Roldo - Graffiti On The Planck Wall 2012

The Barking Bird series of albums is an experiment in autonomous recording that’s the result of a project that took nearly half a century to complete.
Sometime in the mid-1960’s in a distant (from other a lot of other places) city called Winnipeg a teenager who would eventually, and through no fault of his own, come to be called Roldo set out on his personal journey. This included playing music, as was natural enough for the son of a jazz drummer and a tap dancer who’d met in vaudeville, and he soon drifted into the burgeoning folk scene of church basement coffee-houses and middle-of-the-night psychedelic jam sessions. He flirted, briefly, with the Rock scene, joining an electric ensemble, but found that he felt more comfortable in the more casual company of the acoustic world.
At this time he played a little bit of guitar and a fair bit of blues harp, and soon found a steady gig with a local jug band. There he added jug, kazoo, and washboard to his accomplishments. As time flowed gently on, he discovered other forms of music and other instruments. He also discovered that he could not hear a new musical sound but that he was seized by a powerful desire to have the instrument that made it so that he might make it too. He was in love with sound.
Years kept on passing. He kept on playing. New sounds kept being heard. New instruments keep being added. New people with their influences – and influences without people – kept him moving along. By the early ‘70’s he was writing songs and playing in a fairly consistent regular band, which he considered a perfectly sound reason collect more instruments. And he did.
Around this time he began to get an idea. Recording techniques were evolving apace and home recording devices were becoming available. “What if”, he thought, “I was to record my songs using multi-track recording so I could add my instruments? It would be like painting with sound! “
This inspired him to accelerate his instrument collecting. Anything that could be strummed, plucked, blown, bowed, beaten, shaken, rattled or rolled was welcome at “Roldo’s Home For Aged And Infirm Musical Instruments”, as his various abodes came to be known.
Now he had a goal. All he had to do was wait for home recording equipment to develop and meanwhile he could add more instruments, write more songs, explore new musical genres.
And he did. The 20th century ended. While reaching for his toothbrush one morning he noticed a strange gray-bearded, bald-headed wrinkle-wrought face in the mirror.
But it was done. The Benevolent Tao, or perhaps some stochastic serendipity, had arranged his trip so that as the new Century and the New Millennium began, he and his instruments had a house which he more or less owned and a 32 track digital recording machine that he’d been given the loan of and he had recorded almost every song he’d ever written. He had learned, with only the most minimal kicking and screaming, to use a computer well enough to tweak the recordings in post-production.
The songs themselves are eclectic and diverse. A jig here, some electric rock there, a jug band tune followed by some Indian jugalbandi, fiddles and banjos play a somehow Chinese melody, a Bulbul Tarang celebrates Emperor Norton.
Nor are the lyrics secondary to the music. They’re carefully crafted and considered, and some have even called them poetic.  And now it’s time to offer these songs to anyone who might want to hear them.
So here is the first of the Rarking Bird collection. Enjoy.

Can - Zhengzheng Rikang 2007

Always at least three steps ahead of contemporary popular music, Can were the leading avant-garde rock group of the '70s. From their very beginning, their music didn't conform to any commonly held notions about rock & roll -- not even those of the countercultures. Inspired more by 20th century classical music than Chuck Berry, their closest contemporaries were Frank Zappa or possibly the Velvet Underground. Yet their music was more serious and inaccessible than either of those artists. Instead of recording tight pop songs or satire, Can experimented with noise, synthesizers, nontraditional music, cut-and-paste techniques, and, most importantly, electronic music; each album marked a significant step forward from the previous album, investigating new territories that other rock bands weren't interested in exploring.

Throughout their career, Can's lineup was fluid, featuring several different vocalists over the years; the core bandmembers remained keyboardist Irmin Schmidt, drummer Jaki Leibezeit, guitarist Michael Karoli, and bassist Holger Czukay. During the '70s, they were extremely prolific, recording as many as three albums a year at the height of their career. Apart from a surprise U.K. Top 30 hit in 1978 -- "I Want More" -- they were never much more than a cult band; even critics had a hard time appreciating their music.

Can debuted in 1969 with the primitive, bracing Monster Movie, the only full-length effort to feature American-born vocalist Malcolm Mooney. 1970's Soundtracks, a collection of film music, introduced Japanese singer Kenji "Damo" Suzuki, and featured "Mother Sky," one of the group's best-known compositions. With 1971's two-record setTago Mago, Can hit their visionary stride, shedding the constraints of pop forms and structures to explore long improvisations, angular rhythms, and experimental textures.

1972's Ege Bamayasi refined the approach, and incorporated an increasingly jazz-like sensibility into the mix; Future Days, recorded the following year as Suzuki's swan song, traveled even further afield into minimalist, almost ambient territory. With 1974's Soon Over Babaluma, Can returned to more complicated and abrasive ground, introducing dub rhythms as well as Karoli's shrieking violin. 1976'sUnlimited Edition and 1977's Saw Delight proved equally restless, and drew on a wide range of ethnic musics.

When the band split in 1978 following the success of the album Flow Motion and the hit "I Want More," they left behind a body of work that has proven surprisingly groundbreaking; echoes of Can's music can be heard in Public Image Limited, the Fall, and Einstürzende Neubauten, among others. As with much aggressive and challenging experimental music, Can's music can be difficult to appreciate, yet their albums offer some of the best experimental rock ever recorded. AMG.

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Susana Baca - Afrodiaspora 2011

Susana Baca's seventh album for David Byrne's Luaka Bop imprint is an ambitious affair with Bacabringing her instantly recognizable and elegant vocal style to the table in an attempt to show the pervasive influence of African rhythms and song forms on South American and Caribbean music. It’s not that she hasn’t been doing this all along on her releases, but the title of this one, Afrodiaspora, clearly states the case, and there is an astounding variety of styles blended together here, from tango, salsa, and flamenco to New Orleans-styled brass band blues and dance numbers, and everything comes out sounding distinctly Afro-Peruvian no matter how many regional variations are tossed into the mix. ButBaca isn’t about fusion so much as she is about shining a light on how much folk traditions continually soak up new wrinkles and rhythms as part of the natural human approach to making and playing music, and if the Afro-Andean elements on display here are relatively new, they’re fully in line with what folk music always does: take what works and run with it. There are some gems here, including an Afro-Peruvian remake of the Meters' “Hey Pocky Way,” complete with a brass band, that suggests that the blues and salsa might just be cut from the same cloth. If there’s a misstep on this fine album, it’s the closing cut, which features Carlos Mosquera singing Victor Merino's song for and about Baca, “Canta Susana.” Yeah, it would have been odd to have Baca sing her own praises, but it’s only slightly less odd to have a guest singer do it. Not that it’s a bad song or a poor performance -- it isn’t -- but it just doesn’t somehow seem to fit with the rest of this impressive outing. AMG.

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Miles Davis - Amandla 1989

A particularly strong set by late-period Miles Davis, this LP is highlighted by a surprisingly straight-ahead performance titled "Mr. Pastorius." In addition to Davis and his new altoist Kenny Garrett, various guests (including Marcus Miller, guitarist Jean-Paul Bourelly, Joey DeFrancesco on keyboards, Rick Margitzaon tenor, pianist Joe Sample, and bassist Foley) get their chances to play next to the great legend who is in top form. An excellent effort, it was really his last studio recording with his regular band. AMG.

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Levellers - Static On The Airwaves 2012

Their first release since David Cameron became Prime Minister, the crust-rock scene's most enduring band, the Levellers, now approach their 25th anniversary in the same political climate as when they started. It's a situation which ensures that their tenth studio album, Static on the Airwaves, is just as biting and rabble-rousing as their Thatcher-baiting beginnings. "Our Forgotten Towns" is a lament to the decline of the British high street, appropriately backed by Jon Sevink's furious fiddle-playing; "The Recruiting Sergeant" is a raucous rendition of The Black Watch anthem, given an anti-war twist with its references to Afghanistan; while the toe-tapping beats and jaunty banjo riffs of "Second Life" accompany an impassioned tirade against the world of gaming. "Raft of the Medusa," a folk-punk sea shanty about the 19th century shipwrecked frigate, and "Mutiny," which sees frontman Mark Chadwick place himself in the shoes of Jesse Robert Short, a fusilier sentenced to death for his part in the 1917 Etaples Mutiny, show the Brighton outfit are just as anarchic about the past as they are the present. But if all this sounds a little too heavy-going, Sean Lakeman (who was at the helm for 2008 predecessor Letters from the Underground), has once more provided them with the kind of polished sheen that helped 1995's Zeitgeisttop the U.K. charts. "After the Hurricane" is a tender acoustic ballad which recalls the Radio 2-friendly fare of their producer's pin-up brother Seth, while there are even a few unexpected nods to early synth pop, first on the squelchy, spacy effects which open the swaggering baggy pop of "We Are the Gunmen," and secondly, Michael Johnson with the "Are Friends Electric"--esque hook which underpins the grungey "No Barriers." the Levellers may have ceased to be irrelevant in the charts since the turn of the century, but Static on the Airwaves' revolutionary spirit proves that they're still a force to be reckoned with. AMG.

One more kindly proposition from my dear friend MFP aka LRR.

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Mark Weinstein - Jazz Brasil 2010

Mark Weinstein came to the flute late in life, but his mastery of the instrument is never in question on Jazz Brasil. Initially a trombonist with a penchant for Latin jazz—he worked with Eddie Palmieri, Tito Puente and others in the ’60s—Weinstein dropped out of music in the ’70s to study philosophy, and then re-emerged as a flutist of considerable agility and intelligence. While salsa is still an important focus—his other most recent album, Timbasa, includes several highly percussive Afro-Cuban tracks—he seems more at home within the less-restrictive rhythms of Brazil.

Alternating between standard, alto and bass flutes, Weinstein surrounds himself with an ace team here: Nilson Matta on bass, Marcello Pellitteri handling drums and percussion and the always brilliant Kenny Barron on piano. The flutist and pianist establish a simpatico relationship early on, in a brisk take on Monk’s “I Mean You,” and sustain it throughout the recording. On Wayne Shorter’s “Nefertiti,” Barron owns the first easygoing, introspective solo, then falls back in support of the flutist as Matta and Pellitteri take their time exploring inventive ways to fill the spaces left by the other two.

Weinstein favors a handful of well-known composers here—there’s a second Monk tune, the tender “Ruby, My Dear”; two from Jobim; Joe Henderson’s funky, airy “Isotope” (featuring Metta and Pellitteri); and an entertaining remake of Herbie Mann’s iconic “Memphis Underground” that shows off everyone’s strengths but never approaches the source material’s fire. But the two consecutive tracks authored by band members—Matta’s chipper “Sambosco” and Weinstein’s moody “Dawn’s Early Light”—are the equal of anything else here. As fine an interpreter as he is, Weinstein might want to consider a set of all-original music next time out. He’s earned it.

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Milton Nascimento - Sentinela 1980

This is a reissue of the original 1980 release, the first for Polygram after Milton Nascimento had left EMI. The album had the fundamental support of the melodic percussion of the Minas Gerais group Uakti, along with the usual robust orchestrations. Nascimento had a hit with "Canção da América," but several songs must be mentioned for their strong melodic qualities, like the folklore-tinged "Peixinhos do Mar," "Sueño Con Serpientes" (with Mercedes Sosa), Villa-Lobos' "Cantiga," and "Sentinela" (with singer Nana Caymmi showcasing her strong, personal voice timbre similar to Nascimento's, which serves wonderfully to convey the idea of religious devotion). AMG.

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Térez Montcalm - Here's To You 2011

Térez Montcalm is a Canadian jazz singer and guitarist who broke through to international success in 2007. Born in Quebec, Canada, she grew up bilingually in a family where French and English were spoken interchangeably and where music was important. Her father, a native English speaker originally from Toronto, was a jazz fan who enjoyedElla Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and Nat King Cole. The youngest of five children, she had brothers who were into Jimi Hendrix and Frank Zappa as well as sisters who were into the Beatles and Edith Piaf. In addition to these influences, Montcalm had favorites of her own, above all Eurythmics lead singer Annie Lennox. Exhibiting an extraordinarily strong voice from an early age, she attended music school as a teenager and ultimately made her full-length recording debut in 1994 with the album Risque on BMG. Sung primarily in French and comprised of original material as well as covers of Charles Aznavour, Tom Waits, and others, Risque was well received from a critical standpoint, and in the wake of its release, Montcalm was awarded a Prix Rapsat-Lelièvre in 1995. She released her follow-up album, Parle Pas Si Fort, on Universal in 1997 and subsequently retreated from the marketplace for a while, not releasing her third album, Térez Montcalm, until five years later in 2002. Montcalm changed direction on her fourth album, Voodoo, which arrived in 2006. Comprised almost entirely of cover songs, many of them well known (e.g., Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams"), and sung primarily in English rather than French, Voodoo was produced by former Uzeb jazz-rock guitarist Michel Cusson and released on the Universal subsidiary label GSI Musique. A year after its release, Voodoo broke into the French albums chart and remained there for a total of 30 weeks, going all the way to number 43. AMG.

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Ry Cooder - Election Special 2012

The risk in writing political songs, especially about specific issues and historical periods, is that over time, those that are run of the mill become dated. Not everyone can write timeless tunes like Woody Guthrie,Sam Cooke, John Lennon, and Bob Marley. Given the content of Election Special, Ry Cooder knew the risks going in and welcomed them. Using American traditional musics -- raw blues, folk, and roots rock -- Cooder's songs express what he considers to be, as both an artist and a pissed-off citizen, the high-stakes historical gamble of the 2012 presidential and congressional contest. He wrote and recorded this album as a witness to the era. Other than drums (played by his son Joachim) and some backing vocals, Cooderplays everything here. He uses foreboding acoustic blues in "Mutt Romney Blues" (written from the point of view of the candidate Mitt Romney's dog). The more poignant "Brother Is Gone" is at first blush a seemingly heart-wrenching folk tale fueled by Cooder's mandolin. Yet it slowly and purposely relates a deal-with-the-devil fantasy about conservatives Charles and David Koch. It's among the finest songs he's written. But Cooder rocks up his anger too: "Guantanamo" is a raucous barroom strut. "Cold Cold Feeling" is a deep, slow garage blues that's chilling in its effectiveness. His screed is a link in a chain of political blues tunes that date back to the Delta. "Going to Tampa" is a cut-time string band country tune. It's a farce about the 2012 Republican National Convention as hijacked by the Tea Party. He accuses both of outright racism and social engineering, with scathing humor. The album's finest cut is the dark, Delta-style electric blues of "Kool-Aid," which recalls Junior Kimbrough musically. Guthrie's own spirit is evoked in the antiwar narrative "The 90 and the 9," with its singalong choruses. Election Special closes with a scorching, rocking blues entitled "Take Your Hands Off It." It's a militant anthem that demands that the Constitution and Bill of Rights be returned to their rightful place at the heart of mainstream American life. Sure enough, because of its soapbox style, Election Special is the most overtly political album of Cooder's career. As such, it serves two purposes: one is that it is the most organic record he's issued in almost two decades; and, more importantly, it restores topical protest music to a bona fide place in American cultural life. AMG.

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Les Étoiles du Zaire - Hommage à Emoro 1999

Pépé Kallé and Emoro, Nyboma and Bopol. Names we all love to hear when browsing the web. It means we have found us another piece of the big puzzle. This album on Syllart does not complete our Pépé Kallé sequence but we're getting a bit
closer with every lp. Once more, kick aside your furniture, volumes up and let go, you're well on your way to loose a few pounds, grab that chance.. Thanks to globalgroovers.blogspot.pt

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Public Image Ltd - This Is PiL 2012

Enabled by the expiration of obstructive contracts and a little income from an appearance in a butter ad,John Lydon revived PiL in 2009. Consisting of alums Bruce Smith (1986-1990) and Lu Edmonds (1986-1988), along with bassist Scott Firth, Lydon's band toured steadily from December 2009 through 2011 and released this, its first album since 1992's That What Is Not, in 2012. Those later set lists -- one of which was documented on ALiFE 2009 -- leaned heavily toward PiL's first two albums. Playing that material seems to have affected the sound of This Is PiL, though it is no attempt at replication. It's more like a stylistic evolution -- one that's easier on the average set of ears than the droning dread of the first album's "Theme" or the mangled dub of Metal Box's "Poptones." Firth's liquid throb replaces Jah Wobble's rumbling and penetrating basslines. Edmonds' flexible guitar style carries significantly less violence than Keith Levene's caustic slashing. Smith's rhythms are more intricate and musical than PiL's early thud-discoid "drummer by committee" approach. Lydon, sharp and direct as ever, shows occasional signs of softening, as heard in a handful of wistful lines laced through otherwise forceful songs like "One Drop" and "Human" ("I miss those roses, those English roses"). However, he sticks to his seething wordplay with far greater frequency. This is exemplified by the standout "Terra-Gate," a vivid rant with as much intensity as Metal Box's "Chant" ("Take what you make, what you hate, integrate, into hate, it's too late," etc.). It's one of the PiL's best albums. Just as important, it has as much attitude -- if somewhat tempered and pointed in some new directions -- as anything else Lydon has recorded. And it begins with a belch and ends with a wail. AMG.

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Method of Defiance - Nihon 2009

Though touching on the realm of drum and bass in the 1990s with his Oscillations releases and the compilation Tetragramaton: Submerged - conceived along with Soares - the last few years have seen Laswell step up his work in this area with Soares as a collaborator in concept/A&R for drum & bass artist development. Starting with Brutal Calling, a hard drum 'n' bass release with Ohm Resistance label owner Submerged (Kurt Gluck), a series of releases and live dates have cropped up. Laswell’s new project in this vein is Method of Defiance (the actual Method of Defiance name and the original idea of a futurist, cyborg drum 'n' bass driven group consisting of laptops breakbeat artists, electric instrumentalists and trumpeter Graham Haynes was conceived by Soares). The first release focused on the core of Laswell and Submerged once again, entitled 'The only way to go is down', featuring photos of Soares, with contributions from Toshinori Kondo and drummer Guy Licata. The second release under the moniker, though, was more of a compilation style project, though still focusing on drum 'n' bass. Inamorata stretched the concept out, pairing Laswell’s bass with a different combination of respected jazz and world musicians and drum 'n' bass producers linked to Soares on each track. Artists including Herbie Hancock, John Zorn, Pharoah Sanders, Nils Petter Molvaer, Toshinori Kondo and Buckethead were paired with drum 'n' bass producers including AMIT, Paradox, Submerged, Future Prophecies, Karsh Kale, Evol Intent, SPL, Outrage, Fanu, and Corrupt Souls. To that end, Laswell’s last collaboration with Soares was a full-on recording with Finnish drum 'n' bass maestro Fanu on Ohm Resistance and Karl Records, entitled Lodge, which includes contributions from Molvaer and Bernie Worrell amongst others. After collaborating with Laswell for 15 years, Soares left the crew in 2008. The concept of the group has once again morphed into a full band concept. In 2009, Rare Noise Records released Live in Nihon, which showcased this new direction/grouping. The group now consisted of Laswell, Guy Licata, Dr. Israel, Toshinori Kondo and Bernie Worrell.
Along with frequent live dates around the world with Method of Defiance, Material, Painkiller and the reformed in the late ‘90s Massacre (with This Heat's Charles Hayward now in the drum chair) Laswell still makes numerous trips to Japan each year for various recordings and live dates, including his ongoing Tokyo Rotation[10] mini-festivals at the Shinjuku Pit-Inn, which is now a yearly occurrence. In addition to Tokyo Rotation being an actual mini-festival, the moniker has been used as a sort of umbrella to include general operations revolving around activities in Japan, as witnessed by the usage of Tokyo Rotation Presents in relation to the website's announcement of other gigs outside the Pit Inn shows as well being noted on Method of Defiance's release Nihon..."

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