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LP
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ARCLP 002LP
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"Unlike many self-created obscurities rescued from the margins, Michael Angelo (aka The Guinn Album) isn't the effort of some fanatical, ponderous bedroom wiz delivered with passion in lo-fi, but a fully-fledged pro-studio recording executed by multi-instrumentalist and full-time session man in mid-to-late '70s Kansas City, MO, Michael Angelo Nigro. An enigmatical exemplar of subterranean overachievers, Michael created the album as a labor of economy during studio off-hours when he was given free reign, and since its discovery by fringe-searchers it has been christened a heavy-hitter in the pantheon of 'out-of-time' treasures. Self-produced and nearly fully self-created (with drums handled by Frank Gautieri), Michael Angelo is a staggering, hook-filled, inner space hi-fi snapshot of dreamy folk-rock, Anglophile-pop and light psychedelia, filled with contemplative, arresting lyrical imagery and carries little to ally it to its time (spare some shimmering keyboards). Sprouting in the mid-50s, Michael's head was first turned by Joe Meek-produced 'Telstar' by the Tornados in 1962, and later listened closely when the Beatles put the whole world on its ear. Gifted his first guitar by a doting aunt at age 11, soon the prodigy gained six-string proficiency, began his first furtive attempts at songwriting, and taught himself to play bass, harmonica, and piano over the next few years. The typically teenage pursuit of fronting his own high school band followed, Norwegian Wood, and several other short-lived combos followed. Next, via an ad in a Kansas City newspaper, he happened upon the opportunity of studio work at age 20. During the next few years at Liberty Recording -- where Michael Angelo was recorded in 1976 -- and Big-K (where it was mixed in 1977) he worked steadily, and the eponymously titled debut LP was released on the Big-K subsidiary Guinn Records in 1977. With its strummy, jangly folk-rock guitar, incendiary lead lines, big, resonant piano chords and plaintive tinkling, Michael Angelo isn't just a collection of songs, but a fully-conceived, cohesive, album-length statement, which stands toe-to-toe with other 'out-of-time' heroes like Anonymous, Rick Saucedo and Bobb Trimble. There's denseness to Michael's lyrics formed by an active imagination, tapping into abstracts, the unseen, astral and spiritual ideas, fantastical and sci-fi perspectives, character studies, and the other side of life."
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2CD
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LION 680CD
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"Enigmatic exemplar of subterranean overachievers, Michael Angelo Nigro, has long been known to sound-hounds searching for esoteric figures on the fringe. He was a man out-of-time, with unerring vision and dedication, principally known for his head-of-the-class 1977 private-press joy, Michael Angelo (Guinn 1050 -- aka The Guinn Album). The Guinn Album, almost entirely an effort of self-creation, is a staggering, hook-filled, inner space hi-fi snap-shot of dreamy pop psychedelia, filled with contemplative, arresting lyrical imagery that etches lovely figures and carries little to ally it to its time. The same can readily be said of his other recordings of that era, the Sorcerer's Dream tracks, which make their CD debut here. Highly trippy acid guitar with a West Coast edge mingles with haunting melodic vocals, acoustic guitar, synths, gentle percussion and mystical songs; moments of oddness which are difficult to capture on tape, yet done so in an accomplished manner on these recordings. 'I began my recording career in 1975 by becoming a studio musician at Liberty Recording in Kansas City. Between recording commercials and backing other artists I started doing my own recordings. This was the birthplace of the original Michael Angelo album. After about a year, I left Liberty Recording to become a studio musician at Big-K records, also in Kansas City. By coincidence Big-K used the same type of equipment as Liberty, so I finished mixing the first album there. After that, I began recording my second album, which would become A Sorcerer's Dream. Although this album was completed in 1978, it was never released because Big-K closed down' --Michael Angelo. Michael Angelo is a true master of brilliant, spacey, endlessly melodic DIY pop psych. We have to admit, there's something magical about music that sounds like it was made in Anywheresville, Midwest, U.S.A., by a lone hermit painstakingly recording each layer of each song by himself in an empty studio. The end result? well, it's something like a less-produced Bobb Trimble. Much beloved in the world of psychedelia, and with good reason!"
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