• Robert Rutman/U.S. Steel Cello Ensemble: Bitter Suites

    This is a recording of a concert by Robert Rutman and his steel cello’s recorded sometime in the late 70′s at a New York Art Gallery. If you are unfamiliar with the Steel Cello Ensemble, it’s basically a few people playing large sheets of metal which produce totally amazing, spooky, droning outer-space sounds. Very much [...]

  • Mossy Davidson – northwind calling

    Here’s a double lp by Mairiis “Mossy” Davidson on the small label “north woods”. This was recorded in Anchorage, Alaska and Seattle, Washington. This is a nice rural femme folk lp with a really mellow vibe to it. Mossy’s delicate vocals and acoustic playing are accompanied by recorders, the homestead flute, piano and steel guitar. [...]

  • The Links – s/t

    Here’s a hideous lo-fi lounge record featuring the usual “sweet caroline” cover tune and a Will Ferrell look alike. Goulet!

  • Pygmies of the Ituri Forest

    I suppose that Pygmies, being so naturally small, have a bit of a head start when it come to “getting down”. Bad jokes aside, this is a pretty amazing record. The ambiance is just awesome and on many tracks the jungle is as much a part of the music as the Pygmies. It is a [...]

  • Bobby Williams – funky superfly

    Hi, my name is Bobby. When I’m not climbing trees and posing in front of my copter, I make funk music that sounds just like James Brown. I also dress just like him, hell I even look just like him. File under: wanna be Godfather of Soul.

  • Jeff Moore – the youngest son

    Along with Bent Wind this is one of the most rare psych/folk lp’s outta Canada. It usually sells for over $1000 so I was excited when this was reissued in a limited print run of 300. From what I can tell it’s a high school record from 1974. It’s a nice mellow delicate folk/psych record [...]

  • Dogs of War – S/T

    Dogs of War bring the Québécois electro-disco on the space-tip. With songs like ‘Spaciula’, ‘Future Jungle’, ‘Intergalactic Tactic’, ‘Love Pirate’ (?), and ‘Space Conqueror’ it’s a wonder I’m not beating arcade games and getting recruited by aliens to fight space battles everytime I listen to this. Not only are the song titles spacey, but so [...]

  • Andrew White – fonk update

    This was recorded live in Washington D.C. at the “One Step Down” Oct. 12th-14th 1979. Side one starts off with the three part “who got de funk?” Some pretty swingin funky jazz, even starts off with a drumbreak if that’s your thing. Side two Andrew and the group do their take on John Coltrane’s “afro [...]

  • Hansadutta Swami: Nothing To Lose But All To Gain

    I was finding this record all over the place when I first moved to the bay area. I like it, but I once enthusiastically sent a copy to my friend Daniel and he told me he was unable to listen to it because the cover frightened him. I guess it’s not for everyone. Swami guy [...]

  • Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. reads Cat’s Cradle

    Being a DJ that comes from a ‘turntablist’ (god I hate that word) background, spoken word records were the mother lode for me and my friends. Although I’m not as scratchcratchratchatch as I used to be, I still relish the oddball talkie record. I found this bad boy and scooped it up immediately because my [...]

  • Cable Car Soundscapes

    This is the kind of record that brings joy to my life and reminds me of why I got into collecting oddball records in the first place. It’s a local bay area lp from the early 80′s of a guy who, just as the name implies, recorded the sounds of cable cars. Side A is [...]

  • Tim Heintz: Plays the Yamaha Electone E-70

    One of those records that keyboard companies used to fund to show off their new gear – in this case the Yamaha “Electone E-70″. This one is actually quite a fun listen if, like me, your idea of a good time is video-game-core versions of pop songs of the late 70′s. There is a pretty [...]

  • Alexander Longrifle: Best Of

    While there are plenty of examples of “why on earth wasn’t a record company interested in this?!?!” in the world of private press records, this is not one of them. Alexander “Chief” Longrifle is pretty much a textbook example of an artist who’s music would never have made it into the few homes it did [...]

  • Bob Tryforos – Guitarist

    Finger-picking folk meets Scott Joplin rags. Bob was an early disciple of John Fahey and cut this lp during “the height of the Joplin revival,” which apparently happened in 1972. Despite the inevitable comparison, Bob seems comfortable in his role as Fahey protege and plays with a lot of heart. His execution is less than [...]