(New Age, Rock) CD

About as classic as you can get for Amon Duul – a double-length set that virtually defined the sound of prog rock for the 70s! Tracks are long, and mighty jamming – with a strong undercurrent of jazz alongside the heavy drums and guitars – set loose at a level that's much madder than most American work of the time – always threatening to trip itself up at various points, but incredibly on track over the length of the extended package. There's a few improvisational moments, and the whole thing has a fluid feel that even makes us swallow the vocals easily, as they fit right in with the rest of the tripped-out instrumentation. Instruments include 12 string guitar, organ, and some especially nice bongos – and titles include "Burning Sister", "Eye Shaking King", "Yeti Talks To Yogi", "Cerberus", and "Archangel Thunderbird". CD

Dutch revolutionaries The Ex at a high point of an incredible early run – rolling into the mid 80s with a fiery double album! By this point they had a strong blueprint for their sound and style – steady propulsive rhythms that roll to hypnotic effect, sing-speak vocals that work as well as poetic marching mantras as song lyrics, off kilter bits of instrumentation that fit in with noise jazz as much as post-punk rock – and they're right on cusp of a peak here. Includes "Jack Frost Is Innocent", "A Good Buy To You", "Boohoo", "Requiem For A Rip-Off", "Pleased To Meat You", A Plague To Survive", "Kidnap Connection", "Fire And Ice", "Food On 45", "Scrub That Scum", "The Rise Of The Dutch Republic", "Love You Till Eh", "Rabble With A Cause" and the title track. LP, Vinyl record album

Very cool work from Quintessence – an overlooked British group at the end of the 60s, and one who've got a sound that's every bit as spiritual as you'd guess from the cover! These guys are so influenced by Eastern thought, their lead singer is named Shiva – and most of the group members have names that follow suit – yet they also work in a style that's equal parts progressive rock, with a current of jazz – which they spin out beautifully with instrumentation that includes a fair bit of flute, next more conventional guitar, bass, and drums. Their earliest material also features sitar and tambura, which are dropped a bit later on – although the group still seems to find the right spiritual currents – and this wonderful set features three full albums by Quintessence – In Blissful Company, Quintessence, and Dive Deep – with 28 tracks that include "Body", "Gange Mai", "Pearl & Bird", "Notting Hill Gate", "Sea Of Immortality", "Burning Bush", "Shiva's Chant", "Maha Mantra", "Twilight Zones", "Sri Ram Chant", and "Dance For The One". CD

Two very unusual albums from the great Graham Bond – back to back in a single set! Holy Magick is quite spiritual, almost supernatural at times – very much what you'd expect from the cover and title! The record's light years away from Bond's British beat group work of a few years before – and has a quality that almost mixes headier rock influences with the spiritualism of the post-Coltrane generation – as the record almost goes farther in a direction that was somewhat initiated by Albert Ayler's more rock-like leanings at the end of his life. Many numbers have chorus vocals rising up behind Bond's lead – and while his own work on alto sax is somewhat displaced by strong use of guitar on many tracks, there's still a fair bit of jazzy elements going on in the mix – particularly on side two, which features Graham laying down some strong lines on the Hammond. Titles include "Aquarius Mantra", "Praise City Of Light", "12 Gates To The City", "Invocation To The Light", "The Qabalistic Cross", "The Pentagram Ritual", "The Holy Words", "The Judgement", and "The Magician". Holy Magick is an equally unusual record from a very unusual player! Altoist Graham Bond had a long and varied career before he made this groovy rock/jazz album in the early 70s. He started as a committed Brit modernist, playing in Don Rendell's early group, then moved into the Beat Group era, with his Graham Bond Organization that featured him on organ and alto. This session recorded with his group Magick shows a similar extension from the Beat Group sound that was taken by Brian Auger – lots of longer jamming cuts, still with the R&B tinged jazzy playing at its base, but with spiritual jazz on the vocals at times, and almost a bit of prog as well. The heart of the whole thing's still nice and jazzy, though – and titles include "Druid", "Ajama", "Forbidden Fruit", and "Moving Towards The Light". CD

A great live Santana set, recorded in Japan in '73 and never released on vinyl in the US! The band here is at their peak, and this set features a nice large lineup that includes Tom Coster, Richard Kermode, Doug Rauch, Armando Peraza, Jose Chepito Areas and Michael Shreve, plus Leon Thomas on vocals! Some tracks show the clear influence of Miles' electric jazz recordings from the same period, while others have a hardcore Latin percussion base, and as you can imagine there's no shortage of full on guitar pyrotechnics and jamming on all the band members' parts. Most of the group's tracks that have entered classic status are here, but the moments that shine the brightest are the lesser known numbers and extended passages where the group really gets into the groove! Includes "A 1 Funk", "Gypsy Queen", "Oye Como Va", "Yours Is The Light", "Batuka", "Xibaba", 'Waiting", "Free Angela", "Samba De Sausalito", "Mantra", "Kyoto", "Incident At Neshabur" and "Toussaint L'Overture". CD

A stunner of a set from Caravan – and a record that we'd stand right next to some of the bigger albums of the early 70s prog generation in the UK! The instrumentation is fantastic –schooled in an earlier mod era, but turned towards more ambitious ends – yet still with a sense of groove that comes through in the basslines and drums, and which keeps things from ever sounding too indulgent – all while the band seeks to top Yes or King Crimson at their own game! The keyboards are especially great – fantastic work from David Sinclair – but the whole group is wonderful – with Richard Coughlan on drums, Richard Sinclair on bass, Jimmy Hastings on sax and flute, and Pye Hastings on some amazing guitar. Titles include "As I Feel I Die", "If I Could Do It All Over Again I'd Do It All Over You", "Hello Hello", "Limits", "Asforteri", and "With An Ear To The Ground You Can Make It/Martinian/Only Cox/Reprise". CD

Iggy Pop's mid-to-late 70s era working David Bowie as a co-writer, producer and incredible creative foil – in a 7CD box set! It includes Iggy's first 2 and to this day all-time great solo albums The Idiot and Lust For Life, neither of which seem to have aged a day since 1977, a full CD of alternate mixes and out-takes, the original classic live album TV Eye – 1977 that compiled soundboard recordings from the '77 tour – and perhaps this box set's deepest dug treasure trove – 3CDs of complete sets from that same 1977 tour at London's Rainbow Theatre, The Agora in Cleveland, and at Mantra Studios in Chicago! While the Idiot and Lust Of Life showed Iggy to be a lot more versatile of a front man and songwriter to anyone who might not have seen past the manic firebrand howling out front for The Stooges, his live material from that era is pretty amazing too, embracing the Stooges catalog with some of the more innovative style of his early solo albums –bigger arrangements, woozy keyboards and soulful back up singers among them without sacrificing any of the...well, we gotta say it...any of the raw power. Nearly as ferocious as ever but with a real sense of style and craft – and there's a wealth of it collected here for the first time ever. Also includes a 40-page hardback book! CD

Jazzy musings, lots of weird instrumental touches, and players who include Tony Coe on tenor, Pete King on flute and alto, Henry Lowther on trumpet, Frank Rocotti on congas, and Rubert Hine on Arp! CD