INTERNATIONAL

CAN
Out of Reach
Inner Space
Cleopatra Records CDs
www.cleorecs.com
The instrument-ation on Can’s early work is sublime and the stuff of much-deserved legend. Yet the vocals on those classic records are essential, as well. Without either Malcolm Mooney’s schizoid rambling or Damo Suzuki’s mystical chanting, the Krautrockers’ motorik grooves were just never all that motored or groovy. On these two albums (originally released in 1978 and ’79, respectively) some funky help arrived in the form of Reebop Kwaku Baah and Rosco Gee: the rhythm section that played with Traffic. But with key Can members Holger Czukay and Jaki Leibezeit playing reduced or non-existent roles, there was just too much missing from what made the band what they were in the days of Monster Movie, Tago Mago, and Ege Bamyasi.
There are occasional highlights between these two albums, but it’s hard to imagine why anyone would ever choose to listen to either when they could be digging on ‘Vitamin C’ or ‘Paperhouse’ instead.
Brian Greene

KENSINGTON MARKET
Avenue Road
Pacemaker CD
www.pacemaker.cd
Named after Toronto’s funky street market (as opposed to London’s) this five-piece aggregation of former Toronto garage band stalwarts arrived on the city’s lively music scene with a splash in 1967. Originally contrived as a vehicle for Keith McKie’s songs, the group soon became an organic outfit and their debut album appeared the following year. Produced by Felix Pappalardi – then riding high on the back of his success with Cream – Avenue Road remains a thoroughly charming and enjoyable proposition.
‘I Would Be The One’ is a confident, soulful opener that wastes no time asserting the band’s strengths. There follow nine excellent group originals that lean on soul, jazz, classical and jugband influences and evoke other ‘lost’ masterpieces by the likes of The Troll, Chrysalis and The Appletree Theatre.
Pride of place must go to ‘Aunt Violet’s Knee’ – an impossibly delicate baroque pop folly brought to life by McKie’s crystal tones and peppered with the kind of medieval English horns and woodwinds Donovan might have considered fighting you for.
The ’69 follow-up Aardvark is also available from Pacemaker.
Andy Morten

VARIOUS ARTISTS
A Day In My Mind’s Mind Volume 3: Spinning, Spinning, Spinning
EMI New Zealand CD
This latest instalment of Kiwi ’60s pop sounds is perhaps the best so far. It certainly has a higher quotient of obscurities and produces a highly pleasing 28-track soundscape.
Of note are Timberjack’s ‘Come To The Sabbat’ which manages to combine Spinal Tap-esque lyrics (a repeated chant of ‘come to the sabbat, Satan’s there!’) with an orchestrated pop melody which makes it all the more creepy. It was even a NZ top 10 hit in 1970! Speaking of orchestrated pop, the CD is worth the cost alone for the two sides by Bruno (Lawrence) in ‘Mandy Jones’ and ‘I Don’t Care’. These are as pastoral and whimsical as anything English from the Summer of Love.
As with the other two volumes, the disc comes with detailed liner notes, group photos in the colourful booklet and won’t disappoint.
Paul Martin

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Cosmarama: Blow Your Cool Volume 2
Psychic Circle CD
www.soundlinkmusic.com
This 24th volume of the ongoing Psychic Circle compilation series, finds an excellent assortment of European prog/psych 45s. Mainly Dutch German, Belgian and Brits. There’s barely a keyboard to be heard though with exploding guitar mayhem dominating the soundscape throughout. In fact there’s a stronger continuity with the heavy White Lace And Strange compilation than Blow Your Cool Volume 1 here.
Ex-Methuselah members formed British group Distant Jim, who only released records abroad, and supply the rampaging title track. Ian Gillan produced Pussy’s only 45 ‘Feline Woman’ (think ‘Black Night’ with phasing) whilst Corporal Gander’s Fire Dog Parade could only be more ex-pat Brits, this time making raucous records for a German budget label.
Most of the 20 acts featured are unknowns and they all deserve a hearing as this is the strongest of the more progressive sets in Psychic Circle’s arsenal for some time.
Paul Martin

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Psychadelic Portugal
Lysergic Emanations LP
Hot on the heels of the 4 LP Portuguese Nuggets series comes this ‘what happened next’ comp. The time span is 1968-74, with the emphasis on the early ’70s. The only recognisable band is Quarteto IIII.
As the back sleeve liners note, Portugal took its psych cue from bands like The Soft Machine, so as you might expect, there is strong prog and experimental quotient of often semi-instrumental material. Not that this is bad – many of the tracks have pleasant pulsating rhythms and are well played.
There are a few bluesy Cream wannabes but the real psych numbers are worth getting the LP for on their own. Fluid’s ‘O Homem Sentado’ is a delicate Nirvana like tune and others from Jose Cid, Sergio Borges, Heavy Band and Beatnicks turn in some very good sounds.
Check with your usual switched on Etailer.
Paul Martin

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Swinging Mademoiselles Deux
Silva Screen CD
www.silvascreenmusic.com
Putting together a fantastic sounding CD of French dames is an easy task. They were a very cool lot in the 1960s, and the likes of Cleo, Christine Pilzer and Zouzou (all on this CD) seemed to spit out groovy beat numbers before their morning coffee.
But these days, when reissue packaging is better than ever, you just cannot get away with something as lacklustre as Swinging Mademoiselles Deux. For a start, the majority of the tracks have been compiled before. This isn’t a problem per se, as a good compilation can make you hear songs in a different light. But when it’s coupled with minimal information and zero pictures, it just screams laziness. Adding insult to injury, what text there is focuses not on the female artists but on the male producers – particularly inexcusable when, for example, Jacqueline Taieb and Cosette were talented singer-songwriters.
Must try harder for Swinging Mademoiselles Trois.
Jeanette Leech

126
Graveyard Paradise: The Complete 126 & Taboo Recordings 1966-68
UT
www.ugly-things.com
Norway’s 126 are best known for their protest song ‘Graveyard Paradise’, a huge 1967 national hit and the inspiration for a ’90s compilation that borrowed its name. That LP, Raveyard Paradise, contained the best of Norway’s beat scene.
Dylan obviously struck a deep chord with 126 singer/guitarist Asa Krogtoft, yet even when that influence is at its strongest, it works exceptionally well. Dark humour, at work often during these spirited performances, offsets the serious nature of some of the material perfectly.
Opener ‘Mirror For Sale’ is a prime showcase for their excellently-crafted, impeccably recorded works; a truly fine exercise in beat surrealism. The semi-orchestrated ‘Curtains Falling’, the title track from their only album released in ’68, is another track with gripping appeal, featuring Krogtoft’s playful, imaginative word puzzles: “push the button, cry for help, and you’re dead”. At times 126 sound like a forgotten Mersey combo, while elsewhere they visit dark-cornered avenues of inventiveness similar to those of, say, perhaps Amsterdam’s the Outsiders. Opposing themes such as death/life, light/dark and joy/fear are the kind of subjects 126 deal with.
Asa’s post-126 outfit Taboo are represented too, with the humour-heavy ‘Vampire Tango’ and ‘Queen Of Spades’ being the best. Pop into psych-rock territory. As always, Mike Stax does a sterling job on the info-filled booklet, great photos too.
Lenny Helsing

Interview with Asa Krogtoft of 126 and Taboo by Lenny Helsing for Shindig!

SD: How difficult was it for 126 to feel part of the thriving mid-60s beat group scene in Norway?
AK: Bodo is a small and remotely situated Norwegian town but we were very aware of the musical revolution in Europe as well as in the US. We listened to Radio Luxembourg and had access to music papers like New Musical Express. Gigs however could be a problem. In our town there were between five and 10 groups and only three to five venues, so we really had to compete to get the jobs.

SD: You created some melodic yet surreal songs with 126 and Taboo, often with conflicting subject matter in the lyrics. To what do you most attribute this?
AK: I guess the whole world seemed kind of surrealistic to me in those days. Dylan and a few others made this feeling even stronger with me as time passed. We also had some brilliant Norwegian authors that became exponents for similar ways of expressing themselves those days. I owe a lot to all of these guys.

SD: All the songs on the Graveyard Paradise CD were written by yourself. Did you have much help or encouragement from the other guys?
AK: 126 were organised in this way: Oddvar (bass guitar) kept our car in shape; Roger (drums) took care of money and contracts; Gunvar (rhythm guitar) kept an eye on our gear and everything else that needed to be taken care of. So my task was to write songs and sing them – which of course was what I enjoyed the most.

SD: When ‘Graveyard Paradise’ became a hit, how big did it get for you and was your label RCA always behind?
AK: As far as I can remember ‘GP’ sold approx 22,000 – just below the 25,000 mark that would have given us the silver record trophy in ’67. The company that represented RCA in Norway always did a superb job promoting and following up 126 and our records.

SD: You must’ve been disappointed that the album 126 recorded in ’67, Curtains Falling, didn’t appear until the following year, by which time the group had already gone its separate ways.
AK: The recordings were finished in the autumn of ’67 and we knew that it would take some time to do the artwork and put together a release plan for the album. So I didn’t really feel any disappointment for the late release. Mentally I had already started Taboo and was eager to get this group up and running.

Spanish label Guerssen rolls out the acid-folk, acoustic and psych releases

If you’re unaware of the Spanish label Guerssen I urge you to point your web browser at their page post haste. Having issue all manner of garage and psych over the years, Antoni and his crew of vinyl hounds have also immersed themselves in all manner of later ’70s and ’80s takes on the acid-folk/acoustic and psych modes, travailing the globe from South America to Wales. I apologise to them for the releases I have missed, but see the start of a year a fitting time to look back on a number of their releases from the past year.

YVES & SERGE & VICTOR’s deliciously home made ’75 album Yves & Serge & Victor brims with hippy vibes and although French you’d be forgiven in believing them to be American. The LP may at first seem a little lo fi and clearly biting at the heels of CS&N and Neil Young, but it’s s good rural rock all the same.
BILL QUICK was a bearded blonde American hippy that ended up in Madrid and released the rather decent folk styled Maravillosa Gente in ’73, which unlike the French guys has big strong production values. Originally released on the Explosion label it sold nothing and instantly disappeared. Influenced by Cat Stevens, Dylan, Incredible String Band etc this strong album has rapidly become regarded as something of a cult classic.

Manuel Cornejo, the drummer of the legendary Peruvian group We All Together lays down a suitable back beat on their followers GRUPO AMIGOS’ unreleased ’73 album Paloma Mensajera. We All Together and Laghonia are obviously the closest comparisons to these Beatles loving Peruvian ’70s kids and even if the production is somewhat sparse, the album’s sweet melodies and classic pop styling add so much to the gentle melancholia of these predominantly Spanish sung numbers. A major find!

As already mentioned Guerssen has increasingly turned its hand at finding late ’70s releases that maintain the spirit of the initial hippy era; one such talent is ALAN MUNSON who cut two solo albums in ’75 (Good Morning World ) and ’79 (First Light). Vocally Munson’s gentle voice recalls Merrel Fankhauser as do his emblematic hippyish West Coast songs, which stay close to the CSN harmony format at all times. The multi layered vocals and Munson’s apt guitar parts are always mellow and often enlightening.

His earlier duo from ’72, COOLEY-MUNSON’s In Debt, has charm (both lads were only 19) but it isn’t as musically assured as Munson’s later albums.
Jon ‘Mojo’ Mills