Sunday, July 10, 2011

Several Canterbury Scene Prog albums

Austin and I were talking the other night, and I figured I might as well do this post, seeing as it's one of my favorite prog scenes.

The Canterbury scene sprung up in Canterbury, Kent, England in the early 70's, and isn't so much a style as a collective sort of thing. That's not to say that there aren't similarities between the groups involved: they're all very British. They're also some of the greatest psychedelic and progressive acts of the 1970's, so it's nothing to scoff at.

Soft Machine- Third[1970]
Soft machine were the fusion branch of the Canterbury scene, but the jazz influence is more free-jazz than cool jazz. Squealing saxes and shredding axes abound. Facelift has an awesome 5-minute intro, by the way.
http://www.mediafire.com/?mmmqkzn2jyz


Caravan- In the Land of Grey and Pink[1971]
Hugely varied album. Includes a goofy boy-meets-girl song about golf, an 8-minute minstrel's tale, an irritatingly catchy love song, a lightly psychedelic jaunt, then a 23-minute epic. A very pleasant album, overall.
http://www.mediafire.com/?jbavoaier4d


 Arzachel-Arzachel[1969]
aka Uriel, aka Egg. This is the lone release by what could be considered a Canterbury supergroup, despite coming before much of the other groups in the scene.  Very psychedelic, great rhythm section, ranges from ethereal psych-hymns to hard rock. Garden of Earthly Delights might be my favorite song from the entire scene. Organ heavy(in a good way), in case you're not into that.
http://www.mediafire.com/?ytnbmxizznn


Gong- Flying Teapot[1971]
This group is way out there. The spaciest group of the Canterbury scene, there are a lot of things about Gong that might put you off. Odd vocals, loads of instruments and overlapping tracks- it gets a little dense. It really falls into some great grooves, though. Give it a thorough listen, and I doubt you'll be disappointed.
http://www.mediafire.com/?kziwun4j2gj

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Midsummer's Night Funk

Just a couple of quick albums, both great for just about any time during the summer. Both are instrumental, so they're perfect background music for a barbecue, bonfire, smoke sesh, dag break, dick time, etc.

Eddy Senay- Hot Thang[1972]
Funky instrumental soul, or soulful instrumental funk? I'm not sure, I'm white. It's great though. Loads of fuzz, wah, and organ.
http://www.mediafire.com/?itju0nwyz32


 Dave Hamilton- Detroit City Grooves[2005]
Contains tracks from the 60's to the present. All fantastic soul/funk jams, focused mostly on guitar. Lots of vibraphone/xylophone, also.
http://rapidshare.com/files/172781209/Dave_Hamilton_1.zip
http://rapidshare.com/files/172778921/Dave_Hamilton_2.zip
Sorry about the rapidshare on Dave Hamilton, I know it sucks. Please enjoy, though. Happy summer.