During the 1960's - in the wake of a Coup d'état and weird middle-of-the-night Presidential pushup challenges from JFK, Brazil started pumping out some of the most wonderful music ever created - Série Samba Soul is an obscure ray of delight from the early years of MPB (Música Popular Brasileira).
Doors-lovin' Liverpudlian sassboys Echo & the Bunnymen made a single-hander of LPs during the 1980's that are all solid. My favorite is number two - Heaven Up Here - Post-punk poundery that is perfect for soundtracking your BDSM adventure. If that's your thing - pervert.
Harry Hosono's tropical-themed Japanese jamboree from 1978 is the perfect album to put on if you ever find yourself dosed on acid at a Lu’a. Paraiso was Hosono's fourth LP released under his own name - but also the unofficial birth of Tokyo city pop forefathers the Yellow Magic Orchestra.
During the summer of '92 - amidst the official transition of rock and roll power from the Hair Hunx to the Grunge Hunx - the Gin Blossoms dropped the lovable New Mis' - a dryly joyous Mangina Music masterpiece that stands out by not standing out at all.
We pick up where we left off with Faith No More (Check out 045 Introduce Yourself) - the funk-metal carnival continues with a new singer and an oddball classic of an album that somehow wedged it's way into the 1989 popular music zeitgeist amongst an overstuffed populace of Pop Stars and Hair Hunx.
Hair-raising new album from one of Jose's favorite bands - we'll also explore nuggets from Water From Your Eyes' back catalog - boundless creativity with this duo.
Mick puts down his Majesties' wizard hat and Keith picks up open E and D tuning on the guitar as The Rolling Stones pound thru 1968 with something to prove - resulting in Beggars Banquet - the album when The Rolling Stones became The STONES.
The best rock album ever made by a band with a frontman pretending to not have a penis. The gloriously unwieldy catalog of The Smiths is tremendous front to end - but there was a little extra specialness happening with The Queen is Dead as The Smiths closed out their final full year of existence.
Classic rock radio giveth much thanks to that Steve Miller Greatest Hits album with the gay horse head on the cover. And most of those laser-beamy soft rock classics were birthed on Book of Dreams - Steve Miller Band's tenth and most recent LP at the time. Book of Dreams dropped only one year before the Greatest Hits album - basically rendering it obsolete to the average fan while still in the racks. Weird move but B.O.D. still rocks and is one of the few reasons to jump off the Steve Miller Greatest Hits horse.
After neck-to-nutting The Doors discography in chronological order I was like 'what is up with The Soft Parade?' It might not be the best Doors album - but it definitely has the most personality - the sound of the biggest band in America having a temper tantrum in real time.
Roky Erickson barely survived the 1960s - lost his mind during the 1970s - and still somehow managed to release his most awesome LP in 1981. The Evil One is a treasure chest of deep tracks about fictional ghouls and demons that might actually be reality to Roky. We also welcome Bemba and Bana to the crew.
Fifteen track gift from Analog Africa proving that you can't spell Funaná without F-U-N. Bemba Restrepo's discovery on the shores of São Nicolau adds an extra jolt of weirdness to the traditional sounds of Cabo Verde.
Keystone Berkeley ran live music shows for twelve years and also served as a favorite hangout spot for rockers living in the Bay Area. Merl Saunders and Jerry Garcia were two of those - and had been ripping it up together regularly for a year and a half when they decided to record their action to tape. Live at Keystone was the result and is a real-time capture of a musical friendship between two fat guys at peak electric output.
Gelli Haha is a new act and it is my job as Mr. Cool music show host to alert you of her existence. Switcheroo is fun-ass dance music - slammers about Italian desserts and pissing in glass jars that sound more like little electric kisses than songs.
I love Bleached tremendously - so it's on a curve when I say Welcome the Worms is one of the better no-fuss rock records of the past decade - a controlled frenzy of catchy songs made by an instantly-likable band. Also - the Canseco Twins find themselves on a path to fantasy fulfillment - turns out that fantasy is only four blocks away.
Before Daft Punk got the robot sex change operations and became the sound of global gloss there was Homework - the self-financed and home-recorded debut. And it's fantastic.
While not the most coveted 'Mats LP - Hootenanny is the one that got them out of the icy Jesse Ventura-ness of their beloved Minnesota - and on the road to alt-rock knighthood. This is where Paul Westerberg began to fully embrace the joys of socially ergonomic songwriting...sometimes.
Here we are blessed with a baker's dozen of Anatolian-flavored funk nuggets via the side project of a Swedish film and television composer.
The eponymous third aka Grey Album from 1969 began the second half of the VU's run - the forgotten half - when they were an actual touring rock and roll band trying to pop big. No Warhol, no New York City and no John Cale. A deep track dynamo without the literal AND figurative feedback of the past. Lou's older brother Roy shows up though.
Back to Zamrock with Amanaz (Ask me about nice artistes in Zambia). The group only made one album - 1975's Africa - but that's all that is needed to ingest the 'One Zambia, one nation, three chords' spirit.