Classic Rock 175 Items

This is a beloved broadcast of Bruce Springsteen; a rehearsal show for his 1992 - 1993 world tour for the albums Lucky Town and Human Touch. Backed by his impressive band, Bruce belts out earlier hits of his career like ‘Born in the Usa’ and ‘Glory Days’. His then new wife Patti Scialfa takes center stage and joins her husband on ‘Human Touch’. The smash hit of this Springsteen era, ‘Hungry Heart’, gets the unplugged treatment during this performance, with Bruce playing the acoustic guitar and harmonica.

While their first two releases (Prequel and Space Mirror) saw these veterans of post-punk, new psychedelic noise, and 1990s garage rock expertly navigate the murky waters of Covid isolation with yoga-worthy ambient excursions, on their third record the quartet slides into fifth gear and terraplanes toward a fresh take on instrumental prog-rock. It’s not entirely unexpected, but there’s rapid accelerated growth at play on Tabula Rasa.

Infinite River is composed of Gretchen Gonzales (Universal Indians, Slumber Party, Terror at the Opera), Warren Defever (His Name is Alive, ESP Beetles, Ethan Daniel Davidson), Joey Mazzola (Detroit Cobras, Sponge, Sugarcoats), and special guest drummer Steve Nistor (Sparks, Ural Thomas, Seedsmen to the World). These instrumental recordings were tracked between the end of 2022 and the start of 2023 in Warren Defever’s new loft studio space in glorious Hamtramck, MI, where the sessions were supervised by Defever’s cat, Brother James. “My apartment is a big, echoey room; previously we were close together in a tight space,” Defever explains. “The other studio is cozy; this is an art gallery. So it’s a really different vibe.”

Tabula Rasa is closer to what the band is like live now. It highlights the point at which new age type music can become biker rock—which at times approximates Hawkwind or much German music from 1976, while rarely sounding like anything but itself. Tracks like “Around the Sun” and

“Sky Diamonds” definitely have evolved out of the group playing new age type music together. But here, the melodies are more pronounced; the chords and harmonies are more like pop music. Drone-based elements remain, but the pieces are shorter and far more propulsive.

Gonzales shows off her noise-guitar pedigree with both subtlety and aggression. Defever has largely ditched his tanpura for a bass synthesizer. It’s a joy to hear Nistor, who’s been a member of Sparks for close to two decades, open up, and just go gonzo on his kit. Mazzola’s songwriting has followed suit; these are great (and often lovely) compositions here. And his practice in playing with the band, especially Nistor, allows Mazzola to open up new possibilities for downright prog than he’s ever shown before.

A highlight has to be their crunchy and multi-part take on “Favorite Things,” which truly shows off Infinite Rivers’ diverse backgrounds. Defever relates that “Gretchen only knew the song from Coltrane’s take, while Joey only knew it from Sound of Music.” If that’s not worlds colliding, what is?

- Mike McGonigal

Intergalactic Lovers' sophomore album finally available again on vinyl.

Including the hits 'Northern Rd' and 'Islands'.

Limited repress on 2LP with special etched D side.

Ggb-033lp

The cabalistic duo Ak’chamel strikes again with a second record called A Mournful Kingdom of Sand. Following the publicly and critically acclaimed The Totemist (aku1023) released in 2020, this album sucks the listener into another esoteric journey which - according to the band - is a perfect soundtrack for the desertification of our world.

Ak’chamel, The Giver of Illness is an enigmatic duo from a border state. Fourth World Post-Colonial Cultural Cannibalists Circumcising The Foreskin of Enlightenment. Performing in homemade costumes and masks, they have played festivals in various cities around the U.S gaining international attention from Vice, The Wire, Tiny Mix Tapes, Consequence of Sound, and many more. They have amassed over 10 cassette albums and 1 VHS full length film.

Three sides lp ! By 1970, they had released a self-titled debut and one of the greatest sophomore records of all time with Paranoid, and their legacy was cemented within a year of emerging from the factories of Birmingham. This powerful show - taken from L'Olympia, Paris on the 20 of December - highlights the rock power-house that was Black Sabbath.

First Official LP Reissue Ever!

**Sourced from the original master tapes and housed in a deluxe gatefold cover. Edition of 500 copies**

The Milan based imprint, Dialogo, returns with the first ever vinyl reissue of Spirale’s lone 1974 self-titled LP. Resting at a fascinating juncture between progressive and free jazz, it was years ahead of its time when it first appeared, rendering it to the shadows for decades, before its ultimate ascent to becoming one of the great holy grails of Italian Jazz prog.

This is a release known mostly by Italian progressive rock lovers, since its sound can be easily associated to the jazz-rock delivered by the way more popular Napoli Centrale and Perigeo - but also to the ‘fundamentals’ Dedalus, Arti & Mestieri, Uno, if not Maad, Nadma or Aktuala, or even the lesser known Bauhaus for instance. But playing this kind of music and trying to release an album in the first half of the ’70s in Italy was also incredibly hard and courageous: Spirale, in fact, was one of the many bands that lived a very short life, before splitting up and disappear forever.

Spirale were an Italian quintet from Rome, consisting of Gaetano Delfini (wind instruments, vocals, percussion), Giancarlo Maurino (saxophone, flute, percussion), Corrado Nofri (piano, marimba, mbira, siren, Jew’s harp), Giuseppe Caporello (contrabass, guitar, percussion) and Giampaolo Ascolese (drums) who released a single eponymous album in 1974.

Spirale was originally released on the International King record label, thanks to Mario Schiano, a free-jazz saxophonist who discovered the band, and producer Toni Cosenza, who included the album in the ‘King Jazz-Line’ series. Consisting of just four tracks, most of which taken by the 13-minute long “Cabral, Anno 1” and the marvellous 17-minute “Peperoncino (Cose vecchie, cose nuove)”, Spirale is an incredibly balanced and flowing record that sounds still fresh and inspired even today, and it’s a shame that it has remained hidden and overlooked for such a long time. Moreover, it is characterized by that undescribable and particular Mediterranean flavour that only Italian musicians were able to obtain. This beautiful album is of course immensely rare in its original edition, and is now finally reissued on Dialogo record label in a faithful restored version that will satisfy any collectors who have waited for years for this beauty to see the light again!

Record Store Day 2021 Release. Limitation: 500 copies.

Folk singer-turned-rock singer Carmen Maki collaborated with Blues Creation on this album ('71).

Immediately after the release of her masterpiece 'The Devil and the Eleven Children', Carmen Maki's youthful voice, which was influenced by Janis Joplin, fused with a sturdy sound reminiscent of Bruce Creation's LED Zeppelin, and it was a miracle of the early days of Japanese rock music.

Later on, Kazuo Takeda's Blues Creation was active as Creation, and Carmen Maki formed OZ. This is a monumental album that can be said to be a milestone for both artists to dominate the Japanese rock scene.

Continuing our reissue programme of Motorhead’s Chiswick albums on vinyl, September sees the release of “What’s Words Worth?” on lobster red vinyl.

A live album, it was recorded on 18th February 1978 at a benefit organised by Wilko Johnson to raise money to preserve some William Wordsworth manuscripts. The Rolling Stones mobile had been hired to record Chiswick labe-lmates the Count Bishops, but they also recorded Motorhead’s set. For contractual reasons they were billed as Iron Fist & the Hordes From Hell.

Includes an illustrated inner sleeve with a full note by Chiswick boss Ted Carroll.

First Base is an album by British rock music group Babe Ruth. It was released in September 1972 and went gold in Canada, and sold very well in the US. It was their biggest success, both in terms of popular and critical acclaim. This LP defined an interesting junction between hard rock and progressive rock.

180g vinyl.

Remastered from the original tapes, 180g vinyl!

Apoteosi were a very rare, if not the one and only, progressive voice coming from the Calabria region. Their self-titled LP, released in 1975, therefore in a period of transition for the prog-rock genre, is undoubtedly one of the most emblematic LP’s and shows how a young and geographically completely ‘out of the loop’ group has been able to create a small jewel. “Apoteosi” is a work deliciously poised between pastoral and refined moments and darker and ‘crimson’ moods, with an extremely original approach and that still deserves to be listened to carefully after exactly 40 years.

Almost every musician in the band will take off towards important careers in the music world, reflecting the talent of a group that even featured a 14-year old keyboardist Massimo Idà. There’s a curious “Coro Alessandroni” presence in the credits: “Apotheosis” was recorded in Rome, therefore we’re probably talking about the same Alessandro Alessandroni who at the time had already worked on many different soundtracks written by Ennio Morricone.

The remarkable rhythm section and the musical cohesion of the musicians are standout elements in this LP, since they were able to create a musical continuum that holds a qualitative tension along the whole work; moreover, there is a close proximity to certain models the English progressive underground, rather than the Italian one, the Canterbury scene in particular. “Apoteosi” stands still today among the hidden and precious gems delivered from a florid era of artistic ferment.

Neil Young finally releases his 1975 album "Homegrown" which was shelved back then due to him feeling uncomfortable with it being to personal.

“Three thick LPs of hot jellied kraut-prog heavies coming at you from 1970s Swiss-German based Kedama: three LPs of ‘live’ in-the-studio and actual live recordings—unbelievably telekinetic drums, keys and guitar. Vision quest soundscapes, a total gem lost to the ages here, y’all. The first LP was reissued by Geurrson Records a while back, the other two LPs are unreleased on wax as of yet: rarities and live oddities. It’s been a real pleasure to work with these guys, as they were as excited as we were and provided us with a plethora of recordings and photos and press clippings to sort through, to pull together this nice little set.
“It’s raw, like you like it after a few. It’s heavy, so you can nod as you sway along the path. It’s beautiful, so you can reminisce. It’s winding, so your imagination is blindfolded. It’s far-flung space jams so you can fry out. It’s screwed-down genius so you can be inspired. This shit is far out and a real-deal old school fuse lighter and its limited to 1000 copies. Nice, never seen before photos of the gurus, so come and get it nerds!
“For fans of Le Orme, Yes, Birth Control, Camel, Edgar Froese, ELP, King Crimson.” —John Dwyer

• Complete collection of 1970s Swiss-German kraut prog band, including unreleased material

• For fans of Le Orme, Yes, Birth Control, Camel, Edgar Froese, ELP, King Crimson

• Limited to 1000 copies

This is 180g vinyl.

What would American southern rock be without the scorching sounds of Lynyrd Skynyrd? Analogue Productions and Quality Record Pressings have already brought you exceptional reissues of "Second Helping“ and "Nuthin' Fancy“. Back to the well then, we go, for two more Skynyrd favorites — the epic "Gimme Back My Bullets“ and the band's bluesy, hard-rocking 1973 debut "Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd“.
Remastered from the original analog tapes by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound, our Analogue Productions reissue of "Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd“ is the ultimate in luxurious reproduction and unbeatable sound. 200-gram plating and pressing by Quality Record Pressings, and a tip-on Stoughton Printing jacket round out the package.
The undeniable youthful hunger of "Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd“ pumps through the subtly witty songs, all strongly rooted in Southern heritage and working-class values. Independent of the most-requested tune in history, "Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd“ bleeds red, white, and blue and encapsulates the wondrous dichotomies of Southern rock.
Months before Lynyrd Skynyrd enjoyed the privilege of recording its debut, the band entered its seventh year of playing juke joints and assorted dives in a bootstraps effort to land a deal. During a residency at a hardscrabble Georgian club, the group's rambunctious rock, swaggering attitude, blue-collar determination, and country-reared cadence caught the ear of producer/musician Al Kooper. The rest is history. Kooper inked the ensemble to his new imprint and hustled everyone into a Georgia studio for sessions that occurred March through April 1973.
It's at the Studio One space that Lynyrd Skynyrd flashed scampering tempos, cutting give-and-take riffs, loose barroom lines, and off-the-cuff vocalese that entirely separated its approach from that of the more jazz-styled affairs of the Allman Brothers Band. Confederate flags, empty whiskey bottles, cocked pistols, rotgut habits, scorned women, and prodigal drifters populate the songs, nearly all written from first-person perspectives that add to their genuineness. Prophetic touches - twinkling piano notes, soaring mellotrons, a one-off harmonica - provide ideal complements to the intertwined guitar melodies and singer Ronnie Van Zant's comfortable gruffness and way of expressing local customs.

180 Gram 45RPM Audiophile Vinyl, Numbered Limited-Edition

Psychedelic Garage & Heavy Psych From The Golden Voice Label'. If you think that all the cool & obscure U.S garage-psych 45s have been already exhumed, please listen to this! Golden Voice was a custom label and state-of-the art studio based in Pekin, Illinois. In the 1960s-'70s, countless garage bands from the area recorded there, releasing custom-made 45s in very limited quantities. This vibrating scene had not been documented, 'til the release of this 15-track compilation. The music here is prime cut hard psychedelia, punk-a-delic sounds and proto hard-rock from the late '60s-early '70s with lot of fuzz-wah guitars, groovy organs and effects. All tracks are taken from obscure 45s and previously unreleased master tapes.