Monthly Archive for April 2006

Tom Leibel - Living Dreams Tom Leibel - Living Dreams

Living Dreams is a trance-enducing private new-age album by pianist Tom Leibel from Calgary, Alberta circa 1984. The back of the album states, “all music on this album was spontaneously composed and performed by Tom Leibel. We hope this album inspires you to live your dreams in the same way Tom lives his.”

Omar Khorshid: Rhythms from the Orient Omar Khorshid: Rhythms from the Orient

If you dig “east meets west” style exotica ala Ananda Shankar then prepare to have your mind blown, cause Egyptian guitarist Omar Khorshid is one of the giants! A swirling blend of snakey rhythms played with Moog, organ, belly dance percussion, and of course Omar’s driving electric guitar in the foreground. Check out the track […]

Carlos Fariñas - Aguas Territoriales Carlos Fariñas - Aguas Territoriales

The side long piece Aguas territoriales has a very cool concept that is executed perfectly. We start off with the sound of dripping water. Every minute or so the Cuban composer Carlos Fariñas adds another electronic effect to it, progressively rendering it unrecognizable untill it sounds as the score for some scifi flick. Halfway into […]

The Singers - S/T The Singers - S/T

This little 10″ record by the all girl band The Singers is one of the most entertaining pieces of vinyl I own. Everything is right about it. One side has covers of tunes as Bang Bang. The other side has the Indonesian blend of pop and Krontjon music. The western side has a lot more […]

Michael Stearns: Ancient Leaves Michael Stearns: Ancient Leaves

A later 70’s California New Age record that has a much more spacey sound than most. Reminds me a whole lot of the first few Klaus Schulze solo lp’s. Two side-long cosmic drones consisting of layered electronics and hypnotic wordless voices. Stearns’ best record by far. He went on to make a several more in […]

Ric Masten: Windows Ric Masten: Windows

I had no idea who Ric Masten was when I found this a few months ago at some dank little Christain thrift shop. Brought it home with a big pile of Jesus folk records I bought that day and was completely impressed by it. Anyhow, I looked him up on the net (Ric has his […]

The Battle Of The Bands: 1970 (Custom Fidelity) The Battle Of The Bands: 1970 (Custom Fidelity)

Here’s a recording of an 11th annual concert hosted by the Hollywood Bowl to showcase teenage musicians and singers. The participants are either independent or associated with high schools. There’s your standard horn heavy stage band numbers from Montebello, Dorsey and Pico Rivera High Schools, as well as contributions from folk duos, such as Two […]

Street and Gangland Rhythms Street and Gangland Rhythms

Simply put; this is one of the most amazing and entertaining records I’ve ever heard. It’s a truly fascinating slice of life that does not cease to astonish upon repeated listens, and makes one wish that more things like this had been preserved for the ages. The songs, anecdotes, and a capella gang wars of […]

Chevrolet Sings of Safe Driving and You Chevrolet Sings of Safe Driving and You

Chevrolet’s hilarious attempt at promoting safety for young drivers by singing about the laws of motion and centrifugal force, among many other automobile-related things. If you ever wondered what it would sound like if Belle & Sebastian were around in the 60s making music about driving, well then today is your lucky day. […]

Remigio Ducros - T.S.T. Cronaca '73 Remigio Ducros - T.S.T. Cronaca ‘73

This is yet another one of those library records where you wonder how one great track found it’s way on such an otherwise dull LP. I guess I should be used to this by now, as it’s basically the case with about 95% of the libraries out there. “Disadattati” is the sought-after tune […]

Ennio Morricone - Un Uomo da Rispettare Ennio Morricone - Un Uomo da Rispettare

Here’s the soundtrack of an Italian made thriller from 1972 directed by Michele Lupo (title translates to A man to Respect). The highlights on here are two jazz instrumentals which are a change of pace from the dark orchestral, semi-avant garde main theme. “L’incarico” is the first - a slow-moving track that unfortunately […]

Various Artists - Bass Modulations Various Artists - Bass Modulations

This one comes from Italy on the obscure Octopus library label. No date is listed on the back cover but a safe guess would be early 70’s. The music on here is mainly jazz, but there are a few tracks which venture into the ‘psych’ territory. Most of the songs are composed by R. Conrado […]

Cool Box Lunch (TY-CA) Cool Box Lunch (TY-CA)

This is a Los Angeles based jazz quartet from 1976, which consists of drums, upright bass, alto sax and piano. This one’s pretty straight forward except a creative version of Art Blakey’s “Moanin’”, which features a beaty intro and refrain that sounds like “Dead”.

Love Minus One (Margabi) Love Minus One (Margabi)

This is a soundtrack from 1971, performed by Denny Vaughn and anonymous Los Angeles based session musicians, to an obscure Love Story-esque film. It also was recorded shortly before the Canadian, Glen Miller-associated bandleader died. The sountrack is all over the place, from a fuzz guitar and organ fueled funk instrumental called “Ride Home Rock”, […]

Francis Bebey - Un Petit Ivoirien Francis Bebey - Un Petit Ivoirien

Cameroon born novelist, poet, musicologist, historian, radio DJ and multi-instrumentalist Francis Bebey (1929) conjured up this relatively unknown record for Ozileka Records in 1979. If you’re familiar with his classical guitar work, this stuff may come as a suprise. Deploying an assortment of synthesisers, the tunes range from feather-light afropop to very exciting grooves. One […]

Hall & Reasons - Spaceship Hall & Reasons - Spaceship

As unearthing previously overlooked privately pressed LPs becomes increasingly en vogue, collectors often fall prey to something akin to “needle-drop” syndrome. It’s too often tempting to evaluate a new acquisition with a hasty, if not faulty ear. While this sometimes works unduly in a record’s favor (for example, see the inexplicable fawning over Boscoe by […]

Karen Dalton: In My Own Time Karen Dalton: In My Own Time

The follow up to her rare lp on Capitol is very much in country rock territory. I was at first put off by the Nashville session musician type backing on all but two tracks - which are acoustic with Karen on banjo - but, upon further listening, it mostly works. The best tracks having a […]

J.G. Weir / Exploration One J.G. Weir / Exploration One

This is a one-sided guitar drone record from Orange County, 1998. I picked it up from a dollar bin because it was limited to 250 copies and I thought “what the hey.”
Listening to this excellent slice of reverb zen, which I can only liken to a redux of Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music one would […]

Paul Ott / A Message to Mankind Paul Ott / A Message to Mankind

“Paul Ott Carruth has captured the sheer music of nature in a blend of song and sound with the simplicity of a single guitar, a soft voice and natural sounds heard only in the great outdoors.” (liner notes, A Message to Mankind, circa 1972)
“To thousands of wildlife conservationists in all fifty states, the name Paul […]

Harry McClintock - Haywire Mac Harry McClintock - Haywire Mac

Harry McClintock, or Haywire Mac as he was known, was original old school. Listening to his songs you feel the dust on your tongue and the rails sliding by as you stare out of a boxcar heading South, North, East or West, basically anywhere away from where you currently don’t want to be. At various […]

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