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The last of the three “bargain bin 12"s”, and possibly my favorite, an apposite example of this whole “dusted” thing I've been mapping out the contours to lately (we're still riding that roller coaster). Existing in those same shadowy chambers as Original Fire and Becoming X, this 12" brings together the two best tracks from … Continue reading Whale – Four Big Speakers (12″ Promo)
Khaleel No Mercy (12" Promo) Hollywood: 1998 Picking up that thread on return to that overcast day in Autumn and a brace of 12"s from Elements, we move from loose-leaf Hard Hands 12"s to the first of the promos. Where Octave One and Anthony Shakir checked in with prime examples of freeform techno soul at … Continue reading Khaleel – No Mercy (12″ Promo)
Talk Talk are Lee Harris, Mark Hollis, and Paul Webb Not much to add to what I said about them back when Mark Hollis passed away, but it felt like the right time to slip the whole crew into the old “hall of fame” right about now. Despite the fact that Hollis would easily make … Continue reading Talk Talk
Bunny Wailer Blackheart Man (Island: 1976) Just last month, the great Bunny Wailer passed away. The last of The Wailers, he continued to loom large over the musical landscape when I was coming up, a legendary figure alongside other great roots singers like Burning Spear, Max Romeo, and Junior Byles. His old sparring partners Peter … Continue reading Bunny Wailer – Blackheart Man
The Maytals: Kingston Superfly The great Toots Hibbert passed away a couple months back, and I've been meaning to spin up a little something in honor of his crew, one of the great shining stars of reggae. The Maytals were one of the first Jamaican group to make a serious splash worldwide, predating Bob Marley … Continue reading Toots And The Maytals
With the sun hanging like heavy metal fruit in the afternoon sky, there’s no question that summer has finally arrived. With the dawning of summer’s heat, the time has come for planting new shoots into the desert tropical, fractal rows of banana trees, palms, ferns, and cacti playing off one another from north to southwest … Continue reading Garden Grooves 008
Cresting into the dawning days of springtime, the last frost retreats into the shadows and the culling of the winter weeds. A towering stack of records nestled under the marquee, waiting in the cool of the morning shade, ready to accompany the landscape/ing as the lingering cold slowly recedes beneath the warm rays of the … Continue reading Garden Grooves 007
Groove, groove, groove, groove with the colour... Down on the boulevard, caught between the heatwave and the afternoon haze, Hotwax Whiskey River on the pavement, the dusted stomp of New Kingdom's Paradise Don't Come Cheap, The 45 King, and traces of Link Wray's Fat Back pulsing through the bone dry breeze. Lost beneath the dull … Continue reading Yellow Sunshine
The year of the album I'd already been working on this little list for awhile now, the concept swirling around in the back of my mind for years (much like the Metal Beat 15 had been). In fact, I was originally planning to post this last weekend, but various real world concerns only pushed it … Continue reading 1988
In a similar spirit to last year, the list crew decided to put together a chart around a specific year. Last year was my call, so I chose 1997 for its pivotal significance in my own musical life (after all, it's the year I tripped and fell into the wonderful world of beats in the … Continue reading 25 From 91