Adam's Recital - There's No Place For Lonely People / New York City. 1967 Belgium

'There's No Place for Lonely People' is a killer track with great energy, fuzz guitar, and a good tune to boot. Haven't heard the flip, but this will get 4 stars no matter what.  This appears to be the total output from this fine Belgian group. This title does exist on a couple of legal comps, but not 'New York City'.

9/8/19

Douglas Idaho - Prince Of Darkness / Taming the Snake. USA

When I see a name like Douglas Idaho planted on a 45 single, I'm thinking country music all the way. But wait a minute 'Prince of Darkness' isn't any old 'Down in Abilene' is it? Turns out Douglas Idaho is (are) from Minneapolis*. Is it a group or an individual, I haven't the slightest (though group seems likely given that a one Dave Moltzen is the author, not Douglas Idaho). Obscure as they come. I've only heard the aforementioned track which is a kind of long form folk psychedelia with excellent electric guitar solos. Sounds more like an LP cut than a single, and begs us to hear more. Of which I would like to. To the best of my knowledge, this 45 does not exist on any comps. I have not heard 'Taming the Snake' to date.

*Wait - now that I think about it, Sound 80 was a custom pressing plant in Minneapolis. I have one 45 here on the label from a country band actually. So I have no idea where they are from, truth be told. And there's no date on the 45 either, so not sure the corroborating data for it being from 1974 (as some sites report).

9/8/19

Tribal Sinfonia - Do You Want Me / Something Has You Turned Around. 1970 USA-Detroit

Tribal Sinfonia were a band from Detroit, but their sound was a bit removed from the usual heavy funk / soul /acid groups of the locale. Here one picks up hints of Latin rock era Santana, and there's some wonderful fuzz, flute, horns, and harmony. Also I can hear some of New York state's finest - Micah - in these grooves. 

9/8/19 

Harlequin - Trees / What's Your Pleasure. 1974 USA-New York

Harlequin is that rare breed - a progressive rock band that released only a 45 single. As I stated on the Christian Friday (Indiana) review: "Progressive rock and the 45 single are somewhat mutually exclusive anyway." Prog rock is the ultimate long form rock music and 45s are... not. Long form that is.

In any case, this Long Island based Harlequin is often confused with another New York based Harlequin that once featured Eric Adams on vocals (yea, the Manowar guy). 

The two tracks here are excellent. 'Trees' recalls early King Crimson and Genesis, whereas 'What's Your Pleasure' brings to mind - yet another Long Island band - Cathedral. Bucket loads of mellotron on both songs here for fans of the instrument.

9/8/19 

These two tracks are not on any comps that I'm aware of. It would be great to have an all-American non-LP, non-reissued comp of progressive rock 45s or unreleased tracks released on CD (or LP is you insist). I can think of a few off the top: Xebec, Christian Friday, PBX, Graced Lightning (it's only half an album so why not?), Vesuvius, Traum, Apocalypse, Quorum, Guardian, and now Harlequin. Shoot, maybe even throw in the proggy tracks from otherwise not-very-good obscure albums like Luna Sea and Skyeros. OK, I had my fun.

Christian Friday - A Promising Glance / Disco Rag. 197? USA-Indiana

Many of you long time readers of the former CDRWL will fondly remember the gentleman known as Midwest Mike. Well he has returned with a new find! As we reflect here in 2019, it becomes pretty apparent that the flow of significant new discoveries of the 1970s / early 80s era progressive rock has slowed to a trickle. Now I know guys are still out there blogging rarities, and I haven't really kept up to be honest. But mostly what I have seen is either regurgitation of what has been presented prior, or very marginal to the core of what we'd initially set out to do. Not that they are bad albums - not at all in fact - just rather a different area of music with some crossover appeal. It becomes a bit tiring to hear things that are "good yes, but..." Sometimes we need that home run to charge the batteries. We used to state that the US and Japan seemed to be the last areas of great discovery. I have no doubt there are still dozens in Japan awaiting that eventual exposure. The AC was still turning them up at a regular pace when he disappeared (perhaps we have a conspiracy thriller novel here, as he was sharing too many of the great mysteries of the universe... when he was sworn to silence!). Parallel to what is said above, I have spent the last year or so digging deep into other areas of rare collectible vinyl. And what one discovers is that the always neglected 45 is where the last remaining grails are. And not only are the prices staggering (putting most "rare prog" to shame), but new discoveries continue to happen at an amazing pace. I myself have discovered a few things in just one short year, including what appears to be an incredibly rare Bossa Nova EP from the 60s, among many others. But nothing in my own personal field of interest. Of course progressive rock and the 45 single are somewhat mutually exclusive anyway. We have a very few on the CDRWL as it stands (and will ultimately be transferred to here), but it would never be the main focus.

So with that - we bring you Christian Friday! We cannot find out a thing about this 45. It was brought to Midwest Mike by a record dealer in Indiana, who used the awesome term of "ungoogleable" (the photos and music provided to us are all to his credit). The label turned up bupkis as well (honestly Energy Records has been used by 100s of labels).

When listening to these two tracks, it becomes apparent that this was likely recorded in the 1976 to 1978 time frame. 'A Promising Glance' (5:11 in length) could have been lifted right off Yezda Urfa's Boris album. And there are references to the more progressive side of Ethos as well (think Relics here), especially considering the copious violin work. 'Disco Rag' is where the dates I've provided become more apparent. Like many bands of the late 70s, this song was a reaction to disco, rather than a celebration of it. Musically I would categorize this track as sophisticated hard rock.

What one really hopes for is a full canister of tapes, and these two tracks are a sample thereof. That great archival release we all know and love.

So along with Terry Masters, we have our second great new progressive rock find of 2019!

9/1/19