Nucleus (1969)

Nucleus (Canadian) 180g vinyl reissue/ remaster

   Canada's Nucleus was the precursor of "a foot in coldwater" with Hughie Leggat and Danny Taylor anchoring the band.    Nucleus only released one album in their short lifespan and what a beauty it is !  Psych meet prog meets rock in an album that ebbs and flows with some great songs and great musicianship. 
  I love the chunchy organ work of Bob Horne and the acid guitar riffs of John Richardson.  Musically this is acid psych rock ala 1969 where psychedelic, rock and prog all started to combine.  The end result is a very cool album that is totally awesome with all 6 songs being totally amazing!
  

Hank Mobley - The Turnaround (1965)

Hank Mobley - The Turnaround 

  After having heard Mobley's 1961 masterpiece "Workout" I set out to find more Mobley albums and   what a great discovery was "The Turnaround"!  

  I was already very familiar with the title track......i mean come on this is a classic, but the rest of the album was equal to this number!    Mobley is joined by jazzmates Freddie Hubbard (trumpet), Barry Harris (piano), Paul Chambers (bass) and Billy Higgins (drums).   On 2 of the tracks Mobley is joined by Donald Byrd, Herbie Hancock, Butch Warren and Philly Joe Jones.   

   This is classic 60's Blue Note-era jazz with huge sound and deep jazzey swingey riffs and tons of improvisation!      Your feet will beat on every note and not stop until the last songs completes......this is a true jazz lovers treat of an album.  

   

Hanaan And Her Ensemble - Music Of Arabia (1971)

Hanaan And Her Ensemble - Music Of Arabia

   This is the real deal kids!   Traditional Arabic music with the spectacular voice of Hanaan and the backing support of a great band.   Hanaan's voice is enchanting and nicely controlled.  The support band include 2 violins, zither, drums and tambourine.  

  The vinyl music of the Middle East from the late 60's and early 70's has become very collectible and is a favourite amongst the psych crowd !    I was in a record store a few months ago and some guy came in and asked if they carried any Turkish or Middle Eastern psychy music....i had to laugh!

  Audiophiles also love these older original pressings as they often have superb sound and tone quality as is the  case with this recording.     The album has a shout out and requests that you listen in RIAA format.......i had to look that one up kids !   

  

Özel Türkbas - How to make your husband a sultan (1969)

Özel Türkbas - How to make your husband a sultan 

   Oh I know what you might be thinking right about now..........this dude is into some pretty crazy stuff and now we are adding belly dancing to the list ?   Well let me put you all at ease........I am in this one only for the music (and sheepishly perhaps the cover art!).  

  Traditional Turkish music like this gem I guarantee will put you into a trance........crazy exotic sounds and some fantastic hand percussion all wrapped up under a toga with an Indian carpet!  

This music may best be enjoyed while relaxing by the pool with a spaceage cocktail in hand.  Musicans featured on this album are awesome.....you will hear clarinet, drums, table, bass, piano , kanun , violin and even one track sung by Özel herself.

   The opening track Özel's Dance Music is a hypnotic trance like epic song of 17:35 which I guarantee will put you in orbit !   This is not a cheezy album of silly belly dance music but instead is a very cool trippy album that is pure fun.



So why not get your wife to put on the belly Dancing outfit , get out the finger cymbols and put this album on for a while......i think this might be a better solution than those blue pills !

Album also comes with a fantastic (and completely hillarious) step-by-step booklet with photographs. 

hypnotic rhythms and some very psychy songs.

Oscar Peterson - The London Concert (1978)

Oscar Peterson - The London Concert  (2 LP)

Thin Lizzy - Vagabonds of the Western World (1973)

Thin Lizzy - Vagabonds of the Western World Deluxe Edition

Bootsauce - The Brown Album

Bootsauce - The Brown Album

Rose - Worlds Apart (1979)

Rose - Worlds Apart 
    I dont know a lot about this French based symphonic art rock jazz band except that this album is just excellent and features the violin work of David Rose.   David Rose is not a household name but if you like Jean-Luc Ponty or Eddie Jobson then this will be right down your alley!.   
  David Rose was featured on Annie Haslam's debut album and has recorded with other bands as well but his work here is stellar.


 Musically Rose blend fusion and synth into a quazi-progressive rock sound that really reminds me of Canada's FM aka Ben Mink and Nash The Slash.

 The track "Go Away" is pretty awesome as is the whole album to be honest but this tune is the watermark for me!

Wings - Wings Over America (1976)

Wings - Wings Over America (3 180g LP Set)

 "Wings Over America" was just one of those live albums that you listened to over and over.....just like Frampton Comes Alive !
 
  The thirty songs on this triple 180g Vinyl set  were taken from the 1976 Wings World tour (seen by over two million people) from the following gigs  : 1975 - British Tour, 1975 - Australian Tour , 1976 - European Tour (Denmark, Germany, Holland and France), 1976 - American Tour, 1976 - European Tour (Austria, Yugoslavia, Italy and Germany) and the 1976 - London show .

Wings over America was the first Wings live album and what a way to kick it off!   The line up on these tours dates were Paul, and Linda McCartney, Denny Laine, Jimmy McCulloch (guitars) and Joe English (drums)  with the brass section of Tony Dorsey - Trombone,Howie Casey - Saxophone,
Steve Howard - Trumpet and flugelhorn, and Thaddeus Richard - Saxophone, clarinet and flute.

  Like so many of the great albums of my life the album sleeve was designed by Storm T at Hipgnosis.  What also makes this live set just so special was the inclusion of some Beatles songs which Paul had refused to play on previous tours.   The Wings albums "Band On The Run", "Venus and Mars" and "At The Speed Of Sound" are well represented here.

This live set has been lovingly remastered and pressed to solid 180g vinyl with great results!   The audio remaster was accomplished by the team of Guy Massey, Steve Rooke and Simon Gibson at Abbey Road Studios London in 2012.   The sound of this treasured live album has never sounded so good!   The 3 LP set comes in a solid heavy cardboard sleeve package with replica poster, art work and

Turkish Freakout 2

Turkish Freakout 2

  Well one very clear sign that perhaps you are in too deep is when you find yourself reviewing a double vinyl album titled "Turkish Freakout 2" ! Doooooooooooo

   For those who discovered this little rare series of Turkish middle-east tinged folk-psych will know just how awesome this compilation is....for the rest of you out there then go and find this gem.......trust me your mom will love it !!!

  Just like Volume 1, this is a double vinyl set devoted 100% to reliving the 60's and 70's in Turkey.   Of course I suspect most of this music were not Top 10 hits or anything like that but they all Shine to my ears !   

  A few of the standout tracks are "Bari Bari" by Gulcan Oel, Ozel Turkbas - "Ozal's Dance, Baris Manco's pool side masterpiece - "Mozart" and Gokben - "Eninde Sonunda". 

  My copy also came with a very cool 45" RPM  by Edip Akbayram !   

 The Turkish Freakout! selections were assembled by Bouzouki Joe, a British fellow also known as DJ Remould. These are needle-drop copies of mostly seven-inch singles, the main format in the heyday of Anatolian rock. Bouzouki Joe shows a love and passion for Turkish psych and has done a masterful job on these albums !   Simply breathtaking !
 

   The whole package is very well done and the vinyl transfers are pretty darn good sound with all things considering.    For the World Psych collectors these albums of gold.....

  This might not be everyone's cup of tea but then perhaps you are drinking the wrong kind of tea !

Keats (1984)

Keats

  Keats was an Alan Parsons offshoot band that added the prog rock talents of Camel's Pete Bardens in addition to Colin Blunstone (ex: Zombies) - Vocals, Ian Bairnson (ex: Pilot) - Guitars, David Paton (ex: Pilot) - Bass and Stuart Elliot (ex: Cockney Rebel) - Drums, Percussion.    The album was produced by Alan Parsons and in many ways feels like one of his albums!
  There are a few stunning tracks on this album like "Avalanche" and "night full of voices" which are stand out songs with fantastic vocals and instrumentation.
  Colin Blunstone's vocals are caressing and sensitive and fits perfectly with the lush orchestral
 

Dave Mason - It's Like You Never Left (1973)

Dave Mason - It's Like You Never Left (vinyl)

   Dave Mason left The band TRAFFIC in the late 60's and pursued a solo career releasing a number of excellent albums with "it's like you never left" ranking as one of my personal favourite ones from his discography.   

  There is something just a but deeper on this album than on some of his other albums and songs like "Maybe" , "Every Woman" and "Silent Partner" touch your soul.    Mason also brings along a few friends as well with guest appearances from both Graham Nash and Stevie Wonder.    

  Like most Dave Mason albums the songs are varied and all excellent with a strong emphasis on guitar, bass and drum and vocals and harmonies.

 The S&P Records LP is 180g format and was remastered exclusively for vinyl release by none other than Steve Hoffman.    As you wouldn expect the sound quality is high and very warm and natural sounding.  

  I would highly recommend this albm to all lovers of 70's pop and rock

Hudson and Ford - Free Spirit (1974)

Hudson and Ford - Free Spirit

  Free Spirit was the second album released by the duo ex-Strawbs members Richard Hudson and John Ford.  Athough not especially progressive rock in nature, Free Spirit is a drop dead fantastic adult-oriented pop album with Gentle prog and folk leanings throughout.  The symphonic song "Mother Mild" sounds like mid period Moody Blues with full orchestration and acoustic guitar with deep harmonies.  The 9 minute semi epic "Silent Star" is a harmonic prog-pop masterpiece with fantastic tempo variations and superb songwriting.   Not a bad track on this album!

  Hard to peg this album down really but imagine a mix of Be Bop Deluxe and City Boy!

 Hudson-Ford's "Nickelodeon" (debut album) was a big album for me and I am a big fan of this sophmore release too.  It is really a shame that Hudson-Ford didnt become huge as their albums deserve but for those who have listened to these albums will know what I mean.

  If you are looking for sme great 70's Pop with a whole lot of clever bits and fantastic song writing then pick this album up !

Japan - Oil On Canvass (1983)

Japan - Oil On Canvass 

   When i first bought my first CD player I snagged a few expensive CD's at the time and Japan's Oil On Canvass was one of them !  And what a dissapointment it was.  The original CD version was very blah and muted sounding and I found that over time I didnt enjoy listening to this album!    I traded the CD in a long long time ago and only recently picked up the original 2 LP set which is waaaaaaaaay better! ....in fact so much so that you would think it was the same album!

 Oil On Canvass is taken from their world tour back in 1983 and I think was also the ending of Japan so it kind of a key album as a swan song.   Now that I can finally really hear this treasure I have discovered that not all the songs are live with both "Gentlemen Take Polaroids" and "Nightporter" being studio remixes.   So I guess 13 out of the 15 tracks are live and two are not.   "Methods of dance" live sounds amazing on the vinyl mix and now I know what I missed with the CD all these years.

On this live album Japan were David Sylvian (vocals, keyboards), Mick Karn (bass, clarinet, alto saxophone, vocals), Steve Jansen (drums, marimba), Porcupine Tree's Richard Barbieri (keyboards) and Masami Tsuchiya (guitars).   

  Most of the music is lifted off the Quiet life, gentlemen take polaroids and tin drum albums.   Japan were always an acquired taste I suppose but they were a band I love right from the early days.  David sylvian live sounds just excellent and no question they were a special band.