TITLE: Deep Down Heavy
ARTIST: Bob Downes
LABEL: MFP 1970 

This seems to be the best known recording by Downes but still pretty rare. His only one on mfp, he also did a record this same year on Vertigo with a similar cast of musicians.

I really dig the theme of this album, very soundtracky. One minute it's dreamy, raw flute solos, the next minute you\0xD5re submersed in good ole British blues/funk. Record is flat out crazy. Very fuzzy and funky. Downes sounds like a beatnik Roger Daltrey, which is grounds for some entertaining vocals.

I can't put a finger on an overall musical comparison, but I catch one song that is super Doors influenced, some that sound very British similar to the Yardbirds, and some are just wigged-out funky jams.

Along with these dynamic tracks are some well out-there sketches, my favorite being a spoken word piece by Robert Cockburn titled "Hollow Moment." Very beatish with a weird pounding oscillation building underneath. I'm sure I'll rock something off here but even if I don't I'm happy having it in my listening rotation. Gotta love that!

TITLE: Supernova 
ARTIST: Ibliss 
LABEL: Aamok 1972

By far my favorite record I have (props to Joey Beats and the radio vaults for hitting me off). To delve into the background a little, the label is a very rare German Progressive label that has never put out a bad record that I have heard. I believe there are two labels that pressed up wax with the trademark fried egg logo (the other being Intercord). There is a record by Andy Marx that is, I believe, the easiest to find on the Aamok label but will still run you around 40 bucks. As far as this Ibliss record goes, I have never seen another copy of it anywhere.

This record contains 4 songs. One of them ("High Life") is a 12 minute long, bass-line driven jam that is more prog-funk than prog-rock. Following this song is a very mellow track entitled "Athir" with a prominent flute solo riding over a rolling electric guitar undertow along with a great, light, percussion arrangement all again, following a more sutle, bass lead. The flip side starts with "Margah" which is a high-paced Latin percussion jam ending with a very Santana-ish guitar solo. Second song on this side is another long (14 minute) bass-driven jam, this time a bit on the Latin-jazz side of things with drawn out crescendos following the drummer\0xD5s lead.

Straight up weird jams coming via a German prog label. It doesn\0xD5t get any better than this! If you see it, cop it, you won\0xD5t be disappointed.

TITLE: Hooteroll?
ARTIST: Howard Wales & Jerry Garcia 
LABEL: Douglas 5 1970

I could go on for hours about these two guys and the label this record was pressed on so I\0xD5ll try to hit the gist of it. Wales has backed people on organ from the Godfather of soul himself all the way to the Dead and Harvey Mandel (yup, the Baby Batter LP). As far as the label is concerned, it\0xD5s a great label to follow, very intriguing. Not to be confused with the just plain Douglas label (Known for Richie Havens LPs and other folk/blues releases), the numbered Douglas\0xD5s are a weird bunch. I try to look into their history any chance I get. They have released records by people from the good doctor Timothy Leary (Douglas 1) to the Last Poets to Malcolm X, each with a different number.

As far as this record goes, being the hipster and Dead fan that I am, I love it. Those who don\0xD5t dig Jerry\0xD5s strong guitar leads will be turned off. It\0xD5s a very \0xD4groovy\0xD5 LP very similar to the Dead\0xD5s days with Pigpen on the keys (which were the same days), and slightly less funky than Wales other, more-rare solo venture. There are some nice secondary loops on this LP that I haven\0xD5t yet played with, but they aren\0xD5t straight up (the reissue on a different label has an additional song with some very dope drums). Great LP and great label, don\0xD5t sleep on the hippies!

TITLE: Cauldron
ARTIST: Fifty Foot Hose
LABEL: Limelight 1968

Some very heavy Pysch-rock here. Can you say "ACID!?" This record is pretty rare, especially in such great condition, and although I paid (traded) near face value for it, it is very well worth it. This baby is filled with warm, analog, cosmic fills and loops. A great rainy day sample record. Besides the great samples though, this record is super nice listening material. Heavy Theramin Pysch-rock topped with a hint of blues (they do a hipped-out cover of "god Bless The Child"). These folks are from the Bay area and I\0xD5m told changed their name as often a their underpants (which being dirty hippies, might not have been that often but you get the point).

As far as the label Limelight goes, it\0xD5s under the Mercury umbrella. This label put out jazz records too but 99% of their experimental rock stuff is amazing and quickly becoming the taste of collectors. Great label, if you see it, check it.

TITLE: Matching Mole\0xD5s Little Red Book
ARTIST: Matching Mole
LABEL: Columbia 1972

Here\0xD5s my pick for all the Soft Machine fans out there. Backed by the group\0xD5s legendary founding father Robert Wyatt, this album reflects the evolution of British Prog-rock beautifully. Not one of the Soft Machine family\0xD5s easier to find records but by all means findable.

This is one of two records the group released in the same year and doesn\0xD5t get good reviews from what I\0xD5ve read. Personally, I\0xD5m in love with it. It\0xD5s like a British Progressive porn soundtrack complete with Wyatt\0xD5s, always humorous, vocals occasionally accompanied by some female dialogue.

The LP cover is fun reading too, which is always a bonus in my book. Bottom line, any record that starts with a song called, "Starting In The Middle Of The Day We Can Drink Our Politics Away", is a winner as far as I\0xD5m concerned.

TITLE: Entropy b/w Send Them
ARTIST: Lights Out: San Francisco
LABEL: Blue Thumb/ 1972

This is such a dope record. From what I have read on the cover, Voco was a well known DJ on KMPX in San Francisco in the late 60s. His show ran from 6pm till midnight and for the last hour, he played all types of music to take his listeners "on a magic carpet ride" after they would turn their lights out to go to sleep. He called this hour Lights Out accordingly and this LP is a collection of songs produced, and some written, by Voco (a.k.a. Mahdi, the Expected One).

With well know artists such as Lydia Pense, John Lee Hooker, Linda Tillery, and even the Pointer Sisters, this LP is filled with quality tracks. Some note worthy tracks are "Mahdi, (the Expected One)" with a funky sound and nice break intro, the middle eastern jam "Brother Antrainik", and the heavy, heavy 9 minute long blues jam of Mr. John Lee Hooker on the title track.

From Jazz and funk, to folk and blues, this LP has it all and it\0xD5s all great. Good idea to give this one a try if you see it. .

TITLE: Curtis/ Live!
ARTIST: Curtis Mayfield
LABEL: Curtom/ 197?

Here\0xD5s my pick for my super-duper-push-it-in-her-pooper funky thrown down LP. Curtis is on the case in full effect here at this session laid down at Paul Colby\0xD5s Bitter End in New York City. No exact date is published on the cover or record but my soul gut tells me late 71. This record was engineered by the world famous Eddie Kramer who\0xD5s ears I have not always agreed with (gave Buddy Miles no love with the levels on Band Of Gypsies stuff), but not even Kramer can get in the way of this.

Accompanied by such greats as the Master Henry Gibson on Congas and Joeseph "Lucky" Scott strumming the thump down on bass, this LP plays from the soul and transcends mere music to a level I personally can only describe as spiritual. I have to imagine the Bitter End was not a large place. Probably similar in size to the Village Vanguard where the crowd\0xD5s "ohhh"s and "right on right on"s are as much a part of the music as the musicians are.

The set list is in perfect sequence, hitting on soul screamin\0xD5 ballads such as "People Get Ready" and "We\0xD5ve Only Just Begun" to 70\0xD5s underground groove staples such as "Check Out Your Mind" and "If There\0xD5s A Hell Below, We\0xD5re All Going To Go." This LP ends with one of my favorite jams of all time, the ever-so-chillin\0xD5, "Stone Junkie" which is done to a T with the perfection and soul that Curtis can capture and extend to the audience so well.

All I can say is that it\0xD5s on the harder side of Curtis wax to find, but has also been reissued I think and nobody should be without a copy. Whether sexing the ladies or enjoying a late night boom sesh with the fellas, this LP sooths the soul and tickles that fonky bone. Get this album and in the words of the Master Curtis Mayfield, "continue to be a winner, all of you."

TITLE: Van Full Of Pakistans
ARTIST: Yall So Stupid
LABEL: Rowdy 1993

The cover says it all. Indeed to all the new jacks worrying about hanging on and analyzing their favorite underground Emcee\0xD5s words, or packin their clips and being "the man", Hip-Hop at one glorious point, was fun as shit! Some of these guys are even still keeping it real as Mass Influence. Wanna talk about love? These guys didn\0xD5t get the love they deserved back in 93 and still don\0xD5t today, but better believe that ain\0xD5t stopping them. Reppin the big ATL, home of friendly southern women and the guy responsible for showing everyone\0xD5s favorite flick, Smokey and the Bandit, three times a week on TBS, Yall So Stupid drop this perfect summertime chill-out anthem LP. I had this CD back in those days and found this baby sealed about 6 months ago and snatched it with the quick fast. Props to Spearhead X who still laces slammin beats, H20 who will always be the man, Unkle Buk who can ollie higher than you can, and all the other heads responsible for what ATL hip hop was and continues to be to this day.