Give the Drummer Some's
Favorite Downloads from the MP3 Blogosphere
Welcome back my friends to the Motherlode that never ends. Another half dozen outstanding audible treasures to choose from in this week's batch. Take your pick: Hippie pop-rock from Cali, hot jazz from a cool Swiss monastery, sock-it-to-you soul burners from Spanish Harlem, barrelhouse pianos pounded into submission, genre-defying experimentizotica from Brazil, and joyful noise Noise NOISE from the baddest free-jazz conflagration on the planet. Happy motherloding!
Various ~ "California Acid Folk"
(Blog: Psych and Nuggets)
This Much Is Certain: "Oh Death" and "Taxim"
Originally a double-LP released on Penguin Egg, this trippy assortment includes a selection from Gram Parsons's International Submarine Band, Arthur Lee's homage to LBJ's younger daughter ("Luci Baines" with the American Four), three tunes performed by cult faves Kaleidoscope at the 1967 Berkeley Folk Festival, and a 17-minute session by the Byrds recorded off Swedish radio the same year.
Nathan Davis ~ "Jazz Concert in a Benedictine Monastery"
(Blog: The KingCake Crypt)
From the album: Frog In' (MP3)
What, no Monk Covers?
Nathan Davis may just be the most underappreciated saxophonist of the past half century. Living in Europe for much of the '60s and ensconced in academia (as director of jazz studies at the Univ. of Pittsburgh) since 1969, Davis has blown under the radar for virtually his entire professional career. All the more mystifying when you stumble on stunning albums like this one, which Davis recorded live at Switzerland's Benedictine Monastery Maria Einsiedeln the summer before joining the faculty at Pitt.
Various ~ "Big Bad Boogaloo: Latin Boogaloo From the Big Apple"
(Blog: Cuchyfritos)
La Alegría del Barrio
Don't hold the absurdly redundant subtitle—"Latin Boogaloo from the Big Apple"—against this absurdly good collection of Latin Soul crossover killers. You'll come for Colón, Palmieri and Barretto, but you'll stay for the lesser-known nuggets, particularly two recorded for the Speed label in 1968: "The Fuzz" by Dianne & Carole and the Latin Whatchamacallits and "Take a Trip" by the Latin Blues Band featuring Luis Aviles.
Various ~ "Stomp 'Em Down: Piano Blues 1927-1937"
(Blog: Don't Ask Me ..... I Don't Know)
From the album: Ice Pick Mama (mp3) by Walter (Cowboy) Washington
Fickle Fingers of Fate
Vocalists like James "Boodle It" Wiggins, Spider Carter, and Ell-Zee Floyd get the credit for the gems on this comp of pre-war blues, but it's the piano playing that really dazzles.
Pedro Santos ~ "Krishnanda"
(Blog: Brazilian Nuggets)
From the album: Dentro Da Selva (mp3)
Prepare Thyself for a Mystery
This completely unclassifiable artifact from obscure Brazilian percussionist Pedro Santos opens with strains of mariachi horns and closes with kitschy, catchy faux-African marimba noodling. The intoxicating totality of Krishnanda's myriad bossa/raga/exotica elements makes it surely one of CBS's most enigmatic releases of 1968.
Shibusashirazu Orchestra ~ "Lost Direction"
(Blog: Jazz Archive)
From the album: Ee Janai Ka (mp3)
Performance/Art
Watching unsuspecting jazz-fest audiences be overcome by the controlled explosions of sound at shows by Japan's Shibusashirazu (loosely translates to "Never Be Cool") can be almost as much fun as witnessing the chaotic, frenetic, fantastic thrill ride taking place on stage. This free-jazz art-punk force of nature was featured in an earlier installment of Mining the Audio Motherlode.
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What, are you psychic!? That's just about every favorite genre of mine! Doug, you are amazing!
Posted by: Jessi | March 24, 2010 at 03:56 PM
This particular motherlode is stunning. Thank you!
Posted by: Holly | March 24, 2010 at 05:13 PM
yesss, quite a good one here, thanks as always!
Posted by: peter | March 25, 2010 at 02:48 AM
well, it's true- the motherlode never ends. great stuff this time around.
Like creepy ads showing up in the comment section of your favorite blog(s) ?
Then look at the previous posting.. " Opportunities of time vouchsafed by Heaven" etc.
Posted by: fred g sanford | March 30, 2010 at 08:03 AM