Dark - Round the Edges 1971

Crafting a musical skeleton that has as much in common with British folk as it does with West Coast jam bands, DARK wouldn't be unlike a lot of other psychedelic bands in the late sixties/early seventies. What made them different was one thing: a solid understanding of fuzzy guitar. Rather than merely using the fuzzbox to show off, DARK incorporated it into the build of their songs, laying it across moody, heavy tracks that approached sprawling.
It all began in 1968, when guitarist Steve Giles grabbed other guitarist Martin Weaver, drummer Clive Thorneycroft and bassist Ronald Johnson, and formed Dark at a school in Northhampton. Local touring followed for several years, until, in 1972, the band only produced their first album, the not-quite-as-scary-as-you'd-think "Round the Edges" (occasionally featuring Colin Bush on bass. Go figure).
Only about sixty copies were issued, and original albums remain a collector's item to this day (it has been re-released several times since '72. Obviously, or else I wouldn't have heard it), and has been hailed as the UK's most expensive album. Soon after the album was released, the band broke up, and its members were scattered to the four winds (aka other bands and failed solo projects).
An effort was made at a revival in the early Nineties, which resulted in more local live shows; however, no new album was produced. Despite a couple of records of outtakes, the only true album by this intelligent jam band remains "Round the Edges

01.Darkside 7:26
02.Maypole 5:00
03.Live For Today 8:04
04.R.C.8. 5:02
05.The Cat 5:19
06.Zero Time 6:45
Bonus :
07.In The Sky 4:14
08.Wasting Your Time 4:56
09.Could Have Sworn 4:53
10.Maypole 5:50

Dark :
Steve Giles - guitars, vocals, producer
Ron (Ronald) Johnson - bass
Clive Thorneycroft - drums, percussion
Martin Weaver - guitar

Flac + Cover 385 Mb