Balthazar - La Marche des Travailleurs / C'est Bon. 1968 France

The A side is punk psych with French vocals, hyperactive drums, and fuzzy guitar. The B side predicts the French Theatrical movement as brought forth by Ange and the likes. But much more psychedelic of course given the year. A pioneering work. 

Confusingly there is another French band with the name Balthazar that are apparently pure pop. 

10/22/19

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

Zeugma - Témoignage / Le Magicien. 1978 France

When you name your band Zeugma, then one can only presume a Magma styled masterpiece awaits. Or at least some off the rails hyper prog album like Yezda Urfa. I said something very similar recently about the Swedish band (have to look it up...) Zthürehz. And like said Swedish band, Zeugma is nothing of the sort. 'Témoignage' is a decent hard rock song, with a couple of cool breaks. 'Le Magicien' is a fairly dull folk rocker with little to offer beyond a nice bit of guitar at the end. Not a bad way to spend 11 minutes, but you probably won't do it again.

5/10/19

Terza Classe - Animal Love / Jimmy. 1971 Italy

Terza Classe (aka III Classe) were a band from Bergamo that ultimately evolved into Perdio. 'Animal Love' is a hard funky number with choppy Hammond and fuzz guitar with English vocals. 'Jimmy' is a fine hard psych instrumental with organ and fuzz guitar.

5/10/19 (new entry)

3éme Oeil - La Haine Reine. 1983 France

The stylized 3éme Oeil, sometimes referred to in written form as Troisieme Oeil, released this one 45 in 1983. And it sounds for all the world like an early 80s rock album. Hard edged AOR is the name of the game here, though with more progressive styling than that may imply. 'La Haine Reine' conjures up similar era Journey, with vocals in French of course. 'Les Mutants' is a fine instrumental, serving up a sound not that dissimilar to Rush's Moving Pictures era. The latter half adds in some fine Moog synthesizer work, and for the last 30 seconds, all hell breaks loose into a mid 70s prog rock extravaganza! These guys had the chops and the knowledge. They came around either too late or too early depending on one's perspective. Certainly they would have been a force in the 90s prog rock revival, especially if they eschewed any commercial ambition.

5/10/19

Triptyque - If You Are in a Bad Mood / Don't Worry. 1970 France

These three troublemakers were all in and around the Heldon camp throughout the 1970s. Alain Renaud was also involved with Triangle, and the music here is similar to that fine band's debut. Mostly hard psych rock sung in English. Would make for excellent bonus tracks.

5/10/19

Algue - Descente aux Enfers / Les Enfants. 1981 France

Interesting. I knew the name Algue sounded familiar, and that's because their moniker sits with the Jean Luc Hamonet album, which I own (and need to revisit again). I guess I'd thought Hamonet was the leader of a band called Algue. I'm just now catching on that Algue were their own group, and likely Hamonet hired them on for his sole recording.

Prior (or maybe after, we'll get to that in a minute), Algue released this extended single (nearly 11 minutes) with two tracks. 'Descente aux Enfers' is a fine rock song with extended jamming toward the end, which gives off a whiff of a west coast psych feeling. The song itself is relatively non distinctive however. The gem here is 'Les Enfants'  - which conjures up the ghost of none other than Jimi Hendrix. Mostly instrumental with some fierce wah wah guitar soloing. Great stuff. If the Hamonet album ever does get reissued, it sure would be nice to append these two tracks to it!

Now to the date of the recording. The "generally accepted" date is 1981. Once again, I'm at a loss where that comes from, as there is no date on the single itself. And there is no corroborating data (that I could find). The French Discography book (i.e. the analog internet for you kids scoring at home) calls out 1984. The problem is... this single sounds more like 1972! Then again the Hamonet album is from 1982, and it certainly sounds earlier than that one, so I question 1984 for sure. Who knows... perhaps the story will emerge one day. Pay no mind to that, check this one out if you have the chance.

Ownership: SP: 1981 private. With picture sleeve. Recent online acquisition (2022).

5/10/19 (first listen / review / new entry); 7/25/22 (update)

Hazard - Le Chemin de L'Oubli. 1974 France

Hazard were a very obscure band who played many concerts throughout France in the early 70s, but only left behind this one single in 1974. For my tastes, Hazard are the exact type of band one hopes (begs?) for a quality archival release to emerge. That mythical album which was recorded and well preserved, but never released. We can dream right?

The music here belongs to the French theatrical progressive rock genre of Ange and Mona Lisa, but really it's much more than that. There's a space rock element that permeates, with synthesizers and mellotron providing the backdrop. In this manner I'm most reminded of Pulsar, especially at the time of Pollen. A full album of this could prove to be at the highest rating levels.

Ownership: SP: 1974 private. With very nice picture sleeve. Recent online acquisition (2022).

5/10/19 (first listen / review / new entry); 5/29/22 (update)