Master's Apprentices

THE MASTERS APPRENTICES is an Australian band, citing 1965 as their formative year. Their history started the year before though, with the formation of The Mustangs. Featuring Mick Bower (guitar), Rick Morrison (guitar), Brian Vaughton (drums) and Gavin Webb (bass), they made a name for themselves playing cover tunes by acts such as The Shadows and The Ventures…

This 24-song compilation covers the group's most popular recordings from 1965-1972. The eight Mick Bower-penned cuts from 1965-1967 are the clear highlights; most of the rest, like much of the Australian rock of the time, is extremely derivative of British progressive rock trends…

One could easily make the case for designating the Masters Apprentices as the best Australian rock band of the '60s. Featuring singer Jim Keays and songwriter/rhythm guitarist Mick Bower, the band's earliest recordings combined the gritty R&B/rock of Brits like the Pretty Things with the minor-key melodies of the Yardbirds…

One could easily make the case for designating the Masters Apprentices as the best Australian rock band of the '60s. Featuring singer Jim Keays and songwriter/rhythm guitarist Mick Bower, the band's earliest recordings combined the gritty R&B/rock of Brits like the Pretty Things with the minor-key melodies of the Yardbirds. The compelling "Wars or Hands of Time" and the dreamy psychedelia of "Living in a Child's Dream" were undiscovered classics, although the latter was a Top Ten hit in Australia. Bower left the group after suffering a nervous breakdown in late 1967, and the Masters grew steadily less interesting, moving from flower pop and hard rock to progressive and acoustic sounds.

One could easily make the case for designating the Masters Apprentices as the best Australian rock band of the '60s. Featuring singer Jim Keays and songwriter/rhythm guitarist Mick Bower, the band's earliest recordings combined the gritty R&B/rock of Brits like the Pretty Things with the minor-key melodies of the Yardbirds…

"The Austrian conductor Karl Böhm is one of the towering conductors of the 20th Century. As the embodiment of the long Austro-German musical tradition, he helped to write musical history. This 19-CD set assembles all the extant recordings he conducted for EMI (notably its German Electrola label) over the period 1935 to 1949 in Dresden, Berlin, Vienna and London includes a number of rarities and the world premiere release of a version of Mozart’s Serenata notturna recorded in Vienna in 1947. It was during these years that Böhm cemented his reputation as a major conductor of Austro-German repertoire. Collectors will also be pleased to know that this set contains all the recordings that featured in the now-iconic series of Dresden-themed LP boxes released by EMI to mark Böhm’s 85th birthday in 1979. "

The world down under produced some of the most ferocious and provocative sounds to have emerged from the 1960s. Crammed full of fuzz, distortion, feedback, phasing, and wild dementia, this uncompromising sound was the precursor to punk rock. Buried Alive!! conjures up a superb collection of rampant amphetamine fury, jammed tight with the most vile and repulsive '60s delinquency ever put together. This six-disc anthology culls together 150 long lost sounds of toxic, teenage rebellion from Australasia. Professionally re-mastered original sound; includes previously unreleased recordings. Buried Alive!!

Over the past 20 years Australian progressive/alternative/underground rock of the early 1970s has taken on a huge cult collector following throughout the world. This is particularly so in Europe, where vast sums are paid for scarce original vinyl albums by such bands as Kahvas Jute, Galadriel, The Masters Apprentices, Fraternity, Blackfeather, Company Caine, Tamam Shud, Pirana, and New Zealand's Dragon - outfits which forged a distinctive Oz Rock sound that would eventually be embraced by an international mass audience.