Mining the Audio Motherlode, Volume 103

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

With WFMU Radio's once-a-year fundraiser is set to kick off at the end of this month, I'm hoping that all partakers of the Motherlode will take a moment or two to ponder all the miraculous music offered in this space over the past year. (Ponder, shmonder, you can easily just scroll back through all the Motherlode posts in just a few minutes.)

Now is not the time to make a big plea for your small donations—I'll be doing that soon enough. Right now, I'm too busy culling my favorite tracks from the past year of posts for a new fund-raising compilation I'll be offering called Love Your Motherlode Again. (Last year's Love Your Motherlode collection was a smashing success.)

In the meantime, have a peek at this week's batch of sonic delight:

 

Five times wonderful ...

Purpose  ~  "The Purpose Is the Blues…"
(Blog: Tyme-Machine)

Purpose-Driven Jams
"The simple, heavy and monstrously funky back beat of the opener “Dustcracks, Bugs and Roaches,” a lament about inner city living conditions, is worth tracking this record down in and of itself...."   (Michael, at Melting Pot)

Ray Barretto  ~  "Señor 007"
(Blog: Hippy DJkit)

Agent HardHands
"This is one of Ray Barretto's rarest albums. A killer 60s set of James Bond inspired Latin boogaloo jazzy numbers. These are all heavy hitting latin dance cuts. One of my favorite Ray Barretto albums of the 60s, a real gem from the pre-Latin Soul years! The album's a clear attempt to cash in on the cash in on the James Bond craze of the time, issued by United Artists, who were releasing the Bond films, but also had Ray under contract during the period too. But despite that simple gimmick, it's a great little set with a quality level that goes way beyond Bond soundtracks, or the usual from Barretto at the time! The tracks are all hard and groovy, with an excellent jazz feel with some killer arranging from Ray that's right up there with the work he did for his legendary Charanga Moderna album!"  (dj fanis, at Hippy DJKit)

 

Hongthong Daoudon  ~  "Huai Abanibi"
(Blog: StereoMono)

Good Night and Good Luk Thung
"Hongthong Daoudon is a luk thung and molam singer from northeastern part of Thailand. This late 70s-early 80s album however is in large parts Western influenced Thai funk that wouldn't sound of place on one of the ZudRangMa compilations. The title track is a cover version of Israel's winning contribution to the 1978 Eurovision Song Contest, Izhar Cohen & Alpha Beta's "A-Ba-Ni-Bi." This song was apparently a huge hit in Thailand, and Monrakplengthai's curator Peter says he would still hear the song playing around Bangkok even today. He's also uploaded Onuma Singsiri's version of the song so go listen to that as well!"  (Á Go-Gojira, at StereoMono)

Rahul Dev Berman  ~  "Raton Ka Raja" and "Ehsan"
(Blog: Music from the Third Floor)

Lip-sync-a-delic
"At the time of writing, tattered copies of these 2 EPs (along with an admittedly sought after single from 'Apradh') are up for grabs on eBay. Starting bid? A measly US$320. Call me funny, but I find that kind of ridiculous. Therefore: 2 MEGA RARE RAHUL DEV BURMAN SOUNDTRACKS! 8 PRE-RECORDED SONGS VALUED AT US$32 (MIN.) EACH! FREE FOR THE TAKING!! And take them you should, as both Raton Ka Raja and Ehsan are excellent, and as the latter includes the coolest version of "Pata Pata" ever made."  (PC, at Music From the Third Floor)

 

The Voices of Bluegrass  ~  "Hung Up On…"
(Blog: Visit Me in Music City)

Hung Well
"An interesting point about The Voices of Bluegrass is the sound they have developed. We at Revonah Records call it a new sound in that a lot of the songs that Steve [guitarist, lead singer Steve Walker] has written represents a type of music which is beginning to emerge on the Bluegrass music scene. At the same time the boys are able to deliver a great traditional sound which also has a lot of appeal to many Bluegrass fans both old and new."  (Paul Gerry, liner notes )

 

 

Listen to my radio show Give the Drummer Some—Tuesdays 6-7pm, on WFMU and Fridays 9 to noon—on WFMU's web stream Give the Drummer Radio.
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Comments

[icastico]

Some recent finds.

http://jammagica.blogspot.com/2011/02/200-mali-chiedatby-jedba-fangate.html

http://holywarbles.blogspot.com/2011/02/pip-proud-eagle-wise-1967-68-half-cow.html

http://penmallet.blogspot.com/2011/02/sludge-butcher.html

[Count Reeshard]

Am I missing something, or is there no download link for the Ray Barretto lp?

[Doug Schulkind]

For the Ray Barretto:
In the line of text that reads "by dj fanis: here" click on the word "here" (You'll be glad you did.)

[Count Reeshard]

Thanks, Doug! Now looking forward to some secret agent boogaloo!

[Jessi Hance]

I am crazy in love with the Barretto Bond album! I'm a frumpy old gal but I love to feel glamorous as much as the next person.

[icastico]

Another find...has to be shared.
Stupendous.

http://afrosouldescarga.blogspot.com/2011/02/ahmad-fouad-negm-cheik-imam-issa-lp.html

[Doug Schulkind]

Thanks Icastico. That is an amazing recording. I blogged about it in these pages a couple of years ago.