Oddball post-punk release by this three piece band outta Hoboken N.J. circa ’81. Guitar, bass, Korg drum machine, Farfisa organ with some weird vocals over the top: check soundclips of the tracks “Chicken 80” & “Chris & Debbie”. Was released on lp and in a triple 45 format. “Chicken 80” [audio:social_climbers1.mp3] “Chris & Debbie” [audio:social_climbers2.mp3]
Nice solo instrumental guitar album that would appeal to fans of Fahey/Basho/Kottke etc. One of my favorite records of the genre for sure as Richard is a fantastic guitar player. Richard is still playing music these days, also well worth seeking out is his album “Mbira Magic” from 2004 on Tzadik. Listen
I’ve bought tons of gospel records in the past few years, some good and mostly bad (or too choral or lo-fi) But this one is by far my favorite and one I come back to the most often. It just has the pefect mix to me of soulful vocals, sublime backing female vocals, solid drumming […]
Here’s an under the radar femme folk lp worth tracking down. This was released in 1977 on Rotary records. At the time of the recording, Muriel was only 16 years old. Which is hard to believe since the guitar playing on this is just top notch. About half of the record features sublime instrumental cuts, […]
Here’s one of my favorite northwest private folk records. It came out of Eugene Oregon in 1979, all the songs are composed by Stephen Cohen. Stephen has a nice fragile voice that compliments his acoustic guitar nicely. About half the songs have vocals and the other half are instrumental and kinda remind me of Robbie […]
Here’s hands down one of my favorite Seattle private press lp’s. About half of the album is instrumental with Larry Conklin on guitar and Jochen Blum playing violin and 12 string guitar. Definitely brings to mind Fahey/Basho/Hecht etc. The tracks with vocals have a haunting, sparse feel to them, the loner folk tag fits the […]
From the back cover: A brilliant first album by a totally original group performing their own compositions in an experimental – spiritualistic environment. A synergism of instrumental sound (including saxophone, keyboards, percussion, viola, recorder, guitar, drums, and thumb piano, etc.) The Entourage Music and Theatre Ensemble is a collective reflecting techniques found in Noh Theatre, […]
Here’s one of my favorite new age lp’s. Laura is featured on celtic harp like customized zither, wordless vocals and lyrical song poems. One of those mellow records to sip tea to on a sunday morning and zone out to. One dollar well spent.
This release came out in 1972 on Otic records. It’s one of those records I always revisit and hear something new and fresh everytime. The album is split into half originals and half Carla Bley songs. Naughton gets down on the vibes, piano and clavinet, Mario Pavone is on bass and nice clarinet interplay by […]
I have no clue what Russ was aiming for when he put this out. A majority of this record is tepid jazz, the track “zippy’s night out” gets pretty funky but then goes downhill. Here’s a soundclip of one of the spacy electronic tracks on the record – “Gemini 1”
Here’s one of my favorite private press albums to emerge out of Seattle. Vibist Milton Simons composed this album which consists of 3 long tracks, the two songs on the A side are 13+ minutes long and the B side is just shy of 27 minutes long. The tracks range from mellow and brooding and […]
Pretty sure only a couple hundred of this oddity were put out. Hailing from Ohio, this came out in 1994 but sounds like it came out 20 or 25 years earlier. Musically this record is all over the map. Eeerie synth stuff melds into basement garage rock. Then the next song will sound like Ween […]
This record was released in 1977 on the small private label Min records. Pat Moriarty plays the alto sax and Phil Hey holds down the percussion. They have an undeniable chemistry, this is one of my favorite free jazz duo records for sure. Definitely worth seeking out in my opinion. My favorite part of the […]
This is a nice and mellow new age harp record, really sublime stuff. From the liner notes: “During the time of the winter solstice, 1976, Joel gathered with a small group for a meditation to invoke, anchor and broadcast the Transmutive Seventh Ray activity of the Violet Flame through the medium of music. This is […]
No year on this one but my guess is early seventies. This came out on the Dragons Egg label out of Wisconsin. I’m not sure what else came out on this label but I am very curious. In the tradition of John Fahey, this is a great solo acoustic guitar record. Subtle slide guitar and […]
Here’s a filthy comedy record in the vein of Rudy Ray Moore, Richard Pryor and Jimmy Lynch. Equally hilarious and disgusting stuff, this is definitely not for the faint at heart. The whole album Wild Man Steve is pretty much getting down and dirty live at a nightclub with a group in the background to […]
Dave released this nice little album in 1978 on the small Wild Eye record label outta Oakland. I’m always on a mission to find acoustic guitar records, this is definitely one that I listen to often. Aside from two vocal cuts, the other nine tracks are all instrumental. Dave Fritz is a pretty great guitar […]
Here’s one I found a few weeks ago while digging in a massive basement of records. It’s a very stripped down and introspective affair, Bonnie and Edna supply the vocals and guitar work while Gary Morton plays bass and Ron Ussery plays flute. This record sound’s like a Joe Pass or Joe Diorio lp with […]
Put it this way, if Buddy Raymond didn’t sing this record would be alot better. It turns out it’s more of a two tracker for that reason. The track “Why Shouldn’t I” wouldn’t sound out of place on a Frank Cunimondo record with it’s swinging funky rhodes sound. The other track that makes this a […]
Here’s the kind of oddball record I live to find, eat your heart out Langley School. This is a crazy one, Villa Park High School vocal music department presents: A Splendid Time is Guaranteed by all by The Trio which consists of Dan Bullock, Tim Reeder and Chris Caines. Pretty much the entire album consists […]
Here’s a really nice double lp on Dat Richfield Kat from 1973. Richard’s vocals are very reminiscent of Stevie Wonder’s to my ears. The album kicks off real nice like with the funky tune “Welcome to the cold duck”. The next few songs are nice mellow soul numbers. The following track “tears as big as […]
AJ were a 3 piece from way out in the desert of Nevada. This was recorded Haloween night 1973 while they were tripping on acid or so the story goes. The album is comprised of two short tracks and two long medley’s. The lp shifts a lot from frantic tempo’s to jangly melodic stuff. The […]
Of course the cover grabbed my attention when I saw this one. This is a funky soul lp on the small private label Sun Moon and Stars outta Hollywood, CA. circa ’72. My favorite tracks on this are “maybe”, “beverly” and “forgotten”. To be honest though, the rest of the album is not that great […]
Here’s a great duo record from 1978 on Philly Jazz records, Bill Lewis plays the vibraphone and Khan Jamal plays the marimba. This album basically consists of three long mellow tracks, “the river”, “the vanishing man” and “as salim”. I think the liner notes sum it up best: “The music on this album is called […]
No date on this one, but my assumption is that Gerry released this in the early seventies. This is a double lp, most of this record is really nice standard jazz trio stuff. They do a really dark version of Gershwin’s “summertime” that’s just begging for Rza from the Wu Tang to work wonders with. […]