^It's no big surprise that I love cheesy space themed music, but this takes cheese to a whole nutha level. Kind of disappointing it's so cheezy that it's really only enjoyable for about 30 seconds and then you get the, "OK, enough already!" feeling. Purchased for the cover and the theme and that's what happens when you do that on a whim.
^This guy never gets the props he deserves. An amazing electronic producer, and IMO one of the most slept on glitch hop producers who ever fell under that tiny umbrella. This whole album is thick with that micro produced style and really this is a top notch record in the Ninja Tune roster.
^I love this lady. I love that she's produced by Jack Splash of Plantlife but on her own she's a mighty force. Not a big R&B guy, but THIS is the kind of R&B I can get into. Her voice doesn't overpower the instrumentation, it falls perfectly into place.
Various – Boddie Acetate Box 3X7" (Numero Group) 2010
^Probably the worst thing I own on Numero. I love that they find unknown gems from yesteryear and give them the proper release but this one they apparently were not able to identify and released it anyway, legally of course, as they always do. They went through their proper avenues of trying to ID it, failed, got permission from the rightful owners anyway, and dropped it in the packaging of a real to real tape pressed on 3 thick 7" records. It's not the packaging that makes this average at best, it's the music. Mostly doo-wop\soul music which normally I can get into. But on this a few times the singers are even off key. Maybe Numero shoulda just left that song buried. The other songs are "ehh." I'm sure the 2LP comp of Boddie records is much better then this but I don't have it so I really couldn't say. Obviously I can't blame Boddie for this release.
James Brown - Slaughters Big Rip Off LP (Polydor) 1973
^One of the best (song for song) blaxploitation soundtracks I own and it's clearly OG because it's pretty beat up. But it's lovingly beat up and that's ok with me. JB was really the man on this, every single song is the joint. He even does a straight up Blues song and you rarely get to hear JB sing the blues.
Dennis Coffey And The Detroit Guitar Band – Evolution LP (Sussex) 1971
^HELLO!! Scorpio!! Just look how happy Dennis is to have this album dropped. Absolutely essential breaks on this but besides that it's a damn great funk album. Dennis is one of the unheralded kings of funk guitar IMO.
^Speaking of funky, here's a no-brainer reissue I picked up for 8 bones years ago. It's one of those cheap and easy to find reissues that sounds great and belongs in every funk collection. Q: Got Breaks? A: Hells yes. Q: Dope? A: Yes. Q: Essential? A: Damn straight.
Brian Eno - Taking Tiger Mountain By Strategy LP (Island Records) 1974
^Huge Eno fan here saying that you can skip the first 5 songs they are wack as hell. Start at track 6 and you can let it play out for the rest of the album. This was Eno's second solo album and he was just starting to get great at finding his "voice". Backed by future full-timer Phil Colins and Soft Machine's Robert Wyatt so you know it has to have a few outstanding tracks. Not the one to start with for Eno newbs, start with "Another Green World".
Always August - Largeness With W(Holes) LP (SST Records) 1987
^Picked up this super cheap, super slept on, way ahead of their time, "hippy jam band". That's probably an unfair name since it was the 80s and their were not too many hippys making music any more but that's kinda what I think of when I hear that jam style they have. But again, you can scratch the imagery, they are really oustanding jazz musicians. Flowing from Rock to jazz to folk and back again all in one song. They have horns, saxes, violins, fiddles, you name it, and they play jazz style rock with the over elongated solos that remind me of hippy jam bands. Really this is super solid all the way through. I knew about them only from the record I had by them first, see below.
PS, thanks Dustygroove for telling me about the "has some marker" the understatement of the month. Whoever this "Warg" dude is he wrote his name 1000 times on this like some kind of paranoid hippy who thought his records might get stolen by his roommates. He musta taken the brown acid.
Always August - Black Pyramid LP (SST Records) 1986
^I got this 1986 album by them first. Funny thing is they are on a punk label and seemingly out of place since they are jazz cats. Just as amazing as the album above, quality, thick jazz like improvisations throughout.
^Let's go full circle, back to the space music again. This one isn't nearly as corny as the Proxyon 12", it's actually pretty sweet. It's very ambient though and much of it is classical standards. But it's got some vintage spacy analog Arp synth-lines (ambient tunes) on it that are undeniably sweet samples just waiting to be tapped. A really cool gatefold record that I'll definitely make use of.
I remember when this show was on PBS when I was a nerdy kid who loved telescopes and space shuttles, man I'm am old nerd.
Gregory Porter - Be Good
Real talk....several years back, my boy asks me to roll with him to this tiny cafe somewhere out in Bed-Stuy for an open mic nite. Wasn't expecting much but, the last cat of the night was this big brother rockin an ill Kangol with the ear flaps down and a crazy full beard (this was waaaay before that beard thing was in style in the hood). Anyway, when this dude got up there and did his thing, he blew me away...he had a jazzy soul vibe and ridiculous talent....but it was his rendition of Oscar Brown Jr.'s, "Work Song" that hit me the hardest....dude almost moved me to tears (that song, in fact, the entire "Sin and Soul" album holds a special connect with me and pop dukes). Never remembered dudes name after the show but, never forgot that performance....the other day, I'm gettin my morning coffee @ Starbucks and Eye notice the freebie song of the week is DUDE!!!!! Apparently, he's done alright for himself since then....was genuinely glad to see that.
Scorpio!! Just look how happy Dennis is to have this album dropped. Absolutely essential breaks on this but besides that it's a damn great funk album. Dennis is one of the unheralded kings of funk guitar IMO.
