The Myrrors - Burning Circles in The Sky 2008

The short-lived acid psych quartet The Myrrors hails from Phoenix/Arizona. They have produced one album called 'Burning Circles In The Sky' (2008) but then disbanded in November 2009. Their songs are comprising a strong desert rock feel, provided with a slow paced celestial flow and decent synth noises. A band worth checkin out for any psych or stoner fans everywhere.

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Georgia Anne Muldrow - Owed to Mama Rickie 2011

Georgia Anne Muldrow grew up in a musical home in Los Angeles, her father an instrument inventor for Eddie Harrisand her mother, Rickie Byars, a singer with the Pharoah Sanders Ensemble and co-founder of Sound of Agape Rhythms. After relocating to New York, the young musician/producer/vocalist recorded seven songs for her 2005 self-released EP Worthnothings. The album got the attention of Sa-Ra and the Platinum Pied Pipers, who both asked her to write songs for them. Stones Throw Records owner Peanut Butter Wolf was also impressed by Muldrowand signed her to a two-album deal. In April 2006,Worthnothings was re-released on Stones Throw, followed shortly after by her full-length debut, Olesi: Fragments of an Earth. Sagala, credited to Pattie Blingh & the Akebulan 5 but an all-Muldrow affair, was issued in 2007 on the Ramp label.

Muldrow remained prolific across 2011 and 2012, a period that saw the release of Vweto, Owed to Mama Rickie, and the full-length Madlib collaboration Seeds. In 2015, her "first rap album," Thoughtiverse Unmarred, was released;Muldrow acted as MC while producer Chris Keys supplied the beats. Muldrow has also collaborated with Dwight Trible,J*Davey, and Erykah Badu, and she produced the entirety of Perkins' Holy SmokesThe second Georgia Anne Muldrow full-length, Umsindo, as well as Ms. One -- a production showcase featuring several singers and MCs -- were both issued in 2009 on her and husband Dudley Perkins' SomeOthaShip label. (A compilation of previously unreleased material, Early, surfaced near the end of the year.) Kings Ballad, featuring a gorgeous ode to the late Michael Jackson as its title track, followed in early 2010 on Ubiquity, and it was followed only a couple weeks later by SomeOthaShip, co-billed to Perkins'Declaime alias and featuring collaborations with Black Milk,Flying Lotus, Big Pooh, and Kool G. Rap. AMG.

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Tara Jane O'Neil - Where Shine New Lights 2011

Where Shine New Lights, the seventh solo album from veteran indie songsmith and otherworldly mystic Tara Jane O'Neil, begins with "Welcome," a short cluster of multi-tracked vocals that drone on a note or two before spilling into "Wordless in the Woods," the equally ethereal but more traditionally arranged song that follows. This brief, glowing meditation sets the tone for an album of O'Neil's airy, barely cogent pop songwriting at its very best. Trying to discern lyrics, hold onto threads of repeating themes, or even find one's footing in the indie ambient forest of Where Shine New Lights are all afterthoughts, with the main power of the album being its enveloping qualities, with songs that convey vivid emotional resonance even at their most obscured or murky. Tracks like "Over. Round, in a Room. Found." and "The Signal, Wind" are great examples of this, with their muted instrumentation gelling into a singular mass of dark sounds, lyrics floating but intangible, and elements like bells, synthesizers, and other unknown sounds rising and receding in waves. Other songs come up for air and latch onto more easily recognized song structures. "Elemental Finding" is a dark and wandering dirge, characteristic ofO'Neil's earlier indie folk weirdness, while "This Morning Glory" is almost unnervingly perky in the context of the rest of the shadowy and subaquatic vibes of the album. While the long stretches of wordless wandering and hazy dream pop instrumentals make this a cloudier affair than most of O'Neil's earlier catalog, the pacing and set list are so well conceived that Where Shine New Lights never bores or feels like a distraction, even at its most still. Instead, the album is like a gentle, sometimes terrifying solitary journey, a walk through foggy terrain with no absolute destination in mind, but one that takes the listener to places of new questions and different possibilities every time. AMG.

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Durutti Column - Amigos em Portugal 1983

Done as part of an ultimately failed distribution attempt in the country of the title, Amigos finds Reillyworking very much in the mode of Another Setting, creating five fine pieces that combine his lovely guitar work with piano and other instruments. Though all titles are in Portuguese as well, nothing appears to be specifically about the country or its own musical style -- it's simply Reilly, working solo in this instance, creating some stripped-down work still with that typical hint of Durutti magic. The opening number, the title track itself, actually features some of the most active and busy piano he'd yet recorded, still with just enough control to make it slot in with the remainder of the music. Keyboards also dominate other tracks, including "Lisboa," one of his most straightforwardly beautiful (as opposed to darkly so) numbers, and the concluding waft of "Estoril A Noite." AMG.

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Orchestre Poly Rythmo - Cotonou Club 2011

Orchestre Poly Rythmo de Cotonou are a band from Benin, which plays afrobeat, funk, soukous and other styles, often based on Vodun rhythms. Excellent group.

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Dave Curtiss & Clive Maldoon - Sepheryn (The Definitive Collection) 2007

This anthology contains virtually the entire Curtiss Maldoon catalog. It has the Curtiss Maldoon album, every song but one ("Monkerwollik," omitted for space reasons) from the Maldoon album (which was credited to Maldoon, but actually recorded by Curtiss Maldoon), four previously unissued outtakes, an unissued alternate version of "On My Own Again" (from Muldoon), and the non-LP B-side, "Amber Man." It's run-of-the-mill early-'70s singer/songwriter rock, sometimes with a period British rock influence (guest musicians on the first album include Steve Howe, Tony Ashton and Roy Dyke). There's not much difference between the two LPs, although the first (which has "Serephyn," the prototype for Madonna's "Ray of Light") is a little harder-rocking than the folkier and moodier follow-up. AMG.

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Foamfoot - Crows from the Closet 1994

Foamfoot is a cover band that did a one-off show at the Troubadour in Los Angeles. They played mostly seventies classics (from Free, The Kinks, Blind Faith, Derek and the Dominos, etc) and were formed by Black Crowes members Chris Robinson and Marc Ford that had with them Jimmy Ashurst, Eric Bobo, Gary Louris and Andy Sturmer.
This improvised band also had the guest appearances of Gary Lewis and David Crosby.

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Hiatus Kaiyote - Tawk Tomahawk 2012

As with Sweden's Little Dragon, New Zealand's Electric Wire Hustle, and Denmark's Quadron before them, Australia's Hiatus Kaiyote gained notice through a loose network of figures that promotes and/or creates progressive R&B and hip-hop. KCRW's Garth Trinidad and BBC Radio 6's Gilles Petersonwere among the first DJs to pick up on them, and the likes of ?uestlove, Erykah Badu, and Flying Lotus expressed enthusiasm. Tawk Tomahawk, homemade and self-released in 2012, also impressedSalaam Remi, who signed the band to his Sony-distributed sub-label Flying Buddha. Led by singer, songwriter, and guitarist Nai Palm, whose slightly scratchy voice croons and howls one moment and then soothes and attacks the next, the band alternates between straight and crooked R&B. They're rooted primarily in decades-old forms of jazz, funk, and soul, yet they sound modern through abstract hip-hop twists and delightful weirdness. Five tracks are two minutes or shorter and leave lasting impressions. "Ocelot" is wickedly choppy with Palm's voice left raw and imposing: "My, my, my ocelot tongue is sharp and I'll eat you up." The knotted "Boom Child" is funky enough to cause animated scowls, while the instrumentals "Rainbow Rhodes" and "Sphinx Gate" make for a twinkling, dreamlike succession. The other five tracks are fully developed songs. "Nakamarra" is the least complicated of the bunch and is warm and relaxed enough to pass for a cover of a Soulquarians project, though it's hard to imagine even Bilal coming up with "We two will breathe, aqua queen/Though vast distance between us, heart sails with love." The stormy "Lace Skull" resembles Grace-era Jeff Buckley, especially though the jabs and spirals from Palm's guitar, while "Malika" has an alluring ebb-and-flow quality. Even with the addition of a Q-Tip-enhanced version of "Nakamarra" here, the album is succinct at 35 minutes. It seems to pass by in a small fraction of that time. AMG. listen here

Cathy Jean - In the Remains 2010

Cathy Jean is an American Blues singer, songwriter and musician known for her powerful and soulful vocals. She has collaborated with many well-known local and national musicians. She has released several EPs and full-length albums, and has toured in North America and abroad. Jean has been nominated for three Washington Area Music Association (WAMA) awards. Cathy plays guitar, piano, violin and harmonica. In 1982, she sold her first record on a 4-track EP. The single, “So Far Away”, from that EP featured her as lead vocalist. She began touring extensively throughout the United States in 1990s. She played the Western Maryland Blues Festival in 1997 as their first female headliner. Cathy Jean's music spans a wide range: blues, rock, and blues-rock, to jazz, funk, r&b, and gospel. With the exception of one covers album, most of Cathy's songs are originals written by her and drawn from her personal life experiences. "In the Remains" is her 4th album produced by Cathy Jean and Grammy winning producer Bob Dawson, and her 1st album mastered by Grammy winning engineer Ted Jensen.

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Osibisa - Monsore 1997

The brainchild of Teddy Osei, a Ghanaian sax player, composer, and drummer who came to London to study music, Osibisa was one of the first African bands to win worldwide popularity. Their mix of African (especially highlife) and Caribbean forms made them a sensation in the mid 70s and their popularity continues today, even though recording dates have fallen off. Osibisa's distinctive highlife sound incorporates new world-fusion elements on this fascinating studio effort. AMG.

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Perpetual Groove - All This Everything 2004

As the follow-up to their highly acclaimed album "Sweet Oblivious Antidote", this new PGroove album succeeds in infinite ways. With the help of highly-sought producer Robert Hannon (OutKast), the band filled out their already lush jam-scapes with even more emotion, majesty, and fantastic improvisation. The ebb and flow of "All This Everything" is as sure and satisfying as the ocean tides, with mystifying moments of tranquility alternated with episodes of explosive musicianship and cerebral songwriting.

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Trio M (with Myra Melford) - Guest House 2011

An exploratory, virtuosic, rhythmic, and lyrical composer and improviser, pianist Myra Melford emerged in the early '90s as one of the most highly acclaimed jazz pianists of the day, and she proved deserving of the accolades as her diverse body of work -- with an often strong spiritual focus -- continued into the 21st century. Melford's work reflected her primary musical mentors/influences: on piano, Don Pullen, whose percussive mannerisms she successively adapted; and, as a composer, Henry Threadgill, with whom she studied in the mid-'80s. Early on, Melford also professed an affinity for the blues styles she heard and studied as a youth in Chicago (she grew up in nearby Evanston, Illinois), which she incorporated into her avant-garde-tinged musical sensibility. As a youth, Melford studied boogie-woogie piano with Erwin Helfer, and she later attended college at Evergreen State in Olympia, Washington, where she studied with pianist Art Lande and developed an interest in jazz. She also attended the Cornish Institute in Seattle. AMG.

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10,000 Maniacs - Blind Man's Zoo 1989

Natalie Merchant's lyrics have a subtle urgency on such tracks as "Eat for Two" and "Trouble Me," while the band contrives textured folk/rock backing and producer Peter Asher creates a well-articulated rock sound. AMG.

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Brant Bjork - Gods & Goddesses 2010

He launched his solo career in the late 1990s, but ever since, Brant Bjork has been all about the early '70s. And on his seventh full-length overall, 2010's Gods & Goddesses, this has never been more apparent -- from the immaculate, third-generation Buick Riviera that Bjork and a lovely lady are sitting in on the cover, to Bjork's fashion sense (Cheech & Chong circa Los Cochinos). But especially, it's the music that resides on the disc that's a dead giveaway. Bjork has always been about the groove (à la latter-day Jimi Hendrix, early Santana, early El Chicano, etc.), and rather unsurprisingly, this is the same musical terrain he trods upon throughout Gods & Goddesses. Although he has enlisted the help of an outside producer for his latest, (Ethan Allen, whose credits include the 88 and Luscious Jackson), Bjork's '70s vision and approach remain completely intact, especially on such laid-back and groovy numbers as the album-opener "Dirty Bird," as well as "Porto." Elsewhere, Bjork and company kick out the rock on "The Future Rock (We Got It)" and "Good Time Bonnie," and even get a bit jammy on "Somewhere Some Woman." But unlike quite a few bands that look to the '70s for inspiration, perhaps it's Bjork's punk rock roots that prevent any meandering musical detours, as the album clocks in at a tidy 32 minutes. But even in a short amount of time, Bjork certainly gets his point across, and will still manage to take you on a magic carpet ride back to the days of lava lamps, bell bottom trousers, incense, and black-light posters. AMG.

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El Rego - El Rego 2011

Pioneer Benin funk and soul musician Théophile Do-Rego, known to most as “El Rego,” along with his crackerjack band the Commandos, blended hard American R&B, soul, and funk with rhumba trappings, Latin percussion, wah-wah guitar, a whole lot of amazingly wild accordion, thick basslines, and traditional tribal rhythms to form a raw and exciting musical template from the mid-'60s through the early '70s. This set from Daptone Records selects several of the sides el Rego et Ses Commandosrecorded and released during those years, and assembled by Afro-soul collector and DJ Frank Gossner, it makes for a fun, joyous, and combustible playlist and functions as well as a solid introduction to this charismatic performer. Things dig right in with the opening track, "Feeling You Got," and keep roaring from there. A delight. AMG.

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Dana Falconberry - Leelanau 2012

Austin-based alternative folk singer/songwriter Dana Falconberry has a similarly sparse sound as contemporaries like Anaïs Mitchell and Jenny Owen Youngs, with most of her songs featuring little more than her delicate yet scratchy vocals and minimalist acoustic guitar style. Falconberry first started exploring music in earnest while attending Hendrix College, a small Methodist-associated liberal arts school in the rural setting of Conway, Arkansas. Falconberry, who graduated from Hendrix in 2002, was also a dancer and choreographer at the school, working in concert with a professor named Mark Schantz, who provided music forFalconberry's recitals. After her graduation, Falconberry and Schantz recorded a duet album together at Memphis' Sun Studio. Featuring Falconberry on vocals and Schantz on acoustic guitar, 2005's Ten Birds on One Wire raised little interest and the partnership quietly dissolved. Meanwhile, Falconberryresettled in Austin and fell in with an experimental psych-folk collective called Peter and the Wolf led by singer/songwriter Red Hunter. Falconberry co-wrote and sang several songs on Peter and the Wolf's 2006 album, Lightness, before releasing her own solo debut, Paper Sailboat, in 2007. She followed it up a year later with Oh Skies of Grey before releasing the EP Though I Didn't Call It Came. Expanding on the nature-themed EP, she teamed up with Antenna Farm Records for 2012's Leelanau, which was inspired by picturesque northern locales of her native Michigan. Falconberry later headed to Jim Eno's studio to record two songs with the Spoon drummer producing. The second in his studio series, Public Hi-Fi Sessions 02 was released by Public Hi-Fi Records in the spring of 2014. The EP The Lowering Night, which was self-recorded alone at her home, appeared a year later. In contrast, her first album to be credited to her band, From the Forest Came the Fire by Dana Falconberry & Medicine Bow, arrived in spring 2016 via Modern Outsider. AMG.

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Deep Banana Black Out - Rowdy Duty 1998

The group Deep Banana Blackout, who started in 1995, displays a wide variety of influences: rock, funk, soul, jazz, Latin, and psychedelia. On a more general level, because of their following, busy touring schedule, and skills at improvisation, they are considered a jam band. The group's albums include Live in the Thousand Islands (1997) and Rowdy Duty (1999). The band released 2001's Feel the Peel on Flying Frog Records, the label founded by Allman Brothers drummer Butch Trucks. In fact, Deep Banana Blackout has toured with the Allman Brothers, with several DBB members joining the legendary group for their set. In 2000, Hope Clayburn (saxophones, flute, vocals) and B. Smith(trombone, tuba, vocals) joined the collective. The rest of the band consists of: Fuzz (guitar, vocals), Rob Somerville (saxophone, vocals), Cyrus Madan (keyboards, vocals), Benj LeFevre (bass), Eric Kalb (drums), and Johnny Durkin (percussion). AMG.

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