Recently…
Hubert Laws – Land Of Passion LP (Columbia) 1979
^When it comes to all things Jazz fusion, I love the Laws boys, Hubert and his little brother Ronnie Laws. Each of them has their killer funk\soul\jazz masterpieces, and IMO this is one of them. This is one of those easy to find, always nicely priced, and seemingly always slept on for that reason. It’s got some of the best crossover disco jazz sounds around and the entire album front to back is a plethora of hidden and not so hidden Hip Hop samples.
K. Frimpong And His Cubano Fiestas – K. Frimpong And His Cubano Fiestas LP (Secret Stash) 2012 RE of 1976 OG
^Didn’t know about this guy till I found this reissue locally. File under Afro-Cubanos funk. Secret Stash is a nice little reissue company finding these obscure specialty pieces and drops them on a simple, reasonably priced single LP. In today’s world of over the top reissues with heavy duty packaging and heavy duty prices, it’s nice to see the little guys still making moves without this over-the-top packaging sales pitch. Two songs on this are super dope, the rest is pretty good. Well worth the 15 bones I spent.
Pharoah Sanders - Summun Bukmun Umyun - Deaf Dumb Blind LP (Impulse!) 1970
^I can’t believe I only have 4 of this guy’s albums. He really is a master of the tenor sax. His free jazz style can get away from me sometimes but this one is more avant-garde. This one isn’t one of his “Sun Ra on roids” style pieces, it’s all over the place but it’s more mellow and funky. The album is mostly African tribal rhythms with deep jazz excursions throughout. A multiple listen friendly album.
Coolin’ System - Refrigerate After Opening LP (GED Soul) 2014
^This 7 piece Soul-Jazz combo has grown exponentially from their first album and 45s I’ve heard from them. I got this as a trade record from JB, and since I cracked the seal a month ago I’ve probably already played this 5 times. This one is SO solid and modern sounding for what they do, a 5/5 in my book.
Sly & Robbie – Blackwood Dub LP (Groove Attack Productions) 2012
^The godfathers of dub dropped a barnburner of a dub album a few years back. Really, there isn’t anything from this duo I don't love but this one in particular is really some of their best, most updated sounding dub albums. They just have an uncanny ear for making the echo chamber reverb and without completely reinventing their formula they updated it with some modern electronic sounds. It’s subtly different, but definitely different from their classic recipes.
Various - Freedom Sounds LP (Studio One) RE of 1970 OG
^2 words, well, one and a half... C.Dodd. His hand was on these songs therefore I needed this. A nice and cheap and great find from ebreggae.com.
Various – Trojan Records - Rude Boy Rumble (Trojan Records) 2015 RSD
^The one 2015 RSD I had to get, and like all RSDs the quality is outstanding. A nice comp of classic records you could get elsewhere on Trojan originals but are not likely to sound nearly this good.
Rico – Man From Wareika LP (Simply Vinyl) RE and
Rico - Wareika Dub LP (Island Records) 2014 RE of 1977 OG
^Classic reggae album and finally, the dub counterpart. I got this at ebreggae.com courtesy of a good tip from Lions Mouth. I’m a huge fan of de dub mon, and this one is right up there in terms of heavy riddims.
Devo – Something for Everybody LP (Warner Brothers) 2010
^Devo’s most recent standard album is a thing of beauty. I could rant and rave about how fantastic this band is and how relevant their mark is, but I feel like I’ve already reiterated that a few times so a few of you already know I’m a completionist. So I’ll spare you the long winded breakdown and bring you the basics on each Devo album I recently picked up.
Devo Hardcore Live! LP (Not On Label) 2015
^One noteworthy thing about this record is it’s their most recent live tour where they returned to their basic roots, their pre-album days of heavy punk and synth. This is a fantastic and interesting live set.
Devo- Mabuhay Gardens LP (EastWest) 2014 LE
^Semi shady looking Live album from EastWest records out of China. For how shady it looks it sounds great and it’s a really cool old live set.
Devo – Miracle Witness Hour LP (Futurismo) 2014
^I’m a little pissed off about this. I paid 60 bucks for it and that’s a lot, and it’s got issues on the end of both sides. Something got in the color mix, some kind of foreign shit, or it didn’t mix right where the colors blend and it skips and makes loud popping noises on the best part of each side. I’m going to see if I can trade it in for a plain black version from the company but I didn’t buy directly from them so I’m probably SOL. Still, this is their first known live concert in their own hometown so it is so raw and so cool, so I had to have it.
Various - IRS Greatest Hits Vols. 2&3 LP (IRS Records) 1981
^Being a punk comp collector, I saw this catch all comp from IRS and figured it was worth the price and a good introduction to a wide assortment of their roster. It’s ok, nothing spectacular, but at least the good songs made it worth the 6 bucks I spent.
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“Lesser artists borrow... great artists steal.” - Igor Stravinsky
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