21st Century V-Bop-21st Century V-Bop $15.00
Mark Anderson - drums
Paul Dunmall - tenor & soprano sax
Philip Gibbs - guitar
Tony Hymas - keyboard
"An album that proves that spontaneous composition can be both melodic and groovy. Recorded live in the studio in one take, with no overdubs, 21st Century V-Bop covers a vast landscape both sonically and stylistically.From the raging opener of 'The Path of Non-evitability' to the drum sans bass of 'The Front', to the more pensive Mclaughlin dedication 'John's Intelligent Ears', the music covers all bases and moods through to the final fade out of the Big Note. Tony Hymas will be best known for his work with Jeff Beck (There and Back, Guitar Shop), Stanley Clarke, Jack Bruce and to a younger audience for his collaborations with Ursus Minor. Paul Dunmall is best known as a free improviser who has worked with many of the top improvisors worldwide,including Henry Grimes,Andrew Cyrille,keith Tippett etc.. Apart from his work with Dunmall, Gibbs here provides fresh approaches to both rock and jazz guitar styles, with nods to Mclaughlin's technique and Hendrix's walls of sound, whilst drummer Anderson provides strength and groove alternately, with reference to the mighty cohort of fusion drummers past and the march of modern groove-based music into the future. If you thought all improvised music is necessarily directionless atonal and a-rhythmic, a re-evaluation could start with this CD." [SLAM]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/21st-Century-V-Bop---21st-Century-V-Bop__SLAM-spc-284.aspx
Brian Storming-and the Illustrated Guide to Fantasie $16.00
A very original and psychedelic (in the best sense of the word) album, from Argentina. This is their second album and has been released on Universal, so someone besides me hears the quality of this group. This is a beautifully orchestrated, psychedelic/psychedelic pop album, obviously influenced by the best music of the original circa 1967 era. This is insanely ambitious and extraordinarily well done. Highly recommended; if this even remotely sounds like your thing, you will love this; they don't make records like this anymore, but they certainly SHOULD! [Tommy Gun]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Brian-Storming---and-the-Illustrated-Guide-to-Fantasie__15-Tommy-spc-15153.aspx
Cluster-Cluster 71 $18.00
Cluster 71 is the first album by Cluster and the least known of their early clasics. It is reissued here with the original cover art in a digipack. It's been reissued a zillion times, but no matter which edition, it's a great release. If you don't have it, you should consider picking this up!
"Originally released on the Philips label in 1971, Bureau B reissues Cluster's eponymous debut full-length album. According to The Wire, Cluster 71 is one of the "One Hundred Records That Set The World On Fire." Very few albums from Germany can lay claim to this honor. This album is a mere three untitled tracks and was quite an ordeal for untrained ears at the time of its release, yet the album pointed the way forward like no other electronic opus. Cluster's previous incarnation was a trio named Kluster. A change in direction and musical differences moved Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius to split from their third member, Konrad Schnitzler, in 1970. The following year, as well as playing live, they recorded their first album, Cluster 71, in publisher Ralf Arnie's Star Musik Studio in Hamburg. Here they first met Conny Plank, who would himself become a legend. They remained close friends until his death in 1987. Early Cluster music was new -- new in the sense that it did not continue any tradition, instead laying the foundations for a future tradition. The duo's utter renunciation of conventional harmony and rhythm, their embracing of near total aural abstraction, confident use of noise, rigorous live electronic improvisation and a positive mind-set tuned to winning rather than losing -- these were all factors in Cluster's innovative trailblazing of 1971. For want of a better category, Cluster 71 was classified rather inappropriately and incorrectly as "cosmic." Few recognized Cluster for what it was -- the synthesis of pop music stripped of embarrassing glamour and so-called serious music without intellectual constraints. Moebius and Roedelius took the liberty of raiding both disciplines to perfect their musical concept. A common enough practice today, but akin to a palace revolution in 1971. So it is that three pieces of electronic music meander and pulsate through Cluster 71, with no beginning and no end. Cluster's music is free and open in all directions. There are sounds, noises and structures to be heard on this album which would become ingrained in the electronic pop music of the 1980s and 1990s. Cluster had taken the first step into the future with Cluster 71. Liner notes by Asmus Tietchens."
"Cluster 71 is a masterwork, not because it set out to be, but in spite of itself. It's one of those moments in music history where all bets were off and everyone involved -- except perhaps the record label -- found it liberating."-All Music Guide [Bureau B]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Cluster---Cluster-71__05-Bureau-spc-B-spc-058.aspx
Emeralds-What Happened 2 x lps (due to size and weight, for sale in the USA only) $28.00
"Editions Mego is chuffed to release these vintage synth-guitar improvisation jams recorded straight to tape, 2007-2008. Previously released as a CD by No Fun, this is now the definitive vinyl edition of this material, and serves as archival insight into the development of Emeralds' sound over the last years."
"...it's the way the group so successfully blends the abrasive edge of their No Fun contemporaries with the epic minimalism of a Tangerine Dream suite that makes them unique, evoking an awe-struck oddity that is undeniably gorgeous, but still vaguely unsettling."-Dusted [Editions Mego]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Emeralds---What-Happened-2-x-lps-(due-to-size-and-weight--for-sale-in-the-USA-only)__05-Emego-spc-109lp.aspx
Focus-Masters From The Vault NTSC (All Region) DVD $8.00 (special)
Back in stock!
In the early 1970's, Belgian TV ran a series of 30 minute programs of then- current rock bands, recorded live without an audience in professional lighting and staging. Someone has finally found the original tapes and licensed the masters! This DVD includes that fantastic performance from 1971 of the band, as well as excellent UK broadcasts from 1972 & 1973 (OGWT). There is also footage from 1974 as well as the short-lived period where Jan Akkerman left and Philip Catherine replaced him. It sez here: "Digitally remastered and fully restored for 5.1 surround sound."
"A mid-'70s TV special offers "La Cathedrale de Strasbourg" within the hour-long documentary, plus a 16-minute "Hamburger Concerto" as a bonus. The "Medley 1973" is in fact an abridged version of "Anonymus II", we get an Old Grey Whistle Test performance with Philip Catherine on guitar, David Kemper on drums, alongside Thijs and Bert for a very Mahavishnu Orchestra-like track (minus the lightning-fast runs) referred to as "Angel Wings" by the announcer... two early promo films of the "Moving Waves" line-up miming tracks from "In and Out of Focus" ("House of the King" and "Focus (vocal"), several performances taken from within a Dutch castle (an electric version of "Le Clochard", "Eruption" with variations from the recorded version (also played live in another segment, with other variations), as well as a segue into "Hocus Pocus" (which explains the Hocus Pocus-like mini-segment on the album version), and a delightful number sounding like traditional Dutch folk which shows the band in the kitchen/dining area of the castle whilst the owner cuts cheese (and bread?). And I believe three "Old Grey Whistle Test" performances are documented in full here, as well as the same performance of Sylvia from which individual band member shots were taken for the US edition of the "Focus 3" album."-Glen Bourg [Classic Rock Legends]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Focus---Masters-From-the-Vault-DVD-(special)__15-INT-spc-1027.aspx
Free Dot-Ariband $15.00
Antonio Cotardo: Flutes and Bells
Paolo Pacciolla: Daire, Jembak, Bells, Mbira and Voice
"The Italian duo of Cotardo and Pacciolla – known as 'Free Dot' – describe their music as "free from definitions of pre-established limits in which jazz, Indian and Persian music converge creating an original sound. Musical compositions and performances always different in shapes … from instruments of various traditions played freely according to the expressive necessities of the two musicians. The dialogue between Cotardo and Pacciolla creates situations of scenes always changing which alternate moments of lyrical and introspective character to moments extremely rhythmical." [SLAM]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Free-Dot---Ariband__SLAM-spc-525.aspx
Godley & Creme-Music from Consequences/L $15.00
Lol Creme and Kevin Godley got their start with the classy pop band 10cc. Then, at the height of that band fame, they split on their own & made three infamous releases, which mingled their high-class pop sensibilities with an absolutely cutting, cynical sense of humor and fine musical abilities. This reissues the single disc of music (as opposed to the spoken word part) of their rare 3 lp box set with "L", their second release and their masterpiece. If you don't own "L" and if the idea of the best of 10cc combined with the 'snark' and cynicism of Frank Zappa sounds appealing, you need this. [Edsel]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Godley-and-Creme---Music-from-ConsequencesL__15-Edsel-spc-8058.aspx
Jon Irabagon-Foxy $12.00
This is a trio album by the saxist of Mostly Other People Do The Killing, joined by bassist Peter Brendler and the great free-bop drummer Barry Altschul. The cover is a great take-off of Sonny Rollins' "Way Out West" and I gotta say that this label consistently has the best album covers! Nearly 80' of free-bop blowing by an up 'n' comer, someone I never heard of and a semi-legend! FOXY! [Hot Cup]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Irabagon--Jon---Foxy__Hot-spc-Cup-spc-102.aspx
The Keyboard Circle-1976 $20.00
Back in stock!
I got clued to this by my buddy Ken. This is an offshoot of the Dutch jazz/rock group Scope. Scope released two albums of instrumental progressive fusion that were released on Atlantic Records in Germany only. They have never been reissued on CD. The Keyboard Circle was a short lived trio that consisted of ex-Scope members Rob Franken (Fender Rhodes and multi keyboards) and Henk Zomer (drums) as well as Jan Huydts (Fender Rhodes and multi keyboards). This is VPRO recordings from February 8, 1976 that have never been heard before. Heard before? No one outside of the group's hometown knew that the band existed until now. This is very good classic-era, kosmigroov. jazz/rock. Excellent sound quality. [678]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Keyboard-Circle---1976__678-spc-001.aspx
Takehisa Kosugi-Catch Wave $18.00
"Takehisa Kosugi is an inter-media artist and performer who started his career back in the '60s in Tokyo. With his first band Group Ongaku (free anarchist-conceptual improvisations) he was introduced to the Fluxus avant-garde movement. During the '70s, he was a member of the mystical, psychedelic, droning rock band Taj Mahal Travellers. He co-founded the band in 1969. Since the end of the '70s until now, he has released several solo albums and commissioned works for events and sound installations. His album Catch Wave (1975) is an absolute progressive masterpiece, bringing Takehisa Kosugi's musical talent to territories usually reserved to kosmic Krautrock. Digitally remastered. Numbered, limited edition housed in an LP replica sleeve."
"An all-time kosmiche drone classic, its stratospheric violin and wha-mouthed explorations are guaranteed to make moonwalkers out of fans of Tony Conrad's Outside The Dream Syndicate or Klaus Schultze's Irrlicht." -Julian Cope [Phoenix]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Kosugi--Takehisa---Catch-Wave__05-Ash-spc-3041.aspx
Kraan-Psychedelic Man $18.00
Back in stock!
After surprising everyone by coming back with an excellent live album in 2001 and playing incredible shows at ProgDay and NEARFest, Peter Wolbrandt-guitars and vocals, Hellmut Hattler-bass and vocals, Ingo Bischoff- keyboards & Jan Fride-drums have released a new album and it's overall a pretty darn good one. [EMI]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Kraan---Psychedelic-Man__15-EMI-spc-3891712.aspx
Kronos Quartet-Harry Partch: US Highball $8.00 (special)
Microtonalism is hard! And they do it. It's odd to hear this without Harry's own instruments, but this is a strong performance of stuff that must basically be nearly impossible to transpose for string quartet.
"U.S. Highball is one of the first underground masterpieces in American music. Partch's work explores what, decades later, would be called a 'subculture' - the hoboes, who traveled across the U.S. in search of work or new experience, defying social conventions and the strictures of civilized society. The recording on this CD is not U.S. Highball in any of Partch's (three) versions, but an arrangement for voice and string quartet made for Kronos in 1997 by Ben Johnston, a composer who studied and worked with Partch and with whose own music Kronos has had a long and fruitful relationship." [Nonesuch]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Kronos-Quartet---Harry-Partch--US-Highball-(special)__15-Nonesuch-spc-79697.aspx
Phil Manzanera-50 Minutes Later $7.00 (special)
2005 release by the ex guitarist of Quiet Sun and Roxy Music.
"It transports the listener, including them in Manzanera's rock and roll journey, spanning psychedelic London to Buenos Aires and out into the stratosphere, embroidered within a musical context that is always full of invention. Manzanera's signature guitar style, at times richly textured and at times explosive, is very much in evidence... 50 Minutes later features contributions from fellow Roxy Music members Paul Thompson and Andy Mackay plus Robert Wyatt and Brian Eno." [Hannibal]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Manzanera--Phil---50-Minutes-Later-(special)__15-HANNIBAL-spc-1503-spc-(special).aspx
Mathilde 253: -Mathilde 253 $15.00
Charles Hayward (drums, percussion and melodica)
Han-earl Park (guitar)
Ian Smith (trumpet and flugelhorn)
plus Lol Coxhill (saxophone) tracks 6 and 7 ('Aachen' and 'Oaxaca')
"Mathilde 253 is the real-time musical meeting between legendary avant-rock drummer Charles Hayward (This Heat, Massacre), "careful and crafty" guitarist Han-earl Park (Paul Dunmall, Kato Hideki), and mainstay of the London improvised music scene Ian Smith (Derek Bailey, London Improvisers' Orchestra). Mathilde 253 was born out of an opportunity to explore the spontaneous mashup of avant-rock, African-American creative musics, European free improvisation and noise. Joined by the veteran iconoclastic saxophonist Lol Coxhill, this recording documents the weaving of physical virtuosity and humorous sound poetics, a patchwork of restraint, subtlety and recklessness." [SLAM]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Mathilde-523---Mathilde-523__SLAM-spc-528.aspx
The Muffins-Palindrome $16.00
Despite having reformed with the original personnel in 1998 (which means that they have been back longer than they were with us originally in the 70s and 80s!), this is only the 3rd studio release of new compositions by this quintessential US avant-progressive band!
"Here is the new album of the US band The Muffins after too many years of silence, from one of the few American group with Canterbury style. Their progressive rock, with light jazz accents is a sheer wonder, full of breaks and melting themes with lots of thrilling ideas. Recommended to all Canterbury school fans." [Musea]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Muffins---Palindrome__01-Musea-spc-4865.aspx
Outward Bound Trio-The Path $15.00
Tsikandilakis Antonis : piano
Neonakis Dimitris : electric guitar
Iliakis Yiannis : drums
"'Outward Bound Trio' brings together three Crete-based musicians of diverse musical backgrounds but with common interests in exploring, through improvisation, the tonal palette offered by the piano, electric guitar and drums combination. This, the Trio's second album, presents a series of short improvisations in three parts which, despite the continual alternations, retain a homogeneous sound landscape. Free forms, open in terms of time and density of musical events, come upon fragments of chord progressions, floating themes contrasted with unstructured sounds, whispers, screams, pauses. Without following rules of any compositional idiom, the music is developed in real time, sometimes haphazardly, other times in a succession of spontaneous interventions, orientating itself to the pursuit of artistry. The music laid down in this studio recording has been developed by the trio through performances at the International Jazz Festival in Athens, the European Jazz Festival Kostas Kouvidis, the Zante Jazz Festival, as well as numerous jazz clubs and theatres around Greece." [SLAM]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Outward-Bound---The-Path__SLAM-spc-526.aspx
Stefano Pastor/Kash Killion-Bows $15.00
Stefano Pastor: violin, flugelhorn, percussion.
Kash Killion: cello, sarangi.
"Italian violinist and multi-instrumentalist Stefano Pastor with the amazing cello-player (also a real master in playing Indian instruments) Kash Killion. A disc suspended between avant-gard expression, some Monkian classics and deep Indian nuances. An extraordinary mix of tastes made coherent by the strict belonging of both musicians to the Afro-American improvisation tradition. Two terrific musicians who speak the jazz language with their bowed instruments, in a way that probably one has never heard." [SLAM]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Pastor--StefanoKash-Killion---Bows__SLAM-spc-524.aspx
Phideaux-313 $11.00
"This album was begun as an exercise in making an "album in a day". There were only the barest bones of songs at 8 am on 3/13/03 and throughout the day until 6 am the following morning the band (for now it was becoming a band) worked quickly to create a quirky album of short ditties and experimental soundscapes. Over the course of the next several months these tracks were tarted up because there wasn't "enough" after one day, but there was "too much good" to just throw it away." [Bloodfish]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Phideaux---313__Bloodfish-spc-0313.aspx
Phideaux-Chupacabras $11.00
"Released in 2004, this release heralds the full on Progressive Rock of later Phideaux. Centered around the 20 minute track Chupacabras, this album is often the touchstone for fans of Phideaux Xavier's eclectic and sometimes cerebral rock operettas." [Bloodfish]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Phideaux---Chupacabras__Bloodfish-spc-1777.aspx
Phideaux-Ghost Story $11.00
"Second album from Phideaux finds the man channeling progressive tinged glam rock. A little bit folk rock Bowie, this was originally recorded in late 1990s and is a leaner more guitar based sound. Possibly the best songwriting from Phideaux Xavier. The "epic" 'Beyond The Shadow Of Doubt' points to future works Chupacabras and Doomsday Afternoon." [Bloodfish]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Phideaux---Ghost-Story__Bloodfish-spc-1618.aspx
Phideaux-The Great Leap $11.00
"The first part of a planned trilogy about Ecology and a future Authoritarian state, The Great Leap takes listeners back to the sound of Ghost Story. Here is a guitar centric album of simpler songs where the orchestrations take precedence over the linear compositions. Great Leap and Doomsday Afternoon were composed and recorded during the same period in 2005 and it was decided to put all the short/rock tracks on one album (Leap) and allow the second album to be a symphonic single concept album (Doomsday)." [Bloodfish]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Phideaux---The-Great-Leap__Bloodfish-spc-665.aspx
Phideaux-Number Seven $11.00
Back in stock!
Phideaux Xavier has been releasing interesting, modern symphonic rock/progressive for some time. He started as a solo artist, but now, on his seventh album, he has a huge, real band (10 musicians, including himself) and I saw them about 18 months ago and it was a good, impressive show of proggy-prog music that didn't sound old and had its own strong vision and showed a lot of class. Good singing and fine playing from everyone, with a lot of keyboards, violin, guitar and other instruments. If you had to compare it to anyone of the 'old school', I guess you could compare it a bit to Genesis, but like I said, it has its own vision. I can honestly say that this was a completely enjoyable and engaging listen from beginning to end. [Bloodfish]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Phideaux---Number-7__BLOODFISH-spc-007.aspx
Richard Pinhas-The Single Collection 1972-1980 $22.00
Back in stock
The good news: this collects all the material that was released by Richard Pinhas either under his own name or his various guises: Schizo (his pre-Heldon band), Heldon, THX. Some of this material is unbelievably rare and some of it is quite fantastic. The bad news: Some of this is simply 'single edits' of tracks off of things that are on lp and CD and a fair amount of this was made using vinyl sources, as the tapes could not be located. For my money, the Schizo tracks are pretty great and very interesting, hearing Richard play Telstar is kinda fun, and there is one 7 minute, otherwise unavailable Heldon track (circa Agneta Nilsson) that is fantastic, but I can't say that this is 'essential'; if I thought it was, *we* would have released it! Limited edition of 1,000. [Captain Trip]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Pinhas--Richard---The-Single-Collection-1972-1980__15-CAPTAIN-spc-TRIP-spc-535.aspx
Projecto B-A Noite $18.00
Back in stock!
Projecto B are a very excellent Brasilian 'out' avant/progressive jazz/rock band. Consisting of Leonardo Muniz de Correa (alto sax & clarinet), Yvo Ursini (electric guitar) Vicente Falek (piano and Fender Rhodes piano), Amilcar Rodrigues (trumpet, cornet), Henrique Alves (bass) and Pedro Ito (drums). There's a pretty fantastic jazz/rock take on part of "The Rite of Spring" of all things, which gives you an idea of what we are dealing with here; pretty, happy-jazz this isn't. Recommended! "On their second CD, Projeto B keep developing their own personal style, mixing, in a unexpected way, modern classical influences like Stravinsky and Messiaen with selected elements from avant-garde jazz and rock. Ranging from Frank Zappa and Miles Davis to Bill Frisell and John Zorn, the result is a challenging album, full of sharp compositions, incredible mood variations, lots of improvisations and instrumental virtuosism." [Editio Princeps]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Projeto-B---A-Noite__RDMEDITIOPRINCEPS12.aspx
Michael Ranta/Mike Lewis/Conny Plank-Mu - very limited edition 2 x CDs in a hardboard box $50.00
"The only time this ensemble got together before was for the singular and legendary Wired session recorded in 1970 and published on the Deutsche Grammophon box set Free Improvisation in 1974. The Wired session also included Karl-Heinz Böttner while this release of Mu just has the trio of Ranta, Lewis and Plank. Mu got recorded a few months after the Wired session, in Plank's studio, but never got released strangely enough. Yet it's a true hidden treasure of marvelous minimal psychedelic improvisations with an oriental touch controlled and mixed by 'Diabolis in Musica' Conny Plank. Although the intense recording session ended early in the morning the mixdown was still done straight afterwards of which this is the direct result for MU1, Mu2, and Mu4. For Mu3 Michael Ranta added live percussion to the original tape mix and dedicated it to Mike Lewis. Due to circumstances and moving to different continents they never had the chance to meet again. Previously unreleased studio material from 1970 recorded a few months after the legendary Wired session. Hardboard linen CD box contains 2 CDs and a 28-page booklet with biography text and notes from Michael Ranta (in Dutch, German and English). Edition of 500 copies."
Michael Ranta : percussion, guitars and prepared thundersheet
Mike Lewis : keyboards, wind instruments and percussion
Conny Plank : live electronics, sound control, recording supervision, mix
"What a stunning surprise discovery of this obscure ensemble with Michael Ranta, Mike Lewis and Krautrock master Conny Plank. As on the legendary Wired LP on the Free Improvisation box set (Deutsche Grammophon 1974) they created an amazing free form abstraction, a floating resonant and timeless music, similar in many ways to the early experiments of Tangerine Dream but in a world of its own, in all their twisted exotic and melancholy beauty... To be filed under classic Krautrock, a masterpiece!" -Steven Stapleton [Metaphon]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Ranta--MichaelMike-LewisConny-Plank---Mu---very-limited-edition-2-x-CDs-in-a-hardboard-box__05-Metaphon-spc-003.aspx
Roedelius-Selbstportrait I $18.00
"This is the third solo album by German keyboardist Hans-Joachim Roedelius, originally released in 1979 on Sky Records. Alongside his ongoing work with Cluster and Harmonia, Roedelius amassed an almost incalculable number of musical notations during his time in the idyllic Weser Uplands. Fleeting sketches, spontaneous improvisations, implied miniatures, rough compositions -- Roedelius recorded virtually every idea he came up with outside the studio sessions on his Revox A77 reel to reel; with the basic intention of capturing his moments of inspiration, he simply let the tape run as he played around on the Farfisa organ. Sound quality was not his prime concern, as he was not as yet entertaining any notion of releasing the results. As Roedelius recalls, costly tape spools were at a premium, so he recorded over older tapes in mono, at a less than ideal speed. Substandard, technically speaking (or listening), but as a self portrait, nothing short of a masterpiece. It would be inappropriate to measure this album by the hi-fidelity yardstick; see it as something closer to an intimate confession, an unguarded communiqué from one person to another. Bordering on naivety and free of conceit, Roedelius introduces us to his world through these chiffonesque études. There may be little variation in the Farfisa sound, but this is soon forgotten when Roedelius invites us to listen, to enter the experience. No expensive technology, no producer, no collaborators. This is unfiltered personality, the real Roedelius. Musically, Selbstportrait is characterized by a combination of ländler, minimalism and harmonic simplicity. The Weser Uplands, where Roedelius recorded his music, are certainly no Arcadia and the village of Forst is anything but Atlantis, but perhaps it could become the Graceland of German electronic music." [Bureau B]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Roedelius---Selbstportrait-I__05-Bureau-spc-B-spc-063.aspx
Roedelius-Selbstportrait II (expanded) $18.00
"This is the fourth solo album by German keyboardist Hans-Joachim Roedelius, originally released in 1980 on Sky Records. With Selbstportrait, Roedelius gave unequivocal confirmation that he no longer was treading the hitherto common paths of electronic music. Selbstportrait - Vol. II corroborated the findings: for Roedelius, electronics would no longer be a means of creating abstract, noise-like music in the future, nor of generating utopian, mechanical rhythmic structures. His own utopia was quite a different place, more in keeping with his own personality and view of the world. Hence both self-portraits, in particular Selbstportrait - Vol. II, are programmatic. Uniquely among musicians of the German electronic scene at the time, Roedelius succeeded in blending European and extra-European musical styles quite intuitively, developing his own language of music, neither epigonic nor weighed down by stereotype, as often occurred in the emerging world music genre of the period. There is a fascinating simplicity to the music of Roedelius: his vision does not reside in cloud-cuckoo-land. His utopia is founded in reason, his vision sustained by a simple base: not only did he ignore musical traditions, he also sought to create something new out of them. He succeeded where many of his contemporaries failed, going to ground as they attempted to bridge the postmodern gap. Not Roedelius. Roedelius' music is littered with stumbling blocks. The listener may not necessarily lose his footing, but will not exactly find himself sitting comfortably as he listens. With this album, Roedelius has drawn a clearly delineated picture of himself. Few musicians can say the same, few even harbor such aspirations. Transcending styles, hypes and modernisms, Selbstportrait - Vol. II is electronically-sourced music, yet sounds anything but technical, dismantling the misconception that electronic music has to sound cold and distant. Selbstportrait - Vol. II has never been released completely before. Includes 5 tracks never released on CD!" [Bureau B]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Roedelius---Selbstportrait-II-(expanded)__05-Bureau-spc-B-spc-064.aspx
Mark Anderson - drums
Paul Dunmall - tenor & soprano sax
Philip Gibbs - guitar
Tony Hymas - keyboard
"An album that proves that spontaneous composition can be both melodic and groovy. Recorded live in the studio in one take, with no overdubs, 21st Century V-Bop covers a vast landscape both sonically and stylistically.From the raging opener of 'The Path of Non-evitability' to the drum sans bass of 'The Front', to the more pensive Mclaughlin dedication 'John's Intelligent Ears', the music covers all bases and moods through to the final fade out of the Big Note. Tony Hymas will be best known for his work with Jeff Beck (There and Back, Guitar Shop), Stanley Clarke, Jack Bruce and to a younger audience for his collaborations with Ursus Minor. Paul Dunmall is best known as a free improviser who has worked with many of the top improvisors worldwide,including Henry Grimes,Andrew Cyrille,keith Tippett etc.. Apart from his work with Dunmall, Gibbs here provides fresh approaches to both rock and jazz guitar styles, with nods to Mclaughlin's technique and Hendrix's walls of sound, whilst drummer Anderson provides strength and groove alternately, with reference to the mighty cohort of fusion drummers past and the march of modern groove-based music into the future. If you thought all improvised music is necessarily directionless atonal and a-rhythmic, a re-evaluation could start with this CD." [SLAM]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/21st-Century-V-Bop---21st-Century-V-Bop__SLAM-spc-284.aspx
Brian Storming-and the Illustrated Guide to Fantasie $16.00
A very original and psychedelic (in the best sense of the word) album, from Argentina. This is their second album and has been released on Universal, so someone besides me hears the quality of this group. This is a beautifully orchestrated, psychedelic/psychedelic pop album, obviously influenced by the best music of the original circa 1967 era. This is insanely ambitious and extraordinarily well done. Highly recommended; if this even remotely sounds like your thing, you will love this; they don't make records like this anymore, but they certainly SHOULD! [Tommy Gun]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Brian-Storming---and-the-Illustrated-Guide-to-Fantasie__15-Tommy-spc-15153.aspx
Cluster-Cluster 71 $18.00
Cluster 71 is the first album by Cluster and the least known of their early clasics. It is reissued here with the original cover art in a digipack. It's been reissued a zillion times, but no matter which edition, it's a great release. If you don't have it, you should consider picking this up!
"Originally released on the Philips label in 1971, Bureau B reissues Cluster's eponymous debut full-length album. According to The Wire, Cluster 71 is one of the "One Hundred Records That Set The World On Fire." Very few albums from Germany can lay claim to this honor. This album is a mere three untitled tracks and was quite an ordeal for untrained ears at the time of its release, yet the album pointed the way forward like no other electronic opus. Cluster's previous incarnation was a trio named Kluster. A change in direction and musical differences moved Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius to split from their third member, Konrad Schnitzler, in 1970. The following year, as well as playing live, they recorded their first album, Cluster 71, in publisher Ralf Arnie's Star Musik Studio in Hamburg. Here they first met Conny Plank, who would himself become a legend. They remained close friends until his death in 1987. Early Cluster music was new -- new in the sense that it did not continue any tradition, instead laying the foundations for a future tradition. The duo's utter renunciation of conventional harmony and rhythm, their embracing of near total aural abstraction, confident use of noise, rigorous live electronic improvisation and a positive mind-set tuned to winning rather than losing -- these were all factors in Cluster's innovative trailblazing of 1971. For want of a better category, Cluster 71 was classified rather inappropriately and incorrectly as "cosmic." Few recognized Cluster for what it was -- the synthesis of pop music stripped of embarrassing glamour and so-called serious music without intellectual constraints. Moebius and Roedelius took the liberty of raiding both disciplines to perfect their musical concept. A common enough practice today, but akin to a palace revolution in 1971. So it is that three pieces of electronic music meander and pulsate through Cluster 71, with no beginning and no end. Cluster's music is free and open in all directions. There are sounds, noises and structures to be heard on this album which would become ingrained in the electronic pop music of the 1980s and 1990s. Cluster had taken the first step into the future with Cluster 71. Liner notes by Asmus Tietchens."
"Cluster 71 is a masterwork, not because it set out to be, but in spite of itself. It's one of those moments in music history where all bets were off and everyone involved -- except perhaps the record label -- found it liberating."-All Music Guide [Bureau B]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Cluster---Cluster-71__05-Bureau-spc-B-spc-058.aspx
Emeralds-What Happened 2 x lps (due to size and weight, for sale in the USA only) $28.00
"Editions Mego is chuffed to release these vintage synth-guitar improvisation jams recorded straight to tape, 2007-2008. Previously released as a CD by No Fun, this is now the definitive vinyl edition of this material, and serves as archival insight into the development of Emeralds' sound over the last years."
"...it's the way the group so successfully blends the abrasive edge of their No Fun contemporaries with the epic minimalism of a Tangerine Dream suite that makes them unique, evoking an awe-struck oddity that is undeniably gorgeous, but still vaguely unsettling."-Dusted [Editions Mego]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Emeralds---What-Happened-2-x-lps-(due-to-size-and-weight--for-sale-in-the-USA-only)__05-Emego-spc-109lp.aspx
Focus-Masters From The Vault NTSC (All Region) DVD $8.00 (special)
Back in stock!
In the early 1970's, Belgian TV ran a series of 30 minute programs of then- current rock bands, recorded live without an audience in professional lighting and staging. Someone has finally found the original tapes and licensed the masters! This DVD includes that fantastic performance from 1971 of the band, as well as excellent UK broadcasts from 1972 & 1973 (OGWT). There is also footage from 1974 as well as the short-lived period where Jan Akkerman left and Philip Catherine replaced him. It sez here: "Digitally remastered and fully restored for 5.1 surround sound."
"A mid-'70s TV special offers "La Cathedrale de Strasbourg" within the hour-long documentary, plus a 16-minute "Hamburger Concerto" as a bonus. The "Medley 1973" is in fact an abridged version of "Anonymus II", we get an Old Grey Whistle Test performance with Philip Catherine on guitar, David Kemper on drums, alongside Thijs and Bert for a very Mahavishnu Orchestra-like track (minus the lightning-fast runs) referred to as "Angel Wings" by the announcer... two early promo films of the "Moving Waves" line-up miming tracks from "In and Out of Focus" ("House of the King" and "Focus (vocal"), several performances taken from within a Dutch castle (an electric version of "Le Clochard", "Eruption" with variations from the recorded version (also played live in another segment, with other variations), as well as a segue into "Hocus Pocus" (which explains the Hocus Pocus-like mini-segment on the album version), and a delightful number sounding like traditional Dutch folk which shows the band in the kitchen/dining area of the castle whilst the owner cuts cheese (and bread?). And I believe three "Old Grey Whistle Test" performances are documented in full here, as well as the same performance of Sylvia from which individual band member shots were taken for the US edition of the "Focus 3" album."-Glen Bourg [Classic Rock Legends]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Focus---Masters-From-the-Vault-DVD-(special)__15-INT-spc-1027.aspx
Free Dot-Ariband $15.00
Antonio Cotardo: Flutes and Bells
Paolo Pacciolla: Daire, Jembak, Bells, Mbira and Voice
"The Italian duo of Cotardo and Pacciolla – known as 'Free Dot' – describe their music as "free from definitions of pre-established limits in which jazz, Indian and Persian music converge creating an original sound. Musical compositions and performances always different in shapes … from instruments of various traditions played freely according to the expressive necessities of the two musicians. The dialogue between Cotardo and Pacciolla creates situations of scenes always changing which alternate moments of lyrical and introspective character to moments extremely rhythmical." [SLAM]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Free-Dot---Ariband__SLAM-spc-525.aspx
Godley & Creme-Music from Consequences/L $15.00
Lol Creme and Kevin Godley got their start with the classy pop band 10cc. Then, at the height of that band fame, they split on their own & made three infamous releases, which mingled their high-class pop sensibilities with an absolutely cutting, cynical sense of humor and fine musical abilities. This reissues the single disc of music (as opposed to the spoken word part) of their rare 3 lp box set with "L", their second release and their masterpiece. If you don't own "L" and if the idea of the best of 10cc combined with the 'snark' and cynicism of Frank Zappa sounds appealing, you need this. [Edsel]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Godley-and-Creme---Music-from-ConsequencesL__15-Edsel-spc-8058.aspx
Jon Irabagon-Foxy $12.00
This is a trio album by the saxist of Mostly Other People Do The Killing, joined by bassist Peter Brendler and the great free-bop drummer Barry Altschul. The cover is a great take-off of Sonny Rollins' "Way Out West" and I gotta say that this label consistently has the best album covers! Nearly 80' of free-bop blowing by an up 'n' comer, someone I never heard of and a semi-legend! FOXY! [Hot Cup]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Irabagon--Jon---Foxy__Hot-spc-Cup-spc-102.aspx
The Keyboard Circle-1976 $20.00
Back in stock!
I got clued to this by my buddy Ken. This is an offshoot of the Dutch jazz/rock group Scope. Scope released two albums of instrumental progressive fusion that were released on Atlantic Records in Germany only. They have never been reissued on CD. The Keyboard Circle was a short lived trio that consisted of ex-Scope members Rob Franken (Fender Rhodes and multi keyboards) and Henk Zomer (drums) as well as Jan Huydts (Fender Rhodes and multi keyboards). This is VPRO recordings from February 8, 1976 that have never been heard before. Heard before? No one outside of the group's hometown knew that the band existed until now. This is very good classic-era, kosmigroov. jazz/rock. Excellent sound quality. [678]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Keyboard-Circle---1976__678-spc-001.aspx
Takehisa Kosugi-Catch Wave $18.00
"Takehisa Kosugi is an inter-media artist and performer who started his career back in the '60s in Tokyo. With his first band Group Ongaku (free anarchist-conceptual improvisations) he was introduced to the Fluxus avant-garde movement. During the '70s, he was a member of the mystical, psychedelic, droning rock band Taj Mahal Travellers. He co-founded the band in 1969. Since the end of the '70s until now, he has released several solo albums and commissioned works for events and sound installations. His album Catch Wave (1975) is an absolute progressive masterpiece, bringing Takehisa Kosugi's musical talent to territories usually reserved to kosmic Krautrock. Digitally remastered. Numbered, limited edition housed in an LP replica sleeve."
"An all-time kosmiche drone classic, its stratospheric violin and wha-mouthed explorations are guaranteed to make moonwalkers out of fans of Tony Conrad's Outside The Dream Syndicate or Klaus Schultze's Irrlicht." -Julian Cope [Phoenix]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Kosugi--Takehisa---Catch-Wave__05-Ash-spc-3041.aspx
Kraan-Psychedelic Man $18.00
Back in stock!
After surprising everyone by coming back with an excellent live album in 2001 and playing incredible shows at ProgDay and NEARFest, Peter Wolbrandt-guitars and vocals, Hellmut Hattler-bass and vocals, Ingo Bischoff- keyboards & Jan Fride-drums have released a new album and it's overall a pretty darn good one. [EMI]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Kraan---Psychedelic-Man__15-EMI-spc-3891712.aspx
Kronos Quartet-Harry Partch: US Highball $8.00 (special)
Microtonalism is hard! And they do it. It's odd to hear this without Harry's own instruments, but this is a strong performance of stuff that must basically be nearly impossible to transpose for string quartet.
"U.S. Highball is one of the first underground masterpieces in American music. Partch's work explores what, decades later, would be called a 'subculture' - the hoboes, who traveled across the U.S. in search of work or new experience, defying social conventions and the strictures of civilized society. The recording on this CD is not U.S. Highball in any of Partch's (three) versions, but an arrangement for voice and string quartet made for Kronos in 1997 by Ben Johnston, a composer who studied and worked with Partch and with whose own music Kronos has had a long and fruitful relationship." [Nonesuch]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Kronos-Quartet---Harry-Partch--US-Highball-(special)__15-Nonesuch-spc-79697.aspx
Phil Manzanera-50 Minutes Later $7.00 (special)
2005 release by the ex guitarist of Quiet Sun and Roxy Music.
"It transports the listener, including them in Manzanera's rock and roll journey, spanning psychedelic London to Buenos Aires and out into the stratosphere, embroidered within a musical context that is always full of invention. Manzanera's signature guitar style, at times richly textured and at times explosive, is very much in evidence... 50 Minutes later features contributions from fellow Roxy Music members Paul Thompson and Andy Mackay plus Robert Wyatt and Brian Eno." [Hannibal]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Manzanera--Phil---50-Minutes-Later-(special)__15-HANNIBAL-spc-1503-spc-(special).aspx
Mathilde 253: -Mathilde 253 $15.00
Charles Hayward (drums, percussion and melodica)
Han-earl Park (guitar)
Ian Smith (trumpet and flugelhorn)
plus Lol Coxhill (saxophone) tracks 6 and 7 ('Aachen' and 'Oaxaca')
"Mathilde 253 is the real-time musical meeting between legendary avant-rock drummer Charles Hayward (This Heat, Massacre), "careful and crafty" guitarist Han-earl Park (Paul Dunmall, Kato Hideki), and mainstay of the London improvised music scene Ian Smith (Derek Bailey, London Improvisers' Orchestra). Mathilde 253 was born out of an opportunity to explore the spontaneous mashup of avant-rock, African-American creative musics, European free improvisation and noise. Joined by the veteran iconoclastic saxophonist Lol Coxhill, this recording documents the weaving of physical virtuosity and humorous sound poetics, a patchwork of restraint, subtlety and recklessness." [SLAM]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Mathilde-523---Mathilde-523__SLAM-spc-528.aspx
The Muffins-Palindrome $16.00
Despite having reformed with the original personnel in 1998 (which means that they have been back longer than they were with us originally in the 70s and 80s!), this is only the 3rd studio release of new compositions by this quintessential US avant-progressive band!
"Here is the new album of the US band The Muffins after too many years of silence, from one of the few American group with Canterbury style. Their progressive rock, with light jazz accents is a sheer wonder, full of breaks and melting themes with lots of thrilling ideas. Recommended to all Canterbury school fans." [Musea]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Muffins---Palindrome__01-Musea-spc-4865.aspx
Outward Bound Trio-The Path $15.00
Tsikandilakis Antonis : piano
Neonakis Dimitris : electric guitar
Iliakis Yiannis : drums
"'Outward Bound Trio' brings together three Crete-based musicians of diverse musical backgrounds but with common interests in exploring, through improvisation, the tonal palette offered by the piano, electric guitar and drums combination. This, the Trio's second album, presents a series of short improvisations in three parts which, despite the continual alternations, retain a homogeneous sound landscape. Free forms, open in terms of time and density of musical events, come upon fragments of chord progressions, floating themes contrasted with unstructured sounds, whispers, screams, pauses. Without following rules of any compositional idiom, the music is developed in real time, sometimes haphazardly, other times in a succession of spontaneous interventions, orientating itself to the pursuit of artistry. The music laid down in this studio recording has been developed by the trio through performances at the International Jazz Festival in Athens, the European Jazz Festival Kostas Kouvidis, the Zante Jazz Festival, as well as numerous jazz clubs and theatres around Greece." [SLAM]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Outward-Bound---The-Path__SLAM-spc-526.aspx
Stefano Pastor/Kash Killion-Bows $15.00
Stefano Pastor: violin, flugelhorn, percussion.
Kash Killion: cello, sarangi.
"Italian violinist and multi-instrumentalist Stefano Pastor with the amazing cello-player (also a real master in playing Indian instruments) Kash Killion. A disc suspended between avant-gard expression, some Monkian classics and deep Indian nuances. An extraordinary mix of tastes made coherent by the strict belonging of both musicians to the Afro-American improvisation tradition. Two terrific musicians who speak the jazz language with their bowed instruments, in a way that probably one has never heard." [SLAM]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Pastor--StefanoKash-Killion---Bows__SLAM-spc-524.aspx
Phideaux-313 $11.00
"This album was begun as an exercise in making an "album in a day". There were only the barest bones of songs at 8 am on 3/13/03 and throughout the day until 6 am the following morning the band (for now it was becoming a band) worked quickly to create a quirky album of short ditties and experimental soundscapes. Over the course of the next several months these tracks were tarted up because there wasn't "enough" after one day, but there was "too much good" to just throw it away." [Bloodfish]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Phideaux---313__Bloodfish-spc-0313.aspx
Phideaux-Chupacabras $11.00
"Released in 2004, this release heralds the full on Progressive Rock of later Phideaux. Centered around the 20 minute track Chupacabras, this album is often the touchstone for fans of Phideaux Xavier's eclectic and sometimes cerebral rock operettas." [Bloodfish]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Phideaux---Chupacabras__Bloodfish-spc-1777.aspx
Phideaux-Ghost Story $11.00
"Second album from Phideaux finds the man channeling progressive tinged glam rock. A little bit folk rock Bowie, this was originally recorded in late 1990s and is a leaner more guitar based sound. Possibly the best songwriting from Phideaux Xavier. The "epic" 'Beyond The Shadow Of Doubt' points to future works Chupacabras and Doomsday Afternoon." [Bloodfish]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Phideaux---Ghost-Story__Bloodfish-spc-1618.aspx
Phideaux-The Great Leap $11.00
"The first part of a planned trilogy about Ecology and a future Authoritarian state, The Great Leap takes listeners back to the sound of Ghost Story. Here is a guitar centric album of simpler songs where the orchestrations take precedence over the linear compositions. Great Leap and Doomsday Afternoon were composed and recorded during the same period in 2005 and it was decided to put all the short/rock tracks on one album (Leap) and allow the second album to be a symphonic single concept album (Doomsday)." [Bloodfish]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Phideaux---The-Great-Leap__Bloodfish-spc-665.aspx
Phideaux-Number Seven $11.00
Back in stock!
Phideaux Xavier has been releasing interesting, modern symphonic rock/progressive for some time. He started as a solo artist, but now, on his seventh album, he has a huge, real band (10 musicians, including himself) and I saw them about 18 months ago and it was a good, impressive show of proggy-prog music that didn't sound old and had its own strong vision and showed a lot of class. Good singing and fine playing from everyone, with a lot of keyboards, violin, guitar and other instruments. If you had to compare it to anyone of the 'old school', I guess you could compare it a bit to Genesis, but like I said, it has its own vision. I can honestly say that this was a completely enjoyable and engaging listen from beginning to end. [Bloodfish]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Phideaux---Number-7__BLOODFISH-spc-007.aspx
Richard Pinhas-The Single Collection 1972-1980 $22.00
Back in stock
The good news: this collects all the material that was released by Richard Pinhas either under his own name or his various guises: Schizo (his pre-Heldon band), Heldon, THX. Some of this material is unbelievably rare and some of it is quite fantastic. The bad news: Some of this is simply 'single edits' of tracks off of things that are on lp and CD and a fair amount of this was made using vinyl sources, as the tapes could not be located. For my money, the Schizo tracks are pretty great and very interesting, hearing Richard play Telstar is kinda fun, and there is one 7 minute, otherwise unavailable Heldon track (circa Agneta Nilsson) that is fantastic, but I can't say that this is 'essential'; if I thought it was, *we* would have released it! Limited edition of 1,000. [Captain Trip]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Pinhas--Richard---The-Single-Collection-1972-1980__15-CAPTAIN-spc-TRIP-spc-535.aspx
Projecto B-A Noite $18.00
Back in stock!
Projecto B are a very excellent Brasilian 'out' avant/progressive jazz/rock band. Consisting of Leonardo Muniz de Correa (alto sax & clarinet), Yvo Ursini (electric guitar) Vicente Falek (piano and Fender Rhodes piano), Amilcar Rodrigues (trumpet, cornet), Henrique Alves (bass) and Pedro Ito (drums). There's a pretty fantastic jazz/rock take on part of "The Rite of Spring" of all things, which gives you an idea of what we are dealing with here; pretty, happy-jazz this isn't. Recommended! "On their second CD, Projeto B keep developing their own personal style, mixing, in a unexpected way, modern classical influences like Stravinsky and Messiaen with selected elements from avant-garde jazz and rock. Ranging from Frank Zappa and Miles Davis to Bill Frisell and John Zorn, the result is a challenging album, full of sharp compositions, incredible mood variations, lots of improvisations and instrumental virtuosism." [Editio Princeps]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Projeto-B---A-Noite__RDMEDITIOPRINCEPS12.aspx
Michael Ranta/Mike Lewis/Conny Plank-Mu - very limited edition 2 x CDs in a hardboard box $50.00
"The only time this ensemble got together before was for the singular and legendary Wired session recorded in 1970 and published on the Deutsche Grammophon box set Free Improvisation in 1974. The Wired session also included Karl-Heinz Böttner while this release of Mu just has the trio of Ranta, Lewis and Plank. Mu got recorded a few months after the Wired session, in Plank's studio, but never got released strangely enough. Yet it's a true hidden treasure of marvelous minimal psychedelic improvisations with an oriental touch controlled and mixed by 'Diabolis in Musica' Conny Plank. Although the intense recording session ended early in the morning the mixdown was still done straight afterwards of which this is the direct result for MU1, Mu2, and Mu4. For Mu3 Michael Ranta added live percussion to the original tape mix and dedicated it to Mike Lewis. Due to circumstances and moving to different continents they never had the chance to meet again. Previously unreleased studio material from 1970 recorded a few months after the legendary Wired session. Hardboard linen CD box contains 2 CDs and a 28-page booklet with biography text and notes from Michael Ranta (in Dutch, German and English). Edition of 500 copies."
Michael Ranta : percussion, guitars and prepared thundersheet
Mike Lewis : keyboards, wind instruments and percussion
Conny Plank : live electronics, sound control, recording supervision, mix
"What a stunning surprise discovery of this obscure ensemble with Michael Ranta, Mike Lewis and Krautrock master Conny Plank. As on the legendary Wired LP on the Free Improvisation box set (Deutsche Grammophon 1974) they created an amazing free form abstraction, a floating resonant and timeless music, similar in many ways to the early experiments of Tangerine Dream but in a world of its own, in all their twisted exotic and melancholy beauty... To be filed under classic Krautrock, a masterpiece!" -Steven Stapleton [Metaphon]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Ranta--MichaelMike-LewisConny-Plank---Mu---very-limited-edition-2-x-CDs-in-a-hardboard-box__05-Metaphon-spc-003.aspx
Roedelius-Selbstportrait I $18.00
"This is the third solo album by German keyboardist Hans-Joachim Roedelius, originally released in 1979 on Sky Records. Alongside his ongoing work with Cluster and Harmonia, Roedelius amassed an almost incalculable number of musical notations during his time in the idyllic Weser Uplands. Fleeting sketches, spontaneous improvisations, implied miniatures, rough compositions -- Roedelius recorded virtually every idea he came up with outside the studio sessions on his Revox A77 reel to reel; with the basic intention of capturing his moments of inspiration, he simply let the tape run as he played around on the Farfisa organ. Sound quality was not his prime concern, as he was not as yet entertaining any notion of releasing the results. As Roedelius recalls, costly tape spools were at a premium, so he recorded over older tapes in mono, at a less than ideal speed. Substandard, technically speaking (or listening), but as a self portrait, nothing short of a masterpiece. It would be inappropriate to measure this album by the hi-fidelity yardstick; see it as something closer to an intimate confession, an unguarded communiqué from one person to another. Bordering on naivety and free of conceit, Roedelius introduces us to his world through these chiffonesque études. There may be little variation in the Farfisa sound, but this is soon forgotten when Roedelius invites us to listen, to enter the experience. No expensive technology, no producer, no collaborators. This is unfiltered personality, the real Roedelius. Musically, Selbstportrait is characterized by a combination of ländler, minimalism and harmonic simplicity. The Weser Uplands, where Roedelius recorded his music, are certainly no Arcadia and the village of Forst is anything but Atlantis, but perhaps it could become the Graceland of German electronic music." [Bureau B]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Roedelius---Selbstportrait-I__05-Bureau-spc-B-spc-063.aspx
Roedelius-Selbstportrait II (expanded) $18.00
"This is the fourth solo album by German keyboardist Hans-Joachim Roedelius, originally released in 1980 on Sky Records. With Selbstportrait, Roedelius gave unequivocal confirmation that he no longer was treading the hitherto common paths of electronic music. Selbstportrait - Vol. II corroborated the findings: for Roedelius, electronics would no longer be a means of creating abstract, noise-like music in the future, nor of generating utopian, mechanical rhythmic structures. His own utopia was quite a different place, more in keeping with his own personality and view of the world. Hence both self-portraits, in particular Selbstportrait - Vol. II, are programmatic. Uniquely among musicians of the German electronic scene at the time, Roedelius succeeded in blending European and extra-European musical styles quite intuitively, developing his own language of music, neither epigonic nor weighed down by stereotype, as often occurred in the emerging world music genre of the period. There is a fascinating simplicity to the music of Roedelius: his vision does not reside in cloud-cuckoo-land. His utopia is founded in reason, his vision sustained by a simple base: not only did he ignore musical traditions, he also sought to create something new out of them. He succeeded where many of his contemporaries failed, going to ground as they attempted to bridge the postmodern gap. Not Roedelius. Roedelius' music is littered with stumbling blocks. The listener may not necessarily lose his footing, but will not exactly find himself sitting comfortably as he listens. With this album, Roedelius has drawn a clearly delineated picture of himself. Few musicians can say the same, few even harbor such aspirations. Transcending styles, hypes and modernisms, Selbstportrait - Vol. II is electronically-sourced music, yet sounds anything but technical, dismantling the misconception that electronic music has to sound cold and distant. Selbstportrait - Vol. II has never been released completely before. Includes 5 tracks never released on CD!" [Bureau B]
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Roedelius---Selbstportrait-II-(expanded)__05-Bureau-spc-B-spc-064.aspx
--
Progressive Rock & Progressive Metal - E-Zine
