Death
...For The Whole World To See
Drag City Records
7 song vinyl LP
MP3 - POLITICANS IN MY EYES

The story couldn't be more perfect. A lost album resurfaces 30 years later from a "proto-punk" Detroit garage band, made up of three brothers who were inspired after seeing Iggy & The Stooges back in the early 70s. And now the indie music scene is turned on its collective ear, wondering how such a gem could have been ignored for so long.

While much has been made of the punk elements of this record, suffice it to say it's as much rock-n-roll as it is punk. Comparisons to Bad Brains have been inevitable, considering that the brothers are African American, and also to the aforementioned Stooges & The Ramones, but when I listen, I also hear elements of Thin Lizzy, and even Cream. Simply put, this is one heck of a rock record that just happens to be punk, before anybody called it punk. Add to this the fact that this is one of the most exciting releases I've heard in a long time, and it's 30+ years old. Says a lot about the current state of rock music, no?

Highlights include the band's original "single" Politicians In My Eyes, a rambling, riff-heavy track that has relentless drive, and the intensely played Freakin Out, which is probably the most "punk" song on the record.

MISH MASH Mandate: Preview Punk
Death Myspace Page

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Loronix - Music From Brazil (blog)

You'll have to forgive my excitement, but this is probably one of my greatest discoveries of late. Loronix is a blog dedicated to the music of Brazil, featuring downloads of Brazilian albums forgotten and out-of-print. It's a veritable who's who of Brazilian music: Jobim, Caymmi, Sete, Regina, Bonfa, and the list goes on. It's a wealth of music that will make your head spin, and you can literally lose hours wading through all the music and information. Simply incredible.

MISH MASH Mandate: Brazilicious

Charlie Parker
Bird In Time 1940-1947
Selected Recordings
and Rare Interviews
ESP Disk'
4 CD set

This amazing collection from ESP Disk' is like taking an intense college course on the formative days of bebop jazz. It not only features dozens of tunes from Parker, but it also contains vintage interviews from various artists including Parker himself, Max Roach, Milt Jackson, and others. Throw in a 32 page booklet with extensive liner notes, and you have a jazz lover's dream.

The four disc set follows Parker from his early days in the Jay McShann band to his work with Dizzie Gillespie, up through his leadership of several groups. This is the work that set him up to be the jazz legend a few years later, leading up to his tragic and untimely death in 1955.

MISH MASH Mandate: Bird Box
ESP Disk' Website

The Long-Player Goodbye
by Travis Elborough
Sceptre/Hodder & Stoughton
Hardcover, 468 pages

Through its various formats, the long-playing album has been the standard form of music for the past 60 years. It started off with the format-that-still-will-not-die (the LP record) and physically transferred itself onto 8 tracks, cassettes, and CDs. Now in the age of digital downloads, we can only wonder: How much longer can the concept of an album survive?

Travis Elborough ponders this question by taking us back to the very beginning and then proceeds to give us a thorough (and cheeky) history of the album, examining the context of its creation and its progression into the modern world. When the LP record entered the scene in 1948, music lovers were listening to the single-song, four-minute-per-side 78's, and an "album" would constitute a bulky, inconvenient, multiple record set. The LP revolutionized this concept by providing twenty minutes per side, opening up a multitude of possibilities that literally changed the way people listened to music.

Elborough knows his target audience well, seeking to tackle the most trivial minutiae of popular music, yet at the same time providing it in a wonderfully entertaining matter that won't scare away the casual music fan. No sacred cows are left unscathed, as he tackles and tickles subjects ranging from cheesy 50's exotica to Blue Note jazz to The Beatles and beyond. Through all of this, he shows how the album has adapted over the years, changing according to the wants and wishes of society throughout the generations, and even influencing pop culture in more ways than one.

So will the album survive into the next sixty years? Elborough is optimistic, yet cautious in his ultimate summation: only time will tell.

MISH MASH Mandate: How Long To Sing This Song?
The Long Player Goodbye @ Hodder & Stoughton

Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou
Vol 1. - The Vodoun Effect:
Funk & Sato From Benin's Obscure Labels 1972-75
Analog Africa
14 song CD
MP3 SAMPLE - DIS MOI LA VERITE

The traditional African "Vodun" (voodoo) rhythms of Sato and Sakpata clash with the Western sounds of funk, soul, and rock in this brilliant collection of music from Benin's Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou. This first volume of tracks covers the years 1972-1975, when the OPRdC was recorded on a simple Nagra reel-to-reel in Benin by a sound engineer with two mics.

The music is an indescribable mix of African and Western soul music, featuring funky basslines merging with hypnotizing beats in a sonic polyglot that defy categorization, at times reminding me of jazz and Latin music in spirit. The irony here is that African music helped define music in the Americas, specifically jazz, blues, and Latin music. Here we see it come full circle, where influences of the West returned to influence the sounds of its ancestry. And somewhat sadly, this 30+ years old music is being heard here for the first time, as most of it had limited printing/distribution and it was never officially released outside Benin.

So to most of us, this is all brand new and exciting to hear as if it is happening in the here and now. Another testament to the timeless nature of music and its power to thrive and grow.

MISH MASH Mandate: Timeless Funk
Analog Africa Website

Stan Getz
The Bossa Nova Albums
Verve
5 CD Box Set

Bossa nova was all the rage in the US for a brief time in the early 60s, thanks in large part to Stan Getz, who imported this beautiful music from Brazil, introduced us all to Antonio Carlos Jobim, and breathed new life into the world of jazz. This collection from Verve brings together five of Getz's must-have Verve albums from this period, including Jazz Samba, Jazz Samba Encore!, Big Band Bossa Nova, Getz/Gilberto, and Stan Getz With Guest Artist Laurindo Almeida. The albums have been remastered and are presented here in their original album formats with original liner notes.

I will skip the traditional album reviews (most of these albums should at least be somewhat familiar to most jazz fans) and get down to a few of my nit-picky complaints. While I must say that this is a brilliant collection, and a great introduction to the catalog of Getz, it does have its faults. The first glaring omissions are two other Getz albums which could be included, namely Getz Au Go Go (a live album with Astrud Gilberto) and Getz/Gilberto #2 (another live album, this time with João Gilberto). I especially wish Getz Au Go Go was included, because it is a wonderful album on par with the best of this box set. Also, there are no bonus/previously unreleased tracks at all, only the albums in their original form. Blame it on the fact that I'm a completist, but this makes the exclusion of the other albums even more questionable, as these five albums are not long at all and could have fit easily on two or three discs total. Another issue I have is the lack of an insert booklet, which would give the listener a better historical perspective on these recordings. Instead we are left with nothing other than the original liner notes, which only give us part of the story. Verve has unfortunately missed an opportunity to make this excellent box set an absolutely essential box set.

With that having been said, it is still good to see that Verve recognizes the importance of Getz and his contribution to jazz. As these five albums are surely staples for any serious jazz connoisseur, it's a great way to round out your collection, as far as Getz is concerned.

MISH MASH Mandate: Blame It On The Bossa Nova
Verve Music Group Website