E

ar–splitting hard–rock / proto–doom–metal from the early 70s! Electric Funeral were a pioneering Swiss hard–rock band who sadly never registered any studio recordings at the time. Formed in the late 60s by Edi Hirt (drums), Pierrot Wermeille (bass), Alain Christinaz (guitar) and Dominique Bourquin (vocals), they were influenced by bands like Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. Famous for their loud (they played behind giant stacks of Marshall amps) and powerful shows, their sound was too heavy–sounding for a regular label to offer them a contract. "The Wild Performance" is made of private live & rehearsal tapes recorded in 1970, very raw and lo–fi but it’s the only testimony of their brutal sound. First released in 1991 as a very limited (now heavily sought after) LP, here’s an expanded edition with newly remastered sound and four killer bonus tracks, taken from reels and tapes recently found in the band’s archives. These tracks were also recorded in 1970 except for "My Destiny" (1973). Sound is still lo–fi but slightly better than the original "Wild Perfomance" tracks, especially on the killer "You Can Help" (proto–punk á la Electric Eels!), "My Destiny" and the alternate version of "To Be One". *2LP expanded edition including previously unreleased tracks

Previously unreleased recordings, 1968/1970, by British quintessential psychedelic / progressive band MANDRAKE PADDLE STEAMER / MANDRAKE, culled from the band’s archive of reel tapes and acetates. Pure late 60s UK psychedelic sound with early prog moves, plenty of Hammond and fuzzed out guitar, powerful vocals...Including such lost gems as the Barrett–Floyd sounding "The World Whistles By", killer psych–rockers like "Pandemonium Shadow Show" or "Doris The Piper", the mellotron fuelled "October Country" and more! Unlike other 60s British bands who changed their music to ’psychedelic’ or ’progressive’ with the time, MPS were born "progressive" from day one. Formed in 1967 in Walthamstow (London) by a core of art school students, their members were Brian Engel, Martin Briley, Paula Riordan, Martin Hooker and Barry Nightingale (later replaced by David Potts). During their short lifespan (1967–1970), MPS supported big names like Pink Floyd, The Nice or Vanilla Fudge. They played at the Isle Of Wight Festival, had a residence at the Star Club in Germany and ran their own club night (Asgard). Signed to the Parlophone label (though the band was aiming to be part of the more progressive Harvest imprint) they released in 1969 the "Strange Walking Man" 45, recorded at Abbey Road and now widely considered a lost British psychedelic classic (check Rubbles, Perfumed Garden, etc).

Due to lack of promotion and interest from their record label, the 45 went nowhere. After some line–up changes and shortening their name to just Mandrake, the band definitively split in 1970. "Pandemonium Shadow Show" collects studio recordings registered by Mandrake Paddle Steamer / Mandrake during 1968/1970 at various London studios such as Regent, Orange and other unknown locations. Some of these tracks had been previously included on several bootleg albums with inferior sound quality / wrong titles and others have remained unreleased until now.

Ertlif was formed in 1970 by two ex–members of Egg & Bacon, lead guitarist Dany Andrey and bass player Teddy Riedo. They were joined by keyboard player James Mosberger (The Only Ones, The Countdowns), drummer Hanspeter ’Bölle’ Börlin (The Countdowns) and lead guitarist Martin Ruder: the cream of the Basel music scene from that time. The band name was derived from a mysterious medieval magician and alchemist. They were inspired by Pink Floyd, Yes, Procol Harum, Van der Graaf Generator and Genesis amongst others. A strong rhythm section and twin lead guitars blended with the Hammond organ created the characteristic Ertlif sound. In August 1971 they were the only Swiss band invited to the "Pop Meeting 71" in Münchenstein, Germany. Soon after, Ruder left the band. In November 1971, Richard John Rusinski, an experienced singer from England (ex–Autumn Symphony), joined the band. Riedo and Beni Hauri (the band’s roadie) had been experimenting with oscillators, noise generators, ring modulators and other devices since 1969. In early 1972 they introduced these electronic sounds into the band’s closing number "Classical Woman" so becoming pioneers of electronic music in Switzerland. They also became the first Swiss band to use a Mellotron. The band’s instrumental virtuosity established them as one of the country’s top acts and a phenomenal live band and they were one of only a few Swiss groups to be offered a recording contract.

In August 1972 their album and a 45 were completed in only four days. The records were launched in October generating radio interviews, television appearances and a great deal of press coverage. The promotional tour began with sold–out shows on three consecutive nights at the legendary Atlantis club in Basel. Ertlif continued performing until 1978, when they disbanded. In 1992, they reformed with the original band members and continued playing live. In 2001 they released a new album on CD. With a new line–up, Ertlif have been active until last year when founding member Teddy Riedo sadly passed away. This album is dedicated to the memory of Teddy, who was the brainchild behind this new Ertlif reissues. This double LP contains: –The first Ertlif album from 1972, featuring the original tracklist and sound taken from the original master tapes. – A bonus LP consisting of previously unreleased 1971 demo recordings, done at the band’s rehearsal studio without overdubs. With these demos, Ertlif were offered a recording contract with Tell Records. Also included as bonus is "Plastic Queen" from 1973, taken from the album "Heavenly and Heavy – Mixed Swiss Rock Candies".

Obscure hard–rock / proto–metal beast from Belgium, originally released in 1978 as a private edition of 300 copies. Dangerous, aggressive sound with wall of fuzz guitars and manic speed drumming. Highly recommended to anyone into "Raw Power" era Stooges, "Back in the USA" era MC5, Pink Fairies, early Motörhead, Hawkwind, Acid Archives US obscurities like White Boy & The Average Rat Band, early NWOBHM bands and compilations like "Bonehead Crunchers". The S to S album is one of those obscurities that have remained unknown to collectors of hardrock for many years. We present the first ever reissue with the band’s story told for the first time. S to S emerged out of the ashes of local band Etna, featuring the Cannella brothers: Fulvio on lead guitar and Mirco on bass along with George Abry on drums. After the demise of Etna, the Cannella brothers decided to form a power–trio: S to S was born. Upon meeting producer Michel Dickenscheid, they were offered a deal: the band would help Michel to build a new recording studio in exchange of free studio time with the intention of recording their first album, which would be produced by Michel. So they built a state–of–the art studio with their own hands and soon after the recording of the S to S album started. Mirco switched from bass to guitar so they recruited a new bass player, Picci Salvatore, who abandoned the band just after the recording sessions.

A friend of the band played occasional keyboards and Michel, the producer, played sax on "I’m fool", the most psychedelic sounding song of the album, similar to early Hawkwind. The rest of the songs are prime examples of pure hardrock featuring layers and layers of fuzzed–out guitars and killer riffs by Fulvio, a monstrous sound created by producer Michel using primitive homemade pedal effects and up to four guitar overdubs. The album was completed in early 1977 but remained in the shelf until the following year. The band members were very pissed off when they received the albums from the pressing plant and discovered that their manager had included a logo with Sig runes lettering in the cover without consulting them. Only 300 copies were pressed on their own Overcome label. Meanwhile Mirco formed a punk band named Acétylène but decided to concentrate on S to S soon after. S to S continued right into the 80s with some changes in their line–up, playing many successful shows in Belgium, changing their style towards a more heavy–blues–rock sound, before splitting in 1982.

Sounding at times like Vashti Bunyan fronting Sunforest, "Floret Silva" is a haunting mix of medieval music and progressive / psych / folk with Latin lyrics straight from the Carmina Burana book. The "Floret Silva" project was born when minimalist composer Kay Hoffman went to Italy in the mid- 70s. Once there, she met with welsh soprano Jacqueline Darby, who had recently been working with the Italian avant- prog band Pierrot Lunaire. Jaqueline was working on new compositions with RCA producer Vincento Miccocci in Rome and she asked Kay if she was interested in getting involved in a new project. Kay agreed and Gaio Chiochio and Arturo Stalteri of Pierrot Lunaire also joined them on this new venture. Gaio travelled from Rome to play the guitar and other friends of Jacqueline also offered their collaboration. In a short time, Kay wrote all the material, inspired by the Carmina Burana book and her love of Medieval and Renaissance music. Kay also contributed vocals, clavinet and piano and together with Jacqueline Darby - on haunting vocals - plus an impressive cast of jazz/rock/progressive musicians, they recorded "Floret Silva" during 1977- 78, under the guidance of Vicento Micocci. Sadly, RCA backed off and the album went unreleased until a copy of the masters found their way to Japan, where the great Belle Antique label put out the first vinyl edition of "Floret Silva" in 1985.

In 2006, US label Robot Records resurrected it again for the first CD release. After many years out of print on vinyl, we present a new edition of this lost piece from the 70s Italian underground scene. A visionary album which anticipated the sound practiced by many neo- folk bands some decades later.

Cosmic, acid-psych-soul-funk-prog extravaganza from Spain, 1971. Proyecto A was the brainchild of the great Frank Dubé from Barcelona. What can we say about him? A truly fascinating character: a pioneer of rock & roll and twist in Spain during the late 50s and early 60s, an accomplished accordion player, a showman, comedian, a Psychoaesthetics master…But he should also be considered as one of the first psychedelic pioneers in Spain due to his groundbreaking work on the Proyecto A album. Frank started working on Proyecto A in 1969. Impressed by the moon landing, he wanted to create a concept album about the Solar System planets using tone scales and groove music so people could dance to it at clubs. He recruited some of the best studio musicians around and the result was delirious concept album fuelled by fuzz-wah guitars, powerful, crazy vocals, electronic & bizarre effects, Hammond organ, soulish horns, funky drums… Due to the limitations of recording studios in Spain at the time, Frank had to create his own effects and sound effects for the album. He used a primitive Binson Echo unit, he recorded vocals through guitar amps, he used guitar effects on the keyboards, recorded with a portable microphone the sound of the beach, waves and TV sounds… Proyecto A was released in 1971 housed in an amazing gatefold sleeve depicting all the musicians wearing strange & bizarre psychedelic outfits.

The project was shrouded in mystery (Frank used pseudonyms for all the musicians involved) and for many years the Proyecto A album has been plagued with many false rumors and stories. We set the record straight with this, the first ever reissue done in cooperation with Frank Dubé. This reissue also includes the previously unreleased Proyecto B recordings from 1974, which were meant to be the second Proyecto A album. Recorded at EMI studios in Barcelona but never released at the time, this features Frank Dubé backed by famous Spanish prog band Iceberg plus sax / flute player Juan Mena (ex-Máquina and Eddie Lee Mattison Band). This will surprise anyone into Latin-Funk-Psych and Library / Cinematic sounds. Lots of killer flute, drumbreaks, Hammond, Fender Rhodes, electric guitar…Including tracks like the cosmic “Missatge espaial d’amor”, conceived by Frank as the soundtrack to the first sexual intercourse in space.