Traffic 1970

Various Artists - Real Life Permanent Dreams: A Cornucopia of British Psychedlia 1965-1970 (2007) {4CD Castle Music CMXBX1239}
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© 1965-70, 2007 Sanctuary Records / Castle Music | CMXBX1239
Rock / British Psychedelia / Psychedelic Rock / Psychedelic Pop

There have been previous attempts to marshal a lot of British psychedelia into one compilation, but Real Life Permanent Dreams is a little different from those. This four-CD, 99-song box set isn't a best-of, but more like an attempt to assemble a very wide (though still representative) cross section of material, most of it pretty obscure to the average listener. For the most part, it succeeds in delivering a high-quality anthology that manages to offer a lot to both the collector and the less intense psychedelic fan, though it's by no means the cream of British psychedelia.

Twenty seven years after the fact, this might well be the best of the early Family recordings. A combination of hard rock (bordering on metal) and wistful folk-rock (it sounds as if Chapman and Whitney were listening to a lot of Incredible String Band), A Song for Me veers toward early progressive rock, but isn't as nakedly indulgent as some early prog-rock recordings…

Laurelie was one of the first bands from the Belgian progressive scene - along with Waterloo, Irish Coffee, Jenghiz Khan & Mad Curry. Their eponymous and now very expensive album (worth 500 euro in Near Mint condition) was released in early 1970 on Triangle label. This minor psych-prog masterpiece (with plenty of nice flute parts) was still rooted in the late 60's songwriting tradition, when condensed tracks were preferred over improvisations. On the other hand, an amazing (and 10-minutes long) opening track was typical progressive offering - with everchanging moods and lots ofguitar, Hammond organ and flute interplay. This premiere CD is necessary for fans of early Jethro Tull, Traffic, The Moody Blues and Cressida. Laurelie split up the same year and bassist Pierre Raepsaet went to Jenghiz Khan.

Superlatives are inadequate for the box record company Universal Music recently released. Two hundred hits on ten CDs, hundreds of hits and a lot of TV and news clips on five DVDs and then another book as reference book. It can not be on. The disadvantage of the Testament of the Seventies is that for a hundred euros a hefty investment. The advantage that you are now ready to be a hit with your Seventies Collection.

Festival Express is a rousing record of a little-known, but monumental, moment in rock n' roll history, starring such music legends as Janis Joplin, The Band, and the Grateful Dead. Set in 1970, Festival Express was a multi-band, multi-day extravaganza that captured the spirit and imagination of a generation and a nation. What made it unique was that it was portable; for five days, the bands and performers lived, slept, rehearsed and did countless unmentionable things aboard a customized train that traveled from Toronto, to Calgary, to Winnipeg, with each stop culminating in a mega-concert. The entire experience, both off-stage and on, was filmed but the extensive footage remained locked away – until now. A momentous achievement in rock film archeology, Festival Express combines this long-lost material with contemporary interviews nearly 35 years after it was first filmed.