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| Cale, John - Fear
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(Island ILPS-9301 UK-74 VG+ 500:-)
One of the best solo albums ever from John Cale – a set that has the singer playing a lot of piano alongside his vocals, which creates this moody, evocative quality that's really wonderful!
A few numbers add in more electric elements – but with Brian Eno along on electronics and listed as a co-producer, the record's definitely got this balance between elements that's very careful. Phil Manzanera plays guitar, and also helped with the overall construction of the set.
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| Camel - Camel
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(MCA MAPS-6477 Ger-74 VG+ 350:-)
Great begining of even greater things to come. Probably the most energetic album of the whole Camel's catalogue. Caravanesque at times (which is never a bad thing), and highly enjoyable - rocking, catchy, melodic, very well executed.
Nice arrangements with classic guitar, piano/organ and flutes (from mellotron?) to broaden the typical rock sound-palette. Andy Latimer is himself already providing beautiful guitar melodies.
1974 German pressing on the MCA label (black with rainbow).
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| Camel - Mirage
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(Deram SML-1107 UK-74 VG+ 500:-)
English progressive rock group Camel formed in 1971 with an original lineup of Andrew Latimer, Peter Bardens, Doug Ferguson and Andy Ward.
Released in 1974, ‘Mirage’ saw Camel take their unique prog brilliance to a new level. The album includes two of the band’s best-known songs in “White Rider” and “Lady Fantasy” and the quality of all five tracks on the album is unquestionable.
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| Can - Soon over Babaluma
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(United Artists UAS-29.673I Ger-74 VG+ 500:-)
A mid 70s set from Can that's still very much in the best spirit of their earliest work -- mostly longish tracks and all quite hypnotic -- wonderful stuff from the team of Irmin Schmidt, Jacki Liebezeit, Holger Czukay, and Michael Karoli.
Sure, Damo's not on vocals any more, but the instrumentation's still pretty darn great -- and Can is also working more explicitly established global genre elements, but still really sounds like no one other than Can. Traces of reggae mix alongside many other rhythmic elements, jagged experimentalist touches, 70s ambient energy, and imaginative jams galore from one of the most creative combos of its time!
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| Chameleons - Script of the Bridge
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(Statik MV-013013 Por-83 VG+ 500:-)
Released in August 1983, not only was "Script of the Bridge" ahead of its time back then, it has also managed to remain fresh and relevant ever since.
What's most distinguishable about The Chameleons is undoubtedly the dual layered guitar sound exerted so masterfully by Dave Fielding and Reg Smithies. Even today it stands as a blueprint for many guitar bands inspired by punk's aftermath, the point where the first wave's nihilism succumbed to textured melodies and thought provoking lyrics.
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| Chapman, Tracy - Tracy Chapman
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(Elektra 960.774-1 EU-88 VG+ 375:-)
One of the most striking debut albums ever released, this disc instantly established Chapman as a musical force, and with good reason.
Immediacy, integrity of purpose, and unqualified artistry are apparent in nearly every song. And while "Fast Cars" remains Chapman's best-known work, "Talkin' Bout a Revolution" is that rarest breed: a song which is both topical and timeless. Any exploration into Chapman's work should begin with this at times stunning effort; it's a disc of remarkable uniformity and clarity that Chapman has yet to improve on.
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| Church - Priest = Aura
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(Arista 212643 Ger-92 VG(+) 500:-)
After the unsatisfactory creative result and the upheaval that was "Gold Afternoon Fix" The Church set about regrouping for the altogether darker and denser "Priest = Aura".
Bringing in British producer Gavin MacKillop to supervise the sessions, the band began to improvise the framework for the next set of songs. The use of opium and, for Kilbey, heroin, saw the material take on a more expansive and surreal quality, while Daugherty's occasionally jazz-like approach on drums brought a fresh change.
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| Clash - Black Market Clash
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(Epic/Nu Disk 4E-36846 US-80 VG+ 300:-)
Springing from west and south London, adding catchy sloganistic socio-political lyrics to their brand of garage rock 'n' roll, The Clash soon explored wider musical horizons than most of their contemporaries, incorporating reggae, dub, rockabilly, hip hop and funk influences into their music and a whole lot more.
This 10" is a collection of singles, b-sides and various odds and ends, pulled together in the middle peak of the Clash's career, filled with lots of worthwhile moments.
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| Clash - Sandinista!
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(CBS FSLN-1 UK-80 VG+ 350:-)
Springing from west and south London, adding catchy sloganistic socio-political lyrics to their brand of garage rock 'n' roll, The Clash soon explored wider musical horizons than most of their contemporaries, incorporating reggae, dub, rockabilly, hip hop and funk influences into their music and a whole lot more.
A a stunning 3-LP set that really shows the group bristling with new ideas and energy throughout!
There's a hell of a lot going on here - some cuts that are every bit as strong as the previous records, others that offer a few mis-steps but in a wonderfully playful way - and a few more that really hit this sort of unique mix of genres and politics that could only be summed up as Clash-like at its best!
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| Clearlight – Les Contes du Singe Fou
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(Isadora ISA-9009 Fra-77 VG+ 375:-)
Clearlight is a French progressive rock band from Paris, fronted by keyboard player Cyrille Verdeaux. The band featured a shifting all-star cast of Gong members and other top musicians of the French prog and underground scenes.
'Les Contes du Singe Fou' is a concept album with a nebulous sci-fi theme. The music is once again dominated by Cyrille Verdeaux, whose piano is prominent to an extent unparalleled on any previous Clearlight album.
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| Collins, Shirley - The Sweet Primeroses
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(Topic 12T170 UK-67 VG+ 600:-)
Shirley Elizabeth Collins is an English folk singer who was a significant contributor to the British Folk Revival of the 1960s and 1970s. From July to November 1959, Collins and Alab Lomax made a folk song collecting trip in the Southern US states. It resulted in many hours of recordings and is noted for the discovery of Mississippi Fred McDowell.
1967 saw the release of the essentially southern English song collection, "The Sweet Primeroses", with Collins accompanied for the first time by her sister Dolly's portative organ.
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| Colosseum - Valentyne Suite
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(Vertigo VO-1 UK-70 VG/VG+ 500:-)
Although Colosseum are probably best known as a hard rocking progressive band, they certainly had plenty of jazz touches – and this album spawned the great groover "Elegy", which has become something of a jazzy dancefloor classic over the years!
Overall, the record's got some very tight drumming, plenty of hard-wailing organ work, and a basic groove that takes off where the beat groups of the 60s left off – pushing into more expansive, more progressive jazz territory.
2nd UK pressing on the B&W Vertigo label. The sleeve shows some wear and is graded VG; the vinyl is VG+.
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| Costello, Elvis - Goodbye Cruel World
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(F-Beat ZL-70317 Hol-84 VG+ 225:-)
If there was ever an album showing an artist in transition then this is it. Elvis was continuing his move from popular music star to deep thinking artist, but here he had a crisis of confidence writ large which was not surprising given his personal issues at that time, including a divorce.
Dutch pressing; this copy has been signed by Elvis on the front.
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| Creatures - Feast
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(Wonderland SHELP-1 UK-83 VG+ 375:-)
1983 was a very strange year for Siouxsie and The Banshees. Steve Severin and Robert Smith got together on a side project called The Glove, to release an album of trippy pop aimed at the Japanese market called ‘Blue Sunshine’. At the same time Siouxsie and Budgie, who were now a couple, formed The Creatures and disappeared into the humid forest together to come up with a tropical lust-drenched music more visceral than much of the Banshees’ output.
The Creatures’ first full-length release drips with sex, humidity, narcotics and ritual; but is timeless. This is due in no small part to the mainly acoustic instrumentation, which is stripped down to drums, percussion, marimba and Siouxsie’s voice, all reverbed and processed to give the dense, trippy effect. No guitars are used and it sounds unlike anything anyone else was doing in 1983.
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| Cure - Concert: The Cure Live
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(Fiction fixh10 UK-84 VG+ 500:-)
Going on almost 45 years together and almost as many lineup changes, the Cure have gone from being the closet secret of the goth crowd to popular acceptance to sold-out stadium tours with nary a break in quality.
"Concert" is the first live album by the Cure. It was recorded in 1984 at the Hammersmith Odeon in London and in Oxford during "The Top" tour.
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| Cure - Faith
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(Fiction fix6 Nor-91 VG+ 600:-)
A sublime early one from The Cure!
The band was always best when setting a semi-dour mood, but balancing that with darkly beautiful overall sound and this one does that perfectly, while bringing in thicker waves of keyboards and other more floating bits of atmosphere -- building up from the starker guitar, bass and voice backdrop of the first couple albums -- and definitely a bellwether for bigger sounds to come.
Scandinavian pressing in a gatefold cover printed by Team Trykk, Oslo.
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| Curved Air - Airconditioning
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(Warner Bros WSX-3012 UK-70 VG+ 500:-)
Curved Air's debut album perfectly demonstrated the band's innovative musical approach, blending classical, electronic and folk music influences in their work and featuring Sonja Kristina's sublime vocals.
This was one of the very first mass-produced 'progressive rock music' picture discs to be produced and was released in a limited edition of 10,000 pressings.
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