All Categories — All Formats  

A great late Curtom number from Gavin Christopher – a singer who only cut a handful of records back in the 70s, but manages to soar with the confidence of a much bigger star! Bobby Eli handles arrangements on both tracks – and "This Side Of Heaven" has a soaring Philly groove, while "We'll Always Be Together" has a wicked stepping style that still sounds wonderful all these many years later!

Also included are Elgar transcriptions of Bach's "Fantasia & Fugue In C Minor" and Handel's "Overture In D Minor".

The Byrds went through many many changes during their legendary run in the late 60s – some of which are documented on their rich body of recorded work, lots more of which you'll find in this thick volume of historical detail! The book offers a day by day, year by year existence of the group – from the key years 1965 to 1973, with details on when they were recording, playing live, or just hanging out – but all in very surprising detail that goes way beyond any simple sort of "diary". We're not sure how Christopher Hjort got his hands on all this information, but he really paints a vivid picture of the lives of these rock and roll stars at the time – in ways that really help illuminate their musical changes too! 336 pages, softcover, oversize, with lots of photos and images!

An amazing little soundtrack – one that's as spooky and eerie as the film for which it was written, and which was also one of the few American recordings issued by Polish jazz great Krzysztof Komeda! The core of the album is an especially haunting theme – one hummed as a lullaby by Mia Farrow on the title, and which is repeated often throughout – a dreamy little number that had a surprising life long beyond the film and this album, in a number of different versions on the market. We still like the original best – and especially appreciate Komeda's blend of soft jazz, odd electronics, and some darker atonal passages – all of which combine here to make the record a masterpiece throughout – on a level that easily matches the best from Morricone at the time! Titles include "Panic", "What Have You Done To Its Eyes", "Dream", "Expectancy", "Lullaby", "The Coven", and "Main Title". This expanded version is incredible – with 24 more bonus tracks (!!!!!), including the full film score on top of the original album – with lots of cool "ritual" tracks – and the source music, and even some tracks from the 45 of the main theme! Great sound, amazing booklet – and the best-ever CD reissue!

Obscure late 60's pop stuff by this intellectual young man of song. Not exactly Scott Walker, but not too bad. With a nice version of John Barry's "The Knack", plus "Taste of Honey", "I've Just Seen a Face", and the original "When That I Was (A Tiny Little Boy)".

A really wonderful document of of the Takamba style of music in Northern Mali and Niger – passionate, energetic and hypnotically performed by Ali Ag Amoumine! Ali's home is in Timbouctou, a couple hundred kilometers upriver from the Takamba region, and it was here that this excellent recording by Christopher Kirkley took place. It's essentially traditional regional guitar music, electrified and played in droning, wholly entrancing patterns, while the rhythm is played on the calabash. The songs here are described as being informed by Ali's travels and including his own compositions, and it does have inimately personal feel, while also pulling us in strictly on the basis of the soaring, hypnotic sounds. Includes "Adernibah", "Khomeissa", "Fatimatou", "Damara", "Kalitay", "Hali Diallo", "Taliat Nouhirase", "Nouvelle Annee" and "Mali".

Later stuff, but a pretty unique album from Herbie! The sound's a bit smoother than some of the groundbreaking electric albums, but the playing's top-shelf, and the record features a number of jazz funk numbers with soulful vocals – including work by Gavin Christopher and The Waters. Think of the record as work by Lonnie Liston Smith from the same time, and you'll really come to appreciate the funky grooves of "Don't Hold It" and "Saturday Night", and the spacey soul of "Making Love" and "Stars In Your Eyes".

One of the first-ever recordings of the Chicago AACM scene – and an early set that has Joseph Jarman recording as a leader before founding the groundbreaking Art Ensemble Of Chicago. The group features some seminal Chicago players who are only now getting the credit they deserve in the history of avant garde jazz – trumpeter Billy Brimfield and tenorist Fred Anderson – plus work by the obscure Christopher Gaddy on piano and marimba, as well as the great percussionists Thurman Barker and Steve McCall. Titles include "Little Fox Run", "Adam's Rib", and "Song For" – and the CD also includes a bonus alternate of "Little Fox Run".

Prince in a grand groove – actually a better record overall than Around The World In A Day, and one of our favorite Prince albums! Sure, it was the soundtrack to a film that flopped – and that might be the reason this one can get slighted in discussion of his better albums. This one deserved better – and it includes the massively funky "Kiss", the closest Prince ever got to James Brown – but the whole album's got some great sweeping, pop psyche orchestral arrangements by Clare Fischer. Titles include "Christopher Tracey's Parade", "I Wonder U", "Under The Cherry Moon", "Girls & Boys", and "Anotherloverholenyohead".

Prince in near-peak form in the mid 80 – creatively, anyway! Parade is a brilliant stand-alone album, tough it doubles as a soundtrack to a film that flopped – standing today as one of our favorite Prince albums from the 80s! Includes the massively funky "Kiss", the closest Prince ever got to James Brown – and the whole album's got some great orchestral arrangements by Clare Fischer. Titles include "Christopher Tracey's Parade", "I Wonder U", "Under The Cherry Moon", "Girls & Boys", and "Anotherloverholenyohead".

Easy Star All-Stars up the ante on their reggae covers series here – taking on Thriller – and doing so with respect and real soul! We love us a good tribute album when we hear one – and all the more if it would be a mere novelty record in the wrong hands – but warmly appealing and transcendent in the right hands. Enter the Easy Star All-Stars – who deliver this timeless reggae take on MJ's monumental pop culture landmark Thriller really, really well! The All-Stars are joined by a great roster of guests – and they do Thriller track-for-track, with a couple extras: including "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" feat Jowil and Ruff Scott, "Baby Be Mine" feat The Green, The Girl Is Mine feat Mojo Morgan and Steel Pulse, "Thriller" feat Mikey General and Spragga Benz, "Beat It" feat Michael Rose, "Human Nature", feat Cas Haley, "The Lady In My Life" feat Christopher Martin, "Dub It" and "Close To Midnight".

Here's another excellent Felt reissue from our heroes at Cherry Red – the bands 8th album, originally released on Creation in 1988! The album proved that longevity was a big part of the Felt equation, bringing their pretty much timelessly appealing, Hammand organ grooving mood rock into the late 80s. It's easily one of their best late albums! Tracks include "Apple Boutique", "Ivory Past", "Until The Fools Get Wise", "Bitter End", "How Spook Got Her Man", "Christopher Street", "Under A Pale Light", "Don't Die On My Doorstep" and more.

Field recordings of Western Sahelian guitar music – recorded by Christopher Kirkley from 2009-2011 – and an evocative aural trip to the region, courtesy Sahel Sounds and Mississippi! Like the other great Sahel Sounds release, it's beautifully done – and impeccably well recorded – the sound is excellent! There's a number of different styles here captured in a number of different areas in the region – including Mauritania, Senegal and Mali. There's some great songs here that feature just guitars and voices, and others that are done by larger groups. Includes "Laila, Je T'Aime" by Le Marchand Du Soleil, "Kaounare" by Alkibar Gignor, "Vielle Terre" and "Penda" by Le Dental Orchestra, "Sudan" by Amanar, "Yooro" by Hamadth Kah, "Bambara" by Soueyman Niafounke, "Ce Weeti" by Hamadth Kah and more.

Easy All-Stars up the ante on their reggae covers series here – taking on Thriller – and doing so with respect and real soul! We love us a good tribute album when we hear one – and all the more if it would be a mere novelty record in the wrong hands – but warmly appealing and transcendent in the right hands. Enter the Easy Star All-Stars – who deliver this timeless reggae take on MJ's monumental pop culture landmark Thriller nicely! The Jamaican and American All-Stars are joined by a great roster of guests – and they do Thriller track-for-track, with a couple extras: including "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" feat Jowil and Ruff Scott, "Baby Be Mine" feat The Green, The Girl Is Mine feat Mojo Morgan and Steel Pulse, "Thriller" feat Mikey General and Spragga Benz, "Beat It" feat Michael Rose, "Human Nature", feat Cas Haley, "The Lady In My Life" feat Christopher Martin, "Dub It" and "Close To Midnight".

A nice set by Diz at the 1965 Monterey Jazz Festival – backed by a great group of players – released here for the first time ever! The set opens with a fiery day after, and the set takes some equally hard charging turns plus some relaxed moments, too – and includes some surprises, too. Big Black is killing it on congas for this set – and the other players include James Moody on flute and tenor, Kenny Barron on piano, Christopher White on bass and Rudy Collins on drums. Other titles include "Trinidad, Goodbye", "Poor Joe", "Night In Tunisia", "Ungawa" and "Gega De Saudade (No More Blues)", plus a fun comedy sketch in the middle.

The reeds of John Tchicai are always a treat, and really help make any album stand out when he's along for a guest appearance – which may be why John's name and photo are so prominent on this project recorded with the trio of Christopher Dell on vibes, Jonas Westergaard on bass, and Christian Lillinger on drums! All three players are great – working in very spacious timings and unusual textures and tones – but it's definitely Tchicai that helps push the album over the top – blowing with a sense of soul and power that hasn't dimmed at all over the space of decades – and which really takes us back to some of his key contributions on the European scene of the 60s and 70s. The vibes are an especially nice combination with the sax lines – and titles include "New", "Minor Or Major", "Venus", "Double Exposure", "Traveller", "Wet", and "Fond".

German minimalist composer Jakob Ullmann is on the cover – and this great issue of the Wire also has pieces on NY street dancer and Flying Lotus collaborator Storyboard P, the Global Ear on Tuscaloosa, Alabama , Irish artist Vicki Lagan in Cross Platform, Pan Sonic's Mika Vainio in the invisible Jukebox, jazz-trained digital experimenter Ashley Paul and much more! This issues free CD is Wire Tapper 31, with tracks by Omnivore, Anna Steiden & Chra, Christopher Cordoba, MIR, Hanno Leichtmann, ROBERTS, Felicia Atkinson, The Resource Centre, Emanuele De Raymondi, Michael Jon Fink, RSS Boys and more.

Rare pop psych from the late 60s & early 70s French scene – groovy singles from Le Coeur, Les Hamsters, Les Chimeriennes, Dan Le Bouffon, Christopher Laird, Yar & Yana and others – really cool stuff, most of which we've never heard before! Lion's Groove Club series goes on to focus on Cambodian grooves for Vols 2 & 3, but the belated Vol 1 belongs to the Parisian pop psych scene. Chiming little guitar tunes with sweet harmony vocals, even more harmony drenched tunes inspired by west coast US acts like The Mamas & Papas, medieval folk pop styled tunes, mod & funk groovers and more – lots of period influences from the US and Europe, but ultimately it's profoundly, and charmingly French sounding! Includes "Bye, Bye City" by Le Coeur, "Flower Power" and "Georgie Girl" by Les Hamsters, "Dee Duck" by Maraton, "Une Petite Fille" by L'Empreinte, "Bye, Bye Brighton" by Epta, "Nevada" by Les Rotomagus, "Crazy Mister Badge" by Mister Badge, "Monsieur Cyber" by Les Chimeriennes and more.