Mining the Audio Motherlode, Volume 171

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

I've never considered myself a record collector, because collecting is something you do with inanimate objects. No, for me, pursuing treasured slabs of vinyl is more like an act of emancipation, freeing the music to live in a home where it can't possibly receive more love—mine. Unless you're still stuck on having the "actual object," record hunting is now an entirely different enterprise in the blog-diving era.

No longer must you relentlessly haunt yard sales, scan auction lists and soil your thumbs flipping through dollar bins on used-record store floors. Now, all you really need to do is load up your RSS reader with the ever-proliferating number of top-flight music blogs and then sit back and let the rarities and must-haves come to you. Even better, let the Miner do it for you. To wit, today's happy haul...

Various  ~  Frankfurt Allstars
(Blog: The Boogieman Will Get Ya!)

Bavarian Bop
Another rare artifact from a bygone era which is not much documented or even known outside of Germanic countries: German Fifties Modernist Jazz. "Vier Temperamente" is a four part-piece, each part featuring a different soloist: 1 has Emil Mangelsdorff, 2 has Albert Mangelsdorff, 3 has Dusko Gojkovic, and 4 has Joki Freund. Rare and essential document of Europe’s unique mid-'50s Jazz. Outstanding soli.  (Description from Boogieman)

Elza Soares  ~  Samba/Sambossa
(Blog: Um Que Tenha)

"Best Singer of the Millennium" – BBC
Elza Soares is the guarantee of a great start of a new week. The albums she recorded in the early 60′s are all solid with no exception. Elza was backed by the best of breed in terms of arrangements and musicians (unfortunately, never credited by Odeon label), working in partnership with different Maestros, such as Nelsinho, Severino Araujo, Oswaldo Borba and others. This time, the legendary Astor Silva is in charge of the arrangements, which is a guarantee of very nice music.  (Description from Zecalouro, originally at Loronix)

 

Komiljon Otaniyozov  ~  Volume 1  |  Volume 2
(Blog: Oriental Traditional Music from LPs and Cassettes)

Uzbek and Call
"Komiljon Otaniyozov is one of a kind. Many modern singers try to copy him or try to be him. I doubt if anyone can top the originality of his art. His is one reason why Uzbeks or people in Xorazm should be proud that their son produced such a masterpiece." (Description lifted from a Youtube clip)

 

 

 

Charlie Monroe  ~  Souvenir Songbook
(Blog: Bill's Blog)

Forever Bill's Brother
"Charlie was the elder brother of Bill Monroe who, after the death of his parents, moved to Detroit with fiddle-playing brother Birch Monroe. Here they worked for a time in the motor industry, before moving to work in the oil refineries at Whiting and East Chicago, Indiana. In 1929, they were joined by brother Bill and during the Depression, the three began to play at local venues; eventually Bill and Charlie worked professionally together as the Monroe Brothers. In 1938, they decided to pursue their own careers. At the time of the split, they had a contract with RCA - Victor Records, for whom they had recorded 60 songs; Charlie, who had always taken the lead vocals (though Bill had written many of their songs), kept this contract. Throughout the 40s, he toured and recorded for RCA-Victor, and at times his band, the Kentucky Pardners, which became one of North Carolina’s most popular hillbilly bands, included notable musicians such as guitarist Lester Flatt and mandolin players Red Rector, Ira Louvin (Louvin Brothers) and Curly Sechler. He differed from his brother in that his band played a mixture of country and bluegrass, and Charlie, a highly respected guitarist, frequently used an electric guitar. He made many fine recordings, and although he never achieved a chart hit, Monroe is remembered for his versions of numbers such as ‘Down in the Willow Garden’ (an old folk song) and his own compositions ‘Rubber Neck Blues’, ‘It’s Only a Phonograph Record’ and ‘Who’s Calling You Sweetheart Tonight?.’"  (Description by Colin Larkin, from The Encyclopedia of Popular Music)

 

Muddy Waters  ~  After the Rain
(Blog: El Stinkeyes )

R.I.P. Pete Cosey
"This one here is a pretty gnarly blues record with some serious fuzzy guitar work. Very Hendrix like guitar voicings, meaning non-guitar guitar noises, and at same time very individualistic because even though this is 1969, he's been doing this before Jimi Hendrix started his solo career."  (Description by El Stinekeys)

 

 

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Comments

[Gary]

Elza Soares is a huge personal fave, though I have blessedly little of her work. Many thanks for the heads up!