What are you spinning?

Joe_Stax · What are you spinning?

What's the latest on your turntable or playlist?

Right now I'm digging the first album by the Paupers, Magic People. It's an almost great lp...I think it just falls a bit short on a few of the songs.
My fave tracks are: Magic People, Black Thank You Package, It's Your Mind and Think I Care. The more raucous numbers, really.
Best song title: My Love Hides Your View--sounds like it should have been by Love!

Just can't get enough of Odessey & Oracle by the Zombies. It's a perfect album for the change of seasons, and fall has fallen in Pittsburgh. The weather the past couple of weeks has been steadily cooling, and we've just had some of the lowest overnight temps for the season.
It's supposed to warm up for a couple of days, but then back to autumn.

Any suggestions for Indian Summer listening?

JimENight

Indeed, I had that Magic People lp on my turntable this summer for a while as well. Very exciting to be able to spin the mono copy!
Glad to hear you digging the Zombies Odessey & Oracle (yes folks, that's how they spelled it on the album cover - Odessey!) that's one of those albums that makes you wonder why you ever stop listening to it once it's on.
For Indian Summer, try the first album by The Insect Trust, or Rainbow Ffolly!

Maxicat

Ah yes The Paupers. A fine band and an excellent drummer too. I don't have that album as I couldn't afford to buy albums back then. I do have a couple of their 45's though. Still play them from time to time but have them on the 'puter as mp3's. Don't want to scratch that old vinyl any more than it is already. I missed the last 2 shows but I'll be back in the listening mode this saturday night.
Joe I have a friend who lived near Pittburgh. Just south of Apollo off Route 66 I think it is. Poke Run Church Road. He moved to Florida to fish and keep warm. Great motorbiking roads around there.

Mike
Downtown Keswick Ontario

Joe_Stax

This week's a real mixed bag--I'm all over the map with my listening.

Right now I'm listening to A Secret History by the Divine Comedy. My friend Keef turned me on to this urbane pop stuff from the UK. It kind of makes me think of Belle & Sebastian, which has also cropped up this week.

Turning the clock back to the 80's, another pop pick this week has been the Wild Giraffes, from the Cleveland area. They put out one album, Right Now, in 1981, and it's a gem of post-punk power-pop sounds. Some great originals, and wild covers of the Easybeats and Elvis.

I just picked up a comp cd of eps by Meic Stevens. How to describe this...the Welsh Dylan? Not quite. That doesn't do justice to the sounds. It's kinda a mix of folk with a jazzy swing. Sung in Welsh. A knockout on the first go round, but I need to dig deeper into this one.

Finally, back round to the early 70's, for the debut album by Tom Waits, Closing Time. This has been a favorite for many years, and is perhaps most fitting this week, with the news that the bookstore I work at is closing its doors for good on December 30. Alas.

Joe_Stax · First week of April...

This week, I've been playing a lot of the Zal Yanovsky solo album, Alive and Well in Argentina. It's a hard record to explain, and I'm not sure that I like the whole thing. But there are enough songs that keep my interest that I keep listening.

My fave tracks: Raven in a Cage, Alive & Well in Argentina, Priscilla Millionaira, As Long as You're Here.

Also in rotation is the first album by British folk singer June Tabor, Airs & Graces (circa 1976). She has a gorgeous voice.

Let's not forget the Animals! Their MGM album Animalism is one of my favorites; it's been a while since I've listened to it though, and it's still a powerhouse of a record.

JimENight

Hey, 2 weeks ago I picked up the soundtrack from "Revolution" a 1968 movie/documentary from the west-coast scene - I've not seen the movie nor had I heard of it when I ran into the LP.
What interested me is that it features songs by: Mother Earth, Quicksilver Messenger Service, & Steve Miller Band.
The songs (from what I can find from internet searches) appear to be unique to this soundtrack, which is not available on a CD reissue. The QSM songs are a stone groove! I have to admit that they are one band I have never listened to.. at all! Always heard them mentioned along with the San Fran scene of '67-'69, but never actually picked up any of their stuff.

But the real winner here are the songs from Mother Earth.
I came into a copy of their 2nd album "Living With The Animals" about 2 years ago (thanx to Chesty!) and was blown away! It's very exciting now to find 3 "lost" tracks by them on this vinyl soundtrack - including the title track "Revolution".
Mother Earth are highly recommended and require further investigation by yours truly.
Dig! Shocked

Joe_Stax · still spinning Zally...

I still can't explain the appeal--and maybe appeal is the wrong word for it--but I'm still into the Zal Yanovsky lp this week.

It was kind of off-putting on the first play, but there's something compelling about it. Maybe it's Zally having a big laugh at the label's expense?

Also rotating this week is the Insect Trust's second record, Hoboken Saturday Night. Again, this is one that didn't grab me on the first spin, but it is an album that reveals its pleasures with additional listening.

JimENight

Our Sister The Sun! Idea

Rockin'_Art_Lewis

Heaven (or maybe Hell Twisted Evil

) only knows why, but the record sitting on the turntable at the moment is Richard Harris; "MacArthur Park". Sheez! What a hideous piece of doody it is, too.
The MP3s I've been listening to have been a damn sight cooler. The Ugly Ducklings have been high on the rotation.
Anyone notice the similarity between "She Ain't No Use To Me" and the Guess Who's "No Sugar Tonight"?

Joe_Stax

It's time for the Memorial Day update--currently there's a lot of more mainstream stuff playing at chez Stax; it's as if I'm catching up on a few things I've missed lately.

The Kinks--Village Green Preservation Society. How did I miss this for the last 20 years?! I love the early Kinks, and turned on to the career reviving "Come Dancing" back in 1984, so how is it that I've never listened to this? Because it's amazing! I may have to take this over to the psych discussion, because I really want to talk about this at length...it's so perfectly of its time, but completely apart from anything that was happening.

The Beatles--Meet the Beatles. It's because of the next one...but I really had to listen to Please Please Me afterward, if only because I Saw Her Standing There is one of the great album openers.

The Smithereens--Meet the Smithereens. It's kind of like hearing a really good Beatles cover band that can't make the high notes anymore, but it's excellently played and sung and a neat tribute while avoiding the old cover album conundrum (which is: can a band/artist make an album of covers in mid-career without it just being a placeholder?). Made me want to listen to the early Beatles lps again.

Joe_Stax

Kitty, my Mrs, wanted me to mention that on some songs on Meet the Smithereens, Pat DiNizio really channels Elvis Costello.

Rockin'_Art_Lewis

I don't know how I missed out on that Smithereens disc. Embarassed

Been a fan of theirs for ages.
My multiple spin category has been taken up with the "Mozhi" soundtrack. A Tamil language film, that came out last year. VERY different from the stuff You hear in recent "Bollywood" productions. The music does brush up against M.O.R. at times, but it's fantastic. The standout track is "Katrin Mozhiye Oliya Isaiya", sung by Sujitha. Sounds like what Norah Jones would have done, had she been raised by Dad. Words don't adequately describe how good this song is. Thank goodness for the repeat button, man! Laughing

Peace!

R.A.L.

Joe_Stax

I'm having another 80's flashback right now. The one record I've been spinning a lot this last week or so is HEXBREAKER! by the Fleshtones, which came out in 1983 on the IRS label.

It's a great record; chock full of high energy garage rock. The band preferred to call their sound Super Rock, and described it thusly:

"Super Rock is all of the great elements that make rock & roll the great and vital thing that excites people rolled into one, without saying, this is disco or this is garage rock. Putting it together and rolling it up into one big greasy ball: that’s Super Rock." so says singer Peter Zaremba.

"Super Rock is taking the best, most exciting elements of rock & roll, and exaggerating and amplifying them beyond proportion, with no apology whatsoever." which is the opinion of drummer Bill Milhizer.

However you describe it, I dig it!

JimENight

Geez, Joe, I can't believe you weren't spinnin' "The Kinks Are The Village Green..." years ago. I love that album, but I would not call it psychedelic (as Mojo Magazine did in it's special issue on the topic 2 years ago...).
Anyway,
I'm spinnin' a self-titled psych record by a French group: Les Fleurs de Pavot from 1968. Kinda like Os Mutantes meets The Moody Blues wherein both groups attempt to utilize lyrics in French as some sort of neutral ground. In any case, they are full of psychedelic surprises and groovy as Hell!
Also been spinning "It's Smoke Time" by The Smoke ca. '65, and Arzachel which is kinda heavy psych-prog from '68. Mr. Green

Joe_Stax

Thanks to our discussion of the upcoming Pink Floyd anniversary set, I'm digging the 1967 singles and Piper (in glorious MONO). I may go for Saucerful of Secrets yet, or maybe switch over to the Robyn Hitchcock tribute to Syd, wherein he plays all of Piper live.

Rockin'_Art_Lewis

I've been spinning a lot of "Squaresville" stuff lately.
Part of it is due to compiling a Lounge comp for possible future release.
I've avoided putting better known artists on it, like Esquivel, in favour of George Poole and his Orchestra, or Klaus Ogermann. This is real "Dad Music" material! Laughing

This past month a sweet li'l Labrador Retriever mix Dog adopted me. She really isn't into the music I tend to blast around the house at full volume. She does
like "Environmental" and New Age, though.
My goal is to get her into The Dirtbombs and all the other freaky jams that I'm into. If I can play Zappa and keep her in the same room with me, without hearing the pitter-patter of little Canine feet bolting for the back door, it will be a mission accomplished. Twisted Evil

Peace!

-R.A.L.

Rockin'_Art_Lewis

Much cooler picks, over the weekend. Cool

Humble Pie's "Lost And Found" set. (The first two L.P.s "As Safe As Yesterday Is" and "Town And Country" in one really silly looking gatefold.)
Odd thing about this release, is that "Natural Born Bugie" replaces "Growing Closer" on the vinyl, even though it's not mentioned on the label or sleeve.
Any way you slice or dice these albums, they're still brilliant.
The slightly less brilliant, but pretty darn good other piece of wax that factored into Saturday morning was The Butts Band's eponymous release. This was the group that Krieger and Densmore settled into after the breakup of some other band. Laughing

Phillip Chen, a criminally overlooked bassman if there ever was one, provides some tasty bottom end here. (Okay, that sounds disgusting, but the name of the outfit is The Butts Band for crying out freakin' loud!! Laughing

) Nothing great musically, but it's still a nice listen.

Peace!

-R.A.L.

Joe_Stax

Y'know, I've always wondered about the Butts Band. As a Doors fan in high school, I read about the post-Doors stuff, but much of that material was nigh impossible to find in the early 80's in York, PA.

A few years later, with access to a hipper record store while in college near Erie I picked up Other Voices, some solo Manzarek, and a 12" single by the Krieger-Densmore Reggae Bonanza. That was my first exposure to Bob Marley, too! (Get Up Stand Up was side 1. I think it was released on Rhino)

As for Humble Pie, I'll stand by Town & Country as their best album.

JimENight

Don't look now, but SOMEBody's been diggin' "A Gift From Euphoria".
Details to follow.

Joe_Stax

Tonight it was the Rada Krshna Temple album, the one produced by George Harrison. Can't explain it, really.

Rockin'_Art_Lewis

This evening it's another Goodwill find, from earlier today. Ron Frangipani's Orchestra, "Rated X** For Excitement".
Frangipani has some serious rock & roll cred, courtesy of John Lennon, The Stones, Janis Joplin, etc.
The album has a definite bachelor pad vibe. If you remember the phenomenon that happened during the early '70's with rock fans aging and wondering whether they were too old for the whole scene, you can figure out what type of audience this record was going for.
Too hip for Mom and Dad, but a little tame for those wild high school kids.
Some great covers of "Venus" (Shocking Blue, not Frankie Avalon!) "Something" and "Cherry Hill Park".
After spinning this for the first time, I Googled Frangipani. (Who's now teaching music in New Jersey.) Found his e-mail and sent him a fan letter.

Peace!

-R.A.L.

Astrakhan

Presently, I am tucking into the new Pink Floyd Piper at the Gates of Dawn set, and revisiting some bootlegs from the period as well.

Rockin'_Art_Lewis

The Zombies article on Perfect Sound Forever, had me reaching for "The Best Of The Zombies" on Music Club (MCCD 002)
Hadn't listened to this disc in ages, but Man, this is great stuff.
"I Don't Want To Know" is a lost classic! Very Beatlesque compared to their other material, with an incredibly good groove to it.
Very few "clunkers" on the disc, with a good amount of album tracks to illustrate the group's versatility.
Nice to find a cheapie comp that's this well done. Very Happy

Peace!

R.A.L.

Joe_Stax

Great pick from the Zombies, Raucous Art--they're by far one of the most overlooked bands of the 60's. Almost all of their originals are good, and most are excellent. I'm a little less thrilled by the early covers like Roadrunner; the Zombies had such a sound uniquely their own, that other people's songs always come off a little awkwardly (at least to my ears).

Joe_Stax

Tonight I'm digging deep into the Mekons. A little outside of my bailiwick, sure, but I got to see them last night (9/30) and they were INCREDIBLE!

So, this evening's music is the new album, Natural. The Mekons have been a lot of things over the years--punk, post-punk, avant, twisted country, punky reggae, pop, and now, at least for this record and tour, their sound is a kind of acoustic English roots sound.

It's an excellent album, and well worth exploring. A tip of the Stax chapeau to JG Sweeney for inviting me to the show and tuning me in to the Mekons.

Astrakhan

Presently, I'm enjoying some late period Gene Clark. In 1986, he recorded an excellent country rock album with singer Carla Olson. It's a fine mix of original songs and well chosen covers, titled So Rebellious A Lover.

It's the only album the duo made, and Gene Clark's last recording. Which adds a certain sad beauty to a fine album.

Joe_Stax

Hey! I have that one, too. It is a great record. It's a shame Gene Clark never got his due while he was alive. Since his passing, everybody's his friend...

I remember reading a really snotty review of the album in Creem way back then. The particulars are hazy, but I think their opinion was that it was only so-so at best. The clearest thing I remember was that they cut on Gene's vocal on the song Del Gato by calling him Del Pee-Pee. Even in my callow youth, I thought that was out of line. I mean, Gene Clark! The writer of all of the best originals for the Byrds!

Still, it would be few years before I heard the album properly, thanks to a cassette copy a friend gave me. It's too bad that there was never a follow up.

Rockin'_Art_Lewis

Raucous Art?! I love it! Laughing

Muchas Gracias Senor Stax!

Peace!

R.A.L.

Joe_Stax

For the last couple of days, I've been in a psychedelic mood...Tomorrow has been in heavy rotation, along with the Rainbow Ffolly Sallies Fforth by...the Rainbow Ffolly.

If I didn't know for a fact that the RFf album came out in 1968, I'd swear that this was some post-moderne retro-psych artifact, like the stuff by the Dukes of Stratosphear (alias XTC). Get this: all of the songs on the album are linked by little spoken word interludes, mixed with snatches of what sounds like random radio shows. And I'm telling you, right after the first track, She's Alright, I think I heard a bit of George Carlin doing his hippy dippy weatherman bit!

How hip is that?!

Astrakhan

Joe_Stax

Right on, Khan. I'm in two minds about McGuinn and Crosby...I like some of the Byrds albums after Clark left, but I find that 5D and Younger Than Yesterday are a bit patchy, quality wise. And then you get to Notorious Byrds Brothers, when the egos became too big be contained in the band and Crosby got the boot, with Mike Clarke following not long after.

Sweetheart is brilliant, but then Parsons and Hillman split, essentially leaving McGuinn as the owner of the name. There are some bright moments after this point, but even McGuinn has said in retrospect that he should've hung up the name at that point.

The two minds thing: I like some of the music, but after reading so many interviews in which Crosby or McGuinn comes off so smug and satisfied I don't really care for either of them.

Probably harsh of me, but that's the way it is...

Rockin'_Art_Lewis

I generally agree there, Joe.
The whole "ego trip" phenomenon is huge, in both camps. I tend to go a bit easy on Cros, because I've actually met the guy and his body of work is astonishing.
Now to the sad truth about what's been hovering around the turntable......
I'm indulging myself with some rather horrid 12" singles of songs that were great in their short form, but pointless to remix for a big slab 'o' vinyl. "Don't Dream It's Over" by Crowded House is a wonderful song. Why somebody would attempt a dance mix is beyond my ken, but someone did, unfortunately and it's a real mess!
Same story with The Thompson Twin's "Hold Me Now".
Why, why, why????????

Peace!

R.A.L.

Joe_Stax

This whole last week I've been compulsively listening to the Mekons. An endless mix of country-folk-cow-punk balladeering from a batch of lps. Try their new record, Natural. Or their best of, Heaven & Hell for a crazy overview. This is a band I want to join.

In need of some respite, tonight I'm spinning Ronnie Lane's first solo lp, Anymore For Anymore. And this very cool album by a Welsh folk singer, Meic Stevens.

It's called Outlander, and I hear it's his only English language record. It came out in 70, and it's entrancing. He's got a kind of Dylan vibe going on with some of his vocal inflections, and that's abetted by some solo acoustic and harmonica work. But then you get into some other tracks with some more instrumentation, like sitar, flute and percussion and you really move toward a psychedelic folk sound. Whoa! A banjo just kicked in for a more countrified sound for a song called Oxblood, then back to the eastern sounds for Yorric. Eclectic? Sure; I might even say it's all over the place.

Not as produced or precious as some Donovan (the closest analogy I can think of, not really the best), it's got a tougher feel to the songs. Donovan was always a gentle cat, and Meic Stevens seems to be more rough and tumble.

I've got a comp of some of his Welsh language eps--I'm going to have check that out and see how it compares with Outlander...

Astrakhan

You might laugh at this...but the first album by Traffic, which I've never listened to previously.

No, really. I've known about Traffic for years, after all they have quite a reputation, and Steve Windwood, etc. but I've never bothered to give the group a listen. Then, on a recent afterhours, I do believe Jim spun the Mr. Fantasy album (or part of it), and well, my curiosity was piqued.

One fact about Traffic that I liked was they inaugurated the notion of a band "getting it together in the country", relocating to a bucolic spot to let the peaceful vibes bring out the sounds. It clearly worked for the band.

I’ve read in the liner notes that there were some tensions within the band as Dave Mason didn’t write collaboratively, but I think all of the songs are quite strong. Some sound a bit more chart accessible, but all the tracks engage the listener and pull them in.

I’m particularly taken with the use of woodwinds on the album. How many rock groups had a sax player at this point? Chris Wood adds beautiful textures to the songs, and really sets them apart from much of the pack.

An excellent album (the cd had the non-lp singles, too), and I’m looking forward to diving into more Traffic albums. Could anyone suggest what I might try next?

Rockin'_Art_Lewis

Great choice, Astrakhan! Very Happy

Traffic did some brilliant stuff!
If you're on the trail of some more early Winwood, you could always check out the Spencer Davis Group. Probably the only convincing white R&B group I've heard. Great musicianship. I'm going to take flak for this, but I'll say it and dodge the arrows afterward. They would have beaten the livin' crap out of the Beatles, if they had the same ammount of songwriting talent as Lennon/McCartney. They were that good! Shocked

Peace!

-Rockin' Art (Now more hated than Kevin Federline! Laughing

)

JimENight

Yes, I have to admit that I sorta just never got around to really listening to Traffic. Just last year this time I too picked up the mono reissue of their first album on CD.
RAL, do you recommend proceeding chronologically from there?

Rockin'_Art_Lewis

That'd be a good progression (pun unintended) Jim E. Very Happy

I sort of plump for the stuff with the core line-up of Steve, Dave and Jim and tend to overlook the Windy, Rabbit, and who the heck knows who else periods.
Just a personal bias. Razz

Peace!

-R.A.L.

Rockin'_Art_Lewis

Schizoid turntable trips, the past few weeks.
I've got "The Mason Williams Phonograph Record" sitting on deck right now. Great music, but the quality of the disc itself is just waaay out there.
Probably one of the most brilliant sounding bits of vinyl in the stacks. One of those things you can whip onto the turntable to show how much better L.P.s are. Blah blah blah........ It's late and I'm cramming more hyperbole into this post than Dagwood can stuff between 4 or 5 slices of bread.
Decided for unknown reasons to put on "Do The Hustle". Yeah. The monumental three record set of disco instructions. It still cracks me up.
Spun Starship's "Red Octopus", more as a test listen for audio quality, than for the actual music. The original recording has some incredibly f&*(d up Dolby settings. You would think they could have got the things alligned. Oh well. They didn't and most of the record sounds like muddy crap. This is why "Aphexing" became so common in the Eighties. Even if your Dolby units were completely out of whack and you were too stoned to notice, or couldn't be arsed to tweak them, you had a quick fix-all.
Alright, Mamasita. I go sleep now...........zzzzzzzzzzz

zzzz!
z.z.z.

Rockin'_Art_Lewis

A lot of Robert Wyatt and the Floyd this past couple of weeks.
"Old Rottenhat" has been a fave, since who knows when. Okay, it's preachy, but I'm usually in agreement with Wyatt's politics, so from my side of the fence, it's a nice "lefty" campfire sing-along.
The Floyd stuff is actually a DVD ("The Making of The Dark Side of the Moon".) I put off buying this one for ages. The boredom and depression of the Holidays kind of made me finally take a copy home. Needed something to watch.
Well done documentary. Didn't reveal a lot of stuff I hadn't already known about the album, but there were a few choice tid-bits in it. No confrontation of the "Wizard Of Oz" urban legend, which would have given Roger the chance to go into a short rant. Laughing

Peas!

-R.A.L.

Joe_Stax

Joe_Stax

I forgot to include Steve Martin's Wild and Crazy Guy album. There was a piece in the New Yorker a few weeks back by Martin about his early stand up career, and how he developed his own style. Turns out this was a teaser for the new book that he'd written about his stand up years.

Anyway, it was an interesting and entertaining article, and made me dig up my copy of this classic that I've had since junior high, I think. I was around 13 at the time. Hell, I practically had it memorized, I listened to it so much.

It's still a tremendously funny record.

Rockin'_Art_Lewis

JimENight

just FYI, guys, are you aware that Danny Bonaduche did a solo album in the early 70s?
I have only heard one cut from it, which I did use on the show once for some inexplicable reason - His version of Feeling Groovy!
As for what I'm spinning lately off-air around the studio - Ellie Pop. I picked up a nice red vinyl reissue of their one and only album on the Mainstream label, circa '68. Also a bit of Stone Circus, also on the Mainstream label (CD tho) a jazz-fusion album by Steve Marcus where he covers Tomorow Never Knows, and I'm still stuck on the New Tweedy Brothers who will again be featured on an upcoming show - Her Darkness in December! Cool

Joe_Stax

According to legend, when Rhino Records was just a little retail store, they got stuck with a load of the Danny Bonaduce lp. Unable to sell any of them, they ended up paying customers a nickel to take a copy... Laughing

Rockin'_Art_Lewis

Joe, believe it or not, the Rhino Danny Bonaduce promo was the real deal. They also gave away copies of the initial Rhino record (RN-001)
"Go To Rhino Records", by the illustrious Wild Man Fischer. I still have my copy. Twisted Evil

Record of the moment: "Organ Transplant" from Billy Preston. Produced by Sly Stone. Funky B3 action!

Peace!

-R.A.L.

Joe_Stax

All over the place this week! There's some cool neo-retro psych from a group called the Black Hollies. The album's called Casting Shadows. Check it out if you get a chance.

I've been digging a Norman Blake album from 1976, Whiskey Before Breakfast. Amazing folk-country sounds. Blake is an incredible picker!

Finally, a boot of the 1967 Velvet Underground doing a set in a place called the Gymnasium, as part of a Exploding Plastic Inevitable show. It includes a song never recorded (as far as I know) in the studio, and blistering live versions Run Run Run and I'm Waiting for the Man. The absolute killer is the live debut of Sister Ray! The sound is pretty good considering the vintage. If you can find this, grab a copy!

Rockin'_Art_Lewis

Lots of these guys! Laughing

Peace!

R.A.L.

Joe_Stax

Some more odds & ends this week: the first albums by R.E.M. and the Fugs, the newest release by the Weepies, and a couple of things a friend gave me: Ezra Furman & the Harpoons, Banging Down the Doors; and Strange Histories by James Raynard. Raynard sounds a bit like a modern-day Martin Carthy, and is well worth a listen! There's been some ancient blues sounds, too, from the Mississippi Sheiks and Cannon's Jug Stompers.

Joe_Stax

Oh, and I nearly forgot: some early Porter Wagoner.

Joe_Stax

Labor Day weekend listening:

Zal Yanovsky - Alive & Well in Argentina*
Elvis Costello - Almost Blue*
XTC - Apple Venus, Skylarking*
Wanda Jackson - Vintage Classics
The Apple Tree (Broadway show)
Kirsty MacColl - Best of
Billy Bremner - Bash!
Mike Flowers Pops - A Groovy Place

*played while doing some housework. helped me get a groove on!

JimENight

My weekend listening included a straight run thru of -
Tangerine Dream by Kaleidoscope, and the first two albums by The Soft Machine!
Picked up a copy of the Bee Gees second album IDEA at a flea market this weekend for a buck. The title track, which opens side two, is curious...
Also picked up the first (?) album by Rare Earth (crica 1969) and MAN, I thought Nova Local did a way-out version of Tobacco Road, Rare Earth's version may be thee definitive! Exclamation

JimENight

Okay, I've gone over this & over this. I've listened to this sober & otherwise. And I keep coming to the same conclusion: Skip Bifferty (British) cut one of the most perfect psychedelic albums of the genre in 1967.
why more people do not talk about & praise this album is beyond me. Their lone, self-titled album from '67 will no doubt make my top 10 of greatest psychedelic albums of all time. Do yourself a favor and seek out a copy asap!
Full review to follow...

JimENight

Also, I must say that I am more impressed with Nova Local than I expected to be. Another group who only cut one album just prior to the psychedelic apex of 1967. If it is true that the album was cut at the tail end of 1966 - into '67 then it is especially interesting and certainly ahead of its time.
Not all of the songs are strong enough to make it a solid "5 Star" Classic as it really looses steam on side 2. But on the strength of the songs which comprised side 1 of the original vinyl (which I'm assuming goes thru Tobacco Road) it is one hell of an effort at the genre!

JimENight

Oh, and btw, a local vinyl shop here in CT has an original copy of that Nova Local album (on Decca) and they're asking $100.00 for it!
Razz

Joe_Stax

Just spinnin' and diggin' H-Bomb Ferguson. It's a comp on Rev-Ola called Big City Blues 1951-54. A powerhouse dose of earthy R & B! Excellent, and highly recommended.

Joe_Stax

If you're feelin' the blues, try Ma Rainey (she of the black bottom) or Mississippi Fred McDowell. I've been really digging them this week.

For some early rock n roll action, Collectables put out an excellent comp of the astonishing Esquerita. Wild!

Maybe it's in anticipation of the 2009 Beatles remasters, but the revised Yellow Submarine disc from a few years back is in rotation right now. This is a marked improvement over the earlier cd releases... it's a shame it's taken so damn long for the clean up to happen. Crisper sound abounds, and I keep hearing things I'd missed before, like some of the backing vocals and instruments. What a gas. It's also a revelatory look at a "lost" Beatles album, comprised of tracks that fell between the cracks, but could have easily made the grade for a "proper" release. I absolutely adore Hey Bulldog and It's All Too Much. In fact, George comes off so well with his songs on this album. As a songwriter, he just got a raw deal from MacLen.

JimENight

I agree, Joe, Harrison was reaching his songwriting peak in early '68 and it begins to show on the Yellow Submarine album. Also, I've always really enjoyed It's Only A Northern Song. Harrison brought a unique sense of dissonance to the Beatles music (as far back as She Loves You) and my ears really dig that sort of pungent spice!

Joe_Stax

I just wanted to post this:

Esquerita!

Joe_Stax

I heard Steve Martin being interviewed on Fresh Air this week. He was promoting the paperback of his memoir about his stand-up years. I got it for Christmas last year, and it's well worth reading whether you're a fan or not.

As a result, this week's had a lot of Steve's first two albums in the rotation, along with George Carlin (Class Clown) and a couple of Eddie Izzard discs.

Astrakhan

I've been revisiting the Velvet Underground's catalog over the weekend! (Which reminds me of something I wanted to post...)

Joe_Stax

I've been listening to Rico Bell pretty compulsively this week. In particular his album Dark Side of the Mersey.

Here's some background on Rico, from the Pgh City Paper (2002):

JimENight

Please help me.
Confused

What are you spinning?

First week of April...

still spinning Zally...