All Categories — All Formats  

A classic session of music from the mighty Raymond Scott – performed here by a small combo led by Scott's old tenor player Dave Harris! All of the tunes here were written by Scott, and many are of the vintage that stretches back to his cool cartoon work – those jaunty, jagged little songs that have been revived heavily in the past decade or so, thanks to renewal of interest in Scott's music. This album's sort of its own "revival" – one that features excellent lat 50s studio sound, which really updates the tracks wonderfully, and offers them up in even sharper-edged versions than some of the originals. Harris plays a host of reeds, and although this album's the only one he ever did as a leader, it more than lives up to the memory of his old mentor – and to the wacky image on the cover! Titles include "Dinner Music For A Pack Of Hungry Cannibals", "Siberian Sleighride", "Reckless Night On Board An Ocean Liner", "Twilight In Turkey", "Minuet In Jazz", "Powerhouse", and "The Toy Trumpet".

Under-exposed genius from the legendary Raymond Scott – a set of straighter jazz material from the late 40s, but all of it with Scott's undeniable sense of madness still very firmly in place! Most of the work here is small combo – played by either a quintet or sextet – and although the styles aren't as dramatic as in some of Raymond's better-known cartoon work, there's still an undeniably fluid, playful feel to the music! Instrumentation includes Scott on piano and celeste, plus trumpet, tenor, clarinet, bass, and drums – and some tracks even feature great early vocals from Dorothy Collins, who seems much madder than usual in the context of the combo! The work appears to have originally been issued by the Master and Audiovox labels – and titles include "Street Corner In Paris", "The Penguin", "By Heck", "Who", "Bird Life In The Bronx", "Curley Cue", "Somebody Loves Me", "Little Girl", "Ectoplasm", "Question Mark", and "Dedicatory Piece To The Crew & Passengers Of The First Experimental Rocket Express To The Moon".

Billed as "an infant's friend in sound" these Soothing Sounds albums were issued in the early 60's as an electronic aid to mothers with new babies. In reality, though, the records are these amazing bits of early electronic music, put together by the legendary Raymond Scott (known best to the world for his famous cartoon music decades before!) Scott was an electronic music pioneer, and these albums were put together by him on his own contraptions, in conjunction with the Gesell Institute of Child Development. We can't say for sure how well the "science" of this one works, but the sound is amazing, and the reissue quality is excellent! Very nice image, very nice notes, and a great set of wild sounds!

Not as freewheeling as some of Raymond Scott's earlier work, but still quite nice – a set that features added strings in the mix, but used with a sound that's every bit as wild and dynamic as some of Scot's small combo recordings! A few of the tunes are familiar Scott classics, others are a bit more obscure – and the arrangements are pure Raymond all the way through – light years away from conventional scores of the time, and produced with a sense of sound as weird as the music! Titles include "Toy Trumpet", "Boy Scout In Switzerland", "Twilight In Turkey", "Power House", and "In An 18th Century Drawing Room".

A great musical mystery – and one of Raymond Scott's jazziest albums of the 50s! The group on the session is Scott's "Secret 7" – a batch of unnamed jazz musicians, most likely playing here out of contract with other labels, hence the secret nature of their work on the album! In keeping with the nature of the original album, the players also aren't listed here – save for one undeniable talent, the mighty Toots Thielemans, who contributes some great sounds to the combo grooving on the set. The format is kind of a mixture of Scott's wilder arrangements from previous years, with some of the small chamber jazz work that was coming out of the east coast at the time – and although the record was originally issued on Top Rank, it's got a feel that's very much in keeping with much of the RCA sessions of the time. There's a few nice sound effects and studio tricks, but overall the real strength of the set comes from the instrumentation used – including Thelemans' harmonica, plus vibes, flute, and other more standard jazz instrumentation. Titles include "Waltz Of The Diddles", "Temptation", "In The Beginning", "A Message From Where", and "Quiet Entrance".

Billed as "an infant's friend in sound" these Soothing Sounds albums were issued in the early 60's as an electronic aid to mothers with new babies. In reality, though, the records are these amazing bits of early electronic music, put together by the legendary Raymond Scott (known best to the world for his famous cartoon music decades before!) Scott was an electronic music pioneer, and these albums were put together by him on his own contraptions, in conjunction with the Gesell Institute of Child Development. We can't say for sure how well the "science" of this one works, but the sound is amazing, and the reissue quality is excellent! Very nice image, very nice notes, and a great set of wild sounds!

Amazing! This is one of the coolest CDs we've seen in years – and everything about it is fantastic, from the package right down to the double-length set of music! The set features rare unreleased recordings from Raymond Scott's legendary Manhattan Research electronic music studios – originally set up in 1946, and home to some of Scott's landmark early work on non-acoustic music during the 50s and 60s. Far from being the sort of turgid, dark knob-twiddling that computer music later became in the academy, Scott's early experiments are filled with a sense of whimsy and joy – exported directly from his early cartoon-based work, and applied in a fantastic way to his evolving musical inventions! Plus, the whole thing's packaged in this super-cool hardcover book, with a whopping 140 pages of notes, photographs, old advertisements, and interviews – all done in a brilliant graphic style that complements the package even further! Don't forget the music, though – because it's totally fantastic – and kind of reminds us of bits of Jon Appleton's Syntonic Menagerie, Pierre Henry's early Musique Concrete, and later punk-era DIY electronics. That doesn't even come close to pinning it down, though – and with 2 CDs worth of material, the scope of the work is amazing!

Incredibly lovely work from Italian guitarist Franco Cerri – easily one of the best players on his instrument in the 60s – even on both sides of the Atlantic! The setting here is relatively lush – fuller backgrounds with Cerri's guitar on lead solos – but often with some nice bits of bossa and some of the other delightful flourishes you'd get in Italian charts of the time, particularly some of the soundtrack arrangements. The feel is wonderful – a great expansion of some of Cerri's small group modes of the earlier part of the decade – and titles include "Ti Basta Dare Tempo Al Tempo", "I Love You", "Bluesette", "Che Faro", "Tonsambaris", "Stella By Starlight", and "Girl From Ipanema".

The second compilation in the L'Anthologia series from Italy's Cramps label – following up the funky first anthology with an incredible set of rare punk, post punk and new wave from the late 70s Italian scene! We can't speak for the world on the subject of Italian punk and new wave scene(s) of the period, but to us, this set makes a great case for the need to dig deeper nto it. The sounds range from raucous punk rock at it's most feral and raw, to more electronics textured, to the javant azz & clubby influences that also ran through some of the No Wave era's finest. Truly cool stuff – we hope they do another one like this in the series! 21 tracks in all: "Io Sono Un Autonomo" by "Skiantos", "Mano Armata" by Decibel, "Nevadagaz" by Gaznevada, "Intoxication" by Rancid X, "Europe" by "NOIA", "SW Digestian" by The Stupid Set, "Desire Crazy Desire" by Mixo, "Basta Basta" by Kaos Rock, "UFO Dictatator" by Tampax, "Informations Of Death" by Neon.

Two spooky soundtracks – back to back in a 2CD set! First up is the world premiere of the score for A Town Called Hell – music that's never been presented on record or CD before, and which marks a crowning achievement for composer Waldo De Los Rios – music that mixes the best elements you might find in Italian western or horror modes, wrapped together in this really unique music that makes wonderful use of space and sound! Titles include "The Attack", "The Gallows", "Fighting The Old Woman", "Don Carlos", "The Burial", "Arrival At Bastarda", and "The Priest". CD 2 features music from Savage Pampas – work that originally appeared on LP, and which is presented here in a nice batch of longer tracks, augmented with a few previously unreleased shorter cues. The scope of the longer cuts is wonderful – really driving, vivid western-themed work – expanded past five minutes on all numbers, so that Waldo De Los Rios really gets a great chance to build up his orchestrations. Titles include "The Militia", "The Ranqueles Indians", "The Landscape", and "The Violence & Finale". The whole package is great, too – with full notes in English and Spanish, and lots of color images too!

Francesco De Masi's soundtrack to the original Inglorious Bastards, aka Counterfeit Commandos – the seedy little 70s Italian-made war yarn with Fred Williamson and Bo Svenson that influenced Tarantino's not-really-a-remake! De Masi's symphonic suite and live orchestrations bring a triumphant sweep, as the best Italian soundtrack composers of the era did, just pulpy enough, and provide the right levels of dramatic sounds. Great stuff!

The hard-to-find soundtrack for the first Planet Of The Apes film! The record has a nice mix of dramatic orchestral scoring with some other tracks that have a cool jingly jangly noisy sound. Jerry Goldsmith did some great work for this one, and the album has a cool gatefold cover with images from the film, plus "commentary" by Charleton Heston (gun-loving bastard!) Titles include "The Clothes Snatchers", "The Cave", "A New Mate", "No Escape", and "The Revelation".

A nice early 70s Italian western score – with Spanish-styled horns, a range of strings, groovy horns and galloping percussion – all the familiar elements, but done with creative style by genre master Carlo Rustichelli! Mariachi music is at the core – with sweeping movements and inventive instrumentation fleshing it out greatly. The soundtrack is peppered by some great use of vocalists – whether it's lovely female singing or the yelping, hooting and hollering crowd chatter. 28 tracks in all: the soaring title and finale sequences of the title theme and various sequences in between – plus "I Soldati Blue", "Amore Nonostante Tutto" and "Caco El Bastardo".

The classic first LP with Method Man, Ghost Face Killer, Raekwon, Ol' Dirty Bastard, and The Genius. The start of a generation, and of the hip hop enterprise that overshadowed a lot of the mid 90s! 12 tracks, including "Can It All Be So Simple", "Method Man", "Da Mystery Of Chessboxin", "CREAM", "Tearz", "Wu Tang Clan Ain't Nuthin Ta F' Wit", "Protect Ya Neck", "Shame On A Nigga" and "Bring Da Ruckus".

Some of the best funky singles of recent years released on one CD! The Soul Fire label is probably the most dedicated flag waver around for the classic funk sound – producing limited edition funky 45s by classic artists and newbies working in a classic mode – artists like Sugarman Three, Lee Fields, and Detroit Sex Machines. Many of the singles are now out of print on vinyl forever – and they are collected here, and on Grazing In The Trash Volume 1, with both the a & b sides! Titles include "Don't Think. . .Do" and "Get Up In Your Hot Pants" by Bama & The Family, "Soul Dig Part 1" and "Soul Dig Part 2" by Soul Diggers, "Solid Funk" and "Funky Moon" by Sugarman Three, "Soul Dynamite" and "Ain't It Funky Now" by Lee Fields & The Explorers, "Funky Crawl" and "Rap It Together" by Detroit Sex Machines, "Get Down" and "Moon Mission" by Joseph Henry & The Soul Command, and "In The Raw" and "The Bastard" by Whitefield Brothers.

Dirt Dog's 2nd album is a little more schizophrenic, twisted, and under the influence than his first. It sounds a little more inspired by Rick James and Flavor Flav, as raw dog as a hip hopper can shimmy without getting arrested. Tracks include "Cold Blooded", "Rollin Wit You", "Gettin High", "You Don't Want To F**k With Me", "Dirt Dog", "I Can't Wait", "Recognize" featuring a cameo by Chris Rock, the summer party bumper "Got Your Money" featuring the sweet vocals of Kelis, "Good Morning Heartache" featuring Lil' Mo, the title track, and more.

Ol' Dirty Bastard...Osiris...Big Baby Jesus...what can we say? Whether ODB had really fallen off the deep end or if it was just an act, this is still one of our favorite Wu-Tang related LP's – with more energy and sense of humor than most, and featuring the best hip hop singing since Biz Markie! Titles include "Brooklyn Zoo", "Baby C'mon", "Proteck Ya Neck II", "Cuttin Headz", "Hippa To Da Hoppa", "Shimmy Shimmy Ya", and lots more. 15 tracks on 2LPs.

The extended version of "Shimmy Shimmy Ya" adds an extra verse, which is actually the backwards verse from the LP played forward.

Double vinyl collection with 14 tracks of the best of the RZA productions from 1993-95, reminding us just how dope RZA and the rest of the Wu-Tang were back then. Each side starts out with spoken Wu-history lesson from RZA. Includes RZA "Wu-Wear" (non-lp track), GZA "Liquid Swords", Method Man "Method Man", "Bring The Pain", "All I Need", Raekwon "Incarcerated Scarfaces", "Ice Cream", Ghostface "Winter Warz", "All I Got Is You", Ol Dirty Bastard "Shimmy Shimmy Ya", "Brooklyn Zoo", Wu-Tang Clan "Ain't Nuthing Ta F' With", "Protect Ya Neck", "C.R.E.A.M."

The blistering "Fire" from Hypnotic Brass Ensemble – in a killer edit by Bastard Jazz DJ Colm K and an equally strong remix by Mr Scruff! The Colm K edit hits a peak in the opening seconds and stays aloft throughout – a heavy bass line and perfectly-paced, walloping drums underneath those impeccable ensemble horns. Hypnotic, indeed! Mr. Scruff's remix is incredible, too – tightly paced and ready for a thumping dancefloor, without ever getting in the way of the live sounding vibe of the Ensemble.

Maybe the warmest record by the Sea & Cake – drawing a lot more from their earlier The Biz and Sam Prekop's solo album than their previous The Fawn, adding strings to a lot of the melodies instead of the electronic sounds. Sunny avant pop that manages to pull off a little bit of soulfulness with their trademark laidback charm. Tracks include "Afternoon Speaker", "All The Photos", "You Beautiful Bastard", "The Colony Room", "The Leaf", "Everyday", "Two Dolphins", "Midtown", "Seemingly", and "I Missed The Glance".

Another party record, not a straight hip hop record. "Where Brooklyn At?" is above average for this type of track, combining a bunch a samples naming Brooklyn from Ol Dirty Bastard, Biggie, Stetsasonic, MC Lyte, etc with a sample of Michael Jackson's "Human Nature". Forget about the b-side, it sounds as weak as the title suggests.