A new 4CD clamshell box set by the acclaimed British ‘retro rockers’ Cats in Space. This special collection features the band’s first four albums with original singer Paul Manzi, ‘Too Many Gods’, ‘Scarescrow’, ‘Cats Alive!’ (recorded at The Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff) & ‘Daytrip To Narnia’.
Chapter 1 gathers together these deleted and sold-out albums in this remastered collection which also includes some exclusive bonus tracks, a historical, illustrated booklet with essay and a pull-out colour poster.
Announcing this release Cats in Space said: “Our early albums are no longer available, so it made sense to re-release them with our record label team at Esoteric Recordings and Cherry Red Records orchestrating something extra special…
Tag Archive: Esoteric
…features the albums ‘Axe Victim’, ‘Futurama’ and ‘Sunburst Finish’.
Be-Bop Deluxe was the creative vision of Bill Nelson, one of Britain’s most creative and enduring musicians. Thanks to the championing of DJ John Peel (who had been an advocate of Bill Nelson’s work since the release of Bill’s rudimentary self-released solo album Northern Dream in 1971), Be Bop Deluxe signed to EMI Records in 1974 and their debut album Axe Victim was issued in June of that year, featuring fine material such as ‘Adventures in a Yorkshire Landscape ‘Jets at Dawn’ and ‘Darkness (L’Immoraliste)’.
The 1975 album Futurama saw a new line-up of the band with the arrival of Charlie Tumahai on bass and Simon Fox on drums.
…featuring the albums ‘Novella’, ‘A Song for All Seasons’, and ‘Azure D’Or’.
Featuring highly gifted vocalist Annie Haslam, Michael Dunford (acoustic guitars), John Tout (keyboards, vocals), Jon Camp (bass, vocals) and Terry Sullivan (drums, percussion), Novella was issued in 1977 and was the band’s first album to be released on the Warner Bros. label in the UK.
Featuring featured the epic ‘Can You Hear Me?’ along with the classic tracks ‘Midas Man’, ‘Touching Once (Is So Hard to Keep)’ and ‘The Sisters’, the album was a top 50 hit album in the USA and assisted in growing the band’s following in Britain.
A Song for All Seasons was issued in March 1978, the album featured the song…
In 1967 at the peak of the psychedelic movement Vanilla Fudge bursts through the open gates with a giant battering ram and gave the early beginnings of both hard rock and progressive rock like a stick of dynamite that’s ready to explode. They had released five studio albums from Atlantic’s sub-label ATCO records from 1967 to 1969, mending the sounds of pop, soul, and blues into a powder-keg with a brand of a psychedelic aura, waiting to be unveiled.
This 9-CD set box set released by Esoteric Recordings consists not just the band’s albums from the ATCO label, but a live performance recorded on the first of January in 1969 at the Fillmore West in San Francisco, who at the time, were promoting their Renaissance album.
…Originally issued on CD in 2003 and unavailable for some years, this new edition has been remastered and expanded to include two previously unreleased tracks recorded in a session for Pennine Radio in 1978.
After parting company with Genesis shortly after the release of Trespass in 1970, Anthony Phillips went quiet for a fair few years. Although he overcame the illness and stage fright that led to his disappearance, he took a while to establish himself as a solo act. But by the time he recorded this album-long session for Radio Clyde in 1978, he was balancing increasingly experimental urges with pressure from his label to pen something short and friendly, as punk relegated his sort to persona non grata.
In 2004, Fairport Convention founder member, Judy Dyble emerged from a period of musical inactivity with the album ‘Enchanted Gardens’ which was a delightful collection of songs which were fitting for a new millennium, all with an immersive ambience that defied classification. This album was followed in 2005 by ‘Spindle’, another fine work which included a cover version of Pink Floyd’s ‘See Emily Play’ and featured guest appearances by Robert Fripp and former Hawkwind violinist Simon House.
Further recordings appeared as the album ‘The Whorl’ in 2006, another fine record which saw Robert Fripp and Simon House guest once more and also included an evocative cover version of King Crimson’s ‘I Talk to the Wind’.
With this music wonderful music unavailable…
Originally founded in 1969 by former Crazy World of Arthur Brown organist Vincent Crane, Atomic Rooster recorded five albums between 1969 & 1973 and enjoyed two hit singles with the tracks ‘Tomorrow Night’ and ‘Devil’s Answer’ in 1970 and 1971 respectively. The band line-up varied from album to album, but it was generally recognised that the “classic” line-up of the band featured Vincent Crane joined by John Du Cann (guitar, vocals) and Paul Hammond (drums) that existed between 1970 – 1971.
Atomic Rooster finally disbanded in 1975, but in 1980 Vincent Crane and John Du Cann reformed the band to record a new album. The sessions featured Preston Heyman on drums and the album Atomic Rooster was released in September 1980.
Following his dismissal from The Velvet Underground in the Autumn of 1968, Cale acted as a producer and arranger on albums by The Stooges and Nico before venturing out as a solo artist with his debut album ‘Vintage Violence’ in 1970. Following the release of a collaborative album with Terry Riley he signed with Reprise Records and recorded two albums for the label.
In 1974 John Cale relocated to London and signed with Island Records, for whom he was to release three inventive and influential albums within a period of just over a year. ‘Fear’, released in September 1974, was a fine work and featured contributions from Brian Eno and Phil Manzanera (also credited as executive producers) and Richard Thompson. ‘Slow Dazzle’…