Description

Ragnarok – Nooks

Released: 1976 | Polydor / Phonogram Records | 2390 109 | Original New Zealand Pressing | LP

Nooks is the second and final studio album from Ragnarok, one of the most distinctive progressive rock bands to emerge from New Zealand in the 1970s. Released in 1976, it followed their highly regarded self-titled debut and found the band developing a more spacious and atmospheric sound, built around Mellotron, Moog synthesiser, piano, Hammond organ, guitar and percussion.

By this stage Ragnarok had become a four-piece following the departure of vocalist Lea Maalfrid, with Ramon York, Ross Muir, Mark Jayet and André Jayet creating an instrumental palette that moves between progressive rock, psychedelia and cosmic space-rock. The album has a distinctly exploratory character, with extended instrumental passages and synthesiser textures giving it an otherworldly quality.

Nooks is now regarded as a particularly scarce piece of New Zealand progressive rock, with original copies highly sought after by collectors. The album was released on Polydor in New Zealand and includes a printed lyric sheet.

Track Listing

Side 1

1. Five New Years
2. Waterfall – Capt. Fagg
3. Fourteenth Knock
4. Paths of Reminiscence

Side 2

1. The Volsung
2. Semolina
3. Nooks

A rare and fascinating piece of 1970s New Zealand progressive rock, Nooks is an important collector’s record from one of the country’s most adventurous and under-recognised bands.