Another African gem reissued by Soundway. Hedzoleh Soundz were ailing from Ghana were they became quite famous as the Napoleon nighclub resident band. This were they met Masekela which used four tracks of their first LP, Hedzoleh Soundz, for his own record, Masekela Introducing Hedzoleh Soundz. Hedzoleh Soundz is characterized by its emphasis on traditional hypnotic percussions, catchy flute and guitar parts with a strong bluesy flavour. Truly original and never boring.
Much have been written about The Kusum Beat all over the internet. Sweet Talks has as well been posted many times on different blog. Always for the same reason: this music is damn good. The Kusum Beat is one of the "most famous" Ghanaian band, famous enough to tour regularly in the Western countries in the first half of the 70's. On Sweet Talks, they forget a little bit highlife to incorporate more pieces of traditional African music even if that's not that obvious for secular ears. The overall made me thought to early Fela recordings.
You've got rare groove records reedition labels and you've got Finders Keepers. Finders Keepers is Andy Votel creature and is specialized in the reedition of records so rare that probably nobody except Andy Votel and a handfull other talibans of hardcore crate digging have ever heard of. From Pakistanese movies soundtracks to turkish psychedelia, from Thai beats to primitive French electronica, the best of the rarest records ever produced on the surface on earth find a second life. Mixed by Flying Lotus little protégé The Gaslamp Killer, All Killer is a nice mix that gives you a pretty good inlook on Finders Keepers back catalogue. Trippy freaky shit. For you own information, Finders Keepers stock of records burned this summer during London riots.
Among the 5 volumes VP Records made with Joe Gibbs discomix 12" singles, the fourth volume will probably satisfy the most mainstream ears thanks to its two Michael Jackson covers: Shake Your Body To The Ground by Ruddy Thomas and Welton Irie and Don't Stop Till You Get Enough by Derrick Lara and Trinity. The last one, with its infectiuous bassline, will smash every dancefloor when played, even the less reggae friendly. The rest of the record is more made for true reggae heads and is filled with absolute scorchers and classics made by a producer then (end of the 70's/begining of the 80's) at the peak of his inspiration.
There are good records you only listen to once or two times. And there are good records you listen to again and again: in the morning, in the evening, in your car, when you feel good, when you feel bad. In the latter category stands Give Me Your Love, an absolute classic produced by Roy Ayers for his chorist Sylvia Striplin with nice strings arrangement thanks to William Allen. Roy occupied only the producing seat here and doesn't play any vibes but it's probably one of the best records he ever made. There are absolutely no filler and hip hop heads will recognise easily the melody of You Can't Turn Me Away and Give Me Your Love, two songs largely sampled or covered (http://www.whosampled.com/sampled/Sylvia%20Striplin/). A must have nicely repressed by Soul Jazz Records in 2010.
I recently posted about New York funk (Auguste Darnell), New York punk funk (Liquid Liquid) so let's post this time about New York punk. I don't mean The Ramones or The Dead Boys, not even Blondie or Television, but a band among the originators of punk rock, The Dictators. Born in The Bronx and lead by Richard Blum (aka Handsome Dick Manitoba), members Ross "The Boss" Funicello, Scott "Top ten" Kempner, Adny Shernoff and Stu Boy King had a taste for 60's pop song covers (I Got You Babe, California Sun) and loud hard rock with a I don't give a fuck funny attitude. Those guys knew that all this rock'n'roll CBGB circus was just a joke and behaved accordingly. They never got the recognition they deserved and vanished in obscurity after 3 LP's. Their first one, Go Girl Crazy! is their best and they definitely have a first class seat in New York rock posterity.
This 7" is a nice surprise and a curiosity for two reasons. The Dynamic Superiors are certainly not the most well known male vocal quintet on Motown roster. But they were rather original, their lead singer Tony Washington being openly gay and dressing in drag on stage. This was what you can call a real punk attitude, especially when you consider that afro american music scene has been always crossed by a clear homophobia. The second curiosity with this Holland/Dozier/Holland penned (for Martha And The Vandellas) disco stomper heavy on percussion is that it was effectively produced by Edward J. Holland. The trio had left Motown in 1968 to create their own imprints, Invictus Records and Hot Wax Records, and they went to court with Berry Gordy over royalties money and breach of contract matters. Curiously, despite the lawsuit, they still produced records for Motown in the 70's.
No other band deserves more the title of seminal than Liquid Liquid. Much have been said about those 4 new-yorkers. Without Liquid Liquid there would have been no LCD Soundsystem, Battles, a famous scottish DJ duo and plenty of hip hop producers would still be sampling James Brown records in search of the perfect beat. Scott Hartley, Richard McGuire, Salvatore Principato and Dennis Young released only 3 EP's (Optimo in 1983, Successive Reflexes in 1982 and Liquid Liquid in 1981), a few 7" and that's all. They still come back nowadays from time to time for average live shows but they never recovered their original strength. Because the music of those guys is only rythms and percussions (no melody, a few madman lyrics but a massive bassline with drums, marimba, talking drum, and various percussions) it's not that easy to get into it. But if you get grabbed, it can change your life. Punk funk at its best. This compilation comes with the 3 above mentioned EP's and 4 live tracks recorded in Berkley Square in 1982.
1) You will only find here music released between 1950 and 1989.
2) You will find here an eclectic selection of records I possess personally.
3) You will only find here records I digged with love during long hours spent in records shops (yes, there are still some existing and pretty good ones) or in any other place where you can find records.
4) You will only find here records I like and that I think deserve a better recognition. If you like them too, don't forget you can buy them. There's certainly a way to find them somewhere for a cheap price.
5) If you own the rights on some of the music featured here and think that my posts decrease dramatically your sales, just send me a mail or leave me a comment. I will withdraw the downloading link immediately.
6) I spend a lot of time on each post, riping, scanning, uploading, writing a little and all that with a lot of pleasure.
7) Re-uping records pisses me off. If a link is dead, just subscribe to this blog or become a member and you won't miss anything in the future.
8) Don't hesitate to leave comments: they're soothing my tourmented soul and it shows your appreciation or your concern.
9) You will only find here records ripped from original vinyl or CD source.
10) If you notice that something is not working technically, don't hesitate to leave a comment. Some do it and it helps me a lot, thanks.
