Let’s get this out of the way at the beginning.
Telling the story of the overdriven, dreamlike sound of shoegaze without including a song by My Bloody Valentine is like The Great Gatsby without Gatsby or Citizen Kane without Charles Foster Kane. The group pretty much invented the sound, went on to perfect it, and was always the one band that could be counted on to innovate and disrupt. Still, once you get past that not insubstantial hurdle, Cherry Red’s Still in a Dream: A Story of Shoegaze is a pretty great collection. Over the course of five discs, it gathers up major influences on the shoegaze sound, rounds up all the main practitioners, travels around the globe and catches the best of the U.S. pedal pushers (Swirlies, Black Tambourine) along the way, and takes some mild detours into dream pop,…

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…baggy, and noise, all the while dropping classic songs one after the other. The compilers make full use of all five discs, digging deep and casting a wide net that yields both obvious choices and some much less so. Part of the fun going through the discs is hearing “hits” by big names like Slowdive, Ride, and Swervedriver; part of it is rediscovering bands like Sweet Jesus, whose “Phonefreak Honey” is a delightfully sugary blast of distortion and melody, Adorable, a stadium-sized band with tunes like “Sunshine Smile” that were built on huge, impossible to ignore hooks, and Majesty Crush, who impress with the archly pretty “No. 1 Fan.” There also are bands that even someone who was around during the era covered here (1988 to 1995) may have missed. Jane from Occupied Europe’s “Ocean Run Dry” is an early noise pop gem; Coaltar of the Deepers’ Charming Sister Kiss Me Dead!!” is a chunky, almost metallic tune from Japan that shows how universal the sound became. By the time the set is over it’s hard not to be impressed by how quickly the shoegaze sound spread and evolved, how many bands were able to use it to an advantage, and — more to the point here — how well the set is put together. Apart from MBV, it’s hard to think of any bands they missed, just as it’s difficult to think of too many that they could have cut. It might have been interesting to boil the track list down a bit, then spend a disc catching up on the post-1995 bands that have kept the sound alive. That being said, the story they do tell on Still in a Dream is a fascinating one, full of guitar-mangling bliss and soaring melodic grandeur suitable for a fuzzy trip down memory lane or a deep dive of discovery for the novice gazer.

The surprisingly cohesive soundtrack to the 2015 Jaco Pastorius documentary Jaco features tracks the legendary jazz bassist recorded during his short career in the ’70s and ’80s.
The first major documentary film about Pastorius, who was born in 1951 and died tragically in 1987 at age 35, Jaco was produced by bassist Robert Trujillo (Suicidal Tendencies, Metallica) and Pastorius’ oldest son, Johnny Pastorius. Jaco details Pastorius’ rise from unknown Florida musician to internationally recognized and innovative jazz superstar.
In concordance, we get cuts Pastorius recorded as a solo artist and as a member of the influential fusion outfit Weather Report. Fittingly, Trujillo and Pastorius cull tracks off the bassist’s two major solo studio albums, 1976’s Jaco Pastorius and 1981’s…

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…Word of Mouth, including “Come on, Come Over,” “Continuum,” and “Crisis.” Elsewhere, we get a handful of major Weather Report sides, including the synth-heavy “River People” and the funky Pastorius feature “Teen Town.” Along the way, we also get several tracks Pastorius recorded for other artists, including a live version of “The Dry Cleaner from Des Moines” with Joni Mitchell and “All American Alien Boy” off Ian Hunter’s 1978 studio album. Bringing Pastorius’ influence full circle, Trujillo also includes several brand-new recordings, including a cover of “Come on, Come Over” by his own band Mass Mental, as well as a cover of “Continuum” by Mexican guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela.

While there is certainly room for longer, more exhaustive Pastorius anthologies, Jaco succeeds in providing a listenable — and one feels lovingly heartfelt — overview of the bassist’s career.

1. Jaco Pastorius – Come On, Come Over [03:50]
2. Jaco Pastorius – Continuum [04:31]
3. Weather Report – River People (Live) [04:49]
4. Weather Report – Teen Town [02:50]
5. Jaco Pastorius – Portrait of Tracy [02:19]
6. Joni Mitchell – The Dry Cleaner from Des Moines (Live) [04:27]
7. Ian Hunter – All American Alien Boy [07:07]
8. Jaco Pastorius – Liberty City (with Herbie Hancock) [11:56]
9. Jaco Pastorius – Okonkole y Trompa [04:22]
10. Weather Report – Barbary Coast [03:05]
11. Jaco Pastorius – Crisis [05:18]
12. Mary Pastorius – Longing [05:17]
13. Crosses – Nineteen Eighty Seven [03:10]
14. Tech N9ne – Shine [02:50]
15. Rodrigo Y Gabriela – Continuum [04:22]
16. Mass Mental – Come On, Come Over [04:08]

Spurred by superstars like the Eagles and Linda Ronstadt, country-rock became, in the words of music historian Peter Doggett, “the dominant American rock style of the 1970s.” But for every Eagles mega-success, there was a big-label bust like American Flyer. And for every one-hit wonder like the Amazing Rhythm Aces, there were one-shot never-weres such as Angel Oak and Deerfield.
These acts, whose albums are hard to find for even the most dedicated thrift-store bin hunters, now get their belated time in the spotlight on Wayfaring Strangers: Cosmic American Music compilation, due out on Numero Group on March 18, 2016.
Cosmic American Music was the name Gram Parsons coined to describe the blend of rock, country and soul that he played in the Byrds, the Flying Burritos…

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…Brothers and on his own solo albums. Although widely acknowledged as the “Father of country-rock,” Parsons hated the term “country-rock.” As he once said, “We are playing roots music . . . It’s a form of love music, a binding type of music between people.” Cosmic American Music’s eclectic lineup of unknown performers might not have strictly followed Parsons’ musical path but they did share the heartfelt spirit behind his Cosmic American Music.

The nineteen songs on this collection, recorded between 1968-1980, come from albums that were privately pressed, released on tiny labels like Sugarbush and Hobbit or, worse, entrusted to scam artists. It was a world away from today, when CDs can be created in a bedroom, uploaded it to the Internet and discovered by like-minded fans. The indie acts on Cosmic American Music had to sell their albums at bar gigs, street corners, college bookstores and, in the case of one Dan Pavlides, on the road while hitchhiking.

Every act here has its own fascinating story. There are bands like Jimmy Carter and the Dallas Country Green and the Black Canyon Gang, composed of farm and ranch hands who just liked making music. Others, such as Mistress Mary and Mike & Pam Martin, harbored dreams of record deals only to see them dashed when their demo albums were ignored. Sandy Harless’s tale is particularly heartbreaking. After financing his album through his fish breeding business, he got duped by a sham record label. Then there is a case of the mysterious Kathy Heideman, a San Jose session vocalist who recorded an album of songs written by one Dia Joyce; however, not even the experts at Numero Group could dig up info on her.

One thing that all of these acts unfortunately have in common is that their albums flopped. Many wound up never recording again. The disappointment hit Kenny Knight so hard that he tossed his master tapes in a dumpster. As the one-time Southern California singer-songwriter F.J. McMahonreflects: “My concept of record albums and musicians was, you came out with an album and went on T.V. and you had some money and you lived off it and you made another album. I had no concept of you make an album and it goes nowhere, which it did. It was a harpoon to the heart for a long time.”

It’s not that the musicians found on Cosmic American Music lacked talent. The tunes by Plain Jane’s “You Can’t Make It Alone” and Doug Firebaugh’s “Alabama Railroad Town” wouldn’t sound out of place on a record by Firefall or some other major label ’70s country-rock group. Ethel-Ann Powell’s politically tinged “Gentle One” impresses as a beguiling folk-rocker. Mistress Mary’s “And I Didn’t Want You” projects a raw Lucinda Williams-like quality and the Houston outlaw country outfit Deerfield achieves a Flying Burritos Brothers feel on “Me Lovin’ You.” Strands of Nick Lowe’s twangy pub rock sound surface in Jeff Cowell’s rollicking “Not Down This Low,” while White Cloud’s “All Cried Out” suggests a laidback Buffalo Springfield track.

White Cloud also is one of the few groups with a band-member of some small renown. Frontman Thomas Jefferson Kaye was a music biz vet who had success as a Brill Building songwriter and also helmed albums by Loudon Wainwright III, Gene Clark and Dr. John. The North Carolina band Arrogance, represented here with the revved-up twang rocker “To See Her Smile,” was co-founded by Don Dixon, who later co-produced R.E.M. and made several critically acclaimed solo albums.

Cosmic American Music contains some unexpected guest appearances as well. Pure Prairie League’s John David Call contributed his pedal steel prowess to Sandy Harless’ “I Knew Her Well,” and White Cloud’s 1972 cut “All Cried Out” features the picking of Eric Weissberg, who did the breakout Deliverance soundtrack the same year. And that distinctive guitar playing that weaves through Mistress Mary’s “And I Didn’t Want You” is the handiwork of then-Byrd Clarence White.

1. Jimmy Carter and Dallas County Green – Travelin’ [03:32]
2. Mistress Mary – And I Didn’t Want You [04:02]
3. Plain Jane – You Can’t Make It Alone [04:12]
4. Dan Pavlides – Lily of the Valley [02:59]
5. Angel Oak – I Saw Her Cry [02:58]
6. Kathy Heidiman – Sleep a Million Years [02:44]
7. Deerfield – Me Lovin’ You [02:38]
8. Arrogance – To See Her Smile [03:44]
9. Jeff Cowell – Not Down This Low [02:23]
10. Kenny Knight – Baby’s Back [02:02]
11. The Black Canyon Gang – Lonesome City [03:33]
12. Allan Wachs – Mountain Roads [04:18]
13. Mike and Pam Martin – Lonely Entertainer [02:56]
14. Bill Madison – Buffalo Skinners [07:53]
15. White Cloud – All Cried Out [03:37]
16. Ethel-Ann Powell – Gentle One [04:18]
17. Sandy Harless – I Knew Her Well [03:51]
18. F.J. McMahon – The Spirit of the Golden Juice [03:34]
19. Doug Firebaugh – Alabama Railroad Town [01:18]

Spanish pop might just be the last unexplored territory in forward-thinking European music. Over the last 30 years, as Anglo-American attitudes have started to relax and expand, musical connoisseurs have picked over French chanson, Italodisco, Belgium New Beat, Polish jazz and many more.
But Spanish music – with the odd exception in the shape of John Talabot or El Guincho – remains uncharted territory for anyone outside the Iberian Peninsular, reduced to a hazy memory of flamenco, Ibiza clubbing holidays and one-off novelty hits. And that’s just modern-day Spain: the country’s musical archive is, if anything, even more unknown.
Fighting this wildcat indifference is Vampisoul, a Madrid-based reissue label which has explored everything from New Orleans funk to…

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…”Peruvian groovers” in its bid to dig up musical nuggets. In 2011 it released ¡Chicas! Spanish Female Singers 1962-1974, a fabulous collection of obscure Spanish yé-yé, garage rock, soul and psychedelia, largely dug from B sides and commercial flops. It was a selection of music that was as vivacious as it was unlikely, coming from the patriarchal depths of Franco’s Spain where censors would pick over music releases for anything that clashed with their right-wing world views.

The second volume of the Chicas series sees Vicente Fabuel, renowned Spanish record collector, record shop owner and the mastermind behind the first Chicas album, back at the controls with a selection of music that is, if anything, even more obscure than the not-exactly household names on its predecessor. Many of the 28 tracks here are reissued for the first time and they include some “very hard-to-find records”, the label claims. I’d certainly never heard of any of the artists here beyond the granite voiced Alicia Granados, who features on the first record.

The enlarged time frame – 63 to 78, versus 62 to 74 for Volume One – is also notable, with the music on Volume Two expanded to include 70s rock, ska and disco, as well as the soul, funk and psychedelia of the first record.

In general, though, the new compilation sticks pretty close to the modus operandi of Volume One. As with the first record, the promise of “Spanish female singers” proves slightly misleading – there are several non-Spanish singers here (Claudine Coppin, Donna Hightower and Elsa Baeza among them), as well as male / female duos (Spanish composer Antón García Abril features with Edda Dell’Orso, one of Ennio Morricone’s favourite singers) and bands.

There’s a similar range of material, too, taking in covers, both obscure (Claudya con Ramon y sus Showmen take on The Grassroots’ little known garage track ‘I’d Wait A Million Years’) and well-known (Donna Hightower’s ‘Tu Eres Mi Idolo’ is, strangely enough, a French-language version of ‘My Boy Lollipop’; Telstar also gets a mangling), as well as original material.

But, frankly, the journalistic urge to classify and compartmentalise can do a disservice to this album, which is best listened to in slightly dazed wonder. The music is familiar to the Anglo ear but warped and bent out of shape, recognisably in line with the US/UK pop tradition and yet true to a certain Spanishness at the same time.

‘La Misma Playa’, by Karina con Los Jaguars, combines surf pop with a full-blown Latin emotion, all deliciously rolled “r” sounds and vocal fury, with Karina sounding like she might break out of the studio and dance you to death at any moment, a rose between her teeth. If you were searching for the midpoint between flamenco and Jan and Dean, well, this is it. ‘Ponte Bajo el Sol’ by Elia and Elizabeth, meanwhile, is deliciously spooky, too unnerving to be pop, too delicate to be pure garage.

The effect is akin to when the British re-discovered Serge Gainsbourg, somewhere around the mid 90s; the revelation that pop music can exist outside of the Anglo Saxon tradition, one step removed and with slightly different influences but sharing a similar lineage, like African funk music or East German disco.

In fact, Gainsbourg isn’t a bad reference for much of the music here (not a surprise, given Spain’s geographical proximity to France). A small number of songs (notably Blanca Aurora’s Tu No Eres Ye-ye) are straight-up takes on the yé-yé tradition that Gainsbourg initially pioneered. Elsewhere, there are songs that share Gainsbourg’s love of the classical music tradition, innate melodicism and languorous white funk (the meandering bass that opens Sola’s Tabu,Tabu is pure Melody Nelson).

The other key reference points are Motown’s galloping horns, a musical style that fits very well with the fiery Latin vocal style (check Claudya con Ramon y sus Showmen’s ‘Un Millon de Lagrimas’ for evidence), and fuzzy 70s rock (The Satin Bells’ sweltering ‘Come C’mon’ is a particular highlight). Elsewhere we have ska, Bossa, disco, jazz, psychedelia and more, the quality of both songwriting and arranging brilliant throughout.

Fabuel has arranged the 28 tracks here so that they flow perfectly, each a delicate, logical step on from its neighbour, taking the reader on what dodgy trance DJs would doubtlessly refer to as a “journey”. The end result is stunning, wrenching open a country-sized treasure box of unknown musical pearls and – if there’s any justice – going some way to address Spain’s unjust position as the sick man of European pop. Unknowing listeners may be surprised by the quality. They won’t be when Volume Three comes around. — quietus

Christmas Time first arrived as a holiday vinyl EP from the Chris Stamey Group in 1986. Seven years later, in 1993, the collection was expanded for a new CD release, with the track count jumping from seven to sixteen tunes. In 2006, Collectors Choice Music revived the album once more as Christmas Time Again, with three songs dropped from the 1993 version and eight more added, for a total of 21 seasonal specialties. Omnivore’s new incarnation adds an exclamation point, and ups the track list to 22 titles, dropping selections and adding seven new ones. Though the 22 songs reflect various musical styles, all are oozing with happy holiday spirit.
Four previously issued tracks have been retained from Stamey’s band The dB’s including the melodic power-pop title track which has opened every…

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…iteration of this album, the even more spirited (pun intended) “Holiday Spirit” from 1993 (with its cries of “Gimme gimme gimme!”), the country-flavored original with the familiar title of “Home for the Holidays” and a goofy cover of Jose Feliciano’s perennial “Feliz Navidad.”  Stamey and Cathy Harrington’s “You’re What I Want (For Christmas)” and his attractive guitar instrumental “It’s a Wonderful Life,” both of which were included like “Christmas Time” on the original EP, are still here.

Ballads and upbeat pop-rockers have both been reprised from previous editions. Marshall Crenshaw does well with the throwback ballad “(It’s Going to Be A) Lonely Christmas,” originally recorded by The Orioles. In a much more modern vein, Whiskeytown’s country-rock “Houses on the Hill” remains enjoyable. It was first included on Christmas Time in 2006, and while it’s not quite a true “Christmas song,” that shouldn’t be held against it! Sweet harmonies lift Wes Lachot’s gently rocking “Christmas is the Only Time,” and producer-singer-songwriter-musician Don Dixon brings a bluesy swing to the classic “I Saw Three Ships.”

“‘Cause the point of a gun was the only law that Santa Claus understood…,” Ted Lyons repeats in the offbeat “The Only Law That Santa Claus Understood,” a track which has been included on all past versions of Christmas Time.  (Apologies to Hal David and “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance”!)  Lyons is also represented by the instrumental “Santa’s Moonlight Sleighride” with its tropical feel.  The late Alex Chilton will surely inspire a smile with his simple, unadorned live take on Mel Tormé and Robert Wells’ “The Christmas Song,” one of the few Christmas standards here.  Big Star’s Third, the group which happily celebrates the legacy of Chilton’s old band, contributes a new live version of Big Star’s “Jesus Christ” featuring Chris Stamey, Jody Stephens, Ken Stringfellow and lead vocals by R.E.M.’s Mike Mills.

The new tracks all fit smoothly into the framework of this collection.  Robyn Hitchcock contributes the spoken-word piece “The Day Before Boxing Day,” while a more lively diversion can be heard with Yo La Tengo and Jeff Tweedy’s “Eight Day Weekend,” a rocking reworking of Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman’s “Seven Day Weekend,” Hanukkah-style.  Skylar Gudasz appears with Tim Madigan’s ethereal, piano ballad “The Sounds of Christmas,” and Lydia Kavanagh’s delicate original song “It’s Christmas” is of a piece with Gudasz’s track.  Birds and Arrows offer a mellow, harmonica-flecked “In the Bleak Midwinter,” and Brett Harris earns the closing spot with a faithful, heartfelt rendition of Harry Nilsson’s beautiful “Remember (Christmas).”  Nilsson’s song never once refers to Christmas at all, yet it conjures up images of holidays past in a touching and always-timely admonition to “remember when you’re sad and feeling down…”

Omnivore’s new Christmas Time Again! has been mastered by Brent Lambert and Michael Graves, and features attractive design by Greg Allen.

1. Christmas Time – The dB’s
2. Holiday Spirit – The dB’s
3. (It’s Going to Be a) Lonely Christmas – Marshall Crenshaw
4. The Sounds of Christmas – Skylar Gudasz
5. Christmas Time is Here – Thad Cockrell and Roman Candle
6. Home for the Holidays – The dB’s
7. Houses on the Hill – Whiskeytown
8. Christmas is the Only Time – Wes Lachot
9. It’s Christmas – Lydia Kavanagh
10. Eight Day Weekend (Live) – Yo La Tengo and Jeff Tweedy
11. I Saw Three Ships (Live) – Don Dixon
12. The Only Law That Santa Claus Understood – Ted Lyons
13. In the Bleak Midwinter – Birds and Arrows
14. The Christmas Song – Alex Chilton
15. Santa’s Moonlight Sleighride – Ted Lyons
16. Jesus Christ (Live) – Big Star’s Third featuring Mike Mills
17. Christmas Light – Keegan DeWitt and The Sparrows
18. You’re What I Want (For Christmas) – Chris Stamey and Cathy Harrington
19. Feliz Navidad – The dB’s
20. The Day Before Boxing Day – Robyn Hitchcock
21. It’s a Wonderful Life – Chris Stamey
22. Remember (Christmas) – Brett Harris

As time moves on and the genuine bluesmen slip into historical archives, it is a cause for celebration when someone makes the effort to reconstruct the music of one of the true innovators in the blues genre. Produced by Jeffrey Gaskill, God Don’t Never Change: The Songs of Blind Willie Johnson, is a contemporary tribute to this seminal slide guitarist who was also unique in his imaginative vocal interpretations and compositions of gospel blues. Blind Willie Johnson (1897-1945) recorded thirty tracks for the Columbia label between 1927 and 1930 in sessions done in Dallas, New Orleans and Atlanta, preceding the heralded recordings of blues guitarist/composer Robert Johnson in San Antonio, by nine years.

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Though his songs have not had the influence and impact of Robert, Blind Willie has left an enduring legacy which is carried on by modern slide guitarists and gospel singers.

It is of course the job of the producer to get the right people for such an undertaking, and this project is no exception. Tom Waits opens with “The Soul of a Man,” a raucous holy roller that brings to mind the fire and brimstone preachers who know how to shake up the congregation. “Nobody’s Fault But Mine,” possibly Johnson’s best known and most covered song is given the royal treatment by Lucinda Williams, who possesses one of the most distinctive voices in music. Derek Trucks is widely recognized as a brilliant slide player, and he is joined by his wife Susan Tedeschi handling the vocals on “Keep Your Lamp Trimmed And Burning,” which eases into “Jesus Is Coming Soon,” by the Cowboy Junkies. The Blind Boys of Alabama, were the obvious choice for “Motherless Children Have a Hard Time,” and they deliver a soul shaking rendition.

Sinead O’Connor might be the surprise artist here, but she rises to the occasion on “Trouble Will Soon Be Over,” followed by Luther Dickinson, guitarist of the North Mississippi All Stars who assembled an interesting fife and drum band to perform “Bye and Bye, I’m Going to See the King.” Lucinda Williams returns for an inspirational version of “God Don’t Ever Change,” and Tom Waits does an encore with “John the Revelator.” Maria McKee raises the roof with “Let Your Light Shine On Me, and Ricki Lee Jones closes the repertoire with the somber toned “Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground.” This final song was initially done by Johnson as a moaning hymn accompanying himself on an eerie slide guitar, Jones accomplishes an impressive take and does justice to the memory of the original.

This is an interesting record, and one that was literally years in the making, as producer Jeffrey Gaskill, back in 2002, began the search for the legend of Blind Willie Johnson, going back to his native Texas roots to get the real story. Though the recordings of Johnson are readily available and have been reissued on various labels, this compilation is a labor of love in not only recognizing a unique American artist, but serves as stimulation to go check out Johnson’s music. The blues is where it all began and these primordial performers deserve enduring appreciation for their contribution.

Huey P. Meaux knew what music would sell, which is why he was so hot to find a Texan band that could sound like one of those ravers out of the U.K. He found one with Sir Douglas Quintet, getting Doug Sahm and Augie Meyers to play Ray Charles with the ragged glee of the Kinks or Rolling Stones, but SDQ wasn’t the only rock & roll band he recorded for his Crazy Cajun cabal. Once “She’s About a Mover” hit in 1965, teenage Texans with guitars and organs sought out Meaux so he recorded them, putting out 7″s on Tear Drop, Capri, Ventural, Caddo, Shane, Pic, Pacemaker, Back Stage, and other imprints designed to disguise how Huey was running an empire. Alec Palao dug through the vaults, assembling Ace’s 2015 compilation Don’t Be Bad! 60s Punk Recorded in Texas out of rare…

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…singles and excavated cuts, among which is the comp’s title track. Eleven of the tracks are previously unreleased but the entire collection is essentially unheard for those who aren’t hardcore ’60s garage and proto-punk collectors. Although the Phinx, one of those bands tucked away deep in Meaux’s vaults, flirt with spacy drones on “To No Place of Its Own,” this is all prime mid-’60s fuzz-toned stomps — lean, cacophonous three-chord rockers punctuated by the occasional blues jam and descending minor-key madness. In other words, a lot of Stones and Yardbirds — the Pirates jammed those two influences together in a medley of Bo Diddley’s “Mona”/”Who Do You Love,” tunes that were covered by the Stones and Yardbirds, respectively — but Texas had its own garage quirks, namely great sheets of cheap, greasy organ, a hint of wayward Dylan influence (best heard on the Dodads’ “Lost in a Crowd”), and a strain of pop that echoed both the Beatles and that great son of Lubbock, Buddy Holly. It’s enough variety to keep things cooking on Don’t Be Bad!, but credit that to Palao’s sharp selection and sequencing, skills that are as evident as his research and excellent liner notes. Although there’s no denying Meaux’s nefarious side — the main reason this collection doesn’t dip into psychedelia is because he was jailed in 1967 on a violation of the Mann Act — Palao spins spin Meaux’s hucksterism in the best possible light, showcasing how his eagerness to make a quick buck led to the kind of timeless trashy thrills preserved here.

Peter Guralnick, author of a definitive two-part biography on Elvis Presley, published the equally definitive The Man Who Invented Rock & Roll in 2015. At 784 pages, the book is appropriately weighty. This is a man who not only discovered Elvis Presley, but Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Ike Turner, Carl Perkins, Howlin’ Wolf and B.B. King, he deserves an epic but, as he was the quintessential recordman of the 20th century, he also deserves a soundtrack, so Guralnick gave him one, compiling a double-disc set to accompany the book.
The recordings Phillips made at his Sun Studios are well-documented, so what gives The Man Who Invented Rock & Roll an edge is the curator’s touch. Guralnick doesn’t neglect Sun standards — “Whole Lot of Shakin’ Going On,” “Moanin’ at Midnight,”…

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… “Rocket 88,” “Mystery Train,” “Sittin’ and Thinkin’,” “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Hey Porter,” and “Rock & Roll Ruby” are all here, as they should be — but he also doesn’t rely on obscurities, either, choosing to balance cult favorites, left-field selections, and cuts from John Prine’s 1979 album Pink Cadillac along with the big hits. He also bends unspoken rules of compilations, choosing to discard strict chronological flow and piling Walter Horton tunes upon each other, a move that winds up emphasizing the big picture, how Phillips tapped into the essence of American music in all its wild, untamed weirdness. Decades after its recording, this mid-century music is funny, ribald, passionate, and vital, whether it’s electrified blues boogie, backwoods rockabilly, sophisticated country, or Prine’s knowing look back at it all, and this compilation, more than most Sun collections, drives right to the heart of the matter.

The Eccentric Soul series was conceived of to document the most underground reverberations of soul music culture. Columbus, Ohio’s 1st Annual Inner-City Talent Expo might be the purest, deepest core: a collection of groups just barely exposed, most never even reaching the surface of conventional release. Just reading the names of the artists says more than any turgid hype sticker can achieve: The Forbidden Blackness, Spaded Jade, Young Underground, The Final Analysis, Brother’s Rap… The latter does a kid soul rendition of Gil Scott Heron’s “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” for Pete’s sake! It speaks volumes that, by comparison, Timeless Legend — known only to the most cloistered secret society of soul music collectors — is the 1972 album’s lone “known”…

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…quantity. To top it all of, the backing band is none other than the Suspicious Can Openers, who made their mark on the Eccentric Soul: Omnibus with a truly bizarre name and blast of crude funk on their sole 45. Both a monstrously fun soul LP and document of a unique cultural moment, 1st Annual Inner-City Talent Expo continues our thirteen year legacy of excellence.

1. Iggy Pop – Break Into Your Heart
2. Mark Lanegan – Harvest Home
3. Masters of Reality – Counting Horses
4. Turbonegro – Back to Dungaree High
5. UNKLE – Restless (feat. Josh Homme)
6. Desert Sessions – I Wanna Make It Wit Chu
7. The Twilight Singers – Waves
8. Desert Sessions – Eccentric Man
9. Fatso Jetson – Light Yourself On Fire
10. Wellwater Conspiracy – Ladder to the Moon
11. Mojave Lords – Sweet Little Down & Out
12. Hello = Fire – Far from It
13. earthlings? – Saving Up for My Spaceship / Illuminate
14. Desert Sessions – Don’t Drink Poison

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“Having made a record for cover star Iggy Pop, the Queens of the Stone Age leader Josh Homme has made one for us, selecting 14 outlaw tracks from the likes of Mark Lanegan, Mojave Lords, UNKLE, his own Desert Sessions incarnation plus an exclusive new track from Mr Pop.”

It’s a curious decision, setting a TV show about the record industry in 1973 in New York and then bulking up the soundtrack with music that didn’t exist until decades later. It’s not like there weren’t enough songs from the era to choose from: The early ’70s were an incredibly fertile time for music, especially in New York. The first 30 minutes of the two-hour pilot for Vinyl, the new HBO series from Martin Scorsese, Mick Jagger and Terence Winter, features Led Zeppelin onstage at Madison Square Garden making their Song Remains the Same concert film, the New York Dolls catering to a more transgressive crowd at the Mercer Arts Center downtown, and a quick glimpse of the party in the Bronx where DJ Kool Herc essentially invented hip hop.
And yet, the first of two full-length soundtracks…

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…planned from season one (augmented by weekly EPs with music from each episode) strays 40 years into the future, putting new songs by country singer Sturgill Simpson, Icelandic rockers Kaleo and Rock Star: INXS contestant/Vintage Trouble frontman Ty Taylor alongside period jams by the Dolls (re-recorded by singer David Johansen), Otis Redding, Foghat, the Edgar Winter Group and the Meters, among others. The juxtaposition is sometimes jarring, not because the new songs don’t stand on their own merits, but because they haven’t had time yet to seep into our subconscious minds the way that music from that era has. Instead of evoking a period, or a place, the new songs are still blank slates, waiting for the associations that only come with time and becoming part of a shared experience.

For now, that experience is the first episode of Vinyl. It’s a start, at any rate. Simpson plays against type with his contribution, “Sugar Daddy (Theme from Vinyl),” switching from throwback twang a la Waylon Jennings to grainy blues-rock on a song that shifts through sections steered by choogling guitars and overdriven vocals. Of all the new tunes, “Sugar Daddy” sounds the most like it could have slipped through the cracks back in the day.

Taylor’s “The World Is Yours” draws on the blues, too, powering through a Chicago-style sound built around sticky-wet electric guitar, low moaning horns and vocals that are just raw enough, steeped in reverb for good measure. The early-’60s feel is spot on: the song accompanies a flashback scene set 10 years before the main action as singer Lester Grimes (played by Ato Essandoh, lip-syncing) performs it onstage in a club where protagonist Richie Finestra (Bobby Cannavale) is working as a bartender.

Not all the music of the early ’70s was as electrifying as Zeppelin, the Dolls or DJ Kool Herc. Kaleo’s riff-heavy “No Good” echoes the joyless plodding of hard-rock acts of the day like Mountain or Foghat, and what little charm there is gets lost in leering vocals, delivered through pounding bomp-bomp drums and turgid bass. Better is “Rotten Apple” by the Nasty Bits, the fictional proto-punk band in Vinyl fronted by Kip Stevens (James Jagger). With hints of the Stooges and the Dictators, it’s a tough, scrappy song reveling with snotty glee in the dissolute decay of New York City in the early ’70s. Johansen’s re-recordings of “Personality Crisis” and “Stranded in the Jungle” retain their feral appeal, and while his voice has thickened over the years, he still comes across as a gleeful provocateur having the time of his life.

As Vinyl rolls out the EP series (in digital form, for that dash of irony), Johansen is the model that other contemporary acts should aspire to as they cover vintage songs, just as Simpson sets the standard for artists recording new songs for the show. Each singer finds the essence of the era—easy enough for Johansen, who lived through it—without trying too slavishly to imitate it. Let’s see if the show itself can follow suit.

Physical copies of Henry Street Music: The Definitive Collection were rather compact, perhaps a bit unassuming considering the set’s scope, but its outer shell holds five discs, or well over 50 cuts from one of house music’s most prominent labels.
Henry Street, founded in 1994 by Johnny “D” De Mairo, experienced its greatest crossover success with the Chicago-sampling “The Bomb! (These Sounds Fall Into My Mind),” a Top Five U.K. pop hit (number 49 U.S.) credited to Kenny Dope’s Bucketheads alias. For the most part, however, it was predominantly an underground imprint, typified by other sample-laced productions from the likes of JohNick (aka De Mairo and Nicholas Palermo, Jr.), Todd Terry, DJ Sneak, Armand Van Helden, and Mateo & Matos, as well as Little Louie Vega,…

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…Kenny Dope’s Masters at Work partner. Henry Street started reissuing some of their most significant releases on 12″ in 2014, but this is a handy and generous package for ravenous listeners and DJs who don’t use vinyl. The energizing effect of much of what’s here is everlasting.

01. Kenny “Dope” presents The Bucketheads – Whew [6:49]
02. Anthony Mannino presents Syncopation – It’s Jazzy [6:51]
03. Armand Van Helden – Hey Baby [5:35]
04. Kenny “Dope” presents The Bucketheads – The Bomb! (These Sounds Fall Into My Mind) [14:48]
05. JohNick – Play the World [7:54]
06. DJ Sneak – Show Me the Way [7:34]
07. Mateo & Matos – Rainbow ’95 [11:54]
08. Robbie Tronco – Walk 4 Me [9:18]
09. Dirty Harry – Ascension (The Ethereal Funk Mix) [5:36]
10. Dirty Harry – Gonna Luv U (Bonus Track) [6:49]
11. Ashley Beedle – Sunrize [5:43]
12. Armand Van Helden – The Funk Phenomena [6:57]
13. Todd Terry – I Thought Your Love [6:31]
14. Kenny “Dope” presents The Bucketheads – I Wanna Know [7:16]
15. 95 North – Who’s Hoo [9:26]
16. Mike Delgado – Byrdman’s Revenge [7:23]
17. Ralphi Rosario – Brinca [6:12]
18. JohNick – Open Up Your Eyes [6:30]
19. Brutal Bill – Philly Jazz (Remix) [7:16]
20. DJ Duke – The Hustler [6:04]
21. DJ Sneak – Reachin’ [5:42]
22. Robbie Rivera – I Can’t Take It (Bonus Track) [5:32]
23. The Pound Boys – My Eyes [7:38]
24. That Kid Chris – I Believe [6:40]
25. DJ Sneak – Feels Good [4:51]
26. Little Louie Vega – The Missile [7:31]
27. Norty Cotto – Funky Music [6:34]
28. Armand Van Helden – Mecca Toast [6:22]
29. 95 North – Party Hardy [7:04]
30. Robbie Rivera – Get On the Floor [6:24]
31. DJ Stew – Funky Fresh [7:38]
32. JohNick – Magic (MK Mix) [4:10]
33. Salvatore Vitrano – Night Beat Club (Main Mix) [5:38]
34. SCOTTI DEEP – Brooklyn Beats (Pulse 2 Rhythm Mix) [6:34]
35. Davidson Ospina – Heard Paradise (Bonus Track) [7:40]
36. Ray Roc – Shake It Again [6:01]
37. BQE – Steal Your Love [7:32]
38. Jeremias Santiago presents Eltingville Project – Been There [9:16]
39. Furious George – Paradise By the Furious Light [11:10]
40. Paul Simpson – Keep Dancin’ [5:25]
41. Josh Harris presents Philter Inc / Sandy B – Next to You [6:13]
42. Tony Moran presents Bond-Age – Die Another Day [8:49]
43. Albert Cabrera – Melted [6:11]
44. Groove Culture – Feelin’ It [8:35]
45. Andy Ward – Came Into My Life [7:25]
46. JohNick – Johnick Theme (Bonus Track) [8:03]
47. DJ Duke / Roland Clark – D2-D2 (I Get Deep) (Timmy Regisford Shelter Mix) [9:46]
48. Markus Schulz – Clap Along [6:15]
49. Mike Rizzo presents Tiger Blood – Like That [5:49]
50. Armand Van Helden – The Funk Phenomena (Starkillers Remix) [6:48]
51. Davidson Ospina – Night Birds [6:34]
52. E-Smoove – Lake Shore Drive [7:28]
53. Stron Jay – Feel the Thunder (Tommy Musto Mix) [5:57]
54. DJ Sneak – My Thing [9:19]
55. Norty Cotto – Hustle Me This [5:04]
56. DJ Kwest – Love to Ecstacy [5:40]
57. Mike Delgado – Byrdman’s Revenge (Trigger to Love Mix) [7:30]
58. Todd Terry – Party People (Original Demo) [2:28]
59. That Kid Chris – One of a Kind (Bonus Track) [5:44]

In April 2015, the emotional juggernaut that was the first two-minute Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer was released online. Drawing heavily on the iconography of the original trilogy — a beached star destroyer, Vader’s crumpled helmet, X-Wings soaring — it played on a few generations’ worth of treasured memories, but what sent it over the top were the stirrings of that lovely old John Williams theme: Nostalgia, ultra.
Even more than the visuals, the sounds of Star Wars are what evoke the giddy soul of the films. Williams’ score does the heavy lifting, yes, but the whirrs and shrieks of assorted creatures, the laser blasts, and endless memorable lines are almost as important. It’s this latter mix of sounds that animates Star Wars Headspace, a new album of electronic…

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…music inspired by the films. Executive produced by Rick Rubin, who was a teenager when Star Wars was released, the record crackles with adolescent exuberance, thanks to a well-chosen roster of producers. Neither stale tribute nor sloppy lovefest, Headspace aims for simple fun and hits it square, like a T-16 targeting womp rats back on Tatooine. (Sorry.)

Flying Lotus, who contributes a track, said in an interview on Beats 1 that the producers involved were given access to a vast anthology of Star Wars sound bites but were cautioned away from Williams’ music. For that reason, random chirps, whirrs, and speech fragments dominate the proceedings, and many of the producers cash in as many of these chips as possible. Big-tent EDM DJ Kaskade kicks things off with “C-3PO’s Plight,” a maximalist piece of novelty camp that turns one of the golden droid’s asides into a weirdly moving lament. The house producer Claude Von Stroke offers a goofy dance anthem that recalls the work of Todd Terje.

The musicians on the record’s latter half focus less on obvious tribute material. Flying Lotus and Shlohmo, both of whom have ventured outside of their comfort zones in recent years, incorporate droid bleeps and bloops into fresh versions of their older styles, as if they’ve walked into a childhood clubhouse and remembered all the best hiding places. “I feel real close to these sounds,” Flying Lotus said in his interview, and you can tell.

This cozy nostalgia is a way of avoiding risk, and much like The Force Awakens, most of the tracks here are not particularly adventurous: GTA imitate Baauer with an imperial-style banger, while Baauer himself reaches into his usual explosive bag of tricks. Röyksopp, in one of the album’s few missteps, put together an 8-minute amalgamous mess that sounds patched together from their back catalog.

But like the new film, the tracks sound relaxed and self-assured, none more so than “NR-G7,” one of Rubin’s two contributions. A successful synthesis of four or so different approaches, from pounding four-on-the-floor gristle to dazzling jet-stream synths and back again, it’s a testament to the idea that sometimes indecision is the best decision. Rubin’s involvement, both as a musician and an artistic conscience, elevates the collection from crass tie-in (which, of course, it is) into something undeniably greater.

The most ambitious tracks on Headspace reach for the majesty of the original score, and Rubin places them near the end of the record where they can have the strongest emotional impact. “Sunset Over Manaan,” produced by Attlas, has an aching melody that might remind you of “Leia’s Theme.” And the epic orchestration of Breakbot’s final track taps directly into the neo-Romantic essence of Williams’ music. It’s one of the only tracks that turns its back on nostalgia, striking out to explore new territory.

Experience the soundtrack to Neil Hamburger’s existential dread. The Entertainment is the unnervig film account of a traveling comedian lost on the brink. A broken, aging comic tours the California desert, cast away in a sea of third-rate venues, novelty tourist attractions, and self-serving attempts to reach his estranged daughter. By day, he drags across the barren landscape, inadvertently alienating every acquaintance. At night, he seeks solace in the animation of his onstage persona. Fueled by the promise of a lucrative Hollywood engagement, he confronts a series of increasingly surreal and volatile encounters.
This sonic companion to Entertainment comes straight from the record collection top-secret Neil Hamburger alter ego Gregg Turkington, an avid…

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…gatherer of privately pressed curios and the self-proclaimed #1 fan of Frank Sinatra Jr. Joining the Son of the Chairman of the Board on this limited edition LP is a cast of downtrodden personalities, including a emphatically Los Angeleno nun, a Italian-language folkie whose guitar laments the Vietnam war, and a Columbus, Ohio, civil rights activist and record man. Included are interstitial dialogue snippets, one of which lets co-star John C. Reilly supply a bizarre rendition of Away in the Manger.

1. Entertainment – Everybody’s Alright [00:34]
2. Pompeo Stillo & the Companions – He Was a Guitar Player and Now Plays Machinegun in Vietnam [02:49]
3. Bill Moss – Number One [02:57]
4. Entertainment – A Professional Loser [01:31]
5. The Extentions – This Love of Mine [03:04]
6. Entertainment – It’s Been a Long, Long Day [00:21]
7. Devora Clemmons – Animals in the Zoo [04:37]
8. Entertainment – Cousin John Sings Christmas [00:55]
9. Entertainment – Sweet Dreams [00:26]
10. Frank Sinatra Jr. – Black Night [04:21]
11. Entertainment – Yellow Rims [00:32]
12. Insight Out – It Makes You Feel So Bad [02:38]
13. Nun-Plus – Los Angeles [04:07]
14. Entertainment – Should I Be Concerned? [00:52]
15. Bob Desper – It’s Too Late [05:11]
16. Entertainment Choir – Ave Maria (Daughter of My Dreams) [04:32]

George Fest: A Night to Celebrate George Harrison happened at the Fonda Theater in Los Angeles on September 28, 2014 and the whole shindig appeared in a variety of incarnations — CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays, and downloads — in February of 2016, a few days after what would’ve been the Beatle’s 73rd birthday. His son Dhani directed the concert and, with the exception of Brian Wilson and Heart’s Ann Wilson, he favored alt-rock stars of the 2000s: the Killers’ Brandon Flowers, Nick Valensi from the Strokes, Spoon’s Britt Daniel, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Cold War Kids, and the Flaming Lips form the backbone of this tribute. Around this core orbit some names that seem suitable (Norah Jones, Ben Harper, Perry Farrell), some that seem odd (Ian Astbury, Karen Elson), and some that…

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…seem like ringers (Conan O’Brien, Weird Al Yankovic), but this group is united by an affection for George Harrison, a love that runs so deep that none of the crew even make feints toward possible reinterpretations of the tunes. Everybody plays the songs they love in the way they learned them, so the highlights fall along the spectrum of sensitivity to enthusiasm. Norah Jones excels on both “Something” and “Behind That Locked Door,” Karen Elson treats “I’d Have You Anytime” as a torch song, and Daniel sways handsomely to “I Me Mine,” while Dhani throws himself into “Let It Down” and the two nominal comedians, Conan and Weird Al, tear it up on “Old Brown Shoe” and “What Is Life,” respectively. That’s enough to provide a hook for this lengthy concert but the lasting impression of George Fest is not about the performances here but rather the depth and range of Harrison’s work, which perhaps is how it should be.

CD1
Introduction
Old Brown Shoe – Conan O’Brien
I Me Mine – Britt Daniel from Spoon
Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll) – Jonathan Bates with Dhani Harrison
Something – Norah Jones
Got My Mind Set On You – Brandon Flowers from The Killers
If Not For You – Heartless Bastards
Be Here Now – Ian Astbury from The Cult
Wah-Wah – Nick Valensi from The Strokes
If I Needed Someone – Jamestown Revival
Art of Dying – Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Savoy Truffle – Dhani Harrison
For You Blue – Chase Cohl with Weezer’s Brian Bell on guitar
Beware Of Darkness – Ann Wilson from Heart

CD2
Let It Down – Dhani Harrison
Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth) – Ben Harper
Here Comes The Sun – Perry Farrell from Jane’s Addiction
What Is Life – “Weird Al” Yankovic
Behind That Locked Door – Norah Jones
My Sweet Lord – Brian Wilson with Al Jardine
Isn’t It A Pity – The Black Ryder
Any Road – Butch Walker
I’d Have You Anytime – Karen Elson
Taxman – Cold War Kids
It’s All Too Much – The Flaming Lips
Handle With Care – Brandon Flowers, Dhani Harrison, Jonathan Bates “Weird Al” Yankovic, Britt Daniel and Wayne Coyne
All Things Must Pass – Ann Wilson, Dhani Harrison, Karen Elson and Norah Jones

What do you get when you combine a Grammy-nominated songwriter with the winning instrumentalists of the International Acoustic Music Competition, throw in a fabulous new vocalist? “Across Time – Album of the Years Project”.
“Across Time” grew out of the friendship and collaboration between Laurence Baer and the internationally acclaimed guitar duo Loren and Mark. Loren Barrigar was the youngest instrumentalist ever to play on the stages of the Grand Ole Opry (in 1968 when he was 6 years old) and he went on to study with Chet Atkins’ brother, Jimmy Atkins. Mark Mazengarb is an extremely versatile and brilliant guitarist from New Zealand, equally comfortable in classical, jazz, folk, and bluegrass styles.

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They won the 2013 International Acoustic Music Competition for instrumentalists. The lyrics for each song are vital and integral. Each song is meaningful in its own right, and taken together the collection is hugely compelling. The lyrics are very easy to hear and masterfully delivered by up-and-coming vocalist Justin Pokrywka. Justin’s voice has been frequently compared to that of the late great Jim Croce. A talented songwriter in his own right, Justin has been lately turning heads in Nashville. For the sake of clarity and ease of listening – all the harmonies are also sung by Justin. The result is a smooth and rich vocal which captures the spirit and heart of each song, making listening a pleasure rather than a task.

Disc 1:

1. Seed of a Seed (feat. Mike Munford) (4:19)
2. Stardust (feat. Rob Ickes) (5:15)
3. Honesty (feat. Isaac Eicher & Shelby Eicher) (4:49)
4. Here’s the Keys (feat. Rickie Simpkins) (4:28)
5. Nehemiah (feat. Shelby Eicher & Isaac Eicher) (4:42)
6. Strike By the Moon (4:40)
7. White Pass Railroad (feat. Rob Ickes) (4:21)
8. 80,000 Miles (feat. Mike Munford) (3:31)
9. Apple Pie (3:41)
10. Just to Be With You (3:54)
11. Find Your Way (3:40)
12. Mariachi Waltz (feat. Richard Smith, Shelby Eicher & Isaac Eicher) (3:52)
13. I Guess Its Love (3:02)
14. It’s a Beautiful Thing (4:17)
15. Life At the End of the Tunnel (feat. Rob Ickes) (4:58)

Disc 2:

16. Blues God Has to Hide (4:25)
17. I’m Chasing After a Dream (feat. Mike Munford, Isaac Eicher & Shelby Eicher) (3:22)
18. Lovers Song (4:30)
19. Rise Again (feat. Mike Munford) (3:42)
20. Live in Love (5:39)
21. There’s No Limit (3:45)
22. When the Fiddles Start to Play (feat. Rickie Simpkins) (3:26)
23. No Other Woman (4:08)
24. Flight (feat. Mike Munford) (5:17)
25. Slicing the Crests (4:40)
26. Lavender (feat. Isaac Eicher & Shelby Eicher) (3:38)
27. Beyond All Time (feat. Richard Smith) (3:30)
28. Lemon and Ginger (4:03)
29. Snow Goose (feat. Shelby Eicher & Isaac Eicher) (4:49)
30. Tecumseh’s Poem (feat. Rob Ickes & Mike Munford) (5:47)

Psychedelic rock and salsa came of age together in the mid to late 1960s under parallel socio-cultural circumstances of upheaval, unrest and experimentation within the respective youth cultures of their core audiences; the best known apotheoses being Santana in rock and Eddie Palmieri in salsa. Aside from the obvious Afro-Cuban influences in both artists, the historical connections between the psychedelic and salsa may not be that readily obvious to the casual observer, but there are quite a few, and this compilation aims to shed some light in this regard, at least musically.
Historically there are direct connections between the world of the hippie counter-culture (Woodstock, Bill Graham, social protest) and Latin music (from Fania’s Jerry Masucci being friends with…

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…Woodstock’s Michael Lang to ‘mambonik’ Bill Graham urging Santana to cover Tito Puente). But this also went the other way, with salsa orchestra leader Larry Harlow (featured here with Grupo Fantasma) simultaneously having a psychedelic rock band (Ambergris), and Palmieri recording his Grammy-winning psychedelic salsa masterpiece The Sun of Latin Music in Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Ladyland studios, not to mention the radical pianist’s underground Latin funk crossover project, Harlem River Drive. In places like Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, and especially Peru, non-Latin global youth culture – or at least some of the music, dress, art, and social attitude – was quite influential as well, producing tropical music with fuzzed out guitars, echo effects, and electric keyboards (Fruko, Los Pambele, Nelson, Ray Pérez, Conjunto Siglo 21, Los Sander’s).

In the late 1970s through to the 1990s, discotheque remix dance culture spawned the psychedelic extended salsa mixes of studio wizards like Baron Lopez and the wild playing of Cuban violinist Alfredo de la Fé (featured here with Orchestra Rytmo Africa-Cubana), both of which factored in trippy dub effects borrowed from another Caribbean music with psychedelic leanings, namely reggae.

This collection explores not only those early connections and cross-pollinating influences but also the resurgence of interest in the subject of the psychedelic sound today, from a revival of the experimental vibe that made the early years of salsa so varied and interesting to the equally intriguing phenomenon of retro analogue aesthetics that seems to be on the rise.

Current Latin artists like Bio Ritmo, La Mecánica Popular, Bacalao Men, Quantic, Fantasma and San Lázaro have found themselves looking back to the days of progressive, open attitudes when the emphasis was on message and music, not on singer as star or producing bland pop for mass consumption. This is, perhaps, a reaction to the fallout of the over-commercialisation and dilution of salsa in the 1980s and the concurrent ascendance of merengue, bachata and (later) reggaeton. The influence of rare groove collecting, DJ-driven investigations into the golden era, and a spill-over from the success of retro funk and soul acts like Sharon Jones have shaped current ‘indie’ salsa production as well. — worldmusic.net

Some of the best thrills of the Internet music revolution is the ability to find extremely rare music. But even with such vast archives to draw from, quite a lot of great songs have gone undiscovered for nearly half a decade, particularly in genres that lacked hifalutin arty pretense.
Previously, only the most extremely dedicated and passionate record collectors had the stamina and prowess to hunt down long forgotten wonders in dusty record bins – often hoarding them in private collections, or selling at ridiculous collector’s prices. Legendary compilations like Nuggets, Pebbles, ad nauseum, have exhausted the mines of early garage rock and proto-punk, keeping alive a large cross-section of underground ephemera. However, few have delved into…

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…and expertly archived the wealth of proto-metal, pre-stoner rock tracks of Brown Acid: The First Trip.
Lance Barresi, co-owner of L.A.-cum-Chicago shop Permanent Records has shown incredible persistence in tracking down a stellar collection of rare singles from the 60s and 70s for the 11-track compilation. Partnered with Daniel Hall of RidingEasy Records, the two have assembled a selection of songs that’s hard to believe have remained unheard for so long.

“I essentially go through Hell and high water just to find these records,” Barresi says. “Once I find a record worthy of tracking, I begin the (sometimes) extremely arduous process of contacting the band members and encouraging them to take part. Daniel and I agree that licensing all the tracks we’re using for Brown Acid is best for everyone involved.” Rather than simply bootlegging the tracks, when all of the bands and labels haven’t existed for 30-40 years or more, tracking down the creators gives all of these tunes a real second chance at success.

“ All of (these songs) could’ve been huge given the right circumstances,” says Barresi. “But for one reason or another most of these songs fell flat and were forgotten. However, time has been kind in my opinion and I think these songs are as good now or better than they ever were.”

Raw Meat, for example, one of the stomping standouts from the compilation, is a band about which precious little is known even by the owner of the label and producer of the band’s original 1969 single, Richard Paul Thomas — two of its tracks reissued as a 7” teaser single for the compilation on July 14th, 2015 via RidingEasy Records. The trio was from north of Milwaukee, WI, but not much more information remains available. “They were one of the tightest trios around at the time and had a fairly large repertoire of their own material,” the label owner says (name?). “The only thing that sticks in my mind was the band’s bumper sticker ‘Raw Meat Is Good For You’. Our offices were on Lincoln Avenue just next door to the Federal Meat inspectors offices.”

Brown Acid: The First Trip opens with the slithering buzzsaw guitars and hard-rock howl of Zeke’s’ “Box”, a monster that gives Blue Cheer a run for their leaden blues. Snow sways into “Sunflower” with a touch of Steppenwolf’s swagger and wind-in-their-hair wildness. Elsewhere, Zebra proves they were “Wasted” with a soul-inflected groove, while Bob Goodsite leans in on his wah-wah and phaser pedals, determined to out-Hendrix Jimi himself on “Faze.” Raw Meat’s “Stand By Girl” serves up a fierce, stomping riff intercut with Iron Butterfly style operatics. Bacchus kicks out a hostile sounding boogie, demanding to “Carry My Load.” Josefus caps it all off nicely with a hooky power-pop meets Bob Seger System meets Lollipop Shoppe anthem with the undeniably catchy chorus, “hard luck — keep truckin’!”

1.  Zekes – Box [2:28]
2.  Snow – Sunflower [3:59]
3.  Tour – One Of The Bad Guys [3:18]
4.  Zebra – Wasted [3:55]
5.  Bob Goodsite – Faze 1 [2:14]
6.  Raw Meat – Stand By Girl [3:10]
7.  Punch – Deathhead [4:56]
8.  Bacchus – Carry My Lead [3:28]
9.  Lenny Drake – Love Eyes (Cast Your Spell On Me) [2:53]
10. The Todd – Mystifying Me [2:51]
11. Josefus – Hard Luck [3:46]

1. Craig Finn – Maggie I’ve Been Searching for Our…
2. The Arcs – Stay in My Corner
3. Titus Andronicus – Dimed Out
4. HeCTA – Sympathy for the Auto Industry
5. Robert Forster – Let Me Imagine You
6. Public Image Ltd. – Bettie Page
7. James Elkington & Nathan Salsburg – Reel Around the Fountain
8. Phil Cook – Anybody Else
9. Wand – Stolen Footsteps
10. Elyse Weinberg – Houses
11. Dungen – Franks Kaktus
12. Bilal – Satellites
13. Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats – Waiting for Blood
14. Lou Barlow – Nerve
15. Low – No Comprende

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Absence is a new compilation of Iranian experimental music organized by Flaming Pines proprietor Kate Carr, and curated by Arash Akbari — who also contributes its second track — with a particular ear to highlight Tehran’s ambient scene.
The opening contribution and accompanying liner notes are from of Tehran-based Siavash  Amini, who writes regarding western coverage of “Middle Eastern” music at large; “Faced with the task of writing about artists from Iran it is tempting to oversimplify and go with the easiest way to address them — the way most western media has always treated art coming not just from Iran but from [the] Middle East in general. This approach places artists exclusively within the political context presented by the mainstream media, and only shows you…

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…the day-to-day politics of governments in the region. This biased approach means artists’ works are only interpreted in relation to a reduced conception of the political context. By seeing things this way you only have a handful of artists addressing certain issues with enough exaggeration to be newsworthy.”

What’s clear is that this framework obscures enormous common ground, enormous potential that, it is heartening to see, occasionally tapped into with results as varied and enjoyable as Absence. As a testament to fundamentally Iranian-work, it speaks to real gaps in how we each imagine our distinct pasts and shared future.

Before the beautifully buried payload in the compilation’s fourth track, “Headless,” a contribution from Hesam Ohadi’s Idlefon project — featuring Kamyar Behbahani, and originally released with an EP in 2015 via Chicago’s Tympanik Audio — it’s hard to parse something so specific as national identity from individual tracks. How does a 21st century Iranian accent their music? How should they? How could they? To that extent, the entire compilation is stalwartly cosmopolitan. Considering Siavish Armani’s notes, as well as how popular certain Arabesques are as a signifier for exoticism in some contexts, the ambiguity seems conscious, even distinct to their social project.

More from Amini though: “The Iranian mainstream is not that disconnected from the global mainstream, and the philosophy, politics, and the lifestyle this manifests. The mainstream in Iran is not only what the government endorses but it also consists of very shallow imitations of various musical genres, cleared of any signs of cultural or political resistance, backed and released by private labels and companies . . . The artists presented here, including myself, are people who are constructing our musical language as part of our lives… We are the voices who choose to be absent from the news and the musical mainstream (and in some cases from the city of our birth) in order to express the complex range of emotions and ideas which make up our lives, as honestly as we can.”