Roy Ayers Ubiquity – Virgo Red (1973) (Polydor PD-6016)

Roy Ayers Ubiquity – Virgo Red
1973 Polydor PD-6016
Vinyl rip in 24-bit/192 kHz | Art scans at 300 dpi

An underrated Roy Ayers Ubiquity album, Virgo Red has to overcome the fact that it leads off with its weakest track, a cover of the Hot Chocolate song “Brother Louie”, which became a #1 hit for Stories and was ruined for all perpetuity by disgraced comedian Louis C.K. Blame it on his time playing with hirsute Herbie Mann if you will, but Roy seemingly couldn’t pass up an opportunity for cheesy covers of pop songs. Continue reading

Arrow – Hot Hot Hot (1982) (Arrow Records-019)

Arrow
Hot Hot Hot
1982 Arrow Records ARROW-019

According to my well-placed sources, there was a time where you couldn’t go to a party in the Caribbean without somebody playing this record, or at least the title cut.  Monserrat native and Pillies fan Arrow (Alphonsus Cassell) had been releasing calypso and soca albums since the early 70’s, but most people outside the region will probably know the title track from the tepid “Buster Poindexter” version by David Johansen.  It’s a classic summertime jam, now with year-round appeal as our planet boils toward climate catastrophe and mass species extinction.   (continued below) Continue reading

Rubens da Mangueira – Eu Sou Assim (1978) (Copacabana COLP – 12225)

Rubens da Mangueira
Eu Sou Assim
1978 Copacabana COLP – 12225

The Mangueira escola de samba has produced no shortage of delights in terms of composers, singers, and musicians, and they are still going strong today.  Understandably, with eternal titans like Cartola and Nelson Cavaquinho associated with the institution, other sambistas were destined to forever walk in their shadows as mere mortals, and were proud to do so.  This record by Rubens da Mangueira opens with the funky, humorous Estrangeiro no samba.  The real stand-out track here to me is the mournful A vida continua lamenting the loss of a fellow brother in samba.  The whole album is solid and has never been issued on CD.  This is another LP that I ripped and then misplaced for a few years Continue reading

Ned Doheny – Hard Candy (1976) (2014 Be With Records 180g reissue)

Ned Doheny – Hard Candy
Vinyl rip in 24-bit/192 kHz | FLAC |  Art scans at 300 dpi
1.4801GB (24/192) | 714MB (24/96) + 238 MB (16/44) |
2014 Be With Records BEWITH003LP | Genre:   Soul, Funk, Rock

I’m not sure that the release of Ned Doheny’s 1973 album sold enough copies to inculcate anything much in the way of expectations, but anybody who had happened to own that album could be forgiven for wondering if his second record in 1976 hadn’t accidentally been switched with the latest Vangelis when they first put it on the turntable. A full thirty seconds of  slowly faded-in, droning synth chords opens the album before a splash of Ned’s acoustic guitar, chimes and eventually drummer Gary Mallaber laying down a rock-solid beat on the moody “Get It Up For Love.” The whole record is heavenly blue-eyed soul, folky funk, swimming pool dreaminess and about as Laurel Canyon 1976 as it could possibly be.

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João Gilberto – O amor, o sorriso, e a flor (1960) (Odeon MOFB 3151)

João Gilberto – O amor, o sorriso e a flor
1960 Odeon – MOFB 3151
This pressing, early 1970’s, mono mix

A month ago, the world mourned the loss of a gentle musical soul,  and an icon of a Brazil that ceased to exist long ago.  Like many others, discovering João Gilberto’s music beyond the Getz/Gilberto album was a major “event” in my life that made me want to understand more about a country that could produce such a messenger of raw beauty.  Twenty-odd years later and I am still coming to grips with understanding the place – as are many Brazilians these days – but this much is certain:  Brazil will never produce another João Gilberto. Continue reading