Archive for August, 2010

(Review from progarchives.com)

The jam session that sprouted this album also served other releases but there isn’t a single doubt that the better material resulting from that monster jam clearly ended up on this album. Indeed this album is rather far away from the near aggressiveness of Psychedelic Underground (Hyde), a relaxed gentle hippy fee of this one (Jekyll). Compared to its predecessor(s), this album is at least better recorded, even if this is still close to what is nowadays called Lo-Fi.

The 17-mins opening Love Is Peace indeed shows Amon Duul in a very pastoral mood with flutes and gentle melodies over a smooth rhythm. Somehow the positive vibe of this track changes a lot from the almost oppressive spacey jams on other albums (even the mid-section separating the two jams) and this alone is sufficient to suffer its slightly over-stretched form.

The following (on the flipside) 9-mins+ “Snow Your Thrust” is more Indian raga influenced and comes with sitar and fuzz guitars. Great raga stuff with the second part which is slow entering and having to wait for a wah-wah’d guitar to start taking off, only to drop abruptly to its end.

Ending the album in yet another jam-style “Paramechanische Welt”, starting on a simple structure, but slowly crescendoing, where Chris Karrer (of Amon Duul II fame) plays a very enthralling tabla drums.

This edition of the album comes with two bonus tracks tagged on the end, the first of which, Eternal Flow is another calm slow crescendo (with a few playing glitches) that fits the album quite well. The second track is the English version of Paramechanische Welt (Paramechanical World), but the music is rather so different that you wouldn’t link the two tracks, except for the vocal lines (Karrer is not on tabla as well).

Line-up:
- Ella Bauer / harp, bongos
- Lemur / percussion, rhythm guitar
- Ulrich Leopold / bass, vocals, piano
- Dadam / guitars, vocals
- Hansi / flute, bongos
- Helge Filanda / percussion
- Noam / African drums
- John Weinzierl / guitar
- Chris Karrer / tabla
- Rainer Bauer / guitar, electric bass
- Klaus / guitar, electric bass, percussion
- Angelika Filanda / flute

Track List:
01. Love is Peace – 17:13
02. Snow Your Thirst And Sun Your Open Mouth – 9:28
03. Paramechanische Welt – 7:40
04. Eternal Flow (Bonus) – 4:13
05. Paramechanical World (Bonus) – 5:44

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Amon Duul, Amon Duul I

Amon Duul – Experimente (1968) (@256)

29 Aug 2010

(Review from progarchives.com)

Experimente is an other obscure live material taken from late 60′s Amon Duul delirious-spontaneous percussive jam sessions.

The musical quality and the sound production are honest compared to the difficult Collapsing and Disaster.

These live improvisations are essentialy instrumental sometimes accompanied by druggy-stoned vocals. The sound is dominated by repetitive, tribal, savage acoustic percussive pulses, fuzzy psych guitar rythms & leads.

In the tradition of Amon Duul first incarnation, this album is an infernal musical trip that can freaks your mind. Some sections are only made of wild, damaged percussive tones (16-22). The most complex improvisation epics are the spaced out fuzzing / screaming number 16, the lysergic dance of number 5 and the supreme heavy psych-hippie-like number 9.

The album delivers more consistent / catchy moments at the beginning. The rest is going nowhere, lost in a crazy bad trip.

Line-up:
- Angelica Filanda / Vocals, Percussion
- Helge Filanda / Congas, Anvil
- Ella Bauer / Vocals, Percussion
- Rainer Bauer / Guitar, Vocals
- Ullrich Leopold / Bass
- Peter Leopold / Drums
- Uschi Obermaier / Percussion
- Wolfgang Krischke / Piano, Percussion

Track List:
01. Experience # 1 – 4:30
02. Experience # 2 – 0:32
03. Experience # 3 – 5:17
04. Experience # 4 – 2:28
05. Experience # 5 – 2:41
06. Experience # 6 – 1:11
07. Experience # 7 – 5:47
08. Experience # 8 – 2:11
09. Experience # 9 – 3:45
10. Experience # 10 – 1:42
11. Experience # 11 – 1:54
12. Experience # 12 – 1:24
13. Experience # 13 – 3:49
14. Experience # 14 – 2:48
15. Experience # 15 – 1:29
16. Experience # 16 – 5:10
17. Experience # 17 – 0:50
18. Experience # 18 – 2:06
19. Experience # 19 – 6:29
20. Experience # 20 – 1:07
21. Experience # 21 – 2:46
22. Experience # 22 – 3:08
23. Experience # 23 – 2:33
24. Experience # 24 – 1:08

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Amon Duul, Amon Duul I

Amon Duul – Disaster / Luud Noma! (1968) (@192)

28 Aug 2010

(Review from furious.com, progarchives.com)

‘Disaster’ comes from the same ‘legendary’ 1968 studio sessions that most the other Amon Duul releases had.

All studio manipulation is gone, cuts are made abruptly and other bizarre crude arbitrary decisions are made. But Disaster somehow feels a little less turbulent and closer to the real spirit of a live jam.

At times, the bass/bongo lines are accompanied by primal vocals as well as flutes, piano and some sort of stringed instrument–violin et al. is audible… much of this subtlety is lost from the earlier releases.

Line-up:
- Uschi Obermeier / percussion
- Ella Bauer / vocals, percussion
- Rainer Bauer / vocals, guitar
- Angelika Filanda / vocals, percussion
- Helge Filanda / vocals, percussion
- Wolfgang Krischke / keyboards, percussion
- Peter Leopold / drums
- Ullrich Leopold / bass

Track List:
01. Drum Things ( Erschlagzeugtes ) – 9:13
02. Asynchron ( Verjault Und Zugeredet ) – 7:37
03. Yea Yea Yea ( Zerbeatelt ) – 1:01
04. Broken ( Ofensivitaaten ) – 7:26
05. Somnium ( Trauma ) – 9:30
06. Frequency ( Entzwei ) – 9:54
07. Autonomes ( Entdrei ) – 5:38
08. Chaoticolour ( Entsext ) – 7:43
09. Expressionidiom ( Kapuntterbunt ) – 1:49
10. Altitude ( Quaar Feld Aus ) – 1:02
11. Impropulsion ( Noch’n Lied ) – 6:14

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Amon Duul, Amon Duul I

Amon Duul – Collapsing (1968) (@256)

27 Aug 2010

(Review from progarchives.com)

This part of the Amon Duul sessions follows the style of the first recording of the gonzo jamming of this musical collective, the sound quality is a little bit better, and the atavistic session excerpts have been molded as collages with editing and enrichening them with soundeffects.

Most of the time this is tribal music, as there is a strong presence of ethnic collective drumming in the music, accompanied by toxicated waillings and chaotic fuzzed electric guitars.

There are also some very quiet parts there, though in some cases the building up of hypnotic trance is disturbed with sudden cuts or sounds, making this record a chaotic listening experience.

Certainly less refined than Amon Duul II but it contains a very catchy primitive energy.

Line-up:
- Ella Bauer / percussion, vocals
- Rainer Bauer / vocals, guitar
- Angelica Filanda / percussion, vocals
- Helga Filanda / percussion, vocals
- Wolfgang Krischke / percussion, piano
- Ulrich Leopold / bass
- Uschi Obermaier / maracas

Track List:
01. Booster – 3:03
02. Bass, Gestrichen – 3:23
03. Tusch Ff – 4:31
04. Singvogel Ruckwarts – 4:13
05. Lua-Lua-He – 1:40
06. Shattering & Fading – 4:58
07. Nachrichten Aus Camabistan – 3:10
08. Big Sound – 2:08
09. Krawall – 3:11
10. Blech & Aufbau – 2:04
11. Natur – 2:47

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Amon Duul, Amon Duul I

Amon Duul – Psychedelic Underground (1968) (@192)

26 Aug 2010

(Review from progarchives.com)

Amon Duul were a huge musical collective out of Munich. “Eleven adults and two children which are gathered to make all kinds of expressions, also musical” made a spectacular appearance in a tv-show in 1968. Amon Duul’s name reportedly comes from an Egyptian mythological god (Amon) and a Turkish fictional character Duul.

Before they put out their first album they split though, and one half set off to form Amon Duul II. The others kept the name Amon Duul and in 1969 published the first Krautrock album ever, “Psychedelic Underground”.

Here, we are light years away from good production, good recording, tight arrangements and virtuosi interplay: Both versions of Amon Duul came from heavy left-wing hippy communes and therefore the group’s sound sounds as chaotic as you’d imagine a commune to be back then.

Starting on a 17-mins Sondosa track, where they give the tone of the album, just repeating endlessly a riff, without any kind of musical explorations, except for the hypnotic nature of their “minimalist” approach to their musical universe, the group finishes the album with a three-minutes fast-evolving improv centred around the cello player. There is a bit of space rock ala Hawkwind avant-la-lettre feel throughout this album.

On the flipside, “Mama Duul” is a very percussive 3-mins track. “Garten Sandosa” is another slowly evolving jam built on repetitive riff, where some bass drones (most likely the cello again) are the main interest. The following “Garten Morgantau” (also an 8-miun improv) is again featuring cello under very approximate guitar arpeggios, with soft spacey Gilly Smyth-like whispers. Ending the album is “Bitterlings Verwandlung” another absurd jam stuck with classical (choirs) music sound collage that had never been done until then.

In retrospect, this album as well as others posthumous release from Amon Duul, might just be the foundation stone of Germany’s awesome scene. In some ways, the strength of Amon Duul is that even when the band gets cacophonous and downright chaotic, you can feel the mega line-up remaining as tight as if they were a trio.

Line-up:
- Angelica Filanda / vocals, percussion
- Helge Filanda / congas, anvil
- Ella Bauer / vocals, percussion
- Rainer Bauer / guitar, vocals
- Ullrich Leopold / bass
- Peter Leopold / drums
- Uschi Obermaier / percussion
- Wolfgang Krischke / piano, percussion

Track List:
01. Ein Wunderhubsches Madchen Traumt Von Sandosa – 17:03
02. Kaskados Minneleid – 2:55
03. Mama Duul Und Ihre Sauerkrautband Spielt Auf – 2:55
04. Im Garten Sandosa – 7:48
05. Der Garten Sandosa Im Morgentau – 8:07
06. Bitterlings Verwandlung – 2:30

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Amon Duul, Amon Duul I

Tin House – Tin House (1971) (@256)

25 Aug 2010

(Review from Richard Foss, rockadrome.com)

The opening chords of “I Want Your Body”, gives you a very good idea of what to expect from this US power trio’s selftitled album.

The brash, energetic guitar might remind you of Edgar Winter Group, which would be entirely appropriate because guitarist Floyd Radford left this group to join that band just after this album was made. Edgar Winter himself has a cameo, playing a one-finger organ solo, and his longtime compatriot, Rick Derringer, produced the album.

Interesting as it may be to pick through influences, Tin House had their own sound, composed of blues and progressive hard rock with poppy harmony vocals. The progressive side comes to the fore with the slightly pompous duo of “Endamus Finallamus” and “Lady of the Silent Opera”, which are redeemed by several catchy and inventive instrumental passages.

Line-up:
- Floyd Radford / guitar, vocals
- Jeff Cole / bass, lead vocals
- Mike Logan / drums, kettles, congas, trashcans, vocals
with
- Rick Derringer / piano (2)
- Edgar Winter / organ (4), strings (10)

Track List:
01. I Want Your Body – 1:50
02. 30 Weight Blues – 2:24
03. Be Good And Be Kind – 3:44
04. You’ve Gone To Far – 3:49
05. Silver Star – 4:10
06. Personal Gain – 4:31
07. Jezebel, Give Me Your Lovin’ – 2:45
08. Tomorrow – 3:01
09. Endamus Finallamus – 3:57
10. Lady Of The Silent Opera – 3:44

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German Oak – Nibelungenlied (1972-76) (@256)

24 Aug 2010

1 comment

(Review from progarchives.com, amazon)

‘Nibelungenlied’ is a collection of German Oak’s unreleased and ‘lost’ material from 1972-76. The sound is always dominated by screaming / electric bluesy guitar parts, sound experiments and macabre keyboards effects.

“The heroic deeds of Siegfried” is a dark and minimalist, melancholic composition with a dubtle “medieval” flavour. The savage percussions announces a delicate, simplistic guitar sequence in a moody tone. “Nibelungenlied I” is an agressive, dynamic guitar orientated composition, featuring really hypnotic, rocking sequences; all in improvisation with a repetitive bass line and some vicious guitar solos. “Gunter & Brunhild”, “Hagen von Tronje” & “Siegfried’s death” are bluesy-kraut jam with wha wha effects and strangely doom, sinister atmospheres.

Unfortunately the sound quality isn’t very good.

Track List:
01. The Heroic Deeds Of Siegfried – 6:09
02. Nibelungenlied I- Siegfried & Kriemhild – 7:30
03. Gunter & Brunhild – 4:02
04. Hagen von Tronje – 5:35
05. Siegfried’s Death – 4:17
06. Dankwart, Ruediger & Hildebrand – 4:26
07. Dietrich von Bern – 3:27
08. Nibelungenlied II- Kriemhild & Etzel, Final Fights and Death – 12:16
09. Lament – 1:25

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German Oak

German Oak – German Oak (1972) (@256)

23 Aug 2010

7 comments

(Review from progarchives.com)

German Oak is a free form rock band founded at the beginning of 70s. Their self title effort was recorded in 1972 in Düsseldorf at Luftschutzbunker (Air Raid Shelter) studio.

The album cover provides an illustration of anger expressed by the WWII’s young generation against their parents. By consequence German Oak’s music is very tortured, dark and weird, dominated by heavy, “distorted” guitar solos & rhythms. The background creates “painful” & “ambient” sequences thanks to delay echoes, electronic “fuzzy” noises & repetitive bass lines. A funkadelic/jazzy felt punctuates with discretion this grandiose, “creepy” instrumental album.

The four songs – two longer jams prepared with a two minute intro and outro – sound like simple garage recordings with a hall-effect. The bunker atmosphere brings a special dark, depressive touch to the music. Airalert seems to be a snippet of a longer jam provided with heavy organ contributions and it would be really interesting to hear more but soon the song fades out and Down in the Bunker starts experimental with industrial sounds remembering of Faust or Space Explosion. Later the band begins to play more structured and the mood changes to a longer doom part similiar to the early Black Sabbath provided with some weird guitar solos. The bass is played absolutely unvaried and plus guitar and drums I can only hear a standard trio crew whereas the line-up is indicated with 5 members.

The same with Raid over Düsseldorf following as an acid rocking psych jam in opposite to the depressing forerunner track and finally assuring the third star. The song has a really optimistic drive – primitive but good with a remarkable team work. But organ is absent once again here in opposite to the outro 1945 – Out of the Ashes continuing the first track but with a surprising end offering a short sample with church bells, traffic sound and birds’ twittering.

This edition of the album also includes three bonus tracks that also express very interesting musical moments with some aggressive rock tunes, punctuated by inspired meditative, repetitive organ arrangements and concrete noises.

Line-up:
- Wolfgang Franz Czaika / lead & rhythm guitar
- Ullrich Kallweit / drums, percussion
- Harry Kallweit / bass, voice
- Manfred Uhr / organ/fuzz-organ, voice
- Norbert Luckas / guitars & noises

Track List:
01. Swastika Rising (Bonus) – 5:13
02. The Third Reich (Bonus) – 10:20
03. Shadows Of War (Bonus) – 6:00
04. Air Alert – 1:55
05. Down In The Bunker – 17:56
06. Raid Over Duesseldorf – 15:42
07. 1945 – Out Of The Ashes – 2:13

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German Oak

Stark Naked – Stark Naked (1971) (@256)

22 Aug 2010

(Review from Foxy Digitalis)

The sole album from this Levittown (US) quintet is an interesting amalgamation of prog, hard rock and psychedelic.

The lengthy opener, “All of Them Witches” appears to be a thinly-veiled anti-drug song, whose lyrics can be interpreted as a symbolic diatribe about the vocalist’s heroin-ravaged friends. Belsky’s nasty guitar solos are vicious but thankfully don’t succumb to overindulgence. Side One concludes with both sides of the band’s only single, “Done” which are also presented as bonus tracks in their original (tighter and shorter by almost half) mono mixes. Elaborate solo keyboard arrangements may appeal to Yes and Asia fans.

Female vocalist, Lyne Bunn takes the mic on the flip, “Sins” which she co-wrote with Belsky, and which is also a typical early-70s bar band rocker, with Belsky’s guitar runs a little more flamboyant this time around.

The tender, dreamy ballad, “Wasted Time” once again features Belsky’s tasty guitar solos married to Venier’s Pink Floydian, wah-wah keyboard flourishes. It’s easily a winner.

Still, fans of 1970s hard rock may get a few spins out of the epic side two opener, the 11+ minute, “Look Again”, which opens with Venier’s ruminating solo, a la Jethro Tull’s “Locomotive Breath”. The ensuing 5-minute jam is highlighted once again by Belsky’s mouthwatering soloing and drummer, John Fragos’ voracious skinpounding. This is early 1970s hard rock with that “local bar band” feel.

The band was ready to record another album when they had problems with their management and ended up splitting.

Line-up:
- Richard Belsky / lead guitar
- Lyne Bunn (Joey Lyne) / vocals, percussion
- John Fragos / drums, percussion, gong
- Jim Monahan / vocals, guitar
- Tom Rubino / bass
- Paul Venier / vocals, keyboards, percussion

Track List:
01. All Of Them Witches – 8:53
02. Done – 5:48
03. Sins – 4:46
04. Look Again – 11:04
05. Wasted Time – 4:48
06. Iceberg – 5:12
07. Done (Bonus Mono Single) – 2:53
08. Sins (Bonus Mono Single) – 2:59

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Gila – Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee (1973) (@256)

21 Aug 2010

(Review from progarchives.com)

A year after the band’s live recording, Veit returned from Popol Vuh, bringing Florian Fricke with him.

If Gila’s first album was a psych masterpiece, this one is much more progressive. With this album, the band denouces the North American Indian massacre of Wounded Knee.

This album is surely strongly inspired by Jefferson Airplane and very progressive for sure. With classically trained keyboardist Florian Fricke from Popol Vuh (he visited a conservatory being a disciple of Hindemith), Conny Veit found the perfect supplement for his own talents and as well Fichelscher’s high skills on drums and bass and Sabine Merbach with her pleasant vocals contributed a lot to this excellent outcome.

The seven beautiful tracks of this album are dominated by a folksy and more acoustic mood mainly created by the use of 12-string guitar and grand piano with some occasional flute. Combined with the highly poetic lyrics these intense soundscapes generate a merely haunting atmosphere. Two of the tracks, “Young Coyote” and “Little Smoke” are all instrumental and presented by Conny Veit solo on guitar.

Line-up:
- Conny Veit / guitars, vocals, vibes, bass, flute, Moog
- Florian Fricke / piano, Moog, Mellotron
- Daniel Fichelscher / drums, percussion, bass
- Sabine Merbach / vocals

Track List:
01. This Morning – 5:44
02. In a Sacred Manner – 4:39
03. Sundance Chant – 4:09
04. Young Coyote – 3:17
05. Black Kettle’s Ballad – 7:12
06. Little Smoke – 4:25
07. The Buffalo are Coming – 5:05

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Gila

Gila – Night Works (Live 1972) (@256)

20 Aug 2010

(Review from progarchives.com)

Although this album was never officially released at the time, this should be the second Gila album and even if only played as a radio broadcast, all of the tracks were brand new and not available on their other albums. Since this is not a studio album, so the sound is not perfect, but it is rather good given the conditions and the complicated story of the tapes.

The tracks are mid-tempo, allowing for great mood swing and many semi-improvised instrumental interplay while the lyrics are generally open enough to allow flexibility. Most of the tracks have a feeling as if they were the extended versions of Pink Floyd’s More soundtrack and you could easily glide through the skies with a doobie at your disposal.

After this concert, Conny Veit left for Popol Vuh.

Line-up:
- Conny Veit / guitar & vocals
- Fritz Scheyhing / keyboards
- Walter Wiederkehr / bass
- Daniel Alluno / drums

Track List:
01. Around Midnight – 5:50
02. Braintwist – 7:45
03. Trampelpfad – 6:11
04. Viva Arabica – 5:24
05. The Gila Symphony – 13:46
06. Communication II – 3:04
07. The Needle – 0:48

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Gila

Gila – Gila (1971) (@256)

19 Aug 2010

(Review from progarchives.com)

Hailing from Stuttgart, Gila impress us with a dynamic, intense and imaginative communication between spacey rock improvisations, lengthy psych guitar solos accompanied by luminous electric organ chords.

“Agression” is a cosmic krautrock jamming, strictly instrumental (as the rest of the album), dominated by subtle and technical guitar / organ combinations. “Kollaps” is a dark and creepy instrumental piece with moody organ parts and weird, plaintive noises. “Kontact” starts with a variation of different sound collages to finally turn into an acoustic, folk guitar trip with an obvious “eastern” flavour. The track directly carries on “Kollektivitt” for a full-on guitar / organ jam with some folky, mellow accents. “Individualitat” is a strong hypnotic-tribal jam for percussions and guitar experimentations. A serious, intricate mixture between free rock, spacey-psych effects and discreet eastern influences.

As usual with the German bands of the era, the sound on record is raw, never really refined. Do not look for symphonic orchestration or over-production. Gila’s debut is a real gem in the space rock genre but very intimate climate.

Line-up:
- Daniel Alluno / drums, bongos, tabla
- Fritz Scheyhing / organ, Mellotron, percussion, electronics
- Conny Veit / guitars, voice, tabla, electronics
- Walter Wiederkehr / bass

Track List:
01. Aggression – 4:38
02. Kommunikation – 12:56
03. Kollaps – 5:33
04. Kontakt – 4:27
05. Kollectivitat – 6:41
06. Individualitat – 3:38

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Gila

Window – Window (1974) (@256)

18 Aug 2010

7 comments

(Review from myspace.com, radioactiverecords.com)

This fabulous folky/psych album from the 1970s is yet another example of another great album that fell through the cracks in the musical pavement. American songstress Judy Kelly enlisted the help of high school friends to flush out her bare arrangements and in the process created a document of their young lives.

“Window” began as a poem that had been sung at a friends wedding. It was recorded in one take, with Liz Volk adding a second piano for ornamentation; resulting in a lovely, wistful acoustic album.

The star of the show is undoubtedly Judy Kelly, whose range, poise and delivery are reminiscent of the vocal talents Linda Perhacs, Vashti Bunyan, and even Joni Mitchell in her heyday.

There’s lots of trippy psychedelia, particularly on the outstanding “The Magician and Noah”, and the strong, acoustic guitar-based accompaniment is tight but understated throughout.

Track List:
01. Silver – 2:58
02. Noah – 3:24
03. Lullaby You – 3:26
04. Day Star – 2:29
05. Comfort Me – 2:42
06. Happy To See You – 2:15
07. Jamie – 2:33
08. Beginning – 3:29
09. The Magician – 1:55
10. You Can Pray – 2:09
11. Window – 2:07
12. Shine – 3:59
13. Jenny’s Song – 2:47
14. The Garden – 3:13

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Micky Moody – I Eat Them for Breakfast (2001) (@256)

17 Aug 2010

(Review from Blues Revue)

Micky Moody is a seasoned, and very experienced musician who has been a huge part of the British rock scene for many years, but is still an unknown musician to many.

With his first solo album, Micky Moody might surprise listeners who know him only from his past with Whitesnake by sharp, genre-appropriate playing from ’14-string rag’ (guitar and mandolin) to the via-Freddie King cover of ‘Me and My Guitar’. Nothing earthshaking here but great playing and vocals

His backing band include the usual suspects Bernie Marsden, Neil Murray and Don Airey.

Line-up:
- Micky Moody / Guitar, Dobro, Mandolin, Bass, Vocals
with
- Bernie Marsden / Guitar, Vocals
- Neil Murray / Bass
- Don Airey / Organ, Piano, Keyboards, Wurlitzer
- Robert Hart / Vocals
- Paul Williams / Vocals
- John Lingwood / Drums
- Andy Pyle / Bass
- Henry Spinetti / Bass, Drums

Track List:
01. On Common Ground – 4:48
02. Alimony – 4:51
03. Delta Bluesman – 4:08
04. Mixed-Up Blues – 2:29
05. My Lady Friend – 3:27
06. 14-String Rag – 2:19
07. Me And My Guitar – 3:39
08. Just Leave Me Alone – 3:50
09. Turning Point (Parts 1-5) – 10:09
10. Obsession – 3:16
11. Let This Boy Boogie – 3:41
12. My Word For Trouble (W.O.M.A.N.) – 4:24
13. Journey Home – 2:20

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Bernie Marsden, Don Airey, Micky Moody, Neil Murray

Hawkwind – At The BBC (1972) (@256)

16 Aug 2010

8 comments

(Review from hmv.com)

Hawkwind At The BBC 1972 captures the band just after the surprise of the UK no. 3 hit single in July with the classic ‘Silver Machine’, and before their live experience ‘Space Ritual’ which was recorded on tour later in the year.

Whilst the bulk of this double release is made up of the live set recorded for the BBC In Concert programme, it opens with a previously unreleased session recorded for Johnnie Walker featuring a shortened version of the Doremi Fasol Latido album classic Brainstorm and a version of the then hit single Silver Machine, featuring Lemmy on vocals as per the single.

The In Concert itself, a hypnotic continuous performance, is presented in both mono and stereo versions. The mono version was previously released by Windsong in 1991 and has been remastered and re-indexed to include all of the pieces originally performed, and the concert itself in its entirety.

The stereo version has long been in the domain of the bootleggers as an off-air recording known the as “Broadcast” version. This mix was in fact distributed by the BBC for broadcast internationally and features an edited Brainstorm, missing approximately 4 minutes from the front of the song, a shorter Welcome To The Future and Electronic No. 1 (not indexed on the previous CD release), but longer a Countdown introduction. Officially released for the first time, apart from being in stereo, the sound quality is superior to the mono version and the mix is generally more exciting.

Line-up:
- Dave Brock / guitar, vocals
- Nik Turner / saxophone, flute, vocals
- Lemmy / bass guitar, vocals
- Dik Mik Davies / Synthesizer
- Del Dettmar / Synthesizer
- Simon King / drums

Track List:
CD1
01. Brainstorm – 5:29
02. Silver Machine – 3:50
03. Countdown (mono mix) – 0:56
04. Born To Go (mono mix) – 11:26
05. The Black Corridor (mono mix) – 2:24
06. Seven By Seven (mono mix) – 7:06
07. Brainstorm (mono mix) – 10:17
08. Electronic No. 1 (mono mix) – 2:42
09. Master Of The Universe (mono mix) – 7:30
10. Paranoia (mono mix) – 5:56
11. Earth Calling (mono mix) – 3:03
12. Silver Machine (mono mix) – 5:10
13. Welcome To The Future (mono mix) – 3:10
CD2
01. Countdown (stereo mix) – 1:08
02. Born To Go (stereo mix) – 11:22
03. The Black Corridor (stereo mix) – 2:26
04. Seven By Seven (stereo mix) – 7:07
05. Brainstorm (stereo mix) – 6:14
06. Electronic No. 1 (stereo mix) – 2:04
07. Master Of The Universe (stereo mix) – 7:31
08. Paranoia (stereo mix) – 5:56
09. Earth Calling (stereo mix) – 3:03
10. Silver Machine (stereo mix) – 5:11
11. Welcome To The Future (stereo mix) – 2:53

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Dave Brock, Hawkwind, Lemmy Kilminster

Elfonia – Sonic Landscape (2005) (@192)

15 Aug 2010

(Review from seaoftranquility.org)

The power and beauty of Elfonia’s elegant music mostly lies in Alejandro Millan’s keyboard work and the emotive voice of Marcela Bovio. Their sophomore output This Sonic Landscape, however, finds them growing into a more mature band with a heavier focus on songmanship and taking considerable input from their band mates. The drumming of Javier Garagarza is a huge step forward, not to mention the bass and the eloquent guitar work. As a whole, Elfonia has grown and progressed into a more experienced act with a more defined sound and musical approach.

Repeat listens will reveal that the album is very varied in nature. Not just stylistically, but Marcela Bovio has also penned some English lyrics for a couple of songs. The music is very cohesive throughout; but at the same time, the band opts for much-welcome jazz stylings and touches of avant garde. Granted most of the songs vary from slow to mid-tempo pieces, the band will surprise with various shifts of rhythm, mostly rendered through rhythm guitars and drums.

“Desaciertos” is one of these tracks. It has a very slow piano intro but slowly picks up in pace as it borrows some bluesy guitar lines, symphonic elements, and sweeping keyboard arrangements. Huge guitar chords weave themselves into the song delivering fluctuating rhythms for a while, only to be replaced by a sad violin melody played by none other than Marcela Bovio.

From the off-time jazz drums and guitar on “Maquina” to the heavily fusion-inflected “Camaleon”, the songs are coloured with jazz piano and dark guitar riffs. They both feature breakdowns for delicate bass guitar, which is further explored during guitar solos. The arrangement of the bass and the way it is layered over the guitar chords is truly inspiring.

“Letargo” is an instrumental that is built around dark keyboard textures, folky acoustics producing sparse yet effective guitar notes. “Manana” sees them playing a more upbeat cut with classic rock tendencies with a playful solo. The song does end with distinct jazz licks in order to stay true to the general flow of the album though. Pink Floyd similarities could be drawn on “Traveling”, one of the three English-sung tracks featuring a beautiful drum fade-out.

The last three tracks comprise the album’s epic “Gigantes”, a trilogy that breaks the 15-minute mark. A bit different from the individual tracks, this trilogy is punctuated with rich keyboards that build on until the atmospheric apex is reached, where crushing guitars are introduced laying down avante garde sludge-like riffs heavier than a ten-ton hammer. The middle piece, also the longest on the album, simply titled “II”, is Alejandro Millan’s shining moment, not just as a keyboard and concertina expert, but moreso as a songwriter. This track is mostly instrumental save for some very sweet wordless vocal melodies hummed by Marcela towards the end. The song is fed through lush keyboards and vivid drums that become more audible with each beat and speeding the piece up. By the time the song nears its end, we’re experiencing a thick wall of sound with perfect harmony among each instrument. “III” ends with her otherworldly vocals that eventually give way to another forlorn violin piece offering segments of folk music. It is a very beautiful ending to a very beautiful album.

Following the album’s release, the band performed a successful tour in Mexico to promote this new effort, then split in 2006.

Line-up:
- Marcela Bovio / lead vocals, violin
- Alejandro Milan / keyboards, concertina
- Roberto Quintanilla / guitars
- Tpablo Gonzalez / bass
- Javier Garagarza / drums
with
- Arjen Lucassen / guitar solo (6)

Track List:
01. Gigantes IV – 2:21
02. Maquina – 4:02
03. Soundscapes – 5:20
04. Desaciertos – 5:45
05. …De Los Libros Del Tiempo – 5:29
06. Camaleon – 5:22
07. Letargo – 3:22
08. Manana – 5:01
09. Traveling – 3:42
10. Gigantes I – 4:55
11. Gigantes II – 7:03
12. Gigantes III – 4:56

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Alejandro Millan, Arjen Lucassen, Elfonia, Marcela Bovio

Elfonia – Elfonia (2003) (@224)

14 Aug 2010

(Review from marcelabovio.com, progarchives.com)

After parting ways with Hydra, Marcela Bovio had a period of over half a year when she wasn’t creating music or performing at all… It was one of the most horrible experiences she’d ever been through. It actually hurt her to go see a live performance because she longed performing so much.

So then she decided to team up with Alejandro Millan and to start a new musical project. They invested literally every single peso they had, recruited other musicians and put this debut album together.

The music is atmospheric, simple progressive, and it has a folksy gothic approach.

The album starts with “Eldalindale”, one of the strongest tracks from the album and setting the mood for the remaining repertoire. Other highlights include “Dentro”, “De Todas Mis Heridas” and “Alma Infinita”. They remain truthful to their style in the whole album.

Line-up:
- Marcela Bovio / vocals, violins
- Alejandro Millan / keyboards, acoustic guitars
- Roberto Quintanilla / electric guitars, baby sitar
with
- Pablo Gonzalez / bass guitar
- Javier Garagarza / drums
- Daniel Ulloa / bass guitar
- Beto Ramos / drums
- Andres Gonzalez / bass guitar

Track List:
01. Eldalindale – 4:48
02. Nuestro Descanso – 4:05
03. Aura – 4:07
04. Drama – 3:44
05. Dentro – 4:16
06. Modos Humanos – 4:25
07. Hatshepsut – 4:54
08. Anoranza – 4:05
09. La Vida Que Emana – 0:59
10. De Todas Mis Heridas – 4:00
11. Alma Infinita – 6:09
12. Bonus Track – 1:38

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Alejandro Millan, Elfonia, Marcela Bovio

Hydra – Bosquejo (EP 1999) (@128)

13 Aug 2010

(Review from marcelabovio.com, streamofpassion.com)

Marcela Bovio’s musical career began, when she and her sister Diana both enrolled in a musical academy, when they were quite young. From that point, she was always surrounded by music and became really interested in singing and performing.

In her teens she started taking violin and classical singing lessons, and became interested in alternative rock, progressive rock and metal. As a fan of melancholic music, she was very inspired by gothic and doom bands. Later on she became interested in jazz, post rock, world music, and began taking jazz harmony lessons.

When she was 17 she started playing coversongs with friends. But she wasn’t the band’s vocalist at that time. She was the band’s bassplayer! Soon, the band heard her voice and wanted Marcela to be singing lead vocals.

Hydra was the first band she was ever part of; the band played together for over 4 years, and this was their only formal release.

The band were for the first time experimenting with different genres, taking risks. The track “lluvia de rosas negras” hit the local radio stations.

Originally out only as a cassette tape, this EP is currently out of print.

Track List:
01. Melos Flagrare – 1:58
02. Vestigios de Guerra – 4:43
03. Bosquejo – 4:16
04. Vade Retro – 4:09
05. Lluvia de Rosas Negras – 4:23

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Marcela Bovio

Stream Of Passion – Flame Within (2009) (@256)

12 Aug 2010

5 comments

(Review from metalstorm.net)

Main songwriters leaving the band can often result in questionable follow-up albums. You have to admire a band that shoulders the burden of responsibility, without the commander-in-chief calling the shots. With only two original members left from their debut “Embrace The Storm”, Stream Of Passion are most notably without musical mastermind Arjen Lucassen at the helm.

Stream Of Passion oozes enough of their own originality, yet call upon Within Temptation and Evanescence several times, albeit not as operatic or mainstream as those gothic metal heavyweights. Vocalist Marcelo Bovio is without doubt in the cream of the vocal crop. The young Mexican displays a fantastic range, with a soothing and melodious voice, that along with the excellent keyboard work, often carries the song on her own.

“When You Hurt Me The Most” shows Bovio and indeed the whole band at the top of their game, showcasing one of the catchiest choruses on the album. Indeed, along with “In The End” and “Let Me In” to name a few, incredibly well written vocal hooks and catchy choruses are the hallmark of the album.

The album is chock-full of stunning vocal hooks and music that is both haunting and sublime, displaying pop tinged metal tunes with soaring vocals and beautiful keyboards, but without being overtly mainstream in its delivery.

Line-up:
- Marcela Bovio / lead vocals, violin
- Johan van Stratum / bass guitar
- Eric Hazebroek / guitar
- Stephan Schultz / guitar
- Jeffrey Revet / keyboards & synthesizers
- Davy Mickers / Drums
with
- Ben Mathot / violin
- Judith van Driel / violin
- Mark Mulder / viola
- David Faber / cello

Track List:
01. The Art Of Loss – 4:00
02. In The End – 4:03
03. Now Or Never – 4:13
04. When You Hurt Me The Most – 4:47
05. Run Away – 4:18
06. Games We Play – 4:05
07. This Endless Night – 4:19
08. My Leader – 4:55
09. Burn My Pain – 4:19
10. Let Me In – 3:35
11. Street Spirit – 5:23
12. A Part Of You – 4:50
13. All I Know – 2:11
14. Far And Apart – 4:12

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Marcela Bovio, Stream of Passion

Guilt Machine – On This Perfect Day (2009) (@256)

03 Aug 2010

(Review from roadrunnerrecords.com, wikipedia)

In February 2009, Arjen announced in his website that he would be working on his new side project Guilt Machine.

Rather than putting together an ensemble cast of vocalists from the prog, rock and metal scene, Arjen has enlisted the talents of a single alternative rock vocalist, Jasper Steverlinck. His voice, besides its beautiful clear timbre, has the emotion and credibility he puts into his performance and his enormous range. Because this project features just one singer, he alone pulls of the versatility enough to portray all of the different moods.

This time around, we have a different drummer, ex-Porcupine Tree Chris Maitland. He has both the power for the heavy sections and the subtle touch needed in the more atmospheric parts,

Instead of the explicit storyline you would expect in an Ayreon release, the songs of Guilt Machine revolve around a central theme. Instead of looking outward into a world of fantasy or science fiction, the songs look inward, exploring the destructive psychology of guilt, regret and the darkest form of secret — the secrets people hide from themselves. Lori Linstruth definitely gives the songs an extra dimension with her lyrics, exorcising the demons she and Arjen both had faced in the past few years. She also plays all the guitar solos on this album with her melodic guitar style.

Despite these differences, Guilt Machine still has much in common with Ayreon. The songs are mainly long, “epic” tracks that feature dynamic contrasts between softer, dreamy sections and powerful, heavy passages. There are intricate harmonies, complex rhythms, soaring melodies, and an eclectic selection of instruments — all what you’d expect from an Ayreon release.

Regarding a future album of the project, Arjen stated that “we definitely want to make another Guilt Machine album”.

Line-up:
- Arjen Lucassen / back vocals, guitars, keyboards, bass, mandolin
- Jasper Steverlinck / vocals
- Lori Linstruth / lead guitar, lyrics
- Chris Maitland / drums

Track List:
01. Twisted Coil – 11:43
02. Leland Street – 8:03
03. Green And Cream – 10:32
04. Season Of Denial – 10:22
05. Over – 6:11
06. Perfection – 10:46

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Arjen Lucassen, Lori Linstruth

Ayreon – 01011001 (2008) (@256)

02 Aug 2010

1 comment

(Review from metal-archives.com, progarchives.com, amazon)

Arjen Lucassen sure has evolved big time since his days as a guitarist in Dutch hair metal band Vengeance. 01011001 is the seventh regular release from his Ayreon project.

Ambient and electronic music has a clear influence on the sound here, folk music influences are used quite extensively too; and the songs come across as well structured, planned and executed.

Less dramatics and less metal than in the previous releases; and not as pretentious as previous releases either.

Those who missed the instrumental section on “The Human Equation” will be glad to see their return with “0101101″. The production values are closer to “The Human Equation” than anything else, but the songs are written more in the style of “Electric Castle” and “Universal Migrator”, with longer vocal parts and long instrumentals. Thanks to the aid of many top-gun progressive musicians, Symphony X’s Michael Romeo and ex-Dream Theater’s Derek Sherinian among them, “0101101″ should not be a disappointment to the progressive fans who were hooked with “Electric Castle” or “Universal Migrator”.

The structure of the concept, it is divided into two different disc: “Y” and “Earth”, each one including the planet where its own part of the story develops. Between both albums, a total of 17 different vocalists are featured, divided in two categories: Forever and Men.

The first disc “Y”, can be considered as the very beginning of the whole Ayreon story. Its name refers to the planet “Y”, an imaginary planet located in the Andromeda constelation and supposed to be home for the Forevers, intelligent beings (just like mankind, and this happens because, further on the story, it is said that mankind was actually created by the Forevers) that now try to stay alive by artificial ways because machines have destroyed their planet and their sun, forcing them to live in the darkness and lose their emotions. They moan for an undefined period of time in the shadows until they discover a way to survive in another planet, by sending their DNA to a distant galaxy on a comet to find the perfect planet while they look after them in every moment.

Due to the fact that about 3 or 4 of the 8 songs of the disc are connected with the sadness, darkness, memories and lack of emotions of the Forevers, “Y” is incredibly melancholic (in contrast with the “happiness” found in the other disc), ethereal and, of course, very slow. These elements create a very delicate harmony based on tragedy, loss, grief, greed and a little arrogance.

The second disc, “Earth” continues the concept that was told in “Ride The Comet”, with the discovering by the Forevers of a planet perfect to breed a new race and live again throght them. That planet was the Earth, back then inhabited by the dinosaurs. The Forevers, sensing danger from those giant reptiles, killed them and placed their seeds on Earth, resulting in the birth of the human race. Next, according to the story, Forevers gave men and women emotions and feelings but, fearing that the humans’ evolution moved far too slow, they started giving manking more knowledge than what they could control, leading to overpopulation, massive pollution, nuclear bombs, global warming and misuse of liberty and expression. Wanting to prevent mankind from their eventual destruction, the Forevers started sending them signals, but all efforts were useless: nothing could be done, and mankind was destroyed during a nuclear World War in 2084 (as told before on “Flight of The Migrator Pt. I: The Dream Sequencer”), and forcing the survivors to escpae to Mars: They eventually die until there’s only one man alive and, knowing he won’t survive, the Forevers send him their last hope in the shape of the artifact called the Dream Sequencer, not before pleading to the Universal Migrator to restore their lives.

“Earth” includes more lively songs than “Y”, faster tempos and “brighter” atmospheres, giving the sensation of being surrounded by life every time. It’s clearly more aggressive, including even death grunts. This time, the atmosphere is not as important as before, losing the leadership of the songs and giving it to the guitars, keyboards and strings, which are more widely used this time.

Line-up:
- Arjen Lucassen / vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, synths and programming
with
- Anneke Van Giersbergen / vocals
- Bob Catley / vocals
- Daniel Gildenlow / vocals
- Floor Jansen / vocals
- Hansi Kursch / vocals
- Jonas Renkse / vocals
- Jorn Lande / vocals
- Liselotte Hegt / vocals
- Magali Luyten / vocals
- Marjan Welman / vocals
- Phideaux Xavier / vocals
- Simone Simons / vocals
- Steve Lee / vocals
- Tom S. Englund / vocals
- Ty Tabor / vocals
- Wudstik / vocals
- Lori Linstruth / guitars
- Michael Romeo / guitars
- Ben Mathot / Violin
- David Faber / Violoncello
- Jeroen Goossens / Flute
- Derek Sherinian / keyboards
- Joost van den Broek / keyboards
- Tomas Bodin / keyboards
- Ed Warby / drum

Track List:
CD1
01. Age of Shadows – 10:47
02. Comatose – 4:26
03. Liquid Eternity – 8:09
04. Connect the Dots – 4:12
05. Beneath the Waves – 8:26
06. Newborn Race – 7:49
07. Ride the Comet – 3:29
08. Web of Lies – 2:50
CD2
01. The Fifth Extinction – 10:29
02. Waking Dreams – 6:31
03. The Truth is in Here – 5:12
04. Unnatural Selection – 7:15
05. River of Time – 4:24
06. E=mc² – 5:50
07. The Sixth Extinction – 12:18

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Arjen Lucassen, Ayreon, Jeroen Goossens, Lori Linstruth

Stream Of Passion – Live in the Real World (2006) (@320)

01 Aug 2010