2 stunners from BT Express – the group's 3rd and 6th albums – back to back on one CD! Energy To Burn is a killer set that's extremely well-titled – as BT Express were one of the hottest ensemble funk acts of their time! The groove here is definitely aimed at a more disco-oriented dancefloor than before – but the overall sound is plenty funky enough for our ears – thanks to some amazing horn passages arranged by Carlos Ward, whose own work on sax and flute really add an edgey quality to the set. Ward's horns are really fantastic – cutting and turning with a sharply-honed tone that keeps things fresh throughout – even when the rhythms are hitting more of a mainstream dancefloor sound. Titles include the group's mellow soul version of "Now That We've Found Love", plus "Herbs", "Time Tunnel", "Energy To Burn", and "Make Your Body Move".
The core of this group – John Surman, Alan Skidmore, Peter Lemer, Tony Reeves, and Jon Hiseman – recorded an LP titled Local Colour for ESP-Disk in 1966. The plan, conceived the year after the 50th anniversary of the recording session, was to reunite the original quintet, which had existed for six months back in '66, but unfortunately Nisar Ahmad (George) Khan, tenor saxophonist on the original album, came down with something and couldn't appear. Alan Skidmore (Lemer bandmate in SOS) was deputized and, as all familiar with his career would expect and you will hear, came through with flying local colors at the concert on February 20, 2018 at noted London jazz club Pizza Express. Four months later, Jon Hiseman passed away at age 73 after battling a brain tumor.
Blazing sitar and crazed percussion, a 50 year old mystery! Known only in legend from their appearance in '33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee', the 'Moon Express' album finally arrives 50 years after its recording! Paul Arnold (mastermind behind The Inner Sounds Of The Id) and Tsvia & the Followers weave peculiar music that ebbs and flows with unusual time signatures, sonic baths of wild, exotic percussion and other fascinating and hypnotic sounds, all under Arnold's booming narratives and Tsvia Abarbanel's spellbinding, out of this world vocals. Enjoy this lost 60s treasure as you were intended to half a century ago!
Although Autobahn was a left-field masterpiece, Trans-Europe Express is often cited as perhaps the archetypal (and most accessible) Kraftwerk album. Melodic themes are repeated often and occasionally interwoven over deliberate, chugging beats, sometimes with manipulated vocals; the effect is mechanical yet hypnotic…