Outer Music Diary

Talix – Spuren. 1970. D: 10. Talix is that rare breed, a German psych album. Not only that, but what was considered commercial suicide back in the day – they sung in German. Released just ahead of the more known experimental Krautrock movement, and right before the hard rock invasion. Apparently Talix are pre-Pinguin, but there’s little reference of that here except for the lingua franca (and the moody closing track which is a killer). The music is somewhere between thoughtful, almost progressive, songwriting and fun saxophone lead exploito dance numbers. The guitar is a constant highlight, fuzzed out to the maximum, reminding me of the guy from The Plastic Cloud. Overall for the style, better than the more known Bokaj Retsiem. Something a bit different from the norm.

Salamander – The Ten Commandments. 1971. 9=9. Here’s a relatively recent revisit, one that I’ve gone over since the OMD started. Let me dig it out….(almost exactly 2 years ago) “Nice UK psych pop with proto prog moves. Starts off more grandiose recalling The Moody Blues, but moves into more poppy realms afterwards. Neat mix of orchestral brass and organ. After the great opener, they downplay the instrumental aspects in favor of short songs. Unfortunately most of these tunes are unmemorable. Overall, recalls the American group Brimstone, but not quite as good. Very dated 60’s style release for 1971.”. Forgot to mention each sin gets a song of its own. They were ahead of their time with the whole adultery thing…

White Willow – Signal to Noise. D: 10. 2006. As mentioned earlier, I’m in catch-up mode with White Willow. Based on the strength of their awesome debut, I’ve held the group in very high esteem, an A-list group. But I’m not so sure their last 3 releases warranted that. But nonetheless here is “Signal To Noise” on a no questions asked basis. Time to start asking questions I think. White Willow has slowly gone from being a folk influenced progressive group to a modern rock band with mellotron. Certainly nothing wrong with that, but maybe not as much my interest area. What is interesting to note are the 3 instrumental pieces, which show great progress for the band. Maybe it’s time for them to ditch the vocals altogether, though it would seem that their fan base would think different. A classic daath rating.

Catherine Ribeiro + Alpes – Ame Debout. 1971. 11+12. I was a little late in garnering an appreciation for Catherine Ribeiro’s work. I was first introduced to her albums sometime in the early 90s, and I just wasn’t ready for her tortured style of singing at that time (in French no less). Is there a more intense female vocalist from the 1970s? Not from where I’m sitting anyway. And to think she was a beautiful model too? Funny just thinking about someone like Cindy Crawford performing something like this. Once I did “get it” or was “cast under her spell” or other such nonsense, I was hooked good. These are the type of albums that grow in stature over the years. With homemade instruments such as the cosmophone and percuphone, I’m not sure I could describe this album’s music with words. Well…maybe… I…. could…..hypnotic.

Viima – Ajatuksia Maailman Laidalta. 2006. D: 11. It’s getting to the point that everything that’s from Finland is great. They are to the current decade what the French were to the 1980s. And thank goodness for that. Wasn’t sure what to expect here. Was told it was Finnish folk prog, and about the only band I associate with that is the obscure and rare Scapa Flow. It’s not really like that however. Even though it’s sung in beautiful Finnish, the album has more of a UK feel than one from continental Europe. The female vocals are one distinguishing factor. What’s interesting to me are the guitar breaks, which are rooted in hard rock – a clear departure from the acoustic folk psych of the base material. I quite liked this one. Little curious how they go forward from here with a male vocalist, as Paivi Kylmanen seemed to be a key ingredient to their sound.

Wind – Seasons. 1971. 9+10. And yet another revisit of an album I first heard in the early 1990s. Seemed too straight ahead hard rock for me at the time. Well, it’s definitely part of the hard rock variety of Krautrock, which I’m much more fond of now than prior. First song is a killer with great guitar and organ work. Some tracks drifted by without notice. Long track on Side 2 tries for some experimental moments but seems forced. Good album, but not up to Virus standards by any means.