Mining the Audio Motherlode, Volume 102

Give the Drummer Some's
Favorite Downloads from the MP3 Blogosphere

A particularly sweet brew bubbled up out the horn of plenty this week. Here take a break from shoveling ice chunks and have a nice long sip:

Issued on Spark in the UK in 1970, this Eartha Kitt LP delivers not an ounce of cabaret purring and a ton of unabashed folk-rock earnestness.  • • •   Kip Hanrahan's series of collaborative gems on American Clavé hit a high note with this release of poet Paul Haines' texts set to sound.  • • •  As if blogger Moos over at the astonishing Global Groove doesn't share enough out-of-print magnificence, he occasionally goes above and beyond by hand-picking special compilation offerings. This latest production, a mariachi masterwork, is not to be missed.  • • •  While most of the globe suffered through a dance-music drought through much of the '80s, maybe the best tracks of the decade were emanating from Johannesburg. Spin the 21 cuts on this compilation straight through and it will be the best party you throw all year.  • • • Fans of Frank Lowe's October '77 duetistry with Euguene Chadbourne (Don't Punk Out) will love this larger ensemble live gig recorded that same month. Numerous accounts cite this as John Zorn's first appearance on record.

Slurp, slurp...

Eartha Kitt  ~  "Sentimental Eartha"
(Blog: Don't Ask Me . . . . . I Don't Know)

Down to Eartha
"Eartha Kitt's Sentimental Eartha is a ten-track album of psychedelic-tinged love ballads. Standout tracks include three recorded earlier by Donovan: "Catch the Wind" (his debut single!), "Hurdy Gurdy Man," and "Wear Your Love Like Heaven," in which Kitt's smokey, sultry voice is used to optimum effect. The tracks on Sentimental Eartha also include another favorite from the 1960s, in this case "My Sentimental Friend" by Herman's Hermits. The rest of the disc includes lesser known inspirational and sentimental songs, all of which combine to make a well arranged and cohesive collection. Creative song selection makes this disc a true find."   (J.T. Griffith, at All Music)

 

Kip Hanrahan/Paul Haines  ~  "Darn It"
(Blog: Never Get Out of the Boat Redux)

Words on Music
"…Darn it! Strings together an outrageous number of artists performing one after another in a polyglot line that stretches from Paul Bley’s solo piano ‘Threats That Matter’ through funky dance numbers by Greg ‘Iron Man’ Tate to a duet by trombonist Roswell Rudd and Canadian poetry Paul Haines, ‘Etait Dans La Nuit.’ Even its beautiful package, designed by artist / film maker / musician Michael Snow (who also contributes a lovely piano piece) enforces the compilation’s linearity, unfolding into a long accordion of personnel and poetry... Darn it! Overcomes stylistic impediments successfully, reveling in the way Haines’ terse writing can endure so many different kinds of interpretation."  (John Corbett, in Downbeat)

 

Various  ~  "Besos de Tequila: Masters in Mariachi"
(Blog: Global Grooves)

El Mejor de lo Mejor
"Why don't you go out to buy a bottle of mezcal, lemon and some seasalt. Then, invite a couple of good friends, put on this Mexican collector and open up the booze. A lick of salt, a shot of mezcal and a bite of lemon to maximize the thrilling effect. Aaaaay aaaay aaaay, llego borracho el borracho. Some of the songs used in this compilation were downloaded from the great blogs of our colleagues, Holy Warbles and Música Popular Mexicana, some are my own. Hope U like'm."  (DeeJay Moos, at Global Groove)

Various  ~  "Soweto Street Music"
(Blog: Freedom Blues)

Mbaqanga on a Can
"A nice collection of mostly mbaqanga & jive from the early '80s released from Audiotrax in '84. I always wondered why they titled it "street music." Not many  informations that I could find about the artists, except the Super Tens at (the always informative Electric Jive). You don't need much anyway. The bands are jiving, their music sublime."  (Nauma, at Freedom Blues)

 

Frank Lowe Orchestra ~  "Lowe & Behold"
(Blog: Lucky Psychic Hut)

Lowe How the Mighty
"Frank Lowe's Lowe and Behold provides a snapshot of a particular intersection of New York improvisation in the late '70s - AACM/St. Louis-BAG transplants Phillip Wilson, Joseph Bowie and John Lindberg; free jazzers Lowe, Billy Bang, 'Butch' Morris and Arthur Williams; and young upstarts John Zorn, Polly Bradfield, Eugene Chadbourne and Peter Kuhn. (Until the 'Twins Version' of 'Lacrosse' was unearthed for the Parachute Years box, this was Zorn's earliest appearance on record.) Captured live in October of 1977, this long-out-of-print gem captures a scene in a state of flux. Here were musicians working out ideas that would work their way into conductions, game theory pieces, and the free jazz large ensemble vocabulary...."  (Michael Rosenstein, at Squidco.)

 

 

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Comments

[icastico]

Here's a couple more:
Thai masterhttp://stereoxmono.blogspot.com/2011/01/waiphot-phetsuphan.html

Juju superstars
http://groovemonzter.blogspot.com/2011/02/sir-shina-adewale-superstar-verse-1.html

[Aaron]

Thanks Mr. Drummer!