THE DOLLAR BIN PROJECT Vol.1!

I spend an awful lot of time in second-hand shops (call them charity shops if you're from the UK, Thrift stores if from the US, we call them op-shops down here in OZ) and I regularly pick up oddities which occasionally contain some gold. Often, there's one song that's killer and the rest is pretty average. For a while now, I've been thinking about turning these cool obscure tracks into compilations by converting the vinyl into CD quality files.

Watch this space, some cool stuff will be posted.

Recent crate digs (Sept 2010)

Here's a sample of my recent purchases in various places around the awesome city of Melbourne.  I had to include a couple of local groovers at the very least. Australia has such a thriving scene after all (I'm not being sarcastic by the way). So what have got here? As I said, a couple of local gems, one of them being the 70's Melbourne blues act Chain (this is their magnum opus Towards The Blues) and the other a double LP by THE Down Under jazz maestro Don Burrows. I have to say I was surprised at how great this LP is. Some magnificent flute work and nice bossa grooves throughout. Even the (sparse) vocals are pleasant. Well worth picking up if you live down this way.
The rest are pretty much all funk/jazz LPs except perhaps for the FABULOUS Nino Nardini/Roger Roger LP titled Jungle Obsession. This obviously is a reissue as finding an original press of this would mean spending hundreds if not thousands of dollars. Mind you, this is a numbered reissue (1000 pressed) so it's kinda special. The music is faultless, needless to say. A great library record.
Another weirdo record I picked up by accident was this Uruguayan LP called Maranata. I got sucked in by the record cover which strangely reminded me of a John Sangster LP. In fact, this is a Phase 8 recording by a bunch of self-taught moustachioed Uruguayans. Very funky stuff, heaps of cool keyboards and organs and a surprise cover version of Gainsbourg's Je T'aime..Moi Non Plus.
A few funk LPs here too, starting with Osibisa's second LP Woyoya (nice US press). Osibisa is one of the most underrated African funk bands ever. Their 1st LP is the fucking BOMB. Still I'm not quite sure why they're not more popular than they are. I also found a cool Graham Central Station LP called Mirror whose front cover has a mirror (almost the same artwork as Uriah Heep's Look At Yourself). Some interesting tunes but nothing too intense. A pretty intense LP however was found in Brute Force's eponymous album. They were a bunch of students at some black University in Ohio who decided to get together to make classic music. Their history is pretty sketchy to say the least!  I first heard their top track The Deacon on the incredible 4 CD Boxset compilation What It Is! Funky Soul & Rare Grooves.
Bob James is a perennial favourite of diggers and quite easy to get. This is LP 2 with the now famous reworking of Take Me To The Mardi Gras, a Paul Simon tune which was sampled by Run DMC, but you knew that already...
Finally a KILLER LP. I dicovered this reissue label only recently but it's well worth the trouble. The label is based in Minneapolis and is called Secret Stash. They specialise in rare grooves as exemplified by this LP of Soviet Funk. I shall purchase more of their stuff soon. Their website has awesome clips about their releases.    

Mandu: To The Shores Of His Heaven (1974)

Here's a rare album if I've ever seen one. A couple of weeks ago I was digging through some crates at a flea market in Melbourne and stumbled across a copy of this 70's epic. Not cheap though! It's the only time I had ever sighted this LP on vinyl so I had to grab it straight away. I did bargain with the seller and he was nice enough to throw in Larry Coryell and Bob James LPs  as part of the deal. Mandu (apparently it's pronounced Marn-doo as there is an accent on the "a") was a singer-songwriter who appeared as a guest vocalist on a couple of Lobby Lloyd LPs before recording his sole opus, the almighty To The Shores Of His Heaven. Mandu came down to Melbourne from his native Queensland (can you imagine what cultural wasteland QLD would have been in the 70's?) in order to score a recording deal. The LP is an infectious funk-folk epic with hints of Tim Buckley and Terry Reid. Those familiar with the "River" LP will understand. Aztec records, the Melbourne based reissue label who reissued this a couple of years ago on CD, describe it blessed with the same tones gracing Astral Weeks, the Van Morisson masterpiece. The opening cut, the eponymous track is one of the most impressive opening songs I have heard. This LP is great and a welcome addition in my collection of Australian rarities.

New turntable: Thorens TD125 Mkii

This weekend I finally got to pick up my new record player. When I say new, I mean most recent one as this baby is 25 years old at the very least. A few weeks ago, I walked into this local vintage audio store for the first time. I take a walk around and marvel at the various amplifiers, receivers and turntables around. There's junk absolutely everywhere. As I leisurely discover the shop, my eyes fall upon this machine. I didn't think I would buy a new record player but this was too good to turn down. It's a fantastic piece of gear and finally I can enjoy records properly. When you love records as much as I do, a top TT is a must. The first record I played on this M.O.N.S.T.E.R was a Penguin Cafe Orchestra LP. Lovely sounds for a spring afternoon.

Oh, and this thing weighs 17 kgs!!!

VARIOUS ARTISTS- That Summer! (1979)

This compilation of punk/post-punk acts from the late 70's is rather like a greatest hits of the best songs of that period. When I stumbled across this record at Egg Records in Brisbane last weekend, I did hesitate before buying it as I already own all of the songs on various other LPs. The $7 price-tag was however enough to convince me to snatch this wonderful comp. The sequencing of the tracks is quite well done too. There are bona fide classics of the post-punk era on this. Let's just name Teenage Kicks by the mighty Undertones or Sex & Drugs & Rock'n'Roll by Ian Dury (which kickstarts this LP very aptly). The songs are all great and the artists themselves are pretty faultless too (Patti Smith, Elvis Costello, The Ramones etc...). Also worthy of note are two of my favourite tracks of just about all time (I Love The Sound Of Breaking Glass from Nick Lowe's superlative Jesus of Cool and Spanish Stroll, the ultimate NYC anthem by now-deceased Willie Deville of Mink Deville). This is an absolute no-brainer, a fabulous Saturday night party record or maybe a great hangover cure, who knows?

listen to Spanish Stroll & Nick Lowe's Bomb

VARIOUS ARTISTS- Pomegranates (2009)

Here's a compilation by relentless groove diggers Finders Keepers which I bought recently (last weekend) after a visit to one of my fave record stores in Melbourne (the quite awesome Northside Records in Gertrude Street). I'd been contemplating getting this comp but after listening to a few tracks on the store turntable, I was sold in two secs. The double LP is a collection of ultra-groovy psych and funk tunes from Iran. The liner notes are intriguing and deftly written. The choice of songs can only be described as impeccable and extremely well-sequenced. Of course I haven't got a clue what they're singing about but who cares when the music's that funky? Finders Keepers is really a fantastic label and one can only imagine what treasures they may be busy excavating in the near future.


Listen to the impossibly funky Soul Raga by Mehrpooya

Here's the Finders Keepers blurb about this LP:

It's no accident that the phoenix is an exalted moral, mythical, and figurative symbol in Iran. Like the phoenix, Iranian culture is in constant flux and, at times, elusive, with its existential wavering and blurred panoramas. Most of contemporary Iran's artistic and creative leanings, its grapples with history and identity, are loosely and mystically conjoined and contested in memory. Iran is marked by the complex interplay of diverse constituencies, philosophies, and influences: ethnic, religious, political, geopolitical and historical. The glorification of pre-Islamic antiquity (in search of authentication) marked the socio-cultural attitude of a bygone era and is witnessing revival in the present day. The discordant reality of eastern traditions complicated by the rampant confusions of modernity has become a norm in Persian dialogue, not to mention revolution, exile, and diaspora. Like many other countries, the Sixties and Seventies were a time of tumult in Iran, bringing growth (via petrodollars) and freedom (under the banner of socioeconomic development) while exacerbating inequalities within the country.

The music and voices that blossomed during those decades exemplify the turbulence and excitement of the age. It is worth recognizing these 'left out' and 'lost' artists individually and as a group in the global happenings of 60s/70s psych, rock and folk, while exploring their influence and relevance to the present day. Is it possible that there is a genus of delectable sounds and fetching images that almost exclusively reside in the elbowroom of memory and nostalgic 'yesteryear' storytelling? Little consideration has been given to the correlation of these sounds and stories within the universal psychedelic phenomena: parallel to the shared stylistics of British and American players, and the radical politicking of their Turkish and Korean counterparts.

This collection endeavors to re-contextualize these songs from the realm of reminiscence, nostalgia, and memory into a specific and accessible narrative to share and relate within the universal musical gamut. It is for aficionados, the curious, and collectors alike. We hope that Iranians around the world will rediscover these songs. This collection is, in some sense, dedicated to a generation in self-imposed mental exile, due to years of war and catastrophe; decades of lies and bombs; a fundamentalist theocracy of reformist shams; addiction; isolation and alienation; unemployment, and inflation. These are voices and stories that may again prove relevant to a psychologically damaged and spiritually corrupt society, a society whose discontents recall the latter years of the Shah's rule.

The recordings excavated here are highly sexual musings, voluble love songs, and simple folk tunes. In many of these songs, there are subtle voices of political protest. Here is a personal best, a handful of artists and diversely stylized songs, presented on Finders Keepers.

MIXTAPE#2. We Did It Again (Prog, Psych and Acid-folk ditties)

KAHVAS JUTE- Free
AIR -Playground Love
SOFT BOYS- Kingdom Of Love
GURU GURU- Stone In
KRAFTWERK -Showroom Dummies
BILL FAY- Screams In The Ears
DUNGEN - Festival
MELLOW CANDLE- The Poet & The Witch
FAIRPORT CONVENTION-Meet On The Ledge
FRANK ZAPPA- Peaches En Reagalia
SKIP BIFFERTY- Come Around
COMUS -Song From Comus
THE SOFT MACHINE- We Did It Again
TERRY REID- Dean
ESPERS- Mansfield and cyclops
JAN DUKES DE GREY- Mice And Rats In the Loft

FAIRPORT CONVENTION- Liege & Lief (1969)

Great British electric folk-rock starts here. This is the record that started it all, a collection of impeccable tunes sung with desperate ferocity by Sandy Denny. I used to think this was mere folk music and I was probably quick to dismiss it as just another acoustic guitar meets whinny vocals type of record. But I was a fool. This is a sensational electric folk LP with so much invention within it makes me wonder how they even made it.

DIG OF THE DAY (Sunday 13/06/10)

On Sunday morning, the missus & I often hit this second-hand market in the Melbourne suburb of Camberwell and, invariably, I come back with a stack of cool records to keep me busy for a while (...well, a couple of days). As I am experimenting with this blog, I thought I'd discuss my finds. It may not be as interesting as it promises to be, but heck, I'll give it a go.

First I finally got round to buying The Mothers' classic double avant-garde LP, Uncle Meat. This is a very neat Canadian press in extremely good condition. I listened to the first disc and it's promising. In typical Zappa fashion, it will require repeated listens in order to pay of but I'm willing to wait.

Then I moved on to a dude who has this Soul/Funk/Hip-hop stall (well, mainly that and a bit of classic rock too). He has stacks of groovy records but as I am not made of money I had to pick a couple. This is a classic slice of Jazz Funk from Herbie Hancock's backing band on his Headhunters LP. God made me funky is worth the purchase alone. Great drum break at the start and an incredibly funky bassline. Essential! At the same stall, I snapped a copy of a rarely seen Hancock LP called Mwandishi. It was released in 1970 and is quite reminiscent of what Miles Davis did on Bitches Brew or In A Silent Way. Electric Jazz with touches of funk, very understated but quite powerful.

 I then found this Ten Years After LP for very cheap and since I like the band, I gave it a shot. Some excellent songs on it but nothing mind-altering if you get my drift.

Finally, I rounded up my purchases with three very different LPs. In fact you couldn't get any more varied LPs if you tried. The Innocence is bubblegum pop from the US Kama Sutra label. It's very Monkee-ish, has a couple of nice tunes on it but it's not something you would spend ages listening to. Pleasant enough. I think I got seduced by the slightly psychedelic sleeve. I'm always sucked in. I also got the first Henry Cow LP which I haven't listened to as yet but I expect some cool avant-prog at the very least. The Serpico OST sort of fell into my hands and it looked cool enough to come home with me. Some very groovy cop-show style tunes on this. This ain't Bullitt however.

KEVIN COYNE: Marjory Razorblade (1973)

I first became aware of the music of legend Kevin Coyne whilst reading the transcript for an interview John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten from the Sex Pistols) gave on London's Capitol Radio. DJ Tommy Vance asked the ex-Pistols frontman to bring a selection of great records to play on his show and talk about the music & why he rated these artists. Amongst the wide palette of sounds brought in by Lydon were numerous luminaries such as Can (Tony Vance played the whole of Halleluwah, 17 minutes of full blast Krautrock), Bowie, Nico, Lou Reed, Beefheart and Tim Buckley. Unsurprisingly, he also took in some great reggae and dub LPs (Augustus Pablo , Ken Boothe, Peter Tosh). I say unsurprisingly because almost every great UK punk band was listening to reggae back then. Anyway,  I noticed this song called Eastbourne Ladies amongst the list. This led me on a wild search for a copy of the said tune. Subsequently, I discovered that it came from a classic double LP entitled Marjory Razorblade which took me ages to track down on vinyl. Finally I found a copy on Ebay for 10 bucks (shocked as I was) and proceeded to listen to the LP. Eastbourne Ladies is a killer song and so are many of the selections on this fine album. The style is pitched between Blues, folk-rock and a slight Beefheart sensibility which in itself isn't a bad thing. The songs are all great, from Marlene to House On The Hill with its mournful slide guitar to the manic Good Boy. Kevin Coyne died a few years ago in his adopted home of Nuremberg in Germany. He was also a visual artist and played his guitar lying flat on his lap. He was, in the words of Paul Simon, a 'most peculiar man'.

The ANIMATED EGG- Guitar Freakout (1967, Reissue 2009)

The Animated Egg's debut record originally issued back in 1967 is one of the most sought-after psychedelic exploitation LPs of all time. It fetches ridiculous sums on E-bay mainly because feverish collectors are prepared to spend big bucks on this rare piece of wax. When it was originally issued however, it barely made a dint anywhere, soon ending up in bargain bins throughout America.Thanks to the good folks at Sundazed records, we can now all enjoy the aforementioned 'guitar freakout'. This double LP is nothing like the many so-called psych pastiches available in just about every charity shop across the country (and believe me I own quite a few myself). This, along with fantastic releases by Drum-tastic muso Sandy Nelson, is just about the most exciting psych instrumental record I have ever heard. You could so easily slot any of these songs into a DJ set in a club. No one would realise. The bloke who came up with the Animated Egg concept goes by the name of Jerry Cole. He was a session man from L.A who clearly had an ear for mean instrumental rock covers. Anyhow, this is well worth pursuing. A very cool record indeed.

Hear some here.

HUBERT LAWS- In The Beginning (1974)

Amongst the many records that I spun on my turntable today on this rainy Sunday afternoon, this is the one which got me thinking about music as a whole. To cut a story short, Hubert Laws is the Jimi Hendrix of flute. He's an unbelievable player, endlessly inventive and fresh-sounding as ever. He, like Miles Davis and  ahem..Lady Gaga, attended the prestigious Juilliard School of Music in New York where he trained as a flautist/flutist (no one really knows huh?). On this double LP released on the CTI label (a mighty fine US jazz/soul-jazz label with a roster including the likes of Bob James, Grover Washington Jr and many other luminaries of the genre) is considered by many as Laws' pinnacle and his most accomplished set of recordings. The flute is funky throughout and the many musos who play on this record are obviously guns in their own right.  The cover art is as striking as the music itself (that's why I like vinyl you see, it's the ultimate art form, music and visual art rolled into one nifty package, if the music is good that is...). The tunes are mostly made of covers ranging from a beautiful rendition of Gymnopedie #1 (By Erik Satie) to Moment's Notice, a scintillating Coltrane instrumental. It's worth mentioning that Laws has played with countless musical celebrities from Herbie Hancock to Aretha Franklin, Paul Simon and Stevie Wonder. The man is a legend.

 Hubert Laws in full flight here

Dig of the day: The NILSMEN- The Sand Step/Le Winston (1970)

After work today, I decided to stop by one of the many Salvation Army shops dotted around where I live (btw we call them Salvos down here). I walk into the store, swiftly locate the record bin and proceed to sift through the usual crap found in the aforementioned pile. I have to say that I have a soft spot for bargain bin 7"s. They always seem to grab my attention more than the LPs. Maybe it's because they're easier to handle, who knows? Or maybe it's because I've had better scores with 7" in op-shops. And besides, for 50 cents a pop, what have you got to lose, huh? Anyhow, after sorting a few of these babies I stumble across this mildly psychedelic picture sleeve 7". I flip it and read the blurb at the back about this Swedish lads who call themselves the Nilsmen. They're the best thing since slice bread or so it seems. It grabs my attention although the record looks more and more like a cigarette commercial as I examine it (There's a lady smoking Camels on the sleeve, There are camels on the sleeve, the lettering is clearly modelled on the Camel cigarettes logo, the B-side is called Le Winston...). I pull out the record and it's a mono issue on a German label...looks too cool to dismiss. I start thinking how this could possibly be a nugget of epic proportions. I get home, put it on the turntable and it so delivers! The record is an organ-drenched freakbeat-ish number with a couple of KILLER BREAKBEATS. The B-side is just as danceable. This is what crate-digging is all about folks. The simple pleasure of finding something totally obscure and totally awesome.

Here's the tune in full

EAST OF UNDERGROUND- S/T (1971) / THE MONKS- Black Monk Time (1966)

What do American GIs posted in Germany do when they've got too much time on their hands? They make classic records! What else? Here are two records showcasing the talent, skill and diversity lying dormant within the US military. Here are also two records with black sleeves, perhaps a sign of the global darkness and conflict-charged atmosphere surrounding the musicians who made these records, with US-led wars raging across the globe (and ultimately their sole premise for being stationed in Germany; the Cold War). 


The East Of Underground LP is a collection of soul and funk covers (I Want To Take You Higher by Sly & The Family Stone opens the LP, if that's any indication and Curtis Mayfield's (Don't Worry) If There's A Hell Below, We're All Going is one of the many highlights here). The renditions of these Afro-classics are impeccable, complete with top-notch vocal harmonies and jumpy basslines. This was Wax Poetics' (the hip-hop, jazz & soul magazine) first release when the record label of the same name got started. Not a bad choice for starters as this is a most totally obscure piece which only serious collectors would have even heard of, let alone owned an actual copy. The band's history is pretty sketchy at best so I shall not launch into it. It's a mighty fine record, take my word for it.


As for the Monks, well, isn't this one of the truly exciting garage/proto-punk records EVER made by anybody? Their influence has been enormous and even Julian Cope can be quoted in Krautrocksampler (his masterful account of the Kosmische Musik scene of the 60's/70's) saying that young Germans would have truly found inspiration in the revolutionary music made by these wild servicemen. What is striking when hearing this record for the first time is the ferocity with which Gary Burger's larynx explodes and the frantic pace of the drumming. This is a real groover of a record. You could dance to it if you so felt inclined. Then there's the organ which sounds as fresh today as it probably did back then. I don't think a great deal of folks would have heard this gem at the time and there aren't too many people who know about this record these days either. It's made for the folk like you or I, the nerds who endlessly hunt down records everywhere there is a crate to be dug. But we're drifting from the main point here. This record is magical and everyone who claims to like music should own it - NOT rip it from some dodgy file sharing service - and worship it. The tunes are raw and quite experimental, especially lyric-wise. Complications opens with the lines "Complications, Constipation, people die for you..." and Monk Time erupts into a political rant about the Vietnam War ("Why d'you send all these kids over there in Vietnam, Mad Vietcong, my brother died in Vietnam"). Other highlights include I Hate You and Drunken Maria, a bouncy organ-drenched and somewhat nonsensical ditty. The tribal rhythm can be best witnessed on songs like Higgle-Dy-Piggle-Dy and We Do Wie Du. A mighty record by any standards. 


Oh and I forgot to mention that the Monks actually dressed like Monks (with head shaved and all), but you knew that already.


Smiling Faces by East Of Underground and Drunken Maria by The Monks


Enjoy!

MUSTAFA OZKENT- Genclik Ile Elele (1972)

"The daddy of all Turkish rarities, this record has to be heard to be believed and even then it's still unbelievable. Vintage Turkish B-boy instrumental LP from 1972 which should be sharing throne space with other ultimate breaks and beats such as Michael Viner's Incredible Bongo Band, Funky Drummer and Johnny The Fox" 

Or so it says on the sticker on the sleeve of this wondrous re-issue. The UK record label Finders Keepers have a real knack for unearthing gems of a rare beauty from the shelves of oblivion. Every so often, whilst browsing on their website, I feel almost instantly compelled to purchase whichever latest offering they have dared release. Let's just say, it's a fucking glorious label. I'm almost certain that I'll be discussing more of their releases on this blog in a not too distant future. I would love to see Andy Votel's record collection which, no doubt, must be a behemoth of astronomical proportions. He's the co-founder of Finders Keepers by the way. Anyway, this record which we have here is the bomb, no less. They say "Anatolian Rock",  I say "give me more".  Mustafa Ozkent was a Turkish multi-instrumentalist whose passions included carpentry and electronics and who designed various instruments. The music found on this LP is purely instrumental and insanely funky. In fact, some parts are quite reminiscent of Can, the Krautrock outfit, especially the drumming which is not poles apart from Michael Karoli's work on Ege Bayamasi (funnily enough, Can's only Turkish titled LP). This LP is a riot from start to finish. The window to a world full of possibilities.

Check out the second track on this phenomenal record

MIXTAPE#1: Sunset In A Golden Horn (Acid-folk, Psych, Soundtrack music)

TINTERN ABBEY Vacuum Cleaner
THE YARDBIRDS Heart Full Of Soul
THE MISSING LINKS You're Drivin' Me Insane
ROY BUDD Main Theme - Carter Takes A Train
THE MOGOLS Sunset In Golden Horn
SIMON FINN Jerusalem
D.R.HOOKER Forge Your Own Chains
MICHAEL HURLEY & PALS Jocko's Lament
LALO SCHIFFRIN Dirty Harry's Creed
SERGE GAINSBOURG Black And White
OS MUTANTES Hey Boy
13th FLOOR ELEVATORS Slip Inside This House
QUASI Our Happiness Is Guaranteed
ESSRA MOHAWK Spiral
DUNCAN BROWNE Chloe In The Garden
BRIAN ENO King's Lead Hat
KOLLECTIV Rambo Zambo

YO LA TENGO- I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One (1997)

This is a record I have listened to so many times in the last, say, 10 years I almost know it off by heart. Yo La Tengo (whose name comes from baseball slang or so I was led to believe) are one of the most inventive and essential alternative rock bands to come out of the US (Sonic Youth and Pavement also come to mind). They met and formed around Hoboken in New Jersey and since the early 90's the line up consists of Ira Kaplan (guitars, vocals), Georgia Hubley (drums, vocals), and James McNew (bass, vocals). This double LP is a collection of mostly melodic songs with a pop sensibility. The album kicks in with instrumental tune Return To Hot Chicken which sets the mood for side one. It's quickly followed by Moby Octopad, a killer track based on a bass riff with harmony vocal from Georgia Hubley. Then tunes come thick and fast, most of them classics: Autumn Sweater, Little Honda, Sugarcube (insane shoegaze anthem), Stockholm Syndrome, One PM again...YLT are still making awesome records these days but they'll be hard-pressed to make a better record than this. They're a superb live outfit too.


Here's YLT doing what they do best.

The DREAM SYNDICATE- The Days Of Wine & Roses (1982)

This genuinely is one of the unsung treasures of early 80's rock. I would put it in the same bag as the Feelies' Crazy Rhythms or Pylon's Gyrate as a truly original collection of finely-crafted tunes. I discovered the Dream Syndicate through reading an article in a music mag and then went off on a mad, feverish search for this LP, which I eventually tracked down in a used records store in Melbourne. Happy as I was, I returned home with this sacred nugget and put it on my turntable. The sounds bursting out of this record almost straight away evoked the golden age of the Velvets and Television; crisp, clean guitars, driving bass and a post-punk sensibility in the drumming. The Dream Syndicate was an L.A band led by singer-guitarist Steve Wynn. The band line-up changed over the years with bassist Kendra Smith and guitarist Karl Precoda leaving to pursue other musical projects. The DM is often associated with the neo-psychedelia movement "Paisley Underground" alongside other L.A combos such as the Rain Parade or Mazzy Star (later on). The songs on this LP are nothing short of extraordinary. That's What You Always Say opens with an unforgettable bass riff and turns into a glorious guitar fest, When You Smile is a gentle post-punk ode to a loved one. The highlight of this album is undeniably the title track, a 9-minute long epic, which explodes into a ramshackle, shambolic tune complete with manic drumming and over the top vocals. Quite simply, there's not a bad song on this LP.

Also recommended is the Dream Syndicate's Live At Raji's (1989) which showcases many of the songs off TDOWAR. Fantastic stuff.

Listen to a live rendition of That's What You Always Say Here

Worthy read: Vinyl Junkies (Brett Milano)

A great read for all record nutters out there. Has interviews with notable record collectors/musicians. Thurston Moore and Peter Buck's accounts of how they came to record collecting are particularly insightful and so are the tales with other less notorious figures, like this guy who has a warehouse full of records. This book is rad.

Here's one of my favourite YouTube snippets of DJ Cut Chemist digging for records in a store in California.

DEMON FUZZ- Afreaka (1970)

Oh what a beast of a record this is. The sleeve says it all, menacing, dangerous and downright insane. The music is slightly less threatening with its funky horns and sometimes soulful vocals (although listening to album opener Past Present & Future you wouldn't think so). The genre that comes up the most when other freaks discuss this LP seems to be "progressive funk". I couldn't agree more. There's not enough prog-funk out there methinks. Besides, all it takes is one look at Demon Fuzz's label-mates on Dawn (I have the Dawn sampler right here): Comus (Acid folk nutters), Mungo Jerry (and one must note here that Demon Fuzz never got the attention they deserved because, amongst other things, Dawn records devoted 95% of their time and resources to promoting MOR hit In The Summertime, oh well...) , Heron, Mike Cooper, John McLaughlin and a smattering of super-obscure bands. Prog-funk fits well. Not much info is available about the group except that they were Brits (like the other mighty funk troupe Cymande - also highly recommended)  but tracking down this LP is well worth the effort. This LP is a masterpiece which should have its place in any record collection worth its salt. Plus it's been sampled to death by DJs the world over.

Demons give us some fuzz right here right now!

NEU!- Neu! 75 (1975)

Pulling this LP out is never a problem as the music contained within is faultless, galaxies beyond anything released in 1975. The LP has two very separate sides (as do all LPs some smart-arses will say). There's the ambient, more progressive side 1 and the proto-punk wig-out that is side 2. Both are equally entertaining in their own way. Neu! was a duo who formed in the German city of Dusseldorf in the early 70's. The two core members, Michael Rother and Klaus Dinger (R.I.P), started Neu! after splitting from Kraftwerk. The pair decided to focus on more lengthy, drawn-out music pieces that would go on to defy the boundaries of rock altogether (Hallogallo on Neu! is the quintessential example of what we're talking about here). Dinger is widely recognised as the creator of the 'motorik' drum rhythm which can be heard on vitually every Neu! track. On this LP, Dinger comes to the fore on numbers such as "Hero" or "E-musik", tracks that influenced countless post-punk bands (Public Image Limited, This Heat and Pere Ubu come to mind) and defined the sound of a generation. Neu! released 3 impeccable LPs during the 70's (Neu!2 is probably the weakest of the batch) and Rother/Dinger collaborated on diverse Krautrock projects such as Harmonia (with Rodelius/Moebius from Cluster) and the stellar La Dusseldorf. My copy of the LP is a clear vinyl reissue which makes me want to pull it out of the racks even more. Nuff said!

Hear Neu! on the apocalyptic Hero

BELLE AND SEBASTIAN: This Is Just A Modern Rock Song EP (1998)

This baby turned up today from Japan (Ebay purchase). This was the only major Belle & Sebastian release that I'd never got to buying for some strange reason. Anyway, I knew the songs from various other bootlegs and one must admit that it's not their strongest batch of tunes. Maybe I should mention that, in relation to other B&S releases this is not perhaps their most convincing effort but that some bands would be hard-pressed to put out a release as good as this. Maybe I'm biased. I don't really care.

I finally got to getting this because recently I finished reading the stupendous rock biog penned by Paul Whitelaw who seems to have spent a lot of time interviewing the various members of the cult Scottish outfit. The seemingly never-ending saga between Stuart Murdoch & Isobel Campbell is nothing short of fascinating. A fantastic read if, like yours truly, you are a fan of the band.

Here's a link to a cool B&S video

MOONDOG- Moondog (1969)

"Machines were mice and men were lions once upon a time . But now that it's the opposite it's twice upon a time" 

I came home in the pouring rain on my bike (I ride to work) and found this mighty jazz LP on my doorstep. I'd ordered it some time ago and it finally turned up. This is an original US press of the album. I don't know a great deal about Moondog except for the fact that he was some kind of blind street muso who invented instruments and performed on 6th Avenue in New York. His outfits earned him the nickname of "The Viking of 6th Avenue". The record is as great and enlightening as the sleeve that houses it. A must for all music snobs and vinyl heads alike.

Here's a cool Moondog ditty

URIAH HEEP- Salisbury (1971)

Here's an interesting find. I'm on a prog bender of sorts at the moment. Cannot get enough of the stuff. They say that's why punk happened, all the overblown 9 minute-drum solos and insane LP/song titles referencing either JJR Tolkien or Jules Vernes but I don't know. Truth is, I was just learning to crawl back then so how could I know, huh? I found this killer original Vertigo Label pressing in a record store in Melbourne whilst shaking my head to the lovely Echo & the Bunnymen soundtrack provided by the nerd behind the counter. I fell in love with the artwork and bought it. Uriah Heep are one of those semi-buried prog bands who produced some of the hardest rocking music of the genre. They formed in London in 1970 and apparently over 30 musicians played with UH over the years. I also own the debut Very'Eavy Very'Umble. I can only recommend those fine records to my fellow diggers.

Crate diggers of the world unite and take over

The one thing I have learnt after years of sniffing mercilessly every record bin that comes my way, be it in op-shops (that's charity shops for our UK cousins and thrift stores for our US ones), record stores or junk barns, is that finding cool LPs is an experience to be shared with fellow record nuts. The amount of time that I spend trailing through such fine establishments is only matched by the time I spend looking at record blogs and sussing out what other junkies are laying their dusty hands on. It's a bit like travelling without moving really. Anyway don't let me go off on any tangent or we are doomed big time.

After much reflection, I decided (perhaps against my better judgement) to share these wonderful experiences where you walk into a shop or at a market and you find something that makes your day, like the day I found the first Stones EP in near mint condition in the record bin of an op-shop for the monster sum of 50 cents (I live Down Under in Melbourne, capital of all things cool in OZ and don't let anybody tell you it's Sydney as only clowns would make such irrational statements).

RECORDS RECORDS AND MORE RECORDS!