It’s really interesting to hear how Van der Graaf Generator progressed over four albums from the folky psychedelic proto-progressive sound of The Aerosol Grey Machine (1969) right up to the far more aggressive and hard-edge sounds of Pawn Hearts, their fourth album released late in 1971. Pawn Hearts is regarded by many as their high […] Continue reading →

You may know C.J. Stone for being a past Guardian columnist, but it is this book where he really allows the reader into his past. An autobiography, The Last of the Hippies is a quirky insight into the life of the extraordinary Brummie, complete with graphic details of his past drug habit and rampant sex […] Continue reading →

Led Zeppelin are mostly known for hard- and blues-rock, which is quite interesting, as they have loads of excellent material that just cannot be squeezed into either of these categories. Houses Of The Holy is a fine example, indeed, as it is an album of exploration of different musical styles that are bound together by […] Continue reading →

Phaedrus Lives on! From the writer of Zen and the Art of Motorcyle Maintenance, Robert M. Pirsig, comes another inspirational book. Pirsig tries to define the meaning of Quality again by dividing it into static and dynamic quality. Static quality is in daily occurences, whereas dynamic quality is an extraordinary unusual situation. Phaedrus’s metaphysical journey […] Continue reading →

The Rolling Stones: Beggar’s Banquet (1968) Mick Jagger — vocals, harmonica Charlie Watts — drums Bill Wyman — bass Brian Jones — guitar, sitar, tambourine Keith Richards — guitar Nicky Hopkins — piano, keyboards The Rolling Stones followed the path the Beatles took in 1966-67, and that was acid-influenced path. They were creating weird sounds […] Continue reading →

TooL, Kansas City MO 10.21.01 Ok first of all I must say I didnt know what to expect of TooL, all I knew was that they are very good visually and musically during the live experience. Well, they didnt let me down at all! I was shocked and rather confused by the images I had […] Continue reading →

‘T. Rex’ only made two kinds of music – acoustic, psychedelic, hippy folk rock and unforgettable, fascinating, mesmerizing glam rock. ‘The Slider’ is a shining example of the latter – weird lyrics, wild rock’n’roll and glam! – glam pouring out of every line, every scream, every hiss. You can just picture Bolan singing with his […] Continue reading →

This film should appeal not just to those of us disenchanted or plain disinterested in 9-5 society, but also to anyone who enjoys a strong character based comedy. Set in London and the English countryside at the tail end of the 60’s, the state of mind of the two main characters reflects the mood of […] Continue reading →

‘The Madcap Laughs’ is Syd Barrett’s first solo album and exposes the two things Syd is most known for: interesting musical ideas that got started one of the most important bands ever (if there are indeed some who don’t know what I’m talking about, it’s ‘Pink Floyd’) and, well, madness. Some would say Syd’s solo […] Continue reading →

Bob Dylan: Bringin It All Back Home (1965) Early 1965 found Bob Dylan leaving his folk roots to explore the rock music genre. Many folk purists shunned Dylan for making this leap, but he ultimately gained more respect and followers after this transition. Bringing it All Back Home showcases Dylan at the peak of his […] Continue reading →