Latest release: 24 Mar 2023
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WESTING - 'FUTURE'
Formats
EZRDR141 - LP
603111755519EZRDR141CD - CD
603111755526
Details
Late in 2021, Slow Season announced they’d become Westing, and that Ben McLeod (also of Nashville’s All Them Witches) was now in the four-piece on lead guitar alongside guitarist, vocalist and keyboardist Daniel Story Rice, bassist Hayden Doyel and drummer/recording engineer Cody Tarbell. Their new LP (fourth overall for RidingEasy), Future, is not coincidentally titled. Says Rice, “We wanted to hit the reset button on some things and so we included a new band name to that list. Fresh start, for the psychological effect of it. We first met Ben in 2014 opening for All Them Witches in San Diego, and we did that again in 2016 and he and Cody corresponded about tape machines, music production, and other similar nerd stuff. We started swapping a few ideas early in 2021 and then flew him out for four days in August 2021. We got Future mostly down in that short span and did some remote stuff for overdubs, but nothing major. Obviously, our creative processes jelled pretty well to allow for such an efficiently productive session.” So the story of Westing, and of Future, is about change, but the music makes itself so immediately familiar, it’s so welcoming, that it hardly matters. For about 10 years, the Visalia, California, outfit wandered the earth representing a new generational interpretation of classic heavy rock. The tones, warm. The melodies, sweet. The boogie, infectious. They went to ground after supporting their 2016 self-titled third album, and clearly it was time for something different. Listening to Future opener “Back in the Twenties,” the message comes through clear (and loud) that however much Westing’s foundations might be in ‘70s styles, the moment that matters is now. It’s the future we’re living in, not the future that was. The big Zeppelin vibes at the outset and on “Big Trouble (In the City of Love)” and the local-bartender remembrance “Stanley Wu,” the dare-to-sound-like-Rocka-Rolla “Lost Riders” and the softshoe-ready shuffle of “Coming Back to Me” that leads into the payoff solo for the entire record, on and on; these pieces feed into an entirety that’s somehow loyal to homage while embodying a vitality that can only live up to the title they’ve given it. “To me, ‘future’ is a word that embodies both hope and dread,” explains Rice, “and the future seems to be coming at us pretty quick these days. In some ways, it really feels like I am living in “the future,” as if I time traveled here and don't really belong. That feeling pervades this band's ethos in some ways. I thought Instagram was a steep climb until I met TikTok.” Is Future the future? Hell, we should be so lucky. What Westing manifest in these songs is schooled in the rock of yore and theirs purely, and in that, Future looks forward with the benefit of the lessons learned across three prior full-lengths (and the accompanying tours) while offering the kind of freshness that comes with a debut. No, they’re not the same kids who released Mountains in 2014, and the tradeoff is being able to convey maturity, evolving creativity and stage-born dynamic on Future without sacrificing the spirit and passion that has underscored their work all along. – Words by JJ Koczan
Tracks
1. Back In The Twenties
2. Nothing New
3. Lost Riders Intro
4. Lost Riders
5. Big Trouble
6. Artemisia Coming Down
7. Silent Shout
8. Stanley Wu
9. Coming Back To Me
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For fans of - Led Zeppelin, All Them Witches, Rival Sons, Great Von Fleet
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THE LOST DAYS - 'IN THE STORE'
Formats
SPEAKEASY005 - LP
810096651983
Details
After meeting at a memorial for a mutual friend, Tony Molina (Ovens) and Sarah Rose Janko (Dawn Riding) started spending nights into mornings playing guitar and singing their hearts out to an audience of empty wine bottles in the East Oakland warehouse where Janko lived. Both fans of each other’s respective musical projects, they bonded over a shared love of The Byrds and Bill Fox and leaned into their friendship as a much needed support in a time of dizzying grief. The days were marked in trips to Jackson’s Liquor store, the same spot Molina frequented while recording with his band Ovens a decade earlier, at a studio in the same neighborhood. The nights drifted by. The songs kept coming. They decided they wanted to record all they’d been pouring their hearts into and The Lost Days was born. The Lost Days recorded their first release, Lost Demos, with Kit Center at his home studio and mixed it at another friend Nick Bassett’s house in West Oakland. In April 2021 the demo was released on cassette by Oakland label The Long Road Society, eventually making its way into the hands of Spanish label Mapache, who pressed the five-track release on vinyl with the addition of a previously unreleased song. Over the course of 2021, the two kept writing and sharing songs. With Janko moving to New Orleans and the pandemic keeping the two songwriters apart, they worked long distance, sending demos back and forth. Inspired by the solo work of Bill Fox, The Byrds, Dear Nora and Guided By Voices, The Lost Days started recording what was to be their first full-length album, In The Store, at friend Nick Bassett’s basement studio on his Yamaha MT8X 8 track. The album is an exercise in true DIY lo-fi analog home recorded tradition. Molina would venture on BART from Concord to Bassett’s house in Oakland to lay down basic tracks, and Janko would add vocals and tambourine when she was in town. The comfort and familiarity of friendship and the intimacy of home recording allowed the two to craft traditional and yet deeply personal pop and folk songs. Writing that addresses alcoholism, depression and complex relationships are lovingly brought to life on the ten tracks (in thirteen minutes) that make up the album.
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Audio & Video
EDEN AHBEZ - 'WILD BOY: THE LOST SONGS OF EDEN AHBEZ'
Formats
EVERLANDPSYCH015LP - LP
8016670145356EVERLANDPSYCH015LPCO - LP (COLOURED)
Details
"Wild Boy …" is a reissue of the well-known 2016 release curated by Brian Chidester, renowned researcher and biographer of Eden ahbez. Especially for this album, Brian wrote an interesting text about ahbez's life, which definitely became the decoration of the release. With the new 2023 re-release, we went a little further and kept what is commonly referred to as studio cuts. It’s a few more minutes in the studio with ahbez himself, full of emotion and life. In addition, to the delight of fans, the edition includes an additional composition Nature Boy (Mantovani Orchestra). Especially, it is worth noting the outstanding mastering prepared from practically decomposed tapes by the Grammy-nominated Jessica Thompson, which guarantees the deepest and warmth possible sound. Jessica a huge ahbez fan and we're highly appreciated for what she has done to save his music for the future. Eden Ahbez is definitely at the origin of psychedelic music and this release can be taken as further proof. Over the past twenty years, the iconic figure of the world's first hippie Eden ahbez has become famous primarily for his 1948 song "Nature Boy", praising universal love, and his amazingly solo album from the 1960s called "Eden's Island" - one from the first concept albums in the history of music and probably the first psychedelic music album. "Wild Boy: The Lost Songs Of Eden Ahbez" deepens understanding of the origins of the psychedelic movement in the 1950s. The disc contains a musical selection of works by Eden ahbez himself, written by him in the period after Nature Boy. The inclusion of songs such as "Palm Springs" - Ray Anthony Orchestra and "Hey Jacques" by Erta Kitt gives the listener the chance to discover for the first time the little-known recordings of world-famous artists composed by Eden ahbez. Through “Wild Boy” and “Surfer John” you can hear the author's handling of absurd rock and exotic experimentation, as well as sweet psychedelic pop like Monterey (with Paul Horn on flute). Overall, Wild Boy: The Lost Songs Of Eden Ahbez offers an overview of the lost works of 1949-1971 with seven unpublished recordings and eight rare singles. If in 2023 you are missing the hallucinogenic content in Eden Ahbez, it amazingly makes up for that deficiency with simple chords, expansive arrangements, and lyrics about travel, relaxation, free love, and spirituality. Thus creating the standard of psychedelic music. Eden Ahbez's songs weren't only fantasy and his personal philosophy was the real thing that he lived. reviews: "This carefully and extensively researched compilation culls covers by top-notch mainstream artists juxtaposed with unreleased Eden recordings. What might sound like a mixed bag is actually more like a chronological, musical non-fiction novel about Eden Ahbez. While Eden was writing hundreds of songs and performing live and making recordings in various styles, his songs were also being picked up by popular artists like Nat King Cole and Eartha Kitt who recorded with a more polished mainstream style. There are also some early rock n roll style recordings here. Eden’s professionally recordings often end up as Novelty Pop records such as “Child of Nature” and “The Clam Man” but if you read between the lines and listen to the lyrics it is pretty eye-opening that he is singing about Eastern-religion-style and pre-hippie philosophies about being at one with the planet Earth. All of this is explained in the lengthy liner notes inside the lp along with a few choice photos that establish Eden as a founding father of Southern California mystic/psychedelic music." - Tiki_News “Eden Ahbez's life philosophy was summed up in the lyrics of his most famous song, "Nature Boy," a 1948 hit for Nat King Cole: the song describes a "strange enchanted boy" who wanders the world in search of the truth. "The greatest thing you'll ever learn," he concludes, "is to love and be loved in return." Ahbez was a pre-cursor of California's beatniks and hippies, and an exalted icon of exotica via his rare 1960 album Eden's Island. Beyond "Nature Boy" and Eden's Island, though, there were numerous lesser-known Ahbez record-ings. Ahbez biographer Brian Chidester has been doing an exemplary job of archiving and documenting that catalog of work. The Exotic World of Eden Ahbez (reviewed in UT#38) appeared a few years ago, gathering together 14 Ahbez-related rarities” - Ugly Things
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GABOR SZABO - 'LIVE IN CLEVELAND 1976'
Formats
EBL!!!-013LP - LP
4056813383720
Details
"Hungarian guitarist Gabor Szabo (1936-82) issued only three live recordings during his lifetime. Significantly, the first of these, The Sorcerer (1967), remains the most popular album in the guitarist’s all-too abbreviated discography. But there were also More Sorcery (1968) and Gabor Szabo Live with Charles Lloyd (1974), offering Szabo totally in his element and at his bewitching best. Several more of Szabo’s concert recordings have surfaced in the intervening years, including this one, superbly captured for radio broadcast live in 1976 at the 600-seat Agora Ballroom in Cleveland, Ohio. It is a revelation. There is a sense here that concert patrons may have been hearing an altogether different Gabor Szabo than record buyers. For one thing, Szabo is heard fronting what is likely his own group, rather than an army of studio musicians. In 1976, Szabo was leading a tremendous quartet with George Cables (or Joanne Grauer) on piano, Tony Dumas on bass and Sherman Ferguson on drums. Szabo had not had a band with this much jazz clout since his famed quartet with Jimmy Stewart in 1967-68 – and it is a union worth savoring: Szabo’s records during this period were light, at best, on jazz. It’s unclear if any of these musicians are on the Agora date, but as Dumas’s “It Happens” opens the program, it’s a good bet, at least, that the bassist is on board here. But as Szabo’s ’76 quartet is not known to have recorded a studio record, Live in Cleveland is the closest thing to what a mid-seventies Szabo jazz album would sound like. Gone, are the strings, vocals and concessions to commercial consideration so prevalent on so many of Szabo’s studio records at the time. What is present, though, is fine craftsmanship, tremendous interplay, and the exciting improvisation that good jazz always yields. This particular concert was part of Sansui’s “New World of Jazz,” a series of 13 hour-long jazz concerts recorded at Cleveland’s iconic Agora Ballroom and broadcast over 40 FM radio stations. The series was sponsored by Sansui Electronics, a Japanese manufacturer of audio and video equipment, which previously sponsored a similar series of rock concerts recorded at the Agora as well. Sansui was promoting its matrix QS 4-channel sound system – offering, what was considered at the time, superior diagonal separation and stereo compatibility. The firm, partnering with Agora Ballroom and Agency Recording Studio owner Hank LoConti (1929-2014), was looking to take advantage of what they rightly felt was the then-current jazz renaissance. Each show’s 16-track master tape was mixed through the Sansui QS 4-channel encoder,” according to an August 1976 Billboard article detailing the arrangement, “for distribution to the 40 FM stations throughout the United States that bought the series” – allowing for three commercial spots for local dealers to advertise." The recording is available for the first time on CD and VINYL. Mastering by grammy-nominated Jessica Thompson.
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IVERSON & WALTERS - 'FIRST COLLECTION'
Formats
IF114LP - LP
8016670155935
Details
After almost two years of work, we're glad to invite you to a new journey through the fog of time and enjoy the upcoming reissue of the great Ambient/Folk record from 1984. A well-known to collectors but extremely rare record by Jon Iverson a multi-instrumentalist from Palo Alto and his college friend, mandolinist Tom Walters. They shared a love for singer/songwriter fare and gigged around campus playing covers of Neil Young, CSN, and Loggins/Messina in the late '70s. "First Collection" was recorded during the Spring of 1984 in a small garage that had been converted to a one-room apartment in the seaside community of Los Osos, California. With an instrumentation of 12-string guitar, piano, mandolin, analog synthesizers, and sampler, the duo has recorded nine bright, weightless, and diverse compositions where electronic experiments mix with ethnic rhythms, sweeping through inspired folk reminiscent of the work of William Ackerman, John Fahey, Master Wilburn Burchette, and Robbie Basho, to homemade pastoral space folk exuding sophisticated, pale, lunar sonic moods that somehow might remind of the work of Roedelius from the early 80s. Equipment used for tracking included a rented 1/2" 8-track Otari MX5050 analog tape machine and assorted mics. With only a few thousand albums pressed, First Collection has become a collectable in some circles. Now, almost forty years later, First Collection has been remixed and remastered from the original 1/2" tapes for this release.
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MARIAH - 'UTAKATA NO HIBI'
Formats
EVERLANDPSYCH009LP - 2xLPs
0710473185097EVERLANDPSYCH009CD - CD
0710473185103
Details
Mariah was a Japanese outfit in the field of art pop, way back in the very late 70s and early 80s with 5 albums up their score from 1980 to 1983. The album from 1979 entitled as “Mariah” was actually made before the band Mariah was formed, and was released as a solo album by Yasuaki Shimizu. The album at hand is the fifth and for the time being last album in this row, released as a double vinyl back in 1983. Original copies, that are at least in very good condition, are hard to find. The brand new reissue on Everland, unlike the original and the first vinyl reissue from 2015, comes housed in a thick and artfully designed gatefold sleeve with OBI, which finally does justice to the progressive spirit of the music you will find here. The musical basement of Utakata No Hibi is a fusion of dreamy synthesizer pop and haunting new wave music, that could be found all around the globe back in 1983. In the vein of TEARS FOR FEARS or more adventurous DAVID BOWIE stuff, with a touch of KRAFTWERK or even BRIAN ENO here and there, but all this gets spiced up with an atmosphere of Japanese traditionalism, with a few bits and pieces from the old music from this Far East island, which sounds so magic to us Westeners. The progressive, wacky art pop of this project was led by the popular Japanese composer and musician Yasuaki Shimizu, a relentlessly exploratory saxophonist who even dared to rework Johann Sebastian Bach’s cello suites for saxophone. As brilliant as this man is, the music on „Utakata No Hibi“ turns out to be. And the master himself approved and much appreciated the brandnew remastering of this album by assisting a highly professional team of sound engineers who dusted off the ancient tape reels. For certain the record sounds and feels 80s through and through, electronic to the very rhythmical bone of each song sugar coated with catchy melodies that resemble Japanese classic and Enka music, which is a kind of folksy pop music. The listener gets directly drawn into a feverish dream of steaming Far Eastern cities and their darkest and most depraved corners where you find everything cheap in sleazy bars and unlighted backyards and alleys. The next moment he strolls through a beautiful Japanese park surrounded by a sea of blossoms. This change in mood and style you will experience in the sparsely instrumented tune „Shisen“, which indeed comes closest to classic Japanese folk tunes without any too catchy and pop oriented melodies. But we certainly find these harmonies allover the album. Some tunes even feel like ancient BEACH BOYS compositions and Brian Wilson creations played by a then contemporary electronic pop act and sung in Japanese. An amazingly colorful album with songs that are based on solid substance rather than cheap pop structures. This is music for the bold listeners and music lovers and this awesome reissue should quickly find it’s way into the record collections of 80s synth and art pop aficionadoes. Yasuaki Shimizu did what he wanted with MARIAH, pushed the borders of popular music further than anybody would have thought. Listen to a track like „Shonen“ with a repetitive rhythm pattern that hypnotizes you and somehow silky melodylines by saxophone and synth piano upon which a female voice sings in a very spiritual way. Praising pop or whatever this can be called, it is sheer magic put in music. I wonder if this would have made it into the charts back then, but you never know. It is a piece of musical art that shall be listened to. Grab your copy now!!!
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A legendary yet long lost crown jewel from the early 80s Japanese Electronic and Jazz Rock scene
Audio & Video
VARIOUS - 'WILDERNESS AMERICA, A CELEBRATION OF THE LAND'
Formats
EBL!!!-012LP - LP
8016670151760EBL!!!-012CD - CD
8016670151777
Details
*PLS NOTE REVISED PRICING ON VINYL*Before I’m gone I’d like to see us turn the corner and give up being spoilers of the land . . . In 1975 Wallace ‘Wally’ Smith Broecker published a paper that popularised the term ‘global warming’ and against a backdrop of change and environmental uncertainty, a musical concept album was commissioned. ‘Wilderness America / A Celebration of the Land’ – is a musical exploration of our place within the cycle of living things. All compositions were specially commissioned for the album and blended with natural sounds recorded in the wild – lending the entire project a conceptual air that still feels fresh today. The journey begins with the sun rising in the atmospheric haze of ‘Dawn’ – a track composed by new-age innovator Iasos. Gospel singer Walter Hawkins soon drops in with the soulful but ever so funky ‘Metropolis’ backed by a heavy array of session musicians with Patrick Gleeson, Ed Bogas and Tom Salisbury all adding their own misty magic to the album. David Riordan is the sorcerer conjuring up many of the compositions and also takes vocal duties on the evocative ‘Mountain’ and the climatic ‘Before I’m Gone’. ‘Wilderness America / A Celebration of the Land’ was born when environmentalist Emily DeSpain Polk assembled a group of California residents to participate in a groundbreaking conservationist project. Christening the group SWAP (Small Wilderness Area Preservation) Emily needed funds and began a project to produce a promotional nature based music album. To acquire the financial backing Emily would need to source a musician of some calibre. Contacting Cliff Branch from ‘Warehouse Sound Co.’ she was told the man she was looking for was David Riordan. David Riordan had been around the music business for several years, first with The Yankee Dollar, then Sugarloaf and then Sweet Pain, he saw huge success with the single ‘Green Eyed Lady’. David had worked on Cliff Branch’s ‘Warehouse Sound Co. & Friends’ albums and then released his solo album, ‘Medicine Wheel’. But bored of touring he made the move to more concept-driven albums. First with ‘Christmas in San Francisco’ and then, in quick succession, ‘Wilderness America, A Celebration Of The Land’. Riordan, along with Peter Scott, a music producer friend in San Francisco, began piecing together an idea for the album. They brought in Ed Bogas to do string arrangements and Tom Salisbury to conduct. David had also asked his friend Patrick Gleeson if he knew of any R&B/Gospel singers in the Bay Area, and they soon added gospel singer Walter Hawkins into the mix. Other than the track ‘Metropolis’, which was recorded in LA, the rest of ‘Wilderness America, A Celebration Of The Land’ was recorded and mixed by Richard Beggs at the San Francisco studio of Francis Ford Coppola. Coppola was filming ‘Apocalypse Now’ at the same time – so in between studio sessions, the musicians were able to view the seemingly never-ending film rushes arriving from the Philippines. Eventually, the record produced by David Riordan and Peter Scott drifted onto the radar of vinyl obsessives and selectors as several of its key tracks began popping up on mixtapes and sales lists. It wasn’t long before this privately pressed, art-funded masterpiece became something of a holy grail for collectors. At long last, a re-issue of this masterpiece is now available on EBALUNGA!!! Records. Paul Hillery – May 2022 Paul is a heathen, conceivably, but not, I hope, an unenlightened one, who’s handpicked compilation albums have been released on the labels BBE and RE:WARM – he is also the curator at Folk Funk & Trippy Troubadours
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Liner notes by Paul Hillery (Folk Funk and Trippy Troubadours, BBE RE:WARM)
Audio & Video
COIL - 'LOVE'S SECRET DOMAIN'
Formats
AKT04LP - LP
710473185141
Details
In 1991 Coil released the third of their early classic full-length albums "Love's Secret Domain", seemingly casting aside the gloom and funereal beauty of its predecessors in favour of a painstakingly multi-layered hallucinogenic electronic beast, which unlike some of their fellow ex-industrial contemporaries' releases of the time wasn't an attempt at easy accessibility or (the-gods-forbid) danceability, but a vibrating psychedelic masterpiece unrivalled in their discography and still a landmark album. To mark its 30 year anniversary Infinite Fog are beyond proud to present an expanded, fully remastered official re-release of this fan favourite available for the first time ever in its entirety on vinyl with 10 rare and mostly unreleased tracks and alternative versions from the period added as a bonus to a luxurious 3LP/2CD set. Love's Secret Domain contains among its many highlights the Lynchian William Blake tribute of its title track and the intoxicating single "Windowpane", original versions of the later Coil live staple "Teenage Lightning" and the majestically warped classicisms of "Chaostrophy". Marc Almond guests on the typhonian "Titan Arch" and This Heat's Charles Hayward provides some amazing drum stylings. This album produced by Coil & Danny Hyde is pushing their sound ideas and probably their sanity to their very limits. Beyond the iconic Steven Stapleton cover art here reproduced in unseen definition the doors of perception still open wide for both long-term Coil aficionados and new-comers to this supremely innovative release to explore unknown depths. The long-overdue re-release illustrates how far ahead of the curve Coil were with the sounds on this album, which still sounds as fresh and mind-blowing as it did back in the early 90s.
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COIL - 'THE NEW BACKWARDS'
Formats
AKT11LP - LP
710473185394
Details
"The New Backwards" was conceived by Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson in 2007, revisiting stray tracks which hadn't seemed to gel with the material he had chosen for the more somber "Ape of Naples" from 2005, COIL's initial posthumous release, a sort of requiem and a kiss-goodbye to his then recently deceased partner John Balance. Significantly different to its sister release, this album collects the brilliantly chaotic and outrageously rhythmic material from the original sessions for the album that was begun as early as 1993 and had originally been conceptualised as the follow-up to "Love's Secret Domain". These songs are as diverse and wild as the places they originated from, partly infamously spawned in Sharon Tate's former home in the Hollywood Hills, the Nine Inch Nails home base in New Orleans and London's Swanyard, co-composed, remixed and restructured with the help of long-term friend Danny Hyde in Thailand, this collection has its own unique flow and an atmosphere not found on any other COIL release. Both "AYOR" and "Backwards" had by the time the album was first released already become favourites in COIL's manic live performances. Some of the other tracks had only leaked in demo versions and are here presented updated and polished as Christopherson and Hyde intended them to be heard. It is interesting to consider Balance's vocal contributions, too. Whilst on the albums COIL did release at the time this material was first put aside ("Black Light District" and "ElpH") his voice is all but absent, his vocal performances and his lyric writing here are arguably more closely indebted to the previous "Love's Secret Domain" era, especially the epic "Copacaballa" is noteworthy in that respect. The New Backwards" effectively became the final official COIL studio release of all new material whilst Peter was still alive and is here presented for the first time fully supervised by Danny Hyde, its co-creator. The stunning cover uses a detail from artist Ian Johnstone's "Cubic Raven" painting, licensed from the estate of IJ.. It is high time to rediscover this timeless album with the Infinite Fog release, first time available on vinyl in its full form without 3 skipped tracks! Besides that boasting nine further tracks of previously unheard material from the same sessions, rough working stages and surprising remixes which will surely delight the dedicated COIL archaeologists, as they shine yet another light on the creative process and on what could have been.
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EDEN AHBEZ - 'EDEN'S ISLAND'
Formats
EVERLANDPSYCH010LP - 2xLPs
8016670151388EVERLANDPSYCH010CD - 2xCDs
8016670151395
Details
* One of the world’s most important Exotica, Jazz and Psych albums * First official reissue ever * Includes 20 almost unreleased bonus songs * Restored and remastered from original master tapes by grammy nominated sound engineer Jessica Thompson * Eden Ahbez was “the first Hippie on earth”, he laid the foundation of the Hippie movement * Co Produced by movie maker Brian Chidester, producer of the documentary movie „As The Wind – The Enchanted Life Of Eden Ahbez“: https://www.edenahbez.com * available as gatefold double vinyl in limited editions with 24 page 12" sized booklet and as double CD with 2 booklets * This is the BLACK VINYL EDITION
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TWO PAGE UNCUT FEATURE/REVIEW! CURRENT ISSUE
Audio & Video
NIAGARA - 'S/T'
Formats
EVERLANDPSYCH11LP - LP
710473185219
Details
* Pure percussion album by legendary German drummer Klaus Weiss * Featuring Krautrock legends as Udo Lindenberg and Keith Forsey * A legendary crown jewel of experimental German art from 1970 * Ecstatic and ever pulsating grooves, not only for DJs and drummers * Excellent sound and performance by high class professional musicians * LP housed in gatefold cover * Ultimate collectors item and DJs holy grail* Pure percussion album by legendary German drummer Klaus Weiss * Featuring Krautrock legends as Udo Lindenberg and Keith Forsey * A legendary crown jewel of experimental German art from 1970 * Ecstatic and ever pulsating grooves, not only for DJs and drummers * Excellent sound and performance by high class professional musicians * LP housed in gatefold cover * Ultimate collectors item and DJs holy grail
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NIAGARA - 'S.U.B.'
Formats
EVERLANDPSYCH012LP - LP
710473185271
Details
Rhythm master Klaus Weiss knew he had a good thing going with NIAGARA. The first album was a gathering of every outstanding drummer and percussionist he could get hold of and despite the fact that there were only rhythm instruments featured , it became quite a memorable and unique record. Now for the second album “S.U.B.” he felt he had to go other ways, and recorded with a complete rock outfit plus the one or another brass instrument. ‘S.U.B.’ is definitely worth being traded for 180,00 Euros and more among collectors for a clean original and when the needle hits the groove you will realize why. There is a tightly woven web of rhythms from drums and percussions, as the solid and ever pulsating base with a laid back but really present bass guitar adding more depth and power to the beats and clean rhythm guitars with a nifty wah wah effect for the extra kick. From time to time the guitars fire off a memorable steaming riff on top of the rhythm pulse and the horns answer the call for arms. You really have to look at the backcover to find out that this is a German outfit instead of one of these utterly hot and hip US funk rock cult bands of the time. NIAGARA aka Klaus Weiss waive the vocals so it is an instrumental record you face with ‘S.U.B’, but then this band goes so wild in some of the compositions, that you will be left breathless on your knees by all these simmering performances. Each musician participating in this project is a professional, but they all let the music erupt into a climax of sound you can only achieve, when you put your whole heart and soul into it. A masterpiece of funky and utterly unleashed rock music from the early 70s. * Jazzrock from German drummer legend Klaus Weiss * Second album of Niagara showing a completely different direction * For fans of late Soft Machine, EtCetera, Wolfgang Dauner, Passport * A legendary crown jewel of the German jazzrock scene from the 1970s * Would work well as soundtrack for an imginary 1970s action movie * Excellent sound and performance by high class professional musicians * Ultimate collectors item for fans of 1970s jazzrock with a funky edge
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NOVELTY ISLAND - 'WALLSEND WEEKEND TELEVISION'
Formats
NXN015LP - LP
0615625706598NXN015CD - CD
0615625706604
Details
Novelty Island follow up their stunning debut How Are You Coping With This Century? with Wallsend Weekend Television via Nine x Nine Records. Novelty Island is the bizarre-pop project of Liverpool-based songwriter / producer, Tom McConnell. Wallsend Weekend Television is an album that has been a long time coming. The tracks that appear on it serve up as an almost best of McConnell’s musical career so far. In 2018 he made the ultimate pilgrimage from his native north to Abbey Road Institute with over numerous songs from various projects in hand. This is where Novelty Island was born, inspired by classic pop, woozy electronica and northern wordplay. McConnell would record in session at Damon Albarn’s Studio 13 and in Abbey Road Studios 2 and 3, where students at the Institute had to make notes on recording techniques. This gave McConnell the freedom to explore and create the album. Whittled down from 80 songs and an almost infinite combination of track listings, it has driven him mad at many points. So much so that McConnell returned to Liverpool where he wrote, recorded and released his one-man band debut album, ‘How Are You Coping With This Century?’ along with dreamy videos, sculptures, and a never-ending Instagram. The 12-track ‘surreal northern nervous breakdown’ was released in 2021 to five-star reviews (Shindig / RnR) with support from BBC 6 Music, Amazing Radio and more. Novelty Island’s new live incarnation emerged from lockdown to launch the debut album in late 2021. In less than a year they have supported The Pale White on their UK-tour, completed a headline UK run and performed at Glastonbury Festival. “Wallsend Weekend Television was supposed to be the first album as it was mainly done before but I’m glad I parked it for a bit to get some distance from it” says Tom. Novelty Island’s primary-colour psychedelia is on full chromatic display. More elaborate and cinematic than the first record with a much bigger sound. Obsessed with television and the escapism it provided from a young age, each song is like a little TV channel that chops to the next.
Tracks
(1) Stitches (2) GoGo (3) Eureka, I Can See! (4) Over & Over (5) Turn To Me
(6) The Desperately Strange (7) Magnificent Advertisement (8) Sea Miner
(9) Bootlegs (10) Funny Little Rhythm (11) Balloons
Press
#19 SHINDIG! AOTY 2023