Monthly Archive for January 2006

Primo Kim: To Be Near Primo Kim: To Be Near

Fairly rare private press lp from Sacramento, CA (I think) by jazz vocalist/pianist Primo Kim. A good deal of this lp is quiet vocal stuff which didn’t really do much for me, but there are a couple of decent Bossa-y tracks. What really makes this worthy of note however is a good funky jazz instrumental [...]

Colby's Missing Memory Colby’s Missing Memory

Colby is a robot who’s programmer input the entire Bible into his memory. When Colby gets excited about a particular verse from the Bible he makes a song out of it.

Howard Wales: Rendezvous with the Sun Howard Wales: Rendezvous with the Sun

Howard Wales is probably best known for his association with the Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia. But, he also stepped quite firmly on the terra firma of jazz funk via his playing on “Music of El Topo”, and with this private solo lp from 1976. The track that quite deservedly gets attention here is “Karnaval” [...]

Starfire / Starfire Starfire / Starfire

I found an original copy of this rare prog rock item in a Los Angeles thrift shop. It was thrashed but I could tell it was rare so I said what the hey and bought it. Later I got $150 for it despite its G/VG condition.

Cherie and Jim Schwall - A Wedding Present Cherie and Jim Schwall – A Wedding Present

From the liner notes: “This album was recorded on a sony home tape recorder. Mostly at parties, it’s mostly first takes. There are no overdubs. No one in New York had anything to do with it.” As you can imagine, this lp is a pretty lo-fi affair, which gives it a very intimate and sparse [...]

Orquesta Riverside - S/T Orquesta Riverside – S/T

Orquesta Riverside has been a staple of Cuban music since the 1930s. This undated Areito album appears to be from the late ’60s/early ’70s, and contains some monster Latin funk tunes.
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Sonde - En Concert Sonde – En Concert

From the liner notes: “Live concert improvisations. Some of the pieces are played on new sound sources designed and constructed by members of the group. Others user traditional sources in a new context. Occasional use of electronic sound modification techniques”
So basically, a buncha Canadians running around and making like Taj Mahal Travellers, AMM, et al. [...]

The Lovelites: With Love from the Lovelites The Lovelites: With Love from the Lovelites

Everything about this record is right…

A. A. Allen: God Is A Killer! A. A. Allen: God Is A Killer!

More than just a weird cover, as Mr. Allen seems to have actually been a pretty weird man.

Flick Wilson - School Days Flick Wilson – School Days

Great early ’80s reggae LP on the Jah Life label. Backed by the Roots Radics and mixed at King Tubby’s, engineered by Scientist and Jammy.
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Nicodemus - Spacechild Squall Nicodemus – Spacechild Squall

Nicodemus is an outsider biker folk fella from Michigan. This album was recorded “live” in 1977, complete with fake applause track. Total “smoking a jay around the campfire” jams. Amazingly the guy actually has a pretty good voice. He repressed 500 copies of the LP a few years ago, it can still be found for [...]

Daniel Humair - Drumo Vocalo Daniel Humair – Drumo Vocalo

Percussion library recorded in France, 1970 (or so the cover says). IML (International Music Label) was a subsidiary of Montparnasse 2000, hence the slight similarity in cover design. There’s a mix of weird scat vocal stuff, tape delays, and reverse effects on here.
Daniel Humair – Dingo Conversation

Hansadutta Swami - The Vision Hansadutta Swami – The Vision

A German named Hans Kary moves to Berkeley, experiences a vision, and becomes a devotee of Krishna. He then changes his name to Hansadutta Swami, starts wearing aviator shades, and becomes a traveling monk playing bad folk.

Leon's Creation - this is the beginning Leon’s Creation – this is the beginning

Leon’s Creation hail from San Fransisco, they released this album on the small Studio 10 label. I think some people have a misconception that this is a funk record, I would classify it more as psychedelic soul ala Sly and the Family Stone. This is a fantastic record that has simply slipped through the cracks. [...]

Dave Porter: S/T Dave Porter: S/T

Dave Porter is a complex man.

The Cake - a slice of The Cake – a slice of

Here’s a favorite of mine by the femme soft psych trio The Cake. To my knowledge they have two albums, their other lp is more on the motown girl group side of things, this lp is all over the place. It varies from baroque pop to haunting folk/psych on my favorite track “under the tree [...]

Tom Smith - still lifes Tom Smith – still lifes

Here’s a nice instrumental lp that’s still under the radar. This was released in 1978 and would appeal to fans of John Fahey, Leo Kottke and other guitarist’s similar in that vein. I’ve been trying to find out if Tom released any more albums but I think this is his lone effort. What a shame, [...]

Albin and Rebekah Zak - Sphinx Albin and Rebekah Zak – Sphinx

Here’s an obscure private press release from 1978 on Gabriel Records. This record consists of four long tracks with Albin on acoustic guitar and Rebekah on piano. The whole lp has a moody, introspective vibe to it. They even do a cover of “lonely woman” by Ornette Coleman. I think their quote from the liner [...]

Pauline Anna Strom - Trans-Millenia Consort Pauline Anna Strom – Trans-Millenia Consort

Wow, here’s a new discovery for me. Pauline released this album in 1982. Every track on here is nice and mellow and spacy. Despite being blind, Pauline manages to channel Eno in every track making this one of my favorite new age albums. My favorite track on here is “gossamer silk”, sublime stuff.
[Audio clip: view [...]

Bhagavan Das: Swaha Bhagavan Das: Swaha

Private press hippie commune stuff by guru dude Bhagavan Das. Unfortunately, three fourths of this double lp is the clan “getting their Om on” which I find somewhat less than compelling. I believe it is an honest and respectful attempt at traditional Indian music but it really does not work very well as far as [...]

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