Cosmochemistry: The Melting Pot of The Elements (repost)

Soon after forming in the late Sixties, the Chosen Few became widely regarded as one the most accomplished harmony groups on the Jamaican music scene, as demonstrated by a series of hits for local producers, Derrick Harriott and ‘Prince’ Tony. A subsequent collaboration with Florida-based ex-pat, Noel Williams aka King Sporty spawned the reggae-funk masterpiece, ‘In Miami’ featuring backing from leading soul outfit K.C. & the Sunshine Band. The enduring popularity of the quartet, comprising Franklyn Spence and the three Browns – Busty, Noel and Errol – was demonstrated by the release of three acclaimed long players between 1973 and 1975, all of which were issued in the UK by the country’s premier Jamaican music record company, Trojan Records. This trio of albums form the basis of this superb collection of classic soulful reggae sounds, which is further enhanced by 11 bonus tracks from the period.

Swedish progressive rock legends The Flower Kings, and longtime label-partners InsideOutMusic, will begin an extensive reissue campaign in 2022, which will see the entire catalogue of the band reissued on CD & Vinyl in remastered editions, with it being the first time many of the albums have been available on wax. First up are 1995’s Back In The World of Adventures & 1996’s Retropolis, which both featured the line-up of Roine Stolt, Tomas Bodin, Michael Stolt, Jaime Salazar, Hasse Fröberg, Ulf Wallander and Hasse Bruniusson. They will be available as Ltd CD Digipak & Gatefold 2LP+CD & LP-booklet, both featuring remastered and partly remixed audio and expanded artwork and photo material from that period.

Having weathered so much adversity in their short career (starting with the demise of their original label and indefinite shelving of their first EP), the members of Red Bank, NJ's the Parlor Mob must be breathing a collective sigh of relief over the release of their first album, And You Were a Crow, in early 2008. If not, then at the very least it seems that the weight of these worries actually benefited the precocious quintet's songwriting, by lending a little extra weight of resolve and authenticity to their rootsy, retro-fueled but nevertheless contemporary sounding hard rock. This stems from a veritable melting pot of '70s influences, which the Parlor Mob go to great lengths to break down into their various basic ingredients before building them back up into exciting groove rockers like "Dead Wrong" and "Real Hard Headed," as well as beguiling, paired-down acoustic numbers such as "Angry Young Girl" and "Can't Keep No Good Boy Down," so that only a few anal retentive music obsessives might recognize their origins.