Фирма Munster

Commissioned by the acclaimed film director Roman Polanski, the English cult band Third Ear Band faced the challenge in order to insert a hell of imagination and creativity to his very own, author cinematographic version of Macbeth, a play by William Shakespeare. The resulting 44 minutes of imaginative sounds, divided in 16 outstanding pieces, is an astonishing example of an archaic, twisted, abstract psychedelia, rooted on medieval and classical textures. A Monster-Munster gem! DESCRIPTION As a luxurious aperitif for the future release of the "Elements" album (including its extra sauces), Munster Records bring us "Macbeth", the staggering soundtrack by the English band Third Era Band for a Roman Polanski's film, recorded and produced in 1971. A magical invitation urging the listener to dive into unsuspected regions of boldness, unpredictability, and an intimate abstract-folkster-experimentalism. According to the founding member Glenn Sweeney, "the music was called alchemical because it was produced by repetition". However, mind it, such repetition doesn't follow the same musical structures of, let's say, Terry Rilley, Steve Reich or Philip Glass due to its indefinite nature of internal-twisted and tormented passages of a peculiar poetic enchantment. The band, formed in Canterbury, started in 1967 playing an oriental hypnotic-free-form-folk. Signed to the prosperous cult label Harvest, they debuted in 1969 with "Alchemy", an instrumental jazzy-psych improvisational album. A fully formed masterpiece came in 1970 on the already aforementioned self-titled opus, also known as "Elements". For "Macbeth", their third one, just the main chief Glenn Sweeney (assorted percussion) and Richard Coff (viola and violin) remained from the original four-piece line-up. It was recorded when half of the quartet - Richard Coff (viola and violin) and Ursula Smith cello) - had already departed, and they were about to record a third album entitled "The Dragon Wakes", which had promised to be an electric album with rock influences. Aside from a few sessions, this album was never completed. The themes presented on the film were composed in an improvised manner while watching black and white excerpts of the oeuvre. The music, recorded in six weeks at George Martin's Air Studios, in July 1971, has the same unconventional and quite unique dimension as the film itself. It is an auteur music for an auteur film. The music seems to fit perfectly the deliriously idiosyncratic free narrative of the story adapted by Polanski, even if it was used sparingly or remixed in a debatable form for a purist music fan. Glenn Sweeney summarized his creation better than any critics attempted: "Third Ear Band music is a reflection of the universe as magic play illusion simply because it could not possibly be anything else. Words cannot describe this ecstatic dance of sound, or explain the alchemical repetition seeking and sometimes finding archetypal forms, elements and rhythms..." There is an arty-medieval atmosphere overall, and it's folkishly ludic in tracks like 'Overture', 'Iverness', 'Court Dance' and 'Fleance', where the experimental interjections function as colorful devices. 'Fleance' - with the guest singer Keith Chegwin - is a scintillating highlight. The poetic assaults of concrete music are present in themes like 'The Beach', 'Ambush', 'Prophesies', as if every drumming fractures, singing seagulls or sharp whistles where conducting us to waves of fear into the unknown. There are other lost beauties in its official 44 minutes like the minimal oboe melody of 'Lady Macbeth' floating as a centipede of dreams or the lyrical guitar chords of 'The Banquet' punctuating a climax of sheer mystery. And, by the way, that is the song played during a banquet at the castle when the band appears for a few precious seconds on the film. Taking in consideration the uniqueness of the film, we have in here a sublime soundtrack for it. A music that makes us feel the unfathomable and the unpredictable, sometimes going softly as a solid mystery piece. Close your eyes and enjoy an adventure in this kaleidoscopical carpet of unexpected possibilities of the imagination. Fernando Naporano

Ishkode! Ishkode! ("ishkode" means "fire" in the Native American Ojibwe language) is the album released by Jonathan Richman before his recent "SA!". It was originally released in the States on Cleveland's Blue Arrow Records in 2016. Richman's signature ingredients -acoustic guitar, minimal drums set-up, a few voices, his use of Romance languages_- combine once again across the album and subtle touches help him to strike a contemplative mood more than usual. Check `But Then Ego Went Away', with lyrics about meditation, or the closing track `Mother I Give You My Soul Call' introducing Indian instrumentation. As in previous works, Richman feels no shame in expressing his feelings openly in addition to continuing his very personal charming observations about the everyday life, as on `Wait! Wait!'. It is not difficult to imagine Richman performing some of the songs of the album, especially the almost hypnotic two first tracks, around a bonfire, surrounded by a bunch friends singing along, but we will always wonder if that is the fire to whom the album title refers... "Ishkode! Ishkode!" deserves to stand as a career highlight

This LP brings together for the first time all the songs comprised in the three singles published by Valencia's cult band Modificación in the early 70s as well as the remaining unreleased recordings from the same sessions, crafted under the influence of bands like Grand Funk Railroad, Iron Butterfly, Vanilla Fudge, Rare Earth, Led Zeppelin Includes the legendary freakbeat number "Across the Time", that has found its rightful place, over the years, as one of the most admired and sought-after Spanish singles from that period. This is an accomplished portrait of one of the most legendary Spanish underground bands from those years whose fans, unable to find the elusive -and now very expensive- records, were crying out for an urgent reissue of their work. Extensive liner notes by the renowned specialist Vicente Fabuel and previously unseen pictures have been included here, rounding off the release. The artwork featured on the cover is based on iconic graphic elements taken from promotional printed ephemera used by Modificación during those years. DESCRIPTION The group Modificación is a prime example of what 70s underground and prog rock meant on the Valencia scene. Bands encountered a series of obstacles when making their much freer and more versatile music, which was demanded by the international planet rock. These hurdles varied from the serious difficulty of recording modern and innovative records, impositions by the record label and frequent desertion by band members to pursue interests that were more professional than artistic. The group's origins date back to early 1969, in Valencia's Ruzafa neighbourhood, with an average age of around 16 among its founding members. They adopted the name Modificación, an intriguing name that flagged up their creative intentions and interest in underground sounds, under the influence of bands like Grand Funk Railroad, Iron Butterfly, Vanilla Fudge, Rare Earth, Led Zeppelin_ While the bulk of the Valencia rock scene revolved around modest groups making commercial music for dance halls, mostly versions of contemporary hits, they wrote their own songs from day one and set the bar high with daily rehearsals, aiming to perform to perfection. The band's luck seemed to change at a show with the Catalan group Lone Star. Pedro Gené (leader and vocalist of Lone Star) suggested Modificación record a single for the biggest record label in Spain: EMI. "Llegará el día que me quieras" (1971) was a major debut that also brought the arrival of a new vocalist, Juan Bau. Modificación's second record adventure was with the small Madrid label La Corrida in 1972, set up by Félix Arribas and Juan Jiménez, members of the famous Spanish band Los Pekenikes. They would release a couple of singles recorded at the Audiofilm studios in Madrid under the influence of glam, Californian and soft-rock style, international trends at the time. The now legendary freakbeat number "Across the Time" was crafted during these sessions and has found its rightful place, over the years, as one of the most admired and sought-after singles of Spanish music. This LP brings together all the songs comprised in their three published singles as well as the remaining unreleased recordings from those 1972 sessions in Madrid. An accomplished portrait of one of the most legendary Spanish underground bands from that period whose fans, unable to find the elusive -and now very expensiverecords, were crying out for an urgent reissue of their work. Extensive liner notes by the renowned specialist Vicente Fabuel and previously unseen pictures have been included here, rounding off the release. The artwork featured on the cover is based on iconic graphic elements taken from promotional printed ephemera used by Modificación during those years.

2 × Vinyl, LP CD All Media, Compilation, Limited Edition

Record Label: Munster Style: Power Pop

Record Label: Munster Style: New Wave

Record Label: Munster Style: Rock & Roll

Record Label: Munster Style: New Wave

Record Label: Munster Style: Singer/Songwriter