Of all the albums presented in this recent post/article, this is the group that I would of thought the most likely to succeed by the traditional definition (dare I say it – “commercially”). The B.U.M.s debut (& only) CD is an outrageously slick, gigantically accessible banger pitching two unknown Oakland MC’s (at least out of their immediate locality) directly at Hip-Hop stardom. Continue reading The BUMS – lyfe ‘n’ tyme CD
Yet another spectacular piece of urban obscurity from Chicago. An incredible feat of integrity obsessed grimness, hostility & gauntness running wild through condemned tenements. Pretty much the entire album is bleak, with a louring & sombre production coating every surface. The focal protagonist is Toxic, a devote zealot of an MC with an overriding enmity for forgery, falsehood, compromise & imposters. Continue reading Tha Chamba – Makin illa noize CD & Don’t sleep MCD:
I think this collective are from Detroit but residing in New York (there is certainly some kind of NY/Detroit merger proceeding). Two MC’s & a duo in the beats department if I am not mistaken. It’s really the sonic finish/final product that scintillates here…some phenomenal production, harvested from predominantly Jazz sample source. Ergo hard-to-trace, busy intersections of double bass, vibes & pitched-down horn grafts. Continue reading MF911- Idol the Bloodsport CD
LAW was a ridiculously potent eleven-deep (or so) master rap collective from LA that you have probably never heard of? They did one truly historic album in 1995 that it seems went nowhere for reasons I am unsure of!? Their style was essentially Battle Rap/Hardcore Hip-Hop, but their mode of linguistic dispatching derived from an obsession with extremely violent, graphic & destructive lyricism & majorly murderous metaphors heavy on pugnacity & lethal depictions galore.
One shot – one kill! 1993, an MC duo of Phase & Mack 10, 12 tracks strutting the full spectrum of Hardcore, Gangsta, Hip-Hop & ultra-offensive flagrant type shit to perturb, repel or entertain? depending on your angle & strength of gut-lining. Some gorgeous hard beats, with a snare so sharp it could skewer on some tunes. Continue reading Brokin English Klik – S/T CD
A gem in the dirt rind! A merciless, unforgiving & abrasive masterpiece of sweltering urban decay & anti-establishment dissidence from the bowels of NY (I think it’s the Bronx? they never seem to specify?). Continue reading Assault & Battery – S/T CD
A wonderful piece of Avant-Garde class from 1974. Carla Bley was the Norse arch-bohemian Blanca lookin’ nut-case & composer bad-ass running with a crew of super cool NY envelope-pushers. This is also the first outing on her long-running record label Watt that she co-produced (& I assume founded?) with trumpeter Michael Mantler. Mantler is on this recording as well along with the great Dave Holland on bass, Howard Johnson on tuba & a whole gaggle of loons (seven in total) all enabling a herculean scope of detail & depth. Continue reading Carla Bley – Tropic Appetites 12” LP
And so! Pianist & rollicking bohemian cool-dude Paul Bley drags in the super duo qualities of bassist Dave Holland & drummer/percussionist Barry Altschul to form the Scorpio trio, sliding around the deck in the Avant improvisational district over premeditated skeletons arranged by knock-out Carla Bley & Annette Peacock. Now, to seriously add the rainbow-fluid, magic-dust, cosmic-bollocks to an already exciting proposition – Bley is playing a plump expanse of synthesisers, electric keyboards & what’s either a killer moog or a synthesizer modal that’s damn close to one! Like a bad sweet-tooth, I have a real pash on mad moogs & the idea of them in an unbridled orbit backed up by Holland & Altschul is pretty goose-bump dappling.
A tremendous 1978 hidden (so to speak) recording from enigmatic guitarist, singer & multi-instrumentalist Michael Gregory Jackson & reedist Oliver Lake. Jackson is one of the drollest characters in the, um – Jazz/Avant-Garde arena operating a confusing chameleonic surf between categorically pioneering & highly astute intellectual Jazz innovation, ultra Avant-Garde, JazzFusion, Noise, Improvisation, Pop & R&B. his wildly contrasting history from cutting-edge 70’s New Music vanguard, major stardom, quite obscurity & genre defenestration is a fascinating, rare, unique & as of yet undisclosed (at least fully) page from Jazz history (presuming we can limit the definition to Jazz in this most multifaceted of musicology cases?). Continue reading Michael Gregory Jackson – Karmonic Suite LP
An excellent, highly balanced equilibrium into one of Braxton’s greatest phases. Through the early 70’s he dispensed a slew of brilliant records for Arista, backed frequently by the awesome finesse from rhythm-section Dave Holland & Barry Altschul, also regularly joined Kenny Wheeler on trumpet. Braxton’s phenomenal technique, smouldering soloing capacity & highly intricate, if not hifalutin, compositional directive is superbly relayed through these eight pieces capturing a snap-shot of his many miens. What does that entail exactly? Continue reading Anthony Braxton – The Complete Braxton 1971 DBL LP
