Featuring Herb Robertson on trumpets, mutes & compositions, Frank Gratkowski on alto sax & clarinets, Julien Petit on tenor & bari saxes, Marcin Oles on double bass and Bartlomiej Brat Oles on drums. It is always great to hear the ever-inspired Oles brothers playing with the cream of improvisers like David Murray, Ken Vandermark, Chris Speed and Erik Friedlander…
In a way, the Ramones are an ideal band to anthologize. No matter how cohesive their records were (or not), their albums always played like collections of singles and since singles are easy to anthologize, it stands to reason that the best of the Ramones' songs will sound good in nearly any context; hell, the haphazard Ramones Mania proved that. However, Rhino's double-disc Hey! Ho! Let's Go: Ramones Anthology has much greater goals than being just another collection – it strives to be the final word on the Ramones.
Funkmaster Flex keeps his Mix Tape: 60 Minute of Funk going with Volume 4, which features mainly freestyles. Performers include some of the industries top rappers - primarily New Yorkers like DMX and Ja Rule but also a few out-of-town surprises like Eminem and Ludacris - most of whom freestyle over Flex's own productions. The plethora of exclusive productions sets Volume 4 apart from its predecessors, which were more straightforward mix albums comprised of previously released hits. As such, Volume 4 offers a lot of performances that cannot be found elsewhere, so fans of the featured rappers should take note.
Gary Boyle - The Dancer (1977). Esoteric Recordings are pleased to announce a new remastered edition of the first solo album by acclaimed guitarist Gary Boyle, founder of Jazz Rock group Isotope. Released in 1978, "The Dancer" was Boyle’s first solo album and followed the final Isotope album, “Deep End”. The recording sessions saw Boyle joined by such celebrated alumni as Robin Lumley, Rod Argent, Dave MacRae, Morris Pert and Simon Phillips. The resulting album is now regarded as a classic Jazz/Rock album…
Not many bands can honestly say they changed the shape of rock & roll as we know it and upended part of the larger global culture at the same time. The Ramones did just that; by stripping down and speeding up rock & roll like a hot rod that could outrun all competition, and injecting it with a massive dose of snotty, absurdist humor, they gave the music a new lease on life, and left behind a handful of brilliant recordings that are still a solid kick to hear nearly four decades after their debut hit the streets. Punk rock first emerged from a very specific time and place, but the best of it is timeless in its joyous roar, and the first four Ramones albums absolutely live up to that description.
Will the real Slim Shady please stand up? On Eminem's sophomore album, he can't decide who he wants to be: the deranged pseudo-psycho of the Slim Shady LP, or a nice guy who just likes to rhyme about slicing and dicing his girlfriend ("Kim"). Of course, according to Eminem, he's just kidding. He refuses to take responsibility for the misogynistic, homophobic bile he spews, whining that he's the victim of people who don't get his unique sense of humor. It's good old America's fault if the kids aren't alright (Eminem blames bad parenting), and he's just capitalizing on Uncle Sam's dark side. On the Marshall Mathers LP, he's ambivalent about his fame, angry at his life, pissed off that people take him seriously, and fightin' mad at boy bands–and a lot of other white people.