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 […]
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’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. Sure it’s […]
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 only lasts […]
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 […]
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”.
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”, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
“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 […]
“The “White and Red” group was founded in the spring of 1972. They succeeded in forming a group capable of almost any style of music, from polkas, all the way throught heavy rock. The “White and Red” Band is considered the only group playing such a wide variety of music that entertains everyone from 8 […]
This record strikes me as being very odd. It sounds so contemporary, you almost suspect it’s a hoax by some sample dudes from 2006. But it’s not. It’s on the French Cam, so it’s probably from the beginning of the eighties. There are several stand out tracks, with subdued electronic beats, percussion and sound effects, but the […]
“Suite from the original music of the seven coproduction films of the Bulgarian and Hungarian red cross societies.” Composers Victor Tschoutschkov and Georgi Genkov did an excellent job on this soundtrack for several Red Cross documentaries and educational films from the sixties. This is something of a politically correct Mondo affair where director Gyorgy Karpati took […]
Al Huskey was born in east Tennessee and learned to play guitar and mandolin by 13. He organized a 14 piece teenage band and played thru-out Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia and North Carolina. The back of the records suggests that this band probably had the first full set of drums used in country music. I’m not […]
What can be said about Pino Manci? When entering his name on Google you get the reply “Did you mean: Pino Manic?” So all we know is the little information that is offered on the cover. Pino led a combo in the Safari Room at the Kyalami Ranch, South Africa. The repertoire that made it […]