Getting it on with Prog

EYE - CENTER OF THE SUN    (2015???)

Quite good cd.

The title track starts off with a shitload of spacey whoosh,etc sound effects (but recorded poorly cos no panning as in the origional krautrock days with the artificial head). The rumbling riff from the first track off Floyd's "Meddle" lp is taken down pretty-well note-for-note. The last minute of the track reminds of Bauhaus "Bela Lugosi's Dead"!

The lyrics are cosmic - vast spaces, the sun...

Vocals elsewhere seem to be coming from something like More Soundtrack also its clear they were influenced by side 3 & 4 of "Ummagumma".

I have  an lp 'Mike & Sally Oldfield  Pekka Pohjola' no title. With Pierre Moerlen on percussion. Sally only la la la's on two songs. Will have to find those fusion solo records mentioned,, because I wasn't very blown away by anything on this album, composition, nor playing. Meh, just okay.

That would be "Mathematician's Air Display" lp.

ARGENTINA


Argentinian 70s rock is unique to the rest of SA. Its as if Argentina were some traumontane Shangri-La cut off from other influences.
The reason for their unique sound is obvious -  the small market. The fact that so many of these bands were inter-related or spin offs (Almendra-Pescado Rabioso -Color Humano -Aquellare -Invisible). They all shared similar traits. This sort of inbreeding can be seen as a bad thing, but in this case this proved to be homogeneity of the enriching kind.
So then what makes the sound unique to Sammmmmy?
Okay, discounting a few bands like Crucis,Mia,Espiritu and Bubu, the Ital-prog feel of ,say Brazilian prog is notably less.
Discounting the heavy exceptions like Diaz or Reloj, the defining sound is this wondrous, soft, relaxed style of prog -or more correctly, psych.
This resides mainly in the vocals - this old hippie "laid-back groove". The vocals are SO sincere. None of that Joplinesque ridiculous melodramatic -prancing. Sammmmy usually prefers less vocals. Not so in the case of Argentina. The vocals here are a pure joy. Lots of this is down to one man -Luis Spinetta. Even in the late 70s early 80s fusion period,the vocals retain this soothing calm.(The Spinetta Jade lps I have all come out of Brazil. Whats the story there? Did Luis then form with Brazilian musicians?)
Sammmmy's easy favorite of all South American tracks is Almendra's "Color Humano" .(Not to be confused with the band of same name). This track perfectly illustrates this "spaced-out in the SA. sun' laziness of vocal style, coupled to ,at first ,that wonderful slow, dulcet electric guitar tone (reminding of Clapton's guitar tone on some of Disraeli Gears). Then you get the incredible wah-wah psych-out. And, of course, return back to calm. One of the best tracks ever recorded, ANYWHERE .



Get, get DOWN boy!

Can Future Days. It’s a trip to Germany but not on a plane.
Spirit Adventures of Captain Kopter. "Nice" rock
Trio Da Da Da.  Pulsing repetitiveness but you won't turn it off after you are bobbing your head and upper torso