THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
A second volume of rare afro funk from Ghana, every bit as good as the first. 14 tracks, all from the seventies, highlight Ghana's fertile music scene and the varied influences -- from funk & soul to fusion & jazz, and even rock. Like its predecessor, Ghana Soundz 2 comes well documented with bios on the artists, archival photos and album art repros. Here's to hoping these don't go scarce again so soon.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
We listed this compilation a couple years back, but unfortunately it went out of print, but thankfully Sound Way has just gotten around to reissuing it. Ghana Soundz is an impressive collection of afro-beat from Ghana's golden era. Sound Way boasts that the 14 tracks included here from the 1970's are all extremely rare and previously unreleased outside of Africa. Includes a 16 page booklet detailing the history of Ghana's music industry, bios on the artists included and photos of the original album art.
By now maybe you have (or like some of us, maybe you haven't) had enough of the South East Asian pop, folk, field recordings from Sublime Frequencies. Courtesy of Robert Millis (Climax Golden Twins cohort and curator of the Leaf Music Drunks Distant Drums cd) Harmika Yab-Yum takes us on an audio journey through underserved territory. Nestled, nay sandwiched between the geographical and cultural giants of China and India, Nepal's greatest fame lies in its hosting the tallest mountain on our fair planet. It's also the only "official Hindu state in the world" according to the CIA Factbook. On Harmika Yab-Yum Millis elegantly weaves together recordings he made (apparently in 1996) of radio broadcasts, street musicians, religious cermonies, and sermons. About half of the tracks in fact are from radio, though no disc jockey banter is included, which -- whether intentional or not -- gives the recordings an even more of a feel of being totally detached from the influence of the occidental world. By and large the greatest influence on the music here is from India. Tabla percussion, flutes, pump organs, sitars, violins and drones, drones, drones make up the bulk of the instrumentation and to the untrained ear, certainly sound like the dulcet tones of Indian music. The disc starts off with a bang with a track taken from the radio which sounds like feral chanting by some crazed lunatic accompanied by drumming. This is followed by an abrupt segue into a street sermon broadcast over a distant sounding bullhorn, flutes and people talking can be heard over the sermon. For the larger part, such abrupt transitions are not the norm on Harmika Yab-Yum and the grainy, modulating songs recorded off of the airwaves blend nicely with the gritty sounds of daily life on the streets from the clanging bells of a pony train passing by to, chanting monks on Krishna day, to a snake charmer with double reed to the crashing of bands, miscellaneous percussion and other noises for a wedding procession. Very nice.
'60s garage rock from Sacramento label Ikon.
When you think weird '70s spacey synthesizer music, you might usually think of Germany and all the kosmic krautrockers over there. But as we've learned, France had their fair share of analog synth-psych pioneers too, experimenting with Moogs and ARPs and other machines... from academic electronics to proggy astral travel to noisier new wavey proto-industrial, this comp covers some fantastic stuff.
We got this in when we got the Pierre Bastien 1968-1988 collection we highlighted last time, it's on the same French prog label, Gazul. But we had to wait and order more of these before reviewing it, 'cause the copies we got the first time flew out of here without us even putting it on our list. We guess customers in the store just saw the cover and were taken in by the b&w image of a vintage EMS Synthi AKS, and a few words in French. But maybe it's not just the evocative graphics that got 'em, it's the lineup on this comp: Richard Pinhas/Heldon, Gilbert Artman/Lard Free, Verto, Camizole, Video-Adventures, and Pascale Comlade (collaborating with Victor Nubla and David Cunningham). Here's the deal: if you know those names, you probably already want this compilation. If you don't know 'em, and we'll admit we weren't familiar with a few, that's all the more reason to get this. 9 tracks, 70 minutes, much of it never-before-released material exclusive to this comp. However, the Pinhas, Heldon and Lard Free tracks we know are from albums that some folks might already have, all are amazing, though, and well worth hearing again in this context... Meanwhile, we'd never encountered the likes of Verto before, ferinstance. And their 15+ minute cut has to be one of this disc's highlights, an epic for Fender Stratocaster guitar and electronics ("Modules RSF"), that sounds something like a cross between Fripp & Eno and SUNNO)))... Fairly heavy stuff for '76, when it was recorded! There's lots of other treats here, from Pinhas's masterful minimalist Moog pulsations on "Variations VII" to the drifting droning synthscapes of Camizole's "Electronic Alarm" to the dense, dubby rhythmic swirl of Lard Free's supremely tripped out 17+ minute "Spiral Malax", the disc's most out-rock selection. Video-Adventures provides the more playful gurgling and burbling, blipping and bleeping sci-fi noises, while Comelade and Cunningham's collaborative 15:07 of blissful waves of grinding hypnosis seems a lot more serious... And there's more, all of it excellent.
The liner notes are all in French, unfortunately. But there is a selected discography that's not to hard to decipher, and photos of both musicians and their machines... Quite recommended!
If this new compilation of post punk music from Brazil circa 1982 through 1988 is any indication, American and British post-punkers have got nothing on the Brazilian post-punkers in the eccentricities department. Some of the live wire tracks on Nao Wave are downright bizarre, and we love it! A hefty portion of it is pretty incomparable, but if we were to suggest a couple of reference points... the fourth song by Akira S & As Garotas Que Erraram brings to mind Talking Heads, while the ninth by Ira! is sorta Fishbone-y ska. But really, it can't be that easily nor narrowly pinned down. Maybe the current crop of new new wavers, nowavers and electroclashers can start drawing their retro '80s inspirations from these Brazilian sources? That'd be something to hear! Totally twisted and rad! However, if you're seeking some more, uhh, normal (?) post-punk from Brazil, we should let you know that there's another compilation that just came out on Soul Jazz that might tickle your fancy (we haven't had a chance to review it yet). Heck, check 'em both out!
YEEEEAAY. What a wonderful service Load provides, bringing awesome musicians/artists from the dregs of Providence (and elsewhere) to all of us. Those guys live there so we don't have to. Well, Load's Pick A Winner compilation cd features some of our favorite artynoisebands from Prov: La Machine (ex-Six Finger Satellite and Landed), Lightning Bolt, Forcefield, Pixeltan, Pleasurehorse and even a tiny little glistening nugget of a song from (sadly, now defunct) Thee Hydrogen Terrors. The Load artists are not your typical noise bands, mind you. They are 100 percent a pertinent cataclysm of talent and ideas. And then there's the dvd. Holy shit! It's so great to see these videos. Most of the featured artists typically use whatever they have or can use around to make totally genuine two-dimensional magic with, and to see their work transcend into pure video conjury is truly inspiring. The package even comes with a deck of cards, each specially designed by Load artists, just to show they care about you, the consumer. So buy this cd/dvd now! In fact, buy three!! (Not advised for people with heart problems.) Oh, but unfortunately Load doesn't care as much about their artists, as there is no tracklisting to tell you who is what, etc. So our mp3 samples are listed as track numbers only.
Here's a double cd compilation of Angolan shantytown pop from 1965-1975, with a similar lineup of artists as the "Angola '60s" and "Angola '70s" comps we've already been carrying: Artur Nunes, Os Kiezos, Urbano de Castro, Oscar Neves, Jovens do Prendo, Os
It's finally here! You've seen the teasers on the previous two Soul Jazz Studio One releases, now's your chance to have the whole kit n' kaboodle for relative little pocket change. 4 hours, yes four friggin' hours of video for your pleasure. The meat of the footage is an extended interview (over two and a half hours) with Coxsone Dodd in his Kingston studio and hanging out in Kingston at some of the old dancehall locations surrounded by adoring fans and Studio One stable staples. Interspersed throughout are additional brief interviews with King Stitt, Alton Ellis, Ken Booth, Studio One engineer Sylvan Morris, Sister Ignacious of the Alpha Boys School (who produced some of the island's greatest musicians) and many other old timers from Studio One's glory days recounting the label's illustrious history. As bonus features to this documentary are some interviews with Alton Ellis, Norma & Courtney Dodd, Ken Boothe, King Stitt, Dennis Alcapone and more. But wait, there's more! And it's not a collection of steak knives. Soul Jazz has also thrown in a best of Studio One collection (LP or CD, your choice) that seriously kicks ass and a 100 page book filled with archival pictures and bios. Considering the huge role Studio One / Coxsone Dodd had in shaping Jamaican music through the sixties and seventies (not to mention the lasting effect the treasure of Studio One rhythms continue to have on the island's music) this document is an excellent source of historical info.
I can't close this up without expressing one bone to pick with the creators of this film. You'll notice when you pop this puppy on your DVD player (by the way, the discs we've got are region free NTSC) is a horrible video title generated frame that surrounds the picture -- kind of like the trademark frame that surrounds all the Soul Jazz Studio One releases. No, this doesn't go away ever during the film and no, you can't get rid of it if you want to. It really sucks and I can only suspect the most nefarious of reasons that Soul Jazz would include it throughout the entire film. Shame on them for that. Chances are, like us, you'll mentally crop that frame out soon enough. This thing is just too damned good to let a stupid frame ruin it! Can I also say that it makes an excellent stocking stuffer? (the CD version anyway, the LP you might have to have a big ass sock to fit it.)
Hot on the heels of the first volume, Subliminal Sounds has released this second collection of Thai garage beat pop go-go madness. And we have to say it's better than the first. Much better (and cheaper too). Like the first volume the tracks here are all distinct replicas of popular music from the Occident of the late sixties. Some notable covers include the King's "All Shook Up", Serge Gainsbourg's "Je T'aime Moi Non Plus" and The Beatles' "Lady Madonna". What makes this collection stand out for us though is both the inclusion of a wider range of severely demented production aesthetics and a great deal more songs that, vocally, sound more Thai. The album starts off with a bang to Viparat Piengsuwan's "YoK YoK" with chipper plosive vocals that could only come from Thailand. So cute it'll make you barf. Not skipping a beat we're led into Surapon's "Ding Dong", which sounds like a seriously fucked up deconstruction of the "Surfing Bird". A little later Waipot Petsuwan's "Mia Chaa" throws a monkey wrench into our expectations with a dreamy ellyptical vocal line -- that sounds reminiscent of Mo Lam -- over an otherwise standard garage beat tune, instantly transforming it into a classic. Then, of course, there's some demented production like excessive reverb in the oddest places and a strange Thai version of the Chipmonks that'll have you spitting your lunch out your nose. Highly recommended!
Japanese underground psych fans rejoice... The Night Gallery, which is kinda the Osaka-based Alchemy label's answer to PSF's Tokyo Flashback series, is already up to volume three! This installment brings us ten tracks from six new bands (new to us anyway!). One of 'em, DNJ, is actually female psych duo The Doodles augmented by a bass player and ubiquitous Alchemy boss/Hijokaidan guitarist Jojo Hiroshige (and their track "Moon Child" is a loud Doodles-like dirge of blurred beauty). But the others we have no prior clues about at all. There's two tracks from all-girl trio Sarumatake Mitsuku (woozy meandering space-psych that heavies up nicely a la Shizuka), two tracks of stoned folk from guitarist/vocalist Suzuki Junzo, a single cut of twang-and-drone from improv folkster Kei, one very mellow and melodic track by the trio Inisie, and then three Shaggsy songs from the two girls of Yoze. Simple blissful pleasures abound here. Those only into the darker side of the Japanese psych scene might not find everything here to be the best soundtrack for wearing sunglasses and all-black clothing (though there IS a fair amount of the dark, spacey stuff on here), but if you sometimes like an element of innocence and gentle pop in your psych (a la Maher Shalal Hash Baz, Nagisa Ni Te, and the like) then you'll be happy to make the acquaintance of several of these artists. Very very nice.
Hmmm... Connecticut. Known for its (I'd rather kill myself than drive through its) never-ending stretch of I-95, shitty cities and incredibly concentrated wealth. How would we have known that hip hop from CT circa '79 to '83 was so good?! Well that's where this new comp produced by Stones Throw's Egon comes in, to educate us. The old school rap jams on here are nostalgia-inducing classics even if you've never heard 'em before. One we had heard, and will forever love, is Pookey Blow's "Get Up (And Go To School)", but the selections from the likes of The Chillie 3 MCs, Rappermatical 5, Mr. Magic, Starchild and the 2nd Showdown Crew, The Outlaw Four, and others also have all the kitschy humor, casual cool, positive pride and self-assurance that makes these rare tracks just as awesome as any more famous hits of the time outta NYC. Could be considered even more so, with some sympathy points for having hailed from CT!
Compilations of long-lost '60s and '70s psych/pop/rock gems dug up from the far corners of the world by dedicated crate-digging record collectors are always considered a good thing here at AQ. We can just point to the Hava Narghile, Cambodian Rocks, Love Peace & Poetry and Thai Beat comps for some easy examples. But while we've been stoked on all sorts of stuff from Turkey, Thailand, Brazil, Mexico, Japan, South Africa, and elsewhere, there's always room for more, and for new unexplored territories to freak out about. For instance, what about Welsh psych/prog/folk??? Aha, that's what Welsh Rare Beat is devoted to, as you've already surmised. The 25 tracks here, all of 'em pretty fantastic, were selected from the vaults of the home-grown Welsh indie record label Sain, which could easily be (as this comp argues) the coolest record label you've never heard of before. As the liner notes put it: "You like prog-rock with blueprint trip-hop beats? So did Sain. You like ethereal girl groups with mystical acid folk overtones? So did Sain. You like psychedelic rock operas based on druidism and witchcraft? So did Sain..." And they're not kidding. Psyche-Celtic hoe-downs, dreamy folk singing, Cymru pride protest rock, and incredible grooves abound. These songs are all sung in Welsh (a pleasing tongue we trust you'll find), and due to the language barrier (and doubtless related cultural/political issues) these artists are pretty much unknown outside their own land, despite being just as good as a lot of better known folks from elsewhere in the UK. Really, looking at the names here, we'd only ever heard of Meic Stevens before. Never Bran, Heather Jones, Endaf Emlyn, Y Tebot Piws, or Yr Atgyfodiad, let alone Y Dyniadon Ynfyd Hirfelyn Tesog! But that's what's so great about discs like this, getting turned on to the denizens of a whole new realm of record-collector fantasy. The cd booklet helps mightily in that department, featuring a great deal of text -- there's very detailed track-by-track info plus a lengthy essay that treats this music scene in a political/historical context. VERY thorough indeed. And it even includes an annotated map of Wales. This really well put-together labor of love was compiled by Andy Votel (so recently responsible for the fab Vertigo Mixed comp), Dom Thomas, and Gruff Rhys of the Super Furry Animals who of course hail from Wales, and is released on the same label, Finders Keepers, that also brought us those equally obscure and awesome Jean Claude Vannier and Yamasuki discs.
It's hard to argue with this one. Indeed, we're gonna do quite the opposite and make it a Record Of The Week! This collection, the third in the World Psychedelic Classics series on Luaka Bop (David Byrne's "world music" label), after an Os Mutantes collection and that incredible Shuggie Otis album, is further subtitled: "The Funky, Fuzzy Sounds Of West Africa". Stress on the funk we thinks. Yup, authentic '70s West African funk with a 'delic bent. Really really hard stuff not to like.
The dozen tracks here have got it all: Afro-centric chants, polyrhythmic percussion, James Brown style raspy yelps, wicked organ workouts, and even hard wah-wah acid fuzz jams (Ofo & The Black Company's bad-ass "Allah Wakbarr" is about the last word in that department, though we'd like to hear more). Though some come closer to the compilers' stated concept than others, all the tracks are winners, from the moody, marimba-based soundtrack theme of Manu Dibango's "Ceddo End Title" to the Cuban stylings of No. 1 de No. 1's "Guajira Van" to the percolating political space-funk of William Onyeabor's "Better Change Your Mind". And Alison simply says that "Ifa" by Tunji Oyelana and the Benders is her favorite. Probably because it sets itself apart from the other tracks by utilizing a more scrappy electronic sound to back its stripped-down politically-bent Afro-pop-style lyricism.
All the tracks come from the decade of the '70s, and the bands that recorded them hail from the West African countries of Ghana, Guinea, Senegal, Mali, Gambia, Benin, and Nigeria (but only two tracks overlap with the now-out-of-print 3cd Nigeria 70 compilation). And we think the compliers did a damn fine job, though it seems any survey of West African psych shoulda included a track by Blo, the closest thing to Cream the continent produced as far as we know. Ah well... we can hope for a second volume someday perhaps. Meanwhile, anyone who digs James Brown, Fela, Funkadelic, Orchestra Baobab, or more recent AQ reviewees Konono No. 1 and Black Merda, for instance, will certainly find that love IS a real thing when it comes to how you're gonna feel about this compilation!!
The liner notes go on about the psychedelic aspect of these bands, and while this stuff is definitely far out and groovy it's way more James Brown than brown acid. Mention of Haight-Ashbury seems a stretch, and the music of these bands has got as much or more to do with their motherland than, say, the generally more Western-derived psych we've heard from Thailand, Cambodia, or Turkey on various other comps we've carried. Then again, when you look at rock music influencing African music, you've got a full-circle phenomenon to examine. And when we reviewed the (currently unavailable) Love Peace & Poetry: African Psychedelic Music compiliation some months back, the stuff on this new comp is exactly what we felt was missing and should have been included.
In any case, proper psych or not, and with or without much fuzz, this is definitely FUNKY.
The attractive cd booklet includes notes on each track/artist, complete with color album sleeve art where available. Nicely done. Furthermore, this is an "enhanced cd", allowing those with the appropriate computer technology to witness a video of Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou Dahomey's track "Minsato Le, Mi Dayhome".
Oooh -- a domestic release (somewhat different from the previously available version issued in 1998 by the UK's Trunk label, more on that later) of the soundtrack to the amazing and supremely creepy 1972 British pagansploitation film The Wicker Man! A group of folk musicians, most of whom appear in the film, bring nordic lyre, harmonica, concertina, recorders, guitars, hand drums and more (some psychedelic electric guitar at one point!) to Paul Giovanni's exceptional Celtic influenced compositions. More than just film accompaniment music, the soundtrack plays an important role in the film's characterization of the pagan inhabitants of a remote island off Scotland (led by their Laird, played by Christopher Lee in what he considers his greatest role) who are suspiciously reticent in helping a stuffy, upright Christian policeman (Edward Woodward) investigate the mysterious disappearance of a young girl. Sometimes bawdy, sometimes haunting, and ultimately infused with the film's mounting sense of menace, the songs capture the lusty forces of nature which embrace death as readily as birth. As much as they work in the context of the film, these songs form an album that is great in its own right. Divided into "Songs From Summerisle: Ballads of Seduction, Fertility and Ritual Slaughter" and "Incidental Music From The Wicker Man," the tracks are culled from newly unearthed stereo masters as well as rougher and perhaps more appropriate sounding mono mixes which originally appeared in the film. Highly recommended, both for fans of English folk (of the sixties revival and/or "apocalyptic" varieties) as well as for fans of cult oddities. Truly the "unholy grail" of film soundtracks, as the Trunk version's liner notes put it.
Oh, if you've got that disc, and are wondering what's different with this release, here's the lowdown: That 1998 cd release was a mono recording, taken from the music and effects tapes from the shortest (86 minute) cut of the film, whereas this new version was done from the newly-discovered stereo masters of Giovanni's music, and includes the wonderful song "Gently Johnny" which only appeared in the longer, uncut version of the film and thus was missing from the Trunk cd. The sound effects and dialogue aren't mixed over the songs, as with the earlier version, and as mentioned, this new disc is organized with a suite of tracks of incidental music and sound effects presented separately, following the actual songs (rather than mixed all together, arranged as in the film). However, this new Wicker Man's running time is actually a few minutes *shorter* than the previous version, even with "Gently Johnny" included. Hmm. We're not exactly sure what's missing, presumably some of the incidental music /effects were edited differently. But no matter, this still must be considered the definitive Wicker Man soundtrack, because of its superior stereo sound source, as well as the packaging, which includes a handsome booklet of photos and text housed beside the cd's jewel case in a cardboard slipcover.
And if you haven't ever seen the movie, it's on DVD now, go rent it!!
Yeah, this has been out for a while. A long while actually, but due to random distributor problems which resulted in us being unable to get more than a few of these at a time, we were never able to list it, UNTIL NOW. And we were dead set on listing this, because the three records that make up Box Set contain some of the most intense, brooding and rocking post punk EVER. The Wipers are one of those bands that never got all that popular, but were definitely a band's band, the kind of group that gets namechecked by everybody, and thus influenced everybody, but still remained way below the radar.
Formed in 1978, the Wipers spent their career toiling away in obscurity, seemingly adverse to recognition or popularity, even turning down the opening slot on several Nirvana tours, worried that it would seem too opurtunistic. And Cobain was probably the Wipers' biggest supporter, even covering a bunch of their songs. In fact, lots of people who hear the original versions of "D-7" or "Return Of The Rat" think it must be some punk band covering Nirvana, instead of the other way around. And the more Wipers you hear, the more you realize Cobain did more than just cover their songs, his songwriting style and melodic flair is definitely heavily indebted to the Wipers. Some of the more brooding less rocking Wipers songs sound just like Nirvana tracks that could have been. Minor key mope rock that sort of builds and builds, not necessarily getting louder and faster (although sometimes they did) but getting more and more intense, threatening to explode, the kind of genuine angst and fury that can NOT be faked and imbues music with that sort of emotional charge that turns good music into great music. Cobain had it. So did Greg Sage. And these records prove it. Dark and driving. murky and moody, rough and totally rocking. One of the best bands you may have never heard. And if you picked up that recent Nirvana box, there are a couple Wipers covers on there, and they drive the points home that, not only did Kurt Cobain owe a huge debt for the 'inspiration' but also that Sage was a songwriter on par with Cobain himself, who many consider to be one of the best songwriters of the late eighties / early nineties. Box Set contains the first three Wipers records, Is This Real?, Youth Of America, and Over The Edge, all remastered. A total of 51 songs, 23 of them never before released. Liner notes by Greg Sage himself!
