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Showing posts from 2007

Best Music of 2007 Part 2

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As promised, here is the next installment from my Best of 2007 list. I hope you enjoy it! 6)People- Misbegotten Man I first read heard about these guys after reading an article in Signal To Noise a couple months ago. This creative duo from Brooklyn, NY creates abrasive math-rock that combines propulsive free jazz drumming with atonal guitar noodling. The kicker is that singer/guitarist Mary Halverson (guitarist for Anthony Braxton and Trevor Dunn's Trio Convulsan) sings in a style that evokes a 30's style jazz torch singer and this is fused with Kevin Shea's frenzied scattershot drumming. Incredibly infectious ear candy for adventurous listeners. People- Urban Fable #1- The Accidental Ruin of a Romantic Populist and Eyeball Balls Reporting Faster Than the Speed of Sounds From: Misbegotten Man Click here to buy this album 7)Nina Nastasia and Jim White- You Follow Me I already wrote about this album earlier this year. You can find that post here along with four more track

Best Music of 2007 Part 1

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I realize it's getting down to the wire, but I've managed to finally decide on 25 albums for the list. I don't know how people have been able to narrow it down to 10 this year, since it was such a fantastic year for creative musical masterpieces. This is the first installment of my Best Music of 2007 list. I will try to feature five more albums from the list each day to complete the list by the end of next week. Please note that the numbers are not in any order of rank or importance. You might also notice that the list doesn't have any blues or folk. Most of the blues and folk that I listen to tends to be the old-school stuff like Fred Neil, Robert Johnson and John Lee Hooker. Unfortunately most of these cats are no longer around, so my lists tend to focus on indie rock, experimental and hip-hop. Please feel free to voice your opinion if you have discrepancies with this list, or want to post your own list. I definitely try to have an open mind about opinions regarding a

Get It While You Can... Again

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I've received a couple requests to have the Howard Tate "Get It While You Can" re-upped, so I hope you enjoy this soul classic originally released on Verve in 1966. Here is a link to the original post on Howard Tate from May. In other news, I plan on posting a Best Music of 2007 list soon. Hopefully, I can get it to you in time to purchase some great music for the holidays. My hope was to have this list completed by early December, but you know how life can get busy. I'm heading home to Peoria, IL for the holidays, so I'm trying to get everything wrapped up here before I leave for my trip. I will try to re-upload some Christmas blues and soul gems that I had on here last year, as well as a few more new ones. You're probably thinking that this blog is turning into a funk and soul blog, but I have plenty of free jazz and discordant improvisation stuff to fill the experimental music enthusiast's stocking too. Also, after the holidays, I plan on starting a new

Holy Grail of Soul

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I first became aware of this rare soul gem after reading the article on Freddie Terrell and the Soul Expedition in the April/May issue of Wax Poetics. For more information on Freddie Terrell, here is a review I wrote about Freddie Terrell and the Soul Expedition on Ear Fuzz in August. Freddie was recruited as the guitar player in Lee Moses and the Showstoppers band before Lee had recorded anything on wax. I'm not sure which songs Freddie plays on throughout Time and Place , but there is no doubt that his spirit and grace was present during the recording sessions for the album. If anyone has any extra info on Freddie's contributions to Time and Place, please give a shout. Lee Moses recorded Time and Place on Maple Records in 1971, and it has stood the test of time as a soul/funk/gospel/psych masterpiece for the ages. It is considered by most reviewers to be one of the greatest unsung soul records ever. Peope who dug the Howard Tate record I posted on here several months a

Backwoods Campfire Folk

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A couple people requested this out-of-print release from the amazing Nevada City folk singer Alela Diane, so here you go. Forest Parade was originally self-released and hand-made by Alela herself, but it is no longer available to buy in any format. I was fortunate enough to find these files on the internet several months ago after an exhaustive search. Those of you who were lucky enough to purchase a copy of this before it went out of print were undoubtedly graced with a beautiful handmade CD made completely by Alela's hands. I did get my hands on a Pirates Gospel limited edition CD with beautiful hand lettered art and graphics. Well worth the money! Forest Parade is a hauntingly minimal record filled with fragile vocals and lightly plucked guitar that relaxes your body and mind. Each song features Alela on vocals and guitar with very few overdubs and minimal accompaniment. These songs cast a seductive spell on the listener that can't be broken until the final seconds of the

Stirring Up a Heady Brew

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I'm back after an unexpected hiatus due to getting over a cold and searching for a new job. Thanks to everyone who downloaded the film noir mix, and especially to those who left comments. I have been listening to so much music in the past couple weeks that I feel as if I will implode if I don't share some of it with the rest of you. Now on to the Eclectic Mix that I have brewing in my mind today. Stir in a little African groove with Japanese instrumental surf rock. Mix in a little Turkish psychedelic fuzz rock groove and add equal parts sublime free jazz. Finally, toss in a dash of apocalyptic instrumental rock and top it off with a whirling dervish of space-age bachelor pop. The result is an easily digestible musical stew that will surely delight your pallet. Enjoy! Tracklist 1) The Antarcticans- The 2000 Year Clearing of All Peace- 7:25 2) Sharp Five- Sakura Sakura- 3:21 3) Ric Colbeck Quartet- Subdued- 6:20 4) Erkin Koray- Cemalim- 7:43 5) Ne Zhdali- Hungarian Young Years-

Aural Film Noir Excursions Redux

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Back by popular demand! Well, not really, but I had to say it. Recently, a person that goes the by the initials "LD" requested that this film noir mix be re-upped. Thanks to "LD", those of you who didn't get a chance to hear/download this before will get a second chance. It was originally posted on January 8, 2007, back when Eclectic Grooves was still in it's early stages of development. If you want to see the original post for this, please go here . I love compiling mix-tapes/Cd's, but this one was a real labor of love. I believe that this mix is my greatest achievement. I would love to hear what you think about the mix. Aural Film Noir Excursions Re-up Here's the setlist: Addendum: It has been brought to my attention by one of the visitors that this link has expired, so I am posting a new link so that more readers can download this mix. Please remember that I will try to grant most requests to re-up links on here as long

All Hallows Eve 2007

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Here are some more Halloween goodies for your listening pleasure. Enjoy! The Haunted House- 20 Tracks to Make You Jump in the Night This is one swanky, toe-tapping, smart and sassy collection taken from old-timey blues and jazz 78's including Louis Armstrong's "The Skeleton In the Closet" and Ma Rainey's "Black Cat, Hoot Owl Blues". This is the Halloween album that you will want to put on when you've had your fill of spooky sounds and ghost stories, and are ready to jump-n-jive with the best of them. Enjoy! Tracklist 1. The Haunted House - The Three Ginx 2. Nightmare - Artie Shaw And His Orchestra 3. The Skeleton In The Closet - Louis Armstrong 4. Skeleton Jangle - The Original Dixieland Five 5. 'Tain't No Sin (To Take Off Your Skin And Dance Around In Your Bones) - Dan Russo And His Oriole Orchestra 6. Dry Bones - Fats Waller And His Rhythm 7. Bogey Wail - Jack Hylton And His Orchestra/Sam Browne 8. Boogaboo - Jelly Roll Morton's Red Hot

Spooky Vibrations

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I'm sorry that I haven't been posting much this week, but I've just gotten over a nasty cold. Thanks to those of you who commented on my 1 year anniversary post. I really appreciated the kind words, especially since I wasn't feeling great. I wanted to let you know that I have reposted the links from last years Halloween post here . While these songs aren't Halloween in the traditional sense, I'm sure they will fit nicely alongside the other spooky sounds in today's post. Also, you can sample selections from these three releases in My Box player on the left of the page. Please let me know what you think of the Box. Kid Stuff Repertory Theater "Mostly Ghostly" [Kid Stuff, 1962] In 1977, Kid Stuff released an intensely experimental Halloween sound effects album called "Mostly Ghostly. " The cover is very deceptive in that it looks like a Halloween record aimed at little children. What you get instead is a demented spookfest filled with bub

Eclectic Grooves Turns the Page

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It's hard to believe that Eclectic Grooves has already been around for a year. It seems like just yesterday that I posted to Blogger for the first time. While the year hasn't been as prolific or productive as I would have liked, I feel that it has been a great year in many ways. In honor of my one year aniversary, I am reposting a link to the Evan Parker live show at the 411 Club- Portland, Oregon that was first posted on here last December. This concert featured Evan Parker on saxophones, Alexander Von Schlippenbach on Piano and Paul Lytton on drums. It was recorded on mindisc by yours truly, and it is an amazing reproduction of the concert with an amazing sonic clarity that makes you feel like you are actually there. I am not going to go into detail here, since I am still getting over a cold. However, please visit the original post for more information and enjoy the re-up of this amazing performance. Thanks to everyone who has stopped by throughout the past year, and helped

Problems with Links Being Removed

Unfortunately, the Brotzmann link has been removed from all services linked to Sharebee. This is the 3rd time I uploaded this file, so I am not going to take the time to upload again. Apparently certain people don't want you to hear these recordings, unless you pay 30+ for an import copy. I am perplexed as to why this link keeps getting deleted, while the links for new releases that are in print do not get removed. Are we sending the message that it's alright to share new releases but not out-of-print titles that can only be bought for a high import price? I know that this has happened to many other bloggers out there, so I present you with this question: How am I supposed to share out-of-print records with people if they keep getting deleted by the file-sharing services? What file sharing services are less likely to remove my shares? I have used Sharebee which includes Rapidshare, Z-Share, Badongo and Megaupload, Media-Fire and Z-share. They have all deleted this lin

A Little July in October

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Well, I apologize for the lack of new posts this week, but I have been under the weather. If you want to know when this site is updated in the future, please sign up for my feed via Feedburner. Another way to receive this information is by adding Eclectic Grooves to your Technorati favorites . I hope to update more frequently next week with some new tunes that I'm sure you will dig. In the meantime, please feel free to leave any requests in the "General comments" above. It has been brought to my attention that the audio on Jolly Mary didn't sound right. So, I have uploaded a different version of this song as a separate download here . Please let me know if there are any other problems. July- S/T This UK psychedelic gem is out of print in the US, but it can be purchased here in an expensive Japanese import edition. As far as I know, this is the only slab of wax that July ever recorded. Epic Records released this record at the height of psych rock's popularity i

Comments at a Standstill

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Link has been removed for the 3rd time, so I have thrown in the towel on the Brotzman/Hopkins/Ali share. Please see the above message for details on this. Well, it appears that using Z-Share is not going to work, since they have already deleted the Brotzmann/Hopkins/Ali link from their server. Most of the file sharing services have been unreliable lately, but I am re-upping this link with Mediafire. Please let me know if there are any problems with the download using Mediafire. Now onto more pressing issues: Lately there have been a lot of vistors here who have downloaded shares without leaving a comment. I too have downloaded something from a blog and then didn't leave a comment because I couldn't remember where I had gotten it from. So, I know where you're coming from on that one. However, it is generally just nice to hear that people appreciate what I'm doing here. A simple "thank you" will suffice, and I don't think that this is too much to ask. For

This Ain't No Easy Listening

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Brotzmann/Hopkins/Ali- Songlines Let me start off by saying that I am in no way responsible if your eardrums start bleeding from the sheer intensity and volume of this recording. It's not pure cacophony like Machine Gun or Nipples , but it is definitely not cocktail party jazz for the bachelor pad generation. Peter Brotzmann has played with so many free jazz greats that if I was to list them all here it would take up the entire post. "Songlines" was recorded in 1991 as part of the mythical "Total Music Meeting" with Fred Hopkins and Rashied Ali joining Brotzmann for an intensely spiritual meeting of the minds. This meeting was apparently meant to bring three saxophonists, three bassists and threee drummers from both sides of the Atlantic to play together in all sorts of interesting combinations. This record is the end result of one of these fantastically creative collaborations. "Songlines" features virtuoso performances by all three members, but you

Punk Jazz from Macabre Land

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Dull Schicksal- They Saved Hitler's Brain Unfortunately, I was unable to find much information on this album and that includes the cover art. This image was taken from the movie trailer for the 1966 Sci-Fi film that was adapted for television from the feature film "Madmen of Mandoras" directed by David Bradley. I do know that it was released in 1991 on the Dutch Label ADM, but it's extremely hard to find. Dull Schicksal was a Rotterdam-based band that existed from 1984 to 1999 with permanent members Lukas Simonis (guitar, synth, vocals), Hajo Doorn (drums, keyboards, vocals, also known as Raoul Goudvis), Colin McClure (accordeon, bass, sousaphone, keyboards, vocals, sometimes listed as Colin McClean), and Henk Bakker (flute, clarinet, vocals). I can only describe "They Saved Hitler's Brain" as avant garde prog punk jazz that sounds like nothing I've ever heard before. It has elements of The Ex , Marc Ribot and Dog Faced Hermans with marching band a

Bitter Lullabies

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Nina Nastasia- I Write Down Lists , Odd Said the Doe , Our Discussion , and Late Night From: You Follow Me [Fatcat, 2007] This is probably the first time these two words have ever been uttered in the same sentence- free-jazz folk. But, that's exactly what Nina Nastasia's latest album entitled "You Follow Me" sounds like. I know some of you won't agree with me on this, but I'm not saying it sounds like Milford Graves or Sunny Murray . The drums just sound like they could easily be accompanied by squalling saxophones and trumpets. Steve Albini , the highly revered sound engineer on Nastasia's previous albums and founding member of Shellac , is manning the boards again with his trademark drum sound remaining perfectly intact on this recording. Nastasia is joined on the record by Jim White from the Australian group the Dirty Three whose inventive free-form drumming creates a sound that is entrancing and complex. Nina's haunting and fragile vocals co

Bucket of Blues

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Classic Blues from Smithsonian Folkways I figured that I would shake things up a little bit by posting this compilation of raw and gritty blues. Smithsonian Folkways, long revered for releasing amazing compilations of classic blues, folk, international and bluegrass, have really pulled out the stops here. Classic Blues is a diverse collection of timeless blues featuring Mississipi Delta, Chicago, St Louis and Southwest styles. Artists on here range from popular virtuosos such as Big Bill Broonzy, Memphis Slim and Son House to lesser known dynamos such as Cat Iron, K.C Douglas and Vera Hall. After listening to this record on repeat for three weeks now, I can't seem to get these tunes out of my head. If you are new to blues music or are just interested in checking out some great toe- tapping tunes from some of the major trendsetters in blues music, you will love this collection. Highlights for me include the lyrically playful country blues number "Mule-Ridin Blues" by Big

Monomono in Stereo

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Monomono- Dawn of Awareness Lately, I have been on a psychedelic afro-beat kick. You will probably be into Monomono's Dawn of Awareness if you dug the Chrissy Zebby Tembo from last week . However, their sound is more reminiscent of Fela Kuti's syncopated afro-beat funk than Tembo's afro-psych fuzz guitar sound. "Dawn of Awareness" was released on Capitol Records in 1974 to little critical acclaim. Friday Jumbo, the leader of Monomono was a member of Fela's group before he joined forces with vocalist Joni Hasstrup and bassist Kenneth Okulolo to form Monomono. The opening track entitled "Awareness Is What You Need" really nails the Fela afro-beat sound while still creating it's own sound. "Ipade Aladun" is the longest track on here at just over eight minutes and it really cooks with soulful vocals laid over a bed of funky organs and keyboards. Lots of breaks and weird sound effects for the beat junkies on this track alone. At just under f

Worship At the Altar of Number 9

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Ric Colbeck Quartet- The Sun Is Coming Up [UK Fontana, 1970] This one was featured on Church Number Nine back in May, but the link was removed a couple months ago. I want to dedicate this post to them, because I most likely wouldn't have been exposed to Ric Colbeck if they hadn't posted it. Thurston Moore from Sonic Youth proclaims this as #5 on his top 10 from the Free Jazz underground list, and I can definitely see why. "Aphrodite" starts with a frenzied drum solo right out the gates that stands up to Rashied Ali's dynamic work on Coltrane's "Interstellar Space". The drums continue this erratic tempo throughout the entire song but are joined by flurries of intense blowing from Mike Osborne on Alto Sax and Ric Colbeck on trumpet. There are some electrifying parts around the ten minute mark of the song where Ric's trumpet and Mike's alto sax combine for a dissonant mind-melting excursion. Towards the end of the track, a bass solo slows down t

Afro-Psychedelic Sunshine

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Chrissy Zebby Tembo and Ngozi Family- My Ancestors I recently heard this blasting in a record store and I had to have it. Catchy, upbeat melodies collide with psychedelic fuzz guitar solos to create a sound that immediately grabs the listener by the ear. People who have a predilection for Nigerian and high-life music as well as lo-fi garage and 60's psych-rock will definitley dig this. Besides having "Oh Yeh Yeh" featured on the Love Peace and Poetry-African Psychedelic Music comp and the praise from a few underground DJ's, the exposure to Chrissy Zebby Tembo's music has been minimal. The album was recently reissued on wax after being out-of-print for a long time, and it looks to be a limited presssing of 430 copies. I have uploaded the entire record for you to sample. If you like the album, please purchase it at your local independent record store or by following this link . Your comments are always appreciated!

Spinning Circles Around Your Mind

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William S. Fischer- Circles I don't know how many of you have actually heard this one, but a DJ/music junkie friend of mine turned me on to it several years ago. There is an incredibly eclectic melange of styles represented here that runs the gamut from ambient electronic moog experiments to funky jazz fusion recalling Tony Williams "Emergency" sessions . William S. Fischer was an arranger for Herbie Mann and Nat Adderly records before Herbie gave William the opportunity to record his own record for his Embryo label. The personnel on this one is top-notch- Billy Cobham- Drums, Ron Carter-Bass, Hugh McCracken and Eric Weissberg on gutiars, William Fischer- moog synthesizer and Bill Robinson- vocals. "Patience Is Virtue" combines a commanding Eugene McDaniels-inspired vocal with an infectious funky rock groove. "Saigon" pummels you into submission with a rapid-fire tempo combined with Axelrod-inspired orchestral flourishes that is guaranteed to get your

Shards of Delicate Noise

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Sir Richard Bishop of Sun City Girls I posted something on here in dedication to the Sun City Girl's Charlie Gocher back in February. Here's a link to that post if you're interested in checking it out. I'm not sure if the links are still up for the music, but let me know and I can re-up them. I have been alerted by someone that the link for the Sun City Girls live show from La Sala Rossa is no longer active. Here is a reup of that show: Sun City Girls- La Sala Rossa Disc 1 Sun City Girls- La Sala Rossa Disc 2 Sir Richard Bishop's solo stuff is worlds away from the avant garde experimentalism of the Sun City Girls. Still, he is the only person I know of that can play an acoustic guitar so loud that you'll be reaching for your earplugs. I have seen him live about four times now, but there is really no way of explaining the beauty and noise created by his gifted hands. He is equal p