PSI: Horizonte (1977)

One look at that cover art and I know I was going to pick this title up. Horizonte is the sole album from German fusion band PSI, released in the heyday of the explosion of jazz rock in Germany in the mid to late 70s. Tight, complex rhythms with a lead focus on keyboards and guitars, the album hits a broad, sunny tone throughout most of its seven tracks, never getting overly dark or serious. That’s not to say the music isn’t serious: this is fusion, after all, and everyone takes their job seriously. But like the Web Web I reviewed the other day, for my ears it’s effervescent, clean and clean and leaving soon after arriving.

ChrisJune 24, 2025Leave a comment

Vinyl

Ash Ra Tempel: Schwingungen (1972)

If bands like Kraftwerk and Neu! sit as standard bearers of krautrock, and Hawkwind firmly wears the crown of space rock for many, where does that put a band like Ash Ra Tempel? Somewhere in the middle, at least to my ears after listening to their sophomore record Schwingungen (a name I can’t help but pronounce in my head like Mike Myers in Wayne’s World). The title translates to “vibrations” from German and over the course of its three tracks indeed vibrate back and forth between the two genres, finding pockets of blues and psychedelia along the way. This was one of my impulse “let’s check out a band I know nothing about purchases” and it’s something I need to be down with in order to enjoy. Exhausted and running on fumes, it’s about what I can manage this morning.

ChrisJune 20, 2025Leave a comment

CD, Vinyl

Funkadelic: Hardcore Jollies (1976)

In 1990 I became friends with Dave. Dave had a pair of friends who were brothers – Will (older) and Russ (younger). They were okay, although I don’t think liked me; they tolerated me because I was Dave’s friends. But they’ve remained stuck in my brain cells for two reasons: to fix the intonation problems on my first guitar (a black Epiphone Strat copy) Russ bolted my bride to the body with two massive bolts that did not in fact fix my intonation, and just made the guitar worse. And one day I walked up Dave’s driveway to find the three of in a rough circle, dancing and laughing to the funkiest, sick music I ever heard. The song was “Soul Mate” off Hardcore Jollies, the mighty ninth album from the even mightier Funkadelic. I was never the same.

ChrisJune 11, 2025Leave a comment

Jeff Beck: Wired (1976)

If my admiration for Blow By Blow was tempered at best, I wasn’t sure if Wired was going to be any better. A few more days spent watching ton of live videos showed me exactly what it is about Jeff Beck that was so influential: the guy was an absolute master when it came to dynamics, phrasing, and no one used the volume knob and whammy bar better than he did. Would that translate to a better studio album, especially one with a change of guard that now included some of the very same players that was inspiring him in the fusion world? I like Wired more: there are a few small issues here and there, but to my ears this sounds like the fulfillment of what Beck was shooting for on his previous album.

ChrisMay 16, 2025May 16, 2025Leave a comment

Jeff Beck: Blow By Blow (1975)

I know a consistent refrain here is that it’s never too late to discover an artist or band. And that’s true, for the most part. But time and distance can sometimes blur or fade the response to a legend, and I’m not going to lie here: Jeff Beck is most certainly a fantastic guitarist, but if I’m going by my first thorough impressions of Beck’s first “proper” solo album, the instrumental multi-genre hyphenate Blow By Blow I’m a little underwhelmed. There are a few moments where the tracks really soar, and Beck’s playing is always fine, but the songs themselves often feel rote and shallow. Yeah, I’m as surprised as you, and happy to return my cool cred card but on the whole not sure this is one I’ll revisit often.

ChrisMay 13, 20251 Comment

Vinyl

Bruford: One Of A Kind (1979)

Somehow reading about and buying a lot of those Three Blind Mice and East Wind releases led me from Japanese jazz fusion over to what the rest of the world was doing with fusion. I decided to start filling gaps in my knowledge and collection with Bruford, the solo group project led by former Yes and King Crimson drummer Bill Bruford. One Of A Kind is his second solo album, moving the murderer’s row of talent he assembled for his debut into an actual group unit, including Allan Holdsworth on guitar, Dave Stewart on keyboards, and Jeff Berlin on bass. Yeah, it’s kind of U.K. Pt. II with this being where Bruford and Holdworth ended up after leaving that supergroup, but make no mistake about the genre: this is pure jazz fusion rather than any attempt at prog rock or pop.

ChrisMay 9, 2025July 19, 2025Leave a comment

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Tag: 1970s