Oumou Sangare: "Moussolou"; 1991 cd on World Circuit/Nonsuch
Oumou is a beautiful, soulful, uplifting vocalist. Backed by two additional female singers, violin, bass, guitar, kamelngoni & bongos, this is a wonderful cd. The beat and songs remain in my head long after hearing the cd. Recorded in the Ivory Coast with liner notes translated in English.
Santana: "III" - 1998 Sony (originally 1971 Columbia)
Excellent jazz rock fusion with Latin overtures and excellent jams. On his third album Santana increased his percussive capacities with the addition of Coke Escovedo, and added Neal Schon as the second guitarist. Tower of Power's horn section added horn work on some tunes, and other guests help make this collection of tunes excellent. While not offering stand out radio "hits," this collection shines with consistently great material; no smucky stuff! This 1998 CD reissue features three live bonus tracks from Filmore West - July 4, 1971. Recommended.
Nitin Sawhney: "Prophesy" - 2001 V2
The first song is like Michael Jackson did some good brown acid and met an eccentric Middle Easterner. Numerous other tunes are edgy trip hop with strong messages. Most of the rest of the CD is spectacular worldly techno soundscapes, trip-hop, and perhaps jazzy intellectual house. Really cool.
Stephen Scott: "the Beautiful Thing" - 1997 Polygram
Modern, straight, easy going jazz with some nice piano by Scott and sax work by various blowers including Branford Marsalis. "Forevermore" is very nice but many tunes lack originality or unique instrumentality. It's OK.
Compay Segundo: "Calle Salud" - 1999 Nonesuch
Wow, what a wonderful performer with the Buena Vista Social Club, and in a return from retirement for this 1999 production. Absolutely beautiful Cuban music. The two female vocalist tunes are spectacular. Recommended.
Seldom Scene: "Act 3" - Recorded 1973/1990 Rebel
A fine and unique bluegrass beauty with fine instrumentation, great vocals, and fun song selection. Versions of "Chim-chim-cher-ee" and "Rider" are wonderful. Seventeen tunes with John Duffey, John Starling, Ben Eldridge, Mike Auldridge, Tom
Seldom Scene: "Old Train" - 1988 Rebel Records
Perhaps my favorite from them with "Wait a Minute," "Old Train," "Pan American," and "Working On A Building." John Duffey, John Starling, Ben Eldridge, Mike Auldridge and Tom Grey sound wonderful with guests Ricky Skaggs and Linda Ronstadt. Recommended.
Seldom Scene: "A Change of Scenery" - 1988 Sugar Hill
Good selections, expecially their version of "Settin' Me Up."
The Schankman Twins: "Duality" - 1996 City West Records
These talented, beautiful, young folksy/bluegrass singers play banjo and fiddle on 15 tracks, mostly covers, including "Blue Kentucky Girl," "Sally Ann," "Thibodaux," and Dolly Parton's "Applejack."
Diane Schuur: "Blues for Schuur" - 1997 GRP
Excellent selection of jazz-blues tunes, including five Charles Brown songs. Wonderful vocals and production. Perhaps her best. Recommended.
Martin Sexton: "The American" - 1998 Atlantic
Very nice folksy rock reminiscent of Nick Drake, Chris Isaac, and the Fine Young Cannibals. Some songs are a little lackluster but on "The American" and others Martin really shines. His voice oscillations are fun and distinctive. Nice instrumentation.
Shaggy: "Boombastic" - 1995 Virgin
Powerful singer with loud, upbeat rapper reggae style. Sometime obnoxious and commercial, at other times he's has a good, infectious sound.
Elliott Sharp: "Tectonics" - 1999 Knitting Factory
Is it weirdness for weirdness sake, or should you just turn it up and groove to the glaring guitar effects and unpredictable instrumentation and jarring sounds. I'm still trying to figure it out!
Bim Sherman: "Miracle" - Mantra/On-U Sound
Is this on my top ten? Way cool ethereal dub & ambient reggae with Bim's silky smooth vocals. Highly Recommended.
Bim Sherman: "Love Forever" - EFA (Import)
Seventeen classic early tunes by reggae's sweetest and most ethereal voice. Very nice.
Shonen Knife: "Rock Animals" - 1993 Virgin
Kind of a girly punky flirty rockin alternative Japanese pop trio. I bought this after hearing D.J. 99 on KGNU play "Butterfly Boy." Quirky and fun and cute while cutting edge hard pop punk.
Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers - 1987 Manhattan/Capital/Blue Note
Straight ahead jazz from 1954-55, but with at least four highly recognizable tunes in the jazz world: "Creepin' In," "Stop Time," "To Whom it May Concern," and "Doodlin'." Way cool.
Horace Silver Quintet: "Six Pieces of Silver" - 1988 Capitol
Ten classic Silver pieces from the 1950's and 1960's. Tracks include three versions of "Senor blues" including a vocal version.
Simon and Garfunkel: "Collected Works" - 1981 CBS [3 CDs]
Fifty eight classic singer songwriter beauties with many well know gems such as "Mrs. Robinson," "Scarborough Fair," and "I Am A Rock," and a few lesser know but lovely tunes such as "Sparrow" and "Last Night I had the Strangest Dream." Very different from his remarkable solo stuff over the years and while a tad dated, still recommendable.
SinŽe: Deep Water Dropoff" - 1999 Wicklow
Modern, deep, somewhat mysterious and polished mix of ancient UK musics with modern ethereal sounds and beautiful instrumentation.
Singers and Players: "Revenge of the Underdog" - 1997 On-U
Super, heavy duty deep On-U dub with vocals by Bim Sherman & Prince Far I. I'd highly recommend anything by Singers and Players for rastafari dub and reggae.
Si Se - 2001 Luaka Bop
Beautiful sultry female vocals, hip, cool, mostly danceable tunes, upbeat and varied. Very nice!
Sixteen Horsepower - 1995 A&M
Deep and strong edgy alternative rock tunes with feeling. Unique and creative.
Sixteen Horsepower: "Secret South" - 2000 Razor
Sometimes reminescent and as intense as the Pogues or Nick Cave. The little issue I have with this one is the volume adjustment factor. Some songs you need to turn up in the beginning, then turn down as the beautiful phantasmagoric climax approaches! Hey, it's still very good.
Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder: "Bluegrass Rules!" - 1997 Rounder
Once Ricky got over his country contracts he could produce the music he wanted to - hot bluegrass. This CD is superb as is his live performaces with Kentucky Thunder. Recommended.
Ricky Skaggs: "Ancient Tones" - 1999 Skaggs Family
Another killer bluegrass selection of twelve cooking tunes and some dynamite picking by Skaggs and the boys. Very nice versions of "Walls of Time," "Mighty Dark to Travel," and "Pig in a Pen."
Sly Dunbar: "Sly, Wicked and Slick" - 1979 Virgin (London) [vinyl]
All instrumental classic Sly on percussion, Robert Shakespeare on Bass, a dozen others creating beautiful dub tunes including a version of "Sesame Street." Way hip! Ahead of its time.
Smashing Pumpkins: "Lull" - 1991 Caroline (ep)
Four songs, two pleasant, artsy and rather mellow alternative rock, two blaring hard grungy tunes. The mellow ones are super.
Huey Smith and his Clowns: "For Dancing" - 1961 Edsel/ACE/1999 Demon
Classic New Orleans R&B flovored rock n' roll with unique lyrics from songs such as "Rockin' Behind the Iron Curtain' & "Teber-cu-lucas & The Sinus Flu." Nice work.
Kendra Smith: "Five Ways of Disappearing" - 1995 4AD
Kendra has some cool vocals on this really hip, smooth, sultry masterpiece. Sometimes it's a little slow but always beautiful, deep, and often mesmerizing. Recommended.
Patti Smith: "Easter" - 1978 Arista
Perhaps my favorite of hers with one truly unique and intense song after another. So many years later it withstands the test of time as a pioneering punk classic with a rough style and disgruntled grace.
Snakefinger: "A Collection" - 1988 Cryptic
Yeah, he's a strange guitarist and writer but sometimes you just turn it up and groove to the non-commercial, weird vocalizations and song compositions. Recommended to all Ralph record fans.
Hank Snow: "Greatest Hits 1949-1980" - RCA [Japanese]
One of my favorite country musicians because of his beautiful vocals and song selection. This three CD set includes 85 tuens spanning four decades. Most of it is great but I really love the earlier stuff, including "The Golden Rocket," "Spanish Fire Ball," and "Honeymoon on a Rocketship."
Sorten Muld: "Mark II" - 1997 Sony/NorthSide
Very powerful and beautiful Danish singer with upbeat tunes with electronics, bagpipes, and strings. One of NorthSide's finest. Recommended.
Joseph Spence: "Happy All the Time" - 1985 Hannibal/WB
Funky old man's grungy, gritty, rambling of traditional and original Caribbean tunes. Unique vocalizing and simple yet intricate guitar licks.
DJ Spooky vs. the Freight Elevator Quartet: "File Under Futurism" - Caipirinha
Funky and groovy dj strangeness and flowing explorations.
Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys: "Sixteen Years" - 1995 Copper Creek
Nice collection of hot picks with Charlie Sizemore on guitar and lead vocals, Curly Ray Cline on fiddle, along with Ralph, Junior Blankenship and Jack Cooke. Nice clean picking, vocals and harmonizing.
Ralph Stanley: "Short Life of Trouble - Songs of Grayson and Whitter" - 1996 Rebel
At the turn of the century Grayson and Whitter produced some mighty fine guitar and fiddle tunes. Many decades later Ralph and company bring them back to life. It's a very good CD, but to be honest, I'd like to hear someone a tad younger singing. Still, it's great that Ralph brought these wonderful tunes back to life.
Steeleye Span: "Rocket Cottage"
Great progressive English fusion rock. Maddy Prior has a wonderful voice. I saw them long ago in Washington D.C. and have numerous albums. It's all good!
Al Stewart: "Rhymes in Rooms" - 1992 Mesa
A live recording featuring the talented guitarist Peter White. Very nice renditions of eleven tunes, including "Year of the Cat," "Time Passages," "On the Border," and "Nostradamus."
Al Stewart: "Famous Last Words" - 1993 Mesa
Some very good tunes, but some a bit overproduced or too anxious to be commercially accessible. Not my favorite but OK.
Al Stewart (with Laurence Juber): "Between the Wars" 1995 Mesa
It's unfortunate "Year of the Cat" was so overplayed while Al put out so many wonderful songs. I saw Al with Laurence Juber twice in the 1990's and I'll look forward to seeing him again. I like his compositions, guitar work and style. He is pleasant and upbeat with thoughtful lyrics. Laurence Juber, formerly with Paul McCartney, is a masterful guitarist. Way cool.
Stiff Little Fingers: "Inflammable Material" - 1979 Restless Retro
Hard, fast, rough!
George Strait: "If You Ain't Lovin' You Ain't Livin'" - 1988 MCA
In my humble opinion most modern country is too rock oriented and lacking feeling and emotion. George produces many songs per CD that are heartfelt and catchy. He does not rely on the hard rockin' sound though some tunes are are very lively. This production has a few gems and some mediocre tunes.
For me this doesn't have the drive or creativity of earlier releases. They do good versions of "96 Tears" and "Too Many Teardrops."
Strength in Numbers: "Too Late to Turn Back Now"; 1977 album; 1992 cd on Flying Fish.
An amazingly high quality live recording from the 1977 4th Annual Telluride Bluegrass and Country Festival. While no recorded music can quite catch the vibrancy of the extraordinary Sam Bush (photos) on mandolin or fiddle, this cd does a super job. With John Cowan's strong vocals, Curtis Burch on guitar and vocals, and Courtney Johnson on banjo, these guys really cook on all the songs, especially "Fly Through the Country." "Red Man Blues" is a fine instrumental, "High Lonesome Sound" features Peter Rowan, and "Lonesome and a Long Way from Home" features John Hartford on fiddle. See: http://www.sambush.com/
Strength in Numbers: "Barren County"; 1979 album; 1992 cd on Flying Fish/Rounder
This 1979 release features Sam Bush on mandolin, fiddle, and electric guitar. He also produces this collection of nine songs. Lots of vocals by Sam and John Cowan, with heavy banjo by Courtney Johnson. Consistently excellent picking. If you ever get the chance, see Sam Bush live. While many musicians slow down their playing pace as they age, Sam seems more technically talented and energetic today (2000) than back at the time of this release. Watch for a cd with him and David Grisman to be released, hopefully, in 2002.
Strength in Numbers: "The Telluride Sessions" - 1989 MCA
Ten smokin' tunes showing the best of new grass instrumentality.
Sugar Minott: "Happy Together" - 1991 HeartBeat
OK collection of dancehall style popish, somewhat commercial sounding international tunes. He's one of the best live acts I've ever seen but I find his earlier stuff more potent.
Matt Suggs: "Golden Days Before They End"; Merge Records
Great sound. Smooth, hip, fresh, sometimes a little quirky. Catchy without a polished commercial sound. Seemingly like a cross between Cracker, the Kinks and Procol Harum. Simple songs with depth that stick with you. While slighty moody, overall upbeat and enjoyable.
Sun Ra & His Intergalaxtic Arkestra: "Second Star to the Right (Salute to Walt Disney)" - 1995 c & p Leo Records
Sun Ra does Disney with "Zip a Dee Doo Dah," "High Ho!," "and a ten and a half minute "Whistle While You Work," plus others. Well done and lots of fun!
Tierney Sutton: "Introducing" - 1997 A-Records
Fourteen beautiful jazz tunes ranging from Chick Corea's "High Wire" to Jerome Kern's "This Song is You." Very nice selections.
Matthew Sweet: "Girlfriend" - 1989 EMI
Kind of pop rock with hip vocals. Borders on commerciality but rather nice with some infectious tunes.
Talking Heads: "Fear of Music" - 1979 Sire
Really cool and creative effort by this quirky new wave powerhouse. Easily one of their best with production help by Brian Eno. Recommended.
Tangerine Dream: "Stratosfear" 1976 Virgin
Excellent space music might make my top five of best synthesizer space albums of all time. Creative, atmospheric, drifting and dreamy with cool movements and flow. Highly recommended.
Tangerine Dream: "Tyranny of Beauty," 1995 Miramar
Compared to the 1976 release, "Stratosfear," this seems like smucky pop electronica. I may have to sell it along with "Melrose." Minimal originality or uniqueness, and too electro-fied to be meditative.
Tannahill Weavers: "Best of 1979-1989" - 1989 Green Linnet
Great collection of mostly traditional Scottish folk tunes. Some up-tempo instrumentals with guitars, flutes, bagpipe, and fiddle, and some slower male vocal tunes.
Art Tatum: "The Standard Transcriptions" - 1999 Storyville [import]
Two discs of 61 smoking solo piano masterpieces from 1935-45. This guy cooks...a piano players pianist.
Koko Taylor - 1969 MCA
Her first recording is rough, tough, and distinctive with a super version of "Wang Dang Doodle" and eleven others blues tunes.
Omar Faruk Tekbilek: "Alif - Love Supreme" - 2002 Narada
Real cool Sufi, Persian, Turkish, Mediterranean transnational world fusion music with multi-instrumentalist Steve Shehan. On 3-26-02 I saw him at the Boulder Theatre with a fine fusion band behind him playing percussion, drums, bass, and keyboards. Omar would switch back and forth between wind instruments and a stringed instrument similar to a sitar.
Telek: "Serious Tam" - 2000 Real World
George Telek of Papua New Guinea produces some beautiful and somewhat haunting melodies with a modern back-up band reminiscent of some of Peter Gabriel's early work. Very nice.
Television Personalities: "Closer to God" - 1992 Fire/Seed Records
Ninteen quirky and punky ditties you probably never heard on even alternative radio. This one is perhaps more accessible than their others from the previous decade, but also a bit dark. Strange psychedelia new wave.
Ten Years After: "A Space in Time" - 1971 Chrysalis
A classic of quality rock, generally not too grungy and hard, but rock with feeling. The classic "I'd Love to Change the World" is alone worth having this gem. Alvin Lee's guitar work is beautiful.
Chris Thile: "Stealing Second" - 1997 Sugar Hill
Amazingly gifted mandolin and bouzouki player. His instrumental compositions show incredible sophistication, variation, and instrumental perfection. Backed by Sam Bush, Russ Barenberg, Jerry Douglas, Allison Brown and others. See Nickel Creek PHOTOS
Tubeway Army - 1979 Beggars Banquet (vinyl)
Gary Numan gained popularity with his song "Cars" on his first solo album. This is earlier stuff and far more hard driving and a bit less mechanical. Fresh and creative hard driving cross between punk and new wave, this trio has a nice sound if you like Numan's voice, which I do.
Tuxedomoon: "Half-Mute/Scream With A View"; cd compiled with the 1979-80 vinyl album and ep.
Cutting edge dark, primitive, simplistic, yet enjoyable tunes for the sometimes melancholic. This cd contains the album "Half-mute" and ep "Scream With a View." This represents anti-pop, non-commercial semi-minimalist ditties from the very creative Steven Brown, Blaine Reininger, Peter Principle and Michael Belfer (on the ep). There's a few instrumentals mixed in, including the cool "Tritone (Musica Diablo)." Other really cool, catchy songs include: "59 to 1", "Volo Vivace," "7Years," & "Special Treatment for the Family Man." With the heavy bass, synthesizers, keyboards, electronic percussion, occasional violin and usually dour vocals, the songs leave a deep impression. Not for the timid and shallow! For a history, see: http://www.hol.gr/artists/ntrian/tuxihist.htm
Tuxedomoon: "Holy Wars"; 1985 Joeboy/Crammed Discs.
Not as dark or adventuresome as "Half Mute." Rather melancholic lyrics epitomize Tuxedomoon, such as the lines from "Egypt": "Wish I was with the Ancient Egyptians, With how many thousand Gods, Someone to turn to someone to pray to, Someone to listen to the silence of my tears." These guys make enjoyable use of synthesizers, alto sax, trumpets, and expressive vocals. The instrumentals are deep, and the vocal songs heavy. Peter Principle's bass playing is real hip. This is a smoother production and less quirkiness than "Half Mute," yet without as many songs that I walk away humming. Overall a smooth tapestry of songs on the edge of warm comfort and nervous edginess.
UB40: "Signing Off" - 1980 Virgin
Excellent collection of well thought out, produced and played English reggae tunes. Recommended.
U Roy: "Serious Matter" - Tabou1 (French)
Daddy U Roy's smoking collection of tunes with guests Dennis Brown, Israel Vibration, Horace Andy, Cheb Aissa & others. Turn it up for the skankinest DJ from Jamaica joined by hot superstars. Wow! Recommended for old style DJ lovers.
U Roy: "Babylon Kingdom Must Fall" - 1996 Ariwa/RAS
Another strong collection of the master D.J.s work mixed by Mad Professor. Perhaps not quite as skanky as his earlier work, this is some fine lyrical reggae.
Vangelis: "Opera Sauvage" - 1979 Polydor
Seven nicely composed and rather mellow mood pieces. Good to induce a nap.
Vangelis: "Oceanic" - 1996 WB
Flowing new age instrumental music sure to help mellow any group.
Varttina: "Seleniko" - 1992 NorthSide
Finnish female vocalists have created a powerful, fun, quirky collection of folksy songs backed with guitar, bouzouki, base, fiddle and various other instruments. Very interesting, different, beautiful, and a tad strange!
Sarah Vaughan: "Golden Hits" - 1990 Polygram
This could easily make my desert island top ten. Really beautiful and unique versions of "Misty," "Lullaby of Birdland," "Tenderly" and others. One of my favorites is "Smooth Operator." If you like female jazz vocalists, this is a classic.
Suzanne Vega: "Songs in Red and Gray" - 2001 A&M
I've enjoyed everything Suzanne has done and this is no exception. After a five year break from her last CD and much time playing at a song writers group she has another group of wonderful tunes, some about her personal marriage gone bad. The instrumentation is wonderful on these compositions.
The Velvet Underground: "VU" - 1985 Polygram
A collection of previously unreleased recordings by this phenominal group of the late 1960s. Featuring super versions of "I'm Sticking With You," "Lisa Says," and "One of these Days." Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison, Maureen Tucker, and Doug Yule are wonderful.
The Ventures: "Surfing" - 1995 GNP/Crescendo
Arguably the finest surf instrumental band of all times. This collection of 30 tunes includes many of the original chart toppers of the 1960s, including "Pipeline," "Walk, Don't Run," and "Hawaii Five-O." Way cool.
Porter Wagoner's: "Greatest Hits" - 1972 BMG/1995 Pair
Wow! Truly unique and way out there with distinctive country music, often with unique vocalizations, lyrics, or hot instrumentation. Especially distinct is "The Rubber Room." Wow, Porter must have been out there!!! "Company's Comin' is just plain back woods country. He's easy to make fun of but darn, if you've the right frame of mind Porter is super cool and fun. Wow!
Tom Waits: "Small Change" - 1976 Elektra/Asylum
This classic starts off with a version of Waltzing Matilda called "Tom Traubert's Blues," a rather slow, arduous number. Then he flies with "Step Right Up," perhaps the most uptempo tune on the CD, and a beauty with rap like vocalizations. The liner notes mention a Hollywood hotel to write to request the lyrics! Most of the remaining nine songs are somewhat of a raspy droning melodrama that marks Tom's style and forte. Tom's voice is not necessarily pretty, but the poetry and stories are intense, and the orchestration and piano playing is often charming. "The piano has been drinking, my necktie is asleep, and the combo went back to New York, the juke box has to take a leak..."
Tom Waits: "Mule Variations" - 1999 Anti/Epitaph
I imagine myself in a dark network of sewer pipes with a ball and chain to drag while someone with a sledgehammer pounds behind me. Heavy, deep, sometimes slow, always penetrating. This is not pretty music. More accessible are "Bone Machine" and "Swordfishtrombones."
Jerry Jeff Walker: "Great Gonzos" - 1972 MCA
Great collection by this non-commercial, folksy country great. Includes "Gettin' By," "Mr. Bojangles," "Up Against the Wall Redneck," and 11 other wonderful honky tonk, drinking jems. Recommended.
Phillip Walker: "The Bottom of the Top" - 1989 Hightone
Darn hot playin', singing, and song choice. Super hot versions of "Tin Pan Alley," and "Laughing & Clowning." Recommended.
Phillip Walker: "I Got A Sweet Tooth" - 1998 Black Top
I really like his playing, song selection and vocals. Hot stuff.
Fats Waller: "Ain't Misbehavin'" - 1995 ASV (UK)
Twenty-five wonderful piano tunes with wonderful and fun song compositions and singing by Fats. Mostly tunes recorded in the 1930s, this is a wonderful greatest hits collection.
Don Walser: "Rolling Stone from Texas" - 1994 Watermelon
There's not many country yodelers around and Don really knows how to sing um. This rolling stone from Texas would fit right in for any barn dance.
Speedy West & Jimmy Bryant: "Swinging on the Strings, Vol. 2" - 1999 EMI
Brace yourself for some super hot guitar and steel guitar instrumental picking. These guys absolutely smoke on their instruments. Way hot!
The Who: "Quadrophenia" - 1973 MCA
Big variety of mostly great rock tunes, some with elaborate orchestrations befitting of the life saga that Quadrophenia represents.
Widespread Panic - 1991 Capricorn
Straight forward manly groove rock. Some nice tunes and instrumentation. Nothing too experimental or unique, but nothing shabby either. Good party rockin' music.
Lucinda Williams: "Ramblin'" - 1991 Smithsonian
This collection from 1978 is Lucinda's first recordings. Nice folksy tunes with feeling, mostly Robert Johnson covers. It's just her sweetly picking her 12-string guitar with her deep, soulful vocals, and John Grimaudo on 6-string.
Nancy Wilson: "Ballads, Blues & Big Bands: The Best of..." - 1996 Capital Records [3 CDs]
I'd be happy having this on one of my top ten deserted island CDs. She's absolutely beautiful. Jazz, sultry, intense, innocent, sexy...the whole gamut of beautiful vocal styles is represented here with her distinct voice. In later periods Nancy got into more pop and theatrical type tunes, but this is mostly wonderful jazz standards. Absolutely some of my favorite songs of all time.
Wimme: "Wimme" - 1995 Rockadillo/Northside
Heavy, ethereal, mystical, mysterious, other worldly Finnish Jojk singer mixing anchient chant traditions with modern production and effects.
Wimme: "Gierran" - 1997 Zen Master/NorthSide
Deep, ethereal, heavy duty electronica music with male vocalist making a "yoik" sound, kinda like the Tuva singers. Really cool and different relaxing music. Recommended as world ambient music.
Wire: "Chairs Missing" - 1977 album; 1989 cd
A truly classic combination of punkish angst songs with smooth and unique ditties. The cd includes stuff not on albums for a total of 18 songs. For more info. on Wire, see: http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~qwerty/wire/
Jah Wobble's Invaders of the Heart: "Rising Above Bedlam" - 1991 Atlantic/WB
Real cool collection of worldly ethnic fusion with N. African and Middle Eastern influences, hot bass tracks, and smooth male vocals. Sinead O'Connor guests on one song. Recommended.
Jah Wobble's Invaders of the Heart: "Without Judgement" - 1994 Restless
Twenty one intense and at times mystically ambient tunes with a very full and distinct sound. Certainly one of his more cerebral, creative and somewhat eerie endeavors. Some spoken words and a little funkiness on a tune or two. Pretty cool.
Jah Wobble: "Umbra Sumus" - 1998 30 Hertz Records
Really cool collection of 16 tunes with plenty of variety, strangeness, cool playing, Wobble's cool singing and others' wild vocal sounds. Recommended.
The Wolfgang Press: "Funky Little Demons" - Steve Wynn: "Kerosene Man" - 1990 Rhino
Unique rockin' with an alternative and creative beat that's sometimes quite catchy. Post punk rhythmic gothic dance music. Nothing mediocre, and some tunes on each CD are spectacular.
Steve Wynn: "Dazzling Display" - 1992 RNA
Eleven cool alternative rock tunes.
Steve Wynn: "Fluorescent" - 1994 Mute/Warner
If you liked the Dream Syndicate, Robyn Hitchcock, the more mellow Violent Femmes, you should like Steve's CDs. I really like this particular one, but they all have some very good tracks. Really cool alternative rock. Almost every song is distinctive and compelling. Recommended.
Steve Wynn: "My Midnight" - 1999 Zero Hour
Beyond the first rockin' tune, this CD is wonderful. Super feel to these alternative thinking rocker's tunes.
X-Ray Spex: "Germfreee Adolescents" - 1977 Virgin
Screeching punk with female vocalist singing such hot numbers as "The Day The World Turned Dayglo" and "I Am A Poseur." Lots of high energy and fast playing and the super hit: "Oh bondage Up Yours!."
Stomu Yamashta: "Go" - 1976? Island (vinyl)
A truly intense classical rock concept album. Stomu on percussion and synthesisers, Steve Winwood on piano and vocals. Klauze Schulze on a few songs, drummer Michael Shrieve on others, Rosko Gee on base, and even a guitar solo by Al DiMeola on "Stellar." Over the years I've often had the song "Crossing the Line" pop into my head. It's the type of album that sounds different with each play, and I've been playing this progressive spacey rock classic since the 70's!
Yes: "Yessongs" - 1973 Atlantic
Live versions of their classics including "Your Move All Good People," "Long Distance Runaround," and "Roundabout." Very good classic rock jamming is most evident on their instrumentals.
Yo La Tengo: "Painful" - 1993 Matador
Creative guitar driven alternative rock. This is one of their best.
Neil Young: "Harvest" - 1972 Reprise/WB
A highly regarded classic with "Heart of Gold," "Old Man," "The Needle and the Damage Done" and other timeless folksy rock tunes. Amazingly much of the album was performed while Young wore a brace for his back and was in considerable pain.
Zap Mama: "A Ma Zone" - *1999 Luaka Bop
Super fine female dominated world hop hop, acappella with cool instrumentation and Afro-Belgian influence. Recommended. Pygmies!!
Frank Zappa: "Hot Rats" - 1987 Rykodisc
This 1969 classic includes the spectacular instrumental "Peaches en Regalia," a smokin' Capt. Beefheart on "Willie the Pimp," and some jazz rock fusion classics. One of his best for sure!
Hukwe Zawose: "Chibite" - 1996 Real World
Tanzanian traditional music with super production. Unusual primitive beats often starting off slowly with ilimbas and and adding vocal chants, sometimes building to a cacophony of wild Swahili musical ecstasy. Amazingly it's just Hukwe Zawose and his son creating a very full and creative sound with vocals, bells, ilimbas (thumb pianos), traditional violins and flutes. Really cool.
Tom Ze: "Fabrication Defect" - 1998 Luaka Bop cd.
Magically wonderful. Highly creative with very unique musical sounds. Intelligent lyrics if you know Portugese, which I don't! I'm looking to collect lots of stuff by him.
Tom Ze: "Best of...Brazil Classics 4," 1990, Luaka Bop/Sire.
Super collection of extremely creative, lively and compassionate music by this Brazilian composition master. Foot stomping and funky at times, at others melancholy and mysterious. Funky, quirky, unique and cool.
ZZ Top: "The Best Of" - 1993 WB
Certainly "La Grange," "Just Got Paid," "Jesus Just Left Chicago" and a few other tunes should go down in history as distinctly great Texas Rock n' Roll. The rest of this collection and their history is OK. I'd either want to own a collection or their first release.
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