editions we've seen in terms of track inclusion, featuring as it does all of the eponymous 1970 Pax album plus, like it says, seven bonus tracks, including their cover of "Radar Love"! They also do "Smoke Of The Water" (sic), but hey back then that wasn't quite so tired.
Pax, featuring former members of Peruvian '60s beat combo Los Shains, were definitely one of the heaviest South American rock acts of their day (that we've heard, that is), easily competitive with American and British bands like Bang, Leafhound, and Sir Lord Baltimore. And they even have a bit of a groovy, Hendrix/Funkadelic (early Funkadelic) vibe as well. Yes indeed, Pax provide plenty of cowbell, wah-wah guitar, drug references, and all-right-now! rock n' roll attitude -- enough to make any fan of the aforementioned bands (not to mention the likes of Juan de la Cruz, Los Dug Dugs, and Modulo 1000) happy. They're not 100 percent heavy all the time -- few bands back then were -- but the lighter stuff is quite nice too and when they're heavy they're HEAVY, riffy with raw, in-your-face production and nicely rough-edged vocals, that you'll hear on such tracks as "A Storyless Junkie", "Deep Death", "Pig Pen Boogie", and "Firefly". Serious subjects, some of it (junkies, death) but they can be playful too, silly even, as on "Shake Your Ass". A '60 flowers and beads vibe comes through on the gentle, melodic likes of "Green Paper (Toilet)" and "For Cecilia" as well.
MPEG Stream: "A Storyless Junkie"
MPEG Stream: "Green Paper (Toilet)"

PEACEPIPE John Uzonyi's Peacepipe (Shadoks Music) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
At their best, Peacepipe peel out great '60s California biker psych-guitar jams that sound like a cross between Blue Cheer and Quicksilver Messenger Service, full of wah wah action, distortion, and massive sustain. They also remind us a bit of Japan's White Heaven. Unfortunately, there are just a few let-down tracks, where they let hippie cliche and ill-fated dabblings in pop get the best of them. So it's not all killer. But, if you're in the mood, there's a lot of good stuff here that's totally worthwhile. Recorded in Hollywood, California circa 1969, this record is very dated, but very cool -- and heavy (a la Iron Butterfly, not Slayer!). Led by guitarist John Uzonyi, the Peacepipe trio (also known as The Human Equation) highlights John's vocals and wild guitar, but drummer Gary Tsuruda and keyboardist Rick Abts get their licks in as well. Chalk another one up for the Shadoks label, who have included three bonus tracks (two from their 1968 single) that weren't included on the Peacepipe LP (first issued by Rockadelic in '95) on this cd reissue.
RealAudio clip: "Sea Of Nightmares"
RealAudio clip: "A Biker's Tune"
RealAudio clip: "The Day The War Has Ended"

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE Balaklava (Get Back) lp 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE s/t (Get Back) lp 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Italian label Get Back is producing vinyl reissues of selected titles from the legendary ESP label. The Pearls Before Swine issues may be of special interest to those folks (like myself) who heard Tom Rapp for the first time back in April 1997 at the Terrastock Festival.

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE The Complete ESP-Disk Recordings (ESP-Disk) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

MPEG Stream: "Another Time"
MPEG Stream: "Playmate"
MPEG Stream: "Translucent Carriages"

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE The Wizard of Is (Water) 2cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

MPEG Stream: "Where Is Love"
MPEG Stream: "Butterflies"
MPEG Stream: "Love, You Are Not Alone"

PENNY ARKADE Not The Freeze (Sundazed) cd 16.98
You've heard this before: "lost, unreleased '60s psych gem discovered and finally released after 30-some years!" Many cds have made that claim...and, well, most of 'em simply demonstrate *why* the record wasn't released back when (and furthermore, why it shouldn't get released now, either). However, although skepticism is warranted, once in a while a genuine gem IS unearthed. Penny Arkade's 1967-1968 recordings, we're happy to say, fall into that glad catagory. While not as mind-blowing as, say, the Public Nuisance release two years ago, it's definitely gonna be a treat for fans of '60s California psych-pop. The Penny Arkade apparently were a popular act on LA's Sunset Strip, they were hip and cool, but while big in the LA scene -- and having "Talented Monkee" Michael Nesmith as their producer -- never ever actually "made it". And none of the music they recorded was ever released under their own name until now (more on that later). The liner notes (penned with detail and verve by Ugly Things editor Mike Stax) give the mundane reasons, but listening to their music you'll still wonder... These guys indeed sound kinda like the Monkees, with some Byrds and Buffalo Springfield in 'em too, and their material ranges from folky, countryish pop to kaleidoscopic psych (like the 12 minute title track) with some moments of bliss for you fuzz fanatics. (To make a non-'60s comparison, we'd have to say that some of this reminds us a bit of Olivia Tremor Control.)
Now, here's the weird part: ever hear of an obscure acid-casualty hippy singer-songwriter from the early '70s named Maitreya Kali? He issued two privately-pressed LPs, Apache and Inca, both of which were reissued a while back on cd, and interested many collectors of things psych...well Mr. Kali is actually Craig Smith, one of the singers and songwriters in the Penny Arkade, who dropped out of the band to travel the world and, presumably, do lot of drugs.
Apparently quite a few of the (really good) tracks on those Apache and Inca albums were really Penny Arkade recordings. One of those songs, the wonderful "Country Girl", was compliled on a comp called Yee-Haw! The Other Side of Country which we reviewed a few years back, and when I first heard this Penny Arkade disc I was like, hey, I know that song. Turns out Glen Campbell also covered it at one point, but what we were familiar with was the original, by way of Maitreya Kali. So if you were ever intrigued by Maitreya Kali, you need to check out this, the real deal (with better sound).
Kudos to Sundazed for another fine release! Keep diggin', guys!
MPEG Stream: "Country Girl"
MPEG Stream: "Love Rain"

PENTAGRAM First Daze Here (Relapse) cd 14.98
Maryland-based doom metallers Pentagram are on some kinda roll, following up their recently released and quite awesome album "Sub-Basement" (see the review on AQ-list 128) with this collection of stuff they recorded almost 30 years ago! Yep, they've been around that long, although only vocalist/mastermind Bobby Liebling still remains from the lineup documented here, the *original* '70s Pentagram. Thus the subtitle: The Vintage Collection. Twelve tracks circa 1972-1976, mostly rare singles and unreleased demo tracks. Some of these songs were re-recorded for later Pentagram albums, but many haven't been (yet). Some of my favorite tracks from this disc include:
"Starlady" ('76) -- why they didn't get signed on the strength of this potential single (a hit if I've ever heard one) I don't know. Or why KISS didn't buy the tune for their own use, that's perhaps even more of a mystery! (KISS's management was checking Pentagram out at the time, but no record deal resulted...)
"Forever My Queen" ('73) -- powerful doom metal that shows them at their Sabbath-like best (although, hearing this collection, you'll realize that Pentagram were equally into, and the equals of, other heavy contemporaries like Captain Beyond, Dust, and Blue Cheer).
"Last Days Here" ('74) -- it's like some Stones or "Raw Power"-era Stooges ballad, with Bobby doing his best Iggy impression.
"Be Forwarned" ('72) -- Pentagram re-recorded this epic, the A-side of first ever 7", on their 1994 "Be Forwarned" album, and when I first heard that version I knew it had to be an old song, 'cause it had such an authentic heavy psych vibe to it. So it's great to finally hear the original (more or less, see below).
"20 Buck Spin" ('73) -- again, the original version of a classic rockin' Pentagram track, covered recently by Pennsylvania doomsters Pale Divine.
All the tracks sound pretty great production-wise (except for the relatively lo-fi live rehearsal recording of "Last Days Here"), putting the previous Pentagram '70s rarities collection "Human Hurricane" to shame. Of course, Bobby did re-master and clean up these tracks in 2001. He also took the opportunity to add some vocals and guitar to "Be Forwarned", for reasons probably known only to him. There's also a few other questionable edits or fades only a Pentagram collector would notice. But such modern-day meddling doesn't detract in any way from the might of the music on offer. It's great stuff, and simply amazing to hear it sounding so good. Pentagram fans have a high tolerance for poor sound (witness the pretty much unlistenable live bootleg LPs that have been released) but this time, you get to *hear* the music as well as own the disc! Recommended to Pentagram fans (obviously) and ANYONE who likes good heavy '70s rock and roll! One of Relapse's best releases, ever.
MPEG Stream: "Forever My Queen"
MPEG Stream: "Starlady"

PEOPLE Ceremony - Buddha Meet Rock (Phoenix) cd 17.98
Yay! Back in print! New label, new packaging, and also now on vinyl!
1971 strikes again! Here's a new cd reish of this beautifully freaky album by a Japanese "Buddhist-psych" band called People, featuring guitarist Kimio Mizutani (who played with Love Live Life + 1, Hiro Yanagida, and others, and did a solo album called A Path Through Haze). There's monk-like chanting and resounding gongs, field recordings of birds and street sounds, and even, strangely enough, samples from soulful psych-funk producer David Axelrod's classic 1968 album Song Of Innocence. And of course heavy wah wah guitar action. The album is a real 'trip', much of it indeed very ceremonial-sounding, venturing from blissful grooves with tick-tock rhythms ("Shomyo Part 2") and placid, lovely droniness ("Prayer Part 1") to sheer pounding electric fuzz riffage laced with screams of orgasmic ecstasy ("Prayer Part 2"). The puzzling use of those lush, orchestral Axelrod samples on the first and last tracks just helps to make this somehow both very much of its time and also way ahead of it (since Axelrod is heavily sampled by folks today as well!). Quite recommended.
This was previously reissued by Teichiku, but that one's been gone for a while. This new reissue on Phoenix is the same price, with the cd packaged in one of their usual "wallet" style cardboard sleeves - and they also did vinyl.
MPEG Stream: "Flower Strewing "
MPEG Stream: "Prayer Part 2"

PEOPLE Ceremony - Buddha Meet Rock (Phoenix) lp 24.00
Yay! Back in print! New label, new packaging, and also now on vinyl!
1971 strikes again! Here's a new cd reish of this beautifully freaky album by a Japanese "Buddhist-psych" band called People, featuring guitarist Kimio Mizutani (who played with Love Live Life + 1, Hiro Yanagida, and others, and did a solo album called A Path Through Haze). There's monk-like chanting and resounding gongs, field recordings of birds and street sounds, and even, strangely enough, samples from soulful psych-funk producer David Axelrod's classic 1968 album Song Of Innocence. And of course heavy wah wah guitar action. The album is a real 'trip', much of it indeed very ceremonial-sounding, venturing from blissful grooves with tick-tock rhythms ("Shomyo Part 2") and placid, lovely droniness ("Prayer Part 1") to sheer pounding electric fuzz riffage laced with screams of orgasmic ecstasy ("Prayer Part 2"). The puzzling use of those lush, orchestral Axelrod samples on the first and last tracks just helps to make this somehow both very much of its time and also way ahead of it (since Axelrod is heavily sampled by folks today as well!). Quite recommended.
This was previously reissued by Teichiku, but that one's been gone for a while. This new reissue on Phoenix is the same price, with the cd packaged in one of their usual "wallet" style cardboard sleeves - and they also did vinyl.
MPEG Stream: "Flower Strewing "
MPEG Stream: "Prayer Part 2"

PERERIN Teithgan (Guerssen Records) cd 21.00
Welsh psych from 1981!

PERHACS, LINDA Parallelogram (Mexican Summer) 2lp 29.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Available again on vinyl, this all-time AQ fave, now via Mexican Summer, limited to 1000 copies in a deluxe gatefold with new liner notes and artwork by Perhacs herself!
The psychedelic folk fans here at Aquarius (all of us!) are overjoyed that this brilliant obscurity is back in print again with bonus tracks included. We got to see her play here recently and it was indeed a dream come true. She also let on that this was her favorite reissue of her sole record. Here is what we said about it the last time it was reissued:
Originally released in 1970, Linda Perhacs' Parallelograms is a now-not-so-lost gem of lovely, delicate folk-psych songs in line with Joni Mitchell or Heart's folkier moments, gone waaay underground and mystic. For a long long time, although collectors held the record in great esteem, no-one knew anything about Ms. Perhacs at all. When the Wild Places label first reissued the album on cd some years ago they had to do it from a mint vinyl copy of the record. Later, they miraculously managed to track down Linda and got their hands on reel to reels dubbed from the original masters, along with a passel of bonus tracks - half a dozen of 'em, demos and alternate takes, which they included on their second cd edition and are included here as well. Along with that good stuff, some mysteries were answered. It turns out that, for instance, the popularly held belief that Perhacs was from Hawaii was incorrect. But she lived in the Pacific Northwest and California, so that's not too far off, really... They also confirmed that this was indeed her only recording. But if you're only going to make one record, having it be as good as Parallelograms is a neat trick. Her gossamer vocals encounter tripped-out electronic effects and gentle folk-rock backing, transporting the listener to a place not usually or easily reached in this day and age. There's a track or two that get strangely coffeehouse beatnik on us, and sound a bit dated, but most of this is truly ethereal hippie folk-psych beauty unparalleled. Really nice, and recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Parallelograms"
MPEG Stream: "Hey, Who Really Cares?"
MPEG Stream: "Moons And Cattails"

PERHACS, LINDA Parallelogram (Sunbeam) 2lp 34.00
Sunbeam 2011 vinyl repress. Includes the bonus trax. 180gram wax.
The psychedelic folk fans here at Aquarius (all of us!) are overjoyed that this brilliant obscurity is back in print again with bonus tracks included. We got to see her play here recently and it was indeed a dream come true. She also let on that this was her favorite reissue of her sole record. Here is what we said about it the last time it was reissued:
Originally released in 1970, Linda Perhacs' Parallelograms is a now-not-so-lost gem of lovely, delicate folk-psych songs in line with Joni Mitchell or Heart's folkier moments, gone waaay underground and mystic. For a long long time, although collectors held the record in great esteem, no-one knew anything about Ms. Perhacs at all. When the Wild Places label first reissued the album on cd some years ago they had to do it from a mint vinyl copy of the record. Later, they miraculously managed to track down Linda and got their hands on reel to reels dubbed from the original masters, along with a passel of bonus tracks - half a dozen of 'em, demos and alternate takes, which they included on their second cd edition and are included here as well. Along with that good stuff, some mysteries were answered. It turns out that, for instance, the popularly held belief that Perhacs was from Hawaii was incorrect. But she lived in the Pacific Northwest and California, so that's not too far off, really... They also confirmed that this was indeed her only recording. But if you're only going to make one record, having it be as good as Parallelograms is a neat trick. Her gossamer vocals encounter tripped-out electronic effects and gentle folk-rock backing, transporting the listener to a place not usually or easily reached in this day and age. There's a track or two that get strangely coffeehouse beatnik on us, and sound a bit dated, but most of this is truly ethereal hippie folk-psych beauty unparalleled. Really nice, and recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Parallelograms"
MPEG Stream: "Hey, Who Really Cares?"
MPEG Stream: "Moons And Cattails"

PERHACS, LINDA Parallelograms (Wild Places) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The psychedelic folk fans here at Aquarius are overjoyed that this brilliant obscurity is at last back in print -- and in an expanded, vastly improved cd edition no less. Originally released in 1970, Linda Perhac's "Parallelograms" is a lost gem of lovely, delicate folk-psych songs in line with Joni Mitchell or Heart's folkier moments, gone waaay underground and mystic. For a long long time, although collectors held the record in great esteem, no-one knew anything about Ms. Perhacs at all. When the Wild Places label first reissued the album on cd some years ago they had to do it from a mint vinyl copy of the record. Since then, they've miraculously managed to track down Linda and got their hands on reel to reels dubbed from the original masters, along with a passel of bonus tracks -- half a dozen of 'em. Whoo-hoo! Along with that good stuff, some mysteries were answered. It turns out that, for instance, the popularly held belief that Perhacs was from Hawaii was incorrect. But she lived in the Pacific Northwest and California, so that's not too far off, really... They also confirmed that this was indeed her only recording. But if you're only going to make one record, having it be as good as "Parallelograms" is a neat trick. Her gossamer vocals encounter tripped-out electronic effects and gentle folk-rock backing, transporting the listener to a place not usually or easily reached in this day and age. There's a track or two that gets strangely coffee-house beatnik on us, and sound a bit dated, but most of this is truely ethereal hippie folk-psych beauty unparallelled. Really nice, and recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Parallelograms"
MPEG Stream: "Hey, Who Really Cares?"
MPEG Stream: "Moons And Cattails"

PERHACS, LINDA Parallelograms (Sunbeam) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The psychedelic folk fans here at Aquarius (all of us!) are overjoyed that this brilliant obscurity is back in print, again - this time on the UK's Sunbeam label, with a couple more bonus tracks than even the previous expanded edition on Wild Places had!
Originally released in 1970, Linda Perhacs' Parallelograms is a now-not-so-lost gem of lovely, delicate folk-psych songs in line with Joni Mitchell or Heart's folkier moments, gone waaay underground and mystic. For a long long time, although collectors held the record in great esteem, no-one knew anything about Ms. Perhacs at all. When the Wild Places label first reissued the album on cd some years ago they had to do it from a mint vinyl copy of the record. Later, they miraculously managed to track down Linda and got their hands on reel to reels dubbed from the original masters, along with a passel of bonus tracks - half a dozen of 'em, demos and alternate takes, which they included on their second cd edition. Along with that good stuff, some mysteries were answered. It turns out that, for instance, the popularly held belief that Perhacs was from Hawaii was incorrect. But she lived in the Pacific Northwest and California, so that's not too far off, really... They also confirmed that this was indeed her only recording. But if you're only going to make one record, having it be as good as Parallelograms is a neat trick. Her gossamer vocals encounter tripped-out electronic effects and gentle folk-rock backing, transporting the listener to a place not usually or easily reached in this day and age. There's a track or two that gets strangely coffeehouse beatnik on us, and sound a bit dated, but most of this is truely ethereal hippie folk-psych beauty unparallelled. Really nice, and recommended.
This new Sunbeam version ups the ante on the out of print Wild Places one. They've added two more bonus tracks: a 2005 interview on the BBC, and the previously unreleased "I Would Rather Love". It also includes liner notes from Perhacs herself. Recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Parallelograms"
MPEG Stream: "Hey, Who Really Cares?"
MPEG Stream: "Moons And Cattails"

PERHACS, LINDA Parallelograms (Sunbeam) cd 19.98
Available again, this all-time AQ fave, now in the "Sunbeam Masters" series, limited to 1000 copies in mini-LP sleeve. Here's what we said the last time Sunbeam put this out:
The psychedelic folk fans here at Aquarius (all of us!) are overjoyed that this brilliant obscurity is back in print, again - this time on the UK's Sunbeam label, with a couple more bonus tracks than even the previous expanded edition on Wild Places had!
Originally released in 1970, Linda Perhacs' Parallelograms is a now-not-so-lost gem of lovely, delicate folk-psych songs in line with Joni Mitchell or Heart's folkier moments, gone waaay underground and mystic. For a long long time, although collectors held the record in great esteem, no-one knew anything about Ms. Perhacs at all. When the Wild Places label first reissued the album on cd some years ago they had to do it from a mint vinyl copy of the record. Later, they miraculously managed to track down Linda and got their hands on reel to reels dubbed from the original masters, along with a passel of bonus tracks - half a dozen of 'em, demos and alternate takes, which they included on their second cd edition. Along with that good stuff, some mysteries were answered. It turns out that, for instance, the popularly held belief that Perhacs was from Hawaii was incorrect. But she lived in the Pacific Northwest and California, so that's not too far off, really... They also confirmed that this was indeed her only recording. But if you're only going to make one record, having it be as good as Parallelograms is a neat trick. Her gossamer vocals encounter tripped-out electronic effects and gentle folk-rock backing, transporting the listener to a place not usually or easily reached in this day and age. There's a track or two that gets strangely coffeehouse beatnik on us, and sound a bit dated, but most of this is truely ethereal hippie folk-psych beauty unparallelled. Really nice, and recommended.
This new Sunbeam version ups the ante on the out of print Wild Places one. They've added two more bonus tracks: a 2005 interview on the BBC, and the previously unreleased "I Would Rather Love". It also includes liner notes from Perhacs herself. Recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Parallelograms"
MPEG Stream: "Hey, Who Really Cares?"
MPEG Stream: "Moons And Cattails"

PETTERSON, TOBIAS & ULF HENNINGSSON The Encyclopedia Of Swedish Progressive Music 1967-1979 (Premium Publishing) book+cd 54.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Ok, this item has a fairly self-explanatory title, eh? Also, here's the subtitle: "From Psychedelic Experiments To Political Propaganda". Interested? If so, then all that really remains for us to say is, yeah, you should seriously consider picking this up, it's really well done and a good value for the money. Physically, this is a gorgeous tome, and all signs point to it being quite accurate and thorough information-wise.
If you're at all like us you're aware that in recent years the spate of reissues from the Swedish psych / prog scene -- like for instance the whole amazing Parson Sound / International Harvester / Harvester / Trad Gras Och Stenar axis -- has been pretty thrilling. Having a guide to both the bands we've heard of and the many, many more that we haven't is pretty great. Also if you're like us you LOVE books full of pictures of record sleeves, wherever they're from and whatever they are. And this book's got tons of album covers, many of them psychedelically sensational, reproduced in full color!
Plus there's loads of factual info for those curious about the bands, or for record collector types trying to figure out what the original vinyl is worth. Each entry consists of info on the band's line-up, a descriptive paragraph discussing their music and history, as well as a detailed discography. Algarnas Tradgard, Arbete & Fritid, Aunt Sally, Charlie & Esdor, Bo Hansson, Kebnekajse, Life, November, Mikael Ramel, Pugh Rogefeldt, Samla Mammas Manna, Trettioariga Kriget, Turid... they're all here and of course plenty more we'd never heard of before.
In addition to this A-Z of bands, there's a band member index and label discographies as well, with that of the Silence label being the most impressive. And, there's also an introductory essay dealing with the political dimension shared by a lot of the music from the Swedish scene. Apparently, in Sweden there was a difference between "prog" with one g and "progg" with two g's, with the former referring as usual to progressive rock bands like ELP and Yes, latter being a distinctly Swedish concept of (not-necessarily virtuosic or complex) music that reflected the ideals of the left-wing Movement of the times.
All in all, very intriguing and tantalizing, leaving us to look at the those album covers and begin dreaming record collector dreams!
235 pages, hardback, 8 1/2" x 12". Full color EVERYWHERE, and lots of cool b&w photos too. A deluxe production indeed. And there's a bonus cd included as well, featuring the obscure jamming psych band Baby Grandmothers, with three previously unreleased live tracks from 1967 (different from the stuff on their archival Subliminal Sounds cd release also reviewed this list).
If only there was a book like this for EVERY cool musical scene past and present...
NB. mailorder customers, be aware that due to the size and weight of this book, it counts as more than one item for freight purposes -- so any order that includes this book will ship UPS at the 3+ items rate of $6.50 for shipping & handling.

PICCIONI, PIERO The Seduction Of Piero Piccioni (Cherry Red) cd 16.98

PIEL DE PUEBLO Rock De Las Herdas (Record Runner) cd 15.98
1972, Argentina: hard rockin', heavy bloozin', proto-metal political protest band Piel de Pueblo ("Village Skin") record and release their one and only album, which we recently discovered via this reissue, being intrigued by its cover painting featuring a blood-dripping Earth whirling through space, orbiting a bummed-out Sun that's crying a single tear...
Piel de Pueblo make some prog moves here - there's electric violin on a couple of the tracks (reminding us of early UK heavies High Tide) - but mostly it's all about the wailing wah-wah guitar solos, and distorted fuzzed-out riffage (also reminding us of High Tide, for that matter).
"La Tierra En 998 Pedazos" is the psychedelic epic here, at 9 minutes plus (thus finding time for some gentle melodiousness amidst the riff-rock), but most of the other songs are right around 3 minutes or so, rockin' out for the duration. Fans of Mexico's Los Dug Dugs at their most "Loco" should investigate, likewise if you're into Piel de Pueblo's fellow countrymen Pappo's Blues...
Booklet includes Spanish-language lyrics, band photo, and a brief note about the history of the band in both Spanish and English.
MPEG Stream: "Silencio Para Un Pueblo Dormido"
MPEG Stream: "La Tierra En 998 Pedazos"
MPEG Stream: "Sexo Galactico"

PIEL DE PUEBLO Rock De Las Herdas (Beat Generation) lp 21.00
NOW REISSUED ON VINYL TOO!!!
1972, Argentina: hard rockin', heavy bloozin', proto-metal political protest band Piel de Pueblo ("Village Skin") record and release their one and only album, which we recently discovered via this reissue, being intrigued by its cover painting featuring a blood-dripping Earth whirling through space, orbiting a bummed-out Sun that's crying a single tear...
Piel de Pueblo make some prog moves here - there's electric violin on a couple of the tracks (reminding us of early UK heavies High Tide) - but mostly it's all about the wailing wah-wah guitar solos, and distorted fuzzed-out riffage (also reminding us of High Tide, for that matter).
"La Tierra En 998 Pedazos" is the psychedelic epic here, at 9 minutes plus (thus finding time for some gentle melodiousness amidst the riff-rock), but most of the other songs are right around 3 minutes or so, rockin' out for the duration. Fans of Mexico's Los Dug Dugs at their most "Loco" should investigate, likewise if you're into Piel de Pueblo's fellow countrymen Pappo's Blues...
Booklet includes Spanish-language lyrics, band photo, and a brief note about the history of the band in both Spanish and English.
MPEG Stream: "Silencio Para Un Pueblo Dormido"
MPEG Stream: "La Tierra En 998 Pedazos"
MPEG Stream: "Sexo Galactico"

PIERRE HENRY Messe Pour Les Temps Present (Mercury France) cd 25.00
Recently remixed by the likes of Coldcut, Fatboy Slim, William Orbit and a bunch of French people, this is the ORIGINAL ballet soundtrack that Pierre Henry scored in the late 60s, a truly bizarre mixture of psych rock and musique concrete. Rare import, hence the price.

PINK FAIRIES Finland Freakout 1971 (MLP (Major League Productions)) cd 25.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Even if this wasn't a recording by the legendary Pink Fairies, anything with that title (Finland! Freakout!! 1971!!!) you know we'd have to love, right?
It wasn't too too long ago that you couldn't find hardly any Pink Fairies stuff on cd at all. This freaky band of early '70s proto-punks, hairy hippie underground rock n' rollers often (fairly accurately) described as England's version of the MC5, were more the stuff of legend, and if you wanted to hear 'em "do it", you had to look pretty hard for the goods. Then a few years back, their three classic albums (Neverneverland, What A Bunch Of Sweeties, and Kings Of Oblivion) finally got nice new reissues. You've got those, right? Hope so, 'cause goddammit it seems like they've gone out of print again!! Obviously the powers that be in the record industry, The Man if you please, don't really appreciate the Pink Fairies like they should. In a perfect world, they'd be household names - not 'cause they're the best band ever, they're not, but 'cause few bands embody the anarchic spirit of rock n' roll and its most deviant extremes (punk, psych, metal) as much they do.
So anyway, if you don't have those albums, start with one of 'em, any of them - if you can find 'em. But if you're already a fan, or we just made you impatiently curious, then this newly released archival disc is well worth checking out. It's an hour-long, previously unreleased festival set, professionally live-recorded for broadcast by Finnish national radio (from the Ruisrock festival in Turku, Finland, sometime in 1971, where the Fairies played alongside such international acts as Fairport Convention, The Kinks, the Jeff Beck Group, and Canned Heat and well as Finnish bands like Wigwam, Tasavallan Presidentti, and Charlies). They kick out the jams big time here, starting off with a loud n' heavy, totally blown out cover of the Beatles' "Tomorrow Never Knows", and also including such classic Fairies fare as "The Snake", "Walk Don't Run", and their 20+ minute festival standard "Uncle Harry's Last Freakout" (to the Fairies what "Black To Comm" was to the MC5, who by the way played the same festival a year later in 1972). Rumbling with distortion, wasted psych guitar leads a-wailing, raspy vox only occasionally emerging from the din, everything underpinned by the urgent caveman pounding of the rhythm section, this is the Pink Fairies as a power trio with a capital P.
And it's fully legit, from the master tapes, pretty decent sounding for an unearthed live thing from way back when, the cd booklet packed with photos and liner notes, including some by drummer Russell Hunter. Nice! Fairies fans, queue up.
Man, what else lurks in the archives, you've gotta wonder?
MPEG Stream: "Tomorrow Never Knows"
MPEG Stream: "Walk Don't Run"

PINK FAIRIES Never Neverland (Tapestry) lp 35.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Vinyl (import, expensive) reissue of the 1971 debut album from English psychedelic proto-punks the Pink Fairies. It contains their best known song, "Do It", an anthem for yippies everywhere, later to be covered by the Rollins Band (and we hear the Cherry Valence do it, ahem, live). When, as above, the Pink Fairies are referred to as a "proto-punk" band, this song is one of the reasons. Elsewhere on the record, they get into mellower psych zones (like "Heavenly Man" and the title track), biker rock ("Teenage Rebel") and of course hippy jam-rock (the ten-minute-plus "Uncle Harry's Last Freakout").
The Fairies line-up for this album included guitarist Paul Rudolph and drummer John "Twink" Alder, and they were the major players/composers here, just as they were on Twink's fantastic 1970 solo album Think Pink (which in some ways was the real debut of the Pink Fairies).

PINK FAIRIES Neverneverland (Polydor) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Woo-hoo! At last, cd reissues of the three classic studio albums by seminal British freak-rock act the Pink Fairies are again available, and not only that, they're inexpensively priced, remastered editions complete with bonus tracks and nice, colorful illustrated booklets! Previously they were only to be found on cd as high-priced Japanese imports (although Kings of Oblivion did get a reissue in 1998, now superceded by its new Polydor pressing), and have been out of print and truly impossible to find even then for almost a decade now. So, a happy day it was when we learned we'd be getting these! While it's true that the scarcity of Pink Fairies product (not counting the many discs compiling live stuff and out-takes and reunions that until now were all you'd find in the Pink Fairies bins) has perhaps made 'em out to be more fantastic than they really were (such are the pitfalls of legendary status) these discs really do hold up as psychedelic, proto-punk early '70s rock sets. A British Stooges they're not, but a sillier, even more anarchistic, hippified MC5 isn't too far off.
The Fairies got started as the spawn of Mick Farren's Deviants, and Steve Peregrine Took's Shagrat, and Twink's, uh, Twink. Brothers in arms with fellow "people's band" Hawkwind, the Fairies (with a constantly shuffling line-up -- Mick Farren left early on) were an underground festival fixture in the UK, with an anti-commercial, anti-establishment attitude that certainly did anticipate the '77 punk explosion, while sonically they were all over the place, from punkish rockers to tripped-out jams to poppier stuff.
Neverneverland was their recorded debut, from 1971, and contains their best known song, "Do It", an anthem for yippies everywhere, later to be covered by the Rollins Band (and we hear the Cherry Valence do it, ahem, live). When, as above, the Pink Fairies are referred to as a "proto-punk" band, this song is one of the reasons. Elsewhere on the record, they get into mellower psych zones (like "Heavenly Man" and the title track), biker rock ("Teenage Rebel") and of course hippy jam-rock (the ten-minute-plus "Uncle Harry's Last Freakout"). Bonus tracks include heavy-duty rocker "The Snake" (a-side of the Fairies first single, which had "Do It" on the flip!), a twelve and a half minute alternate take of "Uncle Harry's Last Freakout", and alternate mixes/edits of two other album tracks.
The Fairies line-up for this album included guitarist Paul Rudolph and drummer John "Twink" Alder, and they were the major players/composers here, just as they were on Twink's fantastic 1970 solo album Think Pink, which in some ways was the real debut of the Pink Fairies.
RealAudio clip: "Do It"
RealAudio clip: "Heavenly Man"
RealAudio clip: "The Snake"

PINK FAIRIES What A Bunch Of Sweeties (Polydor) lp 17.98
Right on! Reissued on vinyl... Gotta love the Pink Fairies. A seminal British freak-rock act, part of the scene alongside Hawkwind and Edgar Broughton Band and The Deviants and Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come, their albums still hold up as kick ass psychedelic, proto-punk early '70s rock sets. A British Stooges they're not, but a sillier, even more anarchistic, hippified MC5 isn't too far off.
What A Bunch Of Sweeties was the Fairies second album, from 1972, still featuring founding guitarist Paul Rudolph but without original Fairy Twink, who split to Morocco after the first album. Fortunately, although Twink played drums, they already had a second drummer, Russell Hunter, in the band, so slimming down to a trio wasn't too difficult. They certainly kept their "deviant" sense of humor, even getting the guy who did the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers comix to pen lyrics to one song, "Pigs Of Uranus". Amidst the silliness, though, the Fairies might actually have managed more straight-up acid rock on this album than their debut, with one of its highlights being their nine-minute long, heavily distorted cover of surf classic "Walk Don't Run".
Like the MC5, the Pink Fairies obviously felt that the Revolution was Rock n' Roll and Rock n' Roll was Revolution, evident from the album's lead off good times rocker with the countercultural, political message of "Right On, Fight On" to the last track, their cover of the Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There". With their whiskey-soaked vocals, psychedelic excursions, pop hooks, and freak-flag attitude, the Fairies were too eclectic and scattered and messed up to have much of a "career" (you could never really imagine 'em ending up as a metal or punk or even Hawkwind style spacerock band). But their three albums, this one among 'em, bring back a vibe long-gone today, and so it's way cool to have this back in stock on vinyl.
MPEG Stream: "Marilyn"
MPEG Stream: "Walk Don't Run"
MPEG Stream: "X-Ray"

PINK FLOYD Meddle (Capitol) cd 16.98
This 1971 recording is probably everyone at AQ's favorite post-Barrett Floyd album, and the one for Mogwai fans to get!

PINNACLE Assasin (Sleuth Records) lp 24.00
Got a violent piece of vinyl here for all you proto-metal freaks - a reissue of a killer slice of science-fictional heavy rock, this obscure UK outfit's only album, a private pressing from 1974. Both proto-metal and proto-punk we reckon, heavy stuff with lots of psychedelic Hawkwindiness to it, basically everything you could hope for from a record that has both "Astral Traveller" and "The Ripper" as track titles!! And it does rip, the storming opener "Assasin" sets the tone, with throbbing riffs, wailing maniacal vocals, and wild soloing, reminding us of the Pink Fairies in particular when the guitarist tears into some licks from the old Ventures surf rock classic "Walk Don't Run", though with their amphetamine energy they'd remind us of the Fairies anyway. They also achieve Wicked Lady levels of guitar freakout. And with the use of Moog, and the sci-fi aspects of songs like "Cyborg", they have something in common with Simply Saucer, as well. There's dramatic organ runs, and strident marching riffage, and some softer sounds too - at their mellowest, on tracks like "Bad Omen", they can be fairly melodic and Wishbone Ash-y.
There's been a couple hard-to-find, long-gone compact disc reissues of this in the past (one on Little Wing Of Refugees, who changed the cover art and corrected the spelling of 'Assasin' to 'Assassin', and another on Kissing Spell, who called it 'Cyborg Assassin', though that one also did include a few live practice space bonus tracks not found here). But this is the first time we've seen it reissued on vinyl, 180 grams to boot.
MPEG Stream: "Assasin"
MPEG Stream: "Time Slips By"
MPEG Stream: "Cyborg"

PISCES A Lovely Sight (Numero Group) cd 14.98
Numero Group strikes again! Why Pisces never made it into the canon of classic American psychedelic groups of the sixties like Jefferson Airplane, The Doors and The Grateful Dead is not so much a mystery as it is a latent lament. It's pretty clear why, since none of their music ever got released during their lifetime, but hearing this now, and it sounding so much more fresh and relevant compared to the overrated dinosaurs mentioned above, we sometimes wish the past could get a do-over, or at the very least we wish nostalgia could get a better soundtrack. Pisces would be at the top of our Summer of Love facelift!
Not just a curio from what might have been, the songs that this Rockford, Illinois group conjured could have made a classic album, had the core members overcame the obstacles of being an unknown band in the Midwest, perhaps toured or promoted themselves better, or at least hired themselves a decent manager. Focused so much on their sound, they were tireless studio workhorses, constantly augmenting their pop songs with innovative studio effects: delay, phasing, and layers of overdubs. Working with such blinders on is always a difficult proposition to long term success, plus having a sexy female guest vocalist that was never quite a core member of the band, steal most of the spotlight, only to be whisked away to start a failed solo career doesn't bode well for a band in dire need of a solid foundation.
But we think if they managed their image better, they could have been as big as Jefferson Airplane. Their songs are definitely better. Pisces were perhaps more influenced by British psych than the stuff that was happening on the west coast, but their darkly tinged lyrics full of creepy wonder and kaleidoscopic imagery are more chilling and beautiful, yet evoking the male and female harmonies of that more famous group. At times, it also reminds us of other obscure weirdo sixties soft-psych groups like Fifty Foot Hose, Neighborhood Children, Peanut Butter Conspiracy and H.P. Lovecraft, yet with a consistent sonic vision unclouded by annoying record label interventions and dated cliches. A Lovely Sight indeed!
MPEG Stream: "Dear One"
MPEG Stream: "Children, Kiss Your Mother Goodnight"
MPEG Stream: "Motley Mary Ann"
MPEG Stream: "Elephant Eyes"

PISCES A Lovely Sight (Numero Group) lp+7" 17.98
NOW AVAILABLE ON ULTRA DELUXE VINYL!!
Numero Group strikes again! Why Pisces never made it into the canon of classic American psychedelic groups of the sixties like Jefferson Airplane, The Doors and The Grateful Dead is not so much a mystery as it is a latent lament. It's pretty clear why, since none of their music ever got released during their lifetime, but hearing this now, and it sounding so much more fresh and relevant compared to the overrated dinosaurs mentioned above, we sometimes wish the past could get a do-over, or at the very least we wish nostalgia could get a better soundtrack. Pisces would be at the top of our Summer of Love facelift!
Not just a curio from what might have been, the songs that this Rockford, Illinois group conjured could have made a classic album, had the core members overcame the obstacles of being an unknown band in the Midwest, perhaps toured or promoted themselves better, or at least hired themselves a decent manager. Focused so much on their sound, they were tireless studio workhorses, constantly augmenting their pop songs with innovative studio effects: delay, phasing, and layers of overdubs. Working with such blinders on is always a difficult proposition to long term success, plus having a sexy female guest vocalist that was never quite a core member of the band, steal most of the spotlight, only to be whisked away to start a failed solo career doesn't bode well for a band in dire need of a solid foundation.
But we think if they managed their image better, they could have been as big as Jefferson Airplane. Their songs are definitely better. Pisces were perhaps more influenced by British psych than the stuff that was happening on the west coast, but their darkly tinged lyrics full of creepy wonder and kaleidoscopic imagery are more chilling and beautiful, yet evoking the male and female harmonies of that more famous group. At times, it also reminds us of other obscure weirdo sixties soft-psych groups like Fifty Foot Hose, Neighborhood Children, Peanut Butter Conspiracy and H.P. Lovecraft, yet with a consistent sonic vision unclouded by annoying record label interventions and dated cliches. A Lovely Sight indeed!
MPEG Stream: "Dear One"
MPEG Stream: "Children, Kiss Your Mother Goodnight"
MPEG Stream: "Motley Mary Ann"
MPEG Stream: "Elephant Eyes"

PLAINSONG s/t (Water) 2cd 17.98

PLASTIC CLOUD, THE s/t (Pacemaker / Lion Productions) cd 15.98
Back in stock! We listed this as follows, back in March, and feel that a few of you need to buy this who didn't, so here it is again!
Here's a new reissue of this well-regarded one-shot '60 psych artifact. Canada's Plastic Cloud (they have to be psych with a name like that, eh?) issued this, their sole album, on the Allied label in 1968. And if you like fuzz, it's for you! These darkly melodic psychedelic tunes, maybe something like a harder-edged Kaleidoscope (UK), don't stint on the killer fuzz tone. The band -- four modish lookin' gents in their early '20s named Brian, Randy, Mike and Don -- sure got the fuzz-laced, post-Peppers acid-psych-pop sound down, complete with sinewy psuedo Eastern sitarish stylings, vocal harmonies, and trippy lyrics with themes ranging from notions of reality to anti-war polemic. Those lyrics are presented in this cd's booklet alongside the LP's original J.R.R.-meets-the-Jabberwocky liner notes, photos, and a facsimile of the press release that heralded the LP's release. As melodic '60s vocal psych-pop goes, this is pretty decent (though no threat to the Beatles or the Beach Boys)...but when they unleash the fuzz guitar, that's when your hair will get hard if you're at all receptive to such soundz. A must-have for fuzz-freaks, essential to any serious '60s psych collection, no doubt. And dabblers may be get hooked too. Fer instance, if you took a shot on the Sam Gopal reish we reviewed recently, and were satisfied, you might wanna make this next item for your personal '60s hit parade.
MPEG Stream: "Shadows Of Your Mind"
MPEG Stream: "Dainty General Rides"

PLEASURE SEEKERS What a Way To Die (Norton) 7" 4.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The year is 1965 and a feisty teenage Suzi Quatro is kicking ass on all the boys in town. Yep, that's pre-Leather Tuscadero, sweetcakes! Ultra-raw, raunchy garage rock straight from the day re-issued by the fab garage mavens at Norton Records. Hot!

PLEASURE SEEKERS What a Way To Die (Norton) 7" 4.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The year is 1965 and a feisty teenage Suzi Quatro is kicking ass on all the boys in town. Yep, that's pre-Leather Tuscadero, sweetcakes! Ultra-raw, raunchy garage rock straight from the day re-issued by the fab garage mavens at Norton Records. Hot!

PLUMMER, BILL & THE COSMIC BROTHERHOOD s/t (Impulse / Get Down) cd 16.98
From the depths of the Impulse label's more "psychsploitaton" side of jazz comes this exotic East-meets-West rarity from 1968. And if you dug Gabor Szabo's Jazz Raga, any of the John Berberian electric oud albums, the Indo-jazz of Joe Harriott, or the even more authentically "Indo" Indo-jazz of T.K. Ramamoorthy recently reissued by EM, this will be right up your alley.
You might have second thoughts seeing the buttoned-down suit and tie wearing bass player Plummer seemingly taking the piss out of the sitar jazz craze of the mid-to-late Sixties, but this record's musical qualities far outweigh any trendy novelty or gimmicks. The opening track, "Journey to The East", is a groovy pop number with spoken singing (the only track with vocals) but the flute, tabla and sitar interplay is pretty far out. Things get further out on the sinewy free jazz of "Arc 294" and the quiet intensity of "Antares". Even covers like "The Look of Love" and The Byrds' "Lady Friend" have charms beyond what those songs normally have to offer. A cultish obscurity for years, it's awesome to see this one-off album reissued again!
MPEG Stream: "Journey To The East"
MPEG Stream: "Arc 294"
MPEG Stream: "Antares"

PLUTO s/t (Breathless) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Ok, here's this list's special treat for all you proto-metal fans: a reissue of obscure, early '70s UK hard rockers Pluto! This digipack reissue isn't new, it came out a few years back but we missed it at the time - and in fact, as far as we know it's out of print (the whole Breathless label being now defunct), but we found a handful of these at one of our suppliers and grabbed 'em all. So, they won't be here for long, act fast if you want one.
Pluto's sole album was originally released in 1971 (yes, once again, 1971 completely blows our minds, good grief!) on Pye's progressive, "underground" Dawn label. But the type of progressive rock Pluto plays isn't, y'know, like Yes or Genesis, or Comus for that matter (whose First Utterance was also a '71 Dawn release). No flutes or tricky time signatures. They just play poppy, heavy rock and aren't afraid to boogie. This digipack reissue contains 13 tracks in all, 3 of 'em non-album bonus cuts from singles.
Bonus single track "I Really Want It" is possibly the star of the show, it's been comped several times, on Dawn anthologies and so forth, and for good reason, with suggestive lyrics that are well matched by the song's slow, stomping groove. But there's LOTS of good songs here, from cowbell knockin' fuzz rockers to some more melodic, ballady, even Beatlesy ones.
Recommended for folks into the likes of early Wishbone Ash, Orang-utan, Leaf Hound, Human Beast, Power Of Zeus, Three Man Army, Luv Machine, Bubble Puppy, and other vintage, semi-heavy obscurities.
MPEG Stream: "I Really Want It"
MPEG Stream: "Crossfire"
MPEG Stream: "She's Innocent"

POOBAH Let Me In (Ripple Music) cd 11.98
Heavy psych and metal freaks, perhaps you remember we reviewed a reissue of this power trio Poobah's 1979 album Steamroller a while back? While '79 was a late date for "proto-metal", that's definitely what this Youngstown Ohio outfit sounded like, heavy duty acid rock n' roll action with plenty of psychedelically shredding guitar work. Well, now you can check out where they wuz comin' from, 'cause this "Special Collector's Edition" of their 1972 independently released debut has just been "re-unleashed". Just peep the vintage b&w photos of the band, all long hair, beards, head bands. Total hippies! HEAVY hippies. Hard as nails. But definitely hippies (like the fabulous furry freak bro looking dude depicted in the crude cover cartoon, spitting up into a toilet - or is it the other way around?).
So, yeah, Poobah is "proto-metal" fersure on this one, right from the get-go with the aptly titled "Mr. Destroyer", which despite the peace-loving message of the lyrics seems to demonstrate that violence for violence's sake can work, in rock anyway! And aside from one (quite nice) laidback number, "Enjoy What You Have", the six tracks that make up the original release of Let Me In are all similarly raw rifftastic freakrock heaviness, very underground, their unhinged high wattage psychedelia almost kinda punk, a la the UK's Crushed Butler, Detroit's Death, or Australia's Coloured Balls. BAD ASS in other words. Heck the ominous creepy-crawl of "Bowleen" is practically doom metal, though Poobah do have their lighter side, with a penchant for funny voices and trippy rhythmic passages, hippy potsmoking stuff y'know...
The bonus tracks (there's 10 on the gatefold double vinyl version and 12 on the compact disc) are all also quite worthy, recorded circa '72-'73, mostly more high energy ass-kickery in the vein of the album tracks, with a few weird noisy studio experiments thrown in for good measure... or maybe not "studio" exactly as most of the bonus cuts were recorded live to 2-track in the guitarist or bassist's living room. It all sounds great though, from the surprise vocal harmonies in the midst of "Make A Man Out Of You" to the Ted Nugent style gonzo goings on of "Going To Rock City"...
Quite a treat, now we're waiting on a proper reissue of Poobah's second album, US Rock, from '76, that's gotta happen someday too...
MPEG Stream: "Mr. Destroyer"
MPEG Stream: "Bowleen"
MPEG Stream: "Make A Man Out Of You"

POSSESSED Exploration (Rise Above Relics) cd 17.98
First things first, this Possessed has nothing to do with the '80s Bay Area metal band of the same name. No, this Possessed hails from even further back in time, the early '70s to be precise. And that leads us to say this: oh man, if we only had a time machine! Sure we'd go back and kill Hitler's parents and buy Google stock and all that... but our time machine day dream today is dominated by a flyer reproduced in the cd booklet to this release, advertising a month's worth of "progressive concerts" upcoming at a venue, somewhere in England, featuring performances by T2, Judus [sic] Priest, Israel's Jericho Jones, Thin Lizzy and this very band, Possessed. Good grief. We'd have been very very broke blokes back then, spending our last dime, I mean, farthing, on going out to such shows! What a time for hairy, heavy proto-metal awesomeness!
Thinking along those lines, Cathedral vocalist Lee Dorrian *has* built a time machine of sorts, though -- his label Rise Above now has an archival/reissue imprint called Rise Above Relics, dedicated to unearthing the heavy sounds of the past for them to be heard again today. This Possessed album (along with Luv Machine, also reviewed) is one of the first releases and we've gotta say they've dug up a gem, hitherto unknown to us.
Possessed, who you'd think might be some sort of occultic, Comusy folk band from the name and the Art Nouveau, Aubrey Beardsley style cover art, actually play a kinda proggy, kinda glammy hard rock that definitely bears some resemblance to aspects of Led Zeppelin. Just coincidence that Possessed's singer and guitarist, the India-born Vernon Pereira, had been in the original lineup of an outfit called The Band Of Joy, which also included Zeps-to-be Robert Plant and John Bonham? In any case, Possessed's most notable attributes would have to be the sinuous, crunchy riffing of guitarist Pereira, and also his Plant-like lead vocals. Furthermore, the band's spiralingly complex and bombastic songwriting ventures into the variety of "funk" displayed by Led Zeppelin on such songs as "Trampled Underfoot". Then there's the acoustic break of "Exploration Pt. II", also very Zeppish to be sure, though besides Zep, we'd compare this to Thin Lizzy and also to obscurities like Hard Stuff and even AQ faves Zolar X!
Despite being so worthy, Possessed never released an album, though they did record one in 1971 that, due to label disinterest, was shelved (until now, this is it). Sadly, three key band members, including Pereira, died in a motorway accident in 1976 ("Driver of Pop Group Death Van Dozed Off" reads the headline to one of the vintage newspaper clippings reproduced in the cd booklet), bringing a tragic end to the hopes and history of Possessed. The '70s rock star glory experienced by their chums in Led Zeppelin was never to be for this ill-fated band, though things could have, should have, turned out much differently, as at the time of the accident, they were on the verge at last of a major record deal. And they were supposedly slated to play shows in the USA with the Sex Pistols, bizarrely enough. Of course, that never happened.
So we're left with Exploration, while not the best unreleased album of the era ever (Jacula? Bedemon? Sproton Layer?), definitely a pretty darn cool one. It's a bit raw sounding, maybe a still a work in progress with some of the riffing rather similar in a couple of the songs, but it's definitely something that fans of both Led Zep and all the early '70s hard rock rarities we love should investigate! Nicely packaged with a fat, 20 page booklet full of notes and photos, slipcased to boot.
MPEG Stream: "The Love That You Gave"
MPEG Stream: "Darkness, Darkness"

POWER OF ZEUS The Gospel According To Zeus (Get On Down ) cd 16.98
Hell yeah, '70s proto-metal from Detroit (and not only that, released on a Motown subsidiary)! These dudes have appeared on some cool comps of heavy psych obscurities we've listed (Up All Night, White Lace & Strange) but this is the first time we've seen a legit reissue of their only album, from 1970, entitled The Gospel According To Zeus. This digipacked reish is from the master tapes. The album starts off with stone classic "It Couldn't Be Me", a track that hiphop headz might recognize as having been sampled on an Obie Trice record a few years back. What we also now realize, is that recent AQ fave band Malachai (the sampledelic UK duo on Domino) essentially sounds, at their best, a whole heck of a lot like that one song by Power Of Zeus - it's as if Malachai based their entire sound on the big beat fuzz pop hard rock of "It Couldn't Be Me"! So that's pretty cool.
But Power Of Zeus have a bunch more bellbottomed acid rock goodness to offer here... ten tracks total ranging from upbeat garagey psych nuggets like "In The Night" and "I Lost My Love", to the mellower, harpsichord-laced "Green Grass & Clover" and the epic, aptly titled doomic dirge "The Death Trip", eventually culminating in the freaked out finale of prog opus "The Sorcerer Of Isis (Ritual Of The Mole)", another track that's been sampled by hiphop producers.
Along the way, lotsa bangin' fuzz riffs, wailing organ, lofty vocals, and cowbell knockin' grooviness, real good stuff for all you proto-metal (and popsike!) fans into the likes of Sir Lord Baltimore, Granicus, Atomic Rooster, Dust, Frijid Pink, Bubble Puppy, and last list's proto-metal selections by Bang and Elonkorjuu.
Way cool.
If Power Of Zeus played shows with Funkadelic back in the day, we wouldn't be at all surprised...
MPEG Stream: "It Couldn't Be Me"
MPEG Stream: "In The Night"
MPEG Stream: "No Time"
MPEG Stream: "Realization"

POWERHOUSE s/t (Erebus) cd 17.98
This cd reissue of a 1969 lp documents the Japanese answer to the British blues rock boom of the late '60s. It's from a band called Powerhouse, featuring future members of underground Japanese psych units Food Brain, Strawberry Path, Flied Egg, and Speed Glue & Shinki. Pertaining to the latter, this album's definite selling point is the fuzzed out guitar wailin' of axe-meister Shinki Chen. Though, in keeping with the blues theme, there's plenty of harmonica blowin' too, including on their rendition of the Beatles' "Back In The U.S.S.R.", which is blusified enough to fit comfortably next to the version of "Hootchie Kootchie Man" that follows it on this record. Hmm, a bluesy "Back In The U.S.S.R."? That's maybe not something we think most folks are in the market for these days...
The album's in fact all covers, all of 'em with heavily accented English language vocals. There's more Beatles ("Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da"), and Hendrix ("Foxy Lady"), and a bunch of blues standards popularized by the likes of Cream and the Yardbirds. While "Ob-la-di" can't help but be fairly upbeat, many of the other tracks here tend towards the groggy and lumbering. Their version of Willie Dixon's "Spoonful" is downright sludgey, and clocks in at over 15 minutes. Also given an extended (16:08) workout is Sonny Boy Williamson's "Good Morning Little School Girl", doubtless inspired by the Yardbirds' version. Another Yardbirds nod is "Mr. You're A Better Man Than I", Powerhouse's lovely version possessed of the melancholic vibe that Japanese psych bands old and new seem to be so good at.
MPEG Stream: "Spoonful"
MPEG Stream: "You're A Better Man Than I"

PRETTY THINGS S.F. Sorrow (Snapper) cd 13.98
Finally, an inexpensive reissue of this classic Beatles-inspired psych-pop album from 1968, and it even includes four bonus cuts. A long-time AQ-favorite. Covered by Barbara Manning, so you know it must be good.

PRETTY THINGS The BBC Sessions (Repertoire) 2cd 21.00

PRETTY THINGS, THE Philippe Debarge (UT) lp 36.00

PRETTY THINGS, THE S.F. Sorrow (Sundazed) lp 24.00
Vinyl reissue of this classic psych-pop 'rock opera' album from 1968. A long-time AQ-favorite.

PRIDDY, NANCY You've Come This Way Before (Rev-Ola) cd 15.98
Christina Applegate's mom!
nancy sinatra
mamas & papas
ny folk scene
lee hazlewood

PRIMEVIL Smokin' Bats At Compton's (Radioactive) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

PSYCHEDELIC ALIENS, THE Psycho African Beat (Academy) cd 14.98
Good grief, how rad is this! Another one, where we think, do we really even need to write a review? Authentic African garage groove from the '70s, by a band that was freakin' called THE PSYCHEDELIC ALIENS! From the same label that brought us the likes of Ofege, and the Lagos Disco Inferno comp. C'mon, what else do you need to know?
This archival release collects everything ever recorded by this Ghanaian band, who put out just 3 super rare records in their day: two 7"s and a 12" ep. Thanks to a several years of dedicated effort by the compiler, Frank "Voodoofunk" Gossner, all those tracks are here (8 of 'em, 23 and a half minutes total), and they are plenty groovy indeed, bursting with lively rhythms, wildly jamming organ, James Brown influenced funkiness, and not just a little bit o' fuzz guitar, especially on the mind-melting "Okponmo Ni Tisitsi Emo Le" that wraps this up in a throbbingly mesmeric finale. While we can't tell you what that particular title means, there are 3 here in English: "Hijacking", "We're Laughing", and "Extraordinary Woman" which might (or might not) give you a sense of what sorts of things this band was concerned with, lyrically.
We've been lucky lately, so many great reissues from the '70s African rock/funk scene, Ngozi Family, Amanaz, Witch, Tirogo, Sweet Talks, now this! Of course if you're familiar with those, these Aliens won't seem quiet so alien. For instance, if you liked that The World Ends comp, these guys (who weren't on it, as that was all Nigerian acts) woulda fit right in! Due to the rarity of these records, and possibly the name of the band, this is considered by some to be one of those "holy grail" releases, though spoiled as we are already by those other great reissues we are just happy to have even MORE great African '70s garage to groove to.
The compact disc comes in a swank hardcover package, with a 32 page booklet. The regular vinyl lp edition is nice too... and then we have ONE COPY (though we can maybe get more) of the expensive, ultra deluxe 4x7" box set version for those who need such a fetish object in their collection.
MPEG Stream: "We're Laughing"
MPEG Stream: "Gbe Keke Wo Taoo"
MPEG Stream: "Okponmo Ni Tisitsi Emo Le"

PSYCHEDELIC ALIENS, THE Psycho African Beat (Academy) lp 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Good grief, how rad is this! Another one, where we think, do we really even need to write a review? Authentic African garage groove from the '70s, by a band that was freakin' called THE PSYCHEDELIC ALIENS! From the same label that brought us the likes of Ofege, and the Lagos Disco Inferno comp. C'mon, what else do you need to know?
This archival release collects everything ever recorded by this Ghanaian band, who put out just 3 super rare records in their day: two 7"s and a 12" ep. Thanks to a several years of dedicated effort by the compiler, Frank "Voodoofunk" Gossner, all those tracks are here (8 of 'em, 23 and a half minutes total), and they are plenty groovy indeed, bursting with lively rhythms, wildly jamming organ, James Brown influenced funkiness, and not just a little bit o' fuzz guitar, especially on the mind-melting "Okponmo Ni Tisitsi Emo Le" that wraps this up in a throbbingly mesmeric finale. While we can't tell you what that particular title means, there are 3 here in English: "Hijacking", "We're Laughing", and "Extraordinary Woman" which might (or might not) give you a sense of what sorts of things this band was concerned with, lyrically.
We've been lucky lately, so many great reissues from the '70s African rock/funk scene, Ngozi Family, Amanaz, Witch, Tirogo, Sweet Talks, now this! Of course if you're familiar with those, these Aliens won't seem quiet so alien. For instance, if you liked that The World Ends comp, these guys (who weren't on it, as that was all Nigerian acts) woulda fit right in! Due to the rarity of these records, and possibly the name of the band, this is considered by some to be one of those "holy grail" releases, though spoiled as we are already by those other great reissues we are just happy to have even MORE great African '70s garage to groove to.
The compact disc comes in a swank hardcover package, with a 32 page booklet. The regular vinyl lp edition is nice too... and then we have ONE COPY (though we can maybe get more) of the expensive, ultra deluxe 4x7" box set version for those who need such a fetish object in their collection.
MPEG Stream: "We're Laughing"
MPEG Stream: "Gbe Keke Wo Taoo"
MPEG Stream: "Okponmo Ni Tisitsi Emo Le"

PSYCHEDELIC ALIENS, THE Psycho African Beat (Academy) 4x7" 58.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Good grief, how rad is this! Another one, where we think, do we really even need to write a review? Authentic African garage groove from the '70s, by a band that was freakin' called THE PSYCHEDELIC ALIENS! From the same label that brought us the likes of Ofege, and the Lagos Disco Inferno comp. C'mon, what else do you need to know?
This archival release collects everything ever recorded by this Ghanaian band, who put out just 3 super rare records in their day: two 7"s and a 12" ep. Thanks to a several years of dedicated effort by the compiler, Frank "Voodoofunk" Gossner, all those tracks are here (8 of 'em, 23 and a half minutes total), and they are plenty groovy indeed, bursting with lively rhythms, wildly jamming organ, James Brown influenced funkiness, and not just a little bit o' fuzz guitar, especially on the mind-melting "Okponmo Ni Tisitsi Emo Le" that wraps this up in a throbbingly mesmeric finale. While we can't tell you what that particular title means, there are 3 here in English: "Hijacking", "We're Laughing", and "Extraordinary Woman" which might (or might not) give you a sense of what sorts of things this band was concerned with, lyrically.
We've been lucky lately, so many great reissues from the '70s African rock/funk scene, Ngozi Family, Amanaz, Witch, Tirogo, Sweet Talks, now this! Of course if you're familiar with those, these Aliens won't seem quiet so alien. For instance, if you liked that The World Ends comp, these guys (who weren't on it, as that was all Nigerian acts) woulda fit right in! Due to the rarity of these records, and possibly the name of the band, this is considered by some to be one of those "holy grail" releases, though spoiled as we are already by those other great reissues we are just happy to have even MORE great African '70s garage to groove to.
The compact disc comes in a swank hardcover package, with a 32 page booklet. The regular vinyl lp edition is nice too... and then we have ONE COPY (though we can maybe get more) of the expensive, ultra deluxe 4x7" box set version for those who need such a fetish object in their collection.
MPEG Stream: "We're Laughing"
MPEG Stream: "Gbe Keke Wo Taoo"
MPEG Stream: "Okponmo Ni Tisitsi Emo Le"