The ***Official*** Progressive Rock Thread

[Johnny Vinyl]

....A little over one month since the last post in this most excellent thread. Where are the Progheads? Time to bump it then...and I'll do so with a question.

This may come as a suprise to those who know me, but I have ZERO vinyl of some very great prog rock bands, and I need some recommendations for album selection.

Caravan......Soft Machine....Dead Can Dance

Can some of you recommend one LP from each band for me to source out?

Thanks fellow Proggies!

 

[lasercd]

John:

I don't know the Dead Can Dance catalog well but I did recently pick up the MoFi Spirit Chaser reissue and I thought it was ridiculously great. Perhaps someone can suggest the definitive album to start with.

With regards to Caravan, their signature album is In The Land Of Grey And Pink. It features the side long track "Nine Feet Underground" - one of the greatest progressive rock compositions of all time. David Sinclair rips it up on organ and there are some gorgeous emotional vocals from bassist Richard Sinclair. This album is a cornerstone piece of any progressive rock collection. It is readily available as there was a vinyl release in North America on the London label. Try to seek out a British pressing on Deram (Decca's "prog" sub-label). Caravan had a lot of great albums but ITLOGP is "the one".

Soft Machine went through so many phases that its hard to recommend one to start at without knowing your tastes. The earliest albums with Kevin Ayers were brilliant psychedelic pop albums with jazz overtones. Eventually the band developed into a ground breaking jazz-rock ensemble. Soft Machine 3 or Soft Machine 4 would be great places to start but beware that Soft Machine 3 is generally acknowledged to be a crappy sounding album. These are easily available in any second hand record shop. One of my favorite Soft Machine albums is Bundles. This featured the addition of Alan Holdsworth on guitar. While its a more conventional fusion album its ridiculously great. This one should not set you back too much to find a copy on vinyl.

I hope this helps.

Ken Golden
The Laser's Edge
www.lasercd.com

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

Hi Ken,

Regarding DCD-Spirit Chaser...is that a VINYL copy you have or the CD? I have the CD, which I picked up for $2 at a charity sale and I really, really like it.

On my next vinyl hunt (I usually go about every 2 weeks) I'll be sure to look for Caravan-In the Land of the Grey and Pink, and also Soft Machine's-Bundles. Hopefully I'll be able to locate a copy of the DERAM pressing.

Nice site btw.....how expensive is shipping into Canada?

 

[lasercd]

John:

The DCD is a vinyl release on MoFi's new silver series. Its a pretty recent release. Their silver series features 140 gram vinyl vs 180. Personally I've never gotten too jazzed about thicker vinyl. I'd rather have a quiet 140 gram vs a noisy 180.

Postage rates to Canada depends on the number of items in your order. I'd like to think we are pretty reasonable as I don't believe in making any money on shipping. Our charges to Canada are just slightly above our domestic rates.

Ken

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

Ken

I was just perusing the Silver Series MoFi issues yesterday...I will have to have another look. My trusty local vinyl dealer carries a lot of MOFI vinyl, so I may just ask him to order it for me. I'm not bothered about it being 140-gram either, and your comment is spot on!

PS: Listening to Spirit Dancer right now...it truly is a wonderful album!

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

Harmonium - Histoire Sans Paroles

Not really a video, but thought I's share nonetheless. Saw them live several times while growing up in Montreal, along with their part alter-egos Fiori-Seguin. Enjoy. Great prog tune!

 

[lasercd]

Many great Quebecois prog bands in the 70s. Maneige was probably my favorite. Contraction, Vos Vosins, Eden, Etcetera, Pollen are also wonderful.

Ken

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

Harmonium - Histoire Sans Paroles

Not really a video, but thought I's share nonetheless. Saw them live several times while growing up in Montreal, along with their part alter-egos Fiori-Seguin. Enjoy. Great prog tune!

I just discovered that this LP is now available for the first time ever on 180-g. A Canadian label, but a German pressing.

http://www.audiobasics.com/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?REFPAGE=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2eaudiobasics%2ecom%2facatalog%2fcopy_of_Specials_of_the_Month%2ehtml&WD=harmonium&PN=HARMONIUM__Si_On_Avait_Besoin_D_une_Cinqui_me_Saison%2ehtml%23aCRLP002#aCRLP002

 

[Ron Party]

Harmonium, Caravan, Soft Machine ... now we're talkin!

Lately been listening a lot to Blackfield. I don't know what it is about Steven Wilson, but this guy's music hits me in just the right spot. John, here's a link to their first album in vinyl.

Highly, highly recommended.

 

[lasercd]

Ron:

I found the new Blackfield to be a bit of a snoozer. Aviv Geffen wrote every tune except one. IMHO, the first Blackfield album is still the best.

Ken Golden

 

[Ron Party]

Ken, I like the new one but the first one (John, the one to which I made reference is the first one) is outstanding

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

Here's a Michael Fremer review of the new MOFI SILVER SERIES for the DCD:Into the Labyrinth LP.

http://www.musicangle.com/album.php?id=951

 

[Ron Party]

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

Picked up Dead Can Dance: Spiritchaser (Mofi Sliver Series vinyl), and lovin' it. The quality is the same IMO, although it's of a lighter weight (140g), as the regular Mofi reissues. I am very happy with it, and will undoubtedly pick up more reissues on this new label.

 

[Ron Party]

One day I hope to visit you, John. I'd truly enjoy listening session with you (and, of course, with a fine bottle of tequila).

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

If ever you find yourself in Toronto Ron, it would be my sincere pleasure to have you over for some music and libation!

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

Found a copy of Alan Parsons' - I, Robot on MOFI vinyl for $85....should I get it? Local dealer and I trust his ratings.

 

[RUR]

Found a copy of Alan Parsons' - I, Robot on MOFI vinyl for $85....should I get it? Local dealer and I trust his ratings.

Dunno how the MoFi compares, John, but I can tell you that the HDCD of this vinyl, "Transferred on an all-tube cutting system from the original 1/4" analog master tapes at Bernie Grundman Mastering", is absolutely fantastic, and half the price.

/Ken

 

[DaveyF]

Found a copy of Alan Parsons' - I, Robot on MOFI vinyl for $85....should I get it? Local dealer and I trust his ratings.

John, That is one of the more common titles in the MoFi library. You should be able to pick up a decent copy on Ebay for +- $25-.

Searching on the Sold items on ebay for MFSL is a pretty good way of determining which ones are more collectable and what prices they typically sell for.

 

[DaveyF]

John, as a follow-up to my above post, I did a little research on Ebay on this LP. As usual, there are a few HIGHLY optimistic seller's who are asking a lot for either a sealed copy or a supposed mint copy. For some reason, whenever I search for MFSL's ( or for matter most LP's) there are a number of dealers who are asking what are IMO frankly unrealistic prices in the hope of catching that one unsuspecting sole. These LP's cycle through over and over with no bids and no sale. OTOH. In the sold section, we had one person pay $57- for a supposed Mint one and one person pay $149.50 for a sealed one. Both, IMO paid too much

I have followed this LP on ebay for years and the basic pricing is as stated in my post above. The question is, has this particular title ( BTW, we are talking of the regular MFSL cut and NOT the UHQR version....correct?) increased in demand and therefore value in the last few months. That is a possibility, however, I would wait and check the future ebay postings if you are in no hurry vs, Buy at that price from your dealer.
BTW, take a look at what the dealers are asking for a UHQR version.... as usual all over the board (from $250 for an open one to $925 for sealed) These same items have been re-cycled on ebay now numerous times; the dealers are however, still fishing