Cousin Mary 2/21/2019 A Library, CD
More fine instrumental work from this Nova Scotia surf trio. Now in their 24th year of playing together, they show no signs of being tired. Good energy on mostly original tunes, these tracks really rock!
mickeyslim 2/20/2019 Blues, CD
Nothing
Nothing is known about Willie Baker, except that he would, as a child, play in Patterson, Georgia and that he may have gone to a Robert Hicks medicine show in Waycross, GA.
Charley Lincoln on the other hand, was born 3/11/1900. He performed with his brother, Robert Hicks (the same as above), professionally known as Barbecue Bob, for many years. After his mother and brother passed away, Charley became a very heavy alcoholic. He shot someone on Christmas Day 1955, and ended up going to prison. He died there of a brain hemorrhage in September 1963.
Atlanta, Georgia blues. One man, one guitar, one front porch.
Phil Phactor 2/20/2019 A Library, CD
Andrew Tuttle is from Australia, but you wouldn’t know it from this enchanting slice of post-Fahey Americana. Tuttle layers his banjo and guitar filigree over luminous drones to predictably trance-inducing effect. On Meterological Warning (T5), he’s joined by viola and prepared lap guitar, while The Coldest Night (T8) sees the addition of electric guitar and trumpet. Soothing stuff.
Phil Phactor 2/20/2019 A Library, CD
Laurie Spiegel is a pioneer in the field of electronic music. In 1973, she began exploring computer music at Bell Labs, where Max Matthews and Richard Moore had recently developed the digital-analogue hybrid GROOVE (Genered Realtime Operations On Voltage-controlled Equipment) system. From this work came the album The Expanding Universe, released in 1980. With its clear tones, open harmonies, and mechanical rhythms, The Expanding Universe presented an optimistic, almost utopic vision of technology. In contrast, Unseen Worlds, created using Spiegel’s own Music Mouse software, is altogether darker and more amorphous, with a focus on texture over melody. Hurricane’s Eye (T7) stacks layers and layers of organ-like tones to create a thick, murky, mass of sound, a modern-day requiem. Check out the frankly-terrifying stabs of noise on Riding the Storm (T9), and DO NOT MISS the epic, 14-minute closer Passage (T12), in which harmonically-rich drones, synthetic voices, and ominous clangings rise and fall evoking the grandeur and power of some strange, cosmic machine.
Cousin Mary 2/20/2019 A Library, CD
Welsh born Gwenifer Raymond lives in England but plays American Primitive style guitar and banjo as if she was born to it. Wonderful melodies in her compositions, astonishing technique. Some tunes are simple, most show a virtuosity and polyphony that is almost reminiscent of Bach violin partitas. Oh and she has a PhD in astrophysics. Wow, wow, wow!
atavist 2/18/2019 A Library, CD
Nice “South of Heaven” reference. The thick crust presented here will otherwise ward off comparisons to Slayer. Beautifully satisfying, thick, disgusting riffs. Apparently these folks have been pummeling Japan for two decades, so their filth is pretty tight and old-school in an early nineties sort of way. Most tracks clock in at three minutes or less (the shortest track is 1:14). Track 2 is 5:01, and the last track is a protracted grind jam/amalgamation running to 8:36 where the band allowed themselves to deviate from the format employed in the rest of the album.
Phil Phactor 2/15/2019 A Library, CD
Lucrecia Dalt is a former geotechnical engineer from Colombia, now settled in Berlin, who has previously collaborated with Julia Holter and Laurel Halo. While her early work has been described as “experimental indie pop,” on this album she leaves the “indie pop” behind. Dalt is an exceptionally skilled sound designer, deftly weaving industrial aesthetics into the conventions of minimal electronics. The result is a sound all her own: raw, rough, tactile, but also precise, polished, icy-cold. And then there are the vocals (T1, T3, T5, T6, T9, T11), spoken-sung and subtly processed, they draw you in and push you away at the same time. These are short tracks (1-3 minutes) that nonetheless evoke a sense of geologic time, of a stasis that masks the presence of tremendous power.
mickeyslim 2/13/2019 A Library, CD
Stephanie D’Arcy is the mastermind on this freshman release from this SF-based project. D’Arcy on guitar and vocals, Ryan Albaugh on drums, Giancarlo Arzu on bass, and Yaryn Choi on keys and providing vocals. Their lo-fi grunge-pop is a slightly off-kilter, head-boppin, house party and you’re sitting in the corner with your head down, all the voices and music faded and muted in the background. First part of the album hits hard, while the last part is not as impressive. Definitely worth a listen!
mickeyslim 2/13/2019 A Library, CD
1 part brass band, 2 parts lounge jazz, one part noisy meanderings, this EP is the sister release to Botafogos in Shadow Position. Buzzing, skronky, cloudy, weirdo sounds. You find yourself lost in a Dali-esque circus show, whose entire show is amalgamated up in a mere 15-minute extravaganza! Let the show begin!
Louie Caliente 2/11/2019 A Library, CD
Tetsu Mineta is a Japanese guitarist and singer. He’s a member of the rock group “Both Cheese”, but here he’s solo with an acoustic guitar and tape recorder. As the album title implies, this is his fourth release, all on cassette.
Most of the album is slow, soothing, lo-fi acoustic guitar work layered over quiet beds of tape recorder hum, indiscernible distant rustles, and occasional backwards instrumentation (T2, T6). Fahey-esque at times, but shrouded in a mysterious opium haze. “Nova E.x.P.” (T4) is a rich, blissful stoned-out guitar drone.
The first track, “Moshpitloser”, is unlike the rest. A quick rhythmic percussion riff featuring bongos, toms, cymbals, and a cowbell played faster and faster until the whole thing blasts off like a spaceship.
mickeyslim 2/10/2019 Blues, CD
Mr. Fat Possum Records, R.L. Burnside’s houserockin’ blues. This is one of the few remaining records from this bluesman that we don’t have. For those unfamiliar, R.L. Burnside was born November 1926 in Lafayette, Mississippi, and started playing blues after hearing John Lee Hooker. He got a later start than others, but still knows how to bring the heat. Burnside helped define the sound of Fat Possum Records alongside Junior Kimbrough. His son, Cedric Burnside (who plays the drummer in the film Black Snake Moan), makes an appearance on track 4. Electric, fuzzy, scuzzy, blues.
Come on in, the water’s fine….
humana 2/10/2019 A Library, CD
This lovely music finessed by Narcisi breathes in and out in a chill way like an accordion, the instrument which Fidanza brings to the table on tracks 6 through 9. Electronic manipulations and field recordings are what’s in store on this release, and listening to it will take you through time quite easily and dreamily. Track 9 even sounds like it has a vox humana which indeed sounds like the celestial voice indicated by the track title. Enjoy.
humana 2/10/2019 A Library, CD
Some of these songs written and performed by Vassalotti are down-tempo and ballad-like, while others are more upbeat. Throughout, Vassalotti’s guitar weaves his stories together while his echoey voice delivers the lyrics. My favorite track is “The Other Light.” The lyrics are thoughtfully included inside the CD cover, so pull out your magnifying glass and contemplate what this musician is communicating to you.
humana 2/9/2019 CD, International
This is lively, spirited music from the Merina, an ethnic group in Madagascar that lies in the center of the island. The zither, lute, and flute are featured in these folk songs, along with some vocals chiming in. Track 18 is especially fun, with children’s voices accompanied by earth drum and rhythmic games that will spark joy in many a set. Great add for the International Collective.
These recordings from 1964-1968 on the Kent Recordings label are perfect for our Soul Collective. Alternating between the catchy pizzazz of soul and the ballad-like nature of blues, Z. Z. Hill’s hearty, smooth baritone skates those soul-rock-blues lines with ease. You can choose almost any song on these two CDs and be assured of finding a gem for your set.
humana 2/9/2019 CD, International
This 2-CD compilation is perfect for our International music collective. These popular Portuguese songs from the “bad boys” of Lisbon are often melancholy and accompanied by mandolins and guitars. The first CD features women singers whose voices are a bit grating to me; in the second CD the women seem to have softened their voices, or maybe I just got used to them. All recordings from a time long ago that must not be forgotten.
1979 recording from artists who played as side men with Mingus – this album has me asking why I have never heard of them before. Easy going sounds on track 1, vocals on the blues shout on track 2, lovely exhibit of piano on track 3, free jazz shronky surprise on track 4, fine flute on track 5. Accessible and original, really good!
Cousin Mary 2/7/2019 A Library, CD
Rick Escobar was a member of the surf band The Woodies. He has created an interesting mix of ambient music with some surf sounds thrown in. Cinematic and affecting, quite original.
mickeyslim 2/6/2019 A Library, CD
Very nice, subtle day-dreamy drones. Soothing, like the way a tea bag slowly sinks to the bottom of a mug or how a single drop of water moves down a back porch window in the rain.
mickeyslim 2/6/2019 A Library, CD
This is a 64-minute long mindfuck shitshow by Godspink Collection veterans. Apparently they’ve been making music since the 80s, but nothing has passed through KFJC. This is a total antiestablishment, anti-capitalist, anti-advertising manifesto. Elements of punk, noise, soul, electronic music, and much much more.
“We don’t fucking want what your trying to fucking sell, shove it up your fucking arse, then fuck off and go to hell.”
KFJC 89.7FM