Eskaton were one of the most interesting Magma-related groups to appear at the turn of the eighties, referring to their style as "musique post-atomique". Ardeur (1980) was strongly inspired by Magma at the time of Live (1975) and Ьdь Wьdь (1976). Eskaton retained the French language and added monophonic synthesizers to good effect. Engineer Jean-Louis Rizet (best known from his collaboration with Philippe Besombres) might have offered the group a few suggestions. The album was recorded and mixed at Studio Ramses, but apparently failed to impress Polydor and was released in association with Elanore Productions.
Slow and refined progressive rock with twin electric guitars was the trademark of this Basque group. They were a kind of bridge between Gilmour's Pink Floyd sound and electric folk-rock with harmony vocals. Another good compar-ison would be the melodious guitar flights of Andy Latimer in Camel. Bizi-bizian (1978) captured them live on a good evening. Ametsaren Bidea had only four extended tracks and is remarkably good for 1979!
the Crack in the Cosmic Egg: First, let's clear up an error in the original "The Crack In The Cosmic Egg" book. Erna Schmidt wasn't a singer that Kraan worked as a backing band for, but a related band that were part of Kraan history. An almost mythological band, Erna Schmidt existed for many years without ever managing to release an album. The roots go back to the Stuttgart area circa 1963 and a band called R&B Corporation, who existed for 6 or so years without ever making an album. Eventually, as the line-up changed and they relocated to Berlin, the music was no longer R & B, so a new fun name was chosen. Erna Schmidt's unreleased/uncompleted studio album (lost in obscurity) is one of many that claims to have been destined for the missing Ohr catalogue number. However, Erna Schmidt only ever became a mysterious footnote in Krautrock history, a shame considering how brilliant they were. The LIVE 69-71 CD (compiled from 20 hours of archive tapes) documents various concerts, of all original (all instrumental) material that steps aside from jazz-rock, to a more vital and loose progressive, typical of the best German fusion of the era. Interestingly, there are flashes of Kraan in their rhythmic and ethnic edges, whilst it's more close to Rufus Zuphall, with the choppy psychedelic trips, that trundle as if on fire, with searing guitars and an overdose of flutes. Over the years many musicians passed through the ranks of Erna Schmidt, amongst them Jürgen Benz (of Missus Beastly), Romi Schickle (of Prof. Wolfff), and because they and Kraan later shared a house together in Wintrup, Kraan's Hellmut Hattler also filled-in for a couple of gigs. But, just as Kraan were starting to become famous, Erna Schmidt began to fall apart and split-up in 1972.
Tapestry of Delights: This South London group is most notable now for the fact it had Eddie Grant as its lead vocalist. It was also an interracial group, which was reasonably rare at the time - they consisted of three West Indians and two British guys. They played a form of very accessible pop/rock (almost bubblegum) and are best remembered for Baby, Come Back, which gave them a UK No 1. Over the next few years they enjoyed other Chart entries - most notably Viva Bobby Joe and Black Skinned Blue Eyed Boy - but in 1971 Eddy Grant left to go solo and their days as a Chart force were over although they continued to record well into the late seventies. Funky Like A Train was an excellent club track. Grant was an in-house producer for President and was responsible for lots of other acts including Little Grants and Eddie.
Cosmic Dreams: Epsilon is a group well-known to most collectors of German progressive rock. They started up in 1969 as a Nice-influenced trio. Ortel had previously played in an early incarnation of Jeronimo. They adopted the name Epsilon in October 1970, when Michael Winzkowski joined. They were able to record their first album in January 1971, for the freshly established Bacillus label. This was an early Peter Hauke production in co-operation with engineer Dieter Clerks in the Dierks Studio, Stommeln. The Epsilon sound was dominated by Ortel's prominent organ work, often adapting themes from classical music, very much in the heavier Emerson Lake & Palmer tradition. Ortel and Winzkowski wrote all the tracks, except for a cover version of "Paint It Black". Indeed, Epsilon were the second German progressive band to record this Rolling Stones composition, as Virus already had included a version of it on their Revelation album! The best moments of Epsilon's debut album were "Two-2-11", the strangely entitled opening piece, and "Every Day's Pain". Other parts of the album were a bit easy-going and too close to conventional pop rock at that time. Winzkowski's vocals were sometimes dangerously close to soul, but not as bad as on the Dull Knife album. In general, a good album, but Murphy Blend would be a better choice for those keen to listen to classical influenced, organ dominated rock. Epsilon's music improved considerably on their second offering Move On (1972). It was another Hauke & Clerks production, adding the guests Curt Cress (drums), Rainer Marz (backing vocals, guitar, ex-Jeronimo), Pete Bender (backing vocals, aka Wyoming) and Christian Felke (flute, ex-Nosferatu). Instrumentally, this album had more guitars. The nine compositions were an improvement on their debut, resulting in Epsilon's best album. At this stage, they could be seen as a German parallel to Traffic, with their soulish vocals, instrumentation of organ, guitars and flute and their slightly jazzy mood - just listen to the tracks "Feelings" and "Move On".
An all star blues session album. Annette Brox recorded a 45 in 1965 and an album in 1974, Rollin' Back with her husband Victor. Dick Heckstall-Smith recorded a solo album. He also played with Graham Bond Organisation, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and Colosseum.
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