Rock & Indie 406 Items

Debut album by the English rock band The Soft Machine (named after William S. Burroughs' novel), one of the best known exponents, along with Caravan, of the "Canterbury Sound". This masterpiece was released in 1968 and features the trio of Robert Wyatt (drums & vocals), Mike Ratledge (organ & piano), and Kevin Ayers (bass, vocals & piano). This was the only album by the band showcasing Ayers. Additional personnel includes bassist Hugh Hopper (who would later become a permanent member after Ayer's departure), and the NYC vocal group The Cake. The Soft Machine was one of the first albums recorded at the legendary Manhattan studios The Record Plant, which had been inaugurated with Jimi Hendrix's Electric Ladyland that same year. The album was given a 5-star rating on AllMusic by reviewer Richie Unterberger. The group is considered one of the most influential underground bands of their era.

Ark 2 is the only studio album by the short lived British rock band Flaming Youth. It was released in October 1969 by Fontana Records, and was written and produced by the songwriting team of Ken Howard and Alan Blaikley. Its concept, inspired by the media attention to the 1969 Moon landing, tells the story of man's evacuation from a burning Earth and its journey into space. Each member of the band sings a lead vocal. It was drummer Phil Collins' first major label recording.

The Story of Simon Simopath is the debut album by British psychedelic band Nirvana, released by Island Records in 1967. Described by Melody Maker's Chris Welch as a "science fiction pantomime album", the songs are linked with a story on the back cover which details the dream of Simon Simopath to fly. "Pentecost Hotel" was released as a single with the non-album b-side, "Feelin' Shattered". "Wings of Love" was the next single, also with a non-album b-side, "Requiem to John Coltrane. In a retrospective review on AllMusic, Stewart Mason feels that the "unashamedly twee early concept album", with its "deliberately childlike tone", despite being "a collection of unconnected songs forced together" in a "rather silly story", is a "uniformly solid set of well-constructed psych-pop tunes". The Story of Simon Simopath was selected for The Mojo Collection as one of the most significant albums in musical history.

This freakbeat jelly belly delight showcases the Bandits’ vaudeville humor, garage rock & catchy psychedelic pop! Considered a cult classic, this mixed bag of candy-coated fuzz is sure to satisfy your sweet tooth! Our favored stereo mix, pressed on yellow vinyl! Newburgh, New York psych-punks the Jelly Bean Bandits formed in 1966. Originally known as “The Mirror,” the band regularly packed area nightspots like the local Trade Winds, Poughkeepsie's Buccaneer Nightclub, and Burlington, Vermont's Red Dog. In due time, they recorded a three-song demo reel that resulted in a three-album recording contract with Mainstream Records – however, unknown to Mainstream, these three songs represented the sum total of the Jelly Bean Bandits' repertoire, forcing the band to write enough additional material to flesh out a full-length LP in the course of a week. Amazingly, their eponymous 1967 debut is excellent, a freakbeat cult classic distinguished by emotive guitar and some innovative production techniques – all the more impressive, the album was recorded in a single 12-hour stretch. Mainstream hated the end result, however, and dropped the Jelly Bean Bandits just as they were commencing work on the follow-up – only one song was completed before the sessions were aborted, leaving just one ‘60s studio album from these confectionary con-artists. – Jason Ankeny

RidingEasy Records has teamed up with Permanent Records in Los Angeles to bring this very special heavy psych rocker back into the fold for RSD 2023. New York City based African-American & Latino hard rock/psych trio Maximillian released their sole self-titled album on ABC Records in 1969, then promptly vanished. It has remained a collectors’ conversation piece ever since. Maximillian combined elements of beat poetry, a little bit of The Fugs, a hit of Funkadelic, a lick of Cream and a vibe of Hendrix worship with an ambition that seems to have jumbled these influences. The Maximillian album is a rare artifact of late-60s psychedelic rock whose appeal is not the skill of their musicianship, but the downright strangeness of it. While at times it sounds like the trio is playing entirely different songs at the same time, it’s said that producer Teddy Vann had a hand in the album’s sometimes confusing production. Gatefold

After consecutive reissues of Peruvian garage and psychedelic rock from the sixties and seventies, Discos Monterey couldn't miss the chance to resurface two of the most emblematic records of the period: "Segundo Volumen" (1967) and "Docena 3" (1968) by Los Shain's, the "conjunto de conjuntos" (the band among bands), as they were called back then. Those fifteen-year-olds started in mid-1964 and would go on to make an impressive musical career that would make history with just four records for the Iempsa label.

They recorded their first LP "El Ritmo De Los Shain's" (1966), halfway between instro rock and garage. Its main architects - Enrique "Pico" Ego Aguirre, on guitar, and Gerardo Manuel Rojas, on lead vocals - introduced psychedelia in their second work called "Volumen 2" (1967). They were accompanied by Beto Tataje on second guitar, Juan Carlos Barreda on bass, and Carlos Manuel Barreda on drums. The album contains, for the most part, their own songs, standing out their luminous melodies and a certain beat they themselves considered to be a product of the "enfermedad" (sickness), immersed as they were in "la onda", the groove of the era. An impressive album that also stood out for its sound and for the pioneering presence of the "fuzz tone" among other effects such as the tape echo or a harmonic distorter that were revolutionary in their day and that today still have an impact due to their enormous power.

A lecture in 60's psych pop (almost power pop with flashes of hard rock) with consistently solid melodical, up-tempo, organ driven songs, soaring vocal harmonies, anthemic choruses. Psyched, poppy & fun. Not an album that you would listen to regularly, but more like an old friend to go back when you are in that 60s mood.

The Stormy Six debut album is, in some ways, the mirror of an era with simple atmospheres and an almost like ‘messa beat’ feel. The harmonies are kinda elementary and the general setting is strongly influenced by the Beat origins of the group. The "Stormy Six" formed as a sextet in Milan in 1965, right along that student environment that had already given birth to Maurizio Arcieri's "New Dada". The album is an eccentric mixture of Beat, Psychedelia and proto-prog in the vein of Moody Blues "In the search of the lost chord" or even early Genesis. The songs are almost written by the Rocchi-Fabbri duo even if, in retrospect, it was assumed that three of them belonged to Rocchi alone: ‘Ramo’, with a mystical indian flavor, ‘I Tuoi Occhi Sono Tristi’ – much in the vein of Brian Auger- and the poignant ‘Sotto I Portici Di Marmo’.

Crazed time signatures abound as musicians from the West look East for inspiration, infusing their rock and jazz sounds with vibes looted from India and the Far East. A true marriage of Western and (Middle) Eastern music with a fuzzed-out psychedelic edge. Released originally in 1969, Middle Eastern Rock is a unique, compelling fusion record from Armenian-American oud player John Berberian. The Rock East Ensemble, Beberian's backing band, consists of the artist's standard group, which specializes in traditional Armenian music with a jazz edge, and American session musicians who bring more of a rock sound. The results, which blend elements of psychedelia, free jazz, surf music, and various klezmer, African, and Middle Eastern textures, are dazzling, and are sure to thrill anyone with a taste for rare "outside" albums. ' AllMusic Review by Anthony Tognazzini

Limited to 2000 copies.

After briefly replacing Eric Clapton in John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, guitarist/bassist Geoff Krivit formed Doctor K’s Blue Band with pianist Richard Kay and singer/harmonica player Mick Hasse, the lineup completed by bassist Harold Vickers, slide guitarist Roger Rolt and future Steve Hillage drummer Eric Peachey. Their self-titled debut had top-notch renditions of blues classics such as ‘I Can’t Lose,’ ‘Key To The Highway’ and ‘Pet Cream Man,’ as well as spirited originals such as ‘Strobe Lemming’s Lament’ and the piano stomp ‘Crippled Clarence,’ but the album failed to break through. Grab a copy of this rarity to be blown away!

One of very few indie label releases on Spin Magazine's list of 100 top counter-cultural music, ahead of legends like Mulatu Astatke, Brigitte Fontaine, Pärson Sound, Ornette Coleman, Sun Ra and His Solar Arkestra, Harry Partch, and Os Mutantes. Zowie! "In 1965, eight guys from London, Ontario, decided to start a free-improv group — 'free' to the point of building their own instruments, which they decided couldn't be set up to produce specific pitches... Their vocalist, schoolteacher Bill Exley, banged on a cooking pot and bellowed hilariously about stupidity and destruction and Canada. They didn't treat what they were doing as an advanced, visionary form of experimental music, but as a big, stupid, fun, ecstatic noise. By the '90s, noise artists finally recognized NSB as their ancestors — and, almost 50 years after they started, the surviving members of the Nihilist Spasm Band still play every Monday night while their children haunt loft spaces the world over." —Spin

The second offering from Traffic, October 1968 would be their self titled Album, achieving a strong balance between Dave Mason’s simple and straightforward folk-rock songs and Steve Winwood’s complex and often haunting rock jams would see the album peak in the UK charts at No’9 and No’16 in the US Billboard Chart. Re-Issued individually from the phenomenal 2019 Traffic – The Studio Albums 1967-74 Boxset. Remastered from the original tapes, pressed on 180g heavy weight vinyl and artwork caringly overseen and interpreted, this album is a must for any newcomer or indeed, seasoned Traffic fan.

One album into their career in 1969, Mutantes showed few signs of musical burnout after turning in one of the oddest LPs released in the '60s. Similar to its predecessor, Mutantes relies on an atmosphere of experimentation and continual musical collisions, walking a fine line between innovation and pointless genre exercises. The lead track ("Dom Quixote") has the same focus on stylistic cut-and-paste as their debut LP's first track ("Panis et Circenses"). Among the band's musical contemporaries, Mutantes sounds similar only to songs like the Who's miniature suite "A Quick One While He's Away" -- though done in three minutes instead of nine, and much more confusing given the language barrier. The album highlights ("Nao Va Se Perder por Ai") and ("Dois Mil e Um") come with what sounds like a typically twisted take on roots music (both Brazilian and American), complete with banjo, accordion, and twangy vocals. Though there are several other enjoyable tracks, including "Magica" and a slap-happy stomp called "Rita Lee," there's a palpable sense that the experimentation here isn't serving much more than its own ends. If the first album's relentless eclecticism did in fact occasionally result in dry passages, it's especially true here

The Wynder K. Frog story evolves around Mick Weaver. After he switched from piano to organ he joined a band named The Chapters that would soon be renamed Wynder K. Frog and perform material from James Brown's Flames, Booker T. and The MGs or even songs learned through Georgie Fame's recordings and Graham Bond's repertoire. Wynder K. Frog moved to London and became regulars in the city's R&B scene playing at Swingin' London's clubs like the Tiles or The Marquee. A contract with Island Records was secured and -under the wings of producers like Chris Blackwell, Guy Stevens, Jimmy Miller or Gus Dudgeon- Wynder K Frog, a name that would eventually be used as a pseudonym for Weaver more than a proper band name, did some some amazing Hammond organ-ized recordings and issued in three LPs and a bunch of cool 45s.

At the end of the 1960s, Weaver would quit the "band scene" to become one of the most in demand session musicians and throughout his career he'd be heard backing names such as Eric Burdon, Roger Chapman, Dave Gilmour, Keef Hartley, Alexis Korner, Ralph McTell, Taj Mahal or Otis Rush a.o, but his LPs as Wynder K Frog are classic Hammond sound from the 1960s UK and will appeal to those into Brian Auger, Graham Bond, The Artwoods, Zoot Money, Jimmy McGriff, Booker T. & The MGs and the likes.

OUT OF THE FRYING PAN
Released at the end of the summer of 1968, and with a host of session musicians that included the brass section of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, producer Gus Dudgeon helped Weaver / Wynder K Frog to improve the results obtained on the debut LP and get one step closer to the live action. The formula was more or less the same, instrumental hammond a go go covers of hits from the era, including The Rolling Stones' "Jumping Jack Flash", a funked up version of the classic Tommy Tucker blues number "Hi Heel Sneakers", an exploding cover of "Tequila" or the standard "Green Door", but it also included the sensational Weaver-penned "Harpsichord Shuffle".

UK psychedelia moved into prog rock with spices of hard rock in the late sixties, some even coined a new label to describe the strong textures resulting of the mixture of rockier blues sounds, jazz, revolutionized freakbeat and the hardest side of popsike - ‘heavy psych’. Amongst the best works of the era were the two splendid LPs recorded by Welsh band Eyes Of Blue.

The Eyes Of Blue where formed in 1966 and soon won the Melody Maker Beat Contest, a fact that secured them a recording deal with Deram records. The label issued their first 45s, they were good but -due to company pressure- more Blue Eyed Soul or even bubblegum oriented. By the time they released their first LP, on Mercury, their real sound had surfaced, showing influences by some of the coolest bands from the US West Coast like The Doors or Love, and also counted on the help of Graham Bond, who penned some of the most significant tunes on the album. Heavily Hammond organ driven athmospheres taking things one step further than The Nice, guitar pyrotechnics, an excellent vocal work, some eastern influenced guitar raga, a great taste in choosing cover versions and strong songwriting make Crossroads Of Time one of the best progressive LPs from 1968.

First ever legit vinyl reissue, in a limited run of only 500 copies, in remastered sound and featuring an insert with photos and liner notes.

After 53 years of oblivion, Walkin Up con Los Walkers, the fundamental work of Argentinian garage-psych is being reissued again in Argentina from the original mono master tape. An iconic LP from “the other” youngster music—the one that was known as “beat music"—it was originally released in 1969 and has never been reissued in its original format until now. The band had previously released two LPs and several 45s which contained an exquisite selection of covers, from The Rolling Stones material to songs by Astor Piazzola, but with Walkin’ Up they entered history as excellent songwriters and conceptual artists. With a great use of studio production, unseen before in Argentina, they laid down a wide range of psychedelic sounds and structures that decades later are be considered as the Buenos Aires version of Los Shakers’ La Conferencia Secreta del Toto’s Bar—both albums under a huge influence from The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s. Limited edition of 300 copies on 180-gram vinyl with the careful restoration and printing of the original artwork. Includes a printed postcard and a lavish 4-page booklet with photos and liner notes by journalist Víctor Tapia.

180 gram high quality pressing vinyl!

Insect Trust were an American jazz-based rock band that formed in New York in 1967. The members of the band were Nancy Jeffries on vocals, Bill Barth on guitar, Luke Faust - formerly of the Holy Modal Rounders - on guitar, banjo, fiddle, and harmonica, Trevor Koehler on saxophone, and Robert Palmer (1945–1997) on clarinet and alto saxophone. Elvin Jones and Bernard Purdie both drummed with the group at times. Bill Folwell, who had played with Albert Ayler (and later an original member of The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo), on bass and trumpet; as well as Warren Gardner on trumpet and clarinet, were part of the band by the time they recorded their second album. The band probably took its name from William S. Burroughs's novel Naked Lunch. The music ranges from surreal folk-rock (in the vein of such local heroes like Holy Modal Rounders and Fugs), to Booker T.-like pop-soul, to flat-out free jazz. Never intended to be a traditional pop act, the Insect Trust should be best remembered for extending rock's boundaries and taking the genre to a much hipper level without resorting to a lot of banal technique.

Mapache is proud to present the first ever vinyl reissue of The Chuck & Mary Perrin album: Brother and Sister. Recorded in 1968, this gemm is one of the biggest secrets of US folk. Full of amazing melodies and beautiful songs, this is one of the hardest to find records for collectors of folk, psych and singer/songwriters style records. Includes covers by Donovan or John Sebastian plus stunning originals like "Commencement", "Mornings" or "Babe can you see" .

Only 500 copies were pressed, originals of this rarity have been sold for more than $1.000. It is one of the highest rated albums on record collectors guides.

Remastered from the original tapes, this reissue comes with an additional insert. Includes previously unseen pictures and comes in a gatefold tip on jacket, exact replica of the original record issued on Chuck's own label, Websters Last Word.

- Limi...

Limited to 500 copies. Monster rare USA private pressing from 1968, rated with 6 stars in the Hans Pokora 3001 Record Collector's Dreams book. The Yays & Nays were a groovy, hip group (says so on the original LP jacket!) comprised of three guys and three girls. Theirs is a truly unique sounding album, full of creative songwriting and vocal arrangements and a style that defies categorization. There's garage folk-rock-the opening track 'Gotta Keep Traveling' is really astounding!, tracks with vocals in a kind of 'Kicking Against the Pricks"-era Nick Cave-channelling-Tony-Joe-White-meets-Johnny Cash vein, a little country flair, and some cuts of an ''Incredible Strange Music'' type. Weird and wonderful, in it's own peculiar way. Reissued for the first time, in collaboration with band members, and with original artwork.

Originally released in late 1968, La Conferencia Secreta del Toto’s Bar was Los Shaker’s psychedelic masterpiece. Inspired by Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - a milestone that would change the face of pop music forever back in 1967 – Los Shakers created a fundamental album in the history of South American rock music, a seminal record for many artists to come, full of pleasant surprises, magic sounds and sense of humour. It offers a complex fusion of styles, with elements from both rock and jazz, plus the use of exotic instruments like the bandoneon–widely used in tango music but unprecedented until then in pop/rock adventures. It all makes the last album by Los Shakers an essential, innovative record for any collector and aficionado. Sounding as fresh and original today as it did back in the late sixties, here’s the first ever vinyl reissue.

LOS Cirros are one of the most obscure Spanish rock bands from the late 60s. Coming out of a tiny village in one of the smallest provinces of the country sure helped them being fully ignored, but how cool those guys proved to be when discovered in compilations such as “Viñedos” or “Pentecostés Vibrations”!!! They released two seven inches (1969 and 1970), both very very rare and featuring pretty cool songs in a blend of garage, light psychedelia and pop. Now, these two 45s are reissued (marketed together, not to be sold separately!), including an unreleased bonus track and with the usual attention to detail of the Madmua label, with the addition of an insert and two postcards. Limited to 500 copies.

... one of the greatest albums of all time! ... 180 gram vinyl with bonus track 'chelsea girls'