Πέμπτη 1 Μαΐου 2008

February 2008 pt.1


Thursday, February 14, 2008

The Galaxies - 1968 - The Galaxies

The Galaxies - 1968 - The Galaxies

Tracks :
01. Hey
02. Cant Judge a Book by Looking
03. Orange Skies
04. I'm Not Talking
05. Ain't Gonna Lie
06. Linda Lee
07. Mellow Yellow
08. Concrete and Clay
09. Que Vida
10. How Does That Grab You Darling
11. Slow Down Baby
12. Farmer John

Review :
With a mere eight songs (six of them covers) and untrained amateurishness pervading the recording techniques, instrumental performances, and singing, The Galaxies is by no means a lost gem. Should you be in that certain mood for slightly kitschy relics of '60s garage band naive sincerity, however, it's a pretty fun listen, if only for the refreshing open-eyed enthusiasm they bring to their bash-it-out covers of "Mellow Yellow," Mose Allison by way of the Yardbirds' "I'm Not Talking," Keith's "Ain't Gonna Lie," Love's "Orange Skies" and "Que Vida," and Nancy Sinatra's "How Does That Grab You Darling." You won't find a weirder Love cover than the Galaxies' "Orange Skies," where Jocelyn Ann Odams — supposedly an American according to the reissue's liner notes — sounds very much like she's singing in English as a third language, or at least as if she can't decide whether to use a British or American accent. Not far behind that for strangeness is a punky "How Does That Grab You Darling," where Odams sing-purrs the spoken interjections with the uncertain intonation of an ESL student. As for the two band originals, "Hey!!!" (all three exclamation points included) actually is a pretty entertaining mismatch of basic Mamas & the Papas/Beatles-like pop with overheated fuzz guitar, while "Linda Lee" is a far more basic early British Invasion-derived rocker with way out of tune guitar.
~by Richie Unterberger

Biography :
From Sao Paolo, Brazil, the Galaxies issued a rare album on the Brazilian Som Maior label in 1968. Strictly speaking, it might not be correct to call them a Brazilian group: they were based there, but featured an English guitarist-singer (David Charles Odams) and an American singer (Jocelyn Ann Odams, who also played maracas), as well as Brazilian members. Like many '60s rock records cut by bands from non-English-speaking countries, particularly ones from South America, the LP was crudely recorded and performed, and heavy on clumsy covers of American and British rock songs. However, the untutored innocent energy of the eight tracks — including a couple of originals in addition to covers of songs by (or popularized by) Donovan, Love, the Yardbirds, Keith, and Nancy Sinatra — is appealing. Highlights include the reasonably tough fuzz guitar-laden original "Hey!!!" and the weird cover of Love's "Orange Skies," sung in an indefinably Transatlantic accent by Jocelyn Ann Odams. The album was reissued in 2002 in Italy on Misty Lane.
~by Richie Unterberger

No download or buy link.....
Reason in comments.....


Sunday, February 10, 2008

Gomez - Machismo EP

Having already mentioned that Gomez are among my favourites, this is an EP they issued back in 2000 with 5 tracks, all wrapped-up in eco-paper decorated with those quasi-impressionist paintings. They once again combine acoustic melodies with great lyrics and scattered sample spells. "Touchin' Up" and "The Dajon Song" are my picks from this EP with the latter being an extended psychedelic blues jam, slow and creepy.

I bought this CD during my last year in Leeds, England (2000-2001) from a nice little record shop called "The Polar Bear", up in the Headingley area. Good 'ole days they were. I wonder if the shop is still there. Anyway, I have been known for my tendency to digress so I'll stop here and will let you enjoy the music. And enjoyable it is, believe me.


Indulge here



Tuesday, February 05, 2008

The Frantic Five 1994-2004 (compilation)

We created this compilation with stuff from the very early days till 2004.

It includes tracks taken from all of our past releases (including the unreleased "Frantic Party" from the very first demo,1994).

Here's the track listing (and the year each track was recorded)

1.Frantic Party (1994)
2.Feeling Sad (1998)
3. It's Been So Long (2004)
4. She Can't Be Found (1996)
5. Be Mine (1998)
6. What Made Me Lose My Head (1996)
7. Misty Morning (1998)
8. I've Been a Fool (1998)
9. In The Bradford Mist (1996)
10. Last Night (1996)
11. Haunted Melody (1994)
12. The Fugitive (1994)
13. Zoe's Stomp (1994)
14. Quinta (1996)
15. Why Did You Lie? (1998)
16. I'm Blue (1998)
17. Last Laugh (1994)
18. Do Like Me (1998)
19. She Ain't You (1998)
20. Kathe Fora (1998)
21. There's a Pain (1998)
22. I Believe You Were Wrong (1998)
23. Wrong Guy (1998)
24. Room 409 (2003)
25. James Bond In Space (1994)

Here's the link :
Frantic Five 1994_2004.rar

-The Frantic Five

Rayman - bass, vocals
Captain K - guitar, vocals
Alex - drums, vocals
Dr Organ - farfisa, vocals


The Frantic V were formed in early summer 1994. As they became active they started live performances in front of stunned crowds representing the real garage of Thessalonica. In 1995, Jens Lindberg, of Crimson Shadows, came to visit the boys and on a starless night they recorded properly 2 tracks lost in oblivion. Some e.p.'s were published in and out of Greek border, while wild and fun gigs were the permanent winter agenda for the cold north Greek nights. They have been on the same stage with monster bands like: ? & The Mysterians, The Seeds, The Fuzztones etc. A well-experienced band that offers a non-stop dancing set.

More info for the band here :
http://www.myspace.com/thefranticfive
http://www.franticv.com/net/default.asp


Monday, February 04, 2008

Roy Wood - Boulders

Check out this great person - ality

Roy Wood (born Roy Wood, 8 November 1947, Kitts Green, Birmingham, West Midlands, England) - sometimes erroneously thought to be born as Ulysses Adrian Wood, from an offhand interview comment in the 1960s - is a songwriter, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist. He was particularly successful in the 1960s and 1970s as member and co-founder of the bands The Move, Electric Light Orchestra and Wizzard. As a songwriter, he contributed a number of hits to the repertoire of these groups.

Wood's first group in Birmingham in the early 1960s was Gerry Levene and the Avengers; he moved to Mike Sheridan and the Nightriders (the band later to become The Idle Race, in which Jeff Lynne took his first steps); from this basis, and other Birmingham-based groups, the most talented musicians formed The Move, and Wood became their musical leader. The Move quickly entered the charts and became well-known for spectacular stage shows; their track "Flowers in the Rain" was the first track to be played on Radio 1 when it was launched in 1967.[1]After the departure of The Move's lead singer Carl Wayne, Wood became more prominent, developing an unconventional image for a 'pop group'. Since The Move's members could not agree on musical direction, the potential of the group was diluted. Wood therefore began to develop into other directions.

Wood was keen on musical experimentation and was in this respect one of the most progressive musicians of his time, taking the 'pop group' into new areas. He was an early proponent of combining rock'n'roll and pop music with other styles, such as classical music, or the big band sound, and introduced classically-styled string and brass sections into the pop record. When The Move was still on tour, he founded, together with his band colleagues Jeff Lynne and Bev Bevan, the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), which was later to gain major commercial success by successfully fusing the basis of a rock band with a permanent string section, without losing rock 'n' roll roots.

ELO's early live performances were chaotic, and after increasing tensions, Wood left and formed a new group, Wizzard, which assembled cellists, brass players and a bigger rhythm section, with several drummers and percussionists. Wood emulated the wall of sound production style of Phil Spector whilst successfully, and affectionately, pastiching the rock n roll style of the early 1960s. Meanwhile, he released several solo albums, exploring further musical directions. His 1973 album, Boulders, was an almost entirely solo effort, right down to the sleeve artwork, with Wood playing a wide variety of instruments. A second solo album Mustard (1975), including contributions by Phil Everly and Annie Haslam, was less successful.

The line-up of albums was always fascinating, because of the large number of instruments Wood, and his band members, were playing. Wood himself is mentioned as singer as well as player of guitars, bass guitar, sitar, cello, double bass, saxophones, clarinet, trombone, tuba, recorders, oboe, French horn, banjo, mandolin, bassoon, drums, percussion, vibraphone, bagpipes and keyboards.


Collectively, hit records by The Move, Electric Light Orchestra, Wizzard, and Wood's own solo singles demonstrate an impressive chart run for an individual, both as composer and performer.

By the late 1970s, Wood was appearing less in public; commercial success faded away, and his musical experiments did not always match popular taste, but he remained productive in the studio as musician, producer and songwriter. He was a big Elvis fan, but never succeeded in getting 'The King' to adopt one of his compositions. However, he was untiring as a producer for other acts, most successfully doo-wop revivalists Darts. In 1976, Wood recorded Beatles cover songs "Lovely Rita" and "Polythene Pam" for the ill-fated musical documentary All This and World War II.

In 1977 he formed the Wizzo Band, a jazz-rock ensemble, whose only live performance was a BBC simultaneous TV and radio broadcast in stereo, which split early the following year after cancelling a nationwide tour.

In the early 1980s Wood released a few singles under his own name and also as The Helicopters, and played some live dates under this name. The release of one of these singles, "Aerial Pictures", backed with "Airborne", was cancelled owing to the lack of chart success for its predecessors, but both sides appeared for the first time in 2006 on a compilation CD, Roy Wood - The Wizzard!. "Aerial Pictures", using the original backing track, subsequently became a solo single for former Move vocalist Carl Wayne.

Wood also made a one-off rock'n'roll medley single with Phil Lynott, Chas Hodges and John Coghlan, credited to The Rockers, "We Are The Boys", which made the Top 100 in late 1983, and played a leading role in the Birmingham Heartbeat children's charity concert, on 15 March 1986. As well as designing the logo, Wood stole the show[citation needed] in a line-up which also included the Electric Light Orchestra and the Moody Blues.

After an extended period of hibernation, following the release of the album Starting Up (1987), a cover version of the Len Barry hit "1-2-3", and a guest vocal appearance on one track on Rick Wakeman's Time Machine album, he went on the road with 'Roy Wood's Army'. Rumours of a new live album, and an album of new studio work, provisionally called "Electric Age", did not materialise. He also recorded a two tracks with Jeff Lynne around this time ("If You Can't Get What You Want" and "Me and You"), which likewise have never seen the light of day.

Altogether he had more than 20 singles in the UK Top 40 under various guises, including several number one hits. His most regularly performed and broadcast oldie is the seasonal Wizzard single "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday". In 1995 he released a new live version as the 'Roy Wood Big Band', which charted at No. 59, and in 2000 he joined forces with Mike Batt and The Wombles, for a re-recording of the song and the Wombles' hit "Wombling Merry Christmas", which reached No. 22.

Most recently, he has formed 'Roy Wood's Rock and Roll Band' for occasional live dates and TV performances in the UK.

Fans of Wood are a loyal bunch, and in 2007 a group of them launched the website Release Roy! lobbying Warner Brothers Records to release two of Wood's 1970s albums Super Active Wizzo (now released on Wounded Bird Records), and On The Road Again.

Over Christmas 2007, Wood appeared in a catalogue advert for Argos, where he played the part of a rowdy neighbour playing guitar along to Wizzard's "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday", and the song once again entered the UK Top 40 singles chart.
Wood was awarded an honorary doctorate for his contribution to music by the University of Derby on the 18 January 2008

Get the expanded and digitally remastered version ( plus more info on his bio and discography) From his site http://www.roywood.co.uk/

HARVEST CDSHVLR 803 RELEASED 20 AUGUST 2007

interview http://www.themoveonline.com/archive_01.html

Track Listings
1. Songs of Praise
2. Wake Up
3. Rock Down Low
4. Nancy Sing Me a Song
5. Dear Elaine [Rough Mix]
6. All the Way Over the Hill/Irish Loafer (And His Hen)
7. Miss Clarke and the Computer
8. When Gran'ma Plays the Banjo
9. Rock Medley: Rockin' Shoes/She's Too Good for Me/Locomotive

Many kinds of music... prog, psyche, rock, melody ...masterpiece i.m.o.

Hats of to Mr Wood (or maybe heads of....????)

@192
Enjoy and long live music loving and sharing, freedom of feelings

Sunday, February 03, 2008

Re-Up

Well, I said in my previous post, that I would tell you more for those people "tomorrow"...

I had the post ready and I was about to publish it, but wiser contributors asked me not to do it.

I won't discuss with those people. Their minds are connected only with their pockets and that makes any conversation with them a waste of time.

For those who missed the Boulders series :

Boulders 01.rar ~ Boulders 02.rar ~ Boulders 03.rar
Boulders 07.rar ~ Boulders 08.rar ~ Boulders 09.rar
Boulders 10.rar ~ Boulders 11.rar

You may ask why I'm re-uploading this series...
The reason is that "Boulders" series it's compiled by Dave G. (r.i.p.) of Moxie records.
It's a bootleg series from the first day, and all the the tracks are for 45's.

In the mid sixties almost every town in the states had a record label who published all these teenager music later known as garage. Most of this labels never had the copyrights for this recordings because most of the artists never make this for profit. It was just music !!!


P.S. Thanks all of you for the welcome back messages.
Lost-In-Tyme : Prog - Kraut - Classic Rock - Blues.....It's closed for some time...
Don't ask for permission.



Friday, February 01, 2008

Courage of Lassie - 1989 - Sing or Die

I was saving this for posting it on March 21, first day of spring, as it's my second best "spring album" of the past 30 years. If you ask me for my all-time favorite "spring album", the answer is Penelope Houston's Birdboys (I'm not going to post it - you can get it from here - and I'm telling ya Penelope has made an album in the same rank as Tim Buckley's or Tom Rapp's masterpieces - I may post some review of it soon).

After the recent wave of music blogs closing - see Totally Fuzzy (1/16/2008) and my previous posts for more on this - it seems like a severe winter is coming in music sharing, so I decided to post it now as an invocation to the coming of Spring and also to use its title as a call for the music lovers: Sing or die, Share or die, Spread the music you like or die. (I'm sure you understand that I'm not saying that if you don't sing or share you have to die! It's the music that will die if we squeeze it in plastic and labels.)

Back to the album: Courage of Lassie was the band of Ron Nelson and Mady Schenkel, originally from Vancouver, Canada. They first met as art students in the punk band Private School (1978-79) and after their break-up in early 1980, they formed The Singing Cowboys. They released an album as Magic Dragon in 1981, which you can find in Vertigo's site here. In 1982, they formed Courage of Lassie, making music on potential film soundtracks, and around 1984-85 they moved to Montreal and released the "Threshold of Hearing" cassette in 200 copies. In 1986 Lorenz Eppinger's Amok records released their first LP, "The Temptation To Exist" and in 1989 their masterpiece "Sing or Die", which was also released in the USA through C'est La Mort records and in the UK through Third Mind records. "Sing or Die" was very well received in Europe (the older Greek visitors may remember that it was voted as best record of 1989, by the "Sound & Hi-Fi" magazine). They had another release, 1994's excellent "This Side of Heaven"on a major company (you can find a taste of it in Maidens In The Moor Lay) and after that ...nothing. I've searched the web in any combination I could imagine and I haven't found a trace of the band or the two core members. Seems that everything stops in 1994, with the release of their last album and some touring. Did they quit music? I hope not. I was also surprised to discover that this long out of print album, was nowhere to be found in the blogland - except a mention in the above Vertigo post.

I found this photograph in Rachel Melas' myspace page, and I think it's Courage of Lassie.

This is from Hearsay magazine: Ron Nelson's background, part French and part Native Indian, (blended with Mady Schenkel's Swiss - German heritage) is perhaps what gives the album its truly Canadian, wild, organic feel, literally sounding like crashing waterfalls, huge evergreens, frozen tundra, cross-cultural cities full of underground artistic expression...(Hearsay)

When you listen to this record, I think you'll understand why I called it "Spring album". The nature of Canada is here, the morning dew and the sounds of twilight. You can hear the breeze through the grass and smell the flowers blooming. Yes, the music in "Sing or Die" contains all these and more. Singing in both French and English, Ron Nelson and Mady Schenkel, full of sweet melancholy, recall in mind Leonard Cohen or Tom Rapp (and a little of Joni Mitchell), along with the French trobadours. Yes, there were/are many more artists trying to do this, but the results in most cases are very lame, comparing to this essential folk record. The male/female vocals, the rich acoustic arrangement with the violin and accordion in the same rank as the guitars, catch all the colors and whispers and perfumes and the innocence of their songs. Two poems of James Joyce and Yeats, a cover of Creedence's "Who'll Stop the Rain?" and their unbelievable beautiful own songs compile a record that will haunt you for a long time, like a sweet memory from your past, that you can't really remember, but you like the feeling it creates.

Line-up: Ron Nelson-vcls, Mady Schenkel-vcls, gtr, vln, Rachel Melas-bs, Rod Booth-vln, acdn with:Chris Dean, Domenique St.Pierre, Edgar Bridwell, Phil Bova, Pierre Gautier, Ray Condo.


This is the cover from the Amok release (I've scanned it from a magazine) and it's the best of the three - with nice blue/mauve colors. The cover of the record at the top of this post (I believe) is from its uk release. You can see the us cover here. There was no point scanning the covers of my LP, as the white vinyl version of C'Est La Mort release I have, came out in a plain black cover with a sticker with the tracklist. So here's the scan of the vinyl


(Side one) - Ami dans Cette Vie / Who'll stop the Rain / Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) / Lonely Street / Big Town
(Side two) - Sing Or Die / Ophelia / Wild River / Down By the Salley Gardens / The Night Closes In

(in the canadian version there was a "city side" and a "country side" but not on the other two releases)
Here are the links for it: link1 or link2

Edit: In the comments you'll find a link for This Side of Heaven from 1994

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