Café Del Mar - Dreams 6 (2013). Café del Mar Dreams continues its successful story with another great selection of 13 titles, carefully compiled by Toni Simonen Café del Mar Dreams 6 continues a series that was established in 2000, which explores the more ambient sound of Café del Mar. The album features fantastic new tracks from artists like Bliss, Amanaska, Afterlife and Chris Coco. Nearly all tracks on the album are exclusive…
Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews' third Verve album, Say That to Say This, might be the one he should have cut first. Backatown and For True - both produced by Galactic's Ben Ellman - were as steeped in rock and hip-hop as they were jazz and funk; they were actually very experimental records yet both charted and were well-received internationally. This date, co-produced with Raphael Saadiq, is a much more R&B-oriented recording - and proves a definite plus in a number of ways. Shorty's become much more disciplined, as revealed by this collection of groove-conscious soul and modern NOLA funk (and though it's more polished - having been recorded almost wholly in Hollywood - it is closer to what he does live). Things kick off with the title track, one of four instrumentals, led by Michael Ballard's whomping bassline…
On the positively baked Gentle Spirit, from 2011, Jonathan Wilson offered a stellar update of the early-'70s Laurel Canyon sound. For Fanfare, he is obviously inspired by the production techniques of that decade on both sides of the Atlantic. This is one of the most delightfully ornamented recordings to come down the pipe in quite some time. Its sound is so warm and inviting, it almost proves a distraction from the songs. Wilson's guest list is impressive: David Crosby, Graham Nash, Jackson Browne, Benmont Tench, Mike Campbell, and others contribute…
Everyone agrees that Deep Purple is one of founders of hard-rock and one of the bands that made a name for themselves in the most wonderful era of music, the 70's. At the time, 1990, Deep Purple already were an icon lead by the guitar genius Ritchie Blackmore. Slaves And Masters was the only album with Joe Lynn Turner, and definitely one of the most controversial and criticized albums of all time in the history of Deep Purple…
Nina Simone was one of the most moving, inspirational performers in the history of popular music. Here we present all the tracks from her debut album along with some incendiary live performances that give a glimpse of the force of nature that typified this remarkable artist. From love songs and ballads, through Jazz and Blues, to classics and roots, this set features some of her finest songs, with an introduction and detailed notes on the tracks featured.
Jimmie Driftwood (the recording and performing name of Arkansas school teacher, folklorist, and multi-instrumentalist James Corbitt Morris) began writing songs as a way to help his students learn about American history, and by the time all was said and done, he had written or adapted and recomposed over 6,000 folk songs, and his catalog is as rich as any in Americana, perhaps surpassed only by Woody Guthrie.
Cafe Del Marr Jazz maintains the reputation the Cafe Del Mar series has as a leader in chilled out, late evening, cocktails at sunset-type music. Here we have a jazzy twist on the theme. The vibe stays generally mellow but still throws in plenty of beat and percussion along with some gentle funk here and there, an occasional 50's feel, Enigma-type whisperings and quirky voiceovers - in other words plenty of variation and mood without straying too far from the dreamy feel-good laidback vibe Cafe del Mar is known.
There are lots of moods represented here. Kraak & Smaak's Danse Macabre is a kind of Mobyesque take on jazz with repeated slightly disembodied vocals appearing amongst the instrumentation…
For a Few Fuzz Guitars More is the sequel to A Fistful of Fuzz and like the first volume, features plenty of fuzz guitar. The feel of this collection is garagier (if that's a word) than A Fistful of Fuzz, but both volumes draw primarily from the late 1960s…
Protest Songs was recorded by Prefab Sprout in 1985 in the wake of the masterful Steve McQueen/Two Wheels Good, but shelved in favor of the subsequent From Langley Park to Memphis; it finally surfaced to little fanfare in 1989, appearing almost as mysteriously as it was abandoned four years earlier. It's a wonderful record, but perhaps too close in sound and spirit to Steve McQueen for comfort – From Langley Park, for all its flaws, is a much more adventurous effort, and with the benefit of hindsight, it seems reasonable to assume that Paddy McAloon wished not to stick with the tried-and-true but instead attempt something new and different, successful or not.