Eclectic Grooves

The last Choice Cuts was posted over four years ago, so I figured that it was high time for a new entry in this series. It is once again time for me to reach back in the refrigerator for some "choice cuts". Each time, I will be featuring sizzling and succulent morsels that are grabbing my ear right now that range from funk to country, from afro-beat to garage rock, etc. Sometimes there will be a theme to these songs that ties them all together in a nice bow, but other times the songs featured will just be a musical hodgepodge of eclectic delights. Without further ado, lets see what "choice cuts" the vinyl butcher has prepared for us today. Blo- Chant to Mother Earth From: Chapter One [1973, EMI] Last week I was in my car listening to the Nigeria 70 compilation from Strut Records when this song by Blo instantly captured my attention. It starts out with a shimmering cymbal splash that segues into a slow groove featuring b...

Eddie Harris- Free Speech [Atlantic Records, 1970] Many moons ago, I wrote an in-depth feature on Eddie Harris and his pioneering use of the varitone saxophone on the now defunct blog Ear Fuzz . Today's edition of Rediscoveries of Lost Gems will focus on Eddie's oft-overlooked LP called Free Speech . In the canon of jazz, and specifically in Eddie's discography, this album was never fully appreciated when it was first pressed in 1970.   In a sense, Eddie Harris was an anomaly in the world of jazz, always looking for what's next while the rest of the jazz scene was struggling to keep up with him. He could have very easily stuck with the tried and true soul jazz sound that got him noticed, but instead he chose the road less traveled filled with potholes, bumps and dead-ends. The opening cut "Wait Please," starts out unassumingly enough with a slow drum and bass groove accompanying the intoxicating sound of Harris's Varitone sax. I...

As I promised last week, here is the conclusion to my list of favorite albums from 2016. I hope you find something on this list that grabs your attention. 6) Thee Oh Sees- A Weird Exits When I listened to A Weird Exits for the first time, I made a snap judgement that this was finally going to be a Thee Oh Sees record that wouldn't make my year-end list. It didn't have the same melodic magic as much of the band's discography to that point, and a lot of the songs had a similar vibe to them. After giving the record some time to sink in, I realized that my initial thoughts were clouded by expectations of what they should sound like. Once I relaxed, and just let the sounds wash over me, I couldn't get enough of the blistering guitars and pummeling drums that filled my earhole. The sound that is presented on this record is pure ecstatic euphoria! Gelatinous Cube and Unwrap the Fiend Pt.2 7) Aesop Rock- The Impossible Kid   It's been...

Considering that my girlfriend and I were forced to evacuate our apartment last fall due to the sloping of the landscape, I'm sure it hadn't come as a surprise to anyone that the Favorite Albums of 2016 list didn't come to fruition before the end of the year. However, after receiving a recent request from someone in the comments section, I decided to post a posthumous list of my favorites from last year. While this isn't the usual exhaustive list that I have posted in the past, I still hope that you find something on here that perks up your ears. 1) Steve Gunn- Eyes on the Line On Steve Gunn's latest LP, he manages to mostly keep the song lengths under five minutes, while still packing them with plenty of extended guitar breaks. It's a more punchy, upbeat affair than Way Out Weather , further establishing Gunn as a singer-songwriter who is just as likely to launch into a blistering guitar solo as he is to gently lull you into a trance with hi...