Outer Music Diary

Steve Linnegar’s Snakeshed - Classic Epics. 1982. A friend made me a tape of this about 8 years ago and I completely forgot about it until recently. There was a bootleg floating about during that era, and the album was supposedly a lost 1970’s recording. Not the case at all, and there’s a good South African rock page that gives the full history here. Overall, the music does sound like a late 70s UK rock album, with a few progressive moves, especially on the 13 minute extended piece. I could see fans of England (on Arista) enjoying this one.

Panos Dracos - 2000 B.C. or A.D. 1984. Another “lost” tape I had buried in a drawer somewhere. I can see why I forgot about it and certainly not one Greece’s highlights. It’s very much a product of its time, with thin sounding digital synths and drums. The long tracks and heady concept point clearly to the progressive rock tradition, similar to many of the Japanese artists of the era (Picaresque of Bremen, Orpheus, Jankees, Vienna, Novela).

Pao Com Manteiga – s/t. 1976. This Brazilian band’s name translates to “Bread and Butter” in Portuguese, so good luck in finding info on this obscure album. The most surprising aspect is the date, as it sounds more like a flower power psych album from 1968, which were pretty typical in South America back then. It’s an interesting listen though. The Brazilian group Spectrum comes to mind here.

Think - We’ll Give You a Buzz. 1976. New Zealand group who play a mix of mid to late 70s British pomp prog ala England or Nostradamus, combined with some obvious pop moves and the required boogie rock number that all Australasian bands felt obligated to do back then. Great cover would make this a good candidate for a Japanese mini-LP.

Oko – Raskorak. 1976. This Croatian group plays a mix of hard rock, fusion and funk. The guitar work here is much better than average, and that’s where the interest in this record has come from. In some ways it reminds me of the Izvir album I spoke about a few months ago, though less jazz/funk and more rock oriented.