Pacific Ocean Blue - Dennis Wilson [1977]

Non-musician bon vivant burn out Dennis shows moribund mid-70s Mike (Hate) Love Beach Boys how to make a classic: heart, innocence and fearlessness. And Flaming Lips not so original after all.


With extra disc Bambu [The Caribou Sessions]. 

Oddi wrth y brawd

Born To Be With You - Dion [1975]

Stratospheric Dion-Spector collaboration. Tell you straight, J. Spaceman's trademark kitchen-sink Spiritualized dirge started here.

"He called me. That was the beginning. When we met for the first time there was an immediate affinity between us, a sudden and rare feeling that we had known each other all our lives. Three days later I was standing in the studio, surrounded by the Spector wall of sound. The excitement was spontaneous, jolting. I was an integral part of some musical magic. And for those intense weeks nothing outside that studio anywhere else on God's earth meant anything."

 - Dion DiMucci

Oddi wrth y brawd

Out There - The Heliocentrics [2007]

Arkestra space jazz stylings anchored in infectious funk break beats all lined up for supping at the cosmic teat. Malcolm Catto leads nine-piece band through incense-burning funk suite workouts. Sun Ra takes inner break dancing trip.

Oddi wrth y brawd
decorate decorate

Can You Dig It? The Music and Politics of Black Action Films 1969-75

Not sure where the politics come in...maybe inside 100 page booklet supplied by impeccable compilers down Soul Jazz way. Do expect pimps, prostitutes, petty hoods, pushermen n social conscience do gooders exhorting brothas n sistas to unite...oh n lest we forget, African American vampires. Post-civil rights n pre-mainstream soon to come with the..ahem...watered down likes of Car Wash n high octane doing it for da black n white folks Richard Pryor (man on fire, boom boom). Betimes, this really isn absolutely stunning collection. 


Read n weep, right on:


01. Roy Ayers - Coffy Is The Color
02. Gene Page - Blacula
03. Johnny Pate - Shaft In Africa
04. Willie Hutch - Brother's Gonna Work It Out
05. Don Costa - Charley - Main Theme
06. Marvin Gaye - 'T' Plays It Cool
07. Bobby Womack - Across 110th Street
08. J.J. Johnson - Willie Chase
09. James Brown - Down And Out In New York City
10. Quincy Jones - They Call Me MISTER Tibbs
11. Martha Reeves and J.J. Johnson - Keep On Movin' On
12. Dennis Coffey - Theme From Black Belt Jones
13. Curtis Mayfield - Freddie's Dead
14. The Blackbyrds - Wilford's Gone
15. Willie Hutch - Theme Of Foxy Brown
16. Isaac Hayes - Run Fay Run
17. Isaac Hayes - Shaft
18. Curtis Mayfield - Pusherman
19. Joe Simon - Theme From Cleopatra Jones
20. Johnny Pate - You Can't Even Walk In The Park
21. Brer Soul and Earth, Wind and Fire - Sweetback's Theme
22. James Brown - Make It Good To Yourself
23. Isaac Hayes - Pursuit Of The Pimpmobile
24. Grant Green - Travelling To Get To Doc
25. Booker T and the MG's - Time Is Tight
26. Roy Ayers - Aragon
27. Edwin Starr - Easin' In
28. Gordon Staples and The String Thing - Strung Out
29. Nat Dove and The Devils - Zombie March
30. The Impressions - Make A Resolution
31. Solomon Burke and Gene Page - The Bus
32. Jack Ashford - Las Vegas Strut
33. Don Julian - Lay It On Your Head
34. Galt MacDermot - Ed and Digger


Oddi wrth y brawd
warm young bodies will feed his hunger and hot, fresh blood his awful thirst!
she's 6 feet 2" of dynamite...and the hottest super agent ever!

Rejuvenation - The Meters [1974]

On the one, earthy down-home New Orleans syncopated breaks intertwined with gritty guitar and bass grooves. Funked up avec un soupçon de soul.  Quite simply one of the best funk albums you are likely to hear. What'cha say?

Oddi wrth y brawd
just kissed my babay

New Orleans Funk Volumes 1 & 2 - Various

Grooving soul, funk, r'n'b gumbo. Pumping horns, swing skanking guitar and above all some incredible breaks and beats: check James Black's patented falling down the stairs but keeping shit together breaks on Hook and Sling.  Mind-blowingly good music. Do yourself a favour.

oddi wrth y brawd

new

orleans

Black Byrd - Donald Byrd [1972]

Prepare to enter funk and soul jazz heaven. Stratospheric mellow grooves. And without over-pimping the mothership, all necessary blaxploitation tropes deployed: thwak-a-waka guitar, flutes, hand-held percussion, big meaty bass and driving rhythm. Over and above all the inspired trumpet of Mr. Byrd.

If the collocation of the words "jazz" and "fusion" sends a cold chill down your spine, then start here. It may well be the beginning of a beautiful journey.

 

Oddi wrth y brawd
sky high

The Chambers Brothers' Greatest Hits - The Chambers Brothers

Psychedelicised soul. The mighty Time Has Come Today, and, to these ears at least, their gospel roots making for the definitive version of People Get Ready.  The Bros pioneering blend of incendiary funk, gospel, soul, and psych-rock was inevitably overshadowed by Sly & the Family Stone. Get ready, the time has come.

Oddi wrth y brawd
are you ready?

Vindicator [plus] - Arthur Lee

A long way from the frazzled, fragile beauty of Forever Changes, this slab of hard rock n' blues, with a soulful edge, confirms Lee was nothing if not a rocker at heart. All songs are strong and guitars invariably cranked up to the max. Churls might demur at the obvious debt to Cry of Love era Hendrix (that's First Rays of the New Rising Sun to you youngsters), and churls they'd be.

For increased pleasure, y brawd adds a clutch of winning acoustic versions culled from earlier Vindicator sessions and recently released on the uneven Love Lost. 

Oddi wrth y brawd

14

The Devil's Music - Keith Richards' Personal Compilation of Blues, Soul, and R&B Classics

From a man of some wealth and not inconsiderable taste…a top drawer compilation. Keith Richards theme time hour?

Oddi wrth y brawd
yr hen diawl