Summer's End Mixtape

At the beginning of summer, I started digging deep into the recesses of this vast internet to find some new musical curiosities to explore. It was time to recalibrate the ears. This impulse apparently manifested in a key word search on "psychedelia". I dug my way to a few stockpiles of nice 60's/70's vinyl rips; things I would never find otherwise. Some of the albums have been reissued on CD; most have not. Interestingly, my favorite finds were less psychedelic and more rootsy blues-based rock, or, straight up hard rock.

Here is a sampler of some of my favorite cuts from this summer's deep cut binge; sequenced for maximum enjoyment. Hope you enjoy it. Sorry for the file size and ramble.

Sunrise Over One More Day [9 songs, 43min, 89.2MB, .Rar]

The Talent:
Note: Some links may require some further navigation.

Jamul, Jamul [1970, Lizard]
Research shows that this band shared management with Steppenwolf; this is actually a pretty good starting point in describing their sound: bluesy hard rock but more countryfied and less polished than Steppenwolf. More info here.

Solid Ground, Made in Rock [1976, ?]
Swedish heavy guitar rock. Pounding drums, lots of riffage. This album grew from a cult classic into a 1991 CD reissue and a 2004 reunion with the original lineup. That's the power of crate-digging and reissuing beloved artists. More info here.

Bear Mountain Band, One More Day [1971, Predator]
This is the description that won me over: "Extremely rare, trashy Arizona booze soaked psych rock LP with some blistering guitar and outlaw atmosphere." Pretty much nails it.

Blackwater Park, Dirtbox [1971, ?]
German hard rock with English vocals. This band loves big dirty guitar solos and aggressive riffs. One has to love the lack of irony in 70's hard rock. Reissued and worth picking up. Why not, eh?

Sid Rumpo, First Offense [1974, Mushroom]
Australian blues/pub rock. I like this record quite a bit for the keyboards that come into play during the second half of the album. They're all talented players and can take a pop song into an extended jam nicely.

Friday Fuzz 45s

The Mighty Dogcatchers: It's Gonna Be A Mess Pt 1
From: Florida Funk [Now Again, 2007]

The Shades Of Black: Mystery Of Black Pt 1
From: Quantic Presents: The World's Rarest Funk 45s [Jazzman, 2006]

Carlos Garnett: Mystery Of Ages
From: Cosmos Nucleus [Muse, 1976]

Eddie Henderson: The Kumquat Kids
From: Sunburst [Blue Note, 1975]

Jerome Prister: Say You'll Be
From: Say You'll Be 12" [Tuff City,1989]

Back again today with a selection of music that's perfect for taking you into the weekend. There is no grand overarching theme to the music that I give you today beyond

a) They're all tracks I find put me in a Friday mood
b) They're songs that I've been meaning to post up for an age and a half but have always fallen through the cracks.

So, enough of the blah blah blah - on to the music.

I first heard The Mighty Dogcatchers' It's Gonna Be A Mess Pt 1 on the excellent Florida Funk collection that came out early this year - my joy was increased when I discovered it had been reissued on 45 and I've been playing it out ever since. Starting with a break the track introduces a truly evil bassline, horns and organ to create a rolling groove that just won't stop.

Mystery Of Black Part 1 by The Shades Of Black is another awesome funk 45 now reissued. Starting with a catchy percussion line what really catches the ear is the instrumental break in place of a chorus - an unexpectedly lush breakdown which works brilliantly.

I've been meaning to write up something about Carlos Garnett for quite some time now and sadly still haven't got round to it. So while I pull my finger out here is his absolutely sublime Mystery Of The Ages from his 1976 LP Cosmos Nucleus. A masterful combination of fearsome vocals and soaring horns make this a standout track for the Soul Jazz genre in my ears.

Eddie Henderson's The Kumquat Kids off his Sunburst album has a bassline that will make all headhunter fans eagerly clicking repeat as he offers up an electronic groove complete with futuristic swooshes which blends with a jazz funk percussion and horn section to great effect.

I first got introduced to Jerome Prister's Say You'll Be by Fuzz contributor Mawhie and was sold as soon as the main beat kicked in and I furiously hunted down the album that Jerome belatedly released a while after this song's success. In true digging fashion the album turned out to be shit but it still doesn't detract from Jerome's achievements on this single -absolutely awesome - why can't more late eighties soul be like this?

Dog Day Beats: Attica! Attica! Attica!

3ree (A Means To Be) (Showbiz Remix) - Attica Blues
Tender (Organized Konfusion Mix) - Attica Blues
both from promo 12" on Mo' Wax (1997).

Since listening (and posting) some of Nicole Willis's old Mo' Wax output, I've been on a real kick for those old downtempo beats of a decade ago. Holy Moses has it really been that long? Regardless, in the late 90s there was a huge lull in Stateside hip hop that for me started in 1994 after Illmatic and Resurrection came out (roughly) and ended with the birth of the second Golden Age* corresponding to roughly the release of the Black Star album and Quality Control. Of course, hip hop wasn't dead in that period and in fact it was flourishing under the silly name of trip hop in the UK.

Attica Blues is one of my favorite groups from that time because of the luscious beats put together by D'Afro (ne Charlie Dark) and Tony Nwachukwu. Just listen to the tracks up today and I don't see how they can really characterized as anything other than hip hop, even with the haunting vocals of Roba El-Essawy. The Showbiz (yep, G, that Showbiz) remix of "3ree" uses the horn sample of the original with excellent crunchy drums to make sweet track that emphasizes the deep owed to sample-based hip hop. The Showbiz remix also showed up on the official single for this release, but as far as I know promo is the only place the Organized Konfusion mix of Tender can be found. We get a mellow downtempo beats gets characteristically interesting (and enjoyable) verses from Price Po and Pharoah Monch before turning the vocal duties back over to El-Essawy.

I love this kind of stuff and while it isn't the vogue of the UK scene it once was, plenty of quality stuff is still coming out (hint for the next post). Hmmm, kind of similar to the under the radar quality hip hop that slipped out from 1994-1998 and in the last few years.

*This Second Golden Age theory is one of my favorites as I feel like there was a great stretch from 1998-2004 that mirrored the commercial and artistic success of 1988-1994 consensus first Golden Age of hip hop.

Mixed Up Funk For The Chosen Few

The Chosen Few: Candy, I'm So Doggone Mixed Up and Funky Buttercup
From: The Chosen Few in Miami [Trojan, 1976]

With the fallout from the move still happening and most of my music collection still packed up in boxes I've spent the last couple of weeks revisiting music I'd prepared for posting but for some reason or other never actually got round to featuring.

One album that for the life of me I can't figure out why I didn't feature before is The Chosen Few In Miami. A curious mix of funk and reggae, the 1976 album flits between offering some beat heavy funk and some incredibly cheesy soul reggae. How much influence Chosen Few had on this mix and how much was handpicked by producer King Sporty is anyone's guess but the group are backed by a hungry sounding KC & The Sunshine Band to great effect.

Despite what must have seemed like a dream combination on paper, with The Chosen Few doing well in Jamaica and KC & The Sunshine Ban coming hot off their early releases, the album absolutely flopped on release; no doubt partly due to mismarketing of the group as a novelty rather than focusing on the true fire tracks I have for you today.

For reasons of taste I'm skirting over the soul cover output today and focusing on the beat heavy tracks cos I know you want the breaks and here they are. Candy, I'm So Doggone Mixed Up commences with a great drum intro before settling into a lovely mixture of horn heavy production and sweet falsetto vocals from the Chosen Few. It's a great track anyway you label it.
Funky Buttercup does exactly what it says on the tin with a groove that more than tips it's hat to Byrd and Brown and some quality vocals again from the group as they focus your attention to the dancefloor. Enjoy.

Checking In To See What Condition My Condition Is In

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings: Something's Changed



From: 100 Days, 100 Nights [Daptone, 2007]

So, how you doing? Apologies for my absence of late, a house move has caused a general level of unplanned turmoil to my life and bastard companies that will remain nameless seem to be determined to withold connecting my home internet access for as long as humanly possible (it's currently scheduled for sometime next month).

Massive props to J, Kevin and B for keeping the site going with some outstanding contributions and I'll hopefully be back to regular contributions next week as soon as I get some of my digitally ripped files on to my work computer a computer I can post from.

In the meantime, thought it might be worth reminding you that the new album from Sharon Jones is now out and well worth giving a listen. I've been fiddling round with these streamer thingamijigs as well (look what I can do Ma!) so I've attached another track from the album for your listening pleasure.

Enjoy and, fingers crossed, I'll be back with some more obscure stuff very soon...

As Nasty As They Gonna Be

Black Nasty:

Nasty Soul and Getting Funky Round Here

From: Talking to the People [Stax, 1973]

I was pleased to receive such enthusiastic feedback from vistors regarding the "Anatomy of a Sample" post. I will be continuing this series in the near future, so please check back for the next installment.

First, I want to bless your ears with these two dope tracks from Black Nasty's 1973 raw funk masterpiece. Unfortunately, this was the only record that Black Nasty ever recorded and it is extremely hard to find on wax. Talking to the People is a very diverse record with slow songs for chilling with your honey as well as some full-on boogie cuts to get your body moving.

The two tracks I am featuring here have a slow to midtempo slinky groove loaded to the gills with fuzz-guitar and heavy organs. If "Nasty Soul" hasn't been sampled yet it's only because the DJ heads haven't heard it yet. This song primarily features a bouncy bass groove with stinging fuzz-guitar solos and a vocal hook that is impossible to shake from your head. By the end of the track, your brain will be sending a message to your ass to get moving. "Getting Funky Round Here" brings the goods too with pumping hammond organs, soulful vocals and a stomping rhythm section. Check this out and let me know what you think.