... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

Not necessarily a record of interviews – as the title might make you think – but one of Bruce's best records for Fantasy! The album's got some very edgey bits that approximate his live material, and which take the best part of his cleaner act, and transfer them well to record. Titles include "Dijinni In The Candy Store", "Enchanting Transylvania", "Interview With Dr Sholem Stein", "The Interview", "All Broadway Musicals Sound The Same, Especially The Baritones", and "The March Of High Fidelity". LP, Vinyl record album

A really unusual group from the early 70s – one who have roots in the Pennsylvania scene, record here for soul indie Scepter Records, and get some surprisingly strong treatment in the studio from a young Rupert Holmes – who handles most of the arrangements, and wrote about half the songs on the set! The group have a style that's more polished than their image on the cover – not pop, really – but the kind of post-hippie harmonies that were working so well on the charts, and which hide some of the darker currents of some of the lyrics. Biggest of these is the cannibal-themed tune "Timothy" – which Holmes wrote assuming it would get banned, yet which became a minor hit – alongside other tunes that include "Memories", "Give Up Your Guns", "Prince Of Thieves", "Bloodknot", and "Absent Friend". LP, Vinyl record album

Part one of a massive two volume set that looks at the growth and change in African American sacred music from the Civil War onwards – shifts that occurred for years before the music became to be known as gospel, but with an ear towards all those elements that would really come to the forefront in the postwar years! Writer Robert Darden has roots both in the field of gospel journalism, and academia – and he blends both together in ways that follow a well-researched body of evidence, but also presents things in a very down to earth way at points. The book his hugely annotated, with some black and white images throughout – and is a fascinating look at this often-undocumented years of music. Hardcover edition is 210 pages. Book

A searing live set from the legendary NRG Ensemble – a key bridge between Chicago avant generations in the 80s, still going very strong in the 90s in this stunning concert recorded in Utrecht! There's a lot of twin-reed frenzy in the music – leader Mars Williams and Ken Vandermark – relatively new to Chicago, but already making his mark – and a fierce frontline force, next to Steve Hunt on drums, Kent Kessler on bass, and Brian Sandstrong on bass, guitar, and trumpet! Mars also plays some toys along the way – and amidst the intensity, there's also some great breaks for more tuneful moments – on titles that include "Hold That Thought", "Pet Peeve", "Straight Time", "Wire Money", "In The Middle Of Pennsylvania", and "Cut Flowers". CD

A massive folkloric project – one that really shows how much the form has evolved since the early days of recording! This huge book-length collection looks at the rich legacy of Appalachian music as it moved north towards the Mason-Dixon line – from roots in Virginia and Tennessee, to northern spots in Maryland and Pennsylvania as those older communities languished. The first half of the collection focuses on important 60s recordings of Ola Belle Reed and the New River Boys – done by folklorist Henry Glassie, and very well recorded – and the second half looks at the long legacy of music that's continued in that area, sometimes after the sounds have faded from the source of their original roots. CD one features all recordings of Ola and her contemporaries – while CD two features recent material with a surprisingly vibrant feel – and artists include TJ Lundy, Ryan Paisley, Hugh Campbell, Zane Campell, Dave Reed, and John Miller – as well as the Debusk-Weaver Family. The book itself is worth the price of admission – hardcover, full of photos and writings – and over 250 pages long! CD

A set of two live dates from the late 30s – from the Hotel Lincoln's Blue Room in 1938, with Les Robinson and Hank Freeman on alto; Tony Pastor, Ronnie Perry, and Georgie Auld on tenor; Chuck Peterson, Johnny Best, and Bernie Privin on trumpet; Geroge Arus, Les Jenkins, and Harry Rodgers on trombone; Bob Kitsis on piano, Al Avola on guitar, Sid Weiss on bass, and Cliff Leeman and Buddy Rich on drums; and from the Hotel Pennsylvania's Cafe Rouge in 1939, with most of the same personell but with Harry Geller replacing Johnny Best. LP, Vinyl record album

A set issued on a small Pennsylvania label – with work from The Mad Violets, The Left, Ben Wah, Slickee Boys, Velvet Monkeys, Lone Ketamine Millipede, Billy Synth & The Turnups, and Yard Trama. LP, Vinyl record album

A beautiful lost record from the 70s – recorded by a singer from Harlem, but attending a Quaker school in Pennsylvania – which makes for a wonderfully cool blend of sounds and styles on the set! There's almost an acoustic core to the record, but the set also uses just the right amount of bass as well – next to piano that has some jazzy undercurrents, and which has the record coming across somewhere in the folksy soul territory of Terry Callier – recorded with a very similar sense of sophistication in both the songs and the performances! Shira's voice is great – very personal, and just right for the material – and titles include "Fingerpainter", "Cool Dude", "Here I Stand", "I Want To Lay With You", "Lights Gleam Lonely", "Touch Of Blue", "Gimme Magic", and "In An Open Field". LP, Vinyl record album

Things really heat up in this second volume of Robert Darden's look at the rise of gospel in America – as he traces the music's journey from the pulpit to the public, from praise to protest – and really illuminates the power that gospel and its inspiration brought to black identity from the 60s onward! This volume is even bigger than the first, and really overflows with research and information – a hugely documented project that features pages of notes at the end, and black and white images throughout the larger first section – as Darden does a fantastic job of mixing music, politics, and cultural progression. Hardcover edition is 334 pages. Book

A nice session by one of the most unique guitarists in jazz – all done up in a CTI style, with production and arrangements by Bob James that give the record a nice little electric finish! We always loved Gabor's guitar on his 60s recordings, and this set is one of the first to really strongly push him into the sound of the 70s – working with James, Eric Gale, and Jon Faddis to craft some soulful grooves that show that Szabo's style would keep on evolving! Includes the nice groover "Ziggidy Zag", a mellow electric jazzy with a back/forth stepping groove – plus the cuts "Macho", "Poetry Man", "Time", and "Transylvanian Boogie". LP, Vinyl record album

A nice session by one of the most unique guitarists in jazz – all done up in a CTI style, with production and arrangements by Bob James that give the record a nice little electric finish! We always loved Gabor's guitar on his 60s recordings, and this set is one of the first to really strongly push him into the sound of the 70s – working with James, Eric Gale, and Jon Faddis to craft some soulful grooves that show that Szabo's style would keep on evolving! Includes the nice groover "Ziggidy Zag", a mellow electric jazzy with a back/forth stepping groove – plus the cuts "Macho", "Poetry Man", "Time", and "Transylvanian Boogie". CD features 2 bonus tracks – "Evening In The Country" and an alternate of "Macho". CD

Excellent early work by tenorist Eric Kloss – caught here at the start of his career, when he was a heck of a soul jazz talent! The CD brings together Kloss' first 2 jazz outings – Introducing Eric Kloss and Love & All That Jazz – recorded back when he was a teenage virtuoso attending the Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children! Introducing Eric Kloss features Kloss with Don Patterson's trio, with Pat Martino on guitar, and is a record that's very (and surprisingly) groovy all the way through. The tracks are mostly standards, but Kloss plays with a lot of imagination and fire, and really wails along with Patterson's organ. Love And All That Jazz has a sweet little organ jazz feel, courtesy of Groove Holmes and Don Patterson. Kloss was totally tight at this point, and less given to the sort of sloppy experimentation that weakened him later. He's backed by two different organ jazz combos, and the feel is nice and loungey, but with a good modern edge. Tracks include "Gemini", "Just for Fun-k", and a great version of "Love for Sale". CD

A totally cool collection of songs, sound effects, and vintage movie trailers – all pulled from the glory days of the American horror film! The package is a tribute to the old time monster shows that used to travel the theater circuit – a mix of horror movies and live action activity – revived by by the folks at Something Weird in live performances, a great counterpart to all the great films they've given us on DVD over the years! This set brings together the kind of deep knowledge that only fans of these lost b-movie gems could discover – a massive 32 track package that features the songs "The Morgus Creep" by The Daringers, "Cemetary Stomp" by The Essex, "Count Dracula" by The Rockin Continentals, "Haunted House" by Oscar & The Majestics, "The Giggler" by The Pot & The Wildcats, "The Guillotine" by The Executioners, "Transylvania" by The Mysterians, and "Night Beat" by The Night Beats – plus a huge host of film trailers, radio spots, and more! Also features a bonus DVD of the live Something Weird Spook Show. LP, Vinyl record album

An unusual little set from Pennsylvania's Case – a group who were decidedly younger and maybe geekier than some of their heady contemporaries in the early 70s underground – and who come across here with a garagey vibe that maybe recalls indie sets from the decade before! The album was recorded on a four track in the group's school music classroom over Christmas break – which gives the whole thing a nice sense of "room", and a relatively live feel – more like you were catching these youthful cats starting to practice before a gig. Titles include "Crystal Ball", "Coming Home", "Ali On The Run", "Lover", "Out Of It", and "Someday". CD