Review: Greg Jolly's 1981 jam 'It's Getting Sweeter' is the subject of this new tidy reissue on US label Enjoy. It's a real deep funk classic that has a lo-fi feel and vocals full of love and passion from both the male lead and the sweet female backers. The chords and drums are gently persuasive and it's a great way to ease yourself into an evening. This 45rpm is backed with 'Love Is' which picks up the pace and has a more funky and propulsive beat with acrobatic falsettos up top finishing it in style.
Review: The Firm was a UK supergroup that formed in 1984. Singer Paul Rodgers was the man responsible for getting together with guitarist Jimmy Page and the group became one of the most successful rock outfits of their era. They released a brace of brilliant albums - the self-titled debut in 1985, then a year later Mean Business - and played across the UK and US in the years after. One of the best shows they did was at the Oakland Coliseum on 15th March. Their extraordinary energy and fine set list was recorded for live FM Radio Broadcast and now you can listen back to the whole thing on vinyl for the first time ever.
Review: Blues great Elmore James was known for a couple of things, musically at least. King of the slide guitar, his penchant for the instrument is obvious. Meanwhile, his love of playing loud, in turn getting the most out of that powerhouse voice, is perhaps less apparent when listening now, 60 years after his death. A Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-r since 1992, his backing band would eventually comprise two musicians who played with the legendary Tampa Red, whose songs James also had a habit of recording. Blues After Hours is certainly definitive James stuff, a raw, drawly, barroom of a record that sees the artist and his accompaniment invoke memories, borrowed and owned, of hot evenings in Deep South bars. Sadly lost long before his time, dying from a heart attack in 1963, just days before a European tour that would have catapulted his name globally, this is a fantastic memento of true legend.
B-STOCK: Record slightly warped, creasing to corner of outer sleeve
Hard Times Killing Floor Blues (3:23)
Crow Jane (2:57)
Washington D.C. Hospital Center Blues (4:12)
Special Rider Blues (5:11)
Drunken Spree (2:49)
Cherryball (4:27)
How Long (2:56)
All Night Long (5:03)
Cypress Grove (4:21)
Look Down The Road (3:18)
My Gal (6:07)
I’m So Glad (1:57)
Review: ***B-STOCK: Record slightly warped, creasing to corner of outer sleeve***
Today! is Skip James' second album, originally released in 1966. Now reissued via Craft Recordings over half a century later, this 180-gram LP comes pressed onto heavyweight vinyl with proper retrospective care and attention. An almost entirely solo effort from the blues master, the likes of 'Hard Time Killing Floor Blues' and 'How Long' give atmospheric takes on hard times, amounting to a haunting account of cross-desert drives, driftings, and down-on-one's-luck limit-experiences. This 180-gram LP pressed at QRP includes an obi with notes by Scott Billington, a paper-wrapped jacket and (AAA) lacquers cut from the original master tapes by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab.
Review: Today! is Skip James' second album, originally released in 1966. Now reissued via Craft Recordings over half a century later, this 180-gram LP comes pressed onto heavyweight vinyl with proper retrospective care and attention. An almost entirely solo effort from the blues master, the likes of 'Hard Time Killing Floor Blues' and 'How Long' give atmospheric takes on hard times, amounting to a haunting account of cross-desert drives, driftings, and down-on-one's-luck limit-experiences. This 180-gram LP pressed at QRP includes an obi with notes by Scott Billington, a paper-wrapped jacket and (AAA) lacquers cut from the original master tapes by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab.
Review: Now considered a genuine legend of delta blues, Skip James spent much of his career in obscurity. He was finally tracked down and 'rediscovered' in the early 1960s, some 30 years after his only recordings were made, and promptly sent back into the studio. Today, officially his third studio album, was made and released in 1964 and shows the iconic bluesman at his very best. The 12 acoustic recordings on show brilliantly showcase his superbly soulful falsetto voice and incredible finger-picking guitar skills, with James providing awe-inspiring renditions of traditional blues numbers and his own compositions - many of which became staples in folk and blues clubs worldwide in the years that followed the album's release. An essential reissue of a genuinely important and iconic album.
Review: American jazz singer, guitarist, violinist and songwriter Lonnie Johnson is widely recognised as a pioneer of jazz guitar and jazz violin, at the storied late 1950s cutoff point where blues crossed into "jass". Known as one of the first, if not the first, blues-jazz players to ever play the electric violin, this new retrospective record, documenting his best works with fellow guitarist Elmer Snowden, sadly nonetheless does not feature this remarkable feat, although it does scout an impressive terrain through Johnson's versatility on electric guitar and vocals. Though masterful, these performances still flaunt the make-do character of the Toronto native's musical upbringing. Take 'Blues For Chris', a rather avant-garde domestic tease of a track that only faintly pulses through the blues form, as Johnson janks and picks at the guitar whilst seeming to tell a premortem joke.
The Place You'd Most Want To Live (interlude) (1:11)
Lord Have Mercy (3:51)
Sadie (2:52)
I Want You (4:00)
Wait Til I Get Over (2:47)
That Feeling (4:21)
See It Through (interlude) (4:43)
See It Through (3:54)
Someday We'll All Be Free (feat Skypp) (5:37)
Letter To My 17 Year Old Self (2:34)
Review: Normally found recording with his band The Indications, on this new record for Dead Oceans Durand Jones goes solo to explore a more idiosyncratic dimension to his Southern soul. Wait Til I Get Over is a highly personal record which finds Jones digging deep into his roots growing up in Louisiana, reflecting on his ancestry and delivering a potent black music which draws on gospel, rock n' roll and soul and pushes those fundamentals into exciting new places. It's a record to feel with every fibre of your body, with Jones' grit-edged but oh-so-sweet voice at the centre.
Scene 5: I Don't Know What I Can Possibly Do (2:45)
Scene 6: Mother's Milk (4:27)
Scene 7: Back Up William (4:40)
Scene 8: Everybody In Their Life At One Time Or Another (1:24)
Scene 9: Love For The Asking (7:57)
End: Credits Roll (6:18)
Review: Music for William Eggleston's Stranded in Canton, by Spiritualized's J Spaceman (Jason Pierce) and John Coxon, also known for his work as one half of ,Spring Heel Jack brings a long-awaited score to the raw and gritty scenes of Eggleston's 1970s art film, capturing Memphis in all its untamed glory. Recorded in 2015 after a live performance at London's Barbican Gallery, this release finally makes its way to vinyl via Fat Possum. Eggleston's black-and-white documentary dives into the rough-and-tumble life of Memphis, featuring local legends like Furry Lewis and Jim Dickinson, and portraying wild moments that include everything from pistol-firing antics to Russian roulette. The music echoes the film's visceral energy and nostaligia, offering a blend of haunting and ambient instrumentals that underscore the film's chaotic beauty. Spaceman, deeply inspired by Memphis's unique blend of magic and poverty, brings a raw appreciation to the soundtrack. With screenings set for major cities, this release presents a rare exploration of Memphis's unpolished charm that is an important part of this unique picture.
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