Psych Progressive- PHOENIX- Mugur de Fluier- 1974 First Press ELECTRECORD LP

$

55

This is an Electrecord (Romania) White With Red Writtimg FIRST PRESS Label LP.
It was released in the 1974.
Label Number is STM-EDE 0968.
The cover is a Gatefold cover
_______________________________________________________________
RECORD CONDITION : VERY GOOD++

COVER CONDITION :  VERY GOOD
_______________________________________________________________

PHOENIX - Mugur de Fluier :

Studio Album, released in 1974

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Lasa, lasa Nr. 1 (1:28)
2. Pavel Chinezu, leat 1479 (6:12)
3. Strunga (7:23)
4. Andrii Popa (3:11)
5. Lasa, lasa Nr. 2 (0:35)
6. Mica Tiganiada (3:22)
7. Lasa, lasa Nr. 3 (0:58)
8. Ochii negri, ochi de tigan (3:24)
9. Muzica si muzichia (2:10)
10. Mugur de fluier (3:55)
11. Lasa, lasa Nr. 4 (0:41)
12. Anule, hanule (5:15)
13. Lasa, lasa Nr. 5 (0:37)
14. Dansul codrilor (6:21)

Total Time : 45:32

Line-up / Musicians - Nicolae Covaci / guitar, double six, vocals, percussion
- Iosif Kappl / bass, vocals, violin, blockflote, percussion, chimes
- Mircea Baniciu / vocals, guitar, percussion
- Costin Petrescu / drums, cymbalom, percussion
- Valeriu Sepi / percussion
- Gunter Reininger / percussion, celesta, chimes

"Mugur de Fluier" is the second release of this amazing Romanian band and even when we can appreciate they still maintain a certain attachment to 60's Psyche, the sound is much more oriented towards folkloric musical expressions of their country, a path they will follow through their extended career, being that after 37 years they are still active.

The album starts with "Lasa, Lasa Nº 1" a short percussion and bass based song that will be a constant along the album as introduction and interlude between the central tracks, with the peculiarity of being played faster in each version so starts relatively slow in Nº 1 and ends incredibly fast in the Nº 5 version.

The second song is "Pavel Chinezu, Leat 1479", an interesting Proto Prog track based mostly in the ability of Covaci's guitar an Kappl's bass, some certain resemblance to GRAND FUNK RAILROAD, but the unique vocals makes it different to every previous to PHOENIX Rock band.

"Strunga" begins with a sweet Romanian flute sound (most surely blockflotte) with all the ethnic flavor of Transylvanian music that leads rapidly to a beautiful acoustic passage in which the vocals make the difference, sadly can't understand Romanian but sounds great and the arrangements are very interesting.

"Andrii Popa" starts with a delightful acoustic introduction supported by the always nice vocals, the song flows fluidly from start to end, again with a strong bass work, as the album advances the band gets closer to an authentic ethnic sound and morph from a psyche album with folk elements to a Prog Folk release.

After "Lasa Lasa Nº 2" already commented we move to the exquisite and nostalgic "Mica Tiganiada" played with the Romanian 12 string guitar called "Double Six", even when the song gets faster as the minutes pass that sad atmosphere proper of most Folk expressions continues covering the listener, but a sudden change occurs, an aggressive violin makes the difference and turns "Mica Tiganiada" into extraordinary song.

"Lasa Lasa Nº 3" works as an interlude for the clearly Romanian Folk oriented sound of "Ochii Negri, Ochi de Tigan" (Black Eyes, Gypsy Eyes), a very sweet and fascinating song, as in the previous track the nostalgia is more than evident, wish I could understand the lyrics.

"Muzica si Muzichia" is another wonderful folk track, this time with more complex arrangements than in the previous songs, being that the blend of occidental and Romanian instruments is done with a very good taste despite the complexity. "Mugiur de Fluier" follows in the vein of the previous tracks but the use of the fluier gives a different sound, something between a Medieval Troubadour and Ian Anderson with a modern transverse flute, if we add "Anule Hanule" it makes the perfect trilogy so by this point I can't be more delighted.

But the band leaves the best for the end, "Dansul Codrilor" is the perfect blend of Folk, Rock and Prog, easier to listen than to be described, so I won't try to do it.

__________________________________________________________________________

MINT (M) - Perfect vinyl record album, possibly never opened (still sealed, though even that can be deceiving as it is easy to reseal them). No writing on the label or fading, no wrinkling, no color-wear. Be very cautious when buying a record that someone rates as a mint record, because the term is overused, and this is a very subjective area of record collecting.

NEAR MINT (NM) - Almost perfect record, like you just brought it home from the record store. This record should have no signs of wear; maybe played once or twice. The album cover or jacket should be in pristine condition, with no creases, folds, splits or defects, and have all its original applicable inserts. Record album should play with no background noise and certainly not be scratched or warped. This is also the highest price listed in all Goldmine price guides.

VERY GOOD PLUS/EXCELLENT (VG+/E) - Generally worth 50 percent of the Near Mint value. The record should have a minimum of visual (slight ring wear) or audible imperfections that do not detract from the sound quality of the record. The album cover may have some slight wear, some turned corners, creases, or slight seam split. Slight warps that do not affect the sound are OK and acceptable to most collectors. In short, this is a record you would be comfortable paying a premium price to acquire, taking all things into consideration. Most record collectors' collections will fit into this category, because they went to great lengths to preserve the vinyl, the album jacket and its contents. Also, this is what they are most likely to purchase (assuming a near mint copy was not available or just too expensive).

VERY GOOD (VG) - Generally worth 25 percent of the Near Mint value. VG is a step down from VG+ in that the imperfections are more pronounced (groove wear, ring wear) and not only can you see the difference, you can hear the difference (that is the ultimate test). A lot of records that fall into this category were well-taken care of, but the owners purchased the record not so much as a collector's item, but to be played; hence the record and the album jacket will show signs of human handling or the occasional beer spill.

GOOD (G) - Generally worth 10-15 percent of the Near Mint value. Obvious signs of wear and scratches. A record not taken care of by its owner. It will play without skipping, but you will probably pass on adding it to your collection. Why? It is generally not worth that much. You do have a decision to make if you know that it is a rare record, but it may be best to wait until you can find a better copy of it.

FAIR and POOR records, unless they're the rarest of the rare, are best suited for the trash. Experience suggests that you not buy anything lower than a record rated Good because of the low resale value of the record and the quality of the sound, which is diminished because of the flaws in the vinyl itself.