Psych / Prog

Far out, MAAHHHN!!!

Orang-Utan: (same) 1970, Bell Records

The group Orang-Utan consisted of an amalgamation of talent. The best musicians from several other notable dissolving bands, that had been playing in the North of London in the late 60s, were to be the contributors in combination. The story behind this group is just as interesting as the music they played itself. This group […]

The Tree People s/t

Here’s one of my favorite northwest private folk records. It came out of Eugene Oregon in 1979, all the songs are composed by Stephen Cohen. Stephen has a nice fragile voice that compliments his acoustic guitar nicely. About half the songs have vocals and the other half are instrumental and kinda remind me of Robbie […]

Happiendo – Kazemachiroman (Happy End – Windy Street Romance)

Many consider Happy End the first true rock band from Japan. This is due to the fact that they were the first to make rock albums sung entirely in their native Japanese. They are very well known in Japan, however I’m not sure of their popularity in the Western World so I hope this mini-review […]

Cincinnati Joe and Mad Lydia

Here’s an obscure but not very expensive album that should appeal to anyone whose ears are shaped in a Waxidermian kind of way. The rather unlikely couple came together in the fair town of Cincy, where they released this LP as well as a couple of non-LP 45s. As suggested in my Acid Archives review, […]

Troyka – S/T

URGENT: If you have any information on the whereabouts of MICHAEL (MIKE) RICHARDS drummer of Troyka and member of Edmonton, Alberta’s rock-and-roll group The Royal Family, please contact Rob Edwards or Ron Lukaweitski (of Troyka and Royal Family) through the comment page below. Wow, Troyka. Where do I start? I guess 1965, with Edmonton, Alberta’s […]

Roger Rodier – Upon Velveatur

I had high hopes for this record when I finally found a copy, and upon first needle-drop I was slightly disappointed. I just wasn’t ready. He was so gentle. So dreamy. I found myself tip-toeing around my apartment, worried I might shatter this fragile vibe issuing out my speakers, leaking into my apartment building, and […]

Flight: S/T

It seems you could look through records weekly for the rest of your natural life and you’d still be finding these one-off obscurities on Capitol as you keeled over and died. As an example I present: Flight. Definitely walking the line between goofy and great, but there is something I like a whole lot about […]

Bob Kolve – Chase Your Clouds Away

When Bob finally tired of recording cheesy faux-country ballads, corny jazz numbers, and flaccid pop tunes, he wrote the acid-rock banger that is Neptune’s Sea (just do your best to forgive his regrettable decision to sing over it).

The Lewis And Clarke Expedition: S/T

Buffalo Springfield-esque folk-rock lp on the RCA subsidiary Colgems. At times this gets just a tiny bit too cheesed out for it’s own good, but the solid tracks more than make up for it. These guys handle folked out trippy sitar stuff and straight ahead fuzzed out rockers equally well. Top-notch production and arrangements as […]

Illes: Illesek Es Pofonok

While poking around online looking for info in English on this group I came across something that said they were “The Beatles of Hungary!”… I have no idea how true this statement is, but it does remind me how vulnerable one is when trying to buy/get into foreign records. Cause yeah, these guys are not […]

CKUA Presents: The ACME Sausage Company

This is a private compilation put together for a community radio station (CKUA) in Edmonton, Alberta circa 1972 in a run of 1,000. The compilation was produced by then musical enthusiast Holgar Peterson. Holgar went on to form Stonyplain Records and become a local celebrity, his label still quite active. I was a little skeptical […]

Musica Orbis – S/T

And I Quote: Welcome to a concert after dark Wannatellya glad to see ya Hope you like the show it was Work to get it all together we have Animals and Lovers we have Afternoons alone in the country Cigarettes & ashtrays and a Clean tuxedo in you closet Whaddaythink you’re here for? Do ya […]

Rex Holman – Here in the Land of Victory

“Victory” was the inital release on the obscure Pentagram label (a subsidiary of Jubilee). In between a busy acting scheduling, Holman recorded this interesting mix of country, blues, and eastern influenced psych-folk. His voice is heavy on the vibrato, reminding me slightly of Tim Buckley. Copper Kettles is one of my favorites from this album […]

The Bayan Mongol Variety Group – S/T

From what i’ve read, the BAYAN MONGOL VARIETY GROUP were one of the very first bands in Mongolia doing modern westernized music, all this in the late 60s judging by what this lp sounds like. This record was released in 1981 — bet they did some top class music back then. Found this at a […]

3’s- Do You See / Threez

Found this for $1 at a spot in Ohio and took a chance on it. Weird poppy psych from 1974, sounds much more like something that would’ve come out 6-8 years earlier, but at the same time I can hear a slight Hawkwind/krautrock influence also. And the horns in the middle, what’s up with that??? […]

Felice Fugazza – Megamoog

Here is another ‘space electronics’ library, quite similar to the Electronic Age LP i posted a week or two ago. Released on Orly’s “Kaleidoscope” series, these tracks probably first appeared on a small Italian label and were soon after re-licensed to this particular French library (there are a few other records in this series credited […]

Russ Vines and the Contemporary Music Ensemble – Gemini

I have no clue what Russ was aiming for when he put this out. A majority of this record is tepid jazz, the track “zippy’s night out” gets pretty funky but then goes downhill. Here’s a soundclip of one of the spacy electronic tracks on the record – “Gemini 1”

Hammond State School Performing Group – Taking It To The Streets

From Louisiana, this mid-80’s recording by the very active performing group (there live appearance schedule on the back proove they may be the hardest working mentally handicapped band ever) has something for everyone. Rock, pop, disco, r&b, country & of course, zydeco. While i find the title track awesome, those that have listened rave about […]

Rainbow Promise – self titled

Rainbow Promise, teenage Jesus freak jam band from Texas, early 70’s recording, recorded in Ohio, on a Springfield MO label. 2 pressings with different cover variations were made, only sold at their concerts. Four stand out cuts with heavy shredding guitar jams. Listen – my fave track

The Panbers – Volume 1

Here’s an Indonesian psychedelic record with lots of fuzz grooves, some sound effects, borderline psychotic vocals and a totally whacked out use of the English language. The band consists of drums, bass, guitar, organ and vocals and it is one of those records that make you realize how endless the sound possibilities are for a […]

Julie Budd – Child of Plenty

This one might already be known to many people on here but it wasn’t known to me.  Another blind buy (based on seeing there was a cover of “People Are Strange” and the totally cool photo of Julie on the back) and I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised.  The cover of People […]

Mike Curb – Mary Jane OST

Fairly decent psych / pop soundtrack for this 1968 drugsplotation film. Going by the cover art alone you’re almost guaranteed at least a couple good listens on here. I’ve never seen the film but from what I’ve read at IMDB it sounds pretty bad (meaning I’ll have to see it soon). Anyway, onto the music. […]

Black Diamonds: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix

I have heard that this is the exact same record as the more well known Animated Egg lp. I, however, have never had them side by side to know for sure. Regardless, this is one of the best psych-sploitation cash-in albums out there. There is an epic story about these sessions which encompass, ace studio […]

The New Volkswagen Transporter

This record was given to the new owners of Volkwagen Transporters back in 1980, promising them “technical impressions” of the van in question. Apparently, people who were into this particular Volkswagen van were heavily interested in abstract musical interpretations of the insides of their car, or so the people from the marketing department assumed. So how does […]

Crossroads – Get Together

I really try to avoid using the word ‘haunting’ when describing music. Alas, there is nothing else I can use to describe this one-tracker campfire folk record recorded in Edmonton, Alberta by some high-school kids from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The song Poet, which features flute, guitar and piano has put me in a curious state of […]