March 2008
Monday, March 31, 2008
The Crystal Mansion - The Crystal Mansion
There is always a little story behind every record posted here, so bear with me!
I bought this album in 1998 at Leeds. I found it in a small shop that had opened very close to my house. The shop was at Brudenell Road, Hyde Park and it used to sell every kind of second hand stuff such as flares and retro gadgets in general, as part of the sixties/seventies revival that had taken over England as a trend in those days. The owners were very polite but they hadn't a clue about rare records!!! The price of this album was 2 quid (we are talking about original pressing gatefold vinyl with lyrics included)!!! I grabbed it immediately (I had been looking for it for a while) and I also bought a couple of other original vinyls at ridiculous prices (Golden Earring's "Moontan" and Amon Duul II's "Dance Of The Lemmings" were among them).
The Crystal Mansion were a band signed to Rare Earth Records (a subsidiary of Motown) and they were one of the numerous "white soul-funk" bands of the label. Their music is kinda anodyne and, to be honest with you, I was a little bit disappointed by the album, since I expected it to be funkier. Nevertheless, it contained some nice tracks such as the real funky "Somebody (Outta Turn Your Head Around)" and "Let Me Get Straight Again". The latter was a funky anti-drug confession of a fucked-up pothead. I used to play that track every day, for quite a while. It was somehow connected to my life and thoughts at the time.
Unfortunately, most tracks are rather prosaic and they lack energy (...mind you, my tastes are a bit eclectic) but I am sure that some of you will consider it an interesting album. It is fairly rare to find (especially on vinyl) but if you dig, you should go and buy the CD reissue.
The Crystal Mansion
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Gay & Terry Woods - The Time Is Right [1976, Vinyl] & Renowned [1976, Vinyl]
The Time Is Right [1976, Vinyl]
Track list;
01 - Song For The Gypsies. 3:12
02 - Brown Girl. 5:04
03 - Northwinds. 2:56
04 - When The Time Is Right. 3:43
05 - Back To You. 5:18
06 - Redlake Piper. 3:01
07 - Empty Rooms. 4:11
08 - Under The Yew Tree. 3:25
09 - Stealer Of Dreams. 4:22
10 - Country Girlie. 2:30
11 - Country Girlie Reprise. 0:51
192k @ [RapidShare] or [Sendspace]
Renowned [1976, Vinyl]
Track list;
01 - Love Is Like A Burdon. 3:44
02 - One More Time. 4:09
03 - Radio Man. 3:44
04 - Solace. 5:17
05 - Save The Last Dance For Me. 3:15
06 - I Found You. 2:21
07 - Jameson And Port. 3:29
08 - Country Blues. 2:54
09 - Van Dieman's Land. 8:14
192k @ [RapidShare] or [Sendspace]
Style; Folk
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Arthur Gee - 1971 - Same (Tumbleweed TWS 101)
"The End Is The Beginning" 1969 (Two:Dot) [1-sided]
"In Search Of Arthur" 2004 (RD Records 13, Switzerland) [+bonus tracks; insert]
"Dawn Of Time" 197 (Marcus 2502) [no cover]
"Arthur Gee" 1971 (Tumbleweed TWS 101)
"City Cowboy" 1973 (Tumbleweed TWS 107)
Tracks
All info and photo from acid archives.
Also
also get the first album here
@320
Enjoy
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Ray Conniff presents Irving Berlin - Dreaming Of Broadway
Here is a really nice 45 from the man and his orchestra, with four quality tracks. I ripped it on a bad day but it made me feel better! Simply great music from another time.
I will actually let the liner notes to do the talking (click to enlarge) :
Dreaming Of Broadway
Sunday, March 23, 2008
India National Sitar Ensemble - Sitar Music Of India
The vinyl is Out Of Print and I am pretty sure that there has been no reissue of it on CD. Anyway, we are talking about great music here, people. Don't miss it and don't be intimidated by the style of the recording (it's quite old, you see). And, if you stumble upon the original vinyl, do yourself a favour and buy it.
Kick Off
[320kbps (click & pop elimination) + artwork]
Friday, March 21, 2008
Spacefarm - 1972 - Going Home To Eternity
2. Homeward Bound (3:56)
3. Infinity Way (3:24)
4. Waking Dream (3:40)
5. On the Loose (3:14)
6. Flying (4:23)
7. Gypsy Dream (6:23)
8. Whell (4:14)
9. Lover Not a Dancer (3:36)
incredibly rare LP released on Zodiac in New Zealand. While the original version may remain in obscurity, this alternate take is certainly as high standard acid rock as the infamous original LP. Spacefarm were a Hendrix-inspired psychedelic rock group lead by pyrotechnic guitarist Harvey Mann, who is often compared to fellow New Zealand post-Jimi Hendrix guitar legends Billy T.K. and Jesse Harper. Fans of the heavy psychedelic rock sound of the Human Instinct need look no further than Spacefarm to add to the compendium of obscure New Zealand psychedelic rock — the small but brilliant output of this group is clear evidence as to why these obscure LPs are so sought after in collector circles. Think Cream, Hendrix Expeience, and Blue Cheer and you're getting close to the guitar overload Harvey Mann summons up on this LP. Audiophiles take note that Little Wing released this on vinyl only.
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
The Driving Stupid - Horror Asparagus Stories (2002)
The Driving Stupid were formed on the East Coast by college students, three of them longtime friends from New Jersey. As more of a lark than a serious endeavor, in the summer of 1966 they drove from New Jersey to Hollywood in an effort to crack the big time, stopping off in Albuquerque, New Mexico to record some demos. They did manage to land a deal and record an album's worth of material in Hollywood, but the album didn't come out at the time, after the commercial death of the 45. This unreleased material, like the single, combined sloppy garage band rock with self-consciously silly lyrics, like a garage group providing the soundtrack for a Z-grade horror-science fiction film.
Most of the Driving Stupid left Hollywood at the end of the summer of 1966 to return to college. The single, plus 17 unreleased tracks from their 1966 adventures, were issued in 2002 by Sundazed on Horror Asparagus Stories.
The excavation of an entire album's worth of unreleased material by the Driving Stupid must have excited some die-hard garage-heads, though the result proved to be somewhat less thrilling than might have been imagined. The exact sources of each specific track are undocumented, but they're taken from their 1966 demos in New Mexico and the unreleased album they did in Hollywood the same year. Both sides of the "Horror Asparagus Stories"/"The Reality of (Air) Fried Borsk" single are included as well, naturally. But the reality of the Driving Stupid is that this particular brand of horror/science fiction/comedy rock isn't too funny or clever. Imagine a bunch of teenagers who barely know their way around their instruments, fueled by a steady diet of surf rock, Mad magazine, and monster and outer-space films, half-improvising songs in their suburban basement. That's what this sounds like, and though some might interpret that as a high recommendation, it's not. Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention these guys weren't, though those who get enormous kicks out of kitsch might enjoy songs about postmen putting spiders in mailboxes and the like, backed by the most rudimentary of riffs and over-excited sung-spoken vocals. They did actually try to get "serious" on a couple of occasions with the romantic ballad "How Do You Tell a Stranger?" and the deliberately Lovin' Spoonful-like "Happytime Springface and Flowers," and not memorably so. For those enamored of the "Horror Asparagus Stories"/"The Reality of (Air) Fried Borsk" single (which admittedly did include their best songs), rawer versions of each of those songs are here, along with an interview with lead guitarist Roger Kelley that does much to reveal the mysterious story of the group.
1) My Mother Was A Big Fat Pig
2) Rid The Lobsters
3) Fast City?
4) The Reality Of (Air)
5) We've Come To Take The Earth Away
6) Green Things Have Entered My Skin,Gladys
7) I'm Gonna Bash Your Brains
8) Water My Doing Here?
9) Girl's Got A Turtle
10) How Do You Tell A Stranger
11) Happytime Springface And Flowers
12) Greensleeves
13) Fast City (Version 2)
14) I'm going To Bash Your Brains In (Version 2)
15) We've Come To Take The Earth Away (Version 2)
16) The Reality Of (Air) (Version 2)
17) Ride The Lobsters (Version 2)
18) Green Things Have Entered My Skin, Gladys (Version 2)
19) Horror Aspargus Stories
GET IT
Dorian Gray - 1976 - Idaho Transfer
Tracks :
1 Idaho Transfer (4:14)
2 Nighttime Is Colder Than Outside (5:21)
3 The Mole (6:56)
4 Extraordinary Exercises (0:56)
5 Quasimodo Shuffle (11:56)
i Crusus ii The Doombox
6 July, 13th (5:05)
Claudia Schippel (vocals)
Filler Mueschenborn (guitar, vocals)
Kurt Paetzold (drums)
Rüdiger Brune (keyboards)
Herbert Jassmann (bass)
New Blood - 1986 - LP spray cover
These were an obscure non-professional band who self-produced one album and then disappeared. Interestingly Dorian Gray can be seen as a very early example of a music that was later to be simplified and commercialised by innumerable female vocal fronted 80's new-wave bands. But, it must be said, Dorian Gray were odd! They mixed in a lot of heavy guitar rocking and contrasting spacey folk, male and (mostly) female vocals, all creating a hybrid between the 60's psychedelic trippiness and slightly punky sounds. An interesting album, though hardly worthy of its reputation as a pricey collectable rarity.
source : The Crack In The Cosmic Egg
Get it here :
rapidshare.com/files/Dorian_Gray.rar
Saturday, March 01, 2008
Creamcheeze Good-Time Band - 1973 - Home Cookin'
Tracks :
01 Living Without You
02 Ruby Tuesday
03 Fleetwood Plain
04 Wild World-Song For Marlene
05 Home Cooking
06 Redwood Hill
07 Uncle Jed
08 Log Cabin Home (In The Sky)
09 T.O. Lady
10 Five Foot Two, Eyes Of Blue
Billy Kell (guitar; vocals)
Dave Harwood (bass)
Barb Payne (fiddle, maracas, washboard, recorder,vocals)
Pat Kell (mandolin, tambourine, kazoo, whizzer, washboard, vocals)
Jimi Kell (drums, spoons)
This quintet from Perth County, Ontario was a showcase for three siblings and the vocals of Barb Payne.
Their first hit was 1971's "Uncle Jed" from their Terry Regan produced 'Perth County Green' LP.
Their second hit was 1973's "Living Without You" from the album 'Home Cookin' produced by Gary Buck and contained a number of cover tunes including The Rolling Stones' "Ruby Tuesday", Cat Stevens' "Wild World", Gordon Lightfoot's "Redwood Hill", and "Fleetwood Plain" written by Greg Quill, long-time columnist for The Toronto Star. The latter song was the second song off the album.
The group disbanded in the mid-70s.
The Kells and Ross Whitney released an album together in 1981 called Kell High Energy featuring studio sessions done at Waxworks in St. Jacobs, Ontario plus live material from The Blue Moon in Petersburg, Ontario (featuring Gary Halliwell on bass).
In the early '90's Billy Kell released an independent cassette called "Too Old To Quit Now". Billy Kell succumbed to cancer in 1992.
notes from Ross Whitney and John Sakamoto.
Singles
1971 Uncle Jed (Dominion)
1973 Living Without You/Redwood Hill (Dominion/MCA) MCA-40089
1973 Fleetwood Plain/T.O. Lady (MCA) MCA-40163
Albums
1971 Perth County Green (Dominion)
1973 Home Cookin' (Dominion/MCA)
source : http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Pop_Encyclopedia/C/Cream_Cheeze_Goodtime_Band.html
Get It Here :
rapidshare.com/Creamcheeze_Good-Time_Band.rar