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We're incredibly pleased to have been offered the chance to curate a Porter Records sampler, a FREE, 15-SONG DOWNLOAD COMPILATION! In just the last couple of years, this U.S.-based record label has set a high bar for unearthing and reissuing obscure gems, as well as releasing contemporary masterpieces. They first came to our attention with excellent editions of the soul jazz- and ethno-based sounds of Birigwa and Natural Food, and since then they've moved on to releasing albums of incredible, lost psych-jazz from Sweden, electro-acoustic soundscapes, fiery free jazz from Byard Lancaster and Henry Grimes, as well as the ambient hip-hop of Misled Children amongst many other extraordinary records. While putting this comp together we were struck by the label's focus on exploring the limitless permutations of beats and rhythm, and by how few modern labels have as successfully taken up the mantle laid down by ESP-Disk years ago. Here are some, but by no means all, of our favorite tracks from Porter Records. -Michael Klausman This Week's Featured Downloads
When we saw this compilation come in the other day, all of us at the shop agreed that this was a strange pairing. Kitsune seems to be geared more towards younger club kids, the label releasing lots of buzzing, no holds barred, post-nu rave jams from the likes of Yelle, Vitalic and Boys Noize, while Phoenix's brand of pop is more refined and certainly less electronic, their songs all at once catchy and fun, but also intelligent and tasteful. But like any city's music scene, it's all a small circle so I guess it's really not that odd to find these two Parisian mainstays working together, and hats off to both for releasing a darn near impeccable comp. Just listen to any Phoenix album, and it's pretty obvious that the group knows their way around a record store, so it's pretty cool to actually hear the band laying out their influences. I would have never guessed that the group were Kiss fans, but you can totally connect the dots between the anthemic, dual guitar attack of opening track "Love Theme from Kiss" and Phoenix's "School's Rules" (not included). And you can certainly imagine the band borrowing a little of the neo-soul balladry of D'Angelo's "Send It On" (or the Impressions' "I've Been Trying" for that matter) for any number of tracks on their Alphabetical album. That's just scratching the surface though, as Phoenix digs deeper, including one of my all time favorite songs, the heartbreakingly beautiful "I Am the Cosmos" from Chris Bell; the equally stunning b-side of Dennis Wilson's first solo single "Lady (Fallin' In Love);" and "Aos Barões" from Brazilian singer/guitarist Lo Borges' self-titled album -- a record we're huge fans of at Other Music. Throw in songs by Dirty Projectors, Red Crayola, Roxy Music, 13th Floor Elevators, Tangerine Dream, Irma Thomas, Dusty Springfield, Iggy Pop & James Williamson, and Lou Reed, to name a few more, and you have a seriously great mix tape that's going to take you through the summer, or at very least until Phoenix's new album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix comes out at the end of next month. -Gerald Hammill
The creative partnership of Brad Rose (a/k/a the North sea) and Nathan Young (not Nate Young, noiseniks) has borne much fruit in recent years. Admittedly, if you wanted to feast on said fruit you would have to have been quick -- most of their cassettes, vinyl and CD-Rs (limited to any amount from five to 500) have disappeared so swiftly that you'd need 1.21 gigawatts and a flux capacitor to get hold of one. Thankfully, Medicine Bull is what we in the industry call a "proper release" and showcases the duo at their noisy, lo-fi best. Oscillators, guitars and half-heard vocals fizz and throb through dense waves of distortion, melting together to produce a sound somewhere in between KTL and Skullflower. It's noise, but this isn't the knee-trembling Whitehouse-patented ear-damaging squeal you've come to expect from the limited edition brigade; at times there's even a "tune." Just listen to the post-Vangelis synthwork on opening track "Tired Eyes" or the ring modulated axe-drones that make up the backbone of "Leviathan Vanquished" and you'd be hard pressed not to shed a salty tear. The band's Native American heritage (Nathan Young is proudly Pawnee) doesn't get lost in the fog either -- "Realm of Light" gives a percussive nod to the peace-pipe smoking Red man, draping it in all manner of psychotropic audio slop in the process, ending up with a spirit walk you won't be afraid to travel. As scene pioneers Sunn O))) start to score for a full orchestra and Earth edge into smoky Americana, it's nice to see a couple of drone heads keeping things dense, dark and progressively lo-fi. Medicine Bull is a triumph of heady home-made horror, just remember to pack an anti-venom. Special price reduction good through May 15th, exclusively on Other Music Digital. John Twells
In recent years the sheer volume of bands emerging from the "noise" scene has been almost impossible to keep track of. One day you think you've got it down, the next you find another cassette label with a plethora of names you've never heard before. One band, though, who have managed to render themselves impossible to ignore is Emeralds, and they have done this by forgetting to make noise altogether. Sure, they might have a limited cassette or split 12" on every noise label worth its salt, but they have yet to make a noisy track; instead they inhabit an outer-space realm previously reserved for Kraut electronica pioneer Klaus Schulze and his buddies Tangerine Dream. I'm serious, and being a collector of all things Schulze- and 'Dream-related, the band didn't have to offer me the hard sell. It might be near impossible to keep up with their "20 releases a week" schedule (there are three members, two of which seem to be inhumanly prolific), but they have yet to disappoint. This split album comes from Newcastle's charming No-Fi label and sees the omnipresent three-piece paired with touring partners Pain Jerk who, in contrast to the mid western dreamers, are very, very noisy indeed. Emeralds' contribution is the pick of the two sides, with the band opting for another truly pitch-perfect exploration into harmony and bliss ending up with a track that skates yet never falls completely into the new age spectrum. It's like Vangelis without the bits that make your eyes water, or possibly an optimistic Popul Vuh at times, but Emeralds are slowly reaching a point where they defy simple comparison. Pain Jerk, on the other hand, send forth a track into the abyss by the name of "Berserker" and a more apt moniker could never be chosen. This is an exercise in tolerance and extremity with analogue squelches hidden beneath a thick sheet of oscillating white noise. Slowly the track builds into a mass of crumbling feedback, the kind of feedback that only the Japanese can produce -- noise fans, you know exactly what I'm talking about I'm sure. Although it might have been sold as a tour CD, Tour 2009 shouldn't be any less essential than any other record this year -- cracking stuff. Special price reduction good through May 15th, exclusively on Other Music Digital. -John Twells
A survivor of the Mille Plateaux scene from the late 90s, Ekkehard Ehlers came to prominence with his seminal Plays series of releases. Taking on the work of Albert Ayler and Robert Johnson (among others), Ehlers introduced a host of new admirers to his crumbling minimalist style and won over critics across the world. Since then, the man has hooked up with percussionist Paul Wirkus, and Ballads is the latest collection from the duo exploring their reductionist avant-jazz remit and taking it to its logical conclusion. In fact, the percussive elements are so buried at times you could be forgiven for thinking this was Ehlers on his own, but then stark rhythms emerge from the mud only to drop into nothing once more. The echoes of Ehlers' previous recordings are still present (that patented digital crumble and his intuitive sample manipulation) but these are mature works, a far cry from the mischief of Plays. It might be ambient music, but Ballads has an air of jazzy melancholy which elevates it far above the cloud of drone records we've all become immune to. At times you could be listening to a distant gramophone playing a warped 78, wavering strings and plucked double bass intact. Hauntingly beautiful. Special price reduction good through May 15th, exclusively on Other Music Digital. -John Twells
Extraordinarily expressive and bravura performances from one of Spain's all-time great violinists, Manuel Quiroga. Quiroga was an astonishingly gifted composer and painter, but he found his greatest fame in the first decades of the 20th century for the virtuosity of his technique. His circle included everyone from Casals and Segovia, to Enescu and Ysaye, and he was regularly feted as an avatar of Galician nationalism, a proud example to be mentioned when discussing the greatness of Spain's artistry. His own compositions are both thrilling and lovely, relatively simple in their construction, yet designed to be showcases for the flawless and jaw dropping execution of his bowing and plucking. He was heavily influenced by the folk music found in the Andalucian and Basque countryside, as well as the music he soaked up while playing concerts throughout Cuba, Argentina, and Uruguay. He performed in New York City to more than 5,000 people, and much of his slight discography was recorded in Camden, New Jersey, with his wife and longtime accompanist Marta Leman. Unfortunately, at the peak of his artistic height and fame, he was struck by a car in Times Square and suffered an injury that ended his career and led to his relative obscurity. In recent years, however, his legacy as artist, performer, and composer has come back into focus, and we're lucky to be left with these beautifully restored 78s. Vibrant and charming, and nearly endlessly fascinating, these performances abound with moments that explore to the extreme limits what the violin is capable of. -Michael Klausman
The Pop a Paris compilation series has served for some time as a solid source of rollicking, fuzzed-out Gallic goodness, chock full of '60s French delights that appeal to both the neophyte and the connoisseur. These collections feature damn near all of the important heavyweights of the era, as well as a handful of one-offs, underrateds, and shoulda-been-bigs from the scene. For kicks and giggles, you also get a hefty portion of '60s American and British rock and pop hits adapted and interpolated en Francaise. Volume One starts off in fine style with Johnny Halliday's "Mal," a kick ass interpolation of Deep Purple's "Hush," and along the way you're treated to gems such as Eileen's "Ces Bottes Sont Faites Pour Marcher" (made more famous by Nancy Sinatra), David Alexandre Winter's "Qu'Est Ce Que J'Ai Danse!" (a trouser-bulging interpretation of Archie Bell & the Drells' "I Can't Stop Dancing" featuring a sick tabla break and Winter's best Tom-Jonesisms), and Marie Laforet's "Marie Douceur Marie Colere" (a cover of the Rolling Stones' "Paint It Black" that IMO trumps the original). Speaking of originals, you get choice tracks by two of France's most original -- Michel Polnareff and Serge Gainsbourg (including his excellent "Les Petits Boudins," written for Dominique Walter) -- and Jacqueline Taieb's monster tune "7 Heures Du Matin." There's not a duff track in the bunch, and it's great to have all of these jams in one package. What else should I say? Oh yeah...highest recommendation!! -Mikey IQ Jones
Volume 2 of the Pop a Paris series features even more stone-cold classics -- essential tunes that, despite perhaps having been heard a million times, rarely wear out their welcome -- as well as some under-heard gems from lesser-known artists of the period, including quite a few Gainsbourg-penned jams performed by others. Serge kicks things off with his rendition of "L'Anamour," and from there we get more of our Gainsbourg on with Brigitte Bardot's "Contact" (a classic tune and one of her best performances), France Gall's "Teenie Weenie Boppie" (a song Serge wrote for Gall about tripping on acid and imagining Mick Jagger, dead, floating down the Thames!), Claude Francois's "Hip Hip Hip Hurrah" (a soulful tune that reinterprets the groove on Serge's own "Chatterton" for another classic), and Anna Karina's monster tune "Roller Girl," a fuzzed-out blitz featuring her most impassioned rock growling. Elsewhere, we've got killers like Annie Philippe's "C'Est La Mode," Michel Polnareff's "L'Oiseau De Nuit," and Nino Ferrer's sock-it-to-me soul stomper "Le Roi D'Angleterre." The collection ends with a special treat, "Psyche Rock," a late-'60s collaboration between Gainsbourg arranger Michel Colombier and musique concrete/experimental music pioneer Pierre Henry, featuring a chugging rock combo rubbing shoulders with bursts of uncontrollable tape sounds and electronic noise music. As usual in this series, we're talking all killer, no filler. Dig in and get your frug on, and if you're throwing a party, call me up, because I want to dance!! -Mikey IQ Jones
Psychedelic to the extreme, and nearing the pinnacle of Lee "Scratch" Perry's production genius, Love Thy Neighbour, by Nyabhingi drum master Ras Michael and his Sons of Negus, is without doubt one of the most hallucinatory albums to ever be issued forth from the isle of Jamaica. The two men had met at a Bob Marley session, and Perry suggested that Michael bring his group into the fabled Black Ark Studio to have a meeting of the minds. The results from that session are an intoxicating blend of Ras Michael's deeply spiritual, and nearly rustic and primitive approach to music making, with Perry's highly cerebral and all-together mind-scrambling virtuosity on the mixing deck. Massively deep drums, swirling sound effects, and haunted, gospel-influenced melodies creep along slowly to create a truly rarified atmosphere. -Michael Klausman
This lil' funk-indie-label-that-could should serve as a positive reminder that an uncompromising dedication to quality can reap great rewards. Before Amy Winehouse, Jay-Z and Mark Ronson catapulted Daptone and their roster to the stars, Gabriel Roth and Neil Sugarman had been churning out limited edition original funk compositions outta Brooklyn for nearly 10 years to a small, loyal following worldwide. This compilation combines the first batch of heavy funk 45s that Daptone put out all those years ago. There are plenty of highlights but with classic tracks like Sharon Jones' Lyn Collins-esque take on Janet Jackson's "What Have You Done for Me Lately," Charley Bradley's breakbeat stormer "Take It As It Come" and current Winehouse backing band the Dap-King's "Casella Walk," I would consider this required listening for those who aren't familiar. Most of these tracks never showed up on the artists' respective albums and are only available on this collection or in their original vinyl form. -Duane Harriott
While it would be a stretch to refer to the Embarrassment as obscure (at least here), it does seem that they are often either taken for granted or flat out forgotten about. Recently their name has been surfacing in reference to the fantastic Big Dipper Supercluster reissue, as following the break up of the Embarrassment, Bill Goffrier would finish up the '80s playing in Big Dipper, enjoying a bit more attention than his previous group (but not much). Throughout their existence, the Embarrassment were dogged by the question of what sort of band they were. Punk? New Wave? College Rock? (Indie rock was still years away from being a tag anyone would use). While they certainly were not punk in the urban or media sense, there was a rawness to their material that can still endear them to the Killed By Death set, and at the same time their songs are equally appealing to indie rockers the world over. It's a lot like how the first Feelies album functions. Anyway, this comp, originally released in 1995, goes a long way in shedding some light on what punk rock meant and the effects that it had in the heartland (Kansas specifically) of America. To open the first disc with the crunching guitars and killer hook of "Sex Drive" is a smart move (it was originally the b-side of their debut 7") as it is one of the best songs of the American punk, independent, whatever era. Then it is straight into the second EP with the after-the-fact hits "Celebrity Art Party" and "I'm A Don Juan." That is quickly followed by the Death Travels West EP and side two of the full-length album. Disc two, dubbed The Scarcities, is what really elevates this comp to must-have status, featuring tons of live and studio material that is either unreleased or was only released on cassette (including the bands own Retropective, Fresh Sounds from Middle America Vol 1. and two songs from early Sub Pop tape comps). Super-duper stuff. -Dave Martin
After a long, long night of deejaying, my hangover was greeted to the early morning sounds of Joe Cuba's "Oye Bien" blaring from my neighbor's backyard. Ah yes, it looks like spring is finally rearing its pretty lil' head around these parts and it got me thinking; I should probably lend that aforementioned neighbor my copy of this Best of Ray Camacho & the Teardrops record. Camacho was a well-regarded Latin American trumpeter and bandleader who led his west coast-based band for over 30 years, specializing in infectious, high-energy Latin funk, cumbia, salsa and some straight-ahead soul instrumentals. Although Camacho recorded over 40 albums, this way overdue collection -- compiled by longtime fan DJ Pete Isaac -- culls together highlights between 1968 and '71. This is strictly dance floor business, folks, with a variety of funky styles to fit any of your moods. "It's Time for Me to Love You" is a great Latin funk-rock track with a heavy Chambers Bros. edge to it. "She's So Good to Me" and "Wade into the Water" are nice Latin-tinged steppers for northern soul fans. There are also some nice gritty mod instrumentals like "Tought Talk," not to mention their Santana cover, "Tus Modos". Any fan of Joe Bataan, the aforementioned Joe Cuba, or the Bad Boogaloo comps shouldn't think twice about snatching this up. Top notch! -Duane Harriott
Ennio Morricone's soundtrack for L'Ultimo Treno Della Notte -- a 1974 film that follows two teenage girls on Christmas holiday who fall prey to a pair of violent criminals during their train ride -- conveys the eerie suspense and horrifying encounter with chilling irony. It's as slow-rolling and mechanical at times as the train ride itself, but is similarly wrought with emotional build-up. A stunning and unusually minimalist score from a true master. -Molly Hamilton
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