Check out The Barettas' All Is Fair In Love and Rock & Roll

The long-awaited debut album from Hamilton's Barettas is now available digitally via Bandcamp. Listen to a few tracks below.

Happy Birthday Charlie Musselwhite!

Cheers to Charie Musselwhite on his 77th birthday. Here's "Cha Cha The Blues" feat. Harvey Mandel off his Stand Back! album. 

 

Happy Birthday Ahmed Abdul-Malik!

Remembering the late great Ahmed Abdul-Malik with a 90-min Spiritmuse selection of his East-meets-West recordings right here. 

Classic Canuck Cinema: Paddle To The Sea (1966)

If you grew up in Canada during the late 60s, you'll remember seeing Bill Mason's film Paddle To The Sea in school. 

One For The Weekend: EXEK

Listen to "A Hedonist" off the Biased Advice album from Melbourne's EXEK being reissued by Castle Face on March 5th.

Happy Birthday DJ Muggs!

Here's the Soul Assassins mainman talking about his record collection for Crate Diggers and his new joint "The Chosen One" 

B-Side Wins Again: NRG

Straight outta Thunder Bay, here's NRG's dark psych gem "The Magic Man" on the flip of "To Be Back Home" 

LINK

Bandcamp NRG

Happy Birthday Henri Texier!

Celebrating the 76th birthday of French bass boss Henri Texier with "Cinecitta" off his Chance album and a performance of "Amir"

That time The Enemys appeared on The Beverly Hillbillies

Check out Cory Wells & The Enemys on the Beverly Hillbillies followed by "Mo-Jo Woman" produced by Tom Wilson. 

Bartees Strange makes network TV debut, covers Judee Sill

Bartees Strange knocked out "Boomer"  on Late Night with Seth Meyers and also voiced a version of Judee Sill's "The Pearl."

Midweek Mixdown: Nicola Conte

Check out Nicola Conte's spiritual jazz mix for his third Umoja/Unity show here and watch his "People Need People" video below. 

Record Kicks to issue "lost" soundtrack for The Black Stone Affair

For what is being called a "lost soundtrack," The Black Stone Affair seems oddly contemporary. Read all about it below.  

Here's the scoop from Record Kicks...

For the first time ever, Record Kicks is pleased to announce the release of the long lost soundtrack by Whatitdo Archive Group to the Italian cinematic masterpiece "The Black Stone Affair'' on vinyl, CD and digital format on April 9th. Long thought to be lost alongside the movie itself by the production studio, the soundtrack's master reels were recently recovered and its audio meticulously restored and remastered by J.J. Golden in Ventura, CA. 

The movie itself was understood to be unusual for its time: a globetrotting adventure/western-noir written and directed by aspiring visionary, Stefano Paradisi. Unfortunately for Paradisi, the tragic loss of his masterpiece during a fire also meant the end of his short lived career in movies. People who worked on the film have been cited as saying this film was very ambitious, set to be a turning point in Paradisi’s carrier putting him on the map alongside the likes of Sergio Leone and Antonioni. 

While the movie never saw the light of day, the soundtrack by obscure band Whatitdo Archive Group has thankfully been recovered. The music itself is staggering to hear, each track evoking all the senses almost all at once. "The Black Stone Affair (Main Theme)" sets the story with its dizzying bassline underneath a Morricone-esque harpsichord melody eventually all digressing into a psych-freakout of guitars swirling over what is the overarching motif groove of this iconic soundtrack. 

We then get taken into the giallo-steeped melody of "Blood Chief". What can only be the theme of the antagonist, this cut offers crunchy drum breaks, reverb-drenched bongos and a sinister baritone guitar line that seems to be indicative of its character. "Ethiopian Airlines" transports the movie into exotic lands with its afro-centric rhythms and mysterious horn melody. The search is on for the elusive Black Stone, an artifact so coveted it had been hidden for decades for its fatal power of seduction. For fans of KPM and De Wolfe Music, "Il Furto Di Africo" definitely delivers a similar 'library' flavor popular at the time. Our ears are treated to an ambiguous sense of center. What were Whatitdo Archive Group thinking? There almost seems to be two key centers at once and a slithering flute line blending between both. We can only imagine that the Black Stone was successfully stolen from the small Italian village of Africo with this track. 

We then get taken into the giallo-steeped melody of "Blood Chief". What can only be the theme of the antagonist, this cut offers crunchy drum breaks, reverb-drenched bongos and a sinister baritone guitar line that seems to be indicative of its character. "Ethiopian Airlines" transports the movie into exotic lands with its afro-centric rhythms and mysterious horn melody. The search is on for the elusive Black Stone, an artifact so coveted it had been hidden for decades for its fatal power of seduction. For fans of KPM and De Wolfe Music, "Il Furto Di Africo" definitely delivers a similar 'library' flavor popular at the time. Our ears are treated to an ambiguous sense of center. What were Whatitdo Archive Group thinking? There almost seems to be two key centers at once and a slithering flute line blending between both. We can only imagine that the Black Stone was successfully stolen from the small Italian village of Africo with this track. 

What movie really is complete without a lounge-y Bossa number? "Italian Love Triangle" delivers that sun-soaked Mediterranean romance. Our cunning female lead, Lola, decides the only way she can acquire the Black Stone is to pit the trio of characters against each other with an erotic love triangle she carefully crafts to exploit the vulnerability of Blood Chief and Beaumont Jenkins. "Last Train to Budapest" finds our two male leads in a gun-wielding, high-stakes train chase through the dizzying mountains of Bosnia racing to Hungary's capital city. The music brilliantly calls upon the soundtrack's multiple melodic motifs to all collide into a single stressful heart-racing track sure to put a knot in your stomach. Probably the most unusual song appearing in this soundtrack is the French infused "L'amour au Centre de la Terre", an obvious yet tasteful homage to the composers' musical hero, Alain Goraguer. A lilting monologue is recited by who seems to be Lola, the tragic female lead in "The Black Stone Affair". Her passage speaks of the entangled romance she shares with the other two male leads and her plan to acquire the elusive Black Stone for herself. It's every man (and woman) for themselves! Paranoia and deceit has crept into the minds and motives of our conniving trio. No one can be trusted and false alliances are crumbling from within. 

"The Black Stone Affair (Reprise)" evokes the characters' gut-wrenching feeling with its ever-rising key center. "Farewell Lola" is the saddening funeral dirge and exit of the aforementioned Lola. Sworn enemies Beaumont and Blood Chief stand silently outside the church and watch as Lola's casket is lowered into her untimely grave. This is merely an armistice between the remaining opponents, only to resume after paying their respects to their former 'lover'. A gory fight leaves Blood Chief standing. Beaumont is nowhere to be seen and only a cloud of dust slowly settles into the landscape as the mournful guitar and harmonica of "Beaumont's Lament" plays quietly in the distance. All is not lost. Triumphantly, Beaumont Jenkins stands tall, throws one last devastating blow to Blood Chief leaving him incapacitated. "The Return of Beaumont Jenkins" plays loudly in the face of Blood Chief desperately reaching for the stone only to realize it's a false! Our new hero, Beaumont Jenkins, sustained by Alessandro Alessandroni Jr.'s cinematic whistle, rides away victoriously into the night sky... the Black Stone hidden cleverly in his hat. 

You can pre-order a copy of The Black Stone Affair right here. Watch the trailer below. 

 

Tami Neilson releasing expanded version of CHICKABOOM!

The deluxe edition of Tami Neilson's CHICKABOOM! includes 5 extra tracks recorded live with the 12-piece Big Boss Orchestra. 

Here's the scoop...

After a year of building momentum, including performances at Americanafest in Nashville in the fall of 2019, and a confirmed slot at Willie Nelson’s famed Luck Reunion, Auckland-based, Canadian-born musician Tami Neilson launched her new album CHICKABOOM! in February, 2020.

The collection received rave reviews from top-drawer publications such as MOJO, Rolling Stone and American Songwriter. No Depression ironically proclaimed, “Just call 2020 the Year of Tami!” In a matter of weeks, as COVID-19 took over the world and New Zealand and the rest of the world plunged into lockdown, Tami’s world tour was cancelled, and all that hard-earned momentum ground to a halt. Still hoping to make her NZ dates, she entered Neil Finn’s iconic Roundhead Studios to promote those shows and perform with her band (whom she hadn’t seen in four months) and the 12-piece Big Boss Orchestra for the very first time for Radio New Zealand’s LIVE Sessions national broadcast. These one-take, reimagined selections make up five new dramatic arrangements on CHICKABOOM! DELUXE. 

Not long after the world went sideways, the creative whirlwind got busy with her team, which includes her brothers Jay and Todd, musical and video collaborators, respectively. The Tami Show, a 12-episode series on YouTube, was born as a welcome respite from quarantine life. Offering a glimpse into Tami’s life with funny anecdotes, fashion inspiration, hair and make-up tutorials, and THAT VOICE, the show, along with additional videos from CHICKABOOM! can be viewed on her YouTube channel right here. 

The single “Hey Bus Driver” from CHICKABOOM! won Country Song of the Year at the New Zealand Country Music Awards and the track “You Were Mine” was nominated for the APRA Silver Scroll for Song of the Year. CHICKABOOM! was also nominated for Album of the Year at the Aotearoa Music Awards (previously named Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards). 

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern asked Tami to perform at her campaign launch before her landslide re-election after Tami included an actress playing the PM in the music video for the track "Big Boss Mama”, released for International Women’s Day in 2019 (watch it right here)

As Tami states, PM Ardern “came up to me at the Music Awards after the video played on the big screen and said, ‘You know you could’ve just asked me to do it!’ I said, ‘You were on maternity leave, so I didn't want to bother you.’ She laughed and said, ‘Ok, well, next time!’ I'm gonna hold her to it.”

Pre-order a copy of CHICKABOOM! DELUXE (out February 19) from your fave service right here. Watch Tami's new videos for "Call Your Mama" and "Tell Me That You Love Me" followed by the track listing below.

 

CHICKABOOM DELUXE! Tracklist

01 Call Your Mama

02 Hey, Bus Driver!

03 Ten Tonne Truck

04 Queenie, Queenie

05 You Were Mine

06 16 Miles Of Chain

07 Tell Me That You Love Me

08 Any Fool With A Heart

09 Sister Mavis

10 Sleep

Live at Roundhead Studios bonus tracks

11 A Woman’s Pain

12 Call Your Mama

13 Roimata (Cry Myself To Slee)

14 Walk (Back To Your Arms)

15 You Were Mine

Toronto's Kiwi Jr. make splashy Sub Pop debut with Cooler Returns

T.O. indie rockers Kiwi Jr. have made the big jump from Mint to Sub Pop with Cooler Returns out now! 

LaRose Jackson steps up with "How Did I Get Here?"

Brooklyn's LaRose Jackson – last heard duetting with Charles Bradley – released her Dunham label debut single today! 

Here's the scoop from Daptone HQ...

LaRose Jackson, who you may remember from the "Luv Jones" b/w "Change Change Change" single - her 2014 party-certified smash duet double-sider with the incomparable Charles Bradley - steps into the spotlight with her funky solo debut, "How Did I Get Here". Born and raised in Coney Island, Larose's rich timbre and assertive vocal delivery caught the attention of producer Tommy "TNT" Brenneck one night when he was in attendance at Charles Bradley's legendary "Black Velvet" show at Club Essence - where Jackson was a regular performer. 

LaRose's tough-as-nails delivery coupled with the infallible groove and sure-shot horn arrangement courtesy of the Menahan Street Band distills the track down to Soul in its purest form, without sacrificing any of the rawness one comes to expect from a TNT production. 

Get a copy of LaRose Jackson's "How Did I Get Here?" single with an instrumental version on the flipside via Bandcamp right here. Have a listen below. 

 

Happy 90th Birthday Sam Cooke!

Remembering the great Sam Cooke with his appearance on the Jerry Lewis Show which aired December 7, 1963. 

Quarantunes: Chris Smither

Check out Chris Smither's performance at his old haunt, Club Passim in Cambridge, MA. 

Terry Manning sets The Big Bopper's "What's The Use?" to music

Jay P. Richardson, son of the late Big Bopper, asked Terry Manning to create music to go with the lyrics of "What's The Use?"  

Toronto's Beams share "Born To Win" video from new album

"Born To Win" is off Beams' third album Ego Death out March 26th. You can pre-order it here. Check the clip below. 

Joey Keithley shares new video for D.O.A.'s "The Prisoner"

Watch the clip for "The Prisoner" released to coincide with the 40th anniversary edition of D.O.A.'s Something Better Change.

Watch David Olney's video for "My Favorite Goodbye"

"My Favorite Goodbye" is off the late great David Olney's forthcoming album with Anana Kaye called Whispers and Sighs. 

Here's the scoop...

If the futile longing to reach back through memory and grasp what is in the past could be set to music, it would sound like Whispers and Sighs. Over the course of 13 tracks, David Olney and Anana Kaye manage to craft a journey that amounts to far more than just another Americana album. This is to be expected with Olney, an acclaimed songwriter responsible for more than 20 solo albums and songs covered by and/or co-written with the likes of Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt, among many others. Further, just as Townes Van Zandt reportedly saw something special in him, Olney felt a similar admiration and kinship towards Kaye, a smoky-voiced Americana darling whose star is assuredly on the rise in Nashville, and her husband and musical partner Irakli Gabriel, both of whom are originally from the country of Georgia. 

On Whispers and Sighs, due out March 19 from Schoolkids Records, the pair create a unique, sonic landscape that blends the haunting sensuality of European music with the raw intimacy of Americana, weaving raucous, unapologetic rock anthems like “Lie to Me, Angel” and “Last Days of Rome” with sparse, introspective ballads such as “Tennessee Moon” and the record’s title track. All of the songs were written by the trio of Olney, Kaye, and Irakli. In addition, longtime Olney collaborator and hit songwriter John Hadley earns co-writing credits on a few.

 

All in all, Whispers and Sighs is an Americana record that explores what it means to be human. Over its course, Olney and Kaye take turns leading the listener through intimate self-portraits, myths, and tales of historical fiction, all in an effort to illustrate the various devices we use to cope with our own impermanence. Though the project deals heavily in weighty, existentialist themes, the prevailing message proves to be a celebration of human connection, friendship, and love. As Olney put it in 2019, “We have no idea where the songs come from, but they bring a peace of mind like an old photograph of home. Wherever that may be.”

 

While it’s hard to escape the seeming cosmic significance of the album as posthumous Olney release, at no point does this create the air of morbidity; rather, it lends the project a bittersweet ambiance. According to Anana and Irakli, mere moments after hitting save on the final mixes, the phone rang with news of David’s passing. This seems tragically fitting; for what is found on Whispers and Sighs is a collection of songs into which two artists and friends clearly poured the full extent of their souls. Within it is an undeniable reminder that David Olney’s extraordinary legacy can never fade, while Anana Kaye’s star grows deservedly brighter by the day. 

Pre-order Whispers and Sighs directly from Schoolkids Records right here. Watch the video for "My Favorite Goodbye" below. 

 

Roger Waters shares new version of "The Gunner's Dream"

Check out Roger Waters' new version of "The Gunner's Dream" which originally appeared on Pink Floyd's The Final Cut album.  

The El Cobras vs. The Mar-Keys

Today we've got a frat fracas royale with The El Cobras taking on The Mar-Keys in the battle of "Last Night"

Whaddya mean you don't know Bodo Molitor

Mexico's Bodo Molitor released his own version of his favourite contemporary tunes as Hits Internacionales in 1969.

 

The Dictators share new song "God Damn New York"

Andy Shernoff, Ross The Boss and Scott Kempner are back with drummer Albert Bouchard – check out "God Damn New York"

Happy Birthday Earl Hooker

Remembering late guitar great Earl Hooker on his birthday with his performance as part of the 1969 American Folk Blues Fest. 

Matthew Sweet releases new Catspaw album

Matthew Sweet recorded Catspaw with longtime collaborator Ric Menck. Check out the trailer and an interview below. 

Happy Birthday T Bone Burnett

Celebrating T Bone Burnett's 73rd birthday with a few of his memorable musical collaborations. 

Nick Waterhouse previews new Promenade Blue album with "Place Names"

Listen to "Place Names" off the forthcoming Nick Waterhouse album Promendade Blue set for release April 9th.

Here's the scoop...

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby was a work so filled with ambition, yearning, and inner contradictions that it came to represent the condition of a nation itself. Yet, at its core, the slim novel tells a story about people and, more often than not, their inability to communicate and connect with one another — forever running on parallel tracks until tragedy finally twines them together. The color green (often in the form of the faded sodium lit dock of Daisy Buchanan) comes to represent longing and unrequited love in an era (the Roaring Twenties) of decadence and spiritual vacuousness. Green is Gatsby’s North Star, simultaneously pointing backward and forward through time toward some unattainable, impossibly balanced version of his own life. 

Nick Waterhouse, a century later but once again in the ’20s, takes the color blue as his hue of choice on Promenade Blue (out April 9). In Nick’s musical and lyrical world, blue is a refraction of his life and memories — shadowing a deep, spiritual San Francisco that fostered his musical vocabulary but has now been stamped out irrevocably; evoking the endless tours, marathon recording sessions, and highs and lows of success he’s experienced in his decade-long career; conjuring romances that were doomed, loves that lingered, and hope for future days of parity and partnership; summoning spirits of people who have gone but permeate his mind forever. 

That’s the world of Promenade Blue — one that is vivid and magnetic, buoyed by both light and density due to Nick’s newfound collaboration with producer Paul Butler (Michael Kiwanuka, Devendra Banhart). It’s not Gatsby’s New York in the 1920s, it’s Waterhouse’s California in the 2020s. Nick makes that crystal clear throughout the record but particularly on “Santa Ana (1986),” where he wryly sings, “Not from New York / And I never was / I’m from California.” With that, he answers all questions about place and setting…but as anyone who’s ever listened to a Waterhouse record knows: time, though clearly pegged to the dawn of this new decade, is a more malleable concept. Where he is is clear. When he is varies. 

We can try as hard as we can to make sense of Promenade Blue, but in reality, context isn’t really needed because the music on the album is so damn magnificent. In no uncertain terms, it represents Waterhouse’s finest hour as a writer and bandleader — leveraging the musical partnerships he has built over many years to put something forth that is so fully realized and felt that it sparkles beatifically, reverberating with energy, heart, creativity, and vibe from start to finish. Nowhere is this more evident than on the album’s opening track, “Place Names,” perhaps the most remarkable song in the Waterhouse catalogue. 

The tune is a pocket symphony, à la Spector and Wilson, with winding piano lines locking puzzle-like into a whining, weeping string arrangement courtesy of musical blood brother J.B. Flatt. A small cadre of women backing vocalists shout “Never!” and Nick replies “I never cry on cold days / I never mind a trip on the freeway / Because it’s what I know / Never really set for the big change / Learn to let things go / And say blow wind, blow.” The freeways between LA and San Francisco; the memory of spending a teenaged evening in the Vesuvio Café, which looms over the entrance of City Lights Books; the wind ripping through you on a foggy Bay Area morning, cutting into your bones; the pride one takes in his hometown; the distinct life that he has made (or that has made him) — it’s all here in “Place Names” and, honestly, if the album were to end with this one song, Waterhouse would’ve done his service to the 2020s in terms of musical creativity and vitality. Thankfully for listeners, it’s just the beginning. 

The album twists and turns from the opening to the close — from swinging, sashaying jazz and blues (“Spanish Look”) to jittering, crystalline doo wop (“Very Blue”) and pure, loose, languid mood music with just a hint of Mulatu Astatke’s Ethiopian modal magic (“Promène Blue”). Most striking, perhaps, is the use of men’s voices as a backing texture, bringing an unexpected thematic unity to many of the songs. Lower-than-low gospel chants and refrains lend both energy and emotional weight to these pieces, conjuring a whole new mythic world for Nick’s compositions. This is a statement album, one to get lost in and rediscover over and over again. 

In the Waterhouse catalogue, “Promenade Blue” represents rebirth and reinvigoration as well as a clarity of purpose that elevates it and may one day set it apart as something resembling a magnum opus. It’s his ‘Gatsby’ and it’s also his way of reintroducing himself to a fanbase that has grown by leaps and bounds over the last couple of years. On this record, he paints a mythic picture of his own life — lost in confusion, grating against time, overheated by false memories, being baptized by nostalgia and a vision of the future that is paradoxically both dark and apocalyptic and sparkling with promise. Sounds a lot like America in the 20s to me. Which 20s though? 

Pre-order a copy of Nick's Promenade Blue album right here. Listen to "Place Names" below. 

 

Happy 75th Birthday Eero Koivistoinen!

Celebrating the 75th birthday of Finnish saxophone great Eero Koivistoinen with a couple of early gems. 

One For The Weekend: The Honey Drippers

Roy Hammond's well-sampled 1973 classic "Impeach The President" is due for a popular revival. 

Kirk Lightsey's rare Habiba album gets reissued

Kirk Lightsey's hard-to-find Habiba album – a 1974 collaboration with Rudolph Johnson – has finally reappeared on vinyl.  

Here's the scoop...

Never released outside South Africa, and out of print even there since its original release in 1974, Kirk Lightsey's funky spiritual and outward bound Habiba album is one of the most sought-after international jazz exclusives ever to appear on South Africa’s famous Gallo imprint. 

As the archives of South Africa’s premier record labels steadily give up the treasures that were hidden in the darkness of the apartheid era, the incredible heritage of South African jazz is gradually finding the international audience it always deserved. And while most of the laurels are naturally for South Africa’s own overlooked musicians, the South African discography contains a few sparkling, nearly unknown jazz sessions by visiting players. Habiba is the greatest of them – a raw, impassioned set led by bop pianist Kirk Lightsey, who had been a regular sideman for Chet Baker and Sonny Stitt, and saxophonist Rudolph Johnson, a key player at the legendary Black Jazz label. Visits to the apartheid state by respected Black musicians were hardly a common occurance during apartheid’s darkest years – so how did a crew of crack American jazz players end up in the Gallo studios? 

The story starts with the now almost forgotten crooner, Lovelace Watkins. Sometimes billed as ‘the Black Sinatra’, the Detroit-born Watkins sang standards, show tunes and ballroom classics on the Las Vegas circuit. Though he never made it big in the US, in his 1970s heyday he was a huge star in the UK and in southern Africa, where he toured regularly. In 1974 he hired a jazz big band to accompany him on a tour of South Africa – and among their number were Lightsey and Johnson, as well as Mastersounds bassist Monk Montgomery, West Coast trombonist and Doug Carn sideman Al Hall Jnr., and Marshall Royal, musical director of the Count Basie band. The tour was a huge success, and during downtime from performing, members of Watkin’s group managed to independently record no fewer than three albums. Two of these LPs appeared on the IRC label, billed as the Mallory-Hall Band – the third, which appeared on the more prestigious Gallo, was Lightsey and Johnson’s stunning Habiba. 

Three tracks deep, the album is a heavy duty excursion into post-Coltrane spiritual modernism, ranging from the modal, cerebral intensity of the side-long title track ‘Habiba’, to the downhome breakbeat groove of ‘There It Is’, and the dark glitter of minor key waltz ‘Fresh Air’. 

Long one of the most desired global jazz LPs, and never before available outside South Africa, Habiba is a forgotten masterpiece of its era. With this fully licensed reissue, Outernational Sounds is proud to restore it to its rightful place in the canon of spiritualised modernist jazz. 

Fully licensed by UK's Outernational Sounds label from Gallo Records. Get a copy here. Listen below. 

Happy 80th Birthday Olu Dara!

Celebrating Olu Dara's 80th birthday with "Bridging The Gap" feat. his son Nas and a couple of other memorable recordings. 

Alex Pangman unveils new pandemic-inspired video

Watch the video for Alex & Her Alleycats' version of Louis Armstrong's "If We Never Meet Again" tonight at 8pm.

Here's the scoop...

Alex Pangman & Her Alleycats' new music video will premiere on YouTube tonight (January 12) at 8pm Eastern which you can watch below.

"If We Never Meet Again" is a Louis Armstrong composition that was chosen during the darkest times of the first wave, and recorded safely in isolation booths in summer 2020. Pangman notes, “Jazz music saw nations through the 1918 flu pandemic, the second world war, and many other crises. It's built for catharsis, distraction, and also celebration. I'm hopeful that 2021 will bring celebration!” You can hear that hopefulness when she sings, too.

The Alleycats quintet are John MacLeod on cornet, Peter Hill on piano, Glenn Anderson on drums and Chris Banks on the bass. Directed by Sean Ryan, the session was made possible by a COVID-19 grant from the Canada Council For the Arts, with Jeremy Darby at Toronto's Canterbury Music Company.

Check out Alex Pangman's version of "If We Never Meet Again) followed by Louis Armstrong's original 1936 version of the tune he co-wrote with Horace Gerlach below.

 

Happy Birthday Slim Harpo!

Remembering the great Slim Harpo on his birthday with some of his Jay Miller sessions. 

Grab a copy of Martin Hawkins' excellent bio Blues King Bee of Baton Rouge right here.

 

Hamilton's Barettas preview new album with new "Touchè" video

Katie Bulley has just shared the video for "Touchè" off her forthcoming album with The Barettas slated for release January 29. 

R.I.P. Michael Fonfara, 1946-2021

Sadly, Canadian keyboard great Michael Fonfara – who frequently recorded with Chris Houston & Lou Reed – has passed away.  

LINKS

FYI Music News R.I.P. Keyboard Maestro Michael Fonfara by Kerry Doole

Happy Birthday William Parker!

Celebrating the birthday of bass boss William Parker with an interview and a couple of performance clips with Hamid Drake. 

Network 77 turns back the clock with Easy AM 66

Listen to Joyce Vann make it mellow for an entertaining faux-broadcast on Easy AM 66 right here. 

Happy 70th Birthday Idris Ackamoor!

Celebrating the 70th birthday of Idris Ackamoor with a Pyramids performance clip from 1975.  

Listen to Jason Palma's "Best of 2020" Higher Ground show

You can hear Jason Palma's Best of 2020 countdown on his Higher Ground show for CIUT-FM right here. See track list below.

Jason Palma's Best of 2020

Andrew Wasylyk “Awoke In The Early Days Of A Better World” (Athens Of The North)

Andy Shauf “Living Room” (ANTI)

Azymuth feat. Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Adrian Younge “Pulando Corda” (Jazz Is Dead)

East Coast Love Affair “Don’t Be Afraid” (Athens Of The North)

Ariwo “Flameback Dance” (On The Corner)

Flammer Dance Band “Holder Rythme” (Lyskestrekk)

Khruangbin “Time” (You and I)” (Night Time Stories)

Raul Moncalves Y LosForajidos “Cafunga” (Olindo)

Take Vibe “Golden Brown” (Jazz Room)

Jersey Street “No One Can Take Your Place” (UBUNTU)

Wilma Archer “Last Sniff feat. MF DOOM” (Weird World)

Seu Jorge & Roge “Sarava” (Night Dreamer)

The Quiet Ones “Ninguem” (Humble)

Sven Wunder “Wabi Sabi” (Piano Piano)

Jay Electronica “Fruits Of The Spirit” (Roc Nation)

Tom Misch & Yussef Dayes “Last 100” (Blue Note)

Witch Prophet “Tesfay” (Heart Lake)

Liv.e “Lessons From My Mistakes...But I Lost Your Number” (In Real Life Music)

Marker Starling “Silk Rock (HaHa Sounds Collective Version)” (Tin Angel)

Cleo Sol “Her Light” (Forever Living Originals)

Angela Munoz “I Don’t Care” (Linear Labs)

Matthew Halsall “Joyful Spirits Of The Universe” (Gondwana)

John Carrol Kirby “Blueberry Beads” (Stones Throw)

Capital 1212 “Love Will Tear Us Apart feat. Earl 16” (Scotch Bonnet)

Roy Ayers feat. Ali Shaheed Muhammad & Adrian Younge “Hey Lover” (Jazz Is Dead)

Jimetta Rose & The Voices Of Creation “Let The Sun Shine In” (dublab)

Emma Jean-Thackray “Speak No Evil/Night Dreamer” (Blue Note)

Moodymann “Taken Away” (KDJ)

Sean McCabe “Notes From The Universe” (Boogie Cafe)

Ralf Gum “Un-Love You feat. Sio” (Gogo)

Basic Soul Unit “Another Day” (Lab.our)

Crackazat “Waterfalls” (Zedd)

Mr. President “One Night” (Favorite)

Elements Of Life “Barbara Ann (Gilles Peterson rmx)” (Vega)

Andrew Ashong & Kaidi Tatham “Sankofa Song” (Kitto)

Mildlife “Rare Air” (Heavenly)

Surprise Chef “New Ferrari” (BBE)

Greg Foat “Nikininakinu” (Strut)

Khruangbin & Leon Bridges “C-Side” (Night Time Stories)

Bokani Dyer “Ne Nako” (Brownswood)

Sault “Son Shine” (Forever Living Originals)

Watch the Croton-On-Hudson Battle of The Bands 1967

The Bad Habit (at 3:25) faced stiff competition from the Hairy Things and Tim Smith & The Active Ingredients. 

R.I.P. Bobby Few, 1935-2021

Sadly, Cleveland-born jazz pianist Bobby Few has passed away at the age of 85. He'll be greatly missed.  

One For The Weekend: Eddie Hinton

Check out "I Got My Thang Together" by the late great Eddie Hinton with Spooner Oldham on Wurlitzer.

 

Rare 60s garage from Gary S. Paxton's vault uncovered on Lost Innocence

Ace digger Alec Palao continues his West Coast mission, this time burrowing deep into Gary S. Paxton's Garpax tape archives.   

Here's the scoop from Alec Palao...

Vintage garage rock is only one of the many tributaries of popular music that the maverick Gary S Paxton recorded and produced in his 1960s heyday, and compared to other genres, the off-kilter genius behind ‘Alley Oop’ and ‘Monster Mash’ was hardly prolific with it. But for a producer-engineer of his repute, it was inevitable that Paxton would cross paths with the sudden surge of teenaged rock groups that emerged in the wake of the British Invasion. We’ve gathered the best of them on “Lost Innocence”, and for any aficionado of the genre, a treat is in store. As well as a brace of acknowledged Californian punk classics present and correct for the first time direct from master tape, this rockin’ little disc also shares further booty from the Garpax vaults, including some obscurities well worthy of re-appraisal, along with completely unreleased nuggets of note.

Counting among the well-known are the Avengers, Bakersfield’s top dogs in the punk bracket thanks to snot-nosed missives such as ‘I Told You So’ and the controversial ‘Be A Cave Man’. Ken & the Forth Dimension and Limey & the Yanks serve up the highly regarded items ‘See If I Care’ and ‘Guaranteed Love’ respectively, with a trio of ear-opening unissued tracks from the latter as a bonus. Riverside’s Whatt Four weigh in with the popular ear-burners ‘Our Love Should Last Forever’ and ‘You're Wishin’ I Was Someone Else’. And the Buddhas’ title cut is still the most eloquent ode to carnal knowledge in the entire 60s punk pantheon.

Most of the material on “Lost Innocence” was recorded at Paxton’s two Hollywood studios between 1965 and 1967, but some of the freakier cuts derive from facilities he ran from a converted bank in the Bakersfield suburb of Oildale in the last three years of the decade. These include the trippy ‘My Dream’ by the aforementioned Buddhas, the soul-punk of Canadian transplants the New Wing, and fantastic unreleased cuts by the Fog and Mental Institution, the latter one of the many pseudonyms Paxton acolyte Kenny Johnson used while recording at the studio.

The eccentricities that are never far from a Paxton production inform a couple of tracks that nevertheless have punk merit. In particular, the unbelievable screaming on Carl Walden & the Humans’ ‘I’ll Never Let You Go’ would put James Brown or Wilson Pickett to shame. Last but not least, the voluminous Garpax tape library revealed a tantalising mystery in the unknown group responsible for a marvellous Raiders-style pounder titled ‘This Freedom I Have Found’.

In the commercial environs of mid-1960s Hollywood, the producer remained omnipotent and Paxton would happily call on his seasoned session crew if you weren’t cutting it, musically speaking. On “Lost Innocence”, however, most of the players remained those same wide-eyed teenagers that had been ushered into his presence. Their stories also have the same ring of truth as most youthful combos in that era: hearing your record on the radio for the first time, the expanded social and career possibilities afforded by membership of a successful local band and seeing that dream rent asunder by the draft. Yet having Gary S Paxton behind the controls, with his innate expertise and guidance, not to mention a soupçon of the appropriately bizarre, helped these same “typical” groups make some truly memorable music. – Alec Palao

You can pre-order a copy of Lost Innocence: Garpax 1960s Punk & Psych (available January 29) right here. Check out "See If I Care" by Ken & The Fourth Dimension and the track list below. Read Jon 'Mojo" Mills' Shindig interview with Alec Palao about the Lost Innocence comp right here.   

 

V.A. – Lost Innocence: Garpax 1960s Punk & Psych

01  Our Love Should Last Forever - The Whatt Four

02  Be A Cave Man - The Avengers

03  Guaranteed Love - Limey & The Yanks

04  Lost Innocence - The Buddhas

05  Grey Zone - The Fog

06  I Need Love - The New Wing

07  See If I Care - Ken & The Forth Dimension

08  In The Heat Of The Night - Mental Institution

09  When It's Over - The Avengers

10  You're Wishin' I Was Someone Else - The Whatt Four

11  Flight Of The Dead Bird - Limey & The Yanks

12  My Dream - The Buddhas

13  I Told You So - The Avengers

14  Peddlers Of Hate - Don Hinson

15  Melodyland Loser - The New Wing

16  The Highly Successful Young Rupert White - The Chocolate Tunnel

17  Tomorrow Never Comes - Limey & The Yanks

18  You Better Stop Your Messin' Around - The Whatt Four

19  Shipwrecked - The Avengers

20  This Freedom I Have Found - Unknown Artist

21  Leather Coated Cottage - Limey & The Yanks

22  Brown Eyed Woman - The New Wing

23  My True True Love - The Avengers

24  I'll Never Let You Go - Carl Walden & The Humans