Hi gang - hey look things are going to be kind of touch-and-go for a month or so, but I'll try to post what I can when I can!!

Dennis - Hyperthalamus (1975)

I originally posted this pretty obscure classic back in January of 2006. This is a brand new rip, not seen in the sharity world before as far as I can tell, it is well worth replacing the copy you have if you already have this. Anyway, Dennis was a collection of Hamburg musicians, never a working band - everyone was already in another band, bands like Frumpy, Xhol, Thirsty Moon, Tomorrow's Gift, and others. A great collection of jams from some very good musicians, the music ranging from progressive to cosmic, very diverse.

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Kedama - Live At Sunrise Studios (1976)

Only release from this strictly-instrumental Swiss prog group. The original album was kinda short, but there is a bunch of bonus material, from their unreleased second album and other sources. The music bears some comparison to King Crimson I guess. The songs are complex and surprisingly powerful at times. This also (the original release, the first four tracks) has the distinction of being recorded with the Artificial Head microphone - there are notes in the file about this odd 70's invention. It would be cool to know how many albums were recorded with this. Anyway a pretty cool album.

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Plainsong - In Search Of Amelia Earhart (1972)

Plainsong was a short-lived band mostly notable for it's two singers/guitarists, Ian Matthews (ex-Fairport Convention, Matthews Southern Comfort) and Andy Roberts (ex-Liverpool Scene). There's a couple tunes relating to Ms. Earhart, but I don't think this is a concept album although I could be wrong. A collection of eleven great tunes (well mostly), sometimes rollicking and fun, sometimes haunting, with a high degree of songwriting, musicianship and vocals.

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Kreuzweg - Kreuzweg (1982)

I got this a long time ago from one of my fellow bloggers (thanks hmemnon)who could probably post more often! Anyway I've never been able to find out anything about this appealing release. The vocals are in German, which I like, and the music is a very accessible style of progressive rock using a wide variety of instruments - almost a hybrid kind of symphonic pop/prog. Very nice.

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Embryo - Embryo's Rache (1971)

Embryo's second album is a worthy follow-up to their first groundbreaking album. A brilliant fusion of prog/jazz/folk with some Eastern touches. A great album. I though about buying this because the back cover is real shaky, then I found that this thing goes for big bucks! Who needs a back cover anyway, right?

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FROM THE ARCHIVES:

Annexus Quam - Osmose (1970)

A hippy band called "Ambition Of Music" hooked up with members of a religious brass band to become one of the most innovative of underground Krautrock bands, Annexus Quam. These seven guys then proceeded to help lay the foundation for a new kind of music, a spacy fusion of psychedelia, avante-garde, jazz and rock. A very trippy album, the use of effects and the loose jazz drumming create a sound somewhere between 'Phallus Dei' - era Amon Düül II, Faust, and Kollectiv. The last side long piece on the album ("IV") is the standout track. With its interplay between guitar and sax, the droning vocals (Amon Duul II style!), jazz bass and piano, Annexus Quam create an unheard of music from another world. You recognize all the parts, but when they are put together they create something entirely different.

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Dschinn - Dschinn (1972)

The German band Dschinn put out this one album of conventional - well maybe you could call it psychedelic hard prog - hard rock and then disappeared from sight. The originality and innovation found in a lot of Krautrock from this era is lacking here, but this is nonetheless a great album, originality and innovation being casually replaced by impudent power. With a gravelly-voiced singer and a hyperactive and talented lead guitarist this is a fine example of German rock. The original album had nine tracks, this release has 12 bonus tracks which appear to be outtakes and versions, and possibly some pre-Dschinn material.

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If - If2 (1970)

"If's second album appeared only months after the debut, and confirmed further that the band had found their musical formula. There were no songs here that could be suitable as singles, with the possible exception of "Tarmac T. Pirate and the Lonesome Nymphomaniac". The rest of the material followed the typical If-style with catchy songs built around extended and complex instrumental excursions. The opener "Your City is Falling" has one of the best melodies on the album, and is followed by another winner in "Sad Sunday". It starts with a beautiful flute that introduces the main melody of the track before Hodgkinson's vocals takes over. Terry Smiths stretches out with a long solo that leads up to the obligatory flute/sax/organ riffs and solos. "I Couldn't Write and Tell You" has a fairly similar structure, but with a happier melody. The ballad "Echoes and Shadows" features fast, jazzy solos in the middle that very efficiently breaks up the laid-back mood of the song. "Song for Elsa, Three Days Before Her 25th Birthday" closes the album with yet another intense and complex dose of jazzy progressive rock. If were at their creative peak from 1970 to 1972, and "If 2" was the second proof of that". (From the internet, and thanks to original uploader, Hasse!)

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Out Of Focus - Four Letter Monday Afternoon (1972)

"One of the most incredible and perhaps the most complex album of the Krautrock genre, 'Four Letter Monday Afternoon' is quite possibly the strongest of all the Krautrock double-albums.For this album, the band expanded to an 11-piece group, adding an extra guitarist as well as a brass section. This expansion in members caused the group to create some of the most incredibly complex arrangements which must have made King Crimson turn crimson with envy! For instance, during the 48-minute epic 'Huchen', there are a few parts when a trained-ear can pick out 9 or 10 of the musicians doing his own thing! The music is probably not for everybody, but adventurous listeners and thrill seekers alike are seriously encouraged to give this album a try. Trying to choose a standout track on this monster proves to be a daunting task. 'Where Have You Been' stands out as a soft guitar and flute based folk ballad, but is too simple when compared to the rest of the music on this album. 'Black Cards' on the other hand is a jazzy number which contains a plethora of multi-tracked flute and sax solos and a steady guitar, bass, and drum backbone. However, for my money, I would have to go with the 48-minute epic, Huchen. Nowhere else within the genre can you find arrangements and performances of this caliber. From the opening multi-tracked flute solo to the dueling sax jam and everything else in between, 'Huchen' is truly an awe-inspiring track and a perfect ending to a great album." (krautrockgroup.com)

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Eela Craig - Eela Craig (1971)

"Eela Craig is probably the best known progressive rock band from Austria, and the self-titled debut is generally regarded as their best record. The style is a bit more symphonic than most of their early 70s German contemporaries, coming closest to the work of bands like Sahara, Zarathustra or Satin Whale. The band are at their best during their extended jams, with Hammond organ and blistering guitar backed by heaps of mellotron and the occasional flute motif. The vocalist sounds like a Teutonic Jimi Hendrix, which can either be really cheesy or pretty cool, depending on how you look at it. Likewise, the guitarist seems to draw ample influence from old Jimi at his fuzzed-out best." (progweed.net)

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Bodkin - Bodkin (1972)

"Here's another early 1970's progressive/hard rock gem from the U.K., finally seeing the light of day after almost thirty years. Bodkin were a five piece ensemble led by the formidable talents of Hammond Organ player Doug Rome, who at the age of 21 at the time of this recording, proved that he could keep up with the heavyweights of the time. Some of those names are Jon Lord, Keith Emerson, Ken Hensley, and Vincent Crane. In fact, this CD is so oozing distorted organ sounds, one might think that some long lost Uriah Heep or Atomic Rooster album was playing. Set inside a bizarre and ominous digipack sleeve design containing hellish pictures of wolves and goats is one rocking set of vintage sounding tunes. The opener is a two part suite called "Three Days After Death" that contains plenty of raging Hammond and complex and heavy guitar work. At just under seventeen minutes long, the band really gets to cook on this one. Another strong song is "Aunt Mary's Trashcan" featuring a snarling guitar riff to go along with some evil Hammond chords. While I would not call this metal, it's not quite prog either. Plenty of time changes and rampaging solos abound, and the band plays with such conviction that it's hard not to shake your head and take notice. The lead vocals of Jeke Huim are quite strong, especially on the mind numbing closer "Plastic Man." Fans of Deep Purple, Iron Butterfly, Uriah Heep, Atomic Rooster, and Collosseum would be well advised to check into this scorching set of Hammond drenched craziness!" (Pete Pardo)

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Morpheus - Rabenteur (1976)

The band started out in 1971 as OPOSSUM, a six-member jazz-rock outfit. With time, dissention set in as two of the members wanted to tie the band down to free jazz while the other four wanted to rock. So in 1975, the foursome walked out, regrouped as MORPHEUS* and released a self-produced album titled “Rabenteuer” – a name which combines the German words for “raven” and “adventure”, as in “Raventure”. An inventive progressive fusion band, with a notable debt to Kraan, Aera and nods to Munju, Missus Beastly and Secret Oyster. Morpheus' sole self-produced LP is an unknown gem. The music is full of warmth, strong melodies and some great riffing, with a wealth of Alto Pappert style sax soloing and Peter Wolbrandt Kraan styled guitar. Being partly improvised, the music has an almost ‘live’ feel to it. The CD version includes a bonus track, a terrific 20-minute jam session salvaged from the master tapes.

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Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band - Strictly Personal (1968)

"Considered by many to be a substandard effort due to the circumstances of its release (producer Bob Krasnow, the owner of Blue Thumb, the label which debuted with this album, remixed the album while Don Van Vliet and crew were off on a European tour, adding extraneous sound effects like heartbeats and excessive use of psychedelic-era clichés like out-of-phase stereo panning and flanging), 1968's Strictly Personal is actually a terrific album, every bit the equal of Safe As Milk and Trout Mask Replica. Opening with "Ah Feel Like Ahcid," an a cappella blues workout with its roots in Son House's "Death Letter," the brief (barely 35 minutes) album is at the same time simpler and weirder than Safe As Milk had been. Working without another songwriter or arranger for the first time, Captain Beefheart strips his idiosyncratic blues down to the bone, with several of the songs (especially "Son of Mirror Man/Mere Man") having little in the way of lyrics or chords beyond the most primeval stomp. Krasnow's unfortunate sound effects and phasing do detract from the album at points, but the strength of the performances, especially those of drummer John French, make his efforts little more than superfluous window dressing. Strictly Personal is a fascinating, underrated release." (Stewart Mason, All Music Guide)

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Os Mundi - Latin Mass (1971)

Like a few brave others (Electric Prunes, Spooky Tooth and Eela Craig), German underground band Os Mundi altered and recorded a lively rock version of a classical Latin mass. “Latin Mass” is a very psychedelic Krautrock album combined with Latin lyrics giving the listener something very original and progressive. The end result is a hybrid of lets say Amon Düül II, Tangerine Dream's (aka 'Electronic Meditation') and Spooky Tooth. This album was a tour de force of heavy, powerful guitars and huge vibrating garage organ grinds with an overall dark sinister atmosphere.

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OK see you!!!