Cox Orange 2 LPs + 1 EP, by request

 

Danish funk-fusion band similar to so many others we've encountered from Northern Europe, but heavy on the bass and funky rhythms, less on the fusionary forms.  Like Placebo siamese twinned with Lafayette Afro Rock Band.  All instrumental, sometimes a little too simplistic for me with a handful of chords and not much progressive development.  Or you could say it's as if the Brecker Bros and their atonal funk had been told to tone it down and behave.  Needless to report, there are the usual latin styles too.

Information here.  From the 1978 ST album, the oddness of the riff from Always Public appealed to me:

I notice the 1985 album is missing, anyone have it to share?  It's hit or miss whether or not it will be worth hearing of course, given the late year.

From the second, Sivsko Disko:

To my surprise there is another band with the same name, but this time a German punk band, so that explains the 1989 EP Hypnotized, which I threw in for fun.

Eko Roosevelt in Kilimandjaro my Home from 1976

 

Eko:

Cameroonian musician, pianist and singer (born in Kribi in 1946), studied in Dakar, then Paris, where he released a number of LPs & singles (1975 to 1982), before returning to Kribi.

Ba Bahani sounds like something off the 1970s pop charts, except for the wonderful African lyrics and casually out of sync style of singing:

You should listen all the way to the end when it slows down and gently ends with the wonderful Rhodes complementing the vocalizing.  

By the way I listened to the previous album from 1975 and wasn't too impressed by it compared to this one, which is a bit more developed and varied.  And the next one after this is called Funky Disco Music (1979), so I didn't stray so far.  

But I enjoyed this a lot.

J.O.B. Orquestra's 1978 Open the Doors to Your Faith

 

Complete change in direction now, with mid-1970s funk /soul from this one-off album / group. 

So it's similar to anything from Motown from that period, but lacking the disco moves, thankfully, think The Jackson 5, The Stylistics, or even Marvin Gaye.

This is a creation masterminded by Jorge Barreiro. (Don't know anything about him in particular.)

Without a doubt the 'hit song' from this LP is the one called Only Faith and Hope:

Wow if only we had faith and hope today. Try convincing the 'C'est les Tenebres' French students for example.  Try convincing the Brazilians, half of whom just voted to destroy the Amazon forest and our collective human future.  Try convincing anyone anywhere in the world today who thinks electing authoritarians is going to lead to better lives for everyone plus prudent management of our children's future.  There's this thing called 'history' that tells us what happens in those countries.

Note the track called I believe in thee, which not only sounds like Marvin Gaye but uses the modulated into minor key bridge trick he employed so masterfully for What's Goin' On, and Mercy, Mercy:

It's not progressive, but I love this kind of soulful songwriting, having grown up with it of course.

Care of the Cow's Dogs' Ears are Stupid from 1983, cassette

 

I posted their wonderful, wonderful 1981 album (I still don't know your style) long ago here (10 years ago!), now this, the follow-up from 1983, is finally available.  Since we're further into the 1980s we wouldn't expect too much crazy RIO prog and indeed we don't get a lot of it at all, despite the fact the band name references progmasters Henry Cow.

A track called Cemetery is quite representative:

There are not a lot of songs that really remain memorable after first listen unfortunately, not like the 1981 one.  Some reggae, some straight up songs, a lot of silliness of course.  Needed for completeness though.

Back to Nirgal Vallis with El Orfebre from 1991

 

I was searching for this one since way back when, here, when the first album from this group was posted.  The discogs info is on this page.  This second album is cassette only, so god bless the ripper from the bottom of my heart. Style is classic Mexican acoustic symphonic prog, so it will appeal to many many folks.

First track, called Entre las Cinco y las Seis:

It's quite surprising that this came out in the late year of 1991, it sounds very much a part of the late seventies sound.  Another nice track called Crisis starts with a muted-string bass riff, then builds up really nicely with modulations and the gradual addition of other instruments to an electric finale:

Altogether, this album is a bit more new agey, laidback, less energetic, and folk-derived than the recently posted album Tirelli's Profeta, but relatively similar, especially when compared to the next few posts coming this week which will be all over the map.

For those ever curious like me, the word orfebre means goldsmith.

Catching up with Mezzoforte (with unreleased material)

 

Recall I posted their first couple of LPs here.  This one fits with those as it includes earlier material that was unreleased.  It's databased here, and I should've added it to the earlier post before giving up on this band.  But better late than never, as we say.

Note the following:

This compilation was released after Mezzoforte gained popularity in UK and Europe with the track 'Garden Party' from the album Surprise Surprise (relased in 1982).

Tracks were taken from previous albums, Í hakanum (or Octopus) and Þvílíkt og annað eins.

Tracks 'Eftirsjá / Octopus', 'Með mátulega hóflegri bjartsýni / Modestly Optimistic', and 'Greiðið Afnotagjöldin / Pay Your License' were omitted.

Check out in particular the nice, almost Finnforest sound of a composition called Sweet Nothings:

I'll take a break again until Monday with a lot more beautiful lost music...  Believe it or not, a lot more great stuff to hear.

VA: Dani Jugoslovenske Zabavne Muzike JRT - Opatija '78 - Orkestralna Izvedba - wav LP rip

 

A mixture of easy orchestral, silly generic 'schlager,' trad. jazz, and fusion, databased here.  Some standout tracks, mixed composers.  I suppose you could go so far as to say the music is all over the place.  From google:

The term Opatija records most commonly refers to historical music recordings from the famous Opatija Festival (Festival Opatija), a major annual pop, rock, and chanson music festival held in Opatija, Yugoslavia (now Croatia) from the 1960s through the 1980s.

Unfort. discogs doesn't have a general "Opatija" page where the annual releases are listed.  Although this '79 LP is well known among the prog cognoscenti (with Soncna Pot, Den za Den, etc.).

Tracklist with composers (for what it's worth):

A1 Baj, Baj (S. Ilić, Z. Skerl)

A2 Zbog Jedne Davne Melodije (M. Prohaska)

A3 Mili (N. Kalogjera)

A4 Gledam Tvoje Oči (S. Kajtazi, V. Simić)

A5 Ne Mogu Sakriti Svoju Bol (A. Stefanović, S. Vujović)

A6 Okrečem Listove Kalandera (D. Dukić)

A7 Človek, Ki Ga Ni (J. Robežnik)

B1 Vozi Me Vlak V Daljave (J. Privšek)

B2 Jednom U Gradu Tko Zna Kom (A. Vlatković, B. Adamič)

B3 Ako Sada Odeš (S. Mihaljinec)

B4 U Nedelju Ane (A.Kobiljo, L. Kuntarić)

B5 Eden Bakneš  (A. Džakonovski, P. Pešev)

B6 Moma Primorkinja (B. Zenović)

B7 Na Deževen Dan (J. Privšek, J. Robežnik)

The second track is without a doubt the highlight, being inventive fusion:

Back to Uli Harmssen and Jochen Voss with their first album Mother Nature from 1986, Father Harmony, FLAC limited time only

 

Posted the second one here, back in 2016, a decade ago.  Information on this release here.

Voss is a saxophonist, his page.  Uli Harmssen the keyboardist was in Thirsty Moon, I don't recall if they were good versus just ordinary krautrock, probably the latter given it didn't stick in my memory.

Anyways, put the two of them together, and you get some very laid back highly professionally played acoustic music, cross between new age and contemporary jazz-- good for sedation perhaps?

First track, Closed Eyes:

The requested 2025 Runaway Totem feat. Andromaca: Metaphorm Tetraphirm

 

Information here.  Runaway Totem:

Italian progressive Zeuhl rock band. Founded in Riva del Garda, Italy in 1988.

Amazingly this is the 16th release from them, at least acc. to discogs.  This is over a continuous career spanning 38 years though-- if this can be believed!  Surely a record for this blog.

To my ears however, not having listened to it all yet, this latest from them, from 2025, sounds more like psych - electronic than fusion / zeuhl.

Many, many thanks again to the person who generously contributed this...

Cam's Shearer Delight, from Canada 1981

 

Profile:

Cameron Shearer

- Canadian musician (keyboards) Producer and engineer.

- Engineered at Master's Workshop. Rexdale Ontario, Canada

- Winner of Academy Award 1998 - Scientific and Technical Award (Scientific and Engineering Award). To Cameron Shearer, Robert Predovich, John Scott, Mohamed Ken T. Husain for the design and implementation of the Soundmaster Integrated Operations Nucleus operating environment.

- Product Manager, Yamaha

This is his only album, from 1981. Note the similarity of the track titles.

There is a lot of the generic electronic music, eg circus music, polkas, drivel like that. However at least half the tracks are really impressively well composed, for ex., the Mystery of the Woman:

And Power of the Air really shows off his musical education:

Hugely enjoyable (in parts), and oh so rare!

Dutch composer Rogier von Otterloo: Telepathy, Visions, On the Move (1973 to 1975)

 

Note the cigar in his mouth on the last cover photo, and cigarette in his hand on the top one -- he passed away in his 40s of mesothelioma (a type of lung cancer).

First of all I'm going to state, I'm shocked there is still so much amazing music to be discovered from this time period: original, creative, progressive.  And these are perfect examples, which is why I've ramped up the posting to several times a week, to go through my backlog of beautiful music. 

The important thing to understand is that not just in English countries but all over the world there was a hugely fertile feeling for musical composition in those years wherein everything came together perfectly (jazz, rock, classical), and this is where exploring lesser known countries' artists becomes so fruitful, as in this case, where we have a guy who's basically the Dutch Morricone, known primarily as a soundtrack composer in his country.

As usual the brief discogs bio to open:

Pianist, composer, arranger and conductor, born 11 December 1941 in Amsterdam, Netherlands, died 29 January 1988 in Bilthoven, Netherlands. Son of Willem Van Otterloo, father of composer, arranger, saxophonist and conductor Thijs van Otterloo. Probably best known as film music composer for Paul Verhoeven-directed movies Turks Fruit / Turkish Delight (1973) and Soldaat van Oranje / Soldier of Orange (1977). Van Otterloo was Chief Conductor of the Metropole Orkest from September 1st 1980 until his death in 1988.

So as was so common in that decade, in the middle of the 1970s he made these 2 brilliant LPs, all-self-composed, no standards, no filler, no cover versions, called Visions (1974) and On the Move (1975), that I daresay are probably forgotten not just everywhere in the world, but also in his own country. (I'm also going to guess they did poorly commercially, compared to the easy listening LPs full of Beatles and Bacharach hits.) These mix on a basis of orchestral easy listening a bunch of incredible ideas ranging from classical to fusion, maybe a little similar to Peter Wolf's 1980 masterpiece posted here, except that this music has its basis in classical orchestra, versus fusion / jazz.  

Probably the best composition (out of many that stand out) from the former album is 2 of a Kind:

The harmonica is played, obviously, by Toots Thielemans (who else?).  In that piece the original chord changes Rogier came up with are the really amazing aspect.

While from the 1975 On the Move, a track that really stands out is Alfie's Lullaby (his son, not the movie with Michael Caine):

From the 1973 album with pianist Louis van Dyke the track called Moment Supreme is absolutely mind-blowing in its beauty, to me:

This one really reminds me of my old fave Claus Ogerman, esp. in the concerto-like interplay between piano and orchestral passages that echo each other, and the gentle chord structures playing melodies.

One more thing to add, I listened to the 3-CD 'Collected Works' from 2003, and it's absolutely criminal that barely a couple of these masterpiece tracks appeared on there, versus his more generic soundtrack material such as Soldat von Oranje.

Closely examining his discography, you can observe that the majority of his albums are easy listening orchestral LPs almost entirely consisting of cover versions (done presumably to pay the bills), but note also this original composition, the only one, from the 1973 Nuages album, called Sagitta featuring the transcendentally beautiful Rhodes piano sound (here played by Rob Franken):

Surely we all agree it's brilliant?  

Again, that one was left off the Collected Works-- can you imagine??

Armando Tirelli's El Profeta, from 1978

Gorgeous cover graphic. Again from Uruguay, Armando Tirelli:

Armando Tirelli was a Uruguayan keyboardist who was part of the "Sexteto Electronico Moderno", and later was also part of an ephemeral band called "Exodo".  In 1978 he released his first and only LP entitled "El Profeta".

Some really lovely true-blue symphonic prog on here. Similar to a lot of the old Italian concept prog albums, to my ears, or even to the recent Tantor, Opa, if you remove the fusion references from those.

A track called Candombe Samba has absolutely nothing sambaish about it, and that's a good thing, I think:

Quite enjoyable for a totally lost album.  But isn't that true for so much on these pages?

Metronic Underground 's Illusion, "Electronic Aus BONN" from 1981

 

Metronic Underground:

German synth/guitar duo who ran the gamut of 1970's Teutonic styles, blending dissonant elements into a melodic music, with hints of Ashra and Velvet Universe.

Despite the positive review here below, I think it's relatively ordinary electronic music as reflected in the just above 3 rating on RYM, despite the (outlier) statement below:

Produced by Conny Plank, this is an excellent entry into the large scale German electronic scene. Not really a Berlin School album, though some rhythmic sequencing is present, but still very much informed by late 70's Berlin based artists like Edgar Froese (especially "Ages"), Ash Ra around the time of "New Age of Earth" and Klaus Schulze circa "X". Haunting synthesizers with THAT vibe combined with lightly sprinkled fuzzed and acoustic guitars makes for an album I heartily recommend. Side 2 of the album shifts gears a bit and features some vocal numbers that are quite a bit different than the other contents but are strangely engaging all the same.

Westerwald:

Great cover though!

The unreleased Archie Whitewater material [Unreleased Material from the Cadet Concept Label] limited time only, Oct 13

 

I guess this is another of those 'bootlegs' that are banned by discogs.  But boy is it worth hearing this one!  All fresh material except one or 2 songs that appeared on the official release, but some of these are quite fragmentary and not fully fleshed out as compositions.  The raw talent of the band really shines here though.

Truly love this stuff.  I adore the lyrics to the Lighthouse Track:

But by far the best track is Coming from where I'm going, etc. which is just so meditative and listenable, which it had been fleshed out into something a little longer, with a bridge, etc.:

Archie Whitewater's ST 1970, FLAC limited time only

 

Here's a horn rock album which unlike the predecessor is actually quite good and well written, unfairly unknown in my opinion.

Discogged thusly:

9 piece jazz rock ensemble from New York, USA. Archie Whitewater is not an actual member but the adopted Cherokee name of member Travis Jenkins (2), which then provided the band's name. The ensemble released only one album (recorded 1970-03, released 1970-08) though they also recorded material for a second album that has remained unreleased.

The smooth sound of Friends and Neighbors, with the lovely Rhodes sound:

The music mixes harder rock, electric sounds, jazzy stuff, and more simple ssw songs, plus the brass arrangements are nicely done.

These 2 discogs reviews are quite accurate:

Psych Rock at its best!

Archie Whitewater was a band that never was. Forgotten by the failing Chess / Cadet Concept label their album languished in limbo and was released to little fanfare. The band was signed during the early 70s horn rock craze, but their sound was much more complex and seductive. Their 1970 debut fused jazz, soul, rock, funk, and psychedelic shrink wrapped with a warm aura.

And

Great musicianship and arrangements but I find the singing cheesy somehow. Or is it a good reason I found not to buy this very expensive record ?

Max - Rodan from 1974 (Beyond Rodan) from 1974, FLAC limited time only

 

Such an incredible cover graphic!

Information on this album here.  Note the following:

The 1974 RODAN Album, was an incomplete list of recordings by MAX released on the Pandora label without knowledge or consent from the composers. Most all the liner notes are incorrect or misleading on that album, and it’s unknown what tapes were used to create the LP. Max, as a group, never signed any agreement with any entity.

Subsequently, a much longer 2-LP release appeared (50 years later!) with bonus tracks and history of the band, databased here.  They hailed from Hollywood, Calif.

50th Anniversary 2LP gatefold set of the 1974 jazz-rock-funk fusion LP "RODAN", remastered from original source tapes and expanded with 8 unreleased tracks, restored original artwork, never-before-seen live, studio & promo band photos, and extensive liner notes revealing the mystery of "RODAN

For some reason this album gets some rave reviews online, but from the perspective of a prog fan there isn't much to cling on to, whether dissonance (tritones, minor seconds, etc.), crazy original chord or rhythm changes, novel patterns, etc.  It's in fact relatively straightforward horn rock with intensely funky beats. Always one gets the impression it's being overhyped by those who own the original (200-LPs pressed) version and hope it will gain in value.  I would go so far as to say it sounds like any generic funky seventies album, but you be the judges.  An ex. of overstatement from rym:

Super horn rock album, that absolutely kills on most of the 12 short tracks. There are a couple of bluesy moves and at least one James Brown styled funker, but mostly this just rips from start to finish. The kind of album you wish all horn rockers were. Smoking guitar and great brass charts. The rhythm section never stops. California based group was actually known as MAX, and toured extensively with groups like Malo and Tower of Power. Album sports a fantastic drawing on the cover...

I mean, reviewing it on a regular rock blog would make sense, just not somewhere that specializes in progressive rock or progressive fusion (the latter of which is totally absent).  The furthest they venture, timidly, into creative chords, is Juicy Lucy:

A piano track called Pandora's Theme, sounding very much like a purely improvised, unpreplanned piece:

All in all, it's very similar to the other horn rock contenders, like Lighthouse, Dr. Music, Earth Wind and Fire, but unfort. it's lacking the really convincing compositions that those better acts featured, with little progressiveness to hold it up otherwise.  Or do you remember the astrounding Italian one-off horn-rock band called Sage? That one was amazing.

Wayne Thomas's 1973 Crystal Voyager

 

I saw this LP in a record store in Noho, NYC, and decided to buy it without listening on the strength of its cover, and the fact of course I had never heard of it.  No wonder, since, he's a SSW from New Zealand.

So, some discogs information:

Musician, producer and songwriter. Born in New Zealand on 1946-10-04 as Graham Wayne Thomas. Moved to Australia in 1968, where he started writing music for commercials. He signed with Warners, relesead a single in 1971 and started working as head of A&R for Warner Australia, also becoming a producer. As such he was asked to produce the soundtrack to the surf movie Morning Of The Earth, changing what was going to be a Tamam Shud album into a various artists record. It featured Tamam Shud, Terry Hannigan, Brian Cadd, John J. Francis, Peter Howe and three G. Wayne Thomas tracks. The soundtrack was released in 1972 along with a single from the album: Open Up Your Heart b/w Morning Of The Earth. It reached #22 on the Australian singles chart.

In 1972 he also put together a band called Duck (24). The band originally comprised Jon English, Bobbi Marchini, John Robinson, Bobby Gebert, Larry Duryea, Teddy Toi and Steve Webb. They released an album of covers titled Laid, which was produced by Thomas. He also started his own label, Warm & Genuine, and released a self-titled album in 1973. He followed that up with a soundtrack for Crystal Voyager. For this he put together a studio band called the The Crystal Voyager Band. It consisted of Thomas, Bobby Gebert, Mick Liber, Rod Coe and John Proud. His last release on Warm & Genuine was in 1975 after which he signed with Polydor. In 1979-1980 he worked in a duo with Peter Bailey and together they released an album (Missing Persons) and 4 singles.

Info on this LP here.

The music is basic ssw for sure, folky and acoustic for the most part. Not quite at the same level as our beloved OST, A Sea for Yourself-- which it superficially reminds me of, but not musically structurally, not at all.  Consider the classic early 1970s sound of Into The Blue:

Another sample, instrumental this time, called Red Sun Sea:

As might be expected, the movie is a surf film, wikipediaed here.

Crystal Voyager is a 1973 Australian surf film directed by David Elfick. It was filmed by Albert Falzon, written and narrated by surfer, photographer and filmmaker George Greenough, who had previously made the 1970 surfing film The Innermost Limits of Pure Fun. The soundtrack was written and produced and performed by G. Wayne Thomas and the "Crystal Voyager Band".[1]

The film is structured as a loose biography of Greenough and was shot largely in California. It documents Greenough's search for uncrowded waves, which led to the construction of his 37-foot ocean-going yacht. It also feature Greenough's surfing friends, Californian Richie West and Australian world champion Nat Young.

Crystal Voyager premiered at the Sydney Opera House on 5 December 1973 and had a successful three-week run there before opening in other states.[2] The theatrical 35 mm version of the film is different from the original 16 mm release and was re-edited by Elfick and Greenough. It became one of Australia's most successful surf films, grossing more than A$100,000 (in 1973) on its initial Australian release, before being picked up by British Hemdale Corporation. Crystal Voyager gained substantial press on its release, mostly due to its strong reception at the Cannes Film Festival. It had a record-breaking 6-month run in London's West End, where it played a double bill with René Laloux's animated science-fiction film Fantastic Planet, grossing more than £100,000.[3]

The closing sequence, Greenough's short film Echoes, is generally considered to be the highlight of the film. Filmed with a camera in a waterproof housing strapped to Greenough's back, wighing 17 pounds (7.7 kg) in all, the sequence is composed entirely of slow-motion footage shot inside the curl of waves, edited to the 23-minute song "Echoes" by Pink Floyd.[4][5] The group allowed Elfick and Greenough to use the music in their film in exchange for the use of Greenough's footage as a visual background when they performed "Echoes" in concert.[6][7][5]

For those curious, you can see it here on youtube.  Not really that captivating.

The whole movie is here too.

Seru Giran in 3 [1978 ST, 1979 Grasa, 1980 Bicicleta, 1981 Peperina, 1982 No Llores Por Mi]

 

The discogs blurb begins thusly:

Serú Girán was an Argentine rock supergroup. Formed in 1978, the group consisted of Charly García (keyboards, synthesizers and vocals), David Lebón (guitars and vocals), Pedro Aznar (electric and fretless bass and vocals), and Oscar Moro (drums and percussion). It is considered one of the best in the history of Rock en Español, both musically, and conceptually and staging. It is also renowned for the virtuosity of its musicians...

Well from the point of view of progressive rock fans, the music is pretty basic ssw rock of course, but here and there are flashes of brilliance that make the whole worthwhile-- sorry to those out there who are fans, unlike me. As an example, I will point out, from the first ST album the ST song for the ST artist, the uniquely epic composition:

From the second, the remarkable Paranoia y Soledad composition, which I find really haunting indeed:

From the 4th, Cinema Verite:

As I said, some gems here and there glittering in this massive coal mine.