Amoeba Music

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This is a recording of live show Rufus Du Sol played in the middle of the desert in Joshua tree during the height of the pandemic. This group has a unique sound that is based in electronic music, featuring great hooks and catchy (but not anthemic) choruses that are sure to get you movin' and groovin'. The first track "Valley of the Yuccas" epically starts the album and seamlessly transitions us into 45 minutes of live electronic bliss. Perfect album for those late summer nights that you never want to end. Read more

King Gizzard's blistering addition to their small but mighty thrash metal repertoire came out last summer but is still melting faces. With its complex TOOL-style polyrhythms and fiery, slayer-like guitar licks, King Gizzard has successfully combined the best elements of Heavy Metal. They have created an apocalyptic amalgamation of brutality while still remaining melodic and not wandering off into a state of chaos. Read more

The Disco Biscuits have been melting faces with their unique blend of electronic music and disco for a long time now, but have found a new energy and it shows in the songs featured on this new album. Songs like "Twisted in the Road" and "Another Plan of Attack" prove once again that they are the kings of progressive psychedelic trance fusion. This album will have you dancin' and groovin' through its entirety. Definitely a "can't miss" album for this spring. "Revolution in Motion" comes out March 29th. Read more

This 2021 release from Brooklyn's Acid Dad will be seeing heavy rotation from me this summer. This album features a unique blend of the classic indie/alternative sound with elements of shoegaze, groove, and even a little bit of jam. Without a dull moment to be found and good vibes all around, this record is a great way to kick off any summer gathering with friends and family. Read more

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Issued in 1970 on the FLYING DUTCHMAN label, this important document of the Los Angeles post-Bop scene finally gets this well-warranted re-issue. Clearly taking cues and permission from post-Ornette Coleman developments, the Carter/Bradford groups cut a signature approach to this new sound. Often simultaneously angular and swinging, sometimes simultaneously lyrical (even romantic) and strident. On the surface you'll clearly hear Ornette's influence, but deeper listening reveals a sound unlike anything else. Along with the works of Horace Tapscott, one of my favorite Los Angeles outfits of all time. Read more

If we follow the ways that German and British Jazz have developed since American Jazz first hit their ears, we will find an echoing development. We can hear, for quite a while, the influences reverberating back across the wide Atlantic. That is, until Rock, and particularly Hard Rock, Prog Rock and Psychedelic Rock appear. After that, the British and German scenes broke the leash and went charging off on their own journeys. Volker Kriegel was one of the mainstay session players for Germany's Black Forest-centered label, MPS. Though MPS was dedicated to all things Jazz, they also helped push the boundaries of Jazz-Rock, Psychedelic Jazz-Rock and even Jazz-Funk in the European market. This 1972 session features Albert Mangelsdorff on trambone, the recently passed and legendary Eberhard Weber on bass, Alan Skidmore and Heinz Sauer playing sax, John Taylor on electric piano, john Marshall and Peter Baumeister on drums, in octet and quintet combinations. You may recognize some of those names or not, but I assure you that ALL of them are worth looking into if you are at all interested in the development of post-Bop British and German Jazz. Tight Bop-influenced, Rock-leaning arrangements throughout, that travel right where their going, with enough breaks for individual solos to make everything spark. For the most part, Inside rocks pretty hard - its damn near danceable throughout, with a few tracks interspersed to catch your breath. So happy that MPS has started a re-issue program of their peak moments. Now let's get some Sugarcane Harris back in print! Read more

I'm glad to be doing this job during a time when a much wider population of American Jazz fans are discovering the current and historic strength of foreign Jazz. Jazz in the UK and Japan (and I'm sure in elsewheres that I've yet to discover) has been on the heels of American Jazz since its inception. And, rather than just being the pesky younger siblings, have created, through their own cultural idioms, works and musicians of note on par with the best of their US counterparts. This 1970 sessions from Kosuke Mine (spelled on other albums as "Kohsuke" and "Kousuke), is an excellent example of the above. The opener, "Morningtide," is a killer Hard-Bop, sax and Fender-driven workout, as we find on the closer, "Work I." The quintet also gives a 12+ minute treatment of Joe Henderson's "Isotope," from his 1964 INNER URGE. The real peak of the album, though, is the slow Fender-centered "Dream Eyes." This track made me sit up and find out what I could about keyboardist, Hideo Ichikawa, who provides chill-inducing variations throughout this almost 14-minute gem. This has just been re-issued for the 2nd time in the last 5 years, and I think it should ALWAYS be available. A masterpiece! Read more

A one-off collection of musicians are featured here on Sanders' 1976 recording. Sanders had reservations about the recordings, but fans responded, and its been bootlegged multiple times since its original release, purely due to demand. LUAKA BOP convinced Sanders to revisit it, cleaned up the recording a bit and added two live versions (with different players) to round out the box. Extensive liner notes further help set the album in its time and context, and we're lucky to have an official re-issue at our disposal. Its a singular release from Pharoah and an important document of his late-70's vision. Read more