Snakefinger - Snakefinger's History Of The Blues Live In Europe 2013

Philip Lithman led a schizophrenic career, trying to make his way out of obscurity into the light of mainstream success, but then found a living as a valued sideman to the most obscure pop group of the '70s and '80s: the Residents. His dramatic, slanted runs up the fretboard have its antecedents in the British blues scene and art rock, most particularly Robert Fripp and Fred Frith (the latter also lending guitar to Residents recordings); his fingerwork earned him the nickname "Snakefinger." In the end, he died (suddenly, of a heart attack) while in limbo: not weird enough for the Residents, not normal enough for chart success or critical recognition. Born in London, England, in 1949, Lithman was coming of age in the psychedelic scene, but picked up the more menacing vibe that was permeating the last two years of that decade. In 1971, a 22-year-old Lithman came to San Francisco and met up with a strange group of art terrorists that would become the Residents. He accompanied the group for their two live appearances, as well as raising hell on live radio, playing violin in a screeching, free jazz joke. People dug it, but Lithman returned to England the following year, playing on two albums in the band Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers with his friend Martin Stone (two of the members, Nick Lowe and Pete Thomas, would go on to fame working with Elvis Costello). When the group disbanded, Lithman returned to America, and settled in Los Angeles, where he shopped around demos for two years, trying to break into the mainstream rock scene in the style of the Eagles, Jackson Browne, and other soft rock standbys. Both Warner Bros. and RCA rejected him. In 1978, he returned to San Francisco and in the middle of shopping around another demo, reunited with his old friends, the Residents. The college-age pranksters had grown into a bizarre band with a cult following and their own label and now had a desire to add other artists to their label's roster -- Snakefinger had returned.  For two years, the Residents co-wrote and produced two Snakefinger albums (Chewing Hides the Sound and Greener Postures), a single "The Spot," and featured him on their albums Duck Stab and The Commercial Album. He also seared the ears with his unforgettable solo on their cover of "Satisfaction" -- it needs to be heard to be believed. The solo albums, while a critical success (Chewing received a "classic" rating in the 1983 Rolling Stone Record Guide), seemed more about the Residents than Snakefinger: the similar demented pop of Duck Stab, the singsong lyrics, the weird and cool imagery. Given a chance, Lithman's Brit Rock purisms would leak out; in 1983 he toured, playing blues covers. In the early '80s, while the Residents were engulfed in touring, he formed a band, the Vestal Virgins, with members of Pere Ubu and assorted Bay Area groups, and recorded a third album, Manual of Errors. Here was a breakthrough -- with only a few songs co-written with the Residents, Lithman could make it as a true solo artist. In 1985-1986, Lithman returned to play a world tour with the Residents, documented on at least three releases as the 13th Anniversary Tour. This is a terrific example of Snakefinger's work -- delicate slide work, menacing, distortion filled guitar (often in the same song). That year also saw the release of his most mature work to date: Night of Desireable Objects, recorded with the Vestal Virgins. The eclectic album represented the varying influences at work in Lithman's career, from Nino Rota and Miles Davis to folk and art pop. The Virgins hit the road for a support tour. On July 1, 1987, after a concert in Linz, Austria, Lithman suffered a fatal heart attack. The Residents, who were scheduled to use Lithman on their upcoming God in Three Persons album, composed music for his funeral (later released on Snakey Wake). Since 1987, the Residents have kept Lithman's memory alive through re-releases of his Ralph Records material, including a B-sides collection. AMG

listen here

I Mother Earth - Scenery and Fish 1996

After being pigeonholed as a metal band upon the release of their 1993 debut, Canadian band I Mother Earth returned in 1996 with Scenery and Fish. Guitarist Jag Tanna produced the sophomore effort with Paul Northfield and the resulting album, while not as immediate as Dig, is certainly every bit as rewarding.

"One More Astronaut" was the radio track and it is a propulsive cut, which explores loneliness and isolation over a crunching rhythmic melody. "Three Days Old" alternates a psychedelic feel with jarring instrumental passages. And "Used to Be Alright" incorporates the band's fondness for percussion into a groove-oriented rocker. Nothing on Scenery and Fish quite approaches the instantly memorable hooks of the band's debut, but instead tracks like "Raspberry" and "Another Sunday" settle slowly, but surely, into the brain. A worthy follow-up to an impressive first release, Scenery and Fish accords I Mother Earth a place among the more interesting and entertaining hard rock bands of recent years. AMG.

listen here

Tears for Fears - Songs From The Big Chair (Deluxe Edition) 1985

If The Hurting was mental anguish, Songs from the Big Chair marks the progression towards emotional healing, a particularly bold sort of catharsis culled from Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith's shared attraction to primal scream therapy. The album also heralded a dramatic maturation in the band's music, away from the synth-pop brand with which it was (unjustly) seared following the debut, and towards a complex, enveloping pop sophistication. The songwriting of Orzabal, Smith, and keyboardist Ian Stanley took a huge leap forward, drawing on reserves of palpable emotion and lovely, protracted melodies that draw just as much on soul and R&B music as they do on immediate pop hooks. The album could almost be called pseudo-conceptual, as each song holds its place and each is integral to the overall tapestry, a single-minded resolve that is easy to overlook when an album is as commercially successful as Songs from the Big Chair. And commercially successful it was, containing no less than three huge commercial radio hits, including the dramatic and insistent march, "Shout" and the shimmering, cascading "Head Over Heels," which, tellingly, is actually part of a song suite on the album. Orzabal and Smith's penchant for theorizing with steely-eyed austerity was mistaken for harsh bombasticism in some quarters, but separated from its era, the album only seems earnestly passionate and immediate, and each song has the same driven intent and the same glistening remoteness. It is not only a commercial triumph, it is an artistic tour de force. And in the loping, percolating "Everybody Wants to Rule the World," Tears for Fears perfectly captured the zeitgeist of the mid-'80s while impossibly managing to also create a dreamy, timeless pop classic. Songs from the Big Chair is one of the finest statements of the decade. AMG.

listen here

Jim Weider's Project Percolator - Pulse 2009

Born in Woodstock, NY, infamous sideman Jim Weider jumped into the music industry as soon as he could. The area was a hotbed for national talent, with acts like Bob Dylan and the Band recording there. He began recording and hiring himself out to songwriters for backup, eventually gathering up enough money to move to Nashville. He joined Johnny Paycheck's touring band, and supported himself through session work and playing local concerts. By the early '80s, Weider moved back to his hometown and began a tour with Robbie Dupress. When 1983 rolled around, he met former Band drummer Levon Helm, who invited him to join his touring band. Helm was very impressed by Weider, so when the Band was ready to reunite in 1985, Weider took Robbie Robertson's spot when Robertson declined the reunion. He continued to perform with the Band as the decade went on, eventually playing with the group at Roger Waters' recreation of The Wall at the Berlin Wall. In 1993, he also played with the group at Bob Dylan's tribute concert in Madison Square Garden and at Bill Clinton's Inaugural Ball. On top of these performances, he also kept himself busy playing on albums by Robbie Dupree, Artie Traum, Paul Burlison, Rick Danko, and many others. His membership in the Band actually lasted longer than Robbie Robertson's original tenure, as he stayed with the band throughout the '90s, even performing with them at Woodstock '94. When he had time off from the group, he released several best-selling instructional videos for guitar, and finally released his own solo album with the Honky Tonk Gurus entitled Big Foot in 1999. AMG.

listen here

Ray Lema - Nangadeef 1989

If Herbie Hancock's "Rock-It" had been recorded by the Zairian diaspora in Paris, it might have sounded something like this. Though the low spots are pretty generic, the frequent thunderclaps on this forward-looking disc are worthy of Youssou N'Dour at his best. Lema first became involved in music playing church organ for five years. By the time he entered college, he was already playing keyboard in Kinshasa clubs for artists like Kalle, Abeti, M'pongo Love, and Tabu Ley. He worked with the Ballet du Zaire and from 1974 to 1978 toured the country studying folklore. He won a Rockefeller grant for study in the U.S. in 1979. Lema's grounding in folklore and choreography, as well as music, helped him break through in the '80s and maintain a reputation as a soukous musician not content to be pigeonholed in that style. He recently signed with the international label Mango. AMG.

listen here

Sand Reckoner - Haunter 2016

Sand Reckoner is a US psychedelic band from Boston! Interesting band.

listen here

Seun Kuti + Egypt 80 - A Long Way to the Beginning 2014

There isn't a lot of subtlety in the songs on Seun Kuti and Egypt 80's fiercely political third album, A Long Way to the Beginning. That's fine, because to his way of thinking, there isn't anything subtle about neo-liberal capitalism's global attack on the poor, either. Seun is Fela Kuti's youngest son. The vocalist and alto saxophonist has been fronting and leading Egypt 80 since his father's death in 1997 (three-quarters of that band remain) and has issued two previous records; the last, From Africa with Fury: Rise, in 2011, was co-produced by Brian Eno and John Reynolds. In the 21st century, there are literally hundreds of bands throughout the globe playing Afrobeat, with most adding a unique spin to the tradition; Kuti respects that. At seven tracks and 43 minutes, this set is tighter, shorter, and punchier than Fela's or Seun's earlier records, and takes into consideration a new palette of sounds. He enlisted Robert Glasper as co-producer (who also plays keyboards throughout), as well as help from rappers M-1 and Blitz the Ambassador. While Fela brought a certain narrative, hypnotic elegance to his music, Seun has replaced it -- at least here -- with the raw aggression of hip-hop and punk. Opener "I.M.F." is a stomping, jittery, crunching, fat, horn-driven anthem, with funky basslines, choppy guitars, and drums. M-1 delivers a rap that underscores Kuti's Pan-African lyrics with a global street perspective. Glasper's spacy keyboards add just a hint of air to the dense mix. His trancey keyboard atmospherics -- and funky clavinet -- can be heard on the hypno-groove in "Higher Consciousness," with a fine staccato horn chart and tightly woven lead and chorus vocals. "Ohun Riye" is a break from the rage. It's a skittering, Yoruban highlife jam with lyrics that celebrate life's spiritual qualities. Blitz the Ambassador helps out on "African Smoke," with hip-hop rhymes woven into the jazzier side of Afrobeat. The militant message delivered by Kuti is underscored line by line by his female chorus. There's also a fine trumpet solo by Oladimeji Akinyele. Closer "Black Woman" is the set's big surprise. A drifty, jazzy, nocturnal groover with killer lead guitar from David Obanyedo, it features sweet guest vocals from Nneka. Along with Glasper's signature keyboards, it has a winding, breezy horn chart atop multiple layers of drums and guitars. It's a feminist anthem that pays homage to the strength, commitment, courage, and struggle black women experience in everyday life. A Long Way to the Beginning is the most ambitious and angry record in Kuti's catalog. Its Afrobeat attack is hyper aggressive. It hammers the anger home in most tunes, and that's exactly what he feels young people around the world are projecting. He's telling them they're not only heard, but that he feels it too. AMG.

listen here

Redgum - Brown Rice and Kerosene 1981

Redgum are an important band in the history of Australian music, responsible for political folk-rock that had an actual influence on the politics of the time. They are best remembered for their protest song "I Was Only Nineteen (A Walk in the Light Green)," which underwent something of a popular revival during Australia's participation in the second Iraq war. The band formed at Adelaide's Flinders University in 1975 while the members were attending the same politics and art class. The three students, John Schumann (vocals, guitar), Michael Atkinson (guitar, piano, vocals, mandolin), and Verity Truman (flute, saxophone, tin whistle, vocals) volunteered to submit a musical piece for their group assignment. The political songs they performed were so popular with their classmates that they found themselves immediately fielding calls to play at parties, political rallies, and pubs -- though they hadn't even decided on a name yet. Fellow Flinders University student Chris Timms joined them on violin and the then four-piece settled on the name Redgum.

Their first album, If You Don't Fight You Lose, debuted in 1978. It was recorded after a radio station told the band that approximately 200 people were requesting they make copies of the early demo recording they had been broadcasting. Each bandmember continued to work and study while performing on weekends and holidays until after the release of their popular second album, Virgin Ground, in 1981 convinced them to make the band a full-time priority. Tom Stehlik (drums) and Dave Flett (bass) joined the band, while Chris Timms left to be replaced by Hugh McDonald (violin, bass, guitar, vocals). It was their live album Caught in the Act, released in 1983, that made Redgum a national and enduring sensation. Its single, "I Was Only Nineteen (A Walk in the Light Green," went to number one. The song's frank depiction of the experiences of a Vietnam veteran, based on the story of Schumann's brother-in-law, made many Australians rethink their positions and within a year there was a Royal Commission into the use of Agent Orange and other chemicals by the Australian military. Royalties from the song were donated to the Vietnam Veterans of Australia Association.

By 1984 Flett and Stehlik had left the band. Brian Czempinski took over for Stehlik on drums, and Michael Spicer (piano) and Stephen Cooney (didgeridoo, bass, mandolin, banjo) were added to the lineup for their next album, Frontline. In 1986, at the height of their fame, lead singer Schumann left to sign with CBS as a solo act and thereafter enter politics. The group carried on in his absence, releasing the Midnight Sun album later that year. Atkinson left in 1987 and the group disbanded permanently in 1990 without recording anything further. In 2005 Redgum's music became unexpectedly popular and relevant to a new generation when political hip-hop act the Herd began performing their own interpretation of "I Was Only 19" at their concerts, eventually recording an acoustic version featuring Schumann as a guest for the re-release of their album The Sun Never Sets. AMG..

listen here

Ragpicker String Band - The Ragpicker String Band 2015

Mandolinist Rich DelGrosso, Guitarist Mary Flower and multi-instrumentalist Martin Grosswendt have earned streams of praise for their string skills. Combined, they've scored 9 Blues Music Award nominations as well as rave reviews and top festival slots worldwide. They strum, pick and bow up a storm together as the Ragpicker String Band — but it's their tight trio harmonies that especially dazzle.

listen here

Trio Mandili - With Love 2015

Trio Mandili is a Georgian musical group originally consisting of three young women: Anna Chincharauli, Tatia Mgeladze and Shorena Tsiskarauli. Interesting group that embraces the Georgian traditional music with a new sound, give it a listen!

listen here

Chad Smith's Bombastic Meatbats - Meet The Meatbats 2009

Past say, oh, the early to mid-'80s, whenever you heard the phrase "instrumental rock music," it usually meant a group of heavy metallists shredding away on their respective instruments (usually with guitar gymnastics at the forefront). In other words, showing off your chops seemed to win out over the importance of songwriting time and time again. But by the time of the debut album by Chad Smith's Bombastic Meatbats, 2009's Meet the Meatbats, this is thankfully no longer the case. In fact, the group specifically turns the clock back to the '70s, when instrumental rock music was based in funk and fusion styles (Jeff Beck's Wired, Return to Forever's Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy, Billy Cobham's Spectrum, etc.). Some mighty fine fusion-y grooves can be detected throughout Meet the Meatbats (and they're very authentic-sounding) -- especially such ditties as "Battle for Ventura Boulevard," "Death Match," and "Need Strange." Smith has long been considered one of rock's top drummers, and the debut album by his Bombastic Meatbats will only strengthen his standing. AMG.

listen here

Butch Morris - Dust To Dust 1990

Lawrence "Butch" Morris' conduction technique, a form of directed improvisation whereby musicians follow a variety of live hand signals by the conductor to shape and reshape both notated and non-notated music, has not taken on the revered status of Ornette Coleman's harmolodic method of free improvisation, but has produced equally exciting music. In fact, mirroring the keen mix of composition and improvisation found in both Anthony Braxton's and John Zorn's work, Morris' relatively structured music at times surpasses Coleman's more free-form output. If his conceptions were amateurish, Morris' "songs" would pale in comparison to any of the high-end work Coleman has produced, but, as is the case with Dust to Dust, the pieces come out sounding whole and refined, enhanced greatly by a variety of impromptu musical twists. Enlisting a stellar cast of 12 musicians including, among others, drummer Andrew Cyrille, pianist Myra Melford, harp player Zeena Parkins, clarinetist Marty Ehrlich, and keyboard player Wayne Horvitz, Morris works through a varied program of seven numbers, mixing electronic and acoustic elements to produce constantly shifting ambient soundscapes. The pieces range from the spacious and pastoral-sounding "Via Talciona" and "Othello A" (with the harp parts faintly evoking Japanese koto music) to the more tightly wound, atonal-minimalist "Bartok Comprovisation," which is insistently moved along by repetitive figures played on the piano and a variety of electronic instruments. For the duration of all these cuts, a multitude of sound fragments drift in and out as original themes progressively turn more diffuse, broken up by a variety of rhythmic shifts. Some sound contrivances don't come off, like a few awkward guitar bits on "Via Talciona," but considering the amount of improvisation going on here and the mostly seamless result, these indiscretions end up as attractive aberrations. Taking in Webern's 12-tone brevity, Far Eastern music, jazz, Brian Eno's ambient work, and a load of his own compositional ideas, Morris creates a sophisticated and satisfying mix on Dust to Dust. AMG.

listen here

John Greaves - Songs 1994

John Greaves has always done his best work in collaboration, whether in his early days in the hyper-collaborative collective Henry Cow or later albums with the likes of Pip Pyle, Lisa Herman, and his primary collaborator, Peter Blegvad. On his fifth album, Songs, however, the parade of guest stars occasionally gets a bit overwhelming. It's more like a John Greaves tribute album than anything else! Working with a drummerless acoustic piano/bass/guitar trio starring French pianist Sophia Domancich, along with various guest musicians, Greaves runs through a program of older songs and a few new ones. He does none of the singing, leaving that to friends like Robert Wyatt (who contributes three vocals, including a stunning remake of "Kew. Rhone.") and Kristoffer Blegvad. This isn't a bad thing in itself (Wyatt and Blegvad are both stunning interpreters), but it does mean that some of Greaves' own personality is unfortunately missing from the album. Songs will be a treat for longtime fans, but newcomers are advised to start elsewhere first for the full effect. AMG.

listen here

Chickenfoot - Chickenfoot III - 2011

Maybe the only surprising thing about Chickenfoot's critically dismissed 2009 debut was that anyone should have been surprised at its eventual commercial success. After all, there was just no way that America's average Joe classic rock consumer was going to resist spending all of that disposable beer money on a super-sized union between Sammy Hagar, Joe Satriani, Michael Anthony, and Chad Smith, no matter how meager its artistic rewards. Temptation embraced, the broth thickens with a second Chickenfoot LP -- cheekily named Chickenfoot III -- that offers much the same in terms of musical and intellectual stimuli (don't laugh) with its rather shameless though surely to-be-expected, exploitation of the vintage Van Hagar aesthetic. Love it or loathe it, said blueprint yields plenty of mainstream rock comfort food in the shape of muscular opener "Last Temptation," the subsequent, irresistible singalong "Alright Alright," and even the bluesier, acoustic-infused "Something Gone Wrong," among other tracks. And while some listeners may understandably take exception with Satriani's occasional overindulgence in EVH's legendary "brown sound" on cuts like "Lighten Up" and "Big Foot," the guitar hero's simultaneous willingness to mask his silver alien fret pyrotechnics for the betterment of simple, anthemic single "Different Devil," or the subdued yacht rocker "Come Closer" is perhaps the biggest endorsement of Chickenfoot's true status as a band, rather than yet another jumble of superstars jamming for their 401ks. Having said that, the ship has unfortunately and unquestionably sailed on Sammy Hagar's ability to convey a serious lyric with believable conviction (way too many waboritas and mas tequilas, Sammy, sorry bro), and so it's hard to reconcile his effort to recite earnest letters written by the down-and-unemployed with shrieks of "I need a job"! on the confusing "Three-Letter Word." Likewise, the sardonic "Dubai Blues" just isn't very funny when spewed through the mouth of a dyed-in-the-wool capitalist millionaire, but maybe we're thinking too hard here… After all, it's already been established that Chickenfoot III is an unapologetic exercise in classic rock nostalgia, take it or leave it, and at least it's honestly so -- unlike the latest Jane's Addiction or Pulp reunions…both of them such anti-corporate, anti-establishment indie rockers, clearly. Not! So judge not, indie rockers and other self-satisfied musical tribes: any way you slice it, the aging rock audience is hungry and, flawed as they may be, Chickenfoot are just the guys to feed them. AMG.

listen here

Bonnie Raitt, Lowell George & John Hammond - Ultrasonic Studios 1972 (Live) 2015

The old Ultrasonic Studios sessions curated by the old influential Long Island rock station WLIR-FM continue to provide some of the coolest archival live material in record shops today. And the latest gem mined from the depths of the station’s archives is a “super session” to rival Bloomfield, Stills and Cooper, boasting John Hammond, Bonnie Raitt and Lowell George. Recorded on Oct. 17, 1972, the first half of this largely acoustic 77-minute set spotlights a young Raitt, emanating all sorts of stoned, soulful sexiness as she rolls through easy, mellow versions of tunes by the likes of Chris Smither (“Love Me Like a Man”), Jackson Browne (“Under the Fallling Sky”) and Blind Faith (a heart-stopping take on “Can’t Find My Way Home”). Lowell’s portion of the set is equally sublime, although it would’ve been nice if that annoying tape hiss permeating the performance was mixed down for retail. Nevertheless, once you hear the Little Feat guitar great deliver rolling versions of the old Elmore James favorite “The Sky Is Crying” and Jimmy Reed’s “Honest I Do,” any unwelcome audio imperfections simply fade into the background. But the real treat on Ultrasonic Studios 1972 is when Raitt, George and the perennially underrated Hammond on harp are all locked in together on the Sailin’ Shoes highlight “A Apolitical Blues,” performed in defiance after the show’s host Ken Cole requested they play “Willin’” from the first Little Feat album. There is nothing a little EQ-ing couldn’t fix to get to the pure heart of this long, lost Hempstead hootenanny.


listen here