John Coltrane's wife recounts a story in which she comes
home to find John asleep, exhausted with a reed instrument sticking out
of his mouth, this is a man totally at one with his saxophone. His undeniable
connection with nature & the Universe rings clear throughout his sound.
This is the best Jazz album ever made & the kind of record you'll listen
to your whole life. Powerful, deeply intense & spiritual. If the world was
to end & there was only time for one more tune you couldn't be better placed
to enter a possible heaven than if you ducked out to this cornerstone of
music!
The
best track on here is 'Powershow', which is a real long song in which the
late Fela recounts stories of general detention & timewasting at the hands
of Government security forces in 70s Nigeria. After hearing it a couple
of times it stays with you & the next time you have your life wasted by
traffic wardens/bullies/people who would stand in your way, you may find
it starts to play in your head & you'll smile when you might have cursed.
You may have seen a TV show with Jools Holland some years ago in which he
went to visit Fela's nightclub in the Nigerian jungle. This man was truly
out there. Random Fela fact - when Roy Ayres played Newcastle shortly after
Fela's death he name checked some of the great artists he'd worked with
who had died recently. Though he recorded a phenomenal version of '2000
black' with Fela he omitted his name from his list of big-ups choosing instead
to name Frank Sinatra. Roy you have made some great records but that was
bad karma, shame on you (& the chicken in your basket! ). This album's complexity
& raw power evoke images of great orchestral works (Beethoven, Zappa) but
this is far stronger than either of them & the work of a true genius. (which
they also both are).
Released 2001 & probably not destined for the commercial
airwaves. This is Michael Franti at his political, loveable & harmonic best.
Of special note is the track 'We don't mind' It's also essential that you
check out the first 2 albums by this band - 'Home' & 'Chocolate Supahighway'.
If rap music in general moved in this direction, we would all live longer.
Possibly the greatest live band you will ever see. So if you get the chance...take
it.
Essential
listening. Possibly the sweetest voice ever in Soul Music. Since his career
in the 60s with 'The Impressions', Curtis went on to offer a credible vision
to disillusioned black America that truly uplifted an entire race & brought
to the attention of white people of that era, that black people were actually
human.
On
the back of 'Ziggy Stardust' & 'Aladdin Sane', David returned to recording,
enlisting the help of his new found chum the young Luther Vandross to arrange
& take the vocals to higher level. Known mainly for it's title tune, this
LP offers exquisite vocals/arrangements and all-round f**k music par excellence,
building up to the seminal 'Can you hear me'. Little known 'Young Americans'
facts - Carlos Alamar the rhythm guitarist played in James Brown's band,
which explains the more than uncanny similarity between James's 'Hot (I
need to be loved)' & David's 'Fame' - The track 'Fascination' is a re-recording
and slight re-wording of the Luther penned rare-groove 'Funky music'.
Harold
twiddles the keys & Brian breathes all over them to create a total masterpiece
"as ignorable as it is listenable". Like 'Love Supreme' you will play this
record for your whole life. It's kinda like the greatest air freshener of
all time, sprayed round your room and enhancing your take on the whole world.
Affectionately referred to as "the sleepy music" It's without question the
ideal gift for the person you love & the post coital #1 - chilltime.
This was the LP that really cracked it for Joni & provided the one woman
with guitar template for singer/songwriters to twiddle & tweak for ever
more. No question, careers have been built out of aping this album. The
quality of the vocals cannot be overstated & the subtlety & beauty of the
songs will change the way your ears hear music. If you had to sex this album
it would be a girl.
Bobby dropped this mid 80s to worldwide critical acclaim.
Whether you have just fallen in love or you have just been chucked, these
are the tunes for you. Patti LaBelle guests on vocals, on a she sings/Bob
sings tip with staggering results. It is just impossible to put into words,
but we can say that it makes Barry White sound like Kelis. You have to hear
this album to believe that human beings were actually capable of creating
art this timeless.
Fugee/mum/earth
mother Lauryn re-wrote the hip-hop book with this stunning release. Taking
on hip-hop with a band format, this album has a very Aretha Franklin/Dusty
Springfield 'Memphis' feel to it, whilst redefining hip-hop production sensibilities.
Interspersed with with schooly chit-chat this album oozes love, understanding
& humanity. Grammy winner & for once you can hear why. Rumours of a Lauryn
Hill media backlash are nuts. We reckon this must be what it feels like
for a girl.
Without
'Public Enemy' World Headquarters would never have happened because we would
never have realised it was possible. This is the kind of rap music we are
into. The glorification of individual wealth, sexual prowess & overall disrespect
for women have taken over rap music today. Turn on MTV and it's all drugs,
guns and little purple pills. This is the record that scared white America
& made the record companies realise that it was just too dangerous to give
black artists a voice that they (big companies & thus governments) couldn't
control. Where most modern rappers now, are really little more than cartoon
celebrities employed for their swearing ability, Public Enemy represented
true art & a mind set/role model for black people to aspire to & all people
to admire. It's ironic that (piss) artists masquerading as gangsta rappers
today, only got the opportunity to enjoy success because 'Public Enemy'
kicked down the door. Record companies will never permit another band to
be as politically influential as 'PE'. Pretending to be a gangsta is obviously
not as great a threat to the establishment as setting out to change the
world for the better.