Psychedelic Pop by Dantalian's Chariot - Chariot Rising 1967 (1996 Woodenhill Records) Flac & mp3@320

A close facsimile of what Dantalian's Chariot's unreleased album would have sounded like, taken from ten tracks recorded in 1967, several of which were previously unissued. "Madman Running Through the Fields" is essential listening for anyone who likes Pink Floyd, with its happy-go-mad lyrics, astral organ, Syd Barrett-esque guitar, and sudden quiet breaks into pastoral flute passages. Nothing else here is nearly as striking, but it's decent, somewhat prototypical early underground British psychedelia, though the songwriting can be kind of forced. The wistfully ebullient "Sun Came Bursting Through My Clouds" (the B-side of "Madman") is probably their best secondary effort; instrumentally oriented explorations like "Soma" and "This Island" get freakier.(Richie Unterberger, allmusic.com)

A wonderful collection of psychedelic songs and highly recommended. If you don't know and/or haven't got the album yet, grab it.
Enjoy
         Frank

                                                          Flac   &  mp3@320

Sixties Garage-Pop/Rock/Beat/: The Liverpool Five - Arrive & Out Of Sight 1964 - 1967 (2000 Rock-In-Beat Records) Flac & mp3@320

The Liverpool Five is one 1960s band that is ripe for rediscovery. The fact that they've slipped through a few cracks may have to do with their odd history -- after starting out in England, the quintet spent most of a year in Germany and touring the Far East and effectively became an American group just as their recording history began in a serious way. Formed in Liverpool, England, in 1963, the original Liverpool Five lineup was Steve Laine on vocals, Ken Cox on guitar, Ron Henley on keyboards, Dave Burgess on bass, and Jimmy May on drums and vocals. They cut one single, "Lum D' Lum D' High" b/w "Good Golly Miss Molly," for the Pye Records budget Piccadilly label that was released in England, but their main base of activity in 1964 and 1965 appears to have been Germany and Asia, where their German-based manager kept them touring. They managed to release a single of their own on German CBS in 1964 under the name of the 5 Liverpools, but otherwise were largely invisible as a recording act. After an extended tour of Asia, the group made their way to Los Angeles in 1965 and eventually ended up in Spokane, Washington. Ironically, it was on the far coast of the United States, far from their home, that they were finally signed to a major label in 1965 and got a contract with RCA-Victor Records.

The Liverpool Five released a half-a-dozen singles over the next two years and a pair of LPs, all of which displayed an extraordinary degree of musical dexterity -- they could sound as American as the Remains or the Standells in their approach to playing, -- a solid garage punk sound with some unusual melodic touches -- and then turn around and cut cockney novelties like "What a Crazy World (We're Living In)" or romantic rock ballads like their version of Curtis Mayfield's "That's What Love Will Do," where they sound like the Roulettes, and follow that with a shouter like "Just a Little Bit." Dave Burgess exited the group to get married in 1967 and was replaced by future Kingsmen member Freddie Dennis; Ron Henley left and was replaced first by Mark Gage and then by Gary Milkie, but the group soldiered on, scarcely skipping a beat. The band charted nationally only once, with a version of Chip Taylor's "Any Way That You Want Me," and left behind some other superb white soul sides that managed to embrace both American punk and British beat elements, before they finally called it a day in 1970. The Liverpool Five Arrive is one of the best garage punk albums of 1966, with a startlingly honest and vivid, soulful edge (highlighted by a beautiful handful of Curtis Mayfield covers) amid the fuzztone guitars and pounding, roaring rhythm section. Its follow-up, Out of Sight, is even better, with harder playing and better singing, laced with some unexpected lyricism.(allmusic.com)

Both albums are here on one disc. Like the most bands who played in Germany or other european countries with a permanent engagement for several months they must played a lot of cover versions. These bands were the replacement for the originals and their hits in the dancehalls.I think that is the main reason why they played also cover songs. I agree with the review - the second album is the stronger one but that's only my opinion. They were a real good band and maybe you give it a try.

Have fun
               Frank

                                                            Flac    &    mp3@320

VA - Psychedelia - A Herbal Mixture Of Psychedelic Remedies And Freakbeat Fantoms (5 Disc Box) Part 2 & 3 Flac & mp3@320

Hello Folks,
i hope you have fun with the first part of this fine 5 disc box. Here comes now part 2 & 3. I can say really every disc is very strong and the whole box make a lot of fun. I think all of you who downloaded the first part and the artwork yesterday know what great bands awaits you.
Enjoy your day
                        Frank

                 Disc 2 Flac  &  disc 2 mp3@320  -  Disc 3 Flac  &   Disc 2 mp3@320

Sixties Folk/PopRock by Thoughts And Words - Thoughts And Words 1969 (2005 Radioactive Records) Flac & mp3@320

This self-titled release was the sole album issued by Thoughts & Words, the duo of Bob Ponton and Martin Curtis, though they did record an unreleased Shel Talmy-produced LP slightly afterward that was put out as The Unreleased Album about 35 years later. Thoughts and Words itself is by and large pleasant folk-rock, but lacked either the identity or strong material necessary to make a strong impression on the late-'60s British rock scene.

Certainly they were a versatile group, as "Morning Sky" was about as close as any U.K. act came to approximating the sounds of the Byrds circa 1967. On the next track ("And the Tears Fall Like Rain"), however, they're in a wholly acoustic harmonizing folk-pop mode; on the next ("Friends"), a less satisfyingly bluesy upbeat stomp. So it goes throughout the album, finding its most pleasant groove on dreamy acoustic songs with fingerpicked guitar in the style of Donovan and Paul McCartney at his lightest. They stumble when they try to get a little harder, and recall a much poppier Incredible String Band on tracks embellished by non-guitar instrumentation. Speaking of Donovan, "Father and Son" has a tune uncomfortably close to that used by Don on his early acoustic standout track "Try for the Sun." The rest of the record isn't nearly as derivative, the orchestrated "Charlie Gates" sounding, whether intentionally or not, like an attempt to bend their approach more toward the commercial psychedelic pop market.(Richie Unterberger,allmusic.com)

If you like popmusic from the sixties with light psychedelic influences give it a try. Mike Batt produced here and he make a nice record out of the songs.

Enjoy
          Frank

                                                Flac part1 & Flac part2 &   mp3@320

VA - Psychedelia - A Herbal Mixture Of Psychedelic Remedies And Freakbeat Fantoms (5 Disc Box) Part 1 Flac & mp3@320

''Psychedelia - A Herbal Mixture Of Psychedelic Remedies And Freakbeat Fantoms'' is a box released in 2015 by Rubble. The box contains five discs of psychedelic pop and rock by bands and artists you don't hear on every second sampler. I really love this box and i think you will do it, too. I want to post one or two discs a day. Today i begin with disc 1 called ''Psychedelia - Oil Emulsion Slyde'' and the complete artwork of the box. I highly recommend this box. On disc 1 you will hear bands such as Svensk, The State Of Mickey And Tommy, Alan Avon, Jackpots, Kinetic, The Gibsons just to name a few. I hope you will like it

Have fun
               Frank

                       
                                                 Flac & mp3@320   &  Booklet

Power Pop From Down Under: The Someloves - Don't Talk About Us : The Real Pop Recordings Of The Someloves 1985 - 1989 (2006 Half A Cow Records) Flac & mp3

The entire released output of this Australian power pop is contained on this two-CD compilation, with disc one presenting their sole album, 1990's Something or Other, and disc two assorted non-album cuts and previously unreleased items. Something or Other itself is esteemed by some power pop aficionados as one of the genre's best records, getting ranked in the Top Ten of a list of the 25 greatest such albums in a 1999 issue of Goldmine.

Power pop fanatics might be even more prone than other special-interest fan bases to zealously champion items non-specialists might find of average quality, but even taking that into consideration, it seems such praise might be overly generous. It's a well-done, confident power pop record, heavy on strident, assertive chords, vocal harmonies, bright ringing guitars, and upbeat romantic lyrics.

It's not, however, a strikingly original entry in the field, bearing obvious traces of some of key Someloves songwriters Daryl Mather and Dom Mariani's admitted influences, like Big Star and Dwight Twilley. At times it sounds rather like a more indie pop-oriented Tom Petty as well, particularly in the vocal delivery.

The production (with overdubs and mixing done at Mitch Easter's studio) is more layered and nuanced than many such releases, and if this kind of music had been a very commercial style around the globe in 1990, there seems little doubt that these guys could have sold a good many records. It didn't, however, leaving this as something primarily of appeal to power pop cultists, many of whom remain unaware of its existence, the Australian group being pretty obscure on an international level.

If you are one of those cultists, however, this reissue is something to treasure, with disc two adding seven previously released cuts that didn't appear on the album, as well as a demo of Something or Other's "How She Loves" and the "EMI mix" of their debut 1986 single, "It's My Time." This second disc actually has some songs with more obvious, catchy pop appeal than most of the tracks on Something or Other, such as "She's a Better Lover."

The package also has an amazingly detailed 36-page booklet by American indie rock expert Fred Mills with a group history, vintage photos and graphics, and interviews with the band and Mitch Easter, though somehow it does not manage to specify the original release details of all of the previously issued tracks on disc two.(Richie Unterberger, allmusic.com)

If you want to describe the genre'' Power Pop'' (at least in the eighties), you put on The Someloves and turn up the volume. I think this is a good way to describe the genre quite well. The band had everything to be successful. Dom Mariani was a really important man for the australian Pop and Rock music in the last fourty years. That's just a fact and can't say often enough. 
If you like Power pop you shouldn't miss this album. I highly recommend it.  

Listen loud and have fun
                                        Frank

          Flac part1 &  Flac part2 &  Flac part3 &  Flac part4 -   mp3@320

If You Like The Beatles Please Welcome... Joey Molland - This Way Up (2001, Independent Artists, USA) Flac & mp3

Joey Molland's group Badfinger was one of the great power pop bands of all time. Before the Raspberries, the Dwight Twilley Band, and other tunesmiths found the magic of energetic car radio melodies, Molland and crew led the way. This Way Up continues that work and is one of the best solo discs that ex-members of the Beatles never made. It bears repeating -- This Way Up contains the essence of what was great about those early solo Beatles albums, not surprising because Molland played on some of them. The surprise is that a sideman from those sessions has created a mini-masterpiece rivaling, and on some songs equaling, those classic and important recordings. As good as Molland's power trio is live, why it doesn't perform originals onstage the way they are presented on this disc is a mystery. Molland is an excellent guitarist, and in concert he can veer off from the hit material and rival Pat Travers.

That isn't always what his audience wants -- what his audience wants are the pretty guitar lines and vocals in a song like "The Bust," a slice of the stuff that made everyone into Badfinger fans, still alive and well and current. This is a very, very excellent recording, make no mistake about that. From the opening track, "Mirrors," to the bounce of "Happy," and from the cool John Lennon-ish "This Must Be Love" to the final production, a moody and melancholy "Isn't That a Dream," 13 perfectly constructed songs by Molland do more than just carry on a tradition -- they combine to give proof that this style of music is still so very vital.

This CD can satisfy the fans of discs like Plastic Ono Band, Mind Games, Ram, and All Things Must Pass. It has flavors of the song "Free As a Bird" and it has Molland presenting tremendous pop; just listen to the exquisite "Moonlight" to get that thrill the first McCartney solo project gave you. This album is everything a fan of those wonderful early solo Beatles albums is looking for -- great lyrics, pretty melodies, and elegant sounds. If you want to know where Tom Petty could go with his music, listen to "A Way to Be." Molland should've been in the Traveling Wilburys, and if that venerable "supergroup" did this album with the Badfinger guitarist, this amazing stuff would have had a fighting chance. In a perfect world, music directors would seek out superior sounds no matter if released on an independent, a major label, or the Internet.

This entertaining record deserves airplay wherever people like and want to hear the music of the Beatles. "What Else/Nothing" is just an incredible Beatles-style track from the man who played on the Imagine album, on All Things Must Pass, and on Concert for Bangladesh, a musician who the Beatles themselves signed and brought to the attention of the world. "Tell Me" could be the Traveling Wilburys, while "Three Minute Warning" is reinvented Chuck Berry by way of Marc Bolan before T. Rex. The final track is majestic, with a vocal like Ian Hunter and suspending guitar lines that chug along slowly. This Way Up is an incredible work of art that deserves worldwide exposure.(allmusic.com)

I heard the album years after its release. And it blew me away. I don't want to say too much about it. The Badfinger fans here will know the album. To all others: Listen! Absolutely. A brilliant album, Mr Molland.

Enjoy
          Frank

                                                              Flac  & mp3@320

VA - Nederbeat 1963 - 1969 Beat, Bluf & Branie (5 Disc Box Edition 2001 Hunter Music) Flac & mp3

Hi folks, I don't think I need to present this composition in a big way. The name says it all, and most of you are already familiar with the ''Nederbeat'' releases. Disc 5 is called ''Beat Behind The Dikes - Nederbeat Rarities'' and introduces some not so well-known artists. All in all 125 tracks of great sixties pop music from the Netherlands.
Into the flac files the artwork is included.








I hope you have fun
be fast
          Frank

mp3 disc1  &  mp3 disc2  &  mp3 disc3  &  mp3 disc4  &  mp3 disc5  &  Artwork


        Flac 1   &  Flac 2  &  Flac 3  &  Flac 4 &  Flac 5