Steamhammer
1972-06-09 _ Stuttgart, Germany _ Gustav-Siegle-Haus _ (Mk2-M1-AUD)

~*~ Mk2 Version ~ carefully remastered fixing various issues, with NEEDED EQ ~*~

<�[|�_*_�|]�> DimeTravel brings you "British Blues BOOM!" Volume 10 <�[|�_*_�|]�>

01-[28:53]. Penumbra (*)
02-[07:07]. Hold That Train

Total Time ::: 36:00

::: Quite fine AUD. Check samples for appall or appeal factors, but fudd says yr knees will knock!
::: Warts: Overly bright sound, but greatly improved on this Mk2 remastered with EQ version. You still may wanna dial down the treble a little bit. Extremely varied levels between channels, now mostly repaired. Fixed many dullspots & dropouts, but surely missed a few.
::: (*) Penumbra not necessarily the same parts in "Speech" album order. See notes below.
::: CONTRAST CLAUSE: This is the Mk2 version, a remastered version WITH EQ. For the Mk1 version without EQ, look elsewhere.
::: If you've neglected the "Speech" era, DON'T MISS THIS! It'll crack open yr eyes & ears.
::: WAY more intense than the LP in some respects - not so methodically arranged & a better amalgam of psych & prog aspects of the band (IMO).
::: If you dig "Speech", likely your ears have already danced right off your head in anticipation. Enjoy it.
::: "Speech" recorded in winter 1971 & first issued in early 1972, so the band is touring to promote the new album.

Recording Information ::: unknown mono (reel?) equipment -> master mono audience (reel?) tape (played back on stereo deck) -> 1st generation Maxell XLII-90 cassette, Dolby B on.

Playback 201504-xx ::: 1st generation Maxell XLII-90 cassette on Nakamichi 680ZX cassette deck, Dolby B on, azimuth adjusted for individual tape, heads cleaned & demagnetized -> Sony Linear PCM Recorder PCM-M10 (LPCM 44.10kHz/16bit WAV files) -> computer -> Audacity [normalisation to remove DC offset, channel/phase alignment, fades, manual one-at-a-time glitch, bump, pop, click, dropout & dullspot repairs, volume adjustments, pitch fixed in 2 parts, with single pass per segment, after frequency analysis & with pitchpipe verification, with EQ to lower overly bright sound] -> CD Wave (track splits) -> flacs (Trader's Little Helper) -> yr ears. First uploaded week of 2015-07-04.

Further remastering notes ::: Seemingly mono with extremely varied levels between channels, now mostly repaired. Overly bright sound, but Dolby was definitely used on playback (it was even redone a 2nd time in case a mistake was made). Recording was out of phase (now corrected). I'm not a trained EQ guy, but this sounds much better to my ears (and on my stereo). Select your own pill to swallow.

Line-up ::: Martin Pugh - electric guitar, vocals // Louis Cennamo - electric bass, electric bowed bass, vocals // Bruce Michael Paine (or Payne, depending on where you see it) - lead vocals, possibly rhythm electric guitar // John Lingwood - drums, percussion.

Nothing here ever commercially released to my knowledge. If I'm wrong, please advise & I'll take the offending trax offline.

DimeTravel 143 ::: Thanks to the original taper & trader! All hail DIMER zubbid for intense examination & weighing in on the line-up & creating the traxlist. Thanks to DIMER propylaen for venue name correction. ::: Corrections welcome ::: Straying quite far from their British blues roots here & encorporating psychedelia into more progressive lands. This is another missing link, as the band has gone thru more changes. Bradley died in February (replaced by Lingwood) and the Fuzzy Duck vocalist, Garth Watt-Roy, who guested on "Speech", has been replaced by regular band-member Bruce Michael Paine on lead vocals (and some guitar). It is, perhaps, not exactly "Penumbra" in the album form, but I am sure some of you will be able to figure out what's going on. DIMER zubbid pointed out, "Interestingly, they appear to have subsequently made up some words for the bit (Part 2: 'Battlements'?) that starts at 3:20-ish on the studio version", for example, and we get a full on bass assault which mutates into a bowed bass wonder for an intro, etc. I'm actually partial to this version over the record, as I think it is heavier and, while the song parts are arranged it sounds less methodical - there is some serious chaotic mayhem going on, due in great part to the astonishing, fantasically heavy bass/bowed bass of Mr Cennamo, whose contributions are innumerable here. I followed zubbid's advice & went for the single track for "Penumbra", as, "despite an obvious spot for a potential break in Penumbra, it sounds like the audience understood that the piece was continuing through that silence; there must've been some visual (lighting, body language) cue that they were supposed to hold their applause until something else happened". And then, neither he nor I was entirely ready to commit to the breakdown of the parts here, seeing as how some adaptatations appear to have been or are being made to the piece. Then, as a set closer, we get an old Steamhammer jammer fave, "Hold That Train" which takes on a whole new light with the band's new line-up at this time - don't expect the "straight-forward" song you are familiar with, but something more demented with familiar threads woven thru it. Likely this is the band's entire set... Really too bad I never got to see Steamhammer, but VERY cool a few German hippies were so into the band they went to great lengths to document the band's work - a LOT more work than it is today. Their efforts saved a large representative body of music by the band, much of which is woefully under-represented on their commercial recordings. Listen, enjoy, show appreciation, share, give, spread peace. Yrs truly, Knees

Support the artists! Nothing to buy, but check Martin Pugh's at www.steamhammer.com & the Repertoire CD's are still floating, I think, so do yourself a favor & buy them & hope some of the royalities line the right pockets. Don't know where to start? If you don't own the first album (self-titled aka "Reflection"), it is one of the mighty, and its two follow-ups are royally excellent as well & "Speech" seems to be the Brain of choice for many.

Do whatever you want with it except sell it, 'cause that ain't cool!