Capricorn Zodiac

The dozen signs of the Zodiac are ruminated upon during the pseudo-psychedelic Cosmic Sounds. This embarrassingly dated "concept" album was issued in late 1967 on Elektra Records . The recording – replete with equally absurd cover art – helped usher in the "age of Aquarius." Judging by the astrological psycho babble in these grooves, it may too have been the age of excess. But what should one expect from an album whose caveat reads "Must Be Played In The Dark"? Cosmic Sounds narrator Cyrus Faryar's other credits include proficiencies as a bouzouki player, bassist, guitarist, and sometimes vocalist for a plethora of diverse artists, namely Dave Guard & the Whiskeyhill Singers and the Modern Folk Quartet, as well as guest spots on albums by Mama Cass Elliot, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Buffalo Springfield, Fred Neil, and even the Firesign Theatre.

Nat Adderley & Cannonball Adderley - Soul Zodiac (1972) {Stateside-EMI 50999 2 08515 2 1 rel 2008}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 420 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 158 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 34 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1972, 2008 Stateside / EMI Records | 50999 2 08515 2 1
Jazz / Hard Bop / Soul Jazz / Jazz Funk / Cornet / Saxophone

A few seconds of spacy echo loops and you know where this album is coming from – the early jazz/rock era, the Age of Aquarius and all that. Yet this crazy amalgam of jazz, rock, electronics, and spoken astrological advice by the popular Los Angeles DJ Rick Holmes actually works, for the music behind the soulfully intoned words is very inventive and Holmes plays effectively off its rhythms.

Cannonball Adderley - Love, Sex And The Zodiac (1974) {Fantasy–BGP Records CDBGPM235 rel 2011}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 217 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 92 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 16 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1974, 2011 BGP Records | CDBGPM 235
Jazz / Soul Jazz / Hard Bop / Jazz Funk / Saxophone

Jazz saxophone great Cannonball Adderley is not usually thought of as a novelty artist, or even one who made embarrassing sellout moves to the pop market, regardless of his success with soul-jazz and his hit 1967 single "Mercy Mercy Mercy." This 1974 album, however, can scarcely be thought of as anything but an embarrassing novelty, and one that will have little appeal to fans of the records for which Adderley is most famous. The real artist on this album is not so much Adderley as Rick Holmes (jazz DJ on Los Angeles radio station KBCA), who wrote and narrated the voice-overs to which Adderley and other musicians supplied a musical backdrop.