No Evil Spirits

All hail Rikki Ililonga, who proves himself a true Zamrock pioneer on Musi-O-Tunya's Dark Sunrise from '75. That wild sax is the cream of the cake of course.

Musi-O-Tunya - Dark Sunrise

Have You Heard

Spotlight on three old live gigs, excavated this year. The Gregg Allman Tour was recorded when Gregg was on the road in '74 promoting his first solo album Laid Back, with Cowboy as his backing band. Goes without saying it's an inspired and often quite funky affair all around.

Gregg Allman - Queen Of Hearts (live '74)

Listening to Tim Buckley is always a joy. Here he is helped by percussionist Carter Collins and a nameless bassplayer on stage in Chicago back in '69. A charming audience recording with quite a bit of tape hiss, but when the star sailor is in improvisational full flight, who gives a damn?

Tim Buckley - Green Rocky Road/Hush, Little Baby (live '69)

And last but not least, ladies & gentlemen: the greatest guitar slinger of 'em all. Jimi's Songs For Groovy Children set compiles all the Fillmore Concerts with his legendary Band Of Gypsys, which means we've got an essential document on our hands here. "Do I laugh, baby, do I cry..."

Jimi Hendrix - Who Knows (live '69)

Have You Seen

A bit underwhelming, this new volume of Bob's Bootleg Series. Has a lot to do with the incredible riches of previous installments of course. Most of the charming sessions with Johnny Cash have been circulating for a long time already, and the alternate takes from John Wesley Harding and Nashville Skyline are nice to have but not really that special. Still, there are plenty nuggets to be found here, like this previously unknown outtake from the Nashville Skyline sessions.

Bob Dylan - Western Road (take 1)

Forget The Bad

For the good times, folks. Presenting a six pack of songs of rememberance, with unforgettable artwork by the one and only Tinca. "Where you go I tag along..."

Stuart Hamblen - (Remember Me) I'm The One Who Loves You
Sonny Stitt - I Remember You
The Shangri-Las - Remember Walking In The Sand
Mickey Newbury - Remember The Good
Junior Byles & Rupert Reid - Remember Me
Hamza El Din - I Remember

Open Wide

Gonna see Tommy tonite, and that's cool.

The Replacements - Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out
Bash & Pop - Never Aim To Please

Just Goodnight

Last will and testament dept: the mighty Light in the Attic just released a fine collection of acoustic demos by Jim 'UFO' Sullivan. While we will probably never know what exactly happened to the enigmatic musician on that fateful day in the desert, at least all of his recorded works have been released now. "Birds without wings they never touch the sky..."

Jim Sullivan - What To Tell Her

Here It Comes

Looking for something different? Some exquisite instrumental miniatures maybe? Then check out versatile guitarist Ryley Walker's latest project, on which he teams up with jazz drummer Charles Rumback. Subdued tension never sounded so good.

Charles Rumback & Ryley Walker - Self Blind Sun

You're So Nice

A small fragment from Slits guitarist Viv Albertine's highly entertaining autobiography Clothes, Music, Boys: "Johnny doesn't take his eyes off my face, he sings this song to me too. I'm rooted to the spot, I can't believe what's happening. This is the way to win a girl. He sings the whole set to me. Every single song straight into my eyes. He changes the words to Can't Keep My Eyes On You to Can't Keep My Eyes Off You..." Charmer Johnny. A couple days later, he would introduce his latest flame to heroin.

Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers - Can't Keep My Eyes On You
The Slits - Love Und Romance

See The Beauty

A new Joan Shelley album is always a gift. And Like The River Loves The Sea, recorded in Iceland with prime pickers Nathan Salsburg and James Elkington, might just be her best yet. As it proved real tough to select a  favorite tune, I went for the bittersweet gem below as it features Bonnie Prince Billy on co-vocals. Later it dawned on me that The Fading probably would have been even better without his contribution.

Joan Shelley - The Fading

Better Believe Me

Obscure soul singer from Atlanta gets warned away by mom and dad, but falls in love with that bad girl anyway. Lord have mercy indeed.

Lee Moses - Bad Girl, Pt. 1

Hugging Trees

Pretty obvious and kinda clear: Matt Valentine and Pat 'PG Six' Gubler do the bass-heavy funky wah wah jam thing and they do it very well. From Water Weird, out now on the always interesting Three Lobed label.

Wet Tuna - Cowpath 40

Full Of Fire

So this is the epitaph for his late son Arthur, and not predecessor Skeleton Tree as everybody assumed at the time. Atmospheric and solemn but not too bleak soundscapes by Warren Ellis set the tone, with St. Nick crooning like he's Leonard Cohen's long lost offspring. Very impressive, at times almost suffocatingly so, though there is a glimmer of light to be found here and there, too. The keywords are horses, ghosts, and Jesus, and you can make of that what you will. "And the little white shape dancing at the end of the hall is just a wish that time can't dissolve at all..."

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Bright Horses

Connect The Lines

Hey now, I guess we can all agree that Dead archivist Dave Lemieux's got the best job ever. He just finished curating Volume 32 of his Dave's Picks series, which means a 3 disc registration of a fine fine 1973 gig at the Spectrum in Philly. And if that's not enough, he picked a bunch of choice nuggets for 30 Days of Dead month again, too. Head on over to board that bus here and keep waving your freak flag high.

Grateful Dead - Wave That Flag (live Philadelphia '73)

Reveal Everything

Simon Joyner, the amiable singer/songwriter from Omaha, Nebraska, has been building an impressive oeuvre since starting out in 1992. After all these years he's still a cult artist though, and maybe that's the reason he looks rather sad on the sleeve of his most recent album Pocket Moon. Whatever the case, it's yet another impeccable collection of intriguing songs to get lost in, both the missus and I agree... Lend him your ear, all of you, and go see him live if you can, as he's on tour in Europe as we speak.

Simon Joyner - Morning Sun, Slow Down

Please Lord

A fine and varied collection of rare black gospel from the midwest, courtesy of Chicago collector and producer Ramona Stout, and brought to you by the always reliable Tompkins Square label. Out in a couple of weeks, but here's a righteous taste already.

The Travelers Of Zion - I Want You To Help Me