VARIOUS ARTISTS (LABEL SAMPLERS)

The editing of both the musical contents and the 38-page, lushly illustrated booklet in this the clamshell-shaped box is very good, I only have two minor complaints: the track times are missing, and the font is a bit too tiny for comfortable reading. Like in every respectable box set, each track is accompanied by brief but highly informative liner notes on the chosen artists. Here's an example:

STRAWBS - Canon Dale (alternative version) Not originally issued, recorded 10/70.

"The nearest thing we have these days to the wandering minstrels of the Dark Age", was how one music journalist described Strawbs in October 1970, shortly after the recruitment of keyboard wizard Rick Wakeman and former Velvet Opera rhythm section Richard Hudson and John Ford had given the band a broader musical palette. A performance on John Peel's Top Gear show that October saw them premier a new Hudson song called 'Canon Dale', drenched in his expansive sitar work. The band's next studio album, the May 1971 release From the Witchwood, continued that mystical theme, with Dave Cousins' terrific 'Witchwood' and a slightly more restrained rendition of 'Canon Dale' firmly exploring territory defined in 1969 by pop pundit Lillian Roxon as "acid folk".

It would be too worksome to even try dealing with the entire contents of 60 pieces. Instead, here's a quick and probably incomplete list of the other PA-included artists, in the running order and with a few track namings along the way: Third Ear Band, Traffic ('John Barleycorn'), Steeleye Span, Amber, Synanthesia, Mike Oldfield ('On Horseback'), Fairport Convention (Tam Lin'), Chimera, The Sallyangie, Dr. Strangely Strange, Jan Dukes De Grey ('Sorcerers'), Oberon, Fresh Maggots, Tea & Symphony, Principal Edwards' Magic Theatre, Pentangle ('Cruel Sister'), Incredible String Band, Mellow Candle, Curved Air ('Elfin Boy'), Spriguns of Tolgus. This list alone shows how much information on vintage Folk Rock, both household names and obscurities, one gets from this set.

Have to say that absorbing this set (borrowed from library) was not as inspiring as the various artists compilations on a specific retrospective theme can be at their best. Especially on British folk-rock I've come across many highly delightful and educative compilations. Much of the appeal has directly to do with the way the compilation is edited and represented, and in this respect "Losing Our Virginity" is disappointing. What's interesting is the outlining of the background and the birth of the company which "took its baby steps in the business of selling gramophone records via the Royal Mail". But when it comes to representing the music on offer here, the 5-page liner notes leave a lot to be desired. A minus also from the omission of track lengths and album sources. The music samples are put in a chronological order in a month's precision, which I find unnecessary and somewhat problematic for the overall reception. The miserable-looking booklet has 16 pages in total; the diminutive illustration consists of a b/w Mike Oldfield photo and four page-size album covers: Tubular Bells, the V.A. release Manor Live, Steve Hillage's L and Faust's Faust IV, not even very exciting ones from a visual point of view. For example by placing four album covers on one page there would have been 16 of them within the same space.

It is of course obligatory to start the set with Tubular Bells, but since the album is surely familiar to the listener, a 13½-minute excerpt is a useless exaggeration. MIKE OLDFIELD returns on the third disc with the less heard 'First Excursion'. FAUST is represented by 'Krautrock' and 'Giggy Smile', GONG by 'The Pot Head Pixies' and 'I Never Glid Before'. Other artists on CD 1 include STEVE YORK's CAMELO PARDALIS - never heard - , KEVIN COYNE, HENRY COW ('Teenbeat Reprise'), LINK WRAY, CAPTAIN BEEFHEART and KLAUS SCHULZE ('Some Velvet Phrasing'). Since the musical styles change very radically between the tracks -- as well as the unmarked track lengths --, one cannot speak of any coherence or consistency in the listening.

CD 2 happens to include several Canterbury artists: ROBERT WYATT ('I'm a Believer', 'Yesterday Man'), HATFIELD AND THE NORTH ('Let's Eat', 'Fitter Stroke Has a Bath') and EGG ('Wring Out the Ground'). Interesting samples from COMUS, DAVID BEDFORD, TOM NEWMAN and others. The lack of album information is a pity really, and especially for the more obscure bands such as MALLARD and BOXER one would wish to have information in an articulate artist by artist approach. The liner notes do speak a little of the represented artists, but not in a user-friendly way. Also, I find the small white font on pale green tiring to read for my middle-aged eyes.

By the time you've arrived to the third CD it also becomes a little frustrating how the same artists keep reappering, and the strictly chronological running order also results as a lack of any coherent flow in music. As a Finn I'm pleased to mention that WIGWAM's 'Freddie Are You Ready' (1975) sounds lovely amidst the less accessible stuff. IVOR CUTLER's 'The Dirty Dinner' is actually a story-reading, not music. The set is finished by two pieces from CAN, 'Silent Knight' and 'Don't Say No', the latter strangely being the only 1977 recording.

So, instead of being a delightful, informative, cultivated, ear & eye opening journey into the colourful output of Virgin's first five years, "Losing Our Virginity" sadly turns out to be a frustrating mess and a missed opportunity.

This compilation is very interesting, therefore, as far as the I Dik Dik section is concerned, because if you like Procol Harum, you will find good music (even if limited to "Il Primo Giorno Di Primavera", "Senza Luce", "ll Vento" and "Vendo Casa"). I Giganti section does not feature anything Progressive, although the music is interesting (Like Beat Rock).

In conclusion, I don't recommend this compilation to anyone looking to discover the origins of Italian Progressive Rock. Rather make yours the first 2 albums of Le Orme, the first two albums of New Trolls or one of the many compilations of I Dik Dik (where, however, you find a lot of Beat and Progressive in a slightly misleading mix).

The first track is 'The Sky Lay Still' (6:21) by Elizabeth Anka Vajagic, who is a singer and guitarist from Montreal. Her style is dark, sparse and ethereal. This is quite apparent in this track, which originally came from her album 'Stand with the Stillness of this Day', however, this is a very stripped-down version of that song. The song is a slow moving, quiet track made up of her pensive electric guitar and her vocals. 'Winter Hymn Winter Hymn Winter Hymn' by 'Do Make Say Think' (4:54) is a heavy track with a lot of noisy static effects surrounding the distorted guitar chords. The track is a remix of the album 'Winter Hymn Country Hymn Secret Hymn' to a 5 minute track. The track goes through a variety of harsh sounds, styles and rhythm, but overall it is quite dark and noisy, and has a crazy ending. 'Wool Fever Dub' (3:05) by 'Exhaust' is a rare track that comes from their self-released cassette and was recorded to a 4-track reel-to-reel machine in 1996. Starting off with a screeching guitar drone, drums come in establishing a rhythm while the feedback heavy guitar plays a harsh melody that emerges from the feedback. Yes, the track is noisy, yet it is quite an interesting study in melodic noise and distortion, not really annoying, somewhat avant-garde and metallic.

'(Re)view from the Ground (Remix)' (4:30) by HangedUp is a remix of a track originally released on their album 'Kicker in Tow'. The band is an experimental duo that uses heavy percussion and often self-made instruments. The music again is quite noisy and harsh, with layers of noisy percussion with a moderately fast beat and screaming drones to give a very industrial post rock sound. The duo has worked with the band 'Sackville' and 'Silver Mt. Zion'. 'Toyte Goyes in Shinein' (3:44) by Black Ox Orkestar' plays a style of post rock Jewish traditional sounding music. The lyrics are in Yiddish and is a moderately slow, acoustic piece, that has a nice lush sound later when wind instruments are added. The track comes from their album 'Ver Tanzt?' released in 2003. 'This Machine' (4:56) by 'Sackville' follows this. Sackville is now a mostly defunct band as the members have gone on to work with other bands, mostly from the same label. The music was said to be a mix of country and rock, but it is more of a folk style than country. This track was previously unreleased in any form. The music is acoustic, the vocals are quite bassy, a lot like the vocals of 'The Magnetic Fields' lead singer Stephin Merritt.

'Iron Bridge to Thunder Bay' (8:12) by 'A Silver Mt. Zion' is a previously unreleased track taken from the sessions from the 'Thee Rusted Satellites' album. The track builds as a layered drone increases in volume and strength, and then a percussive beat underlies the drone and various instruments screech and squeal from the drone. Violin and guitar emerge from the din of the drone, but create a dissonant texture with the repeating percussion and bass line. It's all very noisy, as this was their style during these sessions. It is easy to see why this track was left off of those sessions however, as it never really develops past that thick wall of noise. This is definitely their loudest track I've heard from them. 'String of Lights' (5:33) by 'Sofa' is a rare track from the band's self-released cassette called 'Record' which was recorded direct to 2-track in 1996. The music is a dark, yet somewhat acoustic affair with light percussion, guitar and vocals. The band is known as the first band to record on the Constellation label and was a critically acclaimed band, though they have now disbanded.

'Dreaming ('.Again)' (4:49) by 'Polmo Polpo' is a track built up of recordings from the sessions that produced their album 'Like Hearts Swelling'. The Polmo Polpo project is actually a one person project from Sandro Perri who has a very intriguing style of post-rock instrumentalism that utilizes electronics and folk instrumentation. This track is a nice, moderate track that is quite melodic, and it utilizes some interesting electronic effects to create a smooth sounding track which even has some whistling thrown in there. 'Slippage' (3:25) is by the band 'Re:' and is an unreleased track from their 'Mnant' sessions. The project is made up of duo Aden Evens and Ian Ilavsky who also worked together as 'Sackville'. This music has a very organic sound with a lot of percussion, effects and an interesting sounding instrument playing sustained notes that ring out quite nicely. Even though they use electronics quite a lot, they sound very organic. 'Tres Tres Avant' (5:10) from 'Fly Pan Am' is from an improvisation done in 2003. It consists of a repeating synth and percussion loop with layers of airy noise and guitar with added vocal effects thrown in. It's not their best track as it is quite repetitive, but then it is mostly just improvised effects over a loop sequence.

'Fair Warning' (5:03) by '1-Speed Bike' is actually a remix of a track called 'New Blue Monday' from 'HangedUp'. The project is the moniker for the solo work of artist Aidan Girt, who is a drummer that has worked with GY!BE and Exhaust. The track is a combination of a noise, rave-style music with spoken word vocals. The track is repetitive and way too long. 'See My Film' (3:57) by Frankie Sparo is from a previously unreleased song from the 'Welcome Crummy Mystics' sessions. Frankie Sparo was the moniker for Chad Jones, a singer/songwriter from British Columbia. This one is a bit avant-garde sounding with gruff vocals and an off-beat loop. The melody is interesting enough, and so is some of the string instrumentation, but it doesn't necessarily match the loop very well. It's okay, but a little strange in sections. The last track is 'Outro' (7:33) from 'Godspeed You! Black Emperor'. This track is a previously unreleased live performance of a concert finale in France recorded on May 14, 2003. It starts out with simple chimes playing a melody softly. A violin and cello soon join in shadowing the melody. The track continues to work off of the post rock formula of development through a long crescendo, adding other instruments and building intensity as it goes on. The sound is a bit low-fi in quality, but the music itself is quite good, and the quality seems to improve as it goes on, so it is part of the music itself. As is typical with GY!BE, the music is emotional and beautiful.

This is really a decent compilation, and the tracks on it are mostly now unavailable anywhere else. It is a good sample of some of the very innovative and talented artists on the label, many of whom are not around anymore. There are a few weak spots on the album however. The biggest disappointment is the contribution of A Silver Mt. Zion as they are one of my favorite post rock bands, but the track here is way too noisy and far from their best efforts. There are a few others that are too repetitive, such as the Fly Pan Am track and the 1-Speed Bike track. However, overall, it is a great compilation with a lot of variety that ranges from the minimal to the extremely noisy, yet quality runs through the musicianship here. Though the tracks are not always the best of some of the bands and not always representative, the entire collection makes quite a cohesive statement in the end. This is definitely a good find if you can locate it, or still order it, as I did several years ago when I started first discovering some of the bands on the collection.

In 1993 the Italian prog rock label Kaliphonia released this interesting compilation album featuring many lesser known and unknown Italian prog bands and artists, along Collage from Poland.

Fancy Fluid delivers Neo-prog with fiery guitar, modern sounding keyboards and some nice musical ideas in the varied Nuove Effemeridi.

Consorzio Acqua Potabile (CAP) surprises with a wonderful intro on piano, warm vocals and sensitive guitar work with a lot of tension in Cavaliere Mascherato.

Combat by Marcello Capra contains beautiful interplay between acoustic and electric guitar. Recently I reviewed his album Preludio Ad Una Nuova Alba from 2010, simply wonderful.

Deux Ex Machina delivers complexity and bombastic atmospheres with Jean Luc Ponty inspired violin work in the jazz-rock orientated Luna.

In Jakazan by duo Clarion (including ex-Zauber member Paolo Clari) we hear warm flute play like John Hackett, but also a pretty irritating drum sound.

My highlight is Prologo by New Credo with Steve Hackett-like guitar, fluent keyboards and many shifting moods.

Michele Tale Di Bella plays in Across Zakla Makan howling electric guitar with twanging acoustic guitar.

We hear pleasant guitar play in Happiness by the five-piece formation H2O.

Myros (Zauber keyboardist Oscar Giordadino) features keyboard pyrotechnics in the vein of Japanese bands Gerard and Deja Vu.

Polish formation Collage with Midnight Flyer (also on the Collage compliation Changes from 1995) delivers a blend of pop and prog, very accessible with good vocals and pleasant keyboards.

Incentive from Ars Antiqua has a dreamy atmosphere with soaring keyboards and some fiery guitar runs.

The disappointing final track Glayer Lady Night by Max Oil has mediocre vocals and drums. Only the keyboards and the final part with howling electric guitar can please my ears.

My rating 3,5 star.

Those were the Italian Prog days, at about 25 years ago, but May 2019 I hope to review new Italian prog: Banco (Transsiberiana), La Coscienza Di Zeno (Una Vita Migliore) and FEM (Mutazione), ciao.

BIG BIG TRAIN's 'The First Rebreather' (from English Electric Pt. One) is a good example of the band's symphonic style, featuring very nice keyboard parts. NEAL MORSE is represented by Momentum's title track, an energetic and fast-paced prog-rocker. THE FLOWER KINGS' album Banks of Eden starts with a 25-minute epic 'Numbers', of which this sampler offers a 5-minute medley, ie. a few cuts with quick fadeouts and changes into the next cut. Hmm, not a wise idea, the result is such a mess.

The fourth artist is a new acquaintance for me, and not in the ProgArchives database: ROB GOULD. 'The Broke Road' (3:48) is a mellow and moody composition featuring female vocals. Very nice, and the question of how 'prog' it is, seems irrelevant. FINAL CONFLICT: 'Babylon' (from Return of the Artisan) is also rather melancholic; the melody reminds me of 'Incomplete' by Fish. KAIPA: 'Our Silent Ballroom Band' (from Vittjar) also seems to be a 5-min. edit from an epic, but at least it's a singular excerpt. Kaipa makes modern symphonic prog that's often too bombastic for my taste, and this one's no exception. The male vocals are unpleasant.

The Norwegian RHYS MARSH AND THE AUTUMN GHOST is labeled as Crossover Prog. 'The Place Where You Lay' (from The Blue Hour) makes me think of him as a poor man's Steven Wilson. The arrangement has nice acoustic elements but the sad song itself is a bit boring. HAND is a British Alternative/Gothic Metal band with a female vocalist. 'Mimicry' (from Breathing, 2011) is an OK song of the genre I'm personally not fond of. The Swedish BEARDFISH and 'Note (Edit)' from The Void. I suppose it's the opening part of the near-16-min. piece, and it functions decently as a separate track. And finally, TINYFISH from England. 10-minute song 'Wide Awake at Midnight' comes from The Big Red Spark (2010). Well, seems every other modern prog band sounds like this, and the vocalist is mediocre. Furthermore the album wasn't fresh at the time anymore.

This sampler contains some usual good stuff from the contemporary big names, and tasters from acts less familiar to me, of which only Rob Gould enters my check-out-some-more -list. Not many delightful new names, nor is the diversity of modern prog very widely represented here, or maybe the year 2012 wasn't that great? I think two stars is enough.

First comes 'The Path of Least resistance' (11:54) by British Neo Prog group IT. Powerful, slightly dystopic feel especially for the partly distorted vocals which I don't like that much. LUNATIC SOUL is a solo studio project from Polish RIVERSIDE's bassist- vocalist Mariusz Duda. A bit monotonic song but with good sounds. Crossover-proggers KOYO and their eponymous album (2017) hasn't been reviewed here yet, but not-so-progressive rock piece 'Now I Understand' doesn't get me interested either.

GALAHAD's song 'Weightless' represents the gentler side of this set. Soft, orchestral sound is nice. JOUIS is the first one not to be found on ProgArchives. Mostly rather peaceful and perhaps over-extended 'Universe Goggles' (10:09) has a slightly Canterbury- like (or FRUUPP-ish) restrained groove, and retro sounds. The lengthy track of CIRCUS (not on PA) starts harmonically with vocals up front, but gets Crimsonesquely angular in the instrumental latter half. Well done, but not much of originality. AISLES are Neo Proggers from Chile. 'CH-7' (12:39; the longest) comes from the album Hawaii. This softly meandering track is not very far from the more recent Marillion, but is for the most part slightly boring.

'Blood Red Moon' by 4:44 (not on PA) relies more on cool sounds than songwriting, but the average vocals bring it down a bit. THE LONGING (not on PA) at least has a pretty good female vocalist, but it seems like the band is unsure whether to be melodic Metal or just Crossover Prog. SERPENTYNE is categorized here as Prog Folk; to me 'Viking Blood' is a somewhat phoney mix of Metal cliches and atavistic themes.

Compered to "Giants Under the Sun" that I reviewed a while ago, "Wish You Were Here" is a bit more Neo/Crossover -oriented compilation. No great band discoveries this time, so two stars it will be again.

"Giants Under the Sun" is from the issue # 86 of the PROG Magazine, 78½ minutes of new and upcoming artists, with one exception, as the editor Jerry Ewing says: "We open with a track from the late PETER BANKS, the original Yes guitarist. 'Endless Journey' comes from a new anthology of his work, and is a previously unheard mix of the track from his 1995 album Self- Contained. Given that we're celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Yes this issue, we thought it'd be a timely reminder of Banks' talent..." This track is perhaps not what a casual prog listener would expect from Banks and his ex-bands: a peaceful ambient instrumental.

The rest of the artists are mostly cases of "never heard" for me. FLUTATIONS sounds promising with their (almost-)instrumental piece featuring also violin. A bit like Mostly Autumn. JOHN HOLDEN is represented by a 9-minute track 'Tears from the Sun' that concentrates on delicate and melodic approach with a Floydian spaceyness and guitar sound. THE PIPE BROTHERS PROJECT have a regular-length instrumental 'XLV' with a light, melodic Symphonic /Neo Prog flavour. ENTRANSIENT has the second longest track here (11:15), but I find very little interesting in it, it's all-too-typical slice of contemporary, lower league prog rock with a slightly Metallic edge.

SONAR WITH DAVID TORN: a slowly evolving instrumental concentrating on a hypnotically repetitive sonic tapestry. RTFACT / WILL CHAMPLIN & NAD SYLVAN, such a messy moniker. Sylvan I naturally know from Hackett's Genesis Revisited, but this vocal oriented and poppy collaborative track doesn't sound much prog to me. ODDFICHE's 'My Train of Thought Derailed' (13:02) is another slow-evolving instrumental with a hint of sonic experimentalism. Yawn... MISGIVINGS FALL comes with a lengthy track that progresses between instrumental and vocal sections but sounds slightly lame. The worst (in my opinion) comes in the end: THE PHANTOM OF PHOBOS is a female-fronted Metal band.

This sampler is rather uneven, and funnily it contains pairs or threes that sound quite alike. But not a bad way of getting the first taste of several new bands.

As always with GoD releases, the leaflet is packed up with information (both in German and in English) in a very user-friendly fashion. I'm naturally basing my review on those band introductions. First comes TETRAGON, an instrumental quartet who released one album in 1971. Here's a track from their intended second album that remained unpublished for nearly four decades. It's energetic, jazzy prog-rock starring Hammond and electric guitar. XHOL played psychedelic jazz-rock. The GoD release represented here with a frenzy 12-minute instrumental is a live album "Essen 1970".

YGGDRASIL was a more song-oriented sextet that released their sole LP in 1972, though only as a metal-acetate. Sounds very nice! Lyrics are in English and there's a lot of flute to increase a certain [pre-Aqualung] Jethro Tull flavour. At the time ZOPPO TRUMP appeared only on a compilation album in 1976, but GoD dug out more unreleased studio recordings. Here's a cool, organ oriented jazz-rock instrumental that slightly reminds me of Jukka Gustavson's compositions on the WIGWAM debut. RADIO NOISZ ENSEMBLE was a Third Ear Band reminding successor of the folk group Emma Myldenberger and released their only album in 1982. The chosen fast-paced track is starring oboe.

The next two bands are the best known. The GURU GURU release is their live performance in Wiesbaden 1973 featuring three long tracks full of free improvisation. The sound quality is not very good, and to me this is the sampler's weakest link. EMBRYO had visited New York which brought funk and soul influences into their 1975 album Surfin'. At least the 9-minute, lighthearted instrumental 'Dance of Some Broken Glasses' sounds nice with the cool groove and flutes, but there's not much of progression in the composition. SÜNDENFALL II sounded very much like the early Jethro Tull, up to the vocals in English. (The original LP of 200 copies is worth a small fortune.) And finally on this sampler disc, an excellent slice of bright-sounding insrumental jazz-rock of the year 1980 by SURGERY. - All in all, this issue (or the period of re-issues) is among the finest from Garden of Delights, with only one track that I rather skip.

As usual the quality of the material is good to excellent, and for those with an interest or passion for vintage style psychedelic rock it'll be quite the pleasant experience indeed. From a psyched up take on George Martin's classic Theme One to a cover of Brian Eno's Baby's on Fire there's great variety in the source material covered, ranging from pastoral excursions and 60's psychedelic pop/rock to vintage space rock and krautrock. Tracks originally from Pink Floyd and Amon Duul II representing the latter, while Tudor Lodge and Strawberry Alarm Clock are examples of the former. As they are presented in these cover versions at least: I haven't checked with the originals to hear just how much these reinterpretations are different from the originals.

In my view there's one cut here that stands a head and a shoulder above the rest though, namely Vibravoid's take on Pink Floyd's classic Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun. A firmly retro-oriented take on this track, with a plethora of odd and eerie sounds, but with a firmer and more concise delivery that adds a tension and hardness to this track that manage to elevate the sheer cosmic nature of the song and a highly appealing manner.

If you have an interest in psychedelic rock, be it progressive or not, this is a fine collection of material of classic tracks and forgotten jewels from yesteryear as explored and performed by contemporary artists. Those with an interest for material of this kind should not be disappointed by the material presented here.