Classic Rock 181 Items

Wytch Hazel’s stellar 2016 debut Prelude confirmed these Lancastrian apprentice wizards to be Britain’s most promising new hard rock band. Two years on, that promise comes to abundant fruition on II: Sojourn, an album that moves Wytch Hazel on from the innocence and exuberance of the debut to a darker, more profound and complex place, carefully wrought into optimum shape by the band’s singer, guitarist, songwriter and mastermind Colin Hendra. “I’m really into the idea of an album,” notes Colin. “I don’t do mix-tapes, I don’t listen to singles, I’m interested in albums. I want to make a good, listenable, cohesive work, that is the whole thing.” Asked what inspirations were brought to bear this time, Colin has good news, and even better taste: “I was listening to plenty of Judas Priest, Thin Lizzy and Wishbone Ash last year,” remarks the frontman. “This seems to be more of a hard rock album, where the last one was more rock-folk. It’s definitely more rock than folk!” The most crucial influence fully expresses itself via Les Paul guitars in sweet twin harmony through cranked Super Lead Marshalls - “Exactly the same type of amp that Thin Lizzy would have used,” beams Colin - a benefit of working in James Atkinson’s Hand Of Law Studio, a converted gaolhouse in Leeds. “We knew there would be a lot more great gear, more amps, more options,” enthuses Colin of this productive new work environment. “We were more prepared, we planned better. I had a lot more vocals to record on this album, pretty much every song has at least three harmonies, but James is a really chilled out guy, he made it easy for us. I had a very clear idea of how I wanted each song to sound, I thought about every single aspect. I probably over-prepared for this album, and it paid off!” Wytch Hazel’s proud, avowed Protestant Christianity continues to set them apart from the occult hocus-pocus of their peers, and the very title Sojourn has a Biblical inspiration: “It’s used a lot in the Old Testament, people would travel somewhere to stay for a short period of time,” explains Colin, comparing the idea to Wytch Hazel’s development since Prelude. “We’re going to reside here with this sound for a while, and the next album might not sound the same. Come and have a listen to this aspect of Wytch Hazel - it’s a temporary stay. We’ll be here for a while, then there will be something else. I’m always writing, it’s a constant stream, but I’m always trying to raise the bar, because I don’t want the next album to be not as good as the other ones!”

Limited Edition. Gold Vinyl.
Includes original insert and CD.

Black Vinyl.
Still shrink wrapped but opened.
Includes original insert and CD.

Second volume of Vampisoul's "Czech Up!" series, which compiles 60s and
70s gems from the vaults of Supraphon and Panton labels from the former
Czechoslovakia. Freakbeat, soul, baroque pop, prog-funk, garage rock, psych-jazz...
all that and more is contained within these 22 tracks, wonderfully produced and
now carefully remastered, many of them never reissued before. Includes detailed
liner notes by Lukás Machata

Six volumes worth of licensed tracks released in just three years: doing the Dark Lord’s work isn’t an easy job, but somebody’s gotta do it, so here is Brown Acid - The Sixth Trip, with more lined up. The heads just can’t get enough obscure hard rock, heavy psych, and proto-metal from the late‘60s and ‘70s!

This time around Riding Easy present ten deep cuts from across the continental USA and one from the neighbors up North. This trip kicks off with an outrageous number from Gold out of San Francisco circa 1970. The band used to open their sets with this over-the-top frantic jammer which is absolutely mind-blowing! Delving deeper into the depths, Canadians continue to prove that they could bang heads with the best of ‘em! Heat Exchange from Toronto released the rollicking ripper “Inferno” on the Yorkville label way back in 1968 and it’s still thumping almost fifty years later.

Some more examples of the mind-melting tracks on this platter: Missouri isn’t a state that brought us a lot of heavy 45s, but there are a handful of outstanding tracks, one of which is the funk-laced anthem “Give Me Time” by Backwood Memory from Kansas City. Youngstown, Ohio, meanwhile, might have been the Hard Rock Mecca back in the day. Travis is yet another Youngstown group that aimed to get asses out of seats and out in the streets. Truth & Janey had their incredible proto-metal masterpiece 1976 album No Rest For The Wicked; released four years earlier, “Midnight Horseman” was a 45-only track, included here!

Those are just some of the fruits of months worth of record digging and detective work included on this latest installment. This is the stuff that makes life worth living, at least until the next Trip…

Limited edition for Schwarzer Freitag Record Store Day 2018! Only 1 per customer!

Another friday dedicated to the black gold!

Non-hippie devastating guitar-psych and PCP induced hard-rock!! ANGEL DUST PSYCHEDELIA is a "100% killers, no fillers" compilation featuring obscure and unknown 45s / unreleased acetates from the US, most of them released on private labels. Many local underground bands of the late 1960s-early 1970s lacked the money and/or material needed to make a full-length album, and would put out a self-released 45 instead. Record collectors and writers have been slow to understand this treasure of vintage private press singles, with music that is every bit as good as hallowed underground LPs like Mystic Siva or Boa. 14 tracks including the monster acid-punker "Time gone to waste" by Local Traffic, post-Stereo Shoestring band Red House with an unreleased track, the mega rare acetate by Matchbox from Houston, tremendous acid-psych by Dick St John and Ragweed Patch, raw hard-rock by Masque and Zoo and more. The perfect companion to those legendary 80s psych comps like Brain Shadows, Acid Dreams, Endless Journey. Remastered sound for a stunning in-your-face heavy guitar experience. Limited to 500 copies.

Still sealed with hype sticker. Limited edition. Gold vinyl Limited edition.

Limited edition for Record Store Day 2018!

The Third Sound is the solo project of Icelandic singer-songwriter Hákon Aðalsteinsson, formerly of Singapore Sling and currently touring in Brian Jonestown Massacre. Now residing in Berlin with a fleshed-out live line-up, The Third Sound are gearing up for the release of their fourth album ‘All Tomorrow’s Shadows’ - arriving via Fuzz Club Records on May 11th. Recorded by the band themselves over the harsh Berlin winter, the new record is their most refined yet – offering an expansive exploration into krautrock-tainted post-punk and dark psychedelia.

Following on from their 2016 LP ‘Gospels of Degeneration’, the new album takes a much more sparse and rhythmic approach than we’ve seen before, combining hypnotic guitar drones, motorik rhythms and haunting vocals – the last track boasting a guest feature from Anton Newcombe, who released the band’s debut album on his own imprint A Recordings.

Vinyl is close to NM. 2018 reissue.

6LP plus Blu Ray box set. Two LPs include the newly mastered Electric Landyland album, two LPs feature ‘More Electric Ladyland: The Early Takes’ which presents 20 never before heard demos and studio outtakes and two LPs present ‘The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Live At the Hollywood Bowl 9/14/68‘.
This set also contains a 48-page book with Jimi’s handwritten lyrics, poem and instructions to his record label, as well as never before published photos from the recording sessions that were shot by Eddie Kramer himself. There is a Blu Ray Disc added that features a new 5.1 surround sound mix by Eddie Kramer, 24 bit/96 kz high resolution stereo audio, as well as a documentary on the making of the landmark record.

White/Black vinyl seems unplayed. Tiny wear. Limited edition.

Press releases are rubbish! The band who wrote the music don't write them, so some oik who didn't write the music is wheeled in and then, with a Thesaurus propped open on their lap, they attempt to describe sounds with words. As I said, rubbish! So I asked co-founder and frontman of The Cravats, The Shend, to describe 'Dustbin of Sound', their first new LP in 37 years. "As always, it's unique" he said enigmatically. The Thesaurus gave me, 'distinctive', 'individual', 'idiosyncratic', 'different', 'eccentric' and 'unusual' for unique (flipping writing itself this).
The Cravats have indeed always been all of those things, but 'unique' sums it up just fine. Okay, you may prefer to be dragged along the motorway under a rusty Land Rover than have to listen to that sax-riddled, bass-laden Dadaist weirdness again but you can't deny they're unique. And with 13 brand new slabs of peculiarity from these particularly peculiar people (even oscillator overlord, Simeon Coxe of Silver Apples pops up for a few seconds on 'Motorcycle Man'), DoS is still the Cravats that John Peel loved (4 sessions) back in 1978, but with an extra 35 years of life on Earth soaked into their bones.
The two critically acclaimed singles from last year, Blurred and Jingo Bells which Marc Riley, Gideon Coe and Henry Rollins amongst others, played a wad on the wireless are here, as well as songs involving buried cattle, hatcheting Toyotas, death ray vapourisation, the mud-soaked sibling of Neptune and, of course, atheist yacht-owning crocodiles. Er, help me out here, Shend. "Music should always be passionate, preposterous, atmospheric and above all entertaining. We fulfill the remit." They do. It's like watching 13 magnificent mini-movies at your local multiplex but you're eyeballing them with your ears. And talking of Thesauruses, who the hell uses words like, 'maliloquent' and 'predilection' in Pop songs? If Shakespeare, Max Ernst and Beefheart had a radio show, this LP would probably be on heavy rotation.

Standard 2LP Vinyl:
- The Beatles (‘White Album’) 2018 stereo mix
- 180-gram 2LP vinyl in gatefold sleeve with faithfully replicated original artwork

In November 1968, millions of double LPs were shipped to record stores worldwide ahead of that tumultuous year’s most anticipated music event: the November 22nd release of The BEATLES (soon to be better known as ‘The White Album’). With their ninth studio album, The Beatles took the world on a whole new trip, side one blasting off with the exhilarating rush of a screaming jet escorting Paul McCartney’s punchy, exuberant vocals on “Back In The U.S.S.R.” “Dear Prudence” came next, John Lennon warmly beckoning his friend and all of us to “look around.” George Harrison imparted timeless wisdom in “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” singing, “With every mistake we must surely be learning.” Ringo Starr’s “Don’t Pass Me By” marked his first solo songwriting credit on a Beatles album. For 50 years, ‘The White Album’ has invited its listeners to venture forth and explore the breadth and ambition of its music, delighting and inspiring each new generation in turn.

On November 9, The Beatles will release a suite of lavishly presented ‘White Album’ packages (Apple Corps Ltd./Capitol/UMe). The album’s 30 tracks are newly mixed by producer Giles Martin and mix engineer Sam Okell in stereo and 5.1 surround audio, joined by 27 early acoustic demos and 50 session takes, most of which are previously unreleased in any form.

“We had left Sgt. Pepper’s band to play in his sunny Elysian Fields and were now striding out in new directions without a map,” says Paul McCartney in his written introduction for the new ‘White Album’ releases.

This is the first time The BEATLES (‘White Album’) has been remixed and presented with additional demos and session recordings. The album’s sweeping new edition follows 2017’s universally acclaimed Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band Anniversary Edition releases. To create the new stereo and 5.1 surround audio mixes for ‘The White Album,’ Martin and Okell worked with an expert team of engineers and audio restoration specialists at Abbey Road Studios in London. All the new ‘White Album’ releases include Martin’s new stereo album mix, sourced directly from the original four-track and eight-track session tapes. Martin’s new mix is guided by the album’s original stereo mix produced by his father, George Martin.

“In remixing ‘The White Album,’ we’ve tried to bring you as close as possible to The Beatles in the studio,” explains Giles Martin in his written introduction for the new edition. “We’ve peeled back the layers of the ‘Glass Onion’ with the hope of immersing old and new listeners into one of the most diverse and inspiring albums ever made.”

Standard 2LP Vinyl:
- The Beatles (‘White Album’) 2018 stereo mix
- 180-gram 2LP vinyl in gatefold sleeve with faithfully replicated original artwork

In November 1968, millions of double LPs were shipped to record stores worldwide ahead of that tumultuous year’s most anticipated music event: the November 22nd release of The BEATLES (soon to be better known as ‘The White Album’). With their ninth studio album, The Beatles took the world on a whole new trip, side one blasting off with the exhilarating rush of a screaming jet escorting Paul McCartney’s punchy, exuberant vocals on “Back In The U.S.S.R.” “Dear Prudence” came next, John Lennon warmly beckoning his friend and all of us to “look around.” George Harrison imparted timeless wisdom in “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” singing, “With every mistake we must surely be learning.” Ringo Starr’s “Don’t Pass Me By” marked his first solo songwriting credit on a Beatles album. For 50 years, ‘The White Album’ has invited its listeners to venture forth and explore the breadth and ambition of its music, delighting and inspiring each new generation in turn.

On November 9, The Beatles will release a suite of lavishly presented ‘White Album’ packages (Apple Corps Ltd./Capitol/UMe). The album’s 30 tracks are newly mixed by producer Giles Martin and mix engineer Sam Okell in stereo and 5.1 surround audio, joined by 27 early acoustic demos and 50 session takes, most of which are previously unreleased in any form.

“We had left Sgt. Pepper’s band to play in his sunny Elysian Fields and were now striding out in new directions without a map,” says Paul McCartney in his written introduction for the new ‘White Album’ releases.

This is the first time The BEATLES (‘White Album’) has been remixed and presented with additional demos and session recordings. The album’s sweeping new edition follows 2017’s universally acclaimed Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band Anniversary Edition releases. To create the new stereo and 5.1 surround audio mixes for ‘The White Album,’ Martin and Okell worked with an expert team of engineers and audio restoration specialists at Abbey Road Studios in London. All the new ‘White Album’ releases include Martin’s new stereo album mix, sourced directly from the original four-track and eight-track session tapes. Martin’s new mix is guided by the album’s original stereo mix produced by his father, George Martin.

“In remixing ‘The White Album,’ we’ve tried to bring you as close as possible to The Beatles in the studio,” explains Giles Martin in his written introduction for the new edition. “We’ve peeled back the layers of the ‘Glass Onion’ with the hope of immersing old and new listeners into one of the most diverse and inspiring albums ever made.”

cardboard sleeve

Limited edition.

EU reissue in gatefold.

Spiny Normen were an incredible mid-’70s Houston hard rock, progressive, psychedelic rock band that featured mellotron, Vox Jaguar, crunchy, heavy guitars, flute with echo effects, and lots more. A totally lost relic, this self-titled album was recorded at a community college and never released. The recording is very English, dark, mysterious and proggy, but also very acid-drenched.

Solar Project don´t try to impress with technical craftsmanship, fast licks or complex passages, but concentrate with a Pink Floyd-like overall sound. This overall picture is filled with excellent keyboard and guitar parts, various singing voices, mysterious sound effects and nice solos. The fact that Solar Project are heavily influenced by Pink Floyd only contributes to the overall idea. On Here I am, you hear that Solar Project do have a sound of their own. The core of the band is formed by keyboardist Robert Valet and guitarist Peter Terhoeven, two German musicians with a progressive heart of gold. They are assisted by several guest musicians, who are the backing band for Solar Project. Complex art rock, sometimes heavy, sometimes floydian-style filigrane, sometimes psychedelic, this perfectly describes the musical spectrum.

Solar Project don´t try to impress with technical craftsmanship, fast licks or complex passages, but concentrate with a Pink Floyd-like overall sound. This overall picture is filled with excellent keyboard and guitar parts, various singing voices, mysterious sound effects and nice solos. The fact that Solar Project are heavily influenced by Pink Floyd only contributes to the overall idea. On Here I am, you hear that Solar Project do have a sound of their own. The core of the band is formed by keyboardist Robert Valet and guitarist Peter Terhoeven, two German musicians with a progressive heart of gold. They are assisted by several guest musicians, who are the backing band for Solar Project. Complex art rock, sometimes heavy, sometimes floydian-style filigrane, sometimes psychedelic, this perfectly describes the musical spectrum.

Limited edition for Record Store Day 2018!

Limited edition for Record Store Day 2018!

Performance at Filmore from 1968.

Limited and numbered edition of 500 copies on orange and white vinyl in a deluxe heavy-duty cover case.

Limited edition for Schwarzer Freitag Record Store Day 2018! Only 1 per customer!

Another friday dedicated to the black gold!

Legendary garage punk recorded in the mid '80s and pressed in the mid '90s. A true classic that finally gets released after more than 30 years. A handful of promo copies got into circulation at the time and are considered a holy grail to collectors. The flipside 'Rainy Days' is a previously unheard track which could easily be mistaken for The Seeds. Real '60s style garage punk at its very best.

digisleeve with booklet

33 minutes of pure, unadulterated, psychedelic Krautrock courtesy of PYRAMID: an obscure studio project produced by Toby Robinson aka The Mad Twiddler. These sessions were recorded circa 1975-76 in Cologne for the underground Pyramid label, which was operated by Toby and his friend Robin Page (the Fluxus artist). During that time, Toby worked as engineer and assistant at various studios in Cologne, including the famous Dieter Dierks studios, where most of the albums from the Ohr/Pilz/Cosmic Courier catalogue were registered. Having access to the studios during dead hours, Toby recorded lot of sessions just for fun without any commercial interest, featuring friends and musicians who frequented the studios and the underground art/music scene of Cologne. Some of these sessions were later relesed as hand-made vinyl micro pressings on his Pyramid label with help from artist Robin Page.

EU reissue from 2018.