 genre: folk, psych pop, prog
state: uk
quality: lossless (flac, cue, log, covers)
time: 41:53 size: 283 mb
BiteItDeep:
Tranquility were the brainchild of Ashley Kozak, former Donovan manager turned record producer in the early 1970's. His idea was to form a group that played a "hybrid of pop, rock and English folk music", (like Donovan then!). So Tranquility were formed in 1971 based around the song writing talent of Terry Shaddick. The band went through many line up changes throughout their three year life span and members included Eric Dillon, Kevin McCarthy, Berkeley Wright, Tony Lukyn, Jim Leverton, John Perry and Bernie Hagley, all of whom had played in other psych and prog bands previously.
1972 saw the release of their first album "Tranquility" for Epic records. A very mellow affair with a strong West Coast hippy vibe floating throughout the ten tracks. An album to listen to on a lazy summers day. There is also a not too obvious McCartney influence that you might not pick up on the first listen as the record breezes along, notably on tracks "Lady Of The Lake" and "Black Currant Betty".
It's easy to see why the Americans dug this band so much on their support tour of the states in 1972 and the demand for an extra two months worth of dates even before a record had been released over there. Tranquility were far more popular in the states than their home land where they couldn't get arrested.
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 genre: prog
state: uk
quality: lossless (flac, cue, log, covers)
time: 34:07 size: 209 mb
wikipedia:
Their third album. It is a collection of odds and ends put together by Island Records after the initial breakup of the band. The album reached number 19 in the American Billboard charts. As implied by the cover photos, the album features the original lineup of Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood, and Dave Mason, though Mason does not actually appear on most of the songs.
Many of the songs of this album were originally released on mono singles. The versions that appear on this album are re-mixed for stereo and sometimes have significant differences.
Allmusic's retrospective review said that Last Exit, though weaker than its two predecessors, "isn't bad as profit-taking products go." They complimented most of the studio tracks as highly appealing works, and praised the cohesive jamming on the live tracks.
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 genre: prog
state: italy
quality: lossless (flac, cue, log, covers)
time: 42:22 size: 285 mb
ItalianProg:
An excellent keyboardist, blind from his birth, Antonio "Toto" Torquati had a very promising career as a session musician, first in the jazz circuit, playing with the likes of Bill Coleman, Billy Smith, Gato Barbieri, Earl Hines, Toots Thielemans and Joe Morello, and subsequently in the pop field, playing with Claudio Baglioni, Lucio Dalla, Gianni Morandi, Mina, and later in Gepy & Gepy group (the nickname of Giampiero Scalamoglia, a prolific composer during the 70's, that also sang in the Gli occhi di un bambino album).
A little-known first solo album appeared in 1972, simply titled with his real name Antonio Torquati; this was a ten-track instrumental moog and keyboards album including cover versions of 60's hits, like Oh! Happy day or Aquarius.
A second one, Gli occhi di un bambino came out on RCA in 1973 and went totally unnoticed at the time, being discovered by many after the recent Akarma reissue. Described by some dealers as a good example of symphonic prog, the album is in fact heavily orchestrated and mainly falls into the pop field, but it contains some classical and light progressive elements.
Torquati has totally disappeared as a solo artist after a commercial single in 1977, Tenero al cioccolato (with which he won the Disco Mare contest), but he kept collaborating with many popular artists and still has a recording studio in Rome.
His return to a record release was in 2007 with a new CD entitled Vita, amore e musica.
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 genre: heavy psych, prog
state: germany
quality: lossless (ape, cue, log, covers)
time: 63:28 size: 347 mb
Crack in the Cosmic Egg:
As with many bands of the era, Tomorrow's Gift started as a cover's band, playing the music of their favourite Anglo-American acts. On early live recordings you can hear how these songs evolved into their own music, with songs like "Indian Rope Man" and "Season Of The Witch" becoming LP side-long pieces on the festival albums POP & BLUES FESTIVAL '70 and LOVE AND PEACE which showed influences of Vanilla Fudge and many a British 1960's blues-rock act.
By the time of their debut (a double album), which documented several months of original compositions, Tomorrow's Gift had evolved and become much more original. Akin to Frumpy they blended songs into much longer works, with lengthy instrumental improvisations, and as the album progresses, each side moves on to more experimental realms. Shortly after recording this however, the band disintegrated whilst touring as support to Spooky Tooth.
A new Tomorrow's Gift, featuring keyboardist Manne Rürup and bassist Bernd Kiefer (from the original band) with Wolfgang Lindner (from Sphinx Tush) on drums, took the most radical ideas from where the original band had left off. The album GOODBYE FUTURE proved to be one of the most creative and unique of Krautrock albums, relying heavily on clavichord, Mellotron and bass guitar to create a range of instrumental textures that are often unbelievably complex, spurred on by the devilishly creative percussion of "Zabba" Lindner. A trio, creative in the manner of classic Egg, and largely instrumental, aided extensively by the ever creative Conny Plank.
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 genre: prog
state: uk
quality: lossless (ape, cue, log, covers)
time: 48:56 size: 337 mb
Tapestry of Delights:
Although named after the main character of Mervyn Peake's gothic fantasy novel, Titus Groan played music definitely lacking in originality. Since all the tracks are over five minutes long, there is room for elaborate instrumental developments, which almost get exciting, but fall short from their goal. Their early progressive style is laced with large parts for wind, which at times makes for interesting listening, but ultimately the meagre compository skills make the wine too watery. By far the best cut is Hall Of Bright Carvings (title taken from Peake's novel as well), which is versatile and passionate, although at 11'50" inevitably too long. A few spins may be rewarding enough, more of this will probably bore you. Jim Toomey had earlier been in Jon, wrote What Did We Miss for Still Life with Stuart Cowell and was later in The Tourists. He also did some session for for Uriah Heep's Ken Hensley at the end of the '70s. ~ (Marcel Koopman / Gianpaolo Banelli / Kevin J. Julie)
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 genre: folk
state: ireland
quality: lossless (ape, cue, log, covers)
time: 46:32 size: 212 mb
wkipedia
Side one
1. "Time Is Like A Promise" Sonny Condell 2:56
2. "Mariner Blues" Condell 4:12
3. "Daisy Lady" Leo O'Kelly 2:21
4. "Tir Na Nog" O'Kelly 5:20
5. "Aberdeen Angus" Condell 1:50
6. "Looking Up" O'Kelly 4:51
Side two
1. "Boat Song" O'Kelly 3:24
2. "Our Love Will Not Decay" Condell 3:04
3. "Hey Friend" Ray Dolan 3:01
4. "Dance Of Years" Condell 3:50
5. "Live A Day" Condell 3:04
6. "Piccadilly" O'Kelly 5:35
7. "Dante" Condell 2:56
Sonny Condell - vocals, guitar, Moroccan pottery drums, tablas, jews harp
Leo O'Kelly - vocals, guitar, dulcimer, electric bass, tin whistle
Additional personnel:
Nick Harrison - arranger
Barry Dransfield – fiddle on "Tir Na Nog"
Annie Crozier – psaltery on "Time Is Like A Promise"
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 genre: avant, jazz, fusion
state: uk
quality: lossless (flac, cue, log, covers)
time: 46:30 size: 224 mb
Tapestry of Delights:
Keith Tippett is best known as a modern jazz pianist. He appeared on albums by Blossom Toes, King Crimson and Soft Machine prior to his debut album for Polydor. Indeed his Vertigo album was named after a Soft Machine song. However, unless you're into avant-garde, avoid it! After this, Keith, who married Julie Driscoll, formed Centipede. His next solo album, Blue Print, was produced by Robert Fripp. In 1973 he was the man behind Ovary Lodge, whose album, also produced by Fripp, is quite collectable now. As the decade progressed he recorded further albums on obscure jazz labels and also created TV and film scores.
His group included such notable individuals as Marc Charig, who recorded a solo album in 1977, Pipedream (Ogan OG 710), which Keith Tippett played on, Elton Dean, Robert Wyatt, Giorgio Gomelski and his wife, who was Julie Driscoll before their marriage.
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 genre: psych pop
state: uk
quality: lossless (flac, cue, log, covers)
time: 60:51 size: 254 mb
Tapestry of Delights:
Previously known as The Rush, they were renamed Tinkerbells Fairydust for their Lazy Day 45, by producer Vic Smith. Lazy Day was a Spanky and Our Gang song and its flip is a well-structured slice of psychedelic pop. All three of their 45s are rare and collectable.
The band recorded at regular Sunday sessions at Decca studio number two in West Hampstead, with Vic Smith at the helm. An album was also recorded but was only not released at the time. Test pressings of this are mega-rarities. The album would have included four of their six singles tracks and nine cover versions. Two of the better covers include an attempt at Joe Cocker's minor hit, Marjorine, and a Vanilla Fudge-style arrangement of You Keep Me Hanging On.
The band also backed Gene Latter at a session at Lansdowne Studios, Holland Park, resulting in his Mother's Little Helper 45.
Twenty Ten was a No.2 hit in Japan in 1968.
Steve Maher later emigrated to Sydney, Australia and now runs his own recording studio. Chaz and Gerry Wade are in a band playing around the London Pub's and Clubs and Barry Creasy still drums in a rock band. Dave Church and Stuart Attride have now retired from the music scene. ~ (Vernon Joynson/Isao Sasaki)
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 genre: psych pop
state: uk
quality: lossless (flac, cue, log, covers)
time: 68:41 size: 454 mb
Tapestry of Delights:
The Who's Pete Townshend put together this group as a studio outfit in the late sixties. Guitarist Jimmy McCulloch was just a sixteen at the time, 'Speedy' Keen was an untried songwriter from the Ealing/Perivale area of London who'd previously been in pre-July act The Tomcats in 1965, as drummer and Andy 'Thunderclap' Newman was a plump ex-Post Officer engineer. The last thing they represented was a slick rock group, but their debut 45, Something In The Air, written by Keen, remains an all-time classic, a wonderfully atmospheric song which superbly captured the changing mood of the late sixties and simply boiled over with optimism. When it rapidly climbed to No 1, Avery and McCulloch's younger brother Jack were rapidly added to the line-up for touring purposes, but after one minor hit with Accidents, further commercial success eluded them and they broke up in mid-1970. Their Hollywood Dream album has become a minor collector's item, but is largely disappointing in comparison to the magic of Something In The Air. It has some good moments:- Hollywood #1 has some good honky tonk piano playing; The Reason is certainly one of 'Speedy' Keen's stronger compositions and features a good vocal performance by him and more good piano from Andy Newman; Jimmy McCulloch's instrumental title track is a pleasant little ditty and Wild Country is worth a listen.
Jimmy McCulloch went on to join Stone The Crows and Wings, whilst Newman and Keen both made solo albums but with little success.
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 genre: heavy, psych
state: us
quality: lossless (flac, cue, log, covers)
time: 35:33 size: 232 mb
Fuzz Acid & Flowers:
A Hendrix-influenced heavy psychedelic trio from Philadelphia, they even managed a pretty decent cover of Red House on the album, which is now a minor collectable. The 45 is off the album (two of its worst tracks), the title cut is an instrumental. Its finest moments are the opening cut, White Lace And Strange, and the finale, Open Up Your Eyes, which are both brimming with heavy psychedelic guitar work.
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 genre: kraut, fusion
state: germany
quality: lossless (flac, cue, log, covers)
time: 75:30 size: 502 mb
Crack in the Cosmic Egg:
A much touted Hamburg band, from the suburb of Altona, with roots going back into the mid-1960's beat era. In 1967 they were amongst the winners at a beat festival, gaining documentation on the first "Beat In Hamburg" EP, where they actually sound more like The Who than anything else. The band took a break in 1968 due to Military commitments and then reformed with a repertoire of favourite international hits and gradually developed their own compositions.
By 1970, as documented on two festival albums, Thrice Mice had moved on considerably, taking on classical and jazz-rock into a highly progressive blend, with blues and heavy rock as their focus. Most notably was a strong Blodwyn Pig (as proven by "Pig II", an uncredited variation on a Mick Abrahams composition) cum East Of Eden feel, and touches of Curved Air in the classical elements. From the sound, I'd guess that Wolfgang played two saxophones simultaneously, much like Colosseum's Dick Heckstall-Smith. In fact, all Thrice Mice influences stemmed from such British bands, all refocused and blended into a sound uniquely their own with the distinct spirit of Krautrock.
Obviously quite popular locally, Thrice Mice soon got a contract and recorded a studio LP. Compared to the live material it is much more controlled and restrained, but also a lot more calculated and precise, with clearer vocals from Karl-Heinz Blumenberg, who comes across as a hybrid of Michael Winzkowski (Epsilon) and Bernd Noske (Birth Control). There are a few crazed moments and lots of invention to be found in the album's four sizeable tracks, and it's a record that although really dated these days is definitely "a grower".
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 genre: heavy
state: uk
quality: lossless (flac tracks, log, cover)
time: 35:17 size: 190 mb
01. My Yiddishe Mamma 2:06
02. Hold On 3:39
03. Come Down To Earth 3:59
04. Take Me Down From The Mountain 3:08
05. Woman 2:55
06. Mahesha 5:17
07. Take A Look At The Light 4:00
08. Can I Leave The Summer 4:06
09. The Trip 6:07
Adrian Gurvitz / guitars, vocals, keyboards
Paul Gurvitz / bass, vocals
Tony Newman / drums
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genre: prog
state: uk
quality: lossless (ape, cue, log, cover)
time: 42:17 size: 232 mb
wikipedia:
The first solo album by Moody Blues flautist Ray Thomas together with Nicky James, Trevor Jones, Dave Potts, John Jones and Mike Moran.
The opening and title track, like the opening to the classical-rock fusion Moody Blues album Days of Future Passed, is a symphonic-style overture incorporating themes from various songs on the album. "Hey Mama Life" is a contemplative piece about hard-earned wisdom ("I was once told the streets were paved with gold / Now I know them for what they are"). "High Above My Head" is an up-tempo number featuring a strong brass accompaniment and Thomas's harmonica. "Adam and I" is dedicated to Thomas's baby son. The final track, "I Wish We Could Fly," with sweeping orchestral backing, encapsulates Thomas's trademark unassuming optimism.
Thomas had to wait in line to record his solo album. First, fellow Moodies Justin Hayward and John Lodge had the use of Threshold Studios to record their Blue Jays project beginning in June 1974. When that ran well over deadline into December, Graeme Edge was left with an uncomfortably short period to work on his "Kick Off Your Muddy Boots" album (on which Thomas appeared). To help Edge's predicament, Thomas voluntarily adjusted his schedule so that his former bandmate could finish all his recording sessions. The upshot was that Thomas had time to complete all his songs and full arrangements before his team even entered the studio. This, according to Thomas, "was a real plus. It meant that I wouldn't have to worry about using studio time to write new material and rushing things. I could concentrate instead on perfecting recordings of songs that I had already finished." As a result, "From Mighty Oaks" was wrapped up quickly and ready for release by mid-July 1975, only four months after Hayward and Lodge's album and before Edge's.
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 genre: fusion
state: germany
quality: lossless (flac, cue, log, covers)
time: 59:56 size: 380 mb
01. Lord Of Lightning 3:44
02. Riding In The Rain 3:19
03. Magic Moon 4:43
04. It Was Love 3:16
05. Speak For Yourself 2:55
06. Sudwind 3:58
07. Rainbow 5:13
08. The Jungle Of Your Mind 7:30
09. Crickets Don't Cry 5:19
10. Clouds 5:28
11. I'll Sing Your Song 6:24
12. Caught 8:07
Jürgen Drogies / guitar, percussion
Norbert Drogies / drums
Michael Kobs / keyboards
Harald Konietzko / bass, acoustic guitar, vocals
Erwin Noack / percussion
Willi Pape / saxophone, flute
Sigfried Pisalla / guitar, vocals
Hans Werner Ranwig / keyboards, backing vocals
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 genre: prog
state: germany
quality: lossless (ape, cue, log, covers)
time: 53:01 size: 328 mb
Crack in the Cosmic Egg:
Think originated from Marl (north of the Essen conurbation) and were actually formed by Friedhelm Wördehoff (drummer in Essen beat bands since the mid-1960's), two Hungarians (whose parents had fled to Germany in the late-1950's) and the cream of the crop of local talent from the bands: Pohl's Tractor and Tiffany Shade. The Hungarian Ramor brothers found another "Eastern" compatriot in Czech Ludovich Sandrik who had also been playing with the Philharmonia Hungarica.
Prolific on the local live scene, the producer of Menga aided them with the release of their album VARIETY, quite an exceptional release, one that fused together radically different cultures into a complex progressive rock featuring flute, violin and guitars in a richly folk and classical intoned style, hinting at many other bands (I quoted Pell Mell and Eden originally, yet I can also see common elements with Sahara, Seedog, and such-like) yet original with an eclectic song style, rich almost symphonic instrumentation, and a strangely atmospheric beauty.
In 1974 Think became associated with Moondog, performing renditions of his strange "classical" music, they also played some prestigious gigs, but would seem to have split shortly after. A reformation was attempted, but nothing came of that. Later, Ricky Ramor and Frank Voigt went to Join In.
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 genre: rhythm and blues, garage
state: uk
quality: lossless (ape, cue, log, covers)
time: 39:11 size: 134 mb
wikipedia:
First album from the Northern Irish rock and roll group Them. The album was released in the UK in June 1965.
As with most Decca releases of the period, the name of the group was conspicuously absent from the front cover and on the back of the LP they were introduced as The Angry Young Them with an essay on this theme declaring: "These five young rebels are outrageously true to themselves. Defiant! Angry! Sad! They are honest to the point of insult!"
Six of the songs on the album were Morrison originals, including the famous garage band anthem "Gloria". Another song on the album, "Mystic Eyes", was a spontaneous creation that came out of the band just "busking around" in Morrison's words and after seven minutes of instrumental playing he impulsively threw in the words of a song he had been working on.
"You Just Can't Win" was a Dylan inspired song about a gold digger, set in specific places in London such as Camden Town. "Little Girl" was about a boy's obsession with a fourteen-year-old school girl.
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 genre: blues, psych
state: uk
quality: lossless (flac, cue, log, covers)
time: 33:37 size: 224 mb
wikipedia:
The third album by blues rock band Ten Years After, released in 1969. The album charted #20 at Billboard 200 and #4 at the UK charts.
Side one
"Bad Scene" – 3:30
"Two Time Mama" – 2:02
"Stoned Woman" – 3:30
"Good Morning Little Schoolgirl" (Sonny Boy Williamson) – 7:01
Side two
"If You Should Love Me" – 5:27
"I Don't Know That You Don't Know My Name" – 2:02
"The Stomp" – 4:35
"I Woke Up This Morning" – 5:30
All songs composed by Alvin Lee, except where noted.
Alvin Lee – guitar, vocals
Leo Lyons – bass
Ric Lee – drums
Chick Churchill – organ
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 genre: sympho prog
state: france
quality: lossless (flac, cue, log, covers)
time: 52:32 size: 333 mb
01. When It's The Season 8:13
02. Games 4:08
03. St. John's Avenue 7:47
04. Circle 5:31
05. Last Chance 3:46
06. The Gulf Of Knowledge 9:57
bonus:
07. Dance 4:28
08. Back Again 4:17
09. Cherry 4:25
Khanh Mai / vocals, guitars
Tai Sihn / vocals, bass, acoustic guitar, keyboards
Jean-Jacques Goldman / vocals, guitars
Jean Alain Gardet / keyboards
Stephan Caussarieu / percussion, drums
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 genre: glam
state: uk
quality: lossless (flac, cue, log, covers)
time: 33:41 size: 209 mb
wikipedia:
The tenth studio album and a UK-only release by English glam rock act T. Rex.
Marc Bolan's new partner Gloria Jones and other recent American friends, such as Gloria's brother Richard and backing singer Pat Hall, had helped influence Bolan's music, and he was experimenting with soul inflections.
Although the sound of the album was very stark and the lyrics very simple and direct, Bolan had tried to go beyond the rock format of the previous T. Rex sound and reflect his recent immersion in the US soul scene.
Several of the songs had a very futuristic tone, especially "Space Boss", "Think Zinc", and "Golden Belt", Bolan being a great fan of science fiction. The band on this album also featured a twin-drum sound on some tracks, notably "Solid Baby", provided by Davy Lutton and Paul Fenton.
Stephen M. Deusner of Pitchfork wrote, "A purposeful return to the looser sound of Electric Warrior, Gun fires blanks. For all its directness, the album is mostly perfunctory, working some of the same sounds and ideas, but the results lack movement and liveliness; Bolan's mojo definitely wasn't working. Worse, he really doesn't sound invested in these songs." Whitney Strub of PopMatters wrote "Bolan's Zip Gun contains enough good moments to preclude classification as a disaster, but just barely."
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