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BEWITH 125LP
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Nucleus's Elastic Rock is undisputedly a milestone in jazz-rock. A beautiful and vital debut album, it was first released on Vertigo in 1970. Genius trumpeter and visionary composer Ian Carr was one of the most respected British musicians of his era. He was a true pioneer and saw the potential in fusing the worlds of jazz with rock, just as Miles Davis and The Tony Williams Lifetime did in the US. In late 1969, following the demise of the Rendell-Carr quintet, and tiring of British jazz, Carr assembled the legendary Nucleus. Regarding music as a continuous process, Nucleus refused to "recognize rigid boundaries" and worked on delivering what they saw as a "total musical experience". Under bandleader Carr, Nucleus existed as a fluid line-up of inventive, skilled musicians. The very title Elastic Rock could be regarded as the group's MO, describing a melting point between their rock and jazz impulses. Recorded over four days in January 1970, Elastic Rock didn't sound like any other British jazz album. Exploding out the gate, "1916" opens with John Marshall's frantic pounding before melancholic horns enter. The smooth title track, "Elastic Rock" is just a gorgeous electric blues track. The serene "Striation", a Jeff Clyne and Chris Spedding collaboration, is led by bowed bass and is the epitome of calm before the late-night laidback vibe of "Taranaki" breezes along sweetly and smoothly with great trumpet and tenor. The truly emotional "Twisted Track" is elegant with horns, while guitar is gently played with drums and bass. "Crude Blues (Part 1)" features an excellent oboe part by Karl Jenkins with laconic guitar helping out. "Part 2" is livelier, with a heavy backbeat and great wind parts. "1916 (Battle Of Boogaloo)" features a steady bassline and great call and response parts from the horn section. The mesmeric epic "Torrid Zone" brilliantly encapsulates the jazz fusion aesthetic so desired by the group, the rhythm section is rock-influenced but magically retains a laid-back jazz vibe. Spacey jazz in the style of In a Silent Way, the semi-ambient "Stonescape" features smooth, muted brass, warm, smokey keys and a barely-there rhythm section. The bubbling, fragile restraint of "Earth Mother" partially utilizes the "Torrid Zone" bassline but takes the energy in a different direction. Next comes the very idiosyncratic drum solo track by Marshall in the appropriately-titled "Speaking for Myself, Personally, in My Own Opinion, I Think?" The album closes with the raucous "Persephones Jive", a track that ends the album frantically, riotously, just as it began. Remastered from the original Vertigo master tapes by Simon Francis. Cut by Cicely Balston at AIR Studios.
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BEWITH 128LP
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First released on Vertigo in 1975, the distinctive rolling grooves, growling basslines, and blasting horns of Snakehips Etcetera combined to present Nucleus's most energetic record. Genius trumpeter and visionary composer Ian Carr was one of the most respected British musicians of his era. With all restraint out the window, 1975's pimped-up Snakehips Etcetera is the outrageous -- in both cover art and sound -- follow-up to the brooding Under The Sun from 1974 (BEWITH 104LP). It's perhaps not one for the jazz purists. It finds Nucleus pared down to a core group of six, with Carr, Bob Bertles (sax), Ken Shaw (guitar), Geoff Castle (keys), Roger Sutton (bass), and Roger Sellers (drums) comprising the collective. Snakehips Etcetera reflects a period where the compositions start to become a little more direct and less-cerebral in comparison to some of Nucleus's previous releases. This one rocks, swings, and funks with no little soul. And more than a little jazzy sleaze. The album has a real live, jamming feel to it, no surprise given the extent to which they were touring at the time. The band is tight and grooving throughout, none more so than on Bob Bertles's effervescent opener, "Rat's Bag". So darn funky it stings, it's an infectious gem full of punchy clean lines over a killer bassline from Sutton. The thick, driving jazz-rock of "Alive And Kicking" is exactly that. It has a very improvisational feel, but an inspired one at that and features a wailing guitar solo from Ken Shaw that simply slays. The funky "Rachel's Tune" is amazing, bringing you back to Canterbury days with its fuzzed-out organ solos to close out Side A. Opening up Side B, the cool psychedelic title track unfolds slowly and sensually over its ten-plus minutes. A stoned soul stew of sorts, each member of the crew gets their chance to shine over Sellers's steady drums. The melodic funk fusion of "Pussyfoot" pairs Carr with Bertles on ace solo flute for a bright, springy melody. This one really gleams over shuffling drums. Changing the pace to close out this memorable set, the particularly cool "Heyday" is a reflective, sober tune which reinforces the sumptuous Nucleus palette, the acoustic guitar and bass high in the mix to make the neck snap, the horns elegantly blasting to help you swoon. Remastered from the original Vertigo master tapes by Simon Francis. Cut by Cicely Balston at AIR Studios.
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BEWITH 126LP
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With breaks for days and an almost ambient, heavy jazz atmosphere throughout, this is the apex of British jazz-rock fusion. We'll Talk About It Later was first released on Vertigo in 1971 and original copies are now very tricky to score. Genius trumpeter and visionary composer Ian Carr was one of the most respected British musicians of his era. He was a true pioneer and saw the potential in fusing the worlds of jazz with rock, just as Miles Davis and The Tony Williams Lifetime did in the US. We'll Talk About It Later is arguably Nucleus's best album. Not only that, it's in the top five of all fusion albums. By the time Nucleus entered Trident Studios in September 1970 to record Elastic Rock's successor, they had already won a best group award at the Montreux Jazz Festival. The group work and insane musicianship Nucleus were famed for is in evidence from the off. The intensely funky "Song for the Bearded Lady" features counterpoint riffing segues into a spacious groove and a Carr trumpet solo demonstrating the influence of electric Miles from the period. The stop-start funk of "Sun Child" would appeal to Soft Machine devotees whilst the genuinely touching "Lullaby For A Lonely Child" is a lovely downtempo ballad. Featuring an understated, reflective horn line from Carr and Brian Smith and atmospheric, shimmering bouzouki from Chris Spedding, there's an exotic flavor which contributes to the bliss. The ominous, sleazy title track retains a swaggering menace and is not the only track to lend a sort of heavy stoner rock atmosphere. The guitars and bass are deep and low throughout, conjuring heavy psych moments to go with the actual jazz and even funk. To say this album was in conversation with Bitches Brew would not be overstating the sheer brain-frying brilliance. The Weather Report-adjacent "Oasis" opens Side B, a colossal track featuring nearly ten minutes of steadily building melodic horns, keys and choppy guitar riffs. Spedding adds unique vocals to the undeniable groove of "Ballad of Joe Pimp" whilst saxophonist Smith's duet with drummer John Marshall at the conclusion of "Easter 1916" -- inspired by the Yeats poem about the Irish nationalist uprising in Dublin -- adopts the wildness of the most incendiary free jazz. Remastered from the original Vertigo master tapes by Simon Francis. Cut by Cicely Balston at AIR Studios.
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BEWITH 104LP
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Reissue, originally released on Vertigo in 1974. Under The Sun is the follow-up to the astonishing Roots and contains yet more absolutely essential Nucleus material. Genius trumpeter and visionary composer Ian Carr was one of the most respected British musicians of his era. In late 1969, following the demise of the Rendell-Carr quintet, and tiring of British jazz, Carr assembled the legendary Nucleus. Under bandleader Carr, Nucleus existed as a fluid line-up of inventive, skilled musicians. Under The Sun opens with the crisp, medium tempo "In Procession". It's a typically inventive Carr track with layers of dramatic, riff-led themes and repeating brass blasts. Bryan Spring's "The Addison Trip" is a moody funk piece, with Kieran White guesting on wordless vocals. Roger Sutton contributes some fine bass guitar on this track, particularly the great solo at around the two-minute mark. The excellently-named cool, jazzy ballad "Pastoral Graffiti" paints bucolic pictures with its mellow sonics, plaintive horns and Bob Bertles's flute. Sutton's superb, bass-driven "New Life" brings a different dynamic. Horns, guitar, and electric piano swirl over the head-nod bass motif and a killer Ken Shaw guitar solo. A false fade out halfway through brings in a new bass riff that's picked up by the whole ensemble as Carr wah-wah noodles over the top. The gorgeous, laidback "A Taste of Sarsaparilla" is exactly that -- closing out the first side with a cute blast of what is to come over on the killer flip. The whole of Under The Sun's second side is a suite of three "Themes" written by Ian Carr. The up-tempo first theme "Sarsaparilla" is comfortably one of Nucleus's best. What would've been a cluttered mess in the hands of most is instead an effortless lesson in clarity and zing. Between Geoff Castle's electric piano solo, the relentless funky drumming and more wild wah-wah trumpet from Carr, Nucleus show you how it's done. The languid groove of second theme "Feast Alfresco" is much more typical of "classic" Nucleus and sounds like something that might've been on Roots. The darker "Rites of Man", the third and final theme, is a slow build to a solid bass and electric piano riff, shored up by some tricky brass. Remastered from the original Vertigo master tapes. Mastered by Simon Francis. Cut by Pete Norman.
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BEWITH 105LP
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Reissue, originally released on Vertigo in 1975. Another thrilling, funky-prog jazzy-rock fusion beauty from Ian Carr's Nucleus. Genius trumpeter and visionary composer Ian Carr was one of the most respected British musicians of his era. In late 1969, following the demise of the Rendell-Carr quintet, and tiring of British jazz, Carr assembled the legendary Nucleus. Under bandleader Carr, Nucleus existed as a fluid line-up of inventive, skilled musicians. Alleycat was the last Nucleus album recorded for the Vertigo label. It was again meticulously produced by Jon Hiseman and is every bit as sinuous as anything else the group had recorded. As far as riff-laden accidental cop-funk goes, there's so much energy coursing through the music that at times it sounds like a live recording. It's pretty unbeatable. Up-tempo opener "Phaideaux Corner" is a funk-flavored opus with a groove that simply swaggers. This trademark Roger Sutton piece benefits from Trevor Tomkins's percussive expertise and some excellent sax and keyboard soloing. Check out Geoff Castle on squelchy, stabbing Moog duties. Ian Carr's elegantly laidback title track is a lengthy suite of magisterial themes. Typically complex, it still gets you hooked and is just riddled with the funk. Carr builds up his initially "straight" trumpet solo with later use of echo to mesmeric effect. And there's some excellent wah-wah guitar shredding by Ken Shaw too. The second side opens with the killer "Splat" and finds Nucleus really ripping it up. A fat, funky bass guitar riff introduces us to the track and stays with us until the end. The often-mangled bass groove is pushed along by rattling drums and percussion, dropping out for some restful moments of spacey calm, and along the way picking up some lengthy keyboard noodling by Castle. "You Can't Be Sure" is a gentle jam with Shaw on 12-string acoustic guitar, together with Carr's muted trumpet and some marvelous fretless work from Sutton. The album closes with Bob Bertles's galloping "Nosegay", written perhaps as a response to some of the faster Mahavishnu Orchestra pieces. It's an example of well-crafted jazz-rock that doesn't compromise any of its jazziness, yet it still very definitely rocks. Remastered from the original Vertigo master tapes. Mastered by Simon Francis. Cut by Pete Norman.
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AX 1006CD
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Not to be confused with the British act of the same name, this Canadian quintet arose from the ashes of one of Toronto's most popular '60s bands, The Lords Of London. Their sole album originally appeared in April 1969, and features intense jamming, with plenty of swirling organ and tough guitar. When it failed to sell, they split, with three members going on to form 1970s hitmakers A Foot In Coldwater.
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