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One of the greatest albums to come from the New York underground of the early 80s -- even if it was a relatively big "hit" on a major label! Laurie Anderson is in perfect form here -- drawing on a strong tradition of avant garde performance, but without any of the indulgences that would... read more

First, we'll confess, we've been in love with the Aqua Teens since first stumbling upon it, bleary-eyed, on latenight cable tee vee a bunch of years ago. OK, with that said, take with however many grains of salt our word that this is the absolute funniest comedy Christmas album we've heard in... read more

A hip batch of underground poetry tracks -- collected together by the Before Columbus Foundation, a group dedicated to promoting the works of African-American and Native American artists! Despite the 1980 date, the collection has a feel that's similar to earlier righteous poetry albums on the... read more

Core grooves from trumpeter Terence Blanchard and combo -- but mixed with some compelling words from Cornel West and Bilal! The record's a jazz album at its core, but the presence of West and Bilal makes for a bit of a change, too -- kind of an added level of consciousness on top of Blanchard's... read more

Excellent stuff from Blow Fly -- and a great bit of funk that's a hilarious parody of disco! Blow's band funks it up with riffs that you'd hear from The JBs, BT Express, or other groups of the time -- while Blow himself sings these very off-color, and very funny lyrics that rip off the overt... read more

Routines include "Toga Saga (A Greek Fantasy)", "Sahara", "Carmen", and "Orchids To Alice".... read more

A Lenny Bruce 2-fer -- 2 classic albums back to back on a single CD! First up is the album Togetherness -- classic early Lenny Bruce work on Fantasy -- a groundbreaking set of tracks that features some great shorter snippets, plus a few of the longer, more drawn-out routines that soon became Bruce'... read more

Issued after Lenny's death, but a record that contains some of his best bits ever! In fact, the later date of the album probably allowed Fantasy to get away with some rawer material, so you'll hear more of the "true" side of Lenny -- especially on the album's live tracks. We think this... read more

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Worth it alone for the Brighter Side of Darkness send-up "Basketball Jones", but with other classic skits, including quite a few that aren't about pot, believe it or not, like "White World Of Sports", "Evelyn Woodhead Speed Reading Course" and "The Strawberry... read more

A pretty strange album of "hip" fairytales and fables, recorded by jazz DJ/hipster Al Jazzbo Collins, alongside a group featuring Steve Allen, Hal Blaine, and Terry Gibbs. The approach is a bit square, but the album's also got the appeal of those late 50s beatnik sessions -- with... read more

A classic live set from Bill Cosby -- recorded at Harrah's Hotel in Reno, Nevada -- back in 1973, when he was still pretty darn hip! As you'd guess from the title and cover, the emphasis here is on stories and bits involving Fat Albert -- the Cosby creation that was then playing big time in... read more

An early funk album by Bill Cosby -- with backing by the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band! Bill was pals with Charles Wright and crew in the hip LA of the late 60s, and he was also responsible for bringing the group to Warner Brothers -- so the fit here is quite a natural one. The record was also... read more

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Incredible early work from Ivor Cutler -- recorded at the end of the 50s and the start of the 60s -- and with an approach that's somehow even odder than his later work from the hipster rock years! Although Cutler's later fame came from his association with talents in the progressive and punk rock... read more

A pretty cool collection produced by Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee -- focusing on famous speeches by important female African-Americans -- mostly focusing on the civil rights era, but also featuring an early speech by Ida B Wells. Ruby reads the speeches, and works include "I Am A Black... read more

An incredible album, and very unique! Sarah Webster Fabio was a hip 70s poet with a very righteous sound -- and she's working here with funky backings by a tight group that includes family members, in a style that's similar to early 70s work by artists like Wanda Robinson and Camille Yarborough --... read more

Nothing psychedelic here, but in our book Redd Foxx is always a trip! The set's a classic batch of live material cut for the Loma label -- with Redd very much in his own element, performing before a very well-lubricated audience at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas! The album's a lot funnier than... read more

Years before Redd Foxx broke onto the TV mainstream in the 70s, he was already drawing big crowds in Vegas -- thanks to wonderfully strong material like you'll hear on this LP! Foxx's presentation here is wonderful -- careful enough on topics to reach a crossover audience, but also down to earth... read more

Excellent stuff -- one of Redd's high-quality albums for the Loma label, arguably some of his finest ever -- because the recording quality is always high, and the material is pretty fresh throughout! If you only know Foxx from his work on TV, this album is a key example of the genius that got him... read more

Redd Foxx doing is thing live in '75 at the Apollo -- his return to recording after 12 years without a comedy album! You Gotta Wash Your Ass was cut while Sanford & Son was still in production -- making this blue performance a gritty return to form for Foxx! It isn't as flamboyantly raw as... read more

One of the coolest records we've ever heard from beat legend Allen Ginsberg -- not just a record of his famous poetry, but one that also features him on harmonium as well! There's a really weird, dark sound to the record -- as Ginsberg plays harmonium and sings/speaks his own words -- older themes... read more

A beautiful beat-era relic! This is one of the few albums that San Francisco-based Fantasy records cut of famous beat poets reading their own work -- and it's probably one of the most enduring! Ginsberg reads "Howl", "Footnote To Howl", "Sunflower Sutra", "Superm... read more

One of the lesser-known 70s albums by Nikki Giovanni -- a wonderful selection of material from her book Cotton Candy On A Rainy Day -- read in a spare setting, without any musical accompaniment! In some ways, this album's even better than the more famous Giovanni albums on Atlantic -- as Nikki's... read more

Nikki Giovanni reads a host of her own work -- material from the previous decade or so, originally published in 5 different books, and read beautifully here by the author! Giovanni's got a wonderful style of reading -- clear, crisp, and with an understated sense of feeling -- one that never tries... read more

Beautiful righteousness from poet Nikki Giovanni -- a wonderfully put together session that features her reading her own poetry over musical backings, plus some added choral bits from the New York Community Choir! The sound is completely right on -- never too over the top, and never too cliched --... read more

A beautiful post-Atlantic album from Nikki Giovanni -- much more intimate and personal than her better known work, with only Nikki's voice throughout the album -- heard on a number of shorter poems! At some level, Giovanni seems to have left behind the more righteous themes of before, and is going... read more

A fantastic album of bad-rapping spoken material from Iceberg Slim -- one of the hippest 70s sets of its type, and a great audio tribute to the man who wrote the books Pimp, Trick Baby, and Mama Black Widow! Slim reads his own work in a very laidback style, but one with a slinky, pimpish feel too -... read more

A classic speech by Jesse Jackson -- one that became quite a hit for Stax's Respect subsidiary, and which was one of the better selling albums of its type in the early 70s. The album was recorded back in the days before Jesse had become a bit of a cliché, when he appeared to be emerging as... read more

A really lost chapter in the career of Brian Wilson -- an album produced by the famous Beach Boy for poet Stephen John Kalinich, done with a bit of music and vocals by Wilson himself! The record's quite odd -- spare, thoughtful poetry -- often recorded with slight production touches that make the... read more

Classic Motown album of two of Dr. King's speeches -- "Drum Major Instinct Sermon", from 2/4/68, and "I've Been To The Mountain", from 4/3/68. The latter is especially significant in that it was the last speech King ever made, delivered on the night before he was assassinated. ... read more

One of their greatest, and one of the early ones with Jalal -- who gave the group a much more lyrical sound, with more of an emphais on song construction and music, instead of just vocalizing ideas. Includes the great "Birds Word", an early jazz-rap cut that's a precursor to Gang Starr's... read more

A really obscure one from The Last Poets -- dominated here by Jalal Nuriddin, who's relation with the London funk and soul crowd during the 80s probably led to the crafting of this set for Acid Jazz. The record's not a bad one --- with funky backings on most cuts, done in sort of a British acid... read more

A tasty collection of some of the best work the Last Poets ever recorded -- their early sides for Douglas records, a perfect blend of jazz, percussion, and poetry -- hence the very apt "Jazzoetry" title! The album mostly features tracks from the albums Last Poets and This Is Madness --... read more

The first album by the second group to call themselves the last poets -- comprised of Abiodun Oyewole, Alafia Pudim, and Omar Ben Hassan, plus the percussionist Nilaja. The album's as fierce a document of their rich talents as you'll ever find -- bursting forth with anger and righteousness at a... read more

The first album by the second group to call themselves the last poets -- comprised of Abiodun Oyewole, Alafia Pudim, and Omar Ben Hassan, plus the percussionist Nilaja. The album's as fierce a document of their rich talents as you'll ever find -- bursting forth with anger and righteousness at a... read more

The first album by the second group to call themselves the Last Poets -- comprised of Abiodun Oyewole, Alafia Pudim, and Omar Ben Hassan, plus the percussionist Nilaja. The album's as fierce a document of their rich talents as you'll ever find -- bursting forth with anger and righteousness at a... read more

One of the weirdest recordings we've ever heard from Timothy Leary -- a 1966 set that features mostly shorter spoken bits on a variety of topics -- done by Tim in a very odd sort of style -- almost like he's a bit shy in the recording studio! There's a slightly self-conscious feel to the record... read more

A wonderful early bit of psychedelia from an academic perspective -- a record that features Timothy Leary, Ralph Metzner, and Richard Alpert -- all reading from the book The Psychedelic Experience A Manual Based On The Tibetan Book Of The Dead! The album's divided up into two sections -- "G... read more

Long before there was any talk of gangster rap, Jalal of the Last Poets recorded this album of gamblin', pimpin', and hard double dealin'. It's a fantastic album-long ride through the dark side of the black underworld, and is the aural equivalent of a blacksploitation flick. Music by Kool and the... read more

Fantastic stuff -- incredibly hard and incredibly funky, and a masterpiece all the way through! Long before there was any talk of gangster rap, Jalal of the Last Poets recorded this album of gamblin', pimpin', and hard double dealin'. It's a fantastic album-long ride through the dark side of the... read more

A great little live set from the one-and-only Pigmeat Markham -- doing his thing at Boston's Aquarius Theater joined by Baby Seals and others -- with routines that were never previously recorded, and only rarely available! Pigmeat & co. stroll through several bits, occasionally with funky... read more

Cover has some water damage near the bottom -- a tiny bit of peeling on the front, and some staining on the back.... read more

Ah, the genius of 70s stardom! This one may not play that well for today's kids, but we're floored by the sheer magnitude of the record's stars -- a huge list that includes Don Rickles, Alan King, Rich Little, Suzanne Pleshette, Burt Reynolds, Karen Valentine, McLean Stevenson, Charo, Vincent... read more

A fantastic album -- one of our favorite-ever records from Charles Mingus! The album was recorded in the same breath as his legendary works Tijuana Moods, The Clown, and Pithecanthropus Erectus -- and it features the same sort of fire and emotion that made those classics so great. The group alone... read more

Kind of a revised version of the classic Monty Python album of a similar name -- and one that adds in lots of nice extra bits too! The great thing about a record like this is the way that the Pythons replicate the energy of their highly-visual show in a sonic setting -- using quick verbal... read more

Classic work from the career of Rudy Ray Moore -- a whopping assortment of shorter numbers pulled from his deep catalog of raunchy party records -- and a blistering testament to Moore's verbal power over the years! The package features plenty of great bits from Rudy's classic records on Kent from... read more

The tenth album in Rudy Ray Moore's classic 70s run for Kent Records -- and every bit as raunchy as the first! Rudy's energy at this point is amazing -- a never-ending stream of social commentary, street language, and bad-rapping braggadocio -- set to some rough-edged rhythms that make for a live... read more

Classic stuff -- Rudy's first album, and a fitting launch to his famous career of party records and live club performances! The cover's got Rudy in front of a nude black model, laying back on the couch, and encouraging him to do the thing that's implied by the title -- but the record itself is far... read more

Classic stuff -- Rudy's first album, and a fitting launch to his famous career of party records and live club performances! The cover's got Rudy in front of a nude black model, laying back on the couch, and encouraging him to do the thing that's implied by the title -- but the record itself is far... read more

A funky funky follow-up to Rudy Ray Moore's classic Dolemite film -- and a soundtrack that offers even more depth than the first one! The music here is a hip blend of gritty funk and some of the groovier soundtrack styles of the 70s -- almost a blend of the sounds you might normally hear on a Rudy... read more

One of the best of the Rudy Ray Moore raunchy party albums from the 70s, and one that must be seen to be believed! The cover has "Rudy" standing nude with "The Madam" -- but the man on the front really isn't Rudy, as you can plainly see that his face has been pasted over the... read more

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Remember when Eddie Murphy used to standup? We do! Cut around the time he was still on SNL, just before Delirious came out and filled with hilarious skits like "Buckwheat", "Talking Cars", "Hit By A Car", "Drinking Fathers", and "Black Movie... read more

A compelling tribute to avant drummer William Smiley Winters -- featuring music recorded in 1973, plus additional interview bits, and some jazz poetry as well! The core music here is from a session recorded with Winters at the lead in the early 70s -- done with his Les Oublies De Jazz Ensemble, in... read more

Contemporary jazz poetry from N-Side -- kind of a 21st Century take on modes first laid down in the 70s by The Last Poets and Gil Scott-Heron! N-Side's style has a nice flow -- never too over-written, and almost conversational at times -- in ways that sit nicely with the spare beats and keyboards... read more

Pryor really busted into the mainstream with this one -- as the album secured him a grammy for best comedy LP in the year it was released. Recorded live in San Francisco, at Don Cornelius' Soul Train -- with tracks that include "Wino & Junkie", "Flying Saucers", "Black... read more

Some of the most righteous poetry ever recorded -- set to musical backings with a nice dose of funk! Wanda Robinson belongs to an elite group of young, hip female African American poets -- others might include Nikki Giovanni, Dana Bryant, or Camille Yarbrough -- and during the early 70s, she... read more

A great set from Argentinean jazz bassist Jorge Lopez Ruiz -- funky, cinematic big band swing and choral arrangements! The set is a four piece suite based on the writings of Jose Tcherkaski, featuring arrangements that range from big band with heavy horns and strings and a very late 60s/early 70s... read more

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Amazing stuff from Melvin! Like all of his films, this is a mad mix of insanity and wisdom -- put together with enough violent clashes of culture to shake anyone up. Funk, soul, poetry, and righteousness blend into a great batch of tracks! Includes groovy cuts like "Lilly Done the Zampoughi... read more

Very tripped out work from Melvin Van Peebles -- the multi-talented artist who had a huge influence on African American film in the 70s! Melvin's working here in a a mode that combines soul, folk, funk, and lots of the more messed-up sounds that you'd hear on his own soundtracks for his films. ... read more

Really compelling work from Jan Erik Vold -- a Norwegian poet, but one who frequently works with jazz-based backings -- which gives his records a universal appeal, even if you don't understand the language! This set brings together a range of vintage recordings from Jan, plus rare recitations, and... read more

A rare bit of hardcore poetry by the Watts Prophets -- the legendary LA group who were kind of a west coast answer to the Last Poets! The group have a sound that's as striking as the best early work by The Last Poets -- a hard-hitting blend of poetry, rhythms, and righteous energy -- all recorded... read more

An unusual album from poet/actor/activist Benjamin Zephaniah -- a set that matches readings of his own work with reggae rhythms, dubby production, and a bit of electronics! There's a definite early 90s sheen to the sound of the set, but the record holds up surprisingly well over the years --... read more

A seminal set of righteous underground poetry -- a key bridge between the earlier work of Langston Hughes and some of the bigger spoken sides of the 70s by artists like Gil Scott-Heron or Wanda Robinson! As the title promises, there's a definite undercurrent of jazz in the work -- but mostly in... read more