Eclectic Grooves

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...

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 I have been alerted by someone that the link for the Sun City Girls live show from La Sala Rossa is no longer active.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...

It was brought to my attention by the FM Shades blog that Charles Gocher from the Sun City Girls passed away on February 20th at the age of 54. Charles had been battling cancer over the last three years, but apparently he only wanted his immediate family and friends to know about his illness. I was privileged enough to witness his frenetic free-jazz inspired drumming and spoken-word at a Sun City Girls show at Dante's in Portland, OR on 11/13/02. It was a sight to behold , and an experience that I will never forget. I wish I had gone to the band's last show in Portland, but unfortunately I can't turn back the hands of time. In honor of Charles and his recordings with the Sun City Girls , I am posting an album from the Sun City Girls' limited edition Carnival Folklore Resurrection Series called The Handsome Stranger which primarily focuses on the profanity-laced beat poet stylings of Gocher with Alan and Rick Bishop complementing him with a loungey jazz backdrop on pian...