Author: Dr. Vibes

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Willie Colon – Asalto Navideño Vol. II (1973) (50th Anniversary Fania – Craft 2023)

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Willie Colon with Hector Lavoe & Yomo Toro – Asalto Navideño Vol.II
Vinyl rip in 24-bit/192 kHz | FLAC |  Art scans | Folk, Holiday, Salsa
2023 Craft Recordings || Orig.rel. 1973 Fania

I wanted to get this post up before the holiday season passed, and I just *barely* made it — Jan. 6 is the end of the Xmas season in Latin America, with the holiday of Three Kings Day / Feast of the Epiphany closing things out.  If you don’t know Willie Colon and the late, great Hector Lavoe, this may not be the place to start. Not because it isn’t good, but it’s not typical of the lean, street-wise salsa sound they helped craft in the formative period of the genre during the late 60s through the 70s.

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John Fahey – Popular Songs Of Christmas & New Year’s: Guitar Instrumentals (1983)

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John Fahey – Popular Songs Of Christmas & New Year’s: Guitar Instrumentals
Vinyl rip in 24-bit/192 kHz || Folk, Holiday
1983 Varrick || Includes insert from Rounder

Less hauntingly beautiful as his initial Christmas LP, this is still plenty enjoyable.  Heck, by 1983, Fahey had released enough Xmas records that I quite literally can’t keep track, especially since at least one (or possibly two) got repackaged with different covers.  Anyway, check this out if you liked any of the others. Continue reading

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Azymuth – Telecommunication (1982) (2023 Jazz Dispensary Top Shelf)

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Azymuth – Telecommunications
Vinyl rip in 24-bit/192 kHz | Brazilian Jazz
Distributed as FLAC (24/192, 24/96) and mp3 (320kbs)
1982 Milestone || 2022 Jazz Dispensary (Craft) || Ltd. ed

Hey, remember when this blog featured Brazilian music?  Me neither!  Well, the relative inutility of music blogs in 2023 notwithstanding, I’m going to make a New Year’s resolution to start visiting Brazil more often, sonically at least, in 2024.  Why not start early with this classic recording from Brazilian jazz outfit Azymuth, recorded in Brazil but not released there, this was originally issued by Milestone. It is presented as part of the Jazz Dispensary Top Shelf series by Craft Records in a limited run. Continue reading

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The Pogues – The Stiff Records B-Sides (1984-1987) (2023 RSD release)

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The Pogues – The Stiff Records B-Sides (1984-1987)
 300 dpi cover scans | Folk-rock, Post-punk
1.93 GB (24/192) + 1.11 GB (24/96)
2023 Record Store Day Ltd. Ed || Warner Brothers 0190296503221

I just got the news that troubled genius Shane MacGowan passed away.  There have been plenty of musical deaths in the last year, some of them unexpected and many more in the purview of the general vibe of this blog, that probably warranted a tribute post on this site.  But I generally swore off doing commemoration posts when the musicians from my favorite eras of music began dropping like flies.  Otherwise this blog would basically become an ongoing obituary column.  I have been meaning to share this album since March, though. Many of the songs on it were new to me until this year, when it was released as a Record Store Day exclusive release.  These are the kinds of RSD releases that characterized that “holiday” at the beginning for many people, presenting something genuinely rare and collectable, before it became flooded with pointless reissues of mainstream albums, gimmicky picture discs, and Taylor Swift exclusives that cause teenager girls and their moms to queue up on sidewalks overnight.. (Don’t get me wrong, I still spend money on RSD stuff – too much, actually – but man, there are so many garbage releases now. No offense intended to the Swifty army..)

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Johnny Pacheco – Pacheco At The NYC World’s Fair (1964 Fania)

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Johnny Pacheco – Pacheco At The N.Y. World’s Fair
Vinyl rip in 24-bit/192 kHz | FLAC |  300 dpi  | Latin, Salsa
1964 Fania LP-326 || Mono gold label

Because everything sucks right now except my record collection.  Nothing provocative, depressing, nor spooky (this being Halloween and all) but rather uplifting and invigorating. This is great early work from Maestro Pacheco, released within the first year of Fania Records’ life as a company that would cast a long shadow in the decades to come.  It features a lead vocal (on most tracks) from Pete Rodriguez before his breakout hit “I Like It Like That”. A couple of tracks feature the Cuban singer Ramon ‘Monguito’ Sardiñas in that role.  The rest of the personnel is not noted anywhere I can find, feel free to leave a comment if you happen to know who played on this.

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Alain Goraguer – La Planète Sauvage Original Soundtrack (1973) (2020 RSD)

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Alain Goraguer – La Planète Sauvage Original Soundtrack
Vinyl rip in 24-bit/192 kHz | FLAC |  300 dpi  | Jazz-funk, Psychedelic
2020 Superior Viaduct – SV058 translucent yellow vinyl
Original release 1973 on the Pathé label (France)

When I was a teenager, staying up late on the weekends, I used to see this film come on the TV.   I found it beguiling, unsettling, and trippy.  It seemed to combine everything my adolescent self was immersed in: science fiction, psychedelia, and groovy music.  Then I forgot about it for years and years until I ended up becoming friends with a guy from Toulouse who was also into records and vinyl and eventually this film and soundtrack came up.

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