Outer Music Diary

Yellow – Keltakuuma. 1975. D: 8. Take the blue collar factory hard rock of the US Midwest and move it to Finland, and you have Yellow. Simply substitute the oval patches of Joe and Billy with Timo and Jukka. Mix of Finnish and English language tracks, most not varying too far from the 3 minute mark. Not surprising, but the Finnish sung tracks are the more varied (hard rock, good time psych) while the English ones are more radio friendly rock anthems. Guitar work is the highlight with aggressive moves, solos and loud tone. Extremely rare to find on LP, and not on CD, I’ve only seen a couple of times over the years. Qualifies as a curio piece.

Los Barrocos – Sin Tiempo Ni Espacio. 1974 (1972). D: 11. I’ve had this on the wish list for about 12 years now, so I was thrilled to see a legit reissue come out through Viajero Inmovil. Comes in a nice fold open “uni-pak” facsimile. Like some bands from Argentina, Los Baroccos possess similarities (song style, complex charts) to the Italian progressive rock movement, perhaps more so than most. Violin is substituted for the keyboards, and thus references to Quella Vecchia Locanda’s second album, and to a lesser extent early PFM, are apparent. What’s interesting to note, concerning these references, is that “Sin Tiempo Ni Espacio” was actually recorded in 1972, prior or equal to the referenced bands. The dual lead guitar approach is unique in this setting and even foreshadows fellow countrymen El Reloj on their sophomore effort. This one lived up to its reputation.

Montoro – Esencia. 1991. 8+9. Now here’s something I haven’t heard in forever. An old tape that I’m certain I got from Mike back in our tape trading days. I’ve seen this Spanish band hyped on ebay before, so it’ll be interesting to see if I’ve changed my opinion. Well, comparisons to Triana are spot on. Could easily have been the successor to “Sombra y Luz”. Flamenco rock or Rock Andalusia as it’s called in some circles. Guitar work is good  - both acoustic and electric. The quality melodic nature of this work gives it another point. Apparently the band reformed last year – it would be nice to hear a current Spanish band play in this much missed style

Cal – s/t. 1980. 10=10. On the flip side of same tape is the impossibly scarce Cal record, which is nigh impossible to search for on ebay (think about searching for “Cal”). Not to mention the constant confusion with the similarly named Cai. Definitely another second generation Triana like band, though with a jazzy edge – which puts it in more Tabletom or even Guadalquiver territory. Can be a little ‘Copacabana-ish’ at times, if you know what I mean. Typical dramatic vocals definitely a plus. They display some nice chops here and there as well. Side 2 of the LP is more interesting and enough to keep the grade.

Aquila – s/t. 1970. 9+10. Been over 12 years since I’ve heard this one. UK group typical of the era, utilizing sax and flute to augment the usual g-k-b-d format. Rough tinged vocals. Echoes of Diabolus (especially) and the debut albums of Gravy Train and Raw Material come to mind. Fine organ solos with nice contrast provided by acoustic guitar. I like the way the band grooves over the harmony. Drum solo doesn’t help, but relatively short. Album closes in melodic horn rock way ala BST, or more to the point, Brainchild. Looks like my original assessment was off the mark some and better than I remembered.

CWT – The Hundredweight. 1973. 8+9. Another one that I haven’t heard in over a decade. UK group who play an unusual mix of hard rock with a horn section. This isn’t horn rock in the tradition of Chicago or other such bands, but rather they are utilized as tight accent instruments, similar to what Tower of Power would do for bands later in the decade. A little heavier than most from the era, but nonetheless a fairly straightforward rock album with few surprises. Vocalist goes for the Ian Gillan domination trick. Organ and flute round out the standard rock and horn instrumentation. Good record and, like Aquila, better than I recall.

Hawkwind – Doremi Fasol Latido. 1973. 10=10. It’s been within the last 2 years that I picked up the remastered CD to replace an aging LP, and it’s back up for a revisit. ‘Brainstorm’ is such a classic riff, it’s to space rock what Black Sabbath’s ‘Iron Man’ is to heavy metal. I think Hawkwind has influenced as many bands as Genesis has. There are very few bands in the space rock field that don’t have at least some tieback to the mighty Hawks. One aspect of Hawkwind that I think is lost when summarizing, is the copious amount of acoustic guitar led tracks. Four bonus tracks in line with the more straight ahead rock side of group.