Eccentric Orbit – Attack of the Martians. 2004. D: 11. A couple of weeks ago I reviewed a new album by the Israeli group Trespass. The review basically states that if you like keyboard trio proggy prog circa 1972, then you must own “Morning Lights”. Well, same deal here. Maybe less Trace and more Motoi Sakuraba, but still this delivers the goods all day and night. With some added instrumentation, these guys could create that extra dimension similar to how Pochakaite Malko did on “Laya”. Special recognition to bassist Bill Noland, who likes to rip some fuzz bass from time to time. Fuzz bass + mellotron = me like. Opener and closer were the highlights, as the aggressiveness plays well for EO. Album drew almost straight 10s from the Gnosis rat pack, and guessing it’s more a reflection of the “nothing new” assessment. But I tend to be generous to “cheeseburgers”. Big league stuff from the next iteration of Pye Fyte, itself a much neglected late 90s winner.

Saint Steven – Over the Hills / The Bastich. 1969. D: 9. Folky hippie psych from Boston – though they (or he, Steven Cataldo) weren’t a name band there and album was recorded in NYC with session players. Lots of different bits, styles and themes typical of the era. Decent vocals, unmemorable melodies. A few hints of fuzz, especially on “The Bastich” side which is heavier overall. Middle tier psych stuff. Nice legit reissue on Eclectic  - and quite a departure from their normal UK classic releases.

Ersen – Dunden Bugune. 1975. D:10. I haven’t heard a lot of the Turkish psych albums, but Ersen have one of the better reputations from what I can tell. It’s appropriately exotic and Middle Eastern sounding. The temptation would be to state that Ersen are to Turkey what Triana are to Spain. But they’re not progressive in that sense. Take out some of the fuzz guitar (great sound BTW), and it’s not that dissimilar from a lot of popular music that comes out of the Arab world (and presumably Turkish world too). How would I know? Well one of my many brother-in-laws is Palestinian and gets all the Arab TV networks. He usually just has it on when we’re over, and despite what it might seem here in the US, they pretty much play Egyptian soap operas (with some scantily clad women, which can be a surprise…) and pop music shows just like everywhere else. And much of the music is quite interesting. These TV bands are regional pop rock music through and through and some of the instrumentation isn’t half bad. So Ersen would fit comfortably there, even if Ersen are Turkish. And besides it’s fun to hear with the large quantity of psych guitar and old organ sound.

Christodoulos Halaris – The Tropic of the Virgin. 1973. D:10. A mega rarity sold on ebay as a prog rock record with lots of mellotron. There are a lot of snake oil salesmen out there. Not to say it’s straight Greek folk or anything. It has it’s share of unusual music with clarinet, bouzouki, violin, bodhran, soprano vocals. More so than progressive rock, this is the Greek equivalent of some of the UK folky prog stuff from the same era. After hearing this record I wanted to head out for some souvlaki.