V/A So Much Fire To Roast Human Flesh (Bastet) cd 14.98
The latest compilation from Arthur Magazine's Bastet imprint wears that magazines politics on its sleeve on this collection of obvious and not so obvious protest songs. A lot of familiar names on this one -- Devendra Banhart, Feathers, Diane Cluck, Pajo, Josephine Foster and Matt Valentine. While the less obvious protest songs including Meg Baird's sublime "Western Red Lily" will probably resonate longer over time, there is something extremely exhilarating about the urgency of songs such as Charlie Nothing's "Fuck You and Your Stupid Wars", and Andrew Bar's "Don't Trust That Man". Play this often and loud!
MPEG Stream: FEATHERS "Dust"
MPEG Stream: MEG BAIRD "Western Red Lily"
MPEG Stream: DEVENDRA BANHART "I Know Some Souls (Demo)"

V/A Sticks Over My Shoulder (Mississippi / Change Records) lp 14.98
**MISSISSIPPI RECORDS ALERT**
Nobody does comps like Mississippi, whether it's blues, gospel, Rembeteka, whatever, every Mississippi comp is like some amazing mixtape made for you by that one guy with the most amazing record collection ever. An older brother, an uncle, somebody's cool mom or dad. Every single one offers up a whole new world of music to explore, and this one is no different. A collection of Georgia bluesman, recordings gathered up in the late seventies by George Mitchell, who was doing field research for the Georgia Grassroots Music Festival, in an attempt to track down actively performing bluesmen, which apparently was no easy feat, but the six artists here all pretty amazing finds.
There's John Lee Ziegler who strings his guitar with bass strings, has a gorgeous high clear voice, and who on one track is accompanied by a guy playing the spoons! There's also William Robertson, who has a cool, weird whiny nasal voice, but one that's perfectly suited to his slithery guitar style. Jim Bunkley has a super percussive strumming guitar style which is perfectly matched to his gruff belted vocals. There's also Jimmy Lee Williams who has a rich warm guitar sound, and another distinctive vocal style. And finally, there's James Davis, who plays fierce instrumental electric blues, always accompanied by a drummer, playing just a bass drum and a kettle drum, and folks around those parts still call Davis's music 'drum music'!
So cool. Housed in nice thick old school style tip on jackets, the extensive liner notes printed on the back.

V/A Street And Gangland Rhythms: Beats And Improvisations From Six Boys In Trouble (Smithsonian Folkways) lp 16.98
Wow, what an amazing artifact! Smithsonian Folkways have just reissued this 1959 release of urban folk song recordings made by six 11 and 12 year-old youths from the Harlem projects. With only bongos and bottles to beat out percussive rhythms, the kids make rhyming songs, chants, and stories that relate to their experiences of rough street life and how they cope with them. An argument can be made that these recordings are the nascent beginnings of what would later become rap, but the song's basic forms sound much more rooted in early blues, call and response rhymes, and tribal African rhythms, in that they still have the feeling of being tied to an older tradition of folk music. That they are being made by kids with such exuberance and charm in the face of real hardship make these recordings truly special.

V/A Surrounded By Sun (Fonal) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
From far north in Finland, the Fonal label, home to Es, Kiila, and a bunch of other fine bands, has just released a compilation focusing not only on their countryfolk but also likeminded artists from around the world. Psychedelic, experimental, indie, folkish music contributed by Greg Weeks, P.G. Six, Kemialliset Ystavat, Kiila, Tinsel, Fursaxa, Ville Leinonen, Scorces, Kuusumun Profeetta (Moon Fog Prophet), Floating Flower, Ring, Janne Laurila, Pekko Kappi, Alien Heart, and Sleeping Bags. Some names we know (several AQ-faves among them!) and some we don't, mostly obscure (to us) Finnish folks. All are exclusive to this comp, except for the Floating Flower track, which is a remix of an older song of theirs.
Floating Flower is an Acid Mothers Temple side project, featuring Kawabata Makoto on acoustic guitar, Yuki on vocals and violin, and Kaneko Tetsuya on tabla and electric guitar. A very lovely six minute track indeed. The P.G. Six track is another of his fragile, folk/psych compositions featuring just his voice, acoustic guitar, and piano. Greg Weeks, Janne Laurila, Ring, Ville Leinonen, and, well, quite a few of the artists on here take a much similar approach: sparse, homerecorded songs that are both quiet and melancholy (of course, some are better singers than others...). Fursaxa (who just played here in San Francisco with fellow psychedelic Philadelphians Bardo Pond) combines droning organ and sustained, sad female vocals. Scorces (members of Charalambides and Ash Castles On The Ghost Coast) does something similar, using bells instead of drones to back their extended, wordless vocal duet. Kinda creepy. The disc concludes with Kemialliset Ystavat's beautiful hippy-chant-folk-jam "Milla", which could have been an International Harvester outtake. This comp is very Ptolemaic Terrascope, to say the least! We like.
RealAudio clip: FLOATING FLOWER "Desert (remix version)"
RealAudio clip: GREG WEEKS "Howling For Blood"
RealAudio clip: PEKKO KAPPI "Aksyn Tyton Tanssi"
RealAudio clip: VILLE LEINONEN "Unisuudelma"
RealAudio clip: KEMIALLISET YSTAVAT "Milla"

V/A Take Me To The Water: Immersion Baptism In Vintage Music And Photography 1890-1950 (Dust-To-Digital) book + cd 34.00
Basically, just what the title says. A real nice package, as we'd expect from the Dust To Digital label.

V/A Team Mint Volume 2! (Mint) cd 4.98
The New Pornographers, Duotang, Neko Case, I Am Spoonbender, Nardwuar The Human Serviette (and his combos Thee Goblins, Thee Skablins and of course, The Evaporators)... sound like an unusual gathering? Hmmm, not really. Y'see, they're all on Vancouver's Mint Records, and a sampling of their songs have been collected together - along with those of sweet-twang Tennessee Twin, hootenanny honey Carolyn Mark, The Corn Sisters (Carolyn and Neko), garage-fun The Smugglers, surfy instrumentalists Huevos Rancheros and punky pop upstarts New Town Animals and Operation Makeout - to commemorate the tenth anniversary of their Canadian homebase. This second volume of Team Mint highlights the good times from last five years (the first volume featured stuff from the first five). Note: all tracks previously released. An easy - and ultra-easy on the wallet - way to find out what the fuss is all about!
RealAudio clip: THEE SKABLINS "Two-By-Four-And-A-Half"
RealAudio clip: TENNESSEE TWIN "These Thoughts Are Occupied"
RealAudio clip: I AM SPOONBENDER "Replaced By Toys"
RealAudio clip: OPERATION MAKEOUT "You And Me Geometry"

V/A Teenage - The Creation Of Youth 1911-1946 (Trikont) cd 24.00

V/A Tell-All Records - Vol.1 (Tell-All ) cd 4.98
The new Bay Area label Tell-All Records have hit the ground running with a bunch of new releases from a bunch of new artists. Nicely varied but mostly keeping within the gentle, hazy realm -- evoking pastoral scenes or drifting about in outerspace or an abandoned old concert hall with a forgotten cobwebbed piano -- the label strikes a balance between ambient soundscapes and song-based music. This label sampler compilation, their first official release, clearly shows, it all fits together wonderfully. Twelve songs by Liam Singer (who is one of the young gents running the label), Peter Surla, 28 Degrees Taurus, St. Rosa, One Umbrella, Dave Zohrob, Kallikak Family, Keith Negley, and Carrier (whose dreamy Home Movies cd-r we carried a couple of years ago) for under five bucks!
Other releases from this label include a solo full length from Singer, Kallikak Family's May 23rd 2007 album and One Umbrella's 8-song cd Solve.
MPEG Stream: 28 DEGREES TAURUS "Red Skies"
MPEG Stream: CARRIER "New Year's"

V/A Texas Bohemia (Trikont) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We're not sure just when we got this Trikont compilation in, but somehow it slipped under our radar and never got listed. That oversight will be redressed presently. For this collection Trikont has assembled an impressive collection of recordings of Bohemians, Moravians and Germans living in South Central Texas playing the music they love most: Polkas, Waltzes and Schottisches. Many of the recordings (dating from 1970 to 1993) were made live at festivals -- Oktoberfests and otherwise -- but there are some commercially released (but not widely) singles as well. Having never been a huge fan of polkas, I was pleasantly surprized to find myself really enjoying this cd. Part of it is the live, location recorded aspect of it -- I think that the performance of polka bands live at a country fair or a VFW hall has a certain sense of immediacy to it which gets lost when they get locked in a studio. And you can really hear the surroundings on many of these recordings, including the people in the audience (though never obtrusive.) My favorite track on the album has to be a version of "Edelweiss" as performed by the Tuba Meisters -- it's so plaintive as to almost make you forget that you're hearing a track from the Sound of Music. The cd comes with a 21 page booklet, but unless you know German (Trikont chose not to have a translation on this one) you won't benefit from much more than the included photos.
RealAudio clip: TUBA MEISTERS "Edelweiss"
RealAudio clip: VRAZELS & MAJEKS & BOBBY JONES CZECH BAND "Corn Cockle Polka"
RealAudio clip: BROSCH, HENRY ORCHESTRA "Wooden Heart"

V/A The Bottle Let Me Down (Bloodshot) cd 14.98
Those frisky, fine folks at Bloodshot Records sure aren't the kind to leave anybody out in the cold. The proof is in the pudding, and the pudding is this CHILDREN'S album! They've even enlisted the help of non-Bloodshoters like Neko Case's pal and fellow Corn Sister Carolyn Mark to join in the tykes' merriment. Much in the way of storytelling and singalongs abound. I know firsthand that while hanging out with your favorite baby, toddler or child, the music that they usually have, and sadly are programmed to like, sucks. It could drive a well-meaning mom or caregiver nuts! Disney and 'We Sing Silly Songs' and such. This release is a pleasant change in that it is fun for kids and easy to listen to for adults (psst... another choice pick in the kids' category is They Might Be Giants' "No!" from earlier this year). Robbie Fulks' "Godfrey" ("the sickly unemployed amateur children's magician"!) is worth the price in chuckles alone. Plus I think it is our duty as musically tasteful people to introduce our children to music that doesn't suck from early on. Right?
RealAudio clip: ROBBIE FULKS "Godfrey"
RealAudio clip: TRAILER BRIDE "Lullaby"

V/A The Executioner's Last Songs Volumes 2 & 3 (Bloodshot) 2cd 14.98
Bloodshot Records hits you with a double whammy of their anti-death penalty compilation Executioner's Last Songs... Volumes Two and Three! Most of the usual Bloodshot roundup appear here in a variety of combinations -- Sally Timms & Edith Frost, Alejandro Escovedo & Jon Langford with Dave Alvin, Kelly Hogan, Jon Rauhouse, Rico Bell, the Meat Purveyors, but perhaps one of the most expressive and enjoyable of these twenty seven songs is the one by gravelly snarlin' Lu Edmonds called "Gulag Blues". Well worth checking out! Also appearing are American Music Club's Mark Eitzel, Jesus Lizard's David Yow, Old 97s' Rhett Miller, Spinanes' Rebecca Gates, Califone's Tim Rutili and many more! One question though: how many times are we gonna hear "Long Black Veil" covered?
MPEG Stream: EDMONDS, LU WITH JOHN RICE "Gulag Blues"
MPEG Stream: RAUHOUSE, JON "Pardon This Coffin"

V/A The Great Koonaklaster Speaks: A John Fahey Celebration (Table Of The Elements) cd 16.98
How many tribute albums can one man have? Ok, what we should be asking is how many good tribute albums can one man have? Ones that don't just have contemporary artists covering their favorite songs merely to add hip factor to an older artist, or ones that don't contain hip artists who are now dubiously rushing to be associated with someone who has had major cultural influence over a current scene. Thankfully, the folks at Table Of the Elements manage to avoid the tribute album pitfalls by selecting a range of artists from the current avant-garde not to perform covers but to create original compositions in the spirit of the Master's most peculiar, eccentric, far-flung and sometimes corn-ball humor. Of course from Table Of The Elements, who championed Fahey's later and most outre work, we are going to hear less of the Takoma-era acoustic guitar compositions (though Jack Rose and Sir Richard Bishop provide the stalwart gate-keeping role for that sound), and hear more of a dark yet celebratory experimentalism from the likes of New Zealand's Pumice, Lichens, R. Keenan Lawler, and No Neck Blues Band, who in the guise of country cousins, Coach Fingers manage to sample some of Fahey's voice (Don't be surprised if you think Jandek was invited to the party). Michael Hurley, Ben Vida, Badgerlore, Greg Malcolm and David Daniell also make some stellar appearances.
MPEG Stream: MICHAEL HURLEY "My Babe, My Babe"
MPEG Stream: LICHENS "Escapisms In A Comedic Forum"
MPEG Stream: PUMICE "Ceremonial Knives"

V/A The Jewelled Antler Library (Porter) 4cd box 61.00
Oh wow. It's here, though not for long. You may have seen it announced on our blog or elsewhere, and really should have preordered one... we've already sold most of the copies we got (which was a lot, as many as we could afford, really). But at the moment we still have, like, a dozen. And possibly will be able to restock a few again next week, though we don't know that for sure. The label only pressed 1000 copies, and we know they're going fast. So perhaps listing it here is just for posterity's sake.
So, what's all the excitement about you ask? If you're a fan of San Francisco's acclaimed Jewelled Antler collective of psychedelic/drone/improv/nature folks you should know, some years back (2003), they decided to release a series of 3" cd-r eps, once a month or so, with entries from JA regulars like Thuja, likeminded folks such as Dead Raven Choir and Antony Milton, and also odd, one-off quirky projects like Loren Chasse's frog-sounds disc dubbed Green Laughter. The idea was to release stuff that stood alone in twenty-minute doses and didn't need to be padded out to full-cd length. These cute lil' 3"s proved quite popular here at AQ, and of course are now long, long out of print like all Jewelled Antler cd-rs. Apparently a set will put you back about $100-120 on eBay nowadays, or until recently anyway... Well there'd been talk for some years now of these wonderful eps getting reissued on cd, in a box set or something, and lo it has finally come to pass thanks to the enthusiasm (and deep pockets) of Porter Records.
The Jewelled Antler Library box contains 4 discs in cardboard sleeves, Books One to Four, comprising all 12 original entries in the approximately-monthly 3" cd-r ep series plus some extra bonus material! 59 tracks, four hours and forty minutes in all. It breaks down like this... Book One: Loren Chasse/Tomes/The Ivytree/Hala Strana, Book Two: Dead Raven Choir/The Famous Boating Party/Uton, Book Three: Claypipe/The Muons/Thuja, Book Four: Fursaxa/Kemialliset Ystavat/The Ways Of God To Man. And interspersed between each of the thirteen volumes are twelve "Footpath" tracks of brand new field recordings by Loren Chasse, up-close-and-personal documents of rain and wind and other evocative textural cracklings and rustlings from the natural environment. The box also contains individual, full-color cards with the cover art and credits from each ep.
We reviewed all of them when they originally came out (or almost all of 'em, not sure what happened to the last few). Waste not, want not, so what follows is a conglomeration of our reviews of each library installment, slightly edited for clarity and to eliminate redundancies. Note how several of the entries in the series may have been the very first time we'd heard from a particular artist, such as Finland's Uton for instance, now well known to us and AQ customers...
Volume 1: Frogs!!! Can AQ-customers resist frog recordings? We think not. Certainly we can't. Green Laughter is primarily frog field recordings made and edited by Loren Chasse (Thuja, Id Battery, Of, Blithe Sons, etc.). It's twenty minutes of the call of the wild (featuring frogs, cicadas, and perhaps birds), starting off as a fairly straight documentary and then blending into a computer-processed drone-wash constructed by Chasse from his original recordings. It's like wandering in a dense creature-inhabited forest back East somewhere in the summertime, your ears overwhelmed by the natural sounds, you getting dizzy and almost passing out, the ribbitting and chirping and buzzing and tweeting taking over your mind. But it eventually dissolves back into a blissful background ambience. Real nice. And many of the sounds on here that sound insect-like or electronic Loren assures us are in fact frogs. It's nature's electronic music, the sound of a laptop computer overwhelmed by heat and long grasses and the green laughter. Just the thing for when I (Allan) get homesick for Pennsylvania.
Volume 2 is the debut recording from a group called Tomes, who are, as it turns out, basically Jewelled Antler flagship group Thuja (Rob Reger, Loren Chasse, Glenn Donaldson, absent Steven R. Smith), letting themselves get a little bit louder and noisier than they usually do in Thuja, harking back a bit to precursor band Mirza in fact. Probably the main reason this wasn't put out as a Thuja release is because Tomes' title and artwork are in fact the Jewelled Antler collective's knowing nod to a black metal aesthetic (which has fascinated Glenn particularly of late). But while intended as a tribute of sorts to black metal, the psychedelic drone music found here only holds subtle echoes of dark Nordic woodlands and burning churches. The twenty minutes of abstract heavy improv of The Dreadful Gift is darn good stuff regardless of the tangential conceptual framework. With noisy phantoms clanking chains, groaning drones, tell-tale heartbeats and and distorted freeform guitar feedback, this does achieve a dark n' dirgey but beautiful atmosphere. Too beautiful perhaps to leave the black metal hordes quaking in their corpsepaint, it still could be a Jewelled Antler Halloween soundtrack of sorts - I wonder why didn't they wait 'til the October Library installment for this? Definitely recommended.
Volume 3 comes from The Ivytree, a solo project of one of the Jewelled Antler's chief protagonists, Glenn Donaldson (who can also be found in Thuja, The Blithe Sons, Knit Separates, The Birdtree, etc). Donaldson has publicly announced an affinity for creating different monikers to accompany the innumerable variations of his musical productions, so The Ivytree may be just one in a number of upcoming 'tree' projects from Donaldson. Certainly this 18 minute ep has a lot in common with his previous 'tree disc, The Birdtree album, which garnered high praise from us. Centered around a plaintive, elliptical finger-picking guitar technique which renders every note full of melancholia, The Sun Is The Lamp weaves in and out of harmonium drones, field recordings of birds, and Donaldson's evocative vocals. As strong as the best Richard Youngs projects that might be the closest comparison we can make, this is another fantastic recording from Jewelled Antler!
Volume 4 is by Thuja's Steven R. Smith, who has taken up the Hala Strana moniker for his Eastern European-folk music inspired meditations. Karst continues down the path of his previous Jewelled Antler production Kohl, with a more ramshackle production for his dense acoustic arrangements for guitar and scratchy violin, which often hints at Eastern European timbres but as played by Nikki Sudden. In fact two of Smith's tracks are versions of traditional Polish and Romanian folk songs. Often beginning with a clutter of loose sounds, Smith coaxes his orchestrations into melancholic melodies and has smothered everything with an unusual patina of crunchy vinyl static, giving these 18 minutes a distinctly antiquated feel. A great entry in a great series...
Volume 5 is by Dead Raven Choir, the Texas-by-way-of-Poland based folk/improv one man project that the Jewelled Antler powers-that-be seem to be totally in love with of late - this was their 3rd DRC release of 2003! As with his previous Jewelled Antler cd-rs, DRC here conjures up some eccentric vocal theatrics and sparse, haunted acoustic guitar playing, like some sort of Eastern European Jandek. And his black metal obsession with wolves continues in the title here as well. Scarily beautiful, with atmospheric piano and unknown other sounds providing a hissing soundscape for his vocal, all three tracks here featuring macabre poetry by Paul Verlaine.
Volume 6 is something a bit different, yet familiar too to Jewelled Antler aficionados. It features the Blithe Sons (Glenn Donaldson and Loren Chasse, both also of Thuja and much else besides) joined by Eleanor Harwood on vocals. This trio's music is totally inspired by '70s art rock ensemble Slapp Happy, it's actually an intentional tribute of sorts. Eleanor is the heart of this, and we must say that for an untrained vocalist in an improvised setting, she's very impressive! Singing lyrics taken from a book of Kenneth Patchen poetry that was near to hand, "The Famous Boating Party", she totally inhabits the Dagmar Krause role, her vocals all wonderfully warbly and birdlike and lovely. She reminds us of Bjork at times too, no bad thing! Backing her up/leading her on, Glenn strums melodically on his 6 & 12 string guitars and adds comforting keyboard coloration, while Loren's "percussion & noises" both provide a steady beat and contribute the usual detailed, natural Jewelled Antler ambiance. It's very hazy and folky and fairytale like, a summer's afternoon encapsulated in a magical music box. Maybe not to everyone's taste (Slapp Happy certainly isn't either) but for some this will be a highlight in the Library series.
Volume 7 is also from outside the immediate ranks of Thuja and company. Although they've had a couple of cd-r releases popping up from tiny labels around the globe, this was our introduction to Uton. This anonymous, acoustic-noise-drone band hails from Finland, although they seem far more at home within the New Zealand community of Birchville Cat Motel, Anthony Milton, and Handful of Dust. Zwuiji is a bit more grating than most entries in the Jewelled Antler Library series, which typically opiate themselves with hazy improvised psychedelia and obtuse folk renderings. Rather Uton revels in mistreating their electric gear in order to fill up the audio spectrum with buzzing drones that swarm out of their amplifiers like angry wasps. Scratchy violins and atonally shifting wind instruments hover behind these gritty walls of vibrating feedback which comes across more as a misaligned engine block rattling all of those tones inside your head than as a typical trick with a couple of effects boxes. Certainly the fans of cd-r labels Celebrate Psi Phenomenon or PseudoArcana will like this.
Volume 8 hails from New Zealand's Claypipe. It seems Jewelled Antler have found some kindred souls Down Under, no not Gandalf and Frodo but in this case Antony Milton (who runs a cd-r label himself, Pseudoarcana) and Clayton Noone (C.J.A., Armpit) who together are known as Claypipe. Repetition and drone and field recording grit coexist with lovely acoustic guitar - it's real nice. With wistful, earnest vocals, some distorted and layered, this is neither indie-pop nor environmental ambient, but a hybrid that totally fits with Jewelled Antler 'groups' like the Blithe Sons and Child Readers, while possessing that special New Zealand magic we all adore. Seven tracks, 20 minutes, and you're left wishing it were longer.
Volume 9 is a disc from SF's Muons, not a Jewelled Antler band per se, but in those guys' orbit. There's five songs here, just under twenty minutes of fragile, psychedelic folk recorded live, where they really shine. Inspired by traditional British folk music, but made soooo minimal and spacey that they've been called the "Bernhard Gunter of space-folk", the Muons make forlorn lullabys for adults. For this performance, the Muons were just the duo of Greg Bianchini and Rickey Reneau. Greg, who has played with Jewelled Antler acts Franciscan Hobbies, Thuja and Blithe Sons, is an gifted instrument maker, and on this recording plays a home-built 14-string electric lute as well as sings. Rickey plays an electric dulcimer, probably also built by Greg. Greg's languid strumming and melancholic vocals seem to drift out of the smoke and mist of another era, and could be from a lost UK psych-folk comp, although this is so slow and sad and desolate that no hippy could have made it - they'd be too bummed out. We're also reminded of some Galaxie 500, or old NZ stuff like the Chills. Certainly this is a bit different than much else in the Library series - it's got to be the most 'composed' set of songs found on any of these 3" discs. But we think JA fans will like it, a lot. It has a 'flowers in the rain' vibe that's just lovely. And the loveliness extends to the paintings Greg did for the 3" cover. Very nice.
Volume 10 is from Thuja. With the series getting close to the end, it's about time for these guys to finally make an appearance (unless you count the almost-Thuja entry by black metal inspired alter ego Tomes). 20 or so minutes, 2 tracks. Again, the Thujans (Loren Chasse, Rob Reger, Steven R. Smith, and Glenn Donaldson) make some of the most beautiful and mysterious abstract instrumental improv we've heard. All we're told is that Fable was "recorded at night in the Garden of Kains, August 30, 2003". There could have been weird old hippies sitting in, or magical woodland beasts (of the past), or academic dronologists gone a bit strange on natural pharmacueticals...but probably it was just Thuja, and their music is conjuring these imaginary visitors not the other way around.
All those above reviews from our archives get us up to book/disc four, volumes 11, 12, and the previously unheard by us quasi-volume 13 in the Library series. We'll briefly describe 'em here (as if you needed us to...):
Volume 11 is from Fursaxa, and consists of one haunting track, "Harbinger of Spring". Nearly 18 minutes of wordless vocal drone, tumbling tribal drums, and other mysterious atmospheres. Good music for the next time you're trapped inside a Wicker Man.
Volume 12 comes from Finnish freaky forest folks Kemialliset Ystavat, who always seemed like Jewelled Antler soulmates. Five tracks here of their moody, magical improvs. Primitive, krauty jams we love.
And then the "bonus" Volume 13 is by Jewelled Antler act Ways Of God To Man (Christine Boepple, Kerry McLaughlin, Loren Chasse and Glenn Donaldson). It was originally released in a very limited edition on a NZ cd-r label in 2004. Despite featuring 2 former AQ employees, we never even got any... Three tracks ("Nothing", "Everything", and "Anything") of dark psychedelic throb and abstract, distorted melodic murk, over 28 minutes total. It sounds to us like Jewelled Antler's tribute to Ya Ho Wa 13! Even if you already have the other 12 volumes of the library on the original 3"s cd-rs, and getting them again on the more durable medium of actual compact disc isn't a compelling enough reason to buy this box, we'd imagine that getting to hear the Ways Of God To Man could sweeten the deal considerably.
All right, considering we KNOW we're gonna run out of these right away, this review is quite long enough! Just one more paragraph to go...
Need we say, pretty darn recommended. But do we have any complaints? Well, musically, not really, of course some volumes will appeal more that others but that's the deal, and you can't get 'em individually anymore anyway. Also, just in terms of physical production, any ambitious, unique project like this is bound to have a few flaws. Will the metallic foil debossing of the Jewelled Antler logo on the box top IS quite handsome, the box itself is a bit of a disappointment. It just a bit flimsier than we were expecting ("heavy chip board stock" it's not), apparently due to the difficulty of debossing on heavier cardboard. Also it's bigger than it needs to be, leaving empty space inside for the cds and cards to rattle around. Had each one been stuffed (in true Jewelled Antler style) with twigs and moss and suchlike, that would have solved the problem, unfortunately that probably proved to be impractical, but you could do it yourself once you get this! There's also just a couple of proofing errors we noticed, nothing serious (Hala Strana got left off the back of the box, alas) but it's still too bad. However, the overall presentation is still pretty nice and of course it's the music that matters. So, that said, we can only reiterate: pretty darn recommended!
MPEG Stream: TOMES "The Dreadful Gift, Part 1"
MPEG Stream: THE IVYTREE "White Sun"
MPEG Stream: HALA STRANA "Karst"
MPEG Stream: WAYS OF GOD TO MAN "Nothing"

V/A The Rain Don't Fall On Me (Mississippi) lp 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
**MISSISSIPPI RECORDS ALERT** **MISSISSIPPI RECORDS ALERT** **MISSISSIPPI RECORDS ALERT**
Yet another incredible compilation of blues, country and gospel from the fine folks at Mississippi, this one functioning as a sort-of sequel to the all time fave Last Kind Words (which is sadly out of print), focusing on pre-war country blues and gospel, and like all Mississippi collections, featuring a good balance of familiar faves and new (for us, and maybe you) discoveries.
The Rain Don't Fall On Me offers up a few tracks from folks like Blind Willie Johnson, Bukka White, Memphis Minnie and a few other names we knew, but fills the record out with rarities from unsung blues greats like Willie May Williams, Lulu Jackson, Texas Alexander, Sonny Boy & His Pals, Garfield Akers, Bayless Rose and more.
Unlike other Mississippi comps, there's virtually no information with this one, no liner notes, no history, nothing about the artists or the songs, so instead of a well researched archival collection, it's more like a mixtape from a friend with possibly the greatest country and blues record collection EVER. Obviously there's a whole legion of Mississippi Records obsessives out there who will buy anything they put out, and we definitely count ourselves among them, but even beyond all the hype, these guys know their stuff, and they prove it every time, with every release.
The Rain Don't Fall On Me is no exception, from Gary Davis's gorgeously grizzled super emotive vocals on "You Got To Go Down", to the almost fifties sounding croon and fantastic guitar playing of Sam Hopkins on "Needed Time", to the fluttery flute intro on "Bull Doze Blues" (borrowed/stolen/covered later by Canned Heat), to the frenzied fiery "Don't Want To Go There" by Willie Mae Williams, with its kick ass slide guitar and intense vocals, to the slithery soulful gospel of Texas Alexander's "Levee Camp Moan", to the woozy backporch boy girl harmonies of the title track, every jam here a total gem. And as with pretty much everything Mississippi puts out, absolutely recommended.
MPEG Stream: GARY DAVIS "You Got To Go Down"
MPEG Stream: SAM HOPKINS "Needed Time"
MPEG Stream: HENRY THOMAS "Bulldoze Blues"

V/A The Return Of The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of (Yazoo) 2cd 31.00
Second volume of Yazoo's The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of series, 'The Return Of' as it says on the cover, another collection of fantastic and fantastically rare music from the twenties, blues, folk, bluegrass, all manner of American traditional music, in all their crackly glory. Unlike the first volume, which was literally a compilation of THEE rarest records that collector dreams are made of, the second volume focuses more on iconic performances and more famous recordings, tons of amazing stuff, including legendary tracks from performers like Charley Patton, Bukka White, Ernest Stoneman, Furry Lewis, Blind Blake, and loads more. But it's the unknowns (unknown to us that is) that are the most fascinating, including awesomely named groups like the Fruit Jar Guzzlers, or the Mississippi Possum Hunters, or George Edgin's Corn Dodgers. We could go track by track, but odds are if you dig cool collections of 78's, and old timey compilations, these Stuff That Dreams Are Made of collections are tough to beat. Two discs, 46 tracks, all housed in an oversized six panel dvd sized digibook, with a hilarious cover drawing by Drew Friedman, demonstrating the plight of the record collector, which is explored in great detail in the massive booklet, with liner notes detailing the trials and travails of searching out these rare records, from the folks who actually did, it's super fascinating, especially considering how different record collecting is today, and the relative availability of pretty much EVERYthing in the modern world. There's also notes on the music and the performers, as well as some cool photos of said performers, as well as a few super cool shots of old record stores!
MPEG Stream: ALEX HOOD & HIS RAILROAD BOYS "L And N Rag"
MPEG Stream: HAMBONE WILLIE NEWBURN "Roll And Tumble Blues"
MPEG Stream: FRUIT JAR GUZZLERS "Stack-O-Lee"
MPEG Stream: MISSISSIPPI POSSUM HUNTERS "The Last Shot Got Him"
MPEG Stream: GEORGE EDGIN'S CORN DODGERS "My Ozark Mountain Home"
MPEG Stream: CHARLIE POOLE & THE NORTH CAROLINA RAMBLERS "Milwaukee Blues"
MPEG Stream: ELDER GOLDEN P. HARRIS "I'll Lead A Christian Life"

V/A The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of (Yazoo Records) 2cd 29.00
It's hard to complain about another killer collection of super rare, crackly old blues, country and bluegrass 78's. Especially when the theme of the collection is the ridiculous obsessive behavior of record collectors. We're not saying that we can relate, but heck, we can -totally- relate, as we bet most of you can too. There's a huge booklet, tons of liner notes as well as photos and assorted newspaper stories about, you guessed it, crazy collectors, but before we get to that...
First the collection, an amazing array of SUPER rare tracks from an amazing array of musical legends as well as tons of folks we'd never heard of, from wild and jaunty campfire hoedowns, all sawing fiddles and knee slapping and hand clapping, to dark and soulful blues: check out one of the greatest blues tracks EVER, Son House's "Mississippi County Farm Blues", a dark minor key vamp, amazing guitar playing, and those vocals, so intense and haunting, the whole thing thick with crackle and fuzz, definitely up there with Leadbelly's "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?" And then there's Dock Boggs' "Old Rub Alcohol Blues", another crackly gem, with Boggs' weird whiny vocals, sad and strained, and some beautiful banjo. There's Jaybird Coleman, just singing and playing harmonica, so lonely and bittersweet, he's got the most amazing croon, slipping almost to a falsetto, with that perfect crack that great singers master without even trying, and an incredible vibrato. We could go on and on, needless to say, out of 64 tracks spread out over two discs, there ain't nary a clunker!
But back to the record nerd angle, these discs come packaged in an oversized book style double digipak, with really funny, perfect R. Crumb cover art, as well as a comic strip inside the booklet, appropriately titled "Why I'm Neurotic About My Record Collection." The liner notes are by Richard Nevins, who over the course of a few thousand words, definitely demonstrates his collector mettle, with tales of his own cringeworthy exploits and obsessions as well as tons of amazing anecdotes about other collectors. There are a bunch of old newspaper clippings detailing the lives of folks who collect stuff like wishbones, hairs from the tails of elephants, 4 leaf clovers and even water from all over the world! There's also the sad tale of perhaps the most (in)famous collectors of all time, the Collyer Brothers. The two never left their building for over 40 years (except late at night to collect junk), filling it with tons and tons of random stuff, rusted bicycles, doors, kerosene stoves, old Christmas trees, 12 grand pianos and 30 years of EVERY daily newspaper! One brother was blind, and the other brother was attempting to cure him by feeding him 100 oranges a week, and figured that once he could see he would need to catch up on all that had happened. Woah! In 1942 the brothers were almost evicted for not paying rent for 11 years (one brother claimed it had slipped their minds). 5 years later the police were called after it was reported that there was a dead man in the house. Unfortunately the police could not get into the house there was so much junk, so they went up ladders and chopped a hole in the side of the building. They did find one brother who had apparently died of starvation. It took another whole week before they found the other brother who had been crushed by collapsing piles of junk. It turns out the other brother was paralyzed as well as blind, and died of starvation not long after his brother was killed and was unable to bring him food. Lordy! Let that be a word of warning for all you obsessive record collectors out there! Such great reading for liner notes, and such great listening too. A completely essential compilation for sure!
Word of warning: be very careful removing the discs, they are incredibly difficult to get off the spindles, it requires some very careful, but very firm pulling, to get it out without damaging the discs!
MPEG Stream: SON HOUSE "Mississippi County Farm Blues"
MPEG Stream: GEORGIA POT LICKERS "Up Jumped The Rabbit"
MPEG Stream: MEMPHIS MINNIE & JOE MCCOY "I'm Going Back Home"
MPEG Stream: WILMER WATTS AND THE LONELY EAGLES "Fightin' In The War With Spain"

V/A The World Is A Monster: Columbia Hillbilly 1948-1958 (The Omni Recording Corporation) cd 17.98
Another fantastic compilation from the seemingly infallible Omni Recording Corporation, this one focusing on hillbilly music, specifically from the vaults of Columbia Records, between 1948 and 1959, and all focused around a Dallas recording studio run by a man named Jim Beck, and had the winds of fortune blown a little bit differently, and had Beck not died prematurely, then perhaps the recording industry in Nashville would have actually ended up based in Dallas. It's an interesting story, told in great detail in the copious liner notes, as are the stories of all the artists and their songs, and oh, what an awesome collection of singers and players, most of which we'd never before heard or even heard of.
A selection of some of the best hillbilly sides recorded for Columbia in the forties and fifties, lots of songs about drinking, and about women, and of course drinking AND women: "Beer Bottle Momma", "Drinking All My Troubles Away", "Red Hot Momma And An Ice Cold Beer", "There's A Bottle Where She Used To Be", "The Barroom Girl", "I'm The Devil Who Made Her That Way", and like all Omni comps, there's plenty of weirdness, howsabout "Ugly And Slouchy", a track about the joys of having a less than attractive lady friend cuz there'll "never be no fear of her loving someone else", or the darkly creepy cabaret of the title track, with it's refrain "The world is a monster, its food is man's heart".
And then of course there's just a stunning array of incredible unsung country classics, from heartfelt tales of loneliness, to bittersweet ballads, super rambunctious bluegrass hoedowns, rife with wild fiddling, earnest crooning, boasting and bragging, begging for forgiveness, wondering where it all went wrong, even some yodeling, fantastic stuff.
And as with all Omni stuff, there's a massive booklet with tons of rare photos and ephemera, and extensive liner notes.
MPEG Stream: ROCKY PORTER "The World Is A Monster"
MPEG Stream: NEAL JONES "I'm Playing It Cool"
MPEG Stream: BOBBY LORD "I'm The Devil Who Made Her That Way"
MPEG Stream: SMILEY MAXEDON "Red Hot Mama And An Ice Cold Beer"
MPEG Stream: CARL SMITH "There's A Bottle Where She Used To Be"

V/A There Is No Eye: Music For Photographs (Smithsonian Folkways) cd 14.98
Reason #954,765,841 to compile a compilation: A photo was taken of the musician by a fellow musician. Okay, granted there's more to this than meets the eye, but when an album is sub-subtitled "Recordings Of Musicians Photographed By John Cohen", you have to think, "What next?!" The story goes that Mr. Cohen (filmmaker, photographer and member of the New Lost City Ramblers) had a book of the photographs in question published at the same time as the release of this cd. And what an amazing array of musicians he had as photographic subjects! Alice Gerard, Hazel Dickens, Woody Guthrie, Alan Lomax, Reverend Gary Davis, Muddy Waters, Bob Dylan, Bill Monroe, Elizabeth Cotten, Doc Watson to name a few, and that's barely making a dent in the list of rootsy Americana artists included on this collection. I suppose to fully appreciate John Cohen's endeavours, the companion book should be kept close at hand while you listen to the cd, and you'd think they would've thought "Hey, let's sell them together!" but alas that is not the case. So, please note we are only able to offer you the aural version. Nonetheless, a fine fine collection of old country, blues and folk.
RealAudio clip: YVONNE HUNTER "Have You Ever Been Mistreated"
RealAudio clip: RUFUS COHEN / WADE PATTERSON "So Long: Go"
RealAudio clip: NEW LOST CITY RAMBLERS "Buck Creek Girls"

V/A Times Ain't Like They Used To Be Vol. 5 (Yazoo) cd 15.98
Volume Five of this excellent early American roots music series on the very reliable Yazoo Records dusts off another wonderful selection of rare 78 records from the '20s and '30s. It features many notable and influential folk and blues figures such as Skip James and Charley Patton as well as many more obscure artists. Through the hiss and scratchiness of these historical musical documents, the rich, reeling sounds of banjo, fiddle, guitar and voice. Oh the voices! Beautiful, distinct, passionate and often mournful, they regale tales of romance, religion and war time. 23 tracks in all.
RealAudio clip: SKIP JAMES "Hard Time Killin' Floor Blues"
RealAudio clip: UNKNOWN "Pistol Blues"

V/A Times Ain't Like They Used To Be Vol. 6 (Yazoo) cd 15.98
Volume Six of this excellent early American roots music series on the very reliable Yazoo record label continues on where Volume Five left off.
Dusting off another wonderful array of rare 78 records, it features many notable and influential folk and blues figures from the '20s and '30s such as Skip James and Charley Patton as well as many more obscure artists. Through the hiss and scratchiness of these historical musical documents, hear the rich, reeling sounds of banjo, fiddle, guitar and voice. Oh the voices! Beautiful, distinct, passionate and often mournful, they regale tales of romance, religion and war time. 23 tracks in all.
RealAudio clip: MISSISSIPPI MOANER "It's Cold In China"
RealAudio clip: RED HEADED FIDDLERS "Cheat 'Em"
RealAudio clip: LOUIS LASKY "Caroline"

V/A Times Ain't Like They Used To Be. Vol. 7 (Yazoo) cd 16.98
If you've already got some or all of volumes 1 through 6 in Yazoo's fine Times Ain't Like They Used To Be series of early 20th century American rural roots music compilations, then your reaction to the release of volumes 7 and 8 will either be "I want more! gimme!" or "Cool, but I'm happy with what I've got for now." (We tend towards the fomer of course.) If you're new to the series, there's no reason not to start with volumes 7 and/or 8 other than being anal about getting 'em in order. These two new installments provide more fantastic old timey blues, rags and gospel music from the '20s and '30s lovingly transferred from scratchy 78s to the digital medium. Artists include Skip James, Bo Weavil Jackson, "Gitfiddle Jim", Son House, East Texas Serenaders, Dock Boggs, Red Headed Fiddler, Dilly & His Dill Pickles, and a host of others. Both Vol. 7 and 8 have thick booklets that, aside from their covers and the track lists, contain the exact same photos and informative text...which makes us wonder why Yazoo doesn't just release these as double cd sets. No matter. Yazoo, keep 'em coming!
MPEG Stream: KING SOLOMON HILL "Times Has Done Got Hard"
MPEG Stream: SHEFFIELD MALE QUARTET "Christ Arose"

V/A Times Ain't Like They Used To Be. Vol. 8 (Yazoo) cd 16.98
If you've already got some or all of volumes 1 through 6 in Yazoo's fine Times Ain't Like They Used To Be series of early 20th century American rural roots music compilations, then your reaction to the release of volumes 7 and 8 will either be "I want more! gimme!" or "Cool, but I'm happy with what I've got for now." (We tend towards the fomer of course.) If you're new to the series, there's no reason not to start with volumes 7 and/or 8 other than being anal about getting 'em in order. These two new installments provide more fantastic old timey blues, rags and gospel music from the '20s and '30s lovingly transferred from scratchy 78s to the digital medium. Artists include Skip James, Bo Weavil Jackson, "Gitfiddle Jim", Son House, East Texas Serenaders, Dock Boggs, Red Headed Fiddler, Dilly & His Dill Pickles, and a host of others. Both Vol. 7 and 8 have thick booklets that, aside from their covers and the track lists, contain the exact same photos and informative text...which makes us wonder why Yazoo doesn't just release these as double cd sets. No matter. Yazoo, keep 'em coming!
MPEG Stream: RED HEADED FIDDLER "The Steeley Rag"
MPEG Stream: FRANK HUTCHISON "The Train That Carried My Girl From Town"

V/A To Scratch Your Heart: Early Recordings From Istanbul (Honest Jons) 2cd 26.00
Another incredible collection from Honest Jon's, this one a compilation of early music from Istanbul, all recorded in the early part of the twentieth century, and strangely enough, according to the liner notes, all captured out of a culturally ignorant quest to gather up as much 'popular' music as possible, with various representatives of European labels and companies, the foremost being the Gramophone & Typewriter Company, doing everything in their power to record as much music as possible, eventually looking to local contacts, with some of the most prominent musicians of the day being recorded in hotel rooms or whatever space could quickly be converted into a makeshift recording studio. The liner notes explain in great detail the trials and tribulations of competing companies, the musical scene at the time, and the various musicians and their music, and while most of these names are probably unfamiliar, many of the performers here were considered, at the time to be the foremost performers / entertainers / musicians in Istanbul.
Which is obvious listening to this music, even close to 100 years later, the sounds and songs here are so intense and dramatic, so passionate and utterly lovely, moving and inspired, all of the music here non religious, more folk and classical influenced, but still imbued with the same sort of spirituality, the same sense of inspiration, gorgeous flurries of Eastern sounding classical guitar, sweeping soaring vocals over almost American sounding blues, weeping strings, unfurling lush minor key melodies, incredibly complex vocals wrapped around equally intricate folk music, classical piano, gorgeous almost liturgical sounding crooning, the breadth of sounds, of instrumentation, the varied voices, the sound ranging from impossibly high fidelity, to scratchy, barely audible crackly wax cylinders, all the music linked by a common tradition, a sprawling sonic history in music, a glimpse into the past, and like all the most amazing music throughout history, a sound both timeless and of its time, so moving, so inspirational, and so utterly lovely.
The cd comes in an incredible hardcover booklike packaging, the lp is quite swank as well, both with extensive liner notes and loads of amazing photos.
MPEG Stream: UDI NESET BEY "Setaraban Taksim"
MPEG Stream: SELANIKLI APTI EFENDI "Sende Acep"
MPEG Stream: AGYAZAR EFENDI "Kenarinda"
MPEG Stream: EYYUBI MUSTAFA SUNAR BEY "Evc Ara Taksim"
MPEG Stream: HAFIZ CEMAL BEY "Feryat"
MPEG Stream: FIKRIYE HANIM "Ateslik Eder"

V/A To Scratch Your Heart: Early Recordings From Istanbul (Honest Jon's) 4lp box 55.00
Another incredible collection from Honest Jon's, this one a compilation of early music from Istanbul, all recorded in the early part of the twentieth century, and strangely enough, according to the liner notes, all captured out of a culturally ignorant quest to gather up as much 'popular' music as possible, with various representatives of European labels and companies, the foremost being the Gramophone & Typewriter Company, doing everything in their power to record as much music as possible, eventually looking to local contacts, with some of the most prominent musicians of the day being recorded in hotel rooms or whatever space could quickly be converted into a makeshift recording studio. The liner notes explain in great detail the trials and tribulations of competing companies, the musical scene at the time, and the various musicians and their music, and while most of these names are probably unfamiliar, many of the performers here were considered, at the time to be the foremost performers / entertainers / musicians in Istanbul.
Which is obvious listening to this music, even close to 100 years later, the sounds and songs here are so intense and dramatic, so passionate and utterly lovely, moving and inspired, all of the music here non religious, more folk and classical influenced, but still imbued with the same sort of spirituality, the same sense of inspiration, gorgeous flurries of Eastern sounding classical guitar, sweeping soaring vocals over almost American sounding blues, weeping strings, unfurling lush minor key melodies, incredibly complex vocals wrapped around equally intricate folk music, classical piano, gorgeous almost liturgical sounding crooning, the breadth of sounds, of instrumentation, the varied voices, the sound ranging from impossibly high fidelity, to scratchy, barely audible crackly wax cylinders, all the music linked by a common tradition, a sprawling sonic history in music, a glimpse into the past, and like all the most amazing music throughout history, a sound both timeless and of its time, so moving, so inspirational, and so utterly lovely.
The cd comes in an incredible hardcover booklike packaging, the lp is quite swank as well, both with extensive liner notes and loads of amazing photos.
MPEG Stream: UDI NESET BEY "Setaraban Taksim"
MPEG Stream: SELANIKLI APTI EFENDI "Sende Acep"
MPEG Stream: AGYAZAR EFENDI "Kenarinda"
MPEG Stream: EYYUBI MUSTAFA SUNAR BEY "Evc Ara Taksim"
MPEG Stream: HAFIZ CEMAL BEY "Feryat"
MPEG Stream: FIKRIYE HANIM "Ateslik Eder"

V/A Total Lee!: The Songs Of Lee Hazlewood (Astralwerks / City Slang) cd 21.00
Ah, tribute albums -- an inherently questionable genre. Here we have a tribute to the inimitable Lee Hazlewood, as interpreted by a British press fave (past and present) selection of artists: Tindersticks, Jarvis Cocker, Erland Oye (of Kings of Convenience), St Etienne, Calexico and Lambchop bringing the Americana to the party, Kid Loco, Calvin Johnson, also Stephen Jones and Luke Scott of Babybird (this is Windy's favorite track and now she has to go hunt down some Babybird records), and Evan Dando (UK music press motto: once relevant, always relevant) among others. Absent, of course, are all the covers of Lee Hazlewood songs that have been recorded over the years by artists motivated not by a label putting together a comp but by their love of the songs -- Roland S. Howard and Lydia Lunch's lovely version of "Some Velvet Morning" comes to mind. The best tracks come from artists who are great on their own, and whose sound allows for a seamless translation of Hazlewood's unique take on drifter pop: the Tindersticks doing "My Autumn's Done Come," Calexico with Valerie Leulliiot's "Sundown, Sundown." At worst, the groups' attempts at Hazlewood classics serve as a reminder that you could be spending your time listening to "Cowboy in Sweden" or "Nancy & Lee" instead of, say, sitting through Evan Dando's brilliant idea to put a phaser on his weak ass voice in what I guess is some kind of attempt to live up to Hazlewood's trademark whiskey soaked baritone for "Summer Wine." The most interesting part of this collection comes from the liner notes -- they are comments on what the man himself has to say while listening to these covers. A few times he questions the choice of songs: "it's just the intro to an album.. It's another unfinished song...They chose all the moody things, didn't they?" About the Tindersticks: "Is English his first language?" Overall, he seems pretty pleased with the results and intrigued by what the bands chose to do with the songs: "They all put something interesting into these songs, which I like," even if sometimes he is just being polite: "Yeah, allright, it's interesting. That trumpet sound makes it... interesting," and several times he comments that specific tracks are superior to his own recordings. And well, who's opinion is most important here, anyway? Added bonus: the booklet contains choice photos of Hazlewood flanked by faux mustache sporting children.
RealAudio clip: STEPHEN JONES & LUKE SCOTT "we all make the little flowers grow"
RealAudio clip: WEBB BROTHERS "some velvet morning"

V/A Traveling Through The Jungle: Negro Fife And Drum Band Music From The Deep South (Sutro Park) lp 16.98
The always awesome Sutro Park label strikes again with another impeccable reissue, this one focusing on a type of music that, sadly, too often slips through the cracks of history when discussing blues or early modern styles. Not because it isn't awesome - oh, it is - but because the stuff on this platter resists easy categorization. As indicated by the title, the focus here is on "Negro Fife And Drum Music From The Deep South". This unique hybrid style brought together African polyrhythms and syncopation with fife and drum routines from the American and British militaries, resulting in a sound that wasn't quite modern OR antiquated. Rather, it was both... or maybe neither. The liner notes bring up the fact that most of the songs "conform roughly to the 'Bo Diddley' beat", which is apt for music that seems both primal and ready to stomp through the twentieth century. One thing is certain, the heavy rhythms presented here can be seen as a spiritual and literal precursor not only to blues and eventually rock n roll, but also jazz, disco, and hip hop just to name a few. And we certainly couldn't neglect to mention the priceless reaction of one customer who came in and wondered if we were listening to Einsturzende Neubauten! Which, actually does make sense if you were just wandering into a record store with incessant militaristic marching rhythms blasting out of the speakers.
The fifes (and some Sonny Terry-styled vocal whoops) are generally the only accompaniment to the rhythms, adding a vocal quality that carries the majority of the melodies, though the drumming itself is also strangely melodic and enveloping. Some of the earliest songs here were recorded in 1942 while the majority are from 1970, and it's interesting to note a strict adherence to the form with very little, maybe even nothing changing in those years. A few of the names here are familiar to us - Otha Turner, R.L. Boyce, and the legendary Sid Hemphill - and the recording sessions took place locally in Mississippi and Georgia, though some of the musicians made their home in Tennessee, making this a uniquely regional phenomenon. The music represents a distinct fusion of African and African-American cultures, with the emphasis obviously on rhythm, even when handling traditional folk songs. As many of the musicians were old enough to remember life in the late 1800s, they were basically the lone adherents of what might have been perceived as a lost or dying art which had never been recorded commercially, having been performed mostly at picnics, dances, and parties. The notes make mention of how the younger drummers preferred playing instrumental pieces as they allowed for greater improvisation than the older minstrel pieces with their fairly rigid patterns, which in a way sounds like the beginnings of modern music as we know it, where tradition and style are used as a springboard to something else entirely. The results are not only interesting from a historical standpoint, but also a pleasure to listen to and an excellent tutorial on the progression of rhythmic music in the twentieth century.

V/A Travelling Record Man, the: Historic Down South Recording Trips of Joe Bihari & Ike Turner (Ace) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Collection of archived recordings, many of them never before released, of Delta area blues musicians recorded between 1947 and 1953 by Joe Bihari for Modern Records. Accompanied by Ike Turner, then a talent scout for his label (who was responsible for discovering some of Modern Records best artists, including Elmore James) Bihari and his brothers recorded an impressive roster of R&B and blues. 24 tracks by the likes of Baby Face Turner, Howling Wolf, Elmore James, Joe Hill Louis, Charlie Booker, Pinetop Slim, Jesse Thomas and much more are included here.

V/A Tribute To Nashville (Mint) cd 14.98
An almost note-by-note, word-by-word, clap-by-clap re-enactment of the soundtrack to Robert Altman's 1975 masterpiece 'Nashville'. If you're a fan of the movie, then you'll know exactly what this is all about! Paying tribute to this film's music is Ms Carolyn Mark (the non-Neko-Case half of The Corn Sisters). A very long-in-the-works labour of love, she convinced and corralled her many musical friends to contribute to her vision. The added unintentionally witty twist is that the "cast" is predominantly Canadian! This distinguishing fact appears strangest during the interspersed "Speech" selections throughout the disc. You know in the film how there's this car with a P.A. system affixed to its roof from which a man's voice spews a continuous rant on political reform? Well, excerpts of that speech are included on this collection and read by Steve Lang in an imitated southern accent. But the thing is that his Canadian accent keeps slipping through -- that unmistakable "oot" and "aboot" -- rendering his performance and the whole concept of this album even more surreal. For anyone unconvinced that Canadians are some of the strangest people in this hemisphere, I point to this album as exhibit A. Strange and brilliant. Features the talents (many in very uncharacteristic personas, and many from the Bloodshot Records roster) of the aforementioned Neko Case, Carl Newman (of the New Pornographers and Zumpano), Tom Holliston (of NoMeansNo, Hanson Bros, and Show Business Giants), Cindy Wolfe (of Tennessee Twin and twin sister to Bratmobile's Alison Wolfe), Dallas Good (of The Sadies), and Kelly Hogan.
RealAudio clip: CARL NEWMAN "Memphis"
RealAudio clip: NEKO CASE "Rolling Stone"

V/A Troubadours of Folk: The 60's Acoustic Explosion (Castle) 2cd 19.98

V/A Troubled Troubadours (The Omni Recording Corporation) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
There's no shortage of incredible reissue labels, and depending on our mood, or what record just came out, we could go any way if forced to pick, but honestly, we find ourselves always coming back to Omni, not only are their reissues incredibly and meticulously researched and curated, with extensive liner notes, rare photos, all that jazz, but the sounds are bizarre and beautiful, balancing precariously between unsung country classics, and the demented dark underbelly of country music, we love both, but definitely lean toward the latter, and thankfully, so does Omni it seems. As if to prove that point, along comes Troubled Troubadours, another collection of sick twisted country sounds, which on the surface, aren't so obviously twisted, but dig a little deeper and these songs blossom into far out tales of misery and woe, murder and mayhem, even one about shooting God! Weird indeed.
There are some musical moments of madness, the bizarre looped vocal / Theremin sounding main melody on Homer And Jethro's "Monster Mash" sounding "A Crept Into The Crypt And Cried" for example, but then there's intense dark musical gems like Waylon Jennings' "Delia's Gone", a brooding dark creep complete with haunting sitar buzz. Dolly Parton contributes two tracks, one a haunting tale of an abandoned mother, the other, a harrowing tale of a women committed, and longing for her Daddy to come set her free. And then there's the aforementioned "Are They Gonna Shoot God", a weepy melodramatic soft focus hippy country ballad, where a little boy asks his daddy if they're gonna shoot God, while an angelic chorus echoes the question. Weird. Porter Wagoner is present of course, Omni has already done two Wagoner collections, and here Wagoner tells the tale of "Waldo The Weirdo". Cargill Henson makes an appearance too, after two of his own Omni collections, with the reverbed jangle of "Daddy, What's A Tree?". There's Bobby Bare's "Your Credit Card Won't Get You Into Heaven", a cautionary tale, all gospel organ and baritone croon, and Lester Flatt's "I Can't Tell The Boys From The Girls", another cautionary tale of sorts, about dating in the big city, and so it goes. Every song, no matter how traditional sounding on the surface, hiding something sick or sinister, hilarious or goofy underneath.
If you dug any of the other Omni records, Porter Wagoner, Dee Mullins, Johnny Paycheck, Lorne Greene or the Plantation Gold collection, which was a former Record Of The Week, then odds are you're gonna dig this too. And most definitely recommended to any fans of incredibly strange music. Country or otherwise...
MPEG Stream: WAYLON JENNINGS "Delia's Gone"
MPEG Stream: MARK SLADE "Are They Gonna Shoot God?"
MPEG Stream: PORTER WAGONER "Waldo The Weirdo"
MPEG Stream: STONEWALL JACKSON "Push The Panic Button"
MPEG Stream: HOMER AND JETHRO "I Crept Into The Crypt And Cried"

V/A Truck Driver's Boogie: Big Rig Hits Vol. 1 (Diesel Only / Koch / Audium) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Presented by the Country Music Hall Of Fame, here's a great collection from what's one of Allan's favorite country western genres, the truck driving song! Songs about truckstop waitresses, black coffee, night runs, little white pills, and dangerous curves (of both the asphalt and female kind). Of course, these 20 tracks are far from a complete collection (what? no Red Sovine?) but this disc does cover many of the most seminal truckin' tunes over the 30 year span of 1939 to 1969, from the very first big rig hit "Truck Driver's Blues" (Cliff Brown & His Boys, 1939) to one of the first truck drivin' hillbilly boogie songs "Truck Driver's Boogie" (The Milo Twins, 1948) to the more somber "A Tombstone Every Mile" (Dick Curless, 1964) to Windy's best-loved trucking song, Red Simpson's "Roll, Truck, Roll" (1966), with its classic spoken word breakdown about his little boy drawing pictures of trucks all day at school... Over half the disc is drawn from the the truck driving song's commercial heyday in the Sixties. Hopefully though, a Volume 2 is in the works, covering the '70s and beyond.
RealAudio clip: DOYE O'DELL "Diesel Smoke (Dangerous Curves)"
RealAudio clip: DAVE DUDLEY "Six Days On The Road"
RealAudio clip: BOBBY BRADDOCK "Gear Bustin' Sort of a Feller"

V/A Under The Coconut Tree (Original Music) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
"Cayman has a remarkable fiddle tradition with US country & Scottish roots, and Creole drumming under Tortola's fungii group mix of guitar of mandolin with washtub-bass"-John Storm Roberts / Original Music.

V/A Unheard Ofs & Forgotten Abouts (Tompkins Square / Pawn) cd 14.98
Oh how we love old 78s! The "antique" but still effective analog technology offering a window into the dusty past, the once-lively musical traditions of fading cultures from around the world, the atmospheric patina of surface crackle... Nowadays, thanks to collectors like Robert Millis, Jonathan Ward, Ian Nagoski, and (in this case) Frank Fairfield, there's been some great compilations of 78 rpm treasures released on more modern formats for us all to enjoy, often sourced from 78s the "ethnic" realm where there's still lots of good digging to be done by these dedicated souls. If you loved Victrola Favorites, Excavated Shellac, The Black Mirror, Sprigs Of Time, or other collections we've had along those lines, then the aptly titled Unheard Ofs & Forgotten Abouts is right up your alley!
There's a selection of 16 rare gramophone recordings presented here, all culled from the archives of Frank Fairfield, an LA musician whose own efforts are inspired by the sorts of old timey stuff he digs up on 78. This is basically a "mix tape" of a bunch of his faves, bound by no stylistic or geographic restrictions.
Amongst these tracks, which range in date from as early as 1916 to as late as 1964 (they were still releasing music on 78s in the sixties, in Africa), you get bagpipes from Scotland and France, blues from the States, festive dance music from Japan, field recording of Hopi hunting song, Indonesian "tembang" singing, Southern (and Midwestern) fiddlin', Byzantine liturgical chant, a Gypsy orchestra from New Jersey, "anonymous Sudanese wandering minstrels", and more. All all wonderful stuff. One of the big highlights for us might be the "exotic" Tahitian groove of George "Tanutu" Archer's rhythmic "Ama Ama" from 1945, which is what's practically rock n' roll played on pahu (Tahitian bass drum) and guitar, with chanted vocals. Surf music starts here! Also, "La Bamba" takes on a whole new character in the version heard here, by Mexican folk harpist Andres Huesca and band. And sinners take note, this disc winds up with the powerful sermonizing and testifyin' of one Reverend Frank Cotton, a not-entirely-spoken word piece entitled "By The Pool Of Siloam" that really stirs up the flock! Compiler Fairfield provides detailed liner notes on each track in the cd booklet, giving learned historical, musicological, and technological perspective on the recordings. It's clearly a labor of love, and comes highly recommended by us.
MPEG Stream: PIPE MAJOR FORSYTH AND DRUMS "Hundred Pipers/Miss Drummond Of Perth/Sleepy Maggie"
MPEG Stream: AKUMU ODHIAMBO "Pius Ogola"
MPEG Stream: "TAUTU" ARCHER "Ama Ama"

V/A United Sacred Harp Convention: The Alan Lomax Recordings, 1959 (Mississippi / Change) lp 14.98
Out of all the American folk musical forms, Sacred Harp singing is arguably the most strangely beautiful. With songs dating back to as early as 1840 and rooted in Northern European 'shape note' singing traditions, Sacred Harp singing is a white gospel musical form developed in the rural south as a means of social gathering and group worship. It was not designed to be performative nor were there really any formal touring groups (though early recordings have been miscredited to "The Alabama Sacred Harp Singers", they were more like rotating singing societies with designated song leaders centered around local church congregations and communities). For these 1959 recordings at the 56th Annual United Sacred Harp Convention in Fyffe, Alabama, singers were farmers, laymen, townsfolk and children who gathered every summer for all day singing functions, and it never mattered if they had good singing voices. The whole group is divided into four harmonic parts in a square formation with a group song leader situated at the hollow center of the square. Song leaders call out the hymn number and sing the tonic note of their section and each group follows suit with their section. Each participant is allowed to add their own embellishments to their designated section and all four parts sing off each other creating a cascading vocal round with astonishing peaks and valleys of harmony. Since each part is singing different lines simultaneously, it's hard to understand the actual words being sung, but the fervent energy brought out by so may singers is incredible to experience, reminding us of what could be the audio equivalent of the beautiful sight of large flocks of starlings flying in complexly shifting formations. This was the second of three times Alan Lomax had tried to capture the strange beauty of Sacred Harp singing, and the first time using stereo equipment. Nice vinyl on Mississippi with liner notes from Alan Lomax's three recording sessions. Incredibly beautiful!

V/A Violin, Sing The Blues For Me (Old Hat) cd 17.98
Old Hat seems to be picking up the slack from Yazoo these days when it comes to reissuing American roots music. On the last AQL we got the "Music From the Lost Provinces" disc, which was great, and now comes a pair of great discs showcasing black fiddle players from the 20's and 30's. For while the fiddle was a prominent instrument in black string bands way back when, it's been all but disassociated from blues and jazz in the present. So what happened to the violin's place in black string bands to relegate it from lead instrument at the turn of the 20th century, to being all but unused before the century was half way through? And why isn't the violin used more often in the blues today? Maybe it comes down to ergonomics; the lone singer with a guitar not only has an easier time with singing and playing, but certainly cuts a more striking pose with his ax than a fiddler. While it's generally agreed that guitarists were indeed more popular than fiddlers at the dawn of commercial recording, the editors of these discs argue that recording companies were extraordinarily biased towards recording guitarists for the sole interest of profits from record sales. So what's new? That might explain the blues, but what about jazz? At the birth of jazz during the 1920's there were more violinists in New Orleans' Storyville (according to the local registry of musicians and bands) than the now ubiquitous horn players. That, I suppose, can be chalked up to volume. A loud horn section will always have an edge playing to large audiences in an urban setting such as New Orleans. What Old Hat has collected here are some of the finest examples of fiddle players who were, by some thankful foresight, preserved for our edification and enjoyment. And for what is lacking in quantity of fiddle recordings available from this period is made up for in quality. The majority of tracks here were recorded between 1926 and 1935 (with one straggler taken from a 1948 session). The greatest thing about the music on these discs is that it's not "jazz" and it's not "blues" per-se either. Performers themselves took the liberty of calling their tunes "_________ (insert word here) blues" even when the tunes didn't follow the rigid parameters of the blues chord progression. This in the hopes of capitalizing on the increasing popularity of the new genre. The popular form of the day, ragtime, spawned both blues and jazz. Among many greats included here are the wonderful Mississippi Sheiks (B's personal all-time favorite), a track with Charlie Patton backing up fiddler / vocalist Henry Sims on guitar and the legendary Howard Armstrong (a.k.a. Louie Bluie) & Ted Bogan [be sure to check out the documentary Louie Bluie about Armstrong & Bogan by Terry Zwigoff if you can]. Old Hat has done a fine job with both of these, as with all of their reissues, including excellent liner notes and historic photos. Highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: MISSISSIPPI SHEIKS "Stop & Listen Blues No. 2"
MPEG Stream: LOUIE BLUIE & TED BOGAN "Ted's Stomp"

V/A Wave The Ocean, Wave The Sea (Mississippi) lp 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
**MISSISSIPPI RECORDS ALERT** **MISSISSIPPI RECORDS ALERT** **MISSISSIPPI RECORDS ALERT**
Okay Mississippi Records obsessives, get ready to blow your tops. Besides the amazing Been Here All My Days comp reviewed on the last list (grab one if you haven't yet, it's fantastic!), there are five, count 'em FIVE other new Mississippi titles this time around: I'll Meet You On That Other Shore, I'm Gonna Live Anyhow Until I Die, I'll Be So Glad When The Sun Goes Down, Worried Now, Won't Be Worried Long and Wave The Ocean, Wave The Sea, all culled from a legendary set of Alan Lomax field recordings, collected during his "Southern Journey, a trip he took through the American South, between the years 1959 and 1960, accompanied by British folk singer Shirley Collins, during which he made the first ever stereo recordings of American Traditional music in the field, capturing in stereo for the first time, music from Southern prison farms, the traditional gospel choral folksong of the Sacred Harp, the Southern Fife And Drum Corps, the debut recordings of blues legend Fred McDowell, not to mention an incredibly varied selection of musics from blues to bluegrass to country to gospel, captured on porches, at dairy farms, in churches, at picnics, state fairs, in prisons, in living rooms and in bars, many of the musicians, many of the folks Lomax had recorded before, and was visiting again, years later, while many were new discoveries.
According to the extensive liner notes, Lomax upon returning to the US, after a decade long recording trip in Europe and the UK, was hailed as a hero, responsible for the revival of interest in American folk music, but was quite disappointed by all the young people playing the folk music and traditional American music he helped discover, record and expose to this new audience, an audience that seemed to believe not only were they preserving the music, but also in some strange way "improving" on the originals, which horrified Lomax and spurred him to make the trip that would be later known as his "Southern Journey", not only to capture stereo recordings of all this amazing, still thriving American music, but to also prove those young folks wrong.
The results speak for themselves, 5 lps of gorgeous, unique, heartfelt American music, instrumental and vocal, celebratory and sorrowful, ballads and bluegrass hoedowns, gospel spirituals and military marches, call and response prison songs and back porch blues, and so much more. This is classic, timeless music, sounds imbued with the sweat and blood, the lives and deaths, the loves and losses of the American people, past and present, moving and emotional, and totally fantastic...
As for which one of the five to buy, it's a tough call, they're all fantastic, and the music is varied on each, they're not divided by theme or style, instead, it's more like a sprawling 5 part compilation, each as good as the next, so yeah, obviously if you can, you should buy all 5, but if that's too much, heck, just pick one, maybe with a title that appeals to you, and dig in. Odds are you'll be back for more.
Packed in super heavy jackets, with printed liner notes on the back, each volume containing a big booklet, with photos and more notes on each of the different tracks and all of the various performers.

V/A Wayfaring Strangers: Guitar Soli (Numero Group) cd 16.98
We haven't had a new solo guitar compilation in awhile. Last couple of years it seems we were inundated with them, marking the new and old waves of what is often called "American Primitive", a dubious term like "Freak folk" that no one likes to use anymore, but a more accurate or useful term to describe this genre has failed to materialize. While past comps focused on the founding touchstones of John Fahey, Robbie Basho, and Leo Kottke, and their modern offspring, Jack Rose, Sir Richard Bishop, and James Blackshaw, there have been plenty of overlooked stop-gaps in between these generations that have failed to garner the same kind of adoration or reverence. Often unfairly relegated to the "New Age" trashbin of recording culture, solo guitarists such as Alex Degrassi, William Ackerman and Michael Hedges focused on a more melodic (and often more technically showy) pastoralism, which represented to some the death-knell of innovation for the genre from its raw and altruistic beginnings. The latest compilation in the Numero Group's Wayfaring Strangers series sets to alter that perception by focusing on 14 private press recordings of solo guitar between 1968 and 1980 that chronicle the fertile and adventurous spectrum between Fahey and Ackerman. While a couple of the names are familiar (Richard Crandell, William Eaton) most of the players we haven't heard of including: Dana Westover, Ted Lucas, Scott White, George Cromarty, Daniel Hecht, Jim Ohlschmidt, Stephen Cohen, Mark Lang, Tom Smith, Dan Lambert, Brad Chequer and Dwayne Cannon. A 40 page booklet chronicles each of the artists with reproductions of all the album covers and biographical information in a beautifully illustrated package. Another milestone in a great series from this always-awesome label!
MPEG Stream: TED LUCAS "Raga In 'd'"
MPEG Stream: RICHARD CRANDELL "Diagonal"
MPEG Stream: JIM OHLSCHMIDT "The Delta Freeze"
MPEG Stream: MARK LANG "Strawberry Man"

V/A Wayfaring Strangers: Guitar Soli (Numero Group) 2lp 17.98
Now also on vinyl! Here's our review of the cd we highlighted a few months back:
We haven't had a new solo guitar compilation in awhile. Last couple of years it seems we were inundated with them, marking the new and old waves of what is often called "American Primitive", a dubious term like "Freak folk" that no one likes to use anymore, but a more accurate or useful term to describe this genre has failed to materialize. While past comps focused on the founding touchstones of John Fahey, Robbie Basho, and Leo Kottke, and their modern offspring, Jack Rose, Sir Richard Bishop, and James Blackshaw, there have been plenty of overlooked stop-gaps in between these generations that have failed to garner the same kind of adoration or reverence. Often unfairly relegated to the "New Age" trashbin of recording culture, solo guitarists such as Alex Degrassi, William Ackerman and Michael Hedges focused on a more melodic (and often more technically showy) pastoralism, which represented to some the death-knell of innovation for the genre from its raw and altruistic beginnings. The latest compilation in the Numero Group's Wayfaring Strangers series sets to alter that perception by focusing on 14 private press recordings of solo guitar between 1968 and 1980 that chronicle the fertile and adventurous spectrum between Fahey and Ackerman. While a couple of the names are familiar (Richard Crandell, William Eaton) most of the players we haven't heard of including: Dana Westover, Ted Lucas, Scott White, George Cromarty, Daniel Hecht, Jim Ohlschmidt, Stephen Cohen, Mark Lang, Tom Smith, Dan Lambert, Brad Chequer and Dwayne Cannon... Another milestone in a great series from this always-awesome label!
MPEG Stream: TED LUCAS "Raga In 'd'"
MPEG Stream: RICHARD CRANDELL "Diagonal"
MPEG Stream: JIM OHLSCHMIDT "The Delta Freeze"
MPEG Stream: MARK LANG "Strawberry Man"

V/A Wayfaring Strangers: Ladies From The Canyon (Numero) cd 17.98
Could it really be time to take a look at the influence of Joni Mitchell? We never would of thought it before, but then again reissue label Numero Group oftens make strange and surprising choices in their releases. After releasing 3 compilations in a series of eccentric soul from the DeepCity, Capsoul and Bandit labels they do a complete 180 and begin a new series called Wayfaring Strangers. This first one is dedicated to the immediate influence of Joni Mitchell's Ladies of the Canyon and the wave of femme folk it inspired throughout the early seventies. Here, they focus on 12 gems from obscure or little known female recording artists. A lot of customers who gave no second thought to immediately buying up all of the Eccentric Soul series, seem to be in a quagmire about this one, and not many people are taking the baitÉyet.
While Joni haters will probably steer clear of this comp, for those of you on the fence let us assure you that the twelve rare cuts on this disc, culled from mostly private press releases, are not all Joni imitations. While Mitchell's influence is obvious, each artist brings their own unique and varied take to their songs (all originals with the exception of Ellen Shaw's cover of Marianne Faithful's "Sister Morphine"). The Numero Group does an outstanding job with the packaging as always, devoting a full 2 page spread to each artist with full color original album artwork and profiles on each artist. These records are crate digger's dreams, and the visuals and bios only serve to enhance the fragile homemade sincerity and beauty of some of these songs. Highlights include Shira Smalls "Eternal Life", a rumination on math and spirituality recorded at a Quaker boarding school, and Collie Ryan's "Cricket". Like the mighty Ladies of the Canyon itself, this CD may take repeated listening to work its charms. But there is no doubt in our minds that if you saw any one of these original records in a thrift store, bargain bin, or garage sale, you would whisk them away immediately, heart pounding as you brought them home and put them on, thanking your lucky stars that there is still magic in such simple things. Nice!
MPEG Stream: COLLIE RYAN "Cricket"
MPEG Stream: SHIRA SMALL "Eternal Life"
MPEG Stream: GINNY REILLY "Wildman"

V/A Wayfaring Strangers: Lonesome Heroes (Numero Group) cd 16.98
Another incredible installment in Numero Group's Wayfaring Strangers series, Lonesome Heroes is the male singer-songwriter counterpart to the series' first installment, Ladies of The Canyon. But instead of one artist serving as the thematic touchstone (Joni Mitchell and John Fahey were the key influences of the first two installments), there are several influences present, but the artists are unified by a moody tone of loneliness and introspection. You can hear traces of Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Gordon Lightfoot, Tim Hardin and Tom Rapp in this collection of private press wonder (one artist, Kieran White, the only singer from the UK and a member of Steamhammer, actually sounds a lot like Sam Beam from Iron and Wine!), but the songs that span the late sixties to the early eighties are neither love songs or protest songs. Nor do they connect in any real way to a folk music scene or its traditions. These 17 artists, mostly from America, were rambling individuals who more often than not wrote music for recording more than for performing, penning quiet songs about time spent and lost, regrets and joys, and nature as the mystical reminder of this ever present balance of life. The home studio has a big presence in the recordings casting a warm tape aura around the songs and making subtle studio effects (reverb, multi-tracking, panning) add interesting details to the compositions. It's not all just an acoustic guitar and a voice (though some of it is), but aural flourishes of flutes, pianos, and female backing vocals can also be heard throughout. Perfect for Sunday Morning listening! As usual, Numero Group do a great job with the packaging with an added booklet featuring photos of the original private press lps and mini-bios of all the artists here. Astonishing!
MPEG Stream: RICHARD SMYRNIOS "As I Walk"
MPEG Stream: KIERAN WHITE "Hummingbirds"
MPEG Stream: GEORGE CROMARTY "Little Children"
MPEG Stream: JOHN VILLEMONTE "I Am The Moonlight"

V/A Wayfaring Strangers: Lonesome Heroes (Numero Group) 2lp 19.98
Now on Vinyl!!
Another incredible installment in Numero Group's Wayfaring Strangers series, Lonesome Heroes is the male singer-songwriter counterpart to the series' first installment, Ladies of The Canyon. But instead of one artist serving as the thematic touchstone (Joni Mitchell and John Fahey were the key influences of the first two installments), there are several influences present, but the artists are unified by a moody tone of loneliness and introspection. You can hear traces of Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Gordon Lightfoot, Tim Hardin and Tom Rapp in this collection of private press wonder (one artist, Kieran White, the only singer from the UK and a member of Steamhammer, actually sounds a lot like Sam Beam from Iron and Wine!), but the songs that span the late sixties to the early eighties are neither love songs or protest songs. Nor do they connect in any real way to a folk music scene or its traditions. These 17 artists, mostly from America, were rambling individuals who more often than not wrote music for recording more than for performing, penning quiet songs about time spent and lost, regrets and joys, and nature as the mystical reminder of this ever present balance of life. The home studio has a big presence in the recordings casting a warm tape aura around the songs and making subtle studio effects (reverb, multi-tracking, panning) add interesting details to the compositions. It's not all just an acoustic guitar and a voice (though some of it is), but aural flourishes of flutes, pianos, and female backing vocals can also be heard throughout. Perfect for Sunday Morning listening! As usual, Numero Group do a great job with the packaging with an added booklet featuring photos of the original private press lps and mini-bios of all the artists here. Astonishing!
MPEG Stream: RICHARD SMYRNIOS "As I Walk"
MPEG Stream: KIERAN WHITE "Hummingbirds"
MPEG Stream: GEORGE CROMARTY "Little Children"
MPEG Stream: JOHN VILLEMONTE "I Am The Moonlight"

V/A We Are All One In The Sun: A Tribute To Robbie Basho (Important) cd 14.98
We've long been fans of '60s acoustic folk / raga / Appalachian / exotic / new age guitar hero Robbie Basho, a contemporary of Leo Kottke and John Fahey, a sonic compatriot of Peter Walker and Sandy Bull. His incredible playing, and his unique vocalizing, definitely made him stand out. This collection offers up some mostly reverent homages to the master, from his pupils, a handful of modern day freak folkers, who are obviously heavily influenced by Basho's legacy, none more than Steffen Basho-Junghans, as well as Glenn Jones, Meg Baird, Arborea, Helena Espvall, Fern Knight, and a few new to us names: Cian Nugent, Rahim Alhaj....
Basho-Jughans begins and ends the record with gorgeous steel string workouts, both originals inspired by specific Basho tracks, Espvall creates a gorgeous brooding murky dronescape, Meg Baird does a fairly straight cover of Basho's "Moving Up A Ways", her voice angelic, and guitar playing lush and intricate, Glenn Jones creates a shimmering waterfall of glistening melodies, Arborea also cover classic Basho, transforming it into some witchy dream folk, Fern Knight add some effects, their version of "Song For The Queen" being a string laced woozy washed out drift through a field of soft focus haze, and Nugent and Alhaj do their own variations of Basho's unique take on Appalachia.
It's a comp, but like the best comps it plays like a proper album, dark and mysterious and so so lovely, and a worthy offering to the spirit of Robbie Basho. Very cool.
MPEG Stream: STEFFEN BASHO-JUNGHANS "Rolling Thunder Variation II"
MPEG Stream: HELENA ESPVALL "Travessa Do Cabral"
MPEG Stream: FERN KNIGHT "Song For The Queen"

V/A Welsh Rare Beat (Finders Keepers) cd 21.00
Compilations of long-lost '60s and '70s psych/pop/rock gems dug up from the far corners of the world by dedicated crate-digging record collectors are always considered a good thing here at AQ. We can just point to the Hava Narghile, Cambodian Rocks, Love Peace & Poetry and Thai Beat comps for some easy examples. But while we've been stoked on all sorts of stuff from Turkey, Thailand, Brazil, Mexico, Japan, South Africa, and elsewhere, there's always room for more, and for new unexplored territories to freak out about. For instance, what about Welsh psych/prog/folk??? Aha, that's what Welsh Rare Beat is devoted to, as you've already surmised. The 25 tracks here, all of 'em pretty fantastic, were selected from the vaults of the home-grown Welsh indie record label Sain, which could easily be (as this comp argues) the coolest record label you've never heard of before. As the liner notes put it: "You like prog-rock with blueprint trip-hop beats? So did Sain. You like ethereal girl groups with mystical acid folk overtones? So did Sain. You like psychedelic rock operas based on druidism and witchcraft? So did Sain..." And they're not kidding. Psyche-Celtic hoe-downs, dreamy folk singing, Cymru pride protest rock, and incredible grooves abound. These songs are all sung in Welsh (a pleasing tongue we trust you'll find), and due to the language barrier (and doubtless related cultural/political issues) these artists are pretty much unknown outside their own land, despite being just as good as a lot of better known folks from elsewhere in the UK. Really, looking at the names here, we'd only ever heard of Meic Stevens before. Never Bran, Heather Jones, Endaf Emlyn, Y Tebot Piws, or Yr Atgyfodiad, let alone Y Dyniadon Ynfyd Hirfelyn Tesog! But that's what's so great about discs like this, getting turned on to the denizens of a whole new realm of record-collector fantasy. The cd booklet helps mightily in that department, featuring a great deal of text -- there's very detailed track-by-track info plus a lengthy essay that treats this music scene in a political/historical context. VERY thorough indeed. And it even includes an annotated map of Wales. This really well put-together labor of love was compiled by Andy Votel (so recently responsible for the fab Vertigo Mixed comp), Dom Thomas, and Gruff Rhys of the Super Furry Animals who of course hail from Wales, and is released on the same label, Finders Keepers, that also brought us those equally obscure and awesome Jean Claude Vannier and Yamasuki discs.
MPEG Stream: BRAN "Y Gwylwyr"
MPEG Stream: HEATHER JONES "Nos Ddu"
MPEG Stream: ELERI LLWYD "O Gymru"

V/A Whaur The Pig Gaed On The Spree: Scottish Recordings By Alan Lomax 1951-57 (Twos & Fews / Drag City) lp 17.98

V/A Where The Soul Of Man Never Dies: A Treasury Of Caucasian-American Gospel (Social Music) lp 13.98

V/A Where Will You Be Christmas Day? (Dust-To-Digital) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Seems like most Christmas records are, justifiably, albums you want to run screaming from. Very few have weighed anchor at our port, Low's Christmas album being a notable exception, and I think we're probably one of the only stores that doesn't drag out the hideous Christmas/Holiday section every year. So it was interesting to see this new collection come in from the same label that brought us the wonderful (and gorgeous) Goodbye, Babylon box set. You'd think they've got a theme going here -- though the collection's producer Dick Spottswood states in the accompanying booklet: "in the spirit of fairness, we've tried to designate equal time for sacred and secular, for Christ and Santa Claus, and for respectable and rowdy". It don't matter though really. We're convinced these Dust To Digital fellas could come up with any theme and put out a kick ass collection, as this is just that -- x-mas or no x-mas. Some of the greats we all know and love are here: banjo player / singer Buell Kazee, Lead Belly, Lightnin' Hopkins, Maddox Bros. & Rose, and Bessie Smith. Along with all the great blues, country, gospel, and early jazz tracks you can expect, DTD has expanded their library beyond American roots music and have included some great tracks from Puerto Rico (a great guitar trio), Trinidad (a couple calypsos from Lord Executor and Lord Beginner), Italy (a bizarre instrumental belted out on a pair of strange bagpipe like instruments, the zampogna and the ciaramella), and The Ukraine (a hauntingly sultry violin, cymbaly, bass and sleigh bell tune). One of the highlights though, is a tune by the ever wonderful Alabama Sacred Harp Singers that'll stand your hair on end. I don't think there's another religious choir that sounds more possessed. Singing, nay practically yelling, in a sort of round fashion, this tune will have you shouting "Fuck Yeah!" The disc comes packaged in a fold out wallet and comes with a "Christmas In Jail" postcard (that you can actually use) and a cute little booklet.
MPEG Stream: LORD EXECUTOR "Christmas Is A Joyful Day"
MPEG Stream: ALABAMA SACRED HARP SINGERS "Sherburne"
MPEG Stream: PASQUALE FEIS "Tu Scendi Dalle Stelle"

V/A Willow Songs (Finders Keepers) cd 17.98
The original Wicker Man movie has got to be one of our all time favorite films as well as pretty much one of our all time favorite soundtracks. The movie falls into an elusive subgenre of psych-folk films like The Ballad of Tam-Lin, or Herzog's Heart of Glass, that mix pre-Christian folkloric musical elements and themes with a modern or counter-cultural revivalism often with darkly beautiful and sometimes terrifying results. There is no doubt that the Wicker Man as both a film and soundtrack was a key touchstone in the recent freak-folk movement. That the songs featured on that soundtrack with all their barely concealed bawdyness and lyrical waxing of the cycles of nature, sexuality and death were actually based on traditional British folk music is at this point no surprise either. Finder's Keepers does a lovely job here collecting much of the traditional material that formed the basis for the songs performed in the Wicker Man movie. Although the most remembered song from that movie, "Willow's Song" was not traditionally based, it's the song that let us into the perverse mysticism of the movie's characters and made us pay attention to the duplicitous meanings found in the traditional material. Here, that song is represented by a beautiful instrumental version taken from the original soundtrack recordings but not featured on the actual soundtrack release. The cd also features traditional versions of "Corn Rigs", based on a Robert Burns poem, "Gently, Johnny", the Maypole song "Rattlin' Bog", and "Highland Lament", as well as children's songs and instrumental jigs.
MPEG Stream: "Highland Lament"
MPEG Stream: "Gently Johnny, My Jingalo"
MPEG Stream: "Willow's Song (Instrumental)"
MPEG Stream: "Willy O'Winsbury"

V/A Willow Songs (Finders Keepers) 2lp 27.00
NOW ON (IMPORT) VINYL!
The original Wicker Man movie has got to be one of our all time favorite films as well as pretty much one of our all time favorite soundtracks. The movie falls into an elusive subgenre of psych-folk films like The Ballad of Tam-Lin, or Herzog's Heart of Glass, that mix pre-Christian folkloric musical elements and themes with a modern or counter-cultural revivalism often with darkly beautiful and sometimes terrifying results. There is no doubt that the Wicker Man as both a film and soundtrack was a key touchstone in the recent freak-folk movement. That the songs featured on that soundtrack with all their barely concealed bawdyness and lyrical waxing of the cycles of nature, sexuality and death were actually based on traditional British folk music is at this point no surprise either. Finder's Keepers does a lovely job here collecting much of the traditional material that formed the basis for the songs performed in the Wicker Man movie. Although the most remembered song from that movie, "Willow's Song" was not traditionally based, it's the song that let us into the perverse mysticism of the movie's characters and made us pay attention to the duplicitous meanings found in the traditional material. Here, that song is represented by a beautiful instrumental version taken from the original soundtrack recordings but not featured on the actual soundtrack release. The cd also features traditional versions of "Corn Rigs", based on a Robert Burns poem, "Gently, Johnny", the Maypole song "Rattlin' Bog", and "Highland Lament", as well as children's songs and instrumental jigs.
MPEG Stream: "Highland Lament"
MPEG Stream: "Gently Johnny, My Jingalo"
MPEG Stream: "Willow's Song (Instrumental)"
MPEG Stream: "Willy O'Winsbury"

V/A Wolf's At The Door: Lost Recordings From The Spirit Of The South (Sutro Park) lp 17.98
When seeing this record, most people will assume it's a killer new comp from Mississippi. In fact, it is a killer new comp, only from the Sutro Park label, which gave us those amazing Sandy Bull lp reissues a while back. Wolf's At The Door features 12 field recordings from the late '60s and early '70s, when a 19 year old Swede named Bengt Olsson decided to travel through the depths of the American South in search of the authentic sounds presented here. All of the artists on this record are unknown to us, and as the liner notes point out, Olsson's odyssey was marked by his introduction to many of Memphis' older, more obscure bluesmen, and many of the performers' stories remain unknown. As far as we can tell these recordings were unreleased before this, and the material offers a stark, powerful glimpse into the lives of these performers. The edges are rough and raw, but the fidelity is surprisingly clear. The songs here are even more interesting when you take into account the time in which they were recorded, as they seem completely oblivious to the innovations that had been rapidly shaping the music industry for better and/or worse. What you have here are some real sounds representative of a culture that managed to avoid all that, and the results are quite powerful. Recommended stuff which will no doubt appeal to fans of labels like the aforementioned Mississippi, Monk, and the like.

V/A Wooden Guitar (Locust Music) cd 14.98
This is a nice one. The Locust label has gathered together a quartet of today's notable, underground guitar experimentalists, all of whom are quite fond of the classic Takoma label solo guitar sound -- the "deltadelica" (their word) explored thirty years or more ago by guys like John Fahey, Robbie Basho, and Leo Kottke. Paying tribute to that Eastern-tinged, American-folky tradition, there's Virginia's Jack Rose, whom you might know from drone-psych outfit Pelt and Appalachian folk twangers the Black Twig Pickers; obvious choice Steffen Basho-Junghans of Germany; Japanese "onkyo" guitarist Tetuzi Akiyama; and Sun City Girl Rick Bishop, excuse me, Sir Richard Bishop. During the 70 minutes of "Wooden Guitar" each one of 'em provides a lengthy, hypnotic acoustic guitar performance, totally unaccompanied. Actually Basho-Junghans appears twice, everyone else just once. Let's take a look-see... Rose's "Red Horse II" is a sad and lovely 14+ minutes of vaguely raga-like 12 string strumming n' picking, densely textured yet light and exactingly pretty. That's followed by the first of Mr. Basho-Junghan's two contributions to this compilation, which continues in much the same vein as Rose's -- it's even called "A North Thuringian Raga". The Berliner is a virtuoso and this is a fantastic, meditative track indeed. Next up, Tetuzi Akiyama's piece is a lot sparser and more "abstract" sounding than what's come before, less in the Takoma style (yet still in its spirit, and latter-day Fahey would certainly approve). Appropriately, it's called "Time Between" and is the longest cut on here, at over twenty minutes. It slowly, stumblingly, somberly unfolds. Haunting, raw, and quite beautiful, it's a masterful centerpiece to this collection. Basho-Junghans checks in again with a shorter piece, the five-minute "Smiling Penguins". Repetitive and bright, it sounds like some sort of thumb-piano minimalism. Then, we're into the home stretch with the final piece on "Wooden Guitar" -- Sir Richard Bishop's quarter-hour "Corpuscle" which encompasses dusty spagetti western Morricone, acoustic Jimmy Page, and flamenco flourishes. It's a grand finale for this disc for sure, and this disc itself is grand. Essential to anyone into sheer impassioned, inventive, gosh-darn gorgeous solo acoustic guitar playin'. And it's packaged with an eye to the old Takoma LPs -- this cd comes in a embossed, silkscreened cardboard sleeve [not any more, actually, now it's in jewel case, but looks nice all the same], very nicely done.
MPEG Stream: JACK ROSE "Red Horse II"
MPEG Stream: TETUZI AKIYAMA "Time Between"
MPEG Stream: SIR RICHARD BISHOP "Corpuscle"