MELOMANIA running at you with the best of RSD BLACK FRIDAY!
160! releases of all makes, models, shapes and sizes! We wanted to give you more - but time just would not allow.
EDGAR FROESE - Aqua [BLUE LP](LMLR)
Away from Tangerine Dream, Edgar Froese's synthesizer composition takes on an early Ambient form on 1974's "Aqua." The seventeen-minute title cut carries you away almost naturally on its machine-made clouds. "Panorphelia" develops a Tangerine-ish theme around a bubbling sequencer loop and haunting Mellotron. Chris Franke joins Froese on the "Phaedra"-ish "NGC891" (perhaps the galaxy or the number of the plane passing over several times?) Finally, Froese closes out with the hiccuping/bubbling organ journey of "Upland."
KID N’PLAY - 2HYPE [LP](Kid N’Play/Select/Traffic)
Like it or not, Kid N'Play established the blueprint for Hip-Hop artists today. When they leaped into the edgy new danceable Rap scene in the mid-Eighties, it was too easy to dismiss them as kid's stuff. However thanks to producer Hurby "Luv Bug" Azor (the genius behind Salt N'Pepa's immortal "Push It" and others,) "2HYPE" is packed with airtight funky grooves and rhymes delivered with the same intensity as Public Enemy and Run DMC. Unlike those, "2HYPE" was club-ready with a funky Go-Go beat on "Rollin' With Kid N'Play," wielding that Bomb Squad-style James Brown beat on "Gittin' Funky," and even rapping over Sam & Dave's "Soul Man" with big beats that were right in your face. When audiences saw their patented kick step and Kid's high-high-high-fade, they were instantly famous. The Nineties put them on both screens as actors and personalities. "2HYPE" was the first hint of Hip-Hop as a breeding ground for film stars.
Various Artists - TOMMY BOY’S BADDEST BEATS [LP](Tommy Boy)
As Rap became Hip-Hop in the late Eighties/early Nineties, the independent label Tommy Boy took the lead with searing singles that burned up the dancefloor and both the R&B and Pop charts. Gathered together are nothing but the hits. Naughty By Nature and the late Coolio get on twice. Digital Underground and House of Pain contribute true party-starters. While the deeper cuts highlight how the next generation was listening to the reggae-tinged boom of Queen Latifah, the Jazz flavor of Stetsasonic featuring young Prince Paul, and the first strains of Latin and Reggaeton-style music in Hip-Hop on K7's booming "Come Baby Come."
Various Artists - JAZZ DISPENSARY: HAUNTED HIGH [LP](Jazz Dispensary/Concord)
In their ongoing series of Psychedelic/Mystical Seventies Jazz, Jazz Dispensary outdoes itself on "Haunted High" as Cannonball Adderley battles synths on "Phases," followed by a terse big band arrangement from Woody Herman ("La Fiesta," and then a meditative McCoy Tyner ("Desert Cry.") Vocalist Flora Purim dives into the echo effects on the spacey Latin jam "Silver Sword" and West Coast vibe legend Cal Tjader smooths out "Mindoro." All of these hidden gems from the vast Concord Jazz library can only be found in this collection.
CHARLES MINGUS - Mingus [LP](Candid/AMPED)
In a true live session in the studio in October 1960, Mingus leads a big band (including Eric Dolphy, Jimmy Knepper, Booker Ervin, Charles McPherson, and Dannie Richmond) through what Nat Hentoff's liner notes describe as a "roller coaster" set of songs. "MDM" joins Duke, Monk, and Mingus together in a 20-minute exploration that proves how nimble his players were. Mingus and Dolphy (on alto sax) start the standard "Stormy Weather" with a smoldering duet, and Mingus closes it out with the tense original "Lock 'Em Up (Hellview of Bellevue.)"
STARK REALITY - Discovers Hoagy Carmichael’s Music Shop [2LP](Now Again)
In the nascent days of Public Television, WGBH's Hoagy Bix wanted to produce a show that included a set of children's songs written in 1954 by his father, Hoagy Carmichael. Hiring the psychedelic Jazz musicians from Berklee known as Stark Reality was a huge leap. Monty Stark's tone-bending vibes were run through a battery of effects pedals. John Abercrombie's wah-wah guitar, Phil Morrison's elastic bass, and Vinnie Johnson's steady beat joined Tin Pan Alley with Post-Bop Jazz. 50 years later, Stark Reality resides more in the Funk section than the dreaded Fusion side. Hoagy's simple melodies give these four many melodies to play with. While the band might slightly venture into some Hippie-ish trends, they have the discipline to keep the groove cooking throughout. Hoagy Carmichael was heard to say he liked it.
AHMAD JAMAL - Emerald City Nights: 1963-64/1965-66 [2LP each](Jazz Detective)
As Zev Feldman's first official Jazz Detective adventure (Feldman put five (!) LP projects in the Billboard Jazz Top 10 for April's RSD drop,) he chooses a consistently underrated Jazz pianist. Ahmad Jamal (still alive and playing today at 92) has been an inspiration to many (Jon Batiste idolizes him) and lauded by critics and fellow artists (Miles Davis declared that Jamal "knocked him out with his concept of using space.") His use of space is most on display over this eight sides (over these two separate releases.) As live recordings go, "Emerald City Nights" is pristine and gives all the dynamic range necessary to thrill to Jamal's chording and signature use of lines while pumping the two separate rhythm sections he used into the key portions of the tracks. Feldman has been instrumental in the recovery of lost Jazz sessions and these are perfectly packaged and presented for even non-Jazz fans to cherish.
MOSE ALLISON - Live 1978 [LP](Liberation Hall)
Mississippi-born Mose Allison is probably more famous for the songs he wrote ("Young Man Blues" and "Parchman Farm") than his recordings. While the record sounds a lot like nightclub acts from the Seventies, Allison plays piano beautifully altering his honky-tonk style with thunderous runs ("Wildman on the Loose.") Drummer Jerry Granelli and bassist Tom Rutley do their best to keep up, but "Live 1978" is Allison's show. He exercises dynamics, pedal work, doubled runs ("It Feels So Good"), and even lays down subtle, but effective block chording (the swinging "Your Molecular Structure") that veers slightly atonal ("Swingin' Machine.")
Well, another week, another list of several different styles and pursuits in music for you. Enjoy. Listen again. Share as you wish.
NEW RELEASES lovingly compiled for you from this very week!
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