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Diplo put this album in his Record Check a while back, and folks' desire to hear it was only increased when another of Bonnie Dobson's records (her 1969 debut) was reissued a few years back. Now you can hear what the dino-man...
expand review was going crazy for – this is some top-notch late-60s / early-70s folk-rock right heeyuh. After the surprise success of her self-titled debut, the Canadian-born Bonnie went down to Nashville to record this follow-up, and the whole album is imbued with the same beautiful vibe that's generally associated with albums recorded in said city. You've probably heard "Streets of London(1)" a million times by now, but when this record came out it was relatively fresh and Bonnie's tender take still reigns supreme in the minds of most folksters. In fact, while Bonnie wrote a handful of tracks on Good Morning Rain, without doubt the finest cuts are her interpretations of those penned by others. The stark, breathtaking "A Taste of Honey(2)," for example, or the hypnotic "Milk & Honey(3)." That's not to say her originals aren't fine, though – the title cut(4) and the funky(!) "Sweet Man(5)" still stand out here. If there's a complaint to be made here, it's that Bonnie's melodies can get a bit repetitive, but the album runs under 40 minutes and there's not a whole lot else to find fault with. 11 tracks total. Recommended. -Chris Lemon-Red
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A lost Brazilian glam/psych curiosity from '73, the one and only album from this side project of Os Mutantes' Rita Lee and friend Lucia Turnbull. Originally recorded for Philips (and never officially released), these tunes were recently unearthed by some expat Brazilians...
expand review in Europa, professionally remastered and issued in a strictly limited edition (500 hand-numbered copies each for CD and vinyl). Early tracks like "Festival Divino(1)" have a sweet acid/folk boogie feel, buoyed (or maybe lifted) by Rita e Lucia's breathy dual vocals. Meanwhile the latter part of the record lets loose a bit with Cilibrinas' rock tendencies - check the rollicking garage glam sound on "Nessas Alturas Dos Acontecimentos(2)," zippy girl group vibes with "Minha Fama De Mau(3)," and "Gente Fina E Outra Colsa(4)." And for Mutantes fans, there's a nice treat in the form of two unreleased bonus outtakes, "Hoje E O Primero Dia Do Resto...(5)" and "Mande Um Abraco Para A Velha(6)." 12 tracks, 48 minutes. -Chris Lemon-Red
Money Studies kicks off its new "Lost Masters" reissue series by resurrecting this impossible to find mix from Diplo and fellow Philly record hoarder Tony Tripledouble. Originally self-released on CDR in an edition of less than 500 (plus a few handmade cassettes),...
expand review AEIOU 2 is over an hour of the finest and rarest breaks drawn from Diplo & Tripledouble's extensive collections of psych, funk and obscure soundtracks. Some of the breaks in this mix have gone on to achieve classic status - still no tracklist to help you out, but now it comes in a full-color digipak designed by PH. And if you ever wanted to hear Diplo skratching, right here's the spot. Recommended. -Chris Lemon-Red
Perks and Mini mix number four, mixed by Dj Pino P. & DJ P.Ivanoff (aliases for sure). This mix is a departure from the Bone Us Beats formula and features "tastes from around the world," including slabs from Turkey, Switzerland, Germany,...
expand review and afar. As is the norm with these P.A.M. mixes, expect that extra-effort that makes their mixes fun. There's lots of strange moments and dialogue in between these delicious, exotic treats. For fans of Andy Votel mixes. One hour and twenty minutes. -the mgmnt
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Bogman procured this CD for us from his network of East Village record store workers. Soul Punk works at the most righteous Academy Records (excellent place to buy used vinyl), and has dropped this unmixed, compilation of 16 rare, and in-demand...
expand review rock tracks, all with big, bad breaks. This is total record nerd area, with tracks from Atomic Rooster, Titanic, Stray, James Gang, Thin Lizzy, Dust, Power of Zeus, Humble Pie, and others. Excellent sound quality. Recommended for rock break lovers, producers, and archivists. -the mgmnt
Back after a short absence -- diggin's hard work! -- DJ Soul Punk returns to his roots with a follow-up to his first unmixed breaks comp. Just like Volume 1, this disc contains 16 rare hard rock tracks filled with nasty breaks,...
expand review some of which you'll recognize and some you'll just want to chop up and keep for yourself. Features songs from Nazareth, Deep Purple (not "Smoke On The Water"), Montrose, Sorcery, Pentagram, Zipper, Free, Hard Stuff, Dog Soldier, Humble Pie, Captain Beyond and more. 77 minutes total. -Larri Byrd
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Sometimes it feels like Finders Keepers and B-Music could keep reissuing records into eternity and never run out of gems to dazzle us with. For this installment in their Anatolian Invasion series, they've brought us the "space age, electronic, progressive-protest, psych-folk-funk-rock" of...
expand review Ersen. If you liked the Mustafa Ozkent and Selda collections, this is for you. Ersen just blew the minds of about half the office (the other half had headphones on), so I won't even attempt to describe the excellent sounds within, but will instead point you towards these fine selections - "Temek(1)," "Bir Aynlik Bir Yoksulluk Bir Olum(2)," "Metelik(3)," "Guzele Bak Guzele(4)," "Zalim(5)," "Gunese Don Cicegim(6)." Right? Hearing is believing. Extensive liners, rare pics and background info included in the booklet. 16 tracks; 59 minutes. Recommended. -Chris Lemon-Red
Finally, the highly anticipicated new mix from the Lab's dirty beat digger Gaslamp Killer! This is his third official mix and I'll have to say, it's a mind ringer. You should know his style by now - dark, swampy funk, with murderous...
expand review drums and sounds from beyond. Heavy beat brother Kutmah also jumps in on the action, for a straight hour of neck breaking evil breaks. If you're into that late 90's deep funk, eerie Mowax cuts, and spaced out instrumentals, look no further. Tracklist? Sorry, the Killer's M.O. is always a barrage attack, leaving no clues at the scene(I can only name the Flying Lotus and DJ Vadim's Motion Man "Terrorist" instrumental). Definitely something to enjoy while blasted on good headphones. Also, the sick artwork by Shepard Fairey makes GLK look as twisted as ever. Super recommended for the true beat fiend. -C'mish
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Gaslamp Killer on a rampage! This is his new box set from Obey, limited to 1000, featuring a split 7" with GLK and Free The Robots, backed with his new I Spit On Your Grave mix cd. The two LA beat excursionists...
expand review kill the 7" with GLK's mind bending "Show Stopper(1)" and the horror rock sounds of Free The Robot's "Clocks And Daggers(2)." The anticipated mix continues the evil breaks, with a lil' help from evil breaks partner Kutmah for an hour of murderous drums, deep funk, and dark instrumentals. There's no tracklist for this, but the Gaslamp Killer has never been one to leave clues at the scene of the crime. If you believe in the dark side of funk, you'll love this. Obey certainly didn't pull any stops on the design either. From the piercing portrait of GLK on the cover by Shepard Fairey to the eloquent gatefold art, this is bound to be sought by collectors everywhere. Highly recommended! -C'mish
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Wonderfully strange sounds once again from B-Music. This time it's Lubos Fiser's soundtrack for Valerie A Tyden Divu, aka Valerie & Her Week of Wonders, an obscure Czech "hallucinogenic-baroque-witch-flick" from 1973. Fiser's score utilizes choral sections and hypnotic baroque instrumentation ("The Magic...
expand review Yard(1)") and has been hailed by some as one of the finest film scores ever. (Check out Andy Votel, Greg Weeks of Espers, Trish Keenan of Broadcast and more expressing their approval in the liner notes.) Listen: "The Letter(2)," "Dinner(3)," "Sacrifice(4)," "Dense Smoke(5)," "Puppets(6)," "Confession(7)," "And The Last(8)."
Haunting stuff, easily one of the strongest entries in the impressive B-Music catalog. 23 tracks, 45 minutes. Recommended. -Chris Lemon-Red
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The definition of a lost classic. Lula Cortes (of Satwa fame) and multi-instrumentalist Ze Ramalho recorded and released the fantastic Paebiru in 1974; in 1975, all known remaining copies were destroyed in a warehouse fire, essentially making it a one-off private pressing....
expand review (OG copies have gone for over $1,500 in recent years.) This wouldn't be such a big deal if the music on said record wasn't so damn jaw-dropping and magical sounding. While recording the album, Lula and Ze traveled to the mystic Stone of Inga in Paraiba, Brazil, where they found inspiration amid the archaeological ruins and emerged with this concept album about the four elements. Each element is represented by a different group of instruments or sounds: heavy African drums and animal hooves for Earth ("Trilha De Sume(1)"), woodwinds, breaths, birdcalls and floating acoustic guitar for Air ("Harpa Dos Ares(2)"), blazing electric guitar for Fire ("Nas Paredes Da Pedra Encantada(3)") and loose, free-flowing jams in the closing Water section ("Regato Da Montanha(4)"). On the personal tip, I was lucky enough to get a vinyl rip of this off a hardcore collector nerdus friend some years back, and it hasn't left rotation since. Get open and give this one a spin. An awesome, awesome album. 14 tracks; 56 minutes. Recommended. -Chris Lemon-Red
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Wow. A really amazing reissue from Finders Keepers' B-Music sub-label right here. This is part of their new Anatolian Invasion series, highlighting forgotten Turkish masterpieces, and if I was ever gonna use the phrase "forgotten Turkish masterpiece," it's for Mustafa Ozkent's Genclik...
expand review Ile Elele. This is the type of psych breaks stuff that dudes like Andy Votel flip over (in fact, he wrote the liner notes) and I think once this CD reissue starts reaching more people, everyone else will be flipping over it too. The (incredibly detailed) liner notes can tell you in better detail, but basically, Ozkent was something of a musical mad scientist, creating instruments to match his vision and then fashioning an entire album chock full of breaks that straddle the line between traditional Turkish music and Western influence. I'm a total dummy when it comes to funk and breaks and shit, and I even I know this stuff is useful. Just check out hypnotic tracks like "Dolana(1)" and the organ-trilling "Lorke(2)," or the one-two power punch of "Emmioglu(3)" and "Carsamba(4)." Even stuff like "Uskudar(5)," which begins the album and sounds vaguely like some old cartoon chase music. B-Music is killing right now! 10 tracks; 30 minutes. Recommended! -Chris Lemon-Red
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I was gonna say that Joyce is like Brazil's Madonna, but the fact is that her status in the culture of Brazilian music is pretty much unrivaled here in the States. Her career now spans over 30 years and so many genres...
expand review of music that it would be silly to get into it here, but suffice it to say that this reissue is a real treat. Joyce made this album in 1972 with then-husband (and founding Clube de Esquina member) Nelson Angelo and it's basically Heaven for your ears. Actually, this album draws a lot of comparisons to the Clube de Esquina record from the same year, but there's something so much more ethereal and sweet about this one. Maybe it's the husband/wife thing, or maybe it's just Joyce's flawless vocals over Angelo's vaguely psychedelic acoustic backings. This isn't even the kind of thing that needs audio picks (since you should just listen to it front-to-back in a dark room with a huge spliff) but here they are: "Um Gosta de Fruta(1)," "Linda(2)," "Tiro Cruzado(3)," "Vivo Ou Morto(4)" and "Tudo Comeca de Novo(5)." Recommended. -Chris Lemon-Red
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If Mutantes' first album sounded like a bunch of Brazilian teenagers mashing up the Beatles and Marcos Valle while tripping on acid, their second LP sounds like the band falling completely over the edge. While the Baptistas didn't abandon their pop sensibilities...
expand review altogether with Mutantes, the structure and bubblegum feel of their debut feels largely stripped away. Instead, songs like the spacey and vocodered "Dia 36(1)" and the layered "Dois Mil e Um(2)" feel like mini-suites, compact rock operas where Mutantes could accomplish in 3 or 4 minutes what took other bands 10. Of course, there's still the light-hearted "Rita Lee" and fuzzed-out "Magica(3)," not to mention the short and sweet "Algo Mais(4)" which probably could have been a hit in the US… if it weren't in Portuguese. In my humble opinion, this record comes in a close second to the debut record, but at the same time I can't deny the stoned beauty of the pair of closing tracks, "Qualquer Bobagem(5)" and "Caminhante Noturno." Nevermind the fact that the Omplatten reissue of this CD has been fetching major bucks on eBay – if you haven't heard Mutantes' first three albums, you owe it to yourself! 11 tracks, 42+ minutes. -Chris Lemon-Red
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The debut album from this Brazilian psych-pop-tropicalia group, falling into the "if you own one Os Mutantes record, let it be this one" camp. They've achieved some sort of "legendary" status among record nerds, rockists and the like over the years, but...
expand review don't let that dissuade you from checking and enjoying this album, cause it is rather phenomenal. From the opening cut "Panis Et Circenses(1)," these guys are clearly on some other shit (proof that imagining the blotter could be better than actually experiencing it). Fuck, I love music that's both pop and experimental; stuff you can't help but like and you never have to feel guilty about. Especially when it sounds like Velvet Underground + HGSOB + some funny dudes I would love to hang out with. This is challenging! (but I'm really into for the hooks – and artsy chicks absolutely love this cd). They just have a wicked sound going on that turns joke songs like "A Minha Menina(2)" into the joint. As well as dipping into the warm waters of American + Brit psychedelia, Os Mutantes also get all French baroque on "Le Premier Bonheur Du Jour(3)," soft and buttery cheese on "Baby(4)," and other styles that will be revealed when you have this on and you're necking in the backseat of the car. I leave you with "Bat Macumba(5)," and a high recommendation to pick this up. -the mgmnt
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Ever since David Byrne put Os Mutantes' catalog back in print (for about two seconds), folks have been rediscovering the greatness that was this Brazilian psych-pop-rock-whatever trio. This CD gives a part of their history not very thoroughly documented on the...
expand review reissues -- their unsuccessful attempt to (literally) translate their popularity from Brazil to America. Originally released in 1970, this record featured a number of Mutantes' already dope songs, re-arranged and re-recorded with English-language lyrics. Some of them work ("Baby," for instance, with its insane hallucinatory shit about trying new ice cream flavors) and some of them don't (they totally fucked up "Bat Macumba"!), but either way it's a pretty interesting piece of Brazilian music history. 13 tracks total. -Chris Lemon-Red
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Trying to paraphrase the in-depth biography of Sarolta Zalatnay that Andy Votel wrote for this first-ever compilation of her work would be both time-consuming and pointless, so I'll just say this: whether you're an old Hungarian head, a new fan or you've...
expand review never heard of Zalatnay in your life, you NEED to read this story and hear this music. This is the official extension of last year's "Desperately Seeking Zalatnay Sarolta" mixtape from Alec Deruggiero, who co-curates this collection with B-Music point man Votel. The sound here ranges from folk to garage rock to funk, with Zalatnay backed by a number of different bands, all with a hint of dark psychedelia. (They got mad enchanted forests in Hungary!) Check out these unpronounceable songs: "Egy Szot Se Szolj(1)," "Munanyag Almok(2)," "Hadd Mondjam El(3)" (check the opening break), "Sracok Oh Sracok(4)" and "Keso Esti Oran(5)." There's even a couple bonus tracks in English! A couple facts from the booklet: Zalatnay once turned down a marriage proposal from Maurice Gibb and "is the legal guardian of the daughter of her unfaithful porn director husband and his illicit mistress...the same porn director who persuaded the 54-year old Zalatnay to have a boob-job and pose naked for Hungarian Playboy." You'll have to buy it for the rest. 19 tracks; 63 minutes. -Chris Lemon-Red
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Another fascinating and hopelessly rare reissue from Finders Keepers' B-Music sub-label, and another part in their new Anatolian Invasion series. When you hear Selda Bagcan's music discussed (which is rarely, to say the least), it's generally in the context of politics and...
expand review how this self-titled record from 1976 contained a number of non-traditional points of reference, at least in traditional Turkish music. But outside of the lyrical content - all the lyrics are reprinted in the booklet, in English! - this remains a stunning debut and a truly deep slice of Turkish psych-pop. The wah-wah and fuzz funk of "Yaz Gazeteci Yaz(1)," the epic strings of "Nasirli Eller(2)" and the hypnotic repetition of "Ince Ince(3)" all appear within the album's first half - needless to say, it's a pretty varied record. Atop these non-traditional backings, Selda's voice remains a haunting and powerful constant. Also worth hearing: "Niye Cattin Kaslarini(4)," "Utan Utan(5)" and "Nem Kaldi(6)." Also includes bonus tracks not found on the original record. 17 tracks; 60 minutes. -Chris Lemon-Red
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Upstart German label Analog Africa brings us this lavishly packaged collection documenting the fusion of rock, psych, funk, soul and even Latin sounds to the music of 1970s Benin and Togo. The comp's title stems from the fact that bands from the...
expand review two small African countries took to screaming on their tracks, James Brown style, but don't let that fool you - this is no group of half-assed JB impersonators. Check the dense grooves of Orchestre Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou's "Gbeti Madjiro(1)" or Le Super Borgou De Parakou's soulful shuffle "Congolaise Benin Ye(2)," with chunky funk drums and multiple slinking guitars that sound descended from highlife. More to check: Picoby Band D'Abomey - "Mi Ma Kpe Dji(3)," Napo De Mi Amor Et Ses Black Devils - "Leki Santchi(4)," Orchestre Super Jheevs Des Paillotes - "Ye Nan Lon An(5)." CD comes in a digipak, housed in an oversized slipcase which also holds a ridiculously meaty 44-page booklet of photos and liners. 14 tracks; 74 minutes. -Chris Lemon-Red
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Andy Votel's B-Music imprint sticks one toe into the future ("the present," to you and me) with this stunning Jane Weaver-curated compilation of female folk artists old and new. Initially, you might think as I did -- that the only reason to...
expand review check this is for some dusty folk-psych gems -- but I assure you that's not the case. Yes, the throwback stuff like Wendy & Bonnie's "Paisley Window Pane(1)" and Brigitte Fontaine's "Le Goudron(2)" is beautiful, but the more you hear songs like Emma Tricca's fingerpicked "Martin & Me," Misty Dixon's beat-driven "Are You Lost(3)" and The Lights' "Branches Low(4)," the more they get ingrained in your mind. The contemporary artists here aren't trying to sound overly retro, phony or anything - this is just some great current psych/folk music. Even Mz. Weaver and B-Music already-fave Selda get in on the action with "All These Rivers(5)" and "Gesi Baglari(6)," respectively. 15 tracks, 57 minutes. -Chris Lemon-Red
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The heavyweight champ of the compilation game goes back to Brazil. Following up on their great Tropicalia collection from last year, Brazil 70 traces the progression of Brazilian music after the short-lived movement that made household names (and political prisoners) of Gilberto...
expand review Gil and Caetano Veloso. With the Tropicalia movement all but quashed by an oppressive dictatorship, Brazilian artists in the 70s moved on to new styles, mixing everything from funk, rock and soul to reggae, samba and folk. Some names will be familiar to folks who dig Tropicalia (check Os Mutantes' Rita Lee gone solo on "Corista De Rock(1)") but there's lots to be discovered here too. How about some rock/funk with jazzy guitar and female vocals? Try Novos Baianos' "Tinindo Trincando(2)." Or how about "Contendas de Sincora(3)" by Mar Revolto, who come across like a Brazilian Free Design? Lab favorites Nelson Angelo e Joyce make a couple appearances with the gorgeous "Vivo Ou Morto(4)" and "Sete Cachorros(5)." And of course, you can never go wrong with some Tom Ze ("Correio Da Estacao do Bras(6)"). You'll forgive me for not talking about all the political underpinnings of these tracks, but I don't sp
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