Mayfly – Mayfly (1973, LP, Netherland)

Side A
A1 From Now On 4:46
A2 Symptoms Of Summer 4:00
A3 Dawn Of An Old Man's Life 3:01
A4 The Smell Of It 3:07
A5 Lemon Cake 4:13
Side B
B1 The Stable 3:08
B2 Intermezzo 1:08
B3 Second-hand Dream 3:34
B4 Blue Sofa 2:59
B5 She Leaveth Me 3:06
B6 Topless Bertha 3:32

Musicians:
Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Twelve-String Guitar, Spanish Guitar – Onno Verburg
Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Twelve-String Guitar, Lead Guitar, Slide Guitar, Piano, Vocals, Backing Vocals – Gustaaf Verburg
Bass Guitar – Dick Van Der Graaf (B6), Jan Hollestelle (A1, A3, B1)
Cello, Bass Guitar – Huub Nijhijs
Drums – Evert Overweg (B4), Louis Debij (A1, A3, B1), Maarten Van Der Valk (B6), Rob Duivens (B3)
Flute, Saxophone – Rinus Groeneveld
Piano – Cor Cools (A3, B4)
Violin, Electric Piano – Arie de Geus
Vocals, Backing Vocals – Maarten Min

Asgard – L'Hirondelle (1976, LP, France)

Tracklist:
A1 Sur L'I Sur L'O 3:31
A2 Automne 3:07
A3 Au Chant De L'Alouette 2:59
A4 La Payse 3:39
A5 La Branle Village 2:36
A6 La Dame Des Landes 1:57
B1 L'Hirondelle 4:37
B2 La Fille Du Coupeur De Paille 2:09
B3 Rossignolet 4:05
B4 La Lurette 3:51
B5 Les Gars De Senneville 2:31
B6 La Dame Des Landes 2:24

Musicians:
Guitar, Vocals – Patrick Grandpierre
Bass, Violin – William Lawday
Percussion, Vocal, Flute – Bernard Darsh
Keyboards – Guy Printemps

Hector – Herra Mirandos (1973, LP, Finland)

Tracklist:
A1 Ekhnaton Rakastui Aurinkoon (Prologi) 2:23
A2 Herra Mirandos 3:53
A3 Asfalttiprinssi 3:16
A4 Mystalgia 2:07
A5 Olet Lehdetön Puu 2:58
A6 Olen Hautausmaa 2:40
B1 Lumi Teki Enkelin Eteiseen 3:28
B2 Atlantis 3:29
B3 Meiran Laulu 5:00
B4 Sisämaan Retkellä2:48
B5 Takaisin Narniaan 4:26

Musicians:
Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar – Antero Jakoila
Acoustic Guitar, Mandolin – Sakari Lehtinen
Bass, Clavinet, Synthesizer – Matti Bergström
Drums – Nappi Ikonen
Piano, Synthesizer – Pirjo Bergström
Synthesizer – Jukka Ruohomäki
Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Synthesizer, Drums – Hector

Orkiestra Ósmego Dnia, Jan A.P. Kaczmarek – Muzyka Na Koniec (1982, LP, Poland)

Tracklist:
A1 Pierwsze Światło 4:04
A2 Cień 7:54
A3 Nim Zastukałem 5:15
A4 Głos Wołającego 4:54
B1 W Wiejskim Śnie 4:26
B2 Walc Sans Soucci 2:47
B3 Dlaczego Wschodni Wiatr Niesie Mróz 7:05
B4 Pieśń Żałobna 8:55

Musicians:
Guitar – Grzegorz Banaszak
Zither [Fidola Fishera], Flute, Piano, Voice, Percussion – Jan A.P. Kaczmarek

Enzo Stavolo – Nel Villaggio Di Saint Cloud (1980, LP, Italy)

Tracklist:
A1 Nel Villaggio Di Saint Cloud
A2 Fiaba Popolare
A3 Dimmi Tu
A4 Amo
A5 Menestrello
B1 Concerto Dell'Umbria
B2 Il Ciabattino
B3 Mater
B4 La Notte Che Verrà
B5 Addio Villaggio Di Saint Cloud

Musicians:
Arranged By, Keyboards – Marcello Faneschi
Bass – Mick Brill
Drums, Percussion – Enzo Restuccia
Guitar – Roberto Puleo
Music By, Lyrics By, Guitar – Enzo Stavolo

Richard Harvey – Nifty Digits (1980, LP, England)

Tracklist:

A1 Motor Roller 2:57

A2 Festival (a) 2:10

A3 Festival (b) 2:05

A4 Exchange 2:13

A5 Dragonfly Dance 2:10

A6 Water Course (a) 1:57

A7 Water Course (b) 0:40

A8 Storm Riders 2:16

B1 Nifty Digits 2:28

B2 Song Of The Open Spaces (a) 4:00

B3 Song Of The Open Spaces (b) 3:00

B4 Air Spirals 0:56

B5 Soft Caress 1:35

B6 Victorian Lullaby 2:00

B7 Light Dancing 1:10

B8 Graylands 2:20

Composed By – Richard Harvey

Pacifico ‎– La Bella Epoca (1972, LP, Argentina)

Tracklist:

A1 Cancion Para Un Pequeño Ladron 2:05

A2 No Eras Vos, No Era Yo 3:14

A3 Ella Es Tu Hermana 6:09

B1 Mi Magico Amigo 4:39

B2 Una Estela Sin Final 4:07

B3 Llanto De Un Atardecer 4:14

B4 Escapatoria 5:37

Musicians:

Flute, Guitar, Vocals, Chorus – Miguel A. Pezzolano

Percussion – Pacifico

Piano – Pedro Botti

Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Chorus – Hugo Arbe

Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Vocals – Eduardo Martí

Bass – Carlos Emilio Del Guercio

Drums – Rodolfo Garcia

Electric Guitar – Héctor Starc

Guitar, Chorus – Hugo Arbe

Jacques Tom Rivest – Jacques Tom Rivest (1979, LP, Canada)

Tracklist:
A1 Dimanche 2:10
A2 La Langue De Son Pays 5:48
A3 Voyage Au Tibet 7:20
A4 Clown D'un Soir 3:40
B1 Messager Du Temps 3:43
B2 Toujours Plus Haut 3:47
B3 La Nuit 4:54
B4 Trouver Ma Liberté 4:13
B5 Laisse Toé Donc Aller 3:20

Musicians:
Bass Guitar – Daniel Mathieu
Drums, Percussion, Flute, French Horn – Serge Courchesne
Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Sitar, Piano – Richard Lemoyne
Organ, Synthesizer – Claude Lemay
Vocals, Piano [Acoustic], Acoustic Guitar, Twelve-string Guitar [Electric], Words By, Music By – Jacques Tom Rivest

A Barca Do Sol – Pirata (1979, LP, Brazil)

Tracklist:
1 Vô Mimbora Pro Sertão 1:34

2 Tereza Boca Do Rio 3:06

3 Mercado Das Flores 4:05

4 Cavalo Marinho 2:28

5 Jando 5:35

6 Jardim De Infância 4:36

7 Desencontro 3:39

8 Estrêla 3:48

9 Manoel 3:58

10 Rio Preto 2:48

11 Canção Pra Ela 2:41

Musicians:

Contrabass – Alain Pierre

Drums, Berimbau, Percussion – Marcelo

Electric Guitar, Guitar, Steel Guitar, Viola Caipira, Percussion – Beto Rezende

Flute, Piccolo Flute – David Gane

Vocals, Guitar, Electric Piano, Piano, Viola Caipira – Nando Carneiro

Vocals, Guitar, Electric Piano, Viola Caipira, Percussion – Muri Costa

with:

Vocals – Olívia Byington

Chorus Vocals – Children of the Instituto Nazareth

Accordion – Geraldo Sanfoneiro

Agapè – Le Troisième Seuil (1972, LP, Canada)

Tracklist:
A1 Ouverture 5:50
A2 Camarade 2:43
A3 Vous Êtes Pas Tannés De Crever 3:20
A4 Avez-Vous Vu Passer Une Colombe? 4:15
A5 Le Jugement Dernier 5:30
B1 Le Temps Des Partances 2:55
B2 Le Printemps Des Pauvres 5:22
B3 Eden 5:22
B4 Le Troisième Seuil 3:05
B5 La Fin Des Temps 6:12

Musicians:
Bass – Carole Paquin
Bass, Guitar, Choir – Jacques Mercure
Electric Guitar – Gilles Bergeron
Electric Piano, Flute, Organ – Yves Chevalier
Electric Piano, Organ, Choir – Dupéré
Electronic Wind Instrument – Jean Bourassa
Guitar, Bass, Choir – François Kirouac
Guitar, Vocals – Jean Piché (A2, B2, B3, B5), Marc Lebel (A3, A4, B1)
Percussion – Michel Martel
Trumpet – Claude Duchesneau
Vocals, Choir – André Dumont (A5), Paul Arsenault (A5)

Large Canadian ensemble, centered around young priest and artistic director of the Editions RM label André Dumont.Dumont wanted to work on a Xian concept album, so he gathered several local talents and musicians of Editions RM and recorded this nowadays rare LP, which opens with the fantastic organ-laden dark ''Ouverture'' and then slowly moves into conventional Psychedelic Pop and Folk Rock, served basically by the acoustic guitar/strings, flute, piano lines and the French religious lyrics, flavored also by some trumpet and rural percussion.Overall this goes into mellow Folk Rock with sparse, grandiose organ and smooth arrangements in a rather conservative Quebec Prog Folk style, which works quite well. (apps79)

Emmanuel Booz – Au Restaurant D'Alice (1969, LP, France)

Tracklist:
A1 Au Restaurant D'Alice 20:52
B1 Jean Et Jean 3:40
B2 Le Vent Du Soir 3:00
B3 Voitur-tur-tur 2:10
B4 La Robe En Bois 2:30
B5 Rosy Rag 2:10
B6 Visage 2:15

Musicians:
Emmanuel  Booz/ Chant
Arlo Guthrie/ Guitar, Chant
Maurice Dulac
Woody Guthrie Hoffmann

Contact ‎– Hon Kom Över Mon (1971, LP, Sweden)

Chimera ‎– Obstakel (1981, LP, Netherlands)

Tracklist:

1. De Stalknecht (5:02)
2. Da Stirkganz (6:02)
3. De Klem (3:34)
4. Wachten (5:12)
5. De Waardin (8:10)
6. De Laatste Brief (7:45)
7. La Rotta (5:50)

Musicians:
Kees Mook / violin
Ruud Schotting / bass
Bas Verkade / vocals, guitar, dulcimer
Marry Verkade / vocals, guitar, recorder
Koos Leezer / vocals, guitar, dulcimer, mandolin, flute, keyboards

CHIMERA began as a duo of fellow students Bas and Marry Verkade. The Verkades soon wed, and along with Marry's brother Koos became a trio whose music consisted largely of British and popular American folk covers. By the late seventies the group had migrated to Dutch folk themes and original compositions, leading to their first studio release ('Des Duivels Oorkussen') on the Stoof label in 1979. This was followed with a second and final album, 'Obstakel' in 1981, where the band expanded their sound to include electric instruments and a somwhat more rock-oriented sound, particularly on the second half of the album. The second release was well-received and the group had a planned international tour and tracks recorded for a third studio album, but as Bas and Marry felt the call to full-time parenthood for their two children they disbanded the group in 1982. The band reformed several years later and existed in varying degrees until illness led to a second retirement in 1995, but no further recordings were issued.
CHIMERA reformed in 2007 under Bas and Marry, accompanied this time by their eldest son Marijn. The band is campaigning both to release new material and to have their two original albums reissued on CD. In the meantime a small number of live appearances are scheduled locally.

Magenta ‎– Canterbury Moon (1978, LP, England)

Tracklist:

A1. Foxtrot - 3:55

A2. Riding High - 4:57

A3. Marion - 4:30

A4. I'll Never Trouble You Again - 5:07

A5. Thornaby Woods/The Hare in the Corn - 4:08

B1. Brother Can You Spare a Dime - 3:03

B2. Gipsy - 4:48

B3. Ever the Guiding Light - 3:10

B4. Canterbury Moon - 5:26

B5. Rocks of Bawn - 4:48

Musicians:

Janet Brown vocals, guitar, glockenspiel, whistle, electric piano

Arthur Brown vocals, guitar, mandolin, harmonica

Mervyn Brown vocals, guitar, whistle, dulcimer

Peter Thompson vocals, guitar, mandolin, bouzouki

Jenny White flute

"Canterbury Moon"'s a very well-performed and varied prog-folk album, with a dense, warm and clean sound and wonderful male/female vocals. There are no drums - the key element are acoustic guitars, both strummed and arpeggiated, but some tracks feature other instruments: harmonica, flute and e-piano (the latter being quite atypical for the genre). The melodies are excellent: pensive and melancholic though always very bright and tuneful. The whole album has a very pleasantly old-fashioned allure, which is quite far from the simply "dusty" sound of many dated post-hippie bands. Those two elements would make me compare Magenta both to Steeleye Span and Caedmon, but "Canterbury Moon" actyally has the taste of late-summer golden afternoons during childhood... Or the one of their souvenir, at least. (wago)

Claude Engel ‎– Fantasmagory (1976, LP, France)

French Weirdo Folk. Not far from Albert Marcoeur, some Dick Annegarn's works and even John Fahey. A true gem, totally dreamy and psychedelic. For me, the best and most interesting work by Claude Engel.

Japonize Elephants ‎– Mélodie Fantastique (2012, CD, Usa)

With cinematic melodies, surf guitar, spy soundtracks, Appalachian fiddling, lush string arrangements, knee-slapping banjo, country ballads, eastern modes, 4-part vocal harmonies, Mariachi flair and a heavy jazz influence, the new Japonize Elephants album is an inimitable take on the modern American experience. Songs about space travel, Publisher’s Clearing House, pirates, buses, whiskey, and dancing in the fast lane intermingle with instrumental numbers showcasing highly developed melodic and harmonic vocabularies. The sound is twisted and ambitious yet instantly recognizable, the result of nearly 20 years of collaborative experimentation.

When not performing with Radio Lab, Beats Antique, Donovan, Aaron Freeman (Ween), Feist, or John Vanderslice, the members of Japonize Elephants are hard at work conjuring an ensemble at once absurd and profound. Influences merge and diverge—the Stanley Brothers meet Zappa, the tenor sax meets the glockenspiel... and invite junk percussion, vibraphone, accordion, guitar, bass, flute, saxophones, trumpet, violin, banjo, and vocals to the fiesta. The Elephants’ talent runs as deep as the group’s instrumentation is diverse, steeped in the band’s long history and journey from Bloomington, Indiana to the coasts.

“Listening to The Japonize Elephants is like being at a supersonic hillbilly hoedown that has mysteriously been transplanted into a Transylvanian cartoon,” says the Denver Post. Blink and you’ll think you’re back in the orchestra of a French circus, with Mingus and Willie Nelson sitting in.

Astrolabio ‎– Spirit Folet (1978, LP, Italy)

Arrangiamenti a cura di Astrolabio

Registrazione effettuata nello Studio "Dinamo" Torino
Tecnico del suono: Marco Cimino
Stampa e riproduzione a cura della "Prince" Torino
Grafica: Studio Vista / Bronzino
Copertina liberamente tratta da un illustazione di Arthur Rackham
Giuliana Galli: voce, percussioni
Lorenzo Brondetta: hornpipe, schalmeien, flauti
Beppe Costa: ghironda, arpa, chitarra
Tullio Parisi: fisarmonica, mandolino, voce
Marco Robino: violoncello
Beppe Turletti: fisarmonica (track 5)

"... Let's try to describe the music. It's Piedmontese folk with evident celtic influences. It's very proficiently played and the instrumentation is rich (accordion, guitar, cello, mandolin, harp, bagpipes, bombard, different kind of flutes).
A subtle veil of melancholy is the most peculiar trait of the nine tracks composing the album. Some of you may remind Malvasia's self-titled lp I posted some years ago: though quite far on a plainly geographical (and, hence, musical) point of view, I find "Spirit Folet" bears some striking similarities with it when talking about mood.

In both the albums, great musical refinement is coupled with a captivating nostalgic allure, which casts a shadow even on the most solar episodes. It seems like the reprise of centuries-old traditions is no longer a way to revive them in the present - as it was for many artists in the Seventies, but rather becomes a metaphor for everything that's come to an end.
Both for Malvasia and Astrolabio, this can be read as the rising awareness that the intellectual and social climate of the Seventies was almost entirely gone, with its culture, political involvement, and utopias". (ilgolpeeluva.blogspot.com)

Vangelis ‎– The Dragon (1978, LP, Greece)

Tracklist:

A. The Dragon (15:00)

B1. Stuffed Aubergine (11:27)

B2. Stuffed Tomato (9:24)

Musicians:

Bass Guitar – Brian Odger

Drums – Mick Waller

Guitar – Anargyros Koulouris 'Arghiris'

Keyboards, Percussion – Evangelos Papathanassiou

Violin – Michel Ripoche

"The Dragon" is a composition by Vangelis recorded in 1971 and released in 1978 on an album of the same name. It is an odd piece in Vangelis catalogue. In fact - it is not even officially released - the 1978 album was a cash-in bootleg. Vangelis himself disowned it and characterized as "bad" because it was never really finished. What you can hear is a sketch. A starting point, something meant to be developed but ultimately left undone.

"The Dragon" is long and brooding stomp with some eastern stylings. It is composed in epic fantasy medieval style. It is very much like very-very drawned-out composition of Vangelis former Aphrodite's Child - just bigger, longer and more about the journey than a destination. The length of "The Dragon" is its defining feature. It goes and goes and goes. It moves forward relentlessly. This makes a lot of space for musicians to play off each other occassionally returning to a central theme before bouncong back to another soloing bout.

Chalibaude ‎– Les Noces Du Papillon (1976, LP, France)

Tracklist:
A1 Là-Bas Dans Les Prairies  (2:48)
A2 Les Noces Du Papillon  (3:38)
A3 La Cuiller Et La Marmite  (1:50)
A4 La Messe À Poitiers  (4:20)
A5 Le Retour Dau Guaret  (2:40)
B1 L'Alouette Et Le Marlot  (4:02)
B2 La Fille Du Rochelais  (2:58)
B3 Arantelle  (2:22)
B4 La Maîtresse Du Voltigeur  (2:52)
B5 Jarni Perrot  (2:33)
B6 Là-Bas Dans Les Prairies  (1:25)

Musicians:
Acoustic Guitar, Bass, Dulcimer, Flute, Vocals – Michel Lefort
Crumhorn – Francis
Drums, Percussion, Flute – Jean "Popof" Chevalier
Guitars, Bass, Crumhorn, Banjo, Vocals – Christian Bonneault
Violin, Organ – Georges Felletin (Jojo)

Chalibaude were a French folk quartet of the mid-1970s. The band comprised half of the eight-piece Francis Guillon et Son Orchestre on the 1975 one-off Spécial Danse 8.

Drummer/ percussionist Jean Chevalier had been the most active on the local music scene, having played on the homonymous 1974 album by composer/ organist Laurence Vanay as well as two mid-’70s longplayers by theatrical French vocalist Alain Kan.

Signing to the nascent Cezame label, Chalibaude released its sole album, Les Noces du Papillon, in 1976. Evoking the contents therein, the album’s cover depicts grainy barnyard slumbers under yellowish sunlight.

Four tracks in, the mid-tempo “La Messe a Poitiers” establishes a diatonic, descending chordal strum rooted in A-minor, which propels the vocals along high thirds and fifths.

An A-minor tonality also encapsulates the instrumental “La-las Dans ces Prairies” on which a slow influx of acoustic guitar, dulcimer, and ultimately crumhorn are spread over an operative bassline.

A bass-drum/triangle figure guides the stately up-tempo “La Fille du Rochelais,” where persistent plucking and Felletin’s intermittent bowing fill the song’s two-chord structure rooted in D-minor. 

“L’noulette et le Marlot” starts out as a lyrical piece set to a slow, D-minor strum-along of rising/falling fifths. Halfway through, the cadence tightens as violin and twangy leads descend on the now-martialized proceedings.

On a more outre note, the brief mono-chordal drone “Le Retour dau Quaret” tests the sonic character of the crumhorn under layers of studio effects.

After Chalibaude split, Chevalier remained active on the French scene, appearing on albums by René Werneer, Jacques-Emile Deschamps, and Manu Lann Huel, among others. During the late 1980s, he cut a pair of jazz-rock albums with guitarist Jean-Luc Chevalier and bassist Marc Elliard.