Pancake from Winnenden near Stuttgart in Suabia emerged from their psychedelic predecessor Nyrvana Pancake in 1974 and now played progressive rock with clear symphonic tendencies. With changing members they released three LPs with self-written tracks, namely "Roxy Elephant" from 1975, "Out Of The Ashes" from 1977, and "No Illusions" from 1979.
Pancake's debut, "Roxy Elephant" is a good representative of the German rock sound of the mid 1970s. So it's not really Krautrock per se, but it definitely has a progressive mindset, with plenty of good ideas. There are no keyboards, and the songs are driven by dual guitars. From a compositional perspective, mid 70s Jane and Birth Control would probably be a good guidepost here…
Doomsday (1979). Gravestone play somewhat somber Progressive Rock of a rough nature. This is a re-release of their 1979 album on the Garden of Delights label. The music is at times jazzy and bouncy, and there are hints of blues throughout, and the majority of the tracks are instrumental. There is a lot of improvisational blues styled stuff going on here. The guitars are the main lead instruments, although there is an organ tickling the background, the guitars are full front, screaming in true psychedelic fashion on the latter tracks of this album.
War (1980). In the eighties, Gravestone from Illertissen, Swabia, became quite famous as a hard rock and metal group. What many people don’t know is that they initially - and with a different line-up - released two LPs with progressive rock and critical lyrics, namely “Doomsday” from 1979 and “War” from 1980, in small editions of 1000 copies each…
Ralefun (1979). Italian outfit Antonius Rex was formed in 1974, following the cancellation of Bartocetti and Norton's previous band Jacula. "Ralefun" from 1979 was their third full album production, and 32 years after it's initial release it is reissued for the second time courtesy of Italian label Black Widow. The mystical musical journeys of the Italian band Antonius Rex tend to be of a nature that will ever so slightly intimidate on first encounter. "Ralefun" is the sole exception of the creations in their back catalogue, sporting lighter, mystical and even accessible escapades. A relatively gentle introduction to the dark universe explored by Bartoccetti and Norton, and perhaps an ever so slightly surprising experience for those who have discovered this act in the last decade or so and who haven't started to investigate its past. ..
Ralefun (1979). Italian outfit Antonius Rex was formed in 1974, following the cancellation of Bartocetti and Norton's previous band Jacula. "Ralefun" from 1979 was their third full album production, and 32 years after it's initial release it is reissued for the second time courtesy of Italian label Black Widow. The mystical musical journeys of the Italian band Antonius Rex tend to be of a nature that will ever so slightly intimidate on first encounter. "Ralefun" is the sole exception of the creations in their back catalogue, sporting lighter, mystical and even accessible escapades. A relatively gentle introduction to the dark universe explored by Bartoccetti and Norton, and perhaps an ever so slightly surprising experience for those who have discovered this act in the last decade or so and who haven't started to investigate its past. ..
McOil got together in 1976 in Ochsenhausen in Oberschwaben. Their musical direction: progressive rock of the harder kind. "All our hopes" was released in 1979 as a limited private presing of 1000 copies. As a bonus track this CD, which is taken from the mastertape, features the B-side of the single, but in a slightly different version, and also a two minute drum solo on "This time should never end" which is not on the LP.
One of the great overlooked albums of the 1970s, Time Actor was the result of a collaboration between legendary Crazy World & Kingdom Come visionary Arthur Brown and German Synthesiser and Ambient genius Klaus Schulze, recording under the pseudonym of his alter-ego Richard Wahnfried. The resulting record was a unique fusion of Brown’s amazing vocals and eccentric musical visions and Schulze’s innovative keyboard playing. Originally released on the German Innovative Communication label, Time Actor also features special guest Vincent Crane (who recorded a collaborative album with Arthur Brown for the label during this period). This newly re-mastered reissue restores the original album artwork and includes a new essay.
U.S. basement psych-prog monster released in 1979 as an ultra-rare private pressing of 200 copies. MacArthur were formed when a young guitar player and songwriter named Ben MacArthur met a 17-year old prodigy musician called Bill Heffelfinger in Saginaw, Michigan, in 1978. Bill was not only a gifted guitar player but also a genius arranger and keyboard wizard. When Ben showed him some of the stuff he had written, Bill took the songs and transformed them into classic pieces of music. They soon recruited Jeff Bauer on bass and Scott Stockford on drums. The chemistry of MacArthur was born. The first MacArthur album, known in collector's circles as The Black Forest due to the vinyl bootleg of the same title released in the '80s, was recorded in 1979 using a four-track machine…