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...