Special Event: Ytterbium 70 is back !

Following my previous post about punk band Ytterbium 70 from Lausanne, its singer and leader CAM told me about a revival event for the band. On the 15th December 2012, Ytterbium 70 will release their first 33 RPM after 30 years of absence ! 

Indeed, CAM had kept some material supposed to be released at the time. In fact, the band planned to release a couple of albums, at least the had enough material to do so. But when plain-clothes policemen began prowling around the band, it discouraged most of the members to carry on, except the incorrigible CAM ! Nevertheless, no LP was released after their subversive 45 RPM in 1983.

Fortunately, times have changed and Ytterbium 70 is proud to release their first album; better late than never !

The album is ironically called "Le 21ème cycle - Recyclé 12-12-12". It is hard to translate but let's try: "Le 21ème cycle" means literally the 21st cycle but is a french wordplay close to "Le 21ème siècle" meaning the 21st century. Finally, "Recyclé" means literally recycled but is a patois vaudois (dialect in the canton of Vaud) pun : "cicler" (pronounce [sikle] or see-clay) being the verb for shout or yell or singing loud.  
The LP is limited to 300 copies to make it as mythical as the original single !

Therefore, Ytterbium 70 cordially invites you Saturday 15th December 2012 at 6 pm in Prilly (Switzerland) for a great revival night ! You'll have the opportunity to buy their first LP for 25 CHF (about 27$ or 17£).
You can also buy directly a copy on their website ! Don't sleep, it's already rare !

The event will take place at the Caf'arts music café in Prilly (click here for Google Map).

A free concert will be led by the band Smile at 9:30 pm. Let's hope it won't mess with the Confederation this time !

Mother Sunday - Midnight Graveyard / You Don't Understand (1971)

I kept you waiting but you won't be disappointed with this one ! It was on my wishlist for some time but I finally managed to get the thing for you.

Mother Sunday is now a quite sought after obscurity which deserves attention. I've contacted its founder member, Mr. André Lehman who generously allowed me to post Mother Sunday's story and music on this blog. Mr. Lehman kindly shares two of his personal photographs !

Only 500 copies of this psychedelic jewel were pressed on the small swiss label Moon Records (founded by H.Boris Bühler, a friend of the band). The tracks were recorded at Steff Sulke's famous Soundcraft Studio, in Bienne. It features guitarist Hans "Bruschmi" Bruggmann from the swissbeat  band "The Counts". The cover was designed by Matthias Weibel.
 

Here's Mother Sunday's biography by André Lehman:

Mother Sunday was formed in ca. 1969 under the name “The Juice”. We consisted of a guitar player by the name of Gégé, a drummer whose name I cannot remember and myself on keyboards and vocals. Our repertoire consisted of current chart hits cover versions and we were a very busy band on the weekends with three to five halfhour gigs in different locations a night. We never had a permanent bass player, always guests, once even a young girl by the name of Heidi.

By ca. 1970 a new bass player joined as a guest, his name was Michel. He was a real crazy hippie with extremely long hair and he introduced us to “substances” to open our minds. LSD changed our attitude to music instantly and from there we were open minded to experimental live jam music. 

Rolf Sydler

At the time in Zurich (Switzerland) there was a rock club in the old part of the city called “Star Club”. Many later great worldwide success acts played three 45minute sets every evening for three weeks on a very small stage like “Spooky Tooth” “The Nice” and “Black Sabbath”. We hung out with the Black Sabbath guys a great deal and started to get into the dark groove musically. That’s when we changed our name to Mother Sunday and from then on the days of covering chart material were over. We went creative. Our repertoire built up on a general tune but always with open improvisations during gigs all depending on our state of mind. Soon a fan base of like minded people developed and followed us to wherever we went to play. 

Michel Leuenberger

The line up was Rolf Sydler (16 at the time!) on drums, Michel Leuenberger on bass, and me André Lehman on keyboards and vocals. We toured the country a lot and also did many gigs in southern germany and western france and played quite a few high profile open air festivals.

In 1971 we were offered a deal for a single by Moon Records, the owner being a good friend and the drummer of Sysiphos, a great experimental swiss band!!! The single reached the “BLICK” top ten in Switzerland for a couple of weeks.

The band stayed together for another two years doing many gigs but things went downhill when the parents of the drummer were so concerned about their sons health or sanity or whatever you want to call it and basically lured him out of the band with money and fancy cars etc. We auditioned many potential replacements over months but since we were such a close knit outfit we were unable to find and therefore split up.

After that, I got involved in the music industry and for over 30 years I headed record companies, owned a record company, produced many bands etc. I now try to live a quiet life here in Ireland and have again found the time to go back to my musical roots by producing my own stuff at home for my own pleasure or for the pleasure of those who are interested.

André Lehman, Nov. 2011

From top to bottom: pianist André Lehman, drummer Rolf Sydler and bassist Michel Leuenberger, guitarist Erwin Bertschi (not playing on the record).

Line-up / Musicians:

• André Lehman / keyboards & vocals
• Rolf Sydler / drums
• Michel Leuenberger / bass
• Hans "Bruschmi" Bruggmann / lead guitar
• H.Boris Bühler / congas

Midnight Graveyard:

You Don't Understand:

Special thanks to André Lehman and H.Boris Bühler for their collaboration.

Markheim - Markheim (1972)

After some abscence, here I am back on the saddle with another obscurity ! This strange record was released in 1991, consisting of a soft green paper cover, including two illustrated inserts. Only 200 hand-numbered copies were pressed !

Markheim was formed in 1972 by Andreas Wyden and dissolved the same year in lack of money, leaving some curious demo tapes behind. These guys lived in Paradiso, in the canton of Ticino (the italian speaking part of Switzerland). Some names appear english to me: I presume the band leader Andreas Wyden and drummer Enzo Geninazza are swiss but I have no information about pianist Phillip Reeves and guitarist Trevor Thoms (english nicknames?). The band traveled to Venice during summer 72 in order to record their freshly composed songs. 

The the demo tapes were later on remastered by croatian poet Dubravko Pusek (now living in Lugano) who also financed the whole project ! All tracks and lyrics were composed by Andreas Wyden. The music itself is a mix of crazy progressive, folk and psych rock. Some tracks are rather experimental as well ! My personal favourites are "Birdman" and "Lonely Traveller", two beautiful laid back ballads, and "Anniversary" which is more progressive.

Thank you guys and especially Mr.Pusek for this little spleeping and undiscovered jewel ! Someone will just have to explain where does "Markheim" come from ? Enjoy...

Songs / Tracks Listing:

1. Dirty Woman
2. Birdman
3. Lonely Traveller
4. Long Way To Go
5. Gold Dust In My Eyes
6. Boering
7. Anniversary
8. No Tytle (Stale Bread And Water)
9. Whore House
10. New Day 

Download:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=P4GHY01G

Jivaros - Cette Lumière Grise / Entre Nos Ombres (1983)

A bit of punky Wave won't hurt ! A digger friend of mine had this little jewel and I'm now proud to own it. This stuff comes from La-Chaux-de-Fonds and was made in 1983 by Patrick Dubois. No more information about it.

One can read a strange message on the back cover: "Jusqu'à ce que vos têtes saignent...", meaning "Until your heads bleed..." 

Anyway, this it good stuff to me: taste a good bassline and a nice drum break !

PS: Patrick Dubois, if you read us, drop a few lines please !

Cette Lumière Grise

Entre Nos Ombres

Ytterbium 70 - Futur Soldat Suisse / C'était Du Vent / Le Temps Ne Tombe Pas En Panne (1983)

Let's now focus on subversive punk rock made in Switzerland ! The story about this band from Lausanne goes like this: a certain "CAM" (nickname) formed Ytterbium 70 in the 70's. In 1983, the band released this provocative and subversive EP "Futur Soldat Suisse" (Future Swiss Soldier), openly promoting antimilitarism. All the songs were composed in 1979 by CAM. Pressed in France, the records got blocked for some time at Thônex's customs post because a swiss customs officer didn't want to take responsibility for letting subversive stuff into the country ! It led to the temporary seizure of 2000 copies and created some buzz in the papers because cases of censorship are rather seldom in Switzerland. It finally went very smoothly as the authorities decided there weren't any reason to destroy the whole stock, fortunately for us ! The single began to sell from April 1st, 1983. Nevertheless, the single was unexpectedly removed from sale only ten days after ! Was the Confederation in the know ? We'll probably never find out. Anyway, it explains why the record is now mega rare and can reach 300$ a copy ! 

"Ytterbium 70" later became "SM-69". Just a detail: all the songs are sung in french; I may translate some songs but it will take some time. If you understand french you can always have a look at the band's website ! http://www.ytterbium.ch/index.html

 

Futur Soldat Suisse

C'était Du Vent / Le Temps Ne Tombe Pas En Panne

Sources:
- http://www.ytterbium.ch/index.html

Hard Horse - Let It Ride / Hang Old Freddy (1972)

Here's your Christmas present folks ! 

Just a warning: this DOPE is very, very addictive !

I first have to say that the band is British but this single was released on many labels, especially on Splendid (from La-Chaux-de-Fonds). It features Paul Thomas (vocals) who played in the band Peppermint Circus (from Coventry, UK). Producers are Ben Findon and Peter Shelley.

Swiss release on Splendid label

The song was originally released in 1971, on "D'Art" label. Other copies were made on different labels, probably for all DJs of the world... Let's say it, between all different covers, the swiss one looks definitely the best ! It shows how the song "Let It Ride" literally kicks ass !  You have now access to the definitive raw psych nugget which will keep playing in your mind for many days. Merry Christmas and "Let It Ride" !

First UK release on D'Art label

French release on Vogue label

German release on United Artists label

Pink Elephant label

Let It Ride

Hang Old Freddy

Bruno Spoerri - Rollin' (Überreicht Durch Die Generaldirektion SBB) (1973)

Another one-sided promo single from the magician Bruno Spoerri ! The single is in fact an advertisement for the Swiss Federal Railways (in german SBB = Schweizerische Bundesbahnen). 

Imagine a high pitched melody lead by a deep funky bass mixed with train sounds and announcements... Delirious stuff but precursory for 1973 !

Rollin' (Überreicht Durch Die Generaldirektion SBB)

Plankton B² - 20 Minutes / Full Flesh / Jam (1996)

Wow ! Just one word: DOPE ! I got this one (format is 7'' 33 rpm) on Ebay recently and I don't regret my purchase ! Just three funky and jazzy tracks led by a killer organ. Very groovy as usual but sadly, very little information about it. Anyway, it's now time to get into the grooves ! 

20 Minutes

Full Flesh

Jam

Magog - Magog (1974)

A bit of swiss jazz won't hurt. Founded by trumpeter Hans Kennel, this is a high level mix of complex conventional, fusion and experimental jazz. The album was recorded in November 1974 at the Tonstudio Bauer (in Ludwigsburg, Germany) and released on Japo Record in 1976. The album is fairly calm and soft all the way through with some energetic Fender Rhodes and trumpet blows. A mellow marriage which you will love I'm sure !

Songs / Tracks Listing:

1. Lock
2. Gogam
3. Rhoades
4. Der Bachstelzer
5. Summervogel
6. New Samba

Line-up / Musicians:

• Hans Kennel / trumpet, flute, percussion
• Andy Scherrer / soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, flute, percussion
• Paul Haag / trombone, percussion
• Klaus Koenig / piano, electric piano, percussion
• Peter Frei / bass
• Peter Schmidlin / drums, percussion

Download:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=RQEF5H64

Wiebelfetzer - Live (1971)

 

It all started at the "Weisser Wind" of Zürich, in April 1971. Seven Swiss, three Danes, an American and a Swede, played the whole evening of the 27th, experimenting new sounds and melodies, for all the free jazz lovers... The result is just astonishing, brilliant and out of time !!! That session will always remain timeless, as these sounds (more than music) transports you elsewhere, allowing a long interior mediation. Of course, you can call it free and experimental jazz / rock but I don't think it can properly be classified. This so dense album is properly a chronological history of music: hear it a hundred times, you'll always discover new things in it ! After a few plays, it's to me a subtle and refined melange of Stravinski, Miles Davis (especially Bitches Brew) and Amon Düül. It also makes me think about "Shining" creepy OST.

I recently contacted Mr. Beat Kennel (the owner of the "Wiebelfetzer" rights and Bazillus) to talk about a reissue of that scarce release. As Mr. Kennel said, we'll wait a bit until giving a free link on this blog, regarding the fact that a lot of musicians were involved. In order to respect their work, the link is momentarily removed. I'll let you know about the reissue matter soon.

Songs / Tracks Listing:

1. Bazillus-Infection
2. Force Ichha
3. Viodo
4. Abrikosmos 

Line-up / Musicians:

• Beat Kennel (CH) / drums, percussion
• Klaus Thalmann (CH) / bass guitar  
• Fredy Studer (CH) / drums, percussion  
  
• Stephan Wittwer (CH) / guitar
  
• Düde Dürst (CH) / congas, percussion 
• Irène Schweizer (CH) / piano, electric piano
• Jürg Grau (CH) / pocket trumpet
• Anne Christiansen (DK) / vocals, percussion 
• John Tchicai (DK) / saxophone alto & soprano
• Ole Thilo (DK) / organ, piano
  
• Runo Ericksson (SWE) / bass trombone
• Peter Warren (USA) / bass, bass guitar

I finally found the time to make a high quality video for you folks ! You won't believe your ears !

Source:
- http://www.bazillusclub.ch/