things and time will tell.

Masters At Work – Our Time Is Coming Cutting Edge – CTCR-14186/B 2xCD, Album, Japan, 2002 info I took too long to post as always, once again missing my chance to post some favorite Christmas records... Next year, I guess. I hope any of you seeing this got some peace over the holidays. It's almost the new year, so if you have an urgent need for some party music or a way to help ring it in on a positive note, this album might do it for you. Our Time Is Coming  was the second full length album by Kenny Dope and Louie Vega as Masters At Work, released in 2001. Once again, I won't pretend to be any kind of expert on house music, but I'll go out on a limb here and say that anyone who writes this record off as too "mainstream" or "predictable" is either: A. a snob; or B. not paying attention. MAW produced an album that I can put on to convince myself the sun is coming out, even at a late night party or in the Chicago winter.  On the predictable charge: Look, th...

Barry White – I'm Gonna Love You Just A Little More Baby 20th Century Records – TC-2018 Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM, Styrene, Terre Haute Pressing US, 1973 info For no reason other than I felt like listening to it, here's Barry White with one of his very greatest singles. If you know someone who doesn't understand why people love this guy beyond silly impersonations of the sexy voice, I'm Gonna Love You Just A Little More Baby  is the place to start. The opening is amazing (and the break has been put to good use more than once on some classic hip hop productions), but listen to the arrangement here- so much going on. The build up that begins right around the 50 second mark is really something special. The B side, Just A Little More Baby , really lets the music (and Barry White's production skills) shine. More than just a straight instrumental of the A side hit, it's almost a dub mix with Barry's vocal scats echoing in and out and the different instruments getti...

Lee Scratch Perry & The Upsetters – Bird In Hand Goldenlane Records – 0889466251245 Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM, USA, 2021 info Random reggae. Last year, for some reason, a new 7" single was released collecting two songs from a 1978 Lee Perry production,  Return Of The Super Ape  by the Upsetters . I'm not sure who they thought would be the market for this in 2021, but it has a great cover photo of Scratch at his Black Ark studio and an excellent choice for the A side.  If the lyrics to  Bird In Hand  seem hard to follow, that's probably due to it being a 44-year-old, low-fi recording of a Jamaican singer (the obscure Sam Carty , I believe, who went uncredited on both the original release and on this single) attempting to sing the Hindi lyrics to a 78-year-old Bollywood musical. Perry's house band, the Upsetters, were essentially covering Milte Hi Aankhen , a love song from the 1950 film Babul . I wish I knew how Perry and company had encountered this soundtrack (writ...

The Roots – Things Fall A Preview MCA Records – MCA4P-90170 Cassette, Promo, US, 1999 info Why this tape? It made me nod my head (and maybe even crack a smile) at the end of a rough week. There are a hundred pointless promo records, tapes and CDs for every one that has a buried gem on it, but every now and then you find a treasure. Things Fall A Preview  is one of those free cassette tapes you used to find given away in record stores to promote a new release. In this case, it was to boost the Roots' fourth album, 1999's  Things Fall Apart . Instead of the usual 20 second snippets of songs on a tape that you'd throw away after one listen, we're treated to something special here. The tape is a full "best of The Roots" style DJ mix spread by legendary DJ and fellow Philadelphian, Jazzy Jeff. Yes, that one. If you only know him from sitcom cameos or Parents Just Don't Understand , take my word that DJ Jazzy Jeff is the real deal. (Also: don't front on Pare...

Various Artists – Special Selections From The Soundtrack Philadelphia (Sampler) Epic – AED 5695 Vinyl, 12", 33 ⅓ RPM, Promo, Sampler, US, 1993 info This soundtrack is questionable compared to the last one , but to be fair, Sade's track is actually just fine. She's back with the band on this one, turning in a cover of Percy Mayfield's lovely Please Send Me Someone To Love  as their contribution to the soundtrack for the Denzel Washington/Tom Hanks blockbuster, Philadelphia .  ...Which, by the way, makes this another soundtrack to a film I've never seen. (Pay attention and you'll notice a pattern.) The Sade song isn't going to wind up in your top ten, but it's definitely worth a spin. Please Send Me Someone To Love  is a nice piece of songwriting to begin with. You've probably heard five different versions of it over the years and, if you mostly remember the chorus, it's a cut with a surprisingly heavy set of lyrics . Interesting to hear Sade play...

Various Artists – Absolute Beginners - The Musical (Songs From The Original Motion Picture) EMI America – SV-17182 Vinyl, LP, US, 1986 info Sade fans aren't impatient. The group's first four albums came out within about 8 years, between 1984 and 1992. After that though, they pumped the breaks and slowed their album release schedule to roughly once per decade. Their last studio release was 2010's Soldier Of Love and, although I think they're still officially an active group, I've never heard news, leaks, or promises of a new record coming despite the twelve year gap. I don't read enough interviews or music news to have a clue whether that's attributed to perfectionism, semi-retirement, writer's block or what, but they don't owe me anything and I appreciate their (very high) quality over quantity. There's been the occasional "best of" compilation or vinyl reissue, but we haven't even seen "deluxe edition" cash-ins packed wit...

  I have an enormous, almost obsessive, appetite for new music. Hunting for everything I can find featuring a musician, producer or style that caught my ear is a habit that probably keeps me from really giving half the attention and listening time deserved by records that come my way. Even so, there are albums, artists and songs that I always go back to, the records that have wound up holding special places (roles?) in my listening and life. Pharoah Sanders has been near the top of that list for a long time, since F first introduced me to the saxophone legend as teenager (by giving me a  Best Of Pharoah Sanders  double LP  that I still treasure).  Maybe it's really some COVID era awareness of mortality, but it feels like there been a shocking number of musicians that I've been moved and influenced by who have passed away in the last two or three years. It still felt especially tragic though when I heard the news that Pharoah Sanders had died last week. From his ...

Bim Sherman – It Must Be A Dream Original Music Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM, Jamaica Early 2000s pressing(?), song from 1980 info Right around when I last wrote something here, I remember thinking that maybe, just maybe, I could get my act together and start making posts more regularly. I had actually prepared a post ahead of time for once and started to convince myself that I could pull off sharing something once a week or so with a little effort. Ahem. Well, a full two months later here we are. In my defense, a lot happened since then. School started and work got challenging, the life decided to show me and some loved ones what challenging *really* looked like. difficult times call for music that brings me some peace, so here's one that I hope can provide a few minutes of the same for others.  ___________________________________ I think that Bim Sherman easily had one of the greatest voices ever in reggae. Sherman  has appeared on these pages before  and it's a safe bet that he...

Ann Sexton – You're Gonna Miss Me / You're Losing Me Seventy Seven Records – 77-133 Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM, US, 1973 info I know I can write too much sometimes (much like my talking in real life, yes, I know), but this one should be quick. Continuing with the funk records (of various sorts) featured in the last couple posts, today we have a great lost single from 1973. I've got no stories to tell you about Ann Sexton.  Until I started writing this and saw that others have documented some of her history , I knew pretty much nothing about Sexton except that she was a Southern soul singer who, from the records I've heard, deserved to be much more widely remembered. I knew she had recorded a couple albums and a clutch of singles for Nashville's Seventy-Seven records and a few other labels though the 1970s. After that, she disappears (from the record bins and my radar anyway).  According to the internet, she got fed up with the music industry, left the south for NYC in ...

Stro Elliot – Black & Loud: James Brown Reimagined By Stro Elliot Republic Records – B0033643-01 Vinyl, LP, Album, US, 2022 info Many years ago, I was riding in a car with someone a little older (and a lot cooler) than me. The guy went on to become a pretty successful DJ and producer, so not shockingly, we were talking music. The thing that I always remember about this conversation is this moment when the Godfather of Soul gets mentioned and the guy turns to say to me in his most serious voice "James Brown invented modern music." True enough for me. Remixing absolute legends from decades ago is risky business. Remixing an album's worth of stone classics that form the bedrock of modern music? Not likely to end well. Stro Elliot pulls it off though on his recent album of James Brown reworks.  My last post featured a Jamaican rework of James Brown from many years ago  and I thought it might be fun to follow it up with this new effort. Elliot  has become a lot more visibl...

Brentford All Stars / Dub Specialist – Greedy G / Granny Scratch Scratch Soul Jazz Records – SJR478-12 Vinyl, 12", 45 RPM, UK, 2021 info It's hard to overstate the importance of Studio One in Jamaican music. The late Coxsone Dodd's record label is easily the most important in the history of reggae and the rhythms from his 1960s and 70s productions are still regularly getting a new shine and re-versioned for the  riddims  of today. Those tunes, revamped for the 1980s dancehall era by the Roots Radics and others, make up some of my favorite musical obsessions. All that said, I'm sharing a Studio One record today, but it's something else altogether. This is a recent 12" single from the UK collecting two Studio One tracks cut that I'm pretty sure were cut in the early to mid 70s. But these aren't the early reggae or rocksteady classics, instead we get two storming funk cuts. On  Greedy G ,  the Brentford All Stars (one of the regular names used for Coxson...

Romain Virgo – Minimum Wage Penthouse Records – PHEU 007 Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM, Germany, 2013 Info The minimum wage in Chicago went up yesterday, so I'm sharing this one to celebrate. Romain Virgo really caught my attention when I started hearing the young singer turn up on mixtapes in the early 2010s. Pop reggae to be sure, complete with lovers' songs and radio friendly hooks, all done well. So it's modern JA pop, but, at least on those early records and mixtapes that caught my ear, Virgo had a nice way of regularly working in tributes to the classic songs and rhythms slipping in his thoughts about the state of the world. Not big political statements, but even some of those lovers tunes were clear about where they stood, telling the stories of strugglers and working people. The first song I remember hearing by him, Rich In Love , is a good example. I am rich in love Financially I'm a pauper It's just you that I'm after... What's not to love? (If you check ...

Sun Ra - Mike Huckaby Bonus Beats! Mike Huckaby - Sun Ra Reel To Reel Session - Live at Amoeba Records, LA - July 13, 2017 & Sun Ra - "The Lady With The Golden Stockings" (Mike Huckaby edit) A  quick post: A few days ago I shared a couple 12"s of Sun Ra edits by Mike Huckaby . If you were feeling those all, here are a couple bonuses to keep that vibe going. I love this stuff.  The excellent UK label Strut Records has been releasing Sun Ra compilations and albums over the last ten years or so, sometimes partnered with Art Yard (who, along with the Kindred Spirits label, issued those Huckaby edit 12s back in 2011). I seems like they had been planning at some point to promote one of those compilations by reviving this idea and releasing some more "Mike Huckaby reel-to-reel edits." As far as I know, the only other track that ever made it's way into the world for us all to hear was  this edit of The Lady With The Golden Stockings  that the label posted to So...