Saundra Hewitt Saundra (1976) [reissue 2012]

A rare treat from vocalist Saundra Hewitt - a singer with an incredible range right from the start - and a righteous power that matches some of her bigger-name 70s contemporaries! The grooves here are jazzy, but with a definite soulful undercurrent - especially on the rhythms, which often get a nice crackle from Bernard Purdie's drums! Paul Griffin plays electric piano on the set, and Bob Mintzer serves up some nice tenor solos too - but the whole righteous vibe hangs heavily on Saundra's great lyrics - on tunes that inlcude "Won't Be Water Next Time", "Got A New Pair Of Shoes", "Heart Of Stone", "Up On Cripple Creek", "Just To Be With You", and "I Loved You Too Much".

Langsyne from Barmen played some sophisticated English-language psych-folk with a large variety of partly exotic instruments like the psaltery, koto, glockenspiel, banjo, flute, slide guitar, or the Jew's harp. Their only LP was released in 1976, as an edition of only 200 copies, and is today sold at a price of about € 1000 to € 2000 in mint condition. It is thus probably the most expensive Krautrock LP except the first edition of "Monster movie" by Can. It contains only self-written tracks. Especially remarkable is that the musical interaction of the three musicians is of somnabulistic perfection. There have been several new editions of "Langsyne", both as LP and as CD, some of them with a bonus track. The Garden of Delights CD has been drawn from the master tapes and contains fifteen bonus tracks, each of them of a perfect sound quality.

Bullfrog (1976). Somewhat enjoyable hard rock/prog in the style of Jane, mainly. Singer Gerd Hoch has an astoundingly gruff, rough voice that's going to be hard for some listeners to take, but his style largely suits the music. Not really a whole lot of prog on the A-side, pretty much straight-up hard boogie rock. The last two tracks, both extending longer than ten minutes, are the reasons to get this album. Full of Floydian changes and an Eloy-like spaciness, they're well-done for this style of music. Nice layers of celestial synths and aggressive Hammond organ from keysman Harald Kaltencker. Italian drummer Bruno Perosa (whose prior prog pedigree extends to playing the percussion-y bits in "Canto Nomade per un Prigioniero Politico" on Banco's Io Sono Nato Libero album) even adds a cosmic recitation (in Italian!) at the beginning of "Desert Man"…

Bullfrog (1976). Somewhat enjoyable hard rock/prog in the style of Jane, mainly. Singer Gerd Hoch has an astoundingly gruff, rough voice that's going to be hard for some listeners to take, but his style largely suits the music. Not really a whole lot of prog on the A-side, pretty much straight-up hard boogie rock. The last two tracks, both extending longer than ten minutes, are the reasons to get this album. Full of Floydian changes and an Eloy-like spaciness, they're well-done for this style of music. Nice layers of celestial synths and aggressive Hammond organ from keysman Harald Kaltencker. Italian drummer Bruno Perosa (whose prior prog pedigree extends to playing the percussion-y bits in "Canto Nomade per un Prigioniero Politico" on Banco's Io Sono Nato Libero album) even adds a cosmic recitation (in Italian!) at the beginning of "Desert Man"…

Ache - De Homine Urbano (1970). Esoteric Recordings are pleased to announce a newly re-mastered edition of the classic debut album by Danish Progressive Rock group Ache. Formed in 1968, with a line-up of Torsten Olafsson (bass, vocals), Finn Olafsson (guitar, vocals), Peter Mellin (organ, piano) and Glenn Fischer (drums and percussion), Ache first came to attention in Denmark with their work De Homine Urbano ("About Urban Man”) which was the first ever Rock ballet, performed by the Royal Danish Ballet Company in Copenhagen in 1969. Influenced by groups such as The Nice, Iron Butterfly and more, Ache’s music was a powerful Psychedelic Progressive Rock driven by Peter Mellin’s powerful Hammond Organ and the fluid guitar playing of Finn Olafsson…

Ache - De Homine Urbano (1970). Esoteric Recordings are pleased to announce a newly re-mastered edition of the classic debut album by Danish Progressive Rock group Ache. Formed in 1968, with a line-up of Torsten Olafsson (bass, vocals), Finn Olafsson (guitar, vocals), Peter Mellin (organ, piano) and Glenn Fischer (drums and percussion), Ache first came to attention in Denmark with their work De Homine Urbano ("About Urban Man”) which was the first ever Rock ballet, performed by the Royal Danish Ballet Company in Copenhagen in 1969. Influenced by groups such as The Nice, Iron Butterfly and more, Ache’s music was a powerful Psychedelic Progressive Rock driven by Peter Mellin’s powerful Hammond Organ and the fluid guitar playing of Finn Olafsson…

Secret Oyster became somewhat of a super group when members of Burnin Red Ivanhoe, Coronarias Dans and Hurdy Gurdy formed this unit. All four original albums have received a thorough and outstanding remastering with added bonus tracks on the great label Laser's Edge. Secret Oyster got back together (Bohling, Vogel and Knudsen plus a new bassist and drummer) during the re-issues of their albums, touring the states and Denmark.

While German Prog/Art rockers Jane may be a familiar name outside of the Prog arena, Harlis were a tremendously talented offshoot of the band who recorded two albums that didn’t conform to the Prog Rock rulebook, but didn’t stray to far from it either. Led by former Jane member Charly Maucher, Harlis were a bit looser than their contemporaries, which added a raw edge to their sound. While the band features excellent musicians, Harlis’ sound is more about the band as a whole as opposed to the skills of the individuals. Adding a bit more Blues and British and American Rock influences into the mix may have turned away some Prog fans, but in doing so, their sound has a timeless quality to it…

Secret Oyster became somewhat of a super group when members of Burnin Red Ivanhoe, Coronarias Dans and Hurdy Gurdy formed this unit. All four original albums have received a thorough and outstanding remastering with added bonus tracks on the great label Laser's Edge. Secret Oyster got back together (Bohling, Vogel and Knudsen plus a new bassist and drummer) during the re-issues of their albums, touring the states and Denmark.

While German Prog/Art rockers Jane may be a familiar name outside of the Prog arena, Harlis were a tremendously talented offshoot of the band who recorded two albums that didn’t conform to the Prog Rock rulebook, but didn’t stray to far from it either. Led by former Jane member Charly Maucher, Harlis were a bit looser than their contemporaries, which added a raw edge to their sound. While the band features excellent musicians, Harlis’ sound is more about the band as a whole as opposed to the skills of the individuals. Adding a bit more Blues and British and American Rock influences into the mix may have turned away some Prog fans, but in doing so, their sound has a timeless quality to it…