Eclectic Grooves

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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- ...

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...