African Scream Contest

African Scream Contest

      What a crazy but totally exhilarating little soulfully psychedelic morsel from the deep dark corners of Africa!  This comp is absolutely amazing.....groovy beats, acid-like breakouts, fuzz guitar and an acceptable bootleg finish !
 
African Scream Contest really features artists from Benin and Togo with the stunning Orchestre Poly-Rythmo rising to the top for me ! 

Overall... kind of a James Brown meets early Pink Floyd with some Otis Redding taped on the side for good measure.  The CD package is also very well done with a nice big booklet covering the history of Soul-Psych in this African region.  Kind of a cool story with this guy running around picking up acetates and 45's and LP's of all this cool unknown music and then the issue some 40 years later.

  This would make the ideal Christmas gift !

Sigur Rós - Inni (2011)

Sigur Rós - Inni (2011)

   Inni blu-ray is a gift!  2 CD live set and associated movie to boot!
  The live set was recorded at Alexandria Palace 2008 and is a lovely collection of some the best tracks they ever wrote.  The sound quality is very good and the audience is pretty much quiet (which is great) as this is a band u really need to LISTEN to!
  Song mix is from all of their albums and for me the most powerful bit is popplagid where the band go into this almost hypnotic bit and the music transcends into another orbit.
  There is also a seventy-five minute concert film, capturing Sigur Ros prior to their well-documented "indefinite hiatus" at the end of 2008. Recorded and shot over two nights at London s Alexandra Palace, at the close of the world tour around their fifth full length album, Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust. 

The video is pretty grainy in quality but these guys are all about the music really....so no biggie for me as I am not a huge video guy......much prefer the audio and imagination experience....

Awesome little bit of Sigur Ros.

Come Together - Black America sings Lennon & McCartney (1965 - 1975)

Come Together - Black America sings Lennon & McCartney (1965 - 1975)

    For those who picked up Black America sings Bob Dylan will love the tribute here to Those four mop tops...........

  This compilation is full of unusual and rare funk and soul versions of classic Beatles music with some pretty cool musical moments here kids!!!    Imagine Otis Redding singing Day Tripper or Wee Willie Walker taking a Ticket To Ride or Chubby Checker  rockin to Back in the USSR!
  Nothing here is lame or filler here........great versions that were pretty well recorded with a wee nice book too to boot!   I really groove to this album and highly recommend it ......

Dizzy Reece - Blues In Trinity (1958)

Dizzy Reece - Blues In Trinity (1958) Connoisseur
  For those who love jazz like me will love Blues In Trinity......

  Likely you are asking who the heck is Dizzy Reece?  Well he was an UK born trumpeter who played the European circuit and soon found himself recording in Paris with the likes of Donald Byrd and Art Taylor.     Blues in trinity was the first of four Reece albums and on the Connoisseur blue note series is given the extra treatment with SBM mastering and 2 dynamite bonus track.   "I had the craziest dream" is worth the price for this album alone.....an old WWII song brought back to life.....
  Of course the centerpiece of the album is the ten minute "close up " which gives Donald Byrd a few spots to help Reece out..........wow !
  Sonically this disc is pretty awesome and was very well originally recorded.

  "swingy...bluesy......jazzy......"
  

Dead Can Dance - Anastasis (2012)

Dead Can Dance - Anastasis (2012)
 
    We are the children of the sun......emotes Brendan Perry to open Anastasis......and what an opening !   After years Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard have come back together to release a new Dead Can Dance album.    I have been a huge fan of this band for a long time and was shocked to hear the news of a reunion album.
  No question that there is something magical when these two get together........I don't think DCD break any new ground that they haven't explored before on this album but who can argue with new songs from an old friend!
  What you are treated to is another excellent album full of tones, moods, themes and instrumentation that will leave you imagining!    DCD's music is somewhere between Eastern modal and North American Native chant and middle east themes.  As always they use a wide range of instrumentation and tons of varied hand percussion .   But most importantly Anastasis is another exploration into sound..   Lisa Gerard's ethereal vocals along with the contrasting deep stoic breaths of Brendan Perry make this another amazing addition to the Dead Can Dance discography.
  I highly recommend this album to anyone is loves to sit and listen to full albums.....and doesn't mind getting a bit scared in the dark !!!