The Attack are one of those bands from the key psych years of the UK scene who never fully got their due – a combo who got a big label contract, and recorded in ways that really perfected their sound – yet also sidelined before most of their music had a chance to find the audience it deserved! There's plenty of fuzz, rawness, and driving energy here – almost modes of Creation turned to headier territory, but on short tunes that pack plenty of punch with a mighty nice bite! The set brings together material that might have become a full length set – titles that include "Magic In The Air", "Feel Like Flying", "Freedom For You", "Too Old", and "Go Your Way". LP, Vinyl record album

Heavy psych from the Toronto scene of the 60s – a record that died instantly after it was recorded, but only because it was years ahead of its time! Bent Wind are incredible from the very first note – playing with this intensity that's really hard to sum up in words, often with guitar lines to rival the best of the new hard rock generation in the UK – but lyrics that are moodier and muddier, and which give these guys an almost spooky sort of feel! There's plenty of power on the record throughout – and a youthful freshness that comes through right away, even after all these years – on titles that include "Hate", "The Lions", "Goin To The City", "Riverside", "Mystify", "Touch Of Red", and "Sacred Cows". LP, Vinyl record album

A near-lost musical treasure from the cultural crossroads of the Bay Area scene in the early 70s – work by a Filipino American group who were big on the scene – and who have a mix of rock, jazz, and Latin elements that's not unlike some of their bigger San Francisco contemporaries! The rhythms really guide the proceedings on most cuts – great basslines and plenty of percussion, all at a level that's strongly influenced by Latin, but which uses funky Chicano elements on the organ and guitar – stretching out on tracks that could easily go head to head with Azteca or other Latin-inspired combos on the west coast. The whole thing's great – a real lost Latin Funk album – with titles that include "Searchin For My Soul", "Gozala", "Make Me A Man", Persiguiendo", and "El Dubi". CD

That's Elias Hulk, not the Incredible Hulk – but the band rips across the record with a similar sort of gamma-induced power – a quality that's made this album a hard rock treasure from the day it was released! The cover looks nice and raw, and the record sounds the same way – nicely rough around the edges, with a gritty vibe that almost feels more like Elias Hulk came up from the proto punk world of the American hinterland in the late 60s, and not the British scene they called home – maybe raised on garage and blues rock, but already set loose with a frenzy that's all their own! Peter Thorpe handles vocals, Neil Tatum turns in some amazing guitar work, and James Haines serves up lots of brooding bass – on titles that include "Yesterday's Trip", "We Can Fly", "Nightmare", "Free", "Anthology Of Dreams", and "Ain't Got You". LP, Vinyl record album

A record that's every bit as haunting as its title – a beautiful mix of progressive rock and strings, with some equally poetic vocals to match! The style here is pretty wonderful – as familiar modes mix with cello, violin, and harmonium – all used sparely, but with a quality that almost evokes a more ancient place in the music – yet not in the style that some British folk acts were using at the time. Instead, there's almost a slight sort of darkness to the way these elements are applied – gentle magical forces that work subtly on the songs, and really give them a haunting, moody vibe. Lead vocals are by Tony Durant – who also wrote most of the album – and titles include "Shoes & Ships", "The Nothing Song", "Gone With The Mouse", "A Tiny Book", and "Me & My Kite". LP, Vinyl record album

A key lost chapter in the career of Kevin Godley and Lol Creme – material recorded for the Marmalade label in the years before they burst forth to greater fame in 10CC – all with a very different vibe than the sound of that later group! There's still plenty of the heavenly quality of Godley & Creme material going on here – but with a vibe that's maybe got some of the same post-folk elements as the coolest LA Sunshine pop – almost as if Godley were singing on a Millennium album, but with all the spaced-out, completely sublime approach that Creme would bring to the sessions. Titles include "Cowboys & Indians", "Take Me Back", "Today", "Hot Sun", "Virgin Soldiers", "To Fly Away", "Seeing Things Green", and "Animal Song". LP, Vinyl record album

There's plenty of monkey business going on with this one and only album from Orang-Utan – as the group were actually named Hunter, from the UK – but the set was issued in the US under a different band name, and without the knowledge of the group! Yet that hardly keeps it from being a killer, though – as the record's got this raw early 70s British hard rock energy – heavy bass, searing guitar, and nicely nasty lead vocals from singer Nobby Clarke! Titles include "Love Queen", "Fly Me High", "Magic Playground", "Slipping Away", "I Can See Inside Your Head", and "Chocolate Piano". LP, Vinyl record album

Fantastic work from Syn – a British group who are maybe best-remembered for giving the world future prog giants Chris Squire and Peter Banks – but who are already pretty darn great even without that later legacy of sound! The vibe here is a bit like Tomorrow – the early home of Steve Howe – in that the songs are mostly short, focused, and tuneful, but have all sorts of wonderfully new ideas and trippy touches around the edges – deeper than pop psych material coming out of the US at the time, but equally catchy in its own sort of way! Titles include "Created By Clive", "Flowerman", "14 Hour Technicolour Dream", "Merry Go Round", "The Gangster Opera", "Cadillac Dreams", "The Last Performance of The Royal Regimental Very Victorious and Valiant Band", "Mister White's White Flying Machine", "Love You", and "Sunset Boulevard Lament". LP, Vinyl record album

Really fantastic sounds from The Action – a set that maybe has them stepping a bit from mod to psych, but still with all the catchier elements of their earlier work! There's a very open-minded set of production going on here – a bit like the shift that Small Faces took with Ogden's Nut Gone Flake, but without the sillier sides of that record – and the simple lineup of guitar-based instrumentation somehow hits this richer sense of majesty – maybe a bit like The Hollies' shifting their sound at a similar point. Reg King is fantastic on vocals, really bringing a subtle edge to the music – and titles include "Icarus", "Love Is All", "Strange Roads", "Brain", "I'm A Stranger", "Look At The View", "Climbing Up The Wall", "Come Around", and "In My Dream". LP, Vinyl record album

A near-lost musical treasure from the cultural crossroads of the Bay Area scene in the early 70s – work by a Filipino American group who were big on the scene – and who have a mix of rock, jazz, and Latin elements that's not unlike some of their bigger San Francisco contemporaries! The rhythms really guide the proceedings on most cuts – great basslines and plenty of percussion, all at a level that's strongly influenced by Latin, but which uses funky Chicano elements on the organ and guitar – stretching out on tracks that could easily go head to head with Azteca or other Latin-inspired combos on the west coast. The whole thing's great – a real lost Latin Funk album – with titles that include "Searchin For My Soul", "Gozala", "Make Me A Man", Persiguiendo", and "El Dubi". LP, Vinyl record album

A UK trio, but one with a very heady sound – music that's mostly acoustic, but which has all these great twists and turns that take the whole thing past more familiar folkish styles of the time! True, the guitars are acoustic, and the vocals have a darkly eerie vibe – but the group is also heavy on read work from Jim Fraser, who arranged the set and plays a variety of saxes and flute – often with these edges and tones that are nicely unsettling! In addition to guitars, other instrumentation includes vibes, violin, and percussion – all used in really creative ways – on titles that include "Minerva", "Morpheus", "The Tale Of The Spider & The Fly", "Vesta", "Rolling & Tumbling", "Just As The Curtain Finally Falls", and "Aurora". LP, Vinyl record album

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The unreleased third album from T2 – tracks recorded at the start of the 70s, but never issued at the time – and every bit as great as previous rare work from the British trio! There's a really open feel to these tracks – a style that's got heavy bass that you'd find in the growing hard rock scene of the period, but a languid quality to the vocals and some of the guitars – almost a hanging trace of psych that's a nice contrast to the boldness on the bottom – and which gives the record a feel that's a lot more personal than you might expect. These guys are totally great – no posturing, no overdone noodling, and really just all the right energy in all the right places – a record that really should have gone places, had it been released. Titles include "And Time", "Seventy Two", "The Clown", "The Gambler", "Into The Red", "Questions & Answers", "Looking Back", and "Closing Your Eyes". LP, Vinyl record album