Somehow I’ve been avoiding ELO albums until now, and I’ve been missing a lot! Their first record is full of creative and experimental pieces that are at least as good as any of their popular stuff. As an album it was somewhat rough, but a pleasantly different experience that expanded my understanding of music.
Even though I was already familiar with the 1st Movement instrumental, which I hold in high regard, my favourite piece ended up being the classical-sounding Battle of Marston Moor (July 2nd 1644). Enjoy!
But more on that later. This post is concentrated on one of the people who’s been following me since the days of Grooveshark (oh, it seems like ages ago… on the other hand, it seems like Grooveshark was still online yesterday…). Presenting you, the one and only—Avigail!
Together we’ve been discovering great music and she was practically watching over me so that I won’t take music too seriously and go too far into that deep, deep stuff… Because it’s a quicksand that sucks you in, and suddenly you don’t know where you stand…
Recently she was doing a podcast at her friend’s website. And it was great! Avi thanked me for the musical influences, and I was thanking her back—there’s no better feeling for a music enthusiast than to see someone taking a liking to your suggestions! Although I bet this feeling is same for everyone.
The podcast is in Russian, yet it doesn’t really matter even if you don’t understand a word. I still suggest you take a listen (of course I do! After all this build-up, I wouldn’t really say: “nah, don’t really go there, it’s not worth it”). Alternatively, you can just browse the youtube links provided on the page. Perchance you’ll notice some of the songs that have appeared in this blog, or even more than half of them, in case you’ve been listening to my broadcast on Grooveshark before!
Me and my band released our first video footage from our gig at Nosturi! Check it out. And stay tuned, for there will be more live footages of us released soon!
You can find us on the following channels:
Facebook: facebook.com/datsband
Soundclound: soundcloud.com/datsband
Twitter: @datsband (not much there yet)
Instagram: @datsband (not much there yet)
Email: datsband (at) gmail.com (fanmail always appreciated !! )
Been a while since I last wrote a review. This album is claimed to be prog rock by multiple sources (Youtube & Allmusic), and when I couldn’t find the album on progarchives.com, the mother of all progsites, my interest grew. Moreover, the band turned out to be Australian, and there was nothing Australian that could come to my mind except for AC/DC. That’s when I knew I had to fix this gap in my knowledge, and fix it quick.
As it turned out, the only album by Cleves wasn’t anywhere near prog, although they obviously have a certain twist in how they groove. The Cleves is a pleasant mix of psychedelic rock and heavy-going solo jams, resembling somewhat the style of Argent. The steady beat on the background seems to unite the whole album. A nice listen, but nothing too special.
Below is the third song from their LP, Keep Trying, which I consider to be the highlight of the album.
It is finally out! The third compilation album, which consists solely of singles previously unknown to me, by the bands that I’ve come to respect greatly.
For the past few years I’ve been so fixated on albums, that I’ve completely missed out all the singles. And there are some truly wonderful ones, by the bands that I’d already come to respect greatly. Compiling this list took me lots of time, but I couldn’t be more satisfied with the result. Unnkerr Swéghléoðras: Part 3 — Single Edition turned into something wonderful.
Zombies were completely a sixties band, so it’s no wonder they had lots of singles, as LP releases weren’t too frequent yet. Most of their singles weren’t too good though, but you just can’t go without digging Colin Blunstone‘s voice as well as Rod Argent‘s sweet keyboard play. This Just Out Of Reach single wasn’t too successful at the time, but I found it to be their one of their best non-album singles for sure—and it fit the mood of this compilation perfectly. The B-side, Remember You, is also a very pleasant experience.
As you might know, in two years between their 2nd and 3rd albums UFO changed their style from spacey, underground garage rock (which I liked more) to mainstream-oriented hard rock (which I liked less). In the meantime they however released a single, which still features their old guitarist Mick Bolton before he left the group in January 1972. That single was Galactic Love. The B-side features a shortened song from their 1971 Live album — Loving Cup.
Julia Dream is the B-side to the 1968 single It Would Be So Nice. Pink Floyd had a total of four non-album singles released before Syd Barrett had to leave the band. Some of them were later released on a 1971 compilation album Relics, with Julia Dream being the 6th track of the album. All of the singles were magnificent, and this one was a very tough choice to make.
Originally, I wanted to pick a track written by Syd Barrett, such as Candy and The Current Bun, See Emily Play or Apples and Oranges, but it turned out I already knew most of those, and I also found myself captivated by this Waters‘ tune. Additionally, it appears that this song was first one to be sung by David Gilmour, who was already backing up the mentally unstable Barrett at the time. Gilmour performed the guitars for Julia Dream as well. Therefore, ironically, no credit goes to Barrett in this song.
This track might not be available through Youtube in your country — if that’s the case, I suggest you use a proxy or a VPN. This way you will certainly be able to hear it, and all other songs in the playlist as well!
CSNY didn’t release any other non-album singles than Ohio (1970) with Find The Cost Of Freedom as its B-side. Both were later included on their 1974 compilation album So Far. With Ohio being a well known CSNY hit, this left me with no other choice but Find The Cost Of Freedom, which was a great moody track and more than enough for my purposes.
This Please Let Me Love You single B-side by the early incarnation of The Byrds would be later rerecorded and released on their second album with the song title changed to It Won’t Be Wrong. I like this version best, however, mostly due to the heavy drums that make the right impact. They released no other singles under the name of The Beefeaters. The reason for changing the name was probably this other Danish band, who also called themselves The Beefeaters and released two albums in the 60s. A short probe listen showed they might be pretty nice — going to check them out later.
I was already aware of some singles by Deep Purple, such as Emmaretta. But this one was even better! I’m Alone came as a B-side to Strange Kind Of Woman. This track definitely has a Fireballish feel about it, so I can see why it was included as a bonus track on the 25th Anniversary Edition of that album.
Led Zeppelin had only released one non-LP song, that is Hey, Hey, What Can I Do. It appeared on the backside of the Immigrant Song single in 1970. In 1972, it was released on The New Age Of Atlantic compilation LP, which featured different artists (including the first ever issue of America by Yes). Otherwise this song was unheard of until it was later included as the last track of the compilation album Coda in the 1993 CD release.
Yes don’t have many non-album releases. In fact, they only have one song that can’t be heard on any of their albums: Something’s Coming. This lovely progressive song was released on the B-side of the Sweetness single.
Jethro Tull have some occasional non-LP tracks spread along the years. The ones released before ’88 are now part of the 20 Years Of Jethro Tull box set. This track in particular served as the backside for their second single, A Song For Jeffrey. One for Jeffrey, One For John Lee. A jolly little flute instrumental.
A B-side to I’ll Be Creeping, this Free instrumental in 3/4 time beat is pretty mesmerising. For people who play music, the structure of this track might be of some interest. At least I find that it has deepened my understanding of what you can do with a beat like this. This is the sole reason why I have chosen this instrumental over other non-album songs with lyrics in them, such as The Worm, which was the second strong candidate for this compilation.
Surprisingly, Emerson, Lake & Palmer also had one B-side instrumental that doesn’t appear on any of their albums. A valentine song without words is just what I needed. Because who needs words when you’ve got such a nice arrangement? The title, too, is nothing else but loveable.
Another early incarnation of a famous band, The Golliwogs would later grow into Creedence Clearwater Revival. They had a big pile of singles, but few of them resemble the sound CCR would later develop. The only exceptions were the somewhat poppish tune called Brown-Eyed Girl, which was the only song that was to receive any kind of success, and the melancholic Walking On The Water. Similarly to The Beefeaters, this tune would also be re-recorded and released on their first eponymous album. This time I love both versions equally, and it is the combination of the slightly electronic sound of the mellotron with distant sounding guitar riffs that I find to work best in this Golliwogs‘ version.
Sometimes I feel like each Atomic Rooster song sounds the same—but it doesn’t make it any worse. It is like they’re performing one long song, slowly coming up with new additions to it. In this B-side to Tomorrow Night I can clearly hear some of the familiar passages, which are just as grandiose as they have always been.
As far as I know, this is the only non-album track Uriah Heep had (B-side to Stealin’). They had a huge amount of outtakes from their albums though. If you ask me, this might be the weakest song in the compilation, but I just couldn’t let it go. And for some odd reason, this song gets better each time I hear it.
This song was the A-side on the first ever Cream single, a happy-go-lucky tune. If you’re feeling silly, also have a look on their Anyone For Tennis video footage which was made for The Savage Seven film (1968). That is their second and last non-LP recording, released as a single.
That’s all for this Single Edition! Hope you enjoyed it!
Over half of all songs composed in this world are about love. But love… is not only bright and sunny. This volume explores some darker, barbaric aspects of love — closely related to insanity, death, or filled with some strange fetishes. Be a cat or a dog, make yourself a sandwich and enjoy the chill running down your spine from this whole lotta love.
Unnkerr Swéghléoðras: Part 2 — The Dark Book of Love
We are all familiar with Jefferson Airplane‘s psychedelic rendition of Alice in Wonderland: White Rabbit. And there are many interesting covers of it around—almost as many as for Beatles‘ Yesterday. In this post, I’ve picked a list of most interesting ones, loosely ordered from the 60’s to today, 16 videos to take up all of your free time. So get ready for an ultimate psychedelic ride.
For starters, here is an alternate TV version of White Rabbit performed by Jefferson Airplane, with a pleasing background of psychedelic colours and Grace Slick looking pretty as ever.
And, well, the Woodstock version deserves to be included too. The voice here is simply too magnificent.
Technically, the JA version is not the original one, since The Great Society had already been touring with White Rabbit, but they never released any studio albums. Grace Slick was part of their team though, and she’s singing in this live version too, which is perhaps the most psychedelic one.
A french White Rabbit cover, titled La Justice. I wonder how accurate the translation of the lyrics is, at least certain key words like “logic” and “proportion” are there. The quality of the recording could have been better, but I find that the french language fits this song really well.
A not so gentle 10-minute long acid punk version by The Last Word, which claims the title of the creepiest version with ease.
A decent cover by another 80’s punk band Mo-Dettes.
A somewhat crude version by a 90’s band Shrine from their album Psycha—but they’ve added a personal touch to it.
A 90’s house remix version. Usually not my type of music, but I found myself enjoying this one.
Now what’s this style of music, I don’t even know. Blue Man Group, something electronic, yet experimental and done with enthusiasm. Has lots of new components added to the song, and they work.
This one by Shakespears Sister sounded like rubbish first, but it ended up pretty interesting. Moreover, I’ve never seen this particular animation, which I thought was really nice.
A perhaps somewhat musically lacking, yet a very distinct version by Enon.
A recent 2009 live cover by Grace Potter and The Nocturnals. Nothing extraordinarily different from the JA version, but an accurate replica.
Here’s another link to their studio version.
This one is a surprisingly well made web cam recording of the song. Couldn’t have guessed it’d be this good.
And finally something completely different to release all the built-up tension. Hope you enjoyed the ride!
So Grooveshark was shut down two weeks ago on Friday, forever. Together with its playlists, databases and broadcasts. I still haven’t completely gotten over it. Yet my knowledge and passion for music remains—so I thought I might employ a similar tactic to Rich Aftersabbath and release my own one hour mixes of songs from different artists. Rich has done a great job of compiling rare heavy psych, yet it doesn’t always need to be rare, heavy or psych, does it?
This first release is called Distant Melodies and consists solely of progressive material. For now, the medium I’m using is Youtube, perhaps later I’ll change to something better. I’ve tried to choose best quality I could find. Enjoy!
