ARZACHEL - original early press Roulette EX vinyl Psych/prog Egg Canterbury

	£		155
	$		205

ARZACHEL 

self/untitled

Roulette (Bellaphon)

Original German Press

1ST Edition Roulette matrices

BLPS  19113

THE FIRST THING TO POINT OUT IS THAT THERE IS NOT ONE JOT OF DISTORTION AT ANY POINT AND THUS NO GROOVE WEAR. CLEARLY PLAYED ON A SYSTEM THAT HAS A CORRECTLY WEIGHTED AND UNWORN STYLUS

A CRISP CLEAN  SOUND THAT IS JUST PURE FABULOUS

NO BACKGROUND CRACKLE WHATSOEVER, AND CERTAINLY NO LOUD CLICKS

THE MONO REPRODUCTION IS JUST MAGNIFICENT, AND THERE IS JUST THE OCCASIONAL LIGHT BIT OF STATIC LIKE VINYL NOISE HERE AND THERE, HEARD ONLY IN THE QUIETEST OF SPOTS.

I CAN'T SAY THAT I HEARD ANY MORE THAN A COUPLE OF RANDOM LITTLE DUST POPS THROUGH THE ENTIRE PLAY

I AM MORE THAN HAPPY TO GRADE THIS INCREDIBLE VINYL'S AUDIO AS EXCELLENT TO NEAR MINT!!!  

Thick, heavyweight vinyl regarded as the 'finest' and most true encapsulation of this historical recording was used for these pressings - they were pressed direct from the original master plate. As a result of them coming straight from the masters, nothing even gets close to them today. They play with a deep clear warmth and the sound has to be heard to be believed! The detail and clarity is nothing short of stunning.

 HOLY GRAIL PSYCH/PROG LP  ESPECIALLY IN THIS GREAT CONDITION!  PLAYS AWESOME ON EACH SIDE!!!  TRY TO FIND ANOTHER COPY LIKE THIS ONE!!!  A FANTASTIC COLLECTOR'S COPY! 

  The English band Arzachel (previously known as Uriel) had an excellent line-up. Their self-titled only album release featured legendary guitarist Steve Hillage and keyboard player Dave Stewart who later went on to achieve great success when he teamed up with Barbara Gaskin for "It's My Party (And I'll Cry If I Want To). Mont Campbell performed on vocals (also a vocalist with Egg and National Health) and the Impressive drummer on the album was Clive Brooks. They all appeared on this album under assumed names. Arzachel will appeal equally to fans of Psychedelic Rock, Progressive Rock and Space Rock.

The first track "Garden of Earthly Delights" is a very promising and impressive opening to the album and nicely sets the scene for the album as a whole. The track features a very pleasant rock organ playing in the background overlaid with electric guitar and fine vocals. The track ends with some appealingly far-out psychedelic guitar playing from Steve Hillage. Track 2 "Azathoth" has a very religious feel to it, opening with a resonant church organ and charming ethereal vocals. The middle section of the song features some powerfully heavy and freaky guitar riffs, before returning to the more sedate sound of the church organ towards the end. Track 3 "Queen St. Gang" is an instrumental and it's the stand-out track on the album for me. Again, it features the magnificent sound of the organ under-laying the music as a whole, together with some gently laid-back drumming. It was composed by Keith Mansfield. Track 4 "Leg" opens with an impressive organ solo before launching into heavy electric guitar riffs, twinned with powerful bass and drumming in the rhythm section. After the deceptively quiet beginning, this track turns into a real out-and-out rocking barnstormer of a song. Track 5 "Clean Innocent Fun", at over 10 minutes long, begins as a slow and heavy, full-on psychedelic jam which gathers in pace and dramatic intensity as the song progresses and should appeal to fans of Jimi Hendrix. The final track on the album "Metempsychosis" is the longest number at over 16 minutes in length. The track opens with some freaky sound effects before launching into some powerful and throbbing Space Rock which is very reminiscent of Hawkwind's early albums. This is by far the heaviest track on the album and features some wonderfully freaky psychedelic guitar licks. The song has a hauntingly reflective middle section before returning to the heavy pounding rhythm for the grand finale to the album. (review from: progarchives.com)

 Vinyl: EX. A super copy!!! I have played this in full> There are NO jumps, NO clicks and NO sticks!!! It still retains a beautiful glossy sheen. Even under an intense light it looks great with only a few wispy hairline traces. The audio is stunning all the way and this album sounds fantastic. The labels are mint without traces or discolouring. All tracks play with strong gusto and the channel separation is just awesome! It totally went under the radar and is now extremely scarce on this very collectable German label. This is the best I have seen or heard ever!!  

Credits

• Bass Guitar, Vocals – Njerogi Gategaka
• Drums – Basil Dowling
• Lead Guitar, Vocals – Simeon Sasparella
• Organ – Sam Lee-Uff
• Written-By – Arzachel, Keith Mansfield (tracks: A3)

Notes

Barcode and Other Identifiers

• Matrix / Runout: blps . 1913.A
• Matrix / Runout: blps . 1913.B  (from: discogs.com)

 Sleeve: EX. Laminated sleeve.  In lovely condition really considering that this sleeve is so very prone to extensive wear,  the opening is still nice and crisp and is a strong indicator that this LP has not been handled much and has been well preserved in its protective polythene sleeve. It has a colourfill in the top left area which is hard to spot at first sight. The opening is crisp and shows it has been looked after very well. The edges are near perfect, the pictures tell all. The spine is 100%. A couple of tiny creases as per the pictures.

Labels: NM. No writing, no spindle traces.

This is a unique investment opportunity!!! This album hardly sold at all. Finding this album in any condition at all is nearly impossible so late in the day. Condition is what counts and this album really delivers, an upgrade for most collectors. A very hard album to find in any condition these days, leave alone in this EX condition. This album is only going to go one way ... up and up ... until it will be totally unavailable at all for a reasonable price. How many would be left???

This an excellent investment opportunity!!! Any questions please ask me and I will try to answer soon.

Important : International postage will be registered and insured if over GBP 20.00.  Please wait for my invoice before paying. Postage will be according to Royal Mail rates. Postage is NOT a money spinning exercise for me.

Though there are rarely ever any problems with my items, I always try my very best to describe everything exactly!  PLEASE REMEMBER to contact me FIRST,  if you have any problems at all, before you leave feedback and star ratings, so I get a chance to turn any negative experience into a positive one!  I can always happily sort anything out for you, if you let me know you have a problem!  This way no one has to leave Negative/Neutral feedback - and we both walk away happy! Similarly with the amount of stars, anything less than a full 5 * rating is effectively detrimental to a seller's rating as lower ratings will incur higher Final Value Fees  and lower priority in the bidlists eventually making it unattractive to list items on Ebay at all. I know of at least one major previous Ebay seller who has decided not to list via Ebay again. Please do NOT bid if you cannot give me at least 1 chance to sort everything out to your FULL satisfaction in the unlikely event of a problem.  Thanks again!!

This an excellent investment opportunity!!! Any questions please ask me and I will try to answer soon.