sábado, 15 de septiembre de 2018

OUT OF TIME - Stories We Can Tell & More [ITA garage rock 1985] 2015 AREA PIRATA APC29


Another amazing band is now back from the grave! Out Of Time were part of the 'neo-Sixties' underground movement during the mid-80s in Italy and were included in the legendary ‘Eighties Colours’ compilation.
Their short artistic life didn’t prevent the band to release a great album called "Stories We Can Tell" and share the stage with some of the most talented international bands of that time such as Long Ryders, Dream Syndicate, Smithereens, Go Betweens, That Petrol Emotion, Doctor and The Medics, Naked Prey...
This release includes their never reissued album "Stories We Can Tell" (1985) and many bonus tracks. 


Out Of Time

jueves, 9 de agosto de 2018

MAQUINA - Why [España prog rock 1970] 2015 Flawed Gems GEM 136

Debut album from Spanish band. 2 long and 2 short tracks that features endless battles between fuzz and wah wah guitars. Heavy psychedelic like a mixture of PINK FLOYD, GRATEFUL DEAD and CREAM. Incl. 9 bonus tracks.

Why?

miércoles, 8 de agosto de 2018

VVAA - New Rose Story 1980 - 2000 [rock, garage, punk, blues rock] 2000 Last Call Records 3062312

New Rose Records was created by Patrick Mathé and Louis Thévenon in 1981. They converted in the biggest indie label in Europe, and also promoted numerous smallest labels through their distribution activity. In 1992 the label was sold to the FNAC (actually Fnac Music), but disappeared early in 1994. After that, Patrick Mathé created Last Call Records, taking most part of the New Rose catalog of artists, and also reissued some records amongst new releases.
cd 1
cd 2
cd 3
cd 4

artwork complete

LOVE - Forever Changes [USA psychedelic 1967] 2018 Elektra-Rhino R2 565276 - 50th Anniversary


DISC ONE Original Stereo Album
DISC TWO Original Mono Album
DISC THREE Alternate Mix
DISC FOUR Singles And Outtakes

ARTWORK

miércoles, 6 de junio de 2018

VIBRAVOID - 2001 Love Is Freedom [Germany psychedelic 2001] Triggerfish Music TFM 006 CD






German psychedelic band from Düsseldorf, Vibravoid, are one of the most important trendsetters of the current psychedelic scene and after more than 20 years. 

Vibravoid first album

lunes, 4 de junio de 2018

FREDDY LYNXX & THE CORNER GANG - Bloodied Up [FR rock punk 1999] Julie Records BABE 001


From the Rockbrat Archives: Freddy Lynxx Interview 1999:
 
Freddy, you have a new album recorded and about to be released. Can you tell us a little about it ?
The title is ‘BLOODIED UP’ and it has been recorded in NY City at the famous Tin Pan Alley studios by Patrick Klein with lots of my great rock ‘n’ roll friends such as Kevin K, Mr Ratboy, the Senders and Elda Gentile to name but a few.

The songs sound consistently strong, and the album itself sounds very complete. Personally, I think it’s your strongest album by far. Would you agree ?
I don’t know, as I still have 2 other albums recorded in the same vain, so that’s really impossible for me to say.

The concept of using some classic lines from the spaghetti western films as song intros really adds to the authentic, gutsy feel of the album. Can we expect Dirty Harry on the next album ? 
I guess so, plus Mr Smith & Wesson !  

Will you be touring soon to support the album’s release ? There’s a tour that should start next year. Maybe March or April but the booking agency has suggested we’ll have to wait ’til the press review the album.  

What’s 2000 hold in store for Freddy Lynxx at this stage ? Nothing at all! But it should be fine for rock ‘n’ roll as in China it will be the year of the Dragon.  

Favourite Australian band ? Early AC/DC with Bon Scott (RIP), the Saints, Radio Birdman, Hoss.  

Shakin Street or Telephone ? 

None of them. For me it was a band called Extraballe. The best French lyrics, music and male singer.

A message for all Cat Scratch Fever readers and Freddy Lynxx fans out  there? 
Support Vicious Kitten and get the Cat Scratch Fever for 9 lives!

Freddy Lynxx

RICK BLAZE AND WALTER LURE - Live in NYC [USA rock punk 1994] Dionysus Records 123320.2

A Johnny Thunders 'tribute', recorded live at CBGBs. Even NYC hippy legend David Peel makes an appearance.

Rick


HOODOO GURUS - Bite The Bullet - Director's Cut [Australia rock 1998] Mushroom MUSH33156.5


Bite the Bullet – Director's Cut, consisting of Bite the Bullet (Live) (a live farewell tour set), Doppelgänger: Live-to-Air Broadcasts '83 – '96 (Triple J Live at the Wireless performances) and Bubble & Squeak: Outtakes and Oddities (a rarities collection).

Hoodoo Gurus


domingo, 8 de abril de 2018

VVAA - Transparent Days - West Coast Nuggets [USA psychedelic 1967] 2017 Rhino Records R1 560061


Rhino's "Summer Of Love" series continues with Transparent Days - West Coast Nuggets, a thorough survey of psychedelic rock digs recorded in the '60s. The tracks are from left coast bands/artists, some making music independently in garages to others signed to labels and working in proper studios, and they have been carefully curated to represent the musical mood and vibe of the convergence of free thinking, sexual freedom, drug use, & creative expression that we've come to know as The Summer of Love. 16 tracks in all, must listens include: "Transparent Day" by The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Brand Windy - The Association, "The Race Is Run" by The Motleys," "Here's Today" by The Rosa Garden, "She's My Baby" by The Mojo Men, and "I Could Be Happy" by The Dovers.

Days

jueves, 22 de marzo de 2018

THE BROTHERHOOD - Stavia [USA garage psychedelic 1972] 2017 Out-Sider OSRCD065

In 1972, Ohio based band THE BROTHERHOOD released their only album, “Stavia”. It was a private edition of 200 copies, pressed at the legendary Rite custom plant. This rare album is a good example of US acid-rock / hippie psych with slight soul & funk influences: fantastic playing, swirling organ, powerful vocals, top guitar shredding, flute…
“Stavia” has always been one of those shrouded in mystery albums, so rare that some collectors even doubted about its existence. Bootlegged in the ‘90s in a butchered edition that included two songs from an unrelated band, here’s the first ever legit vinyl reissue. 



Stavia


viernes, 9 de marzo de 2018

QUICKSILVER MESSENGER SERVICE - Live At The Summer Of Love [USA psychedelic 1967] 2011 Bear Records FLOATD 6115

Quicksilver Messenger Service are widely regarded as one of the 1960's San Francisco acid rock scene’s lost opportunities. Although they were among the first to convene, they were sidetracked by the imprisonment of founder Dino Valente on drug charges and didn’t get around to releasing their self-titled debut album until 1968.

That said, they’ve acquired a dedicated following thanks to the signature work of guitarists John Cippolina (much-admired by such players as Ghost member and Boris associate Michio Kurihara, among others) and Gary Duncan.

Fortunately for their devotees, soundman and acid guru Owsley Stanley recorded many of their shows, allowing fans to check out their sound prior to their official (and some say best) album ‘Happy Trails’ from 1969.
The recordings on ‘Live At The Summer Of Love’ predate their debut’s May 1968 release (in the case of the latest of the three shows, by only a month) and come from the Fillmore Auditorium and the Carousel Ballroom (to be purchased and renamed the Fillmore West by Billy Graham just a few months later).

The two-disc set kicks of with QMS’s trademark workout of Bo Diddley’s ‘Mona’, which gets stretched out past the eight-minute mark, and starts off with an introduction promising a few numbers from their oft-incarcerated leader Dino Valenti and a following set from Jefferson Airplane. Then it jumps ahead in time to a ‘Walkin’ Blues’ taken from a later Carousel show before romping through a varied set of heavily reconfigured and distended blues tunes (such as the Willie Dixon penned Howlin’ Wolf tune ‘Back Door Man’, ‘ Smiley Lewis’ evergreen ‘I Hear You Knocking’ and ‘Hoochie Coochie Man’). They also play several of their own compositions, such as their instrumental mainstay ‘Gold and Silver’, ‘Dino’s Song’ and some folk tunes - the San Francisco staple ‘Codeine’ and Ann Bredon’s ‘I’m Gonna Leave You’, given later life by Joan Baez and later given its most histrionic treatment by Led Zeppelin on their 1969 debut, the trad murder ballad ‘Duncan and Brady’ and folkie Hamilton Camp’s classic ‘Pride Of Man’. There’s also at least one obscurity to tantalize the QMS fan (not that they will need much more encouragement to pick up the set), in ‘Year Of The Outrage’.

There’s more of the same on the second CD, with Cippolina and Duncan’s guitars twining and turning through another Bo Diddley stomper, ‘Who Do You Love?’ Rufus Thomas’ ‘All Night Worker’, Ben E. King’s ‘Stand By Me’ ‘Drivin’ Wheel (It’s Been Too Long)’ and ‘You Don’t Love Me’ among others.

While not the first place to stop for those unfamiliar with Quicksilver Messenger Service, ‘Live At The Summer Love’ is an excellent introduction to the group’s live output and a good window into their early years.


Live At The Summer Of Love

THE PALACE GUARDS - The Palace Guards [USA garage 1966-68] 2008 Gear Fab GF-224

What everyone remembers about this Metarie, Louisiana garage band are their 5 great 45’s released on the White Cliffs, rAe, and U-Doe labels (the first 10 songs listed). What everyone didn’t know was they also recorded 3 alternate versions of these 45s as well as 10 previously unreleased tracks from June, 1966 through April, 1969.

These alternate versions and never before heard tracks reek of fuzzed out garage sounds!!

Guards

jueves, 8 de marzo de 2018

RODNEY AND THE BLAZERS - The Complete Recordings 1960-1964 [USA r'n'r garage 1960-64] Gear Fab GF-152

This first-ever Rodney & the Blazers CD collects every surviving recording from the now-obscure Kansas rock & roll combo led by Rodney Lay, Jr.. The band was pure rock & roll mayhem, and their music serves as a great window into the shifting commercial whims of the times, when the hit record meant everything (and when "record" meant the 45 rpm single), and getting a hit record meant trying your hand at any number of styles and novelties. The band dipped its hand into numerous jars over the course of a dozen or so singles, from rock covers and Gershwin adaptations to a plethora of pretty wonderful self-penned originals. Their first single, the prom-dance ballad "Teenage Cinderella," hit number one in numerous major cities around the country, and probably should have been an even bigger national hit, while the jaunty comic-book ode "Little Orphan Annie" is a mixture of the Big Bopper, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Sam the Sham. On the novelty side, "Warpaint," naturally, is a goofy but fun Native American rock instrumental, and "Oriental Nightmare" incorporates gong crashes and dual Asian-like guitar lines. They cover two Larry Williams' classics in "Short Fat Fannie" and "Boney Maroney," but of even more historical importance, the band's take on the old Joe Jones tune, "California Sun," is virtually identical to the Top Five nationwide smash the Rivieras had with the song later in 1964. It is no coincidence. In fact, the Rivieras hit version was a direct copy of the Rodney & the Blazers version down to the exact arrangement. The Blazers also nicked bits from Buddy Holly (the old rockabilly tune, "Tell Me Baby"), Ricky Nelson ("It's All Over but the Cryin'"), the Everly Brothers ("Blue School"), and the Coasters, but there is plenty of individual charisma in their music. As early rock & roll obscurities go, Rodney & the Blazers are very much underappreciated, and as anthologies go, The Complete Recordings, 1960-1964 is a definitive representation worthy of them.

Rodney


viernes, 23 de febrero de 2018

DICKEY BETTS - The Collectors #1 - Let's Get Together [USA rock 2002 - 2001] 2009 Retroworld FLOATM6039

This set essentially pairs two different Dickey Betts solo projects into a double-disc package, both previously released. The first, The Collectors #1, is a rarities set from Betts' Great Southern project. The feel is loose, and the music ranges from the Celtic "Beyond the Pale" to the loose Western swing feel on a cover of Billy Joe Shaver's "Georgia on a Fast Train," the shuffling country reading of Bob Dylan's "Tangled Up in Blue," and a B.B. King-inspired reading of "Change My Way of Livin' #2." Essentially this is the acoustic side of Great Southern, proving Betts didn't need to plug in his Les Paul to shine. The second disc in the series Let's Get Together was originally released in 2001 on his Free Falls Entertainment label. The Dickey Betts Band was formed in the aftermath of his being fired from the Allman Brothers Band in 2001. Betts wasted no time assembling a stellar unit of players who were as capable of throwing down in the studio as on the road. This set, with its amazing range of music from hard blues and jump and Gypsy swing jazz to country-rockers and rhythm & blues shuffles is crackling with energy. The most notable cuts on it are his originals "Tombstone Eyes," "One Stop Be-Bop," and "Rave On" (not the Buddy Holly tune). [A side note: this set was re-released in 2007 with the albums in reverse order, but aside from that, it's exactly the same collection.]

Betts


lunes, 12 de febrero de 2018

GRATEFUL DEAD - Cornell 5.8.77 [USA classic rock] 2017 Rhino Records 081227942557

Recorded on May 8, 1977, at Barton Hall, Cornell University, in Ithaca, New York. It was released as a three disco CD album and as a five disc vinyl album on May 5, 2017.

The Grateful Dead played more than 2,000 concerts, but none continues to spark interest and provoke discussion quite like the band’s performance at Cornell University’s Barton Hall on May 8, 1977. It is one of the most collected, traded, and debated concerts by any band ever, has topped numerous fan polls through the years, and was a favorite of the group’s longtime archivist Dick Latvala, who stated: “Enough can’t be said about this superb show.” Even Uncle Sam got into the act in 2011 when the recording was “deemed so important to the history and culture of the United States” that a copy was added to the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry.

Cornell

THE KNICKERBOCKERS - The Challenge Recordings [USA garage beat 1965-68] 2015 Sundazed SC 11220


Meticulously mastered from the original analog master tapes and acetates, the entire set is produced in glorious mono, including previously unheard mono mixes. Taken together, the discs and notes provide a portal back to when a three-minute single could change the world, if only temporarily. Take a step back in time and rediscover the band that launched Coxsackie's (and the world's) premier reissue label! Brothers Beau and John Charles, from Bergenfield, NJ, formed The Knickerbockers in 1962. Taking their name from Knickerbocker Road in nearby Tenafly, NJ, the band went through various lineups until vocalist/saxophonist Randell joined in 1964. Along with drummer Jimmy Walker, this is the quartet singer/songwriter Jerry Fuller ('Travelin' Man,' 'Young Girl,' 'Lady Willpower') caught at Albany, NY nightspot, the University Twist Palace. Fuller signed them to Los Angeles indie label Challenge and they recorded three albums for the label, full of self-penned classics along with carefully selected covers. The Challenge Recordings - 4 Compact Disc Boxed Set.

jueves, 1 de febrero de 2018

MYSTICS - Dandies Are Back [Switzerland power pop 1983] Lolita 5009



Recorded 1983 at THC - Geneve - Sixty Lausanne - Berwick London (Nigel Barker) Very special thanks: Pierre Tuyns (Courtesy of Barracudas, Kingsnakes, Satellits, Zero Heroes. All great guys!) 

Mystics

THE KLIEK - Feel Good [NL garage revival 1993] Screaming Apple RecordsSCACD 105



Fantastic Dutch garage- and 1960s influenced band from Amsterdam, 1987 to 1996. 

The Kliek

miércoles, 31 de enero de 2018

SCOTT MORGAN'S POWERTRANE - Ann Arbor Revival Meeting [USA rock 2002] Real O Mind Records ROM006

The title of this blazing live document comes from a between-song quip from guest artist Deniz Tek, and it's certainly fitting -- the show captured here brings together some truly legendary figures from the Michigan college town that became a home to the likes of the Stooges and the MC5 back in the day. In the 1960s, Scott Morgan was the lead singer and guitarist with Detroit's finest blue-eyed R&B act, the Rationals, and later he teamed with Fred "Sonic" Smith to form the brilliant (and woefully underappreciated) Sonic's Rendezvous Band. While Morgan has a remarkable résumé, he's also still making great high-energy rock & roll in the new millennium with his band Powertrane, and for a handful of special shows at Ann Arbor's Blind Pig, they were joined by Tek, an Ann Arbor émigré and close friend of Morgan's who formed one of Australia's most iconic rock outfits, Radio Birdman. Tek, Morgan, and Powertrane lead guitarist Robert Gillespie (who has played with Rob Tyner and Mitch Ryder) make for a truly devastating guitar combination here, and things only get hotter when Ron Asheton shows up for a show-closing mini-set of Stooges classics. But as good as "TV Eye," "No Fun," and "1969" sound in this context, the songs that really astound are Morgan's stellar originals (especially "R.I.P. R&R," "Runaway Slaves," and "Dangerous") and some lesser-known tunes from Tek's solo career, in particular "Blood from a Stone" and a simply blistering run through "Outside"." Cult Heroes belter Hiawatha Bailey sounds great taking vocals on several of the Stooges' numbers, and it's high praise to bassist Chris "Box" Taylor and drummer Andrew Frost that they don't just keep up with the frontline talent, but push them gloriously into the red zone. The best rock & roll live albums are the ones that leave you saying, "Man, I would have loved to have seen that," and anyone who digs high-energy Detroit-style rock & roll will listen with slack-jawed glee to Ann Arbor Revival Meeting, imagining they'd been at the Blind Pig this particular evening. Thankfully, a good recording engineer was on hand to capture the fury for the folks who couldn't make it, and the results are 66 minutes of heavily amplified bliss.
Morgan

THE MULTICOLOURED SHADES - Sundome City Exit [GER psychedelic 1987] ABC ABC LP 14


Best known for the 1987 single "Teen Sex Transfusion," Multicoloured Shades spent the mid- to late '80s purveying organ-heavy psychedelic rock. Formed in Marl, Germany in 1984, the band originally featured vocalist Pete Barany, guitarist Eddie Wagner, bassist Michael Doering, keyboardist Detlev "Det Bizarre" Bizer, and drummer Martin Heimes. Multicoloured Shades made their debut that year with a self-titled mini-album released on Last Chance Records, which they soon followed with 1985's full-length House of Wax. Wagner and Heimes left the group that year and were replaced, respectively, by Heinz-Werner Maleike and Bernd Gremm. This incarnation of Multicoloured Shades recorded 1987's Sundome City Exit, which featured "Teen Sex Transfusion." The lineup changes continued: Maleike left in 1988 and Wagner returned, while Doering also left that year and was replaced by Hansi Gralke. Multicoloured Shades released their third album, Ranchero!, and the single "Live My Life" in 1989, the same year keyboardist Peter Sauermann replaced founding member Bizer. The group disbanded in 1990 and briefly reunited in 2002, but Barany's death that year meant the end of Multicoloured Shades. The band's posthumous releases included 2015's Live in Berlin, which documented a 1987 show, and 2016's Lost Tapes EP. 


CD version 1987 Virgin 258320-222

miércoles, 24 de enero de 2018

THE FERRETS - Angry Young Ferrets [USA rock 1987] Jargon Records - JAR 12-102L

This is THE FERRETS Angry Young Ferrets LP, tough to find release pressed on the Jargon Records label out of New York.

The Ferrets

THE USERS - Secondary Modern 1976-1979 [UK punk rock] 2008 Bin Liner Records RUBBISHCD009

Secondary Modern: 1976-1979 has the original singles + B-sides, with 4 later songs from aborted recording sessions and a live track (with Robyn Hitchcock on bass). Debut single Sick of You, a John Peel favourite, is still riveting. Phil Burkill, the Users singer, does his best to out-sneer Iggy, but it is the scuzzy cranked-up guitar that leaps out of the speakers ("sounds like it was recorded in a bucket of vomit" said Melody Maker at the time). No other record sounds quite like this. Chris Free was a guitar hero in the Pete Townshend mould. Second single Kicks in Style has a restless speedfreak riff and glitterstomp handclaps.

For a brief time in 1979, The Users `went Mod', calling themselves The Persuasions. The first four songs on the CD could have been the foundation for a classic power pop album. Their cover of The Who's It's Not True is better than the original. Listen and Now That It's Over have an infectious swagger and some great lyrics (Like a Peckinpah film / I won't give up without a fight; I'm waiting by the telephone / chewing paracetamol.

Hearing these songs again after 30 years is like greeting a long-lost friend. This band were as good as we thought they were back in '77. They were the real deal - and here's the evidence. The cover, design, photos and text to Secondary Modern are superb. The Users should have been massive.


PAUL MARCANO AND LIGHTDREAMS - 10001 Dreams [CAN space rock psych 1982] 2016 Got Kinda Lost

A year after LightDreams' 1981 debut private press LP Islands in Space came and went without a trace, Canadian songwriter Paul Marcano and his collaborating musicians quietly released an even more sprawling opus titled 10,001 Dreams. The album was only available on home-dubbed 90-minute cassettes; its 2016 reissue was credited to both Marcano and LightDreams. It continues with the previous album's themes of deep introspection and space colonization, even returning to the phrase "islands in space" during the lyrics of the opening title track as well as the concluding "Building Islands in Space (Reprise)." Essentially, the sound hasn't changed -- the songs are still made up of multi-layered, occasionally backwards guitars, lush synthesizers, wizard-like vocals, and no drums. It's still inspired by psychedelia and prog rock, but with an airy, weightless feeling akin to ambient and new age music. Even if it sounds similar, it's more ambitious, stretching some of the compositions out into lengthy epics. Some of the selections on 10,001 Dreams were previously written and recorded by Marcano on a few of his many unreleased cassettes dating back to the early '70s (one of which, 1973's Valley Flutes, was eventually released in 2015, and bears eerie similarities to Brian Eno's Discreet Music, which appeared in 1975). Others, particularly on the second half, were co-written by fellow LightDreamers Andre Martin and Cory Rhyon (both of whom, sadly, did not live to see the album's reissue). The album is actually at its best during the longer tracks, where the musicians ponder existence for extended periods of time. Mega-trippy, revelatory "Visual Breakfast" alternates between wayward drifting, sunny pop, and darker ruminations. Much of the album's second half is taken up by a suite which begins with Martin's isolated, trembling "Being Here," which questions one's singular place in the universe but reassures that "it happens to the best of us every now and then, and that's OK!" From there, the group segue into several alien dreamscapes which are far more experimental and otherworldly than the usual LightDreams songs. Given that the suite lasted almost 37 minutes on the original cassette, it was split into two sides for the vinyl reissue, and edited down for the CD release. Following this is "Maj Moorhsum," which couldn't possibly be anything but a guitar improvisation played in reverse, so that's exactly what it is. Islands in Space is definitely a more focused statement, but any fans of that album ready for a much deeper exploration will find 10,001 Dreams to be absolutely immersive.


THE ACTION - Complete Punk Recordings 1977-1978 [USA punk rock 1977-78] 2009 Sudden Death Records SDR-0084

2009 compilation from one of Canada's first Punk bands, who formed in Ottawa in 1977. Their style combined early American and English Punk like the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, and the Vibrators with Rock influences such as the Rolling Stones' guitar attack and the Allman Brothers' dual-guitar and slide-guitar leads, which, combined with provocative lyrics and an untouchable stage show, made the Action a musician's band.