Edna was a Honey Cone who sang with Holland-Dozier-Holland, and Ray Charles on Let’s Go Get Stoned. Her 1977 solo album is pure class — a luxuriant blend of ballads and dancers, supervised and brilliantly arranged by Greg Perry, her old man. De La Soul, Nas and Talib Kweli all drank from the fountain. Oops! itself is all-time rare-groove murder.
Keyboardist with Heldon, Magma and co, joined on his debut LP by the likes of Richard Pinhas and Christian Vander — no less — together with Bernard Paganotti, François Auger, Didier Batard… An outstanding mixture of synthy electronics and jazz-rock. First vinyl issue.
The unlikely Hawaiian-influenced Xabagies music of 1930s Greece: surrealist guitar portraits blurring Athens and Honolulu, haunting tropical serenades, wild acoustic orchestras, and heartbreaking steel guitar duets. With a 28-page booklet.
Featuring the jazz-dance classic Life Is Like A Samba… a Rinder & Lewis production from 1979.
A magical record by this Italian actor in films by the likes of Bertolucci and Leone. Alvin Curran, Steve Lacy, and Roberto Laneri from Prima Materia are amongst her co-conspirators in its dream-like menagerie of styles and textures, setting poems by Aldo Braibanti (who’d been banged up — people say framed — for a much more grievous kind of ‘psychological kidnapping’ just a few years earlier). Enchanting stuff, beautifully presented by Holidays in Milan, including a pamphlet of the lyrics, with English translations. Originally released in 1974 by RI-FI.
Not a best-of compilation, this is the great singer’s fine fourth LP, squaring up to Roots in 1977, with the Revolutionaries.
The GRM don letting his hair down, in this 1982 soundtrack to the film Rock, performed on a TR-808 drum-machine, Synthi AKS, and Farfisa organ and clavinet. Nineteen shots mixing together electro, Radiophonics and John Carpenter. Bracing, brilliant, highly accessible; warmly recommended.
Olima Anditi is a blind guitarist beloved throughout Western Kenya for his old Luo songs about love, morality and politics. This warmly intimate session was recorded in his room in Kisumu, in 2010. Like Usiende Ukualale, it’s lovingly presented, with a colour booklet.
Irresistible 1950s mento — singalong tunes, ebulliently performed, over-spilling with scandal, smut and impudence, sex, dancing and booze, word-play, jokes and up-to-the minute social commentary, and general love for life.
A no-frills, loving tribute — with Shirley’s longtime drummer Steve Williams and double bassist Curtis Lundy (brother of Carmen), formerly of Betty Carter’s group; also the fine pianist Alex Minasian and trumpeter Till Brönner.
A top-notch selection of High Note and Gay Feet rhythms, expertly mixed the old-fashioned way by Duke Reid’s nephew, Errol Brown.