THE LOST BROADCASTS

A recent and oh-so precious live and filmed TV broadcast of one of the more enigmatic bands of the turn of the 60's, this DVD sees the TEB is a way very unusual form, the band bing much more electric than one could've anticipated in most of their studio albums (with the exception of the posthumous The Magus release). Indeed, a "normal" fan of TEB wouldn't expect to see or hear a rock band, but that's exactly what we get on this German TV Beat-Club broadcast. The group is presented with electric guitar and bass, oboe, drums and percussions, quite far away from the cello, clarinet, percussions and violins usual studio instrumental version. Ok, outside mainstay Sweeney (drums) and Paul Minns (oboe), we find newcomer Paul Buckmaster (bass) and Denim Bridges (double-necked guitar) and some (unidentified) black conga player. So we're fairly close to the line-up that would go on to record the McBeth soundtrack

Only three tracks in this Radio Bremen session, dating from Sept 70, all three apparently in a different decorum showing all the studio trickery of the German television of the era. The opening 6-mins In D is obviously an evolution of the Raga In D, reworked for the band's present line-up and provides a slight trance and features Bridges' guitar answering Minns' oboe. It's clear that the conga player is a recent addition, and he's not yet familiar with the band's material, but he's no deadweight either. One of the major surprises is the second track, the previously never-released before 8-mins+ Hyde Park, that features some vocals, courtesy of Bridges, but the main lead instrument is Paul Minns' haunting oboe. As for the fantastic 15-mins David Groching, we're dealing with a modal improvisation that sends us flying across the stratosphere and into the troposphere. Exhilarating stuff.

Ok, the TEB is rather static, but you can't expect them to pull Blackmore or Page stage antics on such transient music, but outside of Hyde Park, the filming and light effects are entertaining enough. While the running time is just around a half-hour, if you can find this at a decent prize, this is an absolute must, even if the band's format is not the most representative of what to expect from TEB.