Steven Williams - The Deadline
Deadline Music
US, 1985
private press
cassette
A1 A Little Business
A2 The Deadline
A3 Our Last Time 'Round
A4 Long Parade
A5 The Second Chace
A6 I Got Some News
B1 Back In "B" Town
B2 Screamin' At Me
B3 Your Downfall
B4 Realize It's Me
B5 Ain't Holdin' Back B6 This Time Is For Real
all songs written by Steven Williams
Terri Williams - vocals
Joe Truttmann - vocals
David Potts - DMX
Bill Engel - guitar
Doug Flory - drums
______
thanks to Havana Tape Club (St. Louis, MO) for the music rip and images
Robert Aaron - Michael Curran - Keith Nicolay – The Last Ten Minutes
Artichoke Records – 202
US, 1985
private press
I Interruption
II Grand Finale
III Conclusion
Robert Aaron - siel synthesizer, tack piano
Michael Curran - piano, fender-rhodes, kalimba
Keith Nicolay - acoustic guitar, flute, piano
________
"The Last Ten Minutes may (1) refer to the fly with its head trapped in the vortex, pictured on the front cover, (2) depict an apocalypse in which case 'Grand Finale' (side 1, band 2) should be retitled 'Disquiet at the Council of Trenton', or (3) represent the last ten minutes (in the mundane sense) of anybody the listener knows, described either (a) inappropriately or (b) with an obscuring plethora of detail.
The synthesizer mediates among sounds which parallel, without imitating, those of the guitar and sometimes multiphonic flute, sounds of purely electro-mechanical nature, and keyboard-related sonorities.
In 'Grand Finale', the three keyboards sometimes behave as one multi-stopped instrument, sometimes quarrell.
In 'Conclusion', the keys of the processed Kalimba (African thumb-piano) are most-often snapped upside-down.
In all three pieces, discourses are frequently polyrhythmic and often disruptive. All ratios are intentional, no matter how irrationally described mathematically. The harmonies, while quite chromatic, combine in the spirit of harmolodic improvisation. From time to time, they allude to modes, while avoiding their syntax.
Both group improvisations on side one were accomplished in a single sitting, while side two discreetly adds overtracks as it progresses." – Robert Aaron
Arik Rudich - piano, e. piano, cp-80, linn drum, dx-7, tx-7, fairlight ii, fairlight iii, obx-8 oberheim, matrix 12, mini moog, p.p.g-2,3, yamaha cs70m, synclavier ii, prophet 5, percussion, atari st. programming, tape
Fernando Toussaint - Fernando Toussaint
Discos Alebrije - A-8301
Mexico, 1983
private press
A1 Maria
F.T. - bajo, batería, guitarra, piano, sintetizador, percusiones y coros
Jorge Conroy - guitarra de 12 cuerdas
Eugenio Toussaint - sintetizador y Fender rhodes
Jorge Peña - piano
Cecilia Toussaint y Adolfo Cantu - coros
A2 Fase Mor
F.T. - piano, guitarra, batería, bajo y percusiones
Jorge Peña - piano, órgano y percusiones
Eugenio Toussaint - sintetizador
A3 Verano En Nueva York
F.T. - bajo, batería, piano, voz, percusiones y coros
Arno Gonzalez, Jorge Peña - percusiones
Moby Villarreal - bajo
Cecilia Toussaint - voz y coros
Adolfo Cantu - coros
Jorge Peña - piano
Beto Delgado - faltas
A4 Como En Casa
Jorge Conroy - guitarra de 12 cuerdas
F.T. - guitarra de 6 cuerdas
A5 Si Perdiera La Vida
F.T. - pianos y sintetizadores
Beto Delgado - flautas Jorge Peña - piano
B2 Recuerdos Del Abuelo
(dedicado a la memoria de F.T.B.)
F.T. - bajo, guitarra, batería, piano (solo), sintetizador y percusiones Netz Calderon - guitarra
Beto Delgado - flautas
B3 Vista Del Mar
F.T. - piano, bajo (melódico), batería, voz, percusiones y coros
Beto Delgado - flauta
Jorge Peña - piano
Eugenio Toussaint - sintetizador
Adolfo Cantu y Cecilia Toussaint - coros
B4 Te Pareces Al Espejo
(o las entrañas del Anfioxus)
F.T. - batería, voz y percusiones
Jorge Peña - tumbadora y quinto
Arno Gonzalez - percusiones
_______
Privately released in 1983 on the private label Discos Alebrije in Mexico, this self-titled album by Fernando Toussaint shows a unique and little known part of music history. All compositions are originals by Toussaint with him playing up to 6 instruments on some, ranging from leftfield prog-y funk with synth solos to breezy vocals and latin percussion. For all the footwork heads, there's also a DJ Rashad sample hiding on 'Si Perdiera La Vida'.
A1 Awaa-Waa-Tuu
A2 Ebe Ye Yie
B1 Ewuraba Lucy
B2 Sika Asem
B3 Efri Tete
Gyamfi - guitars, vocals, congas, apentema, cabasa
Daniel Kofi Jefferson - bass guitar
Jurgen Dahmen - keyboards
Charles Amoah - drums, backing vocals
Ansumana Bangura - congas
Ampofo Acquah - backing vocals
Frank Kojo - congas, openten, talking drums, cowbells
Peter Krick - linndrum programming, timbales
_______
Recorded in Dusseldorf, West Germany with a mixed personnel of German and African musicians, this 1988 private press synthy highlife album is one of only a handful of known recordings by Ghanaian guitarist Rex Gyamfi. Although likely also a German pressing, this copy was pressed in Toronto by Nubian Productions. Not your average highlife here, with electronic drums, synth and a boogie feel on a few tracks.
From Tiliqua Records: "Kondo Masaomi is a well know Japanese actor who made this one-off LP in
1971. He raps away on 6 tracks about various plant species such as the
Mandragora, breathing out an endangered atmosphere that borders at times
on sheer anarchy and agitation. He ain’t no singer, by far but recites
his texts in an distraught, frenzied, well-controlled and even calm
fashion, gliding on the funky psychedelic groovy airwaves that his
backing band – the Freedom Unity – churns out in an addictive fashion.
The Freedom Unity on this occasion consisted out some of the finest
musicians to be on the scene and included heavyweight players such as
Sato Masahiko (piano); Ishikawa Akira (drums – Uganda etc); Sugimoto
Kiyoshi (guitar – Count Buffaloos, Hino Hideshi Group, Rock
Communication, etc), Terakawa Masaoki (bass – Love Live Life + 1,
Ishikawa Akira & Count Buffaloos, Dema), Muraoka Takeru (Sax -
Uganda, Count Buffaloos, Love Live Life +1, Dema) and Suzuki Hiroshi
(Trumpet – various line-ups of Freedom Unity). The music they bring
forth ranges from jazz, free jazz, psychedelic groovy acidic jams, jazz
rock and fuses neatly with Kondo Masaomi’s raps, making it a perfect
unison that resembles at times the musical greatness of Innocent Canon.
It is funky, jazzy, psychedelic, groovy and intoxicatingly hip shaking
all at the same time. A true amalgamation and genre-crossing disc,
hybrid like for some reason only Japanese records seem to pull off
without loosing face. This sole recording by Kondo is largely unknown
outside this island here but it is regarded and revered as a great cult
item and upon spinning this disc it is easy to understand why. It just
has all the right ingredients: funky bass lines, killer guitar exploits,
butt-shaking jazzy vibes, rare groove spiritual like rhythms, shrinking
sax insertions, fuzzy wah-wah action, crazy raps etc, all executed by
top level musicians. Magical slide out of 1971, shedding another light
on Japans acidic free psychedelic moves and shakes."
Chief Twins Seven Seven And The Black Ghost International - Eno Super 1 '84 (Slang In Trance)
BGI - TOOS 02
Nigeria, 1984
private press
A1 Shandoroko (Eiye Aborishe)
B1 People Of The World Sing With Me
"(
This track is dedicated to the music lovers all over the world )
most-especially MICHAEL JACKSON & FAMILY for their Contributions to
modern music awareness all over the world"
Harry Case - In A Mood
Ichiban Records - ICH 1037
US, 1989
A1 Ride 'Em Off
A2 Native Drums
A3 Chasing The Goon
A4 Quick-Wire
A5 Jam (At Your Party)
A6 Carry Me Home
B1 Midnight Samba
B2 In A Mood
B3 Air Dancer
B4 Mother-San
Although Harry Case has remained in obscurity, this album in particular has recently caused quite a buzz within the record collecting community, especially among new age, modern soul and balearic heads hunting for the dearth of early MTV outsider musicians and infomercial and video game computer based soundtracks. The second and what appears to be the last of Harry Case's releases as a leader on the indie Ichiban label out of Atlanta, In A Mood exhibits a downtempo mix of breezy synth, electronic drumming and lo-fi guitar with Case's occasionally looping vocals – echoing the best of Matthew Larkin Cassell mixed with mellow digital instrumentation – with moves into balearic dance predating Larry Heard early 90s work and tropical soulful electronic popular contemporarily with the likes of Andras Fox.
This obscure lp shows Case building on the electronic funk sound he had already crafted a year earlier on Magic Cat – even reformatting some guitar progressions from the first session e.g. 'Easy Vamp' to 'Midnight Samba' – but In A Mood fits together much more coherently as the songs blend seamlessly into one another for a vapory lo-fi synth-folk-funk atmosphere. From my best guess though, 'Electric' Mann and the rest of the personnel here are aliases by Case, but maybe someone down in Georgia can verify Casio Bhiton as a premier bass player around Atlanta in the late 80s? Other than the two lps and a 12" 'Niagara' single, Case's short-lived career was rounded out by some session work on guitar but nothing quite as mysteriously intriguing yet melodically ethereal as 'In a Mood'. Perhaps you can still find Case playing guitar somewhere around Decatur, GA; maybe he's even hard at work on the next new age soul masterpiece. Cannot recommend this masterpiece enough – it is quite nearly impossible to find other records that come together so perfectly in sound blending such disparate influences into beautifully crafted soulful music.
Elena Jordan – vocals, guitar, trumpet, TR-909 drum programming, JX-3P synthesizer, JX-8P synthesizer, programming, harmonica, percussion, Fender Rhodes
