START MAY WITH NEW DISCS FROM: OTOMO YOSHIHIDE [3 DIFFERENT]! WILLIAM PARKER QUARTET! MORE ESP REMASTERS! DJ SPOOKY & DAVE LOMBARDO! 2 FROM JOE FONDA: NU BAND & FONDA/STEVENS GROUP! HARD TO GET 'RHINO HANDMADE' LTD EDITIONS! JOELLE LEANDRE & INDIA COOKE! GARY LUCAS' GOLEM DVD! STEFAN WOLPE! DANIELE D'AGARO! WILLIAM BASINSKI! 2 from HENRY WARNER ! , SHRIMPBOAT'S FIRST ALBUM! DOZENS OF GROOVY HISTORIC RECORDINGS! FROM LABELS LIKE 'ACADIA', 'REPERTOIRE', 'BIG BEAT', & 'COLLECTOR'S CHOICE' !!!!!!


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Greetings to serious music fans worldwide from the 'Communications Director' of The Stone, yours truly, BLG
We at DMG are proud to play a part of John Zorn's new performance space, The Stone, named after our old friend Irving Stone, known to his friends as just "Stone".
The first month has gone very well and The Stone is indeed a wonderful setting to hear new music without the usual distractions. No drinks, no food, no posters, no magazines, no recording or photos without the permission of each particular night's artists. The Stone is very intimate and pretty small, just sixty or so seats, a dozen cushions for the floor and a small standing room area., maximum 80 admissions. There are no advance tickets, just first come first served, cash at the dorr, exact change appreciated. There is no paid advertising for the Stone, just their website, our website and the DMG newsletter. It is mostly just the old fashioned way, word-of-mouth, so please tell your friends. Attendance has pretty strong so far, thanks to those you out there who've been there or at least spread the word.
Opening night was a wonderful night to bring in the spirit of this new place. It was one of those incredible all-star improv affairs that put players in different combinations. Featured throughout the night were John, Zorn, Marty Ehrlich & Ned Rothenberg on saxes, Fred Sherry & Okkyung Lee on cellos, Jim Staley on trombone, Shanir Blumenkranz on bass and 4 drummers: Kenny Wollesen, Lukas Ligeti, Tony Buck (from The Necks) and Cyro Baptista. Stephanie Stone, Irving's wife, was sitting up front for this and other gigs this month, and getting a smile or a wink from many of the players involved. Ben Ratliff covered it for The NY Times and did a swell job. Each month will include an all-star improv night to help raise funds for The Stone to continue. On all other nights, the musicians receive 100% of the door money, a first. There have been a number of other wonderful sets so far this month and many more to come, so please come on down and check it out.
For May, Dutch pianist, composer and longtime co-leader for ICP Orchestra, Misha Mengelberg, will be celebrating his 70th birthday, by playing for two weeks straight at The Stone, from May 1st -15th. Misha is an incredible and iconoclastic modern jazz pianist and these two weeks are truly an historic event. This is a rare opportunity to check out one of the true giants of modern jazz piano working with a different duo, trio or group each night. The schedule is listed below, so get those calenders out. The June schedule is to be curated by modern classical cellist Fred Sherry, so surprises are in certainly store. We'll send out that schedule soon.


MAY AT THE STONE curated by Misha Mengelberg

admission $15 for all sets this month

SHOWS AT 8 AND 10 PM Tuesday - Sunday, closed Mondays

Sun May 01 : Misha Mengelberg (piano) Shanir Blumenkranz (bass) Ben Perowsky (drums)

Tues May 03 : Misha Mengelberg (piano) Ikue Mori (electronics)

Wed May 04 : Brad Jones Band with Misha Mengelberg (piano)

Thur May 05 : Misha Mengelberg (piano) Brad Jones (bass) George Lewis (trombone)

Fri May 06 : Misha Mengelberg (piano) Eugene Chadbourne (guitar)

Sat May 07 : Misha Mengelberg (piano) Dave Douglas (trumpet)

Sun May 08 : Misha Mengelberg (piano) Mat Maneri (violin)

Tues May 10 : Rick Herter (guitar) Perry Robinson (clarinet) Ed Schuller (bass) George Schuller (drums) with Misha Mengelberg (piano)

Wed May 11 : Misha Mengelberg (piano) Rick Herter (guitar)

Thur May 12 : Misha Mengelberg (piano) Marcus Rojas (tuba) Tyshawn Sorey (drums)

Fri May 13 : Misha Mengelberg (piano) Frances- Marie Uitti (cello) Ikue Mori (electronics)

Sat May 14 : Misha Mengelberg (piano) Mark Feldman (violin)

Sun May 15 : Improv Party with Misha Mengelberg (piano) John Zorn (saxophone) & many special guests

May 16 through May 31 CLOSED FOR RENOVATIONS

The Stone is located at the corner of 2nd Street & Avenue C

The Stone website


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WILLIAM PARKER QUARTET - Sound Unity (Aum Fidelity 34) Featuring Rob Brown on alto sax, Lewis Barnes on trumpet, William Parker on double bass & compositions and Hamid Drake on drums. This is the third fabulous disc from William Parker's incredible quartet. The first two, 'O'Neal's Porch' (2002) and 'Raining on the Moon' (2003) were both stunning in their own ways. 'O'Neal's Porch' remains William Parker's most popular and most swinging disc, appearing on a number of yearly best-of lists.
'Sound Unity' was recorded live from two concerts, one at the Vancouver International Jazz Festival in July of 2004 and the other from the Casa de Popolo Festival in June of 2004. 'Sound Unity' features six new compositions and each is marvelous, vibrant and transcendent. A beautifully balanced quartet that swings together, buoyant and infectious melodies and grooves. This is a truly joyous release, it feels like a ray of sunshine peeking through those dark clouds. You can feel the love and respect that all four members have for one another, as they work/play together as one solid unit. Besides the endless supply of inspired solos from each member, there is a constant connection that holds this altogether, an interweaving of intricate spirits. - BLG
From the liner notes to Sound Unity by William Parker: "All people in the world need the beauty of truth to survive. ... Over the last 600 years we have acquired tons of knowledge and information about everything under the sun, yet we are a stone's throw away from destroying the world in which we live. All information that is acquired in life must transform into wisdom; then into compassion. Without compassion science will never succeed." Right on!
CD for $14


THE NU BAND [MARK WHITECAGE/ROY CAMPBELL/JOE FONDA/LOU GRASSI] - Live (Konnex 5141; Germany) This is the second superb disc from the Nu Band, a downtown all-star quartet featuring Mark Whitecage on alto & soprano sax & clarinet, Roy Campbell on trumpet, flugel & flute, Joe Fonda on contrabass and Lou Grassi on drums. 'Live' consists of five pieces recorded at three locations during their tour in April of 2003. Nu Band's first disc was released by Clean Feed and was recorded at the Bop Shop in Rochester, NY, where three of these pieces were also recorded. Each member of the quartet composed a piece here, Whitecage contributed two. Mark's lovely "Like a Spring day" opens and has a fine, memorable melody with long, excellent solos from Roy, Mark and Joe (on bowed bass). The great rhythm team, Joe & Lou, swing powerfully together, locked intricately, both supporting the horns as well as blending the rhythm as one force. "End Piece" is an incredible, freer piece that begins with an explosive drum intro and soon swirls freely with inspired playing from all members. Roy's "Prayer, Contemplation and Meditation" is a solemn and enchanting ballad, exquisite and quite lovely with some swell muted trumpet from Roy. The final piece is an extremely effective work of political commentary called "Four of Them" by Joe Fonda, with an illuminating spoken intro by Joe and some great angry music from the quartet. Roy Campbell's hilarious spoken word section closes this piece and is a perfect ending for a most impressive offering from the Nu Band. - BLG
CD for $18

THE FONDA/STEVENS GROUP - Forever Real (482 Music 1032) Featuring Michael Jefry Stevens on piano, Herb Robertson on trumpet, Joe Fonda on acoustic bass, Harvey Sorgen on drums, plus guest Napoleon Maddox, spoken word and human beat-box. This appears to be the 8th disc from this fine group, which occasionally includes Mark Whitecage as a member. This is a studio date from February of 2004. A superb and extremely well balanced recording with both co-leaders each contributing half of the pieces. The title piece is a marvelous, majestic work with a dreamy, floating quality. Joe Fonda is a magical bassist and has a unique way of playing layers of intricate lines with the drummer as well as the pianist, balancing the band just right. The ever amazing Herb Robertson also has his own distinctive sound and always finds a way of injecting his crafty, devilish spirit into whatever situation he is in. Drum wiz, Harvey Sorgen, is another under-recognized giant who has worked with Hot Tuna over the past decade and never ceases to impress me with his tasty percussion. Michael Jefry Stevens is also a constant joy on piano and here contributes some of the most charming songs around. The Fonda/Stevens Groups remains one of the great ensembles in modern jazz, each disc continues to astonish us with the ever-creative and spirited playing. - BLG
CD for $14


OTOMO YOSHIHIDE - Guitar Solo: 12th October 2004 @ Shinjuku Pit Inn Tokyo + 1 (Doubt 101/Japan) The ever prolific guitarist/turntablist/sampler wiz and composer, Otomo Yoshihide, rarely puts out solo projects, so this solo guitar disc might just be his first. He is a pretty diverse guitarist who moves between noise, jazz and beyond. All but one track on this solo guitar offering was recorded live at the Shinjuku Pitt Inn in Tokyo, with one studio track included. Three of the nine pieces are jazz standards, Duke's "Mood Indigo", Erroll Garner's "Misty" and Ornette's "Lonely Woman". From the sublime acoustic intro, "Theme for Canary" to the over-the-top noise explosion of "Rig", you never know where you'll end up. "Gomen" is another melancholy acoustic piece that sounds a bit like early John Fahey. "Mood Indigo" is done with haunting restraint on an electric guitar, spacious and lovely. "Kazahana" is another somber acoustic piece, the just drifts along quietly, like a summer's day breeze. Otomo utilizes that toggle switch well on "Roulette", balancing short moments of feedback with some tapping, spastic banging and assorted selective noisy bits. "Misty" is also done exquisitely on acoustic with a soft, calm vibe, while "Cylinder" again explodes with some thick, noisy, buzzing guitar intensity and howling feedback. "Lonely Woman" is many folks' favorite Ornette tune, and it is played on acoustic guitar with done hushed care, stretching the notes out with suspense, the pace slowed down until each note drifts by on a sea of silence, eventually picking up the pace and turning up the drama. - BLG
CD for $22

OTOMO YOSHIHIDE'S NEW JAZZ ORCHESTRA [ONJO] - ONJO (Doubt 102/ Japan) Are you ready for this one? Before we begin, check the band: Otomo Yoshihide (guitar, turntable, conduction); Axel Dorner (trumpet, slide trumpet); Aoki Taisei (trombone, bamboo flute); Tsugami Kenta (alto sax, soprano sax); Okura Masahiko (alto sax & tubes); Alfred Harth (tenor sax, bass-clarinet, trumpet); Mats Gustafsson (baritone sax); Ishikawa Ko (sho); Sachiko M (sinewaves, contact mic); Unami Taku (computer); Takara Kumiko (vibraphone); Cor Fuhler (piano, inside piano); Mizutani Hiroaki (bass); Yoshigaki Yasuhiro (drums, percussion, trumpet); Nananan Kiriko (bombo); Otsu Makoto (drum samples); Kahimi Karie (vocals); Hamada Mariko (vocal)
Still not convinced? Here goes. This is Otomo's first orchestral work, a studio date recorded in Japan in January 2005, featuring big-band arrangements of many of the New Jazz Quintet/Ensemble's repertoiry staples: Jim O'Rourke's "Eureka" (here with new french vocals by avant-pop chanteuse Karie), Mingus's "Orange Was the Color of Her Dress, then Blue Silk," Otomo's own "Tails Out," a killer interpretation of Ornette's "Broken Shadows," as well as a few new pieces, with seven cuts in total. What amazes me here is the overall balance and subtlety found in the arrangements, which effortlessly mix up elements of jazz, noise, post-flux hijinks, massive free blowouts, and delicate pop song stucture. While Otomo has experimented with such collusions on past efforts, the results here feel much less heavy-handed; in a sense, he's perfected the formula.
The vocalists in the orchestra - both rather prominent pop stars in their homeland - play important roles in the success of these tunes, with Karie's contributions (she gets two writing co-credits here; Mariko also gets one) echoing her recent solo albums' efforts to fuse obtuse, whispered french poetics with an AACM-style free groove. Also of note: Sachiko M's contributions, some of her most strikingly beautiful sinewave manipulations yet recorded. Every player involved is in top form, with some of the more over-the-top players working a sensitivity seldom heard on disc.
STILL not convinced? You say you need hyperbole, but it's got to be REAL? This is as real as it gets, dear readers. A landmark achievement not only for Otomo, but for the evolution of modern jazz as a whole. This record is a masterpiece, and I expect to be packing one of these in ALL of your orders this weekend. - Mikey IQ Jones @ DMG.
CD for $22

OTOMO YOSHIHIDE/MARTIN TETREAULT - 2. Tok (Ambiances Magnetiques 132; Canada) "In the spring of 2003, Martin Tetreault and Otomo Yoshihide toured part of Europe in a 15-date, 16-day marathon. Out of these improv concerts, six were captured on various media: CDr, dat and minidisc. The thought of preserving these moments came naturally to the ears of our two turntablists and was motivated by the renewed pleasure of playing together and of course by the quality of the music, which, night after night, explored new forms ranging from sonic economy to something much harsher. On this second installment in a planned trilogy, they present the most fragmented on the very apt title 2.Tok." Martin Tetreault: tourne-disques, objets; Otomo Yoshihide: tourne-disque, objets.
CD for $14

...AND SOME OTHER HARD -TO -GET OTOMO discs BACK IN STOCK...

OTOMO YOSHIHIDE'S NEW JAZZ QUINTET [ONJQ] + TATSUYA OE - ONJQ+OE (P-Vine 5850; Japan) What happens when programmer/processor Oe gets involved with the quirky ONJQ? The result here is two long pieces that seem to start with chopped up resequenced samples of the group as a whole actually fed back leading into the band, or various members, playing in real time, creating slow-moving jazzy-jams. We had to get these from Japan ourselves, so stock is ltd.
CD for $24

OTOMO YOSHIHIDE/BILL LASWELL/YOSHIGAKI YASUHIRO - Soup (P-Vine 5856; Japan) OK, fans of Painkiller, Massacre and even Last Exit - this one's for you! Damn, I've been waiting more than two years for something this hard hitting involving bass-supremo Laz, this time in a power trio with Otomo [guitars and occasionally turntables] and, from Otomo's New Jazz Quintet, Yoshigaki Yasuhiro [drums]. Four long pieces: "Mushroom", "Seaweed", "Crab", and of course "Duck" [Soup]. We had to get these from Japan ourselves, so stock is ltd.
CD for $24


DJ SPOOKY [PAUL MILLER] & DAVE LOMBARDO - Present: Drums Of Death (Thirsty Ear 57161) DJ Spooky that Subliminal Kid has teamed up with Dave Lombardo (drummer for Slayer) to see what one of the world's best DJs could do with beats supplied by the best thrash metal drummer of all time. The results come in the form of "Drums of Death" to be released on April 26, 2005. As if that isn't enough, Chuck D from Public Enemy and legendary Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid have contributed their enormous talents to mix. To bring it all together Meat Beat Manifesto co-produced "Drums of Death" along with DJ Spooky.
CD for $15


PAAL NILSSEN-LOVE/KEN VANDERMARK - Dual Pleasure II [2 CD set] (Smalltown Supersound; EEC) The newest release in Smalltown Supersound's "Spontanous Music Series" and the second duo album with the pairing of Ken Vandermark and brilliant Norwegian drummer Paal Nilssen-Love. One disc is studio and one is live!
2 CD set for for $22 (in stock Monday)

THE THING [MATS GUSTAFSSON/INGEBRIGT HAKER FLATEN/PAAL NILSSEN-LOVE] - Garage (Smalltown Supersound 78; EEC) Free jazz ecstacy meets garage rock intensity. With Garage, The Thing has created a milestone in modern jazz. Like no one before them, they have let their garage rock influence take control of their free-jazz roots. With their simple set up of reeds, bass and drums they deliverer an explotion of energy combined with hard rocking grooves. Garage contains powerful versions and interpretations of Sonic's classic "Have Love Will Travel", as well as more modern stuff like White Stripe's "Aluminum" and Yeah Yeah Yeahs' "Artstar". The album also contains a piece by Norman Howard, Peter Brotzmann as well an original composition. The Story: The Thing was established in the spring of February 2000 when the three musicians met to play several concerts and to record the first CD on Crazy Wisdom, a sub-label of Swedish Universal. In 2001, they also recorded another CD on the same label as a quartet with Joe McPhee. Both CD's are out of print. There is also a limited edition LP on Anagram records, where the trio collaborates with the members of School Days, playing tunes by Norman Howard. All members are influenced by different traditions of free music derived from both Europe and America. When the trio started out, the book contained mainly of tunes by Don Cherry. Since Joe McPhee`s participation, the group's repertoire has included other free jazz standards by Butch Morris, Charles Tyler, Frank Lowe and Norman Howard. Also, the group's enthusiasm towards rock came clear on the second CD, where "To Bring You My Love" by PJ Harvey was played with very heavy spirit. Today, the book has expanded to include tunes by The White Stripes, The Sonics and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. This is just an example that shows how close musical styles are today, how similar the energy is and can be, and how much today's audience is melted together, devoted to creative music. The Thing's music can easily be described as "garage jazz", where the raw power, filthy sound and fury of garage rock, is expressed through the directness of the spiritual energy and emotions one finds in free jazz.
CD for $15 (in stock Monday)


JOELLE LEANDRE/INDIA COOKE - Firedance (Red Toucan 9327; Canada) Featuring Joelle Leandre on contrabass and India Cooke on violin and voice, recorded at the Guelph Jazz Festival on September 11th of 2004 and yours truly was there. No doubt you know French contrabassist supreme, Joelle Leandre, from her forty plus (solo/duo/trio/quartet) discs on labels like Victo, Intakt, Leo & Hat. Bay area-based violinist, India Cooke, is a more elusive figure with just one disc out on Music & Arts. Although this set took place at 10:30 a.m. on a Saturday morning, this marvelous all-acoustic duo launched into daredevil, improv fireworks immediately. This superbly recorded gem is beautifully balanced and both string players both blend and through ideas back and forth in a most impressive way. Bowing, plucking, rubbing and banging on the wood and/or strings with their ever crafty and creative spirits intertwined. Occasionally both women add their charming voices as another instrumental spice. This is most certainly some wonderful high-end improv and perfectly captured on this great disc. Sometimes delicate, sometimes explosive, it doesn't get much better than this. - BLG
CD $15


VIBRATIONAL THERAPISTS [HENRY P. WARNER/CHRIS PARKER/CHAD ANDERSON] - The Radius Of The Mind (VT 001-03) The Vibrational Therapists feature Henry Warner on alto sax & clarinet, Chris Parker on piano and Chad Anderson drums. Although Mr. Warner's music career stretches back some forty plus years, I recall his name from the loft jazz days only vaguely. Turns out that he has worker with a long list of more noted players like Earl Freeman, Sun Ra, David Murray, Reggie Workman and Sunny Murray, as well as being on recordings by Earl Freeman, Billy Bang and William Parker. Pianist Chris Parker has also played with many folks like Frank Lacy, Michael Marcus and Warren Smith, but I recall his playing from a few recent discs with Curlew. I hadn't heard of drummer Chad Anderson before this, but he has worked with Kidd Jordan and Michael J. Stevens.
"Z-Moe" features Henry on clarinet, although it sounds more like a soprano sax. The piece has a nice modal, McCoyish sort of vibe. The trio plays well together, spinning a tasty elegant web at a medium tempo. The music here has a free yet focused flow, all three players sailing together, yet intricately connecting in layers. They sound as if they have been playing together for many years. "Crankshaft" is a most impressive duo for piano and drums, both players blending their ideas/sound into one stream, never too dense, always listening and responding together. "SpaceSubwaySuite" is a delicate, yet freer journey that unfolds most organically. I dig the way Henry can bend them notes without ever screaming, he has great control of his dynamics and tone when others would be shrieking endlessly. "Taste" is another duo, this time for alto sax and drums, and again both musicians play together intuitively, bending their notes around one another, answering each other's sentences. There is a nicely balanced spiritual center to this music, an extension of what Trane did with his later quartet, before the screaming sax(es) took over and scared away some of Trane's audience. This is some of the most beautiful free music I've heard in a long while. - BLG
CD for $12

HENRY P. WARNER/BLU-NILE IV - The Art Of The Ensemble (HWBN 04) This 2001 date features Henry P. Warner on alto sax & clarinet, Christopher Parker on piano, Radu Williams on bass, Andrei Strobet or Gerard Faroux drums and guest vocalist Kelly Parker. Although I am unfamiliar with most of the musicians on this disc, I do know of drummer Andrei Strobert from a few previous recordings, like that Andrew Lamb disc on CIMP. Like the other Henry Warner disc recently reviewed, there is a fine free-flowing vibe going on here, free yet very focused. Vocalist, Kelley Parker's voice is well used as another shade or instrument with no words, just sounds. Pianist Chris Parker is extraordinary throughout and a perfect match for Henry's clarinet or alto sax. Both of these cats listen closely and play together as one connected spirit or cosmic thread. Bassist Radu Williams also plays jubilantly and powerfully throughout, especially well on "some place nice", where his is the center of dancing spirits. "algiers" also has that hypnotic, McCoy-like groove and some majestic piano from Chris. Kelly sings the blues so slyly and righteously on "blu's for radu" that it feels just right to jump into that vibe with Henry (on alto) and Chris (on piano) playing together so swell. Henry's "the kings and queens of the nile" features some playful, yet angular clarinet from Henry and more fine piano from Chris. Closing with a swirling, uptempo gem called "pressenistic", which soars with some burning clarinet and high flying piano. Henry P. Warner has been playing at Free-Style Series at CB's Lounge and word is that he been blowing some minds. Time to check him out! - BLG
CD for $12


JASON KAO HWANG - The Floating Box: A Story in Chinatown [2 CD set] (New World 80626) A chamber opera with a libretto by Catherine Filloux. Jason Kao Hwang (b. 1957) is a highly respected improviser who also has a number of compositions and film scores to his credit. "The Floating Box" is a major contemporary work that gives voice not only to the Asian immigrant experience in America in particular but also to the immigrant experience in general. With the collaboration of librettist Catherine Filloux, The Floating Box is an original story inspired by the oral histories of Chinese-Americans living in Chinatown. The story of Eva/Yee-Wa, a young Chinese-American woman living with her mother, is the story of many diasporic peoples who have sought a better life in new, often harsh surroundings. The poetry of Filloux's libretto fuses perfectly with Hwang's eclectic score, beautifully capturing the complex, intimate relationships among these three characters. The opera employs both Chinese and Western instruments in an ensemble of eight players: piccolo/flute/alto flute; Bb clarinet/bass clarinet; vibraphone; pipa (Chinese lute); accordion; percussion, including Tibetan chimes and singing bowls, whirling air tubes, Chinese tom toms, and a Buddhist fan drum; erhu/gaohu/zhonghu (a family of two-stringed Chinese violins categorized as huqin); and cello. In Hwang's skilled hands, these instruments together forge a rich amalgam of sound--in the composer's words, "complex suspensions rather than homogenous solutions." The precision with which Hwang mines each instrument's sonic possibilities and the imaginative ways with which he draws upon subsets of the full ensemble result in a vibrant musical narrative that propels the drama forward to its conclusion. The kaleidoscopic range of musical styles employed--atonality, blues, Broadway, Chinese opera, chromaticism, impressionism, jazz, pop--establishes The Floating Box as the work of an artist who is completely comfortable bridging multiple musical worlds. The musicians include Sandia Ang, soprano; Ryu-Kyung Kim, mezzo-soprano; Zheng Zhou, baritone; Min Xiao Fen, pipa; Diana Herold, vibraphone, percussion; Patti Monson, piccolo, flute, alto flute; William Schimmel, accordion; Michiyo Suzuki, B flat clarinet, bass clarinet; Satoshi Takeishi, percussion; Tomas Ulrich, cello; Wang Guowei, gaohu, erhu, zhonghu; Juan Carlos Rivas, conductor.
2 CD set for $28


WILLIAM BASINSKI - Melancholia (2062 Discs 0301) 14 short melancholy tape-loops from the early eighties. Remastered and now available on CD in Trim-Pak. "'Melancholia' is probably the best Basinski's record until now, even if this is hard for me to say given my love for each one of his releases. Contrarily to his 'continuing' projects such as 'Disintegration Loops' and 'Water Music', this is a sort of a sketch album, made of short pieces all created with tape loops and some synthetic wave here and there. This music is so beautifully delicate and sad in its auto-reflective moods, it stands right there with everything ranging from the usual suspects in the 'ambient' field, to a distorted damp ghost of Claude Debussy or Maurice Ravel put into a time machine. Just ravishing as you can imagine, William's almost suffocated loops celebrate the burial of any enthusiastic thought, to make room to the most difficult introspection -- the one growing you in a hurry and leaving you alone, observing from a safe distance. This beauty is for any human being who's not afraid to understand life's happenings -- maybe the hard way, but who cares?" -Massimo Ricci, touchingextremes.org.
CD for $14


MAHALA RAI BANDA - Mahala Rai Banda (Crammed Cramworld 31; Belgium) Shaped in the Gypsy ghettos (Mahala) around Bucharest, Mahala Rai Banda (literally Noble Band from the Ghetto), combines a surprising array of trends and styles.However, once you delve down into the history of the place, surprise gives way to fascination as all the pieces slowly fit together. The Mahala gravitates around two poles, a family core close to that of Taraf de Haidouks, and retired soldiers originally from Moldavia.
The first are the sons of the generation that left the little village of Clejane to settle down in the ghettos on the outskirts of Bucharest, grandsons of the late Neacsu. There are between 20 and 25 years old who have grown up playing music and having avoided the pitfalls of drugs and gangs, make a living by playing at Romanians' weddings. Living on the outskirts of a city they have been doused in modern culture that gives their otherwise traditional repertoire a pop twist.
CD for $19



DANIELE D'AGARO with JEB BISHOP/KENT KESSLER/ROBERT BARRY - Chicago Overtones (Hatology 613; Switzerland) Featuring Daniele D'Agaro on tenor sax & clarinet, Jeb Bishop on trombone, Kent Kessler on double bass and Robert Barry on drums. Italian-born reeds player, Daniele D'Agaro has lived in Berlin and Amsterdam, as well as abroad, but has been back in his hometown in northern Italy since '86. He has been coming to Chicago for the past few years and collaborating with musicians there, the result being the personnel on this new disc. Both Jeb Bishop & Kent Kessler keep pretty busy with Vandermark 5, as well as their own projects. Legendary drummer, Robert Barry, is in his 70's, once played with Sun Ra and more recently recorded a duo disc with Fred Anderson, but never strays too far from the Chicago area. Certainly, an interesting match of players. Although four of the nine tunes are originals, the quartet covers two songs by Duke Ellington, one by Leadbelly, on by Curtis Clark and one traditional tune. Daniele plays some great, shredding tenor on the opener, "Chicago Beer Coaster", the quartet doing a fine job of blending older and more modern jazz styles into one strong swinging groove. I dig the freer terrain of "Ultramarine #13", which features some fine muted trombone, animated clarinet, yet it is partially charted. Daniele plays some marvelous older style clarinet on Duke's "Sweet Zurzday", as does Jeb on his trusty trombone. The quartet also does a fine job on an old Italian traditional song called "L'Ago Freschio", which they take out and give an inspired and rambling Ayler-like treatment. Even the originals sound like they're coming from an earlier jazz era. "Long Armed Woman" is a sly, bluesy ballad with a tasty bone solo from Jeb. The one group composed or free piece, "Dog Nose in the Kitchen", shows how tight they are no matter what, with he bass and drums burning quickly underneath and pushing the clarinet and trombone into the stratosphere. Leadbelly's classic gem, "Dick's Holler" has both the clarinet and trombone playing strong, sly blues solos. American pianist Curtis Clark has lived in Amsterdam for a long time, his tune "Barry K" is great, uptempo bluesy thing with more strong solos from the tenor, bass and trombone. Daniele goes for that great old, fat tenor sound on Duke's "Melancholia", which is so laid back and good way to mellow us out as this fine disc comes to calm conclusion. - BLG
CD $20

STEFAN WOLPE - Enactments, Works For 1, 2 & 3 Pianos (hat [now] 162; Switzerland) Stefan Wolpe is a colorful character and an intriguing composer. He grew up in Berlin, performed in new music compositions of his own and his fellow composers, as well as playing for silent movies and in the cabaret. He was part of "an army of artists" against fascism, writing dozens of songs and marches for rallies and troupes. One his earliest pieces is "March and Variations for Two Pianos" (1933), which opens this engaging disc. The piece is dedicated to pianist Irma Schoenberg, Wolpe's future wife who helped him escape Germany and immigrate to Israel. Wolpe refers to the piece as sounding heroic and that it does. There are layers of cascading lines that build slowly together, dancing, swaying and tossing ideas back and forth in waves. A strong, thoughtful work that tells a story as it evolves. "The Good Spirit of a Right Cause" (1942) is meant as an "encouragement" and it is a playful, yet still serious work seems to move in a few directions at the same time. "Enactments for Three Pianos" (1953) was composed while Wolpe taught at Black Mountain College in North Carolina. This challenging work is in seven parts and this is its first appearance on CD. It is a staggering work that combines many ideas and approaches. There is too much going on here to try and describe it all but I was well submerged in the varied textures and layers of lines that interact in different ways and at different times. Like those player piano works by Conlon Nancarrow, it is difficult to hear everything happening at once during certain parts of this work. It will take some time to absorb it all, yet there seems to be a certain logic to the way it unfolds. Quite fascinating throughout. - BLG
CD for $20

DIETER AMMANN - The Freedom Of Speech (Hat [now] 158; Switzerland) Dieter Ammann says about himself that he works extremely slowly; sometimes he just manages to finish one bar a day, sometimes he isn't moving ahead at all because he has scruples about putting down the next note. It goes without saying that you can't do a lot of commissions in this way, and yet Ammann has still created a small, easy-to-grasp and expressive oeuvre over the past twelve years. This slow creative process not only seems to be inconsistent with the very lively and highly gestural musical language at first, on the face of it it also seems to be inconsistent with the background of this composer, who as an active musician grew up with jazz and rock and above all improvised music as well. - Thomas Meyer
CD for $20



GARY LUCAS music//PAUL WEGNER & CARL BOESE directors - The Golem [DVD] (private release) This is the classic 1920 silent film about the supernatural being from Jewish mythology; with a new soundtrack recorded solo by Gary Lucas in live performance at The World Financial Center [whilst the film was being screened] that was simultaneously broadcast on John Schafer's "New Sounds" program. Recommended!
DVD for $25



MIKE FIGGIS - Hotel [sndtck] (Burning Shed 401; UK) Acclaimed director and gifted trumpeter/composer Mike Figgis makes his Burning Shed debut with the enigmatic and haunted soundtrack to his revolutionary movie, Hotel. By turns Ambient, Jazz and Blues influenced, Figgis' music combines influences as diverse as Eno, Pink Floyd, Massive Attack and Miles Davis to create a stunningly fluid and unique accompaniment to his most experimental film to date. Featuring contributions from legendary drummer Vinnie Colaiuta, the album additionally contains a devastating 10 minute collaboration with Skunk Anansie's Skin.
CD for $19

HUGH HOPPER [music] & MATT HOWARTH [comics] With ROBERT WYATT et al - The Stolen Hour (Burning Shed 204; UK) Guitar, bass, and rhythm loops by Hopper with Robert Wyatt on cornet and voice; Pierre-Olivier Govin, Simon Picard, and Frank van der Kooy on saxes; and Didier Malherbe (Gong) and John Marshall (Nucleus & Soft Machine) on flute and drum loops respectively. Gloriously atmospheric, jagged and intense, 'The Stolen Hour' is a superb extension of Hugh Hopper's 'Jazzloops' series of explorations, inspired by and written for accompaniment to the distinctive comic strip imagery of American artist Matt Howarth's 'The Stolen Hour', which can be found on a PDF file encoded on the CD [requires Acrobat Reader 5.0 or higher]
Hopper updates the Jazz-tinged Minimalist looping he initially developed in the 1960s, evoking the innovative spirit of early Soft Machine, while simultaneously suggesting new possibilities for the genre.
CD for $19

...and we got a handful more of these...

HUGH HOPPER With ELTON DEAN/ROBERT WYATT et al - JAZZLOOPS [Ltd Ed CD-R] (Burning Shed; UK) Ex-Soft Machine 'fuzz-bass' innovator Hugh Hopper has gifted Burning Shed one of the albums of his long and distinguished career. A computer manipulated collage of live and studio performances, 'Jazzloops' possesses the fizz and energy of classic Soft Machine along with an astute awareness the possibilities of contemporary technology that occasionally brings to mind the jazzier extremes of post-Trip-Hoppers DJ Shadow and Koop.
Featuring mangled contributions from Robert Wyatt, Elton Dean and John Marshall (amongst many others).
CD-R for $20

NO MAN [STEVE WILSON/TIM BOWNESS] With ROBERT FRIPP/MEL COLLINSet al - Lost Songs Vol 1 [Ltd Ed CD-R] (Burning Shed; UK) Flawed but no longer ignored, Lost Songs: Volume One is a 14 track, 60 minute collection of previously unreleased material dating from 1991-97. Featuring Flowermouth-era contributions from Robert Fripp and Mel Collins and further fallout from the experimental Wild Opera/Dry Cleaning Ray sessions, Lost Songs: Volume One is an essential purchase for the No-Man completist.
CD-R for $20



TUXEDOMOON - Cabin In The Sky (Crammed CramBoy 1515; Belgium) The new album by the legendary band from San Francisco is a quasi-cinematic masterpiece conjuring up simultaneous impressions of Miles Davis, German electronica, Paolo Conte, Radiohead, Debussy, cyber-gypsies, Michael Nyman, Velvet Underground - yet it is first and foremost unmistakeably Tuxedomoon.
Between the early '80s and mid '90s the band lived in Europe, absorbing more influences and sounds from their privileged position in Brussels, then an underground hotbed of theatre, music and art. It was during these years that Tuxedomoon increasingly used multimedia elements such as lighting, film and video to embellish their live shows. Today the core members are as disparate geographically as they are sonically, with Steven Brown in Mexico, Peter Principle in New York, Blaine Reininger in Greece, while visual/performance man Bruce Geduldig and Dutch trumpet player Luc Van Lieshout (who had joined the band in '83) both still residing in Brussels. This very global, very post-modern situation perhaps goes some way to explaining the worldliness of 'Cabin In The Sky'. Tuxedomoon have always made music that reflects yet shrugs off musical influences as nonchalantly as a snake sheds its own skin or a duck discards water. Yet this new album still manages to be something of a surprise, as it captures the band in a rarely seen sentimental and reflective mood. Transfer 'Cabin' onto a canvas and you have Pollock, Bacon, Miro and Dali all rolled into one, with themes of surrealism, whimsy, magic, and earthy ferocity all sharing the same space. Impressionistic strings, wistful flourishes of brass and accordion, languorous electronic scribbles and lyrics sung in English, Italian and French provide unashamedly romantic textures.
Shooting through and around the poignant violins of 'Annuncialto' and woozy sea sounds of 'The Island' are the band's bittersweet abrasions, playful cacophonies, and that ever-present feeling of wilful, wayward freeforming. Still, this record is the most consistently spacious, unhurried, gravity-defying album the band have made; certainly the closest they've ever come to the sentimentalist soundscapes of contemporary electronic bands like Air or the quiet ambient vignettes of Eno or Fripp. In fact, its subtle textures and melting-pot approach makes the band more relevant than ever. Sensing their evergreen appeal, the ever perspicacious German nightclub veteran DJ Hell put out a record of re-mixes of TM's '78 dance classic "No Tears" back in 2003, before inviting the band for a tour of Germany, playing to their older fans as well as legions of fascinated newcomers. In a beautifully cyclic move, Hell appears on the new album, enabling the track "Here 'til Xmas" to ride an electro pulse dug straight up from the deserted beatmine districts of DØsseldorf. Other contemporary artists and switch-doctors feature too: Juryman (Ian Simmonds), Tortoise's John McEntire, Parisian wizard Marc Collin, Aksak Maboul (aka Crammed originators Marc Hollander & Vincent Kenis) and German hipsters Tarwater, who provide the album's dreamy denouement. - Paul Sullivan
CD for $19

TUXEDOMOON - Seismic Riffs [DVD] (Crammed CramBoy; Belgium)
Legendary US group Tuxedomoon were scattered to the four corners of the earth, each member developing his unique solo career. When a mysterious man invited them to meet in Cagli, Italy, they embarked on production of Cabin In The Sky, their first official album in fifteen years. Director Merrill Aldighieri documented their journey in 2003/2004 through concert hall and studio as the new album took shape. The result is "Seismic Riffs", a 62-minute documentary on the making of "Cabin In The Sky" featuring studio footage, interviews and live performances of Cagli Five-0 / Baron Brown / Diario di un egoista / Luther Blisset / A Home Away as well as new renditions of Tuxedomoon classics such as Desire / Loneliness / Litebulb Overkill / Volo Vivace / The Waltz. 'Seismic Riffs' was written, shot and edited by Emmy award-winning director Merrill Aldighieri, who had first met Tuxedomoon on-stage at a NYC niteclub called Hurrah. An excerpt from that first collaboration is included in the bonus clips. Video bonus tracks include:
- live performance of Nur al-Hajj (featuring musicians from Taraf de Haidouks)
- vintage footage of Incubus/Blue Suit (live at Hurrah's, 1981)
Audio bonus: previously unreleased remixes by Tarwater (Cagli Five-0) and John McEntire (Misty Blue)
DVD for $25




THESE ARE SCARCE OUT-OF-PRINT TITLES - WE PROBABLY WON'T HAVE THEM AGAIN...SO

MARILYN CRISPELL & IRENE SCHWEIZER - Overlapping Hands: Eight Segments (FMP 30/Germany) Two of the finest (female) avant/jazz pianists get together for the first time for this colossal session. Both pianists have worked with Barry Guy and the London Jazz Composers Orchestra, but this was their first duo encounter. Recorded live June 28 - 30, 1990 during the 'Workshop Free Musik' at the 'Akademie der Kunste' Berlin. Outstanding. This has not been available for quite a while, so grab it quick before it disappears once again.
CD for $25

MARC RIBOT - Plays the Works of Frantz Casseus (Les Disques du Crepuscule 969/Belgium) Ribot studied with the legendary Haitian modern composer, Frantz Casseus. This is an incredible solo acoustic guitar tribute to Casseus and one of Ribot's finest moments. Impossible to find for many years, we have just a dozen.
CD for $20

AREA - Arbeit Macht Frei/Caution Radiation Area/Crac/Areazione [4 CD set] (Akarma; Italy) Formed in 1972, Area was the single most influential Italian progressive rock band of the era. Perhaps as well known for their leftist politics as for their unique blend of progressive rock, free jazz and Mediterranean folk music, these recordings capture Area at the height of their creative prowess. The avant-garde vocals of singer Demetrio Stratos also contributed to the band's unique sound. This boxset containing their first 4 albums: Arbeit macht frei, Caution Radiation Area,Crac, and Areazione, includes the original covers, lyrics and liner notes by the well-known Italian music journalist Riccardo Bertoncelli
"F*ck pretty 'symphonic '70s prog'! This is the down and dirty weird sh*t from one of the most original bands of that time! ALL THUMBS UP! - MannyLunch
4 CD set for $55




WE MANAGED TO GET SOME OF THE 'MOSAIC SELECT' LIMITED EDITION [5000 #' COPIES] BOX SETS...

DON PULLEN With GEORGE ADAMS et al - Blue Note Recordings: Breakthrough/Song Everlasting/New Beginnings/Random Thoughts [3 CD set] (Mosaic Select 013) "There is a searching bluesiness in Don which roots even his stunning pianistic runs and chromatics in the real, the concretely blue. For me, the pianistic pyrotechniques of Art Tatum and the crack-the-sound-barrier runs of Bud Powell are PullenXs obvious double-jointed God-fathers." - Amri Baraka, liner notes for "Breakthrough" There are in jazz those rare ensembles whose members sound as if they were born to play with each other, ensembles of unique artists who come together to make a totally new sound. The Coltrane quartet, some of Miles Davis's quintets and the Nat Cole trio are obvious examples. The Don Pullen-George Adams Quartet with Cameron Brown and Dannie Richmond is a less obvious one; four creative individuals who came together to create a whole that is bigger than the sum of its parts. Fueled mostly by Pullen's compositions, they could move from a roadhouse blues groove to rapturous lyrical beauty to fierce explosive improvisations and it all made perfect sense! As Lee Jeske wrote in 1987, their ninth year together, they were "a band that had all the right elements: chops, soul, experience, compatibility, wit, authority, intensity, humor, you name it." This set contains their final two albums Breakthrough and Song Everlasting. When the quartet disbanded after the death of Dannie Richmond, Don Pullen turned his focus to the piano trio as a his creative vehicle and made two masterpieces for Blue Note, both included here. New Beginnings brought this unique pianist-composer together with two creative giants that hadn't played together for more than twenty years, Gary Peacock and Tony Williams. Randon Thoughts featured his brilliant working trio with James Genus and Lewis Nash. Pullen's compositions are memorable and wide-ranging; both sessions are brimming with power, lyricism, swing and interaction. These four albums, long unavailable, are standouts in career of one of jazz's true originals.
3 CD numbered set for $51

DIZZY REECE - Blue Note Recordings: Blues In Trinity/Star Bright/Soundin' Off/Comin' On/ [3 CD set] (Mosaic Select 011) "About two years ago, I sent some records of Dizzy Reece to Miles Davis. Miles must have been impressed. Because he took the trouble the next day to phone critic Nat Hentoff and say "there's a great trumpeter over in England: a guy who's got soul and originality and, above all, who's not afraid to blow with fire". Miles must have played those sides to a number of his friends. For when the invasion of Europe by American modern jazzmen began a few months afterwards, one of the first questions they asked on reaching Paris was "where's this cat, Dizzy Reece, that Miles told us about?" - Tony Hall, original liner notes Blues in Trinity Born and raised in Jamaica, trumpeter Dizzy Reece first made a name for himself on the London jazz scene where he, Victor Feldman and Tubby Hayes played on each other's albums for Tempo in the mid fifties. His big, brilliant tone, personal way of phrasing and highly original modern compositions immediately attracted the attention of American artists like Miles Davis who became an early champion. When Alfred Lion heard his work, he commissioned British producer Tony Hall to record a Reece album for Blue Note. Blues In Trinity featured two American guests (Donald Byrd and Art Taylor) to Reece's London band with Tubby Hayes. The results were so positive that Lion invited Reece to New York where he recorded Star Bright with the first-rate Blue Note cast of Hank Mobley, Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers and Taylor. His third album for the label Soundin' Off was a quartet affair with Walter Bishop, Doug Watkins and Taylor that really focused on Reece's rich, lyrical ideas and big sound. Dizzy recorded two more sessions for Blue Note in 1960 that were not issued until 1999 when they came out together in 1999 as Comin' On. Stanley Turrentine is featured on both. The Jazz Messengers rhythm section (Bobby Timmons, Jymie Merritt and Art Blakey) is on the first, while the trio of Duke Jordan, Sam Jones and Al Harewood plus the added tenor of Musa Kaleem are on the second. What is so striking about these dates beyond the level of the playing is Reece's compositions which are delightfully melodic and attractive but also very unusual and challenging. His Blue Note sessions are a high point in this underrated artist's long career.
3 CD numbered set for $51




ARCHIVAL RECORDINGS, REISSUES, & RESTOCKS

PLAINSONG - Plainsong [2 CD set] (Water 149) "Adored by the New-Folk elite, this short lived, but extremely influential folk-rock outfit only last about a year and a half, but the music has stood the test of time. Fronted by former Fairport Convention singer Iain Matthews, Plainsong found him and his muse continuing to explore the British strain of folk rock pioneered by his former band while looking toward the West Coast country-rock of Gene Clark and Gram Parsons, a path he would follow more during his solo career. The other frontline player is/was singer/guitarist/songwriter Andy Roberts, once a member of The Liverpool Scene and who had three superb folk-rock records, yet remains pretty much unknown. A huge influence on everyone from Devendra Banhart and Vetiver to Appendix Out and Four Tet. This 40 track 2CD set includes the only official album, In Search of Amelia Earhart (never available on CD in the US), the unreleased second album, plus various live tracks."
2 CD set for $18

JACO PASTORIUS - The Florida Concert (Jazz Door 12135; Germany) Essentially the Word Of Mouth Big Band with Bob Mintzer, Michael Brecker, Peter Erskine, Othello Molineaux and many others recorded live 12/1/81
CD for $17


THE COSMOSAMATICS [SONNY SIMMONS/MICHAEL MARCUS/TARUS MATEEN/JAY ROSEN] - Magnitudes (Soul Note 121443/Italy) Featuring the Sonny Simmons on alto sax, Michael Marcus on saxello, bari sax & clarinet, Tarus Mateen on basses and Jay Rosen on drums. Fifth fabulous disc from the mighty Cosmosamatics, featuring that powerful double reeds frontline of sixties free/jazz legend Sonny Simmons and local multi-reeds great Michael Marcus. Both Sonny and Michael split the composing chores with one swell cover of Monk's " 'Round About Midnight". What makes this disc so fine is that both of these cats know their jazz history and they blend a variety of jazz and blues influences, from hard swinging to freer terrain. Sonny's "Avant Garde Destruct" moves between both worlds just right, with a most impressive blistering baritone sax solo from Mr. Marcus, no small feat. Bassist Tarus Mateen is completely killin', burning it up and he and Jay Rosen make quite a powerful rhythm team. Michael's "Thank U Bird" features some fine harmonies for saxello and alto sax and reminds me of Braxton's playing on Dave Holland's 'Conference of the Birds' album. "Tonal Magnitudes" features some thunderous drums and saxes swirling intensely together. Marcus' "12 Seasons of Love" is an elegant ballad with some superb solos from both saxists. Three of these pieces have 2 different takes, each of which is very different in the approach and execution, giving the entire disc three recurring themes to explore. Another wonderful gift from the great Cosmosamatics quartet! - BLG
CD for $15




THREE MORE 2005 DIGITAL TRANSFERS FROM THE INCREDIBLE 'ESP DISK' CATALOG:

ALBERT AYLER - Bells/Prophecy (ESP Disk 4006) NEW 2005 TRANSFERS! "This combined release features two live sets of early Albert Ayler material. 1964's Prophecy, Ayler's earliest recording date for ESP, features the trio that later recorded Spiritual Unity. On this date, the group is in spectacular form. 1965's Bells, finds Ayler in quintet form, backed by his brother Donald, Charles Tyler, Lewis Worrell, and the familiar Sunny Murray. Short and sweet, Bells is a 20-minute powerful, ferocious romp containing excellent group improvisation and Ayler's signature military-themed melodies."
CD $16

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE - The Complete ESP-Disk Recordings: One Nation Underground/Balaklava (ESP Disk 4003) NEW DIGITAL TRANSFERS [2005] BY TOM RAPP, FROM MASTERS IN HIS POSSESSION! "Tom Rapp, an 18 year-old draft resistor and college dropout living in Eaugallie, Florida, sent a small unsolicited reel of tape to ESP. Bernard Stollman invited him to bring his musicians to New York, where they recorded their acclaimed debut, One Nation Underground in 1967. Less than a year later, they released the equally strong follow-up, Balaklava. Classics of the genre, which certainly would have seen wider attention had ESP survived past 1968, these recordings are getting a well-deserved second chance! For me, both of these records remain some of the best folk/rock/psych gems of all time. - BLG
CD for $16

THE FUGS - Virgin Fugs (ESP Disk 1038) 2005 TRANSFER - FIRST TIME ON CD! "Considered by many to be the first underground rock band, The Fugs hit the scene hard with the release of their first LP in 1965. One year later, ESP released The Virgin Fugs, which was taken from that first wild session on Folkways titled The Village Fugs, and it is available here for the first time on CD. This third LP is equal parts biting social satire, and hilarious adolescent posturing, and helped the band build a hefty file with the FBI. Backed by the Holy Modal Rounders, Ed Sanders and Tuli Kupferberg howl, bang, and bash their way though eleven folk/punk screamers, including the still-relevant send-up, 'CIA Man' and Allen Ginsberg's own 'I saw the best minds of my generation rot'.
CD $14




WE NOW HAVE THE LIMITED EDITION 'RHINO HANDMADE' TITLES ON OUR SHELVES
[see our on-line database for other titles we can provide]

THE NEW RELEASE IS...

ARETHA FRANKLIN & KING CURTIS - Don't Fight The Feeling: Complete Live At The Fillmore West [Ltd Ed 4 CD set] (Rhino Handmade 7890) In 1971 Atlantic's Jerry Wexler, who signed Aretha and produced her classic studio recordings, was looking for ways to introduce The Queen Of Soul to a mainstream audience. So he turned to San Francisco's flower children ('longhairs' as he referred to them) as an inroad to crossover success.
San Francisco's Fillmore West theater was a smaller venue than Aretha was accustomed to, but perfect as an intimate setting for a live album, released in May 1971 as Live At Fillmore West. Hot saxman King Curtis, who backed Aretha along with his specially assembled Kingpins and opened the three March shows, saw release of his own Live At Fillmore West set three months later. Aretha had been touring with a band of her own, but Wexler had a different vision. "I finally persuaded her to use King Curtis and The Kingpins, one of the best rhythm sections of all," he says in David Nathan's liner notes to this Handmade release. "It gets the magic into a performance that comes out of [a] group that is self-contained. Having this core rhythm section put a whole new thing into her act." Enter Curtis's dream team: Cornell Dupree on guitar, Jerry Jemmott on bass, Bernard 'Pretty' Purdie on drums, Truman Thomas on electric piano, and Pancho Morales on congas. Organist Billy Preston and The Memphis Horns also joined the lineup.
As a special, unexpected treat, Ray Charles joins Aretha's third set on the "Spirit In The Dark" reprise after being summoned from the crowd. "I happened to be in San Francisco," said Ray. "All of a sudden someone spots me and next thing I know Aretha's come to get me."
This four-disc Rhino Handmade box includes the tracks originally issued on both Aretha Franklin's and King Curtis's respective Live At Fillmore West LPs, plus 42 unreleased performances, including Aretha's "Call Me" and Billy Preston's version of George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord."
Don't Fight The Feeling: The Complete Aretha Franklin & King Curtis Live At Fillmore West is available as an individually numbered limited edition of 5,000 copies.
"HEY! We put this one on as soon as it arrived, and every damned 'downtown music' customer in the place was groovin' on it - and the place was packed! All Thumbs UP!"- MannyLunch
4 CD #'d set for $80

HERE ARE SOME 'RHINO HANDMADE' BACK-ITEMS WE'RE PARTICULARLY KEEN ON...

TIM BUCKLEY - Works In Progress [Ltd Ed] (Rhino Handmade 7705; USA) One of the most talented singer/songwriters of the late 1960s/early 1970s, Tim Buckley took the experimentation of the times to new musical heights, his all-too-brief career dazzling listeners with masterful mixtures of folk, psychedelia, jazz, avant garde, and funk.
In the spring and summer of 1968, Tim Buckley and band began a series of recording sessions for what-would then have been the follow-up to his 1967 album Goodbye And Hello. The direction for this particular album evolved midstream, and the initial session recordings were, for the most part, set aside. While two tracks from these various 1968 sessions did end up being used on his 1968 album Happy Sad, the remainder of the recordings ended up not being used on anything at all. The complete sessions themselves seem to have disappeared, but the best of them had been set aside on compilation reels which were filed away decades ago, forgotten until their discovery a few years back.
Tim Buckley's Works In Progress is a 16-track collection of the surviving recordings from these 1968 studio sessions along with one survivor from a 1967 session. All tracks, except those two which ended up more or less intact on Happy Sad, are previously unreleased. And, because each and every track on this compact disc was remixed from the original multitracks in August 1999, even those two later-released tracks have never before sounded so good. Works In Progress contains a 20-page booklet with insightful liner notes by longtime Buckley guitarist/friend/biographer Lee Underwood as well as lyrics for all of the performed songs Tim wrote or co-wrote. While many of the song titles will be very familiar to fans, the versions on Works In Progress will certainly not be. In addition to showcasing two compositions which have never before been released, most every other track contains lyrics, or verses, which appear only in the versions from these 1968 sessions. There are studio recordings of songs which have only previously been released as live recordings, and versions of Buckley favorites which you can hear transform from session to session. Altogether, Works In Progress offers astounding insight into the unique creative process, and the irreplaceable genius, of both Tim Buckley the writer and Tim Buckley the performer.
Works In Progress is available as an individually numbered limited edition of 7,500 copies.
Limited & Numbered CD for $22

THE FUGS - Electromagnetic Steamboat: The Reprise Recordings [Ltd Ed 3 CD set] (Rhino Handmade 7759; USA) Let us now praise three men who not only survived the Sex, the Drugs and the Rock And Roll of the sixties, they helped invent it. Please join us in saluting Mr Ed Sanders, Mr Tuli Kupferberg, and Mr Ken Weaver, who are known collectively as The Fugs. And also please join us in celebrating the body of work they recorded between 1967 and 1970 with our 3-CD set Electromagnetic Steamboat: The Reprise Recordings.
Mr Sanders, Mr Kupferberg and Mr Weaver originally came together for the purpose of performing for the grand opening of Mr Sanders' Peace Eye Bookstore And Scrounge Lounge, "a vegetarian literary zone," which was to be held on 24 February 1965. It should probably go without saying, but after their first performance at the Peace Eye, The Fugs were an immediate success. They became, arguably, the very first underground band to make the Top 100 album charts. They were a forerunner of future "folk-rock" bands. They were one of the first "proto-punk" bands too, anticipating the musical movement that came a good ten years later. Musically, The Fugs drew heavily from many different interests, influences and various musical genres, combining jug band music, smutty rock n' roll, scuttled-through country ballads, percussion-backed Gregorian chants, canticles, Hebraic-tinged sing-songs, and bawdy bohemian poetry. Lyrically, they were humorous, often somewhat shocking and outrageously celebrated the expression of "free love" and the freedom to use marijuana. The four albums The Fugs made for Reprise Records have been unavailable in the United States, and on most of Planet Earth, for more than a quarter of a century. And though most of the master tapes for the recordings The Fugs made for Atlantic Records were either reworked for use on the first Reprise album or, sadly, lost in a vault fire, a few of these unreleased Atlantic masters did, in fact, survive.
Rhino Handmade has taken the four albums The Fugs made for Reprise Records -- 1967's Tenderness Junction, 1968's It Crawled Into My Hand, Honest, 1969's The Belle Of Avenue A and 1970's Golden Filth -- and combined them with a bonus disc of the surviving previously unreleased Atlantic Records recordings to create the 3-CD collection entitled Electromagnetic Steamboat: The Reprise Recordings.
Electromagnetic Steamboat: The Reprise Recordings is available as an individually-numbered limited edition of 5,000 copies.
3 CD limited & numbered set for $50

GILBERT O'SULLIVAN - Caricature [Ltd Ed 3 CD set] (Rhino Handmade 7862) In the late '60s British songwriters like Paul McCartney and Ray Davies began mining the old-time music hall tradition. It wasn't odd for rock figures to hark back to Tin Pan Alley or Vaudeville, but for many it was just a genre exercise. Irish-born Gilbert O'Sullivan, a unique character best known in the U.S. for his chart-topping 1972 single "Alone Again (Naturally)," was one of the leading delights of this genteel school of song craft.
When others were wearing faded denim, O'Sullivan went for a tramp-like look inspired by Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. As others transitioned from acid rock to American roots music, he studied the sophisticated standards of Cole Porter and Rogers and Hart in addition to the pop of The Beatles and Goffin and King. In 1967 he moved to London, where he landed a writing contract with a CBS-owned publishing house. O'Sullivan's own debut followed soon after with the CBS release of "Disappear," a single containing voice and piano parts recorded on a message tape in the artist's garden shed. He then signed with Major Minor and in 1969 released "Mr. Moody's Garden," a bouncing parlor ballad that Ray Davies surely would have been proud to call his own. In 1969 O'Sullivan struck a relationship with Gordon Mills, manager of Tom Jones and Engelbert Humperdinck. As a performer he was nothing like either vocal star, but he also recognized that Mills was the world's most successful manager of solo artists. For many years Mills cultivated O'Sullivan's theatrical image and produced his albums, beginning with his 1971 debut, Himself. While his American chart success tailed off by 1980, he continued to hit in the U.K. with such singles as "What's In A Kiss" (1980) and "So What" (1990) -- all the while maintaining a fiercely devoted cult audience. In the 1990s several of his albums were reissued, and Rhino Records released the single-disc collection The Best Of Gilbert O'Sullivan. He remains an international concert attraction.
With tracks spanning 1967-2001, this three-disc boxed set from Rhino Handmade is the first in-depth survey of Gilbert O'Sullivan's lengthy career. It contains numerous singles and B-sides, cuts from 16 of his albums, and five previously unreleased tracks. All recordings have been remastered from original source materials. A 5"x5" slipcase houses three digipak sleeves and a 28-page booklet with liner notes and rare photos.
3 CD #'d set for $62 (we received these by mistake, let's see if anyone cares!)

TOM PAXTON - Recorded Live: The Compeat Tom Paxton (Even Compleater) [Ltd Ed 2 CD set] (Rhino Handmade 7870) Chicago native Tom Paxton's name is spoken in the same breath as Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, and Judy Collins. Emerging from the early-'60s Greenwich Village folk revival, Paxton stood out from the pack. Instead of recording traditional songs or Woody Guthrie numbers like most of his contemporaries, he set out to be a singer-songwriter. Soon prominent artists were covering his songs. By the time this collection was recorded at New York's The Bitter End in June 1970, Paxton had released six studio albums. An accessible folksinger -- personal, but not mired in introspection -- Paxton populates his songs with memorable characters, putting faces to social issues and affairs of the heart. Compleat's "Clarissa Jones," "The Hooker," and "Cindy's Crying" are all fine examples of Paxton's insight made flesh. Primarily a stage artist, Paxton was due for a live record by the early '70s. This gifted musician and lyricist also brought humor to his performances, disarming an audience in the midst of some pretty heavy material. Listen, for example, to the way Paxton finesses the protest double header of "Talking Vietnam Potluck Blues" into "Jimmy Newman," showing how seduction is often mightier than the soapbox.
This Rhino Handmade edition of Compleat includes many performances left off the original release due to the sonic limitations of the LP or the inclusion of the songs on the recent Tom Paxton 6 -- it clearly wasn't for a lack of quality. The six tracks sequenced between the original Side 3 and Side 4 of the album package preserve the flow of the original concerts.
The Compleat Tom Paxton (Compleater) is available as an individually numbered limited edition of 2,500 copies.
2 CD #'d set for $42

SABICAS - The Greatest Flamenco Guitarist [Ltd Ed] (Rhino Handmade 7855) "The music Sabicas plays creates a world of love, rhythm, and death. It is not a world in which the intellect is of much use, for the music seeks to communicate deep emotions, the darkest feelings one tries to avoid. Flamenco in the hands of the great gypsies is a constant striving to express this duality. No guitarist of the 20th century has expressed this better or more profoundly than Sabicas." -- Cynthia Gooding, from her liner notes to this Rhino Handmade release
Sabicas is known the world over as one of the premier guitarists of the 20th Century, admired by flamenco and classical players alike. His pitch is said to be perfect, his dexterity approaching light speed. He lived the fascinating life of a true Spanish gypsy. According to their tradition, the gypsy has but two sides to his nature: the pleasure he must seek in this life balanced with a constant awareness of death. Love is central -- without it, death is preferable to life. These simple yet profound aspects of gypsy life are the bedrock of this most intense and visceral musical form. Spaniards believe that all forms of flamenco derive from seguiriyas, the "deepest" songs; and soleares, the "lesser" songs. The former ponder the endless sorrow of humankind, while the latter tap into its joys and fleeting pleasures. Many of the selections on this CD are identified accordingly ("Soleares," "Seguiriya," "Solera Gitana," "Solea Por Bulerias"). As for the rest, Spanish speakers will discern by their titles the balance between these primary emotions. But perhaps the most fun will be had by non-Spanish-speaking aficionados, their clues coming solely from the music itself. Sabicas recorded three volumes of solo guitar for Elektra in the late 1950s. The first volume is included here in its entirety, along with magical selections from the second and third. Also featured are two previously unreleased tracks, fascinating antecedent versions from the earliest, unreleased sessions, never before heard. These recordings offer the most concentrated experience of Flamenco, with all its fire, depth, intensity and incredible life force.
Sabicas: The Greatest Flamenco Guitarist is available as an individually numbered limited edition of 2,500 copies. #'d CD for $22

JOSH WHITE - The Elektra Years [Ltd Ed 2 CD set] (Rhino Handmade 7879) Josh White's signing to Elektra Records in 1955 was the beginning of a third career phase for the South Carolina-born folk-blues singer and a big break for the label. At age 14 Josh recorded with the blind gospel singer Joe Taggart, which led to a contract with the American Record Corporation (later Columbia). In the mid-1930s, following a hand injury that left him unable to play guitar for several years, White appeared on Broadway and found success as a cabaret performer. During this time he emerged as a protest singer and released his biggest-selling record, "One Meat Ball," one of the defining hits of the post war, early folk revival. Then his career was nearly destroyed by the McCarthy hearings of the early 1950s.
Despite the McCarthy hearings Elektra founder Jac Holzman was happy to sign White and free him to make records his own way. The singer's Elektra debut, 1955's The Story Of John Henry, was a significant success that interspersed Henry's legend with appropriate songs from White's past and present. Then came the career-defining Josh At Midnight, the label's first 12-inch LP and one of its biggest sellers throughout the next decade.
In the '40s White was as likely to perform English ballads and folk songs as the blues. But Holzman encouraged him to emphasize not only his African-American material, but his sexual charisma as well. Nonetheless, blues purists often criticized White's seven Elektra-era recordings as too "slick." (Indeed, when the first blues boom cooled with the onset of World War II, White shaped his repertoire to appeal to white, urban folk fans.) But his work is all the more genuine when seen as the honest expression of a sophisticated, intelligent artist who had been living in New York since 1931. To masquerade as a man of the cotton fields would have been disingenuous and out of Josh's character. As Holzman put it, "Josh was his own man in a time before it became fashionable."
Produced for release by Jac Holzman, Rhino Handmade's two-disc The Elektra Years spans 1955-1962 with tracks from White's seven LPs for the label, plus the ARC recording "Lay Some Flowers On My Grave." A tri-fold digipack sleeve includes a booklet with rare photos and liner and track notes by Elijah Wald, author of the acclaimed Escaping The Delta: Robert Johnson And The Invention Of The Blues.
The Elektra Years is available as an individually numbered limited edition of 2,500 copies.
2 CD #'d set for $42


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SHRIMP BOAT - Speckly (Aum Fidelity 33) Originally issued by Specimen Products in an LP edition of 1000 copies in 1989 and long since out of print. This premiere CD edition was made under exclusive license from Shrimp Boat. "This is the first-time-on-CD issue of Shrimp Boat's brilliant and long out-of-print debut LP, 'Speckly'. Transferred and re-mastered with love from the original master tapes. Originally issued in 1989, it prompted CMJ to gush at the time: "the debut album of the year; four musicians who have already placed themselves in a league that very few ever attain." Fifteen years later, Speckly remains a masterpiece of singularly addictive and utterly unique American song-craft (bluegrass/folk/jazz/rock pop), featuring floor-stomping dance numbers, hypnotic ballads, and throughout -- an unabashed love for the simple movement of carbon-based life forms through time and space. Driven by soul and poetry, Shrimp Boat's material celebrates the imagination, the hallucinations and the dream. Shrimp Boat was the legendary Chicago band of Sam Prekop, Eric Claridge (who both went on to form The Sea and Cake), Ian Schneller (later of Falstaff and Specimen Products) and secret weapon David Kroll." NOTE: None of this material is found on the 'Something Grand' box set, which was released on Aum Fidelity last year to much critical acclaim. "I'm not sure if I would go as far as to call this a masterpiece, but I do have a soft spot for this oddly charming post/rock quartet. They are certainly restless and in between categories. Just when you think that you have them pegged, they move into some unexpected territory. Layers of psych and drone guitars, hypnotic rock grooves, endearing whiney, bent vocals, Holy Modal quirkiness, an earthy version of the traditional tune "Shady Grove", folk/rock quaintness, strange moments of out-jazz sax and a certain twisted charm that makes them unique, but is now so easy to explain. Somewhat enigmatic, yet very cool." - BLG
CD $14

YO LA TENGO - Prisoners Of Love: A Smattering Of Scintillating Senescent Songs 1985-2003 [Ltd 3 CD Edition] (Matador 10645) Early pressings of Prisoners of Love are available with a bonus third disc, "A Smattering of Outtakes and Rarities," which does indeed offer manna from heaven for hardcore YLT-heads, including unreleased tracks, rare single sides, demos and remixes. Serious fans will certainly want it, and since they're likely to have all the material on Prisoners of Love, it a shame they can't buy it separately ... maybe they could just give the other two discs to benightened friends?...
I was a bit startled when I read the title of this compilation and it struck me that Yo La Tengo have been making records for almost twenty years now. As a band who have always followed their own path, Yo La Tengo have been making timeless music ever since they first started out, and if that description sounds a bit grand, little of the stuff on this set suggests the moment in rock history in which it was recorded ("Little Eyes" from 2003's Summer Sun sits comfortably beside "Lewis" from 1987's New Wave Hot Dogs, and you can't say that about the work of many other bands who were considered hip in either year), so until the band (and Matador Records) chose to point it out to me, I never gave much thought to how long they'd doing this stuff. Still mixing up folk, noise, pop and indie rock after all this time, and still doing it with melodic intelligence and joy, Yo La Tengo don't seem like likely candidates for a career retrospective -- this is a band whose average fan owns all of their albums, and with nearly all of their material in print, it's not as if curious newbies have limited options for checking out their music. But if you've ever dreamed of a "Yo La Tengo Greatest Hits" album, Prisoners of Love: A Smattering of Scintillating Senescent Songs, 1985-2003 is that notion made into a fine reality. Featuring material from all of their albums (except for their debut, 1986's Ride The Tiger), this two-disc set is an embarrassment of riches, offering one great song after another over the space of twenty-three tracks and 110 minutes. From the noise-shot jangle rock of "Sugarcube" and the po-mo folk of "Autumn Sweater" to the witty skronk-fest of "The Story of Jazz" and the near-perfect pop single "Tom Courtenay", what's most remarkable about this album is everything bears Yo La Tengo's clear musical personality and emotional warmth no matter what style they choose to follow, and it's all wonderful, engaging and compelling stuff. If you've somehow managed to ignore Yo La Tengo in the first two decades of their existence, Prisoners of Love is the ideal way to get up to speed and acquaint yourself with the catalog; longtime fans won't be surprised, but they will get a potent reminder of what this group does so well. ~ Mark Deming, AMG
Ltd 3 CD edition for $22

ICONOCLAST - In the Vodka Garden (Record One 002/Russia) This is great compilation from one of favorite local duos. Iconoclast is and remains Leo Clesa (drum dynamo for Dr. Nerve) on percussion, keyboards, piano, octopad, electronics, voice and drums and Julie Joslyn on alto sax, violin, electronics, percussion and vocals. Iconoclast has been together for nearly twenty years and they now five fine self-produced discs. 'In the Vodka Garden' is collection of 19 tracks taken from their first four discs and it shows their growth, quirkiness and creative spirit. They toured in Russia recently and this disc is a result of their having made friends and fans. From the few times I caught them live, I know them mostly as an interesting sax and drums duo, yet in the studio they add an arsenal of other instruments. Sounds like Julie is putting her sax through some device(s) and to great effect, adding a chorus of sax parts. They obviously work hard and often layer different instruments and parts together, so they often sound larger than a mere duo. All of the pieces are relatively short and each one explores a different terrain or combination of instruments and approaches. Leo has long mastered the role of progressive drummer supreme by playing incredibly intricate, quick changing parts for Dr. Nerve and here he also helps keep things in focus by navigating the more complex pieces. Don't be mislead though, this is not mostly that show-off-your-chops type of prog, the duo seem to find a way to deal with odd textures, mutant sounds and other fascinating and unexpected twists and turns. If you don't already own an Iconoclast CD yet (for shame!), this is a perfect place to start. The enclosed booklet is printed partially on onion-skin paper and is nicely done. - BLG
CD for $12



CLASSIC PSYCHE, ET AL, REISSUES ON 'ACADIA'.........

KALEIDOSCOPE [DAVID LINDLEY] - Pulsating Dream - The Epic Recordings: Side Trips/Beacon From Mars/Incredible/Bernice [3 CD set] (Acadia 8059; UK) It's a little surprising that a cult band like Kaleidoscope would get honored with an all-out three-CD set, considering the limited market. But here it is, and it certainly leaves no stone unturned, including the entire recorded output of the band while they were on Epic. That essentially covers the entire period of interest to most fans, spanning the band's formation to their breakup in the early '70s (though they subsequently reunited for some albums that aren't represented here). In addition to everything from their albums Side Trips, A Beacon from Mars, Incredible, and Bernice, it has quite a few tracks that only showed up on non-LP singles or as outtakes on posthumous compilations. And some of those extras aren't even easily found on Kaleidoscope compilations, namely the old-timey psychedelia of the early B-side "Little Orphan Nannie" and the less impressive, heavily bluesy 1968 B-side "Just a Taste." The problem with this compilation is not so much to do with the music as whether it might be suitable for either the completist or neophyte. The completist might well already have virtually all of this on the albums and scattered comps, and resent having to fork out for a three-CD set just to get those two B-sides; the neophyte might find it way too much to start (and end) with, both in length and expense. But -- if you want the complete works of Kaleidoscope in their first and best incarnation, it's all here, down to the crazy psychedelic soul single they did with Larry Williams and Johnny "Guitar" Watson, "Nobody." It's also well annotated, and contains plenty of exhilarating psychedelic world fusion highs, though the band's incredibly eclectic scope means there are some turkeys as well. Plus, some of those non-LP items aren't mere frivolities -- the B-side "Rampe, Rampe," for instance, is a superb Greek-like instrumental that winds itself up into a frenzy. ~ Richie Unterberger, AMG
3 CD set for $25

GRACE SLICK - Manhole (Acadia 8015; UK) Manhole was the last of the experimental Jefferson Airplane, and Grace Slick's first official solo album. While Bark and Long John Silver, the final stages of the original Airplane, displayed the excessive psychedelic nature of the musicians within the confines of their group format, Blows Against the Empire, Sunfighter, and Baron Von Tollbooth and the Chrome Nun allowed for total artistic expression. Manhole concluded this phase with 1974's other release, the Jefferson Starship's Dragonfly. By taking the name from Paul Kantner's Blows Against the Empire solo project, Dragonfly began the renewed focus on commercial FM which would turn into Top 40 airplay. Manhole is the antithesis of that aim, but is itself a striking picture of Grace Slick as the debutante turned hippy being as musically radical as possible. 'Manhole' is an alien concoction, but it works on many levels as great head music. The title track itself is almost 15-and-a-half minutes of orchestrated underground rock with Craig Chaquico on lead guitar; Jack Casady on bass, along with Ron Carter; voices from David Crosby, David Freiberg, Slick and Paul Kantner; mandolin by Peter Kaukonen; and a 42-piece orchestra (51, if you include the fragments of the Airplane/Starship onboard). It's fun stuff, but looking back one wonders how they maintained a distribution deal for Grunt records with R.C.A., the material being so far from commercial. The title track has a left-hand piano part which "was stolen from an improvisation by Ivan Wing," Slick's father, and the epic is rife with Spanish/English by the singer, translated in the booklet with Slick's "phonetic Spanish spelling."
Again, this is total underground excess, but it is actually more than listenable than it looks on paper, and for fans, it has the serious/eccentric nature of this woman who emerged as a big, big star due to her quirky personality having the talent to back it up. Attacks on the government and Clive Davis in the elaborate booklet only prove all involved were not out to make friends, but songs like "Come Again? Toucan" are compelling and intriguing, more so than some of what would constitute 1981's Welcome to the Wrecking Ball, which contained more elements of guitarist Scott Zito than the star. On Manhole, the music is wonderfully dense, macabre, exhilarating, and totally out there. This is a great portion of music from the lead singer of one of America's great music groups. Maybe David Freiberg's "It's Only Music" deserved to be on an Airplane project or solo LP of his own, but it sounds great and works. "Better Lying Down" is Grace Slick and Pete Sears re-writing Janis Joplin's "Turtle Blues," a nice change of pace from the heavy instrumental backing of the other tracks. Slick is in great voice, and reflecting on the album years after it was recorded, the conclusion is that Manhole has much to offer fans. Compare this to Deep Space -- recorded live at the Hollywood House of Blues in the 1990s to see the difference between capturing the time and trying to recapture the magic. Despite the eye toward success and the more serious nature of that later project, it just doesn't have the charm of this artifact from the glory days. It's also a far cry from the 1980s, when Slick returned with three more solo outings: Dreams, Welcome to the Wrecking Ball, and Software, projects which differ vastly from Manhole. The hard rock of Wrecking Ball and the synths and post-Kantner Starship feel of producer Peter Wolf's collaborations on Software show a woman dabbling with other rock formats. Put those three discs in a boxed set with Manhole, and you have true culture shock from a major counterculture figure. Manhole is orchestrated psychedelia at its finest with the voice from "White Rabbit" stretching that concept across two sides. ~ Joe Viglione, AMG; Very highly recommended - BLG & Manny/Lunch
CD $17

SONS OF CHAMPLIN - Loosen Up Naturally (Acadia 8057; UK) Classic 1st album - a double LP originally - complete on 1 CD! "The Sons of Champlin released their first album, the double 'Loosen Up Naturally', in 1969. It was a landmark late-sixties release; from the opening notes of "1982-A" (named for the album's catalog number) to the 15-minute magnum opus, "Freedom", it was apparent that this band could both rock, play jazz and be as soulful as any Motown artist. From their beginnings, the Sons have had a horn and rhythm section second to none. Before Chicago or Blood, Sweat, and Tears, the Sons had a horn section that continues [to this day] to play an integral part in the band's sound. Led by Bill Champlin, The Sons, as they are known, formed in 1965; they performed until 1977, then took a twenty-year hiatus until 1997, when they began playing in the Bay area again. They were, and still are, referred to as the San Francisco "band that got away" (because they never had any national hits or got much press, unlike their contemporaries Quicksilver Messenger Service, The Grateful Dead, or Jefferson Airplane); the problem was that the first album was recalled due to some 'dirty language' found hidden in the cover graphics, just as it was taking off as a favorite on FM radio. In San Francisco, The Sons are considered to be a Thee favorite..." - Robert Weiner.
This is early rock/jazz/soul at its best, great songs, incisive lyrics, a freaky sense of humor and strong instrumental playing all around, especially the great guitar work of bay area legend, Terry Haggerty. - BLG
CD $17


SPIRIT - Blues From The Soul [2 CD set] (Acadia 8047; UK) This is the third in a series of posthumous albums of previously unreleased recordings by Randy California and Spirit, drawn from California's archives and assembled by Mick Skidmore. As Skidmore explains in his detailed liner notes, California put together an album called Blues From the Soul around 1995, and even copyrighted its contents; but later opted to use some of the material on the final album he released with Spirit, California Blues, prior to his accidental death by drowning in January 1997. Other tracks from the proposed album were culled for the first posthumous release, Cosmic Smile. Skidmore has included all 13 of the songs California had intended to use on his version of Blues From the Soul, though he has substituted alternate takes or live recordings of tracks already issued. Of course, the album also has been vastly expanded to include 35 selections for a running time of two-and-a-half hours. But the basic concept remains the same, and that is to present a collection of folk and blues recordings. California's family owned The Ash Grove nightclub when he was a child, and that brought him into contact with the many veteran acoustic blues musicians who toured during the folk revival of the early 1960s. Their influence on him is apparent here, as he resurrects songs by Mance Lipscomb, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Blind Willie Johnson, Big Bill Broonzy, Leadbelly, and Howlin' Wolf. Many songs are done with an acoustic guitar, but they all feature California's distinctive playing and singing. The lengthy set allows room for other material, including a 24-minute improvisation, "Down and Dirty Blues." Skidmore is less concerned with strictly adhering to the album's concept than he is to giving listeners more of California's music, and it's hard to argue with that. ~ William Ruhlmann, AMG
2 CD set for $25

SPIRIT - Live From The Time Coast 1989-1996 [2 CD set] (Acadia 8073; UK) After three albums devoted to previously unreleased studio recordings (Cosmic Smile, Sea Dream, and Blues From the Soul), tape archivist Mick Skidmore has assembled a collection of concert recordings for his fourth posthumous Spirit release, Live From the Time Coast. As he points out in his liner notes, Spirit, while always having at its core singer/guitarist Randy California and drummer Ed Cassidy (that is, from its 1974 re-formation until California's death in early 1997) employed various bass players and sometimes keyboard players for its decades of club work, resulting in different styles of play. For this album, Skidmore has focused on what he calls "the Tent of Miracles band," referring to Spirit's 1990 studio album, made by California, Cassidy, and bassist Mike Nile, though he draws on recordings made between 1989 and 1996, and includes performances sometimes also featuring keyboardists Scott Monahan or George Valuck. "Spirit was apt to play two sets a night during much of the '90s," Skidmore writes. "What I've done here is present the two discs as close to possible as what a set might have been like with a few liberalizations." What a set was like, it seems, was a selection of material including songs from Spirit's initial spate of albums when it was a quintet between 1968 and 1970, among them the Top 40 hit "I Got a Line on You" and favorites like "Fresh Garbage" and "Animal Zoo." There is also a sampling of songs from the 1970s that appeared on albums like Spirit of '76 and Son of Spirit, and then-recent songs from 1989's Rapture in the Chambers and Tent of Miracles. And there are a handful of previously unheard songs that constitute the "liberalizations" Skidmore mentions, the best of which is the seven minute "Golden Jam," which boasts some of California's best soloing on the disc. With the last seven years of Spirit's touring career thus summarized, Skidmore promises plenty more in an ongoing series from a band that was sadly under-represented in record bins during its existence. ~ William Ruhlmann, AMG
2 CD set for $25


SIR DOUGLAS QUINTET [DOUG SAHM] - Sir Douglas Quintet + 2 = Honky Blues (Acadia 8040; UK) It is hard to believe that this is the first entry in the extensive Sir Douglas Quintet discography, as it seems like the kind of experimental venture an artist might throw out after a handful of successful albums have already been released. The eclectic nature of bandleader Doug Sahm is undisputed, but this has got to be his album with the most experimental jazz leanings, again not something one would expect. The types of themes that Sahm would return to again and again in his songwriting are here, delivered by a grouping that lacks one of the essential spark plugs in the Sir Douglas Quintet engine: keyboard man Augie Meyers. There is presumed to be compensation in the form of a total of five horn players, including Bay Area session whiz Mel Martin, but someone decided to record them with enough reverb to submerge a whale. A total of seven songs, none of them really extended enough to account for paucity of titles, get a loping, jamming treatment that gets the message across, although a little vaguely at times. Certainly a promising, original album well above the level of most rock-bands-with-horns experiments of this era, but not as inspiring as this band's music would soon become. [The 2002 reissue also contains the bonus tracks "Linda Lou," "Soulful," and "Too Many Docile Minds."] ~ Eugene Chadbourne, AMG
CD $17

SIR DOUGLAS QUINTET [DOUG SAHM] - Mendocino (Acadia 8041; UK) Chart success for the title song led to a hurried release for this band's second album, Mendocino, although perhaps the most famous song, "She's About a Mover," originated a few years prior with another version. Listeners will probably be more familiar with the version heard here, the one with the freaky feedback guitar solo and fake fadeout that oldies disc jockeys like to yabber over. This and "Mendocino" are only two of the many nearly perfect tracks on this record, some of which give off the illusion (perhaps an accurate one) that they were simply tossed off without a whole lot of preparation. "Texas Me" is genius on triple levels: there is the poetry of the lyrics, the soulful delivery from the singer, and finally, the haunting recording fat with echoey, multi-tracked vocal and fiddle. When the listener reaches the end, "Baby It Just Don't Matter," it is as if one has strolled through an old neighborhood searching for a lost sound in the air, only to find a good, friendly rock band is jamming in a garage right down the block. The players are the classic Sir Douglas Quintet lineup, including Augie Meyers. The 2002 reissue contains the bonus tracks "Sunday Sunny Mill Valley Groove Day," "Sir Doug's Recording Trip," "Homecoming," "Hello Amsterdam," and alternate takes of "At the Crossroads," and "Texas Me."~ Eugene Chadbourne, AMG
CD $17

SIR DOUGLAS QUINTET [DOUG SAHM] - 1 + 1 + 1 = 4 (Acadia 8043; UK) The Sir Douglas Quintet delivered two excellent records back to back in Mendocino and Together After Five, but success was hard to come by, and it was hard to tell what path was the right one for a band as talented and fuzzily focused as this. Their fourth Mercury/Smash record, 1970's 1+1+1=4 didn't solve that puzzle and by trying to touch on a little of everything, it didn't provide any clear direction for the band to follow, nor did it showcase the band at its best. Even so, the Sir Douglas Quintet on a bad day were better and more interesting than many of their peers, and part of the fascination behind this record is to hear the group -- or, more accurately, its leader Doug Sahm -- try to craft an identity by adhering to the band's signature Tex-Mex while expanding in such disparate directions as pure country and horn-drenched progressive pop/rock. The country comes from sessions Sahm held with legendary producer Jerry Kennedy in Nashville; intended to be released as a solo single under the name Wayne Douglas, Sahm's laid-back Texas attitude never translated to the professional aesthetic of Nashville, and the results -- "Be Real" and "Pretty Flower" -- wind up being a fresh southern breeze on this typically loose-limbed, unfocused, freewheeling record. A large part of the charm of Sahm with the Sir Douglas Quintet is that he was undisciplined; he had no compunction in bringing in what engaged him at a particular time, tying it into his signature blend of rock & roll, R&B, and country. Here, he lays on a little bit too much of a guitar fed through a Leslie rotating speaker, a little bit too much of the punchy, jazzy horn-laced arrangements of such pop progressives as Blood, Sweat & Tears, and he panders a little bit too much to the album-oriented audience. It was all in vain, of course -- no matter what he did, he couldn't erase the nature of his music, he couldn't remove the all-encompassing, all-Texan aesthetic, so it still sounded too idiosyncratic for its own good. That, of course, is what makes the music so rich and fascinating years after the fact, because even if Sahm tried different sounds, it still wound up sounding like him, and that's why it's aged much better than other records from that same year. It's a little too hazy and unfocused to be a true lost classic, but once you're hooked on the Sir Douglas sound, this is absolutely necessary. [The 2002 reissue on Acadia/Evangeline contains four bonus tracks: "I Wanna Be Your Mama Again (Nashville Version)," "I Don't Want to Go Home," "Leaving Kansas City," and "Colinda."] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AMG
CD $17


AUTOSALVAGE - Autosalvage (Acadia 8011; UK) One of the relatively few New York psychedelic groups to achieve national recognition, Autosalvage's day in the limelight was fairly dim and brief. The band included bassist Skip Boone, the brother of Lovin' Spoonful bassist Steve Boone, and Rick Turner, who contributed guitar to most of the tracks on Ian & Sylvia's 1966 album Play One More. Autosalvage's self-titled 1968 album revealed a fairly large palette, with touches of folk, blues, and strings. The group's cheerful harmonies owed a bit to the Lovin' Spoonful, and Frank Zappa (perhaps impressed by their sometimes-disjointed and improvisational material) was a fan, but their material was not strong enough to forge a distinctive identity. Boone and drummer Darius Davenport also appear on the obscure 1968 album by Bear, but otherwise Autosalvage's debut was also their curtain call. Cuts like the opening track (titled, confusingly enough, "Auto Salvage") show the band at their best -- strong melody, airy harmonies, a churning psychedelic arrangement. They didn't live up to that potential often on their only album, which is saddled by a fair amount of mediocre and rambling material. The British reissue adds informative historical liner notes. ~ Richie Unterberger, AMG
CD $17

BIG BROTHER & THE HOLDING COMPANY With JANIS JOPLIN - Cheaper Thrills (Acadia 8001; UK) Recorded on July 28, 1966, before the band had cut any studio material, this performance was one of Janis Joplin's first gigs with Big Brother. The sound is decent, with several famous staples of their repertoire already in place -- "Down on Me," "Coo-Coo," "Ball and Chain..." Big Brother were never noted for their polish, but made up for that with reckless bravado; however, this...finds them sounding somewhat tentative in their adaptation of R&B and garage-band ethos to heavy guitar arrangements...This set is pretty reliant on R&B staples like "Let the Good Times Roll" and "I Know You Rider"; the unabashedly psychedelic workout "Gutra's Garden" hasn't aged well at all. Joplin's vocals are fairly strong...Other members of the band take the lead vocal on a few numbers...This recording is an interesting glimpse into the group's formative days, and features eight songs not on their late-'60s albums. ~ Richie Unterberger, AMG
CD $17

BLUES PROJECT - Live At The Cafe Au Go-Go (Acadia 8070; UK) Although Tommy Flanders (who'd already left the band by the time this debut hit the streets) is credited as sole vocalist, four of the then-sextet's members sang; in fact, Danny Kalb handles as many leads as Flanders (four each), Steve Katz takes center-stage on Donovan's "Catch the Wind," and Al Kooper is featured on "I Want to Be Your Driver." The band could be low-down when appropriate (Kalb's reading of "Jelly, Jelly"), high energy (Muddy Waters' "Goin' Down Louisiana" sounds closer to Chuck Berry or Bo Diddley), and unabashedly eclectic (tossing in Donovan or Eric Andersen with no apologies). Kalb's moody take on "Alberta" is transcendent, and the up-tempo arrangement of "Spoonful" is surprisingly effective. [The Acadia label reissued Live at the Cafe Au Go Go in 2004 with six bonus tracks, including an alternative version of "Who Do You Love?"] ~ Dan Forte, AMG
CD $17

BARRY GOLDBERG-STEVE MILLER BLUES BAND - 1965-66: Blowing My Mind Plus (Acadia 8048; UK) This is the first long-player from '60s blues keyboardist Barry Goldberg (organ/piano/vocals). His early association as Bob Dylan's organist during Dylan's electric debut at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival garnered Goldberg ample exposure. Within a few months he had teamed up with Steve Miller to create the Goldberg-Miller Blues Band. Although the combo were signed by Epic Records and cut a pair of 45s, Miller headed for the flourishing San Francisco psychedelic music scene and left Goldberg and the remnants of the short-lived Goldberg-Miller union to their own devices. In addition to the 10 tracks on the album Blowing My Mind (1966), the Goldberg-Miller Blues Band also recorded "The Mother Song," and "More Soul, Than Soulful," which appear on the 2003 release Goldberg-Miller Blues Band 1965-66. Goldberg is then joined by the likes of Roy Ruby (bass), who contributed to some early Michael Bloomfield recordings, and Maurice McKinley (drums), whose musical rap sheet included a previous stint with Rahsaan Roland Kirk. The combo also featured the respective talents of Harvey Mandel (guitar) and Charlie Musselwhite (harmonica). One of the most evident factors in the success of the Barry Goldberg Blues Band is the impeccable ensemble work as they propel through a blend of effective originals as well as an atypical combination of cover material. The title track is a mid-tempo Goldberg/Ruby tune that features a slightly edgy feel, reminiscent of Dylan's "Positively Fourth Street." "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" and "That'll Be The Day," are both recommended reworkings that perhaps best exemplify the bluesy synthesis that defined the Barry Goldberg Blues Band, at least on this initial effort. Rather than attempting a note-for-note recreation, they fuse their own blend of electric blues into the well-known and already established melodies. The same holds for the cover versions of Jimmy Reed's "Can't Stand To See You Go" and Jimmy McCracklin's seminal side "Think." One non-LP outtake is also included, a strong rendering of Geoff Muldaur's "Ginger Man." ~ Lindsay Planer, AMG
CD $17

DON SUGARCANE HARRIS - Sugarcane (Acadia 8024; UK) The best thing about this album is the front cover, which is about as out-and-out bizarre as the opening sequence of cult director Sam Fuller's classic film The Naked Kiss. The association with Frank Zappa made audiences expect something bizarre and shocking from electric violinist Don "Sugarcane" Harris; this cover photograph and the underground comics by Rick Griffin on the back cover created a tie-in with the psychedelic culture and again promoted a sense of weirdness that is basically just not there in this collection of fairly standard rhythm & blues tracks produced and arranged by Los Angeles soul scene ubermensch Johnny Otis. He had a long connection with Harris, and they were sympathetic partners, so it is not like this is some sort of production mismatch. What it is really is material that was cooked up prior to or with no connection to the newly developing stage personality of Harris, meaning the electric violin is not emphasized all that much and musically the connection with Zappa is nothing more than the vital lifeline to the California roots blues scene. While this demands a great deal of respect, these tracks are the sort of performances Otis and his henchmen could whip up without breaking a sweat while someone else prepares their dinner. While any of the tracks would work fine on a jukebox in some dive, only a few, such as the marvelously greasy "Funk and Wagner," rise to the level demanded by the serious album listener. The material is all written by either Harris or Otis in various songwriting collaborations and combinations. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, AMG
CD $17

NEIL INNES & THE WORLD - Lucky Planet (Acadia 8056; UK) This mad genius of musical comedy displayed an uncanny knack for Beatles-esque pop with this 1971 album, released years before the advent of the Rutles! This came soon after the breakup of Neil's previous group Bonzo Dog Band [but before the Bonzo's contractual obligation reunion effor "Let's Make Up And Be Friends"] and puts the melodic before the madcap: 'Angelina; Not the First Time; Sail Away; Lead Us', and more. First reissue in any form!
CD $17


JOY OF COOKING [TERRY GARTHWAITE/TONI BROWN et al] - Joy Of Cooking (Acadia 8050; UK) The two women and three man combo known as Joy of Cooking (JOC) traced their beginnings to 1967 in Berkeley, California. JOC played a kind of generally laid-back folk-rock with various traces of jazz, country, gospel, blues, Latin and even a little R&B funk. This critically acclaimed rock band released three solid studio albums for Capitol Records in the early '70s, and launched the careers of two greatly respected music women, Terry Garthwaite (b. Berkeley, CA, July 11, 1938) and Toni Brown (b. Madison, WI, November 16, 1938). Toni and Terry were the leaders of JOC, as well as pioneers in defining the role of serious women musicians. They originally began performing as Gourmet's Delight, but soon changed their name to Joy of Cooking, adding Terry's younger brother David on bass and Ron Wilson (a classically trained pianist who gave up a day job at the University of California Space Sciences Lab), joined on as a percussionist. Next came Fritz Kasten, a professional drummer who had previously played with jazz great Vince Guaraldi, as well as a pre-Janis Big Brother and the Holding Company.
The debut album garnered the band's only truly successful single with "Brownsville-Mockingbird." The debut album is generally considered to be the band's finest LP and was its best selling effort. Though often unfairly neglected when great California rock groups of the '70s are recalled, in their time Joy of Cooking was very respected and influential in both musical and feminist political circles. Their easy going style, drawing as it did on a diversity of influences and delivered with competence and confidence, might well be categorized as alt. country if the band came along today. But in the early '70s, JOC was a true original. In fact, the 1979 edition of THE ROLLING STONE ALBUM GUIDE summed up the thoughts of many music critics of that era by referring to the Joy of Cooking as, "the only reasonably interesting rock group lead by women."
CD $17

JOY OF COOKING [TERRY GARTHWAITE/TONI BROWN et al] - Closer To The Ground (Acadia 8071; UK) 2nd great album from 1970!
CD $17


LOTHAR & THE HAND PEOPLE - Space Hymn/Presenting...Lothar & The Hand People: The Complete Capitol Recordings [2 CD set] (Acadia 8058; UK) Completely cool and rather bizarre psych/pop band that moved from Colorado to NYC and recorded two weird gems for Capitol in 1968 and 1969. One of the first rock bands to work with a theremin (named Lothar) and a synthesizer, they became on a staple on FM radio, when FM was still taking chances and playing all types of experimental rock. As the subtitle suggests, Space Hymn: The Complete Capitol Recordings (2003) contains all the material that Lothar & The Hand People cut during their three year association with the label. The long players Presenting Lothar and the Hand People (1969) as well as Space Hymn (1969) are featured on this two-disc compendium, as well as the singles issued prior to their debut LP - a total of 28 cuts! By comparison, the somewhat less comprehensive collection 'This Is It Machines' on See For Miles [now out-of-print] only had 15 cuts. Although Paul Conley (synthesizer/keyboards/Moog synthesizer), John Emelin(vocals/voices), Tom Flye (drums/percussion), Rusty Ford (bass) and Kim King (guitar/Moog synthesizer/amplifiers) were products of the fertile New York City rock and roll scene of the mid 1960s, the combo made their way via Denver, Colorado circa 1965. They blend experimental psychedelia with a myriad of sounds from the burgeoning Moog synthesizer keyboard technology. The results were decidedly mixed as selections such as "It Comes On Anyhow" -- which is less of a song than a musique concrete composition -- "Today Is Only Yesterday's Tomorrow" and the introduction to the superb baroque-flavoured "That's Another Story". In the case of the latter, the seeming randomness of the bleats and electro-drones lessens the musicality, especially since the melody is actually one of their more engaging outings. By contrast, "Sister Lonely" stands out thanks to the variation of Muddy Waters' "Rollin' & Tumblin'" along with some considerable contributions from Ford's undulating underpinning. "You Won't Be Lonely" may be the best example of Lothar & The Hand People as a straight-ahead and slightly garage-influence aggregate, with some particularly worthwhile vocal harmonies that recall the Who's mid '60s output. "Wedding Night For Those Who Love" is a remarkable instrumental with Conley providing an affective duet between the theremin and piano, producing arguably the best fusion of traditional and modern instrumentation. To lesser effect is the cover of Mannfred Mann's second-tier hit "Machines" -- with some overbearing mechanical, yet rhythmic clunking -- and "Sex And Violence", with an otherwise consistent improvisational jam. As referred to above, Space Hymn: The Complete Capitol Recordings also includes "L-O-V-E (Ask for It by Name)", "Rose Coloured Glasses", "Comic Strip", "Every Single Word", "Have Mercy (Mercy, Mercy, Mercy)" and "Let the Boy Pretend" the respective A & B sides to a trio of 45s, none of which are otherwise available on CD. -- Lindsay Planer
2 CD set for $25



RECENT GREAT REISSUES ON THE 'REPERTOIRE', 'BIG BEAT', & 'COLLECTOR'S CHOICE' LABELS...


REPERTOIRE...

PATTO - Hold Your Fire (Repertoire 1032; Germany) This cd adds three bonus cuts previously found only on the withdrawn Vertigo double CD reissue of the first 2 albums: the demos for "Beat The Drum", "Bad News", and "Air Raid Shelter"
Second fabulous release (1971) from one of the greatest British rock/jazz/prog bands of all time featuring the astonishing guitar work of Olly Halsall, the splendid vocals and insightful lyrics of Mike Patto and the superb rhythm team of Clive Griffiths & John Halsey who would later play with the Rutles. Previously known as Timebox and later known as Boxer, Patto were known for completely obliterating any other bands unfortunate enough to appear on stage after or before them. No one could match their blend of hard rock with jazz chops and great vocals with intelligent and provocative lyrics. Legendary guitar hero Olly Halsall played both faster and with a highly individual choice of notes than anyone since. He joined John Hiseman's Tempest and was a perfect foil for Kevin Ayers for many years after that. Hear why Nels Cline, Gary Lucas and myself still rave about this incredible and unrecognized guitar god! Sadly, both Halsall and Patto are now dead and gone. - BLG
CD $17

PATTO - Patto (Repertoire 1025; Germany) This cd adds a bonus cut previously found only on the withdrawn Vertigo double CD reissue of the first 2 albums: "Hanging Rope"
First phenomenal effort from 1970 featuring the legendary British jazz/blues/rock quartet PATTO!!! Patto featured the featured the gripping blues/rock vocals and inspired lyrics of Mike Patto (later with Centipede, Boxer and a stint w/ Spooky Tooth), plus the completely astounding jazz/rock lightning lead guitar of Olly Halsall!! On their one long cut, 'Money Bag', Olly takes a nine-minute guitar solo that still astonishes everyone who hears it for it's super-human speed and fluent stream of notes is it sped up? Apparently not!
CD $17


QUINTESSENCE - In Blissful Company (Repertoire 1009; EEC) Originally issued on Island in 1969. As pop music made its way into rock in the late sixties, several of its protagonists decided to leave behind the well-trodden paths of the past. Native Australian Ron Rothfield (flute) formed Quintessence, a six-piece outfit based in London's Notting Hill, that blended jazz, folk and meditative sounds. The group's highly sought after debut album, originally released on the legendary Island Records label, produced a cornucopia of Far-Eastern elements, taxing rock improvisations and religious themes -- all brilliantly executed by six adventurous soloists. For its Repertoire CD debut, 'In Blissful Company' has the addition of two rare extra A & B-side tracks taken from a rarely found single.
CD $17

QUINTESSENCE - Quintessence (Repertoire 1016; EEC) Second splendid album, originally issued by Island, 1970. The unique sound of these pioneers of new age rock and can be fully enjoyed and appreciated on this remarkable CD. Quintessence was the band's second album and was first released in 1970. Featuring a sparkling blend of spiritual lyrics and jazz and rock instrumentals, it still sounds remarkably fresh today. Flute player Raja Ram and vocalist Shiva Shankar, who tear into such classic Quintessence performances as 'Sea Of Immortality', and a 'live' recording of 'Burning Bush', front the group that veers stylistically between Cream and Jethro Tull. Repertoire is proud to reproduce on this important cd the classic cover Quintessence with an LP style gatefold sleeve and striking cover picture of Shiva.This 2004 CD reissue on Repertoire adds a live version of "Jesus, Buddha, Moses, Gauranga" (originally released on the first pressing of the 1970 Island compilation Bumpers) as a bonus track. ~ Richie Unterberger, AMG
CD $17

QUINTESSENCE - Dive Deep (Repertoire 1063; EEC) Third album on Island and MannyLunch's personal favorite. And who could forget the elaborate multi colored crystal gatefold cover of the original LP?!!
CD $17


ROY WOOD'S WIZZARD - Singles A's & B's (Repertoire 4762; Germany) Although they recorded a couple of albums, Wizzard was at its best as a singles outfit, because Roy Wood's pop songwriting chops truly shined when confronting the challenges of the 45-rpm format. As the hits collected on Singles: A's & B's reveal, Wizzard was an excellent outlet for Wood's ability to combine retro-rock elements borrowed from a variety of pop sources with a driving glam rock edge: "Ball Park Incident" sounds like Jerry Lee Lewis jamming with the Spiders from Mars and "Angel Fingers" is a delightfully bombastic ballad that layers multiple tiers of vocals, brass, and percussion to create a perfect homage to Phil Spector's Wall of Sound production style. Singles: A's & B's also does Roy Wood fans a favor by collecting mostly non-album B-sides together. These flip sides are mostly instrumental in nature, and mix Wood's gift for eccentric orchestrations into a driving sound that is usually heavier than the pop-tinged A-sides: "The Carlsberg Special" pits frenetic harpsichord and woodwind frills against blaring brass over a driving beat and "Marathon Man" adds drive to its psychedelic tapestry of sitar and guitar lines with a taut groove from the rhythm section. The end result is the best compilation of Wizzard material and an ideal companion to a collection of Roy Wood's solo work. ~ Donald A. Guarisco, AMG
CD $17


AMON DUUL II - Phallus Dei (Repertoire 4872; Germany) The first ADII album. As with all CDs in this series, it has been "Restored and remastered by EROC at The Ranch". Amon Duul II were one of the leading German underground commune-psych bands from the early 70s. Split apart from the more politicized fraction that would go on to record as Amon Duul I (Psychedelic Underground, etc.), ADII emerged in 1969 when they released this fantastic debut album. It's a masterwork of drug-dazed guitar psych, long tracks, middle eastern influence, churning trance rock, etc.
CD $17

AMON DUUL II - Yeti (Repertoire 4914; Germany) New digitally remastered version. Mid-line pricing, with a 12 page booklet of liner notes & photos detailing the history of ADII. This is at least the sixth CD version of Yeti, an all-time classic Krautrock album from 1970. Yeti.is one of the deepest rock records of all time. A follow up to their debut Phallus Dei, the structures here are even more extended, the vibe even more wasted and the music's psychedelic excess is at a personal peak.
CD $17

AMON DUUL II - Tanz Der Lemminge (Repertoire 4915; Germany) Aka Dance of the Lemmings, the 3rd ADII album, from 1971. ADII's 2nd sprawling "double LP" set in a row, this is the record that secretly destroyed J. Cope's brain. "A must-have! All THUMBS UP!" - MannyLunch
CD $17

AMON DUUL II - Carnival in Babylon (Repertoire 4986; Germany) The fourth ADII album, from 1972. Features shorter, more accessible ADII tracks, still quite compelling; "C.I.D. in Uruk" and "Kronwinkl 12" are totally mesmerizing. "A must-have! All THUMBS UP!" - MannyLunch
CD $17


BATTERED ORNAMENTS - Mantelpiece (Repertoire 4405; Germany) This is the second fabulous disc by Battered Ornaments, after singer/poet/frontman Pete Brown (lyricist for Cream and Jack Bruce's solo albums) was tossed out. [Brown then went on to form Piblotko). The band included legendary jazz/rock lead guitarist Chris Spedding and saxist Nisar Ahmed "George" Khan, who later worked Robert Wyatt. This is quite a quirky and unusual record, in between categories of psych, blues, rock and prog. Ace guitarist Chris Spedding would soon join the pioneering jazz/rock band Nucleus and then go on to play hundreds of sessions. Chris plays some fine slide here and Mr. Khan some great sax, but it is the strange songs that really stand out. Spedding, whose own solo efforts were pretty spotty, shines here as a weird yet winning songwriter, as well as gifted guitarist. This classic underground gem could only have come out of England around 1970. Fans of Steamhammer and East of Eden should not miss this buried treasure. - BLG
CD $17


EXUMA - Exuma (Repertoire 1006; Germany) First legit reissue of this 1970 debut album, originally issued by Mercury. Freaked-out music, with elements of voodoo, Bahamian folkore, African/Caribbean shamanism, in a cult-ish variation of early Dr. John. Well-timed for rediscovery. In 1970, decades before 'World Music' became a music biz trade term, a New York based seven-piece ensemble called Exuma caused an international stir. The superb debut album of this multi-racial outfit from the West Indies and the Bahamas, fronted by singer Tony 'The Obeah Man' McKay, is now available for the very first time on CD. At the time, their magnificently rhythmic sound fell on fertile grounds, notably in Europe, where Exuma ('the ghost of water and air') became a cult item. Take a chance on this one and explore 40 minutes of sounds from another hemisphere.
CD $17

EXUMA - Exuma II (Repertoire 1006; Germany) First legit reissue of this 1970 album, their 2nd. Only a few months after Exuma's tremendous success with their eponymous debut album (Exuma), charismatic singer Tony 'The Obeah Man' McKay and his band released their follow-up LP on the Mercury label. Based once again on intriguing Afro-American and Indian percussion and tribal chants, the seven-piece New York City based group landed another great album, that will now be available in the record stores for the first time on CD. A cool cult recording, like its predecessor. I caught them in the late eighties at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Fest and they still sounded great!
CD $17


IF - Waterfall (Repertoire 4998; Germany) Another fine release from this unjustly ignored jazz-rock aggregation from the U.K. This transitional release, with half the tracks featuring the original lineup and the other half with a new rhythm section, is structured much the same as their earlier albums, with extended instrumental solos tucked inside of pop-rock structured songs.
I caught If at the Fillmore in NY opening for The Faces and Black Sabbath (yuck). They were the first jazz/rock band I had encountered live and they were great! Their first four albums were all excellent, this was the fourth.
CD $17



BIG BEAT...

CHOCOLATE WATCH BAND - No Way Out...Plus (Big Beat 118; UK) The Big Beat CD of this exceptional-'60s psychedelic/punk album contains 18 tracks and runs 13 minutes longer than the Sundazed CD version, but doesn't have two of the bonus tracks -- "In the Midnight Hour" with David Aguilar's vocal, and the studio jam "Psychedelic Trip" -- that were on the Sundazed CD. The sound on the Big Beat release is slightly fuller (especially in the bass) than on the Sundazed release, with a somewhat higher volume setting, but otherwise they're comparable on that level. The bonus tracks here consist of the earlier Chocolate Watchband singles "Sweet Young Thing," "Baby Blue," "Misty Lane" and "She Weaves a Tender Trap," plus their early recording of "Milk Cow Blues" (a Sundazed bonus cut), plus an alternate, much more fuzztone-driven take (with a prominent organ part as well) of "Misty Lane," complete with pop/rock style, almost Monkees-like backing vocals. Much more interesting -- though in somewhat lo-fi sound -- are the only known surviving recordings by the earlier, Foothill College-based incarnation of the Chocolate Watchband. These two cuts, with Danny Phay (who rejoined for the group's third album) on lead vocals and Ned Torney teamed with Mark Loomis on guitar, plus original bassist Rich Young and organist Jo Kemling, have a completely different sound from the version of the Watchband that emerged around Loomis and new lead singer Aguilar the following year -- the version of Gerry & the Pacemakers' "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying" shows a group that had the most elegant side of the British Invasion sound down perfectly, while "Since You Broke My Heart" sounds like a Roulettes' interpretation of the Everly Brothers song, and it isn't bad, even if it needed work. It all means that fans have yet a second CD edition of this album to buy, especially given the excellent history of the band embodied in the notes, although all of these different versions and the gaps between them make one wish that somebody would just put out a complete box set of the group's work. ~ Bruce Eder, AMG
CD $18

LOVE - Out There (Big Beat 69; UK) The last of the great (double) albums by Arthur Lee's Love was their fifth effort, 'Out Here' from 1969 on the Blue Thumb label. Often overlooked and long out of print on cd, this final quartet version of the band was incredible live, but only had four tracks recorded on record. Their sixth album - and 2nd of 2 for Blue Thumb - 'False Start', from 1970, was pretty spotty but did include one amazing song, "The Everlasting First" with special guest Jimi Hendrix. Now that the first four great Love albums have recently been reissued with bonus tracks, this one completes one's essential Love collection. 'Out There' is over an hour and includes all but three songs from 'Out Here' and does include the three best tracks from 'False Start'. Although this gem is consistently great, the highlights include the heavy version of "Signed DC", a long, great drum solo on "Doggone", loads of incredible lead guitar playing throughout, especially the dual guitar epic "Love is More Than Words" and the rare appearance of Arthur Lee's pal Jimi dueting on "Everlasting First". Essential!
CD $18

PEANUT BUTTER CONSPIRACY - Spreading From The Ashes (Big Beat 245; UK) Wafting in on a warm Californian breeze comes this magical collection of rare tracks, previously unheard demos and out-takes from one of Los Angeles prime exponents of psychedelic folk rock, the PEANUT BUTTER CONSPIRACY. Spanning their career 1965-67, from pre Peanut Butter outfit the Ashes through to their Columbia Records era, this collection is an Aladdin's cave of priceless musical gems from one of the most prolific song writing teams of the time, John Merrill and Alan Brackett. Add the intoxicatingly beautiful vocals of Barbara Sandi Robison to the mix, and you have a perfect blend that produced some of the most outstanding music to emerge from the mid-60s Sunset Strip scene. Having cut their musical teeth in the early 60s folk scene, Merrill and Brackett were able to bring sophisticated vocal harmonies to the burgeoning psychedelic sound when they teamed up with Barbara Robison and formed the Ashes (who also featured future Jefferson Airplane drummer, the late Spencer Dryden). This collection marks the first appearance of the Ashes' rare Vault label 45s on CD, allowing the pleasure of hearing the original recording of the Peanut Butter Conspiracy's Dark On You Now, as well as the showcase of Barbara's vocal talent, Roses Gone. Among the previously unreleased Ashes cuts is a marvellous interpretation of the traditional folk song Hangman, which neatly represents the groups origins, whilst giving an indication of things to come with it's extended instrumental jam.
In addition to the early Ashes material, the Vault Peanut Butter Conspiracy recordings are also included, among them the standout Big Bummer with its myriad time changes and acid-toned guitar. Some other highlights are demos for songs that didn't make it to Peanut Butter Conspiracy albums; not because they weren;t of a sufficient standard, but because the group was coming up with so much high quality material they couldn;t fit it all on. Tracks like Enchanted World and Naturally (Wintry Ways) are wonderful, even in their stripped-down form, while the fully realised recordings of Eventually, Light Bulb Blues, Moment Of Happiness and the amazing, flower-powered Flight Of The Psychedelic Bumble Bee would have been quite at home on either of their Columbia albums.
The disc closes with a live version of You Should Know recorded in 1967 which demonstrates what an impressive live experience the Peanut Butter Conspiracy must have been, with tight vocal harmonies and an instrumental break that shows the group stretching out beyond the boundaries of the studio recording. With the usual copious liner notes courtesy of Alec Palao, and rare, never before seen photos, this is an essential addition to the Peanut Butter Conspiracy catalogue and a must have CD for any aficionado of West Coast psychedelia.
CD $18



COLLECTOR'S CHOICE...

THE COLLECTORS - The Collectors (Collector's Choice 499) The first five tracks, 'What Is Love; She (Will-O-the-Wind); Howard Christman's Older; Lydia Purple', and 'One Act Play', are cool enough, but they're mere preamble for the album centerpiece, 'What Love (Suite)', a 19-minute head trip of sax, flute, Gregorian chant and psychedelic guitar. You gotta hear this! One of my favorite obscure psych gems of all. - BLG
CD $12

THE COLLECTORS - Grass & Wild Strawberries (Collector's Choice 500) This is the score to a play written by George Ryga that may or may not ever have been produced, but it's actually a much more concise work than its predecessor, with some driving, off-kilter songs that sound a little like, say, the Red Krayola. Check it out! Includes 'Prelude; Grass and Wild Strawberries; Things I Remember; Don't Turn Away; Teletype Click; Seventeenth Summer; The Long Rain; My Love Delights Me; Dream of Desolation; Rainbow of Fire; Early Morning', and 'Sheep on the Hillside'.
CD $12


DR. JOHN, THE NIGHT TRIPPER [MAC REBENNACK] - Gris Gris (Collector's Choice 131) Dr. John's 1968 release for Atco, here reissued with original artwork and original and new liner notes, is hard to describe because there is simply no other record like it. One part psychedelia, one part New Orleans R&B and one part something else (voodoo ritual might be the best phrase, but we're not sure that really covers it). Gris Gris' blend of rasping lead vocals (from Dr. John himself), soulful backup harmonies, haunting melodies on flute, sax, and clarinet and eerie incantations creates a vibe that's awfully hard to shake. It's not scary -- in fact, it's rather celebratory in that special New Orleans way -- but for full effect you might want to turn off the lights
CD $16

H P LOVECRAFT - I/II (Collector's Choice 139; USA) Both long-out-of-print studio albums from one of the best psychedelic bands of the '60s. Led by George Edwards and keyboardist Dave Michaels, a classically trained vocalist with a four-octave range, H.P. Lovecraft combined sophisticated vocal arrangements and imaginative arranging to create songs that mesmerized without meandering, a rare feat in those hazy, crazy days. To date, the only thing available on CD has been that excellent live set on the Sundazed label; now here's a chance to hear this Chicago outfit work its magic in the studio. This reissue features their first two albums for Philips, complete with original artwork and extra liner notes added
CD $1