Oldish Psych and Prog

genre: fusion

country: germany

quality: lossless (ape, cue, log, scans)

time: 47'47" size: 260 mb

misc: 2004

Cosmic Dreams:

This is a very important group whose three albums all collectors of German rock should stock in their vaults! Out Of Focus came together in Munich circa 1969. Ihre Kinder's manager Jonas Porst was farsighted enough to sign the band to his Kuckuck label.

Reputedly, the band spent months in their practice room to polish up their forthcoming debut album Wake Up! (1970). It was engineered by Thomas Klemt in the Union Studio, Munich, between October and December 1970. All the hard labour produced one of the all time classics of German rock! Out Of Focus revealed a well balanced instrumental mix of alternating guitar, flute and organ riffing; technically absolutely brilliant! The solid rhythm section could produce repetitive but complex rhythm patterns as a backdrop for the band's soloists. There were six dynamic tracks with ironic, humorous lyrics (as typified by "God Save The Queen, Cried Jesus"), heavy riffing ("See How A White Negro Flies" and very long songs, exploring the whole instrumental register from silent, breezy and peaceful whispers to lull-blown outbursts of outrageous power ("Dark, Darker"). Neumuller had an uncommon voice, which took a little getting used to at first, but it added yet another special dimension to the end product. If you need just one album to sample the specific German way of approaching "progressive" music, this is it! With their roots in heavy rock, blues, folk and jazz, Out Of Focus went far beyond British bands like Jethro Tull, Gravy Train, Colloseum, Traffic, etc.

Their self-titled second album was recorded at Bavaria studios in June 1971. This was another landmark of German rock, switching to a fusion-ridden direction. Which one of the first two albums you prefer, really depends on your own taste. In many ways this was a more extreme album, "Whispering" had a riff that was repeated for more than ten minutes and "Fly Bird Fly Television Program" explored themes for nearly 17 minutes! There were even two mellow folk-rock songs: "It's Your Life" and "Blue Sunday Morning". Only the opening track "What Can A Poor Boy Do" recalled the heavy guitar, flute and organ riffing of the first album. But, even such a fantastic album didn't seem to fulfil their ambitions. For the double album Four Letter Monday Afternoon (1972), Out Of Focus were expanded with brass and more. Their large scale opus "Huchen 55" lasted for two whole record sides and a total running time of almost 50 minutes! Sadly this proved too self-indulgent, for although the mammoth composition had many excellent parts I find it over-arranged. Imagine a group of 11 musicians playing something different all at once! "L.S.B" (sic!) was another very long work with the focus on brass, resulting in a musical fusion reminiscent of British Vertigo-bands like Nucleus, Bob Downes, Ben and also Soft Machine. Moran Neumuller had now taken the role of lead soloist, often multi-tracking his saxes and flutes. Drexler and Hering had a surprisingly low profile on this album. There was only one song that was comparable to their previous album: a short and folky ballad named "Where Have You Been". This proved to be Out Of Focus' last album. Surprisingly, little has been heard from these talented musicians since their demise.

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style: prog

country: germany

audio: lossless (flac, cue, log, scans)

size: 326 mb

Cosmic Dreams:

Just as Electric Prunes and Eela Craig did before and after them, Os Mundi from Berlin converted a Latin mass into the progressive and/or psychedelic rock format. Os Mundi was the brainchild of Udo Arndt. On the first album they were helped by guests Hartmut Seidel (bass) and David Kalckreuth (organ). The album was a tour de force with heavy, powerful guitars and garage organs. It had a dense, raw production, sinister atmosphere and made clever use of studio effects. Indeed, its dark atmosphere could easily be associated with a black mass, instead of a Latin mass! It sounded a bit like early Uriah Heep or Vanilla Fudge with similar, opera-like vocals. The second album 43 Minuten (recorded at Audio Studios in June 1972 with Konrad Plank) was a very, very different work. It was a more "mainstream" progressive rock recording, drawing more from jazz, folk and contemporary West Coast rock. Highlights of this album included "But Reality Will Show", a Holderlin-like ballad with the use of cello, and "Erstickubungen", a tremendous instrumental blow-out with gutsy, heavy guitar play from Udo. He later became a renowned rock and new wave record producer and engineer (Ian Cussick, Munchener Freiheit, Morgenrot, Steinwolke). Nowadays he's employed as an engineer and producer at the Audion Studio in Berlin.

genre: heavy kraut

country: germany

quality: lossless (ape, cue, log, covers)

time: 37'26" size: 247 mb

The Crack in the Cosmic Egg:

A polit-rock band in the uniquely German tradition, akin to Floh De Cologne, Lokomotive Kreuzberg, Checkpoint Charlie, et al., but with a larger sound, male and female vocals, and a technical progressive edge often close to Grobschnitt musically.

Their most ambitious moment was the double album concept work DIE PARISER KOMMUNE, a musical chronicle of the French revolution, handled in a most imaginative manner, from bizarre theatre through to lengthy symphonic progressive tracks. An obscure yet fascinating release.

Members of Oktober (working together with people from Schmetterlinge) also acted as the backing band on an album by P.P. Zahl. Their bassist: Kalla Wefel is still active today. Since the demise of the band he has been busy with: Schneewittchen, solo (as lyricist, composer, singer, producer), and guested with Clinch, Angi Domdey, Andreas Wilczek, and numerous other unknowns! His most recent is called DAS BESTE KOMMT JA NOCH ... (TNT-Records) 2002.

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genre: heavy prog

country: uk

quality: mp3 (flac, cue, log, covers)

time: 45'49" size: 332 mb

united-mutations.com:

British progressive rock band Odin recorded a Frank Zappa tribute on their only and untitled 1970's album. The album got rereleased on cd in 2000. During their 1973 SWF sessions in Germany, they recorded Zappa's 'King Kong' and 'Oh No'. Both of these pieces got released on "SWF Session 1973" in 2007.

Their "Live At The Maxim" album that got released in 2007 presented a 1971 concert. This disc included various Zappa compositions as well.

01. Turnpike Lane 3:36

02. Life is Only 11:25
03. King Kong 10:40
04. Oh No 6:32
05. Make Up Your Mind (Bonus) 13:36

Jeff Beer: keyboards, percussion, vocals

Ray Brown: bass, vocals

Stuart Fordham: drums, percussion

Rob Terstall: guitar, vocals

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genre: heavy, prog

country: france

quality: lossless (flac,cue, log, scans)

time: 40'48" size: 308 mb

ProgArchives:

French quartet OCEAN was founded in 1974 by guitarist/keyboardist George Bodossian. Their first album, God's Clown was released in 1976 by the renowned French label Barclay. Sung entirely in English, the album blends clear LED ZEPPELIN references(such as the androgynous, Plant-like vocals of singer Robert Belmonte) with KING CRIMSON and other progressive influences.

Further information on the band's activity is hard to come by. However, it seems they released four albums altogether, with the last, self-titled effort released in 1981 (though with a different drummer). ~ Raffaella Berry (Raff)

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genre: folk

country: us

quality: lossless (ape, cue, log, scans)

time: 44'06" size: 286 mb

Fuzz Acid & Flowers:

Although this album was pressed in Canada and lists no home base for the group on the cover, it is known that they were based in Marin County. The album, which is pop rock with male and female vocals, sounds like a cross between Pablo Cruise and later-day It's A Beautiful Day - which is defined as "psychedelic" by some record dealers in Europe. The group was previously known as RJ Fox, who saw a double CD issue of their early seventies material issued in Summer 1994: RJ Fox: Retrospective Dreams (Black Bamboo). 

Shelly Fox was previously in Cookin Mama and Stephen Barncard also worked with Chet Nichols and David Crosby. Kelly Bryan had earlier been in the short-lived Grootna, and later played on a couple of albums by Jesse Colin Young. ~ (Clark Faville/Stephane Rebeschini)
 

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genre: prog

country: germany

quality: lossless (flac, cue, log, scans)

time: 45'17" size: 357 mb

1. Atlanto (5:12)
2. Im Brunnen der Erde (4:28)
3. Brennende Freiheit (2:20)
4. Im Netz (8:38)
5. Flossenngel (3:26)
6. Walzer für einen verlorenen Traum (3:27)
7. Sklavenzoo (6:00)
8. Alle wollen leben (4:45)
9. Rückkehr (6:00)
10. Ob Tier, ob Mensch, ob Baum (1:50)

Hartwig Biereichel / drums, percussion

Detlef Job / guitars, vocals

Fred Mühlböck / guitars, vocals

Lutz Rahn / keyboards

Heino Schünzel / bass, vocals

+

Rale Oberpichler

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genre: prog

country: germany

quality: lossless (flac, cue, log, scans)

time: 38'46" size: 247 mb

misc: 1998

1. Aufbruch (9:37)
2. Wunderschätze (Originaltext von Novalis um 1798) (10:37)
3. Sommerabend (18:17)
a) Wetterleuchten (3:50)
b) Am Strand (4:20)
c) Der Traum (3:50)
d) Ein neuer Tag (4:25)
e) Ins Licht (1:52)

Hartwig Biereichel / drums
Detlef Job / guitars, vocals
Lutz Rahn / keyboards
Heino Schünzel / bass, vocals

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genre: prog

country: germany

quality: lossless (flac, cue, log, booklet scans)

time: 37'35" size: 259 mb

misc: 1997

01. Banished Bridge 17:11
02. High Evolution 4:32
03. Laughing 9:13
04. Inside of Me (Inside of You) 6:39

Hartwig Biereichel / drums, percussion
Lutz Rahn / organ, mellotron, piano, synthesizers
Heino Schünzel / bass
Jürgen Wenzel / vocals, acoustic guitar

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genre: folk, psych

country: uk

quality : lossless (flac, cue, log, scans)

time: 39'58" size: 241 mb

issue: 1996 & japan remaster

Tapestry of Delights:

This album is a prime example of the fact that collectability has nothing to do with musical quality. Although the combination of folk-rock with female vocals and fuzz guitar has produced some of the finest music to emerge from the UK, this one is not among it. The compositions are under par, the vocals sound embarrassingly amateurish and none of the tracks has any emotional impact. When no depth of feeling is brought to the fore, this style can be pretty annoying, which is the case here. Not recommended - Japans not foolish.) ~ (Marcel Koopman).

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genre: heavy sympho prog

country: italy

quality : lossless (ape, cue, log, booklet scans)

time: 1:19'01" size: 378 mb

01. The Sacrilege Of Fatal Arms 1:19:01

Mr. Doctor - Vocals

Francesco Carta - Piano

Roberto Dani - Drums

Sasha Olenjuk - Violin

Bor Zuljan - Guitar

Davor Klaric - Keyboards

Michel Fantini Jesurum - Pipe organ

Guests:

Damir Kamidoullin - Cello

Matej Kovacic - Accordion

Paolo Zizich - Duet "Talk Talk" with Mr. Doctor

Devil Chorus conducted by Marian Bunic, and formed by:

Paolo Zizich, Marian Bunic, Polona Sever, Beti Strencan, Breda Bunic, Gregor Oblak, Jure Strencan, Boris Kurent, Mojca Sojer, Mr. Doctor

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