Once in a while, I’ll find a thing or two that intrigues me in such secondhand markets. This weekend, I found eight albums! Three of which are on a now defunct label, and the last one being a King Crimson album. So, without further ado, I’ll give you some information on the albums and a short review of them.

First up is a promotional copy of Gong Gong‘s 2006 album, Laughing with the Moon. The songs available on bandcampp are of the official release, and I don’t think they’re much different from the promo version, but maybe they slightly are. Also, even though there are only three songs on bandcamp, the full album counts 6 tracks, plus a live track as bonus, as well as a music video. The duo plays a sort electronic jazz that uses a lot of excerpts and programming. It’s a pretty cool and surprising find. Gong Gong have since released two other albums: Mary’s Spring, in 2008, and a Demo in 2011. Their bandcamp versions are free but incomplete, but you can find some CDs on sale on discogs.

Secondly is Xiame, the only album of the trio formed by Jorge Degas, Andreas Weiser, and Michael Rodach. This one came out in 1990, from Germany. The songs on the album are a sort of latin-influenced funky jazz album. Weiser plays a wide variety of percussions that give each song a particular sound, but it’s generally pretty soft and it’s got a sound of the nineties. Just the keyboard’s and guitar’s sounds are so reminiscent of that decade. It’s an interesting discovery, but I don’t see myself listening to it multiple times.

Dobacaracol have been quite popular, here in Quebec, around the year 2004. However, Le calme-son is their first album, and it came out in 2001. This disc is also autographed, for what it’s worth. Their sound is a mix of world music and pop music. It’s pretty good and inoffensive, great for relaxing during a warm and lazy day. This song is in French, but most of the album is in what I believe is Creole, but I couldn’t me sure.

The next three albums are all from “Psycodelic Records”, and came out in 1993. The only thing I could find about the label is their discogs page, which features the third album we’ll be looking at. They’re all from Canada, and I assume they come from Ontario. Strangely, there were multiple copies of each albums, all sealed, for sale. I only took one of each, but if you really want one of these CDs, send me a message and I will try to go back and buy one.

The first one is the most obscure: Daisy Suicide‘s Out of Touch. There wasn’t even the cover art of the album on the Internet before I took a picture and uploaded it here. Sorry I don’t have access to better scanning technology. The artwork is very low resolution and was stretched to the full size, so it’s pixellated, and the yellow font they used for the band’s name and album cover is a very ugly serif font. It strikes out even more due to its better resolution than the artwork on which it’s laid. I’ve digressed a bit too much now, let’s focus on the music. It’s a rather run-of-the-mill alternative hard rock album for its time. It’s not bad, just incredibly bland.

The second album from this trio is Tribal Stomp‘s Soul Factory. It seems like it was once available to buy on Night Songs’s online music store, which is dedicated to hard to find eighties and nineties hard rock and metal albums, but it’s now sold out. The album sounds really influenced by thrash metal and other guitar virtuosos of the glam era. The songs are pretty energetic overall, and feature decent musicianship; they follow the usual song structure, usually ending with a doubled chorus preceded by a “scorching” guitar solo. Well, that’s the idea, at least. Mix it up with a few rock ballads, and you’ve got one of the most predictable albums. Like I said, it’s not really bad, just very mundane. Probably, fans of this genre and era of music will appreciate more than I.

And finally, for this Psycodelic Records’s trio, is Caddis Fly‘s eponymous debut album. It’s also the most interesting one, to me. They play a sort of stoner rock influenced by the pioneers of the genre, but with some sort of alternative rock take on it. The singer sounds not too far from Audioslave’s Chris Cornell, if he lived in a garage and smoked weed and drank beer all day I guess. The guitars are fuzzy and the riffs are pretty good, all that’s lacking is more fuzz, slower heavier riffs, and longer songs, but it’s quite a good listen nonetheless, and a surprising find as well.

Next in line, Vote etnik is apparently the only album of Orkestr ouananik de Ouanani, better known as Ouanani. They play a fusion of world music with electronic dance music, and sing in diverse languages, such as French, Wolof, Khassonke, Spanish, and English. With a quirky and political sense of humour, the booklet is a real delight to read, with such song titles as (translated) “I Am Racist”, “Beaver Pelt Rubber & STD”, and “Nobel Prize of Cunnilingus”. There are plenty of aboriginal and traditional instruments from Africa, South America, and the Carribeans, but in the end the “electronic dance” side of it homogenizes all and renders the songs barely different from one another.

And finally, a CD of the 1989 remastered edition of King Crimson‘s 1969 album, In the Court of the Crimson King. Somewhat strangely, this version is more purple or lavender as opposed to what I assume is supposed to be crimson, or red. In any case, I’ve never been a huge fan of this legendary prog act, but I couldn’t let this $1 disc go by unbought. For those who don’t know King Crimson, they really were at the forefront of the progressive rock movement, and really pushed the boundaries for the next bands, as well as served as an inspiration to many musicians still to this day. However, by today’s standards, they fall short on all sides. So, unless you’re interested in prog history or have a certain soft spot for this era in progressive rock, you can sleep soundly even if you’ve never listened to the band. However, songs like 21st Century Schizoid Man and The Court of the Crimson King are pretty good.