Entries from March 2010
March 30, 2010
Originally released to widespread acclaim in the spring of 1977, the Police And Thieves album has since become regarded as one of the finest and most important Reggae collections of all-time. Recorded at Lee “Scratch” Perry’s famed Black Ark studio in Kingston at a time when both singer and producer were at the peak of their creative powers, the LP caught the mood of the times, its themes of civil unrest and social injustice striking a chord on both sides of the Atlantic. Its significance in the history of Jamaican music is reflected in this deluxe edition, on which 21 pertinent vocal, Dub and instrumental Black Ark recordings from the period augment the original album’s 10 tracks.
Junior Murvin – Police and Thieves (Deluxe Edition); Island, 1977
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March 27, 2010
The Aggrolites backed the legendary Prince Buster, the Voice of the People, when he performed at the Sierra Nevada World Music Festival in 2003. It was only his second U.S. performance and after the set he said “It reminded me of the old days, I can’t believe that this young band from America could play my music just as good as the day it was recorded.” Indeed it does sound as if it was recorded some 40 years earlier and certainly just as good.
Prince Buster & The Aggrolites – Live at Sierra Nevada World Music Festival, 2003
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March 25, 2010
The notion that oil motivates America’s military engagements in the Middle East has long been dismissed as nonsense or mere conspiracy theory. Blood and Oil, a new documentary based on the critically-acclaimed work of Nation magazine defense correspondent Michael T. Klare, challenges this conventional wisdom to correct the historical record.
The film unearths declassified documents and highlights forgotten passages in prominent presidential doctrines to show how concerns about oil have been at the core of American foreign policy for more than 60 years – rendering our contemporary energy and military policies virtually indistinguishable.
In the end, Blood and Oil calls for a radical re-thinking of US energy policy, warning that unless we change direction, we stand to be drawn into one oil war after another as the global hunt for diminishing world petroleum supplies accelerates.
Blood and Oil – Directed by Jeremy Earp; 2008
Pt.1, Pt.2, Pt.3, Pt.4, Pt.5, Pt.6, Pt.7, Pt.8
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March 23, 2010
March 20, 2010
If you don’t have this, you’ve been missing out. Essential vibes from one of the best Brazilian drummers ever recorded.
Dom Um Romao – Dom Um Romao; Muse, 1974
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March 19, 2010
Filmed at the Guan Ou Shrine procession, in Takuapa, Phang Nga, during the annual vegetarian festival that takes place throughout the south of Thailand.
http://www.thegoldbrick.net/video/takuapavegetarianfestival02.flv
http://www.thegoldbrick.net/video/takuapavegetarianfestival03.flv
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March 17, 2010
“Their Balkan country punk juggernaut exhumes Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley and Hank Williams, checks Nick Cave’s pulse for continued signs of life, and sets all of them go-go dancing till the bars close and the street cleaners come to pick up the bones. ” – Andy Lowe, 12 Bar Club, London
“The Penny Black Remedy don’t really play venues, more like storm them. A powerhouse of a band that reminds you just how powerful live music can be.” - Shaun Litton, Five Families
“… this single ["95 Charing Cross Road"] has everything, energy, attitude, contagious lyrics and a killer tune. Music is my mistress and I’ve just been spanked!!!” – Will Munn, Rhythm & Booze
The Penny Black Remedy – No One’s Fault But Your Own; ???, 2009
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March 15, 2010
This album features the work of revolutionary jazz artists who created new radical music infused with the values of Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Self-determination, economic power and musical freedoms explode as the avant-garde collided with Black Power and Afro-centricity.
Released to coincide with the new book by Gilles Peterson and Stuart Baker on Soul Jazz Records, this album is jam-packed with super rare, deep jazz from artists many of which all feature heavily in the new book. The book itself presents an amazing collection of sleeves from the deepest, deepest jazz music ever.
Years before the D-I-Y cultural revolution of punk, Sun Ra, John Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Don Cherry, Ornette Coleman, the Art Ensemble of Chicago and others ‘took control’ of their own work by recording, releasing and distributing their own music themselves.
The record sleeves of this era are as iconic and historically unique as the music itself and a striking reflection of the time; pre-desktop publishing, pre-internet these small-run (sometimes as low as 500 copies), self-made sleeves are graphically bold and radical.
Freedom, Rhythm and Sound is the first ever collection of this fascinating goldmine of album art, which represents the first wave of inspired independent production within popular music. Pick up the audible masterpieces here and grab a copy of the book for the accompanying visual masterpieces.
Gilles Peterson and Stuart Baker – Freedom, Rhythm and Sound: Revolutionary Jazz & The Civil Rights Movement 1963-82; Soul Jazz, 2009
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March 13, 2010
A little bit more of Dennis Brown is no problem in my book. Especially when it is these cuts being served up. This set collects some tough-to-find gems, from The Crown Prince of Reggae’s time spent with Joe Gibbs, that originally appeared on 12″.
Dennis Brown – A Little Bit More: Joe Gibbs 12″ Selection 1978-83; 17 North Parade, 2008
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March 10, 2010
The first disc in this 2-CD set features 16 studio cuts by the guitarist, recorded in 1999, that first saw issue on the album E.B. @ Noon, a collection that was pressed in very limited numbers. Now, at last, the album receives its long overdue official international release, finally providing his fans the world over the opportunity to experience & enjoy this stunning set.
Adding to the appeal of this already hugely attractive release is a second disc of a previously unreleased live concert, In O.D., featuring Ernest Ranglin performing some of his most popular Ska & Reggae sides live for an audience in the US with guest vocals from Floyd Lloyd.
Ernest Ranglin – Ska Wey Dat (missing track 11); Trojan, 2003
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March 8, 2010
Infradig was a group from Chattanooga, TN that played a blend of jazz, downtempo and breakbeats into one hella wicked groove. I was lucky enough to see them on quite a few occasions given their close proximity to the ATL. Supremely nice in the live setting and thoroughly pleasing on record. Picked these two up at a show during the Fall of 2006 at the Five Spot in Little Five Points. It’s their debut album, Clinical Indifference: The Psychology of Breathing (which unfortunately has track 7 missing), and an EP titled Graveltooth. Still need to get my hands on their last release before breaking up, in Sept. 2007, titled Ecstatic Everywhere. Send it over if ya got it.
Infradig – Clinical Indifference: The Psychology of Breathing; 2006
Infradig - Graveltooth EP; 2006
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March 6, 2010
Ray Barretto’s Hard Hands, the sequel to Acid, was released in 1968. He had come up as a conguero, working for Tito Puente and others but went solo after he had a hit with “El Watusi” in 1961. Perhaps because of the strong R&B component in his music, the vocals are in English, which obviously would give it a broader appeal in New York’s radio airwaves of the time, particularly among the African-American community. The title cut refers to the thundering power of Ray’s conga-playing, a nickname that would forever stick with him, and is followed by “Abidjan”, one of Ray’s biggest hits, a tribute to the Ivorian capital from which he had recently returned from exploring. The sounds of Mozambique, Mambo, Boogaloo, Funk, Bembé, and Soul are perfectly blended on this album making it an essential selection from the Fania catalog.
Ray Barretto – Hard Hands; Fania, 1968
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March 5, 2010
Just a year after releasing the internationally successful Rituals album, Italian jazz-head Nicola Conte returns with a double full-length compiling the re-worked, i.e. entirely newly arranged, tracks he has produced in the last years as so called “remixes“ for some of his friends, who also happen to be some of the most interesting contemporary jazz artists of the world. From Italy to Brasil, Latin America, the USA, Japan and back to Scandinavia and Germany, The Modern Sound Of Nicola Conte takes us on a journey into the most tasteful sounds you can get when it comes to Bossa-flavored Jazz, Latin excursions and soulful grooves.
Nicola Conte – The Modern Sound of Nicola Conte – Versions in Jazz Dub; Schema, 2009 Pt.1, Pt.2
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March 3, 2010
