BIXBY, DAVE Ode To Quetzalcoatl (Guerssen) cd 17.98
What a long strange trip it was for Dave Bixby, from a young man playing covers in a folk pop band in the sixties, to spending a year high on LSD, to discovering God, to then becoming disillusioned with God, to contemplating suicide, to finally speaking to God (or having God speak to him) and thus recording both Ode To Quetzalcoatl and most of its follow up, Second Coming, eventually released under the name Harbinger, both records chronicling Bixby's life and struggles with spirituality and drugs.
Ode To Quetzalcoatl, originally a super rare private press release, that regularly fetched thousands of dollars, was and maybe still is one of the most legendary/infamous downer/loner folk records ever, the recording sparse and mournful, mostly just acoustic guitar, reverb laden vocals, occasional harmonica or flute, but mostly just guitar and vocals, but it was enough, so haunting and heartwrenching, the lyrics twisted and depressive, so miserable and dark and anguished, the reverb only adding to the otherwordliness, the guitar lazy and languorous, the melodies minor key and melancholy, a little like Jandek if he could actually sing and play guitar. And was a recovered drug addict, born again Christian.
A simply gorgeous slab of super personal doomfolk from before there even was doomfolk, for fans of Nick Drake, Bill Fay, Roy Harper, Charles Manson and all dark mysterious folkmusic...
MPEG Stream: "Drug Song"
MPEG Stream: "Free Indeed"
MPEG Stream: "I Have Seen Him"
MPEG Stream: "666"

BIXBY, DAVE Ode To Quetzalcoatl (Guerssen) lp 26.00
What a long strange trip it was for Dave Bixby, from a young man playing covers in a folk pop band in the sixties, to spending a year high on LSD, to discovering God, to then becoming disillusioned with God, to contemplating suicide, to finally speaking to God (or having God speak to him) and thus recording both Ode To Quetzalcoatl and most of its follow up, Second Coming, eventually released under the name Harbinger, both records chronicling Bixby's life and struggles with spirituality and drugs.
Ode To Quetzalcoatl, originally a super rare private press release, that regularly fetched thousands of dollars, was and maybe still is one of the most legendary/infamous downer/loner folk records ever, the recording sparse and mournful, mostly just acoustic guitar, reverb laden vocals, occasional harmonica or flute, but mostly just guitar and vocals, but it was enough, so haunting and heartwrenching, the lyrics twisted and depressive, so miserable and dark and anguished, the reverb only adding to the otherwordliness, the guitar lazy and languorous, the melodies minor key and melancholy, a little like Jandek if he could actually sing and play guitar. And was a recovered drug addict, born again Christian.
A simply gorgeous slab of super personal doomfolk from before there even was doomfolk, for fans of Nick Drake, Bill Fay, Roy Harper, Charles Manson and all dark mysterious folkmusic...
MPEG Stream: "Drug Song"
MPEG Stream: "Free Indeed"
MPEG Stream: "I Have Seen Him"
MPEG Stream: "666"

BLACK MERDA The Folks From Mother's Mixer (Funky Delicacies) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
FINALLY REPRESSED AND BACK IN STOCK!
For this one, I (Allan) have got to tell a little story... 'round Christmastime I was back home in Pennsylvania, where I spent one of my evenings hanging out with some old pals who I know from one of my hometown's record stores. You know, some folks in a basement, with some beers, something funny-smelling being smoked (no, not by me), and lots and lots of records being spun, mostly jazz and funk and R&B 'cause that's what these friends of mine dig the most. Well, one record comes on that immediately makes me say, hey, this sounds like something that shoulda been on that Chains And Black Exhaust compilation from a couple years ago. Real bad-ass, fuzzed-out psychedelic '70s funk. My friends hadn't seen that comp, but perhaps you have since you're reading this and we did pretty well with it here at AQ. Sadly it's long gone now. Well, another track (a nice bluesy number) goes by, and then boom, there's a song that WAS indeed on that comp! All chunky wah-wah groove and grunting badassitude, "Cynthy-Ruth" turns out it's called, and one of the highlights on Chains and Black Exhaust ('twas track three).
The record my host was spinning was a vinyl reissue of the first album circa 1970 by Detroit's "folk rock funkateers" (it said right on the cover), a band called Black Merda. We kept listening and it was clear that this was a pretty killer album from an obscure bunch of "black rock" pioneers, contemporaries of Funkadelic and similiarly influenced by Jimi Hendrix. Dang, I immediately figured that no doubt quite a few of you who dug Chains And Black Exhaust would want this!
So when I got back to work here at AQ, I had to track it down. My diligent investigations revealed that both this first album and its 1972 sequel Long Burn The Fire (released under the shortened sobriquet Mer-da) were soon to be reissued together on a single cd. And this is it, The Folks From Mother's Mixer (the name of one of the songs from the Mer-da LP).
Overall, there's a doomy, druggy vibe again akin to a lot of early Funkadelic, an atmosphere that can be mellow but menacing, dark and gloomy, with loosely-chanted choruses full of socially-conscious protest lyrics. And yes, there's a buncha funky heavy groovers in the style of "Cynthy-Ruth" alongside a goodly amount of laid back psychedelic blues-rock jamming in the Hendrix vein. Fans of early Funkadelic won't be disappointed at all. Their somewhat cleaner, brighter second album perhaps ain't as good as the first, but definitely also has its strong points and you'll be glad it's on here too.
Comes packaged with Afro-filled photos and lengthy liner notes that tell the whole Black Merda story, from their days as Edwin Starr's backing band to to their embrace of '60s heavy electric guitar rock to their signing to Chess Records (the famous blues label was trying to get into the psychedelic, underground rock thing at the time) and brief shot at fame to the eventual derailment of their career due to forces beyond their control. Now, 30+ years later, Black Merda's music gets another chance to turn on, funk up, and weird out music fans.
MPEG Stream: "Cynthy-Ruth"
MPEG Stream: "Prophet"
MPEG Stream: "Good Luck"

BLACK OAK ARKANSAS The Knowbody Else '69 (Purple Pyramid) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Way back before Black Oak Arkansas became the wild, liquored up, Southern fried hard rocking musical party we all know and love, and well before James Mangrum strapped on a washboard and transformed into wild Jim Dandy, the ringmaster of the BOA traveling sideshow, there was a little band called the Knowbody Else, who barely hinted at what was to come.
Instead, the sound of the Knowbody Else, essentially the proto Black Oak, is more more laid back and groovy, druggy and stoney, lots of twang and jangle, the drums loping and lazy, lots of slippery slide, and Dandy's, er, Mangrum's vocals are awesome, scratchy and rough, a throaty ragged croon, melodious but still raw, a bit wild and slightly unhinged, like a cross between the guy from Nazareth and the guy from The Monks, basically even though he's super young, he sounds like some crazy old man with a beard fronting a hippie rock combo, which isn't all that far off, minus the old bit.
The opening track is so great, a killer hook, weirdo lyrics about candy bars, some awesome lightning fast slide guitar leads, lots of twang, and a killer shuffling swing rhythm, plus a wicked hook that sticks fast in your head and is damn difficult to get out.
The rest of the record follows the same sort of sonic path, groovy sixties hippie rock, a little like the Allman Brothers meets the Grateful Dead mixed with a little Canned Heat maybe, guitars unfurling dreamily, muted tribal percussion, some flute flutters in the background, warm warbling organ swells, gentle minor key strum, slide guitar melodies, soft swirling twang, occasional bursts of wild lead guitar, it sounds like we're describing some super limited freek folk cd-r, and folks who are into that stuff should definitely check this out, but for the most part, the Knowbody Else is dark and doleful country rock, most of it sounding like just a guy and his guitar, or maybe at the most a couple folks, not the massive outfit pictured on the cover. The songs though are slightly off kilter, a bit trippy and weirdly mysterious, the unique vocals and brooding moodiness, turning the music into something much more 'out there and dark' than most of the stuff from that era. Minus the first track, which is just a killer Southern rock jam!!
It's not hard to imagine, walking down some long stretch of buckling asphalt, nothing but fields and cows in every direction, stumbling upon some old dilapidated roadhouse, pushing open the door, dark inside, except for the dim lights from behind the bar, and the stage against the back wall, filled with a bunch of shirtless longhairs, kicking out these mellow jams. Awesome.
But then there are the bonus tracks from a few years latter, which feature Tommy Aldridge on the drums, who would go on to drum for Ozzy, Whitesnake and Pat Travers, and sound WAY more like the Black Oak we're used to, big heavy proto hard rock party grooves, heavy blues, with crunchy guitars, and big beats, the first of the two bonus tracks is a killer, sounding even more like Nazareth, or maybe Blackfoot, with some super heavy guitar, and Dandy's wailing vox. The second bonus track, titled "Jim Dandy" is a bit cheesy and is sort of skippable, but that first one definitely has us hankering for more of the BOA heavy stuff!
Comes in one of those weird new fangled rounded corner style cd cases, and while they last, includes a button and a patch for your fringed leather vest!
MPEG Stream: "Hold Me Down"
MPEG Stream: "In Your Quiet Home"

BLANCHARD, JACK & MISTY MORGAN Life And Death (And Almost Everything Else) (The Omni Recording Corporation) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

BLANCHART, JACK & MISTY MORGAN Weird Scenes Inside The Birdhouse (The Omni Recording Corporation) cd 17.98

BLAST FURNACE s/t (Long Hair) cd 17.98
Copenhagen's rock scene in the early 1970s was so small and fertile that bands formed and reformed in various combinations of the same people. Case in point -- Blast Furnace came together in 1970, released a single great LP in 1971, and by 1972 3/4 of Blast Furnace had joined the band Culpeper's Orchard. It's kind of amazing that this record has been lost to all but the most die hard fans of Danish progressive rock, because it's so clearly great. The angst-filled (almost Faust-ish) vocals of Brit singer Tom McEwan take turns with super-expressive organ lines. And there are flutes eveywhere (which fills our flute obsessive Andee with joy).
And the arrangements are really good, making the most of minor key melodies so that nothing need be overstated. There aren't extended wanky instrumental passages here, for a prog band Blast Furnace edited themselves so well, leaving us wanting more. And, in fact, there is more -- a non-album track intended as a single has also been included on this cd. The disc starts off as classic and firece seventies prog, with complex melodic passages and some instrumental spacy jamming, but as the record progresses, the record veers dramatically from mostly instrumental prog, to super dramatic, almost goofy (in a good way) balladeering. The vocalist's deep baritone waxes poetic on ridiculous and far out subject matters, like the plight of Toytown, or poor sad Bobo the Clown. Sounds silly, and it sort of is, but it's really really good. Reminds us a little of AQ faves Paternoster (although not nearly as insane) or some super melodramatic seventies singer songwriter. But the combination of heartfelt ballads and searing prog action make this a weird and great find. Windy's new favorite record.
RealAudio clip: "Dr. Night"
RealAudio clip: "First and Last"
RealAudio clip: "Toytown"

BLOPS, LOS s/t (Shadoks Music) 3cd box 52.00
You'd think that there weren't any lost psychedelic treasures left to unearth. Especially considering the amount of garbage that gets released, being touted as some amazing find, some legendary lost gem. The fact that a record was released in some super limited pressing, or went out of print soon after it was released, or was maybe never released, is not enough to make it 'legendary' or 'essential' or even 'worth reissuing at all'! In fact often that speaks to the fact that no one gave a shit in the first place, and there's no reason for anyone to care now, except for the public's seemingly insatiable appetite for lost psychedelic treasures. As we quickly learned with the Radioactive reissues, there is no shortage of lame folk / sorta-psychedelia that can be repackaged and pushed on unsuspecting folks just looking to get their sixties/seventies psych rock fix. The folks at Shadoks seem to be a bit more discerning, and while we don't necessarily love everything they put out, they tend to hit way more than they miss.
But to be honest we were a little bit skeptical of a triple cd boxed set of some psychedelic band we had never heard of, but c'mon, all the signs pointed to yes -- they're from Chile, three records from 1970, 1971, and 1973, and most important of all, FLUTE!!! So we gave it a shot, and guess what, it's awesome. Each disc is a little different, but all three are super cool. Lilting psychedelic folk, dreamy and pastoral, fluttering flutes, over sweetly minor key acoustic guitar, simple hand drums, moody crooning vocals, simple shuffling rhythms, warm fuzzy organs, all with just the slightest psychedelic tinge. Fans of Embrujo, also from Chile, and recently raved about on the AQ list, will for sure want to pick this up too.
The second disc has all the same sonic elements but adds a bit of mariachi flair, and is a bit more electric than the mostly acoustic first album. There is more varied instrumentation and the sounds is a bit more poppy as well, with some definite Beatles-y moments here and there and occasional frenzied bursts of psychedelic freakout guitar. Record number three is the most psychedelic of the three and is definitely a bit more prog, lengthier tracks, more parts per song, groovy jazzy jams, wild super rocking complex drumming as well as some brief drum solos, probably the best (and wildest) flute playing of the three discs. More fuzzed out organ, lots more electric guitar, sounding a bit like Santana at times, but always infused with dreamy psychedelic folkiness. So cool.
Interesting aside: both the first and second records were originally released on a label affiliated with the Communist youth, and the original tapes were destroyed by the military! Radical.
Three jewel cased packaged in a gorgeous oversized box. Includes two tracks that weren't even on the recent, now out of print, vinyl reissues. LIMITED TO 1000 COPIES!!!
MPEG Stream: "Barroquita"
MPEG Stream: "La Muerte Del Rey"
MPEG Stream: "Que Lindas Son Las Mananas"
MPEG Stream: "Pintando Azul El Mar"
MPEG Stream: "Allegro Ma Non Troppo"
MPEG Stream: "Locomotora"

BLOSSOM TOES If Only For A Moment (Polydor Japan) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A while back we reviewed the reissue of this British band's wonderfully twee and surreal first album, "We Are Ever So Clean", from the paisley days of 1967. But on this, that album's 1969 follow-up, they left the Sgt. Pepperisms behind for an even freakier, and heavier, direction. It's kinda like how The Pretty Things went from "S.F. Sorrow" to "Parachute", but weirder. The Mothers Of Invention might have been an influence, certainly the lead-off track "Peace Loving Man" is crazy enough. Heavy too, with gruff vocals and loud guitar riffs. Yep, compared to the ornate, orchestrated psych-pop of "We Are Ever So Clean" this whole album is waaaay more (acid) Rock, but still full of melodic hooks and 60s zaniness. Pretty cool. Unfortunately this was to be their last album, but their guitarist did go on to join Family (we mention for those into the rock family tree thing). He also appeared on Magma's Kohntarkosz as well, of all things.
MPEG Stream: "Peace Loving Man"

BLOSSOM TOES If Only For A Moment (Sunbeam) cd 16.98
Nearby you'll find our review of the brand new reissue of this British band's wonderfully twee and surreal first album, We Are Ever So Clean, from the paisley daze of 1967. But on this, that album's 1969 follow-up, they left the Sgt. Pepperisms behind for an even freakier, and occasionally heavier, direction. It's kinda like how The Pretty Things went from S.F. Sorrow to Parachute, but weirder. The Mothers Of Invention might have been an influence, certainly the lead-off track "Peace Loving Man" is crazy enough. Heavy too, with gruff vocals and loud guitar riffs. Yep, compared to the ornate, orchestrated psych-pop of We Are Ever So Clean this whole album is waaaay more (acid) Rock, but still full of melodic hooks and '60s zaniness. Delicate vocals are deployed alongside bombastic, bluesy guitars. Pretty cool. Unfortunately this was to be their last album, but their guitarist did go on to join Family (we mention for those into the rock family tree thing). He also appeared on Magma's Kohntarkosz as well, of all things, though certainly this last Blossom Toes record points in a prog direction.
As with Sunbeam's reissue of We Are Ever..., this too comes complete with a info/graphics packed cd booklet, and also with a bounty of bonus tracks, seven of 'em, including several non-album singles sides and demos. The 45 A-side "Postcard" is a neat one, whimsical psych-pop in the vein of their debut, with lyrics that could have been, and maybe were, taken from an actual vacation postcard, a charming conceit for a song.
MPEG Stream: "Peace Loving Man"
MPEG Stream: "Kiss Of Confusion"
MPEG Stream: "Postcard"

BLOSSOM TOES If Only For A Moment (Sunbeam) 2lp 34.00
Now reissued on wax, 180g!
The 1969 follow up to this British band's wonderfully twee and surreal first album, We Are Ever So Clean, from the paisley daze of 1967. But on this, they left the Sgt. Pepperisms behind for an even freakier, and occasionally heavier, direction. It's kinda like how The Pretty Things went from S.F. Sorrow to Parachute, but weirder. The Mothers Of Invention might have been an influence, certainly the lead-off track "Peace Loving Man" is crazy enough. Heavy too, with gruff vocals and loud guitar riffs. Yep, compared to the ornate, orchestrated psych-pop of We Are Ever So Clean this whole album is waaaay more (acid) Rock, but still full of melodic hooks and '60s zaniness. Delicate vocals are deployed alongside bombastic, bluesy guitars. Pretty cool. Unfortunately this was to be their last album, but their guitarist did go on to join Family (we mention for those into the rock family tree thing). He also appeared on Magma's Kohntarkosz as well, of all things, though certainly this last Blossom Toes record points in a prog direction.
MPEG Stream: "Peace Loving Man"
MPEG Stream: "Kiss Of Confusion"
MPEG Stream: "Postcard"

BLOSSOM TOES Love Bomb (Sunbeam) 2cd 25.00

BLOSSOM TOES We Are Ever So Clean (Polydor Japan) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
London, 1967: ground zero for the explosion of fab British pop psych rock bands, including many known today only to collectors -- among them, this bunch of mop tops, Blossom Toes. Here's a Japanese cd reissue of the first of their two albums. Their brand of psychedelic pop music was ornate, orchestrated, lush, and very British -- they songs called "Mrs. Murphy's Budgerigar" and "I'll Be Late For Tea" -- think Beatles, Zombies, Kinks, very early Bowie, with dashes of surreal Pythonesque zaniness ("The Remarkable Saga Of The Frozen Dog", "The Intrepid Balloonist's Handbook, Volume One", etc.). Indeed, they even played Captain Beefheart covers live! Produced by Swinging Sixties London scenester Giorgio Gomelski (their manager, who also managed the Yardbirds among other claims to fame). Note: "Packaged with the original artwork and lyrics (as opposed to the ugly-ass Heritage Entertainment version previously available)" sez Revolver. Guitarist Brian Godding went on to play in Magma, on their Kohntarkosz album, fyi!
RealAudio clip: "Look At Me I'm You"
RealAudio clip: "I'll Be Late For Tea"
RealAudio clip: "The Remarkable Saga Of The Frozen Dog"
RealAudio clip: "Love Is"
RealAudio clip: "What's It For"

BLOSSOM TOES We Are Ever So Clean (Sunbeam) cd 16.98
London, 1967: ground zero for the explosion of fab British pop psych rock bands, including many known today only to collectors -- among them, this bunch of mop tops, Blossom Toes. Now here's brand new, deluxe cd reissues of their two albums. As displayed on this, their debut, Blossom Toes' brand of psychedelic pop music was ornate, orchestrated, lush, and very British -- they songs called "Mrs. Murphy's Budgerigar" and "I'll Be Late For Tea" -- think Beatles, Zombies, Kinks, Kaleidoscope, very early Bowie, with dashes of surreal Pythonesque zaniness ("The Remarkable Saga Of The Frozen Dog", "The Intrepid Balloonist's Handbook, Volume One", etc.). Indeed, they even played Captain Beefheart covers live! Produced by Swinging Sixties London scenester Giorgio Gomelski (their manager, who also managed the Yardbirds among other claims to fame). And weirdly enough, guitarist Brian Godding went on to play in Magma, on their Kohntarkosz album, fyi!
This new reish adds ten bonus tracks, and features extensive liner notes. It was prepared with the full blessing and cooperation of the original band members (a 2007 interview with whom makes up the bulk of the thick cd booklet, along with tons of color repros of 7" sleeves, poster graphics, and vintage b&w photos of the band). Amongst the bonus tracks, you'll find LP outtakes, instrumental versions, live cuts, demos, and a brief but amusing radio interview with guitarist Jim Cregan wherein the very proper host asks him about his "freaky" music.
MPEG Stream: "Look At Me I'm You"
MPEG Stream: "I'll Be Late For Tea"
MPEG Stream: "The Remarkable Saga Of The Frozen Dog"

BLUE CHEER New! Improved! (Akarma) cd 13.98
Figured we should list this, the third album by '60s San Francisco proto-metal acid rockers Blue Cheer (you can't get much more "acid rock" than Blue Cheer -- they're named after a type of LSD after all!), since it was recently reissued in Akarma's midpriced "karma price" series. And also 'cause on the second side of this 1969 album (titled New! Improved! with about 50 percent accuracy) you'll hear the guitar playing of Randy Holden, whose rare, classic Population II record was recently reissued on LP and subsequently purchased by throngs of old time heaviness-lovin' AQ customers. If you've got that, you've gotta have this too. Holden, formerly of LA garage rockers The Other Half, was Blue Cheer's replacement for original axeman Leigh Stephens, but Holden lasted only a few months in the Cheer, recording just half of this record with 'em, three songs total: the fairly epic "Peace Of Mind" and "Fruit & Iceburgs" and brief coda "Honey Butter Lover". Then he split to make the Pop II album as a duo with drummer Chris Lockheed, which basically sounds a lot like the second side of this album... indeed you'll find versions "Fruit & Iceburgs" on both records. That's what you want this for, the Holden side, which sounds like a more wasted, doomedelic Cream. It's the last hurrah of Blue Cheer as a "heavy" guitar band, really. Whereas the first side of New! Improved!, recorded after Holden left and featuring ex-Kak guitarist Gary Yoder, has got a lot of honky tonk piano and comes across more like something the Rolling Stones would do, either rustic and rollicking or really melodic and mellow. Not heavy at all, though certainly very hippie and of its time with songs like "West Coast Child Of Sunshine". So we're mainly just recommending this for the approximately 15 minutes of wailin' Randy Holden stuff on here.
However -- if you don't already have Blue Cheer's first two albums, Vincebus Eruptum and Outside Inside, though, get those first! Especially Vincebus, if you want to hear the REAL birth of heavy.
MPEG Stream: "Peace Of Mind"
MPEG Stream: "When It All Gets Old"

BLUE CHEER Outsideinside (PolyGram) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Also from '68, these San Francisco anti-hippies' second album, another classic of super-heavy (for its time) psychedelic proto-metal.

BLUE CHEER Outsideinside (Sundazed) lp 21.00

BLUE CHEER Vincebus Eruptum (PolyGram) cd 12.98
Their 1968 debut, the birth of metal? With "Summertime Blues". Dumb yet so brilliant. Essential heavy history.

BLUE CHEER Vincebus Eruptum (Sundazed) lp 21.00

BLUE SANDLEWOOD SOAP Loring Park Love Ins (Dionysus/Bacchus Archives) cd 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Blue Sandlewood Soap was unique in 1967/1968 around Minneapolis / St. Paul in that they had no lead guitarist and their use of crazy tempos and strange time signatures rendered their songs completely undanceable. They were also the first band in their scene to play mostly originals! Drugged out psychedelic space garage with cool sounding Farfisa and spacey dippy 12-string guitar playing sweet melodies. Some really cool and crazy, stoney, psych-rock.
RealAudio clip: "Nickel Bag Of Blue"
RealAudio clip: "The Girl Stares Coldly"

BLUES ADDICTS s/t (Shadoks Music) cd 17.98
All right! Unlike Blues Control, who might mislead just a bit with their name, this band Blues Addicts ARE indeed just what you think they might be from the moniker. Yep, reissue label Shadoks brings us the real deal heavy hippy blues rock here. And that is the sort of blues we like! Acid-rock blues circa 1970 from a Danish outfit definitely influenced by Cream and Hendrix. It's badass stuff, full of crunching chords and wailin' solos, approaching Blue Cheer levels of distortion n' heaviness, though with a jazzy side too, and some mellow moments. Blues Addicts' big thing was improvisation, as on the ten minutes plus of "Hailow". There's a singer, but really these songs are about instrumental musical expression, as you can tell from track titles referencing modes and methods like "Jazzer", "Bottleneck", "Electric", and perhaps even "(4/4+6/4)/Ã4"...
We mentioned these guys in our review of Shadoks' earlier reissue of another acid-blues item from Denmark, the Terje, Jesper & Joachim album. They were originally on the same label, Spectator, along with another, even fuzzier, band called Moses, which we hope will show up on Shadoks' reissue schedule someday soon too! Anyway, this is in that vein, and also fits in with other obscure bluesy proto-metal acts of the era like The Human Beast, Human Instinct, Speed Glue & Shinki, Skid Row, N.S.U., and many other fave raves of the same ilk.
Speaking of proto-metal, there's a high-contrast black and white picture in the cd booklet of hot shot guitarist Ivan Horn, whose evil facial grimace, long hair and shadowy brow makes him appear very black metal indeed. A man ahead of his time. Though, for looking so tough, he's also credited with playing the kazoo. The cd booklet also includes other photos and two pages of liner notes talking about the history of the band. Unlike the previous cd reissue we've seen of this (a few years back on the Karma label) there's no bonus tracks of alternate takes and the like, oh well.
MPEG Stream: "[4/4+6/4]/Ã4"
MPEG Stream: "Hailow"

BLUES CREATION Demon & Eleven Children (Calamares Productions) cd 19.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Unfortunately not the much nicer (but out of print) Japanese cd edition, this is a European cd pressing of this ESSENTIAL early '70s heavy rock proto-metal record. The lead off track, "Atomic Bombs Away" proves Blues Creation to be Japan's version of Black Sabbath.
MPEG Stream: "Nightmare"
MPEG Stream: "Tobacco Road"

BLUES CREATION Demon & Eleven Children (Bamboo) cd 17.98
When we listed a previous edition of this some years ago, it was back when our reviews were, um, a lot shorter. So all's we said then was that it was a proto-metal essential, from Japan's answer to Black Sabbath. And maybe that's enough, but since we dig this album so much, and it has at long last been reissued again, let's go for something a bit more expansive...
First off, Blues Creation's Demon & Eleven Children, their second and most classic album, dates from 1971. That's right, 1971!!! Of course it does. They'd started off in '69 with a record of all blues covers, but by '71 they'd heavied-up, and were ready with an album of originals, obviously influenced by the likes of Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and Deep Purple's In Rock. And dig that cover art. If you're one of our many proto-metal lovin' customers, you NEED this.
Among early '70s Japanese heavy psych hard rock bands, THESE guys (next to, arguably, Flower Travellin' Band) were indeed the heaviest we've heard. And definitely the most Sabbathy (though FTB did cover Sabbath... and Flied Egg came close too, even putting albums out on Vertigo). But really, just listen to the opening track here, "Atomic Bombs Away". No question. Sounds like a song Sabbath wrote for their first album, but let Blues Creation have instead. Heck if you didn't know better, it really sounds like Iommi's playing the guitar riffs and solos, and Geezer's on the swinging, lumbering bass! Obviously, it's heavy, gotta be when it's called "Atomic Bombs Away" (we wonder if it was was weird for a Japanese band to title a song that, only about 25 years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki). The song ain't actually about atomic bombs, actually, like most of the tracks on Demon & Eleven Children, it's about lovin' and leavin' (or being left). Which can be heavy stuff too. Sample lyrics from "Atomic Bombs Away": "First time I lay you in the rusty shack / Black night keep fallin' in your gypsy eyes / Keep on movin' till the end of time / Lord have mercy for my sin / Set me free from my destiny".
The next track is called "Mississippi Mountain Blues", complete with harmonica... but it's urgent and rollicking, and in any case about as conventionally blues rock as they ever get here. We call this proto-METAL for a reason. Just check out the rockin' riff-fest of an instrumental, entitled "Brane Baster" (aka "Brain Buster"), to see what we mean. It's not all about Sabbath emulation, either. They're proto-Priest in parts, too, or at least, they've got tight twin guitar action on here that'll impress the Wishbone Ash and Thin Lizzy fans. Definitely pretty badass for when and where they were from. Tracks like "Sorrow" do the slow and sad thing pretty well too. It's not all heavy - there's the gentle "One Summer Day", as lovely as its title suggests. But if you want heavy, '71 style, this album won't disappoint you at all, indeed, you'll be be freaking out. It concludes with the epic, and ripping, 9+ minute title track, and if you're not bowing down to Blues Creation by then, your name had better be, like, Ritchie Blackmore.
Julian Cope ranked this as #17 in his Japrocksampler top 50, not bad. From a proto-metal point of view, though, it's top ten material, and we're not just talking Japan. Up there with Bang and Dust and Buffalo and Leaf Hound and all the rest.
Reissued in one of those wallet-digi packages, numbered.
MPEG Stream: "Atomic Bombs Away"
MPEG Stream: "Just I Was Born"
MPEG Stream: "Brane Baster"

BLUES CREATION Demon & Eleven Children (Bamboo) lp 29.00
Now this Japanese psych / proto-metal classic has been nicely reissued on vinyl!
We could just say it's proto-metal essential, from Japan's answer to Black Sabbath. And maybe that's enough, but since we dig this album so much, let's go for something a bit more expansive...
First off, Blues Creation's Demon & Eleven Children, their second and most classic album, dates from 1971. That's right, 1971!!! Of course it does. They'd started off in '69 with a record of all blues covers, but by '71 they'd heavied-up, and were ready with an album of originals, obviously influenced by the likes of Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and Deep Purple's In Rock. And dig that cover art. If you're one of our many proto-metal lovin' customers, you NEED this.
Among early '70s Japanese heavy psych hard rock bands, THESE guys (next to, arguably, Flower Travellin' Band) were indeed the heaviest we've heard. And definitely the most Sabbathy (though FTB did cover Sabbath... and Flied Egg came close too, even putting albums out on Vertigo). But really, just listen to the opening track here, "Atomic Bombs Away". No question. Sounds like a song Sabbath wrote for their first album, but let Blues Creation have instead. Heck if you didn't know better, it really sounds like Iommi's playing the guitar riffs and solos, and Geezer's on the swinging, lumbering bass! Obviously, it's heavy, gotta be when it's called "Atomic Bombs Away" (we wonder if it was was weird for a Japanese band to title a song that, only about 25 years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki). The song ain't actually about atomic bombs, actually, like most of the tracks on Demon & Eleven Children, it's about lovin' and leavin' (or being left). Which can be heavy stuff too. Sample lyrics from "Atomic Bombs Away": "First time I lay you in the rusty shack / Black night keep fallin' in your gypsy eyes / Keep on movin' till the end of time / Lord have mercy for my sin / Set me free from my destiny".
The next track is called "Mississippi Mountain Blues", complete with harmonica... but it's urgent and rollicking, and in any case about as conventionally blues rock as they ever get here. We call this proto-METAL for a reason. Just check out the rockin' riff-fest of an instrumental, entitled "Brane Baster" (aka "Brain Buster"), to see what we mean. It's not all about Sabbath emulation, either. They're proto-Priest in parts, too, or at least, they've got tight twin guitar action on here that'll impress the Wishbone Ash and Thin Lizzy fans. Definitely pretty badass for when and where they were from. Tracks like "Sorrow" do the slow and sad thing pretty well too. It's not all heavy - there's the gentle "One Summer Day", as lovely as its title suggests. But if you want heavy, '71 style, this album won't disappoint you at all, indeed, you'll be freaking out. It concludes with the epic, and ripping, 9+ minute title track, and if you're not bowing down to Blues Creation by then, your name had better be, like, Ritchie Blackmore.
Julian Cope ranked this as #17 in his Japrocksampler top 50, not bad. From a proto-metal point of view, though, it's top ten material, and we're not just talking Japan. Up there with Bang and Dust and Buffalo and Leaf Hound and all the rest.
MPEG Stream: "Atomic Bombs Away"
MPEG Stream: "Just I Was Born"
MPEG Stream: "Brane Baster"

BLUES CREATION Live! (Black Rose) cd 22.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Japan's Blues Creation started off as standard late '60s traditional blues-rock band but quickly got all heavy and freaky and proto-metallic and sort of became their country's riffy acid-blues answer to Black Sabbath (well, along with a few others like Flied Egg and of course AQ faves the Flower Travellin' Band, who covered Sabbath on their first album). We really wish we could still get a hold of the Japanese import cd version of Blues Creation's classic 1971 album Demon & Eleven Children. But at least, at last, we have a few recently obtained copies of this, a reissue of a live album that originally came out (or was recorded at any rate) 'round the same time. It's got the title track from Demon & Eleven Children, along with a couple of Blue Creation originals not found on Demon, one called "Nightmare" being as good and metal as anything on that album. Plus there's a few covers -- "Understand" with guest vocalist Carmen Maki, who was kind of a Japanese Janis Joplin/Robert Plant hybrid, and extended-length versions of ol' nuggets like "Rolling Stone" and "Tobacco Road" (a mean version of that song for sure!). This is definitely not for those who hate the blues -- a lot of this is real bluesy -- but it's also pretty much always heavy and/or frantic. And the guitar work is KILLER, Iommi-worthy leads ripping out of yr speakers all the time. A live recording is just perfect for these guys. They have a super electric sound and that early '70s jamming aesthetic like the Sabs themselves.
MPEG Stream: "Nightmare"
MPEG Stream: "Tobacco Road"

BOBBYTEENS Not So Sweet (Estrus) cd 14.98
Okay, I've gotta let you know that when this cd first started I totally thought it was Blondie's "One Way Or Another". Then once the vocals came in... I was transported to Rydell Highschool in the movie Grease. The Bobbyteens are definitely a band Ms Rizzo and the rest of the Pink Ladies would approve of or even be in. Ample amounts of sass and attitude that also sorta reminded me of the Donnas. From the purveyors of fine garage rock, Estrus Records.

BOBBYTEENS Young & Dumb (Just Add Water) cd 13.98
The third full-length from perpetual highschoolers the Bobbyteens. Another trashy rawk party with major emphasis on fun, (minor on proficiency and production). A word of historical note, if you liked the Mummies, the Phantom Surfers and the Count Backwards, you no doubt already know that Bobbyteen Russell Quan beat the tubs for those three extremely lo-fi garage outfits. Plus his BT bandmates Tina and Danielle were two thirds of the Trashwomen. A messy dogpile of beer, lipstick, and satin jackets.

BOLDER DAMN Mourning cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We just got a few copies of this kinda-hard-to-find cd reissue of a much harder to find (only 200 copies pressed!) 1972 lp by a hard rock band from Florida who are kinda legendary for their song "Dead Meat", a over-15-minute opus of proto-doom metal, which appears here as the album closer. Combining sub-Cooper schlock horror stage theatrics and sub-Sabbath riffage, "Dead Meat" was Bolder (sic) Damn's very own dumb-rock "Black To Comm" (that's a reference to the MC5's infamous lengthy live show-closer, although "Dead Meat" isn't as intentionally avant-garde of course). Pretty cool, if not the holy grail that it's advertised as (also, a la "Black To Comm")! The rest of the album preceding "Dead Meat" is decent heavy rockin' stuff that today would be considered "stoner rock". Echoes of the James Gang, MC5 and, uh, Frijid Pink? The band broke up not long after this LP was recorded, thanks to the draft, giving "Mourning" kind of a lost classic status -- although we're not saying it really *is* a classic, just something for connoisseurs of obscure '70s hard/boogie rock (you know who you are). Only a few cds in stock, not likely to be back again...
RealAudio clip: "Got That Feeling"
RealAudio clip: "Dead Meat"

BOND, BILLY Y LA PESADA DEL ROCK AND ROLL s/t (Cloud Forest Recordings) cd 17.98

BOND, BILLY Y LA PESADA DEL ROCK AND ROLL Volume 3 & 4 (Cloud Forest) cd 17.98

BOND, BILLY Y LA PESADA DEL ROCK AND ROLL Volume I & II (Cloud Forest) cd 22.00

BORT, EDUARDO s/t (Fonomusic) cd 23.00
Man! The '60s and '70s psych reissues from around the world just keep wowing us. I mean, there's lots that don't, but those that do, DO. Spain's Eduardo Bort (the guy floating cross-legged in space on the cover with his guitar in his lap, presumably) and his band released this album back in 1975 and we'd never ever have heard of it if Fonomusic hadn't just done this nicely digipacked cd reissue. We put it on and thought, this is pretty good, yeah...and then a track or two later we were all just, like, 'I need this!" From soft gentle folkiness to hard rock guitar workouts, there's a lot to like here. The record consists of six epix of many moods, from spaced out psych to symphonic prog -- moody, melodic, dynamic and bombastic. Bort & Co are capable of sudden energetic, frantic prog outbursts and fuzz-riffed heaviness, like when about seven minutes into "Walking On The Grass" Bort's band really starts rippin' (with a total Iron Maiden galloping bass-line). Very cool. And the vocal majesty of that track reminds us of Deep Purple's "Child In Time" quite a bit. The production is amazing too. Recommended ('specially if you also dig Steamhammer's Speech or Wishbone Ash or Uriah Heep or anything sorta prog, sorta hard rock, sorta psych from the same era!).
MPEG Stream: "Walking On The Grass"
MPEG Stream: "Pictures Of Sadness"

BRAIN POLICE San Diego's Only Psychedelic Cops (Shadoks Music) cd 14.98
Reissue of recordings by San Diego's Brain Police made between 1964 and 1969. Garage Psych, acid blues rock jams a la Iron Butterfly.

BRAST BURN Debon (Phoenix) cd 17.98
Just as we expected, and certainly hoped, the fact that the Phoenix label reissued the freaky '70s Japanese psych artifact by Karuna Khyal (their album Alomoni 1985, highlighted here a few lists ago) meant that Brast Burn and their lone album Debon from 1975 was sure to follow. And now here it its, another rare record originally released on the extremely underground Voice label, the work of a mysterious avant-psych entity that may or may not have shared more of less the same membership as Karuna Khyal. Very similar to that band's record, this one also consists of two sprawling side-long tracks, that seem designed to demonstrate that Japanese hippies can could play primal "krautrock" too. Both tracks situate fairly mellow grooves amidst droning, heavily effected weirdness, with vocal chanting, ceremonial hand percussion, acid rock guitar spew, raw flute soloing, tape manipulated field recordings, rumbling drums, buzzing electronics, Twilight Zone melodies, and other good stuff making significant appearances in the freeform stew... it's very "Eastern", quite insane, and totally enjoyable.
If you liked the Karuna Khyal, you'll like this too. Also any fan of Acid Mothers Temple, Ghost, or other modern day Japanese psych would be remiss not check this out, we'd be surprised if it wasn't to be found in Kawabata Makoto and Masaki Batoh's record collections. Furthermore, without even checking, we're pretty sure this is the sort of thing that must be on the famous Nurse With Wound "list"... ok, we looked, it's there! Of course. And speaking of lists, it's #26 on Julian Cope's Japrocksampler Top 50, by the way (the Karuna Khyal was #19).
In the usual "wallet" style Phoenix cd packaging, limited to 1000 numbered copies.
MPEG Stream: "Debon 1"
MPEG Stream: "Debon 2"

BRIGADE Last Laugh (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.
The many unknown (to us, that is, for the most part) '60s psych rock reissues from labels like Akarma, Gear Fab, Sundazed, and Shadoks tend to be hit or miss affairs, with some truly being unearthed gems (Dreamies, Arzachel, Mad River) but quite a few being duds. Unfortunately, Brigade doesn't qualify as a gem, though it's not entirely the latter either. Garage psych pop (with lotsa pretty pre-prog keyboards) from Portland, Oregon that's nice and inoffensive and has a certain appeal to connoisseurs of the era no doubt, but lacks the x-factor (pop genius, heaviness, weirdness?) that would pique our interest. (More fuzz, please!) Recommended for collectors only. Probably the coolest thing about this band is that they won a KLSN Radio Portland Teen Fair Battle Of The Bands in 1968 and got a 1954 custom purple Cadillac hearse as the prize!
Thankfully the current batch of Shadoks reissues includes a much better West Coast rock entry (SoCal's Peacepipe, reviewed elsewhere) and a bonafide gem (British folkies Tony, Caro & John, also reviewed elsewhere), so they're still batting over .500.
RealAudio clip: "Self-Made God"

BRIGMAN, GEORGE Jungle Rot ( Bona Fide) cd 16.98
We listed the vinyl reissue last time, now we're blessed with a deluxe cd reish of this rare-ass 1975 private press LP from Baltimore's George Brigman, digitally remastered from the original 30 year old tapes, complete with three bonus tracks! It's something that anyone who digs, say, Michael Yonkers should perk up their ears at. It's that sort of outsider psych obscurity. Guitarist/vocalist George Brigman, a teenager at the time we're pretty sure, was definitely into such underground (back then) influences as The Stooges and the Velvet Underground. This record consists of fierce, fuzz-fueled punk rockers, lo-fi acid blues, and VU-inspired melancholia -- a downer vibe typified by such songs as "It's Misery", "Worrying", and "I'm Married Too". He's got worlds of woe. There's more of the latter so don't get the idea that this is Raw Power part II or anything. But the Stooges moments, like the killer title track, ARE super Stoogey. And ULTRA fuzzed. So imagine an unholy, amateur, low-budget blend of Iggy, Lou Reed, and some Nick Drake too. Sounds good don't it? It is pretty great. Recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Jungle Rot"
MPEG Stream: "Don't Bother Me"

BRIGMAN, GEORGE Jungle Rot (Anopheles) lp 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This is a vinyl reissue of a rare-ass 1975 private press LP from Baltimore that anyone who digs, say, Michael Yonkers should perk up their ears at. It's that sort of outsider psych obscurity. Guitarist/vocalist George Brigman, a teenager at the time we're pretty sure, was definitely into such underground (back then) influences as The Stooges and the Velvet Underground. This record consists of fierce, fuzz-fueled punk rockers, lo-fi blues, and VU-inspired melancholia -- a downer vibe typified by such songs as "It's Misery", "Worrying", and "I'm Married Too". There's more of the latter so don't get the idea that this is Raw Power part II or anything. But the Stooges moments, like the killer title track, ARE super Stoogey. So imagine an unholy, amateur, low-budget blend of Iggy, Lou Reed, and some Nick Drake too. Sounds good don't it? It is pretty great. Very soon a cd reissue on the Bona Fide label should also be arriving in our shop, but for the vinyl-enabled among you, Anopheles has the goods right now, on clear vinyl, mastered from the original tapes.
MPEG Stream: "Jungle Rot"
MPEG Stream: "Don't Bother Me"

BRINCOS World Devil Body [aka Mundo Demonio Carne] (Zafiro) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Another gem from Spain's psychedelic past! We've been getting some very interesting reissues of Spanish stuff lately (Agamenon, Tapiman, Eduardo Bort, Smash, The Spanish Trip comp, etc.) and this Brincos disc is one to add to that list. From 1970, this is psych-pop with a bit of a prog bent, especially on the album's ambitious lead-off / title track, "Mundo Demonio Carne", which clocks in at over twelve minutes long and is a real psych odyssey. Fuzzed out rockin' morphs into gentle folky melodicism and back into dramatic prog soundscapery. Worth it almost for this track alone, though happily the rest of the album is equally excellent and eclectic, from blues rock workouts to handclapping pop to fake raga ("Kama-Sutra"). There's lots of groove, and lots of lush, infectious melodies -- the kind that make you hit 'play' over and over again.
Some comparisons we could make, which may only make sense to those well versed in the pop/prog/psych obscurities of the era: Los Dug Dug's meets The Millenium? Aphrodites Child + Os Mutantes + Kak?? Well, if you know who some/all of those bands are you're probably the sort of person who would enjoy Brincos -- though that's not to say that if you've never heard of any of 'em you wouldn't like Brincos. Far from it. This is some appealing stuff that anyone with an ear for colorful, poppy psychedelia should dig...
This import from Spain is World Devil Body's offical reissue version and includes both Spanish and English language versions of many of the album's tracks.
MPEG Stream: "Mundo Demonio Y Carne"
MPEG Stream: "Esa Mujer"

BROUGHTON, EDGAR BAND Wasa Wasa (Harvest / EMI) cd 15.98
Here's a heavy, hairy hippie band from the late '60s, early '70s British blues/psych/festival scene whom we've never really written about before, but since some cds of their albums just got a domestic reissue, we ought to mention 'em, starting with Wasa Wasa. You could maybe call the Edgar Broughton Band "proto-metal", or maybe even "proto-punk", at least on this album, their 1969 debut, which features such ragged riff sloggers as "Evil" and "Love In The Rain". Their proto-metal never got much harder than here, although their later, less fuzzed/more folked albums are worthwhile too, on their own merits.
The first thing you'll notice about the Edgar Broughton Band are Edgar's vocals, which rasp and wail in an exaggerated, eccentric backwoodsy way, often reminding us of Captain Beefheart, or sometimes a blend of Beefheart and Iggy from the Stooges (check out lead off track "Death Of An Electric Citizen", amongst others, for that). He's great at maniacal ranting too, as on this album's lysergic, 14 minute finale, "Dawn Crept Away". Combined with the heavyish, bluesy guitarwork and general pungent atmosphere n' attitude of radical longhaired freakdom, this is a disc that should appeal to fans of bands like the Groundhogs, Pink Fairies, and Hawkwind, comrades all. Arthur Brown's Crazy World and/or Kingdom Come too. Maybe even the Doors and the 13th Floor Elevators as well.
Definitely a tripped out classic of the era. You surely oughta pick this up before you get that Endless Boogie album we listed last time.
Includes 5 previously unreleased bonus tracks, including a nine minute "Untitled Freak Out"...
Or, in sum, as we said before: If you've been wondering about the EBB... this one's actually kinda heavy in a Pink Fairies psych freakout sorta way. The one to get.
MPEG Stream: "Death Of An Electric Citizen"
MPEG Stream: "Evil"

BROWN, BOBBY The Enlightening Beam of Axonda (Akarma) cd 18.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The minute we first heard this we knew it was something weird and wonderful. Not to be confused with the Bobby Brown of "My Perrogative" and Whitney's boy-toy fame, this Bobby Brown was a Hawaiian surfer dude (check out his hair / shirt / puka shell necklace on the cover as well as song titles like "My Hawaiian Home") who in 1972 decided to share his "Universal One Man Orchestra" as well as his bizarre personal message of physics and religion (that's the Enlightening Beam Of Axonda, dig?) that his one man orchestra was designed to accompany. Confused? The Universal One Man Orchestra was a homemade percussion / string instrument incorporating elements of various instruments as varied as the Irish harp, sitar, hammer dulcimer, thumb piano, flute, koto and more, with a total of 311 strings in all, some of which were adapted to be played with the feet. The whole contraption designed so Brown could perform all of these songs live, as a one man band. As weird as that all sounds the end result is gorgeous, and darkly romantic, and not on the surface noticably 'weird'. A rich bed of buzzing sitar strings, throbbing bass and keening distant sonic wails, over a complex rhythmic framework, sort of African, sort of tribal, but very subtle and simple. Brown's voice is probably the most distinctive element, a thick, rich throaty croon, sounding at times quite a bit like Nick Drake. Supposedly Brown had a vocal range of six octaves (!) but the only time it's really noticable is when he pitches down to a chest rattling rumble, before soaring right back up to a tenor or almost-falsetto. These dreamy, slowly developing songs are scattered with all sorts of bizarre sound effects, presumably also produced by his home made orchestra, but sounding remarkably like some primitive synthesizer or ring modulator. In addition to creating the 'orchestra' he also built his own electronic pickups from discarded computer parts! If it weren't for the instrumentation and the bizarre lyrics, The Enlightening Beam of Axonda is so sweetly melodic and darkly beautiful, it definitely sounds like it could have been really popular outside the trippy hippy folky crowd that dug it at the time. There's even testemonials in the liner notes from Carl Wilson of the Beach Boys and Kenny Loggins! Here's a description of the record in Brown's own words: "An original contribution to the field of Religion And Science -- based on physics -- to my knowledge not yet discovered by other humanoids -- more Evolutionary than Einstein's revelations of Newtonian physics -- the application of this physics will perhaps (in fact) lead to the most significant change in the history of humanity (plus total religious unity.)" Wow. Not so sure about that. But we can guarantee that this will find a perfect home amidst all of your other wild and weird, folky and freaky cds. Note: this is an Italian import and everything's closed there for the month of August, so if when we run out we won't get more 'til September, so act fast or please be prepared to be patient.
MPEG Stream: "I Must Be Born"
MPEG Stream: "My Hawaiian Home"

BRUNER Songs For A Friend (Numerophon) lp 15.98
One-sided lp of fragile loner folk by Linda Bruner, the female singer of recently discovered sixties psych band, Pisces. One original and five covers. Just her voice fraught with sadness and a guitar. Spare and lovely. The B-side features an etching of the cover photo.

BRUSH!? s/t (Shadoks Music) cd 15.98
Kudos to Shadoks for searching this one out! We'd never have heard it otherwise, and we're glad we did. Dude from early '70s Japanese psychedelic proto-metallers Flied Egg (who sounded a bit like Blue Cheer, and recorded for Vertigo!), by the name of Masayoshi Takanaka, made his recording debut in 1971 (yup) with this rare rare rare album of underground hippy conceptual weirdness, called Brush!? (punctuation theirs, but deserved). Quite a few other Japanese psych scenesters of the day participated as well. Results? There's some truly freaked out shit here, and some really lovely, folky parts too. It's an eclectic mix of the following ingredients, and more: acid fuzz guitar rockin', atonal electronic experiments, gentle pop grandeur, organ drones, raga-like jamming, avantgarde piano improv, Velvets/Dylan balladry, and West Coast/Woodstock Nation psych. In other words, all over the place, and pretty darn tripped out!! Hearing reissues of interesting '70s Japanese psych acts like Brush!?, Flied Egg, Far Out, Food Brain, Strawberry Path, Les Rallizes Denudes, etc. etc. it's clear that all the great psychedelic underground outfits active in Japan today, from Acid Mothers Temple to LSD-march to Green Milk From The Planet Orange to (of course) the Boredoms, are keeping alive a grand tradition begun some 30+ years ago!
Includes 20 page cd booklet full of all kinds of cool photos and drawings and lyrics (many of 'em in English). Seriously, we're pretty sure that if you could just take one look inside this cd booklet, you'd want to hear the album! On one of the tracks, in addition to musician credits for sitar and tabura [sic], we see this: "Lafing [sic]: Elf, Fairly [sic], Goblin." and "Effects: Crow, Raven, Fowl, Triton." WTF?? The song titles are good too: "All Most Cut Your Hair (including) I Did Cut My Hair", "Die A Dog's Death (In Vain)", and "Tomb Stone".
MPEG Stream: "The People Of Glass"
MPEG Stream: "Foolish Guy"
MPEG Stream: "Die A Dog's Death (In Vain)"

BRUTHERS, THE Bad Way To Go (Sundazed) cd 13.98

BUBBLE PUPPY A Gathering Of Promises (Charly) cd 15.98
The legendary Roky Erickson and his 13th Floor Elevators are treasured by most psychedelic rock hounds, and deservedly so (recently the subject of a 10cd retrospective box set!). But the Elevators weren't the only sixties Texas psych band to release album on the Houston based International Artists label, of course, there was also the more avant garde Red Krayola... and THESE guys, best known for their hit "Hot Smoke And Sassafras", a song you must have heard at some point in your life, most likely without knowing it was by a band called Bubble Puppy. It starts off with an immediately catchy, chicka-chicka riff, one of THOSE killer riffs, funky and fuzzed, which leads into some primo '60s pop psych. Really it's the next best thing to James Gang's "Funk #49", or even some of Hendrix's classics a la "Purple Haze", in that long forgotten groovy acid rock style bands just don't do anymore. Great title too. "Hot Smoke And Sassafras" appeared on BP's lone 1969 album A Gathering Of Promises, now reissued in a limited edition, impressively thick deluxe "digibook" packaging complete with 8 bonus tracks!
Bubble Puppy are one of those sorta well-known yet still overlooked bands, who will forever be considered one hit wonders, but while "Hot Smoke..." is one REALLY good reason to get this album, they have other songs that are quite worthy too! Ferinstance, the title track is a great example of the other thing that BP do so well, a more mellowed out style of psych pop, another would be the Beatlesy "It's Safe To Say"... And then among the bonus tracks (some of which are merely mono singles versions of album cuts) you'll find "Thinkin' About Thinkin'", another energetic raver very much the "Hot Smoke..." style. Seems like they could have been a bigger band for sure, but International Artists wasn't able to take 'em there. Eventually these guys moved to LA and changed their name to Demian 'cause Bubble Puppy (an allusion to a childrens' game that figures in Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World) sounded too bubblegum, which wasn't at all the intention - Bubble Puppy being a rock act whose very first gig was as support for The Who! Sadly, Demian never made it either, but at least these guys will forever be footnoted at least in the annals of rock n' roll thanks to "Hot Smoke...", though they deserve more than that based on the significant charms of this entire album.
MPEG Stream: "Hot Smoke And Sassafras"
MPEG Stream: "A Gathering Of Promises"

BUCKLEY, TIM Starsailor (4 Men With Beards) lp 16.98

BUGALOOS Songs From Sid & Marty Krofft's Original Television Series (Cherry Red) cd 16.98
All kids should be raised on psychedelic children's television shows! The world would be a way better, or at least way crazier place! The Bugaloos was the follow up show to Sid & Marty Krofft's other totally out there children's TV show HR Pufnstuf. Both shows were filled with psychedelic metaphors and totally infectious rainbow colored pop melodies. Kind of touted as the UK version of The Monkees, but of WAY more airy, trippy and psychedelic, the Bugaloos were a band of insects (cute interracial teens in tight clothes with cute little wings on their backs) who lived in Tranquility Forest, where they flew in the sky, battled the evil Benita Bizarre (played by Martha Raye) and spread their glorious pop, a heady concoction of lush string arrangements, candy coated harmonies and an overall Wizard Of Oz on acid vibe that made them a big hit, not just with the tots but with older folks too. We were so delighted that this was finally made available here in the states. There was a Japanese reissue a few years back but it was still hard to get and was quite pricey. Fans of The Free Design take note as this possesses that same kind of over the top poppy, happy and slightly warped cheerfulness. One listen and you can totally tell that there had to have been plenty of... um... well let's just say all sorts of mind altering goodies, involved in the creation of this far out show and the amazing and sweetly trippy pop soundtrack. Electric kool-aid for all the kiddies!!
MPEG Stream: "Gna Gna Gna Gna Gna"
MPEG Stream: "The Bugaloos"

BULENT Benumle Oynar Misin (World Psychedelic ) cd 29.00
Andee thinks this sounds like Cat Stevens...but that doesn't mean it's not lovely! Benumle Oynar Misin is a rare album from the early '70s by Turkish singer/songwriter Bulent Ortacgil, now available on cd. Recorded circa '73-'74, this is certainly a bit different from the other "Turkish Delights" we've been bringing you lately (Mogollar, Erkin Koray, 3 Hur-el, etc.) as you'll find no fuzzed-out guitars dueling with ouds and ikligs here. No, Bulent is all about mellow, melodic, placid, folk-rock with some bright and shiny horns livening up the proceedings on occasion. It's all sung in Turkish, but the songs should hold up even without any understanding of the lyrics. So nice. It has such a sensitive vibe that it may even appeal to fans of Belle & Sebastian.
MPEG Stream: "Kediler"
MPEG Stream: "Olmali Mi Olmamali Mi"
MPEG Stream: "Sik Latife"

BULL, SANDY & THE RHYTHM ACE Live 1976 (Drag City) lp 15.98
An archival live release from multi-instrumentalist Sandy Bull is a welcome occurrence any day. After the great 1969 live recording release Still Valentine's Day on the Water label from a few years back where Bull opened for John Fahey, we knew his live sets held a charged electric power that wasn't always evident on his studio records.
This set is from 1976 recorded at the Berkeley Community Theater where he opened for Leo Kottke. Like the 1969 date, Bull uses a tape machine to accompany himself for the bass parts, but also adds a Rhythm Ace drum machine (!) which gives the song a soft organic momentum. The Rhythm Ace, an early Japanese manufactured commercial drum machine has a soft percussive sound similar to most console organs of the time, and has been sought out for its natural sense of tempo and warm unobtrusive rhythms. He even demos the various settings to much delight. He opens with one of his oud improvisations, but the songs on this set have a more twangy Americana blues vibe. "Driftin", inspired by the Drifters, has a countrified slide guitar feel, while "Alligator Wrestler" is more swampy, the accompanied rhythm set through beautifully analog phasing and wah effects. He does sing on one song called "Love Is Forever", which has a wonderful charm even though he isn't that great of a singer. But it's the quality of the sound that makes this set so nice. Like the 1969 recording, he's a virtual one man band and how he sets up the pieces, the beautiful energy of his playing, the friendly banter and that warm tube amp sound makes this a satisfying morning or late evening listen.

BULLDOG BREED Made In England (Acme Gramophone) cd 15.98

BULLET The Entrance to Hell (Angel Air) cd 22.00
Our proto-metal pick of the week! Bullet were an early '70s UK power trio led by guitarist/vocalist John DuCann, previously a member of The Attack, Andromeda, and Atomic Rooster. A while back, when we reviewed a reissue of Atomic Rooster's classic Death Walks Behind You, we talked about DuCann, calling his post 'Rooster band Hard Stuff "one of proto-metal's best kept secrets", and guess what? The existence of these recordings by Hard Stuff precursor Bullet were an even bigger secret...
After being booted from Atomic Rooster (despite having written several of that band's biggest hits), DuCann formed this new group, Bullet (briefly before that called Daemon), with a fellow former 'Rooster, drummer Paul Hammond, along with bass player John Gustafson (ex-Quatermass), who could sing and write as well. The idea, it seems, was to play music even harder and darker than Atomic Rooster did... and the results were some high energy, riffy, rippin' stuff indeed, with song titles like "Sinister Minister" and "Hell: Demonic Possession". Distorted, fuzzed out jams for sure, but with a pop side to 'em too. They soon changed their name (for legal reasons) to Hard Stuff, and produced two excellent albums full of heavy-duty "hairy funk", Bulletproof (1972) and Bolex Dementia ('73), before a near-fatal car accident on the German autobahn involving 2/3rds of the band ended their career prematurely.
But it turns out that while they were still called Bullet, back in 1970-'71, they'd privately demoed this rough disc-ful of music, now properly released for the first time (sort of, see below) after resting for decades in DuCann's vaults. Since, currently, there don't appear to be any reissues of the Hard Stuff albums available to us, this is the next best thing. Now, if you already have yourself some Hard Stuff, you might not need this...but you'll probably want it. Many of the best songs did wind up being re-recorded by HS for their debut, but there's also lots of other cool jammy tracks on here where you get to hear DuCann really go off on his guitar, plus it's certainly rad to hear the raw early versions of catchy Hard Stuff staples like "No Witch At All". There's 17 tracks total (well, 15 really, as two of 'em, "Door Opens" and "Door Closes" are both but brief sound FX), that remind us of other proto-metal faves like Dust, James Gang ("Taken Alive" in particular), Stray, Leaf Hound, and Granicus...
The cd booklet contains extensive liner notes, in the form of an interview DuCann himself, getting in depth into the whole Bullet/Hard Stuff story. Though he doesn't have a lot to say about Daemon, who at one point had a singer named Al Shaw who perhaps appears here too. And FYI, this same material was once previously reissued on cd (a bootleg?) under the Daemon name by the Kissing Spell label.
MPEG Stream: "No Witch At All"
MPEG Stream: "The Orchestrator"
MPEG Stream: "Time Gambler"