The Swirl.

When I worked in a record store there where many geeky discussions about various topics. One day during one of my shifts a co-worker asked me if I could have any labels entire catalogue, who's would it be. I quickly chirped "Vertigo!" For a very good reason might I add. Vertigo Records was started in 1960's as a sub-label for Philips. The main goal of this new sub-label was to put out psychedelic and progressive music. What Vertigo evolved into in the 70's is the benchmark label for any progressive heavy and far beyond the simple confines of just another prog label. Among the labels rooster you will find Kraftwerk, Black Sabbath, Thin Lizzy, Rod Stewert, Uriah Heep, and a slew of other staple and genre defining artists. So what about the stuff you haven't heard? Fucking brilliant. Prog fiends will find what they are looking for in Magna Carta and Gentle Giant. Psych heads will enjoy the sounds of Ramases and Gracious!. Folk collectors will dig the sounds of Tudor Lodge and Bob Downes. Beat diggers and djs look hard for records by Ian Carr and Aphrodites Child. Vertigo truly has a record for everybody and this collection showcases that over the course of three discs. I have all three discs in separate folders. I still on a weekly basis search out Vertigo titles. Most recent one that I bought was Manfred Mann's "3". One more down, and a about 58 more to go.

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Future Factory.

The U.K. trio Factory Floor is something to freak over. They deserve all the attention they get unlike many bands who seem to hold a years worth of interest and then fade back into the mediocre background. What Factory Floor have mastered is the rare ability to pay some sort of homage to post punk/industrial pioneers while creating there own path in which seemingly they are walking alone. You can hear the influence of early Factory records bands and then a distinct Belgian post punk/new beat influence as well. In the end, is what matters most is the overall sound is completely timeless and captivating. I have also read that their live performances are jaw-dropping. Here in one convenient file is their 7", 10", and a Japan only cd-ep.http://www.mediafire.com/?4jffjcc62c4xe

Kabinette Thriller.

Das Kabinette's "Spy Thriller" collects the U.K. bands entire unreleased studio recordings. Again, sort of amazing this was never released in it's day as it's very good stark music to rob a blood bank at midnight to. Especially considering that Bauhaus was knee deep in their ska-thic phase and many goths, punks, whatever's where probably looking for something to fill the black heart with. Enter the Kabinette!http://www.mediafire.com/?d58lz4fuofzoa

Zambian Foot.

This has made many blog appearances but unless you read those other blogs you may have missed it and it's one that should not be missed. Zambian band Black Foot created a stunning and incredible album. With some traditional Zambian guitar and drum work thrown into the more rock sound, this is a real pleasure to anyone with ears and something in between them. According to Prog Not Frog Blog, where I believe this made it's blog debut, Alfred Yabe of Black Foot now teaches organ and guitar at a music academy in Ndola. Let's hope his students follow those Foot Steps.http://www.mediafire.com/?0e40fg8vk709o

Da Ghost.

The most consistent Wu-Tanger on the solo tip. When this came out I was all over it thanks to a co-worker that would play it every day at least three times a day. Ghostface also happens to make me laugh a lot which is nice. http://www.mediafire.com/?rr75vo7fazpie

Space Bort.

By now you have taken a good look at the cover of today's post and exclaimed "Looks good!" or your probably thinking "Looks boring." Point is you are either going to love Eduardo Bort's folk tinged space prog or you are going to want to pass all together on this. As this album is making an appearance here it is clear as to what camp I belong in. Eduardo Bort recorded this self titled album in Spain that was released around 74/75 and went fairly unnoticed in it's time. It has since gone on to become a major collectible album with prog collectors and has been reissued on cd but not vinyl. If you at all enjoy 70's prog then you will definitely find this enjoyable. The album has an almost Italian feel to it but is hardly even an ounce as over the top as any Italian prog record.http://www.mediafire.com/?lmrckbew0coyw

Music is the weapon.

I can not even try and write all there is to write about such a prolific and inspirational character as Fela Kuti. I will say that Fela's career and music transcend simple artistry and go into political revolution, social consciousness, and spiritual awareness. I recently watched the French filmed documentary "Music is The Weapon" and to put it simply was completely floored by Fela and his life's work. To be a revolutionary in Nigeria during the 70's takes more than courage, it takes a clear mind and a direct link to the consciousness of others. Fela seemed to be able to embrace his culture and heritage while wanting to change the iron fisted government and the inherit greed that was growing within Lagos. Fela was considered dangerous by the government and was often the target of severe violence and vandalism which included having his house burned down. His live performances seemed to have been more than just about music as Fela would stop halfway through a concert to preform a ritual. After learning a fraction of what there is to know about this man, his career, and his legacy, it is simply inspiring that one man can stand against the villainous armies of an evil society and stir the pot of social awareness that it is still quite important and relevant in today's world. One of the most important reminders I personally get from Fela's music is that music is simply more than just something to hear. It is a religion, a spirit, an idea, a form of identity, and above all it is personal autonomy. Fela's music proves this to me as I do not speak Pidgin nor do I need to. It is the movement of the spirit and soul that allows me to hear Fela's music and sense every feeling that is put into song. I realize this may all seem a bit pretentious and I certainly don't intend for it to be that way. I am simply floored by Fela and can only hope to have one percent of the consciousness that this single person possessed. Download "Yellow Fever" and see what you find.http://www.mediafire.com/?3015f3xelvw55

Don't turn the light on, leave me alone.

Got a request for this album. Can definitely has all the trappings for a desert island band. Timeless music that clearly has a beginning, middle, and end. Can also seems to transcend the moniker of simply stated kraut-rock. Each album has it's own unique individual tone and voice that sets itself apart from any of the others. The clear jam on this album is "Mother Sky". The song "Don't Turn The Light On, Leave Me Alone" also marks the first appearance of Damon Suzuki on a recorded Can track.http://www.mediafire.com/?fm41ro9gj4ry3

Earwigs to Eternity.

Finally back after the battery debacle. Got a few requests for some posts which are coming up very soon. In the meantime here's an amazing first record by Alice Cooper. I know most people are familiar with Alice but I wonder how many actually give the albums a chance. He almost better known for his on stage hi jinx, obsession with golf, Schools Out, and for looking older than dirt even when he was young. This is an amazing album that showcases the songwriting talent of every individual in the band and moves through psych, pop, and outlandish acid fever dreams. Frank Zappa signed the band to a three record deal after hearing that the band cleared the room of the Cheetah ( a then semi-famous L.A. rock club) in less than ten minutes. When he asked the band to demo personally for him, he insisted on the time of seven. The band showed up at seven a.m. to Zappa's house and woke him up to play their set. Before anyone could play Zappa was sold on the sheer outlandishness of their mistake. The three albums recorded for Zappa's Straight label (Pretties for You, Easy Action, and Love It To Death) are by far my favorite records by dear Alice. If you have not heard the three mentioned albums your in for a real treat by starting at the beginning. Swing low, sweet cheerio!http://www.mediafire.com/?k12s66ba3bspn

Battery Blues

So here's a little update. My laptop battery complete shit and then died. I tried to get another one immediately which turned into another seriously dumb adventure in which I found one at the obscene price of $159. Because I have a brain and a serious addiction to buying music I made the decision to say "Fuck that" to mentioned overpriced battery. Another is one it's way in a hurry. Hopefully Monday? Got a request for a real good post too so that should be up and all will be fine again in the virtual world here. In the mean time I will still be listening to the newest L.A. Vampires with Matrix Metals LP "So Unreal". Man, this fucking album is great. Kind of like finding a cassette tape of dubbed slo-mo disco that has been warped by the sun. Really addicting. Have fun and keep it simple stupid.

Stand By.

Need to take the rest of the week to do some boring life stuff so won't have time to post this week. Will make it up to you as soon as we get rolling again. Should be by this weekend hopefully.

Into Night.

Seahawks are a U.K. based project that is obsessed with the AOR disco sound of the 80's. They take a song like Exile's "Kiss You All Over" and turn it into a slow moving astral builder that is psychedelic and intoxicating all at once. The timing and restraint they execute is perfect which is an often overlooked quality in bands/artists. Head out to sea and stare at the colors in the sky. This is it! http://www.mediafire.com/?z79hski8mm57l

Tornado Funk.

I'm really glad that there are people in the world that put together such enjoyable compilations like this one. Top selection of heavy funk 45's that you could easily spend a lifetime of money and time looking for all on this comp. What-cha feel is what-cha get!http://www.mediafire.com/?w5itecrkbb1co

Haunted.

Here's another quick slab of Factory goodness from Section 25. Stark, minimal, and highly addicting. http://www.mediafire.com/?gfc6yf7dhvu4f

Astral Abuse.

I remember thinking at one point that Vangelis was just that geeky Greek band who did the Chariots of Fire soundtrack. As with many bands that span a few decades, Vangelis had their golden age in the mid 70's. "Who Killed The Dragon" collects the rare sessions cut for the BYG label. Two Vangelis tracks and two by Alpha Beta who is in fact Vangelis under a different name. Deep psychedelic mantras that sit atop the pantheon of Greek gods. Opa!http://www.mediafire.com/?raic1l7say9r8

Deep Northern Shadows.

Little Ann had a career that was more or less that of a studio back-up performer and those that are familiar Ace/Kent Records producer Dave Hamilton, may know her name. What you probably don't know is that she recorded enough solo material for her own album that was not released until 2009! What we have here is a deep slab of real down and dirty Motor City soul. By down and dirty I mean we don't have the air wave friendly squareness of Motown. What we do have is a semi-noir Northern Soul gem that is getting tons of play at my house.http://www.mediafire.com/?p80oox24ilv38

The Best of 2010.

First off I would like to state that this is in no particular order. I really have a hard time saying "This is the best thing and nothing else topped it". This is just picked upon what was on my turntable the most and what I could not stop listening to. Some are from 2010 and some are not. With the current state of amazing reissues that are being put out on a weekly basis it's extremely hard to listen to current music exclusively. So lets get started as there is a ton of shit to cover.


This is what it's all about. A really fucking obscure record recorded in 1978 at an apartment in Portland, Oregon by two guys who were into acid and pop-psych. What they managed to create is something that maybe happens every ten years or so. An album fully transcends the simple and lazy tag of psychedelia and into the region better known as genius. Passionately reissued by De Stijl Records.

Umberto's "Prophecy of the Black Widow" is still making constant appearances on my turntable. This record trumps Zombi in a major way for that whole 70's horror nerd Claudio Carpenter mini-genre of music. An instant classic in my book.


Jacques Renault's On The Prowl label is really starting to blossom now with really really good releases every month. I recently picked up the Party Breaks Vol. 3 which is re-cut by Andy Ash. What this means is that you have three tracks that should all be played before your done djing. Monstrous dance floor results on New Years with this record. The re-working of Timmy Thomas's "Why Can't We Live Together" is soulful magic.

Chris Carter "The Spaces In Between" reissue on Optimo Music. Finally on vinyl the classic recordings of Throbbing Gristles synth wizard Chris Carter. Not all of them but hand picked by J.D. Twitch who did a stellar job selecting them. These are a collection of recordings made between 1974 and 1978 originally released on cassette. Keep those dates in mind because it's hard to think of anything that sounds like it's from next month but is really from the mid to late 70's. Also the Chris & Cosey reissues are no-brainers too.


Zombie Zombie "Plays John Carpenter" Zombie Zombie are great and this record just goes to show you how capable the French are at tackling such a sacred thing and keeping it true to the original but adding the extra little "Umpff" to it. They even make the Halloween Theme sound better than any other version you've heard in some shitty sequel or prequel.


Futurisk "Player Piano" reissue on Minimal Wave. Obscure Florida synth-punk band that manage to sound like a cross between the Units, Suicide, and maybe early Devo. Really like this because of the obvious punk influence that is heard throughout this record.

Slayer Zine #20 with Morbid 12". Say what you will about Black Metal but some of it is still worth a shit and hasn't been completely raped to death by Hot Topic mall geeks. Slayer Magazine has been devoted to Metal and nothing but since the mid 80's. The writing is simple and street level and does not try to be artsy fartsy which is good since a ton of Black Metal bands know seem to be focused on being artists instead of being audio terrorists. Fuck Art! Let's Die!


Discharge "Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing" reissue on Havoc Records. 2010 sort marked my official return to fishing out a lot of my old punk records and still being fully blown away by them. When Havoc reissued this I had to do it. Discharge are hands down one of the greatest punk bands ever and this record still has the eternal flame burning in Punk Rocks graveyard.

Arcade Fire "The Suburbs" Pop musics greatest talent offer up the greatest pop record of the year. The songwriting talent present in this band is unmatched in the last decade.


Ariel Pink "Before Today" Ariel really hit his stride with this record. Vice Magazine gave this album a terrible review and I was really happy that they did because they can not relate to the pure West Coast Avo-mentality that is ever present within this album. To break it down, this is not for a bunch of coked-out twenty year olds who are amped on the band "Off" and are currently fucking Fashion Week models.


Soft Metals "The Cold World Melts" Ohhhhhhhhhhh. Good one. Take a little Glass Candy, sprinkle it with some EBM influence, and top it off with a New Beat techno splash. Very very nice. Will be huge in 2011.

Robert Lester Folsom "Music and Dreams" reissue Mexican Summer. Private press record of Georgia based songwriter that weaves smooth whiskey late night love lorn songs into dreamy butter. I can not say enough about this album. Pure after eleven magic.


Anika-S/T If you at all like anything remotely in the field of post punk, do yourself a major favor and buy this album. I can't believe how fresh yet familiar the sound pf this record is. Produced by Geoff Barrow of Portishead too. Sounds as though it could have been released on Ze records in 1981. Also have to mention that this came out on Stones Throw and the label is killing it. Forge Your Own Chains comp was great, Bruce Haack comp, and Minimal Wave tapes just to name a few. Can't wait to see whats happening this year.

Martin Vogel "Tough" Turning Bruce Springsteen's "Tougher Than The Rest" into a cosmic dance floor love anthem is no easy task but that is exactly what Stockholm's Martin Vogel did. Breathe taking beauty for the slower sexier moments of the dance floor.

Magic Wand Vol. 1 This was a bitter sweet record for me the reason being it took Black Sabbath's "Planet Caravan" and topped it off with a nice percussive beat for the late night dance floor. I have wanted to rework that song forever now and well... this simply means I can't. Perfect job done to it though. Also the reworking of Randy Crawford "You Might Be Somebody" is turned into a psychedelic AOR disco treat by Coyote. Still makes daily appearances on the table.

Phil Collins "I'm not Moving" Idjut Boys Edit. Never really knew how much I could like a Phil Collins tune that wasn't "Easy Lover". Thanks to the Idjut Boys for the simple retooling of this "Face Value" song, I am not moving away from this song anytime soon.

Psychemagik "This Must Be The Place b/w Everywhere" More dance floor bombs here. Talking Heads "This Must Be The Place" gets the big room rework and kills it every time. Children's Choir breakdown in the middle has to be heard. The B side? Fucking slays too. Big room rework of Fleetwood Mac's "Everywhere". Both of these songs killed on New Years.


Watain "Lawless Darkness" Watain returns and delivers all that they promised with their strongest album yet. The songwriting is getting more and more intense and you can really feel that uneasy tension within these songs. Vinyl presentation is amazing too.


Ghost "Elizabeth" Take a look at that cover. Elizabeth Bathory in a pool of blood. Sweden's elusive ghouls take a couple of songs from their amazing demo and put them onto a 7". Music that sounds as though it was recorded on the set of a Mario Bava satanic panic film. The full length is good but I like the lo-fi sound present on the demo stuff way better.


Zola Jesus/L.A. Vampires split 12" I am not super into everything by Zola Jesus but this record was simply great. Nice lo-fi bedroom darkness with a druggy ambience.

Minks "By the Hedge" Perfect band alert. Highly addicting dark pop music. I like the almost more punk "Cure" sound this band has. Warning: do not try and copy it. They can handle it. Just keep drooling.

Ok need to start to wrap this up. Quick mentions also go to Led Er Est "Dust On Common", Xeno and Oaklander "Sentinelle", Dark Entries Records for everything that they are doing, Nuclear War Now Records for making me broke all the time because of lavish Die Hard Editions of Metal Records that I geek out over for months, Chris Craft "Discomic Dancer" lp boot, Blessure Grave "Stranger In the House" 7", Soft Moon "S/t" lp (this should be up top), Sex Worker "Waving Goodbye", Chromatics "Night Drive" finally on vinyl, Groove Merchant "Turns 20" comp of rare soul and grooves, Satanic Warmaster "Nachzehrer", and CFCF "The River" ep on RVNG. This is the longest post we have ever done. Lets get some feedback going on here people. Leave comments.