©2003 EDDIE FLOWERS, PO BOX 7034, VAN NUYS CA 91409, USA /

Q'65
Greatest Hits [Decca LP; Holland]

SUZI QUATRO
"48 Crash"/"Little Bitch Blue" [Bell 7-inch]

? & THE MYSTERIANS
"96 Tears" [Cameo 7-inch]
"8 Teen"/"I Need Somebody" [Cameo 7-inch]

QUICKSILVER MESSENGER SERVICE
Quicksilver Messenger Service [first LP]
Happy Trails
Maiden of the Cancer Moon [Psycho 2LP]
Smokestack Lightnin' [bootleg CD; live at the Fillmore + demos 1968]

QUIET SUN
Mainstream

RAMLEH
Boeing [Majora Records LP] Finely zoned groove space from Gary Munday (guitar), A. di Franco (bass), Stuart Dennison (drums), and Philip Best (synthesizer). My favorite of the various Ramleh releases I've run across.

MA RAINEY
Ma Rainey [Milestone 2LP]

RALE
Rale [Wolf Records CD; Czech Republic] Based in the city of Brno, in the Czech Republic, Rale is another collaboration between Vladimír Václavek and Josef Ostransky, who were in the band E (Alive!is one of the great avant-rock LPs on the 90s) and in an earlier Brno band called Dunaj with  Iva Bittová. Here, though, they're joined by the essential ingredient of Takumi Fukushima, violinist/vocalist from the Japanese band After Dinner. Vietnamese dancer/vocalist Cynthia Phung-Ngoc rounds out the quartet. Violin, two acoustic guitars, vocals--that's it, but they use these bare essentials without ever growing tired. The deceptively simple melodies and rhythmic repetitions of Czech/Gypsy music, Japanese/Asian music, and early European classical get meshed seamlessly into delicious, unclassifiable songs with lyrics that move casually from Czech to Japanese to English.

THE RAMONES
Ramones [first LP]
Rocket to Russia
Rock'n'Roll High School [movie]

RANDOM NUMBER
New Global Vulgar [Fencing Flatworm CDR; England] Nutty-sounding hiphop-style constructions--plastic jackhammer beatbox rhythms--lush sampling built into freakish walls of sound--CD-glitch loop-de-loop and 80s pop-synth presets--everything here except the expected. After school cool mules. Guh. Gooo. Goodie.

THE RASCALS
Time Peace: The Rascals' Greatest Hits [Atlantic]
"People Got to Be Free" [7-inch]

RED CROSS
Born Innocent [Smoke 7 LP]

RED KRAYOLA
The Parable of Arable Land
God Bless the Red Krayola and All Who Sail With It
Live 1967 [Drag City 2CD]

DEXTER REDDING
"Love Is Bigger Than Baseball" [Capricorn Records 7-inch]

OTIS REDDING
Pain in My Heart
The Great Otis Redding Sings Soul Ballads
Otis Blue
The Soul Album
Dictionary of Soul
The Best of Otis Redding [Atco 2LP]
Recorded Live Previously Unreleased Performances [Atlantic; live at the Whisky 1966]
Shake: Otis at Monterey [video]

DEWEY REDMAN
Tarik [Affinity LP; recorded 1969] Reissue of BYG Actuel LP.
The Ear of the Behearer [Impulse CD; recorded 1973/1974]

DEWEY REDMAN/ED BLACKWELL
Red and Black in Willisau [Black Saint CD; recorded 1980]

RED TRANSISTOR
"Not Bite"/"We're Not Crazy" [Ecstatic Peace 7-inch]

JERRY REED
The Best of Jerry Reed [RCA]

JIMMY REED
I'm Jimmy Reed [Vee-Jay LP]
Jimmy Reed's Soul Greats [UpFront LP; Vee-Jay material]
Upside Your Head [Charly LP; England; Vee-Jay material]

LOU REED
Metal Machine Music
Street Hassle

STEVE REICH
Drumming/Six Pianos/Music for Mallet Instruments, Voices and Organ [Deutsche Grammophon 2CD]

HANS REICHEL
Lower Lurum

CARL REINER & MEL BROOKS
The 2000 Year Old Man [a.k.a. 2000 Years With Reiner and Brooks]
2000 and Thirteen

THE REMAINS
The Remains [Spoonfed LP reissue; available over the years in various reissue formats]

REMA-REMA
Wheels in the Roses [4AD 12-inch EP]

REMORA
The Clockwork Ammonite Shells [Worry CD; Scotland] Remora is a.k.a. Ian Middleton, from Clacks, Scotland. Using mostly analog synthesizers, he layers drone upon swirl upon plink-plink, etc., until he achieves a very pleasant sort of free-fall, moving through endless dimensions of sticky infinitude--so when you land, you done forgot you was ever falling--whoooosh! It has a certain glow that similar modern post-Kraut sounds (Labradford and company) usually miss--i.e., it doesn't sound like a fuckin' science project! Soul music, man! It does make a difference. Great art too (also by Ian).

THE RESIDENTS
Meet the Residents
The Third Reich 'n Roll
Fingerprince
Duck Stab [7-inch EP]

PAUL REVERE & THE RAIDERS
Paul Revere & the Raiders [Sande; first LP] [a.k.a. In the Beginning; Jerden Records]
Here They Come! [Columbia LP]
Just Like Us! [Columbia LP]
Midnight Ride [Columbia LP]
The Spirit of '67 [Columbia LP]
Greatest Hits [Columbia LP]
Greatest Hits Volume II [Columbia LP]
The Essential Ride '63-'67 [Columbia/Legacy CD]
"Powder Blue Mercedes Queen" [Columbia 7-inch]

REVOLUTIONARY ENSEMBLE
Vietnam [a.k.a. Revolutionary Ensemble] [ESP-Disk/ZYX Music CD; recorded 1972]
Revolutionary Ensemble [Inner City LP; recorded 1977]

REYNOLS
Barbatrulos [Freedom From LP]
" - - - - - - - " [Betley Welcomes Careful Drivers CD; England] BWCD catalog sez: " . . . Argentina's legendary Reynols trio . . . Downs Syndrome drummer/vocalist, high daytime TV profile, opera for thousands of chickens, live show given to an audience of plants, conceptual CD of tape hiss, etc." And I sez: This is one of the coolest free-rock outfits I've heard in a long time. Miguel Tomasin pounds the drums and slurs his nonchalant vocals (en Español)while Roberto Conlazo and Ania Courtis freak the guitar action. The vibe is relaxed and friendly. The players wander on their instruments with familiarity, heavy echo or EQ applied, maybe a few sounds overdubbed, multi-tracked vocals making me wish I understood Spanish. Recommended to open-minded punk-rockers, trippers, and art creeps alike.
Live in Chicago [Carbon Records CD] Carbon catalog explanation: "Reynols started its activities in 1993 in Argentina. Since that date the work of the band has been basically oriented to improvisation, droning and deep experimental research, etc., employing diverse acoustic & electric instruments, tapes and electronics." Um, yeah. This live set finds the trio in fine form. They begin with a bit of unknown tongue--incredible acapella voices--primal and curious. Then they begin to explore their surroundings, guitars soaring and whooping, drums pounding freely--and things yet to happen! They keep going for half an hour or so, but it seems so brief. Real cool time.

THE REZILLOS
Can't Stand the Rezillos [Sire LP; 1978]

CATHY RICH
"Paper Tiger"/"Wild Thing" [Imperial Records 7-inch] Buddy's daughter, circa 1968, produced by animal-man Kim Fowley.

CHARLIE RICH
The Sun Story Vol. 2 [Sun/GRT LP]
Fully Realized [Mercury 2LP; reissue of Fast Talkin', Slow Walkin', Good Lookin' Charlie Rich and The Many New Sides of Charlie Rich]

BILLY LEE RILEY
The Legendary Sun Performers [Charly LP; England]
Sun Sound Special [Charly LP; England]

TERRY RILEY
Music for the Gift/Bird of Paradise/Mescalin Mix [Organ of Corti CD]
Reed Streams/In C (Mantra) [Organ of Corti CD]
Olson III [Organ of Corti CD]
Poppy Nogood and the Phantom Band "All Night Flight" Vol. 1 [Organ of Corti CD]
You're Nogood/Poppy Nogood [Organ of Corti 2CD]
In C
A Rainbow in Curved Air
Shri Camel

JOHNNY RIVERS
Johnny Rivers' Golden Hits [Imperial LP]
The Very Best of Johnny Rivers [United Artists LP]

SAM RIVERS
Dimensions & Extensions [Blue Note CD; recorded 1967] Rivers (tenor and alto saxophones, flute) has been on the path of adevnturous jazz since the mid-50s, but he really emerged in the mid-60s at Blue Note Records. There, he played sessions with Tony Williams, Bobby Hutcherson, and others before leading his own bands. Moreso than most free players, Rivers stresses composition developed through his own personal thematic logic. But he leaves plenty of room for intense improvisation, as on "Effusive Melange" from this album. After working through a complex written introduction, the band careens in six different directions at once. As if to prove his eclectic point, Rivers and James Spaulding duet on flutes for the next number, sounding warm and intimate. The band also includes free-jazz bass great Cecil McBee and hard-bop trumpeter Donald Byrd.
Streams [Impulse CD; recorded 1973] An uninterrupted hour by Rivers, Cecil McBee, and Norman Connors (drums) at the Montreux Jazz Festival. Using a compositional approach to free improv, Rivers divides this performance into four sections. The first section, featuring tenor sax, is a long exploration, beginning with an explosion from the trio. McBee and Connors are an amazing rhythm section, precise and muscular, free and sensitive; they also played with Pharoah Sanders in the early 70s. Rivers' methods encompass a lot--running scales, picking out and then discarding bits of melody, blowing free, bringing it all together and then pulling it apart. Rivers yells us into the spacey flute section--birds fluttering above McBee's bubbling bass--Rivers singing, humming into his flute. The clustered, flowing piano section makes the title "Streams" fit very well. The final section, for soprano sax, finds funk and swing syncopations almostbeing sounded. One of the best jazz releases of the 1970s.
Sam Rivers Trio Live [Impulse  CD; recorded 1973]
Waves [Tomato CD; recorded 1978]

THE RIVINGTONS
Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow [Liberty LP]

MAX ROACH
Deeds, Not Words
Speak, Brother, Speak!

MAX ROACH/ANTHONY BRAXTON
One in Two--Two in One [hat Hut 2LP, recorded 1979] Four long, pasionate improvisations between bop legend Roach on drums, percussion, and gongs, and the younger Braxton on a variety of woodwinds and flute. Roach proves himself more than capable at the AACM-style approach to percussive tonal color with the gongs, etc., and when he jumps in with the full kit, you get to hear a master musician in a rare setting. Braxton is also in fine form; it's always great to hear him in a purely improvised setting. Friendly and exploratory.

ROCKIN' ROBIN ROBERTS WITH THE FABULOUS WAILERS
"Louie Louie"/"Rosalie" [Etiquette 7-inch]

SMOKEY ROBINSON & THE MIRACLES
Anthology [Motown]

ROCKET FROM THE TOMBS
Life Stinks [Jack Slack LP with 7-inch]

JIMMIE RODGERS
My Rough and Rowdy Ways [RCA LP]

ROEDELIUS/SCHNITZLER
Acon 2000/1 [Captain Trip Records CD; Japan] New recordings by two-thirds of the original Kluster (which became the Cluster duo of Moebius and Roedelius). These dudes may be Krautrock pioneers, but there's nothing moldy here, no retro whatsis for their perceived audience. Instead, they ignore the groove end of the Kraut thing, and move freely into pretty dark electronic places. Big, ominous sounds dominate; some nice speaker-rattlin' bass signals; high grade uncut stuff. Japanese-only release limited to 1000 copies.  Released 2001.

JIMMY ROGERS
Chicago Bound [Chess LP]

THE ROLLING STONES
"Stoned"/"I Wanna Be Your Man" [Decca 7-inch]
The Rolling Stones [a.k.a. England's Newest Hitmarkers] [London; U.S. version of first LP]
The Rolling Stones No. 2 [Decca; England]
12x5 [London LP]
The Rolling Stones, Now! [London LP]
Out of Our Heads [London LP]
Got Live If You Want It! [London LP]
December's Children [London LP]
Aftermath [Decca; English version]
Between the Buttons [London LP]
Flowers [London LP]
Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass) [Decca; English version]
Beggars Banquet
Through the Past Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2) [London; U.S. version]
Let It Bleed
"Tumblin' Dice" [7-inch]

SONNY ROLLLINS
Our Man in Jazz [Jazz!/BMG CD, France; recorded 1962/1963] With added material from the LP Three In Jazz.

THE RONETTES
Phil Spector Wall of Sound Vol.1: The Ronettes Sing Their Greatest Hits

ROOM 101
demos/live 1983/1984 [unreleased tape]

MICHAEL ROTHER
Sterntaler
Katzenmusik

ROXY MUSIC
Roxy Music
For Your Pleasure
First Kiss [2CD bootleg; live 1972/1973]

RUFUS
Rags to Rufus

RUINS
Graviyaunosch

RUN-DMC
Run-DMC [first LP]
King of Rock
Raising Hell

R.U.N.I.
Il Cucchiaio Infernale [Bar La Muerte/Beware!/Wallace CD; Italy] Surprisingly fresh Italian rock band, recorded in early 2000. They trip gracefully through material that only kinda resembles Kraut-beat electronica, post-Slint creep-rock, 70s prog, Italian folk music, exploded funk, and the Mothers of Invention playing Metallica.

RUPERT'S PEOPLE
"Hold On" [Bell Records 7-inch]

OTIS RUSH
The Classic Recordings [Charly CD; England]
Screamin' and Cryin' [Evidence CD]

GEORGE RUSSELL
Outer Thoughts [Milestone Records 2LP; recorded 1960-1962]
Electronic Sonata for Souls Loved by Nature--1968 [Soul Note CD; recorded 1969]

MITCH RYDER & THE DETROIT WHEELS
Sock It to Me! [New Voice LP]
All Mitch Ryder Hits! [New Voice LP]

SACCHARINE TRUST
Pagan Icons
Surviving You, Always

DOUG SAHM/THE SIR DOUGLAS QUINTET
Sir Douglas--Way Back When He Was Just Doug Sahm [a.k.a. His First Recordings; Rockhouse LP; France; recordings from 1958-1961]
The Best of the Sir Douglas Quintet [Crazy Cajun LP; 1965; original release on Tribe Records]
Sir Douglas Quintet + 2 = (Honkey Blues) [Smash LP; 1968]
Mendocino [Smash LP; 1969] THE SIR DOUGLAS QUINTET
Together After Five [Smash LP; 1970] THE SIR DOUGLAS QUINTET
1+1+1=4 [Philips LP; 1970] THE SIR DOUGLAS QUINTET
The Return of Doug Saldaña [Philips LP; 1971] THE SIR DOUGLAS QUINTET
"Michoacan"/"Westside Blues Again" [Mercury 7-inch; 1972] THE SIR DOUGLAS QUINTET
Doug Sahm and Band [Atlantic LP; 1973]
Texas Tornado [Atlantic LP; 1973] THE SIR DOUGLAS BAND
Groover's Paradise [Warner Bros. LP; 1974] DOUG SAHM TEX-MEX TRIP
"Country Groove"/"Henrietta" [Texas Re-Cord Co. 7-inch; 1976] DOUG SAHM
Texas Rock for Country Rollers [ABC LP; 1976] SIR DOUG & THE TEXAS TORNADOS
Live Love [Texas Re-Cord Co. LP; 1977] THE SIR DOUGLAS QUINTET
Border Wave [Takoma LP; 1981] THE SIR DOUGLAS QUINTET
Quintessence [Sonet LP; England; 1982] THE SIR DOUGLAS QUINTET
Live [Takoma LP; 1982] THE SIR DOUGLAS QUINTET

THE SAINTS
(I'm) Stranded
"This Perfect Day"/"L-I-E-S"/"Do the Robot" [12-inch EP]
One Two Three Four [7-inch EP]
Eternally Yours
Prehistoric Sounds

SAM & DAVE
The Best of Sam & Dave [Atlantic]

SAM GOPAL
Escalator [Stable Records CD; England] After the Rockin' Vicars and roadie duty for Hendrix, but before Hawkwind and Motorhead, Lemmy was the leader, singer, and co-lead-guitarist for Sam Gopal. The group was named after Sam Gopal, who plays tabla and percussion in the band, an odd replacement for the drum kit in a hard-rock band. This CD includes the one LP by the band, plus two single tracks, all recorded in October/November 1968. The music is something like the Troggs and the Jimi Hendrix Experience meeting Donovan in a paranoid drug haze. And in fact, they cover Donovan's "Season of the Witch," done up as an acid-strychnine-soul number! There's also a heavy foreboding of HEAVINESS to come; although sweetly imbibed with psychedelic tendencies, songs like "The Dark Lord" and "Ecsalator" point towards post-Sabbath heavy metal.

SAM THE SHAM & THE PHARAOHS
Wooly Bully
On Tour
Pharaohization! [Rhino LP]

ED SANDERS
Sanders' Truckstop

PHAROAH SANDERS
Tauhid [Impulse CD; recorded 1966] Farrell "Pharoah" Sanders (tenor saxophone) had already made his way through Sun Ra's Arkestra (documented on the obscure Saturn LP Featuring Pharoah Sanders and Black Harold;unhead by me), as well as cutting an interesting LP for ESP-Disk (Pharoah's First) that suffered from a mediocre band, when he met and began playing with John Coltrane (check the Coltrane albums Om, Live in Seattle,and Meditationsfor incredible evidence). It was during this period that he recorded Tauhid."Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt" uses ideas from Sanders' time with both Coltrane and Sun Ra. The first section, with its spacious percussion and piccolo, the Egyptian references and lazy rhythms, is much like the Arkestra; while the second section is a Trane-style riff building up and up and up--and up!The band includes guitarist Sonny Sharrock, the great bassist Henry Grimes, Dave Burrell (piano), Roger Blank (drum), and Nat Bettis (percussion). "Japan" is a short, gentle, impressionistic tune, with gongs and and odd, mumbled vocals. The final 15 minutes ("Aum"/"Venus" /"Capricorn") begin with an explosive bass solo, and then the band joins the fray. Sharrock is especially overwhelming as guitar notes burst out into incredible flurries of sound. Extraordinary energy music!
Karma [Impulse CD; recorded 1969] "The Creator Has a Master Plan" is a long jam drenched in percussion, and uses the melody from Coltrane's "A Love Supreme" as an anchor. Indeed, former Coltrane bassist Reggie Workman is present. It's mostly trance time, with Sanders also finding occasion to blow hard and free until an already churning percussive sea turns into a free-for-all and then a wild Sanders-led groove, occasionally jumping back to the original theme. Spiritual music that connects heartbeats to the rhythms of the planet and the universe. Finally, "Colors," a short breath of ballad featuring Leon Thomas' strong, smooth R&B vocal. An oddly accessible album, considering the extended format. Nice stuff.
Thembi [Impulse  CD; recorded 1970/1971] "Astral Traveling," the opener, simultaneously points back towards Sun Ra with its loping space theme and forward to Pharoah's own more commercial music with Lonnie Liston Smith's use of the Fender Rhodes electric piano, smoothing out the darker regions of the omniverse. At this moment, all was in perfect balance, though. "Morning Prayer" is similar. "Red, Black & Green" is a proud explosion, Pharoah overblowing from the beginning and then slowly unwinding. "Thembi" uses a moderate Latin rhythm, with Michael White's violin soloing, in a pretty tribute to Sanders' wife. "Love" is a complex, entrancing bass solo by Cecil McBee. African percussion, the African bailophone, fifes, bird calls, and shouts propel "Bailophone Dance"; it has the feel of ritual, evoking nature, moving in cycles and rhythms and colors.
Black Unity [Impulse CD; recorded 1971] This is it! Recorded too late to be considered "important," this is nonetheless among the most intense pieces of energy music ever recorded. Like Ornette Coleman's Free Jazzand John Coltrane's Ascension,this is an album-length improvisation. Much more rhythmically driven--much more African--than those predecessors, the rhythm section is expanded to include two drummers (Norman Connors, Billy Hart), miscellaneous percussion (Lawrence Killian), and two bassists (Cecil McBee, Stanley Clarke). It's the intense bass lines that really power the piece. Sanders (tenor sax), Hannibal Marvin Peterson (trumpet), and Carlos Garnett (tenor) blow long lines behind the percussion until suddenly the three horns leap forward in a wailing bluesy riff before everything explodes!

SANDOZ LAB TECHNICIANS
The Tale of Pixielamb [The Lotus Sound CD] It always bugs me how casually the word "psychedelic" gets thrown around as a musical adjective disconnected from the consumption of psychedelic substances! As Albert Hofmann himself pointed out, you only need take the trip a couple times to open your mind's world (of course, others might say a couple hundred times has its benefits as well). Sandoz Lab Techs, from Dunedin, New Zealand, do not play "psychedelic rock," but I bet they . . . well, you know! Their musical methods are improvised and varied; sometimes they use skittering drum rhythms that suggest free jazz, but more often guitars explore tones, chank away in random directions, and occasionally interact without obvious rhythms driving the action. They also use keyboards, wood flutes, clarinet, recorded sounds, whatever works--and bring to mind musique concrete, various ethnic musics, minimal repetition, the sounds of synapses snappin' and odd smiles crackin'. Dark, dry humor that'll leave a warmly familiar electric aftertaste--if you can twist in their direction. Yes, it's a goodie!

SANTANA
Santana [first LP]
Abraxas
Lotus

ERIK SATIE; THE CAMARATA CONTEMPORARY CHAMBER GROUP
The Music of Erik Satie: The Velvet Gentleman [Deram LP; 1970]
The Music of Erik Satie: Through a Looking Glass [Deram LP; 1971]

ERIK SATIE; ANNE QUEFFÉLE (piano)
Trois Gymnopédies

JIM SAUTER/DON DIETRICH/THURSTON MOORE
Barefoot in the Head

SAVAGE REPUBLIC
Tragic Figures [Independent Projects LP]
Live at the Melkweg [Staaltape Documentatie Serie cassette]

SAVOY BROWN
The Best of Savoy Brown [London LP]

PIERRE SCHAEFFER
L'Ceuvre Musicale [EMF/Musicdisc 3CD]

ARMAND SCHAUBROECK
A Lot of People Would Like to See Armand Schaubroeck . . . DEAD
I Came to Visit, but Decided to Stay
Ratfucker
Shakin' Shakin'

SCHOOLLY D
Smoke Some Kill

KLAUS SCHULZE
Irrlicht [Spalax CD] In 1970, Schulze played drums (and other things) on the first LPs by both Tangerine Dream and Ash Ra Tempel. By '72, he had released this first solo LP, a "symphonie für orchester und e-maschinen." It's almost equally split between Klaus as Phantom of the Opera, playing crazed Bach-on-acid solos with occasional orchestral passages--and Klaus as Sandman, winding ever down and down, like a nap with your eyes open, synthesizer and orchestra doing things that would pass for minimalism--or new age a few years later! Here, though, the eyes-wide-open aspect of psychedelia is still very much alive.

THE SCIENTISTS
Blood Red River [Au Go Go 12-inch EP; Australia]
This Heart Doesn't Run on Blood, This Heart Doesn't Run on Love [Au Go Go 12-inch EP; Australia]
Demolition Derby [Soundwork 12-inch EP; Belgium]
Atom Bomb Baby [Au Go Go 12-inch EP; England]
Heading for a Trauma [Au Go Go LP; England]
The Human Jukebox [Karbon 12-inch EP; England]

RAYMOND SCOTT
Reckless Nights and Turkish Delights

GIL SCOTT-HERON
Pieces of a Man
Small Talk at 125th & Lenox

THE SCREAMING BLUE MESSIAHS
The Peel Sessions

THE SCREAMIN' MEE-MEES
Live from the Basement [7-inch EP]
Home Movies [7-inch EP] The previously unreleased second record by Bruce Cole and Jon Ashline, recorded in '78 and released in '95. It really isn't punk, but I don't know what else you'd call it. The early Screamin' Mee-Mees were more primitive than most punk, but also much broader musically. It's really like fractured modern folk music, randomly scavenging their record collections and memories, celebrating the mundane, daring to be dumb: "Too Young to Shave" is an ode to electric shaving; "Vacation" makes time off work sound like only a brief respite from impending suicide; Jon Ashline's 10-year-old brother Lance ad libs a vocal about "Green Cigars from Mars"; and "Goin' for Grease" sort of approximates rockabilly in the same way that the guitar leads approximate known musical keys.
Clutching Hand Monster Mitt [Dog Face LP] '92 follow-up to their debut EP from '77! Bruce Cole and Jon Ashline made probably the best "worst" record of the 70s American punk thang, Live from the Basement(right down there with "Forming" and O. Rex--"Hot Sody" and "Max Factor" have never left my consciousness. And now this! Still in the basement, but with better equipment, technique that's still primitive but more sure and much more experimental, a style that is now equal parts ACID and STOOPID. Like, there's a song called "Mudflap," but it's instrumental and has a vibe somewhere 'twixt Piper at the Gatesand the Godz. The whole record's loaded with wah-wah, sloppy drums, and vocals in a kinda Legendary Stardust Cowboy mode. Fuckin' wonderful!
Nude Invisible Foot Phenomenon [Bag of Hammers LP] Missouri's premiere poets of basement-rock return with another LP of righteous silliness and low-tech experimentin'. The eight minutes of "3 string classical guitar" (by drummer Jon Ashline) and tape manipulation called "Chinese Handcuffs" demonstrates wonderfully how much of the "serious" stuff that labels like Table of the Elements release is nothing but cynical, stillborn crap. Whoever decided that you can't have a few laughs while you're lookin' for a little space done got theyselves stuck!On the other hand, if you wanna open a frosty one and reclaim your whiteboy stoopid roots, check "Dogfishin'," "The Grand Old Duke of York" (storytellin' in the tradition of their '77 classic "Max Factor"), "Goin' to a Barbeque." But I think I'll grab the bong and check out "Smarter," a druggy bog up the bum of hierarchies everywhere recorded in England by guitarist Bruce Cole with cover artist Todd Dillingham and friends.

SEA ENSEMBLE
We Move Together [ESP-Disk]

THE SON SEALS BLUES BAND
The Son Seals Blues Band [first LP on Alligator Records]

SEASTONES
Seastones [Round Records]

JOHN SEBASTIAN
John B. Sebastian [Reprise; first solo LP]

THE SEEDS
The Seeds [first LP]
A Web of Sound
Fallin' Off the Edge

BOB SEGER
"East Side Story" [Cameo 7-inch]
"Persecution Smith" [Cameo 7-inch]
"Heavy Music" [Cameo 7-inch]
"Ramblin' Gamblin' Man" [Capitol 7-inch]
"Lookin' Back" [Capitol 7-inch]
Mongrel [Capitol LP]
Seven [Palladium/Reprise LP]

SEHT
Dronemusic [Celebrate Psi Phenomenon CDR; New Zealand] Campbell Kneale: "The absolute masterwork of one Stephen Clover, better known to some for his magnificent lathe cuts under the names Logstore and The Longshoremen. An engaging collection of hovering tones and location-specific shuffles that make the title 'Dronemusic' seem a little describing Antarctica as 'white'. Urban mytholgies, hum-drum mysticisms, and the alchemy of the national grid. Intelligent." Not as single-minded as you might think. Mr. Glover's approach to the drone thing uses different instruments (or not) to create a series of droning and repeating pieces that vary wildly in mood from each other, and sometimes pull a sudden internal switcheroo too. There's everything from minimal acoustic-guitar plunk surrounded by clattering percussion to huge walls of all-enveloping feedback. Yep.

MACK SELF
"Mad at You"/"Willie Brown" [Phillips International 7-inch]

THE SENTINALS
Big Surf [Del-Fi Records LP]

THE SEVENTH SONS
4:00 a.m. at Frank's [a.k.a. Raga] [ESP-Disk]

THE SEX PISTOLS
"Anarchy in the U.K."/"I Wanna Be Me" [7-inch]
"Did You No Wrong"/"God Save the Queen" [7-inch]
"Satellite"/"Holidays in the Sun" [7-inch] "Satellite" is maybe my favorite Pistols tune, one of their least heavy-handed, still spitting at the middle class but in a more personal way; if power pop hadn't been a bad joke the second it came out of Pete Townhsend's mouth, this is what it would've sounded like (sez me!).
Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols

THE SHADOWS
Shadows Are Go! [Scamp CD]

THE SHADOWS OF KNIGHT
Back Door Men
Raw 'n Alive at the Cellar 1966
"Shake" [Team 7-inch]

THE SHAGGS
Philosophy of the World
Shaggs' Own Thing

THE SHAKING RAY LEVIS
False Prophets or Dang Good Guessers [Incus CD] Dennis Palmer on synths and delay, Rob Stagner on drums and percussion, from Chattanooga, Tennessee, improvise "squeaking and ah squawking" that burbles clangs about in little chunks, occasionally approximates songs, pokes fun--"percussion-like things" make like detuned guitars while electronics scatter and pulse, then here come some goofy keyboard flourishes--best of all, the Levis knock the stuffin's out of the improv / avant/noise aesthetic. Good to hear improvisors who don't sound like they're constipated and /or suicidal.
Boss Witch [Shaking Ray Records CD; PO Box 21534, Chattannoga TN 37424-0534] Chattanoogie's princes of "ole timey avant-garde" return with a lineup that just keeps expanding. If you remember their Incus debut, they were the duo of Dennis Palmer (keyboards, electronics, synths, etc) and Rob Stagner (drums, percussion, electronic percussion). Their follow-up, Short in the UK,expanded the duo to a quartet, but I must admit I haven't heard that 'un. For this 'un, though, they are joined, on various cuts, by JD Parran (alto and tenor saxophones), Steve Beresford (keyboards), Davey Williams (guitar), and Detroit duo Frank Pahl (banjo) and Mary Richards (violin) a.k.a. Only A Mother.  The results are of the free-jazz variety, as well as the duo's avant-prog burble 'n smirk, a couple country assaults, lotsa neat noises and groovy sounds, even some hiphop! Dig "Thank the Knife" with JD Parran wailing against the delicious electronic skitter of the Levis all around. And check "Hello Ant Fairies," with Only A Mother; it sounds like what the title is makin' you . . . think? Um. Wow.

THE SHANGRI-LAS
Golden Hits of the Shangri-Las [Philips LP; England]

RAVI SHANKAR
Three Ragas [World Pacific]
The Sounds of India [Columbia]
At the Monterey International Pop Festival

RAVI SHANKAR/ALI AKBAR KHAN
The Master Musicians of India [Prestige]

DEL SHANNON
The Vintage Years [Sire 2LP]

SONNY SHARROCK
Guitar [Enemy CD; recorded 1986]
Seize the Rainbow [Enemy CD; recorded 1987]
Ask the Ages [Axiom CD; recorded 1993] A musical and spiritual triumph for guitarist Sharrock and one-time employer Pharoah Sanders as they evoke the spirit of John Cotrane and all that he wrought. Elvin Jones, from Coltrane's classic quartet, plays drums, and Charnett Moffett is on bass. The opening "Promises Kept" soars! Sharrock and Sanders both do wild, twisting solos. "Little Rock" (Sanders' Arkansas hometown) is a very energized style of swing. This is probably Sanders' most inspired recording since the early 70s, and one of Sharrock's best albums.

BILLY JOE SHAVER
Old Five and Dimers Like Me [Koch CD has extra tracks]

ARCHIE SHEPP
Four for Trane [Impulse CD; recorded 1964] After working with Cecil Taylor, and co-founding the New York Contemporary Five with Don Cherry and John Tchicai, the young tenor saxophonist Archie Shepp made his debut as leader with this release. It features four Coltrane tunes and one original played by a remarkable group: John Tchicai (alto), Alan Shorter (trumpet), Roswell Rudd (trombone), Reggie Workman (bass), and Charles Moffett (drums). The fuller sound of the sextet gives Coltrane's tunes a more orchestrated feel, although the playing tends to be free once the song's basic theme has been stated. Workman and Moffett are especially exciting. On Shepp's own "Rufus (Swung, his face at last to the wind, then his neck snapped)," the young post-Coltrane player makes clear, with the angry title and the music's unsettling urgency, that jazz (and America) was about to undergo violent change over the next few years. A beautiful album.
Fire Music [Impulse CD; recorded 1965] Perhaps Archie Shepp's major statement, at least of this early period. A European-style melodic theme introduces the insistent blues of "Hambone," and then shifts into odd time signatures,  until the small horn section settles into a cartoonish riff with Shepp soloing frantically. "Los Olividados," inspired by Luis Buñuel's film, features fiery work by Marion Brown (alto sax) and Ted Curson (trumpet). On the other hand, Shepp gives wildly original readings to two romantic jazz standards, Duke Ellington's "Prelude to a Kiss" and Antonio Carlos Jobim's "The Girl from Impanema" (a current pop hit for Astrud Gilberto when this LP was recorded). In between the originals and the standards, Shepp reads a short, emotional poem in memory of Malcolm X, with David Izenzon bowing his bass and J. C. Moses' drums rumbling before Shepp's tenor enters the mournful tune. One of thegreat jazz albums.
On This Night [Impulse CD; recorded 1965] Excellent follow-up to Fire Musicwith Bobby Hutcherson (vibes), Henry Grimes (bass), and drummers Rashied Ali, J. C. Moses, and Joe Chambers (on different cuts). "On This Night (If That Great Day Would Come)" features the operatic soprano of Christine Spencer delivering the emotionally charged song of hope, contrasted by Shepp's unsettling tenor. "The Mac Man" and "The Original Mr. Sonny Boy Williamson" are strutting, angular musical portraits of two African-American myths: the suave, irresistible pimp; and the bluesman, inspired here by Shepp's encounter with harmonica great Williamson. Another myth, that of the subservient Southern black, is mocked and obliterated on "The Pickaninny (picked clean--no more--or can you back back doodlebug)," done as a trio with bassist David Izenzon joining Shepp and Moses. The other trio piece, "The Chase," has the feel of Ornette Coleman's music. Finally, Shepp gives in to his romantic side with a cover of Ellington's "In a Sentimental Mood."
Live in San Francisco [Impulse CD; recorded 1966]
Mama Too Tight [Impulse CD; recorded 1966]

ALLAN SHERMAN
My Son, the Nut [Warner Brps. LP]

THE SHIRKERS
"Drunk and Disorderly"/"Suicide" [Limp Records 7-inch]

SHIRLEY & CO.
"Shame, Shame, Shame" [Vibration 7-inch]

SHIRLEY & LEE
"Let the Good Times Roll" [7-inch]

MATTHEW SHIPP
Circular Temple [Infinite Zero CD; recorded 1990]
Critical Mass [213CD CD; recorded 1994]

MATTHEW SHIPP DUO WITH WILLIAM PARKER
Zo [12 13 61 CD; recorded 1993]

SHOCKABILLY
Colosseum
Earth Vs. Shockabilly
Heaven

THE SHOCKING BLUE
The Shocking Blue [Colossus LP]
Classics [21 Records LP]

THE SHOP CLASS SQUARES
"Bad Black Burn"/"Simon Says" [Carbon Records 7-inch] 1996 release by Upstate NY noise-punk band in the grand tradition of the Electric Eels, Distorted Levels, Drunks With Guns, and Monoshock. Sludgy, druggy, obnoxious, pretty damn right! Carbon catalog sez: "Final documentation of probably the most hated band in Rochester. Too noisy and weird for the fonzies (garage rock nazis), too lowbrow and abrasive for the art crowd." Dig!

HOWARD SHORE/ORNETTE COLEMAN
Naked Lunch soundtrack [Milan CD; recorded 1991]

WAYNE SHORTER
Super Nova [Blue Note CD; recorded 1968]

THE SIAMESE STEPBROTHERS
The Siamese Stepbrothers [Cuneiform CD] Bruce Anderson guitar and Dale Sophiea bass from MX-80 hook up with Tom Constanten, keyboard player with late 60s Dead; guitarist Henry Kaiser; and Lukas Ligeti on drums. It opens like one of MX-80's metal-surf B-movie raves, with piano added, and then moves into something resembling a very jazzy "Dark Star" except we're plopped down right into its densest space--and that's not the only MX-Dead connection made: the dichotomy  some may sense here was et alive by the chaos of the 1990s, and I sez ALL RIGHT! Sonny Sharrock gits requiem'd in fine fashion--"Blind Willie," no less, just to make the reference itself a reference--and Miles' '75 Tokyo quadruple blast is condensed into 4 minutes of "Agharta Prelude." But it's a long CD, and most of the rest is original material. It's a fine listen, check it out.

SILVER APPLES
Silver Apples
Contact

JUMPIN' GENE SIMMONS
"Haunted House"/"Hey, Hey Little Girl" [Hi Records 7-inch]

SONNY SIMMONS
Staying on the Watch [ESP-Disk/ZYX Music CD; recorded 1966]
Music from the Spheres [ESP-Disk/ZYX Music CD; recorded 1966]

SIMPLY SAUCER
Cyborgs Revisited [Mole Sound LP; Canada]

NANCY SINATRA
"Kinky Love" [Private Stock 7-inch]

SIREN
Strange Locomotion

SIR LORD BALTIMORE
Kingdom Come

SISTER RAY
"Purgatory"/"Hillside" [Forced Exposure 7-inch]

SKELETON CREW
Learn to Talk

NICKY SKOPELITIS
Ekstasis [Axiom/Island CD] I was tryin' on some blot for the first time in a couple years, and this turned out to be a crucial aid on a very nice trip. Wandering from living room to front yard to back yard--wandering!--this came and went in waves of trance and deep groove receding building reaching there!Jaki Liebezeit and Jah Wobble make quite a rhythm section--with Joseph "Zigaboo" Modeliste (from the Meters) and Bill Laswell on other cuts--while Skopelitis snakes and swirls guitars everywhere, and various non-Western types (including Bachir Attar of the Master Musicians of Joujouka) float through the mix. Warning: rockist types may detect "disco" rhythms poppin' up to unpleasantly remind them of their mind/body split.

SKULLFLOWER
"Rift"/"Avalanche" [Majora 7-inch]
Transformer [Sympathy for the Record Industry CD] In this installment of the long line of Skullflower releases, we find these English lads leaking gray matter at great length, guitars hovering shimmering low to the ground, like those moments at 4:00 a.m. when you can't remember anything except everything. "3/5 of a Mile in 10 Secs." uses the Jefferson Airplane tune as if it were a fading memory; "Golden Hair" ain't Syd Barrett, but "Morning Dew" does sound like the middle section of a weird version of the Dead's "Morning Dew"; uhh. . . . (drools on shirt in happy slack-jawed solitude)
Carved Into Roses [VHF CD]
This Is Skullflower [VHF CD]

PATRICK SKY
Songs That Made America Famous

SLADE
Play It Loud [Cotillion LP]
Slayed? [Polydor LP]
Slade Smashes [Polydor LP; England]

SLAYER
Reign in Blood

THE SLICKEE BOYS
!Hot and Cool! [Dacoit Records 7-inch EP] Washington, D.C., 1976--or actually the suburbs, in Maryland--Kim Kane, Martha Hull, and crew released this early slice of 70s American punk. It's really more from the 60s garage, though, but pumped up, and quite frankly, full of mid-70s (ex-)hippie vibes. They cover Vince Taylor's "Brand New Cadillac," the Yardbirds' "Psychodaisies," the 60s punker "What a Girl Can't Do" with the gender turned inside out, the theme to Exodusdone Dick Dale style, and also do a great original, "Manganese Android Puppies."

SLIM HARPO
The Best of Slim Harpo: The Original King Bee [Rhino LP]

SLINT
Spiderland
Slint [Touch & Go 10-inch]

SLY & THE FAMILY STONE
Dance to the Music
Stand!
Greatest Hits [Epic]
There's a Riot Goin' On

THE SMALL FACES
Small Faces [Decca; first LP]
From the Beginning
There Are But Four Small Faces
Ogden's Nut Gone Flake
The Autumn Stone [Immediate 2LP; England]

HUEY "PIANO" SMITH & THE CLOWNS
Having a Good Time

LaDONNA SMITH & DAVEY WILLIAMS
Transmutating

LEO SMITH
Spirit Catcher [Nessa LP; recorded 1979]

PATTI SMITH
"Hey Joe"/"Piss Factory" [Mer 7-inch]
Horses
Teenage Perversity & Ships in the Night [bootleg LP; live at the Roxy, Hollywood, 1976]
Radio Ethiopia

WARREN SMITH
The Legendary Sun Performers [Charly LP; England]

SMOKEY JOE
"Signifying Monkey"/"Listen to Me Baby" [Sun Records 7-inch]

SNAKEFINGER
"The Spot" [Ralph Records 7-inch]

HANK SNOW
The Best of Hank Snow [RCA LP]

DOUG SNYDER/BOB THOMPSON
Daily Dance

THE SOFT BOYS
Give It to the Soft Boys [Raw 7-inch EP]
A Can of Bees

THE SOFT MACHINE
Soft Machine [demos produced by Giorgio Gomelsky]
The Soft Machine [Probe; first LP]
Volume Two
Third
Spaced [Cuneiform CD] Recorded in 1969, the Softs here are Hugh Hopper, Mike Ratledge, and Robert Wyatt, along with Brian Hopper on saxophones, and the all-important contributions of engineer Bob Woolford. Done as background for a multimedia hippie ballet called Spaced,this is very different from the Soft Machine's usual jazzoidal fuzz-keyboard workouts. Working with engineer Woolford, the band prepared tape loops of short group passages, accentuating interesting sounds and cool riffs against insistent locked grooves. Very related to minimal music, not to mention Krautrock just rearing its head at the time. And it's easy to imagine DJ Spooky taking the digital scissors to big chunks of this. A real surprise--not to be overlooked among the abundance of recordings by the Soft Machine from this period.
Turns On Paradiso [a.k.a. William] [bootleg CD; live in Amsterdam, 1969]
Moon in June [bootleg CD; live in London, 1969]
Live at the Proms 1970
Triple Echo [Harvest 2LP]
The Peel Sessions [2CD]

THE SONICS
Here Are the Sonics [Etiquette LP]
Explosives [BuckShot LP]
"Bama Lama Bama Loo" [Burdette 7-inch]

SONIC YOUTH
Sonic Death
Sonic Youth [first LP]
Confusion Is Sex
Walls Have Ears [live 1985]
Sister
Master-Dik
Daydream Nation

THE SOUL SURVIVORS
When the Whistle Blows Anything Goes [Crimson LP]

SPACEBOX
Spacebox [Captain Trip Records CD; Japan] Guru Guru bassist Uli Trepte and cohorts freak heavy on their debut LP, recorded in '79 and originally released in '81. While most of their Krautrock brethren were flirting with disco and discarding their fuzzboxes, Spacebox were romping through a wide range of space, prog, rock grooves, free-jazz urges, noisy interludes, distortion attack, and acidic humor. "zonk-machine/fast fantastic blue stoned/zonk-machine/a-one a-three a-two stoned/zonk-machine/now it's up to you stoned." What more can I say, except--------------------------------------
Kick Up [Captain Trip Records CD; Japan] More acid marches, heavy jam, and not-jazz from Uli Trepte and crew: Lotus Schmidt (drums and gongs), Julius Golombeck (guitar), and adding some nice spice, Edgar Hofmann on soprano sax, flute, violin, clarinet, nagaswaram (?), and harmonica. Really pretty great in a very nonchlanat way. Incredibly, this was recorded and released in 1984. Way behind their time . . . and way ahead!

SPACEMEN 3
Transparent Radiation [Glass; England]

SPACE STREAKINGS
Space Streakings [Nux-D5 CD]

THE SPACIOUS MIND
Sleepy Eyes and Butterflies [Gates of Dawn/The Wild Places 2LP] "There are forces friendly to our struggle to birth ourselves as an intelligent species. But they are quiet and shy; they are to be sought, not in the arrival of alien star fleets in the skies of Earth, but nearby, in wilderness solitude, in the ambience of waterfalls, and, yes, in the grasslands and pastures now too rarely beneath our feet."--Terence McKenna, quoted on the album's back cover. Aha! 'shroomheads from Sweden! Current vintage too, although they could easily pass for 70s Krautrock, or an unconstipated post-Barrett Pink Floyd. Inside the beautiful gatefold double album are three side-long cuts and two shorter pieces. Long e-bow float suddenly unfolds on guitars, electric and acoustic, announcing with great fanfare nothing more or less than the unfolding itself. I once et 2 ozs. wet of magic mushrooms--as I sat on the floor, it receded and I sank into what (what?!) was left "beneath" me--and what was left was everything, nothing more or less than the unfolding itself. Side B is chaos: not the chaos of out-of-kilter human confusion, but the chaos of brain connections leaping "randomly" about the "other" parts of your body--the chaos of leaves on a tree moving before the wind, always the wind. My second dose of "LSD" (too much strychnine or speed to be the real deal), riding through the Santa Monica Mountains on the 405 with Billy Ray drivin', Keith and Allen in the backseat also trippin', the mountains overwhelming, more alive than I ever imagined! "Alice of Strange" and "Your Mind and Mine" are a bit more song-like, prettier than the longer jams, and fittingly celebrate and then mourn Goddess. "I'm begging you please/Just let me reach/Your golden hand. . . . " And you know nothing is ever enough for Her; she cannot be held long, so let us dig Her aspect in ALL women; what's left is everything, nothing less or more than the unfolding Herself. Eris and Pan sittin' in a tree, F-U-C-K-I-N-G. Eris comes first, and then comes Pan; then comes some kids with a psychedelic band. Ha--okay? Eris = Space; Pan = Sun; and this is MY "hallucination(s)"--thank you, Spacious Mind.

THE SPADES
"You're Gonna Miss Me"/"We Sell Soul" [Zero 7-inch]

OTIS SPANN
Otis Spann Is the Blues [Candid]

THE SPARROW
John Kay and the Sparrow [Columbia LP]

ALEXANDER SPENCE
Oar

JOSEPH SPENCE
Happy All the Time

SPIRIT
Clear
Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus
Live [Illegal Records; England; 1978]

SPRING
Spring [United Artists LP]

DUSTY SPRINGFIELD
Dusty Springfield's Golden Hits [Philips]
The Look of Love
Dusty in Memphis
Cameo

THE STALK-FORREST GROUP
St. Cecilia: The Elektra Recordings [Rhino CD]

THE STANDELLS
Dirty Water [Tower LP]
Try It [Tower LP]

THE STANLEY BROTHERS
The Complete Columbia Stanley Brothers

THE STAPLE SINGERS
The Best of the Staple Singers [Stax]

RINGO STARR
"Blindman"/"Back Off Boogaloo" [Apple 7-inch]

STEPPENWOLF
Steppenwolf [Dunhill LP; first]
Steppenwolf the Second [Dunhill LP]
At Your Birthday Party [Dunhill LP]
Steppenwolf Live [Dunhill 2LP]
Early Steppenwolf [Dunhill LP]
"Hey Lawdy Mama"/"Twisted" [Dunhill 7-inch]
"Ride With Me"/"For Madmen Only" [Dunhill 7-inch]

GARY STEWART
Your Place or Mine [RCA]

KARLHEINZ STOCKHAUSEN
Kontakte [Wergo CD]

THE STOOGES
The Stooges [first LP]
Fun House
Raw Power
Metallic K.O.
"I Got a Right"/"Gimme Some Skin" [Siamese Records 7-inch]

STRAIGHT OUTTA MONGOLIA
S.O.M. [Fencing Flatworm CDR; England] Odd, appealing "outsider pop" with a heavy dose of mutant basement hiphop exotica. Outta-kilter kinda-songs constructed with what sounds like casio keyboard, synth, real piano (?), beatbox, turntable, maye some live percussion, and "sampling" of some sort. Nifty fresh keen.

BILLY STRANGE
The One and Only Billy Strange [Buckboard LP]

THE STRANGELOVES
I Want Candy [Bang LP] In 1966, three young "Australian sheepherders" acquired Masai drums "while on safari in Africa," and revolutionized R&R with their BIG tribal beat? Hmm. In 1966, three young record producers (Bob Feldman, Jerry Goldstein, and Richard Gottehrer) in New York City, fresh off the success of the McCoys' "Hang on Sloopy," convinced Bang Records to let them do their own record. With the classic title tune, Nuggetsfave "Night Time," some other BIG beats, a couple bubble-pop ballads, and a couple throwaway cover songs.

STRAPPING FIELDHANDS
Discus [Siltbreeze LP]
The Caul [The Now Sound 10-inch] The most completely whacked of the various Fieldhands releases. Twenty short pieces that slip quickly, sometimes slyly, into one another. Moments of acoustic improv, druggy noises, Barrett-spazz-pop even more fractured than earlier releases, spurts of band jam, "blues," primitive electronics, Ubu and Brian Wilson in the sandbox gittin' wheezy, "folk," punk-rock the way it sounded circa 1974, funny singin', pretty and scratchy music. Especial kudos for the edit/production job: like Zappa producing Sun City Girls on a rusty 70s 4-track, just lovely.
In the Pineys [Siltbreeze 10-inch]

IGOR STRAVINSKY/ALBERTO GINASTERA/(FRANZ) JOSEPH HAYDN; LEONARD SLATKIN (conductor) & THE ST. LOUIS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
The Rite of Spring/Popol Vuh/The Creation: Representation of Chaos [RCA Red Seal CD]

STREETWALKERS
Chapman-Whitney/Streetwalkers
Red Card

THE STYLISTICS
"I'm Stone in Love With You" [Avco 7-inch]

SUICIDE
Suicide [first LP]

SUKORA
Oeo [Ignivomous LP] Four very quiet, sound-based pieces by an intuitive Japanese explorer. In a Muckrakerinterview, Sukora stated that he creates his sounds using "old cassette recorders, paper, destroyed Macintosh, old record players, and something." Hum. Rub. Pop. Repeat. And something. And some. And.

SUN CITY GIRLS
Sun City Girls [Placebo LP; 1984]
Grotto of Miracles [Placebo LP; 1986]
Horse Cock Phepner [Placebo LP; 1987]
You're Never Alone With a Cigarette [Majora 7-inch; 1990]
Torch of the Mystics [Majora LP; 1990; Tupelo CD reissue]
Three Fake Female Orgasms [Majora double 7-inch; 1991]
Dawn of the Devi [Majora LP; 1991]
Napoleon & Josephine [Scratch 7-inch; 1992]
"Let's Just Lounge"/"Immortal Gods" [Majora 7-inch; 1992]
Live from Planet Boomerang [Majora 2LP; 1992]
"Eye Mohini" + 3 [Majora 7-inch; 1992]
Bright Surroundings Dark Beginnings [Majora LP; 1993; CD reissue] Sun City Girls at their ethnic-forging best. "The Venerable Song (The Meaning of Which Is No Longer Known) is a perfect chant for the post-American Western Hemisphere. Then comes the Eastern/psychedelic guitar freak-out "Omani Red Light." And "The Multiple Hallucinations of an Assassin" is a prime example of that low scratchy sound we've grown to know and love over the last umpteen years, building into another Rick Bishop Eastern-guitar statement.
Valentines from Matahari [Majora LP; 1993; CD reissue] Eleven short coils of barbed wire ripped across the strings of your heart, "songs" for that dreaded in-between time when romance is rubbed out but your heart is still pumpin' hard. Everything that modern rock music should be, but just a few hundred times too real for most rockers; this is what Harry Pussy fans think they're hearing (and Harry Pussy was okay, you know).
"Borungku Si Derita" + 5 [Majora double 7-inch version, 1993]
Live at C.O.N. Artists [Poon Village LP; 1993]
Kaliflower [Abduction CD; 1994] What ya get when you cross a Pan Pipe with a Grafix Bong? Sitdown comedy for the terminally zoned and righteously stoned: Sun City Girls. This is the church of the alienated whiteman: nyuk!
Cloaven Theater [Abduction video; 1994] The hottest power trio since Mark, Don, and Mel take us on an hour unguided tour of frantic rehearsals, celebratory paranoia, confrontations with "punks," puppet shows, fried desert jazz, and other, um, performances. Kinda like if the Merry Pranksters suddenly timewarped into the 90s as a six-armed Hindu goddess with the inner urge to rock out. Yeah, exactly like that.
Jacks Creek [Abduction LP; 1995] Howard Phillips Lovecraft was born in 1866 in the small village of Dollywood, Tennessee. As a child, he spent his days admiring the local Indian fishermen as they reeled in little river creatures that nobody else seemed to catch. and nobody ever really saw the Indians eat the fish either. Howard was watching the Indians fish one overcast Sunday morning when the cloudy sky suddenly lit up and Howard looked to see a shiny silver wagon hovering over the river. As its glow grew more intense, it became liquid, its shape changing. Just before Howard averted his eyes from the blinding light, he saw the wagon take on the characteristics of the strange fishy creatures of the river, tentacles springing from all sides of the mutating machine. He could no longer watch what was happening, but he heard strange sounds whispers metallic scrapings that soon took a form Howard recognized: music. The next day he awoke in Providence, and as he looked down at his hands, he gasped in revulsion, staring in fright at his new flipper-like appendages. After that, he moved to Arizona where he died at the age of 23. All Hail the Elder Dogs!
Dulce [Abduction LP]
Juggernaut [Abduction LP]
Piasa . . . Devourer of Men [Abduction LP]
Carnival Folklore Resurrection 1: Cameo Demons and Their Manifestations [Abduction CD] Lots of ritual drummin' and reed-blowin' up front, on "Where Dead People Live" and "Garlic and Mirrors," with tongue-action-evocations mumblin' like Charles Gocher's darkest demons are havin' a good chuckle with him. "OKAPI" uses a buried-piano and loud-percussion combination to produce something that's not "not-jazz," nor what you don't expect either. The longish title cut uses the same instrumentation, but adds hacking-cough-demon vocals, and brings things way down."Legendary Fingerprint Recognition" grooves weirdly, detuned acoustic guitar and spastic vocalizing atop drums and percussion. Sun City jazz (itself) flares up on the closing "Lunar Gun-Point Recollections," saxophone, intense drumming, and schizo scat-singing moving us from Athenian marketplace, to Duke Ellington's Arabia-of-the-mind, to Sun Ra's opened skies and Arthur Doyle's post-free statements, and etc.
Carnival Folklore Resurrection 2: The Dreamy Draw [Abduction CD] More live-in-the-studio performance by SCG, recorded in 1998. Begins with two short piano-and-percussion pieces, "Extinct Special" and "PHUKET BELOW," both of 'em grim and silly with equal conviction. The remainder of the CD is comprised of a "Sukratan court ritual": "Cavernous Procession" marching percussion introduction; "The Black Hat Blow" chant mumble drum rattle up the spirits; "The Dreamy Draw" 21 minutes of percussion itchy ecstasy frenzy bliss; and "Rotation Floation" with piano, melodica, and percussion on a pleasantly rough flight back to the beginning. This series of CDs is a return to the live, no-frills listenability the band mostly lost or abandoned after they left Majora Records. Great music.
Carnival Folklore Resurrection 3: Superculto [Abduction CD] Starts in rock mode "Ruins of an Old Casino" repeating space theme and then those beautiful note-shards the Bishops play so well. "Echo by Assocation" continues the trend of percussion pieces that has developed on these Carnival FolkloreCDs. This piece has the feel of early-60s Sun Ra. Detuned acoustic guitar, xylophone, and drums merge on "Mopti Ghetto Still" for what sounds like a Southeast Asian folk tune. Three short stops in maybe North Africa ("Thrill Code"), electric shadyland ("Now Playing"), and a Pygmy settlement on Mars ("NAMBUTAN") before we get to "Camp Sulawesi" for a banjo stroll up your knees. "The Gospel According to Philly Jo Jones" is nervous free jazz, shrieking Aylersque sax giving way to Charles Gocher's drum skills. Then three more short 'uns: "AMUCK 5" (50-second electric shout), "DJEMA EL FINA, USA" (ritual drum madness), and "Jazze Capricorn" (a la Cecil Taylor). The closer, "Elvis on a Shoestring," is an almost mellow rock instrumental waving bye-bye-bye-bye. . . .
Carnival Folklore Resurrection 4: A Bullet Through the Last Temple [Abduction CD] The jazz on "I give em all 5 stars" is startling in its clarity; sax, trumpet, upright bass, and drums play a mildly free number, not far from mid-60s Don Cherry. Same for "Samba Venez Norte," except the reference point is closer to Miles/Trane modal playing at its sweetest. The guest trumpet player is David Carter, who also turns up on "NARCOLODIC" (Miles + Dixieland + Wes Montgomery?), "Old Nancy Wardrobe in the Dance Closet" (Braxton-swing!), and the beautifully fragmented title piece. Teri Nelson Zagar sits in on upright bass for two Ra-like numbers, "Junky Fado" and "Hiccup Tribe Scan Tumor Flower." The SCG trio's "In the Bosom of Uncle" sounds like an outtake from their Jacks CreekLP, except the playing is more focused; and "Hip Fog Swirl" creates its druggy haze via squeaky clarinet, melancholy piano, and nervous snare. Sun City Girls' first full foray into the jazz whirl feels more like an inspired AACM session than the ironic ethnic forgery we might've expected. Really great.
Carnival Folklore Resurrection 5: Severed Finger With a Wedding Ring [Abduction CD] Sun City Girls in power-trio mode recorded before a very receptive audience in Seattle, 2000. Mr. Goucher opens the proceedings croonin' "I Wanna Go to the Moon" behind some funky-bar jass blooz. "Chameleon 2000" starts with spookhouse ceremonial organ and then breaks apart through 10 minutes of manly investigation. Another little sweet delusion from Gocher intros Rick Bishop gittin' all jazz-psych-Eastern. That 'un's "Helen Waite," and here comes "The Imok Slip" itchy rattle ascendin' to SCG slap-yer-headness. "Drippin' on Stupa" continues the head-on assault, like '76 MX-80 in a pissed-off mood. This flows directly into the title jam, full of jagged guitar and bass, with drums even more angular. "Santeria Klaus" has more storytellin' campfire improv, Alan Bishop makin' with big spongy bassspace. Finally, the 12 minutes of "Get to Nonya" seems to re-state and bring it on home and curl them trails 'round bare feet happily skippin' 'cross broken-glass minefields. Heavy shit with a grin-eatin' sound, and a good "mature" companion to their classic heart-shattered psych-out Valentines from Mathari.Very recommended. But don't cut too soon, babies.
Carnival Folklore Resurrection 6: Sumatran Electric Chair [Abduction CD]
Carnival Folklore Resurrection 7: Libyan Dream [Abduction CD]
Flute and Mask [Abduction CD; 2002]
Wah [Abduction CD; 2002]

SUN CITY GIRLS/THINKING FELLERS UNION LOCAL 282
"Wheat Delusion"/"Outhouse of the Pryeeeeeeee" [Nuf Sed split 7-inch; 1992]

SUNLIGHT [SKY SAXON]
Lovers Cosmic Voyage [Golden Flash]

SKY SUNLIGHT & THEE NEW SEEDS
"Universal Stars" [7-inch]

SUN RA & THE ARKESTRA
Super-Sonic Jazz [Evidence CD; recorded 1956] The first Sun Ra album opens with "India," sort of like early modal jazz crossed with Hollywood exotica, a simple theme awash in percussion. This is followed by "Sunology," a heavy, oddly swinging number which typifies these first official public steps into the omniverse. But the mutant swing is full of odd percussion, non-standard changes, electric piano, bass guitar, Ra's evocative imagery, and other elements uncommon to jazz at the time. And "Advice to Medics" is wholly something else: madly repeating keyboard sounding so much like minimal keyboardist Terry Riley ten years later--except it's funky! This and all the other Evidence CD releases were originally released in small editions on Sun Ra's own Saturn Records.
Jazz in Silhouette [Evidence CD; recorded 1958] Most of the major players of the greatest Arkestras were already present by the time of this 1958 album: John Gilmore (tenor sax), Marshall Allen (alto sax), Ronnie Boykins (bass), Pat Patrick (baritone sax, flute)--plus Hobart Dotson (trumpet), who went on to play with Charles Mingus. "Ancient Aiethopia"--with its Asian/African flavor, one-chord pulse, sketchy trumpet solo, hand percussion, bird-like flutes, clustered piano notes, mumbled vocals--sounds much like post-Coltrane modal jammin' at its sweetest. The long-time Arkestra anthem "Enlightenment" is debuted, but without its chant, and sounding very different from its later incarnation: intentionally mutant, opening in a sleepy lope before starting to swing, then moving to Miles territory for the trumpet solo, then romantic for a Ra piano solo, a sudden leap into cha-cha rhythm, a gong sounds, and the band settles into a moderate groove till the end. Odd? Yes! And very pleasing. "Saturn," also a concert standard for years, starts as another of Ra's Latin tunes before shifting into cartoon music worthy of Raymond Scott--except there's a wild Gilmore sax solo that you never heard behind Daffy Duck (too bad). The long solo-laden "Blues at Midnight" is driven and dominated by an intense bass line from Ronnie Boykins. Even the corn ("Velvet," "Hours After") tastes real good!
Angels and Demons at Play/The Nubians of Plutonia [Evidence CD; recorded 1960/1956 & 1958/1959] Angels and Demons at PlayisOne of Ra's mixed-up albums, with four of his more advanced tracks from 1960 mismatched with two singles from 1956. "Music from the World Tomorrow" sounds scratchy and open; arco bass, zither, organ, and minimal percussion create a spooky study in sound. Ronnie Boykins' title tune and "Tiny Pyramids" are lonely, loping, flute-dominated pieces. "Between Two Worlds" comes from Ra's Latin bag at its mature stage. The four early tracks are more conservative, although "A Call for All Demons" stands out. The Nubians of Plutoniais a cool transitional LP, recorded before most of Angels and Demons,with lots of percussion and Latin rhythms joining the big-band mutations.
Interstellar Low Ways/Sun Ra Visits Planet Earth  [Evidence CD; recorded 1960 & 1956] Ra's swing-bop-jungle themes start yielding to more overt weirdness on Interstellar Low Ways.The first couple tunes are interesting, but then comes "Interplanetary Music," the band chanting the title relentlessly while what sounds like a violin saws away tunelessly and the rhythm section plays a simple, child-like melody. The title cut is an odd Latinized number with flutes, percussion, and gongs coloring the tune. "Space Loneliness" recalls Miles Davis around the same time, except the piano goes its own way and there's a strange little horn blip thrown into the long, chilled tones. And the classic "Rocket Number Nine Take Off for the Planet Venus": The band chants the title like an outer-space "Salt Peanuts," followed by abrupt stops in the music and then a furious section with John Gilmore soloing. Then Ronnie Boykins does an amazing unaccompanied bass solo, leading to a bluesy piano solo, and finally the band comes back in. Amazing! The Arkestra would soon move from Chicago to New York City, and things would get even more amazing. Sun Ra Visits Planet Earthis one of the Arkestra's better "normal" LPs.
Cosmic Tones for Mental Therapy/Art Forms of Dimensions Tomorrow [Evidence CD; recorded 1963 & 1961/1962] Wow! Space. Everywhere: space. Two of the Arkestra's most amazing albums. For Cosmic Tones,Ra sticks to the clavioline and Hammond organ for all-electric tones, and the band is appropriately sympathetic. On "Thither and Yon," Robert Cummings plays thick bass-clarinet tones as he comes up against Marshall Allen playing snake-charmer oboe, and hand drums come in only to be buried in a sea of echo. After much spacey wandering, when a groove pops up on "Moon Dance," the band erupts, Ronnie Boykins' bass snapping and snare drums cracking, Ra sounding positively funky at the Hammond keyboard. On Art Forms,drummer/engineer Tommy Hunter began experimenting with massive amounts of reverb, pushing the Arkestra deeper into space than ever. "Cluster of Galaxies" is pure space, using musical instruments and recording technology to explore sound, not play notes. "Solar Drums" and "Infinity of the Universe" are similar, except they use percussive rhythms and beats as foundations. Horns blow long lines against a repeating piano figure and burbling bass on "The Outer Heavens," suggesting minimalism until the rhythm becomes undone and musicians start wandering. "Ankh" and the rest are jazz pieces, but even these are stranger than before.
When Sun Comes Out/Fate in a Pleasant Mood [Evidence CD; recorded 1962/1963] The sound of a gong begins the proceedings, and then a wordless female vocal (mystery woman Theda Barbara) comes in, floating edgily over percussion. "The Nile," one of Ra's patented sleepy Eastern tunes, is so drenched in echo that the solo percussion section sounds like chairs thudding on an empty auditorium floor! Danny Davis joined the Arkestra on second alto saxophone on this album, and can be heard in intense interaction with alto master Marshall Allen on the title track and the very free "Calling Planet Earth." On that  song and the re-recording of "We Travel the Spaceways," Ra's piano reaches for new atonal places, although the shorter song formats add a sense of restraint that would soon be questioned. Fate in a Pleasant Mood,from the same period, is nice but not one of Ra's best.
Other Planes of There [Evidence CD; recorded 1964] There are thirteen players on this album, but Ra uses them in such sparse situations that when the ensemble as a whole comes in, it staggers. The 22-minute title cut is a series of sound events, not unlike Cage or Stockhausen in compositional approach, although very unlike that music in tone and emotion. It may not swing or groove, but you can still hear the smeared blue notes and very human cries of jazz. "Sound Spectra/Spec Sket" is a slowly building, circular piece that finds Ra's piano and Ronnie Boykins' bass playing against an insistent drum beat while trumpeter Walter Miller solos--and then slowly melts into percussion again. The Arkestra finally gets to swing a bit on "Sketch," although echo is soon added, cymbals sounding brittle and out front; then John Gilmore leaps in for an ever-building tenor solo that simply rips before suddenly dropping out for Ra's piano.The cyclic approach is applied in a more chaotic manner on the pounding "Spiral Galaxy." Another classic album from Ra.
Strange Strings [Saturn LP; recorded 1964]
The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra [ESP-Disk/ZYX Music CD; recorded 1965] The three LPs Sun Ra did for ESP-Disk in the 1960s brought his music to the attention of a wider non-jazz audience: freaks, hippies, proto-punks, rock record collectors. When I first heard this, at age 16, it scared the hell out of me! It's quite radical, even by Ra's own standards of the time. In the year that Coltrane was revolutionizing mainstream jazz, Sun Ra and the Arkestra were barely even playing jazz! What it is . . . is Sun Ra! "Heliocentric" and "Outer Nothingness" are different takes of an improvised series of sound events--piccolo, bass marimba, keyboards, trombones, and percussion building in various ways independent of any underlying rhythmic structure. When the big brass section suddenly thunders in, it's like this world giving way to another reality. "Of Heavenly Things" is similar in approach. Ra's furious piano drives the crazed "Other Worlds," which treats atonal jazz as just another device, as if this short amp-blower were their pop song among the alien space music. "The Cosmos" starts like jazz, but quickly turns into a celeste-and-bass duet that alternates with mad-sounding group passages. "Nebulae," Ra's short solo on celeste and piano, makes for a sleepy intro to the very short "Dancing in the Sun," which swings us out into the fourth dimension. You need this album!
The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra II [ESP-Disk/ZYX Music CD; recorded 1965] At this point, Ra's music was as original as music can be. Although you can point to certain modern composers with similar aesthetics, there is nothing else like this. "The Sun Myth" is a lengthy excursion beginning with Ronnie Boykins' bowed bass and a slowly building percussion rumble, until the horns enter. But even the atonalities of free sax and Ra's piano don't push this into the fashionable free-for-all of the day. Yes, it's different! "A House of Beauty" features bird-like piccolo by Marshall Allen interacting with bassist Ronnie Boykins and Ra's clavioline. The mood is dark and fragile. Finally, "Cosmic Chaos" begins with an ensemble roar before settling in for a lengthy series of solos against ever shifting, mostly free, rhythms. Great music.
The Magic City [ESP-Disk/ZYX Music CD; recorded 1966] A monumental achievement from Sun Ra and the Arkestra. The 27-minute title track is made up of only the most basic elements of formal composition, relying instead on Ra's seeming telepathic directions to move from event to event. The mood is eerie, open, very spacious. Flutes wander around Ra's keyboard and Ronnie Boykins' bass, slowly making room for saxophones and the sparsest of percussion, but no definite rhythmic structure is ever established. On this piece, Ra did away not just with swing but the entire need for rhythmic propulsion in jazz. In the end, it does all coalesce into free-style chaos, but this is otherwise entirely unique. "Shadow World" is a beautiful tune of contrasting rhythms set against each other, with strange stops that feel not "wrong" but like an unknown musical language. "Abstract Eye" and "Abstract 'I' " mirror one another, the same theme stated like a symphonic piece, with bowed bass, bass marimba, timpani, piccolo, trombones, and bongos; two points of view, painted in the same dark hues as the rest of this important album. Another must-have!
Nothing Is [ESP-Disk/ZYX Music CD; recorded 1966] Recorded on a tour of New York state colleges organized by ESP-Disk, this is very different from the two studio LPs for ESP. The playing is frenetic and swinging, with familiar Arkestra themes in often abbreviated form, a crowd-pleasing mix of jazz, noise, and chants. Most interesting is "Exotic Forest," a tranced-out groove with oboe soloing over bass and percussion. One of the best concert albums by the Arkestra.
Monorails and Satellites [Evidence CD; recorded 1966] After all the scary sounds and atonal upheavals of his recent music, this was a big shift in mood: Sun Ra alone at the piano, with no electronics and no effects. Numbers like "Space Tower," "Cogitation," and "The Galaxy Way" feel like piano orchestrations for the Arkestra, divided into complex sections that suggest thematic change. "The Alter Destiny" and "Blue Differentials" are just about perfect solo pieces. He even throws in a couple of romantic ballads, "Skylight" and the pop song "Easy Street." Maybe not as crucial as other late-60s Ra, but thoroughly enjoyable.
Atlantis [Evidence CD; recorded 1967/1968] Another essential Ra album. The four short tunes are dark and dense in feel, but sparse in instrumentation, mostly electronic keyboards and percussion. I especially like "Bimini": heavy, threatening drums in intense dialogue, with Ra slipping slowly into the mix. But then there's "Atlantis" itself, long and unfolding, larger than life, a musical myth of promised lands and the master musicians who take us there. After a lengthy solo from Ra--beeping and spacing, vamping like an intergalactic Phantom of the Opera, moving ever outward--horns begin to enter, bellowing and moaning as if to raise the lost continent. And then a romantic Ellington-like sax section against electronic gurgles and arhythmic drums, mutating into a huge, strangely shifting mass of sounds.
My Brother the Wind Volume II [Evidence CD; recorded 1969/1970] An album of sharp contrasts. It was during this period that Ra brought his swing approach back to the fore. "Pleasant Twilight" and "Somewhere Else" are big-band arrangements. There are also funky organ grooves, and June Tyson sings a couple of space ballads. An atonal chamber piece provides a bridge to the remaining five cuts: Sun Ra solo on Moog synthesizer. These pieces are extraordinary, unlike other Moog experiments of the time. "The Wind Speaks" suggest Krautrock right around the corner, but manages a deep, casual style no German band ever achieved. "Sun Thoughts" and "The Design-Cosmos II" are simple, modulating themes, at once childlike and filled with universal visions. "Journey to the Stars" and "World of the Myth 'I'" are similar, but darker. These electronic experiments are fascinating, exciting, a glimpse into what Ra would be doing for the next few years (along with his swing revival!).
Out There a Minute [Blast First CD; recorded 1961-1970] "Personal selections" from sessions for Saturn Records, all but two (from Art Forms of Dimensions Tomorrow) previously unreleased or currently unavailable. Most of the cuts are straight-ahead vehicles that swing, groove, lope, and rattle in the Arkestra's usual wonderful way. But the two cuts from the 1969 Saturn LP Continuation: Intergalaxtic Series IIare something else: "Cosmo Enticement" sounds tribal, with flutes and hand percussion; "Song of Tree and Forest" finds flute and piccolo smothered in echo over a reverberating bass clarinet and occasional piano chords. "Other Worlds" is a wild outtake from The Magic City.On "Journey Outward," John Gilmore plays bass clarinet against congas that sound underwater. The twelve-minute "Next Stop Mars" is an intense blow-out, except there's almost no percussion present. A good stylistic cross section of Sun Ra's 1960s work.
The Solar Myth Approach [Affinity Records CD; recorded 1970/1971] Originally released as two volumes on BYG Actuel, this unfortunately deletes two cuts from the second volume. Nonetheless, this is among the best Ra on CD. There's not much here "typical" of anything. "Realm of Lightning," with an otherworldly voice just beneath the music, uses percussion played in an angular, frantic way that seems to emulate the nervous burbling of Ra's synthesizer on the solo Moog cuts "Scene I, Take 1" and "Seen III, Took 4." For his first recorded use of the clavinet, on the solo "Pyramids" and the intro to the group-sung "The Satellites Are Spinning," Ra plays it like a funky space-harpsichord. Long, contrasting horn lines create a creeping, ominous feel on "Spectrum." Trombones in quiet conversation start "Legend," but are suddenly swallowed by the Arkestra. "They'll Come Back" is an odd bit of romanticism. Drummer and sometime engineer Tommy Hunter is given a nod on the giddy, wandering "Adventures of Bugs Hunter." "The Utter Nots" is terrifying science fiction, the ensemble blowing like a supernova. There's also a swinging re-recording of "Ancient Ethiopia" from 1958's Jazz in Silhouetteand a short version of the often recorded "Outer Spaceways Incorporated."
Space Is the Place [Impulse CD; recorded 1972] Reissue of a Blue Thumb LP.
Life Is Splendid CD [Total Energy CD; recorded 1972] Live at the '72 Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festival. Just under 40 minutes of very ferocious Arkestra music. Even the philosophical chants have an extra intensity. Dig the giddy call-and-response on "What Planet Is This?" But also dig Ra's amazing keyboard interludes; the wild solos, including one I haven't figured whether 'tis horn or human voice imitating horn; the dense percussive soup bubbling everywehre; plenty of group implosion/explosion. It's just too short!
Outer Spaceways Employment Agency [Total Energy CD; recorded 1973] Live at the '73 Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festival.
Concert for the Comet Kohoutek [ESP-Disk/ZYX Music CD; recorded 1973]
Discipline 99 [a.k.a. Out Beyond the Kingdom of] [Saturn LP; recorded 1974]
The Singles [Evidence 2CD; recorded 1954-1982] Except for cuts that have shown up on reissued LPs from Evidence, this amazing set collects all of the titles recorded and released on singles through Sun Ra's Saturn label by the Arkestra; doo-wop groups the Cosmic Rays, the Nu Sounds, the Qualities, and Juanita Rogers and Lynn Hollings; bizarre blues-shouter Yochanan; blues guitarist Lacy Gibson; and R&B singer Little Mack. The Cosmic Rays' four cuts are among the coolest doo-wop you'll ever hear, two with the Arkestra backing. Yochanan's more primal take on the Screamin' Jay Hawkins approach to R&B gets lifted into outer space as the "Muck Muck" man moves onto "The Sun One" and "Message to Earthman" (with the Arkestra). Lacy Gibson's post-Elmore James blues is a treat, and his original "I Am Gonna Unmask the Batman" is also covered by the Arkestra. The Sun Ra material ranges from the early "Medicine for a Nightmare," "Saturn," and "Supersonic Jazz" in 1956, to 1968's amazing double-sided philosophical/aesthetic statement "The Bridge"/ "Rocket #9," to "Disco 2100" in 1978, a wild  synthesizer /drum duet from 1979 called "Cosmo-Extensions," and Ra alone at an upright piano for "Quest" in 1982. Lots of fun and discovery throughout.
Saturday Night Live 1978 [TV appearance]

SUNSHIP
Everythings an Omen [Celebrate Psi Phenomenon CDR; New Zealand] Campbell Kneale: "Birchville Cat Motel's brand new 'power-trio' (no, that is NOT a misprint) with its sights set firmly on the super-heated disco-ball of its namesake. Fushitsusha plays 'Land Speed Record'? Crowded House plays 'Sonic Death'? Flipper plays The Corrs? That subjective decision is perhaps best left to the ears of the beholder. Speaker-thrashing, venue-demolishing, remorselessly spliced . . . um . . . 'pop' (for lack of a better word)." All right! Crazed heavy guitar-and-drums jams with mad editing wringing 'em out to dry in little chunks o' "song." Like the early Meat Puppets chopped into tiny pieces. My most fave ROCK disc since the Target Shoppers LP.

SUPREME DICKS
Workingman's Dick

LORD SUTCH AND HEAVY FRIENDS
Lord Sutch and Heavy Friends [Cotillion LP]

THE SWEET
The Sweet [Bell LP; first U.S. album]
Strung Up [RCA 2LP; England]

SWEET AND HONEY
Trips Festival 1993 [cassette]
Live at Your Cosmic Mind [The Now Sound LP] Great Japanese psychedelic band that existed '89-'93, including Masaki Batoh from Ghost. First up is a side-long 'shroom-trance called "Bad Stone" which sounds like a real good stone. The rest is a bit more overtly "rock," but not very. It all has that muddy Avalon-Ballroom-in-Tokyo vibe of the early Marble Sheep jams. And the cover is just too stoopid-ridiculous-beautiful, like something done by a 1972 14-year-old Valley acidhead who somehow got turned on to Pedro Bell (the great Funkadelic cover artist).

ROOSEVELT SYKES
The Country Blues Piano Ace 1929-1932 [Yazoo LP]
Dirty Double Mother [Bluesway LP; 1973]

S.Y.P.H.
S.Y.P.H. [Fuenfundvierzig CD; Germany] The first album of Harry Rag and company's post-Krautrock sound, recorded in late '79, is a fabulous punky thing, full of youthful energy, angular funk, garage dub, an irresisitible tune with girl singers, and a wide-open experimental quality that separated them from similar Anglo-American art-punk bands like the Mekons and the Feelies.
Pst!/S.Y.P.H. [Captain Trip Records CD; Japan] Second and fourth LPs, from '80 and '81, by a young German band with deep grooves and post-punk energy that takes PiL's Second Editionback home to its Kraut roots. By the end of the self-titled fourth LP (not to be confused with their self-titled debut LP), their clang'n'scream has extended into a full 18 minutes of zone time. Co-produced by Holger Czukay at Can's Inner Space Studio; he also plays on a few cuts.
Rot Geld Blau [Buback Tonträger CD; Germany] The last S.Y.P.H. album, recorded 1989-1993, and just as inspired as their earlier stuff. Kraut grooves and punk tempos compete for attention, dub and funk also enter the rhythmic fray, while noise leaks in as "solos" and conversation pops in 'tween songs. Nice clang-scrape guitars. A bit of Eastern flavor develops out of a Morricone-like "Western" riff. Vocals here and there that sound like a loudly mumbling drunk outside your house at 3:00 a.m. Yes.

TANGERINE DREAM
Electronic Meditation
Alpha Centauri

TAPPER ZUKIE
Mah Ah Warrior
MPLA

CECIL TAYLOR
Jazz Advance [Blue Note CD; recorded 1956]; Looking Ahead! [Contemporary  CD; recorded 1958] Even on these early albums, Cecil Taylor is quite something to behold. The former child prodigy was still showing influences like Dave Brubeck's cool jazz and Lennie Tristano's classical-jazz third-stream experiments, but with a depth of feeling that those players were missing. Here, the strongest impression is of Monk's piano fragmentations taken a few steps further, and with a wider range of musics to draw from. Check Monk's "Bemsha Swing" on Jazz Advance:very close to the original spirit of Monk, except Taylor occasionally pushes the number into another place, with notes stacked into bursts of sound instead of Monk's own weird chords. Denis Charles (drums) and Buell Neidlinger (bass) are also good at breaking up the rhythm in unexpected ways; they would stay with Taylor as his music reached maturity over the next few years. The young Steve Lacy, on soprano saxophone, also makes his debut, sounding confident but unformed on two of Taylor's originals. Duke Ellington's "Azure" is a perfect vehicle for Taylor to develop his chaotic runs from the simple, romantic melody. The fiery "Rick Kick Shaw" is the most like later Cecil, with its driving rhythm shattered by the piano's violent bursts and waves of notes. Looking Ahead! moves a bit further. Like early Monk with Milt Jackson, Taylor is teamed with a brilliant vibraharpist, Earl Griffith. The two instruments combine and complement in beautiful ways. You can hear Taylor's future sound clearly on "Of What," with its bursts of clustered notes, but then "African Violets" is absolutely delicate! Very rewarding, enjoyable early looks at the first musician to play what came to be known as free jazz (Mingus and Sun Ra were traveling different, more personal paths).
Air [Candid CD; recorded 1960] The two takes of "Number One" are prime examples of early Taylor, albeit near the end of the phase. With bassist Buell Neidlinger and an early appearance by drummer Sunny Murray, Taylor begins the composition somewhere near Thelonious Monk, and you can hear European art music, the influence of third-stream experiments--until about six minutes into the twelve-minute first take, when the piano notes become torrents of angular rain. It must have sounded quite strange and even ugly at the time, but now sounds almost pretty! For the three takes of the title tune and "Port of Call," Denis Charles replaces Murray, and in his recording debut, Archie Shepp is on tenor sax. The two later takes of "Air" are a marvel, as you hear Shepp's own style taking shape: gritty yet willfully intellectual, more controlled than the typical free sax player, with an undercurrent of anger running throughout.
Nefertiti, the Beautiful One Has Come [Revanant 2CD; recorded 1962] A relaxed, bare-bones night of music by Taylor, Sunny Murray (drums), and Jimmy Lyons (alto sax). Things start out very subdued; you can hear muffled conversation, glasses clinking, the sounds of the Cafe Monmartre in Copenhagen. Things do intensify, though. By the time we've made our way through half an hour of music and are now deep into the 21-minute "D Trad That's What," all the elements of Taylor's music have appeared. In this setting, with no bass and indeed no obvious "rhythm section," you can hear how thoroughly Taylor's idea of rhythm and melody are indeed a combination of the two. Taylor and Murray dialogue in a manner closer to the usual saxophone-and-trumpet statements than piano and drums. Exciting music in transition; Taylor was on the verge of his biggest breakthroughs, although it took a few years to go public.
Unit Structures [Blue Note CD; recorded 1966] With a septet that matches the density of his tunes, the master musician and composer hits the height of his power, which would be sustained for the next ten years or so. He has a great rhythm section in bassists Henry Grimes and Alan Silva, and drummer Andrew Cyrille; they follow Taylor's wild twists and turns with astonishing accuracy. And check the complex conversation between horns on "Enter, Evening (Soft Line Structure)": Taylor regular Jimmy Lyons (alto) with Ken McIntyre (alto, oboe, bass clarinet) and Eddie Gale Stevens, Jr. (trumpet). Even for free jazz, Taylor's music from this point on becomes "difficult," mostly in a European, compositional way: his changes and tempos are unsettling, the rhythms are broken up in unexpected ways. You owe it to yourself, though: wrap your ears around this music and don't flinch! Essential.
Conquistador! [Blue Note CD; recorded 1966]
Student Studies [Affinity CD; recorded 1966] [a.k.a. The Great Paris Concert; Black Lion CD] Reissue of a BYG Actuel LP
Spring of Two Blue Jays [Jazz View CD; recorded 1973]
Dark to Themselves [Enja CD; recorded 1976] The Cecil Taylor Unit at the 17th Yugoslavian Jazz Festival: Jimmy Lyons (alto sax), Raphé Malik (trumpet), David S. Ware (tenor sax), Marc Edwards (drums). Cecil offers us two side-long explorations of "Da Phallic mystère." "Streams" weaves in and out of written ensemble sections, with each player letting go of intense torrents of sound. Nobody goes limp till they're finished, and Ware's extended upper-register tenor freaking is especially rigid! "Chorus of Seed" continues the liquid theme as the rhythms become more insistent, the solos more spasmodic, with Taylor's piano ever writhing.
In Florescence [A&M CD; recorded 1989]

HOUND DOG TAYLOR
"Christine"/"Alley Music" [C.J. 7-inch]
Hound Dog Taylor & the Houserockers [Alligator; first LP]
Natural Boogie [Alligator LP]
Beware of the Dog! [Alligator LP]
Genuine Houserocking Music [Alligator LP]
Live at Florences [JSP Records LP; England]

TELEVISION
Marquee Moon

THE TEMPTATIONS
Cloud Nine
Anthology [Motown]

10cc
10cc [first LP]
Sheet Music

THEM
Them [Decca] [a.k.a. The Angry Young Them]
The World of Them [Decca LP; England]
Backtrackin' [London LP]

THERAPIST JOHN'S ZIP CODE REVUE
Abundance [Amarillo CD] Bill Singer and crew do something like C&W, with traditional songwriting defining the parameters of the alleged genre, even as their eclecticism weaves drunk around the parking lot at Piggy Wiggly. "Doctors Are Spreading Disease" is a revolutionary anthem aimed at the AMA mafia (I think), soundin' like Gram and the Burritos at their most gorgeous. But given a swipe at Zep-blues, "When the Levee Breaks" gits noisy instead of intimate. "Wired" speed-angst-comedy flirts with the acne-scarred punkette in the corner, and then collapses into "Making Believe," Susan Clark achin' out a real pretty vocal. Tender and wailin'--contrasts that'll keep you hummin' and itchin' all day long. And how many of yer current faves can do that?

THINKING FELLERS UNION LOCAL 282
Lovelyville
Mother of All Saints
Strangers from the Universe
Admonishing the Bishops [10-inch]
I Hope It Lands

THINKING PLAGUE
In This Life

THIN LIZZY
Rocker (1971-1974) [London]
Nightlife
Jailbreak

THE 13TH FLOOR ELEVATORS
Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators
Easter Everywhere
Bull of the Woods
Fire in My Bones
Elevator Tracks [Texas Archive Recordings LP; released1987] Previously unheard acetate-only gem "I Don't Ever Want to Come Down" + unreleased studio takes of "Before You Accuse Me," "Make That Girl Your Own," "You Can't Hurt Me Anymore," "Splash One," "Tried to Hide," "You're Gonna Miss Me" + '66 live craziness at La Maison Ballroom featuring "Everybody Need Somebody," "Satisfaction," "I'm Down," "Roller Coaster," "and "I Got You (I Feel Good)."

THIS HEAT
This Heat
Deceit

HENRY THOMAS
Texas Worried Blues: Complete Recorded Works 1927-1929 [Yazoo]

RUFUS THOMAS
"The Dog" [Stax 7-inch]
"Walking the Dog" [Stax 7-inch]
"Can Your Monkey Do the Dog" [Stax 7-inch]

HANK THOMPSON
The Best of Hank Thompson Vol. 2 [Capitol LP]

HENRY THREADGILL
Spirit of Nuff . . . Nuff [Black Saint CD; recorded 1990]
Too Much Sugar for a Dime [Axiom CD; recorded 1993]
Makin' a Move [Columbia CD; recorded 1995]

THE THREE DOCTORS
Archaeolgy of the Infinite [Amarillo LP] Three wise fools packed their black bags and started out 'cross desert-space following the star in the West. When they arrived in Deutschland, they exhumed Friedrich Nietzsche's grave, and they all agreed that the "true" supermen reside farther West--much farther. They strapped Nietzsche's chattering corpse to the back of a pack mule, and set out 'cross ocean-space. When they arrived in Soul Francisco, the party had already started, the Ghost Dance was in its third day, visitors from Sirius mingled with brown-skinned mound-builders seeking advice on chaotic social structures. The three fools and their mad philosopher pal started unloading musical equipment. Finally, an audience full of saviors, Europe falling 'neath the low rumbling and scratching, much space arriving, background receding. The Ghost Dance paused, as pipes were passed and "America" disappeared in a puff, every human exchanged souls with their neighbor. After the gig, Nietzsche phoned Charles Mingus and told him about the party. The sight of the two men in their loin clothes brought tearful laughter to the three fools. The Earth felt itself moving through cosmic goo, and breathed, and that was good. Starring Brandan Kearney, Trey Sprunge, Margaret Murray, and Gregg Turkington. "Ash Ra Tempel meets Hopi farmers for a riveting handshake!" raves Fungo-Teen-Zine.
 

THROBBING GRISTLE
At the Air Gallery, Winchester [Industrial cassette; live 1976]
At the Art School, Winchester [Industrial cassette; live 1977]
At the Architectural Assocation, London [Industrial cassette; live 1978]
D.o.A.
20 Jazz Funk Greats

THUNDERTRAIN
Teenage Suicide [Jelly Records LP; 1977] This struttin', hard-rockin' bar band came out of the mid-70s Boston scene that also produced the Real Kids, DMZ, Willie "Loco" Alexander, and others. In 1976, with Willie Alexander sitting in on piano, they released a great single called "Hot for Teacher," beating Van Halen to the punch by many years. That recording is on this LP, along with eight other gems that casually merge rippin' bottom-heavy hard-rock with teen-pop sensibilities and occasional slide-guitar bursts that sound like prime Johnny Winter. Tunes like "Modern Girls" and "Forever & Ever" come close to garage-influenced pop in the Real Kids style, but with cock-rock swagger and big crunch added to the formula. Man, this sounds even better in the 21st Century than it did a generation ago!

TIERE DER NACHT
Hot Stuff [Captain Trip Records CD; Japan] 25 short pieces of spontaneous, multi-layered deep-in-the-groove sounds that come across like an Axiom release without the political agenda. With debts to Euro free-music greats like Peter Brötzmann and Hans Reichel. Tiere Der Nacht is the duo of ex-Guru Guru drummer Mani Neumeier (drums, percussion, tapes, vocals, etc.) and his Swiss partner Luigi Archetti (guitar, bass, mandolin, tapes). Plus a few guests sittin' in. This CD reissues their debut LP, from '91. Good listenin'.
Evergreens [Captain Trip Records CD; Japan] The Tiere Der Nact sound altered. The recordings are live, instead of multi-tracked, and taken in longer chunks; the overall feel is dark, heavy, and aggressive, not like the friendly vibe of the first two albums. The free-wheeling format encourages inspired chaos, as Mani and Luigi play their usual drums and guitar, while also manipulating synthesizers, triggering samples, playing with electronic toys, banging on the wall, etc. Great stuff from '96.

BILLY T. K.'S POWERHOUSE
Life Beyond the Material Sky [Little Wing 2LP] In the words of the slack-jawed observer of navel-obscured epiphanies: wow. Just fucking achin' spiritual beauty in the 70s Trane-inspired rock mode of Allmans with Duane, McLaughlin's more restrained flashin', Santana's meditation blasts, Hendrix influence (of course)--you know. '75 stuff unreleased till recently, from New Zealand; Billy and crew were from the Maori tribe.

STEVE PEREGRINE TOOK'S SHAGRAT
Lone Star [Captain Trip Records CD; Japan] Steve Took was Marc Bolan's original percussion-playing partner in Tyrannosaurus Rex, before the name was shortened to T. Rex and the hits started comin'. These tracks were recorded in 1970 and '71, shortly after his departure from Bolan. The first four tunes, from '71, are home demos with Took's vocals and acoustic guitar, Larry Wallis on bass, and Dave Bidwell adding tambourine. The vibe is loose, and the music very nice. "Still Yawning, Still-Born" is a great fast-strum angular-jazz cross in the Arthur Lee/Love mode; and "Beautiful Deceiver" comes closest to Tyrannosaurus Rex. Next up is a 1970 electric session, three jams co-written by Larry Wallis, who is prominently featured on electric guitar. The fidelity is a bit low, especially on the last song, but the performances are pretty killer; like a MORE aggressive Pink Fairies, surprisingly punky at times, with some hot Wallis leads straight outta Quicksilver whammy-bar land. This material was originally released in the early 90s on vinyl by Shagrat Records in the UK.

TOOTS & THE MAYTALS
Funky Kingston

TOTAL
Here, Time Is Space [Majora LP]
Beyond the Rim [Majora LP]

ALI FARKA TOURE
Radio Mali [Nonesuch]

ALI FARKA TOURE WITH RY COODER
Talking Timbuktu

THE TOWER RECORDINGS
The Fraternity of Moonwalkers [Audible Hiss CD] "1990s Moire Exchange"  . . . what a great title! And it's connected to this here combo with a PO box in Port Chester, NY. Sometimes they sound kinda like Ghost playin' out of tune, or the Insect Trust LPs after 25 years spinnin' on a crummy phono, or five modern young'uns who prefer the low hum of their own traumas to the un-funky dichotomy of the sickly slick spectacle, or the cycles turnin' yet again as song-style re-emerges in improv situations played by DIY musicians, or the "outside" world leakin' into art as car horn outside window comes in at a fragile moment, or very high heads sharing intimate moments. Wobbly and warm in all the right ways, many good songs, a bit of noise, neo-minimal urges, Miles-style fake-jazz, lovable.

TRAFFIC
Mr. Fantasy
Traffic [second LP]

THE TRASHMEN
"Surfin' Bird" [Garrett 7-inch]

MERLE TRAVIS
The Best of Merle Travis [Capitol]

T. REX
T. Rex [Reprise LP]
Electric Warrior
Bolan Boogie [Fly Records LP; England] T. Rex at their peak, the transition period when Marc Bolan went from twittering elf lust to horndog demands, the pinnacle of which was reached on three quivering 7-inchers: "Hot Love," "Jeepster," and "Get It On" (retitled "Bang a Gong" in the U.S. coz the title was considered naughty!), all included here. "She was born to be my unicorn," Bolan tweets, but a year later, on "Raw Ramp" (extended version here), he's complaining, "Lady, you think you're a champ, but girl, you ain't nothin' but a raw ramp." Not to mention the weird acoustic version of "Summertime Blues." Remember: "Ride a white swan like the druids in the old days." (This stuff is no doubt available on CD, but I'm not sure in what form.)

A TRIBE CALLED QUEST
People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm
The Low End Theory
Hot Sex [EP]

THE TROGGS
Wild Thing
Love Is All Around
The Vintage Years [Sire 2LP]
Pop Chronik [DJM 2LP; West Germany]

TROUBLE FUNK
Early Singles [Infinite Zero CD]

ERNEST TUBB
The Ernest Tubb Story [Decca/MCA 2LP]
Honky Tonk Classics [Rounder LP]

TANYA TUCKER
Would You Lay With Me (in a Field of Stone)
Greatest Hits [Columbia]

TUNGSTEN GRASSHOPPER
Pyrrhic Victories [Fencing Flatworm CDR; England] 'Lectronic bug wheeze, tappy tap mic efx, glitch and twitch, plastic dinosaur poo, EQ wind gush, non-dense slow-poke katydid dances. and music for cats. You too, if you like to boogaloo with spiders and orange moonglow. Mo' good-humored 'perimental sounds from the excellent Fencing Flatworm label over yonder in Leeds, England-still-swangs-like-pendulum-dew.

IKE TURNER'S KINGS OF RHYTHM
Trail Blazer [King Masters]

IKE & TINA TURNER
Ike & Tina's Greatest Hits [Sunset]
The Ike & Tina Turner Show Vol. 2 [Loma]
River Deep--Mountain High
The Hunter
Outta Season
Come Together
Workin' Together

JOE TURNER
The Boss of the Blues [Atlantic LP]
Jumpin' With Joe [Charly 2LP; England]

OTHAR TURNER AND THE RISING STAR FIFE AND DRUM BAND
Everybody Hollerin' Goat [Birdman CD] Field recordings done by guitarist Luther Dickinson and writer Robert Gordon at Othar Turner's farm in Tate County, Mississippi, over a five-year period ending in '97. This is so good and so beyond time, it's hard to believe it really exists.  The fife-and-drum tradition of the Deep South reaches back before jazz and blues, and influenced those musics. Playing homemade cane fifes, and using marching-band percussion, these groups crossed African polyrhythmic drumming with Anglo-American marching-band music to make a loud, loosely structured party music. Othar Turner, who was 90 when this CD was released, is the end of this tradition. Or maybe not; most of the drummers here are Othar's teenage grandsons, and his daughter Bernice T. Evans is one of the main snare-drummers and also sings. The ritual surrounding the music seems very pagan, very old; goats are raised and slaughtered for the parties. But it's also very American and very recent: you pay $3 for your goat sandwich, and Othar also offers off-brand soda pops and beer for sale. It always goes back to the drumming, though, the drumming. Dig the snatches of conversation, words of joy and maybe a couple veiled threats; feel the humidity and the moist Mississippi dirt. Othar sings on "Station Blues" (the old blues/country standard "Sitting on Top of the World"), and there's a few with Luther Dickinson backing him on guitar.

THE TURTLES
The Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands [White Whale LP]
Happy Together Again: The Turtles' Greatest Hits [Sire 2LP]

DWIGHT TWILLEY BAND
"I'm on Fire" [Shelter Records 7-inch]

TWINK
Think Pink

THE TWINKEYZ
Aliens in Our Midst [Anopheles Records CD] Sacramento, California, 1977-1979. You call yourself Donnie Jupiter, hang with your pal Tom Darling, and lead a Velvety garage-psych-pop crew called the Twinkeyz (named for Anglo rocker Twink). You bet yer cute little ass yer an alien in the midst of Van Halen teenage Amerika. Listen as the boys mix Hawkwind-like synth whoosh, Stones riffs, Ferry-quaver vocals, and crude production to build something fairly unique. This nicely done package contains their three 7-inch releases, an unreleased fourth single, the material from their badly produced Alpha JerkLP properly remixed, and a few live tracks. The booklet includes tons of info, photos, and Donnie's cool sci-fi comix art. Especially  recommended if you dig the early art-damage "punk" of Simply Saucer, Debris', Chrome, Pere Ubu, MX-80 Sound, the Electric Eels, etc.

CONWAY TWITTY
Shake It Up! [Pickwick LP; rockabilly stuff from late 50s]

TWO DOLLAR GUITAR
Train Songs [Oil City/Smells Like Records] What a surprise. Even though I could hear that their earlier work was comin' from some interesting angles, I never could get into Two Dollar Guitar's folkie-downer-death tunes; I'm already depressed enough! This time around, though, Tim Foljahn and crew do a set of instrumentals that straddle that deep ol' gully that separates blues-country-folk from avant-navel-gaze-ambience, but it turns out the gap ain't quite so wide after all. Things are still pretty down, but it feels like there may be a reason or two, after all, to keep on pickin'. References? When Greg Hajic and I were checking it out, I kept mentioning Mazzacane, and Greg kept hearing Sun City guitars, but there's a lot more than that. Beautiful music.

THE TYMES
"So Much in Love"/"Roscoe James McClain" [Parkway Records 7-inch]

CHARLES TYLER ENSEMBLE
Charles Tyler Ensemble [ESP-Disk/ZYX Music CD; recorded 1966]

UFO
UFO1 [Rare Earth Records LP]

THE UGLY DUCKLINGS
Too Much Too Soon [Pacemaker CD; Canada] These shaggy Canadians produced a handful of primo sides in '66/'67--fuzz-heavy R&B in the Pretty Things/Rolling Stones mold. This disc includes most of their singles and a few LP tracks. In addition to raunchy classics like "Just in Case You Wonder," "Nothin'," and "Gaslight" (a hit in Canada), they have some nice psychedelic moves ("I Know What to Say"); slightly off-kilter pop ("Do What You Want," "Not for Long"); and dig how their version of the Yardbirds' version of Billy Boy Arnold's "I Wish You Would" sounds like a blueprint for the Doors' "Break On Through." Nice that they rarely leave out the fuzz, no matter the style. Definitely a notch or two above the average garage band of the day.

JAMES BLOOD ULMER
Tales of Captain Black [DIW CD; Japan; recorded 1978] With Ornette Coleman's help, fellow Texan and guitar wizard Ulmer gets to make it with his own harmolodic compositions, and the results are as fine as any of Coleman's own electric records. Ornette plays alto, and co-produced; Denardo Coleman stubbornly anchors the ship; and Jaamaladeen Tacuma does incredible, slippery, funky things with bass guitar. The short, strangely spun tunes have the jagged energy of Captain Beefheart's Magic Band or the more avant punk that was happening around the time this was recorded. Snippets of melody seem spliced in from Prime Time albums like Body Metaand Dancing in Your Head;even Ornette's classic 1959 "Lonely Woman" gets a quick reference. It's not exactly jazz, but it is quite a hefty thang.
Are You Glad to Be in America? [DIW CD; Japan; recorded 1980]
Black Rock [Sony CD; Japan; recorded 1982] Intense, celebratory, polyphonic, ultra-funky statement of purpose from James Blood. To paraphrase Funkadelic, who says a jazz band can't play rock and funk?! Ulmer's heavy processed guitar plays against Amin Ali's super slinky bass guitar and drummer Grant Calvin Weston--with the band occasionally augmented by second guitar or drums, sax, and vocals. The title cut is a terrific P-Funk-style anthem, and Amin Ali's recitation on "Fun House" is kinda like Bootsy! This didn't make Ulmer a rock star, but it should have!
Odyssey [Columbia CD; recorded 1983]
Live at the Caravan of Dreams [Caravan of Dreams LP; recorded 1985]

UNDERGROUND SUNSHINE
"Don't Shut Me Out"/"Take Me, Break Me" [Intrepid 7-inch]

THE UNDERTONES
All Wrapped Up [Capitol LP; singles collection]

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
The United States of America [Columbia]

UNIVERSAL CONGRESS OF
Prosperous and Qualified

UNIVERSAL INDIANS
Thirst of the Worm [American Tapes one-sided LP] Guitars and percussion and tape (radio? turntable?) tomfuckery from the king (John Olson) and queen (Gretchen Gonzales) of Michigan Progressive, with guest Aaron Dilloway.  Free rock that blows itself clear outta space and starts burrowing into the deep dark earth. Listen as it squirms and writhes and slips into the very core--watch that lava flow, ridethat lava flow! Okay, give the thirsting grub a sip--uh-oh, now he's hungry!Give the po' baby more feeeeeeeeeeeedbaaaack----
Scare Supply [American Tapes LP] "U.I. with many members. Dawn of the DeadEP, minus extra track, remixed and full length," sez Indian John's note. After some mumblingrumbling, how-are-ya's, and amp buzz, out of the no-where comes something that sounds not quite like rock music. Voices still pop up every . . . few minutes . . . so you can look over your shoulder again. Repeats of percussion. Repeats of guitars. Hey! that sounds like the intro to Syd Barrett's "Octopus," only the needle's stuck, keeps goin' 'round and 'round like a drunk Midwestern proghead. Wait a second, somebody stopped the record, and when it started again, it's still strummin' but the noise wants to shut it up. Side two's flute opening yields swiftly to guitar feedback, winding down to nothing--winding back up to like Derek Bailey, um, Sonny Sharrock, um, sax comes in . . . things don't movein a very pleasant way for awhile. You know, it does a lotof things.
Sloth Nest [American Tapes LP] "Michigan progressive" at its tastiest. Inside the messy pretty smudgy scary sleeves pasted on the 1980s Mo Tucker LP jacket is a messy pretty smudgy scary assortment of sounds pasted onto a template of pre-existing hiss and static. Electronic pulses bounce around in delight--waves of feedback build and overwhelm--somebody's playing old records on the next block over--you know, over around the year 1921--some fine blimp sounds--doors slamming--cymbals shining--swarms of locusts and disembodied voices--let's burn down the cornfield--looping pulsating repeating vibrating--synthetic birds squawk and take flight--the primeval forest fuck. Rock music 2000, even if few ears are wide enough to notice.

UNREST
Imperial f.f.r.r. [No. 6 Records/TeenBeat] Highly listenable modern ('92) non-precious pop from Arlington, Virginia. Full of hypnotic melodies, beautiful vocals (most by guys!), hooks subtle enough for mid-60s Brian Wilson or Big Star, flashes of the Velvets strained through the early Feelies, easy transitions to hiphop-style grooves and experimental interludes, clean production that's never sterile. Way too good to be popular. (sigh)

THE UP
Killer Up! [Total Energy CD]

URIAH HEEP
Look at Yourself [Mercury LP]

THE URINALS
The Urinals [first 7-inch EP]
Another EP [Happy Squid; second 7-inch]
"Sex"/"Go Away Girl" [Happy Squid 7-inch]

U-ROY
Dread in a Babylon
Natty Rebel

U-ROY & FRIENDS
With a Flick of My Musical Wrist [Trojan CD]

US3
Hand on the Torch

VAN HALEN
Women and Children First

VANILLA FUDGE
"Take Me for a Little While" [Atco 7-inch]

EDGARD VARESE
Music of Edgard Varese [One Way Records CD] "Poème Électronique" created directly on magnetic tape by the composer for the Brussels World's Fair, 1958. "Ionisation," "Density 21.5," "Integrales," "Octandre," and "Hyperprism" are performances conducted by Robert Craft.

EDGARD VARESE/ARTHUR HONNEGER; MAURICE ABRAVANEL (conductor) & THE UTAH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Ameriques/Nocturnal/Ecuatorial/Pacific 231 [Vanguard Classics CD]

THE VELVET UNDERGROUND
The Velvet Underground & Nico
White Light/White Heat
The Velvet Underground [MGM; third LP]
Loaded
1969 [Mercury 2LP]
VU [Mercury/Polygram LP]
Another View [Mercury/Polygram LP]
Live '68 [bootleg LP]
White Heat [7-inch bootleg with "Foggy Notion" + 3]
Peel Slowly and See [box set]

THE VENTURES
The Fabulous Ventures
The Ventures in Space
Legendary Masters [United Artists 2LP; England]
"The 2,000 Pound Bee" [Dolton 7-inch]

GENE VINCENT & HIS BLUE CAPS
The Bop That Just Won't Stop (1956) [Capitol LP]

VIBRACATHEDRAL ORCHESTRA
Falling/Filling [self-released 10-inch; England]
Copse [self-released CDR; England] Neil Campbell: "Second CDR, from 1998, still featuring the Bradley/Campbell/Flower trio--culminates in the ecstatic end blow-out of their first live performance." 64 shimmer-velvet minutes feedback flute fly drone on on on bells drums hummmm on and on on on. Yes.
Lino Hi [Giardia CD] Five friendly folks gather in a kitchen full of musical instruments and make sounds. Simple? Sure it is, but the results don't usually feel this nice. Although there's an almost inevitable clatter to such a proceeding, things come together in a five-way focus that demonstrates once again that chaos is not synonymous with confusion: the personalities of the players poke out the sides of the whole, but the essential churn still moves like a singular critter. Drone. Groove. Minimal. Trance. Ritual. All of the above + the added spontaneous attractiveness of the "orchestra's" rock-minded, "primitive," very non-academic approach. Eh? It's good! With Neil Campbell (Total, Smell & Quim, etc.), Julian Bradley (dig his Betley CD), Adam Davenport, Bridget Hayden, and Michael "Mick" Flower (no relation!). Recorded 1998/1999.

MIROSLAV VITOUS
Mountain in the Clouds

VIV AKAULDRON
I'll Call You Sometime

VOM
Live at Surf City [White Noise 7-inch EP]

VOX POP
"Cab Driver"/"Just Like Your Mom" [Bad Trip 7-inch]

WADE & DICK
"Bop Bop Baby" [Sun 7-inch]

PORTER WAGONER & DOLLY PARTON
The Best of Porter Wagoner & Dolly Parton [RCA LP]

THE WAILERS [from Takoma,Washington; see BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS entry for the Jamaican Wailers]
The Fabulous Wailers [Golden Crest LP]
Tall Cool One [Imperial LP]
The Fabulous Wailers at the Castle [Etiquette LP]
Out of Our Tree [Etiquette LP]

JUNIOR WALKER & THE ALL STARS
Anthology [Motown 2LP]

T-BONE WALKER
T-Bone Jumps Again [Charly LP; England]
The Complete Imperial Recordings 1950-1954 [EMI]

FATS WALLER
Vol. 3: Young Fats at the Organ 1926-1929 [EPM Musique Jazz Archives CD]

LARRY WALLIS
"Police Car"/"On Parole" [Stiff 7-inch; England]

TRAVIS WAMMACK
"Scratchy"/"Fire Fly" [ARA 7-inch]

WAR
The World Is a Ghetto

A WARM PALINDROME
A Warm Palindrome [Betley Welcomes Careful Drivers LP; England] Oh, that sounds good! What's it? Frequent collaborators Phil Todd, Joincey, and Andy Jarvis use their home-brewed free-noise-improv methods to flavor what sometimes comes close to rock-folk-psych of a recognizable sort. Besides Todd (vocals, sampler, guitar, etc.), Joincey (guitar, bass, keyboards, etc.), and Jarvis (guitar, melodica, keybaords, percussion, etc.), AWP consists of of Mikarla Jarvis (vocals, cello, flute), Solomon Kirkland (bass, guitar, tabla, etc.), Rich Adams (drums, broken Korg, etc.), and Matt Lewis (drums, guitar). Everybody doing everything! The stylistic slip'n'slide makes for some nice segues, like Godz-play-Fairport into the middle of a barnyard shuffle by the BYG-era Art Ensemble of Chicago. Except the format is song-size, and the vibe is less chaotic than like coming-together-out-of-chaos. Some of it's even kinda pretty. Hm? I hear Phil's mum likes it too!

MUDDY WATERS
The Complete Plantation Recordings [Chess/MCA CD] Library of Congress recordings 1941/1942.
At Newport
Folk Singer
McKinley Moganfield A.K.A. Muddy Waters [Chess 2LP]
Back in the Early Days Volumes 1 and 2 [Syndicate Chapter LP; England]
Good News [Syndicate Chapter LP; England]

MUDDY WATERS & FRIENDS
Goin' Way Back [Just a Memory CD] Recorded in a Montreal rooming house the morning after a gig in 1967, this is a unique and tasty document. On acoustic guitars are Muddy, Otis Spann, Sammy Lawhorn, and Luther "Georgia Boy Snake" Johnson, with "Mojo" Buford on harmonica, conjuring up old days and relaxing during an informal session. The liner notes describe Muddy entering the room in purple velvet robe, slippers, and hair net before launching into "Gypsy Woman" and "Little Anna Mae," the two sides of his first Aristocrat single twenty years previous. "Mean Depression" is similar vintage, and "Take a Little Walk" reaches all the way back to "Take a Walk with Me," a song he recorded at his third Library of Congress session in 1942. Otis Spann sings a couple too. The very real thang.

MUDDY WATERS/LITTLE WALTER/HOWLIN' WOLF
We Three Kings [Syndicate Chapter LP; England]

PATTY WATERS
Sings
College Tour

JOHNNY GUITAR WATSON
Gangster of Love [King Power Pak LP]
"I Just Wants Me Some Love"/"The Nearness of You" [King 7-inch]
"Sweet Lovin' Mama"/"What You Do to Me" [King 7-inch]
A Real Mother for Ya [DJM LP; 1977]

MARZETTE WATTS
Marzette Watts [ESP-Disk/ZYX Music CD; recorded 1966] One of the many obscure musicians on the New York free-jazz scene to be recorded by the important ESP-Disk label, Watts plays bass clarinet, and tenor and soprano saxophones. The eight-piece band he leads here includes an early appearance by the Coltrane-energized guitarist Sonny Sharrock, as well as the incredible rhythm section of Henry Grimes (bass) and J. C. Moses (drums). "Backdrop for Urban Revoltuion" is the side-long centerpiece, more full of yearning than violence. Sharrock really rips on "Geno"; his barbed-wire guitar approach is already apparent, although not as tonally thick as what he would later devleop.

ORSON WELLES
The War of the Worlds
"I Know What It Is to Be Young (But You Don't Know What It Is to Be Old)" [GNP-Crescendo CD single]

JUNIOR WELLS
Blues Hit Big Town [Delmark CD reissue has extra tracks]

KITTY WELLS
Forever Young [Capricorn LP]

SPEEDY WEST & JIMMY BRYANT
Stratosphere Boogie: The Flaming Guitars of Speedy West & Jimmy Bryant [Razor & Tie CD]

WE THE PEOPLE
Declaration of Independence [Eva]

WET WILLIE
Wet Willie [Capricorn; first LP]
Wet Willie II [Capricorn]
 

WET WILLIE 1972

WHITE HEAVEN
Levitation [The Now Sound LP] Hey baby, that don't sound much like the garage-pop-psych of the White Heaven familiar to collectors' ears. Instead, these '88 recordings of this Japanese band seem closer to Marble Sheep, the band guitarist Michio Kurihara left for White Heaven. Long formless psychedelic jams that mostly allow Kurihara to freak it with abandon. His precise, stinging, Cipollina-whammy-bar fixation hadn't developed yet--he plays it closer to Hendrix-all-the-way-out, feedback and rumble, avant-like. Some of it's pretty too; and there's mush-mouth vocals by You Ishihara, a nod in the direction of future song-format White Heaven. But here the "songs" come off like less structured takes on, say, "Sister Ray" or the most primal Hawkwind. If you dig Marble Sheep, High Rise, Leningrad Blues Machine, Sweet and Honey--that Japanese acid-rock moan--then this is essential.

IAN WHITCOMB
Ian Whitcomb's Mod, Mod Music Hall

TONY JOE WHITE
Black and White [Monument LP]
Tony Joe [Monument LP]
Tony Joe White [Warner Bros. LP]
The Train I'm On [Warner Bros. LP]

THE WHO
My Generation
The Who Sell Out
Magic Bus
Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy
Who's Next
Who the Fuck?! [bootleg LP]
Fillmore East [bootleg LP]
Radio London [bootleg LP]

SIMON WICKHAM-SMITH
Giladji: Music for Glass Harmonica [Giardia LP] Shimmer gleam vibrate layers lovely spook tones movin' always movin' nowhere. Bump up against the table. Whistlin' a happy happy happy distance ahhhhhhhhh ahhhhhhhhhhhh one or two maybe a few drums distanttttttttttttt. Glass table. Glass drummmmmmmmmmmmmmaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. Blue mooooooooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnn. Static breakbreakupppppppuuuppppppp. Mmmmmmmmmm. First solo LP by Wickham-Smith after a long series of LPs (Lake,couple on Majora, etc.) with collaborator Richard Youngs. Two long cuts. Yes.

SIMON WICKHAM-SMITH & RICHARD YOUNGS
Lake [as R!!! S!!!] [No Fans Records 2LP]
Asthma and Diabetes [Majora LP] I wonder who has which disease. Dunno, but they each play many instruments, from glockenspiel to oven tray, ukulele and toy piano and electric guitar played acoustically, lots more. Edward (no last name) sits in on solid state electronic computer organ for "Asthma." Two long pieces of shifting tonal colors, interesting sounds explored for themselves and not towards any structural or rhythmic conclusion. Maybe side one seems so soothing coz it's a diabetic coma because side two sure does sound kinda wheezy.
Enedkeg [Majora LP] "More Urban Music for the Middle of Nowhere." That's the title of one of the three tunes here. Or as it sez in the credits, "A normal Sunday--nothing to do." Except this. Electric dulcimer and casio set up an attractive, rhythmic lure--which leads to the sound of nothing happening, a low wash of electronics over which the "didjeridrainpipe" softly bellows. Flip it over to a side-long duet by casio and violin that sticks pretty close to old-school minimal oblivion, and sounds quite lovely.

DAVEY WILLIAMS
Charmed, I'm Sure [Ecstatic Peace CD] Wild-ass distorto improv boogie from Birmingham, Alabama avant-guitar master. Davey gets surprisingly raw and aggressive, building up layers of guitars into rock/blues-like attacks. In the tradition of Sonny Sharrock's Guitar,Pat Metheny's Zero Tolerance for Silence,and of course, Mr. Zoot Horn Rollo. Hotcha!

HANK WILLIAMS
24 of Hank Williams' Greatest Hits [MGM 2LP]
24 Greatest Hits Volume 2 [MGM 2LP]
The Original Singles Collection . . . Plus [CD box set]
Live at the Grand Ole Opry [2CD]

LARRY WILLIAMS
Dizzy Miss Lizzy [Specialty/Ace LP; England]

ROBERT PETE WILLIAMS
Louisiana Blues [Takoma LP]

TONY WILLIAMS LIFETIME
Emergency! [Polydor CD; recorded 1969]

SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON [RICE MILLER]
One Way Out [Chess LP]
This Is My Story [Chess 2LP]
King Biscuit Time [Arhoolie CD]

CHICK WILLIS
"Stoop Down Baby"/"It Ain't Right" [La Val Records 7-inch]

BOB WILLS
Anthology [Columbia LP]
Remembering . . . The Greatest Hits of Bob Wills [Columbia LP]
Columbia Historic Edition [Columbia LP]

JUSTIN WILSON
Wilsonville U.S. and A. [Tower LP]

WINGS
"Hi, Hi, Hi" [Apple 7-inch]

JOHNNY WINTER
The Progressive Blues Experiment [a.k.a. Austin, Texas]
Johnny Winter [first on Columbia]
Second Winter
Still Alive and Well

JONATHAN WINTERS
Down to Earth [Verve LP]

THE WIPERS
Youth of America

WIRE
Pink Flag

WIZZARD
See My Baby Jive [Harvest LP; England]

BOBBY WOMACK
Bobby Womack's Greatest Hits [United Artists LP]

STEVIE WONDER
Anthology [Motown 3LP]
Music of My Mind
Talking Book
Innervisions

WORKSHOP
Workshop [Captain Trip Records CD; Japan] Reissue of obscure 1990 LP from Germany. These jokers use early-70s Krautrock, mid/late-70s Krautfunk, punk-like DIY energy, free-music sensibilities, and a down-in-the-communal basement attitude that comes out like a rock band collapsing on itself in eye-opened delight. Mostly pop-size cuts (only two over 5:00), most of 'em actual songs of a sort but with built-in "sloppiness" and a conscious (not self-conscious) avoidance of clichés. Extremely likable stuff.
Welcome Back the Workshop [Captain Trip Records CD; Japan] More garage dub, psych-o-delic grooves, and good humor from 90s Krautrockers. Reissue of their second album; like their first, released in 1990. The production is a bit more polished, the tracks are longer, and the colors are darker.

WORMDOOM
Last Days Boogie [Twisted Village LP]
Live At the Unitarian Meetinghouse [Twisted Village 7-inch]

BERNIE WORRELL
Blacktronic Science

LINK WRAY
There's Good Rockin' Tonite [Union Pacific LP; England]
Bullshot
Live at the Paradiso

WRECKLESS ERIC
Wreckless Eric [Stiff 10-inch]

FRANK WRIGHT
Frank Wright Trio [ESP-Disk/ZYX Music CD; recorded 1965]
Your Prayer [ESP-Disk/ZYX Music CD; recorded 1967]
One for John [BYG Actuel LP; recorded 1969]

ROBERT WYATT
Rock Bottom
Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard

TAMMY WYNETTE
Tammy's Greatest Hits [Epic]

X-RAY SPEX
"Oh Bondage Up Yours!" [7-inch]
Germfree Adolescents

YA HO WHA 13
God and Hair: Yahowha Collection [Captain Trip Records 13CD; Japan] Insane box set collecting all 11 albums by the communal acid jam group led by the real Father Yod. Plus a CD of related singles, most with vocals by Ya Ho Wha associate Sky Sunlight Saxon; and a CD of post-Yod material by the band members. There's lots of great psychedelic jamming by players who sound like they took LOTS of good LSD. Plus the Word of Yod! Father Y had a good voice, something like Jim Morrison and Tim Buckley rolled into one hairy horny ball of god complex. Comes in a 13" x 13" box, with 13 jewel-cased CDs, and a 50-page book (all text except titles and release dates in Japanese).

THE YARDBIRDS
Five Live Yardbirds
For Your Love [Epic LP]
Having a Rave Up With the Yardbirds [Epic LP]
Roger the Engineer
Live Yardbirds featuring Jimmy Page [Epic LP]
Greatest Hits Volume One (1964-1966) [Rhino CD]
Where the Action Is [New Millenium CD;  BBC sessions + live 1967]
Golden Eggs [bootleg LP]
More Golden Eggs [bootleg LP]
Last Rave-Up in L.A. [3LP bootleg]
"Happenings Ten Years Time Ago"/"The Nazz Are Blue" [Epic 7-inch]

LESTER YOUNG
The Aladdin Sessions [Blue Note 2LP]

HENNY YOUNGMAN
Take My Album . . . Please! or 2 Sets for the Price of One [Waterhouse Records LP; 1978]

NEIL YOUNG
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
After the Gold Rush
Tonight's the Night
Time Fades Away
On the Beach
American Stars 'n Bars
Decade
Rust Never Sleeps
Arc

NEIL YOUNG & DEVO
"Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)" [from the movie Human Highway]

Y PANTS
Y Pants [Periodic Document CD] Y Pants were part of the original NY no-wave scene, but their music is disarming and simple, where many (most?) were bratty and crude. The three women who made up the band were 30-year-old boho artists, with 10-year-old girls inside of them trying very hard to get out! Their songs are obsessed with the mundane ("Favorite Sweater," "Beautiful Food," "Obvious"), and use childlike melodies within often complex structures. "Small music," Y Pant Barbara Ess called it. The "innocent" quality is reinforced by Barbara's ukelele (also surprisingly fluid bass guitar), Gail Vachon's toy piano and cheap casio keyboard, and Verge Piersol's stripped-down drum kit. All three women sing, sometimes in lovely harmony. They do a terrific version of the Stones' "Off the Hook," and adapt words from Emily Dickinson ("The Fly") and Berthold Brecht ("Barbara's Song"). Irresistible music. This disc contains their self-titled 1980 EP, produced by Glenn Branca; their 1982 Beat It DownLP, produced by Wharton Tiers; and a comp cut produced by Tiers.

FRANK ZAPPA/MOTHERS OF INVENTION
Freak Out!
Absolutely Free
We're Only in It for the Money
Lumpy Gravy
Cruisin' With Ruben & the Jets
Mothermania [Verve comp LP produced by FZ]
Uncle Meat
Burnt Weeny Sandwich
Hot Rats
Weasels Ripped My Flesh
Chunga's Revenge
The Yellow Shark
Civilization Phaze III
The Lost Episodes [FZ/Rykodisc CD]
You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 5 [2CD; disc one is 60s stuff]
'Tis the Season to Be Jelly
The Ark
We Are the Mothers and This Is What We Sound Like [bootleg LP]
Pigs 'n' Repugnant [2CD bootleg; live in Appleton, Wisconsin & Fullerton, California, 1968]
Metal Man Has Hornet's Wings [bootleg LP; with Captain Beefheart]

JOE ZAWINUL
Zawinul [Atlantic]

ZEN
Derya [Father Yod/Ecstatic Peace CD] Raw, energized, percussion-driven improv-psych by contemporary Turkish band. All the Middle-Eastern flavor you might expect is present, but that's only a hint at what's happening here. Guitars chank and snake above the insistent polyrhythms, bass thrums in dub-like ways, occasional vocals sound joyous (and sometimes ominous), a bit of horror-movie organ. The loose, hazy vibe makes it clear that this is natural, unfettered music--not some forced ethno-rock hybrid. Fans of Sun City Girls' drum-heavy stuff, or those who dig the early chaotic side of Can, should feel right at home. I love it!
Bakirköy Akil Hastanesinde [Kodmuzik CD; Turkey] On this 1999 release, Istanbul's groovin' ZeN demonstrate a fierce, fluid maturity. Using the various elements that define their music--Turkish rock and folk music, Krautrock, dub and funk, the broad region of psychedelia--the band flows with delightfully raw improvised abandon. The guitars are more prominent than on their Father Yod/Ecstatic Peace CD, and the playing has tightened up considerably. Super fine sounds!

Z KOPCE
Big Beat [Panton LP; Czech]

THE ZOMBIES
The Zombies [Parrot LP]
Odessey & Oracle
Rock Roots [Decca LP; England]
Time of the Zombies [Epic 2LP]

ZZ TOP
Rio Grande Mud
Tres Hombres
Fandango!
Tejas

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Ace Story Volume One [Ace Records; England]

Ace Story Volume Two [Ace Records; England]

Alabama Blues 1927-1931 [Yazoo LP]

Another Saturday Night [Oval Records LP; England] South Louisiana swamp-pop greatness with Tommy McLain, Belton Richard, Clint West, Vin Bruce, Gary Walker, Johnnie Allen, Austin Pitre, and Rufus Jagneaux.

Beat of the Traps: MSR Madness Vol. 1 [Carnage Press LP]

Beserkley Chartbusters Volume 1 [Beserkley Records LP]

The Best of Louie Louie [Rhino LP]

The Best of Sun Rockabilly Vol. 1 [Charly LP; England]

The Best of Sun Rockabilly Vol. 2 [Charly LP; England]

Bloodstains Across the Midwest: 16 Essential Punk Rock Blasts [bootleg LP]

Blue Collar soundtrack [MCA LP]

Blue Ribbon Boogie [Charly LP; England]

Boom Boom! Forgotten Treasures from the German 6T's Beat Boom [Strasse Beat CD] Wild 'n' weird collection of 17 pre-Krautrock 60s rockin' nuggets. Like their American brethren, many of the German garage bands had a fondness for Yardbirds-Stones-Pretty Things R&B; dig the Anoms' out-of-kilter "I'm a Man," and the Hounddogs' heavy double dose of "Clarabella" and stompin' version of "Gloria." For a primal kick, the Candidates' "Louie Louie" is even raunchier and more incomprehensible than most of the American Northwest versions, and includes a great guitar solo. Even cruder is the Rackers' "Crazy Haunted House"; the reverb-soaked guitar, grunts-and-howls vocal interjections, and primitive beat give it an early punkabilly feel. The oddest tracks are the Guards' "Hullaballoo" and the Rebbles' "Around the World" (the search for a German astronaut!); both have a psychotic cartoon feel that makes one suspect the Monks were more German than they understood! The ill-named Original Surfers do a wild Sunset Strip '66/'67 fuzz-rocker. And the Boots' "Gaby" sounds like a prime slice of Creation-style psych-mod-pop.

The Border soundtrack [Backstreet/MCA LP; 1982] Produced and partially written by Ry Cooder; along with Sam "The Sham" Samudio, Jim Dickinson, Freddy Fender, Brenda Patterson, and John Hiatt.

Border Radio soundtrack [Enigma LP]

Bubblegum Music Is the Naked Truth [Buddah LP]

Chess Blues [Chess/MCA 4CD]

Chess Rockabillies--Just Go Wild Over Rock & Roll [Chess LP]

Chunks [New Alliance LP]

C. J.'s Roots of Chicago Blues: Volume 1 of the 60's [Blue Flame LP]

Classical Music of India [Nonesuch LP]

Club Ska '67 [Island LP; England]

The Contemporary Guitar Sampler [Transatlantic LP; England] With Bert Jansch, John Renbourn, the Pentangle, John Fahey, Ralph McTell, Gordon Giltrap, and John Pearse.

The Core of Rock [MGM LP] With Van Dyke Parks ("Number Nine," "Come to the Sunshine"), Tim Hardin, the Enemies ("Mojo Woman"), the Blues Project, Richie Havens, and Janis Ian ("Society's Child"!).

Cracks in the Sidewalk [New Alliance LP]

Cruisin' 1961 [Increase Records LP]

The Decline . . . of Western Civilization soundtrack [Slash LP]

Delincuentes: Jovenes Punks de América Latina [Martian Records LP; France] Raunchy rockin' comp of 60s garage punk from Latin America, featuring these bands: Los Hitters (Mexico), Los Yetis (Colombia), Los Ovnis (Mexico), Los Yorks (Peru), Los Ampex (Colombia), Los Yaki (Mexico), Los Speakers (Colombia), Los Beat 4 (Chile), Los Siacos (Peru), Los Bulldogs (Uruguay), Los Shains (Peru), Los Beat Boys (Brazil). 16 songs; cool gatefold cover with lots of band photos.

Desperate Teenage Lovedolls soundtrack [Gasatanka LP]

Easy Rider soundtrack [Dunhill LP]

The East Village Other Electric Newspaper [ESP-Disk]

Echoes of the Forest: Music of the Central African Pygmies [Ellipsis Arts CD]

The Edge of the Forest: Romanian Music from Transylvania [Music of the World CD] Here's an interesting, exciting cross-section of recent music from the Romany, or Gypsies, of the large northwestern section of Romania we associate with romantic vampires. This region borders Serbia and Hungary, definitely at the nexus 'tween East and West. The Gypsies originated in India, and spread out nomadically, moving ever westward. By the time they had settled in this part of Europe, becoming the professional musicians who played for respectable folks at parties and weddings, the music played by these Romany had acquired many Western European classical and folk qualities. The dominant form of dance music, played by violin, viola, and small double bass, has the simple, structured feel of early European classical music, but the melody at the heart of the pieces is still Eastern, snaking, improvising, not tied down at all. The opening suite of dance melodies, featuring a pipe player along with the strings, sounds almost like an Irish reel. But two tracks on, Ion Chiorean's solo vocal sounds Islamic--North African. Much European and Asian music (and culture) seems to spring from India. It's that same quavering melody that flows through the sometimes rigid music of the American Appalachians (and bluegrass music that came from it). But it's also in the traditional music of Japan. It seems to be everywhere. Or dig "Dant de tipurit": Ionica Bumb's violin plays melodically, while Ion Ciorca's four-string guitar drones and he whoops and shrieks the lyrics--rough and spontaneous. Then the next cut returns to the formal violin-viola-bass 1-2-3-4 of their dance music.

Epitaph for a Legend [International Artists 2LP]

14 Golden Recordings from the Historic Vaults of Duke/Peacock Records [ABC Records LP]

Friends [A&M Records LP]

From Where I Stand: The Black Experience in Country Music [Warner Bros. 3CD]

Get Yourself a College Girl soundtrack [MGM LP]

Gnawa Music of Marrakesh: Night Spirit Masters [Axiom/Island CD] Moroccan but very different from the ecstatic cannabis rituals of the Master Musicians of Jajouka. Just as powerful, though, with rhythms and voices deep in black Africa, drumming that'll shatter any idea that even modern rock music is "Western" (west of what?!), clanging sheet-metal cymbals and handclaps. Dig the interplay of sintir (like acoustic bass, only more fluid) and drums, vocal counterpoint as sophisticated as any Afropop. Jazz and blues lurk around every riff, behind each answered voice. And they trance-out withthe best of the North African Brotherhoods. Gnawi are descendants of black slaves brought back from conquests into what's now Mali. From Paul Bowles' notes: "[Gnawi musicians] are often summoned in cases of mental disturbance . . . they are also called in to treat scorpion stings." What a gig! Produced by Bill Laswell and Richard Horowitz, with props to sintir master Mustapha Baqbou and all the others, unlike some "field-recording" types.

Golden Goodies Vol. 13: Instumental Golden Goodies [Roulette Records LP]

Good Rocking Tonight [Bopcat Records LP; England] Early 70s bootleg of unreleased Sun Records stuff by Elvis, Jerry Lee, Billy Lee Riley, and Warren Smith.

The Greatest Twist Hits [Atlantic Records LP] Quickie exploitation LP, from the early 60s, with 16 tracks of great Atlantic R&B by the Clovers, Ray Charles, Joe Turner, Solomon Burke, LaVern Baker, the Mar-Keys, etc. The only "twist" music is a cover of "Twist and Shout" by the Top Notes.

Guitar Wizards (1926-1935) [Yazoo Records LP]

The Harder They Come soundtrack [Mango LP]

Harlem N.Y.: The Doo-Wop Era Part 2 [Collectibles CD] Great comp of primo doo-woppers, inclduing the insane "Rubber Biscuit" by the Chips, "Lily Maybelle" and the frantic "Woo Woo Train" by the Valentines, "Ding Dong" by the Echoes, "Rip Van Winkle" by the Devotions, "Nobody Loves Me Like You Do" by the Flamingos, "Goody Goody" by Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers, "Too Young" by " Lewis Lymon & the Teenchords, and lots more. 24 tracks in all.

Hava Narghile: Turkish Rock Music 1966-1975 Vol. 1 [Bacchus Archives/Dionysus Records CD] Very diggable comp of Turkish rock music from the psychedelic era. Turk-rock grandaddy Baris Manco hooks up with the band Kaygisizlar for "Trip (Fairground)" and "Flower of Love," both classics of the Turkish psych sound. We also get to hear a nice pre-Manco cut by Kaygisizlar. From later in the game, Manco contributes "Ben Bilirim," a great swirling psych rocker from '75. Also of the "classic" variety is Erkin Koray's dense psych-pop hit "Saskin." Plus Koray does his earliest psych number, from '67, and collaborates with the band TER on a crazed fuzzy-heavy psych-out number. TER came from the remains of another band, Grup Bunalim. Their one cut here is a fine slice of "Anadolu pop," the Anatolian rock style pioneered by the band Mogollar. Mogollar is represented by two cuts, one a rock number with complex Middle-Eastern rhythms beneath, and the other a full-blown folk-psych-jazz hybrid that defined the Anatolian style. Mogollar also backs up the singer Ersen on one song. From '66 is a great surf-like instrumental (based on a traditional dance tune) by Siluetler, a band that included some of the later Mogollar members. There are also tracks by the fabulous Uc Hurel (heavy-strum "folk" guitar with heavy rhythm section and chuggin' rhythms); Haramiler (traditional instrumetal rocked out with whammy-bar guitar and big organ swells); Apaslar (heavy psych rock sounding very Frisco-ballroom); Cagrisim (cool ethno-rocker with wah-wah guitar and wood flute); Gokcen Kaynatan (electronic pop, from '73, that sounds like "Telstar" processed through late-60s Raymond Scott electronics); and a few more.

Hey Lawdy! R&B and Boogie Woogie Volume 2 [Swing House LP; England]

Hillbilly Hop [Charly LP; England]

The History of Northwest Rock Volume 1 [The Great Northwest Music Copmany LP]

History of Rhythm & Blues Volume 1: The Roots 1947-52 [Atlantic Records LP]

If Deejay Was Your Trade: The Dreads at King Tubby's 1974-1977 [Blood & Fire CD]

Imperial Rockabillies [Liberty Records LP; France]

Instrumental Madness! [Ostrich Records LP]

In Yo' Face Vol. 1/2: The Roots of Funk [Rhino CD]

In Yo' Face Vol. 1: The History of Funk [Rhino CD]

KHJ Presents 30 Boss Goldens [Pacer 2LP; 1967 release with the hits of '66]

The Lark in the Morning: Songs and Dances from the Irish Countryside [Tradition LP; recorded 1955]

Life Is Ugly So Why Not Kill Yourself [New Underground Records LP]

Life Is Beautiful So Why Not Eat Health Foods [New Underground Records LP]

Life Is Boring So Why Not Steal This Record [New Underground Records LP]

Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies [Warner Bros. 3LP; 1970 mail-order rock comp]

Loose Ends: Sixteen Exciting Instrumentals from the Fifties and Sixties [Union Pacific LP; England]

LSD [Capitol Records LP] "A documentary report on the current psychedelic drug controversy!"

Me Want Breakfast: The Dangerhouse Collection [Dangerhouse LP]

Michigan Brand Nuggets [Belvedere Records 2LP]

Michigan Rocks [Seeds & Stems LP]

Mindrocker Volume 7 [Line Music LP; West Germany]

The Moon and the Banana Tree: New Guitar Music from Madagascar [Shanachie CD] Incredibly beautiful music, consistently inventive and exciting playing by twelve different guitarists. The moods and approaches vary, but there is a highly melodic finger-picking approach throughout, simple themes built into complex statements, usually with at least some singing that closely follows the guitar's melody, sometimes including Malagasy instruments (especially percussion). Fans of country-blues finger-pickers or John Fahey should like this music, but there's also much that feels like jazz, Solo Razaf (Miriam Makeba's guitarist) being the most obvious example. Haja's electric "guitare étouffée" ("stuffed guitar": a piece of suede or foam stuffed under the strings to dampen the sound) even has the feel of Captain Beefheart's prettier instrumental pieces. My favorite player is Johnny, who performs one piece each on acoustic guitar, guitare étouffée, and bass guitar (sweetly rippin!); then an amazing acoustic duet with Ralanto playing in Malagasy tuning (CGDGBE, in case you wanna try it) and Johnny in standard tuning.

More Intensified! Volume 2: Original Ska 1963-1967 [Island LP; England]

Nuggets [Elektra or Sire 2LP]

Nuggets Volume Two: Punk [Rhino LP; different series from the Elektra/Sire album]

Nuggets Volume Three: Pop [Rhino LP; different series from the Elektra/Sire album]

Oldies but Goodies Volume 1 [Original Sound LP]

Otis a Go Go: Music of the American Thrift Shop Volume 1 [Otis Records CDR] Ready to tickle yer ears and bust a gut or two? Then listen here: Dick Clark tells the story of a biker-gone-wrong on "The Wasting of Wesley Joe Grim"; the Jesus-lovin' Click Kids sing and play outta-kilter folk-country with a Shaggs-like sincerity; lounge jazz meets psychedelic rock, with speed-rap vocals and a chaotic gospel climax, on Lalo Schifrin's "Life Insurance"; the Melody Mates play an instrumental-for-young-lovers with surf overtones; Jonnie Aluani does an amazing Hawaiian R&R tune with wild polyrhythms and native lyrics; the Brass Ring's version of the Mexican standard "Guantanamera" is a lively elevator-music reading with peculiar spoken-word interlude by an unidentified "poet"; Buddy Fo's hilarious lounge-jazz version of "Day Tripper" with cool piano and inept guitar; word-jazz great Ken Nordine works it out instrumentally on "Hot Sake" (I think he does the organ solo and vocal interjections); the Five Crazies' "Oh Carol" is an oddball Chicano rocker with honkin' sax, doo-wop vocals, and a weird intro worthy of late-60s Zappa; Tonight Showbandleader Skitch Henderson's super-square attempt at a dance hit called "The Mule" (is that a cover?); Herb Larson giving Jay & the Americans' "This Magic Moment" an instrumental overhaul that sounds surprisingly like late-70s Ornette Coleman & Prime Time (plus fake sitar!); the great comic-strip artist Walt Kelly singing "Pogo Go Go," an uproarious brass-band tribute to his immortal possum character; the Norman Luboff Choir's seemingly blasphemous Christian-rock, "As I Walk Through the Valley," with energetic vocals, authentic-sounding acid guitar, and dissonant horn section; Hee-Hawcomedic giant Jr. Samples tellin' a couple stories with laid-back country pickin' in the background; and a few more. Fun stuff!

A Go Go Volume 2: More Music from the American Thrift Shop [Otis Records CDR] Mr. Otis picks more hits from the 50s, 60s, and 70s (mostly 60s): Asha Bhosle's Middle-Eastern big-band go-go with whisper-sexy femme vocal and heated male response; "See the Little Girl" by Jack Bedient & the Chessmen leering with a Mersey-garage groove and big twang guitar; the Surfers' R&B raunch with what sounds like Hawaiian-accented harmony shouts; Mike Larsen's weepy off-kilter C&W featuring madly repeating guitar and out-of-phase weirdness that sounds more like an accident than "effects"; Ron Schemck's "I'm Proud to Own a Mobile Home," as in Merle's "I'm proud to be an Okie from Muskogee," with a good country band cookin' behind the "joke"; Weirdo rocks hard for all you organ-lovin' yakety-saxin' roller-rink heads; "Haiti Blues" by an unknown artist is a knock-out Caribbean-jazz groove with cool spoken-word descriptions of the island's positive attributes ("Voodoo . . . cute little dolls"); a nice segue into the Pott Steelers' funky steel-band take on "You Are My Sunshine"; "Summer Ska" by Claus Ogerman (!) ain't heavy on the blue beat itself but is a swell jazzy little rocker; Howard Chandler does a Johnny Cash-style country tune with croakin' backwoods vocals warning about the local back door man on "There's a Wolf Around"; Grady Martin flashes overload fuzz guitar heavy on top of movie-soundtrack orchestral "rock"; the Zombies' "Time of the Season" is presented in immaculate elevator-jazz form by Billy Vaughn; Carol Hayes coos her way through a sickly (but attractive) Brian Wilson knock-off feel-up called "You Turn Me On"; "adult" surf masters the Marketts work smoothly through a snake-charm castanet-happy complexity called "Cobra"; "The Invaders Are Coming" is Mike Adkins' UFO-paranoid message, presented as a '65/'66 Sunset Strip rocker; the Corporation boogaloo through a big-group MOR rocker featuring screamin' fuzz guitar; Ralph's psycho hillbilly moon-howlin' stomp "Rugged Ralph the Rapid Rabbit Runner"; and a few more. Hoo-boy!

O Toi, Beatnik . . . [Out of Limits LP; France] Groovy comp of 60s beat, garage punk, and raunchy R&B from France. 16 tunes by Les Senders, Jonadan, Les Masters, Les Chevelles, Les Volcans, Les "Z," Ricky Gomez, Les Bowlers, Les Sparks, Nicolas Nils, Equipe, Les Witackers, Les Forthrights, Gilles Benoit, Gougnou, and Les Porte-Clefs.

The Outlaws [RCA] With Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Jessi Colter, and Tompall Glaser.

Over the Edge soundtrack [Warner Bros. LP]

Pebbles Volume 1 [BFD LP]

Pebbles Volume 2 [BFD LP]

Performance soundtrack [Warner Bros. LP]

Phil Spector/Echoes of the 60's [Phil Spector International LP; England]

Phil Spector's Greatest Hits [Warner-Spector 2LP]

Phil Spector Wall of Sound Vol. 5: Rare Masters [Phil Spector International LP; England]

Phil Spector Wall of Sound Vol. 6: Rare Masters 2 [Phil Spector International LP; England]

Radar Blues [King LP]

Red Hot & Blue [Charly LP; England; rockin' R&B from Sun Records]

Revolution soundtrack [United Artists LP] With "Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You" and "Codine" by Quicksilver Messenger Service.

Riot on Sunset Strip soundtrack [Tower Records LP]

River's Edge soundtrack [Enigma LP; 1987] Music by Hallows Eve, Slayer, Fates Warning, Agent Orange, the Wipers, and Burning Spear.

Rockabilly Psychosis and the Garage Disease [Big Beat LP; England]

Rockabilly Stars Volume 1 [Epic 2LP]

Rockabilly Stars Volume 3 [Epic 2LP]

A Rockin' Date With South Louisiana Stars [Jin LP]

Rock'n'Roll Embers [Ember Records 2LP; England]

Rodney on the ROQ [Posh Boy LP; 1980] Never mind p-rock politics, side 1 of this LP is what early so-called hardcore really sounded like (except for the Angry Samoans, of course! and also no Fear).

Roots of British Rock [Sire 2LP]

Roots of Rock [Yazoo CD]

Shut Down [Capitol LP]

Solid Gold Old Town Volume 1 [Cotillion LP]

Songs of Faith and Inspiration: Spiritual Psychedelic Rock for the Devoted Listener [Sound Stories CD] Here's a twist on the old Nuggets-style garage-psych comp: the transcendent psychedelic experience presented, primarily, as the dualistic good/bad-on/off trip that keeps causin' all our troubles in the first place (sez me!). But who can resist a little Satan'n'God drama when it comes in such nutty, convoluted, rockin' forms! Topper's heavy, kinda porggy "Hell's Fire" suggests Crowley influences (+ Arthur Brown), and sounds possibly induced by actual chemical consumption (much of this CD does not sound like the real lysergic deal). It also suggests speed and/or strychnine laced into the sacred sugar cube--yiiiiiieeeeeee. Sounds good, though. On the flip side of this philosophical coin, the Crusaders do an early version of that hideous beast known as Christian rock, complete with cool fuzz solo. The Vatican's point of view gets warped and then flipped on the Little Boy Blues' "Cathedral," which beat Sabbath to the heavy-riff Catholic thing by a couple years. Speaking for the dangerously psychotic minority is Superfine Dandelion's "Janie's Tomb," a good-time jug-band tune about necrophelia! Most of the songs here aren't as explicit in their message as these examples, but there's plenty of churchy organ, vague lyrical platitudes, and righteous fuzz guitar. There's also the usual "psychedelic" cover versions: Screamin' Jay Hawkins' "I Put a Spell On You" by the Druids of Stonehenge (who should know what they're singing about!), Max Frost & the Troopers' "Shapes of Things to Come" done by the Glad,  and Stepson's heavy take on the Animals' "In My Life." Penrod's intense "Sometimes Alone" is one of the few things here that seems definitely drenched by the L light; they start like a heavier 13th Floor Elevators, and eventually break apart into inspired guitar-overload chaos. Also of dose quality is "The Fourth Pipe" by Orange Swirl Society, full of heavy guitar vibrations, ascending double leads, and synthesizer burble-swirls; this 'un's got that melt-yer-walls quality all the way through. Plus tracks by Edge, Moonstone, Circus Maximus, Smokestack Lightnin', the Brew, Curfew, Plus, New Mix, Jolliver Arkansaw/Leslie, and Grapes of Rathe. Whew. Amen.

Songs of the Humpback Whale [Capitol LP]

Soul Shots Volume 4: Screamin' Soul Sisters [Rhino LP]

The Sound of the Sixties [Eva 2LP; France]

Standing on the Verge: The Roots of Funk 1964-1974 [Shanachie CD] Another one of the oodles of funk comps floating around, including full-blown classics like James Brown's "Out of Sight," the Isley Brothers' "It's Your Thing," and the Meters' "Cissy Strut," as well as goodies like Cymande's Caribbean-to-London "Bra" (sampled by De La Soul but which jam?), the Mighty Tomcats' thoroughly nastay "Dance Girl" (backed by the Fatback Band), and the downhome hokum of Bull and the Matadors' "The Funky Judge." What attracted me, though, was "The Horse" by Cliff Nobles and Co.; I had the album when I was, like, 11 years old! And, yep, yeah, yesss mama! there's that familiar groove, locked in, feels so good, with the horns breakin' it up. The only thing better would be if they followed it with Hugh Masakela's "Grazing in the Grass," the other funky instrumental that blew my little-kid mind in the late 60s. They didn't (damn!), but this is still a gotta-git unless you just happen to have all these sides layin' around your place (if so, I bow down to you!).

St. Louis Town 1927-1932 [Yazoo LP]

The Story of the Blues [Columbia 2LP]

The Sugar Hill Records Story [5CD]

Sun--The Roots of Rock Volume 4: Cotton City Country [Charly LP; England]

Sun--The Roots of Rock Volume 7: Sun Blues [Charly LP; England]

Swamp Surfing in Memphis [Frenzi/Au-Go-Go LP; Australia; 1986] With Tav Falco's Panther Burns, She Wolf (Jessie Mae Hemphill), the Hellcats, the Odd Jobs, and Paradoxical Babel.

Teen Delights Volume 2 [Vee-Jay LP]

Texas-Mexican Border Music Vol. 1 [Folklyric LP]

Tokyo Flashback: P.S.F. Psychedelic Sampler [P.S.F. CD; Japan] The worship of distorto guitar and addledness from the land of alleged technical "perfection"? Just dig Marble Sheep and High-Rise; both sound like that Velvets 1968 boot from many years back, only in a monstrously beautiful disoriented way that sounds precisely like trying to cope with TOOMANYPEOPLEINTOOLITTLESPACE. Perfect ammo for apartment-complex noise wars. White Heaven demonstrate what grunge should've sounded like, with Cipollina whammy-bar references to boot. Verzerk: heavier than Sabbath or Vitus, with an instrumental payoff that veers ever outward. Or mellow out with the folk-mystic glow of Ghost, a great tripster combo  with a couple essential CDs of their own. The other cuts, with Japanese names and titles, are even odder. Pretty devastating collection.

Tokyo Flashback: P.S.F. Psychedelic Sampler 2 [P.S.F. CD; Japan]

Tokyo Flashback: P.S.F. Psychedelic Sampler 3 [P.S.F. CD; Japan]

Tooth and Nail [Upsetter LP]

Traveling Through the Jungle: Negro Fife and Drum Music from the Deep South [Testament LP]

The Trojan Story [Trojan Records 3LP; England]

Türkçe Twist [no label CDR] Very odd compilation of 1960s Turkish twist music, most of which bears little or no resemblance to Chubby Checker and Joey Dee. Everything is washed over with definite Middle-Eastern influences; not much here could pass for American. Adnan Varveren's "Abidik Gubidik Twist" is a sweet acoustic ethno-rocker; Celal Sahin does a small-group jazz thing with twist rhythms; Ates Böcekleri has a sparse accordion-driven style that makes his cut sound like a Tex-Mex/Arab mutation; Sevket Ugurluer does a a crazed R&B-surf stomper with group vocals; Oztürk Serengil uses twangy guitar, novelty vocal interjections, and gun shots; Dario Moreno and Silüeter each do hot surf-style guitar instrumentals; Sevet Ugurluer offers up a polka-beat rocker with hilarious vocals; the uncredited "Gir Gir Twist" has honkin' sax, fake crowd noises, football-style chants; and there's more!

Vargas!! 60's/70's Mexican R&R/R&B [Giant Sucking Sound CDR] Great, fun-filled comp of Mexican rock'n'roll--heavy on the R&B/surf raunch--mostly re-writes of American rock hits. Includes Los Johnny Jets (the story of "Felipe El Hipie" with a norteño polka-beat and fuzz-guitar breaks); Los Aspon (a tiki-tortilla instrumental called "Twist Hawaiano"); Los Locos Del Ritmo (surf guitar powering a tuff garage rocker); Enrique Guzman (slow-grind re-write of Elvis's "Little Sister" as "Hermanita"); Los Pajaros (crazed version of "Surfin' Bird" en Español); Seven Days (frantic versions of "Wipe Out," "Do You Love Me," "Calfornia Sun," and an instrumental "What'd I Say"); Wally Gonzalez ("Tu, Y Tu, CB" accordion-style Tex-Mex novelty tune from the 70s CB-radio craze); Los Mabbers ("Chica Cruel" re-writes "Surfin' USA"/"Sweet Little Sixteen"); Los Leos y Johnny Dynamo (Donovan's "Jennifer Juniper"!); Los Socios Del Ritmo ("The Funky Chicken" en Español); Los Rockin' Devils (Otis Redding's early classic "Shout Bamalama" and the Temptations' "Get Ready"); Los 4 Crickets ("Barbara Ven" = "Barbara Ann" done up Beach Boys style); Los Belmonts (drivin' soul beat with harmony vocals and spaghetti-western guitar break); and a few more. Aye-yi-yi!

The Very Best of the Oldies Vol. 2 [United Artists LP]

The Very Best of the Oldies Vol. IV: The Instrumentals [United Artists LP]

Western Swing Vol. 3 [Old Timey LP]

What's Shakin' [Elektra LP]

What Stuff [Iloki Records LP]

Wonder Women: The History of the Girl Group Sound Volume 1 [Rhino LP]

Yazoo's History of Jazz: 16 Classics of Early Jazz [Yazoo LP]

Yes L.A. [Dangerhouse one-sided LP]

Zappéd [Bizarre/Straight LP]

Zingers from The Hollywood Squares [Event LP; 1974] Featuring the comedic genius of the late, great Paul Lynde.