Ozzie - The Parabolic Rock 1975 - 1982

"It is 1971 in a small town near Santa Cruz, California. Three friends from Sacramento have just polished off a bottle of cheap wine to the sounds of Captain Beefheart’s Strictly Personal and wander on to the beach with a couple of harmonica and a guitar. For the next couple of hours, they howl out some Beefheart inspired blues yuck. Thus begins a musical relationship that would become the band Ozzie. From their wine-soused, Magic Band obsessed roots to their art-rock/new wave end some ten years later, Ozzie made some fantastic music. They built up substantial followings in Sacramento, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. They were a Mabuhay Gardens regular, sharing the bill with bands like the Weirdos, The Sleepers, VOM, and the Nuns. In Sacramento, they played with everyone from the Rutabaga Boogie Band and the Talking Heads to the Nerves and the Fleshtones. However like many bands of the time, their limited output (only three 7”s during their lifetime) and difficulty fixing them to one musical subgenre led to their obscurity and ultimately them being forgotten. In the early 90s, S.S. stumbled upon Ozzie’s 1977 debut single, “Android Love”, and flipped. He tracked down one of the band’s main members, William Fuller, and struck up a friendship with him. 

A decade later S.S. tosses Fuller the idea to reissue “Android Love” single with a different B side. Fuller digs out some reel to reel tapes, an act that starts a multi-year odyssey through the Ozzie archives, recordings and print material spanning from the mid 70s to the early 80s. The proto-punk meets glam wildness what made “Android Love” (produced by Public Nuisance/Twinkeyz David Houston) such a great song was present in the tapes, but there was more: Massive doses of Blue Oyster Cult inspired hard rock brilliance, Roxy Music glam drama, Sparks-like art, Bomp! Records-worthy power pop, edgy new wave that recalls the Suburban Lawns, and mid-Seventies-style underground rock sounds that thrill any collector of private press obscurities, all with a Keith Moon/Jethro Tull inspired drummer.  By the time, S.S. was done digging through the archives, he’d assembled a solid double album worth of unreleased and live material, as well as alternative tracks and a few gems from Ozzie’s previously released stuff."

-S.S. Records

Total proto-punk art rock bizarro greatness.

The Parabolic Rock

Black Bananas - Rad Times Xpress IV

Post-Trux Jennifer Herrema genre-bending genius. Or you'll hate it. Either way, you'd be right.

Rad Times

Ty Segall - Ty Rex (2011)

Never really listened to Ty Segall before, but I'll be damned if these aren't some fine Bolan covers.

Ty Rex

ESG - Come Away With ESG (1983)

Emerald, Sapphire and Gold were the South Bronx Scroggins sisters who mastered the sound of post-punk/disco dance tunes. The eleven tracks found on this, their only full-length, seem to represent a song cycle, with a seemingly common atavistic, yet complex polyrhythmic drum beat throughout and tight walking bass lines. ESG were highly influential in the early hip hop movement, with their tunes being sampled to death over the last thirty years. It was only 1992 when they released an EP (under a reformed band) titled Sample Credits Don't Pay Our Bills. An out-&-out classic that everyone should be in the know about.

ESG

The Bongolian - Bongos For Beatniks (2011)

Highly rhythmic, deeply melodic. The Bongolian serves up funk, soul, acid jazz, latin and boogaloo-styled instrumentals. Lots and lots of glorious Hammond organ and, well, bongos layered with as much bass and propulsive guitar as you can handle. Think of a modern Incredible Bongo Band.

Bongolian

White Hills - Frying On This Rock (2012)

Oh thank Bog for White Hills. Our finest contemporary purveyors of life-in-a-capsule space rock have provided yet another.

The heavy freight train that is White Hills seems to stop for no man. It's not even been a full year since the release of the classic H-p1 and we now have a new epic space-rock document in the form of Frying on This Rock. This record is much more raw and blunt in its sound than H-p1; however, the songs seem very concise, very measured, and constructed with precision. The last song, "I Write A Thousand Letters (Pulp on Bone)," is over 13 minutes long and even it seems intricately planned and executed as it spirals and swirls into a precise cacophony. It sounds like chaos, but in the vein of free jazz, everything has its place and purpose. "Pads of Light" and "You Dream You See" are focused psychedelic space-rock assaults that perfectly represent what White Hills do best. And as the stand-out track, "Song of Everything" has heavy hitting 70's rock riffs and psych-noise infused into a big space rock sound. 

Then comes the second half's odd but strangely appropriate spoken/chant vocals. It's not what you'd expect, but it works well within the constructs of this song. Frying On This Rock is a nice addition to the White Hills catalog. This record sees the band delivering their psychedelic space rock landscapes with a focus they have never demonstrated in the past. If you're new to White Hills or count yourself among their devoted following, be sure to track this one down.

-review from knoxroad.com

Frying On This Rock

The Turtles - Turtle Soup (1969)

The Turtles' final album, critically well-received but commercially under-appreciated. Inspired by The Kinks' concept album ...Are The Village Green Preservation Society and produced by Ray Davies himself (this being Ray's first non-Kinks production). There's no "Happy Together" or "Elenore" type pop radio hits on this album, which is to say that they weren't in it for the commercial aspect here anyhow. Opinions on this album are pretty split, with it's fair share of detractors and fans alike. I don't think I've ever seen a photograph of Mark Volman without that shit-eating grin.

Turtle Soup