Projects and Praise

 

Things have been a bit quiet on mixtape front lately and I do apologise, though I can assure you it's due to perfectionism not slackness. Three mixes in the works : Rave Up, early 60's UK R and B, an unnamed mix featuring Doug Sahm, which travels around various border musics of the US, with a common thread of ethnic groups, Hispanic, indigenous, creole, both black and white who were allowed no place in America. The third a fantastical collage of film soundtracks and other worldly sounds I've entitled Fractured Fairytales.

I am very happy to see the recent deluge of vinyl re-issues lately and have been a regular consumer of 4 Men With Beards, Sundazed, Finders Keepers, Light in the Attic and their ilk. What with the Velvet Underground, 'Quine Tapes' box, The Beach Boys 'Smile' double LP, the Lee Hazelwood LPs, Gene Clarke, Captain Beefheat and an insane amount more great gear. So even though I've been more than inundated by every form of musical godliness, there have been some things which have shone brightly, either newly re-issued, or discovered. 

The image above would seem like a typical old man jazz thing to the casual observer, but this album has a beauty that the cover doesn't show. There's a great scene in Treme', where DJ Dave plays a dedication to the N.O. Indian tribes that were busily getting ready for the next days procession, after his shout out he drops one of the finest pieces of New Orleans street music ever put to record. "Indian Red" which continued as a Mardi Gras staple, was then, almost an outlaw music. The power of that tune lead me to finding the only available release. This is where things get a little mixed up, cos it's not Baby Dodds (N.O. legendary drummer) at all but Danny Barker, the guitarist, banjo playing dude. So the album is half Baby Dodds, excellent early N.O. jazz and mad drum demonstrations but then half way through the disc comes Danny Barker with various ensembles playing more of this hot creole (sung in French) street, party music. Highly recommended for those inclined. 

Another ultra fab re-release is "Sea of Joy" by Tully, the Australian group of the late 60's to early 70's. I knew them from the "Morning of the Earth" soundtrack and little bits here and there, enough to know they were very special, so when I saw the LP over at Title, I just bought it. It turns out to be one of the primo albums of the period, most hot. It's released by Chapter Music and available on LP and CD. The LP came with the CD booklet and a download card. 

On another note, it seems to be the season of Roxy Music lately, most likely due to the release of the new boxed set, but what's exiting me is the Capitol 180gm vinyl re-issues of the first few albums. Listening through them in their entirety for the 1st time in a while has made me realise what a potent and truly amazing band they were.

Last, but definitely not least is Drag City LP re-release of Red Hash by Gary Higgins. One of the ultimate insights into the 'death of the dream', or as Danny, with the Camberwell Carrot, said in 'Withnail and I "The greatest decade in the history of mankind is over. And as Presuming Ed here has so consistently pointed out, we have failed to paint it black". 

Totally wonderful, totally unique. Check it out.