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2000 - Takashi Hirayasu & Bob Brozman - Jin-Firefly @320
Recorded on the Okinawan island of Taketomi, Jin Jin/Firefly documents a rare encounter between Okinawan singer/sanshin player Takashi Hirayasu and acoustic guitarist Bob Brozman. Forming a duo, the two prove to be highly compatible -- and when you think about it, they're a logical combination. Hirayasu's foundation is Okinawan music, which contains both Japanese and Polynesian elements; Brozman, meanwhile, is considered a master of the Hawaiian guitar and is no stranger to the sounds of the Pacific Islands. So it isn't hard for them to find common ground on "Akata Sun Dunchi," "Chinnuku Jushi," and other traditional Okinawan children's songs that Hirayasu selected. What the duo does with the songs isn't entirely traditional, however. Brozman brings plenty of blues, rock, and Hawaiian influence to the session, and that works for Hirayasu because the Okinawa native is hip to blues and rock himself. Hirayasu and Brozman both have a lot of charisma, and that proves to be mutually beneficial on this excellent CD.(AllMusic)
Dan Hicks - 1997 - Return To Hicksville (Best Of) @320
Just where to place the free-range music of Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks -- are they country? jazz? rock? Western swing? comedy? -- has always been a nettlesome problem, confounding the public and hyphen-crazy critics alike. For Hicks and his all-acoustic band were certainly all of those genres and then some, a marvelous amalgam of American music with a large dollop of humor thrown in for good measure. Subtitled "The Blue Thumb Years, 1971-1973," this 16-track collection touches on all of the group's major stylistic bases and more, making this a greatest-hits album on a group who never really had a hit. Pulling half a dozen tracks from their debut album, Where's the Money? (the title track, "I Feel Like Singing," "Reelin' Down," "Dig a Little Deeper," "News from Up the Street," and "The Buzzard Was Their Friend"), seven tracks from Striking It Rich ("Canned Music," "Walkin' One and Only," "The Innocent Bystander," "I Scare Myself" [which later became a hit for techno rocker Thomas Dolby], the wry humor of "Presently in the Past," "You Gotta Believe," Maryann Price's sendup of "I'm an Old Cowhand [From the Rio Grande]"), and three from their swan-song album, Last Train to Hicksville the Home of Happy Feet ("My Old Timey Baby," "Sweetheart [Waitress in a Donut Shop]," and "Long Comma Viper"), this hits almost all the high spots with not a lick of filler anywhere to be found. The transfers to disc sound vivid and dimensional, and the liners by compilation producer and music historian Todd Everett are fun, provocative, and spot-on, getting into just what made this group so special. As all three of their albums are available on compact disc, this compilation makes an excellent first-purchase introduction to this band. (AllMusic)
With its frankly McCarthyite, anti-Communist iconography, November 1977’s Rocket To Russia may have implied a new level of political engagement on the Ramones’ part; but if anything, was actually a loving genuflection before the altar of pop, with an AM radio pressed against its ear.
Besides which, it casually smelted the sub-genre of surf punk en route. Lyrics of Runyonesque pertinence (“Sittin’ here in Queens, eatin’ refried beans, we’re in all the magazines, gulpin’ down thorazines” – We’re A Happy Family) went toe-to-toe with Empire State choruses and an idiosyncratic worldview which encompassed raucous nihilism on the one hand (I Don’t Care, Teenage Lobotomy), and surfboards and discotheques on the other (Rockaway Beach, Sheena Is A Punk Rocker).
The perfect balance of ramalama and, ah, ding-dong. That simile probably worked better in theory. Without the blazing guitars and self-referencing –“Hey Johnny, hey Dee Dee, Little Tom and Joey” – Ramona would just be The Beach Boys circa 1963.
This deluxe remastered edition also features a crisp ’n’ dry new mix by Ed Stasium – reproduced on the accompanying LP – a bonus disc of extras, and one glorious disc given over to the band’s valorous, inflammatory December 1977 concert at the Glasgow Apollo, attended by this writer. I can clearly remember the mics suspended from the balcony, with punks leaping in the air to nut them or nick them. (Record Collector)
The record represents one of the best blends of folk and rock up to that point and is also notable for its brilliant use of strings and sparing but extremely effective south-of-the-border horn arrangements. Moreover, the songs—nine by Lee plus two by guitarist Bryan MacLean, including the classic “Alone Again Or”—feature complex, absorbing melodies and intriguing lyrics that sound as engaging after a hundred listens as they do the first time around.
The participation of studio pros from L.A.’s so-called Wrecking Crew reportedly inspired Arthur Lee’s cohorts to do their best work.
Lee’s verses could be cryptic, to put it mildly. He did throw in occasional lines that made sense and reflected the times, such as “The news today will be the movies for tomorrow” and “They’re locking them up today, they’re throwing away the key / I wonder who it’ll be tomorrow, you or me?” More often, though, Lee’s impressionistic lyrics sound like the result of an LSD trip: “At my house, I’ve got no shackles / You can come and look if you want to / In the halls you’ll see the mantles / Where the light shines dim all around you / And the streets are paved with gold / And if someone asks you, you can call my name.” No, I don’t know what he’s driving at here, but the vocal and guitar-based music is delivered with such urgency that these lines have become imprinted in my brain; I didn’t have to look them up to write them down.
Bruce Botnick, who produced the album with Lee, apparently deserves much credit for its success. Botnick, who engineered Love’s first two albums and also worked with Buffalo Springfield, brought in session musicians from L.A.’s famous so-called Wrecking Crew. (He also tried to bring in Neil Young, who apparently wound up playing little or no role.) Forever Changes’ “And More Again” and “The Daily Planet” feature the Crew’s Carol Kaye on bass guitar, Don Randi on keyboards, Billy Strange on electric rhythm guitar, and Hal Blaine on drums. Randi also adds piano on “Old Man” and “Bummer in the Summer” and plays harpsichord on “The Red Telephone.” The participation of these pros reportedly inspired Arthur Lee’s cohorts to do their best work on the remaining tracks.
The handsomely packaged Forever Changes: 50th Anniversary Edition (a release limited to 15,000 numbered copies) does justice to this classic recording. The package devotes two of its four CDs to excellent remasters of the original stereo and mono albums. (I often find mono mixes superfluous, but given the importance of the music and the extent of the differences between the two mixes here, I appreciate having both.) A third disc offers alternate stereo mixes of the original LP and “Wonder People (I Do Wonder),” an outtake from the session, while a fourth CD collects 14 related recordings, among them the single versions of “Alone Again Or” and “A House Is Not a Motel”; a cover of Sam the Sham’s “Wooly Bully” from the sessions; a demo called “Hummingbirds” that evolved into “The Good Humor Man He Sees Everything Like This”; and backing tracks for “A House Is Not a Motel,” “Live and Let Live,” and “Wonder People (I Do Wonder).”
For longtime fans, this should add up to a perfect package. For newbies, it will be a revelation. (byjeffburger)
1981 - The Paragons + The Paragons Dubwise (2015) @320
“Featuring”, as the label blurb has it, “the original 1981 Island album, plus the previously unissued accompanying Dub set…” That accurate description sums up this new release from the Paragons, the vocal reggae outfit that gave us the late John Holt and Bob Andy. The year of issue means that these are re-recordings of some of the Paragons’ best known songs, featuring the trio of John Holt, Garth ‘Tyrone’ Evans and Howard Barrett. This collection includes ‘The Tide is High’ (after the versions by U Roy and by Gregory Isaacs, and after Blondie had already fashioned it into a pop/rock hit single), ‘Man Next Door’, ‘Riding on a High and Windy Day’ and (the much-dubbed) ‘Wear You to the Ball’. Engineered by Errol Brown, and recorded at Tuff Gong studio in Kingston, Jamaica, it’s not surprising that the production sound is clear and uncluttered in comparison to the Paragons’ early versions of these songs for Duke Reid’s Treasure Isle records in the 60s. The musicians involved here include Mikey Chung, Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare, all adding up to an excellent tour of the Paragons’ best tracks, with the vocals mixed up front. As if that were not enough this release also features a dub set of the entire album and that is really where the sound takes off. Sequenced differently from the vocal tracks, the dub set kicks off with ‘Riding in Rhythm’ (an excellent dub take on the vocal track) and then essentially goes from strength to strength, featuring ‘The Version is High’, ‘Wear Out the Dub’ and a dub entitled ‘My Best Rhythm’ (a perfect dub of ‘My Best Girl’). It’s old-time reggae and still sounds great. (Reggae Music)
By normal industry standards, waiting until you're 53 to make the best album of your career is perhaps leaving it a bit late. But then not much about Salif Keita's story is normal.
Was it a blessing or a curse for this Malian teenager – already singled out for being albino, and of royal descent – to find that he had one of the most remarkable voices anybody in the neighbourhood had ever heard? On the one hand, it set him apart and ahead of the competition to be invited to sing with two leading west African bands during the 1970s. On the other, it led to expectations that perhaps Keita could be something more than the most famous singer in west Africa – what about conquering the rest of the world? In 1987, the album Soro, expensively and elaborately produced in Paris, announced Keita's arrival in the English-speaking world.
For the following 15 years, it was almost as if he wilfully defied the hopes and expectations of those who had supported him, insisting on electric guitarists and synthesiser players in his recordings and for his live shows, despite entreaties that his music should sound less like Phil Collins and Peter Gabriel and more Malian.
Finally, astonishingly, in 2002 Keita relented and delivered the album Moffou, which was exactly what his fans had been praying for. First impressions were that this change of tack was mostly acoustic, but there are many subtle interventions of electric guitar and electronic effects. Moffou might feel like a natural, spontaneous recording, but clearly a lot of thought went in at every stage, from songwriting to arrangements and post-production – and, of course, the singing. If the plan was to deliver a classic album, it succeeded.
One of Keita's distinctive qualities as a songwriter is to set his own voice against female vocalists, and virtually every track here showcases this skill, starting with Yamore, a duet with the Cape Verdean singer Cesária Évora. The combination of the two voices seemed counterintuitive, with Keita being typically extravagant and Évora being laidback. But it works brilliantly, and behind them both, those gorgeous backing vocals answer and comment.
Two other tracks stand out as the high points of a consistently lovely record. On Moussolou, Keita's tribute to women, his gentle vocal is carried along by rippling guitars and percussion. On the haunting Baba, a traditional instrument plays an echoing melody in the background.
Moffou signalled what was to become a hugely successful 10 years for Malian music – in fact, the decade would end with a raft of pop and indie acts looking to the country for inspiration. West Africa provided several outstanding albums during the noughties, but most musicians would surely salute Keita's album as the pinnacle. (The Guardian)
2022 - Travelin' Band Creedence Clearwater Revival At The Royal Albert Hall 1970 @320
The debut release of the long-awaited recording of CCR at London's Royal Albert Hall. More than 50 years after the legendary 1970 show, the original multitrack tapes have been meticulously restored and mixed by GRAMMY-winning producer Giles Martin and engineer Sam Okell, and half-speed mastered by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios from high-resolution files sourced from the analog multi-track tapes.
Pat Metheny literally sat down One Quiet Night to record some solo guitar in his home studio. Using a semi-acoustic baritone made by the esteemed Canadian luthier Linda Manzer, he recorded most of these pieces towards the end of 2001. After returning from a lengthy tour Metheny was impressed with the results and decided to add six more tunes to make an album's worth of material.
It's as calming as you might expect, with Pat investigating a more esoteric tuning mode and playing pure, with no overdubs. His lone axe is given a big, reverb-soaked sound, acting like a virtual orchestra in a cavernous space. The bass strings resonate with a plump power, silvery high-string phrases dancing above.
Metheny deliberately avoids any flashy fingerpicking, concentrating on gentle plucks, savouring the scrape, rub and click of his strings and allowing gaps for thought. He's completely relaxed and spontaneous, sustaining a mellow mood throughout. Around the midway mark of "Time Goes On" and Keith Jarrett's "My Song", the ideas seem to get cut adrift, yearning for bold gestures or emphatic statements. One problem is that Metheny doesn't vary the sound zones that he's exploring.
On "Peace Memory", ascending lines never quite reach their conclusion, but climb back up from the bottom again, then "Over on 4th Street" introduces a vigorous strum, underpinned by seeping bass notes. "I Will Find the Way" rejoices in singing harmonics, producing a luminous stasis that's in sharp contrast with "Ferry Cross the Mersey", which is certainly an unexpected song-choice for Metheny. (Amazon)
Box Of Vibes number 49, can't believe we are at 49, we have 60 compiled, we will have to start again soon!! Box 49 starts with Andy's tracks this week from 1 to 8, then Concha has the middle section with he tunes from 9 to 16 and I (Reb) close the box with my selections from 17 to 24.
Oh we are going to make a Birthday Special Box Of Vibes to celebrate Vibes being Two in late September, I have 8 tracks submitted to be included at this time (this is a draft to post) so by the time this goes out there could be more tracks.
If you would like you join in then read the post from the link below and post a comment or email us, with your tracks.
As far as I know all the links for Box Of Vibes are still alive and Boxes 1 to 30 are here one the one post, with the download links there, so if your new to this series it's an easy way to catch up or start it. I will do the same when we reach Box 60, with 31 to 60. Or maybe 1 to 60, we will see at the time.
1969 - King Crimson - In The Court Of The Crimson King
[50th Anniversary] (2019) @320
A towering achievement of popular music which refuses to be scaled fifty years on but lends itself to observation from various angles.
It’s rather rare for a rock ensemble with a distinguished, distinct discography to have their first studio effort stand out half a century later and not be obscured by subsequent entries, let alone their peers’ oeuvre, but KING CRIMSON have never been less than unique – or, more precisely, this group have existed as a single entity in a class of their own ever since their debut signaled the beginning of a very peculiar path in modern culture’s convoluted vista. Once out in the open, “In The Court Of The Crimson King” crossed the boundaries of simple entry in a music catalogue and became a gateway into the frightening, if mesmeric, unknown for a few generations of common listeners and fellow performers alike.
Back in the day, in the late ’60 when genre borders got blurred to be mapped anew soon enough, there were other bands – such as COLOSSEUM and BLODWYN PIG – who combined wailing saxophone with stinging guitar; only those usually aligned themselves with blues or jazz. Yet whence KING CRIMSON came no pre-existing style could be applied to define this demonic sonic assault that hit hard on both melody and lyrical levels while being possessed with a lot of nuances and detail. They still stun in the original recording of “ITCOTCK” as assigned to one of the CDs here, on the arresting 50th Anniversary reissue, brought to the fore on Steven Wilson‘s remix on another disc, and exposed on the third one.
Firmly embedded in its time, the album may seem aloof and, to an extent, alien, but that’s how its subtitle – “An Observation By King Crimson” logically plays out: the ensemble comment on the period’s turmoil through tuneful tumult from both internal and external point of view, which contributed to its place in eternity. Whereas other art-rockers’ debuts are often perceived as raw experiments, KC’s initial LP emerged fully formed – outside of it, the Judy Dyble-delivered version of “I Talk To The Wind” just didn’t registered with progressively-minded listeners – as a pellucid pinnacle of what would follow in its wake. There would be many more offerings further on down the line, yet none – including such full-blooded flights of fantasy as “Red” that saw the tenets first demonstrated here explored and evolved – surpassed the shock and wonder of this pseudo-conceptual opus.
It’s amazingly balanced. For every fierce instant – with the record’s abject horror expressed not only by Barry Godber’s artwork and the fury of “21st Century Schizoid Man” but also via the folk-avant-garde of “Moonchild” and fragments of the titular epic – there’s a moment of serenity, even though the flute-flaunting “Wind” has worry married to bliss, as Mellotron passages enforce the pieces’ frailness. The album’s brittle, albeit non-fragile, sound that’s crystallized most impressively on “Epitaph” – especially when the words are wiped, revealing Bach’s “Air on the G String” as one of the ballad’s sources – might not have been consciously reliant on the devil’s tritone, yet the often funereal flow is undoubtedly deliberate and the lament deceptive, creating a contrast to move the mood. And this edition should help embrace every twist which lay below the old LP’s surface.
Ian McDonald‘s reeds rage on the 1969 instrumental run through “Schizoid” whose fervent groove is propelled by Greg Lake‘s bass as much as it’s colored by Robert Fripp’s meandering rifferama, and 2019’s rejigging and enhancement of the entire album’s voiceless interface are nigh on revelatory, the robust transparency behind “Wind” and the heaviness in the “The Return Of The Fire Witch” section of the title suite made all the more sensual. On “Schizoid” with its crafty screech, Lake’s artificially stifled vocals reflect the atmosphere of the record’s era – perhaps, more relevant today than back then – most perfectly, as Michael Giles’s drums stoke the ire without ever losing their rhythmic poise, up to the cymbals’ rustle which usher in the title track’s piano-splashed finale. Fresh mixes render the familiar landscape multidimensional – and that’s in stereo, let alone the surround option on Blu-ray – but the new, wider angle somewhat dilutes the erstwhile impact, as the sinister, claustrophobic call-and-response of six strings and brass on “Schizoid” traded off for cinematic panorama, and the cushioning of “Wind” is softly shattered once the faux-orchestral gusts of “Epitaph” paint the doom-and-gloom. Still, “Moonchild” finds its formerly barely-there, if creepy, presence fleshed out, and “ITCOTCK” has its motley front stricken with vulnerability.
And then there’s a so-called “Alternate Album” which highlights different aspects of all the five numbers, including the unnecessary studio chat from 50 years ago and Jakko Jaksyk and Mel Collins recent overdubs that hardly add anything special to the crazy swirl, given how modern the record feels five decades after it was committed to tape. Fripp’s fluid electric lines illuminate yet another version of “Wind” whereas his acoustic lace, in turns loose and vigorous, works miracles in the duo take on this ballad, with McDonald’s ivories providing tangibly exquisite texture, but it’s Lake’s isolated singing on “Epitaph” that serves up the eeriest, emotional experience, an unseen essence of the early visit to “The Court”…
Stark and startling here, strikingly opulent there, and marvellous everywhere, this temporal milestone remains a signpost on the way to eternity, with not a trace of moss gathering on its groove-riven facets – because its aural anguish and pleasure are indefinitely real. (Let It Rock)
2024 - VA - Reimagining In The Court Of The Crimson King @ 320
Rock music royalty gather together to recreate one of the most important and influential albums in history, King Crimson’s 1969 masterpiece In The Court Of The Crimson King.
Features performances by King Crimson members Mel Collins and Jakko M. Jakszyk as well as Todd Rundgren, Megadeth’s Chris Poland, Deep Purple’s Ian Paice, Rainbow’s Joe Lynn Turner, Dream Theater’s James LaBrie, Cactus’s Carmine Appice and more!
From the first note of “21st Century Schizoid Man” to the epic conclusion of “The Court Of The Crimson King,” you’ll be transfixed by how each song is interpreted and celebrated by this incredible group of musicians! (Rough Trade)
1. 21ST CENTURY SCHIZOID MAN FEAT. TODD RUNDGREN, ARTHUR BROWN, MEL COLLINS, CHRIS POLAND & IAN PAICE
2. I TALK TO THE WIND FEAT. MEL COLLINS, DJANGO JAKSZYK & JAKKO M JAKSZYK
3. EPITAPH FEAT. ALAN DAVEY, PAUL RUDOLPH, NIK TURNER, ADAM HAMILTON & DANNY FAULKNER
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