ZOO : If You Lose Your Woman & Mammouth
taken from their self-titled album on Bacilus (197?)

B.B. Seaton : Hold On (My People), No More Tribalism, & Brothers Beware
taken from the album “Dancing Shoes” on Virgin (1974)

The Real Thing : Vicious Circle Pt. 1
taken from the 7″ single on Bell (197?)

The DES All Stars : Rub It Down
taken from the 12″ single on Black Joy (197?)

As promised, some of the fruits of my European record digs. Bit of a random assortment, but that’s generally the way it works when you’re thumbing through old crates. ZOO was the only group here that I’d ever heard about before, the rest were guesses. Google searches reveal very little about any of these folks, so I’m gonna have to let the music do most of the explaining.

The Zoo album is an amazing listen all the way through. I’m gradually getting more into the hard psych sound- heavy drums, fuzz, and general aural weirdness. The funkyness of this set is also undeniable, which helps a non-rock head like myself ease into it. I know the group is from France. I know I recognize the intro break on “If You Lose Your Woman” from somewhere, but I can’t place it. Other than that, I’m as clueless as Inspector Gadget.

Dancing Shoes is a funky collection produced and engineered by Mr. Sid Bucknor. Mostly originals, but in addition to this excellent version of Eddie Kendricks’ “Hold On”, he does covers of “I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever)” and “Any Day Now”. More info about B.B. can be found on his website.

The Real Thing is an American soul group. Pic sleeve 7″ is where it’s at. Copped for 1 euro due to dope artwork. Artwork proved to be a proper representation of the music therein. If anyone knows anything else about these guys (full length album ever?), please school a fellow music lover.

And finally, one of a handful of reggae 12″s that I picked up at a flea market outside of Vienna (Purkesdorf to be exact). The DES All Stars bring the reggae skank to Marvin Gaye’s “Ain’t That Peculiar” and flip the title (probably to avoid publishing fees). Again, I know nada about the group, but I love this tune, especially all the breakdowns toward the end that are typical of these extended reggae “disco mixes”.

Enjoy the music, and please share any other info that you might have about the music!

Ticklah : Si Hecho Palante & Nine Years
taken from the album “Ticklah vs. Axelrod” on Easy Star (2007)

Amp Fiddler : Scared / Afro Butt (Interlude)
taken from the album “Afro Strut” on Genuine (2007)

Black Moth Super Rainbow : Sun Lips & Rollerdisco
taken from the album “Dandelion Gum” on Graveface (2007)

Of course I love old and dusty vinyl, but I also feel obliged to share the recent highlights from my iPod. Here’s proof that the same things I’ve always loved about records are still thriving in some lesser-known releases. Deep dubby dynamics meets soulful spanish songstress in “Si Hecho Palante” – that’s Mayra Vega on vox, same lady who voiced the Antibalas remake of “Che Che Cole”. Ticklah, who some may know from his participation in Afrobeat supergroup Antibalas or his hand in producing “Dub Side Of The Moon”, is one of the nastiest reggae & dub producers out there right now. Any fans of King Tubby & Scientist absolutely need to buy this album.

Once again, Amp Fiddler comes through with funky fuel for the dancefloor. The new album features guest vocalists Corrine Bailey Rae & Stephanie McKay among others. “Scared / Afro Butt” is apparently only on the US edition of the album, so you foreigners are getting the exclusive import edition!

Finally, perhaps the album that I’ve had on repeat in it’s entirety more than any other this year (this was my Eurorail soundtrack) – “Dandelion Gum”. This music is a bizarre and enchanting cloud of sound that disorients me and pulls me away from the ground every time I listen. The album, which I highly reccommend copping, is a non-stop, vocoder-infused (or is it a talkbox?), dream sequence. These two tracks go back to back, to give you an idea of how the whole record flows. I see on the group’s website, that they have other records too, which I will now proceed to order. Big thanks to Ant for the tip-off on this one.

Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters & Do Diddley :
Ooh, Baby / Wrecking My Love Life
taken from the album “Super Super Blues Band” on Checker (1967)

Bo Diddley : A Good Thing, Hey Jerome, & Take It All Off
taken from the album “Where It All Began” on Chess (1972)

Snooks Eaglin : Boogie Children, Lucille, & Drive It Home
taken from the album “The Legacy Of The Blues Vol. 2” on Sonet (1971)

Back from EUROPE! This time I really mean it when I say I’m gonna be getting back on track with regular posts. I SWEAR! My first proper Euro exploration (meaning I spent more than 4 days travelling) was highly rewarding, even if it cost me an arm and a leg (cottdamn EURO is beating the DOLLAR into oblivion right now). Also found some cool vinyl digs along the way – including a random reggae collection from an otherwise dead flea market in a tiny Austrian suburb – which will get posted soon. But TODAY, finally home and showered and in fresh clothes and feeling more happy than ever to be in The States (twisted, right?) I’m taking it back to some rootsy, funky and all the way American music.

The Snooks Eaglin – funkiest, rawest blues ever in my opinion – is a record I’ve had and treasured for many years, but these other two are new acquisitions, and total revelations too. I’d heard more than a couple people reccommend Bo Diddley but it wasn’t until I scooped up the Super Blues Band LP that I first understood what everyone was raving over. In ’67 these cats had a proto-wah-wah reverb (gotta be Diddley) and hard-as-bricks drum sound that would set the stage for funk to come. The looseness of the impromptu vocals and their sense of humor makes me feel like I’m sitting in the room with them (the panning of the vocals helps too) while they just play around on a single riff and shoot the shit.

Then most recently I picked up Diddley’s “Where It All Began” and again I was flabbergasted by the funkyness. The subject matter has this simple warmth and humor (cue “Take It All Off”) that is unmistakably blues, but the backbeat and the syncopated picking is all funk. I know he’s got some other records I need to pick up as well including this new addition to the wants list.

Stay tuned, more posts coming VERY SOON.

Blackstreet: No Diggity (J-Star Remix)
Taken from the whitelabel 12″ (200?)

John Legend: I Used To Love You (Superior Remix)
Taken from the whitelabel 7″ (200?)

Angie Stone: Wish I Didn’t Miss You (Nuffwish Remix)
Taken from the whitelabel 12″ (200?)

Whoa. Sorry for the delay.While the Captain is off exploring Bavarian Europe with his lady friend, and I’m marooned in southern Africa, our blogging duties have been neglected…

So feast your ears on these joints. The first two have been DJ staples for the last couple years (nothing like a cross-over reggae interlude), the third is a recent favorite for a more contemplative, solitary listen.

J-Star has been in the game for a minute, riding some HOT to death remixes and original beatmaking to make the world a better place. The Superior rhythm from a few years back pretty much slayed the mid-tempo reggae circuit. And Gottdamn! Angie Stone is killin’ the game! What is this riddim?! Sparse, haunting, straight nasty. Check out the whole Nuffwish whitelabel series… if you can find ’em. Shit’s rare as hen’s teeth.

Nothing revolutionary here, but good, tight remixes of some top notch jams. Short, sweet, to the point. For once. Peace.

Michael Orr: Spread Love and You Opened My Eyes To The World
Taken from the album Spread Love on Sunstar(1976)

Some seek that elusive sample from an old De La Soul record. Others crave the glossy black gold that is a fresh slab of M- (that’s mint minus for you non-Ebayers) wax… Sometimes though, an album cover is enough. As to whether or not an album cover alone warrants dropping serious cheddar–well, that’s another question entirely… And one I failed to ask myself prior to bidding waaaay too much money on a record I had never even heard of. But such is the lure of a hand-drawn genie.

Fortunately for me two things happened shortly after I received ye olde Irish “Item Won!” notice:

1) I hate to admit this (don’t $%@# with my feedback!), but I managed to fabricate an extremely bogus excuse to get me off the hook with the seller: I told him my kid sister hacked my Ebay account and bid on the precious disc without my knowing it. Heinous, I know. But he believed me and let me back out. Whew.

2) By the grace of curiosity, diligence and Emusic (who woulda guessed!) I managed to track down the source material, which, I believe, does no small justice to the transcendent cover art.

Spread love, indeed. Nothing says it like a mustachioed genie chillin’ on a cloud with a pot of gold. Nothing that is, except the stone cold croon of Michael Orr lacing a blistering synthed-out mid-seventies jazzfunk instrumental with lyrics that would leave Erykah Badu feeling spiritually vacant. Orr is like a cross between Gil Scott Heron, Andy Bey, and Dwight Trible. A highly polished effort by a serious contender for the next Dalai Lama. Damn! Spreading love like a mother.

PS. The album gets production credit from Carey Harris, who is my new hero, and about whom I know little to nothing. If you’ve got any clues… Holla!

The Beatards : Scooby Snack and That’s How It Is
taken from the upcoming mixtape…

So this is the reason my posts have been dwindling to a mere trickle lately- I haven’t been lazy, just hustling like mad. For the past year or so, I’ve been doing parties and rocking shows with two partners in crime under the guise of The Beatards. We’ve also been recording songs and remixes here and there. Just recently, we went into HIGH GEAR. It’s no strectch to say that I’ve never worked this hard on anything before- talking about 10 – 13 hour long days for almost 3 weeks straight. There’s no real studio, and none of us have any “real” engineering knowledge, but we make the most of our little bedroom facilities.

These two songs are just the freebies, the official real deal will debut on our mixtape that’s due to drop in less than 14 days (the hustle conitnues). I will definitely be hyping that and making it available here when it’s done, but in the meantime, I wanted to give you a little something to bob your head to and remind you that I’m not dead.

Expect a mix of hip hop, pop, punk, and booty music that’s not quite like anything you’ve heard. I’m not trying to toot my own horn here, it’s just the truth. Our music, especially our newest songs, are just downright weird. See the Turntar in the pic above (don’t try jacking our idea, shit is patented already fool), that’s what I’m talking about. More of this gumbo funk coming at you soon…