ORCHESTRA BAOBAB Pirates Choice (Nonesuch)
An expanded 2-disc version of a release from 1982 (which only contained a
little bit of what's here), totally grooving Senegalese big band soundings
from a variety of musical backgrounds. Most notable: Cuban. Indeed, fans
of the previous Nonesuch Buena Vista releases will also dig that rich vibe
herein, almost psychedelic live sound purveys these discs, based around
the percussion part of the group, but coated with a most fuzzy warm
blanket courtesy the extremely l-o-o-s-e guitar antics. One of the most
swinging Afro-Cuban discs to have caught my ear, and sure to get some
rave reviews among worldbeatniks.
SOUNDTRACK Scratch (Transparent)
I haven't seen this indie film yet, but it seems to be a long-overdue
documentary about the roots and current state of the turntablist/hip-hop
DJ/general crate-digging scene that goes back to late 70's Bronx to
current Bay Area stars. The soundtrack, needless to say, is a great
travelogue of quotes and excerpts from folks like Mixmaster Mike,
Bambaataa, Cut Chemist, and Grandmixer DXT (the guy who sproinged a lot
of these young-uns to life in the Herbie Hancock "Rockit" clip). Funniest
quote: "when we were kids we were told not to TOUCH the turntables". We
hear FMU's Steinski is somewhere here too!
PACIFIC 231 Power Assume (Ladd-Frith)
1985-88 live recordings made available on CD of some powerful industrial
headtrip action that somewhere falls in between where 78-era Throbbing
Gristle meets 86-ish Butthole Surfers. Bellowing electronic elephant
sounds, heavy, trance-like loops and board mix courtesy of Paul Lemos of
Controlled Bleeding remind you that the 80s were not all about that
Jorgensen guy and all his cowhide.
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