Cosmonauts - If You Wanna Die Then I Wanna Die 2012

Calling their distorted, amped sound "drug punk,"Cosmonauts are a California-based garage punk band known for their simple, physically powerful songs and punishing stage volume. Cosmonauts were formed in 2009 by guitarists Alexander Ahmadi and Derek Cowart, natives of Fullerton in Orange County. They met when a mutual friend staged a house show and the two ended up jamming together. As Cowart told a reporter, "It was almost the same fashion as when the Clash approached (Joe) Strummer. 'I like you, but I hate your band,' is pretty much what Alex told me. I was like, 'That's alright. I hate my band, too.'" Teaming with bassist James Sanderson III and drummer Cole Devine, the four became Cosmonauts, and began hashing out powerful, drone-inspired guitar jams inspired by Spacemen 3, Sonic Youth, andthe Velvet Underground. The group also discovered a simple way to get its trademark thick, reverb-heavy sound: using old amps and driving them as loud as possible. (As Cowart says, "The Kinks didn't get their tones from pedals, they just blew out their amps. It sounds cooler that way.") A few months after their first shows, Cosmonauts released their first album, a cassette-only offering issued by the hip label/record shop Burger Records that hit the street in the summer of 2010. Cosmonauts soon set out on their first tour, landed a spot at the South by Southwest Music Conference, and began releasing fresh material at a steady pace, including the cassette-only New Psychic Denim EP and a handful of 7" singles. In 2011, Cosmonauts' debut album was reissued on vinyl by Chicago's Permanent Records, and the band's many singles were compiled on a cassette-only collection, Natalie Wilson's Arm. Their second full-length, If You Wanna Die Then I Wanna Die, was released in 2012, and in 2013 the group reunited with Burger to release a third album, Persona Non Grata. AMG.

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Alan Skidmore & Amampondo - The Call 1999

b. Alan Richard James Skidmore, 21 April 1942, Kingston-on-Thames, London, England. ‘Skid’ plays soprano and tenor saxophones, flutes and drums. He is the son of Jimmy Skidmore, who gave him a discarded tenor that Alan ignored until he was about 15. At that time he decided to teach himself to play. A muscular and versatile player himself, the musicians he particularly admires include Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon, Michael Brecker, Ronnie Scott, Andy Sheppard and, above all, John Coltrane. Skidmore began playing professionally in 1958, and did various commercial engagements, including tours with comedian Tony Hancock and singer Matt Monro and five years in the house band at London’s Talk Of The Town nightclub.

In 1961 he made the first of many appearances on BBC Radio’s Jazz Club, and also met his idol, Coltrane. In the following years Skidmore worked with numerous important and/or successful bands, including Eric Delaney, where he replaced his father when Jimmy decided to leave (in 1963), Alexis Korner (1964), John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers (1964), Ronnie Scott (1965), Georgie Fame And The Blue Flames (1970), Mike Westbrook (1970-71), Mike Gibbs (1970-71), and Chris McGregor’s Brotherhood Of Breath (1971). In 1969, he formed his own quintet (Kenny Wheeler, Tony Oxley, John Taylor and Harry Miller), with which he won the best soloist and best band awards at the Montreux International Jazz Festival and gained a scholarship to Berklee College Of Music, although he did not take this up.

In 1973, he co-founded S.O.S., probably the first all-saxophone band, with Mike Osborne and John Surman. He has subsequently formed various small groups of his own, including El Skid (co-led with Elton Dean), SOH, and Tenor Tonic, and has worked with the George Gruntz Concert Band, the Elvin Jones Jazz Machine, the Charlie Watts Orchestra, Stan Tracey, Mose Allison, Van Morrison, Georgie Fame again, and with the West German Radio Band as featured soloist from 1981-84. In April 1991, he was reunited with Surman when they played as a duo at a benefit for Osborne. In 2002 he was once again blowing some magnificent saxophone for Georgie Fame And The Blue Flames. Unquestionably one of the best jazz saxophonists Britain has ever produced. AMG.

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Brian Blade Fellowship - Perceptual 2000

With this second date from the Fellowship, Brian Blade proves that while he is one of the most in-demand session drummers of the '90s, his skills as a bandleader and composer are not to be overlooked. Blade composes songs as if he were painting a broad mural. He sculpts landscapes of sound, orchestral in their feel and truly breathtaking in their grandeur. His own playing, sinuous and breathy, ties the septet together in ways that recall the best progressive jazz of the 1960s, as well as the fusion of the 1970s. Inspired by childhood memories of fishing the Louisiana bayous of his youth on "Evinrude-Fifty (Trembling)"; or ethnic strife around the world, as on the three-part epic "Variations of a Bloodline"; or by the violent world that children must face every day "Steadfast," Blade broadens the scope and ambition of his music even further, almost matching its melodic breadth. New guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel adds dynamic colors to the group's sound, and the solos from pedal steel player Dave Easley are again transcendent. For Perceptual, Blade even handled production duties himself, and in all honesty, turned in a finished product more complete and engaging the group's Daniel Lanois-produced debut. Lanois plays spooky fuzz guitar on one track, and former Blade employer Joni Mitchell adds a willowy vocal on another. AMG.

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Amina Claudine Myers - Country Girl 1986

A very original pianist who displays her gospel roots when she plays organ or sings, Amina Claudine Myers started studying music when she was seven. She sang with gospel groups in school. After moving to Chicago, Myers taught in the public schools, played with Gene Ammons and Sonny Stitt, and joined the AACM. She moved to New York in 1976 (where she would record with Lester Bowieand Muhal Richard Abrams), formed her own group, spent a few years in the early '80s in Europe, and toured with Charlie Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra in 1985. Amina Claudine Myers has recorded a diverse variety of music as a leader for Sweet Earth, Leo, Black Saint, Minor Music, and Novus. AMG.

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Betty LaVette - Child of the Seventies 2006

Exemplifying that it is truly "better late than never," it has taken over 30 years to finally get soul divaBettye LaVette's oft-rumored Child of the Seventies out to eager ears. Granted, much of the material was released as Souvenirs on the French indie Art & Soul label in 2000. However, this CD sounds markedly better and the project is served up in its entirety alongside four 45s that the artist recorded during two distinctly different periods of her career. She was credited as "Betty LaVett" in 1962 when "My Man -- He's a Lovin' Man" b/w "Shut Your Mouth," and (the following year) "You'll Never Change" b/w "Here I Am" were licensed and distributed internationally by Atlantic Records, with the former title making it all the way to a very respectable number seven on the R&B charts. LaVette joined forces with producer Brad Shapiro, and in late 1972 found herself signed to the Atlantic Records spinoff Atco, recording what should have been her great breakthrough album at the famed Muscle Shoals Sound Studios. Yet, when all was said and done, only her cover of Neil Young's " Heart of Gold" b/w "You'll Wake Up Wiser," which was followed several months later by "Your Turn to Cry" b/w "Soul Tambourine," would make it onto store shelves. Originally planned for inclusion on Child of the Seventies, for years the latter two songs remained the album's only remnants; finally, they are presented in their original context as well as in separate mono mixes. Had wiser heads prevailed, Child of the Seventies may have meant Bettye LaVette's name would be as universally acclaimed by R&B lovers as that of, say,Aretha Franklin. AMG.

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Archie Bell - I Never Had It So Good 1981

Archie Bell & the Drells scored a left-field number one hit in 1968 with "Tighten Up," which epitomized the virtues of their music: funky, exuberant, danceable soul out for a rousing good time. Born in Henderson, TX, Bell grew up in Houston and began singing in church. In junior high, he joined a vocal group called Little Pop & the Fireballs, and formed the Drells in high school with friends James Wise, Huey "Billy" Butler, and Joe Cross (later replaced by Willie Pernell). The Drells won several local talent shows, performing a repertoire dominated by Chicago soul, and were discovered by local DJ Skipper Lee Frazier, who became their manager and producer. Bell & the Drells cut a single for Frazier's Ovid label, "She's My Woman," which became a regional hit in 1966.

Unfortunately, Bell was drafted in 1967. Before he was shipped overseas, he managed to record a few more tracks with the Drells, including the single "Dog Eat Dog." The B-side was a dance tune called "Tighten Up," the title of which came from Butler; backing the Drells was an instrumental R&B combo from Texas Southern University called the T.S.U. Toronados. Frazier was talked into playing "Tighten Up" on his radio show, and it became a smash hit in Houston, drawing the attention of Atlantic. With major-label distribution, "Tighten Up" took the country by storm in early 1968, hitting number one on both the pop and R&B charts. Bell learned of the song's success while recovering from wounds suffered in Vietnam, and with Atlantic requesting a full album, he began traveling to and from the States on leave. Meanwhile, several promoters took advantage of Bell's absence to send fake Archie Bell & the Drells lineups out on the road. The real Bell was granted leave to tour with the Drells that summer, and after a show in New Jersey, the group was approached by a fledgling Philadelphia-based songwriting/production team, Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. Bell & the Drells started recording heavily with the duo, a partnership that produced several more danceable R&B hits in "I Can't Stop Dancing," "Do the Choo-Choo," and "(There's Gonna Be A) Showdown" (the former two in 1968, the latter in 1969). Also in 1969, Butler left the group and was replaced by Lee Bell, Archie's brother, who became the Drells' choreographer.

In spite of the fact that Bell received his discharge from the Armed Forces and was finally free to pursue his career, "(There's Gonna Be A) Showdown" proved to be the last Top 40 pop hit he ever had. Bell & the Drells left Atlantic in 1970 and signed with the smaller Glades label, where they had a minor hit with "Dancing to Your Music." Overall, though, the Glades stint was disappointing, and in 1973 the group reunited with Gamble and Huff on their flourishing TSOP/Philadelphia International imprint. Working with producers like Bunny Sigler and McFadden & Whitehead,Bell & the Drells landed on the R&B charts with some regularity over the next few years, their still-danceable sound now a hybrid of lush Philly soul and disco. They had several substantial R&B hits from 1975-1976 with "I Could Dance All Night," "Soul City Walk," and "Let's Groove," all of which helped Dance Your Troubles Away become a Top Ten album on the R&B charts. Three follow-up albums through 1979 didn't prove quite as successful, however, andthe Drells gave their last performance just before Christmas 1979. Bell subsequently cut a solo album,I Never Had It So Good, for Becket in 1981, and had a minor hit with "Anytime Is Right," but disappeared from the scene afterward. With a new set of Drells, Bell later became a staple of the East Coast's oldies-centered beach-music circuit. AMG.

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Cafe Tacuba - Re 1994

For Re, Café Tacuba experimented with different styles and sounds, resulting in one of the most wildly varied releases of the '90s. "El Ciclón" is a clavinet-driven funk track that echoes Billy Preston, while "Esa Noche" is a tender ranchero ballad. The raucous "El Borrego," which simultaneously mocks and salutes other Mexican rock acts (Maldita Vecindad gets a name-check), could give Ministry a run for their money in the electro-metal department. If there is a flaw, it's that the band's reach sometimes exceeds its grasp. The album occasionally seems too ambitious, and the songwriting could stand to be a bit more focused; the band's power is sometimes diluted by the diffuse energy. Still, Re proves thatCafé Tacuba is lyrically and musically more adventurous than most of its '90s peers. AMG.

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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