From its inception in 1979 – well ahead of most of the current crop of specialist reissue labels operating throughout the world – Australia’s Raven Records flew the flag for high quality anthologies prepared by collectors for collectors.
Raven's highly acclaimed releases were sought out internationally by those who understood and appreciated packages compiled and prepared with knowledge, integrity, attention to detail, a period design empathy, a meticulous concern for sound, and an unmistakable affection.
True 'labours of love', they filled holes in many collections with flair and a rare comprehensivity, setting aside the record company politics that render so many mass-market compilations inadequate or uninspiring.
Established by Australian writer/broadcaster/music historian Glenn A. Baker, a three-time winner of the BBC's Rock Brain of the Universe title and compiler and / or annotator of almost 500 albums over the past 25 years (once described by Rolling Stone magazine Music Editor David Fricke as "Australia's top pop scholar; a world-class rock journalist who writes with the enthusiasm of a true fan").
Along with fellow enthusiast/collector friends Peter Shillito and Kevin Mueller, plus experienced Sound Engineer and mastering expert Warren Barnett, Raven established its reputation compiling vinyl albums and EPs of otherwise unobtainable classic Australian rock / pop, by the likes of The Easybeats, The Missing Links, Bobby & Laurie, The Purple Hearts, The Twilights, The Loved Ones and The Master's Apprentices.
Its Ugly Things series of downunder garage punk became an international sensation, its title becoming an almost generic term for the music.
Raven's strength, right from the beginning, was its ability to bring together a number of sources in the creation of a package, thus being able to prepare thorough career anthologies. Raven – a wholly legitimate concern – has, from its earliest days, licensed material from multi-nationals, small independent labels and, in some cases, direct from the artist.
It was with the advent of the CD era that Raven evolved into one of the world's leading labels of its kind. Using, as a matter of policy, all 78 minutes available to it on a compact disc, and seeking out rarities and curios, it began issuing anthologies that were hailed as the absolute, definitive word on an artist's career.
Expanding its embrace to take in the '70s, '80s and '90s as well as the '50s and '60s, Raven was soon compiling fantastic 'final word' packages of careers and specific periods.
Its diverse catalogue now includes such acts as The Yardbirds, The Animals, The Rascals, Mink DeVille, Gram Parsons, Love, Donovan, Gerry Rafferty, John Hiatt, Michael Martin Murphey, The Four Tops, Leslie West, Nils Lofgren, Fairport Convention, Levon Helm, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Ronnie Spector, Gene Clark, New Christy Minstrels, Jose Feliciano, Hoyt Axton, Steve Young, Alice Cooper and Joe South.
Then there are packages for such Australian heroes as The Church, The Saints, Divinyls, Doug Parkinson, Normie Rowe, Dragon, Bon Scott, Spectrum, Max Merritt and James Reyne. In some cases, such as The Velvet Underground and Del Shannon, deluxe box sets were prepared.
As well, there have been elaborate archival projects conducted in association with the artist or their families and including a great deal of exhumed, previously unreleased material (Sandy Denny, Steeleye Span).
Many have been digitally remastered or Super Bit Mapped. As Raven celebrates its 20th year of operation, it reaffirms its dedication to quality, imagination and diversity. Raven's release stand apart from those of a great many other operations touted as 'collector labels'.
They celebrate the texture, diversity and power of music from the second half of the 20th century.
They touch on pop, rock, country, blues, folk, soul, punk and a range of other genres.
They sound good (courtesy of the tireless efforts of mastering expert Warren Barnett), they look good and, for those who truly care about the sounds within, feel good.
Do you have a favourite band / solo artiste you would like to see given the Raven treatment?
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GOLDEN MILES - Australian Progressive Rock 1969-1974 (2 CD set) Track Listing
Disc 1.
No Dying in the Dark - BAKERY.
Travelling south - CARSON.
Lotus One - LOTUS.
Golden Miles - HEALING FORCE.
Inner Spring - BULLDOG.
Melodies of St Kilda-Southern cross - The MASTER'S APPRENTICES.
Girl of 17 - GALADRIEL.
Lady sunshine - TAMAM SHUD.
You Realise You Realise - Tully.
I am the sea (STOP KILLING ME) - The WILD CHERRIES.
Fanciful flights of mind - Jeff St John's Copperwine.
Getting through - Melissa.
HERE IT COMES AGAIN - PIRANA.
WICHITA LINEMAN - King Harvest.
FREEDOM TRAIN - Friends.
SEASONS OF CHANGE - Fraternity.
SATAN'S WOMAN - Freshwater.
AIN'T NO LOVING LEFT - Fanny Adams
Disc 2
MAKE YOUR STASH - Daddy Cool.
SUPERBODY - Spectrum.
THE DAY SUPERMAN GOT BUSTED - Company Caine.
FREE - Kahvas Jute.
LONG LEGGED LOVELY - Blackfeather.
SHAKE OFF - Tymepiece.
MAKE IT BEGIN - Sons Of The Vegetal Mother.
HUMAN BEING - Coloured Balls.
'TIL MY DEATH - Buffalo.
12LB TOOTHBRUSH- Madder Lake.
EXTRA TERRESTRIAL BOOGIE - MacKenzie Theory.
DARKNESS - Dragon
Total Music Time: 150 minutes
Over the past 10 years Australian progressive/alternative/underground rock of the early 1970s has taken on a huge cult collector following throughout the world; particularly in Europe, where vast sums are paid for scarce original vinyl albums by such bands as Kahvas Jute, Galadriel, Master's Apprentices, Fraternity, Blackfeather, Company Caine, Tamam Shud, Pirana, and New Zealand's Dragon -outfits which forged a distinctive Oz Rock sound that would eventually be embraced by an international mass audience.
To meet the growing demand for material, often only ever pressed up on a mere handful of overlooked albums, Raven has assembled,with its customary intuitive understanding and attention for detail, a definitive 30-track double CD bringing together the most desirable, acclaimed and important examples of Australia Progressive Rock.
A brief history lesson: In the mid-1960s,the leading downunder scream sensations formed an almost unbroken pilgrimage conga line to London, even though only a few managed to secure a foothold. But by the end of the decade there was no pot of gold left at the end of the rainbow. England was no longer swinging and the yellow brick road wasn't really worth the journey any more. At home, the affection for homegrown heroes that existed at radio had evaporated.
So, with nowhere to go and no hits likely to happen, Oz Rock bands bunkered down and playedto their small but usually loyal home audiences, crafting music to fit onto album sides rather than pop playlists.
It was a challenging and confusing era for Australian musicians, who were trying to assimilate and in many cases emulate the waves of extraordinarily diverse progressive and underground rock from the top half of the world.
For these brave riders of a new frontier, teenybopper and bubblegum bands were beneath contempt. The only music that mattered was innovative, adventurous and pushing atthe edges of the envelope - cosmic wonderchild outpourings which terrified radio.
This era lived and died in tandem with outdoor rock festivals. It spanned from the Ourimbah Pop Pilgrimage early in 1970 (Australia's answer to Woodstock) through Wallacia, Mulwalla, Myponga and others, to the four Sunburys (1972-75), and was best appreciated when camping rough on fire-studded hills.
For all the undeniable excesses of the era there were breathtaking musical highlights; some vital, surging, expansiveand trulyexciting adult rock music moments created by masterful guitarists, chilling singers, driven drummers.
Pretty much all of them are carried in this set, which comes with detailed tracking notes by era expert Ian McFarlane, an essay by Glenn A. Baker,period photographs, graphic cover art and the inclusion of some extremely rare tracks from tiny out-of-business labels.
From the ranks of these pioneering bands came individuals who could distinguish themselves in later international rock campaigns -Fraternity's Bon Scott in AC/DC, Bulldog's Mick Rogers in Manfred Mann's Earth Band, Carson's Broderick Smith in the Dingoes, Buffalo's Dave Tice in the Count Bishops, Kahvas Jute's Bob Daisley in Rainbow, the Blizzard of Ozz and Gary Moore Band, and Healing Force's Charlie Tumahai in Be Bop Deluxe.
This is where they stretched the limits and in doing so learned a little about their music; not only where they could take it but where it could take them.
Download Link :
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=VWPY95MS Part one
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=UBWYQMBC Part two
Braen's Machine - Underground (liuto) 1971 italy
