The Amad Jamal Trio - The Amad Jamal Trio LP (Epic) 1956
^His first album under that name and boy is this disappointing. I buy everything from the man, I’m a real fan, but this was clearly the “cool jazz” phase of music. Cool jazz; the very popular, super-corny jazz for suburban white old men. To help market this in 1956, the label decided you definitely don’t put a black man on the cover, instead put a cute white bombshell hottie. I have a lot of Amad Jamal’s albums and to my knowledge this is the only one that falls under that category of corny, happy uppidy jazz... Thankfully the rest of his albums are immense improvements.
Stan Getz / Joao Gilberto Featuring Antonio Carlos Jobim – Getz / Gilberto LP (Verve) 1964
^ 10 years after the horrible cool jazz movement came the equally popular movement of Brazilian\Latin influenced jazz albums like this and artists like good ol’ Herb Albert. But this one is a staple, it’s the Girl from Friggin Ipanema yo! Not only is that song classic, and that version in particular, but the whole album is really great too.
Sabu Martinez – Afro Temple LP ( Grammofonverket) RE of 1973 OG
^What a classy album. As per Discogs, file under ”Afro-Cuban Jazz”. Hands down my favorite album from this master of percussion, and really all of them are great. Mine isn’t original, it’s either a boot or a reissue but it sounds like gold so I’m fine with that. Actually I see the original is now selling at Discogs starting at $478.23, so I’m definitely fine with that.
Joe Bataan – Latin Funk Brother LP (Vampi Soul) 2002
^ A little Latin Funk on this super heavy 220 Gram Vampi Soul compilation. Side A is ok, second B is stellar. I’m definitely partial to the Shaft version he does for the last track.
Barrington Levy – Barrington Levy Collection LP" (Time 1 International) 1990
^ Fantastic collection of classic Barrington Levy tracks including the essential “Under Mi Sensi”. Like a lot of these Jamaican comps this one is old and tattered looking and sounding but despite that it still sounds just right with Levy croonin’. He’s gotta be one of my top 5 Reggae singers.
Various – Club Connection Two LP (Warner Music UK) 2005
^From Reggae to 80s club music, hey, why not?! Disco galore on this comp, including the amazing Pieces of a Dream – "Mt. Airy Groove". A hyper cut edit remix of Karyn White’s "The Way You Love Me", not to mention Chaka Khan, Kleeer and Slave all who grace this thick selection of club bangers.
For all the sample spotters unaware, here’s “that sample” from Mt Airy Groove. You’ll recognize it immediately...
Pieces of a Dream – Mt Airy Groove
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion – Extra Width LP (Matador) 1993
^Man, what was I doing in 1993? I was graduating from High School and I was definitely not cool enough to be listening to this album. Songs about “taking a whiff of my pant leg” were just not on my radar at the time. Eventually in college I got turned on to this band, and since then I’ve collected all their albums on CD, and slowly but surely I’m trying to get em all on wax. File under what their name implies; a blues explosion. Or maybe Punk blues. But as Jon always says as a play on words homage to Mississippi Fred McDowell “I do not play the blues, I play ROCK AND ROLLLLLLL!!!!”
The Fall – Live at the Witch Trials LP (IRS Records) 1979
^I am more familiar with some of their early punk years 7” singles but this is a bit more mellow post punk. They are really more know for their post punk style like this. I really like it a lot, it’s almost in the style of Gang of Four’s Entertainment.
^CLASSIC, CLASSIC, CLASSIC. Glam forefathers T-Rex’s best (arguable) album. Not sure how this German version of this record ended up in Wiscompton but here it was, nicely priced, and quickly snagged. This pressing is a bit flimsy but it sounds ok, and this album is so solid, every single track is a winner.
Cosmic Ballroom – Your Drug of Choice LP (Roasting House) 2005
^Found this rare Swedish punk-pop album on a German label in the most unlikely place, Metrowax. They specialize in Hip Hop and Urban music and their rock section is tiny. Wade, the owner said he had that sitting in stock for 7 years before I noticed it digging thru their online crates, and bought it based on a few youtube vids. Honestly, there is very little punk pop that I can get behind but this is definitely one of them, it’s really tight.
The Candy Snatchers – The Candy Snatchers LP (Safe House) 1996
^Everything about this album screams punk. The music, the band’s name, the album cover, and the back of the cover featuring a hardcore Candy Snatchers fan (we know this because he’s ‘that guy’ who wears the shirt of the band that he’s seeing) and he’s passed out drunk yet somehow manages not to spill his beer as his friend tries to revive him.
The music? Heavy, fast and hard. I always loved this band based on a few oddball sevens I’ve had from them over the years, but this album is a killer.
Bury the Living – Burn This Fucking Nightmare LP (Soul is Cheap) 2004
^One of the best “trade” records I’ve gotten in a long ass time, this one is from the man who knows his Southern Punk, JB! I know I’ve told you once before man, but this is absolutely my style of Hardcore. Mine is 41/100, the first pressing on hot pink. And like any good punk album you get all the angst, the personalized hand written message of wisdom on the sleeve “Sometimes You’re the Boot… Sometimes You’re the Bug.” And you get a booklet that resembles a church bulletin with label information, and yes, even photocopied lyrics. That’s the kind of homemade attention to detail you get with low-budget high grade hardcore. Thanks again JB, I love this shit. It gets me fired up!
Various - Ninja Tune XX Volumes 6, 5, 4 & 3 12” (Ninja Tune) 2010
^A few years ago Ninja Tune did this series of Limited Edition 12” Eps featuring random Ninja Tuners old and new. How do you describe this many ninja tune 12”s all at once? In a word, weird. Sometimes good weird, sometimes bad weird, but definitely weird.
I’m weird, I like weird shit, but sometimes I just gotta pick up the needle off these records cuz shit is way too fucking weird even for me. Then the next track is dope because it's all over the map. I love Ninja Tune, but that is pretty much their entire label in a nutshell. Good weird and bad weird all boxed up into one highly eclectic weird ass label.
I got all the volumes of this that you could buy because volumes one and two were not for sale individually. They came with the $100+ box set that I never got, so I settled on these instead of coughing up the big bucks to become an even bigger completionist. However, now I see you CAN buy them online individually so maybe I’ll bite the bullet and buy em just to complete the entire set. You can’t stop the chemical imbalance people, there’s no cure for this shit.
^Perfect Sunday morning mood music. First coffee. Then when the first pot of coffee is gone switch to beer. Then drop a needle on this and just daydream. This one is along the lines of his Ambient series only 20 years later and no more or less modern sounding than volume one. Why can't I ride an elevator that plays this?
^Once in a while I buy an album that I know will have ridiculously bad music in it and, clearly, this is one of those times. I used to love these dudes as a kid. So strictly for reminiscent purposes I bought this for the cover art. There are a couple potential scratchables (samples) on this, for example Jessie the Body Ventura says "What's the message in that song?!" and Mean Gene says "I don't think it has to have a message." so maybe on the next old school mix I'll mix that right after GMF&F5's "The Message" to maintain that 80s throwback vibe. Mean Gene is surpsingingly the only guy on this that can sing, his selection "Tutti-Frutti" is horrible, but he can sing, I'll give him that. And there's "I'm a Real American" song that might be a funny addition to a weight training mix but other than that it's cheezy bad music.
BUT! (And this is the important part) the cover is AWESOME! Zoom in to the links above and see how many names you can remember. I think many of them are probably dead (RIP Macho Man Randy Savage) but they were so unstoppable back in the 80s. So how many of these guys can you name?
