Monthly Archives – January 2006

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 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. Colby’s memory goes missing when an anti-robot member of the group of Colby’s friends Nick twists some dials on Colby which deletes his concept […]

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

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. You can tell a lot about a record collector, […]

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 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. Listen

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 […]

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. Listen

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

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

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 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. […]

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

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

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: […]

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 […]

Guem et Zaka Percussion – S/T

Born to Nigerian parents brought to Algeria, percussionist Guem grew up playing traditional music and trance rhythms from an early age. His family soon initiated him into the secrets of the diwan–ceremonies where many of the participants enter a state of trance. The influence of the diwan is fully evident in this mellow and beautifully […]

Cecil Leuter – Les Sons Electroniques

Consider the contents of this record the “left-overs” of the Pop Electronique session that Leuter is so famous for. There’s very little song structure to any of the tracks on here, it’s mainly just wild analog keys and effects throughout the entire thing. Audio coming soon.

Chim Kothari – Sound Of Sitar

An early “Sitar-sploitation” record on Deram from 1966 which has much more of an MOR pop sound that stuff like Ananda Shankar which would come later. There are two originals on here that are in a Raga sort of mode, but it’s mostly comprised of pop covers of the day. The Sitar is superimposed over […]

Alvin Curran – Fiori Chiari

This 1979 record was the fourth release of six on the Italian Ananda label, co-founded in 1976 by Alvin Curran, Roberto Laneri and Giacinto Sclesi. The record contains two environmental sound pieces that reminded me of a more natural or free-improv take on the types of ideas and atmospheres also heard on Brian Eno’s ‘On […]