Startling 1975 excursions into Tarantism — a kind of hysteria ostensibly triggered by spider bites, for which dancing is the only cure, with its own set of cultural traditions based in Basilicata, Apulia, Sicily.
Obsessive, hypnotic chants, rhythms, and drones, mixing together folk, avant-gardism, and psych, with shots of Dylan and North African drumming.

Originally released by the Folkstudio label in 1976, this is infectiously exuberant, eighteen-piece spiritual jazz in the tradition of the Arkestra, the Organic Music Society, and Mingus; strung between the post-war big bands and the Italian outernationalism of projects like Aktuala and Futuro Antico, drawing in music from Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

‘Rashied Ali stood as a magnetic force for the musical environment around him. In his last decades he sponsored rehearsal opportunities for young musicians, tightened up neighborhood street-corner drum circles he happened to pass, and for years would pull promising young talents into his orbit. One unique group that Ali led at the 2002 Vision Festival in NYC, along with Frank Lowe, he also took into the studio. Sidewalks in Motion features Ali and Lowe along with young musicians Jumaane Smith (trumpet), Andrew Bemkey on piano, and bassist Joris Teepe. In the years after Lowe’s death Ali selected the best takes, and mixed and mastered them for release, but the material remained on the shelf… till now.’
Presented in an old-school tip-on jacket featuring photos and Joris Teepe’s recollections.

Peter Brotzmann (sax), Toshinori Kondo (trumpet), Frank Wright (sax), Willem Breuker (sax), Hannes Bauer (sax), Alan Tomlinson (trombone), Alexander Von Schlippenbach (piano), Harry Miller (bass), Louis Moholo (drums).
LP from Cien Fuegos.

A quartet with Evan Parker, Alan Silva, and Paul Lovens.

‘Ghost musick… operating in the margins and intersections of folklore, experimental electronics, dreams and nightmares… Think of it as a rampant yearning, a manic laughter, but mostly as a feeling of some somnambulistic thirst for adventure and journeys into the unknown, a feeling that is grounded deep inside the heart of the continent.’

‘Shines a light on a little-heard, spooked German underground, working below the radar on mostly small-run releases. Lower Franconia’s Baldruin lays the mystery on thick, his fevered tracks here using flutes, electric organs and shaken children’s toys to create an opaque ambience. Close neighbours Brannten Schnüre voyage into similarly uncharted territory, providing laceworks of fragile folk melodies and sloshes of breathy drone offset by detached vocals. Like Brothers Grimm armed with analogue synths, Freundliche Kreisel supply the title track’s sinister fairy tale, while the oblique textures of Kirschstein’s mystically-themed efforts betray roots in Amon Düül’s hallucinogenic psychedelia and Novy Svet’s neo surrealism. A very dark delight’ (Mojo).

Recorded at Muscle Shoals in 1973: a feelingly spare, beautifully restrained concept album about a divorce, devoting a side to each point of view.
‘This is a hell of an emotional record, where even the celebratory honky tonk numbers are muted by sadness. Then, there are the centerpieces: Walkin’, where the woman decides it’s time to move on; Pretend I Never Happened, perhaps the coldest ending to a relationship ever written; Bloody Mary Morning, a bleary-eyed morning-after tale that became a standard; It’s Not Supposed to Be That Way, a nearly unbearably melancholy account of a love gone wrong; and Heaven and Hell, a waltz summary of the relationship. Any two of these would have formed a strong core for an album, but placed together in a narrative context, their impact is even more considerable. As a result, this is not just one of Willie Nelson’s best records, but one of the great concept albums overall’ (AllMusic).

‘This fifth LP in the series opens with a banger: Street Dance by Bonnie Jean, in the style of Shirley Ellis’ The Nitty Gritty, with Darlene Love & The Blossoms clearly audible on background vocals. The Hollywood-based Doré imprint is also the source of You Really Never Know Till It’s Over by The Vel-Vetts, One Way Street by The Swans, a soulful update of The Teddy Bears’ To Know Him Is To Love Him by the Darlings, and He’s Groovy — featuring lead vocals by Sheilah Page, formerly of groups such as the Bermudas, Becky & The Lollipops, The Majorettes, Joanne & the Triangles and Beverly & the Motor Scooters — by The Front Page & Her.
‘Other highlights include The Sweethearts’ Supremes-influenced No More Tears, the sophisticated slowie Lonely Girl by The Lovettes (that’s them on the front sleeve), My Heart Tells Me So by The Del-Phis (an early incarnation of Martha & The Vandellas), Brenda Holloway’s lovely pre-Motown Constant Love, and the Fran-Cettes’ terrific interpretation of Heart For Sale.’