Sunday, December 31, 2006

A.B. Skhy:Ramblin' on

This is an out of print psych gem. Produced by Kim Fowley and released on MGM in 1970. This is their 2nd and much harder to find album. Lot's of solid playing throughout with a some nice drum breaks and excellent vocals. The last track is a dedication to Gabor Szabo. I highly encourage you to check this one out, you will not find it cheap anywhere, if at all. Enjoy


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Asobi Seksu:Citrus

Shoegazer lives on. This album blows my mind and does the genre a huge credit. The sound this cd puts out will wrap you up in it's warm pulsing ambient atmospheres. Melodies and hooks and a singer with the voice of an angel. Excellent guitar work that will take your ears to new levels of sonic bliss...sometimes reminiscent of My Bloody Valentine and The Primitives, but original enough to hold their own.


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Friday, December 29, 2006

The Jimmy Castor Bunch:It's Just Begun

This 1972 outing set the tone for the Jimmy Castor Bunch's 1970s success through an effective and distinctive mix of funk, pop hooks, social commentary, and gonzo comedy. It's Just Begun also helped the group score a million-selling crossover hit single with "Troglodyte." The album also included a b-boy favorite in its title track, a salsa-inflected funk excursion whose breakbeats continued to be spun by DJs well into the 1980s. It's Just Begun is an important and influential release from a sadly underrated group and well worth a listen for anyone interested in the roots of 1970s funk. Review from allmusic.com


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Rossington Collins Band:Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere

When Lynyrd Skynyrd's plane crashed in 1977, killing several band members including singer Ronnie Van Zandt, it looked as though the group was finished. But before a "new" Skynyrd would once again burn up the highway, there were several offshoot bands. The most successful was this group, including Gary Rossington, Allen Collins, Leon Wilkeson, Billy Powell and others, with Dale Krantz (who would later marry Rossington) on lead vocals. On this debut disc, the band sounds great. The hottest track here is the first one, "Prime Time," although every track is quite good. "One Good Man" and "Three Times as Bad" are also standouts. Review from Allmusic.com

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Sunday, December 24, 2006



A great little album by The Godfather -- one that takes the core James Brown sound of the "Sex Machine" generation, and serves it up with a tighter mid 70s twist! Fred Wesley is still very firmly at the helm of the band -- and there's a power here that's equal to the later JBs work on the Breakin Bread album. The grooves are nicely free of the "fast funk" syndrome that crept into James' work a few years later as his answer to disco -- and are super tight all the way through! The LP includes a 12 minute remake of "Sex Machine" that's worth the price alone. Review taken from Dustygroove.com

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Nick Lowe:Pure Pop For Now People

This is by far one of my favorite pop/rock records. This is Nick Lowe's first solo release and is one well written album. The songs could all be considered singles....yes that good. This is all about catchy melodies and witty lyrics, done with a radio-friendly 60's sound. All the rock personas on the LP cover are so well represented you will want more....more I tell you!!. I can't praise the album enough....just listen and you will understand, not one song is a dud.


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Simon Dupree and the Big Sound:Without Reservations

A great piece of Brit pop with soul, ska, and psych thrown in the mix. "Without Reservations" was released on Capitol Records in 67. Not a full blown psych sound like their single "Kites", which came after this album. Lots of cool organ use and most of the songs have a upbeat swagger to them. A must have for 60's music fans.


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Saturday, December 23, 2006

The Action:Rolled Gold

The Action were a George Martin-produced soul-pop band in mid-'60s England, musical brothers of the early Who, The Small Faces, and the Zombies. Despite their powerful connections, solid songwriting and excellent singer, they never charted a hit or cut an album. What remains of their legacy is a CD's worth of single A- and B-sides and outtake recordings like the demos that make up Rolled Gold. This review was taken from popmatters.com


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Friday, December 15, 2006

Porter Joseph Batzdorfer




He is here, he is amazing, life is good.


Thursday, December 14, 2006

Urbs:Toujours Le Meme Film...


The sound of a 60s noir film, cinematic beats and some lovely vocals with production by Kruder(yes that one). This will have you nodding your head and wondering where you can find a little more of this sound. I would suggest looking into the K&D sessions from Kruder and Dorfmeister.....it's all so amazing.



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Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Small Sins

I am sitting at the hospital with my wife, awaiting the arrival of our son, Porter. Quite honestly the most exciting time of our lives. We have a while before anything really starts happening, so here it goes. I have my mother in-laws laptop and a few of my favorite chill-out cds. This one in particular my wife really likes. Minimal baroque synth pop. Catchy little songs that make you sit back, relax, and enjoy the current time of your life. Pardon my sappy writings....I'm gonna be a dad for gods sake.


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Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Lime:Your Love

Considered by many to be one of the best Hi-NRG artists ever. Lime released the single "Your Love" back in 81 and proceeded to take over European dance floors and radio stations around the world. The United States never caught on(how surprising). "Your Love" is a disco giant, the instrumental cut "Agent 406" is worth the price of admission alone.


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C.J. & CO:Devil's gun

Recorded in Dearborn Michigan in 1977 on Westbound Records. The album was produced by Dennis Coffey and Mike Theodore. "Devil's Gun" was the first single and brought the group immediate success. The second single from the group was "We Got Our own thing". They released a second album in 1978, not nearly as successful, causing the group to go their own ways in 1979. This is vocal disco funk done right.


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Sunday, December 10, 2006

Quarteto 1111:Singles and EPs

A fifteen track CD compilation of melodic pop/psychedelia from Quarteto 1111, a Portugal band that had the infamous Jose Cid as a member. Heavily influenced by the Beatles, but not as well known as they should be because of run-ins with the police. Only two songs are in English, but this will not detract from the enjoyment of the album. A testament to the influence of psychedelic music in other countries.


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Mighty Chevelles:Black Gold

Heavy duty funk from Atlanta! The Mighty Chevelles were a great little 70s combo -- very tight ensemble funk, with a sound that's clearly inspired by the work of Kool & The Gang, but which also has a deeper southern groove, and more emphasis on percussion. The album's a rare gem -- only ever issued in a small batch of copies. Review taken from DustyGroove.com


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Booty People

You need this dirty funk gem in your collection. If you dig P-funk or other late 70's funk music, you will not be dissappointed. This is on ABC Records from 1977, out of print and never released on cd. I purchased this sealed, so the sound quality is excellent. Not to mention that the album art is fantastic. Some of the pauses before tracks are a bit long, sorry, but I was having a hard time judging the spacing on this one. Hope you like it


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Marc Moulin:Placebo Years 1971-1974

Marc Moulin started off playing piano in the 60's all over Europe and then started a band called Placebo. Influenced by Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock, he pushed the boundries of acid jazz in the 70's, and is still quite a force today. Warning, if you download this cd, you will be forced to hunt down all his other work. Lot's of breaks and beats, funky basslines, synths, horn arrangements and fender rhodes for days. So damn good.


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Saturday, December 9, 2006

Joe Pass:Sounds of Synanon

A significant recording, as this is Joe Pass' debut on vinyl. It was recorded while Pass was still a patient at the Synanon Drug Center in California. Made with fellow patients, Pass proved to be a star. It is interesting to note that Pass played an electric solid body Rock guitar, as he did not even own a guitar at this time. His legendary chops are especially evident on "Projections" and "Hang Tough," featuring some of his cleanest playing ever recorded. His accompanists prove to be adequate, but hardly approach the genius of Pass. A landmark recording in the history of Jazz Guitar. Review taken from Allmusic.com

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The John Lewis Piano

This is a Japanese cd import of The John Lewis Piano on Atlantic Records. Mainly solo piano from one of the most influential members of the Modern Jazz Quartet. Sparse drumming and bass can be found on 2 of the seven tracks. Very moving at times and proof that John Lewis was a hell of piano player, with or without backup. Good for Sunday morning lounging.


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Thursday, December 7, 2006

Giorgio Moredor:From Here To Eternity

A eurodisco masterpiece released in 1977 on Casablanca Records, "From Here To Eternity" by Giorgio Moredor is done with nothing but electronic keyboards. So far ahead of most anything else available at that time, this is an amazing contiuous mix with crazy sound effects and heavy vocoder babble(used tastefully i might add). This album should be on all electronic music fans must-have lists. Dance your ass off.


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Syndicate of Sound:Little Girl

Another essential band from 1966, The Syndicate of Sound had a top 10 hit with the song "Little Girl". This song alone gave them a huge national following that summer, which led to endless touring and on-air promotions. Written off as one hit wonders by critics the band had a 2 year run before the Vietnam draft and the changing sound of the times did them in. This album has plenty of catchy songs to offer besides the hit single "Little Girl". The lead track, "Big Boss Man " and the Hollies cover "I'm alive" are really done well.


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Tuesday, December 5, 2006

The 13th Floor Elevators

Okay, this isn't a vinyl version of the 13th Floor Elevators 1966 release on International Artists, but a limited CD release on Sunspots....circa 2000.....only 1,500 available. I thought I would break my vinyl only rules because of the importance of this album. The 13th Floor Elevators may be the inventors of psychedelic rock as we know it. This predates all the commotion the genre stirred up in the later 60's. Trippy would be the best word to describe this S/T release and I'm sure recreational drugs were in heavy use during the making of this record. A very strong effort worth listening to.....under the influence is your choice or not.

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Monday, December 4, 2006

Introducing....The Four King Cousins

Very groovy work from the Four King Cousins -- a sweet quartet of lovely voices peeled off of the larger King Family ensemble, singing here in a spare and syncopated groove with lots of late 60s Capitol touches! Maestro Lex De Azevedo produced, arranged, and conducted -- and the album's got a really unified sound that links together harmonies from Sunshine Pop and a bit of the loping styles that were showing up in mainstream easy at the time -- a sublime blend of vocals and lightly snapping rhythms that's totally outta site! All tracks are covers, but done in really wonderful versions. Review taken from Dustygroove.com

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Soulful Strings:String Fever

This out of print and a way above average "easy listening" album by master arranger, producer, and performer Richard Evans. Not super hard to find, but well worth the purchase. This is one of seven albums created by Evans in the 60's for the Cadet label(nuff said) and probably my favorite. Excellent drumming with some groovy bass riffs and a lot of strings make this album an instrumental gem. Repeat listening recommended.


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Saturday, December 2, 2006

Trip To The Mars

This is a rare concept LP from Roland Kovac. Rereleased on Saba Records in 2000. The futuristic cover is only the beginning of one crazy album. It has Sort of a James bond goes sci-fi feel to it, and features Derek Humble on saxophone. If you dig groovy sixties jazz, this is for you....hell, if you like jazz you'd be pretty happy with this find.


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The Lemon Pipers:Green Tambourine


This is one of my favorite bubblegum albums from the sixties. It has a psych feel to it as well. Crazy harmonies with trippy strings and some interesting drumming. Not to mention a 9:00 minute long brain workout at the very end of the album. This is on Buddah Records from 1968. You will hear some background noise in a couple of places.....but very tolerable. So sit back and enjoy the ride!


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Tina Harvey


This was another find from the past week. I can't find much information on the album, but it has some awesome covers and excellent arrangemnts. Rock, folk, mod....it fits all these categories and actually sounds better than some of the originals(in my opinion). This LP is on London Records and recorded in 1973. Take a listen.



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Bob Thiele and his new happy orchestra:Light My Fire

I just found this excellent album during the week while out digging. Great sounding jazz covers of Bob Dylan and of The Doors, plus some originals. Gabor Szabo adds a little sitar playing as well. This is on the Impulse label from 1967. The recording is really sweet, hope you like it.



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Unlimited Sounds Vol. 2

This is a mix of music that my friend and I put together from my vinyl collection. Most of them are pretty good quality, some sound a little shakey. I wanted to put this up to give you an idea of some of the music I listen to.....only a taste I assure you. Here are some of the artists you'll find on this mix: Eddie Floyd, Dwight Twilley Band, Roosavelt Grier, Bohannon, Davie Allen and the Arrows, the Kickstands, and whole heck of a lot more....22 tracks in all. Enjoy


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The Plan

As soon as I get everything up and running I plan on bringing you my favorite sounds from the big band era all the way up until now. All music will be posted here, from every genre possible and hopefully you'll love it as much as I do. Till later....Peace