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MR 410LP
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$31.00
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 9/25/2020
"As a luxurious aperitif for the future release of the Elements album (including its extra sauces), Munster Records bring us Macbeth, the staggering soundtrack by the English band Third Era Band for a Roman Polanski's film, recorded and produced in 1971. A magical invitation urging the listener to dive into unsuspected regions of boldness, unpredictability, and an intimate abstract-folkster-experimentalism. According to the founding member Glenn Sweeney, 'the music was called alchemical because it was produced by repetition.' However, mind it, such repetition doesn't follow the same musical structures of, let's say, Terry Riley, Steve Reich or Philip Glass due to its indefinite nature of internal-twisted and tormented passages of a peculiar poetic enchantment. The band, formed in Canterbury, started in 1967 playing an oriental hypnotic-free-form-folk. Signed to the prosperous cult label Harvest, they debuted in 1969 with Alchemy, an instrumental jazzy-psych improvisational album. A fully formed masterpiece came in 1970 on the already aforementioned self-titled opus, also known as Elements. For Macbeth, their third one, just the main chief Glenn Sweeney (assorted percussion) and Richard Coff (viola and violin) remained from the original four-piece line-up. It was recorded when half of the quartet -- Richard Coff (viola and violin) and Ursula Smith (cello) -- had already departed, and they were about to record a third album entitled The Dragon Wakes . . . Aside from a few sessions, this album was never completed. The themes presented on the film were composed in an improvised manner while watching black and white excerpts of the oeuvre. The music, recorded in six weeks at George Martin's Air Studios, in July 1971, has the same unconventional and quite unique dimension as the film itself. It is an auteur music for an auteur film . . . There is an arty-medieval atmosphere overall, and it's folkishly ludic in tracks like 'Overture', 'Iverness', 'Court Dance' and 'Fleance', where the experimental interjections function as colorful devices. 'Fleance' -- with the guest singer Keith Chegwin -- is a scintillating highlight. The poetic assaults of concrete music are present in themes like 'The Beach', 'Ambush', 'Prophesies', as if every drumming fractures, singing seagulls or sharp whistles where conducting us to waves of fear into the unknown. There are other lost beauties in its official 44 minutes like the minimal oboe melody of 'Lady Macbeth' floating as a centipede of dreams or the lyrical guitar chords of 'The Banquet' punctuating a climax of sheer mystery..." --Fernando Naporano
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MR 408LP
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$34.00
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 9/25/2020
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. Extensive liner notes by the renowned specialist Vicente Fabuel and previously unseen pictures have been included here.
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MR 7321EP
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As a follow-up to Munster Records' previous work reissuing the recordings of Pau Riba, key figure in Catalonia's counter-culture and music scene, Munster presents Ars Erótica, one of his most sought-after singles, in the 50th anniversary of its original release. This is a mysterious and surprising record that was originally released on Concèntric and featured alternative edits of two songs previously included on his classic album Dioptria/1. "Ars Erotica (non est mihi)" is edited to last just under five minutes, after taking out some verses and arrangements, although keeping intact its psychedelic folk-rock essence, with plenty of fuzz guitars. On the flipside you find possibly the most interesting recording on this single, clearly showing what the vibe and work method were at the studio: all the musicians playing simultaneously in a chilled-out atmosphere. This edit of "Rosa d'abril (l'amor s'hi posa)" starts right in the same point where the album edit finishes, with Pau Riba backed by the band Om jamming and some of the guest friends at the studio joining in, including the film producer and script writer Joaquim Jordà, who Riba wrote this song for.
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MR 407LP
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This reissue is a collaboration between Munster Records and Disques Mono-Tone. With a career that includes hits as producer ("Alley Oop" by The Hollywood Argyles), songwriter ("Nut Rocker" by B Bumble & The Stingers), recordings with Gene Vincent, Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers, and countless others, his early management of The Runaways and plenty of glorious failures along the way, Kim Fowley has been a maverick presence in rock n' roll history for over fifty years. Living In The Streets (1977) is a compilation of his solo recordings, some of them dating back to the beginning of the decade. "Born to Make You Cry" and "Thunder Road" -- recorded in collaboration with Mars Bonfire -- had first appeared on a single on Original Sound in 1970. As had "Big Bad Cadillac" (a homage to Vince Taylor's "Brand New Cadillac") and "Man Without A Country", released under the name King Lizard, and recorded in Sweden while he was producing Wigwam's Tombstone Valentine album (1970). Originally released on Chattahoochee in 1973 under the alias Jimmy Jukebox, "Motorboat" is now regarded as a Fowley classic. That song and its B-side, "25 Hours A Day" was written and recorded in collaboration with his good friend Michael Lloyd, who Fowley had been making records with since the mid-sixties. "California Summertime" and "Hollywood Nights" were recorded in 1974 at Gold Star Studios in Hollywood and released as a single on the Now label under the unlikely sobriquet of Lance Romance. Three songs -- plus the spoken piece "Sex, Dope and Violence" -- made their debut on the album: "Summertime Frog", "Love Bomb", and "Living In The Streets". All are acoustic and show a certain Captain Beefheart flavor, the former, and some Dylanesque influence, the later. "Living In The Streets" remains a worthy monument to the seventies recordings of the Dorian Gray of rock n' roll, the human jukebox: the unstoppable Kim Fowley. Includes an insert with extensive notes by Mike Stax (Ugly Things Magazine) and features its original artwork.
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7"
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MR 7323EP
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Reminiscent of early Velvet Underground, Attrix were one of Brighton's most active groups in the vibrant local scene during the early days of punk. Rick Blair, the mastermind behind the band, would work for a time at the Brighton and Hove Community Resource Centre, just above The Vault, a crypt which was the headquarters of the local punk/squatter movement where many musicians would their equipment and rehearse. His connections with the scene would lead him to set up a record shop and an independent label, Attrix Records, home to this debut release -- and only vinyl recording -- by his own band. Both tracks on this homemade looking 7" originally released in 1978 are no short of raw vocals and fierce guitars but the band shows also had pop hooks to spare... First ever reissue.
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7"
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MR 7322EP
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Marc Jonson was 19 years old when he made his extraordinary debut album, Years, for Vanguard Records. But his first professional recording session took place several years earlier, in 1966, when he laid down this savage slice of primitive Bo Diddley-fied punk with his teenage garage band, The Gay Intruders. In the United Artists building (NYC) there was a small recording studio, Dick Charles Recording Services, and it was there that the Gay Intruders recorded "In the Race" in August 1966. The tough rocker "It's Not Today" dates from the same period, 1967. "The basic track was recorded at my house back then," says Marc Jonson, "and I just recently added more guitars. Vocals were added to the original vocal, but the harmonica was from back then."
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LP
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MR 404LP
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Munster Records presents a reissue of Federal Duck's self-titled album, originally released in 1968. It would be difficult to overlook the eye-catching colorful cover, designed by Abe Gurvin, who was also responsible for the very appealing artwork on Tito Rodriguez and Gene Pitney's releases on the New York-based Musicor label. However, this self-titled LP was soon forgotten after not having any singles released as promotional support to the album and also, maybe, due to the complete absence of covers in the track list. Federal Duck was one of many college bands to pop up during the psychedelic years. It consisted of Tony Shaftel (vocals, bass), Jack Bowers (guitar), George Stavis (guitar, vocals, and songwriting), Huck White (guitar, French horn), Ken Stover (keyboards, tuba), Bob Stern (bass, vocals), and Timmy Ackerman (drums, percussion). They met at Haverford College, just outside Philadelphia, and working under other names (Stomp Jackson Quintet and The Guides) the band members came up with a new name one night when they were lying on the bank of the campus duck pond and some ducks started waddling toward them in what looked like a purposeful and menacing way, as if they were working for the government -- or so they thought. They played many gigs over the four years of the band's short life and made a name for themselves as skilled musicians who would be able to play all night long if required. The album was recorded at Groove Sound Studios, NYC, in 1968 and included a number of quality tracks, mixing elements of jazz, country, and soft-psychedelia. "Tomorrow Waits For Today" stands out as a wonderful piece of jazzy pop-psych that easilya rival the best recordings of the genre. But some will find "Bird" the most accomplished song on the album, featuring fierce guitars and energetic drums, bordering on hard psych, that eventually lead into a long jazzy piano solo in the middle of the 5+ minute song. "While You're Away" keeps similarly high levels of energy, echoing harmonies reminiscent of bands like The Byrds. But it is the soft psych approach as on tracks like "Friday Morning" or "Dawn Comes Slow" that best describe the overall sound of the album. "Circus In The Sea," the closing track, successfully mixes a varied combination of sounds and deserved to have made a bigger splash when originally released. Federal Duck is reissued here on vinyl for the first time, with facsimile artwork and 180g vinyl pressing.
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MR 405LP
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Munster Records presents a reissue of Batiscafo by Gregorio Paniagua. Immersed in an age of re-releases and the pursuit of rarities, hidden gems and marvels, record labels are constantly rediscovering musical jewels, which previously only collectors have had the chance to own. Batiscafo is one of these elusive treasures. First released in 1980 on the label Hispavox, the album disappeared after a short run and no further editions in any format have been available until now, in spite of the huge level of interest shown by fans to get their hands on a vinyl record in mint condition by this outstanding musical oddity made in Spain. Paniagua is a classically trained musician and scholar of music with an extensive and fruitful history of researching, recording and rediscovering ancient music, varying from Las Cantigas de Santa María del Rey Alfonso X El Sabio (which earned him a gold record in Japan), to Andalusían music from Spain's past or compositions from ancient Greece, as well as playing with the vocal and instrumental ensemble Atrium Musicae, which toured across the world to great critical acclaim. In 1980, Paniagua embarked on a solo project, moving from the classical to the pop department at Hispavox. He shut himself off from the world every night for a whole month to record Batiscafo. Assisted solely by a sound technician at the controls of the latest mixing desk, his instruments and brilliant inventiveness, he managed to create this gem, a record that seeks to emulate Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells (1973) and which vanished all too soon, becoming the Holy Grail of Spanish experimental music. Batiscafo anticipated a wave of avant-garde Spanish music in the '80s with key figures such as Suso Sáiz, Pep Llopis, Ishinoana, or Finis Africae, who are now being rediscovered and admired outside Spain. It is a highly original and imaginative record that continues to surprise listeners forty years on, with its bold combination of early electronic music, classicism, experimentation and psychedelia. It's a masterpiece that endures the test of time. Remastered from the original tapes, includes facsimile artwork and liner notes, on 180 gram vinyl.
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LP+CD
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MR 401LP
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Paraiso was one of the most essential bands of the Spanish new wave scene in the '80s also known as La Movida. Their song "Para Ti" became an anthem for a generation and, with just a couple of singles released and a couple of tracks on a compilation, the band reached mythical status despite their very short career. It is only now, over 40 years after its recording, that Munster Records present Paraiso's lost album that never got released at the time. Featuring a track list as selected by the band, El Corte Final comprises the result of two different recording sessions from 1979, showing how fresh, fun, and also potentially commercial the group was. Paraiso recorded a hard to beat selection of pop gems under the influence of The Modern Lovers, Devo (whose song "Mongoloid" they would cover), or The Specials. Its members would later join many other famed Spanish bands such as Dinarama, Bólidos, Ejecutivos, Radio Futura, Décima Víctima, La Mode, Casinos... El Corte Final includes extensive liner notes by José Antonio Lago, previously unseen photos, and pictures of the fanzines originally published by Paraiso; also includes CD.
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MR 403LP
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Munster Records present the first facsimile reissue of The Flipper's Discotheque, originally released in 1966. Don't let their elegant suits sported on the front cover confuse you: The Flippers were ambassadors of the British Invasion in their native Colombia, but the strength of garage music, surf instrumentals, and psychedelia quickly became their true hallmarks. They are, undoubtedly, one of the essential bands of Colombian rock, as also are The Speakers or Los Yetis. You can easily imagine The Flipper's reigning on the hippest stages of Colombia in the late '60s, performing very rhythmic songs full of fuzzy and reverb infected guitars and fueling the audience's desire to dance wildly. That's how things worked back then. In 1964, Arturo Astudillo and Carlos Martínez formed the student group The Thunderbirds in Bogotá. One year later, after the line-up was enlarged with Miguel Durier and Guillermo Acevedo, the group was renamed as The Flipper's after the American TV series Flipper. Medellín based label Codiscos signed them after publishing an EP with several versions of current hits and soon released their first album. "Impromptu Jazz a Go Go, the first song on Discotheque, their debut LP, already drops some leads about where the band's musical interests were in 1966, the year this album was published. The guitars quickly catch the listener with the characteristic dynamism of the dolphin that gave name to the group while they share the leadership of the song with an energetic and forceful drumming. It somehow anticipates other sensational instrumental cuts on the album such as "Dance to Go Go" or "Master Flipper" that give full meaning to the title of the LP. There is also some room for the cover versions on this album: the timeless "Winchester Cathedral" or The Yardbirds' top hit "Over Under Sideways Down" are translated into Spanish with greater or lesser fortune while classics such as "Route 66" retain their original lyrics and charming. The relationship with their record company would be extended to one more LP, Psicodelicias, while the style of the group was beginning to move towards more progressive sounds. In the mid-70s The Flipper's would dissolve temporarily to later continue for a short period of time in the early '80s.
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2LP
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MR 389C-LP
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Yellow and green vinyl version. Special 50th anniversary reissue of Pau Riba's first album in its intended double-LP format in gatefold sleeve with 12-page booklet featuring lyrics in Catalan and Spanish. Released as two separate records in 1969 and 1970, Riba was just 20-21 years old when he created this expansive and outstanding work of psychedelic folk-rock accompanied by the band Om and members of Música Dispersa. The beginning of the unique career of this essential figure of Catalan music and counterculture. Presented in facsimile artwork and pressed on 180 gram vinyl.
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7"
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MR 7319EP
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Mike Stax on the 7": "Craig Smith was a Southern California golden boy: smart, funny, good looking, gregarious and gifted. Success came easy to him in the 1960s, his winning smile flickering on TV screens across America, his songs recorded by The Monkees, Andy Williams, and Glen Campbell, and his band, The Penny Arkade (produced and mentored by Michael Nesmith) poised for the big time. But in 1968, after revelatory experiences with LSD and meditation, he walked away from the music business and set out along the Hippie Trail from Istanbul to India. Then tragedy struck. A horrific attack in Kandahar, Afghanistan triggered a complete mental breakdown, and when Craig returned to California he was not the same person. Craig Smith became Maitreya Kali, a self-professed psychedelic guru with a serious Messiah complex and black widow spider tattooed on his Third Eye. Maitreya laid out his bizarre vision on two brilliant albums, Apache and Inca, pressed up in tiny quantities in 1972 and now among the most sought-after psychedelic artifacts in the world. Written and recorded in 1969-70, 'Sam Pan Boat' is one of his most haunting and unerringly beautiful songs. The version here is remastered from the Inca album. 'Race The Wind' was sourced from a two-sided acetate demo recorded around 1968-69. Take 2 of the song was included on the album Love Is Our Existence (MAM 201CD/101LP, 2018). The slightly more vigorous Take 1 is being released for the first time here."
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7"
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MR 7318EP
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The Zeros is a pioneer punk rock band formed in 1976 in Chula Vista, California. Comparisons with The Ramones are often made when describing the energetic and fierce guitar driven sound of the group. After two decades without releasing any new songs, they are back with two new recordings that anticipate a forthcoming album with a release date yet to be set. "Nowhere To Run" was drafted by Javier Escovedo a long time ago while "In the Spotlight" is a recent composition and both songs retain the untamed yet melodic essence of The Zeros.
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LP
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MR 394LP
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"After many years, we've recovered a rehearsal session that we had recorded on an old cassette tape. It had originally been laid down on a four-track recorder but unfortunately the tape got lost. The story of these tracks goes back to the last weekend of October 1983, when we went to record at Paco Trinidad's family home in the mountains north of Madrid. It was unexpectedly cold that weekend and we weren't prepared for the drop in temperatures . . . Paco recorded our latest songs on a four-track tape recorder at the house. It was done live, except for extra takes of Lars playing the clarinet and some guitar details. The garage sound, as the name suggests, was achieved in the garage and an adjoining room where José Brena played the drums. I used to write most of the lyrics . . . On this tape the track 'Una Vez Más' is instrumental and it's been so long now that we don't remember if it was like that at the time or if we hadn't defined the vocal melody yet. I rewrote most of the lyrics for the studio edition of the tracks on Un Hombre Solo (1984), with the exception of Lars's version of 'La Frontera Perdida'. It's not that his lyrics weren't good but I was more comfortable singing the words I wrote, as they felt more intimate . . . we always registered the songs as group compositions, drawing no distinctions between lyrics and music. The sleeve design is by Lars, who designed all the covers to our records. It's a photo montage of our performance for the Maqueta de Oro (Gold Demo) at the Diario Pop awards in March 1983, plus another photo of the band in the dressing room at Rock-Ola after playing our last gig. Áurea Cuní carried out the research and coordination among friends of friends in order to find photos of the group. The project for this record began months ago, when Per and his wife, Áurea, commented that they had listened again to the cassette tape of Décima Víctima that they kept in their storage room and had realized the power we had as a band. They said it was an interesting item for collectors and we should release it..." --Carlos Entrena, 2019
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LP
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MR 396LP
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"In 1968, The Silver Thunders enjoyed a good reputation within the Bogotá rock circuit . . . Today, none of the three living members of the band remembers where they got the money from to invest in the recording, but they got together three or four hours a week over several months in 1968 at the studio Suramericana de Grabaciones. The details of the sessions are hazy and nobody knows who sat behind the mixing desk. However, Jorge López (lead guitar) and Orlando Córdoba (bass guitar) both say that the studio was uncomfortable and precarious. This didn't undermine the group's upbeat spirit. That's how things were back then: no editing tricks and no option of doing several takes, as reels of tape were very expensive. The Silver Thunders, with Edgardo Córdoba (rhythm guitar) and Carlos Cardona (drums) completing the line-up, recorded live a repertoire influenced by Mersey beat and British R&B, American surf and garage, the psychedelia of The Beatles and a dash of African pop. This is conveyed in the raw cover versions of 'And Your Bird Can Sing', 'Got To Get You Into My Life' and 'A Day In The Life' by the Liverpool four; 'Mary, Mary' by The Monkees; 'Wild Thing' by The Troggs; 'Wild Angels', taken from the soundtrack of the film of the same name; 'Summer In The City' by The Lovin' Spoonful, plus a surprising cover of 'Pata Pata' by the South African artist Miriam Makeba. Although the presence of The Beatles predominates, the band delves deep into style of The Ventures in 'Good Thing' and an exquisite and naive cover version of 'Strawberry Fields Forever' after the instrumental track that Don Wilson and Bob Bogle's combo made famous in 1967. The recording also includes 'Alma Agobiada', an original song by Carlos 'Caniche' Cardona and the only remaining example of The Silver Thunders' own repertoire . . . A couple of years later, Jorge López went off to finish his studies and Carlos Cardona joined the ranks of Los Flippers. The Córdoba twins carried on playing, accompanied by Hernando Orjuela on keyboards and Eduardo Acevedo on drums. They fell under the influence of the mysticism of the guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogui. At the end of the decade, the four Silver Thunders became Los Yoguis and recorded 'Birthday' and 'Revolution' by The Beatles at the Ingeson studios, as well as 'Shape Of Things To Come' and 'Listen To The Music', both from the soundtrack of the film Wild In The Streets..." --Luis Daniel Vega
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MR 398LP
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Peru enjoyed a thriving and exciting music scene since the mid-1960s. Bands such as Los Saicos, Los Shain's, and Los York's, to name just a few, released a number of brilliant records that drove young fans crazy and set an example for many to follow. The end of the decade brought about an evolution in sound and new music genres, as Peruvian bands kept an eye on the groundbreaking British and US artists exploring baroque pop, psychedelic rock and early prog. One of them was Traffic Sound, founded in Lima in 1967. Over a very short period of time the band managed to successfully develop their career transcending their starting point, in which they'd simply record covers of artists such as Jimi Hendrix, Cream, or The Young Rascals, moving on to the more mature sound of their first LP with self-written songs, Virgin (1969), a masterpiece of Latin rock, and this second self-titled LP, released in 1970. Traffic Sound incorporates here complex arrangements and long song structures with which they approach prog music. However, the immediacy of songs like "Yesterday's Game", with a fierce and contagious guitar riff, or "Chicama Way", a terrific anthem, clear any possible doubt about the sound principles of the band: groovy rock. While tracks such as "Those Days Have Gone" or "America" show the friendliest yet psychedelic side of the group, "Tibet's Suzettes", the opening song of the album, simultaneously introduces all the ingredients of the Traffic Sound recipe: hypnotic rhythms, untamed guitars, and very skilled playing. Although some influences cannot be ignored, this second Traffic Sound album is huge and deserves to be considered one of the greatest recordings of its time, even internationally, as essential as the most hailed works of Cream, Caravan, or Led Zeppelin that served as a bridge for rock music between the '60s and '70s. Presented in facsimile tri-fold sleeve and pressed on 180 gram vinyl.
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MR 006LP
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La Secta's Blue Tales was recorded and released in 1990. It was an effervescent time with a very active and top-quality Basque music scene which included bands such as Los Bichos, Cancer Moon, La Perrera, and La Secta. They were spearheads both in their respective cities and areas of influence as in the rest of Spain, La Secta especially lauded by the alternative press circuit (fanzines) outside the Iberian Peninsula (United States, France, Germany, UK, Australia, Switzerland), creating a very favorable impact. Blue Tales marked a before-and-after in Spain's music scene with very good reviews in the specialized press. On the album, you can hear very clearly the band's influences but all sifted and recreated under a unique style: Scientists, Stooges, Music Machine, Suicide, Seeds, 13th Floor Elevators, Marc Bolan, kraut rock, pre-grunge, noise, chaos, acid folk, bad vibes, broken hearts, ecstasy, hallucinogens, innocence, and risk... a dangerous cocktail. Sonic Boom (Spaceman 3) captained this boat through seas of daring experimentation, which is why the end result is a timeless record that still sounds powerful and fresh today. The album is now presented with a new face, new cover, images, and poster that reflect the spirit of its content and the creators of this soundtrack, with a renewed sound thanks to the mastering of Sergio Delgado, where details of Patxi's guitar, hidden in the original production of 1990, are now shown. Liner notes with contributions by Kim Salmon (Scientists, Surrealists, Beasts of Bourbon) with a long connection to the band and good knowledge of their adventures; Fernando Gegúndez, an experienced music journalist from Bilbao and aware of the evolution of La Secta since its inception; and Lindsay Hutton, founder in the mid-1980s of the long-running fanzine The Next Big Thing, creator of the Cramps fan club from 1980-1983 (initially with Morrissey), and contributor to music magazines such as Sounds and Mojo. Produced by Sonic Boom (Spaceman 3). Co-released by Munster Records and Secta Records. Includes bonus tracks. 150 gram vinyl; gatefold sleeve; includes poster; edition of 500.
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MR 395LP
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Munster Records present a reissue of El Ritmo De Los Shain's, originally released in 1965. Talking about Los Shain's means talking about wild sounds and uncompromising garage rock. The repertoire of the Peruvian band is full of primitive screams, dirty fast guitars, tight drums, and Farfisa organ licks, an arsenal that made them one of the leading bands of the Peruvian '60s rock scene whose great influence spread over all Latin America. Although during the previous two years they had already released several singles that foreshadowed their enormous later impact, the first Shain's album came out in 1966, when they were still in their teens. In their beginnings they looked to bands such as The Beatles and The Shadows as reference artists, but soon they would begin to pay attention to other groups into harder sounds and genres like surf or even psychedelic garage. This turning point was driven mainly by two of their members: Pico Ego-Aguirre (guitar) and Gerardo Manuel (vocals). El Ritmo de Los Shain's is mainly, as it was common practice at the time, an album of covers: from the classic "Hang On Sloopy" to the wonderful "She's Not There" of The Zombies or the timeless "We Gotta Get Out Of This Place" popularized by The Animals. The instrumentals alternate with songs with vocals, often just wild screams that could make us think of a sort of early version of The Cramps. "Shain's A Go Go" is pure garage madness and "The Monster" a straightforward tribute to bands like The Novas, while in "Vamos" the initial drum rolls make it impossible for the name of The Sonics not to come to mind. One can't help but wonder what those parties in '60s Peru were like... Presented in facsimile artwork and pressed on 180 gram vinyl.
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7"
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MR 7317EP
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"The group later known as Mars came together in late 1975 through a chance meeting of those involved . . . After a year of cooking up a sound, we played our first gig at CBGBs (under the short-lived name China) in January '77 with Sumner, China and I alternating on Silvertone guitars and bass through tube amps, and Nancy on drums . . . The first single (3E/11,000 Volts) was recorded and mixed by Jay Dee Daugherty under the impulse of Lenny Kaye for their label with Patti Smith, Mer..." --Mark Cunningham
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7"
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MR 7316EP
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Edinburgh four-piece The Valves were active between 1977 and 1979, playing live extensively and releasing a total of three singles. Straddling the line between high energy rock and roll and punk, their debut 7", Robot Love/For Adolfs' Only, was the first release on Bruce Findlay's Zoom Records and has become a classic of the late '70s Scottish scene, reissued here for the first time in a facsimile vinyl edition.
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LP+CD
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MR 387LP
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These previously unreleased live and studio sessions are a loose exercise in spontaneity, and sheer art, which has been lost in the mists of time. Geronimo Black, a truly underrated band from Los Angeles, had existed long before its self-titled debut album released officially by UNI Records in February 1972. Composer, arranger, keyboard player, and founding member Andy Cahan, who also part of Dr John's band at the time. Despite the fact that nearly all his players were part of the busy schedule of the evolving Frank Zappa's band Mothers Of Invention, Cahan attests that "it was a real band with every intention of getting a record deal. Of course, since Jimmy Carl Black, Ray Collins and Bunk Gardner were from Zappa's original band, that was a big selling point to record companies." Talking about the songs on Freak Out Phantasia release, which preceded the first official album, Andy mentions that The Beatles were his main influence. Also, he namechecks other luminaries such as The Zombies, Kinks, Loving Spoonful, Hendrix, Cream, Dave Clark Five, and The Beau Brummels. The live output found on this release is part of their non-stop gigging system. It's worth pointing out that around that time, they were playing gigs with The Eagles, Delaney & Bonnie, The Byrds, Eric Burdon, Joe Cocker, Ike & Tina Turner, The Standells, Canned Heat, Southwind, Taj Mahal, Little Feat, and many others. Some songs herein included were recorded in a prison. Even doing very well on their live adventures, in terms of breaking through in sales, Geronimo Black never had the same lucky destiny of many of their Californian contemporaries. Singing a record deal with Uni Records around Christmas time, they were essentially deemed a tax right-off and were billed thousands of dollars on no income. Back to the present, some highlights of Munster Records' compilation include "Topanga Canyon People" and "Ooh Poo Pah Doo" (both live recordings showing their total intensity and stoned freak-out atmosphere, recalling Zappa's sound, which obviously they were part of). "Let Us Live" is a superb song, with a bluesy-pop-twisted Southern rock vibe. An alternate version of "Siesta" is another key song, and in some ways resembles "Flute Thing", a classic instrumental by The Blues Project. Now it is time to enjoy these recordings because they "reveal the raw passion and excitement we had on stage", as Andy concludes. Includes CD with four bonus tracks.
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2LP
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MR 393LP
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"The Tomcats' story begins in Ealing, West London, where Tom Newman (vocals, guitar), Peter Cook (lead guitar), Alan James (bass), and Chris Jackson (drums) first began playing together as The Dreamers. When Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies opened the Ealing Club in 1962, it became a magnet for young blues enthusiasts, many of whom would go on to form their own R&B groups, including The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, and Manfred Mann. Evenings spent at the Ealing Club had a similar effect on members of The Dreamers, who soon afterwards retooled their repertoire and rebranded as The Tomcats. Another Ealing-based group, The Second Thoughts, were thinking along the same lines . . . It was inevitable that their stories would eventually entwine. In 1964 The Second Thoughts recorded some demos at a studio in Rickmansworth. However, the band parted company shortly afterwards when three of the members (Tony Duhig, Mickey Holmes, and John 'Speedy' Keen) headed for Spain to accompany the French nightclub singer Teddy Ray. When they returned to England a few months later, they immediately set about putting a new band . . . Meanwhile, The Tomcats had also broken up, so it was only natural that the remnants of the two bands join forces. Initially called The Thoughts, the new group featured Tom Newman, Tony Duhig, Mickey Holmes, Jon Field, and Speedy Keen. Soon afterwards Speedy was replaced by original Tomcats drummer Chris Jackson, at which point they decided to readopt the Tomcats name . . . Philips signed the band, which resulted in the release of four EPs in 1965 and 1966. While the majority of the songs were remakes of recent hits, The Tomcats deliver them with enough guts and gusto to make them more than worthwhile. The group also chose to cover a few Spanish numbers, most notably 'A Tu Vera', a song best known by the iconic singer, dancer and movie actress Lola Flores. The Tomcats transformed the dramatic flamenco torch song into a wild, fuzz guitar-spattered rocker. They also recorded the title song to one of her movies, 'Ay Pena, Penita, Pena', updated with a throbbing bass line, thumping jungle drums and a stinging fuzz guitar solo. A small handful of original numbers were also scattered across the four EPs, including the moody ballad 'Running At Shadows', 'It Ain't Right', and the Mersey-style 'Don't Ask For Me'. While in Spain, The Tomcats were cast in a comedy film, Operación secretaria, performing the thrilling punk R&B number 'Two Minds In Tune'. That song makes its first appearance on vinyl here, along with a fine version of Reverend Gary Davis's 'Cocaine' and a rowdy original number, 'Don't Let It Go'." --Mike Stax
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2LP
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MR 389LP
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Special 50th anniversary reissue of Pau Riba's first album in its intended double-LP format in gatefold sleeve with 12-page booklet featuring lyrics in Catalan and Spanish. Released as two separate records in 1969 and 1970, Riba was just 20-21 years old when he created this expansive and outstanding work of psychedelic folk-rock accompanied by the band Om and members of Música Dispersa. The beginning of the unique career of this essential figure of Catalan music and counterculture. Presented in facsimile artwork and pressed on 180 gram vinyl.
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7"
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MR 7315EP
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The Loons keep growing, learning, creating, evolving but never compromising. Their latest 7" presents three new and diverse creations: "A Dream In Jade Green" is an intense, high-energy psychedelic number; two parts hallucination, one part seduction. "Memories Have Faces" is a primal, percussive, jungle workout with wailing steel guitar and Yardmerizing harmonica, while "Don't Make Me Wait" is a straight-ahead, hip-shaking '60s beat number. Formed in San Diego more than 20 years ago, The Loons have recorded and released four albums.
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2LP+CD
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MR 390LP
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OFFICIAL RSD 2019 release. If one is aware of high prices on online music sites or is a part of any worldwide record collectors' circles, albums from groups such as Ithaca and Agincourt might sound familiar. Producers, composers, singers and multi-instrumentalists Peter Howell and John Ferdinando are two English musicians who started their partnership in the mid-1960s. From 1968, with the release of their soundtrack for the play Alice Through The Looking Glass, until the release of a project called Friends in 1974, they put together a total of five albums, Ithaca (1973) and Agincourt (1970) being the two most expensive and collectable of all of them. Incredibly rare and highly sought-after for years, the records contained a magical world brimming with folk music, soft psychedelia, psych-pop and progressive overtones; their music is absolutely exquisite and truly unique. It is predominantly folk, but very far from its traditional format. The longer one listens to their legacy, the longer one is going to find peculiar elements of classical gestures plus many flourishes of soft psychedelia, idiosyncratic progressive overtones, acid-folk and a taste that one is always entering the enchanting toy world of psych-pop. It does make total sense that the word "cult" is frequently applied to describe their creations. On Ithaca, Agincourt And Other Psych-Folk Fairy Tales (a 21 track double LP accompanied by a 19 track CD of totally distinct material), one also has the chance to read their own words. Both of them were interviewed for the liner notes, where they reveal their secret influences and their simple but unexpected ways of creating and composing. Be subtle, be daring, and be immersed in the magic world of Peter Howell and John Ferdinando.
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