Arc 1971 ...at This

DELIRIUM is an important band in the history of Italian progressive rock music, having been active since 1970. They originally formed in Genoa during the late 1960s as I SAGITTARI and their line-up consisted of Ettore Vigo (keyboards), Peppino Di Santo (drums, vocals), Mimmo Di Martino (acoustic guitar) and Marcello Reale (bass). The later arrival of Ivano Fossati (vocals, keyboards, flute) completed the band, whose early musical style was a mix of the so-called Italian melodic tradition and UK progressive influences, in particular KING CRIMSON and COLOSSEUM.

DELIRIUM is an important band in the history of Italian progressive rock music, having been active since 1970. They originally formed in Genoa during the late 1960s as I SAGITTARI and their line-up consisted of Ettore Vigo (keyboards), Peppino Di Santo (drums, vocals), Mimmo Di Martino (acoustic guitar) and Marcello Reale (bass). The later arrival of Ivano Fossati (vocals, keyboards, flute) completed the band, whose early musical style was a mix of the so-called Italian melodic tradition and UK progressive influences, in particular KING CRIMSON and COLOSSEUM.

Folk rock attraction Heron was one of several groups signed to both the Red Bus agency and Dawn label, home of Mungo Jerry and Mike Cooper. Originally released in 1971, Heron's seminal "Twice as Nice & Half the Price" has since sank into almost complete obscurity. Even at the time, the band were virtually unknown and little evidence remains of their history. It's hard to see why they were so overlooked, this is a great British folk album, perfect for a sunday afternoon.

Folk rock attraction Heron was one of several groups signed to both the Red Bus agency and Dawn label, home of Mungo Jerry and Mike Cooper. Originally released in 1971, Heron's seminal "Twice as Nice & Half the Price" has since sank into almost complete obscurity. Even at the time, the band were virtually unknown and little evidence remains of their history. It's hard to see why they were so overlooked, this is a great British folk album, perfect for a sunday afternoon.

Comus' first album contains an imaginative if elusive brand of experimental folk-rock, with a tense and sometimes distressed vibe. At times, this straddles the border between folk-rock and the kind of songs you'd expect to be sung at a witches' brew fest, the haunting supernatural atmosphere enhanced by bursts of what sound like a theramin-like violin, hand drums, flute, oboe, ghostly female backup vocals, and detours into almost tribal rhythms.

A real rarity from Hyperion’s Anglo-Australian artistic collaboration: music by an Australian composer who was once at the heart of the English establishment. Malcolm Williamson was one of many Australian creative artists who relocated to Britain in the mid-twentieth century. Within a decade of settling in London he had established a reputation as one of the most gifted and prolific composers of his generation. His stature as a leading figure within the British music scene was publicly acknowledged in 1975 when he was appointed to the esteemed post of Master of the Queen’s Music in succession to Sir Arthur Bliss. But today he is almost forgotten and his music virtually never performed.