BIG STAR - Live At Lafayett'es Music Room [USA pop rock, live 1973] 2018 Omnivore Recordings OVCD-250

 

It is well known that Big Star played a one-off promotional show for the Memphis Rock Writer’s Convention at Lafayette’s Music Room in Memphis in May of 1973. It cemented them into legendary status due to the writers who witnessed it and carried the message of Big Star out in their writing, even though the band had only released one album, #1 Record, and were unsure of recording a second after the departure of co-founder Chris Bell. What may not be so widely known is that the trio played the same venue four months earlier with the same power and passion opening shows for the Houston R&B band, Archie Bell & The Drells.

First issued as Disc 4 of the Grammy Award-winning Keep An Eye On The Sky boxed set, Live At Lafayette’s Music Room sees new light as a stand-alone release, available on CD, Digital, and for the first time, double LP. The performance has never sounded better thanks to new mastering and restoration from the Grammy -winning engineer, Michael Graves with supervision from fellow Grammy -winning producer, Cheryl Pawelski.

The 20-track set features material from their debut, #1 Record, songs that would appear on the (not yet recorded) follow-up, Radio City, and choice covers from The Kinks, Todd Rundgren, The Flying Burrito Brothers, and T-Rex. 

Big

MODIFICACIÓN - Modificación [España freak beat, rock, progressive 1971-74] 2020 Munster Records MR 408

The group Modificación is a prime example of what '70s underground and prog rock meant on the Valencia scene. Bands encountered a series of obstacles when making their much freer and more versatile music, which was demanded by the international planet rock. These hurdles varied from the serious difficulty of recording modern and innovative records, impositions by the record label and frequent desertion by band members to pursue interests that were more professional than artistic. The group's origins date back to early 1969, in Valencia's Ruzafa neighbourhood, with an average age of around 16 among its founding members. They adopted the name Modificación, an intriguing name that flagged up their creative intentions and interest in underground sounds, under the influence of bands like Grand Funk Railroad, Iron Butterfly, Vanilla Fudge, Rare Earth, Led Zeppelin... While the bulk of the Valencia rock scene revolved around modest groups making commercial music for dance halls, mostly versions of contemporary hits, they wrote their own songs from day one and set the bar high with daily rehearsals, aiming to perform to perfection. The band's luck seemed to change at a show with the Catalan group Lone Star. Pedro Gené (leader and vocalist of Lone Star) suggested Modificación record a single for the biggest record label in Spain: EMI. "Llegará el día que me quieras" (1971) was a major debut that also brought the arrival of a new vocalist, Juan Bau. Modificación's second record adventure was with the small Madrid label La Corrida in 1972, set up by Félix Arribas and Juan Jiménez, members of the famous Spanish band Los Pekenikes. They would release a couple of singles recorded at the Audiofilm studios in Madrid under the influence of glam, Californian and soft-rock style, international trends at the time. The now legendary freakbeat number "Across The Time" was crafted during these sessions and has become one of the most admired and sought-after singles of Spanish music. This LP brings together all the songs comprised in their three published singles as well as the remaining unreleased recordings from those 1972 sessions in Madrid. An accomplished portrait of one of the most legendary Spanish underground bands from that period whose fans, unable to find the elusive -and now very expensive records, were crying out for an urgent reissue of their work.

Modificación

 

LOS SHAKERS - La Conferencia Secreta del Toto's Bar [Uruguay psychedelic pop 1968] 2020 Guerssen Records GUESS162

Originally released in late 1968, La Conferencia Secreta del Toto’s Bar was Los Shaker’s psychedelic masterpiece.

Inspired by Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - a milestone that would change the face of pop music forever back in 1967 – Los Shakers created a fundamental album in the history of South American rock music, a seminal record for many artists to come, full of pleasant surprises, magic sounds and sense of humour.

It offers a complex fusion of styles, with elements from both rock and jazz, plus the use of exotic instruments like the bandoneon–widely used in tango music but unprecedented until then in pop/rock adventures. It all makes the last album by Los Shakers an essential, innovative record for any collector and aficionado.

Sounding as fresh and original today as it did back in the late sixties, here’s the first ever vinyl reissue.

Toto's

 

THE MAC'S - GG Sessions By The Mac's [Chile garage, beat 1967] 2021 Munster Records MR 419

Impossible rare second album by Chilean beat pioneers The Mac’s, recorded in 1967 under the influence of the British Invasion sound, including covers of the Rolling Stones, Dylan, the Hollies… and the outstanding original “Qué Clase de Sentimiento”.

Mac's

 

THE CHOIR - Last Call Live At The Music Box [USA garage, pop, live 2019] 2020 Omnivore Recordings OVCD-374

 

In 2018, when Omnivore Recordings released The Choir’s first full length platter in the group’s history, no one knew what impact the release of that recording would have. Sure, the group, in its many different manifestations during the ’60s, had released several singles, including a Top 10 smash (“It’s Cold Outside”) in the group’s hometown of Cleveland. The song would reach #68 on the Billboard national charts. But the garage rock band whose many different members went on to form other important bands like Raspberries and James Gang, had never made an album of their own before, just assorted singles from 1966–1968.

So 50 years on, when the tapes of an aborted album were found, mixed and released as Artifact: The Unreleased Album to unanimous critical acclaim, the 1968 version of The Choir suddenly found itself back in the limelight with a weighty decision… to reclaim their vision and perform live… back where they came from, the home of rock ’n’ roll, Cleveland, Ohio.

Last Call: Live At The Music Box, The Choir’s 50th anniversary performance captured live at Cleveland’s Music Box the night of Sept-ember 20, 2019. The band plays perfect renditions of material from Artifact as well as dipping into their deep bag of influences. Hear dynamite versions of songs by Procol Harum, Billy Preston, Spooky Tooth, The Nice, The Kinks, Bob Seger and yes, even a cover of Jimmy Webb’s grandiose epic “MacArthur Park.” The band even rearranges their 1966 hit “It’s Cold Outside” to reflect the current musical makeup of the group which includes Ken Margolis (keyboards), Phil Giallombardo (organ), Randy Klawon (guitars), Denny Carleton (bass) and Jim Bonfanti (drums).

The Choir

THE GRAINS - Just Our Flame [Italy garage, psychedelic 2005] Teen Sound Records TEENS 036

The Grains is one of those legendary band that best represents the term Garage Psychedelic Sound. Most of the band members play since the late 80's, the youngest ones play like they've never heard anything but Back From The Grave, Pebbles and Psychedelic Unknowns on the radio. The look of the bands has recently gone a bit Freakbeat but their sound is still pure US garage punk-psych. Perfect swirling organ, crystalline guitar riffs, solid rhythm section with the right fills, and authentic mono(tone) vocals, singing about..flipped dreams, being alone in the burning sun, summer, men with guns, love and more...like the true garage sound..you'll love the Grains album!

Personal favorite.

 

THE DUM DUM BOYS - Let There Be Noise [New Zeland punk rock 1981] 2019 In The Red Recordings ITR318

 

“Often obscured by the ascent of Flying Nun’s legendary roster is New Zealand’s late 1970s / early 1980s punk scene. Based in Auckland, a cadre of acts influenced by The Ramones and Stooges briefly thrived. The Dum Dum Boys—the first NZ punk band to record and release a full-length in their native country—were hooked on the Ann Arbor sounds of Iggy Pop.

“The Dum Dum Boys’ Let There Be Noise (1981) is chock-full of James Williamson and Deniz Tek riffage; it also contains elements of Iggy Pop’s nihilism. Take the lyrics to “Something To Say”—it’s refrain repeatedly asking ‘What am I living for?’—and juxtapose them to the band’s namesake track from Pop’s The Idiot (1977): ‘What happened to Zeke? He’s dead on jones, man.’ ‘Stalking The Streets’ taps into the meaninglessness of James Taylor and Dennis Wilson’s Two-Lane Blacktop journey through the American Southwest.

“The Dum Dum Boys understood the proto-punk sounds of 1970s Ann Arbor and Cleveland. More importantly, they also got the vibe. Life stinks—sometimes in the places (Auckland) you’d least expect it.

“As the title suggests, Let There Be Noise is anything but a record incessantly focused on introspective doom and gloom. ‘Don’t Be A Bitch’ rivals Radio Birdman’s ‘I-94’ for lyrical thick-headedness—like sticking a hot 454 in a Ford Falcon gasser, the song’s simultaneously awesome and dumb. That’s a difficult balance to strike.

“Let There Be Noise (1981) was self-released and copies quickly became damn near unobtanium, even in New Zealand.

Boys