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!!!