Charly Vinilo y CD

Review: Formed in Rome way back in 1966, Musica Elettronica Viva are something of an enigma: an avant-garde collective whose exact line-up is shrouded in mystery (it changed over the years by all accounts but confirming who founded the group has proved difficult) and whose released works tend towards the experimental and undeniably out-there. The Sound Pool was recorded in 1979 and surfaced on vinyl a year later. It's an undeniably odd but defiantly impressive four-part work that blends tape loops, avant-garde noise, distant drumming, discording free-jazz horns and pots-and-pans percussion. It sounds like it was recorded live, in a gigantic, reverb-heavy room, and is as experimental and avant-garde as they come. An under-celebrated classic of its type.

Review: Allen Toussaint was a production, songwriting and performance great who had a vast impact on music until his passing in 2015. Whipped Cream & Other Delights is a special, limited edition 7" that commemorates his work and features some of his most well-loved songs and famous tunes. First up is 'Whipped Cream' by The Stokes (which went on to become a worldwide hit via Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass album), then comes 'Here Come The Girls' "Working In The Coal Mine' by Lee Dorsey and 'Fortune Teller by Benny Spellman', all written of course by the one and only Allen Toussaint.