"Big Brother & the Holding Company," is an early recording by Big Brother and the Holding Company, a psychedelic blues rock San Francisco-based band during the late 1960's. The record survives largely because of their great, great chick singer, Janis Joplin, of course, who joined them on a Chicago gig. Although Joplin fans will know that she did not, unfortunately, survive the 1970's, as she passed on October 4, 1970 (aged 27), in Los Angeles, California. But in her brief career, despite her troubled life, she left behind a stunning, gutsy repertory of work that has long since floated free of, and outlived, Big Brother. This record, however, was laid down about six months before she (and they) achieved lasting blazing stardom at the 1967 Monterrey Pop Festival.
A Flock Of Bleeps (2003). A winning collaboration between two of the psy trance scenes best producers. The legendary Simon Posford (Hallucinogen, Shpongle) and the highly prolific Bemji Vaughan (Prometheus), Younger Brother is guaranteed to be huge at underground parties and in the homes of trance and chillout fans everywhere. Younger Brother is the latest trance project from Simon, who has been concentrating on his downtempo project Shpongle, and will be a welcome 4/4 dancelfoor return to his numerous dance music fans. Still he has brought the latest influences with him merging them together into a new blend of Shpongle's slow beats and the faster dance of Hallucinogen's trance.
Prometheus' influence further accentuates the eclectic nature of this project with a wide range of sounds, samples, effects and beats that create unique fusion of musical fantasia…
With the outfit's four members hailing from Stockholm, Åmål, and Gothenburg, My Brother The Wind is a fully improvisational cosmic rock collective consisting of members of widely known Swedish acts Makajodama, Magnolia, Animal Daydream and most notably Anekdoten, one of the more widely recognized names in the 1990s prog rock revival. Those who frequent the works of Popol Vuh, Amon Duul, Sun Ra, Träd, Gräs Och Stenar, Ash Ra Tempel, Gong, Pink Floyd and other visionary, psychedelic rock artists are advised to investigate this act.
Brother Jack McDuff recorded an enormous number of albums during the '60s, so it can be difficult to figure out where to start digging a little deeper into his output (which Hammond B-3 fans will definitely want to do). 1967's Tobacco Road stands out from the pack for a couple of reasons. First, unlike many of his groove-centric albums, it's heavy on standards and pop/rock tunes (seven of nine cuts), which make for excellent matches with McDuff's highly melodic, piano-influenced style. What's more, about half of the album finds McDuff leading a large ten-piece ensemble arranged and conducted by J.J. Jackson, including a soulful horn section that sounds straight out of Memphis or Muscle Shoals (though this was recorded at Chess studios in Chicago)…