Fahey’s first recordings, from 1959, plus re-recordings of the same material from 1964, and 1967.

Heartfelt hymns and songs of praise, deconstructed and rebuilt. Sometimes reverent, sometimes raging, sometimes playful, always spellbinding. ‘Christ Is Not Cute’ runs the Fahey quote on the sleeve. A beauty.

From 1979 — mainly solo, reworking old themes and melodies, and updating his cover versions to include more contemporary guitarists, even proteges like Leo Kottke.

Illmatic cultists mithered about this 1996 follow-up, but it’s aged magnificently (and they were wrong).
‘Amidst production from heavy hitters like Dr. Dre, Havoc of Mobb Deep and DJ Premier, Nas weaves evocative narratives of gang warfare, downtrodden neighborhoods, drug deals gone awry, and gangsta triumph, against a backdrop of samples from Sam Cooke, Etta James, the Isley Brothers, and even Chuck Mangione. With guest turns from Lauryn Hill, AZ, Foxy Brown, and Mobb Deep; classics like Street Dreams and If I Ruled The World.’

Nas lost his way a bit in the nineties.
Out in 2001 Stillmatic was a triumphant attempt to regain the ground charted by his debut LP Illmatic, seven years earlier. Radio friendliness went out the window: the sound of the underground was back, with songs about politics and ghetto life.
Producers like Large Professor, DJ Premier, L.E.S., and Trackmasters stepped up; AZ, Mary J. Blige and Amerie put in strong shifts.
Premier re-organizes Peabo Bryson and Roberta Flack to deadly effect on 2nd Childhood. Both Large Profs are killers. Ether disses Jay-Z in fine style.

Her debut album, thirteen ‘chansons décadentes et fantasmagoriques’, originally released in 1966.

Her 1967 album of duets with Jacques Higelin, retaining arranger Jimmy Walter from her debut, the previous year. Two songs here — La Grippe and Maman — became centrepieces of the duo’s stage musical, Maman J’ai Peur.

From 1973, the first of her recordings as a duo with Areski. ‘Deeply rooted in North African and European folk traditions… evocative vignettes with breezy vocals and minimal accompaniment of classical guitar, strings and woodwinds… One of their best-loved albums, for its remarkable sense of intimacy… beckoning listeners into a strange and beautiful world.’

With Sonny Murray in 1996.

Late 1966 recordings for Blue Note and BYG.
With Jimmy Lyons, Alan Silva, and Andrew Cyrille throughout; plus Bill Dixon and Henry Grimes on the opener (from the Conquistador sessions).

A killer Unit: with Jimmy Lyons, Ramsey Ameen, Alan Silva, Jerome Cooper, & Sunny Murray.
Documenting the third of their performances during a residency in New York City, this release follows on from the classic HatHut album It Is In The Brewing Luminous, and the recent Ezzthetics CD Live At Fat Tuesday’s, February 9, 1980.
Wonderful music.