V.A. - Simla Beat 70 / 71 (1970-71 indian rhythm & blues, garage and psychedelic compilation - 2 CDs Shadoks edition - FLAC)

[ Shadoks Music Series # 006 ]

In the early '70s, the India Tobacco Company sponsored an annual "All-India Simla Beat Contest."

These events sparked compilations of Indian rock bands, Simla Beat 70 and Simla Beat 71, that have been combined into one package on this double-CD reissue.

No sitars, certainly, and though there are some ragga-ish droning rave-ups, these are barely different from what you'd hear done by a band, say, from Holland in 1967.

But there's definitely a wild and unruly local twist on the proceedings, an unusual metric distortion that creeps into the music.

Even better yet is when the artists sing in their own language (as opposed to English), which usually occurs on the wilder, more psychedelic tunes.

Originality is at its max and it's not just a couple of Indian chaps who think they are The Beatles!

Several artists have more than one track on this album, each one having a rather individual sound.

Surprising in that it's uncanny how much this sounds like the garage bands that could have been playing in any country, although it actually sounds more like bands from Europe and South America that spoke English as a second language than it does like American or British groups

This is a must have for all Garage & psych goers, recorded in 70 and 71 but with a sound more like '66. Sometimes this mines a basic surf, British Invasion, Psychedelic or R&B. Interesting..


Simla Beat Theme:


CD-1: Simla Beat '70:
01.Voice From The Inner Soul - Confusions
02.You Can't Beat It - Dinosaurs
03.Psychedelia - X'Lents
04.Zorba's Dance - Innerlite
05.Proper Stranger - Genuine Spares
06.What's Going On - Genuine Spares
07.Sinister Purpose - Dinosaurs
08.Mist - Great Bear
09.Born On The Bayou - X'Lents
10.Baby Baby Please - Innerlite

CD-2: Silma Beat '71:
01.Simla Beat Theme - The Fentones
02.Nothing Is The Same - Nomads
03.Killing Floor - Hipnotic Eye
04.Hey Gipsy Girl - Mini Beats
05.I Am So Glad - Velvette Fogg
06.The Mod Trade - The Black Beats
07.I Am Gonna Erupt - The Eruptions
08.Until The Dawn - The Fentones
09.Psychedelic Web - Brood Of Vampires
10.You Can't Judge A Book - The Eruptions
11.Aimless Lady - Hipnotic Eye

Bands:
Confusions, Dinosaurs, X'Lents, Innerlite, Genuine Spares, Great Bear, The Fentones, Nomads, Hipnotic Eye, Mini Beats, Velvette Fogg, The Black Beats, The Eruptions, Brood Of Vampires, Hipnotic Eye


[ Rip and scans by OldrockerBR ]
CODE: 60145

Betty - Handful (1971 us, hard biker/roll boogie/psych, shadoks remaster - MP3 320k and FLAC)

[ Shadoks Music Series # 019 ]

Originally recorded in 1971 by California's long-forgotten Betty, Handful is an interesting and frustrating album, but not because of any of the songs on it. The ten tracks are standard for the time period and show that the musicians were competent if not particularly imaginative songwriters.

Opener "Boogie with You" has a distinct roadhouse feel reminiscent of the Doors or Canned Heat. Guitarists Mike McMahon and Anthon Davis lay down some funky guitar licks accented by Tom Jordan's piano and an able rhythm section comprising Al Rodriguez on drums and Kerry Kanbara on bass. And the other nine songs on the album are variations on this theme. "Blind with Shame" contains some poppy guitar hooks and a catchy chorus, and "Thank You" replaces the piano with an organ and blues riffs with Moby Grape-inspired metal chords.

On "Lights Gonna Shine," the band travels the farthest afield by trading out the shouted lyrics and boogie sensibility of the other tracks for a more folk-oriented point of view. The result, by far the most interesting track on the album, sounds like a great ending theme for Soylent Green or Logan's Run. But Handful could have been recorded by any number of bands; blues roadhouse acts that were exceptional staked their claim to the music thirty years ago.

Compared with more familiar records from the era, Handful isn't that compelling. But listening to the album does pique an interest in the band that put them together, and in that regard Shadoks Music misses out.

There was a huge opportunity here to track down the members of the band for interviews and have them put Handful into both an artistic and a historic context. It's nearly impossible not to wonder what became of Betty.
by Mike Burr


Boogie with You :


Tracks
1. Boogie with You (Anthon Davis) - 2:53
2. Blind with Shame (Anthon Davis) - 2:60
3. Just for Fun (Mike McMahon, Anthon Davis) - 4:01
4. High Rollin' on the Freeway (Lee Marks, Anthon Davis) - 3:33
5. River Bummin' (Lee Marks, Anthon Davis) - 3:35
6. Handful (of Love) (Mike McMahon, Anthon Davis) - 3:19
7. Thank You (Lee Marks, Anthon Davis) - 4:09
8. Learn How to Boogie (Lee Marks, Anthon Davis) - 3:28
9. Harley Perdoo (Lee Marks, Anthon Davis) - 3:23
10.Lights Gonna Shine (Mike McMahon, Anthon Davis) - 3:05

Betty
*Al Rodriguez - Drums
*Mike McMahon - Guitar
*Kerry Kanbara - Bass, Vocals
*Anthon Davis - Lead Vocals, Guitar
Guest Musicians
*Tom Jordan - Keyboards
*Lee Marks - Chorus
*Ed O'Donnell - Chorus

[ Rip and Scans by MARIOS ]
CODE: 53419 or click here (password is code_number+phrockblog)

Instant Orange - Instant Orange (1968-1975 us psych west coast and folk rock - MP3 320K and FLAC)

[ Shadoks Music Series # 091 ]

The hardcore record collectors at Shadoks Music would have you believe that they’ve unearthed a gem in early 1970s San Bernadino band Instant Orange.

They haven’t, but the disc at least makes for an interesting listen. Co-frontmen Terry Walters and Randy Lanier founded Instant Orange and kept the band alive for seven off and on years, with a rotating cast of other players.

During that time, the group produced a couple of singles, an album, and two EPs. Those releases was pressed independently, with only 100 copies of each ever produced (save for their first single.

Walters says they were talked into ordering 300 instead for that one, and that they didn’t let it happen again.) None of the members went on to make a career out of music, so it’s not really a surprise that the band was more or less forgotten until now.

Terry Walters admits that he and Randy Lanier’s main touchstones were ‘60s folk-rock bands like the Byrds and Love.

This is apparent throughout the disc, as the jangly sound of the 12-string electric guitar dominates many of the songs.

The music is catchy enough, but neither frontman really had the vocal or lyrical ability to make the band come alive as a solid successor to their influences. In fact, the vocals on the band’s album Five Year Premiere are mixed so softly that they’re tough to make out, although this is not a problem on the singles or EPs.

The band really comes alive when it tries things outside the folky comfort zone. The banjo-and-kazoo instrumental hoedown “Cycle II” is highly entertaining, and the harder-rocking “Silent Green” has an energy the rest of Five Year Premiere is missing.

The group’s two singles also prove successful. The poppy “You I’ll Be Following” has the band’s strongest hook, and with a producer and better singer, I could see it getting radio play back when it was released in ‘68.

The second single, released in 1973, has the fun and bouncy country tune “Same Old Thing”, and features the best singing in Instant Orange’s discography.

The band’s latter-day EPs, one released in 1974 and the other in ‘75, showcase a broadening sound and a full-time keyboard player, Joe Bianchi.

The ‘74 EP opens with the meandering rock song “Suburban Pictorial Abstract”, but goes into boogie blues for the aptly-named “20 to 6 Bianchi Boogie”.

The 8-minute instrumental jam “Theme From Beat Whistle” closes out this release. It’s a jazzy and engaging song that features some really strong keyboard and guitar solos, and musical changes.

The 1975 EP was the band’s final release. Its songs find the band trying more new things, from the darker “Paper Lay” to the piano-driven bluesy “Skyline”. “Flight of the Mary Celeste” sounds like the band had been listening to its ‘70s contemporaries with story-based lyrics and fuzzed-out guitar solos.

Instant Orange itself was not a great band, but was at least pretty good, and fans of ‘60s folk-rock and jangle pop may find a lot to like here (review by Chris Conaton from popmatters.com).





Track List:
01.Introduction
02.Visionary, The (Reactive)
03.Whole Lot Better
04.Whole Lot Better
05.Silent Green
06.Seems Like Everything
07.Seems Like Everything
08.Cycle 2
09.Cycle 2
10.Reflecting Emotions
11.Genesis II
12.Cactus Gardens
13.Ballad of the Rtd
14.Ballad of the Rtd
15.Prairie to the Sea
16.Prairie to the Sea
17.Coming of the Day
18.Coming of the Day
19.You I'll Be Following
20.Reflecting Emotions
21.Suburban Pictorial Abstract
22.20 to 6 Bianchi Boogie
23.Theme From Beat Whistle
24.View From Ghiradelli Square
25.Paper Lay
26.Skyline
27.Plight of the Maray Celeste
28.Genesis II - (non LP version)
29.Same Old Thing
Instant Orange:
*Randy Lanier (vocals, guitar, bass guitar, percussion)
*Terry Walters (vocals, guitars, banjo, harmonica, kazoo, bass guitar, drums, percussion)
*Lynn McCurdy (various instruments, percussion).


[ MP3 rip and scans by OldrockerBR ]
[ FLAC links by Nelwizard ]

[ MP3 version posted on the phrock blog in Saturday, March 07, 2009 ]
[ FLAC rip and scans made by torrents ]
CODE: 51258

Sacros - Sacros (1973 chile rare mix of psychedelic, country rock and latin music touches - FLAC)

[ Shadoks Music Series # 098 ]

40 years ago, Sacros looked set for success, at least in their native land. They had won the national schools competition in their "carefully chosen look, dressing in black trousers with white lace shirts" and at the time of recording their debut (after numerous changes of personnel) they were a well-honed trio, having practised at the Divina Providence Church in exchange for "making an electric mass".

Tomas Herrera was drumming, and Hernan Valdovinas was on bass sharing vocals with Patricio Panussis, one of the first 12-string guitarists in Chile.

This self-titled disc is a lovely cross-pollination. On one hand Sacros were friends with many priests and exposed to religious music; hence their name, "Sacred," on the other, they were hearing US electric folk influences such as The Byrds. Ironically, other US influences were at work in Chile, too.

At the behest of Nixon and Kissinger, the CIA were busy training the Chilean miltary, and funding anti-government strikes.

Kissinger stated that "the issues are much too important for the Chilean voters to be left to decide for themselves" and "I don't see why we need to stand by and watch a country go Communist due to the irresponsibility of its people."

On September 11, 1973, the Chilean airforce bombed Santiago using British-made planes, and decades of murder, torture and other human rights abuses were set in motion. On the day of the coup, Salvador Allende took his own life.

Poet and singer Victor Jara was held with thousands of others in the Chile Stadium where he was repeatedly beaten before being machine gunned.

Before his death, Jara wrote a poem about the conditions in the stadium which was smuggled out in the shoe of a friend. And let me take this opportunity to point you to Robert Wyatt's version of Jara's "Te Recuerdo Amanda" ("I remember Amanda").

An estimated 200,000 people left Chile for exile. Two members of Sacros fled to Spain. Herrera quit music.

Valdavinos became a renowned painter and only returned to his homeland post-Pinochet to play music again with his old friend Panussis.

The latter had remained in Chile and subsequently formed the band Miel and also Musica Universal (unfortunately, a "new age" act). Henry Kissinger won the 1973 Nobel Peace prize.

So, for very good reason, then, this is an ultra-rare album. I listened to it with bated breath, as the early 1970s combination of spiritual and country rock styles might have come out sounding as dodgy as Spinal Tap meets the Gypsy Kings.

Yet, with light production, restrained playing and gentle experimentation, Sacros has an integrity which modern attempts to create the analog sound can't match, and it always steers clear of the worst turgid excesses of the psychedlic rock era.

The short opening piece "Aum" welcomes us to Chile in muted fashion, reverential voices to the fore. After that, in innocent contrast to the political events which would unfold, it is consistently breezy.

As a non-Spanish speaker, I find the lyrics pleasantly mysterious but for all I know it's trite nonsense. No matter, this is a record I'll be enjoying for a while.

Patricio Panussis's guitar playing at the start of "Iluso Que Suenos" has a hypnotic propulsive quality predicting Johnny Marr by about 25 years.

A psychedelic ode to the Plumed Serpent "Quetzalcoatl," God of the Mayas, is also a highlight, but the truly transcendental track is "La Realidad" ("The Reality").

This piece is a perfect crescenso of infectious vocal melodies, thumping bass, and jangling guitar; from one West Coast to another.

Chile Stadium is now named Estadio Victor Jara and (in musical terms) Sacros is a worthy reissue. Some spirits cannot be "disappeared." (by Duncan Edwards).

Track List:
01.Aum
02.En Primavera
03.Manos Duras
04.Realidad, Le
05.Paloma de Plumas Blancas
06.Diosa del Mar
07.Quetzalcoatl
08.Cobre, Pobres, Viejos
09.Su Herencia
10.Iluso Que Sueñas

Sacros:
*Patricio Panussis (vocals, guitar)
*Hernan Valdovinos (vocals, bass instrument)
*Julio Numhauser, J. Carlos Carmona, Freddy Anriquez (vocals)
*Alejandro Rivers, Alejandro Rivera (quena
*Tomás de Herrera (percussion)


[ Thank you DUSAN for sending this post ]
CODE: 50556