Wildly entertaining sixties outsider Americana from this one-man band out of south Georgia. With songs like I’m So Depressed, Cocaine, Vietnam and The Reason Young People Use Drugs.
With the inspirational Elevate Our Minds.
A Richard Evans production from 1979, between Chicago and LA, crowning Linda’s years masterminding Natalie Cole’s success.
Recorded in 1971, up the road from us at the Lansdowne Studios, this was the Sugarman’s last shot at the big-time.
Trying out new ideas (including Stravinsky) after leaving Impulse! in 1975, by turns deploying Wurlitzer, Rhodes and harp, and Charlie Haden and Ben Riley, percussionists, and an orchestra.
With the funky, bad-ass Smoking Cheeba-Cheeba. A bit of a skeleton in the closet, surely — the debauched transition from Wes Montgomery-styled 60s soul jazz, to the urbane sophistication of his super-stardom.
Their last record, from 1975 — ‘a psychedelic afrojazz stunner… celebratory, carnivalesque and wholly in the groove. Features the burning classic Black Man And Woman Of The Nile.’
Her legendary, heart-wrenching recording for Capitol in 1969; now remastered all-analogue-style from the masters; with a decent booklet.
Previously unissued underground rock from 1969, Rockford, Illinois.
With Eno more the guiding hand for this second collaboration with Cluster. Open, airy, ambient, unhurried. Originally released in 1978, but still fresh (except for Eno’s singing).
Half-speed mastering.
‘Eleven pieces recorded over the past year, moving between the small town of Alfred in upstate New York, and Beirut; stepping out, as if onto ice, into a new life on a new continent during a time of tragedy, turmoil, and upheaval.
‘Unfamiliar instruments, new materials and new sounds delicately build on Yara’s intimate style, with its backbone of homemade mechanical music boxes and personal archive of family recordings. She explores the peculiar resonance of the metallophone, and delves into her collection of deconstructed toy pianos, guiding her music into ever more surreal territories… dreamlike, fragile, fragmentary, and strangely timeless.’
A terrific example of gospel in the form of soul music, so prevalent in the mid-seventies.
A family group, the Browns were from Aberdeen, Mississippi. Annie was 11, A.R.C was 12, and Edward was 13 when they got their start, building a reputation by playing school talent shows and front yards.
“We were so strange and we were so young,” says Edward, “and a lot of people didn’t understand that.”
Addo-Nettey was a conga player and singer for Fela’s Africa 70 when he cut this heavy afro-funk album in 1973, with the Martin Brothers Band from Portharcort, for the Tabansi label.