Author Archive: dereksmusicblog

MULATA ASTATKE AND THE  ETHIOPIAN QUINTET-AFRO LATIN SOUL.

Mulatu Astatke and The Ethiopian Quintet-Afro Latin Soul. Label: Strut Records. By 1966, Ethiopian multi-instrumentalist Mulatu Astatke was twenty-three, and had already spent time studying music in London, Boston and New York. This included spells at two prestigious institutions,  London’s Trinity College of Music and  Boston’s Berklee College of Music. However, having finished his studies, …

Continue reading

DEUTSCH AMERIKANISCHE FREUNDSCHAFT-FUR IMMER.

Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft-Für Immer. Label: Groenland Records. History treats groups differently, and that was the case with Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft a.k.a. DAF,  who released four albums between 1980 and 1982. They’ve been described variously as the “godfathers of techno,” the pioneers of EBM and the forefathers of electropunk. DAF recorded five albums during the four …

Continue reading

THE WHO-LIVE AT THE ISLE OF WIGHT VOLUMES 1 AND 2 RECORD STORE DAY 2018 EDITIONS.

The Who-Live At The Isle Of Wight Volumes 1 and 2 Record Store Day 2018 Editions. Label: Rock Classics. During the late-sixties and early seventies, some of the most famous festivals took place and become part of musical history. By then, festivals were well established, with jazz fans attending many historic festival since the fifties and …

Continue reading

TOHRU AIZAWA QUARTET-TACHIBANA.

Tohru Aizawa Quartet-Tachibana.  Label: BBE Records. Release Date: ‘27th’ of July 2018. For many connoisseurs of jazz, especially seventies J-Jazz, one little known private pressing is their holy grail, and everywhere they go is the album they search for. There’s always the hope that in a backstreet record shop, antique centre or thrift store in …

Continue reading

VERY BE CAREFUL-DAISY’S BEAUTY SALON.

Very Be Careful-Daisy’s Beauty Salon. Label: Downtown Pijao and Steadybeat Records. Release Date: ‘20h’ July 2018. For over twenty years, Los Angeles-based vallenato veterans Very Be Careful have been playing their unique brand of music everywhere from bars, clubs and sports arenas to festivals in Britain, America and Japan. That is where many people heard Very Be Careful …

Continue reading

ARTURIO RUIZ DEL POZO-COMPOSICIONES NAVITAS-MUSIC FOR NATIVE PERUVIAN INSTRUMENTS AND MAGNETOPHONIC TAPE 1978-VINYL

Arturo Ruiz del Pozo-Composiciones Nativas-Music For Native Peruvian Instruments and Magnetophonic Tape 1978-Vinyl. Label: Buh Records. Arturo Ruiz del Pozo who would go on to become one of Peru’s leading avant-garde musicians, was born in the capital Lima, in 1949. By the time Arturo Ruiz del Pozo was a teenager, he had discovered music which …

Continue reading

KAT FRANKIE-BAD BEHAVIOUR.

Kat Frankie-Bad Behaviour. Label: Grönland Records. Romanian author Nico J. Genes wrote in her book Magnetic Reverie: “follow your dreams, let them guide you. Who knows where they may take you.” This is what Kat Frankie decided to do in 2004, when she gave up her job in Sydney, Australia, and left her family and …

Continue reading

HILDE MARIE HOLSEN-LAZULI.

Hilde Marie Holsen-Lazuli.  Label: Hubro Music. Three years after releasing her critically acclaimed debut album Ask, trumpeter and soundscape artist  Hilde Marie Holsen returns with her much-anticipated sophomore Lazuli, on Hubro Music. It features a suite of four compositions that were inspired by visual art, and were named after minerals that are used to colour …

Continue reading

APHEX TWIN-SELECTED AMBIENT WORKS 85-92.

Aphex Twin-Selected Ambient Works 85-92. Label: Apollo Records. Richard D. James was just twenty-one, when he dawned the Aphex Twin moniker, and released his debut album Selected Ambient Works 85-92 on Apollo Records in late November 1992. Initially, Selected Ambient Works 85-92 was only available as an import as Apollo Records, which was an imprint of …

Continue reading

DAVID AXELROD-SONGS OF INNOCENCE.

David Axelrod-Songs Of Innocence. Label: Now Again Records.   By the time David Axelrod began work on his debut album Songs Of Innocence in 1968, the thirty-seven year arranger, composer, drummer and producer old had enjoyed a chequered career. He had started off as a boxer, before changing direction and finding work in film and …

Continue reading

ALE HOP-BODILESS.

Ale Hop-Bodiless. Label: Buh Records. Recently, Berlin-based Ale Hop, who is one of Peru’s leading composers and experimental electronic musicians released her new album Bodiless on Lima-based Buh Records. Bodiless is a carefully crafted collection of nine new songs that feature Ale Hop’s trademark complex pop arrangements. However, Bodiless is quite different from Ale Hop’s …

Continue reading

JOHN COLTRANE-BOTH DIRECTIONS AT ONCE: THE LOST ALBUM. 

John Coltrane-Both Directions At Once: The Lost Album. Label: Impulse! As John Coltrane and his classic quartet arrived at the Van Gelder studios in Englewood Cliffs, on the ‘6th’ of March 1963, the band were in good spirits having played a barnstorming set at Birdland the night before. It was one of the best sets …

Continue reading

MILLIE JACKSON EXPOSED: THE MULTI-TRACK SESSIONS MIXED BY STEVE LEVINE.

Millie Jackson Exposed: The Multi-Track Sessions Mixed By Steve Levine. Label: Southbound Records. To remix or not to remix, that is the question that many critics and music fans have asked over the last few years. Especially if it’s a classic album, which adds to the controversy. Soon, feelings are running high at the thought …

Continue reading

MAKE MINE MONDO!

Make Mine Mondo! Label: Ace Records. Nowadays, with a record number of albums being released and each and every week, independent and major labels spend a considerable part of their budget promoting their latest releases. However, it wasn’t always that way, and Lew Bedell the owner of Doré Records was reluctant to spend money promoting a …

Continue reading

HOT PEPPER-SPANGLISH MOVEMENT.

Hot Pepper-Spanglish Movement. Label: Espacial Discos. By 1977, it looked as if the disco bubble would never burst as it provided the soundtrack to danceflooors in Britain, Europe and North America. DJs and dancers had been won over by disco which had grown in popularity over the past few years. Initially, disco was an underground …

Continue reading

PLANET BEAT-FROM THE SHEL TALMY VAULTS.

Planet Beat-From The Shel Talmy Vaults. Label: Big Beat. From 1962, right through until the early seventies, Chicago-born Shel Talmy was one of the most successful and innovative record producers working in the British music industry. He’s best known for discovering The Kinks and produced their first five albums. However, Shel Talmy also worked with …

Continue reading

NEW BREED R&B (VINYL)

New Breed R&B (Vinyl). Label: Kent Dance. The phrase New Breed R&B was coined way back in 2001, when Adrian Croasdell was compiling a new compilation for Kent Dance. This was New Breed R&B: Soulful 60’s Blues For Today’s Dancers, which featured a selection of songs from the original Kent and Modern labels. It was …

Continue reading

SYLVIAN AND CZUKAY-PLIGHT AND PREMONITION  AND FLUX AND MUTABILITY. 

Sylvian and Czukay-Plight and Premonition and Flux and Mutability. Label: Grönland Records. By early 1986, former Can bassist Holger Czukay was now a successful solo artist, and was working on his fourth solo album was eventually released in 1988 as Rome Remains Rome. It was being recorded at Can Studio, in Cologne, and Holger Czukay …

Continue reading

LARAAJI-SUN TRANSFORMATIONS-RECORD STORE DAY 2018.

Laraaji-Sun Transformations-Record Store Day 2018. Label: All Saints Records. Laraaji’s career has spanned five decades, and during that period, the American multi-instrumentalist has released around forty albums and countless collaborations. Many of these albums were self released by Laraaji on cassettes, and feature his unique and inimitable genre-melting sound. This is best described as a …

Continue reading

LA DISCOTEQUE PSYCHEDELIQUE VOLUME 1 (VINYL).

La Discoteque Psychédélique Volume 1 (Vinyl). Label: Boss-A-Tone Records. Nowadays, the compilation market in Britain is fiercely competitive, with independent and major record companies from home and abroad fighting for the compilation pound week after week. That has been the case for the last few years, and with every passing week new record companies join …

Continue reading