Iván Patachich ‎– "Musical Electro-Alchemy" (Hungaroton ‎– SLPX 12369) 1982

As this blog was initially about how to turn musical Lead into musical Gold,or vice-versa, the 'electro-alchemy' of another very serious Hungarian seems out of place, when you compare it to anything on 'Fuck Off Records',but they do share the same determination to get their very unpopular works into the hearing appendages of a few hundred members of the public.Apart from that I've ran out of UK DIY stuff,so i gott write about something,no matter how tenuous the link.
This,one has to say, 'Fantastic' record melts haunting  neo classical choirs with Kluster style narration in a foreign language....unless you're Hungarian of course.....and ......here's the electro bit....minimal electronic noise.
This would have made a great soundtrack for "Solaris 2" if anyone had the guts, or stupidity to try making such a bold attempt at the only good movie with a "2" at the end of the title.
Failing that, get a bunch of contemporary dancers and leave them to it.The results should be hilarious.

Tracklist:

1 Antifonák(1977) 9:30
2 Hivó Jelek(1977) 10:05
3 Ballade(1976) 5:00
4 Ludus Syntheticus(1977) 8:00
5 Kínai Templom Visszhanggal(1979) 8:12
6 Hommage À L'Électronique(1978) 9:24

DOWNLOAD to turn lead into more lead HERE!

Zoltán Jeney ‎– "Om" (Hungaroton ‎– SLPX 12708) 1986

John Coltrane's "Om", or anti-Om, as made on a Sinclair ZX Spectrum,by some cat called Zoltan!?....so that's either Zoltan, Cat of Dracula, or John Zoltrane?
Zoltrane, uses a french...yes French!!!?...synth called a 'Rsf Kobol',which if made to French manufacturing standards in 1986 would break down or fall apart as soon as you glanced in its general direction. I've never seen another artist use one of these who wasn't French....they like to buy French product do the French, no matter how crap it is. Then we have it hooked up to a computer designed by the idiot who produced the Sinclar C5 electric "I'm A Twat" sign on wheels.
I'm surprised the ZX Spectrum could handle the minimal repetetive sequence that plays continuously for fifty minutes.It must have used at least one whole kilobyte of the massive 128 Kilobyte memory that comfortably enabled kids to play Donkey Kong for hundreds of brain numbing hours.It obviously numbed the Brain of 'Sir' Clive Sinclair.....yes, this dick was knighted!?.....as he ruined his company with that ridculous plastic death chariot that he thought would revolutionise road transport.
The Commodore C64 was usually the home computer to go for concerning Electronic Mooozik production.Why' I've even used it myself,as my first sampler,and it had a built in synth called the 'SID Chip', which made unique lo-fi squelchy synth sounds. The ZX had nothing like that, so I'm at a loss as to why Zoltrane opted for this lo-tech device. Probably an importing beyond the Iron Cutain problem.Hungary only got Stockhausen LP's and ZX Spectrum's smuggled into it's musicians grasps.
They are likely all absolute whizzes at 'Donkey Kong' I wager.
Then came the Atari ST, with MIDI!?...just in time for the Acid House debacle.
Thanks to the Chernobyl disater,1986 was a good year for high background radiation levels,which made all Geiger Counters sing like a Nightingale on Crystal Meth. So ,maybe, that noise was Zoltrane's inspiration for this nursery rhyme from the reactor core of communist computer music.
I guess this could be referred to as a sequenced hypnotic drone,which it is,but I won't repeat it again; and it's certainly an easy way to fill up two sides of a vinyl LP.Kinda like an Avant-Garde Rock'n'Roll swindle,but,it being from a communist country,no money will have exchanged hands in the process.What is missing, is a robot chanting "Oooooommmmmmmmmmmmmm".....now that would have said something worthwhile?At least about the human tendancy to follow hive minded religions robotically.


Tracklist:

A-Om 1 (26:20)
B-Om 2 (26:12)

DOWNLOAD ominously for the eastern bloc HERE!

Various Artists ‎– "From Czech Electronic Music Studios" (Supraphon ‎– 1 11 1423) 1974

If ever there was a soundtrack to life in a police state then this is it. On State Label Supraphon, with cover art from some twisted nightmarish detention centre inmate after a long spell of sleep deprivation, this musique concréte escapade emits all the joylessness of a lifetime spent under curfew.
Largely involving tape manipulation,and thankfully lacking access to the Soviet Union's state-owned EMS synthi 100 in Moscow, the edited and varispeeded recorded sounds have all the characteristics of a fully furnished subterranean dungeon in Prague.
Each new track is like an interrogator saying "Let's Go back to the Beginning",as it seems we've been here before but still aren't any wiser as to what you did last summer,especially as every day feels like winter.Music that'll make you admit to anything to avoid the 'Bath of Shit' part of the afternoon.Nothing's worth that illegally imported pair of jeans you purchased from that under-cover policeman last July.
Most of Czechoslavakia's prog rock fraternity were locked up in the same interrogation centre that this stuff evokes,but you could get away with it if you achieved the status of of 'Official Musician'. Without the nod from the State you weren't allowed to play music to a paying audience,if at all.Anything 'western' or subversive was an arrestable offence; as the Zappa-esque Plastic People Of The Universe found out. 
The composers of these creepy early electronic cattle prod-a-gogo instruments of aural torture,were,of course, possessors of pieces of paper that allowed them the distinction of being official 'State Composers', so they were safe in their state provided accomodation.....undoubtedly bugged,but its a rent controlled roof over one's head, where subversive thoughts could be encrypted into indecipherable weird noises and passed off as 'Avant-Garde'.


Tracklist:

1 –Zbyněk Vostřák - Scales Of Light (1967) 13:55
2 –Miloslav Ištvan - Isle Of Toys (1968) 9:25

Two Parts From The Kinetic Ballet (1968)

3 –Václav Kučera - The Labyrinth 14:00
4 –Václav Kučera - The Spiral 7:35

DOWNLOAD the sudetenland of electronics HERE!

Various ‎Artists – "Magyar Elektronikus Zene: Hungarian Electronic Music" (Hungaroton ‎– SLPX 11851) 1979

Oh Those Hungarians and their weird Iron curtain ways,and their kerazzzzy christian names like.....er.....Peter!!!?.....two Peters in fact.Theres a Peter Winkler on here,surely no relation to Fonz legend Henry I trust? Anything's possible in the world of avant garde Electronic music,even a 'Happy Days' connection.Despite the music summoning enough power through discomfort to rename this shit TV series as "Unhappy Days"
I'm relieved to say that the other names are far more in the malevolent dictator realm,like Ivan, and the previously discussed Zoltan......wasn't that the hound of Dracula's name?
The...er.....'music', is suitably castle dungeon in it's homeliness.
The odd appearance of The Soup Dragon from the Clangers,in Zoltan's work,place the evil one head and shoulders above his compatriots,although its all jolly sinister.Evoking empty space,lonliness and fear amongst the moist cloisters of a vampire's mountain top chateau.A Hungarian 'Trump Tower',but with taste.

Tracklist:

A1 –Zoltán Pongrácz - Mariphonia(1972) 8:07
A2 –Zoltán Pongrácz - Egy Cisz-Dur Akkord Története (1975) 5:48
A3 –Peter Eötvös - Mese: Rövidített Változat (1968) 12:18
B1 –Iván Patachich - Magánhangzók: Ta Fonaenta (1976) 8:06
B2 –Iván Patachich - Hangzó Függvények (1975) 10:37
B3 –Máté Victor & Péter Winkler - Viscositas (1975) 5:12

DOWNLOAD if you're hungry enough HERE!

Zoltán Pongrácz ‎– "144 Sounds: Electronic Music" (Hungaroton ‎– SLPX 12433) 1982

Most Hungarians have names that are later used for the character of an Evil God in cheapo kids fantasy cartoon series'. Zoltan , the bringer of pestilence,with a few of those weird Hungarian Dogs straining on the end of some chain heavy leash. One day Zoltan hopes to compete at 'Crufts',but for now he'll make do with just doing evil.Keep it simple Zolt.
This Zoltan makes evil sounding neo-classical electronics,complete with the barking hounds of Zoltan. Not the type of Electronics anyone can do mind....there's some craft to Mr. Pongrácz's electronic compositions. Sound effects as music, this most certainly is not! There's dark and light shading, and lots of stagey Hungarian monologues,in the style of those early Kluster albums (get them here and here). Again, I dunno what the voice is going on about,and I don't wanna know, it invariably lessens the mystery. I avoided seeing pictures of Joy Division, and I avoid translations of dark foreign language solioquies, to maintain the enigma.Nothing beats the perfection of the human imagination.
There's choirs too, like some Magyar version of the Omen.
Chimps could not make this,not even the infinate chimp,unlike the chumps who make that random knob twisting "I've got an expensive synth and you haven't" electronica' waving their Karl Heinz Stockhausen correspondence course certificate in your face mockingly,chanting "you don't understaaaand, you don't understaaand, nah nah n-nah naaaah!"


Tracklist:

A1 Madrigál 10:03
A2 144 Hang 12:00
B1 A Balgaság Dícsérete 18:26
B2 Sesquiatera 7:22

DOWNLOAD the hounds of Zoltan HERE!

László Dubrovay ‎– "A² "/ "Oscillations Nos. 1-3" (Hungaroton ‎– SLPX 12030) 1979

Any cover with close ups of an EMS synth is always iminently purchasable,and doubly so if it comes from behind the Iron Curtain during the cold war times.
For some reason communist Hungarians had a Stockhausen fixation, and enthusiastically made silly electronic noises and drew charts with the same efficiency as they helped Eichmann deport a million jewish citizens to the Auschwitz labour camp (notice how i called it 'a labour camp' to avoid know all anti-zion conspiracists telling me how many really died and how.....yeah we got holocaust fatigue as well as conspiracy fatique.....look I Don't Care understand!?...and yeah yeah yeah, I'm a Fascist,which is different to a Nazi by the way...well done you keyboard finger pointers....well done).
I figure that the only western records they could smuggle through customs were by Stockhausen,which would explain the number of serious electronic composers in Magyar land.....But that does not explain their numerous ,badly dressed prog bands, like the dreadful 'Omega',which i did feature on the blog, but ,true communists that they were/are, they made a DCMA complaint against me and the download had to be withdrawn(but you can check it here in the post on the terrible hungaro-rock album "Bum".
Its funny how former commies now make for the very worst capitalists.Humans do have a natural tendancy to burn down their houses to keep themselves warm,capitaist or communist.That's why, neither dogma works.
These electronic pieces are from the 'I've got a Synth and I'm gonna Use It school of 'Because I Can'.
A series of very pointless sound effects rechristened as music. Its great background music to a slow moving science fiction epic, or a wacky off-kilter fondue evening, but taking it seriously as a modern composition is strictly for the pseudo-intellectual in your cell.
Maybe this was an easy way to get a more favourable appartment in the brutalist tower block that László was allocated before he became an 'Artist', I dunno.Basically, he had access to an astronomically expensive EMS synth and his fellow brothers and sisters did not.....that's equality for you.
Good cover though.


Tracklist:

A1 "A²" (16:38)
A2 Oscillations No. 3 (9:45)
B1 Oscillations No. 1 (18:00)
B2 Oscillations No. 2 (11:50)

DOWNLOAD László the oscillating Hungarian HERE!

Edward Artemiev ‎– "Solaris Original Soundtrack" (Мирумир ‎– MIR 100705) 1972

Dunno if its because I'm pissed (drunk, not angry, you americans!) but this is fantastic!
Everytime I've seen 'Solaris',the Soviet funded answer to '2001', I've been pissed and woke up thinking it was Fantastic.
Then I saw it sober, and fell asleep,woke up thinking that it was an incredibly boring crock of shite!
It's a film that you need to be in the correct time and place, and state of mind to enjoy.Unless you are a psuedo intellectual who would never admit to being bored by Tarkovsky.
Right now,i'm Loving this dark ambient foray into the darker energy of the ultimate isolation on the shores of a lifeless infinity.
No-one captures emptiness better than Artemiev.....unless you're sober that is.
A contemporary of the equally demanding "Andromeda Strain",which I have seen very sober in the daytime, and thought it was a masterpiece....then saw it drunk with some mates and we all thought it was a boring crock of shite,then switched over to watch 'Godzilla vrs Mechagodzilla', which is a work of unappreciated genius!
What is good and what is shite is a complicated science indeed;but right now i'm saying Solaris is one of the greatest films ever made, as is 'Godzilla vrs Mechagodzilla'.....as for 'the Andromeda Strain',i'll see next time i'm off my tits on strong continental lager......i may have already labelled it 'dull' in the previous post featuring the hexagonal soundtrack album that mashes up your stylus.
However both soundtracks are unsttling dark ambient excursions into the black heart of the human condition.......can't really say that about the "Mecha-godzilla" soundtrack,but i will post it for a classic 'contrast and Compare' moment.


Tracklist:

1 Part I 2:48
2 Part II 2:32
3 Part III 2:22
4 Part IV 3:13
5 Part V 2:27
6 Part VI 7:18
7 Part VII 3:55
8 Part VIII 2:56
9 Part IX 1:26
10 Part X 0:38
11 Part XI 2:09
12 Part XII 1:42
13 Part XIII 4:44
14 Part XIV 0:44
15 Part XV 4:36
16 Part XVI 6:19
17 Part XVII 1:21

Beam me down scottski HERE!

MCH Band ‎– "Jsme Zdrávi A Daří Se Nám Dobře" (Fist Records) 1983

The MCH band couldn't get on groovy state label Supraphon,so they had to do the same as the UK bands who couldn't get on EMI, and make their own cassettes.
This is their second on Fist records.
More excellent proggy post-punk from darkest Czechoslovakia.

Tracklist:

A1 Prasinec
A2 Procházka Kolem Pivovaru
A3 Maškara Na Větvi
B1 Prej Hoří Národní Divadlo
B2 Viselci
B3 Truppen Marschieren Bei Nacht
B4 Kdo Ví

DOWNLOAD mch and his band HERE!

MCH /post Extempore/ Band ‎– "Krokodlak" (Fist Records) 1982

The MCH band, named after band leader Mikoláš Chadima, bless him,was a more forward looking Czech Prog band that exuded elements of Post-Punk experimentalism, with a Rock In Opposition vibe, and the much needed influence of punk rock's immeadiacy. That means theres not much singing,no over long tracks, trimmed beards, and shorter shoulder length hair.They could even be the best thing to come out of Czechoslavakia since The Plastic People of the Universe....who were obviously a major influence.
This was their first cassette underground release, when they had just changed their name from The unrecorded, Extempore Band (Better name), to the initials of the lovely Mikoláš.

Tracklist:

A1 Pydlisyn
A2 Peklo
A3 Krokodlak / Vènováno V.T./
B1 Hobit / Zpěv Skřetů/
B2 Jak Šlo Vejce Na Van Dr
B3 Král Hromady

DOWNLOAD some post extempore czech prog-punk HERE!

Bohemia ‎– "Zrnko Písku" (Panton ‎– 11 0699) 1978

Oh Alright then!
Here's the sole album of progressive Jazz Rock Fusion.from Czech-Prog super group, Bohemia.
Made up of Jan Kubík (ex-Flamengo), Lešek Semelka (ex-Blue Effect), Michal Pavlíček (ex-Expanze), Vladimír Guma Kulhánek (ex-Flamengo), Jan Hála and Pavel Trnavský (ex-Expanze)......so i'm told.

The music is standard Jazz Rock in the tradition of, dunno?...Return To Forever? Etc.

The tracks get rather funky at some point, but the singer.....the singer!

Thats the trouble with these eastern european records, their language doesn't suit rock and soul music whatsoever.

I've said this before, to some amusement I may add, that the Lingua Franca of 20th century popular music is, undeniably, English.As for Opera its Italian. 

Instrumentally this album is rather good, but rather spoiled by those harsh sounding words and those harsher, rasping vocals.


Tracklist:

1.Chór Minulých Nohou V Průchodu „Pasáž” 7:16
2.Zátiší Peronních Lístků 6:32
3.Sen O Snu 5:56
4.Horké Letní Stmívání 9:14
5.Milenci Před Pollockovým Obrazem 7:24

DOWNLOAD some bohemian jazz rock fusion HERE!

Combo FH ‎– "Věci / Things" (Panton ‎– 8113 0184) 1981

Amother I got from the bargain bin in the Ultima Thule progressive record shop in Leicester back in the nineties;I think this was one pound.

More Czech, brass heavy prog, with a distinct Zappa influence.

Apparently there is a Frank Zappa statue in Prague somewhere. The Zappa family did originate,rather fittingly, from bohemia before they wisely emigrated to California.I did have a friend from the same area, who ultimately drove into a tree and died, but he did look like Zappa, a grungier version of Zappa, but nonetheless he had that Bohemia look.(especially after the accident!)

There was also a Czech prog fusion band actually Called 'Bohemia', which i considered posting, but its a bit too jazzy for me....as well as being a bit Shit....but is considered a Czech prog classic...and why not?

Combo Fh could have easily fitted into the UK post-punk prog scene if they had been let out to hang at Rough Trade in London...but,alas, they would have needed a major make over, a shave at least, to make it alongside Pigbag or Blurt.

Tracklist:

1.Guma-Gu / Rubber Blubber 4:13
2.Sedli A Jedli / They Sat And Ate 3:13
3.Ouklejí Slalom / Dace Race 4:26
4.Juta Targo 1:49
5.Řezník Zítra Nepřijede / The Butcher Won't Come Tomorrow 1:59
6.Sen Sušené Jahody / Dried Strawberry's Dream 3:46
7.Laserová Pouť / Laser Pilgrimage 2:49
8.Koko A Bučka / Koko And Bottage 1:35
9.Je Za Deset Minut, Pardále / It's Ten To, Bully Boy 2:55
10.Přilož Ucho / Give Your Ear 3:01
11.Druhá Nejlepší Pastička Na Myši / Second Best Mousetrap 2:29
12.Zelený Muž / Green Man 1:48
13.Tam Na Horách V Rákosí / On The Hilltops In The Rushes 1:35
14.Asi To Zabalíme, I Josef Už To Zavinul / Weather Report For 15.Tonight, Let's Call It A Day 2:29

DOWNLOAD some things HERE!

Progres 2 ‎– "Dialog S Vesmírem" (Panton ‎– 8113 0130) 1980

Typically for the eastern bloc, Progres 2 were formed over a decade before they had their debut album put out by the state.Around about the time of the 'Prague Spring' uprising.

No room for teenage troublemakers over the other side of the wall....not on the state labels at least.Especially after the Soviet Tanks rolled in around 1968.

If you couldn't grow a bushy moustache they didn't wanna know.Back to the chemical plant and those adorably slack health and safety regulations. Teenagers with green hair in the soviet bloc were not generally adolescent rebels with a handy bottle of hair dye as a rule.Their verdant locks came courtesy of chemical poisoning at work, or they lived within 50 kilometers of a state industrial plant. So most musicians who lived on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain were often near death by the time the debut album got out.

At least Progres 2 seem to have survived their pre-fame era intact, as this complex and symphonic Czech-prog classic attests.

Tracklist:

1.V Zajetí Počítačů 3:07
2.Země 2555 4:07
3.Píseň O Jablku 9:34
4.Odlet 5:42
5.Planeta Hieronyma Bosche I 4:38
6.Planeta Hieronyma Bosche II 6:20
7.Tisíce Mých Očí 4:53
8.Hymna Robotů 4:37

DOWNLOAD and make progres towards an end of all this eastern european prog HERE!

SBB ‎– "SBB (or The Amiga Album)" (AMIGA ‎– 8 55 631) 1978

For SBB's East German sojourn, they got to release an album on VEB Deutsche Schallplatten's classic "Amiga" label, and record at 'Rundfunk der DDR' studios.Maybe they misunderstoof the 'Rundfunk' part, because they made a Herbie Hancock album instead of the usual SBB prog exploration.The poles have got funky for this one,the 'Third' eponymous album by SBB....referred to as the 'Amiga Album'.
The East German government were rather more officious than the Poles or the Czech's,a hangover from the Nazi period.So, i guess some high ranking state official insisted that they made something 'To Dance To Ja!?"....."Unt you vill DANCE!", was standard DJ talk at the state Discothéque;open every Friday from 7pm 'til curfew.
It may be mid-seventies funky Jazz Fusion, rather than Symphonic Progressive Rock, but it make me wanna tap my twinkle toes to its funkeh riddyms somewhat.Yowzaaaaah!

Tracklist:

A1 Tanzbär 3:05
A2 Magische Blaue Stunde 3:05
A3 Hektik 3:05
A4 2.10 2:10
A5 Ouzo 5:00
A6 Unterbrochene Erotik 2:52
B1 Kala 3:30
B2 Tumba 3:45
B3 Mutraczka 4:20
B4 Nr. 7 5:00
B5 I Wonder Why 4:35

DOWNLOAD the closest Herbie Hancock ever got to the DDR HERE!

SBB ‎– "SBB (aka The Orange Album or Slovenian Girls)" (Supraphon ‎– 1 13 2218) 1978

SBB spent 1977/78 making albums for other communist state labels....except that notably absent was an SBB release on Russian state label, Melodija? Naturally the first place to go would be Czechoslavakia's 'Supraphon',So they got a couple of weeks off from the coalmine before christmas 1977 to record in Prague.The result of which was this garishly covered album,and the second,of three eponymously named collections called "SBB".Obviously this would cause confusion in other countries, so it was referred to as 'The Orange Album',and actually renamed in West Germany (1979), rather crassly, as "Slovenian Girls".Adorned with an alluring young Slovenian lady on the cover.One assumes that sales went up with the application of this basic, but sadly very effective,capitalist,marketing tool?
The brightly coloured sleeve of the Supraphon release certainly makes it stand out amongst the dour graphic design of their soviet bloc rivals.And look, they had a Mini Moog!
The tracks also had different names according to wich version they appeared on.For 'Slovenian Girls' it was simply Julia and Anna,whoever they were?It seems that one member of SBB went without a Slovenian Girl of his own?
They dud it again though.....two sidelong progressive pop workouts to rival any of their western counterparts....now get back in that coalmine and be equal!

Tracklist:

1. Wołanie O Brzęk Szkła (Touha Po Zvonění Střepů) / Julia (19:03)
2. Odejście (Odchod) / Anna (19:38)

DOWNLOAD a healthy orange full of vitamin C for communism HERE!

SBB ‎– "Ze Słowem Biegnę Do Ciebie" (Polskie Nagrania Muza ‎– SX 1434) 1977

Two side long prog workouts,hitting every shade and hue of the Prog Rock Rainbow. A veritable cornucopia of funny time signatures and virtuosity. A smorgasbord of different tempo's and ........I'll stop now.
Basically its a rather good, if not the finest, SBB LP, treading that fine line between Jazz Rock Fusion, and Symphonic space rock.
Whats more is that there's another lengthy prog Rock excursion added as a bonus track. And once again,its never boring or derivative,and so opposite to what the capitalist bloc was selling us in 1977,that if you were a 'Real Punk', this is what you should have been listening to while your mates were enjoying themselves at a Sham 69 concert.

Tracklist:

1 Ze Słowem Biegnę Do Ciebie 19:14
2 Przed Premierą 19:29

Bonus Track:
3 Odejście (Tęsknota/Wyzwolenie/Odejście/Rozłam/Pojednanie) 29:07

DOWNLOAD the opposite to sham 69 in '77 HERE!

SBB ‎– "Pamięć" (Polskie Nagrania Muza ‎– SX 1345) 1976

I often asked my Father whether he'd like to go back to lower Silesia, and revisit his prison camp, to which he replied....."Ooya Bugger!You must be bloody joking! Bloody awful place,flat boring landscape and full of funny Buggers.".......yes, he'd have voted Brexit;But, as the theme of this album seems to be something to do with Fathers and family history, I will let that go, quoting track two,english version in brackets, "From Whose Blood is my Blood". Funnily enough he never had a bad word to say about the Germans!? The French were dismissed as ,and I quote, "A Shower of Shite!"
He'd be turning in his grave if he knew I now live in France.I can now confirm that they aren't quite the shower de merde that he thought they were,butJust as dislikeable,rude,and full of shit as all humans are.....some more than others.....and i'm not excluding myself from this observation before you jump in!
I did put my fathers remains, "Craddled in my Hands" (track one),around the graves of his perished Bomber crew near St Nazaire where they were buried (as documented earlier in this blog,including his very entertaining memoires for download). Scattering his ashes in the small war graves commision cemetery there.I'm sure he'd be satified with that.
So I dedicate this posting of some rather marvellous symphonic polish Prog ,"Ojcu"....(see also track one)


Tracklist:

1 W Kołysce Dłoni Twych(Ojcu)/In The Craddle Of Your Hands(To My Father) 9:09
2 Z Których Krwi Krew Moja/From Whose Blood, My Blood 10:13
3 Pamięć W Kamień Wrasta/Memory Grows Into Stone 19:53

Bonus Tracks:
4 Poranek Nadziei 4:27
5 Barwy Drzewa 2:01

6 Osiem Rąk 4:40
7 Waldie 9:13
8 Niedokończona Progresja 6:24
9 Reko-Reko 4:31
10 Serenada Gia Sena 4:58

DOWNLOAD more prog from poland HERE!

SBB (Silesian Blues Band) - "Nowy Horyzont" (Polskie Nagrania Muza ‎– SX 1206) 1975

SBB themselves...ahhhh they look all sad!?

Remember when Gary Glitter 'retired' and the band behind the great man carried on....the pure liquid genius that was 'The Glitter Band'?...yes?
Well SBB were the genius behind Czeslaw Niemen.
An acronym for the Silesian Blues Band, they were thee best Prog band in Poland, if not the whole Soviet Bloc, and within a chance to be the best in Europe?....well maybe that's going a little too far,but, musicianship-wise, they were smoking daddio!
As their former leader, Singer and keyboard leg end, Mr Nieman went on a electronic journey to the centre of the cosmos, the rockier side of his myth went on a progressive journey to fit as many notes, time signatures, and tempo changes into the medium of Rock fusion as possible. That sounds like my kinda shit....and it is.
I have a family connection with Silesia, as my dear departed Daddy spent three years there as a prisoner of war of the occupying Nazi's.The fucking Germans tried to kill him!?....what were they thinking of? 
But, now we're all friends in that wonderful concept of peace...the European Union......no....wait....the UK don't wanna be friends no more?......which reminds me to remind all forward thinking Brits who may read this before dec 12th, to vote tactically and fuck over your local Tory. There's a small chart in the side column of this blog. Target numero uno is Rees-Mogg, then Posh Fat-Boy Johnson himself.

Tracklist:

1.Na Pierwszy Ogień (Curtain Raiser) 3:15
2.Błysk (A Flash) 2:45
3.Nowy Horyzont (The New Horizon) 7:47
4.Ballada O Pięciu Głodnych(A Ballad About The Five Hungry Ones) 3:55
5.Wolność Z Nami (Freedom With Us) 20:00

Bonus Tracks:
6 Xeni 6:39
7 Penia 15:59
8 Dyskoteka 6:55
9 Na Pierwszy Ogień 6:49

DOWNLOAD a new horizon from silesia HERE!

Czesław Niemen ‎– "Idée Fixe I + "Idée Fixe II" ( Polskie Nagrania Muza ‎– SX 1570-1571, Polskie Nagrania Muza ‎– SN 0770) 1978

You gotta love the Polish haven't you?
On the day that the sad nation of Little England Brexiteers learned that the three men, armed with a Narwhal's tusk (don't ask where he got that from!?) and a Fire Extinguisher, wrestled a knife weilding Terrorist* to the floor during the London Bridge attack last friday(during which two persons were killed! RIP), were....POLISH!.....yep the very same 'immigrants' that are stealing those jobs nobody wants,working all hours, and paying taxes so that Brexit Party supporters can receive their disability benefits.

Our Polish Heroes in action

"Why don't they go back to where they came from?"...will still be muttered when they find out that these heroes were dirty scrounging Foreign types.
As some unashamed and anonymous xenophobe required me to stick to the music in the comments section of Holy Toy's otherwise excellent "Panzer and Rabbits" post,I shall now post a classic Polish Prog masterpiece in tribute to these fine EU citizens who acted, while passing Brits filmed it on their mobile phones.

*Incidently, the 'terrorist' was a British citizen,from Stoke-on-Trent (which is no excuse!), who was let out from prison, early by Boris Johnson's despicable, lying, Tory Government,where he was serving a minimum of 8 years for ....er...Terrorist offenses!?...so much for mr Law and Order then?

"Idée Fixe", which is also the french name of Asterix the Gaul's Dog,Dogmatix as we know him; is generally accepted as Czeslaw Niemen's best album,personally I find it a bit self-indulgent. The title translates as 'Fixed Idea's' or, 'Dogmatism', which fitted the English translaters of 'Asterix' perfectly?
I dunno whether Czeslaw was being Ironic, or if this album follows an obscure musical dogma,as it does seem to stick to a lot of keyboard noodling,and lots of two handed prog-synth work-outs.
If Rick Wakeman-offs are your kind of musical dogma, then this expanded version of the original double album is most certainly for you.Personally I prefer it when he has his regular band SBB backing him up......and even more so, when he refrains from inflicting his terrible singing upon us.

Tracklists:

 "Idée Fixe I" :

1 Sieroctwo 8:46
2 QSS I (Pytanie o nasza skromnosc) 3:02
3 Larwa (1) (Wszechcywilizacji spoleczny blues) 7:23
4 Moja Piosnka 6:47
5 W Poszukiwaniu Źródła 2:36
Chłodna Ironia Przemijających Pejzaży (13:02)
6a Marmur Biały
6b Egejski Błękit
7 Straceńcy (Z wypraw nie tylko krzyzowych) 1:24
8 Laur Dojrzały 5:25

"Idée Fixe II" : 

1 Larwa (2) 7:20
2 Idącej Kupić Talerz Pani M. 5:13
3 Białe Góry 9:33
4 Legenda Scytyjska 3:25
5 QSS II (Nawolywanie) 2:43
6 Twarzą Do Słońca 7:07
Credo (8:20)
7a Pochwala Pracy (Promethidion - fragment)
7b Burza I Kolory Teczy

Sen Srebrny Salomei EP:

8 Proroctwo Wernyhory 0:28
9 Spotkanie Leona I Salomei 0:45
10 W Obozie Ukraińskim 1:30
11 Zazdrość Semenki 0:32
12 Przybycie Regimentu 0:53
13 Defilada 0:50
14 Mazurek Weselny 1:07
15 Pieśń Wernyhory 5:43

DOWNLOAD "Idée Fixe I" dogmatically HERE!

&

DOWNLOAD "Idée Fixe II" with expanded dogmatism HERE!

N.Æ. (Niemen Aerolit). ‎– "Katharsis" ( Polskie Nagrania Muza ‎– SX 1262) 1976

Czeslaw Niemen is hardly obscure in his native Poland,unlike anywhere else outside of the soviet bloc. In fact he's a star there. Actually I should be saying "was" since he kicked the proverbial 'bucket' and left to sing with the choir invisible in 2004. There's even a bust of him in a park somewhere in Poland and even Czeslaw Niemen commemorative coins were minted....a rare honour indeed.

N.Æ. was mainly his fusion-oriented project, but this second release under that moniker,also on the Polish State label, was essentially a Czeslaw Niemen solo album with no outside help.Now he could really indulge himself with his own genius without other musicians muddying the waters.Mike Oldfield Style, but without the tunes or dubious humour. This one veers much dangerously closer to the avant garde rocks. Lots of spacy Minimoog and EMS Synthi A.Plus some of the more raw, in your face, Mellotron ever commited to low grade communist era plastic.

Its always a sign,especially in the seventies when we didn't know any better, that a 'Rock Star' is begining to believe his own godlike status, when they quote 19th century romantic poetry on the rear of the jacket.You know you're in even deeper trouble when every track has sub-titles in brackets,to show how much more intelligent our new God is than you are.

Never seen without a hat,I wonder if his Soul really did 'Return To The Regions Of The Central Galaxy', as the sub-title of the title track suggests it was tearning for?

Tracklist:

A1 Discovery Of A New Galaxy (A Triumphal Dream)
A2 The Milky Way (Travel To The Confines Of Infinity)
A3 The Planet Earth (Gravity, A Gate In The Clouds, Landing, A Terrestrial Landscape, Enchantment, Annunciation)
A4 Fate (The Immutable Law Of Trasience)
A5 The Seal (Biological Reproduction, The Struggle For Survival, The Vanity And Euphoria Of The Privileged)
B1 From A Letter To M
B2 An Attempt To Escape (A Hope In Outer-Space Communication)
B3 Katharsis (The Eternal Yearning Of The Soul - Return To The Regions Of The Central Galaxy)
B4 An Epitaph/In Memory Of Piotr

DOWNLOAD some katharsis for pretentious intelligentsia HERE!

N.Æ. (Niemen Aerolit) ‎– "Niemen Aerolit" (Polskie Nagrania Muza ‎– SX 1192) 1975

Czeslaw Niemen was Poland's Johnny Halliday of the keyboards, but with a major difference.....he was Good.
Starting off in Polish sixties Beat Group contrafactions, evolving through communist psychedelia and the obligatory Jimi Hendrix phase, he discovered Prog Rock fusion and the Mahavishnu Orchestra.
Among the sheer volume of albums Niemen put out in his career, i've chosen this experimental progressive fusion miesterwerk as one of his better creations.Lots of complex progging on here, and oodles of Mellotron.
Released on the Polish state Label, Polskie Nagrania Muza, he's backed by the trusty members of the Silesian Blues Band,or SBB....who had by now,thankfully, forgotten about playing any blues at all,which can only be a good thing.
The Communist authorities even let Niemen out of the country to tour the USA and release records sung in English in the UK,where he could meet and collaborate with his heroes Jan Hammer and John Maclaughlin.

Tracklist:

1.Cztery Ściany Świata
2.Pielgrzym
3.Kamyk
4.Daj Mi Wstążkę Błękitną
5.Smutny Ktoś I Biedny Nikt

DOWNLOAD and fuse with the niemen HERE!