Alan Silva And His Celestrial Communication Orchestra - Luna Surface (1969) LP BYG/Actuel

Free Jazz is kind of the haven of total music nerds and serious jazzmo's and it seems to range from completely wild recordings of almost indecipeherable nature to excellent examples of what really good players can make of a totally free musical piece. I'm constantly drawn to it and the range of expressive sounds from some of the better records out there makes an indelible mark on me that I cannot deny.

Alan Silva was mostly known for his work as a sideman for guys like Sun Ra and Albert Ayler and only recorded a few records as leader, most notably for his work on Luna Surface and Seasons on the short-lived French Actuel label and on Skillfullness for the ESP Disc label.

Here, Alan Silva has some excellent talent backing him, including Malachi Flavors from The Art Ensemble of Chicago, Grachan Moncur III, Anthony Braxton, Archie Shepp, Claude Delcloo and Dave Burrell. The mass of talent is apparent when you listen to the record and they play so well off each other that it at times feels like a rehearsed and structured piece, at least, moreso that it surely was!



It's less agressive than most other free jazz records of the time, which sometimes feel punctuated with an urgency that leaves you feeling empty as if someone was shouting, but not really saying anything. Here, you get a much more mellow feeling, more stylized and melodic, less fire music and more hypnotic. It's a stellar release for the Actuel label.

I snagged this copy at Logan Hardware from my friend Zespy for a very reasonable price. It's a great store to stop into, one I certainly recommend if you are planning on hitting Chicago on a record buying spree.

High On Fire - Surrounded By Thieves (2002) LP Relapse Records

It's hard for me now to distinguish between my two favorite High On Fire records - on alternate days it could be 2000's The Art Of Self Defense (which I have already reviewed here) or this - 2002's Surrounded By Thieves. Both are heavy stoner classics, with Surrounded By Thieves being a slightly more expansive record.

The tracks here are crushingly heavy and the tone is classic High On Fire Green Matamp-on-10, drop C# tuning and the song writing is just stellar. It's one of the few records where I can't choose my favorites - every song is good. The only bummer being the long intro to the record on 'Eyes And Teeth' that takes too long to lead into the song.

'Speedwolf' is a slight bit of a departure for the band with its nearly acoustic opening, but quickly gets down to business and gets a stoner-thrash kind of thing happening that just kills.



'Thraft of Caanan' is a track that Pike himself says 'is about life on tour' and does feel like a journey with its many parts and tone of a travel tune. 'The Yeti' has the same kind of thing happening, but darker and heavier.

If I absolutely had to pick a standout track, I would probably have to pick the side 1/cut 1 of 'Eyes and Teeth' which also kills live on a bootleg I have of them in 2002 and the power of this one track is enough to make me listen to the boot again and again. It certainly doesn't have the complicated chord structure the other traks tend to have as the verse sections are basically one single chord played in time with the beat, but it is still stellar, more like 'Dopesmoker' than say, 'Snakes for the Divine'.



Really though, every track is masterful, a super-solid release from High On Fire, a total must-own.

This was their first album for Relapse Records and this is the first pressing of that record on red vinyl, the single LP instead of the later 2xLP that you can find now. I picked it up in Seattle at Silver Platters, one of two must-hit record stores in Seatown, with the other being Jive Time.

George Benson - Bad Benson (1974) LP CTI

There are few jazz guitarists I like, namely Sonny Sharrock and George Benson. Benson is just so talented and so incredibly versitile, playing jazz, funk, rock, pop, covering 'Take Five' (on Bad Benson) with a slightly psychedelic and cooled out vibe and then covering 'Greatest Love of All' (on Live in LA) with total sincerity and focus. It's hard to nail down jusy why I like George Benson so much, but this album pulls together all the stuff I love about his playing.

Bad Benson came out in 1974, right in the middle of CTI's most fruitful period, one year after Deodado's Prelude reached #3 on the Billboard Top 40. One of the best things about CTI was that the session players were all top notch always, with guys like Herbie Hancock and Ron Carter frequently playing supporting roles. It's all over the place in terms of types of songs - love ballard soaked with 1970's strings right out of a disco soundtrack on track 2, side 1 'Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams' to smoothed-out Latin soul jazz on 'My Latin Brother' to bitchin' funk jazz on 'Full Compass' - which happens to be my favorite track.



He also sets the tone perfectly for the record with the cut 1/side 1 track of 'Take Five', a 1970's take on a 1950's West Coast cool jazz classic. It's got a lot of edge and sharp beats, more akin to free jazz than cool jazz and its punctuated by blistering solos by Benson which just leave you slack jawed.

George Benson has so much talent and lack of pretension that he seems to give each track he plays all his talent on tap, not playing favorites. Even live he was fun and selfless, often smiling through whole sets, chilling and killing it on guitar.

Good thing about CTI recordings from this time is that they were pretty popular so even your high end jazz shops should have these LP's for 2-3 dollars and pretty much anything by Benson, Ron Carter, Freddie Hubbard (including 1970's Red Clay - a CTI masterwork) and Milt Jackson being essentials in any good collection. Bought for $3 at Dusty Groove in excellent shape and on my turntable a lot on Sunday mornings while I'm drinking coffee and chilling hard.

Egg - The Polite Force (1971) LP Deram

Ever since I heard Egg for the first time, I have loved them. A three-piece English prog rock group, they are a more cerebral band than say Emerson, Lake and Palmer, less showy than Genesis and less serious than Yes - but certainly extremely talented.

The Polite Force is Egg's second record, and it expands on their first effort with better production, deeper songs and a stellar side two long epic, '
Long Piece No. 3.' It's fun and also intellectual, much like classical pieces that change time signatures and tone to keep your brain in tune and not just your fingers tapping.



There isn't a bad track on the record and each one is just so different from the next that if you listened to 'Long Piece No. 3' - the album ender - and then the side 1, cut 1 track 'A Visit To Newport Hospital', you'd probably wonder if you were listening to the same band. Which in this case, works supremely well.

Egg only released three albums, 1970's Egg, 1971's The Polite Force and a later release two years after the band broke up, 1974's The Civil Surface. All are fantastic records, cerebral and fun and inventive and very much their own thing. When I feel like listening to prog, I listen to any one of four or five favorites, but when it comes to Egg, I find that when I want to isten to them, its only them that will do - no one even sounds close.

Ten Years After - Cricklewood Green (1970) LP Deram

Ten Years After is a rarity in the world of British Blues, having pioneered a style equal parts psychedelic rock and British Blues led by guitarist and blues virtuoso Alvin Lee, who plays a style similar to a combination of Eddie Van Halen and Eric Clapton, a killer, riff laden hard-hitting blues with a tint of late 1960's psychedelia.

Cricklewood Green is their fifth LP and one of their finest efforts, coming out in 1970 and remains a powerful and driving British blues record, one I believe to be one of the genre's best and an album I put up there with Free's Tons Of Sobs.

Ten Years After were a commerically successful band in their native UK, scoring 8 top 40 albums between 1968 and 1973, arguably the best years of the band. Cricklewood Green was the bands last raw-feeling album and with their next effort, 1971's Watt, they moved in a more commercial direction.



The side 1/cut 1 track of 'Sugar the Road' is a mix of hard rock ala Zeppelin and heavy blues ala Cream. Its got a mellow, driving beat with a killer guitar sound - slightly atmospheric and loud and crunchy, like a Marshall Bluesbreaker on 7. The bass is high in the mix and very driving. It gets you tapping you fingers and nodding your head like a great rock song should.

There are a few other tracks like '50,000 Miles Beneath My Brain' and 'Love Like A Man' that have a more psychedelic feel, complete with sitars, congas and spaced out fuzz-tones, but all the tracks still part of the same album and that cohesiveness is what shines though - they are not trying to do anything but play what they want to and it shows. No mimicry, just good song writing, no matter the direction of the song.

This is my favorite Ten Years After record and one that you can find on the cheap as it was a pretty big record for Deram back in the day. Highly recommended.

Armageddon - Armageddon (1974) LP A&M Records

Armageddon is just one of those bands where you wish that so much more could have happened with their career. They flamed out early, due to drugs and terrible relations with their management, though a reunion was later impossible due to the untimely death of their lead singer, the former front man of the Yardbirds, Keith Relf.



What they left behind is a surprisingly direct early mix of heavy rock and psych contained in their only album ever released, this, their self-titled debut. They only ever played two shows as well and those that were there must feel very fortunate indeed. The line-up was full of talented, seasoned players and even with only one studio release, its easy to see that they could have been something impressive - especially in '74, close to the birth of heavy metal. There are some really good, crushing tones on this record, even in the acoustic strains of 'Silver Tightrope'. They were powerful and driving, especially on the cut one/side one track of 'Buzzard' and the side one closer, 'Paths And Planes And Future Gains'. The did venture into somewhat of a prog tone on the side two closer, 'Basking In The White Of The Midnight Sun', especially with its four-part construction, but its certainly more of a stoner vibe than anything else.

Musically, they are not here to impress with any super-crazy solos or wild vocals, but they stay focused on making a powerful heavy rock record. There is a lot of wah-wah, but its not over used and certainly compliments the long passages in 'Basking'. It's a tremendous first record and quite a powerful statement from such a short-lived band.

High On Fire - The Art of Self Defense (2001) LP Tee Pee Records

Rght off the bat, Matt Pike crafted a band and an album that feels like the genesis of Sleep, the seminal Oakland stoner rock act. It's heavy beyond heavy, fuzzy riffs and bombastic drums tied together with Billy Anderson's production, who also produced Dopesmoker.

The Art Of Self Defense came just a few years after the dissolusion of Sleep and brought Matt's love of heavy metal to the fore, creating tracks with more of a nod to 1980's metal than Sleep's 1970's Sabbathy sound. It's still slower than a thrash record and in some ways feels like one played at half speed. That tie to stoner rock is still felt and in the best of ways - its a slow, headbanging record you can get ridiculously high too and still enjoy, but one that you can also use to get you amped.

Almost every track on this record is a favorite of mine, as it most of the material from their second effort, 2002'sSurrounded By Theives, mostly because it still has a very unique sound - Green Matamp's turned up to 10, Pike's excellent playing, George Rice's stellar bass work and Des Kensel's crushing drums. Even the solo's, which I normally find tedious on so many metal records, retain a soulful feel, Clapton meets Kerry King, but the sounds is very much all its own.



This LP version of the first record, which was originally released by the now-defunct Man's Ruin, has all the original tracks and an additional 7" with two bonus tracks - The Usurper - an awesome Celtic Frost cover and Steel Shoe - a driving proto-metal riff and fast-paced track more consistent with HOF's later material on Death Is This Communion.

It's a must own for any Sleep fan and any fan of stoner metal, but would find a good home in the collection of any metal enthusiast. It's a record that gets better every time I listen to it.

Dr. Dooom - First Come, First Served (1999) LP Funky Ass Records

Kool Keith is definitely one of those rare performers in music - he just does what he wants and doesn't really care about the consequences. His style is off-beat to say the least - rough and direct, not incredibly crafted, lots of off the cuff rhymes and verses and hooks that are funny and anti-hip-hop intellectual. For a guy who can craft a banging track and deep lyrics, he'll also drop lines like "Starring at me/grabbing my pee-pee" and "Watching Monday Night Football/With my dick all up in her butt" - juvenile humor for sure, but also a reflection of his raison detre - crafting music that absolutely goes against the norm.

First Come, First Served stands as one of his best, a high point in his career which has a lot of high points. He kills off Dr. Octagon, his most successful alias from most successful record since his Ultramagnetic MC's days, right in the first track and proceeds to go for a darker sound, darker lyrics, and all kind of strange skits, wrapped up in some very dope rhymes. He's one of he few MC's I really listen to when it comes to lyrics.

No subject is taboo and he puts himself in the most bizzare of situations, shrugging off any rap-boasting, status booting claims of baller lifestyles, women and money. He'd much rather tell you a story about a disgusting aprartment in the hood and a whole host of weird people - cross dressers, drug addicts, rude neighbors and horror movie heros . It's pretty refreshing.



The production is a bit of the same sound from Dr. Octagon, but Kut Master Kurt brings his own style to them, crafting deeper beats and darker sounds. It's part horror movie soundtrack and part hip-hop record and works perfectly here.

Keith kept dropping smoking records after this release in 1999, most notably 1999's stellarBlack Elvis/Lost In Space, 2001's Spankmaster and the One-Watt Sun produced 2006's The Return of Dr. Octagon.

Yes - Close To The Edge (1972) - LP Atlantic Records

Shortly after Close To The Edge was released by Yes, Bill Bruford, their excellent and supremely talented drummer left to go play with King Crimson - because he felt that there could be no better album than this, their fifth effort and one of a few prog must-haves. It's a very successful effort, one that sees some amazing arranging and song writing, pushing the envelope of prog rock without being the slightest bit pretentious. It's imagnitive and moving, rocking and mellow, virtuosic and easy to access.

The album opener, 'Close To The Edge' is an amazing 18-minute, LP side long track that is arranged like a classical piece, with a ton of sections and is one of my favorite Yes tracks. Everyone gets a chance to shine and it is equal parts art and emotion, a perfect combination for prog rock.


The album artwork is by Roger Dean, who just might be the perfect artist for progressive rock, giving the listener a world into which they can gaze while listing to a heady mix of music. He crafted a number of Yes album covers at a time when gatefold covers were the norm and using them at his canvas, he gave the band an excellent esthetic identity.

It's an easy album to find and one that is a great starting point for anyone ready to take a step into the world of progressive rock. I picked this up from Reckless on Milwaukee with most of their catalog, each for a few dollars a piece. Good thing about prog rock - it's pretty inexpensive.

Emerson, Lake and Palmer - Emerson, Lake and Palmer (1971) LP Cotillion Records

Prog rock was very nearly a dirty word when I was younger in the early 1980's. After the explosion of punk and new wave, paving the way for '80's pop, almost every major progressive rock band either changed their style or completely died off. ELP was one of those that burned out before the end of the 1970's, becoming fodder for critics who thought they were just pretentious and self-aggrandizing by releasing LP-side long pieces for each member, using full orchestras on tour and expanding solos to the point of near mind-numbing length.

However, for all that is said about their later output and their showy stage show and tours, their early output is unquestionably excellent. I mean, they sold more than 40 million records, so had bad can they really be? They really were the standard of prog rock for a while -mixing classical and jazz with rock, a supergroup of sorts as all the members came from established groups at the time: Keith Emerson - The Nice, Greg Lake - King Crimson and Carl Palmer - The Crazy World of Arthur Brown.

This is their first record, released on Cotillion Records, an Atlantic subsidiary and was pretty successful, with the single 'Lucky Man' (a folksy, acoustic ballad) being the commercial standout. 'Knife Edge' is probably the track I listen to most on this record, a great driving riff, punctuated by great organ pieces and low timber vocal work.



You do get a bit of everything with this record and it's a great debut by an excellent group, from the super-fuzzy beginning of the album's opener, 'The Barbarian' to the successful 'Lucky Man.' Grab your best headphones and give it a spin. It's an easy album to find and like a lot of prog rock, it should be cheap enough to get your self this record and an ice coffee for under $5.

AC/DC - Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (1976) LP Albert Productions

AC/DC released this record originally in 1976 in Australia on Albert Production before its US release in 1981. The track list was substantially different, with the Australian album including 'Jailbreak' and 'Rock On' and completely different artwork.

It's full of fan favorite tracks and is certified 6x platinum, making it the thrid best selling AC/DC album of all-time, after Highway To Hell (7x platinum) and Back In Black (22x platinum, THE best selling album by a band of all-time) - and totally deserves it. 'Dirty Deeds...' and 'Big Balls' are favorites AC/DC tracks of mine and the US release of this album has been in my collection for a very long time. It was recorded right when the band was starting to get some big time international attention and when Bon Scott was at his best. 'Problem Child' is a recent fav of mine, one that gives you a damn good idea of their power as a rock band.



I picked this up at Laurie's - a behind-the-counter rarity and one I ket passing up, because I couldn't justify the cost for an album I already have the international release on both CD and vinyl. But, I kept looking at it every time I went in and just gave in, picking it up and happy to do so.

It also coincided with my reading a very good AC/DC biography that rekindled my interest in the band. Granted, they are known for playing simple, straight-forward rock - something I usually balk at - but damn, they are just too good and this is certainly one of the most solid rock albums ever released.

Sir Mix-A-Lot - I Just Love My Beat/Square Dance Rap/Let's G/Mix-A-Lot's Theme (1985) 12" EP Nasty Mix Records

This 12" EP was released on Sir Mix-A-Lot's own Nasty Mix Records label three years before his Swass platinum-selling album was released. This single actually has four tracks: 'I Just Love My Beat,' 'Square Dance Rap,' 'Let's G' and 'Mix-A-Lot's Theme' and all are early electro sounding Mix-A-Lot party-style tracks. All the tracks are excellent and a lot of fun, a great window into the electro hip-hop world with its practitioners like Egyptian Lover, Man Parrish, Planet Patrol and Mantronix.



There are great party jams, perfect for the roller rink for those of you who actually remember those days of Shannon and Debbie Deb. Mix does borrow heavily from Egyptian Lover at points, even breathing heavily on 'Let's G' which is super reminicent of 'Egypt, Egypt'.

I grew up in Seattle and have a place in my heart for Mix-A-Lot and his output, which was incredibly consistent - just not all commercially as successful as Mack Daddy and the classic 'Baby Got Back.' Give a listen to Seminar or Swass and see just what he could do.

Motorhead - What's Words Worth? (1983) LP Astan Music

This is a live LP, recorded back in 1978 with the classic Motorhead line up - Filthy Phil Taylor, Fast Eddie Clark and Lemmy. It's an interesting glimpse at the early years of the band with super early Motorhead tracks and a stellar cover of 'I'm Your Witchdoctor' - a great John Mayall track, originally recorded with Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton.



It's not the best quality or performance, but the songs are good choices and it has that Motorhead drive and power that is very much its own thing. This has been re-released as Iron Fist and The Hordes From Hell and available on CD and LP. This happens to be the original LP, released on the German label Astan Music and one I forgot I had until I went on a Motorhead kick a little while back, watching the Lemmy movie and going through my collection to listen to their back catalog.

N.W.A. - Panic Zone/Dope Man/8-Ball (1987) 12" EP Macola/Ruthless Records

Back in 1987, NWA released this killer 12" - a mix of LA electro and gangster rap. It was their first release, ;less than a year after they formed, before Arabian Prince got bounced from the group and before MC Ren joined up. It's a great moment in the changing world of hip-hop in 1987 - right before the explosion of gangster rap and right after the LA electro sound ruled the underground.

"Panic Zone" is quintessential LA electro - computerized vocal effects, Roland 808 and 909 beats, borrowing heavily from early hip-hop circa 1980. Arabian Prince gets the first verse and if they didn't mention right off the bat that they were NWA, you wouldn't believe it. It's vintage Arabian Prince - one of two huge LA DJ's at the time dropping awesome electro stuff - the other being Egyptian Lover.



Both 'Dope Man' and '8-Ball' should be pretty familiar to NWA fans. Both are great tracks, pretty funny and direct, dropping lots of knowledge about the streets of Compton - a trend that would explode into gangster rap, most notably on NWA's next release, the seminal Straight Out Of Compton.

The identity of the group was obviously still gelling, hence the inclusion of the electro influences and crazy mix of outfits on the cover of the 12" - Flavor Flav style giant clocks as pendants and OE, Jheri curl, Fila and Adidas track suits. It's an interesting look at a group that would later define a genre, at a time when they were still defining themselves.

Hawkwind - Space Ritual (1973) 2xLP United Artists

Space Ritual is the Hawkwind album that most people know as it was recorded live at the highpoint of their existence, with the material mostly coming from 1972's Dorime Fasol Latido and a few new tracks like 'Orgone Accumulator' and 'Born To Go'. It has seen countless represses and even an unedited version , titled, Space Ritual Volume 2 which hit the streets in 1985.

It also features the talents of Lemmy on bass and vocals and overall its a tremendous record, one that should grace any serious record collection. It really shines a light on the completeness of the band at the time, with the light show, Stacia dancing, and poetry thrown into the mix, recited by Calvert. As a live show, it must have been really mind blowing.

The recorded tracks are stellar and the recording quality is also amazing for the time, though some of the overdubs did come after the fact in the studio. It is surprising that Hawkwind's hit single, 'Silver Machine' is absent from this record, but I imagine that as they were falling out with Lemmy at the time, they may have decided to give his song a bit of a back seat.



The LP sleeve itself is a journey - its a six-page foldout with themed panels and poetry by William Blake. The artwork is amazing and just incredible - a very serious undertaking and a perfect way to experience the band.

Back when I was a kid, LP's artwork were really the only window through which to view the band and the packaging and artwork were just as important as the music to give the band an identity. There are so many great LP covers of the day, especially the mid-to-late 1970's output by progressive rock bands, like Yes and Genesis, but this one must take the cake.

This album is a great introduction to the band and after listening to it many, many times, I have yet to find a moment that strays from the pace and intensity this band delivers live. No lengthy song breaks, no awkward on stage banter.

Corrosion Of Conformity - Animosity (1985) LP Death/Metal Blade Records

I'm not sure just how to explain how much I love this record or count how many times I have listened to it. It's a lot. A helluva lot. It may be the most listened to record in my 1000+ lp collection.

I bought this back in 1989, a few years after it was released. I was about 13 and had just gotten into Nuclear Assault, D.R.I., The Misfits, Metallica (Master of Puppets especially), Exodus, Anthrax and a ton of other thrash bands. I bought this LP after seeing a COC shirt on someone from some band I liked, I cant remember who, but the spiked skull with the biohazard logo was just brilliant and I knew the band had to be good.



I was right. This record blew me away. It's relentlessly fast and gruff, a perfect mix of thrash and punk and death metal, back when all those genres were coming into their own. The vocals are harsh and brutal, before low grumbling became the norm, somewhere between James Hetfield and Chuck Scholdinger. Some tracks are also done with some brutal vocal effect, like a screeching distortion, and none are better than 'Prayer'. The songs draw every bit of emotion out of me when I am feeling pissed off, frustrated, and angry - and its had that power over me for the last 20+ years.

Animosity is C.O.C.'s second release, after the Eye For An Eye LP in 1984 and the follow up, Technocracy, is an awesome EP, a perfect continuation of Animosity's great song writing and break neck pace.