RARE RECORDS CATALOGUE

1. The ABBYSINIANS: “Satta” (Azul – AZ.2000) (Record: Excellent/ Jacket: Excellent). First original pressing! Utterly fantastic old skool smokey radiation leaking echoey dub excursions by a band of renegades that included mystic figures such as Robbie Shakespeare and legendary producer Clive Hunt. Dubby and rootsy, cannabis fired up ethereal vocals drifting in and out, butt-shaking slowed down rhythms, it has all the good stuff, making it rightfully a dead-stone classic of an album. Flying high on the eclectic fumes of stoned energy, the Abbysinians used neatly political aspirations with mythology, merging the whole into an unruly cross-fertilization pool that combined rootsy atmospheres with wizardry studio production techniques. Reverberant bass depth gets spiced up with horn and flute insertions, all held in place with a steady and swilling percussion back beat. The vocals are astonishing, high pitched but twisted in a slo-mo kinda way, adding a neat narcoleptic touch to the already stoned effect this disc breathes out. In all a great bubbling swamp of smothering bass licks, razor sharp guitar cuttings and angelic vocals that meander into a manmade cavern of rootsy dub. Just massive and intoxicatingly great, one of those essential albums one keeps on going back to, zillion times in a row. Until your mind finally cases in. Highest possible recommendation. Price: 125 Dollars

2. ABE KAORU: “Mort A Credit – Saxophone Solo Improvisation” (2LP/Kojima ALM Records/ AL-8~AL-9) (Record: Near Mint/ Jacket: Excellent, some aging stains in). Recorded in 1975 and released in 1976. This was the last album of the legendary sax howler Abe to be released in his lifetime. The title was taken from a Céline novel, since Abe was a huge fan of the French writer. The recording consists of two alto improvisations, taken from a concert staged on October 18^th, 1975 and five more (two on soprano, three on alto) taken from another performance a couple of days earlier. Abe brings forth a real tour de force in which roughly cut-off notes are spaced so regularly that their rhythms are like watching a slowed-down strobe light. With run after run of harsh, crude and almost bawdy staccato honking, he speedily races through the octaves in ascending and descending anti-order cadence, infused at times with shrill squeaks and squeals, an occasional blood curling melody and references of non-existent simplistic and jokey tunes. Furious forehead center blowing guts of dancing note clusters on your earlobe. Generally speaking does Abe's performance on this disc resembles a high tensioned sound, like a killer babe dressed only in high-heeled stiletto boots trampling on your private parts. A real killer, portraying Abe in a fascinating period of transition, delivering a highly salient and audaciously experimental recording that blows all of the nowadays would be improvisation impersonators straight out of the water with their tail whopping between their legs. Rare to say the least. Historical and much in demand these days. Price: 100 Dollars

3. ABE KAORU: “Mort A Credit” (ALM RECORDS – AL-8~AL-9 – first press of 1976) (2 LP set: Near Mint/ Gatefold Jacket: Near Mint). Recorded in 1975 and released in 1976. HYPER RARE First original pressing. Second pressing is very common and surfaces every other day but the 1^st press of this subliminal piece of vinyl just NEVER EVER turns up. First time ever that I can over the original press and in exquisite condition. This was the last album of the legendary sax howler Abe to be released in his lifetime. The title was taken from a Céline novel, since Abe was a huge fan of the French writer. The recording consists of two alto improvisations, taken from a concert staged on October 18^th, 1975 and five more (two on soprano, three on alto) taken from another performance a couple of days earlier. Abe brings forth a real tour de force in which roughly cut-off notes are spaced so regularly that their rhythms are like watching a slowed-down strobe light. With run after run of harsh, crude and almost bawdy staccato honking, he speedily races through the octaves in ascending and descending anti-order cadence, infused at times with shrill squeaks and squeals, an occasional blood curling melody and references of non-existent simplistic and jokey tunes. Furious forehead center blowing guts of dancing note clusters on your earlobe. Generally speaking Abe's performance on this disc does resemble a high tensioned sound, like a killer babe dressed only in high-heeled stiletto boots trampling on your private parts. A real killer, portraying Abe in a fascinating period of transition, delivering a highly salient and audaciously experimental recording that blows all of the nowadays would be improvisation impersonators straight out of the water with their tail whopping between their legs. Rare to say the least. Historical and much in demand these days. Stunningly beautiful copy, hardly surfaces in such immaculate state. No storage wear, no marks on the jacket and looks like an untouched copy. Rare beyond belief in this state but still affordable. Hideously rare 1^st original pressing, released in a run initially of only 300 copies and 1^st time I can offer such an exquisite copy of this benchmark album. Bound to triple in value in years to come because these 1^st presses are hyper scarce….. Price: 300 Dollars

5. ABWARTS: “AMOK/KOMA” (Zickzack Records – ZZ10) (Record: Near Mint/ Jacket: Excellent/ Insert: Excellent). Piece de resistance of the early 1980's German underground scene. After the Krautrock wave had ebbed out, the punk contagion spread through late 1970's West Germany like an unstoppable venereal disease. Especially Hamburg was hit hard, germinating out sub currential labels like the now highly collectable Zickzack venture. Helming the whole scene was Abwarts, ready to chant Babylon down. On their first album “Amok/ Koma” the four members plus their savage veteran mother scorn through the 14 original compositions with so much vigor, speed infested urgency and accelerated primitivism from beyond the cave that one has the feeling they wanted to finish the recording before the fuzz breaks down the door and takes them away – in straightjackets to the nearby mental asylum. Seemingly recorded in a crisis condition of post baby-booming Germany shaken up with terrorist upheaval and Bader Meinhoff activity, the band speed riffs through their bone-shaking amphetamine driven mantras. Guitarist Frank Ziewert's nagging riffage and nasal sarcastic singing give it all a feel of urgency, demonic possession and disease infested bliss. In all, the disc is a true forgotten masterpiece of punk nihilism, much more intellectually charged than their UK compatriots (apart from CRASS). Cold war Germany has never sounded so alive as when Abwarts were on the barricades, trying to bring down the wall and the Fourth Reich with it. Brilliant. One of the best discs to seep out of Germany (and Europe for that matter) during that hole in time. All time highest recommendation and top notch copy. Price: 100 Dollars

6. A CID SYMPHONY: (3 LPs on different colored vinyl: VG++ ~ Excellent, some scuffs here and there but plays very well/ 3 separate inner sleeves: VG++ ~ Excellent/ 2 cover slicks: Excellent) Original 1967 pressing! Hideously rare and obscure 3 LP set private press acid folk gem, released as 3 slides each in a different color LP's. “The artists' names are Fischbach & Ewing, but the LP is often listed as simply “Acid Symphony”. The music is stoned acoustic counterculture brainstormers with an Eastern vibe, blending instruments (dulcimer, guitar, sarod, sitar) and genres (country, blues, flamenco, jazz, folk-psych and raga). It's more of a bluesy-folky beatnik angle than psychedelia, so beware of the usual dealer hyperbole. Interesting period piece in any event, pre-dating the hippie era in its vibe. Engineered by Denise Kaufman of the Ace Of Cups, who handled the publishing vie her Thermal Flash Music company. The records are on green, orange and purple vinyl with matching inner sleeves”. (Acid Archives rant). Price: 450 Dollars

7. ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE & THE MELTING PARAISO UFO: “41^st Century Splendid Man”. (tUMULt) (Record: Excellent – Near Mint/ Jacket: Excellent) Beautiful picture disc edition of AMT that came out a couple of years ago. The band was at their creative peak at that time and had was still blessed with the core line-up, before they dissolved into mediocrity and got buried in member changes and other signs of hopefully a temporary lack of creative impulses. But none of that on this recording. Here they still soared the high skies of lysergic improvisational bliss and artistic grandeur before sliding off into mediocrity by churning out one copycat release after another.. Price: 50 Dollars

8. ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE & THE MELTING PARAISO U.F.O: “La Novia” (Eclipse Records) (Record: Near Mint/ Jacket: Near Mint/ Insert: Near Mint). One of the best AMT records to have seen the light of day and one of the most popular ones making that they have become quite sought after. “Studio recording from May 2000 features Tsuyama Atsushi (bass, vocals, acoustic guitar, recorder), Koizumi Hajime (drums, percussion), Higashi Hiroshi (electric guitar), and Kawabata Makoto (electric guitars, violin, bouzouki, bowed peacock harp, synthesizer) playing Occitanian trad music. This LP features two beautiful side-long 20 minute tracks and is possibly the finest yet released by this collective.” (Label description). Long gone and out of print and if I had to choose 5 AMT records to keep solid in my collection, this would definitely be one of them. Massive!! And a future bomb!! Price: 65 Dollars

10. AGATA MORIO: “Eien no Enkoku” (private release) (3-LP's: Mint/ Heavy Duty Box: Mint/ Book: Mint/ Gimmick bag filled with toys and stuff: Unopened and Mint/ Inserts: Mint). OK, here is the beef. Agata Morio released in the early eighties this monster of a box set, privately released in an edition of 500 numbered copies. The discs never made it to the retailers due to the fact that it got sold out on prescription alone. The box itself is extremely thick and hefty and this due to the fact that it includes a mass of objects. Apart from the 3 LP's, you have a thick 100-page book that is lavishly illustrated by Agata, some inserts, and a sack filled with gimmicks and toys. A real sight for soar eyes and rare beyond description. The music is also stunning, ranging from Vanity era psychedelic techno-pop crossbreeding with folky influences and cheap electronic, creating an atmosphere that only Agata Morio is capable of doing. Hideously rare and bound to never turn up again. Highly recommended. (PS the box is huge and ominous). Price: 600 Dollars

11. AGUAVIVA: “Cosmonauta” (Wah Wah Records) (Record & Gatefold Jacket are Near Mint). “Really amazing and obscure LP by this Spanish band led by legendary producer Manolo Diaz. A mixture of avantgarde and serious composition with pop instrumentation, this is a really amazing LP which borders on an outer-space exotica field. Describing the mystic impressions of an astronaut as he's trapped into serious trouble while orbiting… An unknown album even in Spain which will come as a big surprise to many a record collector. Another early 70's lost prog gem, another goldmine for beats and samples…” (Label description). One time 500 copies limited reissue that went oop in no time. Great vintage Spanish psych artifact for you to discover and enjoy, housed in high quality gatefold sleeve. Great. Price: 30 Dollars

12. AIRWAY: “Live at Lace” (LAFMS – No Catalogue Number) (Paste On jacket: Excellent ~ Near Mint/ Record: Excellent ~ Near Mint/ Insert: Excellent) Rare original copy of early Airway – LAFMS LP that came out in a hand-made paste on Jacket sleeve way back in 1978. The racket on display here was recorded live somewhere in August of 1978 and the line-up consisted out of Vetza (vocals), Dennis Duck (sax), Rick Potts (mandolin), Juan Gomez (bass), Tom Recchion (drums), Chip Chapman (circuits) and Joe Potts (circuits & tapes). Needs no explanation I guess, just stellar deranged DIY pre-punk psychedelic Dadaism and blitzkrieg bopping avant-garde lunacies. LAFMS related material is bloody hard to get your fingers on and especially the singles the collective churned out in hideously tiny runs are almost impossible to locate. This item is just stunning condition and comes in a nice paste-on jacket that can serve as a sleaze DIY vintage art to laminate your lonely bedroom fantasies. Highest recommendation and I doubt another copy will cross your path again within many moons. Price: 250 Dollars

13. AKETAGAWA SHOUJI: “Aketa's Erotical Piano Solo & Grotesque Piano Trio” (Aketa's Disc – AD-1) (Record: Near Mint/ Paste On Jacket: Near Mint, only has some ageing spots/ Insert: Near Mint). Never offered for sale before hideously rare Japanese free jazz private press monster LP. First release on the Aketa label, renowned for its hideously rare Takayanagi Masayuki album. This one looks and feels like all those obscure private presses you became to love, white jacket with paste on paper on front and Xeroxed two page insert. I have never seen this LP before and checking around with renowned heavy hitting dealers, no one as actually ever sold or laid hands on this album. Rumor is that it got released in an edition of about 250 copies or so. So what is the music like? Well the title gives you a hint of the lunacy embedded within the disc's grooves and I for one was completely floored upon spinning it. Well maybe I should keep it, it is just that good. The opening track is a whole side dedicated to Aketagawa's solo piano excursions as recorded live in concert on March 30^th, 1975. Although I am not a fan of free jazz piano playing, this side really stunned me because it balances between free improvisation, minimal trance-inducing composition interludes with Aketa humming and scraping is throat while all this is taking place. So simultaneously mesmerizing, hypnotic and free, it is quite a feat. He never stops hammering down those ivory keys, humming away, slamming juxtaposed rhythms out of his sleeve and transporting you – the listener – to melodic places reminiscent to drunken brawl saloons, lyric deportation of failed sentiments and at times dissonant free form whirlpools of battered down strings that rip the skies to pieces and blot out the sun. Lovely, the work of a derailed genius with a hearing disability. The second side of the album sees Aketagawa teaming up with drummer Miyazaka Takashi and bassist Yamazaki Kouichi. Again the whole was recorded live, this time the following day being March 31^st, 1975. As a trio the force of Aketagawa is even more unrelenting, venomously spiked up and delivering a high tension clash of free spirits. It all begins again quite melodic and immediately sucks you in, captivating your senses. Soon some dissonant notes drift in seemingly by mistake still it only augments the effect that something sis either terribly wrong or you are getting warning signs to strap your self in. It are just these misleading hints that make Aketagawa's playing so captivating, never sure of what is to come down. Once Yamazaki and Miyazaki fall in, the color palette and sonic texture of Aketagawa's playing gets spiced up and the trio elevates itself to different intergalactic planes. Although it all starts off with Yamazaki and Miyazaki providing a modal background, Aketagawa again goes spinning off in slightly demented directions, making it all highly compelling and addictive, all the while his humming and vocal innuendos vaguely audible in the back, coming over like a vaguely lunatic druid. And slowly the whole starts to spin out of control, Aketagawa rummaging at the keys in a glorious disoriented fashion, derailing and getting it eventually all on the tracks again before loosing all control again. In all quite a stupefied listening experience and one of the best piano improvisation albums to have ever crossed my path. Delusionally glorious and fantastically disorienting in every possible way. Highest possible recommendation if rare Japanese private free jazz albums are your thing. I can tell you that this one is unlikely to cross your path ever again. Just massive…….Price: 375 Dollars

14. AKIHIRO MARUYAMA: “S/T” (Teichiku – SL-51) (Record: Mint/ Gatefold Sleeve: Mint/ Poster: Mint). Eye-blindingly rare Miwa Akihiro disc, here first LP before she altered sexes and names. Akihiro Maruyama started out in the mid-sixties as a well-respected and extremely talented chansoniere, singing Japanese cabaret tunes in a deep voice anchored firmly into the French chanson tradition and executing it with a firm conviction and originality that would have even catch the French singers of that era short of breath and in awe. Still Tokyo was far removed from the Parisian nightlife but it was not less glamorous and erotically charged. Cabarets were littered all across Shinjuku and especially the Shinjuku 2-Chome area was the place to be, a district littered with gay bars and hangouts where luminary artists such as playwright Terayama Shuji (it is during this period that she got acquainted with Terayama and her/his alliance with him took root – she even participated in a number of Tenjosajiki theatre plays), novelist Mishima Yukio and actor Takura Ken passed the revue on more than one occasions. It also happened to be the fertile nurture ground for Akihiro Maruyama to first appear unto the scene before she transformed in the transvestite glamour queen of alter ego Miwa Akihiro. On this rare album here, one has the chance to hear her at the beginning of her career (which lasts till this day, she is now bigger than life even), Her voice is an enchanting weapon that mesmerized many at the time. The tantalizing assured state of incompletion she/he breathes out is a part of the performer's unpredictable charm. Her (his) tackling, adoption and adaptation of chanson-esque material with a severe twist may come over at first as ordinary habitual labor but repeated listening reveals a motivation surmounting exhaustion or boredom and instead spills over into sheer relief, delight and glamour of dreaming and fantasizing outside one's personal box. Miwa Akihiro will then become an intoxicating presence, an essay on exaggerated female allure. All time highest recommendation and ultra rare, early recording, housed in a thicker than life gatefold sleeve. One-time chance offer that will enrich your existence considerably. Price: 250 Dollars

15. ALAN SILVA and the CELESTRIAL COMMUNICATION ORCHESTRA: “S/T” (BYG Actuel 42-43-44) (3 LP Set – all discs are Excellent ~ Near Mint/ Triple gatefold Sleeve: Excellent ~ Near Mint). Top notch copy and original French pressing (not the crappy Get Back/Akarma boot version on lousy vinyl) of this all time great slab of fire music. One of the – if not THE – hardest to track down title in the Actuel series and the sole 3 LP set to see the light on the label. “Seasons”, a “stereophonic picture”, as the piece was called on the inside of the three-fold album cover is a massive free jazz beast on every scale. The schematic printed on the inner cover gives you some clue to the piece, a thorny path through the chaos, but “Seasons” is extreme even in free jazz terms. For much of its extraordinary length, it is a billowing surge of noise, so loud, so chaotic, so exhilarating that you are swept up in it without hope of rescue or reprieve. The album was recorded live in the ORTF studio in Paris on December 29th, 1970 and released as part of that magnificent Actuel series of avant-jazz albums in 1969/70. These three give a hint as to the real audience for Silva's work. This album should not so much appeal to jazz fans, even adventurous jazz fans, but to those plunged into the deep end of psychedelia. In short it is a truly punishing but truly effective psychedelic trip. It's for the same people who manage to fight their way through Terry Riley's 40-minute live version of “Poppy No Good” and Amon Duul's “Psychedelic Underground” and never stopped falling. So, as you can already guess it is a truly legendary record. The CCO was pretty much whoever Silva could round up for a given date, but this one-shot radio concert was its largest lineup ever. What you get are two 70-minute sections of the piece, as close as anybody without a time machine's ever gonna get to hearing it as it was in December '70, when this thing erupted through the earth and stood, shuddering and alive, before an audience of awestruck French hipsters. This is a serious piece of music. The band includes every member of the Art Ensemble of Chicago except bassist Malachi Favors; trumpeter Alan Shorter; saxophonist Steve Lacy; two electric violinists; two cellists; pianists Dave Burrell and Joachim Kühn; Silva himself on bass, electric violin, and a couple of different electro-acoustic instruments; and nearly a dozen other folks, all roaring in unison for two solid hours and then some. The music combines the eerie tones of 20th Century avant-garde composers like Xenakis or Christian Wolff with the blood-bubbling scream of primo free jazz. For about the first five minutes or so, all seems well, the piece shimmering out of the speakers as a duo for bowed bass and piano. But by fifteen minutes in, after Lester Bowie's muted trumpet has summoned the whole blaring outfit to full awareness, it's just one surging wave of sound after another, as relentless as the tides and as powerful, sweeping everything before it. Saxophone solos, triple-piano crescendos; this disc's got everything, and throws it all at you, one thing after another until you're panting as hard as the two drummers must have been. It's literally breathtaking, and the fact that it's half an afternoon if you decide to sit down and listen to the whole damn thing only adds to the generally overwhelming vibe. Not for the faint of heart, but recommended to everyone else. Absolutely recommended to the brave. Price: 120 Dollars

19. AMM: “At The Roundhouse” (Incus Records – Incus EP1) (Record: Near Mint/ Jacket: Near Mint). I guess that this baby needs no introduction I guess apart from the act that this one here is probably the best ever copy you will ever see, no shit. Got it from the original owner who bought it back in the day when it came out, spinned it once and shelved it away sealed securely, handling it like a newly born infant (apart from the sealing bit of course). AMM's “At the Roundhouse” has always been regarded as a mythical recording especially since for scavengers hunting down recorded evidence documenting the early British/free improv scenes as it was an obscure 7 inch issued on Incus as their first ever EP release and ever since it has become a hard to track down item, especially in near immaculate condition. Here, you can hear a very different AMM than the one active today. The unit was slimmed down to a duo after Cardew left, leaving just drummer Eddie Prevost and saxophonist Lou Gare. Although a line up of drums and a saxophone may come over as too jazzy at first sight, Prevost could be found proclaiming that their sound was decidedly non jazz. Still the he free improvised music here on display is definitely the most jazz work of the entire AMM catalogue - the element of silence that has become a later trademark of AMM, is present here already, but only for shorter periods. Still a shivering document and like most of you already know almost impossible to track down these days in such a nice nick as this copy here. To these ears it is still a defining era piece…..totally essential like most of the AMM recorded works. Price: 300 Dollars

20. AMON DUUL: “Paradieswarts Duul” (Ohr – OMM56.008) (Record: Excellent/ Jacket: Excellent). Original 1971 pressing of this all time classic monster. there was a 1960's German commune known as Amon Duul that was involved in politics and music (as such things happened in Germany in the late 60's) that eventually split in half, with the more 'talented' musicians splitting off to form Amon Duul II, and the more politically active but musically, uh, primitive remaining as Amon Duul. This has a more acoustic sound than the first two, and was the final record released during the band's lifetime. "Paradieswarts Duul was recorded in 1970: a trippier, laid back, folky-acoustic affair, with flutes and bongoes. Despite its quietness, the same awful core of inexorability described above pervades this work. They're satyrs in a trance, swaying madly in a weird pastoral setting, paralyzed on dark purple wine. Immerse your feet in their cool fountain of flutes and let that insistent bass riff lap away at your tootsies. They reveal themselves as the true bastard offspring of The Grateful Dead with toy instruments. And, by gosh, they've learned chord changes by this time - one extra chord at any rate, so that on 'Paramechanische Welt' you get their take on the Popol Vuh two-chord ecstasy, achieved with about three acoustic guitars and some warbling goon at the mike. (bloody forgot where I got this review from). Stellar classic album. Price: 220 Dollars

21. AMON DUUL II: “Phallus Dei” (Sunset – SLS-50257) (Record: VG++ ~ EX/ Jacket: Excellent). Sunset press of this groundbreaking first Amon Duul II record. Amon Düül II evolved logically enough from Amon Düül, an experimental German 60's jam-oriented band with political lyrics. Several members decided to drop the political side of the group in favor of more focus on the music, so Amon Düül II was erected, quickly evolving into one of the leading and most important kraut rock bands of that era. Their debut "Phallus Dei" is just a massive beast, psyched out tribal jamming, demented improvisations spiced up with vocal oriented blasphemy. The violin of Chris Karrer dominates a great part of the group's sound, and his vocals sound like a crazed caveman on a rampage. He gets complemented in his madness by fellow travelers Frank Bornemann and Renate Knaup, a nymph graced with some uncanny cadaverous female vocal chords surfacing to the foreground on their most experimental parts. In all it is a meeting of freaked out mind-blowing hippie hoedowns that makes “Phallus Dei” what it is. Anyway, it's a historical musical document as well as an intriguing art manifesto - heavy, weird, and wild. Price: 20 Dollars

22. ANIMALS: “Animals no Subete” (Toshiba records - OP7438) (Record. Excellent/ Sleeve: Excellent). Comes on blood red wax!!!. Rare Animals artifact that only came out in Japan with this cover around 1966. Comes in an all coating cover with early 1960's UK typed flip-back sleeve. The track listing consists out of the following classic killer tunes: The house of the rising sun - Bring it on home to me - Boom Boom – Memphis - I'm crying - Baby let me take you home - the right time - Don't let me be misunderstood - We've gotta get out of this place - Blue feeling - Around and around - Gonna send you back to walker - Hallelujah I love her so - It's my life. This baby never surfaces and is an all time classic, awesome! Price: 75 Dollars

23. ANODE CATHODE: “S/T (Punkanarchrock)” (Pinakotheca Records) (Sealed). Comes with insert and bonus 7'' that has nothing to do with the release, a sort of gimmick they stuffed in the packaging maybe to intensify their way-out-there-ness. Great item on the legendary and totally vanished Pinakotheca label. Super experimental, improvisational, utterly nihilistic and accidental music. Probably one of Pinakotheca's most difficult to locate titles and one of the label's greatest recordings. These guys went totally over the top and the music embedded within these grooves should appeal to psych heads as well as to adventurous music freaks, experimental music adepts and lovers of the avant-garde. Genre and border crossing music. Highest recommendation. Hard to track down and much in demand. Price: 95 Dollars

26. AOYAMA MICHI: “Otoko Blues b/w Onna Blues” (Crown Records – CW-641) (Record: Excellent/ Picture Sleeve: Excellent). Original 1967 press. Aoyama Michi was a wild lady. Being born as a child out of a failed marriage of a Japanese lady and an African American soldier, she encountered some rough years doing her childhood, especially when her father decided to desert the family. Still that didn't prevent her from eventually drifting into music and birthing out a soulful ridden Enka blues sound impregnated by her own pain and frustration and fueled by a growing addiction do liquor and a tendency to consume hard drugs. No wonder that she was entitled a difficult and hard lady and she got renowned for getting herself into trouble and in and out of jail. Still, all these hardships and tough street wheeling and dealings found a way into her own signature high-impact sound, a lost voice of a woman whose soul was on display. Especially her Crown Records years are considered her best. Unfortunately she never cut an LP for Crown and limited herself by churning out several 7 inches, all of which have become highly sought items. On this particular recording, Aoyama Michi brings forth two tear-jerking soulful Enka blues songs spiced up by a mail backing choir and the Crown house orchestra breathing out a smokey nightclub like vibe while Aoyama's voice comes over like a wintered through witch singing from out of the grave. She is deep, her parental Afro-roots blood lineage also seeps through and give her that soulful character no other Enka singer ever possessed. The backing is fabulously executed, giving the whole an extra deep resonating dimension as if it came from beyond the depths of the ocean. Listening to Aoyama just makes the hairs on your neck rise up, while you desperately make a last run for that strychnine syringe in order to administer that last fatal shot towards heaven and subsequently hell. So I advise you strongly not to get into her music because once you do there is no way back….and you will be lost forever. You have been warned. Price: 40 Dollars

27. ARAKI ICHIRO: “Araki Ichiro no Sekai” (Victor – SJX-67) (Record: Near Mint/ Gatefold Jacket: Near Mint). Even no spindle marks so I wonder if this baby had any rotations at all. Rarely seen and rare original copy. Kayokyoku and enka crossbreeding and merging with psychedelic twists and turns? It all happens here baby. Araki Ichiro is mainly known and famous as an enka singer, arranger and producer of other artists discs (such as Sandra Julien's “Sexy Poem” for example). His solo output is also quite vast and enormous but might disappoint the most seasoned listener looking for that extra thrill and chill. However, in 1969, Araki did make this one oddity that stood out and proud in his total oeuvre, a disc that perfectly fused Japan's traditional enka and kayokyoku stylings with lysergic and acidic elements that made “Araki Ichiro no Sekai” such a bewilderment upon unleashing it upon his fans and psych heads such as me. The closest comparison I can come up with in order to compare this LP is Carmen Maki's illustrious “Adam & Eve” album. Heavy organ riffage fuses with demented fuzz guitar licks and orchestrated elements that blew in straight out of a runaway enka tune all complete with Araki lustfully crooning on top of it all. The disc is quite a hybrid affair, background vocals drift in on a pink fluffy cloud, Araki's syrupy vocals on one occasion could get you all entangled in a hard to grasp stupefied disbelief that spells “turd” before he switches chairs on you and takes you from a completely different angle, flanking your blind sight and dropping demented musical twists on you that cannot be dodged. In some ways it comes over as Gainsbourg like arrangements with an oriental feel attached to them – a city-smeared kayokyoku feel - spiked up with lysergic accents and sneering fuzz guitar licks that pop up in and out of the mix. Still that is not all, Araki's compositions also breathe out a swinging quality that clashes with syrup like vocalizations, juxtaposed against psychedelic elements and weird angles that come out of the woodwork. But the heavy use of fuzz all over the place makes this disc such a hard to pinpoint gem and renders it into an outcome of a secret chemical experiments that birthed out a new species of a degenerate nature ready to perverse your offspring. Just in one word, this disc is a stunner that will leave you puzzled and defractured after sitting through it, leaving you wondering in vein what the hell they just set loose on you. A dead stone classic, hard to come by, especially in such a top condition. And start with side 2 first, it will leave you floored……and gasping with disbelief…..Highest possible all time recommendation. Enka spiked disco psychedelic acid funk….　Crossbreeding with an oriental mutated version of Sinatra going berserk on the toxics of the Fugu fish and whipping it all out for all to see…..just so great. So believe the hype, get your hands on this one, it is such a beast of a disc. Price: 180 Dollars

29. ARIEL KALMA & RICHARD TINTI: “Osmose” (Disques SFP – SFP-5.022) (2 LP Records: Excellent/ Gatefold Jacket: Excellent). Here ya have another favorite of mine, a disc that hardly ever turns up due to either being hopelessly obscure or just plain hard to track down. Ariel Kalma's name occasionally comes up in conversation with those interested in the Progressive Rock scene that developed in Paris in the 1970s. He had joined forces previously with the likes of Christian Vander, Richard Pinhas and the French versions of MEV. In the late 70s he began to get adrift into the "New Age" scene, churning out a vast number of cassettes of such for neo-hippy scum market. But this LP, released in 1978, is a totally different bag and far removed from either his prog rock adventures or his debacle with the new age purist sectarians. Here Kalma teams up with Musique Concrete/Tape Composer Richard Tinti, who was connected with the activities of IRCAM. Ariel Kalma was recommended to Richard Tinti who had just come back from Borneo with hours of rainforest ambiences in high quality recordings, which Kalma envisioned to underscore with some minimal noodlings. To their amazement, birds and keyboards, flutes and crickets, saxophones and frogs, war drums and (vintage) drum machines had much in common in terms of pitch, melodies, rhythms, effects. Ariel decided to blend his compositions with the rainforest atmosphere, and thus Osmose was created The basic idea here is to incorporate field recording of natural sounds made in the Somali coastal regions with Kalma's various instruments (Saxes, Flutes, Synthesizers, Keyboards, Guitar and Electronic Music Instruments/techniques). Theses tapes are themselves mixed, looped and layered to create the idea of hearing the music in a natural situation, whilst applying a range of compositional techniques to make the sound both plastic and fluid at once. A tape-looped tenor saxophone begins "Saxo Planetaria", soon injected by looped insect sounds from the field recordings, each layered behind Kalma's melodic Statements. "10/18/77" blends synthesizer, tapes and effects with a taped montage, while "Planet Aire" uses the same instrumental mix, with synthesizer creating a sub-harmonic drone underneath the natural sounds. Sides two, three and four are given over to an array of tape techniques. Rhythms appear in the form of loops, the most memorable being the bee that comes buzzing across the stereo field. The sounds themselves are orchestrated in a symphonic like context, and Kalma's sparse inputs on various instruments are correctly restrained, often not quite audible with intense concentration on the music to identify them! The drones interplay with the pitches of the natural sounds to create melancholic, Popol Vuh like grandeurs. The natural chirps and creaks blend with the music to become similar to ambient loops themselves; such that their very tonal nature shifts from being recognizable jungle sounds, frequently phasing into blurred rhythmic elements under the electronic parts. This is a joy being heard over headphones, or decent speakers in a very quiet environment, so that all the subtle sonic activity recorded can be heard. The editing and splicing is so well done that it is often not apparent that you are hearing a loop! Price: 225 Dollars

30. ARIESTA BIRAWA: “S/T” (Shadoks) (Record: Mint/ Jacket: Mint). Ltd to 350 hand-numbered copies housed in an ominously heavy jacket and long gone and completely sold out at the source. Psychedelic music from the Indonesian jungle, spiced up with herbal puffs and toad-licking ceremonial freak-outs. That is at least what I thought of it upon glaring at its jacket. Music-wise however, things are not as wicked and instead steer into Vertigo-styled Santana workouts. Overall nice sounding album, excellent guitar leads and mesmerizing language licks. Recommended and as with all Shadoks stuff housed in a thicker-than-life jacket. Get your copy now, these babies dried up long ago and getting a tough one to dig up, a thing that won't get any easier in the months/ years to come. Highly recommended. Price: 75 Dollars

31. ART ENSEMBLE OF CHICAGO: “A Jackson in Your House / Message to Our Folks” (2 LP set: Excellent/ Fold Out Jacket: Excellent) Original Japanese pressing of this subliminal free jazz spiritual free improvisation monster released on the Actual label. One of the defining discs of that era that helped to broaden up the European scope on US free form musical spirituality. A modern day classic. Everyone needs a Jackson in their house. Price: 30 Dollars

33. ASAOKA RURIKO: “Asaoka Ruriko no Subete – Kokoro no Uramado” (Teichiku Records – SL-17) (Record: Excellent ~ Near Mint/ Gatefold Jacket: Excellent ~ Near Mint/ Attached fold out 3 paged insert: Near Mint). Her rarest and best album, complete with stunning cover design created by grandmaster Tadanori Yokoo. Released in 1969, “Asaoka Ruriko no Subete – Kokoro no Uramado” was actress/ model/ fashion-plate trendsetter/chanteuse and former Nikkatsu action movie actress (she appeared in as much as 121 films!) Asaoka Ruriko's first recorded endeavor. This time here she set her first steps – following highly popular careers as actress – into the kayokyoku-soft erotic and mildly fuzz drenched waters and with great success. The inside of the jacket depicts Ruriko as a fashion model in glorious late sixties eye blinding outfits whilst singing her heart out. Musically speaking, her debut is quite an interesting feat to lend your ear to. Balancing between well crafted and lushly orchestrated ballads perfumed with a odor resembling French mid sixties poppy girlie songs and a hinge at times towards a more lustful undertone, Ruriko succeeds even in taking you by surprise when amidst of all this sumptuous syrup overload by sweeping you of your feet when here and there some fuzz guitar licks come to the surface to give the overall vibe some bad-ass girly delinquent touch, like dipping the song slightly in an intoxicating mix of kerosene, youthful passion and feminine luxuriant dominative sex appeal. If Kaji Meiko, Asaoka Yukiji and Okumura Chiyo could caress your earlobes, then Asaoka Ruriko will certainly balsam your auditive senses and visual perceptive sensory organs. Great stuff, angelic vocals, lush Parisian orchestrations and a Linda Lovelace kind of vibe to guide you through the night, essential listening. Complete copy with fold out attached insert. First time ever I have a copy to spare of this gem. Highly recommended!! Price: 200 Dollars

36. ASO AI: “Umeromonoizen” (Tiliqua Records - TILIQUA-003LP). THIS ONE COMES WITH JAPAN ONLY OBI, RELEASED WITH OBI IN AN EDITION OF 125 COPIES. Copies sold in Japan – 125 copies of the total 250 copies pressing came with lavender colored obi there where copies for distribution outside Japan were without obi. This is one of those copies with obi. Found one last copy at a friend's place, traded with him for it, so final chance to own a slice of heaven and a future heavy hitter. This vinyl release of a 1999 demo tape only by Aso Ai album is by all who know her complete output – like PSF label head Ikeezumi – considered her best work to date, hence the scavenging nature this disc is bestowed upon these days, especially due to the Wata split release and the exposure she is getting, everyone is all of the sudden roaming around for a copy. Well, gonna be tough since the pressing was extremely limited (like 250 copies) and they are all gone now, except for this one. So you have to ask yourself “Do I feel lucky punk?”. So here is the deal one more time: “The music of this LP is comprised out of Aso's first demo/home recordings dating back to 1999. The material predates her initial “Umeromono” CD's contents. Unlike “Umeromono”, the music she slowly breathes into being through her slow-motion like ‘less is more aesthetic' on this LP-set sounds even more fragile and desolate than her current recordings. This is partly due to the fact that Aso recorded the whole affair in her bedroom, deploying all the instruments herself and capturing the rudimentary gracefulness of her acid folk escapades directly to tape. The overall atmosphere has a strong ‘low-fi' fragrance hovering over it without ever compromising the rich musical texture Aso succeeds in conveying out of her stripped-to-the-bare minimum textural approach. The general result is one of organic and sincere beauty, embodying fragility reminiscent to a dew-covered spider's web. This quality gets even intensified by her soft-poetic angel-voiced whisperings and her fragile, fleeting like husky voice breathing out an erotic naiveté that is lyrical as well as introverted, making it in its own humble way nearly a thing of perfection. She is destined to be one of the unsung queens of the female acid folk pantheon and this recording will be one of its Holy Grails. The disc is housed in a beautiful, heavy textured jacket, doing the music justice.” Without being narcissistic, “Umerumonoizen” is to these ears (and others as well) Aso's finest recording to date, partly due to the unpolished nature of the whole affair and the intimate bedroom recording vibe that oozes out of it in a very lo-fi kind of key. Her recent recordings are a bit too beautifully recorded and on this one the primitivism still comes shining through, making it a modern day masterpiece. Extremely small pressing and this is a last copy. So this is your last chance to own a brilliantly executed female vocals acid folk gem. Price: 150 Dollars

37. ASYLUM: “First and Last” (World in Sound) (Record: Near Mint/ heavy weight Jacket: near Mint/ Insert: Mint). Recorded in 1973 and released by World In Sound as a limited edition in 2004 and long out of print since then. This is an excellent and almost unknown 9-track psychedelic album, privately recorded/pressed in 1973. The band was found by Fork Union Military Academy school members in Virginia around 1970 -- the music room of the school became their 'refuge' from the predictable, regimented military school life... Thus was born the name Asylum -- a place of refuge. Shortly before graduating and after some line up changes the last dollars were saved to make this album. The music in the Airplane & H.P. Lovecraft veins is true 60s Westcoast psychedelic, garage, folk stuff .The electric cuts such as, 'I want you every day', 'Sometimes', 'I will be free', 'Deliverance', 'Help me be someone' contain, combined with male vocals the crystal clear voice of Elaine Lazizza (Cronin), great guitar work (electric & acoustic), excellent drumming & organ. Acoustic tunes sometimes remind of 'Serpent Power' (Label description). Price: 65 Dollars

39. ASHLEY, ROBERT: “In Sara, Mencken, Christ and Beethoven There Were Men And Women” (Cramps – CRSLP-6103/2) (Record: Excellent ~ Near Mint/ Gatefold Jacket: Excellent). Minimal masterpiece centered around a lengthy never ending text and extremely strange poem by John Barton Wolgamot. It consists of one sentence repeated over and over, and the only changes from sentence to sentence are that different names are inserted: “In their very truly great manners of Jesus Christ very heroically Geoffrey Chaucer, Rupert Brooke…” Ashley's fascinating liner notes to this album offer a very reasonable interpretation of the very bizarre text. And the music? It's wonderful—Ashley and Paul de Marinis' electronics bubble in the background, and Wolgamot's words sound beautiful when read by Ashley, who delivers the text in his usual sprechstimme-on-downers style. He sounds like either a creepy old man or the Garrison Keillor of the avant-garde, depending on your perspective. Just highly essential and psychedelic as well as eye-opening listening experience. Original pressing that sounds light-years better than the crappy Akarma boot/reish…….a must to all experimental and psych headz out there. Price: 85 Dollars

40. ASHLEY ROBERT: “Automatic Writing” (Lovely Music – VR-1002 - 1979) (Record: Excellent/ Jacket; Excellent, slightly bend left lower corner). Ashley’s landmark recordings, Automatic Writing (1979). Composed in recorded form over a period of five years, Automatic Writing is the result of Robert Ashley’s fascination with involuntary speech. He has recorded and analyzed the repeated lines of his own mantra and extracted four musical characters. The result is quiet, mysterious, melancholy and an early form of ambient music, still instead of ambient the term of minimal music is more to the point I guess. It is Ashley’s attempt to demonstrate the dichotomy between the rational-whatever can be explained in words-and its opposite-which is not irrational or a-rational, but which cannot be explained in words. The lead voice, the processed back-up chorus, the recurring bell tone, and the pervading tape hiss, create an unsettling mood. Separate phonemes are picked up freely by the group leaders and are relayed to the group members, who sustain them softly and for the duration of one natural breath. The time lag between the group leaders phoneme choices and those phonemes being picked up by members of the group produces a staggered, chant-like effect, with the sounds moving outward from the nearest performer to the farthest. In all a stunning masterpiece of a disc that surfaces only occasionally these days. Just indispensable. Price: 50 Dollars

41. ATSUMI MARI: “Yoru no Tame Iku” (Daiei Records – G-5001) (Record: Excellent – Record has some scuffs but plays great/ Fold Out Cover: Near Mint) Extremely rare erotic kayokyoku gem released in 1968, top notch condition Fully fledged sex kitten, adult movie star and seasoned early seventies porno heroine Atsumi Mari had it all being a body built like a pleasure dome of unbridled sin, a husky voice filled with enough overdriven sex appeal to make you horny for weeks on a row and looks that could defrost even the most seasoned of male chauvinist pigs. An all round dreamboat chick and pink porno witch, everything a man could possibly dream off encapsulated into one compact single body. Apart from her main acting activities, she also briefly dabbled with a signing career on the side, releasing only two hyper rare albums. This is one of them, her debut album released in 1968 by the movie house Daie's record branch. The original artwork that adorned the LP made that copies were all too quickly snapped up by Iroke fetishists making that the LP almost instantly disappeared. The music on the other hand is what counts here and stands as one of the best examples of the Iroke genre, filled with derailed passion, horny lyrics and love desperation all set against a lushly orchestrated background, cocktail lounge settings and psychedelic micro-dotted textural elements, turning it into a whirlwind of obsolete and adulterated psyched-out lust and desire. Great all over and it receives my highest recommendation as well as a top rank spot on the erotic female vocal list. Great nude picture of Atsumi on the cover….boy sweeter than honey and this baby was recorded late sixties – early seventies…golden age for Japanese vixens. A KILLER Babe and Disc. Impossible get these days, especially in such a nice EX condition, has some minor scuffs – scarce but some – but plays EX all the way through. Hyper rarity at rock bottom price, I must be loosing my mind to let it go at a fair and reasonable price….Price: 350 Dollars

42. ATSUMI MARI: “Kawai Akuma b/w Mayonaka no Terasu” (Daiei Records – D-104) (7 Inch: Excellent ~ Near Mint/ Gatefold Picture Sleeve: Near Mint) Iroke chanteuse and actress par excellence. Bloody rare 7 inch by Atsumi that comes with fold out cover and stunning nude jacket art. The sounds are erotic as hell. Saliva drooling sexy and cute songs. All material by Atsumi Mari is so rare and so search after for that it just never pops up and when it does …there is a gastronomical price tag attached to it. This single has some marks and scratches but still plays extremely nice with only some slight surface hissing. If I had to grade the playing quality I would grade it VG++ to almost excellent. The A-side has the stellar “Kawaii Akuma” track on it, pure unadulterated lust and hidden desires bold up within one song. Just brilliant. Killer. Seen the disc's visual condition the price is set cheap. Extremely collectible erotic material and rare as hell. Highest recommendation. Price: 75 Dollars

43. AUNT SALLY: “S/T” (Kojima Records – JOY-3302) (Record: Excellent/ Jacket: Excellent/ Obi: Excellent/ Insert: Excellent) Originally released on Vanity Records (vanity record copies of this disc now exceed the 450 dollar mark!) in 1979, this is the second and final issue of this all time classic Kansai no-wave combo that was spearheaded by the teenage Phew. The line-up consisted out of Phew-vocals, Bikke-guitar & vocals, Mayu-keyboards, Yoshio Nakaoka-bass and Takashi Maruyama-drums. Art-damaged and utterly innocently lo-fi aesthetic. Indispensable artifact documenting the late seventies Kansai No-Wave frenzies of this historical combo. Highest recommendation. Price: 100 Dollars

45. AYLER, ALBERT: “Ghosts” (Fontana – SFON-7054) (Record: Near Mint/ Jacket: Near Mint/ Obi: Excellent). First original hideously rare Japanese pressing of this subliminal Ayler disc, complete with first edition obi. Without a single doubt, Albert Ayler was the most iconoclastic figure jazz' has ever seen and many – if not all mortal souls – noticed his unequaled talent when “Spiritual Unity” hit the streets – be it in real time or when you first encountered it decades later, it never fails to make its everlasting impact when being first exposed to it. However, “Ghosts” can be seen as a similar feat since like most Ayler recordings it veers of in a similar way as a bomb starts a war. “Ghosts” has Ayler blowing a simple folk melody, which he slowly modifies, escapes from, and then returns to, while Gary Peacock scatters notes from his bass in seeming random fashion and Sunny Murray's stick skitters across his cymbals, neither of them ever attempting to get into a groove. This is some the most beautiful chaos jazz has ever encountered. Massive and this is the original rare first Japanese pressing in top condition. Price: 200 Dollars

46. AYLER, ALBERT: “Love Cry” (Impulse Japan – IMP-88072) (Record: Near Mint/ Gatefold Jacket: Near Mint/ Insert: Near Mint). Original Japanese pressing. Man, just look at the mouthwatering line-up this baby has been graced with. Could it possibly get any better? Spearheading the group is of course Albert Ayler, who gets flanked by brother Donald Ayler on trumpet, Call Cobbs on harpsichord, Alan Silva on bass and grandmaster Milford Graves on drums. Ayler's Pentecostal blueprint blaring sound is omnipresent throughout the disc as he trades fleet, furious lines with brother Don while getting back-drafted by throb and rattle of Graves and Silva. Still delicacy conveys throughout and a reverence for melody is always at the fore, even when Ayler is biting his reed and squealing at the top of the alto's range. Balancing between contemplation and explosion, it all meshes perfectly into a fireball of perfection. An unbeatable classic. Top notch copy, original Japanese pressing for dead cheap. Price: 40 Dollars

47. AYLER, ALBERT: “ Nuits de la Foundation Maeght” 2 LP Set. (Shandar - 83503-04) (Records: Mint/ Jacket: Mint). Rarely seen 2 LP-set in fold out cover on the legendary Shandar label with totally different artwork. The normal separate LP version on Shandar is so much more common, almost all too common, but this edition turns up only sporadically, elevating it to the status of a rarity in the making. After having just digested Albert Ayler’s excellent and totally over the top 10 CD box that appeared on the Revenant imprint, I thought of the time to be ripe to dive again into some of his legendary recordings, discs that should be omnipresent in anyone’s collection. Although that his complete oeuvre is obligatory mind and ear food, I have a special fondness for these live recordings of him in action while briefly seasoning in France . Recorded on July 27 th, 1970 at St. Paul de Vence, no one even suspected at the time that this would be Albert’s final and last ever performance due to his all too early demise shortly thereafter. Spewing out volcanic ashes on tenor, he gets flanked by Call Cobbs (piano), Steve Tint w eiss (bass), Allen Blairman (drums) and Mary Maria Parks (vocals). From those early notes on, the quintet launches into a stellar set of ferocious sonic w ashes and kerosene infused energy. The crude microphone set-up certainly attributes an extra edge to the already omnipresent rawness of the performance and stripped away the accessibility of his latest Impulse recordings. Ayler’s playing and that of the quintet trying in vain to pace up w ith his incinerating and all engulfing mode of operations belched out an incendiary blaze of stratospheric sound clusters. This deconstructive approach certainly attributed to bring out to the foreground again the bare essentials and essence of his music. Stellar does not even come close to describing the outward bound of his music. Needles to say highly essential. Great and mint copy 2 LP set. Original pressing of course. Price: 50 Dollars

48. AYLER, Albert: “Live Lorrach/ Germany and Paris/ France 1966” (Hat Art – Hat Art 2009) (1 LP and 12” Box set, Records: Excellent/ Box Set: Excellent) Ear blistering great recording of Ayler and company in 1966, housed in a beautiful box set. Line-up consisted at that period out of Don Ayler, Michael Sampson, William Folwell and Beaver Harris. A group setting to die for. The group rip through wild ecstatic versions of Holy Family, Ghost, Our Prayer, Spirits, Holy Ghost, Bells and Jesus. You have to hear it to believe it. Indispensable in any collection devoted to serious music. Rare box set for a bargain price. 50 Dollars

49. AYLER, ALBERT: (Shandar – RCA – SHP-6202) (Record: Excellent/ Fold Out jacket: Excellent/ Obi: Mint) Original Japan press of the early seventies of this Shandar LP. In Japan , Shandar was licensed by RCA Victor and the adorned the inner jacket with another picture and a complementary text. Also with this copy comes the hideously rare obi to flank the record's spine, a rarely seen feat, making this item quite desirable. Almost virginal copy, original press. Price: 30 Dollars

50. AYLER, ALBERT: “Last Album” (Impulse) (Record: Near Mint/ Gatefold Jacket: Excellent/ Obi: Excellent) (Impulse – SR-3122) Rare Japan press of this subliminal Ayler record, complete with obi. Music-wise, the disc is filled with occasional haunting echoes out of a different space-time continuum. This already gets clear on the opening track with Ayler blowing his lungs out on the bagpipes while ex-Canned Heat's guitar slasher Henry Vestine is ripping through some heavy dysfunctional guitar chords, attributing some existential lysergic angst to the musical palette. Just brilliant. Like the album title already points out, it turned out to be Albert's final recording. And also one of his most adventurous according to these ears and that is due to merging psychedelic musicians with free jazz heads. Amazing. Rare Japanese press with obi. Highly essential! Price: 75 Dollars

51. BACH REVOLUTION: “S/T” (RCA Records Red Seal – RVC-2054 – 1976) (Disc: Near Mint/ Jacket: Excellent/ Obi: Excellent/ 4-Paged Insert: Excellent). First copy I have with obi!! Comes with the 4-paged insert. Well here you have another psychedelic and progressive Japanese rock rarity that hardly ever resurfaces. The Bach Revolution. Ring any bells?? If not, that is because the band is vastly overlooked and ignored by most people. The band was composed out of Kazutaka Tazaki (Synthesizer Manipulator & Sound Designer), Motoaki Suzukawa (Composer & Synth manipulator) and Akiro Kamio (Composer & Sound Planner) who all three deployed heavily geared up synthesizer s. When speaking of synths, please do not rank these guys amongst the same level as mediocre artists such as Tomita and like minded junked down scumbags. No, the Bach Revolution inhabit a totally different spectrum, pulling open some other registers that range from cosmic and eerie sound excursions to full blasting atomic bomb fall-out debris, while underway sucking in some avant-garde elements, Buddhist esoteric chanting and minimal austere soundscapes. A stunner. Released in 1976, this disc is forgotten and quite scarce. Do yourself a favor by detecting some long lost gem out of Japans vast sonic history. Price: 75 Dollars.

52. THE BADEN-BADEN FREE JAZZ ORCHESTRA: “Gittin' To Know Y'All” (MPS – YS-2417-MP – 1971) (Record: Mint/ Gatefold Jacket: Near Mint). Holy Shit!! This baby burns as hard as you giving head to the scorned tailpipes of a dragster car that has just completed his supersonic run across a melted down concrete speedway course. While you are trying to patch up your blistered lips after sucking down the kerosene fumes, these guys here do not back down one inch and keep on sucking the air out of the auditorium. This is supersonic hardcore jazz, embalmed into a raging ball of fire that is belched out as a collective effort that got name tagged as the Baden-Baden Free Jazz Orchestra. The collective was for this occasion made out of the hottest soul-incinerating players around such as AEC members and representatives of the European free blowing scene, a head on collision with Lester Bowie (tp, cond), Hugh Steinmetz (tp), Kenny Wheeler (tp), Albert Mangelsdorff (tb), Eje Thelin (tb), Joseph Jarman (ss), Roscoe Mitchell (as), Alan Skidmore (ts), Heinz Sauer (ts), Gerd Dudek (ts), Bernt Rosengren (ts), John Surman (bs), Willem Breuker (bcl), Terje Rypdal (g), Dave Burrell (p), Leo Cuypers (prepared p), Barre Phillips (b), Palle Danielsson (b), Steve McCall (dr), Tony Oxley (dr), Claude Delcloo (dr), Karin Krog (vocal). The European free jazz scene merges with their American counterparts, fusing into one inflammable and agitated collision force of communal interplay. Together they create an arresting listening experience and the music unleashed is made up of a torrential stream of powerful blows that creates a whirlwind of unrelenting fire music. Killer stuff. This is the original Japanese press of 1971 and comes in a thicker than life carton foldout jacket. Totally mint and awesome artwork. Rare these days and indispensable in any collection. Price: 70 Dollars

53. BAILEY, DEREK & BRAXTON, ANTHONY: “Duo 2” (Denon Jazz – YX-7555-AX) (Record: Near Mint/ Jacket: Near Mint/ Insert: Near Mint). Originally released in 1975 on the UK Emanem label, this copy here is the audiophile Japanese pressing on the Denon Jazz imprint, a subsidiary of Nippon Columbia. “Two of the leading exponents of these two centers were Anthony Braxton and Derek Bailey. The former grew up in Chicago, whereas the latter did not move to London until the mid 1960s, having grown up in Sheffield. The two first came into direct contact when Braxton spent some time in London in 1971. They first worked together at a 1973 Braxton quartet concert in Paris that began with a duo piece. It was also one of the first concerts of improvised music to take place in the Wigmore Hall. The first part of the rehearsal held the previous day established what the musicians did not want to do - Bailey did not want to play notated compositions in unison, while Braxton did not want to improvise totally. A compromise was reached. Each half or set of the concert was to consist of a (different) sequence of six predetermined areas to improvise in. One section of each set, however, was left open (unpredetermined) to allow for the inclusion of other ideas that might arise during the concert. Also one section of the First Set was designated a guitar solo, and one of the Second an alto saxophone solo. Each of the two sets was played without a break. Note that for most of the concert, Bailey played a normal electro-acoustic six-string guitar augmented by stereo amplification, with the sound coming out of the two speakers controlled by two volume pedals. He also used his then other guitar, which had about nineteen strings, enhanced by a small practice amplifier. Two of these strings were "contra-bass" ones which went around his feet.” (Martin Davidson for the Emanem reissue). “Between them, Anthony Braxton and Derek Bailey must have released hundreds of discs, yet this duet is thrilling. Braxton hovers like an angry wasp, Bailey is mind-bendingly on form.” (Ben Watson – Bailey Biographer). Just a thrilling document and a dead pan classic, here on superior vinyl and sturdy sleeve all in immaculate condition. What can a poor soul ask possibly more for? A Must to these humble ears. Price: 80Dollars

56. BAILEY, DEREK: “Improvisation” (Cramps – n.2) (Record: Near Mint/ Imprinted Inner Sleeve: Near Mint/ Jacket: Near Mint). Original 1975 1^st pressing on the highly collectible Italian Cramps label. Top copy. This one is another one of my favorite solo guitar recordings. Still it is hard to choose since “Aida” as well as “New Sights Old Sounds” are in my little universe as indispensable. That is because both are quintessential live documents that see Baily live in action with his japan connection Aida in tow. Still, “Improvisation” is one of Bailey's finest solo works to be captured in a studio and hence the inclusion of this record in my personal Bailey top three. His playing here is phenomenal, almost sacred. Unlike Cage (who also has a disc in the Cramps catalogue), who's playing has a static, monotone quality, Bailey's playing includes a banquet of sounds, changes in pace, and challenging but intriguing note combinations. It almost seems like he is out to create creates passages that walk over themselves before veering off into microtonal and harmonic undertow jet streams. He has the ability of making a composition come over as a multitude of events that happen simultaneously but in a different universe by making full use of the instrument's strings, ranging from tackling them by scraping over to behind-the-bridge strumming. It is part of his signature chord clusters and once it gets to you, your life will never be the same again. Just marvel…..top copy and original pressing. Price: 120 Dollars

57. BAILEY, DEREK: “In Whose Tradition – Solo Guitar Improvisations 1971 ~ 1979” (Emanem – 3404) (Record: Excellent/ Signed Jacket: Near Mint). Great solo guitar improvisation disc by Bailey, recorded between 1971 and 1979. What makes this version so special is that Derek Bailey himself signed the jacket and inscribed a message on it, making it one of a kind cultural artifact and relic touched by the great master himself. Beautiful condition and very special indeed. Price: 80 Dollars

58. BAILEY, DERREK – PARKER, EVAN – KAISER, HENRY – OCHS, LARRY – RASKIN, JON – GOODMAN, GREG – KONDO, TOSHINORI – VOIGT, ANDREW: “The Science Set – Metalanguage Festival of Improvised Music” (Metalanguage – ML-177) (Record: Near Mint/ Jacket: Near Mint, still in shrink). Recorded in San Francisco at the Great American Music Hall on October 21^st, 1980. Delirious set of collective and solo improvisations by the above mentioned artists and again a great entry in the highly essential Derek Bailey discography. Evan parker's solo piece is also a true mind peeler. Jacket still in shrink, original 1980 press, top copy. Price: 90 Dollars

60. BANCO DEL MUTUO SOCCORSO: “Darwin!” (King Records – Seven Seas – GXH-2015) (Record: Mint/ Gatefold Sleeve: Mint/ Obi: Mint/ Insert: Mint). Originally released in Italy in 1972, this one here is the Japanese pressing of 1980, the 1^st Japanese pressing of this album, complete with obi. “The second Banco album is another in their series of classics and stands as one of my most treasured albums. In fact, Darwin!, was the first Italian album I got, and once I got to the shuddering grooves of "Cento Manni E Cento Occhi", I was completely converted to the passionate, thundering sound that would characterize one of my favorite bands. It's all here, the dual keyboard tapestry of the brothers Nocenzi, trading off Hammond assaults, delicate, heart wrenching piano runs and fire-breathing moog themes, building together in unison to moments of unimaginable climax. Atop this are the always outstanding vocals of Franceso DiGiancomo, who comes crashing in with his operatic, distinctly Italian, vocal prowess. Nearly every song on here is a gem. "L'Evoluzione" is an utter whirlwind, beginning a tender ballad, then accelerating into a bombastic groove. "La Conquista Della Posizone Eretta" is a keyboard driven apocalypse, breathtaking throughout. And man... check out "Cento Manni E Cento Occhi". This is the song that made me a believer the first time I heard it, an up-tempo barn burner that moves through a number of themes, carried by Franceso's vocals, before arriving at its unbelievable, aggressive conclusion. "750,000 Anni Fa… L'Amore" is a tremendously moving ballad featuring Francesco backed only by a shimmering piano theme, an expressive, morose and almost romantic atmosphere pervade the song. All in all this is another unequivocal classic. The first three Banco albums are all among my personal favorites, showing a band in the midst of a period of nearly unmatched consistency, on par with any of the more renowned English bands. Darwin! is an excellent place to start exploring Italian progressive rock”. (Greg Northrup - May 2001). A dead stoned classic out the Italian underground and a must in my book. Stunning mint copy. Highest recommendation. Price: 75 Dollars

61. The BAND: “Music from Big Pink”. (Capitol – ECP-80455) (Record: Near Mint/ Gatefold Sleeve: Near Mint/ 4-Paged Insert: near Mint/ Rock Now Obi: Near Mint apart from the small perforated whole in upper left corner). Exquisite copy of this all time masterpiece, rare original Japanese press that comes with the high in demand “Rock Now” type obi. Wow baby, this album is so bloody perfect that according to these ears it is one of the defining discs to seep out of the 20^th century. So further explanation is completely unnecessary I guess. Brilliant record, stunning condition, and rare Japanese press adorned with the much in demand pink rock now-styled obi. A masterpiece. Price: 120 Dollars

62. BARBARA MOORE: “Vocal Shades and Tones” (Em Records – EM1023LP) (Record: Excellent/ Jacket: Excellent / Insert: Excellent). Long deleted and out of print LP that appeared on the Japanese Em label (putting out LP versions in ridiculously low quantities…..), an exact flip back cover edition mimicking the original several hundreds of dollars plus library soft female dope scat female vocal album. An ultra-hip batch of vocal tracks -- and one of the few full albums recorded by singer Barbara Moore! Barbara's got a very groovy style that's part jazz, part easy, part sunshine pop -- all wrapped up into one super-warm blend! Her tracks have been showing up on play lists of beat heads for years -- especially cuts from this album, which is a tight blend of jazz dance, dreamy pop, and even a few funky numbers. Most tracks are sung in a bright and breezy scat style -- and titles include "Hot Heels", "His Name Was", "Swing Over", "Fly Away", and many others. In short, this LP is the most desirable De Wolfe library album, sought by jazz and library collectors alike. Originally recorded in 1971, the album opens with the driving "Hot Heels", an excellent track that really sets the tone for the rest of the disc. The album features a wide range of vocals styles; cool, moody, relaxed ... from bossa to gospel via jazz-scats and swing. Something for everyone! My personal favorite is the sinister "Steam Heat" that really does get deep down and dirty! The whole disc is resplendent with some soaring, harmonizing jazz scat vocals, the album really does start and ventures off right from when the needles hits the first groove at a breathtaking pace! Heavy, saucy moans and groans overlay a sleazy slow groove, sitting somewhere between voodoo and erotica; slightly sinister but altogether brilliant. Price: 70 Dollars

63. BARRETT, SYD: “The Madcap Laughs & Barrett” (Toshiba EMI – EMS-67014~15) (2 LP Set: Near Mint/ Fold Out jacket: Near Mint/ Obi: Near Mint) First original Japanese press that couples the two first Barrett albums and lavishly adorns it with a broad-banded obi. Very rare early Japanese press Barrett artifact that almost never turns up, especially in mint condition like this one with Obi also mint. Highest recommendation and in pristine, immaculate condition. Price: 195 Dollars

64. BARRETT, SYD: “Barrett” (Odeon – OP-80173) (Record: Near Mint/ Jacket: Near Mint/ Obi: Near Mint/ 4-Paged Insert: Near Mint). Original Japanese pressing complete with obi. Japanese pressings with obi just never ever surface these days and to make it even sweeter this copy is as clean and as close to mint as they come. The music needs no further explanation I guess……so all you need to know about this baby is that they do not come any cleaner or better than this copy, all with Obi included…..fabulous museum piece and of great historical as well as musical importance. Hold your breath, make your move and rest in peace for ever….Price: 650 Dollars

65. BASIL KIRCHIN: “World Within World” (Island Records – Black Label with Pink Island I) (Record: Mint/ Jacket: Mint) One of the key psyched-out avant-garde and sound art key releases that saw the light of day in the early seventies (1974). This LP moves in strange ways by inhabiting an eerie slow motion minimalist technique that infuses as sonic sources the sounds of autistic children of Schurmatt - both "as themselves" and manipulated by Kirchin until totally unrecognizable. The other sound sources he turns to consisted out gorilla, hornbills and flamingo calls, amplified insect chatter, bird chirpings animal mating calls, jet and other roaring engine noises and the sounds captured at the Hull docks. Upon listening to this alienating sonic experience, one is forced to acknowledge that that no human ears have ever heard such sounds before, coming as they do fr