The Turn by Jerome Sabbagh was recorded live by James Farber at Sear Sound, New York City on June 6th 2013 to analogue tape and on this Bee Jazz release from HIGHRESAUDIO it really shows. This is a really fantastic recording in the true tradition of jazz music. There is spontaneity and freedom within the constraints of the song structure and the musicians are laid bare. More »
Born in Durban, South Africa in 1974 the violinist Daniel Hope moved to London as a child as his parents escaped the apartheid regime, and this is sort of the starting point for Escape To Paradise (released 18th August). More »
This album arrived a good while ago and I was really excited when it did as I was a bit of a fan of the Hippy Slags back in the festival days and as readers will know a huge fan of Hawkwind with who Bridget Wishart performed on Space Bandits, Palace Springs, California Brainstorm and Take Me To Your Future.
Look at the line up on Make Believe It Real and it reads like a who’s who in space rock: Daevid Allen of Gong (wishing you a speedy recovery!!!), Harvey Bainbridge, Richard Chadwick, Alan Davey, Simon House, Keith The Bass, Nick May, Twink…the list goes on and on and on. More »
Ok, so the sleeve note’s are telling me that Matchbox were one of the most successful singles bands of the late 1970s and early 1980s, but I must confess that their popularity hit its peak just as my interest in the charts was waning and as a result they’re a new one on me. But that’s not to say I didn’t recognise a few of the tunes on here, most of all Rockabilly Rebel…which had me singing along and knowing all the words (I have no idea where that came from!). More »
Bob James is regarded as one of the founding fathers of the smooth Jazz sound and has been heavily sampled in more recent years ( NWA, Run DMC, Soul II Soul, Missy Elliot and many more). He began his professional music career at age 8 playing piano for a tap dance class but also plays trumpet, timpani and percussion.
His association with smooth jazz began in 1972 whilst working with Stanley Turpentine and Milt Jackson on the album Cherry and is closely associated with Grover Washington Jr and arranged several of Washington’s albums. If you’ve not heard of James then you may well have heard his music as his tune Angela, from his breakthrough album Touchdown, was used as the theme (he also supplied incidental music) to the US sitcom Taxi which starred Danny Devito More »
él (via Cherry Red) are an interesting label that are putting out some pretty out there and unusual recordings.
One flick through the titles of the tracks on Les Baxter’s Original Quiet Village album will give you a good indication that this is exotica as colourful as it comes; Shanghai Rickshaw, Deep Night and Gardens of the Moon are just random selection. More »
Gasoline, on the excellent Comeme is the labels very first compilation and by crikey it’s a good one…very much my kind of music. For those that don’t know Comeme it’s a label that has been making all the right noises for me for a year or so now with its pared down, acidic-tribal-techno grooves. More »
Regular readers will be well aware of my love of the Kompakt label and it’s pretty rare that I don’t absolutely love everything that gets released on rhe Berlin imprint. Here we have number 14 in the popular compilation series Total. More »
The Brazilian Scene is a collection of tunes from Antonio Carlos Jobim with Herbie Mann (“One Note Samba”), Baden Powell with Herbie Mann (“Consolacao”), Zé Maria with George Ben, Gilberto Gil, Luiz Bonfa (“Murmurio”), Radamés Gnattali and Heitor Villa-Lobos all with a laid-back Brazilian theme which is just perfect for the long awaited summer.
Brazilian Scene opens with the wonderfully infectious “One Note Samba” by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Herbie Mann and is closely followed by “Consolacao”… I’m a bit of a fan of the virtuoso guitar style of Baden Powell anyway and this is as good a starting place as any to become acquainted with his style…though I’d have liked to have had more than just the one tune. More »
Christopher Loque was a poet, edited columns True Stories and Pseuds’ Corner for Private Eye and even wrote a pornographic novel too. He protested with Bertrand Russell against nuclear weapons and is an all-round “true original”.
“Loque Rhythms” (1963) is his poetry set to music arranged by Tony Kinsey, Stanley Myers and sung by British female vocalist Annie Ross. The album was recorded at Peter Cook’s Soho jazz club The Establishment and here comes with the EP Red Bird (1959) on which Loque himself reads his poetry over music by the Kinsey Quintet. Topping off this CD (out now on El in association with Cherry Red) are seven tunes sung by Annie Ross herself and so you get no less than 27 cuts for your money …with this being the first time many have been available on CD. More »
“Fresh as the moment when the pod went pop”. Patsy Kensit first entered the UK’s collective consciousness at the age of 4 when she fronted the well loved and iconic Birds Eye peas television advert…I still remember it and I’m sure many others do too!
Eight Wonder were formed by Kensit’s brother Jamie who put her at the front of the band and by all accounts they caused quite a stir with London’s A&R departments before finally signing a deal with CBS. All this was in the heady days of 1985! The band had success in Italy and Japan but in the UK the record buying audience were slower to respond. There was an album – “Fearless” which was released in ’88 but then the band split in ’89! More »
Born in 1955 in Boston but growing up in Hamburg, Richard Schumacher first began to make a name for himself as a session player in the 70s with the likes of Udo Lindenberg and Carsten Bohn’s Bandstand. In the 80’s he studied jazz composition and arrangement at the Berkley School of Music whilst in the 90’s he formed (in Berlin) Vibe Tribe and released the albums “Cool Shoes” and “Foreign Affairs And Views”. More »
Stuart Listening to More Classical Music Shocker… and again quite enjoys it!
Now I don’t know if it’s my impending birthday (I’ll be 47 nurse tells me) or what, but the last two classical music albums I’ve listened to I’ve really enjoyed a great deal indeed.
Alexander Chapman Campbell is a solo pianist who decided that a university life wasn’t for him and so he moved to the North coast of Scotland where he worked as a chef and the rest of the time composed music at his piano. More »
“A crack squad of the finest British early music singers” Early Music Today said about Ensemble Plus Ultra, but as regular readers of my reviews will know I’m no fan of classical music, but only a few weeks ago I was mentioning to Linette that I really quite liked the odd bit of choral music…and then this dropped into my virtual postbox via HIGHRESAUDIO and on the Archiv Produktion label.
Historian, Richard Kagan says that “El Greco and Toledo are one” as this Spanish city was Cretan born Domenikos Theotokopoulos’ home for almost 40 years and it is sacred music intrinsically bound to this city that From Spain to Eternity pays tribute.
All the music is choral and the work of just three composers: Alonso Lobo (1555 – 1617), Cristobel De Morales (1500 -1553) and Francisco Guerrero (1528 – 1599) and it really is quite beautiful.
Ensemble Plus Ultra were formed in 2001 and aim to “promote historically-aware performances of liturgical marvels from the Renaissance” and they do sound glorious on this recording.
I confess to knowing nothing about the music herein but doubt that those more in the know will be in any way disappointed by what they find on “From Spain to Eternity.
The record has certainly whetted my appetite to explore this particular musical niche a little further.
Well, this re-release on Esoteric Recordings is certainly one for the progressive heads. The year is 1969 and Egg emerged from an earlier quartet with Steve Hillage going by the name of Uriel, but Egg founding members were Dave Stewart (No not the one of Eurythmics fame) on the organ, Mont Campbell on bass and vocals, plus Clive Brooks on the drums.
Egg finally got the record deal they were after in June 1969 when they signed to Decca , releasing the single “Seven is a Jolly Good Time” (it was in 7:4 time) which got favourable press but failed to make an impression on the hit parade. More »
I’ve had this record on vinyl for years but apart from the odd outing for Child in Time I’d not really given it the respect that others clearly think it deserves. Truth be known apart from Hawkwind my classic rock collection was pretty much confined to the shelves of the music room…this was until about a year ago when I had been chatting to Tony from NuNu Distribution who was saying how much he loved the album. I duly dug the record out, dusted it off (gave it a bath actually) and since then it’s had regular airings. Made In Japan often gets cited as being one of the very best live albums ever created and I can now appreciate why! More »
Now, I have been known to enjoy a bit of 10 000 Maniacs in the past but I never really got into them in any kind of big way and they were never top of my list when it came to choosing what got played next, so when Natalie Merchant’s eponymous album landed on my virtual doorstep, courtesy of HIGHRESAUDIO and on the Nonesuch Records label, I never put two and two together and connected her with the aforementioned Maniacs. I also must admit that I’ve not heard any of Natalie Merchant’s solo stuff since she quit the band in ’93…this may have been somewhat remiss of me I think! More »
Out yesterday in the UK and today in US, this album on Kompakt is one I’ve been looking forward to taking a listen to for a while now. Icelandic band Gus Gus and their Arabian Horse record were what initially highlighted the Kompakt label to me after a long time in the electronic music wilderness. More »
Induologue are Alexandra Lerta (vocals) and Vasilis Stefanopoulos (double bass) and is described as a dialogue between the voice and souble bass…simple enough then.
Blue Skies was recorded in a chapel in the woods of a Dutch National Reserve over a couple of days and this adds a really beautiful atmosphere to the record. The double bass’ tone is allowed to shine through and Vasalis’ playing is solid and forthright and yet sympathetic to Alexandra’s vocal, which in turn is understated yet strong. More »
Out now on the Comeme label The Silver Album from this self exiled Russian now living in Berlin is a difficult one to tie down and I must admit that on the first few listens I found it difficult to get my head around.
The Silver Album could never be accused of being easy listening and it does need to you engage your brain ans well as your feet. It’s forward thinking and somewhat avant-garde with its jarring acid basslines and Russian lyrics. I want to give it the label “Acid House” because it does have a feel of the early Acid Trax tunes, but there are perhaps elements of the early Antler Subway label in there too. More »
This is the first full length album for Elekfants Daniel and Leo who first met over 20 years ago when they played together in a blues band. Daniel is well known in his native Brazil and is something of a local hero where he is considered one of the country’s finest Djs. Leo on the other hand is a professional drummer, singer and composer and has played with some of Brazil’s best known artists.
Dark Tales and Love songs is accessible and in parts poppy but always in the same house/tech tradition – it’s also beautifully engineered by D.O.Cs (the label) boss Gui Boratto. To me, musically it’s a little reminiscent of HotChip at their best and that’s a good thing I think! More »
Kompakt is fast becoming one of my favourite “go to” labels when it comes to techno but this release from Rebolledo is a bit different in that it’s actually a DJ mix…yes, remember them??
This is the first major outing for Rebolledo since his first full length debut Super Vato way back in 2011 and it contains exclusive edits and sought after remixes alongside original material from the likes of Barnt, Red Axes, Justus Kohnke and more. More »
“A perfect blend of a legend, a freak, a beast and a wookie.” – Troy Sanders.
A strange thing happened today: unusually I was stumped at an appropriate way to start this particular review and was mutely & vacantly staring at a blank document, but the Mastodon frontman and Killer Be Killed protagonist has provided a fitting rubric for me… thanks Troy. On paper at least, the prospect of this debut album from KBK is surely one of the most tantalizing of any metal supergroup ever and has metal fans worldwide practically slavering over its imminent release… with very good reason. Allow me to introduce the participants: More »
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