Flying Teapot: February 2018

Sonny Rollins - 1957 - Sonny Side Up

I have to admit I was never much of a fan of Sonny Rollins. I hate St. Thomas, it's so fucking tedious and I hate the base melody for it. I know this is sacrilegious as Sonny is one of the greatest giants in jazz that ever lived (and still lives!) but I just could never get into his music or style of playing. With that being said I can't say I haven't tried a bunch of his albums and out of all of them this one came out on top for me. The cover alone should make you wanna pick this up as the lineup is completely stellar with Dizzy and Stitt sharing the spotlight. The album kicks off with a standard I always loved called On the Sunny Side of the Street but it's a complete filler of a song. It's not long and Dizzy even chimes in with some singing but ultimately it's just there to have pop tune at the begging. The real meat and potato of this album are the two +10 minute tracks where there is plenty of room for all leads to jive in with their instruments. Both tracks absolutely rip apart everything in the room (you can even hear Dizzy yelling "YEAAAH" in the back at times) and it's just one fantastic solo after another. They enjoyed making this and you can really hear it. Absolutely recommended.

Get it.

Junior Kimbrough - 1997 - Most Things Haven't Worked Out

Junior Kimborough made this record shortly before his death and you can hear on the record that he's about had it with this world. The album will start eerily with an (almost) instrumental of just Juniour and his guitar, surveying the land and telling you how much he's lonely. But like all good blues even if it's sad it makes you happy and pumped when you listen to it and shortly enough after this melancholic introduction song the album kicks in proper with some heavy drum pounding and vocal wailing. When it kicks into fifth gear it does not stop until the end and then it just leaves you wondering how much more this man could do if he kept on living. But we should happy with what we got because this is (to me at least) the closest perfection to electric blues that I'll ever hear. Raw, hard and sad this is what's it all about!

Get it!

Allo Darlin' - 2010 - Allo Darlin'

Once upon a time twee pop and jangly indie garbage was all the rage on the internet but it all died down relatively fast. What was left were a bunch of two-three album bands that are no longer active. Allo Darlin' is one of those short lived bands and this is probably their best and most famous effort. For what it is it's an enjoyable trek through twee pop songs about food, movies and love. They're all trite but ultimately lovable and catchy. If you are in a mood for it can be great. Check it out.

Get.

Meiko Kaji

Like many other people I discovered Meiko Kaji through Kill Bill, it could very well be my first enka discovery for that matter. Ever since I heard her voice I was enamored with it and I come back to her albums often. Years ago I shared her most common album (or compilation) called Zenkyoku Shu and someone in the comments left megaupload links to a boxset of her. Recently I went through this boxset and considering how the links are long dead I decided to share it again, this time giving it a proper post. The set includes 6 of her albums containing large volumes of songs making this pretty much the go to collection of Meiko Kaji. The songs of course vary in quality, some are absolute cheese garbage while others tend to be more subtle and refined. All in all she's a great singer and this collection is essential if you like her music.

CD: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Booklet.

Sun Ra - 1984 - Celestial Love

If there ever was a constant in my life it was probably the music of Sun Ra. It doesn't matter what record it is, it can be his wildest or his tamest I will always feel like I came home when I put on some Sun Ra. I haven't posted anything by him in a long time so I've decided to share this little gem of his. This was late in his career and it's a quiet contemplative album and quite a conventional one (in context of improvisation) but that shouldn't be a bad thing. It's a testament to the fact that even though players in the arkestra often played wildly and free they still were capable and learned musicians. Despite it being a conventional album some sharp edges and the usual oddity of Sun Ra still peeks out every once in a while, reminding you and hinting at you a different dimension of music. Good stuff.

GET

Hank Mobley ‎- 1967 - Hi Voltage

Even though Mobley never really offered anything revolutionary to jazz in his career he grew in time to be a much loved figure. Every once in a while you just wanna hear some dudes have fun playing and that's what the biggest majority of his albums are. Relaxed, fun and with heavy swinging and Hi Voltage is no exception to this practice. The album brings around an impressive roster of sidemen including Jackie McLean and Blue Mitchell and they all seem to jell well with one another for the most part, even Mobley seems to break out of his style at several points. Jackie though might sound a little subdued here (in the same year he fronted the vastly different Demon's Dance album) but it's nice to hear him going back to his old roots. When you just wanna lie down and listen to some fun jazz tunes look no further.

Get it.

Gath Šmânê ‎- 2014 - Transmuted Marrow

Fast, heavy and riddled with fantastic and impactful riffs this two track demo was among my absolute favorites back in 2014. And even to this day it continues to be on my mind and I keep checking this fucking band in anticipation for something more. They made this short demo four years ago and nothing else which is a fucking shame considering how unbelievably good this demo turned out to be. Fingers crossed they come back with something new eventually. Until then get this demo!

Highly recommended!

Severe Torture - 2002 - Misanthropic Carnage

In general I was never much of a fan of the guts & gore death metal bands. I absolutely adore Suffocation which is apparently the progenitor of the brutal death metal subgenre but aside from them and few others I left the genre largely unexplored. I discovered this band on a whim and I have to say it hit just the right notes for me. The band starts right on point with a delicious tremolo riff backed by what else than blast beats. After that you're bound on a journey of chuggy riffs, gurgling vocals and monotone drumming. This combined with production that's not very keen on mid ranges and gains you get a comfortable, even soothing bass heavy album. It's heavy is but not obnoxious or draining. I come back every once in a while to this album and every time I enjoy its brutality in fullest. A bunch of murky entertaining death metal riffs. What more could you ask?

Get it.

Ensnared ‎- 2013 - Ravenous Damnation's Dawn

It's funny how as I get older I find much more enjoyment in raw and upfront bands compared to when I was a scavenging teen looking for experimental and unorthodox bands. Lucky for me these more classic-but-new sounding bands seem to be all the rage nowadays. Ensnared is a Swedish band that grew up on Swedish bands but instead of following their homeland footsteps they pummel things Tampa style and I'm loving every minute of it. In their 30 minutes Ensnared will remind you just how much awesome Altars Of Madness is but they'll offer it with a good serving of Sweden made melodic riffs as well. Fast and thrashy this EP might feel too short but the material here is filler free and unrelenting. The only downside for me is that they massively lack lava flowing, church burning solos but perhaps this intensifies the no-frills attitude. Such a shame after this EP they moved into other directions with their sound but nonetheless they still left us with this awesome work that satisfies my Altars Of Madness craving.

Get this!

FIVE ALBUM DRIVE BY

HEY FOLKS; HOW ARE THINGS? I'M SLOWLY GOING INSANE BUT EVERYTHING ELSE IS GOOD.

Back in 2017 I planned to do a themed week of Coltrane-esque players that were lesser known (back in the day and now). This of course never came to fruition because I'm a lazy slob - BUT - recently by accident I found out that my upload speed is no longer tedious and I'm able to upload stuff in MINUTES. So here are five hidden(ish) gems of modal/spiritual jazz. I don't want to bog you down with words so I'll just say that they're all recommended listening. The albums are:

Azar Lawrence - 1974 - Bridge Into The New Age