Okay, this is going to be a bit of a biased post, as I've been "more or less" lucky to work with and for the German World In Sound-label for quite some time now. And I say more or less because as with many things, there are pros and cons to being a musician myself and also working in the biz. To be clear: WIS is great! You can find a plethora of super cool, often unheard musicians and bands there, if you have patience to discover these for yourself ... which I sometimes think is becoming a lost art, to have patience.
And working with WIS, you need even more of that same, patience ;) There may be more "professional" labels who may have better distribution, big ole' ads in music papers, music videos and all that fancy stuff, but a lot of them probably don't have half the heart of the guy behind this little WIS-organization, who is a guy named Wolf with a voice like the same ;) a guy who fits in kind of nicely with all this "craziness" here.
So, all I wanted to do with this little post is introduce a few of the amazing artists that are united under the umbrella of WIS, since there are many, it may help to have a starting point. WIS is basically divided into two branches, stuff from the past (60-80s) and new groups. Pretty much all of it is worth a music lover's attention, I swear ... Some of my personal highlights from the classics would be the following:
FRED - the best band, the biggest enigma
It is quite a miracle that WIS in deep rural Germany was the first and only label to release this early US psych-prog highlight! A band from Pennsylvania that never released much during their active period in the 1970s, which is very strange since this is a really great group with similarities to King Crimson, or Frank Zappa including a wonderful wailing violin as in It's a Beautiful Day.
DARIUS a.k.a. the Psychedelic King
This guy is one of the absolute mysteries for me, with two great albums, a truckload of talent and great musicianship, yet remained a total underdog. Fans of The Doors must really love his stuff, at least I do, so give this a spin ...
FEAR ITSELF - female fronted psych was big at WIS, long before it became a trend
Among several female fronted psychedelic bands on the WIS label, this is the standout featuring the amazing Ellen McIlwaine, who (like many others) never made it past a sort of insider tip status, despite being pretty much in league with other acid rock singers of the era. Her backing band was a bit sloppy though, well, that has its own charm for me ...
GOLDENROD - forefathers of Earthless?!
Maaan, seriously check these freaks out! A late 60's band formed by amazing studio musicians who worked with the aforementioned Darius, but also with "the King" Elvis Presley himself, The Doors, The 5th Dimension and others. Maybe that already speaks for itself, but this album is really a trip, a kind of Blue Cheer with better sound and musicianship maybe?
CLIMAX - Hooray for South America!
There were also quite a few early South American proto-prog releases on WIS. Bands like Modulo 1000, Laghonia and then Climax, which, at least for me, are the highlight of these. The opening track alone is worth getting into this rare recording. Great rhythms and relentless fuzz guitar will get you excited!
The oddballs: HAMANA, MICHAEL JAMES, MARCUS and more
This is kind of the wildest part of WIS, Loner Acid Folk in all its beautiful obscurity. If you're looking for something different from all the rest, which is still a wonderful part of an almost forgotten universe - ... and I could say that for pretty much all WIS releases, old and new - Dig in!
And there are so many more true psychedelic gems like THE ID, DRAGONWYCK, MYSTIC SIVA, THE HEADSHOP, JEFF SIMMONS etc, see also www.worldinsound.com and no, I won't get paid for this post ;) I really am quite proud of being part of this crazy trip!
