Maneige along with Harmonium and Flairck were part of Canada's 70's Quebecois prog-folk-classical artists who managed to release a few albums with "Les Porches" standing out as another magical album for consideration. "Les Porches" is a 4 piece suite featuring lush symphonia and a wide arsenal of instrumentation including glockenspiel, contra bass, flutes, saxes, vibes, xylophone, marimba. Unlike some of their other albums this one has vocals (sung in French) which are used sparingly and still work well on the album. Overall sound is quite unique with a lush folk-symphonic charm. A great album for sure!

Altoist David Sanborn has long been one of the leaders of what could be called rhythm & jazz (R&B-oriented jazz). His debut for Warner Brothers was a major commercial success and helped make him into a major name. The music is fairly commercial but certainly danceable and melodic. Even at that point in time, Sanborn's alto cries were immediately recognizable; the Brecker Brothers, guitarist Steve Khan and Howard Johnson on baritone and tuba are prominent in support.

Altona's eponymous first album is an excellent example of slightly psychedelic heavy jazz-rock. Founded by former Thrice Mice members singer and sax player Karl Heinz Blumenberg and guitarist Werner von Gosen Altonas first album could be traced as "Thrice Mice deluxe" with still marked ties to Blodwyn Pig. Their musical elaboration shows a much bigger potential and let the band come forward on a higher musical step. The concept of developing a piece of music within processes of group dynamics, which had been so successful with Thrice Mice, was continued. The Freeman Brothers (A Crack in the Cosmic Egg) characterized the album as a hybrid of Birth Control and Creative Rock, occasionally hinting at Eiliff LP comes with insert (Band story and photos). The music is remastered from the original mastertapes.

This 1975 album was the first solo outing for David Byron, the lead singer for Uriah Heep. It isn't a big surprise that a good portion of the album sounds a lot like the group that gave him his day job: sturdy organ-driven hard-rockers like "Silver White Man" and "Hit Me With a White One" would not be out of place on a typical Uriah Heep album from this period. The fact that every then-current member of Uriah Heep makes at least one appearance on this record further aids this déjà vu feeling.

See See The Sun (1973). Esoteric Recordings are pleased to announce a newly re-mastered edition of the classic debut album by Dutch Progressive Rock group Kayak, "See See The Sun". Kayak were formed in Hilversum in Holland in 1972 by keyboard player Ton Scherpenzeel and drummer Pim Koopman. The band signed to the Dutch division of EMI’s Harvest label the same year and released their debut album in 1973. Featuring Max Werner on Vocals and Mellotron, Cees Van Leeuwen on Bass and Johan Slager on Guitars, the album was a fine debut and would launch Kayak as a major group in their homeland and further afield into Europe. This Esoteric Recordings reissue has been newly re-mastered from the original master tapes, features a bonus track from the band’s first single, and a booklet that fully restores all original album artwork with a new essay…

There's rare and then there are records like this: a limited vinyl release in Japan in 1975 that's never been reissued anywhere else in any format since. Perhaps that's not completely surprising, though: to be frank, it feels like something of a footnote to the career of the illustrious Haynes, which began almost 30 years earlier in the first full blast of be-bop. Here, electric piano and a twanging, slightly-too-high-in-the-mix bass guitar nod towards the fusion that was fashionable at the time: ‘Azteca’ is an up-tempo latin original with blazing hi-hat; while the title track (subtitled ‘Bullfight’) is a slightly corny Iberian-flavoured foxtrot. The two standards hint at Haynes's roots: ‘Tin Tin Deo’ is a leisurely vamp, and ‘Dear Old Stockholm’ is a trio with Nakamura sitting out and Barron switching to acoustic piano. It sounds exactly like what it is: a laid back jam session. And why not?

Esoteric Recordings are proud to announce the release of newly remastered and sonically enhanced editions of the albums recorded for the RCA and Arista labels by Vangelis. All of these reissues come in deluxe digipak designs, with new masters personally supervised by Vangelis.
The magnificent "Heaven & Hell" was the first album by Vangelis to be released by RCA Records in 1975 and was also the first album to be recorded at his personal studio in London, Nemo. This epic work in two parts featured the English Chamber Choir (conducted by Guy Protheroe) and Vangelis' first collaboration with Jon Anderson, "So Long Ago, So Clear".
This Esoteric Recordings release (undertaken with the full approval and supervision of Vangelis himself) features a booklet that restores the original album artwork.

Though it was released under the name Ataraxia, The Unexplained is one of innovative electronic composer Mort Garson's best-known albums, along with Lucifer's Black Mass and Mother Earth's Plantasia. And while ataraxia is a term for inner calm, this wild exploration of supernatural phenomena couldn't be further from that state of mind. During the late '60s and early '70s, the occult was a major pop culture trend, and one that Garson dove into deeply with Black Mass and his astrology-themed series. As on those releases, the unearthly sounds of his Moog are perfect for expressing the magical and mysterious. On the opening track "Tarot" alone, he combines weightless atmospheres, metallic percussion that feels like a precursor to Suicide's taut mechanical rhythms, and organ-like tones that belong in a church - or a horror movie. "I Ching" is even more lurid, with a monstrously fuzzy bass drum, brittle cymbal-like crashes, and gurgling textures…

The predecessor band of Scope was called Strange Power and was founded around 1969 in Zwolle/Holland. Rik Elings, Henk Zomer (drums) and bassist Erik Raayman had founded the fusion project and had already released a 7"-single that was added to the first Scope CD as a bonus. With the entry of guitarist Rens Nieuwland in 1972, Strange Power became Scope. Subsequently, the Dutch jazz rock foursome made a name for itself in both Holland and Germany. A talent scout from WEA/Atlantic became aware of the band and hired them for his label. In 1973 the band entered the Hamburg studio Maschen to record their debut album Scope under the direction of Jochen Petersen. The result was an exciting, varied fusion/jazz rock album, which contained a lot of improvisations and perfectly reflected the craftsmanship of the four musicians…

Robin Trower's third album, 1975's For Earth Below is less consistent than the previous two but still contains much excellent material; the Beat Goes On label's reissue teams it with 1976's Live, a truly fine set recorded in Sweden.

Steve Schroyder's (ex Tangerine Dream) super krautrock band, featuring many guests (from Ash Ra Tempel, Agitation Free, etc.). Recorded in 1975, "Magical Mind" is a psychedelic tour de force for electric guitar tones, Moog synth textures and discreet pulses from percussions. Ethereal soundscapes and freak out kraut-improvisations.