Amon Düül was originally a collective that emerged from a far-left commune in Germany, the more musically talented members of this group formed the band Amon Düül II, arguably the most psychedelic band of the Krautrock scene, led by Chris Karrer on guitar, violin, and vocals and featuring John Weinzierl on guitar and vocals, Renate …
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Mark Lager’s Desert CDs: Agitation Free – Malesch (1972)
Best listened to on a CD in your car stereo while driving down a desert highway, the psychedelic rock band Agitation Free had returned from an eye-opening and mind-expanding two week trip through Egypt, Lebanon, Cyprus, Greece, the band’s contact with other cultures captured on tapes that they interspersed throughout the seven tracks of Malesch …
Mark Lager’s Desert CDs: Kyuss – Blues for the Red Sun (1992)
Best listened to on CD in your car stereo with the volume cranked up while speeding down a desert highway, Blues for the Red Sun is the band’s best (alongside Welcome to Sky Valley) and not only one of the greatest heavy metal albums of the 1990s, arguably one of the greatest heavy metal albums …
Mark Lager’s Summer Vinyl: Brainticket – Psychonaut (1972)
June – the longest daylight of the year, the summer solstice. Brainticket’s Psychonaut was released 50 years ago (June 1972). The back cover of the record contains cumulus clouds drifting across blue skies – a portrait of summertime. The front cover of the record (my vinyl copy is the most recent picture disc reissue by …
Beach House Breakup: How I Finally Fell Out of Love with Legrand & Scally
October 2010I wandered in my loneliness through falling autumn leaves in St. Louis, Missouri. My headphones were playing Teen Dream. I felt the heartbreak in Victoria Legrand’s voice as she sang “Walk in the Park”. I felt my own lost love in her lyrics. Beach House – Walk in the Park – Special Presentation Summer …
Cinematic Genius and Haunting Poetry of Noel Scott Engel
Noel Scott Engel a.k.a. Scott Walker was born on January 9, 1943 in the midwestern United States. His ancestry on his father’s side was German- the meaning of the surname “Engel” is “angel”, echoed later in his song “Angels of Ashes”- and his ancestry on his mother’s side was French. The meaning of her surname …
Gritty Poetry of Wanda Robinson
Wanda Robinson was born on November 18, 1949 in Baltimore, Maryland during the same year as Gil Scott-Heron who became a chronicler of African American culture and a fierce critic of politics, society, and the U.S. government, an innovator with his rhythmic poems anticipating hip-hop/rap. During the same years when Gil Scott-Heron released his albums …
Gary McFarland’s Cinematic Forgotten Genius
Gary McFarland is a forgotten name by most music listeners. This is a tragedy since he was a bit of a genius- an arranger/conductor for jazz musicians, a cinematic composer of his own recordings, and a producer of a psychedelic hidden gem. Gary McFarland (born October 23, 1933) began his career arranging and conducting jazz …
16 Songs for Autumn
“I Can’t See You” (Tim Buckley)An energetic folk-rock rhythm drives this first track from Tim Buckley’s first record. His song summons images of hippies wandering the streets in California circa 1966. A mysterious Scorpio girl who looks like Grace Slick, her eyes dark as obsidian or onyx, stares back at you. “Autumn temptress, sundown angelInside …
Mark Lager’s Summer Vinyl: Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter – Marble Son (10th Anniversary)
The atmosphere circulates moisture from the Pacific Ocean and Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez) and the winds carry these clouds from the west over Mexico during May. The North American monsoon season develops during June as the rains move northward into New Mexico. The North American monsoon season peaks in July and August in …