Brugnolini & Torossi - Musica Per Commenti Sonori 1969 (Costanza Records)

Label : Costanza Records

Value :

The two musicians, who had also worked together on the masterpiece “Feelings” (1974), have often collaborated and delivered some of the best Italian library music of all time. “Musica per commenti sonori” is certainly one of the most interesting. On the two equally split sides of this LP, the first for Torossi and the second for Brugnolini (but it seems that this partition was exclusively dictated by legal demands), there are twelve amazing tracks that will excite lovers of the wildest funk, producers in search of rare breaks, and those with a penchant for the psycho-beat atmospheres of the sixties.

Among the most heated tracks featured on Torossi’s side, we can’t pass over the amazing “Sweet-Beat”, “Interrupted” (perhaps the best track of the album) and “Repetition” while “Polyphony”, “Motuproprio” and the closing track “Flyer” shine on Brugnolini’s. Virtually impossible to find, even at astonishing prices, this reissue puts back into the market one of the best examples of ‘The Italian Art of Library Music’: a genre worldwide envied and collected.

“Musica per commenti sonori” is a cult series within the diverse world of Italian library music. In the late sixties and seventies, the small record label Costanza Records has published several releases precisely focusing on ‘background music’, including works of great composers such as Peppino De Luca, Roberto Pregadio, Franco Micalizzi, Vito Thomas, Giancarlo Thomas, Puccio Roelens, Riccardo Luciani, and by the protagonists of this.

Taste :

Sandro Brugnolini - Motuproprio

Stefano Torossi - Sweet Beat

Download Lp

By Electric Looser

The Moments - The Moments On Top 1971 (Stang)

Label : Stang

Value :

The Moments’ On Top is a perfect example of symphonic soul. Amongst true heads, this is considered the most valuable of all their albums; an original copy of this LP, if you can find one, starts at around $75. Alongside contemporaneous acts from the early 70s - The Chi-lites, The Stylistics, The Delfonics, The Futures, Blue Magic and The Main Ingredient - The Moments exuded all that was compelling about deep, harmony-drenched, string-laden soul.The standout here is undoubtedly "To You With Love", a floating, tender ballad sung by Harry Ray that features the group’s patented handclap-tambourine combo, sweetly repetitive strings, serene guitar and gentle piano. It was famously sampled by J Dilla for “Last Donut Of The Night” - the gut-wrenching finale to his seminal Donuts.

Taste :

 The Moments - To You With Love

Download Lp

By Electric Looser

Manhattans - That's How Much I Love You 1974 (Columbia)

Label : Columbia

Value :

Sublime work from The Manhattans who are on top of the world at this point! The group's harmonies are excellent, a bit rough in the best parts  ala Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes during the Teddy Pendergrass years but also capable of tremendous strength when forged together, which happens often on the album's tight set of Philly-produced tracks.

Taste : 

Manhattans - Blackbird

Download Lp

By Electric Looser

Wayne Shorter - The Soothsayer 1979 (Blue Note)

Label : Blue Note 

Value :

A great Wayne Shorter session from the mid 60s – recorded then, but not issued until 1979, for some incredibly unexplained reason – especially given the strength of the set! The group is distinctly modern, and features Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, James Spaulding on alto, and McCoy Tyner on piano – all of who were committed to heavily pushing the boundaries of their playing at the time. Added to the mix is the youthful Tony Williams on drums, fresh from work with Miles Davis, and playing with an incredibly free hand on the kit – plus the great Ron Carter on bass. The resulting mix of tracks is a beautiful example of how these mid-60s Blue Note sessions could keep firmly in touch with modern developments in jazz, yet never lapse into the kind of sloppiness that could sometimes ruin sets like these on other labels – always with a keen sense of timing and rhythm, and a sharpness that made Blue Note's "new" newer-sounding than most'

Taste :

Wayne Shorter - The Soothsayer (full album)

Download Lp

By Electric Looser

Gboyega Adelaja – Colourful Environment 1979 (EMI)

Label : EMI

Value :

Livingstone Studio present a reissue of Gboyega Adelaja's Colourful Environment, originally released in 1979. Fresh from touring with Hugh Masekela -- The Boy's Doin' It (1975) -- Gboyega Adelaja goes into the lab to drop heavy keyboard science on his Moog and Fender Rhodes. Its Joe Sample meets the Afro funk of BLO. With names like Jake Sollo on guitars, Mike Odumusu (BLO, Osibisa) on bass guitar, and Gasper Lawal on percussion, this is a top quality, Afro funk -- an all-stars affair that shines from the inspired interventions, masterly arrangements to the sublime production.Adelaja on the period of recording: "I was already following Hugh Masekela when I met him, he was an outstanding musician and I knew of his collaboration with Hedzoleh, that band brought him nearer to many of us, because he was playing authentic African melodies with the Hedzoleh sound which was mostly percussion oriented. Yes I knew about Hugh's music before I met him. In fact when we started playing together, he insisted that I stay with him in our three bedroom apartment, other members of the band had their own apartments, but Hugh and myself shared the same three bedroom apartment. We were touring, under Casablanca owned by Neil Boggart, we toured as professional musicians, flying to our gigs. There was a time when we were touring with George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic we had two luxury buses deployed for our use. We made many friends where ever we went to play, we met many big and popular musicians who came to watch our shows, the Spinners came to see us in Detroit, we met Wayne Shorter of Weather Report, Freddie Hubbard, we played a gig with Herbie Hancock at the Carnegie Hall New York City, we toured almost all the 50 States of the US.

Taste :

Gboyega Adelaja -Adua (Prayer)

Gboyega Adelaja – Colourful Environment

Download Lp

By Electric Looser

Astrud Gilberto - That Girl From Ipanema 1977 (Image Records)

Label : Image Records

Value :

The daughter of a Brazilian mother and German father, Astrud Gilberto achieved international prominence with "The Girl From Ipanema," an inauspicious debut recorded for the landmark album her husband, Joao Gilberto, created with Stan Getz in 1963. Moving to the USA, where later began a relationship. Over-the-top classic That Girl From Ipanema allowed her to revisit the hit in the sweeping high-fidelity full-spectrum setting of a disco big-band, the album overseen by MFSB and Salsoul mainstay, Vince Montana. Along with individual takes of Cole Porter's "Love For Sale" and Harry Nilsson's "The Puppy Song," original "Far Away" benefits from the understated trumpet of Chet Baker, but the album ultimately revels in all things disco, the Brazilian element coming courtesy of percussionist Dom Um Romao on select tracks. Crank up the volume and tune in to the brass, piano, and percussion that percolates under Astrud's characteristically soft and sultry vocals to fully experience this underrated gem.

Taste :

Astrud Gilberto - All I've Got

Download Lp

By Electric Looser

Akira Ishikawa & His Count Buffalos – Tsugaru Jongara Bushi Drum & Tsugaru Jamisen 1973 (Teichiku Records)

Label : Teichiku Records

Value :

Shamisen never sounded so groovy before – thanks to excellent work from Akira Ishikawa & His Count Buffalos – who are working here at their funky 70s best! The album mixes great sounds from Count Buffalos with the solo talents of Rinsoye Kida on shamisen – the traditional Japanese three-stringed instrument that's usually used in much more conservative settings – but which is recorded here in a style that's right up front in the mix, and able to step out nicely in front of the fuller, groovier backings from Ishikawa and his group! Given the nature of the instrument, the style is quite different than some other jazz albums from the time that try to mix with Japanese folkloric styles – maybe a bit like Dorothy Ashby on the koto, but more striking overall.

Taste :

Rinsyoe Kida,Akira Ishikawa & His Count Buffaloes - Souran Bushi

 Rinsyoe Kida,Akira Ishikawa & His Count Buffaloes -Tan To Setsu /Jongara Bushi

Download Lp

By Electric Looser