Sakhile

Artist: Sakhile
Album: Sakhile
Label: Jive Afrika
Year: 1982

1. Sakhile (We Have Built)
2. Idayimane (Diamonds)
3. Ubuhkebakho (You're So Beautiful)
4.  Mantombi (No Literal Translation, A Girl's Name)
5. Isililo (A Mourning Song)
6. Beautiful Feeling (Isimo Esimnandi)
7. A Night To Remember (Ubusuku Obumnandi)
8. Kusinwa Kudedelwane (It's My Turn, Now)

Sipho Gumede: Bass and 8-string bass, vocals, percussion
Khaya Mahlangu: Tenor and Soprano saxophones, vocals, percussion
Themba Mkhize: Keyboards, vocals
Menyatso Mathole: Guitar, vocals
Madoda Mathunjwa: Drums, vocals
Mabi Thobejane: Percussion

I found this one at a book store up here in Berkeley, amongst a strangely good collection of other foreign vinyl. 

Sakhile ("We Have Built") was a South African band that gained notoriety in the early 1980's through their many live shows, for they never had wide commercial acclaim. "We Have Built" as a name was a strong cultural reaction to the oppressive Apartheid regime, a system that needed dismantling, and their music was "built" on a blend of South African traditional music and 70's era fusion and funk.  You can find more information on them here and here. 

This album was released in the US through Arista records, though as mentioned the band only had limited radio support. The Afro-fusion blend is prevalent throughout all the tracks, with one genre more dominant than the other in certain cases. A few of the tracks sound close to Weather Report fusion, others to Fela-esque afrobeat, and my favorites sound like American funk and soul with an African feel. "Sakhile" (the title track, and the band name...?) has a great drum beat and a hard, punchy bassline, and "Kusinwa Kudedelwane" has elements reminiscent of War, Cymande, and Bob James, all combined into something uniquely Sakhile.

Here's the title track for you check out:


Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps (mp3). Download the album here.


Much love,

This Mutha

Eugene Blacknell

Artist: Eugene Blacknell
Album: I've Been (Down So Long) - Single
Label: Seaside Records
Year: ?

1. I've Been (Down So Long)
2. Holding On

I've been really busy lately, but here's a quick post just to keep things going. I found this single in a box outside of Rasputin's record store up here in Berkeley. Eugene Blacknell was a funk and soul guitarist from the Bay Area (Oakland, to be specific). You can read a short bio on him from AllMusic here. Not mentioned in this bio is that he died sometime in the 1980s, clearly much too young.

Apparently, he never released a full-length album, just various singles. With that in mind, it's a little sad to see "from the Forthcoming L.P." on the left-side of the label; I wonder why he never was able to release an entire album, and what it might have sounded like. If anything like the B-Side of this single in the video below, then we really missed out:



According to some info on him from a Ubiquity Records video, "[Eugene's] musical career stretched from the early 1960s to the end of the 1980s and during that time he established himself as an East Bay original, an entrepreneur, an activist, and a family man. With so many accomplishments it's an irony of fate that he died before releasing an album despite having recorded enough material for several."

Ubiquity Records released a compilation album of Eugene Blacknell's work, which you can purchase here. For now, I hope you enjoy the single.

Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps (mp3). Download the single here.


Much love,

This Mutha

Bob Shaut

Artist: Bob Shaut
Album: Shaut's Thoughts
Label: Bee-Ess Records
Year: 1981

1. Worms
2. Sayin' Yeah
3. Serenity
4. What You've Done For Me
5. Departure
6. Clark's Calypso
7. Bumps
8. This One's For My Lady
9. Mystery

Bob Shaut: saxophones, flute
Joe Lomoriello: electric & acoustic basses
Chris Starpoli: drums, percussion, synare
Danny Schliftman: keyboards
Dave Pratt: trumpet, flugelhorn
Ira Getter: keyboards on "Mystery"
Paul Rossman, Ron Lapierre: percussion
Frank Molley: acoustic guitar on "What You've Done For Me"

I found this one at a thrift store in Los Angeles, and as always, I was intrigued by the fact that it was obviously a private pressing and appeared to have mainly jazz instrumentation. I really enjoy this whole album, with jazz tracks that go from upbeat CTI-Kudu fusion ("Bumps" and "Worms") to warmer and more mellow ballads ("Serenity" and "Mystery"). The back provides Bob Shaut's thoughts about the songs on the album:

Serenity and Mystery are two movements from a jazz suite entitled 'Quiescence', which I composed as a peace piece during the Vietnam War. Coincidentally, its first complete performance as the week of the peace treaty signing.

Departure comes from 'Space Music' for saxophone octet. The drum effect was produced by hitting the keys of a tenor saxophone. The 'bird' sound is a soprano saxophone mouthpiece with added echo.

Sayin' Yeah is for my parental family. Hi Mom!

Clark is my cat with a crooked ear. He enjoys jumping on recently washed Lincoln Continentals.

Use your imagination for Worms and Bumps.

Special thanks to My Lady, Linda, and my little man Dan, for being patient, for being inspiring, and for just being. What You've Done For Me has been to show me love and beauty.

When trying to find information about Bob for my own benefit, I discovered that there was a high school jazz teacher in the New York area by the same name, and wondered if it was in fact the same man. I found the website of the man's daughter, also a musician by the name of Andrea Shaut, and I sent a message asking if the jazz band instructor was the same Shaut from the album. I received this response:

Hi, 

My daughter Andrea forwarded your note, regarding "Shaut's Thoughts".  This is pretty cool - that was recorded in 1980 and was the last one that I did, so I hope that you like it.  I just retired from a teaching gig that kept me from recording, so I'm hoping to get into the studios soon.  The logo of a little kid playing a soprano sax (on the back of the album) is my 1 year old son who is now 31, plays saxophone and took my position as a music teacher.  Let me know if you have any other questions about the album. 

Thanks for interest.  
Bob Shaut

With that, I highly recommend you check out this album, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps (mp3). Download the album here.


Much love,

This Mutha

Herbie Hancock

 

So I've been really busy this past week, and I have not been able to post a whole album and a review. Instead, I thought I'd just post this cool "Herbie Hancock Demonstrates The Rhodes Sound," a promotional flexi-disc with Herbie explaining the Rhodes and the different sound modulations he uses. It even has a little jam on "Actual Proof" at the end of Side B, from the "Thrust" album, and also the title track from the soundtrack he did for "The Spook Who Sat By The Door".

This was sent to me by a friend, and as a result it was not imported at high-quality 320 kbps. However, it still sounds good and would be great for any little instrumental fills or vocal samples.

Download here.


Much love,

This Mutha

Matti Caspi

Artist: Matti Caspi
Album: Twilight
Label: CBS Records
Year: 1981

1. You'll Yet Find Your Way
2. Ivri Reggae
3. Tell Me
4. Everyone
5. A Song
6. Night Trilogy
7. You'll Have The House
8. Twilight
9. Days Of Drought
10. Allegro Vivace (You'll Have The House)
11. Those Who Sing

Matti Caspi is an Israeli composer, singer and musician, and is regarded as one of Israel's top musicians. If you don't believe me, you can check his wiki page here; that's literally what the first sentence says.

The article also states his varied musical influences, and that it is "possible to hear all of these influences in his music." From listening to this album, that idea could be misleading. Rather than melding many elements and creating some kind of musical amalgam, "Twilight" contains tracks from several different and distinct genres. There are songs in the style of prog-rock, Brazilian bossa-nova and samba, reggae, pop ballads, and even a funk-dance number ("Everyone").

Though at times the songs sound like forced replications of other genres, it is nonetheless a fun album to check out, with really clean production and good instrumentation.

Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps (mp3). Download the album here.


Much love,

This Mutha

Toño Quirazco

Artist: Toño Quirazco
Album: Bailando Con Toño Quirazco Y Su Conjunto, Vol. II
Label: Orfeon
Year: 1969

1. Maria Isabel
2. Cotorreando
3. Te Vi Llorando
4. Enciende La Luz Del Amor
5. La Casita
6. Minotauro, Pt. 1
7. Matame De Amor
8. Comiendo Ciruelas
9. El Astronauta
10. Eres Maravillosa
11. Minotauro, Pt. 2

I found this one in the "about-to-donate" pile at a record store in Burbank, California. I can't tell you too much about Toño Quirazco as an artist, except for the fact that he was from Mexico and he must have some avid fans, because he has an entire blog dedicated to him.

I was able to translate some of the biography section from the aforementioned blog, and apparently he was born and raised in the state of Veracruz, Mexico. He seems to have done all sorts of things, from medical school, mechanics, engineering, electronics, and eventually music when he moved to Mexico City and signed with the Orfeon label.

Though the same biography mentions he gained popularity when ska music became big in the mid-60s, this album has much more of a Joe Cuba/Hugh Masekela/boogaloo flavor to it. "El Astronauta" and both parts of "Minotauro" have some very interesting sound effects that seem to be made with a pitch-shifted organ (Maybe a synthesizer? Not sure though).

The standout track is clearly "Enciende La Luz Del Amor," or "Turn On Your Love Light" in English. This song, written by Deadric Malone and Joseph Scott, has been recorded by many blues and rock artists. This version, however, is easily the funkiest take on this oft-covered track, with an outstanding (and sample-able) four bar drum break at the beginning.

Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps (mp3). Download the album here.


Much love,

This Mutha

Shin Jung Hyun & Yup Juns

Artist: Shin Jung Hyun & Yup Juns
Album: Shin Jung Hyun & Yup Juns
Label: Jigu Records
Year: 1974

1. Beautiful Woman
2. Think
3. There Must Be Someone
4. Long, Long Night
5. I Love You
6. My Girl
7. Excitement
8. Nothing To Say
9. I Don't Know
10. Again, This Feeling

I really wanted to get started, so I thought I'd put one up tonight.

This is a great "psych-rock" gem from Korean guitarist Shin Jung Hyun (considered to be the "Godfather of Rock" in Korea). I won't get into a biography of the man, but you can read about him here.

Though considered to be a psychedelic album, the tracks on this album definitely vary. The first four songs have many funky rhythms, reminiscent of the Meters or early Funkadelic. "I Love You" consists of only percussion and vocals, and is a repeated, somewhat-tribal chant. The calmer and washy sound of "Excitement" would fit easily with the works of King Crimson and early Pink Floyd, and the instrumental closer "Again, This Feeling," has almost the same feel and sound as Hendrix's "Third Stone From The Sun."

As a preview, here's a video of Shin Jung Hyun & Yup Juns performing "Nothing To Say" from the 1975 Korean Film Miin ("Beauty"). Unfortunately, the version in this video is quite a bit funkier than the version on the album:



The track titles were translated for me by a friend whose Korean was admittedly rusty. If you think any of them are grossly incorrect, let me know and I'll fix it.

Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps (mp3). Download the album here.


Much love,

This Mutha

Initiation

Hello.


My goal is to upload and share vinyl rips of whatever obscure and eclectic albums I can find. I will include my synopses, reviews, album cover scans and whatever other information I can provide (for foreign albums this will obviously be more difficult, but I will try my best to translate what I can).

I will try to consistently update by posting a new album at least once a week.

I hope that through this medium, I can share some music that you may not normally expect to find online.

I'll be posting my first album soon.


Much love,

This Mutha