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Leg End
2022 (much needed!) Repress. "Their first, 1973, release by Britain's most enigmatic and unclassifiable band. Formed in 1968 by two Cambridge students, Fred Frith and Tim Hodgkinson, Henry Cow's original influences included the likes of Soft Machine and Frank Zappa. However, in their undying quest to push the boundaries of conventional music, members soon took out their machetes and began hacking a new trail into an unmapped wilderness of sound. The band was thereby also staunchly anti-commercia…
Western Culture
On vinyl, this is a reissue of the final Henry Cow record, originally released in 1979 after the group had officially disbanded. The LP features guest appearances by Irene Schweitzer and Anne-Marie Roeloffs. Following their split with Virgin, the group's history became complicated; bass player John Greaves left, and after a dispute in the recording studio, what was intended as the next Henry Cow album mutated into the Art Bears' much respected Hopes and Fears. In 1978 the members of the Cow agre…
Caravan
Caravan's groundbreaking debut album from 1968 captures the freakish and exploratory moods of the times
I've Never Been To Canterbury
** Limited edition of 60. Comes with a nice insert * The legendary poet/singer Lady June, hear her Linguistic Leprosy album, in an extended interview that covers her whole career augmented by a few poems and demos. With special guest Alain Neffe
Live at The Residencia Hotel
** Limited edition of 50. Comes with a nice insert * An excellent live set by Lady June in Deya, Mallorca 18/10/92. With Morton on casio and guitar & Ronnie Wathen on pipes. A Canterbury scene pivotal figure, performance poet, painter, and experimental musician June Campbell Cramer, better known as Lady June
Gilgamesh
* Red Vinyl edition * Gilgamesh were a British jazz fusion band in the 1970s led by keyboardist Alan Gowen, part of the Canterbury scene. The original basis of Gilgamesh was Gowen and drummer Mike Travis, the two working together on a band project with guitarist Rick Morcombe. The original Gilgamesh line-up consisted of Gowen, Travis, Morcombe, Jeff Clyne and Alan Wakeman on saxophone.The band's line-up took a while to stabilise, with, for example, Richard Sinclair depping for Clyne on their deb…
Solution
* 50th Anniversary edition of 500 individually numbered copies on orange marbled vinyl * Solution is the Solution's impressive self-titled debut album, which was recorded over just three consecutive days in 1971. Blending psychedelic and prog with jazz, Solution created a unique sound.
Some of the tracks, such as “Koan” and “Circus Circumstances” (the latter of which was based on a composition by French composer Jacques Ibert), see the band playing frantically as an ensemble, while the shorter a…
Dedalus
* Crystal Clear vinyl 180gr. * One of the most experimental bands of the Italian Prog scene, Dedalus were founded at the beginning of the '70s by Michele Bonansone (keyboards, cello, vocals) and Marco Di Castri (guitar, saxophone) in Pinerolo, near Turin.Their first eponymous LP consists of instrumental jazz-rock compositions, influenced by artists like Nucleus, Miles Davis, Soft Machine, Stockhausen and many other musical innovators of the time. "Dedalus" was originally released in 1973, and i…
Arkham
Arkham are an early 70's prog band that featured keyboard player Jean-Luc Manderlier who would later join Magma, drummer Daniel Denis who would also move on to Magma as well as Univers Zero, and drummer Patrick Cogneaux. Arkham aren't nearly as dark as those bands, their jazzy overtones placing them a little closer to Soft Machine. The three musicians, who show some maturity, are obviously pouring their hearts out through out the album, which exudes an intensity that can't be ignored.
Space Shanty
**Edition of 500 copies, 180gram vinyl, remastered** Best known as the album that first brought the guitar playing talents of guitarist Steve Hillage to public prominence, Khan's sole album is a splendid example of a fusion of Canterbury flavoured rock combined with jazz and space-rock influences. Khan was a UK progressive rock band associated with the Canterbury scene. They were only active in 1971 and 1972 and released only one album, “Space Shanty”. “Space Shanty” was released in June 1972, f…
Cosmix
COS might not be the first genre-defying progressive music group you’ve heard of who share both wordless onomatopoeic vocals and a snappy three-letter name (complete with philosophical leanings and alchemic penchants) but on listening to this first-ever custom COS compendium you might have just discovered a potential favourite! Perhaps it’s no coincidence that COS share close spiritual, stylistic and social connections with the aforementioned bands, as one of the few long withstanding single-syl…
Third
*180 gram audiophile vinyl. Gatefold sleeve* The Soft Machine plunged deeper into jazz and contemporary electronic music on this pivotal release, which incited the Village Voice to call it a milestone achievement when it was released. It's a double album of stunning music, with each side devoted to one composition -- two by Mike Ratledge and one each by Hopper and Wyatt with substantial help from a number of backup musicians, including Canterbury mainstays Elton Dean and Jimmy Hastings The Ratle…
Egg
** 2021 Repress. Thick card glossy sleeve, 180 gram vinyl ** The debut album of Egg ( nothing but Arzachel without guitarist Steve Hillage, who left to study psychology in Kent University) is a real early progressive gem. All Egg's releases stayed in the shadow, and it's a shame. Guitar less trio, heavily based on future on of the greatest Canterbury scene keyboardist Dave Stewart plays perfect mix of psychedelic jazzy symphonic progressive. Nearest comparison could be ELP, but Egg's music is mo…
Camel
** 2021 Repress. Thick card glossy sleeve, 180 gram vinyl ** In August 1972 Camel signed with MCA Records and their eponymous debut album Camel (1973) was released six months later. The record was not a success and the band moved to the Deram Records division of Decca Records. The roots of Camel go as far as 1964, when the Latimer brothers Andrew and Bryan form part of a band called The Phantom Four, after gaining some fame, the band changes their name to Strange Brew, a when the bass player Gr…
Mighty Baby
The obscure British prog band Mighty Baby evolved from an earlier group called The Action, a London Mod act that signed to Parlophone after building a strong live reputation, with guitarist Alan King, bassist Mike Evans and drummer Roger Powell, later expanded to include former Savoy Brown guitarist Martin Stone and keyboardist/sax player, Ian Whiteman. Moving heavily into experimental psychedelia in 1969, they cut this incredible debut album for the Head label, which is rightly hailed as one of…
Space Cabaret
This is the first official re-release on vinyl under licensed courtesy of BMG Rights Management,UK, remastered from an original master copy out of the vaults of BMG, album originally released in 1973 on Transatlantic Records. CMU (stands for Contemporary Music Unit), were founded 1970 in Cambridge (UK) and recorded 2 albums (Open Space, 1971 and Space Cabaret, 1973) before they called it a day late 1973. They were mixing various aspects of Art-,Westcoast-, Jazz- and Folkrock with Psychedelic Roc…
Spring
Spring were a Leicester-based British progressive rock band that represented the early 1970s progressive rock movement. A one-shot band, it recorded only one album in its career, a self-titled LP released in 1971. The reissue includes three bonus cuts ("Fool's Gold", "Hendre Mews" and "A Word Full of Whispers") that were from sessions of a never-completed second album from 1972. Spring's music is notable for the use of the mellotron, with three of the its five members credited with playing that …
PLVG
** 2021 Stock. A limited edition record of the unreleased recording of PLVG (pronounced “plug”) recorded in 1973. A coloured vinyl, of which only 1000 numbered copies have been made, with insert ** PLVG is formed of ex-members of the band Calcium, considered the cream of French studio musicians. In May 1971, soon after his triumphant Olympia 70, singer Julien Clerc surrounds himself with musicians Charles Benaroche and Denis Lable. They are joined in 72 by Stéphane Vilar (ex-Calcium) who had jus…
Matching Mole
Recorded in an abandoned CBS studio in the cold winter of 1972, this is the historical first album of Matching Mole, Robert Wyatt's immediate post Soft Machine grouping featuring himself on drums and vocals and three of the most creative musicians from the legendary Canterbury scene. Guitarist Phil Miller (Hatfield & the North, National Health), keyboardist Dave Sinclair (Caravan) and bassist Bill McCormick (Quiet Sun). Matching Mole is the quintessence of Canterbury sound. A visionary mixture o…