It must have been five years or so ago that I read some blog about a Spanish jazzrock/fusion outfit called Imán Califato independiente. To be honest, that sounded like a name that was marked for obscurity right from the start. It means 'the independent caliphate Imán' and it was a Commune of Iberian hippies and hipsters who met at a meditiation convention. Most of the time they were floating in space, but every now and then the got together to make some music. Two albums were made, a first one, eponimously called Califato Independiente, in 1978, and the 'always difficult' second album Camino Del Aguila in 1980.
Their music was a unique mix of fiery flamenco, virtuoso Jazzrock, spacey electronics and a large dash of arab-andalusian folk. Mostly instrumental, and very well played. From the aforementioned blog I downloaded a vinyl rip of Camino Del Aguila in a rather poor mp3 quality, but even like that it blew me away. As it turned out, it was very sought after by progheads. Every now and then a vinyl copy would appear on Ebay, and it would fetch a price of or more. Hm...definitely a 2nd category Collectors Item, a one per annum opportunity. I started saving money just in case.
Then a cd-reissue turned up on Ebay, containing both albums. Needless to say, I bought it right away, but my desire for a good vinyl copy did not disappear. I kept searching, but no affordable copies were available and I lost track of it for some time. Then one night, when me and a fellow collector were listening to another obscurity reviewed by me on these humble pages (Alpha Ralpha) I remembered Camino Del Aguila. So I fired up the old iPad and without any expectations I started Knock Knock Knockin' on Discogs' Door. Imagine my stunned surprise when almost instantly I found a freshly posted copy for only like 25 euros. Sleeve condition was (G-), but media condition was (NM). I put it in my virtual shopping cart at once, did a very silly victory dance (causing my friend to almost choke on his Single Malt from laughing) and paid for it.
After a week of almost breathless waiting the parcel was delivered. It turned out that the sleeve was a bit bent on some corners, but no creasing. Some record-outline wear, but nothing serious, and there were some ridges where the high-gloss laminate had rippled, producing what should have been a discarded misprint sleeve. Too bad, but I collect Music, not sleeves. The vinyl appeared to be in pristine condition, no spindle hole wear, no smudges or visible scratches. After giving it a nice bath on my Okki Nokki record cleaning machine it played beautifully, the music emerges from a pitch-black background with no disturbing clicks or pops whatsoever.
And then I realised that I had to come up with a new 'most wanted' obscurity to hunt down, because my long-time number one had been found, a quest had come to an end. I have not decided yet which one that's going to be, but rest assureD that it will be another nigh-impossible to find album. I'll keep you posted if I have the time, the same goes for a proper review of Camino Del Aguila. You'll just have to wait I guess, dunno when another window of spare-time will emerge...
