Author Archive: dereksmusicblog
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
TORTUSA AND BREISTEIN-MIND VESSEL.
Tortusa and Breistein-Mind Vessel. Label: Jazzland Recordings. In March 2016, Norwegian-American electronic musician John Derek Bishop a.k.a.Tortusa, released his critically acclaimed debut album I Know This Place-The Eivind Aarset Collages on Jazzland Recordings. It was hailed by critics as an ambitious and innovative album of groundbreaking music. The judges of the prestigious Spellemann Prize 2016 …
NARADA MICHAEL WALDEN-LOOKING AT YOU, LOOKING AT ME, THE NATURE OF THINGS AND DIVINE EMOTION.
Narada Michael Walden-Looking At You, Looking At Me, The Nature of Things and Divine Emotion. Label: BGO Records. The first many record buyers heard of Narada Michael Walden, was when he was announced as Billy Cobham’s replacement in the second lineup of the Mahavishnu Orchestra in 1974. By then, Narada Michael Walden was just twenty-two …
THE BEGINNING OF THE END: THE EXISTENTIAL PSYCHODRAMA IN COUNTRY MUSIC (1956-1972).
The Beginning Of The End: The Existential Psychodrama In Country Music (1956-1972) Label: The Iron Mountain Analogue Research. Across the world, staff at record label had been working hard for many months on nearly 500 reissues and lovingly curated compilations, which were due to be released on the ‘21st’ of April 2018 which was For Records Store …
GORDON JACKSON-THINKING BACK.
Gordon Jackson-Thinking Back. Label: Sunbeam Records. Nowadays, Gordon Jackson’s 1969 lost classic Thinking Back, which has just been reissued by Sunbeam Records, is often referred to as a: “lost Traffic album.” However, that isn’t strictly true, despite Dave Mason, Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood, and Steve Winwood all play on Thinking Back. As is often the case, there’s …
MOGWAI-TEN RAPID (COLLECTED RECORDINGS 1996-1997)-RECORD STORE DAY 2018 EDITION.
Mogwai-Ten Rapid (Collected Recordings 1996–1997) Record Store Day 2018 Edition. Label: Rock Action Records. Nowadays, there aren’t many bands that stay together twenty-seven years, and release thirteen studio albums, five soundtracks and two live albums. There’s also the small matter of two remix albums and the four compilations that the Glasgow-based band Mogwai have released. The …
SOOTHSAYERS-TRADITION.
Soothsayers-Tradition. Label: Wah Wah 45s Release Date: ‘29th’ June 2018. New Album Of The Week. For nearly two decades, London-based Afro-dub pioneers Soothsayers, have been winning friends and influencing audiences with their unique brand of politically charged music at their now legendary concerts. Soothsayers have also released a number of singles, EPs and six albums …
DISQUES DEBS INTERNATIONAL VOLUME 1.
Disques Debs International Volume 1. Label: Strut. Release Date: ‘29th’ July 2018. Compilation Of The Week. Nowadays, Disques Debs International which was founded by Henri Debs in Guadeloupe, in the late-fifties, is regarded by many connoisseurs as the one of the best, if not greatest of all French Caribbean labels. That is high praise, given …
DIALI CISSOKHO AND KAIRA BA-ROUTES.
Diali Cissokho and Kaira Ba-Routes. Label: Twelve Eight Records. Release Date: ‘29th’ June 2018. Just over six years ago, North Carolina-based Senegalese kora master Diali Cissokho and Kaira Ba released their debut album Resonance in April 2012. Resonance featured songs about mythology, migration and justice, while Diali Cissokho and Kaira Ba combined elements of African …
dereksmusicblog
dereksmusicblog 