If you read the Prog Rock Xmas Selection Pack, then you already know the drill. If not, then to recap, it’s just five psych albums that you could do worse than spend your beer tokens on this Christmas.
It’s not a top 5, or the best of the best, so if you’re looking for a war of words, kindly try elsewhere. It’s just a few Head Full of Snow psychedelic rock faves to keep the cockles warm as the real snow falls.
Kaleidoscope – Tangerine Dream
The 1967 debut album from the UK (and vastly superior) Kaleidoscope, who would later go on to become Fairfield Parlour. With songs such as ‘The Murder of Lewis Tollani’, the sinister ‘(Further Reflections) In the Room of Percussion‘, the toytown psych of ‘Mr. Small, The Watch Repairer Man’, and the Narnia-like joy of ‘Sky Children’, Tangerine Dream is psychedelic gold. A folky feel prevails throughout, and this largely neglected example of late 60’s psychedelia is an eerie masterpiece.
At a loss on what to spend the Our Price vouchers you’ll inevitably receive this Christmas?
Well, as Head Full of Snow is here to assist you – connoisseur of finer music – we’ve knocked up a quick list of five progressive rock albums to keep you warm through the impending winter months. This isn’t a top 5 list, just a few suggestions of some HFoS faves.
First up, the prog list:
Jethro Tull – Thick As a Brick
Jethro Tull’s 1972 experiment in the ultimate concept album is a joy to behold. Essentially one song carved into two twenty minute slices, Thick as a Brick runs the full gamut of prog, even throwing in self-indulgent drum solos for good measure. Ian Anderson’s lyrics and vocals ensure the tongue remains firmly in the cheek throughout.
If your idea of a good time is something along the lines of setting light to virgins in wicker effigies, then Comus could be right up your street. Even if you harbour no such homicidal tendencies, they’re still a damn fine listen.
Comus inhabit that most spectral of sub-genres, acid-folk – A blend of the psychedelic and the folkish, underpinned by a progressive foundation. It’s an area of music renowned for its ethereal eeriness, oft-beauty, and mystical meanderings…
… Except nobody seemed to have told Comus that, for their 1971 debut, First Utterance, is, to put it bluntly, quite terrifying.
The BBC reports that rare footage of a Syd Barrett-led Pink Floyd, playing on Top of the Pops, has been unearthed and will be shown for the first the time in 42 years.
Image courtesy Capitol/EMI Archive
The damaged film stock, on 1 inch, reel to reel tape, was discovered in a private collection and has been restored to a state where it can once again be viewed.
Kaleidoscope – Tangerine Dream
Jethro Tull – Thick As a Brick
Image courtesy Capitol/EMI Archive
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