Browse by Label: LION PRODUCTIONS (CANADA)

Artist:	ODYSSEY
Title:	Setting Forth
Label:	LION PRODUCTIONS (CANADA)
Format:	LP
Price:	$28.00
Catalog #:	LION 102LP

"Once upon a time, when the music business was more music than business (but only just), there was a band that created a quintessential dose of New York sixties psychedelia -- strong harmonic vocals, heavy swirling organ, and fuzz guitar riffs of the greatest ferocity. Their lone album, one of the ten rarest and most sought after US psychedelic albums, is available on vinyl for the first time since its original pressing -- painstakingly remastered, repackaged, and ready for true psych fans to devour. This is truly one of the cornerstones of underground psychedelic music, recorded in 1969, released in an edition of fewer than 100 copies, and impossible to find as it only came in a plain white cardboard sleeve."

Artist:	FOLKLORDS, THE
Title:	Release The Sunshine
Label:	LION PRODUCTIONS (CANADA)
Format:	LP + 7"
Price:	$28.00
Catalog #:	LION 104LP

"When we first issued this terrific album -- twelve perfect examples of dreamy sunshine pop/folk psych released by independent Canadian label Allied Records in 1968 -- on CD some time ago, our booklet featured the few scraps of information on the band we could find. We challenged 'anyone out there' to find some information on this elusive and intriguing band, with the offer of a reward that would be 'something very Folklordish.' Well, we're pleased to say that someone took us up on that offer, and that someone was band leader Tom Waschkowski. He very graciously offered for this LP package a band history, lyrics, some terrific photos, and best of all, a rare pre-album single that the band had self-released. This allows us to offer up as perfect a reissue of this album as humanly possible. The Folklords Release The Sunshine is a captivating album, a notion shared by the many collectors worldwide who fight for original copies, which are few and far between. Glorious sound, as the reissue taken directly from the master-tapes. Bonus single is an exact replica of the rare, privately issued non-LP single, which features haunting, drum-less versions of 'Forty Second River' and 'Unspoken Love,' both of which were re-recorded for the original Allied release. Now, on to the presentation -- the highest quality mastering and pressing (done at Acoustech Mastering/RTI in California, the same plant that presses every title that audiophile label Classic Records makes); the resulting LP is housed in a poly-lined sleeve, inside an ultra-heavy 1960s style gatefold jacket, which is housed in a loose-fitting plastic sleeve. The LP labels are replicas of the original Allied silver and blue labels. A top of the line pressing all the way. Limited edition of exactly 700 copies."

Artist:	SANDHY & MANDHY
Title:	Para Castukis
Label:	LION PRODUCTIONS (CANADA)
Format:	LP
Price:	$28.00
Catalog #:	LION 105LP

"Here at last is a chance to discover why people have been willing to pay a very steep price to hear Sandhy & Mandhy, the duo who were not a duo, the band who were not a band, creators of perhaps the rarest and most expensive album from Argentina. To tell the story of Sandhy & Mandhy, we have to go back to 1967, when Alberto Infusino (Sandhy) and Alberto Vanasco (Mandhy) began their musical partnership in the beat band The New Free Men. Like many bands of that time, Los Shakers and Los Walkers, for example, the New Free Men played covers of songs by The Zombies, Animals, Kinks, Yardbirds, Doors, and so on, in clubs and at parties. Yet at the same time, Infusino and Vanasco started to play their own compositions, with a national touch to the music. Let's let Vanasco (Mandhy) take up the story: 'In 1969, we went to talk with Billy Bond, chief of La Pesada del Rock Roll to ask about the chance to make an album. Bond said that he was not looking for a band, but for a duo who sang songs in Spanish... So, we called some friends to play together, and we called the project Sandhy & Mandhy.' They recorded the album in three hours, with a full band (Farfisa organ, congas, drums, bass, and guitars) -- one take of each song. Instead of a demo, they decided to press an LP: the company (Phonalex) pressed 110 LPs in total, which the band gave out at gigs. Sandhy & Mandhy were one of the first bands in South America to bring a rebellious attitude to the music scene -- all this in a period of military repression, when forced haircuts in the streets were a common occurrence. Although they broke new ground, success was not their fate. And so 38 years after the burst of improvisation that was Sandhy & Mandhy, the rest of the world can finally take a taste of their dark, groovy, beat-influenced psychedelia (that fuzz guitar on the excellent 'Lluvia'!). At times introspective and acoustic, at others manic and ramshackle in the best way, it's quite a discovery. Now, on to the presentation -- the highest quality mastering and pressing (done at Acoustech Mastering/RTI in California, the same people who master and press every title that audiophile label Classic Records makes); the resulting LP is housed in a poly-lined sleeve, inside an ultra-heavy 1960's style gatefold jacket, which is housed in a loose-fitting plastic sleeve. Inside the sleeve, you will find an insert with full details on Sandhy & Mandhy, including lyrics in Spanish and English, printed on 100% recycled paper. The LP labels are replicas of the originals. A top of the line pressing all the way. Limited edition of 800 copies."

Artist:	PARRENIN, EMMANUELLE
Title:	Maison Rose
Label:	LION PRODUCTIONS (CANADA)
Format:	LP
Price:	$28.00
Catalog #:	LION 106LP

"We begin by saying that this is an album unlike any other. A bold statement, perhaps. Yet look in the Scented Gardens of the Mind book and you will see this description: 'A revelation of a folk album, with songs of incredible beauty and innovative arrangements. It features traditional instruments you've hardly ever heard before and touches of the avant-garde. Play this album directly after that of another randomly chosen female folk album, and you will notice the difference! This is one of the best!' Parrenin had been part of a traditional 'antique folk' movement in France in the late 1960s (she was in many ways a French equivalent to Sandy Denny or Mandy Morton); indeed, she had recorded eight albums with musicians from this scene before Maison Rose -- her best, and last album, recorded in 1976 and released the following year. The record seems to alternate between a cosmic take on an ancient Breton sound, and delicate, multi-tracked ballads -- ranging from sounds that would not be out of place on an Ash Ra Tempel album to elements of traditional French folk music (including home-made instruments) that are just as exotic. Certainly, the avant-garde edge lurking beneath the simple folkiness of Maison Rose puts in mind the explorations of Brigitte Fontaine with her sometime musical voyager Areski; there are also suggestions of the pastoral caranavserai aesthetic of Vashti Bunyan, as well as the multi-track sensuality of Linda Perhacs (to name two much-touted singers who seem to have a similar ability to enchant). But Parrenin has her own style, her music has its own deeply ethereal quality, and the album itself has its own magic spell to cast that renders comparison with other albums unimportant in the end. Magnificent, we say. Now, on to the presentation -- the highest quality mastering and pressing (done at Acoustech Mastering/RTI in California, the same people who master and press every title that audiophile label Classic Records makes); the resulting LP is housed in a poly-lined sleeve, inside an ultra-heavy 1960s style gatefold jacket, which is housed in a loose-fitting plastic sleeve. Inside the sleeve, you will find an insert with full details on Ms. Parrenin, printed on 100% recycled paper. The LP labels are replicas of the Ballon Noir originals. A top of the line pressing all the way. Limited edition of 500 copies."

Artist:	EL KINTO
Title:	Circa 1968
Label:	LION PRODUCTIONS (CANADA)
Format:	LP
Price:	$24.00
Catalog #:	LION 107LP

"Exact replica of the original LP release of fourteen crucial tracks by these Uruguayan legends, whose line-up includes members of Totem and Limonada, and features the compositional abilities of candombe legend Ruben Rada, and his alter-ego, poet/panhandler and acid casualty, Eduardo Mateo. El Kinto began their brief but eventful life in music playing in the dark shadows at Orfeo Negro (Black Orpheus), a night club near the Portones de Carrasco in Montevideo, Uruguay. Inspired by the way Tropicalistas like Os Mutantes were transforming the pop music of Brazil, El Kinto embraced their own native music forms but, as always, they went a step further: they integrated candombe and bossa nova into beat music, but they also added their own notion of 'psicodelics.' They experimented with newness in all its variety -- new sounds from their guitars, new types of vocal delivery, new ways of striking the drums (with little brooms, with gavels or their hands). As one journalist noted in 1969, 'El Kinto, directed by the brilliant Mateo, and amplified to the maximum, creates a frenzy of rhythmic music in which -- with force and conviction -- pure wave 'beat' is synthesized with the warmth of the African drums.' The result of the group's tireless experiments is music which sounds fresh and engaging today. In a world dominated by the commercialization of everything -- including (although it is difficult to comprehend) -- the arts, all we can say is, thank god for El Kinto! Now, on to the presentation -- the highest quality mastering and pressing (done at Acoustech Mastering/RTI in California, the same people who master and press every title that audiophile label Classic Records makes); the resulting LP is housed in a poly-lined sleeve, inside an ultra-heavy 1960s style jacket, which is housed in a loose-fitting plastic sleeve. Inside you will find a double-fold insert packed with photos, detailed band history, and lyrics for this most important of Uruguayan bands, printed on 100% recycled paper. The LP labels are replicas of the Sondor originals. A top of the line pressing all the way. Limited edition of 500 copies."

Artist:	LIMONADA
Title:	LimoNada
Label:	LION PRODUCTIONS (CANADA)
Format:	LP
Price:	$24.00
Catalog #:	LION 108LP

"Although they sprung ready-made from of the ashes of legendary candombe/beat group El Kinto, one of the best-kept secrets from Uruguay's musical mythology is nevertheless the group of musicians who recorded one album as Limonada. So what happened? The story starts with the end of El Kinto, when band leader and iconoclastic maniac Eduardo Mateo decided to embark on a solo career (see our Lion Productions collection of his early music for more details), and the other members of El Kinto said 'let's do something together.' And so it was that in the middle of 1970, Limonada recorded their one and only album, LimoNada. It is a strange record, with backwards tape splices and abrupt song changes, that remains at the same time absolutely accessible and very groovy, in a Tropicalia sort of way, which might explain why it was an immediate success. In truth, it's a profound mystery why the LimoNada LP -- one of the ten best sellers of its time within three weeks of its release -- seems to have vanished from the consciousness of even the most devoted fans of obscure music. Until now, of course. Now, on to the presentation -- the highest quality mastering and pressing (done at Acoustech Mastering/RTI in California, the same people who master and press every title that audiophile label Classic Records makes); the resulting LP is housed in a poly-lined sleeve, inside an ultra-heavy 1960s-style jacket, which is housed in a loose-fitting plastic sleeve. Inside you will find an insert with historical background on the Uruguayan scene, details of the band's past, plenty of photos, as well as a brief overview of the legendary Sondor label, printed on 100% recycled paper. The LP labels are replicas of the Sondor originals. A top of the line pressing all the way. Limited edition of 500 copies."

Artist:	ODYSSEY
Title:	Live at Levittown Memorial Auditorium: 1974
Label:	LION PRODUCTIONS (CANADA)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	LION 602CD

"A live recording that was never really meant to be, recorded by Odyssey's sound engineer on a portable cassette recorder, and recently unearthed! Live at Levittown is the only document of Odyssey as they were in their progressive phase, just before Fred Callan and sometime Odyssey keyboardist Tom Doncourt recorded their legendary album as Cathedral (Stained Glass Stories). Bonus tracks include three cassette 'basement recordings' from the Setting Forth era -- two untitled originals that never made the album, plus the band's version of 'Whiter Shade of Pale'. All tracks have been salvaged as well as possible from the original sources but keep in mind these are not 'audiophile' quality! Twelve-page booklet has a continuation of the Odyssey story by band leader Vinny Kusy, as well as more rare photos from his own archive."

Artist:	CLASSICAL M
Title:	Bad Guys: The Complete Collection
Label:	LION PRODUCTIONS (CANADA)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	LION 603CD

"'Freedom fries' idiocy aside, the country of France and the genre of psychedelia are usually thought of as 'mutually exclusive'. We humbly present a glorious exception. Deftly combining lilting vocal harmonies and lush studio production, to say the brothers Maruani (Guy and Andre) and Henri Bratter were the 'Gallic Fab Three' is a claim ably backed up by the sheer brilliance of their two English-language 7"s released by EMI-Odeon in 1969. Fortunately for us, and despite the machinations of the Robert Stigwood Organisation (a management decision they would soon regret), they had a bit more to say and so we give you all four single sides, seventeen unreleased compositions (most in finished form with superb studio fidelity) and three tracks sourced from their 1970 appearance on the French TV show 'Pop Club' (also easy on the ears fidelity-wise). Rounding out this package are track-by-track liner notes by the ever-sardonic Guy Maruani, complete lyrics and a multitude of photos from the era. C'est si bon!"

Artist:	THE FOUR LEVELS OF EXISTENCE
Title:	The Four Levels of Existence
Label:	LION PRODUCTIONS (CANADA)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	LION 604CD

"The first ever official CD reissue of an album that many people consider to be the best Greek psychedelic album ever recorded, a belief that would mean that the Four Levels of Existence LP would supersede albums by artists like Axis, Aphrodite's Child, Socrates, and George Romanos. We'll let you decide the argument, for of one thing there is no doubt -- that this is tremendous, hard edged psychedelic/progressive material, originally released in a very small quantity by the private Venus label from 1976. As band leader Athanasios Alatas said: 'Through Nick's musical quest, Mario's sensitivity, Christos's madness, and my thoughts, we create many songs, all characterized by a psychedelic music sound, Greek lyrics, and monumental guitar solos.' This carefully documented reissue contains the entire Four Levels of Existence LP (its reissue debut) -- the only recordings they ever made. A twenty-four page booklet includes historical background on the Greek music scene of the early 1970s, details of the band's past written by Alatas, rare photos of the group, as well as lyrics to all the songs in both Greek and English. This CD edition is very strictly limited to 1,000 copies."

Artist:	SUNLIGHT
Title:	Creation of Sunlight
Label:	LION PRODUCTIONS (CANADA)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	LION 605CD

"The first licensed CD version -- and thus the first from the original master tapes -- of an album that is absolutely great from start to finish, loaded with organ and fuzz guitar and just oozing with an acid and sunshine vibe. Formed in Long Beach, California in 1966, the group were originally named the Torques, then the Sunlights Seven, recording a single (an alternate version of album staple 'David,' and a bizarre screaming psychedelic version of 'Judy in Disguise' both included here as bonus tracks) for local label Entra Records. The band signed to the Windi label, changed their name to Sunlight and unleashed their acid masterpiece on the world in a miniscule edition of 500 copies. The Sunlight Creation of Sunlight album is definitive West Coast psychedelic sunshine pop influenced by the jazzy psychedelia of Strawberry Alarm Clock; it's packed with gorgeous harmonies, driving Hammond, minor-keyed melodies and eclectic guitar. In some specialist quarters the album is a now being deservedly championed, and original copies sell for enormous amounts of money."

Artist:	HOJAS
Title:	Mis Sue�os Piden
Label:	LION PRODUCTIONS (CANADA)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	LION 606CD

"The first two titles in our series of reissues licensed from Sondor, the most important record company in Uruguay. If you were in Uruguay in 1971, you would have known along with everyone else that Hojas (the Leaves) was the best band for melodic rock -- what we now might call power pop -- and slow-burn rock ballads. This was the year of their hit singles, 'El Mundo Es Una Flor' (The World is a Flower) and 'Caminar En La lluvia.' With their supple guitars, dreamy pop/psych melodies and driving rhythm section, Hojas rose to prominence quickly; and of course, it helped that most people agreed that the band's vocalist C�sar 'Cacho' Badin had one of the best voices they had ever heard singing rock music. But Hojas were not just a singles band. They recorded an LP, Mis Sue�os Piden, released by the Sondor label in August of 1973. The problem was that the album's release very nearly coincided with the arrival of a military dictatorship in Uruguay, which effectively ended the career of the nation's top bands, including Hojas. This carefully researched reissue contains the entire Hojas LP (its reissue debut), supplemented by seven bonus tracks, which include rare singles and an unreleased Badfinger cover."

Artist:	LIMONADA
Title:	LimoNada
Label:	LION PRODUCTIONS (CANADA)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	LION 607CD

"Although they sprung ready-made from the ashes of legendary candombe/beat group El Kinto, one of the best-kept secrets from Uruguay's musical mythology is nevertheless the group of musicians who recorded one album as Limonada. So what happened? The story starts with the end of El Kinto, when band leader and iconoclastic maniac Eduardo Mateo decided to embark on a solo career, and the other members of El Kinto said 'let's do something together.' And so it was that in the middle of 1970, Limonada recorded their one and only album, LimoNada, originally released by Sondor. It is a strange record, with backwards tape splices, abrupt song changes, yet at the same time it is absolutely accessible and very groovy, in a Tropicalia sort of way, which might explain why it was an immediate success. In truth, it's a profound mystery why the Limonada LP seems to have vanished from the consciousness of even the most devoted fans of obscure music. Until now, of course. This carefully researched reissue contains the entire LimoNada LP (its reissue debut), supplemented by an extended live bonus track. The sixteen page booklet includes historical background on the Uruguayan scene, details of the band's past, plenty of photos, as well as a brief overview of the legendary Sondor label."

Artist:	PTARMIGAN
Title:	Ptarmigan
Label:	LION PRODUCTIONS (CANADA)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	LION 609CD

"First official release of this cult favorite -- an album overflowing with brooding, mystical, Eastern-influenced hippie psychedelia dominated by long and largely instrumental tracks -- all based on a complex interplay of recorder, hand drums and acoustic guitar. Ptarmigan recorded the basic tracks for what would eventually become their only album in Vancouver, B.C. during the fall of 1972. It then took the band's producer and manager, renowned flautist Paul Horn, more than a year to find a label willing to release such unusual music. Finally, in 1974, Columbia Records released Ptarmigan's album to critical acclaim, and minimal sales. The music of Ptarmigan is deep and authentic, and sounds best when meditating on a landscape, an emotion, or a bottle of wine. Sometimes it is free-flowing and jazz-oriented; at other times it has the mystical feel of a shamanistic ceremony, with its oriental or South American harmonies. But in the end, this album is about the sea -- Ptarmigan was, after all, from Vancouver Island, and the musicians were well-versed in the contradictory moods of the surrounding ocean. One of those hidden gems from the 70s that makes life better when you discover them all these years later, rated by many as the best 'folk/progressive' and/or 'folk/psych' album ever made. As one contemporary review said, this is 'music from musicians, for musicians, late-at-night, last joint music.' Our Lion Productions reissue comes with a 28-page booklet that includes lyrics, liner notes from the band, and a multitude of photos and historical mementos."

Artist:	ILOUS & DECUYPER
Title:	Ilous & Decuyper
Label:	LION PRODUCTIONS (CANADA)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	LION 610CD

"It has always seemed a pity to us that the Ilous & Decuyper LP, (first issued in 1971 on the boutique Flamophone label), has not been more widely available. It is an inspired album, with superb vocal harmonies and an introspective quality that sets it apart from most other musical efforts of the time. Even the circumstances surrounding the recording are unusual: the duo squatted at the Vogue studios for more than a year, using (almost to the utmost extreme) that facility's 16-track equipment for many a dark night. The result was a sensuous sound full of subtlety and emotion -- elaborate music based on elegant arrangements and orchestrations. It doesn't hurt matters that French rock icon Jacques Dutronc's backing band, including extraordinary guitarist Jean-Pierre Alarcen (also a key member of Systeme Crapoutchik and Sandrose), helped out their friends on some of these sessions. This CD includes all the tracks from the eponymous album, and as a bonus, two non LP-tracks from Ilous & Decuyper's second single, recorded and released late in 1971. The booklet contains a detailed band history, rare photos, and lyrics in French and English. It just goes to show what can be done with late nights in the studio if you have talent, great songs, and a flair for overdubs."

Artist:	PARRENIN, EMMANUELLE
Title:	Maison Rose
Label:	LION PRODUCTIONS (CANADA)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	LION 611CD

"We begin by saying that this is an album unlike any other. A bold statement, perhaps. Yet look in the Scented Gardens of the Mind book and you will see this description: 'a revelation of a folk album, with songs of incredible beauty and innovative arrangements. It features traditional instruments you've hardly ever heard before and touches of the avant-garde. Play this album directly after that of another randomly chosen female folk album, and you will notice the difference! This is one of the best!' Parrenin had been part of a traditional 'antique folk' movement in France in the late 1960s (she was in many ways a French equivalent to Sandy Denny or Mandy Morton); indeed, she had recorded eight albums with musicians from this scene before Maison Rose -- her best, and last album, recorded in 1976 and released the following year. The record seems to alternate between a cosmic take on an ancient Breton sound, and delicate, multi-tracked ballads -- ranging from sounds that would not be out of place on an Ash Ra Tempel album to elements of traditional French folk music (including home-made instruments) that are just as exotic. Certainly, the avant-garde edge lurking beneath the simple folkiness of Maison Rose puts in mind the explorations of Brigitte Fontaine with her sometime musical voyager Areski; there are also suggestions of the pastoral aesthetic of Vashti Bunyan, as well as the multi-track sensuality of Linda Perhacs (to name two much-touted singers who seem to have a similar ability to enchant). But Parrenin has her own style, her music has its own deeply ethereal quality, and the album itself has its own magic spell to cast that renders comparison with other albums unimportant in the end. Magnificent... we say."

Artist:	EL KINTO
Title:	Complete Collection
Label:	LION PRODUCTIONS (CANADA)
Format:	CD
Price:	$19.00
Catalog #:	LION 612CD

"All twenty-two tracks by these Uruguayan legends, whose line-up includes members of Totem and Limonada, and features the compositional abilities of candombe legend Ruben Rada, and his alter-ego, poet/panhandler and acid casualty Eduardo Mateo. El Kinto began their brief but eventful life in music playing in the dark shadows at Orfeo Negro (Black Orpheus), a night club near the Portones de Carrasco in Montevideo, Uruguay. Inspired by the way the Tropicalistas like Os Mutantes were transforming the pop music of Brazil, El Kinto embraced their own native music forms -- but, as always, they went a step further: yes, they integrated candombe and bossa nova into beat music, but they also added their own notion of 'psicodelics.' They experimented with newness in all its variety -- new sounds from their guitars, new types of vocal delivery, new ways of striking the drums (with little brooms, with gavels or with the hands), all very uncommon in rock music. As one journalist noted in 1969, 'El Kinto, directed by the brilliant Mateo, and amplified to the maximum... creates a frenzy of rhythmic music in which -- with force and conviction -- pure wave beat is synthesized with the warmth of the African drums.' The result of the group's tireless experiments is music which sounds fresh and engaging today. In a world dominated by the commercialization of everything -- including (although it is difficult to comprehend) -- the arts, all we can say is, thank god for El Kinto! Special slip-case edition comes with an oversize 36-page full-blown booklet packed with photos, detailed band history, and lyrics for this most important of Uruguayan bands."

Artist:	MATEO, EDUARDO
Title:	Mateo Solo Bien Se Lame
Label:	LION PRODUCTIONS (CANADA)
Format:	CD
Price:	$19.00
Catalog #:	LION 613CD

"Mateo Solo Bien Se Lame is a record that requires many superlatives in order to do it justice: from its first moments, the music is lilting, poetic, intimate, in turns life-affirming and melancholic, with pulsating percussion backed by unheard-of guitar chords and tunings (perhaps the reason for the frequent Caetano Veloso and Nick Drake comparisons); it is an album that sounds, simply put, honest. The record was released at the end of 1972 in both Argentina and Uruguay, and was received from that first moment as a classic in those countries, a position it still occupies today. When El Kinto co-founder and iconoclastic maniac Eduardo Mateo traveled to Buenos Aires in October of 1971 to record what came to be Mateo Solo Bien Se Lame, his situation was unusual. With the explosion of candombe-beat music on the popular scene, Mateo had become a living legend of Uruguayan music. Yet apart from the Musicasi 4 1/2 compilation, which had been released in July of that year, there were no published recordings of Mateo available, whether as a soloist or with his already dissolved group El Kinto. By this time, the public had a clear notion of the dreamy character of Mateo that by the end of his brief life had made him a part-time panhandler and apparent acid casualty. But they still wanted a record by him. It was singer Diane Denoir who gave the final push. She was in Argentina finishing a record for the De la Planta label that included eight songs written by Mateo. Denoir insisted that Mateo participate as arranger for three of these grooves. With Mateo in Buenos Aires, the owners of De la Planta decided to take the necessary steps to record him. This was not easy, as Mateo tried to erase everything he recorded as soon as it was put onto tape, and that only on the rare occasions when he showed up ready to play. In the end, engineers Carlos Pariz and Eduardo Rozas selected material for the album from hours of free improvisations, and formed the album as it appears today. Our first Lion Productions volume of Mateo's solo recordings includes the entire Mateo Solo Bien Se Lame album, plus a variety of tracks from Mateo's early solo years. The eight bonus tracks include songs originally issued in Uruguay on the legendary Musicasi 4 1/2 LP, two tracks live from a bowling alley (!), as well as four very special early recordings backing female singers: two sung by the lovely Diane Denoir, and two by the mysterious Veronica Indart. Special slip-case edition comes with an oversize 48-page full-blown booklet packed with photos, text, and lyrics, which tries to unravel some of the myth surrounding this great surrealist poet and drug casualty, whose decline and ultimate madness and early death have done nothing to diminish his stature as one of the greatest artists in South American music."

Artist:	DINO & MONTEVIDEO BLUES
Title:	Dino & Montevideo Blues
Label:	LION PRODUCTIONS (CANADA)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	LION 614CD

"The one and only album by Dino & Montevideo Blues (Macondo GAM 551, 1972) deserves to be a serious contender as one of the most important, and as it happens, most grooving, records ever released in Uruguay. But there is another reason that the album has attained exalted status: the incisive power of the lyrics, which are all the more impressive considering the national turmoil out of which they were created. Montevideo Blues was founded by Uruguayan songwriting legend Gast�n 'Dino' Ciarlo as a way to fuse the rawness of rock music with obscure native Uruguayan rhythms like malambo, milonga and chamarrita --a logical direction to pursue after Dino had attempted pop/candombe fusions in his solo recordings. 'At the time, we were revolutionary and looking for change,' said Dino. Montevideo Blues demonstrated an unyielding and combative attitude. During live shows in 1971, Dino often criticized the government -- a level of political commitment reflected in the lyrics of the songs, some of the most radical ever set to music. Eduardo Mateo, the sacred monster of modern Uruguayan music, was succinct: 'You have decided to prune the tree,' he said to Dino. The album opens with one of Dino's most famous songs 'Milonga de Pelo Largo' ('Milonga of the Long Hair'), a sinuous song transformed by the arrival of the dictatorship into a hymn of Uruguayan popular resistance. The rest of the album tracks have an edgy, atonal quality, with terrific unconventional angular guitar and a kind of ragged glory, all driven along by insistent grooving rhythms, whether from native drums or the clicking of drumsticks. Bonus tracks include beat-rockers 'Sendero de Rosas' and 'Rubio es el Color,' from the rare La Juventud compilation album, as well as both sides of Dino's two early singles for RCA Vik. A 32-page booklet is packed with photos, detailed band history, and lyrics for this important Uruguayan band."

Artist:	OPA
Title:	Back Home: The Lost 1975 Sessions
Label:	LION PRODUCTIONS (CANADA)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	LION 617CD

"This disc is a departure from the other reissues in our Uruguayan music series. It's not remotely in a psychedelic or rock idiom; it was not released on the mighty Sondor label. Yet when given the opportunity to reissue these 'lost' sessions, we did not hesitate for a moment. This music is funky and jazzy, groovy and urban, even sounding like Fela (on 'Goldenwings' at least); it has the sunny feel of sweltering days on South American beaches, but it also has a heavy dose of the grittiness of mid-1970s New York City. There are connections to the great bands of Uruguay, of course: both Fattoruso brothers, so successful with their beat band Los Shakers, greatly admired the work of the much less successful Eduardo Mateo, Ruben Rada and their band, El Kinto. Opa had their own style, and the critical acclaim for their recorded legacy would soon eclipse on an international level that of anything else from their native land. After coming to NYC in 1969, a regular club gig led to Opa becoming the backing band for Brazilian percussionist, Airto Moreira (Weather Report/Return to Forever); they toured the USA, working on a sound that resulted in the Fingers album for the CTI label (1973), Airto's most successful record. Things looked grim when Flora Purim, Airto's wife and singer of the band, was sentenced to two years in prison for drug possession. But drummer and producer Larry Rosen invited Opa to record in his small home studio. They recorded nine demos with Rosen during 1975 (all but one of the tracks that give this reissue a reason to exist, the other being the band's first demo recording from 1972). Included are versions of songs which would later be re-recorded the following year for Opa's debut album for Milestone Records. Rhythm-laden tracks that range from the heavily funkified to chilled out, shimmering, and trance-inducing. A 16-page booklet includes band history and photos."

Artist:	ERGO SUM
Title:	Mexico
Label:	LION PRODUCTIONS (CANADA)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	LION 618CD

"Along with the two records by Nurse With Wound favorites Moving Gelatine Plates, Ergo Sum's weird and wonderful album Mexico is an unusual portal into the intense creativity of early 1970s French music. True, the bands are not musically similar; yet these three albums are distinguished not only by their instrumental richness, but by their unceasing sense of adventure. We'd go so far to say that Ergo Sum presents one of the most distinctive experiences in a rock idiom (apart from Zeuhl music juggernaut Magma) to ever come from France. The band's one and only album (1971) features the unique voice of Lionel Ledissez -- his guttural sort-of-English language delivery described as being 'somewhere between Family's Roger Chapman and a drunken Champs-Elysees taxi driver,' although more sober comparisons to Tim and/or Jeff Buckley have also been made. The compositions develop at a relaxed pace; incredible jazz-inflected guitar, flute, piano and droning violin swirl around the vocals, and keep one submerged in, yet attentive to the intimate mood. Tracks full of instrumental richness-they simmer, rather than blaze, which makes the rewards ever so great for patient listeners. Bonus tracks include the superb 'All's So Comic,' one of the highlights of the Puissance 13+2 Th�l�me label anthology, as well as both sides of Ergo Sum's musically relevant single from 1972. A fulsome 28-page booklet includes band history, photos, lyrics, and a contemporary 1971 review from Superhebdo magazine. A three o-clock in the morning, slow burn album if ever there was one."

Artist:	OPHIUCUS
Title:	Ophiucus
Label:	LION PRODUCTIONS (CANADA)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	LION 619CD

"Ophiucus may be the name of an obscure constellation, but it's also the name of a French band that recorded an exceptional album in 1972 for the Barclay label. All the members of the band had already enjoyed ample success in music before musician/actor Emmanuel Booz brought them together in 1971: Jean-Pierre Pouret was a well-known session-man for Sylvie Vartan; brothers Alain and Bernard Labacci released albums as Tom & Jerry, and supported Jimi Hendrix for a TV appearance; Michel Bonnecarrere had founded the band Zoo (one of Andy Votel from the B-Music label's favorites), and was one of the composers, arrangers and musicians for that group's first two albums. Apropos of the period, the band members decided to live together as a small family in Flagy, a small town in France, where they lived a happy life and wrote the tracks which adorn this reissue. This ambitious album somehow manages to blend grungy psychedelic rock, acoustic blues and densely orchestrated French pop/psych (in an Ilous & Decuyper vein) into an impressive and cohesive whole. Sandy Spencer, cellist and member of Mormos contributed wonderful playing on 'Ne Cherche Plus' and 'Inachev�e.' This reissue includes the original album plus eight bonus tracks in English meant to be the basis of an international album that was never issued. A fulsome 28-page booklet includes band history and commentaries on the songs written by Ophiucus, photos, lyrics (French and English), and a contemporary review."

Artist:	THIRD ESTATE, THE
Title:	Agonistes
Label:	LION PRODUCTIONS (CANADA)
Format:	2CD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	LION 620CD

"Third Estate's Years Before the Wine is an ambitious and intricate psychedelic concept album from 1976 about the French Revolution which blends warm Southern summer sounds (the band were from Baton Rouge, Louisiana) with baroque song structures. Never fear, the serious subject matter is no match for the strong songwriting and light, flowing music. Stunning vocals from Fae Ficklin on the title track are lovely, but even without them, this album would richly deserve its status as a psychedelic classic. Stark, intimate production, with tasty fuzz guitar, backwards tape-loop soundscapes and beautifully treated acoustic guitar, puts one in mind of the Ithaca/Agincourt/Friends trilogy from England. The sound of exploration is evident everywhere, as the band spreads its wings, and glorious harmonies flow forth. The previously unreleased album recorded as Agonistes (1973) shows that the later recordings were no fluke. It can stand alone as one of the most beguiling folk/psych albums we've ever heard. Additional bonus tracks include singles and home demos. Budget-priced double disc package includes a 28-page color booklet, with histories of both groups by band co-leader Robert Everett, as well as lyrics for all the songs included herein."

Artist:	STONE HARBOUR
Title:	Emerges
Label:	LION PRODUCTIONS (CANADA)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	LION 621CD

"What's a boy to do? It's 1974, you're young and have a head full of Hawkwind and Roky and the Elevators, and old brutalist blues in the Hound Dog Taylor/Fred McDowell backwoods whisky-fucked mode; you're stuck in Hicksville, USA; the music scene sucks: glam's dead or dying slowly; punk is a good year or so from even starting to get itself born. Town's too damn small to even muster up a band. It's just you and your buddy and that's it, man. So you grow your hair and wear satin, wander wide-eyed and tripping across small-town railway tracks and hang loose at the weekend in your basement. You gather a bunch of cheapo instruments on the never-never and you start cutting low-fi bedroom demos. Stone Harbour were Ric Ballas and Dave McCarty, and out of nowhere and nothing, at entirely the wrong time, they cut an LP that will blow your head clean off. This is a trip into the true dark heart of psychedelia! The music? 'You'll Be A Star' shimmers and aches in the midnight; cymbals wash over you, Dave McCarty's vocals emerge from some subterranean cave, as the keyboards flicker, flicker, flash across the periphery of the song; 'Rock & Roll Puzzle' is dark, twisted fried garage punk blues brutality, pre-empting The Gories and Pussy Galore by a good ten years! Songs fade in and out; finger-picking blurs into screaming squelching synths; guitars melt in the mid-summer heat. 'Grains of Sand' frazzles like The Stooges through a fucked-up amp and filtered through a transistor radio with the valves burning out, whilst 'Summer Magic Is Gone' is the most haunted, haunting song in many a long strange moon. Shimmers like stars in the 2 a.m. fog and haze, and bleeds lost and lonely and bruised into the heat-warped dawn. You're still awake, although the brain doesn't work like it used to. Blurred and bleary and exhilarated and stoned to the very core of your soul." Booklet includes lyrics and notes; disc has a handful of previously unreleased tracks from 1975 sessions as bonus tracks."

Artist:	49TH PARALLEL
Title:	49th Parallel
Label:	LION PRODUCTIONS (CANADA)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	PACE 048CD

"First proper version of this legendary Canadian psych album, supplemented by eleven bonus tracks, two of which have never seen reissue before now. The group's first two singles, 'Laborer'/'You Do Things' (1967), as well as 'She Says' and 'Citizen Freak' (1968), are prime pieces of pouting Prairie punk. In the spring of 1969, the 49th Parallel had a hit in Canada and the USA with 'Twilight Woman,' a lovely song that sounded like a poppier, slightly folkier version of what bands like Tomorrow were doing in England. The success of the singles resulted in the release of the 49th Parallel's only album, on MGM affiliate Maverick Records. All hyperbole aside, this is easily one of the top Canadian rock albums ever released. The album contains excellent material, including the pulsating psychedelia of 'Lazerander Filchy' and the ultra-strange '(The) Magician,' as well as the quintessential punk edginess of 'Now That I'm a Man' and '(Come On Little Child &) Talk To Me.' Dan Lowe's blazing fuzz guitar work stands out, particularly on 'Missouri,' and when challenged by organist Jack Velker's brilliant stuttering work on 'Eye To Eye,' 'Talk To Me' and 'The People'. Strong melodies, great playing and sympathetic production make for a must- own collection of songs."

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