Sandy Bull - Fantasias for Guitar & Banjo (1963)

The music that American Primitivism has brought forth, cost me a long while to like. Despite representing so few musicians (American Primitivism can be seen as primarily John Fahey, Leo Kottke, Sandy Bull, Robbie Basho, some other minor figures in the 60s and 70s and a new generation that brought us the solo records of Sir Richard Bishop, Jim O'Rourke and Jack Rose. And that's sort of it), it is extremely rich in ideas and output.

Here is one of the earliest examples of what American Primitivism is: solo guitar pieces. Sandy Bull sometimes accompanies these pieces with drums, and live he used to work with taping and looping other instruments as well. Serene and heavenly, that is what American Primitivism is.

gospel time
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Shirley Collins - False True Lovers (1960)

Without a doubt, I'm more for American folk, but still, this record is one of the most beautiful folk records ever made. Her crystal clear voice is what makes this most distinctive, the sparse arrangements and production are what will draw your attention right after it. This record was released by Folkways, as a sort of ethnic document of English rural folk music. Shirley Collins went on to make some more beautiful records, with her sister Dolly, with Davy Graham, in groups, and solo.

The only really long song on this record, The Cruel Mother, is one of my favourite songs whatsoever. A beautiful piece of music that needs attention and hopefully gets it from some enthusiasts in the weeks following this post.

mowing the barley
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Tom Zé - Todos os Olhos (1973)

This album is one of the more divine one's available in pop music. Tom Zé is the most experimental and innovative of all the MPB artists. Tom Zé surpasses Gil, Veloso, Ben and Costa in originality and on this record he truly shines. He was already an accomplished artist in Brazil when this record came out, and on this record he went a bit too far, concerning the mainstream position MPB kept in Brazil. Which, I would like to emphasize, is nothing short of a miracle. Such an innovative, avant-garde musical genre being the mainstream music available. Brazil must've been fantastic in the 60s, and 70s. Music-wise, that is!

Listen to all the complex tunings, rhythm shifts, you name it. Especially song 4 to 9 are absolutely astonishing. This is difficult music that sounds easy.

brigitte bardot
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Ya Ho Wa 13 - Penetration, An Aquarian Symphony (1974)

There's only one thing I can do right now, and that is to describe the history of this group. The guy you see on the picture is Jim Baker. He fought the Second World War, was a Vedantic monk, followed Yogi Bhajan, a Sikh leader and teacher of Kundalini yoga, so it goes. He was born in 1922, so in 1973 he was already an old guy, especially for having a hippie band. He had a highly succesful organic vegetarian restaurant on Sunset Strip, Laurel Canyon, LA. Celebrity regulars: Marlon Brando, John Lennon, Julie Christie. At the peak his restaurant made 10,000$ a day. Oh, and he called himself Father Yod at this time, or YaHoWha, and he was the leader of a commune called the Source Family. After eating raw carrots and drinking home-made tea, they used to record psychedical space-rock in the early morning. These records were pressed only 500 or 1000 pieces a record, and they were sold in a corner of the restaurant. This is their best album. So it goes. Oh, in 1975 Father Yod moved to Hawaii, and went hang-gliding off a 1300-foot cliff, without experience. He crash-landed on the beach and died the next day. The Source Family made a few albums after his death, mostly containing laments about the death of Father Yod. So it goes.

journey through an eternal kingdom
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The Dillards - Wheatstraw Suite (1968)

I'm going to post all the album that truly need to be posted on Life at the moment. All the following albums are the ones that I've been hooked on all summer, and haven't yet been posted on this blog. I wish you all the best with them, because these following albums are my absolute favourites at the moment.

In the late 60s it was a big deal to connect the first generation of bluegrass and country players to the electric new generation. The Byrds tried it with Gram Parsons by paying tribute to the old time, and Gram Parsons tried it solo, with his Flying Burrito Brothers, but they didn't quite succeed as The Dillards and The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band did. What we have here is a mind-blowing album that has been completely forgotten. It is on par, to say the least, with the best works of The Byrds (and I love! the Byrds!). Just listen to this album, especially the first five songs will hammer this into your favourite albums ever selection.

listen to the sound
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Laura Nyro - New York Tendaberry (1969)

A Joni Mitchell voice, combined with a more adventurous take on composing, and a New York-background, Laura Nyro created one of the most honest, heart-breaking records in 1969. Immensely, immensely important for what women could do on a record, I want to emphasise how important this record is. Without Laura Nyro we wouldn't have had, for instance, someone like Tori Amos, and the whole bunch of women that followed her and came before her. Brilliant production also makes this record a very special one. I was struck by the beautiful shifts in tone and feeling, and also by the layers of her vocals.

Like a session on the couch of a shrink, this record is 100% Laura Nyro at her most earnest and heart-felt. She was a very special songwriter, singer and artist and she died way too early of the same disease her mother also caught: cancer.

you don't love me when i cry
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Lucio Battisti - Anima latina (1974)

I'm about to do something really special. This blog is going to feature the three freshest, most exciting, and downright greatest records it has featured in a long time. I have held these three albums back for quite some time, to build up a momentum with the three of them together and cause a landmark moment in the musical history of my followers. I am well aware that these three albums are not the three most obscure records ever, so therefore I realise that a lot of people will have heard of these albums, or have them already on their computer. Still, statistically, the chances are very, very likely that the majority of the people following this blog have not heard any of these records, and have long planned to do so. Let today be the day! Because I have something really special coming. Here we go!

Lucio Battisti. Italian pop-singer. That's what you should think at first. Just like you would call Caetano a Brazilian pop-singer. Think again, because on Anima latina we have possibly the greatest ever hybrid between pop and experimentalism. This record is so incredibly rich in sound and atmosphere, and air! for that matter, that I will not even bother to describe it. Just listen to this record on a beautiful morning when the sun is shining and you have nothing to do. And also the day after today you will be free, totally carelessly listening to this record, preferably in the garden, when it's still chilly, the grass is still wet.. Etc! Make it happen!

due mondi
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Negativland - Escape From Noise (1987)

The Godfathers of Plunderphonics. Ah men, do we really have to find a superlative for every single artist. No, we don't need to. At least I don't need to. But because these anti-heroes, these meta-musicians, deserve a superlative, I have granted them one. We have here a collective of tape geniuses, copy-pasters, who crafted a well-built manifesto for their own musical genre. To be compared with The Residents from the 70s and The Avalanches from the 90s, Negativland (named after a NEU! song), reached their creative peak in the 80s.

Also to be remembered for a radio-show called Over the Edge. They released 9 records full of material from this show. Escape From Noise offers you a collection of the most far-out, demented, meta-music available. Shockingly hilarious!

michael jackson
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Nara Leão - Dez Anos Depois (1971)

Here we have one of the pillars of MPB, the popular music of Brazil. MPB is, in my opinion, one of the most sympathetic musical genres, and also one of the more out-there musical genres that come from the mainstream. Caetano Veloso, as we know, didn't only craft hits, he also pushed the boundaries of pop music. This record, a more safe affair, is one of the longest records. A double album, clocking in at precisely an hour, with 24 songs to offer, it's still an ambitious outing.

Hinting more at bossa nova, this is a beautifully crafted, tasty, baroque album from the peek of Brazilian pop music. Enjoy this album, and hope for the sun!

fotografia
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Fred Lane - From the One That Cut You (1983)

Welcome to the wonderful world of Shimmy-Disc, a label that released some of the most out-there music available. This is the first release of Shimmy-Disc and it took the label three years after this release to release something new again. Maybe set back by the reactions this record evoked, I don't know.

This is a big-band record. Crazy stuff. Ill subject matter, with song titles like I Talk to My Haircut and Danger Is My Beer. This is my sort of humor, packing very sick subject matter in 'catchy' big-band songs. Bringing the sick stuff to you with a smile. Gotta love it. Mind you though that the music itself is also very great, at times catchy, at times as free as we expect from experimental big bands.

fun in the fundus
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