Psychedelic Pop Folk Rock: Darius 1969 & Darius II 1967 - 1971( 2001 & 2002 World In Sound Records) Flac & mp3

A mysterious figure of the late '60s who put out an interesting eponymous album on the names-can-be-deceptive Chartmaker label. With his funky, keyboard-based rock and full, soulful vocals, Darius sounded like a more eccentric and far moodier, doomier counterpart to Lee Michaels. The record was imaginatively arranged and produced, with flourishes of flamenco guitar, odd echo-tinkles, and some dynamic organ and bass hooks adding to its overall air of idiosyncrasy. It's little known, even among psychedelic collectors, and worthy of exhumation on CD reissue.(allmusic.com)

Darius:
"I feel so bad," sings Darius with an air of resigned desperation near the end of the opening cut, "Shades of Blue," before closing the song with a truly memorable larynx-shredding scream. That sets the tone for this weird little mini-gem, a kind of downbeat psychedelic anomaly that nevertheless boasts some nifty melodic hooks and tight, exuberant playing. Darius delivers his trippy but anxious tunes with a powerful, fetching grit, bolstered by pungent organ and piano arrangements.

There's a curious air of mystical disorientation on this obscurity, which deserves a wider hearing. The 2001 CD reissue, as a German import on World in Sound, adds three previously unreleased cuts, also recorded in 1969. These aren't quite up to the same level as the rest of the songs, and one, "Peace & Love," sounds like an instrumental backing track missing the vocal. 

Darius II :
Darius was one of the better obscure late-'60s psychedelic singers who did only one album. So this release of 15 previously unreleased songs -- all recorded between 1967-1971, though not many other details are given on this disc -- is quite welcome. The material's pretty good, too, though not as sharply refined and hard-hitting in its impact as the sole, self-titled Darius album. Darius really did have an unusual mix of flavors, leaning toward folk-rockish tunes and philosophical lyrics of tense introspection and confusion.

Yet he had quite a blue-eyed soulful voice, one capable of both a hurtful quaver and keening screams, and also had a good knack for romantic pop melodic hooks. Though the production quality and songwriting are uneven, all of these qualities are out in force through most of Darius II, whether it's the gutbucket soul-folk of "Don't You Get the Feelin'" (heard here in two versions); the foreboding acoustic acid folk of "New Start," "Best Girl," and "No One Like You"; or the comparatively jubilant soul-pop of "I Don't Mind" and "Summer Is Over." "44th Floor" borrows very liberally from the soul classic "I've Been Loving You Too Long," but enjoyably so, while "Beauty" is breezy, downbeat jazz-soul/pop, if that doesn't sound like too many adjectives to fit into one tune.

"For Now I Love You" is excellent, moody late-'60s acid folk-pop, melodically similar to Three Dog Night's "Easy to Be Hard," but texturally far more similar to the bent, orchestral psych-folk-rock of his friend Bobby Jameson. And the cover of Barbara Lewis' classic "Hello Stranger" is quite cool, with its imaginative, unclassifiably weird organ-synthesizer-like sounds. Only intense collectors are going to end up hearing this record, but unlike the bulk of such collections, this really is worth hearing by less-specialized listeners who'd like to catch up on a significant -- and accessible -- late-'60s talent who somehow missed getting his music out in significant numbers.(R. Unterberger allmusic.com)

I love both releases but maybe the Darius II a little more. Some really killer songs here (on both).
Enjoy
          SB1    Darius Flac p1  &  Darius Flac p2       Darius mp3                                                                 -
                                                                                                                                                                                       Darius II Flac p1 & Darius II Flac p2      Darius II mp3