Outer Music Diary

Jade Warrior - Eclipse (1973 England)
Jade Warrior - Fifth Element (1973 England). Jade Warrior were pioneers of the world fusion genre, though in reality, their early albums didn’t really seize the moment as they should have. Like most bands from the early 70s, Jade Warrior were finding their way in the music world, and they seemed to possess three distinct styles. One was the fun times rock and roll band. Who can forget “JO-ANNNN, goin to have a PARTY, JO-ANNN…” (from “Last Autumn’s Dream”)? Another was the soft ballad, with flute, acoustic guitar and wispy, but non-distinctive vocals. And finally, the sound that Jade Warrior not only excelled at, but eventually focused on, a hybrid rock world music fusion informed by many distinctive cultures. Fans of the band, I’m sure, must’ve wondered for years if there was any transition albums from their Vertigo years of “Last Autumns Dream” and prior to the Island Records sound of “Floating World” and beyond, as their directional change was quite dramatic. So when indeed it came to pass that there was not only one, but TWO fully baked albums in the can awaiting an initial release, I’m sure JW fans worldwide were in a complete lather. Most certainly these albums would point to the new direction, while maintaining some of the old sound? As it turns out, “Eclipse” and “Fifth Element” are more like extensions of their Vertigo years, with all 3 styles as mentioned above still intact. While “Eclipse” is as good as, if not better, than “Last Autumn’s Dream”, “Fifth Element” proved the band had completely run out of ideas using this methodology and would need a fresh approach. Correctly assessing the situation, Jade Warrior did just that. Both albums are of high quality, and have to be considered hugely important for fans of the group. It is rare that a band will be sitting on so much production quality recorded material without a release. If you love the first 3 Jade Warrior’s, these two are a must listen, even if they’re not the best of the lot.

Norman Haines Band - Den of Iniquity (1971 England). Post Locomotive British rock, from this accomplished keys player. Stylistically very diverse, and it takes awhile to get its sea legs. Enter the 10 minute jam, that truly catches a groove and allows for some splendid guitar soloing over the tranced organ-led rhythms. From here, the band seems more at ease, and the songwriting improves greatly, even if more towards an overt commercial direction. I was reminded of Dave Lawson’s work with Web (”I Spider”) and Samurai in particular. Not lost is the longish electronic oriented piece with fuzz organ and electric piano. This takes a couple of spins to comprehend, but is post British psych at its best. File next to your Nicholas Greenwood “Cold Cuts” album. Seems an obvious candidate for Esoteric, who has already reissued Locomotive, Web and Samurai.

Mediterráneo - Estrechas Calles De Santa Cruz (1978 Spain). It’s been years since I had heard this album. I had the LP in the early 90s, but didn’t enjoy it much then, and promptly sold it (and it’s always been a rare piece). Then totally forgot about it until recently. I was surprised to learn that Mediterráneo’s debut still hasn’t been reissued on CD. Musically, it’s a bit of a disappointment if you’re looking for Spanish regional influences. In fact, some of this reminds me of the slow moving German symphonic music of the day that we’e talked about often here (Shaa Khan, Albatros, Indigo, etc…). There’s also an impossibly long drum solo that ruins the flow. There are some nice guitar leads in the Camel vein, though, that makes it worth a listen or two. Starting with their second album “Tabarca”, the band moved into a more specific pop direction, and released 5 more albums. The group appears to still be together.

Fragua - s/t (1979 Spain). There was an exciting movement from the mid to late 70s in Spain that mixed both rock and flamenco music. Especially popular in the southern reaches of the country, the style became known as Rock Andalucia. Some of the bands mixed in more progressive elements such as Mezquita and the early works of Triana and Medina Azahara. Fragua were more typical of the pop style of the movement. So flamenco mixed with Spanish pop music is what you’ll find here, with a couple of more challenging cuts dispersed throughout. No CD exists.

Tricantropus – Recuerdos del Futuro (2007 Spain). One of the more interesting bands from the late 70s Spanish scene was a drummerless group called Azahar. They had an almost chamber like approach to flamenco music, with a rock element propelling it along. So I was quite curious when it was announced that the Chilean label Mylodon had signed a new group called Tricantropus, which featured at least one of the members of Azahar (I’m not sure which members, as none of the names matched their debut “Elixir”, but label Mylodon claims it, so I believe them). I was expecting something similar, but it becomes quickly apparent that Tricantropus play in a modern instrumental rock style. When I say modern, think more late 1980s and early 1990s than 2008. They are a guitar based instrumental trio, and like many newer bands, the style recalls Andy Latimer of Camel. Probably more to the point, Tricantropus sounds like Edhels at the time of “Still Dream”. Nothing wrong with that of course, as to be successful at this style, one has to have a keen sense of melody and atmosphere, and Tricantropus deliver on both. I probably would’ve preferred more Spanish heritage being applied, rather than a generic western European sound, but that’s not what Tricantropus are about. Overall, a soild effort by a promising new band.

The Feed-Back - s/t (aka Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza) (1970 Italy). Famous filmscorer Ennio Morricone’s jazz / rock / avant garde band. This 1970 album is pretty wiggy for the time and place, and certainly only obtained a major release (on RCA) due to the power of the Morricone brand. And we’re all the better for it! In that way, it reminds me of those establishment French personas such as William Sheller (Popera Cosmic), Alain Gorageur and Jean Claude Vannier. You’d be hard pressed to find a more creative rock outing than The Feed-Back, even if you’ve heard it all on the Futura and Ohr labels. Barely cracks the 27 minute mark, but otherwise an essential album that is likely to appeal to the remains of your addled left brain. Sublime. No CD exists.

Yves Hayat - A Conversation Between East & West (1976 France). French music library album that mixes sitar, tabla, electric/acoustic guitar, drums and Moog/clavinet based electronics. Excellent and a nice companion piece to the Yves et Alain Lorentz “Espaces 2″ album. No CD exists. Hayat apparently released a “must own” album, as considered by rare groove DJs, under the guise of Droids (1978).

Jean-Philippe Goude & Olivier Cole - Jeunes Années (1976 France). Keyboardist Goude is a recognizable name to many progressive rock fans for his participation with that most bombastic of Zeuhl groups - Weidorje. Prior to that project, he had teamed with percussionist Olivier Cole and released this one highly inventive keyboard / drums duo album. Rather than a series of organ/drum overload tracks, Goude focuses on moodier Rhodes and acoustic piano pieces, and utilizes his one synthesizer sound for his aggressive solos. There’s a slight electronic music aesthetic applied throughout. A nice record, one that has slipped under the radar, and still remains without a CD reissue. After Weidorje, Goude released the more overt Zeuhlish “Drones” album which Musea fortunately reissued many years ago. From there, Goude began to focus more squarely on incidental music geared for TV and films. I once had “Meli-Melodies” on LP, though it wasn’t a cohesive album, like most library albums.

La Desooorden – Ciudad de Papel (2007 Chile). La Desooorden are very much a modern progressive band, that utilize current production techniques as well as some dark, atonal metal guitar. So elements of Tool and Porcupine Tree can be discerned on a quick glance. That alone would not make an A-list group, but underneath this superficial view, we find a group exploring all aspects of exciting music. You find Latin percussion, jazzy bits, folk melodies, early 70s Italian prog rock and a host of other and exciting ideas. A very deep group, that reveals something different with each listen.

WintherStormer – Woodwork (2007 Norway). The name WintherStormer is a combination of the two main protagonists Terje Winther and Eric Stormer, both of whom play a large array of analog and digital keyboards. Not surprisingly, WintherStormer are an old fashioned Berlin School style electronic band with lots of spacey textures and cool sequencer lines. They’re augmented on album by a guitarist and drummer, which add a nice rock touch, and give the group many more compositional options to pursue. Definitely on par with Radio Massacre International’s more recent works or Klaus Schulze and Tangerine Dream’s 1970s rock based efforts.

Djam Karet - No Commercial Potential (1985 USA).
Djam Karet - …And Still Getting the Ladies (2004 USA). The following review is more of an overview of the band Djam Karet, but the two albums listed were the inspiration…… One of the longest running progressive rock bands, Djam Karet has been at the forefront of the instrumental space rock movement for well over 20 years. Their debut, “No Commercial Potential”, was a true anomaly when released in 1985. The concept of long guitar driven rock instrumentals was extinct, and the title is as accurate as any in history. They began to bring more compositional structure into their material throughout the remainder of the 80s, as well as adding an electronic music element to their sound. I first encountered Djam Karet with “Reflections of the Firepool” in 1989, an album that is as fresh today as when it was released almost 20 years ago. In 1991, they took a chance with the radical approach of releasing two albums, each one focusing on their two very different styles: Acid jam rock and spacey electronic music. The albums received much (undeserved) criticism in the day, and it seemed the fans preferred the integration over the separation. Time has healed wounds, and it seems the hard edged “Burning the Hard City” has fared better with their current fan base. From here, the group sort of floundered, without a clear direction of where they were heading. The experimental electronic oriented “Collaborator” (1994) is the odd album out in their discography. The lackluster response to this album combined with a last minute cancellation at the first ProgFest, seemed to push Djam Karet out to pasture. Until, that is, their signing to Cuneiform Records and the release of “The Devouring” in 1997. For many, this was their best album up to that point, and some will go as far as saying it’s their greatest album period. In any event, the album seemed to be the logical step of where Djam Karet was headed with “Reflections From the Firepool”. The positive response to “The Devouring” ushered in a new tidal wave of releases, that continue to this day. They even revived the one-take, no-overdub “No Commercial Potential” concept with “…And Still Getting the Ladies” and “Still No Commercial Potential”. Djam Karet seem to never run out of quality ideas, and let’s hope they go on for another twenty years!

Toubabou - Le Ble et Le Mil (1974 Canada).
Toubabou - Attente (1975 Canada). Pre-dating Embryo by a few years, Toubabou were a Quebec-African-Haitian ensemble, mixing indigenous tribal rhythms and themes with Canadian French rock / folk / blues. The Quebec portion were made up of members of the Contraction / Ville Emard Blues Band clan, and some would move on from here to the more folky Harmonium. The Embryo metaphor can be taken further as guitarist Robert Stanley proves he could go toe to toe with Roman Bunka. Lise Cousineau adds anguished wordless voice, somehow predicting the arrival of those French wackos Gutura and Noa a few years later. I suppose with all the percussion and guitar soloing, one must think of Santana, though Toubabou are not Latin in any way. This is true world fusion, played at a time when rocking your ass off was still cool.
— While the above covers “Attente” pretty well, it should be realized that the debut album, which was recorded live, is an entirely different affair. Here the African percussion ensemble dominate, and there’s little of the fusion found on the followup. That’s not to say there isn’t any mix of rock and indigenous, just a lot less. A great job by ProgQuebec to include both in one package (and charge only for one CD). Nice liner notes and photos, as well as a bonus video from 1974. Essential pickup, for “Attente” of course, but the debut is of interest as well.

Maneige - s/t (1975 Canada).
Maneige - Les Porches (1976 Canada). While on the topic of ProgQuebec releases, the first two Maneige albums may be the label’s most important reissues to date. In the LP record collecting days, if one was so inclined to discover the worldwide progressive rock phenomena of the 1970s, Maneige would be an early gold strike. A couple of shovels full of dirt down, and a Maneige album would be waiting. In my case, I first heard all of the Maneige’s sometime in the 1980s, and probably took them for granted. As with any treasure quest, the early finds tend to be the best, and after that it takes much harder work and more expensive equipment to gain the same thrill. Maneige aren’t flashy, can even be a little difficult in places. When held up against the - also new for me at the time - Italian, French, Spanish and German scenes, Maneige seemed “good, but nothing special”. Not to mention that Maneige’s 3rd and 4th albums were much more accessible, as they had adopted the popular fusion phase and added their unique blend of Quebecois to the proceeedings. And for many others who were discovering the progressive movement in the 1990s via CD, the 3rd and 4th albums managed a reissue from the now defunct Kozak label, re-introducing the world to Maneige at their most easy to digest time. Which takes us back to the first 2 abums, originally released on Harvest, and finally rescued by ProgQuebec in 2007. Here they mix the avant garde, jazz, classical and rock in ways no other band had done before or since. They were on the cutting edge of the Quebec movement, paralleling the Contraction / Franck Dervieux / Ville Emard Blues Band / Toubabou collectives, with a distinctive yet familiar regional sound. In hearing these albums for the first time in many years, despite still owning the LPs, I found myself amazed at how well these records have aged. Maneige are amongst the royalty of the Quebec innovative rock scene, and both of these are essential pickups.

Malón (Juan Carlos Caceres) - “El Camino” “Dale Negro” (1972 Argentina). Title is presented just as on the cover. Essentially at its core, Malon is a Latin pop album in the grand Tropicalia tradition as would be more commonly found in Brazil during this period. Like Os Mutantes, Malon will on occasion conjure up the freaky undergound with flipped guitar, echoed flute, droning organ and frenzied vocals. Elements of Los Jaivas, Bwana, Modulo 1000 and Santana all pop up here and there, for no other reason than to disturb your Corona advertised beach bliss. For this, we are grateful. No CD exists.

San Michael’s - s/t (1971 Sweden). San Michael’s is a typical early 70s song-based organ rock band with Swedish vocals, and an occasional creative instrumental to keep it interesting. Most notable for featuring Hans Lundin (Kaipa) on organ, though this isn’t anywhere near the progressive rock sound of his next venture. There are rumors a CD reissue may be coming soon. Mellotronen, Transubstans or Musea would be my 3 guesses as to who will do it.

Joy Unlimited - Minne (1975 Germany). More varied than the previous, and heavier, two albums “Schmetterlinge” and “Reflections”. “Minne” mixes German language (male vocals) folk with horn rock, some jazzy sequences, even some classical moments. More challenging than previous works, though it can be a mite slow going at times. Like “Reflections”, “Minne” doesn’t feature band namesake Joy Fleming. Now that Garden of Delights has reissued the two previous albums mentioned above, I would suspect “Minne” will get the VIP treatment soon.

Lindwurm - Im Windschatten (1981 Germany). High energy fusion album, with active percussion and some nice guitar. A light and breezy tropical flair can be found in the melodies and rhythms throughout. This one would be a big hit with the “rare groove” crowd, if a reissue ever surfaced. The album is pretty one-dimensional, with all the tracks possessing the same qualities. Even the synthesizer they use seems to have only one sound. Like a monophonic Moog with one switch and knob. File next to the French group Spheroe and the To Be album on Brain. No CD exists.

Arpaderba - L’Aleph (1981 Italy). I had first heard this album on a visit to Rome some 15 years ago, and haven’t seen it since. So it was nice to get ahold of a copy after all these years, and the album didn’t disappoint. Arpa Derba are an instrumental medieval folk rock lead by the former guitarist from Raccomandata Ricevuta Ritorno and Samadhi. Reminds me of some of the bands coming out of Brittany during this time like Avel Nevez or an instrumental Malicorne. Very nicely played (especially the violin), with a little bit too much gloss in the production to have any impact. Minimum Vital would later take the same approach and apply much more firepower. Still a very worthy piece and a surprising sound to come from Italy. No CD exists.

Saga - To Whom It Concerns (1978 Netherlands). Not releated to the more famous Canadian band, nor to the myriad of other European groups who took the name (France, Portugal, Sweden, etc..). This Saga is the Godfather of the Dutch neo progressive movement. Long before IQ and Marillion were reinventing the Genesis model for the 1980s, and even before the German school (Ivory, Neuschwanstein), Saga took on the task of replicating the “Foxtrot” sound (maybe they knew the Austrian group Kyrie Eleison?). Countless bands on the former SI label and continuing today on InsideOut, Musea and Cyclops can point to Saga as a band who pioneered this trail for our friends in The Netherlands. Lots of mellotron here, which unfortunately is something that the neo’s were keen to get away from. It’s not a bad example of the genre, not as inspired as the German school like Sirius’ “Running to Paradise” or Ivory’s “Sad Cypress”, but better than most of the Dutch Genesis imitators I can think of. UAP also had Kracq amongst its ranks, and they’ve self-released their one fine album, so perhaps Saga will do the same, since no CD is available?

Karmic Society - Journey (2007 Germany). Karmic Society are a new, primarily instrumental German band who have a sound somewhere between the early 1970s German/British heavy prog rock sound (2066 and Then, Odin) combined with some 60s jam band elements (Grateful Dead, QMS) and even some Kraut space rock ala Ohr era Guru Guru. Nice to see the high quality reissue label World in Sound beginning to produce some fine new talent in addition to their excellent reissue inventory. “Journey” opens with a fascinating cover of an obscure mid 1960s synthesizer composition, though with a full sounding rock band (organ, guitar, bass and drums). From here they launch into their 4 original compositions, which are easily the highlights of the album. Hammond organ and electric lead guitar are the solo instruments of choice, and to my ears at least, they sound like the best of the retro hard prog rock groups like Black Bonzo, Blood of the Sun and the Wicked Minds. One aspect of Karmic Society’s sound that I find highly appealing is their strong melodic sense, something that is lost on many newer bands. The final 3rd of the disc comprise of all covers. “Yoo Doo Right”, the old Malcolm Mooney era Can chestnut gets a much needed upgrade, and I find Karmic Society’s version considerably better and more focused (and frankly less annoying). Quicksilver’s “Witches Moon” is up next, and KS are up to the task with a riveting version. They close with the Dead’s “Dark Star”, which if nothing else takes a lot of guts. There are literally thousands of live versions of this opus, mainy of them masterpieces in their own right. They’re stomping on sacred ground here, and perhaps it would be better not to try an attempt, even if they do indeed produce a fine version. In conclusion, Karmic Society are much better with their own material which fits them like a well tailored suit, and I hope in the future that’s the focus for them. They have “classic” written all over them. Even as it is, “Journey” is simply VERY GOOD and is not to be missed!

Mylla - Vanya (2007 Sweden). Mylla are the house band for Subliminal Sounds and sort of represents an “All-Star” cast featuring, amongst others, label wunderkind Gustaf Ejstes (Dungen). Recorded on a remote forest island in the Arctic, Mylla’s sound is, appropriately enough, isolated from modern times. Organ, ac. and el. guitar, flute, and the songwriting and production all recall a 1969 to 1971 vibe. The compositions are all quite lyrical and the overall sound is VERY Swedish. So a love of the language in song is pretty much mandatory for one to have any chance of appreciating this album. Anyone from Träd, Gräs och Stenar to November would be a good guidepost here on the vocal front. Musically, it’s interesting to spot pre “Aqualung” Jethro Tull coming to the fore. I’m averse to comparing any rock band with an abundance of flute to Tull, but sometimes it’s unavoidable, especially if the songwriting style is similar. And even though I said earlier how Swedish this album is, the closest album I can compare it to is Finland’s Tabula Rasa circa their debut. Other than a couple of 60s sing-around-the-campfire feel-good ditties, this one is easy to recommend. While the album as a whole isn’t overly convincing, I have a feeling future efforts will be awesome, if such an event occurs. The right pieces are in place.

Lamp of the Universe - Earth, Spirit and Sky (2005 New Zealand) LotU is the pseudonym of Craig Williamson from New Zealand, who’s aggressive side is carried out in the stoner metal band Datura. On “Earth, Spirit and Sky”, Williamson seems to conjure up his inner Popol Vuh, and has released an album that is almost entirely acoustic. This is LotU’s “Hosianna Mantra”. Though a good idea initially, the album becomes pretty monotonous after awhile, as he still possesses the “dreamy” vocals of prior works, and the material begins to blur together. Only a couple of instances of electric guitar are presented, which provide much needed color to the proceedings. All the limitations of a one-man band are brought forth, and it’s clear that for LotU to go forward, Williamson is in much need of assembling a full band and the introduction of new ideas.