Albums by bands starting with "A" from the german reissue catalog - what are they like?

the amon duul thing is just them playing the title track of phallus dei with some psychedelic effects and so on. cool if you're a fan, but they managed to fuck up the sync between the soundtrack and video by a second or so.

arcadium... i don't remember. but i think it's good english 'heavy prog' stuff.

Pashmina, you MUST hear 10CC & Sheet Music. They are brilliant. and you need that amon duul 2 too. and the artwoods stuff is pretty cool. can't go wrong there. i don't think you need an audience record.

I noticed Audience because they were mentioned in the Peter Hammill interview on the new VdGG site. Are they bandwagon-missing Prog or what, scott?

10cc's Sheet Music is incredible. Get that. Their first album is patchier, the singles are the best tracks. NB: you can buy both these albums on a twofer CD for a fiver or less in most chain stores, usually under dodgy titles such as "10cc's Greatest Hits". So depends on whether you want original artwork and sleevenotes, lyrics etc. I used to spend HOURS when I was 13 studying the inner of my sister's vinyl copy of Sheet Music.

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Ashton, Gardner & Dyke - hmmm, this is pretty workaday boogie rock (see also Canned Heat on the 'C' thread), but a best of might be worth checking out ... IF its really cheap.

Both 10cc albums are great

Audience were early-70's Brit art rock with some glam touches. Howard Werth was the frontman, "House on the Hill," the album to have, which I thin' is also put out by Repertoire. Has a cover of "I Put a Spell on You," and another of their highlights, "Jackdaw."

Another vote for 10cc (I'd go for cheap vinyl though). I have that Amon Duul DVD sitting right here but haven't watched it yet. I keep forgetting. Isn't Wim Wenders or somebody one of the cameramen? Is this the Reperioire catalog BTW? They put out a lot of great stuff.

Artwoods are mid-60's UK mod poppers, a record store clerk lavished them with extreme praise when I asked him about it. Upon purchasing and taking home ... a bit too bland for me.

the artwoods are ok but they're not really one of the most interesting mod/beat bands. much prefer the birds.

You're a creting, right? Querying re "artwoods" vs. even marginalia like the Andy Fraser Band. Let me guess, you were born in the late 80's, someone with no clue about what what's in this list.

aH, forget about what I just posted. I'm the cretin. I hereby commit virtual seppuku. [RIP] arghhh

it takes a lot for a sometime lurker like me to crawl out from under his stone, but somebody in this life has to defend the Artwoods. what you're looking at here is a really solid bunch of London clubland R&B/soul, circa '66. not really Mod-pop as such, closer in my mind to grahame bond or brian auger from around the same time, except not so jazzy. the occasional pop flourish on maybe 'Goodbye sisters'. some typical brit 66 freaky soul like on Sam and Dave's 'I take What I want', where they decide that what the song needs most is a fuzzbox and a weird sounding production. gigging on eel pie island to art school beatniks and proto-hippies (and maybe even some mods too)rather than suffering the innanities of Cathy McGowan on Ready Steady Go. oh yeah, I also like their version of 'Brother Can You Spare A Dime' from 67, released at the height of the 'Bonnie and Clyde' depression-era/gangster-chic thing which was happening then. They called themselves The St. Valentine's Day Massacre, which is a cool name for a band if you ask me. good, soulful-sounding hammond organ on this one. I know some people like to rubbish it, but i don't pay those cretings no mind.

as to practical advice - if you think you'd like them get the singles comp first.

that st valentines day massacre track is tops