LEONG LAU "Dragon Man" RARE Aussie PRIVATE LP Heavy PROG PSYCH FUNK Superb Copy

	A$		1,492
	$		988

LEONG LAU “Dragon Man” ULTRA RARE Aussie PRIVATE LP HEAVY PROG PSYCH FUNK / SUPERB COPY

MORE to follow . . .

Leong Lau – Dragon Man LP (orig. Australia Sunscape Records STEREO LP10001)

Release date: late 1976.  Recording dates: October 1976.

On offer here is an ULTRA RARE original privately pressed SUNSCAPE RECORDS issue of the debut album by Malaysian-born LEONG LAU.  This album was pressed in a minute quantity and escaped onto the market in late 1976.

Born in Malaysia of Chinese ancestry, Leong Lau studied Chinese Opera and played flute with the Chinese Community Orchestra.  He joined the Sydney Dance Company in 1969 as a dancer and was trained in ballet, modern and improvisational dance.  After five years, he entered the Sydney Conservatorium of Music where he trained in professional music performance and composition, and then played concert flute with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

Leong Lau has remained somewhat of an anomaly in the record collecting scene. “Dragon Man” is a fantastic LP loaded with wah-wah guitar, fuzz solos, flute solos & wild vocals.  An artist with a sound that's as wild as his look on the cover – a definite individual from the Australian underground of the 1970’s – serving up some incredibly offbeat vocals alongside a range of his own instrumentation on guitar, alto, tenor, and flute!  The album has some nice heavy bass at times, which creates a raw funky edge that's a real surprise – not straight funk, but kind of a psych-funk groove that really fits with the rawer bluesy energy that Leong Lau is trying to convey in his music.  A very compelling fusion of sounds from many different corners – with titles that include the long jammer “Deep In The Jungle”, the funky flute workout “Dragon Man”, and the tracks “Soul Baby”, “The Atlas Revolution”, and “Rhythm Pounding”.

This is a really impressive offering!  It’s amazing that an album of this quality still remains relatively unknown to many collectors and dealers.  This private pressing is extremely rare as an original and hardly ever offered for sale.  So do not miss the opportunity to acquire a valuable piece of Australian music history.

weblinks:

(1) Sound clip “Deep in the Jungle” - www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mYL42TXeSg

(2) Sound clip “Rhythm Pounding” - www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMhzFAz_63Y

SIDE 1

1.          The Atlas Revolution (4:50)     Writ: Leong Lau

2.         Ghost Drums (4:49)                 Writ: Leong Lau

3.         Rhythm Pounding (5:55)           Writ: Leong Lau

4.         Dragon Man (4:19)                   Writ: Leong Lau

SIDE 2

5.         Soul Baby (5:41)                      Writ: Leong Lau

6.         Deep in the Jungle (8:35)        Writ: Leong Lau

7.         Love Poem (3:00)                     Writ: Leong Lau

PERSONNEL

     Leong Lau                  lead vocals, guitar, tenor & alto saxophones, flute, harmonica, cornet, percussion

     Paul Pallister              electric & classical guitars

     Alistair Bell               electric bass guitar

     Andrew Evans            drums, percussion

Recorded at Earth Media in Sydney—Australia.

Produced by Leong Lau.  Engineered by Ross.

GRADING (also refer photos)

Cover:

front: EX+ beautiful laminated appearance—insignificant creasing along spine, very minor corner crease (top-left), very early sign of lamination peel along opening edge (although still intact).

back: EX matt finish—insignificant creasing along spine, very minor corner crease (top-left), very minor spotting, one spot stain above ‘hat’ (left of centre).

Poster:

M- fold-out poster—beautiful shiny appearance, completely insignificant handling wear on an otherwise exceptional piece.

Record:

visual: beautiful glossy sheen—insignificant hairlines, few surface scuffs on side 1 so slightly downgraded (track 1: EX, tracks 2-4: VG+, side 2: EX) (seen under strong light).

audible: EX sounds superb overall despite some underlying static due to nature of pressing.  A HIGHLY ENJOYABLE LISTENING EXPERIENCE!

labels: HARDLY ANY SPINDLE WEAR.

GRADING DESCRIPTION

COVER

M:      Absolutely NEW—perhaps still in shrink-wrap.

M-:    Slightly less than MINT.

EX:     Very light wear and/or creasing—defects will be noted.

VG++: Slightly less than EXCELLENT.

VG+:   Slightly better than VERY GOOD.

VG:     Some ring-wear and other signs of aging are apparent—defects will be noted.

VG-:   Slightly less than VERY GOOD.

G:       More obvious ring-wear, seam-splits, stains etc—defects will be noted.

M=MINT, EX=EXCELLENT, VG=VERY GOOD, G=GOOD

NB: Brackets indicate the cover is between one grade and another—eg. VG+(+).

RECORD

M:      Absolutely NEW—perhaps still in shrink-wrap.

M-:    Slightly less than MINT.

EX:     Very light scuffs.  Record played infrequently, with little or no reduction in sound quality.

VG++: Slightly less than EXCELLENT.

VG+:   Slightly better than VERY GOOD.

VG:     Lightly scuffed/marked record, with acceptable sound quality—defects will be noted.

VG-:   Slightly less than VERY GOOD.

G:       More obvious scratches, with some deterioration in sound quality—defects will be noted.

M=MINT, EX=EXCELLENT, VG=VERY GOOD, G=GOOD

NB: Brackets indicate the record is between one grade and another—eg. VG+(+).

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