CURVED AIR – PHANTASMAGORIA LP – Nr MINT A2/B2mtx UK PROG

Curved Air – Phantasmagoria
(Warner Bros Records  1972  K46158)
Matrix No’s: A2/B2 – UK Pressing

Vinyl in Nr MINT condition
(there are some surface marks visible on the vinyl when held up to the light but they don’t affect the sound quality apart from the odd light pop/crackle)

Sleeve in Very Good+ condition
– discolouration in bottom right corner, some rubbing and ringwear and “£1” written in top right corner
Insert in Nr MINT condition

Curved Air are a pioneering British progressive rock group formed in 1970 by musicians from mixed artistic backgrounds, including classical, folk, and electronic sound. The resulting sound of the band was a mixture of progressive rock, folk rock, and fusion with classical elements. Along with High Tide and East of Eden, Curved Air were one of the first rock bands after It’s a Beautiful Day and the United States of America to feature a violin. Curved Air released eight studio albums, the first three of which broke the UK Top 20, and had a hit single with “Back Street Luv” (1971) which reached number 4 in the UK Singles Chart.

Phantasmagoria is a 1972 album by Curved Air. It reached No. 20 in the UK Charts and is notable for its early use of the EMS Synthi 100 synthesizer to process lead singer Sonja Kristina’s voice on the second side.

Track listing

Side One

1. “Marie Antoinette” (Darryl Way, Sonja Kristina Linwood) – 6:20
2. “Melinda (More or Less)” (Linwood) – 3:25
3. “Not Quite the Same” (Way, Linwood) – 3:44
4. “Cheetah” (Way) – 3:33
5. “Ultra-Vivaldi” (Way, Francis Monkman) – 1:22

Side Two

1. “Phantasmagoria” (Monkman) – 3:15
2. “Whose Shoulder Are You Looking Over Anyway?”(Monkman) – 3:24
3. “Over and Above” (Monkman) – 8:36
4. “Once a Ghost, Always a Ghost” (Monkman, Linwood) – 4:25

Personnel

• Sonja Kristina – lead vocals, acoustic guitar on “Melinda”
• Francis Monkman – keyboards, electric guitar, percussion on “Over and Above” and “Once a Ghost, Always a Ghost”
• Florian Pilkington-Miksa – drums, percussion on “Once a Ghost, Always a Ghost”
• Darryl Way – violin, keyboards on “Marie Antionette” and “Not Quite the Same”, tubular bells and melon on “Marie Antoinette”
• Mike Wedgwood – bass, vocals, acoustic guitar on “Phantasmagoria”, electric guitar and percussion on “Once a Ghost, Always a Ghost”

Guest musicians

• Annie Stewart – flute on “Melinda (More or Less)”
• Crispian Steele-Perkins – trumpet
• Paul Cosh – trumpet
• Jim Watson – trumpet
• George Parnaby – trumpet
• Chris Pyne – trombone
• Alan Gout – trombone
• David Purser – trombone
• Steve Saunders – trombone
• Frank Ricotti – xylophone, vibes
• Mal Linwood-Ross – percussion
• Colin Caldwell – percussion
• Jean Akers – percussion
• Doris the Cheetah — vocal on “Cheetah”