p !– @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } A:link { color: #0000ff } — /p pThe album covers featured primitive graphics. The titles were often cheesy. The songs lacked great sound quality and sometimes were sloppily edited. Yet K-Tel albums introduced me to a number of great artists and ultimately helped form my musical tastes. /p pK-Tel albums compiled the hits of the day into one album, offering convenience for the consumer who lacked time or money to purchase individual singles. These compilations were organized by thememdash;rock, Ramp;B, new wave, country, or dancemdash;and ranged from well-known artists to one-hit wonders. Today, Now Thatrsquo;s What I Call Music CDs fill this role, but in the 70s and 80s K-Tel dominated the American market. /p pFounded by Canadian entrepreneur Philip Kives, the company sold items such as nonstick fry pans, the Veg-O-Matic, and the Feather-Touch Knife (similar to Ron Propeilrsquo;s Ronco). In early 1966 Kives decided to branch out into the music business, releasing his first compilation album, Twenty-Five Country Hits, that same year. He named his company K-Tel in the late sixties, and went on to sell half a billion albums worldwide by the eighties, according to uK-Telrsquo;s website/u. Like his products, Kives also created splashy TV ads to announce the latest record releases (such as the below example). /p pAs a child, I loved receiving the latest K-Tel collections for Christmas or birthday gifts, and would play the LPs until the grooves wore down. Many years later I realized that my first introductions to rap and various seminal rock artists came from K-Tel. /p pThe first two albums I remember receiving were Wings of Sound (1980) and Dancer (1981). The formerrsquo;s cover featured, appropriately enough, multicolored wings and offered a selection of top 40 hits. Most notably, this album introduced me to Nick Lowe and Bob Dylan, along with the still-catchy one-hit wonder ldquo;Driverrsquo;s Seatrdquo; by Sniff lsquo;n The Tears. Lowersquo;s ldquo;Cruel to be Kindrdquo; remains one of the most clever rock songs of the early 80s, and Dylanrsquo;s ldquo;Gotta Serve Somebodyrdquo; marks his overtly religious phase. As a kid I couldnrsquo;t quite grasp Dylanrsquo;s sound, but of course later learned of his tremendous influence on rock and folk. /p pDancer focused, not surprisingly, on what turned out to be the dying days of disco. While it may have marked discorsquo;s last gasp, it also signaled the gradual rise of hip hop. Frankie Smithrsquo;s ldquo;Double Dutch Busrdquo; and Lakesidersquo;s ldquo;Fantastic Voyagerdquo; have since become old-school (and heavily sampled) classics, but back then I heard nothing like them on the radio. In addition, the album introduced me to the gritty funk of the Gap Band, with ldquo;Burn Rubber (Why You Wanna Hurt Me)rdquo; remaining one of my favorite funk hits. /p br

p !– @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } A:link { so-language: zxx } — /p pWhen it comes to current a capella vocal groups, few can match the mastery of Take 6. Since arriving on the scene in 1988 with their self-titled, gospel-tinged debut album, the six singers have been in high demand. /p pIn addition to recording several stellar Christian and secular albums (most notably adding musicians on 1994#39;s Join the Band), they have performed with everyone from Quincy Jones to Stevie Wonder to Don Henley. Their latest release, The Standard, focuses less on their gospel roots and more on jazz, with mostly enjoyable results./p pThe album#39;s title may lead the listener to expect selections from the Great American Songbook; while Take 6 does include ldquo;Someone to Watch Over Merdquo; and ldquo;Straighten Up and Fly Right,rdquo; they also perform more modern, varied tunes such as ldquo;What#39;s Going Onrdquo; and ldquo;Bein#39; Green.rdquo; /p pAs usual, Take 6 fares best when emphasizing their impeccably complex harmonies, particularly on the fun ldquo;Sweet Georgia Brown.rdquo; Guest vocalist Brian McKnight (brother of Take 6 founder Claude McKnight) joins the group for a soulful ldquo;What#39;s Going Onrdquo; that stays true to the spiritual feeling of the song./p pimg src=http://discmar.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/52887.jpg /One track guaranteed to reduce the listener to tears is ldquo;Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans,rdquo; with Take 6 beautifully backing appropriate guest Aaron Neville. Neville#39;s gentle but melancholy voice seems to both mourn and celebrate the Big Easy, with the six singers never overpowering his delicate vocals. An interesting duet reminiscent of Natalie Cole#39;s virtual collaboration with father Nat King Cole is ldquo;A-Tisket, A-Tasket,rdquo; with Ella Fitzgerald#39;s original vocals blending with Take 6#39;s enthusiastic harmonies. It celebrates the timelessness of the songmdash;and its legendary singer. /p br

pA review usually needs a little background history, however, the real story of Black Widow would need a whole book ndash; now therersquo;s a thought. /p pPart of that dark story really needs to be told to show just why the release of Demons Of The Night Gather To See Black Widow Live (Mystic Records) is of such interest and why Black Widow still have a cult following nearly forty years since their demise. /p pbr/ Leicesterrsquo;s Black Widow were seemingly cursed with bad luck and bad timing. Confusion with Black Sabbath, controversy over their live stage performance of Sacrifice, and just plain bad fortune dogged their progress and led to their comparatively early demise. /p pTiming is everything for a band and it seemed that some force was at work to ensure that fate turned most definitely against them. What we are left with is a band that now has a cult following, a reputation of playing with fire, and a heritage of some lost gems musically./p pFor those that donrsquo;t know, Black Widow was formed in England in the late sixties. When drummer Clive Box came up with the idea of doing an album based on witchcraft and black magic, Black Widow were born. They were, without doubt, the black magic band of the time. /p pIt was a reputation that led to confusion between them and Black Sabbath the latter, despite the upturned crosses that appeared on the first album, continually denied that they were anything of the sort. Black Widow meanwhile went the distance with it./p pThe album Sacrifice took six months to write. The stage show that accompanied it was to prove to be an authentic experience into the realms of black magic. The show became instantly controversial as it contained nudity and sacrifice. However, the real concerns lay a lot deeper. /p pThe band has courted the advice of the UKrsquo;s self confessed lsquo;King Of The Witchesrsquo; Alex Sanders (1926-1988) and as a result it emerged that everything in the show was in fact disturbingly authentic. The words, the spells, the curses, the names, and the rituals were all the result of the advice of Sanders. /p pThis was dangerous territory and it seemed to trigger a run of ill luck that tripped the band up at every potential stage of its progression. /p pFirstly the press had a field day regarding both the show and the album. This, of course, only increased the demand for tickets from the curious, the weird, and of course the plain old rock fans./p pSacrifice was released by CBS at the same time as Simon amp; Garfunkelrsquo;s classic album Bridge Over Troubled Water. When sales of the latter literally took off, CBS temporarily suspended the pressing of anything else for a few weeks. Unfortunately for Black Widow, Black Sabbathrsquo;s first album was often picked up instead./p br

pWritten by Fantasma el Rey/p pHitting the streets with beats and grooves long thought lost in a seaport warehouse is The Brighton Port Authorityrsquo;s long-awaited CD release, I Think Wersquo;re Gonna Need A Bigger Boat. Better known as The BPA and recorded under the creative watch of Norman Cook in collaboration with many unique vocalists, these long-lost gems are finally revealed to the public. So join me and uncover just who and what are The BPA./p pThe story goes that in the 1970s a young Norman Cook recorded these tracks to tape with his mysterious jam band backing various lead vocalists in their portside studio. Rumors of the tapes and the band itself circulated for years until a box containing the tapes was finally found confirming their existence. With some work the tapes where cleaned up and put out on CD. /p pThen there is the real story of The BPA which is Cook, better known as Fat Boy Slim, put this thing together with the help and vocal assistance of a few of his talented friends. Together they managed to kick out some very danceable jams for the pop/electronica/indie/dance crowd to move and groove to. /p pThe twelve tracks on I Thinkhellip; move along at a quick pace, laying the beats down in a very enjoyable time of 43 minutes. The time is perfect for those of us that prefer our dance music fix not to last hours on end in marathon rave fashion. The track order is also laid out well. As any good DJ can, Cook has arranged the songs in an order that picks you up with solid up-tempo beats and rhythms while letting you chill and groove to the more mellow tunes. A truly good mix. /p pIggy Pop lends his peculiar vocals to the lsquo;60s soul stomp ldquo;Hersquo;s Frank (Slight Return),rdquo; which leads off the disc with heavy drums and bass supported by funky lead guitars and handclaps. Heading right into ldquo;Dirty Sheetsrdquo; with Pete York on vocals and slowing the pace down a bit, none of the beat is lost and distorted murky-sounding guitar work is added. From there itrsquo;s a seamless trip back to solid dance grooves with odd chord-bending guitar sounds and layered vocals by Connan Mockasin while blurred and blended horns twist behind./ppage 1 | 2 br

Normally when you think of steel guitar, especially pedal steel guitar, the last thing in the world that’s going to come to mind is African American gospel music. A country gospel tune like “Will The Circle Be Unbroken” sure, but you don’t ever expect to hear one playing in one of those earth shaking, hip swinging gospel choirs that inspired today’s funk, soul, and blues musicians. Yet if you were a congregation member of The House Of God, Keith Dominion churches, steel guitar in shape or another is exactly what you’d have been hearing since the 1930’s. Sacred steel music was born out of the popularity of the Hawaiian Steel guitar in the early part of the twentieth century. Two brothers, Troman and Willie Eason were responsible for bringing the steel guitar to the House of God services in the 1930’s. While Troman had learned how to play in the Hawaiian style, Willie had not had any formal training and simply played the music he was familiar with on this guitar. From such humble beginnings a genre was born. The Lee Boys are a family group consisting of three brothers; Alvin (guitar), Derrick, and Keith (vocals) and three nephews; Roosevelt Collier (pedal steel guitar), Alvin Cordy Jr. (7 string bass), and Earl Walker (drums). They each grew up making music in a House of God congregation in Perrine Fl. where the brother’s father was pastor and steel player. Having been playing together, or individually, in the church since they were seven they’ve not only developed into proficient musicians but have also learned the key elements for staging a successful show. You don’t need to look any further than their new DVD release Live At Bonnaroo for evidence of just how impressive they are. Sunday mornings at folk festivals were reserved for gospel groups from all over, and I guess Bonnaroo is keeping up that tradition as this recording is of a Sunday morning performance The Lee Boys gave at last year’s festival. Now I can’t think of a tougher time, or a harder audience to play for, than the Sunday morning of a festival. Half the crowd is either recovering from the night before, if they’ve even gone to bed yet, and the other half are just wandering onto the site and getting their bearings. A band has to be pretty special and be able to deliver a red hot performance in order to first grab, and then hold, this type of audience’s attention for the length of the concert.

More so than movies or books, music can sometimes be seasonal. That's not to suggest that a given album can't be enjoyed off-season, but rather that there's a certain added pleasure to listening to it when the time is right. As suggested by the pumpkin-orange artwork that adorns the cover of shoegaze alt-rockers Asobi Seksu's sophomore full-length, 2006's Citrus, this is an album for the fall. Both the lyrical content of the set (that which can be made out, and is in English), as well as the dense and layered arrangements, exude a palpable haziness and melancholia. Yet, there's a warmth too — found in the bouncy, chiming textures of these monolithic rockers — which keeps things from seeming too cold and distant. Citrus is an album that's perfect for the autumnal months, when hot summer days awkwardly (and often abruptly) transition into frigid winter nights. Blustery hurricanes of low-end and distortion dominate the atmosphere, but not without a fight from lead singer Yuki Chikudate's quivering and ethereal voice, which occasionally breaks through the din, only to be swallowed whole by a colossal wall of sound once more. Take lead single "New Years," for example, which finds Yuki's fragile whisper riding atop a mountain of titanic distortion and trebling bass, eventually dispelling the noise long enough to croon the track's gorgeous bridge, only to be drown out moments later by an even greater sonic assault; it's an auditory struggle akin to the push-and-pull of the seasonal weather. But that's as hectic as it gets, which is important to point out, lest I undersell the tunefulness of this album. Cuts like "Lions And Tigers," which skimps on none of the band's requisite amounts of low-end, but tempers the intensity with Yuki's lullaby-sung verses and playful jingling during the subdued (at least by this band's standards) chorus. Of course, even this song eventually builds to a symphonic, eardrum-shattering climax, but that's more a testament to the restless nature of these sprawling compositions.page 1 | 2

One of the hardest-working R&B stars to come out of the New Orleans area during the Oldies era would have to be Lloyd Price, who even today — after more than fifty years of performing — still has a few irons in the fire. Growing up in nearby Kenner, young Lloyd's education in the music of New Orleans included everything from singing in his church choir to hanging around the jukebox in his mother's small restaurant. While still in his teens, he joined with his brother Leo to form a local musical group that eventually began to draw wider attention, leading to a 1952 recording session — one of historical significance. With a moonlighting Fats Domino handling the piano, Lloyd sang what would become one of the all-time classics of New Orleans R&B music, "Lawdy Miss Clawdy." It made the young singer a star, and when he followed up with several other good songs, including "Tell Me Pretty Baby" and "Ain't It a Shame," he appeared to be on his way to a long career. Unfortunately, the Korean War — and the draft — was next for Lloyd, and when he finally got back to music in 1954 he found that the ever-fickle public had moved on to singers like Little Richard and others. But Lloyd began rebuilding his career and making recordings, first for his own newly-formed company and later through a tie-in with ABC-Paramount. By 1958, he'd generated a huge Number One hit with "Stagger Lee," an updated version of the old song "Stack-A-Lee" made more appealing to mainstream audiences. As the years passed, Price continued to veer toward a more pop-oriented sound, selling a lot of records with songs such as "I'm Gonna Get Married," and one of his biggest, "Personality." (Video below.) He also continued to follow his business sense, re-forming his own recording company and finding success not only with his own music but also by promoting newcomer Wilson Pickett. But trouble was right around the corner. Price's longtime business partner Harold Logan met a violent death, and music began to seem less important. Over the last couple of decades, Price has still found the time to sing once in a while, but has become more and more involved in business investments and opportunities. For one thing, he's very involved in a specialty food company that might have its roots in a childhood spent at his momma's restaurant. In any case, he's still workin' hard.

First off this week I want to apologize to you, my loyal readers. Things are patchy right now due to the fact that my father is at his end and things are a bit unpredictable round the place. (Not that unpredictable is abnormal for me, but at times it's minute to minute.) However that does not mean I haven’t had the chance to listen to the latest batch of releases of all types. In fact some of the output for the land of the Norse has been perfectly suited to the current mood. Ted Nugent: Nugent, Spirit of the Wild & If You Can’t Lick em’, Lick Em” The last of the current crop of Nugent re-issues like the first lot is a bit of a mixed bag. There is something for everyone here however and “mixed” for Ted is a pretty good standard. The man is always in the shadow of his 70s hits because they were so good and so huge. Probably realizing that with the album Nugent, Ted reunited with his ole’ sparing partner Derek St. Holmes who does most of the lead singing on the CD. He also has the drumming power-house of Carmine Appice along for the ride. This is a very strong album that could have been supported by the track “Bound & Gagged” alone. The track is another one of Ted’s observational rants about the state of the U.S. and its governance. Listening to the words, it's as poignant today as it was then. One thing you got to say about Uncle Ted is that he is consistent in his views and beliefs. “Good & Ready” is another strong track as is the final statement of “Tailgunner”. This is a good album that shows what he is capable of when firing on all cylinders. Spirit of the Wild sees Ted teaming up again with Derek with Denny Carmassi on drums another journeyman sticksman who played with Ted in Damn Yankees, probably Ted’s great post-70s collection of music. You gotta love tracks like “I shoot back” and “Tooth, fang & claw”. It's always amusing to note that Ted, who just got inducted into the bow hunters hall of fame, thanks his ammo suppliers on his albums. His 13th solo effort If you Can’t Like Em’…Lick Em is a testament to all that was naff about the 80s from the cover to the daft as a brush name of the album. He even teamed up with Bon Jovi and Sambora for the track “That’s the Story of Love.” This album summed everything good and bad about the 80s as Ted headed off into a new decade. It was his last CD before hooking up with Tommy Shaw and Jack Blades in the uber-successful hard rock supergroup Damn Yankees. page 1 | 2

Los Campesinos! have extended their tour of North America, with a run of dates that will see them on the road until April. The band are touring in support of their second album �We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed’, which was released in November 2008, just seven months after their debut �Hold On Now, Youngster…�. The updated tour dates are: Grand Rapids, MI Calvin College/Ladies Literary Club (February 10) Columbus, OH Wexner Center for the Arts (11) Swarthmore, PA Swarthmore College/Olde Club (12) Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club (13) New York, NY Bowery Ballroom (14, 15) Philadelphia, PA Theatre of Living Arts (29) Burlington, VT Higher Ground (30) Montreal, PQ La Sala Rosa (31) Toronto, ON Opera House (April 1) Detroit, MI Magic Stick (2) Milwaukee, WI Turner Hall (3) Minneapolis, MN Fine Line Café (4) Omaha, NE Waiting Room (5) Denver, CO Bluebird Theatre (7) Seattle, WA Neumo’s (10) Vancouver, BC Richard’s on Richards (11) Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom (12) Sacramento, CA Harlow’s (13) San Francisco, CA Slims (15) Santa Barbara, CA Velvet Jones (16) Indio, CA Coachella Music Festival (17)

The irony of Merriweather Post Pavilion, Animal Collective's eighth full-length, named after the ubiquitous outdoor stage in Columbia, Maryland, is that it's the band's least live-sounding album they've made thus far. It's this stylistically different approach to recording — there are more filters on the vocals here, the soundscapes much thicker and layered — that makes this collection of songs, most likely the best batch that the greatest contemporary band on the planet has yet put together, fall just short of classic status. Truthfully, though, only time will tell. Big words, I know. But any modern rock critic worth his salt will cop to being in awe of this band, even if not everything they've done thrills them. Pretty much everything does it for me though, excepting some very early, particularly indulgent live recordings, and a few tracks off odd LPs over the years. Also, both critics and hardcore fans alike (and there are many) have probably heard most of the cuts on Merriweather (all but the bouncy pop of "Blueish," which debuts on this album) either performed live at concerts, or at concerts on Youtube. That, coupled with interviews with the band stating that this is their "best album yet," and a particularly enthusiastic review from one of the music world's most reputable publications (Uncut), created an almost unbearable strain of hype preceding its release, that which almost any album would buckle under, and couldn't possibly live up to. It's to the great credit of this extraordinary band that they come damn close. The first sign of greatness reveals itself in the impeccable construction of Merriweather: The album kicks off with "In The Flowers," the most atmospheric track of the set and (next to later cut "No More Runnin'") the most subdued. At least until it suddenly erupts with buzzing synth stabs, before quieting down again for the lead-out, establishing a loud-quiet-loud aesthetic which will remain prevalent throughout. 'Flowers' finds one of the band's two principal vocalists, Avey Tare (real name Dave Portner), waxing euphorically in the name of love about "leaving [his] body for a night." It's a peculiar ballad, for sure, but one that displays a maturity (welcome or not) which contrasts Tare's gorgeously animalistic love song "Purple Bottle," off 2005s Feels. This sense of gravity and responsibility, a theme that subtly weaves itself into every song on the album, seems appropriate, as a lot has changed since 2005. For instance, one member, Panda Bear (real name Noah Lennox), has become a father, which adds a certain credibility to the powerful lead single (though the band would never call it that) "My Girls." Here, Tare and Panda Bear simply and earnestly proclaim, in unison, "I don't mean / to seem like I care about material things / like a social status / I just want / four walls and adobe slabs / for my girls." The sentiments are felt not only on a human level, but relatable in this time of economic instability, where one can find the most gratifying aspects of life in the love and nurturing of others. Not all the content here is heavy though; in fact much of it is abstract at best. Lazy, spell-binding Panda Bear cut "Daily Routine" drifts along on skittering break-beats and a vaguely hand-clap-sounding percussive rhythm. Then, halfway through, it slams on the breaks and endlessly repeats its dreamlike refrain, "just one sec more / in my bed," as if to savor that moment in the morning before starting the day. Or maybe coercing someone to stay with him for a while? The ambiguity only empowers the track, and even here we find traces of that nurturing paternal maturity in lyrics like "make sure my kid's got a jacket." Elsewhere, the most catchy track Tare has ever written, "Summertime Clothes," finds the band in a state of freewheeling bliss. "I want to walk around with you," Tare sings, later repeatedly chanting the track's makeshift bridge, "when the sun comes up we'll go out again." The act of being caught up in a moment, or a musical/lyrical stanza, is one of many binding thematic concerns here.page 1 | 2