Shroomangel

OZ KNOZZ - Ruff Mix

""First legitimate reissue of one of the best US private press hard rock/progressive rock albums of the 1970s. From the master tapes. Formed in 1969 in Houston, TX, Oz Knozz's original crew included multi-instrumentalists Jack Alford, Bill Massey and Duane Massey. Alford left the group in 1971 and was replaced by drummer Marty Naul, while the next year the trio was joined by guitarist Richard Heath. The band had also a three-man horn section, which was dropped quite fast, although horns remained a part of the band's sound, even on their rare and epochal 1975 private press debut Ruff Mix, released on the band's own Ozone label. Ruff Mix mainly grooves in hard rock territory -- the second track "Peanut Butter Yoni" sounds a bit like Judas Priest with a proto-metal feeling; but the album also has elements of progressive rock, horn rock, and pomp rock. Like most bands of the era, the idea was to throw out a few different styles to see if something would stick... the theory being that a major label would hear the private album by chance and sign said band so they could open for Led Zeppelin or Foghat's next US tour... or something like that. What separates Oz Knozz from others is a strong compositional component, the band have plenty of original ideas and muster superb instrumentation. The guitar work ranges from hard and powerful to melodic and bluesy and is supported by some great keyboard, including awe-inspiring organ and synth waves. The three-part 15-minute 'Doodley Squat' suite features heavy dual keyboard parts, crunchy guitars and expressive vocals; the result is a terrific hard prog track with lot of energy. For many, the standout track is the groovy and infectious horn rocker, which sounds as dated as the movement itself and easily could have been from 1969. High energy and impressive songwriting. Love it."" - Shroomangel Records.
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After nearly a decade of false starts, multiple game plans veering off the rails, and a handful of shattered hopes and/or dreams, the odyssey is finally complete—the new Fusetron site is here.

This is the first phase of a multipart rollout that will span the next few months: the currently browsable stock includes miscellaneous new releases from the past 8+ months (we have a lot of catching up to do), plus approximately a third of our backstock. Note that we’ve reduced/slashed prices on many titles and will continue to do so in order to make room for new stock. We’ll also be expanding / tweaking / improving / debugging the site itself (for example, we still have work to do on the automated international postage system, not to mention the inevitable inventory discrepancies that come with transferring an ancient and massive database to a new system).

Over the next few months, as we take inventory, clean house, and delve into our storage, we will be uploading thousands of additional items, gradually, on a near-daily basis. This will include the majority of the LPs, as well as many titles, in all formats, once thought long-gone. Many currently “sold out” items are likely to resurface.

Finally, once our general backstock is up (probably in the next two or three months) we’ll begin making our extensive stockpile of rarities available online for the first time: tons of random out-of-print titles, "deadstock," warehouse finds, secondhand collectibles, etc., accumulated over the past few decades.

Frequent/returning customers will be getting early access to these items. Details to follow on how this will work (a priority mailing list? a 'frequent flyer'-like program?), but it will not be based on dollars spent. We want to reward those who consistently support us, especially in the discogs marketplace era (to those who show up trying to poach five copies of a one-off rarity, and nothing else, ever… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ).

So—we suggest you take some time to dig through the site—even we’ve been surprised by what’s been turning up, and there’s much more to come.
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