VA - Undergroove [Bruton BRL 6] (1980) [FLAC limited time only]

 

Information on this Bruton library here.  Always a surprise to encounter a library with really good material especially, as I always say, so late in the game here.

I think to give you an idea of the treasure chest in this LP, listen to Paul Hart's Undergroove:

Information on Paul Hart here.  Weird and Wonderful also by him is just that and in addition really beautiful to my ears:

We can even find our old favourite Frank Ricotti on here, with The Runner:

I just can't believe that crazy-ass dissonant electric guitar riff that pops up in there after the piano verse-- unbelievable.

A wonderful find and surprising to me that I never encountered it before.

Banda Elastica Part 2, the remainder [Los Awakates de Nepantla 1994, Maquizcoatl 1996, Catalogo de Tiraderos 1997, Ai Tencargo 2003, Aqui, Alla 2013]

 

As I said earlier the next albums are not so good, some quite inferior.  Often it's difficult to find a composition worth listening to more than once.

From Awakates, probably the best of this bunch, Ranulfo:

From Ai Tencargo, the wonderful title of Alien Toy:

Anyways you get the idea.  A lot seems just totally improvised and ad hoc.

Banda Elastica discography Part 1, First 2 Releases

 

From discogs:

Mexican cross-genre fusion band.

In 2012, their debut album Banda Elastica was included as one of "The 25 records that changed Mexican rock", an exhibition curated by Ricardo Bravo at Centro Cultural de España (CCE) in Mexico City.

In reality of course they are a RIO / fusion band, mostly the former.  The first 2 albums were magnificent but I was curious to know if the later ones are as good.  Here are those 2 which came out in 1987 and 1989, in case you haven't heard them.  I personally adore them, always a surprise they were Mexican, though we've posted some from that country before, esp. the remarkable Pegauro.  

Consider Infantes Terribles, which reappeared on the second album, surprisingly:

From the second one, the Como Esquizoides is certainly noteworthy and remarkable:

The remainder later.

David Batteau and Batteaux [flac limited time only]

 

The reason I came across this unknown artist is because I was looking up the composer of (Love will come) Someday by David Sanborn, a lovely song no matter how you slice it.  It first appeared on his 1982 album As We Speak, and got covered a lot later on by other artists of course, as well it should be.  Vocals were by Michael Sembello who presumably wrote the lyrics, with this blog post's David Batteau.

Anyways more than 10 years prior these two brothers, David and Robin from Boston, put out an album with the awkward name of Batteaux (the French plural).  It's soft rock or ssw, exactly of the type you'd expect from the year 1973, probably most similar to the early Hudson Bros albums I talked about back here.  Nonetheless, or therefore, there are some good songs in there.

The 2nd track with the awkward title of Living's Worth Loving, shows a little of the America (the band) influence that was quite universal in the early 1970s:

But overall the songwriting has a lot of depth and variety, similar also maybe to my beloved Seals and Croft, discussed here.  Thereafter, David Batteau went solo for the 1976 Happy in Hollywood, which obviously shows progress, or others might say descent, into the more commercial 1970s ssw style, with lush arrangements, 3 or 4-part harmonies, etc.  Note the surprisingly philosophical-scientific lyrics of Dancing on Atoms (presumably something referencing transcendental meditation or the like):

Gianluca Mosole in 3 (After Rain 1984, Eartheart 1986, Tepore 1987 )

 

Surprisingly unknown Italian fusion guitarist, at least to me, see discography here.  

Beginning with 1984's After Rain he put out quite a number of releases all in the same style, all the way to 2006.  I only listened to the first 3 however as the smoothly commercial sound started to put me to sleep by the end of it.

The title track of the first has a lovely tendresse to the acoustic guitar with synths providing the requisite cloudy atmosphere:

Then Eartheart starts to get more into the new age fuzak territory, cf.  Earth Story:

That album, from 1986, is probably the most enjoyable and creative, in my very particular and not necessarily popular opinion.

A more up tempo jazzy number called Spring from the 1987 release Tepore: