If you're still seeing this

and you haven't got this: Frankie Knuckles - Ministry of Sound 1991

Update

I'm still alive! Unfortunately the last few months have been very involved, between classes and music I've been making a point of treasuring my isolationary time. Posts will be, as they have been (for entirely too long now), sporadic. I'll try to make a point of throwing out the kind of thing that keeps this blog on your rss feed (or at least keeps bringing you back to check on it).

I first heard this when I was 17, which was after I'd gotten my first car. This is one of the two defining songs of the time when I drove a car. I really miss driving when I listen to this one.

DL it, pop it on cdr, tape, whatever you use to play music in your car. Flip it on on the interstate and enjoy the feeling of pressing that pedal down as far as it'll go.

floor it

Supermax - Types of Skin & Meets the Almighty

AGH! Crazy time of year for me. Forgot what it was like to be a student again, then tax season came along. Here's another bit I've nabbed over time, between projects and class I haven't had time to rip anything new. That said, I'll not do you wrong. Lordy.

CD rip of two albums of disco-style funk-punk-rock-whatever. Imagine the Talking Heads around this period, except not afraid either of rocking hard or laying down some proper dance shit. Like Nat Glover (Kid Creole) but freaked like Damião (pick your spelling, I've no idea) doing house. It's not P-Funk, but it could fit in the pantheon. I wouldn't be even remotely surprised if it was produced by Bill Laswell (check this though it's probably on this blog somewhere since I ripped my copy long ago).

Shit, don't take my word for it.



Supermax - Types of Skin & Meets the Almighty (1980/81)

Mandrill - Mandrill Is...

Mandrill - Mandrill Is... (1972)

Wild funk, fucked fusion, acid soul. This record easily places among the most impressive achievements of the era, ranging from Sly-style soul-funk (Ape is High), JBs doling out the hard-edge shit (Git it All), to straight up acid narrative tracks (the eminently samplable Universal Rhythms) and psych ballads (Central Park). Hell, forget Universal Rhythms, the whole album is chock full of great breaks and instrumental compositions worthy of breaking out the old MPC. This record is certainly a production of its' time, but only more amazing for it. Honestly, best suited to headphones and a couple of rips rather than dropping at a party. There's a lot here to enjoy, give it your best attention & enjoy.

I have this LP, but as I recall this particular rip was one I found on a now defunct blog (that one with four different interconnected blogs I can't remember the name of anymore). The quality is roughly equal to my own rips, but starting in the next week or two I'll finally have myself set up once again to rip records. I've got a grip of house singles, a couple of mix records, and a few LPs. Added to that, I've spent the last few days getting my old MP3 collection transferred from my several old hard drives to my new dual 1.5tb external mirror raid setup, so I've got a few hundred tidbits to share. Stay tuned...

Myriam Makeba - Comme Une Symphone D'Amour

Myriam Makeba - Comme Une Symphone D'Amour (1979/89)

Here's a change of pace from the recent spate of synth music. Myriam Makeba was, as it happens, married to the great Hugh Maskela, a few of whose albums I posted over the summer. If you liked those, you'll find this just as agreeable. Otherwise, I doubt anyone can help themselves from falling for the woman known as Mama Afrika. For some background I'll just toss out some Wikipedia.

Makeba then travelled to London where she met Harry Belafonte, who assisted her in gaining entry to and fame in the United States. She released many of her most famous hits there including "Pata Pata", "The Click Song" ("Qongqothwane" in Xhosa), and "Malaika". In 1966, Makeba received the Grammy Award for Best Folk Recording together with Harry Belafonte for An Evening With Belafonte/Makeba. The album dealt with the political plight of black South Africans under apartheid.

She discovered that her South African passport was revoked when she tried to return there in 1960 for her mother's funeral. In 1963, after testifying against apartheid before the United Nations, her South African citizenship and her right to return to the country were revoked. She has had nine passports, [3] and was granted honorary citizenship of ten countries.[4]

Her marriage to Trinidadian civil rights activist and Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee leader Stokely Carmichael in 1968 caused controversy in the United States, and her record deals and tours were cancelled. As a result of this, the couple moved to Guinea, where they became close with President Ahmed Sékou Touré and his wife.[5] Makeba separated from Carmichael in 1973, and continued to perform primarily in Africa, South America and Europe. She was one of the African and Afro-American entertainers at the 1974 Rumble in the Jungle match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman held in Zaïre. Makeba also served as a Guinean delegate to the United Nations, for which she won the Dag Hammarskjöld Peace Prize in 1986.

This is the 1989 CD re-release of this album (best of?) featuring 5 bonus tracks including "The Click Song" as mentioned above. It dips between pop, jazz, and traditional numbers in french, english, and xhosa. Wonderful album, here's some youtube vids as a preview for those unacquainted with the 'Mistress of African Song'.



African Convention (on this record)

(Fun tidbit: The Lion Cries seems to have been 'covered'/ripped-off by Paul Simon on Graceland. Guess it wasn't just Ladysmith Black Mambazo then.)

Oswald Starr Dollar - Freestyle Demo

Oswald Starr Dollar - Freestyle Demo (2007?)

This one's a demo my friend Ozzie passed along to me a year or two ago. We talked about getting together a live band (check the last track for his collab with Hypnotic Brass Ens.) but he was in a car accident and decided to take a little while before getting back into it last I heard from him. Soul guitar isn't exactly my forte though, so I don't know how much would have ever come of it anyway. Tight production and the man can fucking sing, that's all I have to say. Enjoy.