Monday

sandpebbles

...what makes for a goodly lobeful with this compilation is th' fact that different faces got to front for this combo so different vocalizin' styles were fitted to different grooves whether they be gospel wailin', post brill buildin' galpop, R&b hepness, or flowerpower cashin' in exploito vibes....all this molded into a terrific radio blazin' soul bag just right for a saturday night finger poppin' session...

mama's and the papa's

...these four mama/papas wax're chocker full o' hep folk rock, folk pop, sunshine harmony, show-tune-vibes, sneaky hip lyrics, R'n'B covers 'n a psychedelic haze...th' whole shebang o' mid 60s drugged out hollywood as seen by reefered acid head beatnix in love with a good time 'n seein' th' whole dream collapse before it had time to start...spin these hep disks 'n go back to a time that held more hope'n promise than th'agents o' oppression could afford to allow happen...

byrds

...when jim saw th'fabs psuedo doc 'a hard days night' he knew immediately that th'folk vibe was way outta date, th'strummin' on wooden guitars with tom dooley was yesterdays invention, passed'n passe 'n it was time to approximate th'merseybeat'n have some fun, somethin' that was sadly lackin' in th'colonies in th' early six ohs as th' madison avenue cookie cutter machine ground out ready to consume ideas on how to live th'life free from individual thinkin'...once th'amp is set on blast preflyte overcomes is weak recordin' values'n becomes somethin' to behold, a glimmer o' future ideas,a semi gellin' o' tomorrow today, so to speak...tambourine man is more o' th'same but more refined'n o' course better sound owin' to major record co. gettin' in on any new ideas(plus th'dreaded studio muso's)...th'sound o' th'new world loosenin' up from th'mind controllers...

t-bone walker

...cats scopin' th'cover could easily be mislead into thinkin' this a 40s/50s comp, but what we got here is a really nice pile up o' tracks from t-bone's bluesway joints from th'late 60's early 70's...very nice sound lets th'discernin' cat get a hep snootful o' some great forgotten late period t-bone'n its way cool that in his latter days he still got th'chops to see off any young pretenders who were lurkin' in th'wings...nice horn injections move th'tunes'n give 'em some heavy sock-it-2-ya punch...great lyrics includin' whiskey drinkin', parties'n cops,'n in keepin'with th'times, mini-skirts...nice...

fela

...this hot joint is basically one long tranced-out wig nourishin' jam with th'first half instro'n then in comes fela'n his singin' unit chattin on th'state o' play in their corruption ridden country...totally right on blather that cost fela dearly over th'years as his music was way too much for th'downpresserman to let pass by'n ignore...afro jammin'n free spirit jazzboin' collide on this offerin' from 81...th'power o' music is fresh'n alive on this vital disk, a must for all right on cats...

booker t & the mg's

...'71 rolls around'n th'new decade is underway so its time for th'mg's to re-evaluate th'sound...title track is a nice long tight but loose funky jam so its kickin' off good...some soul jazz crops up'n then on th'second side theres some lounge jazz grooves with wordless vocals in th''shoo shoo tweet tweet beedoo' style which work mighty fine when they've been heard a couple o' times...th'last track is a rip/homage to arthurly which is really good, this one should been longer...forever changes indeed...

jimmy castor bunch

..listenin to these here two waxin's from th'early seven ohs is kind o' like havin' a cool radio station on constantly playin' th'groovy sounds from lounge jazz to pysch guitar freakout to doowop to righton political songs to pop to latin to good ol' funky'n fun R'n'B...great stuff from back in th'day when combos weren't scared to put different tunes 'n rhythms next to each other...tight as tight playin' that cant be denied... not to be judged with later bland accomplishments that were put out for an uncarin' audience who only wanted upscale wallpaper backin', these joints're dope'n worthy...

big youth

...fire up th'bong'n get with th'heavy heavy smokedout toastin' from youth on this ital plate from '75...one of th'greatest chatsmen from th'early days in kingston town this still astounds in its power to transform th'room into a jamdown heavy manners session...most o' side two is dubs cos no doubt youth had some kinda fallin' out over th'bread he was supposed to get, but no matter these dubs are not filler, they are 100% killer-diller...one o' th'all time greats in reggae sounds or any other noise, psychedelic with vengeance...go dere natty,lightnin' strike'n th'weakheart drop, dreader than dread...

czar

...this somewhat heavy handed hard rock prog disk gets off to a pretty dreary start'n makes a cat wanna move on quicky but th'second track looks up a bit'n then they find their footin'...keyboard'n guitar fronted copy o' procol harum with some lookin' back in th' vocal dept. to th'psych days...a good example o' a combo not really knowin' what th'new prog sounds o' th'70's should be 'n not enough talent to write a tune'n stretch it out...th'sort o' group that would be second/third on th' bill at small provincial gigs, th' kind o' band that plys their wares while th'audience does its own thing, like gettin' a drink, skinnin' up'n generally ignorin' th' stage...in th' pantheon o' hard rockin' prog they amount to really no more than 'also rans' but not very far...

Wednesday

fear

...viewed at th'time in th' late 70's by th'closed mind LA scenesters as a joke, anti-scene 'n unnescessarily negative this combo got dissed more than their fair share which o' course bothered them not a jot cos they knew that was th' reaction th'suburban punk squares 'n self appointed flag wavers would bestow upon them...cats in a more free thinkin' frame o' mind heard a different aggro completely...one that had some o' th'most hypocrisy hatein' lyrics yet heard...lee ving 'n his collegues had no time for anyone that thought th'country they were livin' in was a satisfactory 'n desirable place...they discussed in no uncertain terms th'uncarin' society that existed all around from th'lowest level civilians to th'scum that clung to power with a powerful rock'n'roll buzzbomb attack...every tune hits its target right dead center 'n explodes leavin' preconcieved ideas in bits...still needed today 'n only more so everyday cos nothin' has changed, just got more distorted as th'truth is evermore buried beneath meanin'less language...one o' th' most important social rockin' documents produced in th' western world...

dr. john

...here th'night tripper channels 200 year old voodoo funk into a bowl o' moonlit graveyard psychedelic gumbo 'n stirs until th'right trance conditions're found 'n th'alignment 'o time 'n space 're ready to reveal secrets for heads willin' to receive...th'doctors finest period for takin th' ancient vibe 'n layin' it down for cats across th' hep world...not too many disks have th' power like this one...

gene vincent and his blue caps

...time for all finger-poppin' daddys to flip their lid'n get some rockin' down to th'socks...excellent waxin' from one o' th'masters o' th' old rockabop...shakin' a tailfeather aint an option its a requirement that can't be ignored whilst this platters goin' round...jump back jack its spin city dad where there aint no squares allowed...

art ensemble of chicago

...th' great thing about this outfit is that in amongst all th'free spirit splatter 'n splunk'n shreakin' skronk is th' fact that a hep cat can find th'history o' jazz pokin' through all th'racket...one moment new orleans 1921 is referenced'n then a moment later it's 1942 bop on 125th street NYC...this wax was laid down 06/23/69 in paris when th' euro tradition o' free thinkin' democracy hit'n they became th'AEC makin' clear everyone had equal say in th'makin' o' this squeal fest...

funky 4 plus 1

...back in th' very late seven ohs up in da boogie-down this funky fresh crew along with their deejays baron 'n breakout 'n th' sound system th' mighty mighty sasquatch were, on a good night #1 'n never really droppin' below #3 in th' party rockin' league...'nth generation mix tapes that circulated th'area at th' time reveal a totally commited group o' enthusiastic teens rockin' 'n rhymin' da house to th'delight o' th'whole room...here're th' hot joints they were allowed to offer th' world at large...pump up th' sounds 'n party to th'break o' dawn...

fraternity of man

...even though it must be said that their first wax was a buzzin' psyched out slab this second LP from this friendly bunch o' hollywood freaks is still cool...th'frat cats main aim o' th' day was scorin' good weed 'n bein' mellow fellows...some real fun stoner lyrics backed up with some spiffin' blues rock choogle make this a hep listen...added bonus for west coast heads is th' fact that 3 future little feat're present on various cuts...proper swell groove...

23 skidoo

...experimental dubbed post punk funkers that came to semi underground prominence for a few moons in th'early 80's...this mysterious combo did trancedout psychedelic gigs in near darkness with lights'n camouflage nettin' obsurin' their presence lettin' th'sound'n vibes transmit th' communication...this is a biscuit from y2k when they reformed in again semi obscurity...many cats have tried this jazzy wobbly elastic funk since their early days but not too many done it better...good enough for pharoah sanders to have a blow on tracks 4/9...to be played after a bong hit with th'lights dimmed...

sex pistols

...th'number o' times this boot has been issued probably exceeds th'number o' gigs this combo did, but this edition, though lifted from wax disk is good sound quality 'n that helps a cat relive or find out what th'original band sounded like, which is top rockin' swill, chaotic, shambolic 'n full o' enthusiasium,'n that counts alot...taped at a summer 76 gig this is full on racket with th'sound o' th'audience creepin' in'n out...all th'songs associated with this mob're here'n its one crackin' time guaranteed a good earfull...as ever with this sorta noise fire up th'amp'n play at stun...chipper temporal shiftin' vibes will emminate'n take all heads back to that frantic life affirmin' summer...

darkthrone

...th'last in darkthrones original black metal triptych which sees them riffin' 'n growlin' over th'clatterin' o' cheapo cheapo soundin' drums...trance inducin' minimalism is th'order o'th'day with th'distortion turned up 'n then buried in th'murk...not as chaotic as some black metal from back in th'day, but it doesn't have any jazzy clever guitar techniques that came to ruin th'pure necro metal sound with th' later combos...along with mayhem'n vlad tepes this is one o' th'greats in a limited field...for such a seeminly simplistic noise its very difficult to get th''correct' sound'n feel as laid down by euronymous 'n dead in th' late 80s but this goes a long way in gettin' th' feel...

abruptum

...two cats goin' by th' name IT 'n ALL (aka tony 'n jim) get busy grindin'n poundin' intense slow motion riffs into an ugly slurpy mess...blurry sound fx'n lost tormented vocals stretched to limits o' impossibilities...thunderous noise o' a collapsin' universe sinkin' into th' void where untold agony lurks in patient wait...in many ways this is progrock when all th'parts are added together, maybe not in th' accepted college prog sense o' sissy vocals 'n bland technicalities but when it came to rearrangin' th' sound this is well progged out 'n thats a fact...a reissue o' their first demo from '90 with an extra track tacked on th' end...under th' right conditions this is a trip to th' dark side...

international submarine band

...accordin' to legend this here combo recorded an Lp for a small label in around late '66 but th' tapes have been lost so who knows th' full'n true story on that this late in th'game...anyhow what is known pretty much is they'd been knockin' out a hybrid rockin' country roll since formin' so by th'time this wax was cut they'd got fairly proficient at gettin' a genuine sound...released in early 68 just as gram was gettin cozy with th' byrds so no promotion was offered th'disk 'n it flopped into bargin bins as a cutout 'n some heads got lucky...cats with a keen sense o' whats up should check th'motion flick 'russians are comin' 'n 'th' trip' in which respectively they do th' theme 'n appear (overdubbed song from electric flag) ...

siegel schwall band

...third slice from these windy city bluesters'n accordin' to th'facts these numbers were laid down purely as demos 'n that may be true cos there definitely is a vibe about this wax thats loose 'n happy as if it don't matter too much cos th' tunes will be worked on 'n tight'ned up later...well that didn't happen 'n th' results are nice'n breezy, almost commercial but thats another matter...

david blue

...david blue was one o' th'cats that hung out with dylan durin' those wild mercury daze'n it shows on this first waxin' on th'then trustworthy elektra label, th'whole mad stoned vibe is happ'nin' all over with interestin'ly, some light velvet collar era stonesian grooves, th'opiate chelsea sound that was happ'nin' in tandem with th'folk rock'n freakbeat o' 66(pivotal year when rock'n pop became ART)...hallucinogenic poetry slides in'n out with midnight visions lit only by th'last gasps o' th'expirin' candle o' positive sensation...dig th'funky organ sounds,a total gas from yesteryear...

lightnin hopkins

...back around th'late fifties sam charters(bloozologist/rec.producer for c.j&fish amongst others)called sam lightnin' hopkins th'last true original bluesman'n that was a fair assumption at th'time before th'great blues 're-discovery' o' long forgotten cats like mississippi john hurt/rev.gary davis/son house...th'recordin's on this nice comp come from th'late 40s taped in houston/L.A'n show lightnin' groovin' with th'country blues/boogie shuffle with fun'n fine lyrics all washed down with a fifth o'whiskey'n a toke or two...real on th'spot first takes cos lightnin' didn't like to spend too long on any tune cos spontaneity would be lost'n blandness would be th'only result...spend an hour with one o' th'true greats, a corner stone o'th'60s folk/R&B/rockroll explosion that would happen in hep european centres...