Dig Deep…For Matthew Africa: V/A – Wild Style Original Soundtrack – Animal (1983)

Grandmaster Caz and Chris Stein – Wild Style Theme Rap 1
Fantastic Freaks – Basketball Throwndown (with Cold Crush Bros) and At The Dixie
Double Trouble – At The Amphitheatre
Grand Wizard Theodore and Kevie Kev – Military Cut Scratch Mix
The Chief Rocka Busy Bee and DJ AJ – At The Amphitheatre

Today would have been Matthew Africa’s 52nd Birthday and every year around this time we pay tribute to Matthew, a singular influence on my musical sensibilities, here on Melting Pot. Given that this year celebrates 50 years since Kool DJ Herc set in motion Hip-Hop culture, it’s fitting to share this album.  As a DJs DJ, I wasn’t surprised at all to see that MKA had marked the label on both sides, just to make cueing up a cut just a little easier whenever he spun this one out.

Released only ten years after the birth of Hip-Hop, in 1983, and just a couple of years after the world came to know just what had been bubbling up in the Bronx and beyond for a decade.  Along with Style Wars, Wild Style holds a treasured space in the minds of most “true school” Hip-Hop heads, as many feel like its the best representation of what Hip-Hop was really like in the early years before it became more commercialized and there were only mixtapes to represent the culture.  To say that it’s a classic that all fans of Hip-Hop have to see is a understatement. 

Posting it today, I started thinking back to when I first saw the film, which must have been around 1997 at Daryl “G-Wiz” Felker’s spot, with a couple of other members of the WRAS’ Weekend Wrecking Crew also there. I thought I knew a thing or two about Hip-Hop history back then, but I’d never even heard of this film until Wiz played it.  I sat on the couch awestruck for the whole time, mouth agape, saying “how have I never seen this?” and “oh shit, THAT’S where that sample comes from?” on repeat, for pretty much the running time of the whole film. I can still remember Wiz exclaiming during the Fantastic Freak’s performance at The Dixie, “Damn, that’s when niggas had flows!” and being fully in agreement.  I can’t 100% be sure that by then I’d heard Jurassic 5, whose sound was so connected to this moment in Hip-Hop, but aside from them I can’t think of any post-Old School crew that could match the intricate back and forth in the performances from Fantastic Freaks and Cold Crush Bros. in the film.  Hearing these recordings in 2023, they still sounds revelatory to me in a way that much of what came after it just simply does not.

It was so hard to choose what songs to highlight off this legendary record, almost every song is a classic for those who know. I decided to share 5 songs, one for each decade Hip-Hop has existed.  Each one has been sampled multiple times, almost always in an iconic way.  So much amazing music…such an amazing period of time.  Happy to be able to share this one today on MKA’s bday, since this record came from his collection.  And in the sharing, Matthew Africa lives forever.  Peace and Bright Moments

Dig Deep: Raymond Guiot – Jazz Baroque Quintet – Tele Music (1970)

Jazz Baroque Quintet – Princess Mary Ellen
Jazz Baroque Quintet – Le Tambourin
Jazz Baroque Quintet – Les Petit Moulins A Vent

Though I’ve been a collector for close to 30 years now, I’ve never really delved too far into the world of Library records. I’ve featured a few choice ones here, but it’s a very small section of my overall collection and probably 90% of it I’ve bought post 2020. It’s always daunting to venture outside of your comfort zone into new territories, but I think the main thing that stopped me from really digging deep into these types of records is that I often find that the albums themselves rarely warrant the prices, especially when so many of the songs are brief, sometimes only a minute long. Additionally, the incidental nature tied to the purpose of these records, with music designed to be in commercials or in station breaks, etc., means that there isn’t generally a whole lot of listenability to the full album. None of those shortcomings are the case with this lovely record, generally listed under French flutist Raymond Guiot’s discography.

In fact, since this record has become part of my collection, picked up from one of Cool Chris of Groove Merchant’s Rappcats sales last year, it’s become one of the albums that’s spent the most quality time on my turntables. Start to finish it is a thoroughly enjoyable experience, as Guiot and his jazzy crew (featuring Bernard Lubat, who will have an album of his own featured here shortly) make the most of compositions from the Baroque era. And, in true library record fashion, there’s even a track that’s just begging to be sampled by folks, the ultra-groovy “Princess Mary Ellen.”

After a bit of digital digging, I discovered there was also an earlier album, from 1968, first released on the UK Library outfit Audio and then also on Tele Music, called “Scarlatti Sounds,” with the same group plus a similar sound, that arrived to my casita this week and it’s also quite lovely. It’s highly possible I’ll spend many a weekend afternoon dropping the needle on both of the albums, and if you track them down, I bet you will as well.

Happy Hunting,

Michael

Jed Gould’s Freaky LACA Perv

Jed Gould – LACA Perv

As any one who has ever been to Groove Merchant knows, if Cool Chris puts a label on the cover to highlight a song, you should always check out that song. This collection from 1976, created by LA radio station KWST (which later on would become Power 106) as a fundraiser for public radio, features a number of LA bands that seemingly never amounted to much, and whose music I frankly don’t find particularly noteworthy…Except that is for this song, which is definitely appealing to these Hip-Hop ears, and was the brainchild of then 20 year old, Jed Gould.

While none of the others on this “locals only” collection seem to have made a name for themselves, Jed Gould is perhaps better known as Jed The Fish, the afternoon drive time host for 30+ years on KROQ. I don’t know how much music Jed actually recorded, but he packs a whole lot into the 85 seconds “LACA Perv” assaults your senses. There are dueling vocals split on both sides, banging drums, fuzzy bass or guitar, punchy synth lines and even a kazoo solo. I can’t really make out much about the lyrics, other than something both Goulds say about being “vagina oriented,” and when Jed on the right calls himself a pervert and then Jed in the other ear agrees and says “of course you are.”

I have no clue what the LACA in “LACA Perv” stands for. “Los Angeles County” is a solid guess for the first three letters, but it’s the “A” that I can’t sort out. Perhaps someone who knew LA in the 1970s can chime in, maybe “LACA” was a public spot where pervy things went down, maybe it was a fairly perverse section of LA government…No idea. But, the track is a weird, freakout and even though that album cover is certainly eye catching, I’m not sure I would have had the patience to needle drop through all of the songs, without Cool Chris’ always helpful note. But that patience to check out all of the music, and let you know what the best track is, is exactly what makes Groove Merchant such a mecca for us folks.

Catch A Groove – Hip-Hop At 50

Juice – Catch A Groove
Grand Wizard Theodore – Live Convention ’82 Excerpt

No one could have known it at the time, but on this day in 1973, for all intents and purposes, Hip-Hop was born.  It’s hard for me to quantify the effect Hip-Hop has had on my life.  I wouldn’t be a DJ without Hip-Hop. I wouldn’t be a collector without Hip-Hop. I wouldn’t hear music the way I do without Hip-Hop. I wouldn’t have my PhD without Hip-Hop, since my dissertation was on Hip-Hop. So, given that, I had to post something on this day and pay respect.  For, it was on this day 50 years ago, in the rec room of 1520 Sedwick Ave. in the Bronx, that Kool DJ Herc did something he’d never done before…deciding to just focus on the break beats of certain records, in some cases running that break between two records and that innovation, Herc’s “Merry-Go-Round,” is what started it all. 

For me, so much of what really caused me to love Hip-Hop was the break, and how so much of the music was literally based on pieces of the past, used in ways that the musicians and the record labels never could have dreamed of.  Instead of taking the record as a final product, Hip-Hop DJs & producers created something brand new.  And in many cases, certainly the case with this record from Juice, the music itself just sounds like it was recorded with Hip-Hop already in mind.  If Hip-Hop wasn’t still so insular in 1976 when this 12” was released, a case could be made that the record had been made with Hip-Hop in mind, but the sound and the scene was still too young.  This record wasn’t made for Hip-Hop, it’s meant to be on Disco soundsystems, but once Herc lit the spark, it was only a matter of time before a record like this would find its way into DJ’s collections and in performance on the 1s and 2s.  The break itself is so long, and flows nicely into another instrumental passage, and there’s that mini-breakdown just before the drum break, perhaps the most iconic part of the song, that makes this is a rare double break, one that can be picked up in multiple places and extended in ways that you couldn’t with other songs. 

According to Davey D, “Everybody want to flow over Juice, ‘Catch A Groove.’  If you were rapping and that record came on, man, you’ve got to get a piece of it.  Everybody would be fighting over it.  You’d hear somebody saying, ‘Come on, finish that rhyme so I can get in there.’”  “Catch A Groove” became a staple in Hip-Hop circles in that period of time where Hip-Hop first became popular, after 1979’s “Rapper’s Delight,” became an international hit.  But there was a disconnect between what you might have heard in clubs and parks in NYC and what you heard on record.  The DJ was essentially removed, replaced by a band of musicians, who would recreate versions of the breaks that DJs spun (and in time become breaks themselves).  Just before Style Wars and Wild Style created a document in film of this moment in Hip-Hop, you had “Bee-Bop’s Live Convention ’82: #1 Cut Creators,” likely recorded live at T-Connection in the Bronx, and one of the rare places you can hear Hip-Hop as it existed in that first decade before the genre began to diversity and multiply into dozens of dozens of sub-genres in the 1990s. Hearing the original break from the recorded song (and kids, please remember, that drum break is only on the 12,” not, I repeat, NOT on the 45!), and then hearing all of the ways Grand Wizard Theodore cuts it up is amazing.  Just one of many examples of the creativity that was unleashed in the wake of Kool DJ Herc’s moment of inspiration. On this day, August 11th, 1973.  The day Hip-Hop was born.

Dig Deep: Rahsaan Roland Kirk – Here Comes The Whistleman – Atlantic (1967)

Rahsaan Roland Kirk – Yesterdays
Rahsaan Roland Kirk – Making Love After Hours
Rahsaan Roland Kirk – Here Comes The Whistleman

Started off the month of August on the good foot, with multiple posts thus far in this first week, and hope I’ll finally be able to get back into a routine rhythm sharing things, but…If there’s one day of the year you are guaranteed to get a post here on Melting Pot, it is today, August 7th, the birthday of our patron saint, Rahsaan Roland Kirk.  Kirk’s recorded output was so extensive and so consistently good, that there will probably be a few records that we don’t even get to before this blog’s days are done.  But, I was surprised that I hadn’t already shared this album previously.  “Here Comes The Whistleman” was Rahsaan’s debut on Atlantic.  You’ll notice on the cover that “Live” is in quotes, and that was to distinguish the record from a proper live concert, at a proper venue, when this was essentially a private concert at the Atlantic Records HQ with a select few lucky souls who were there to bear witness. 

And though it is a relatively short album, it does still showcase all of the things that made Rahsaan such a beloved musician.  More than the virtuostic playing, it’s the joy, especially the joy at doing new things and creating new sounds.  Whether in terms of what I think is Rahsaan singing through his flute or sax on “Yesterdays,” the combination of what almost sounds like a mix of “The In-Crowd” and “I’m Comin’ Home Baby Now,” on “Making Love After Hours,” or the complete reckless abandonment that marks “Here Comes The Whistleman,” where Rahsaan gave those assembled all manner of noisemakers and whistles so they could join in and make a joyful noise together.  Even Rahsaan’s sense of humor is here, such as when he jokes with long time producer Joel Dorn (though here, essentially their first work together) that he wouldn’t have got caught in turnpike traffic if he had left Rahsaan, who was blind, drive.

What a joy it is to have music from someone so special.  I think the liner notes, written by Del Shields, really hit the spot in describing how special Rahsaan was:

“To know the man is to know his music.  He is fantastic, not because he is blind, but because he is a beautiful human being. He is gifted with enormous talent and finds the crying need to search, probe, experiment and make music.  At last count he has mastered 45 instruments.  Music is his life, and life is his music.  When the critics stop being amazed and weigh his accomplishments objectively, they will admit that Roland Kirk is indeed one of the geniuses of our time.”

Peace & Bright Moments y’all,

Michael

Johnny Bello’s Mysterious Black Oil

Johnny Bello’s Strawberry Cliffs Of Monica – Black Oil

This record came my way a few years ago during the pandemic well before things opened up.  Essentially every year I’ve lived in California, back since 1999, I’ve made at least one trip to Groove Merchant, which remains my all-time favorite record store.  With that not possible during the pandemic, there were a couple of times where I sent Cool Chris a certain amount of money, and asked him to just send me records that he thought I’d dig.  Perhaps some of you might think that’s foolish, but if you do, you clearly don’t know Cool Chris.

One of the best things about Groove Merchant are the notes that Chris will add to records, “Breezy California Folk-Psych, Check ‘Summer’ on Side 2,” or “Check out 2-1,” or “Breaks on A-1,” and on and on. So, when this 45, from a band I’ve never heard of, and even after a couple of years of searching still haven’t found any information about, arrives with a note in Chris’ handwriting saying “I Dig This One,” you know it’s gonna be something special.

This song from the appropriately theatrically named Johnny Bello’s Strawberry Cliffs of Monica likely isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but knowing Chris and Chris knowing me, it’s exactly the kind of 45 I love.  It all starts with those repetitive high notes from guitar that hypnotically flow throughout the mellow psych vibes of the song (only broken up by a psychedelic freakout after the 2nd verse). And then, there’s Johnny.  Johnny Bello appears to be the credited (and apparently, the only songwriting credit of his career) songwriter John Pereira. There’s zero info about Johnny online, but I would not be surprised if he had a theater background.  Some of it’s in the theatrical performance (which I bet on stage included a cape and rather dramatic hand motions while singing) and theatrical phrasing of his vocals.  Some of it is in the largely inscrutable lyrics (for example, I’ve listened to this song at least 50 times, and I still don’t know why its titled “Black Oil”), that when you can understand them give off Hippie Prophet/Guru vibes critiquing the plastic world around us and pushing us to “stop looking behind you, start looking around you…start looking inside of you,” before Johnny Bello lives up to his name. 

The record feels like a private press, but Sand was a solid label, though not generally for psych, and the one-off nature of this 45 makes it seem like the label simply didn’t know what to do with Johnny Bello and the group.  That is a shame.  There’s some flashes of serious talent here and it would have been interesting to hear what Johnny Bello’s Strawberry Cliffs Of Monica would have done on a full LP.  But, at least we have this 45.  And this is a 45 that both me and Cool Chris of Groove Merchant most definitely dig.

Dig Deep: Thomas Brown – Afro-Latin Percussion – Golden Crest (1978)

Thomas Brown – Masquerade
Thomas Brown – Afro-Latin Percussion (Discussion + Demonstration)
Thomas Brown – Dance
Thomas Brown – Mardi Gras

This album came my way via Cool Chris, but based on the handwritten price on the inner sleeve, I suspect it might have originally come from one of DJ Shadow’s storage sales at Rappcats.  Not a ton of info on Thomas Brown, and from looking online, it appears that (at least as a leader) he only released albums on Golden Crest, which would seem to be more of an educational type private press, given the lack of a back cover & the pasted inner photo of Brown, but from the other releases that are known, seems like they may have branched out a bit further from that niche.

In the notes it mentions a couple of other albums by Brown, but there’s nothing online connected to them.  I have the sneaky suspicion that those others might be even better than this one, but that may just be wishful thinking on my part.  The playing on this album is quite good and while I normally don’t dig this type of instructional thing, I actually found Brown’s discussion of the various percussion instruments, as well as their place in Afro-Latin music (with a strong emphasis on the African origins of the rhythms explored here) to be inciteful and useful.  I wish his vocal explanations had been recorded separately from the instrumentals, since, in a very professorial fashion, he ends up just yelling over the musicians as they play, but such is the vibe.

And when the band just plays, as is the case on the group’s cover of Leon Russell’s “Masquerade,” plus originals like “Dance,” and the album’s closer “Mardi Gras,” it’s a solid sound.  Doesn’t really seem like a lot of people are up on this album, but I dig it, and I suspect you would as well, and so here it is.  Enjoy!

Dig Deep: Hootch – S/T – Pro-Gress Records (1974)

Hootch – You Can’t Come In
Hootch – Blue Bird
Hootch – Eyes Of The Raven

For the first album to be shared here in this 15th year of Melting Pot, we have this rather obscure album from a quintet of teenagers (at least, likely teenagers) from Wisconsin.  I’m not sure if I’ve ever posted a record literally on the same day it arrived to me, but this is one that had been on my mind for months.  I first came into contact with Hootch at February’s Rappcats pop-up featuring records from the collection of Joe Benson, and titled, “Records From Big Red,” I imagine in reference to Benson’s Nebraska origins…This record was one of the first that drew my attention, both in the initial announcement and when I arrived at the spot.  I took a long long hard look at the album as it sat on the wall, and for reasons that are beyond me, I just left it there. 

Well, roughly an hour later, as I’m sorting out which records I’m going to add to my collection, the first notes of lead track, “You Can’t Come In,” begin, all pensive and light guitar with a shade of percussion and then only 17 seconds in, comes one of the most hypnotic psych grooves I’ve ever heard.  Dumbfounded, I make my way to the house turntable to see what is playing and run into that distinctive cover and that face on it, which at the time felt like it was mocking me for not adding it to my own pile when I had the chance.  Turned out head honcho Egon had dropped the needle on it and had claimed it, much to my dismay and disappointment.  I also lost out on a OG copy of Billy Brooks’ Windmills Of The Mind that day, but felt good nonetheless to go home with a handful of records I didn’t know previously and a Townes Van Zandt album that I had long coveted. But that hypnotic groove remained with me, haunting me repeatedly over these past five months…At a period of time here during the summer when I was dealing with a little minor heartbreak, I finally made the decision to engage in a little record therapy, got the album from a dealer in Athens, Greece and here it is.

There’s very little info on Hootch, all the information for the record is there on the front cover, with nothing but blank space on the back.  The band had five members, Thomas S. Henry, Bob Maloney, Doug Lemirande, Henry Erkelenz & Laura Schaefer, and being on the private press looking label of Pro-gress Records, it looked like they likely hailed from the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area.  But that is all we have.  The album was released in 1974, but to my ears sounds more like 1968 or 1970.  Of the six songs on the album, four are instrumentals.  It’s an album, like a lot of psych albums, is likely an acquired taste (on Discogs someone, rather humorously, derided the rare nature of this album by scoffing, ‘I laugh while scratching my old balls,” Ha!), there doesn’t seem to be anything else that any of those people recorded, but for reasons that remain slightly mystifying to me, the sound of the record has burrowed deeply inside my mind.  It’s something about when the band does get locked into a groove, and the stereo separation with tambourine and maracas (or magic egg) split between the two sides along with guitar, bass & drums, that just fucking does it to me.  Same goes for the other two songs I’ve shared here, “Blue Bird,” and the ominous vocal track “Eyes Of The Raven.”  I can’t always explain why some music has a stronger hold over me than others, but at this stage in the game, I know enough to pay attention to that feeling and rectify mistakes whenever I can. 

Happy hunting y’all, and make sure to listen to your intuition when you run into those rare, rare records on in the wild,

Michael

Melting Pot + Cut Chemist – 14th Year Anniversary Mix!!! (Playlist Added!)

As was the case for our 7th anniversary, this 14th anniversary felt special, especially after returning all of the older posts back home to this website where they belonged. And so, it felt like the time to have another anniversary mix, featuring tunes from over the years, mixed together by one of my favorite DJs.  This time around, more or less I think through complete divine intervention, our anniversary mix was put together by the one and only Cut Chemist.

For this mix, I chose 3 songs from each of the 14 years of Melting Pot, 42 songs total, and delivered them to Cut Chemist with the only rule being that he had to use some part of each of those songs in the final mix. When he finished the soon to be legendary mix you’re about to hear, he had this to say:

“I haven’t done a mix in a while but I can’t think of a better occasion to get back on the bike.  I had no idea what direction to take, I just let the music guide me through every turn.  The songs literally told me what they wanted me to do.  Michael did the heavy lifting with his incredible selections that span across the globe and it was an honor to collaborate with him.  Enjoy and celebrate this Melting Pot of music and emotion!”

For me at this very moment, less than 24 hours from hearing this mix for the first time myself, I don’t even have the words to describe it or say what it means to me to have this mix actually be a reality.  I just want y’all to listen to this 55+ minute masterpiece (preferably with headphones or on a solid car stereo on a long drive), and have your mind blown in exactly the same way I had mine blown to smithereens when I first heard it.  I’ll have MUCH MORE to say about this mix in time, but for now, just dig on it…DIG ON IT!!!

Cut Chemist – Melting Pot 14th Anniversary Mix

Playlist:

  1. Ness Harding – Parting Of Man
  2. The Forefront – Incantation
  3. The Peppos and Jones Straightjacket Band – Humanity
  4. Son Hak Rei – Dry Leaves
  5. John Klemmer – My Love Has Butterfly Wings
  6. Flow – Here We Are Again
  7. Erasmo Carlos – Minha Gente
  8. Gilberto Gil – Era Nova
  9. Sass – I Only Wanted To Love You
  10. The Heads – Digging Your Head
  11. The Racket Squad – Sweet Little Smoke 
  12. Research 1-6-12 – Lookin’ In My Toaster
  13. Dennis Oliveri – I Cry In The Morning
  14. Alan Parker – Blue Shadow
  15. Yukio Hashi – Shikaku Dou (Thug Road)
  16. Lotus – Lotus (Second & Third Impression)
  17. Ame Son – Reborn This Morning On The Way Of…
  18. Lotus – Lotus (Third Impression)
  19. Arnold Bean – I Can See Through You
  20. Leigh Stephens – Another Dose Of Life
  21. Mike Riccardelli & Dick Dowling – New Rhythm Patterns
  22. Bobby Walker – Can’t Stop Loving You
  23. Ismael Diaz – Capricornio
  24. Jun Mayuzumi – Yagi-Bushi 
  25. The Main Attraction – Everyday 
  26. Edip Akbayaram & Dolstar – Daglar Dagladi Beni
  27. William Fischer – Eguntto Batez 
  28. Odyssey – No One Else Pt. 1
  29. Thom Macke – Lonely Weekends
  30. Shades Of Black Lightning – Yesterday’s Dream
  31. Mike Riccardelli & Dick Dowling – New Rhythm Patterns
  32. Toni Tornado – Me Libertei
  33. Fred Cancio – Can’t Get Enough
  34. Luiz Gonzaga Jr. – Galope
  35. Antonio Carlos e Jocafi – Hipnose
  36. Tatsuro Yamashita – Dancer
  37. Nancy Priddy – You’ve Come This Way Before
  38. The Forefront – Incantation
  39. Tobruk – Heart Of A Sound Spirit
  40. Modulos – Dulces Palabras
  41. Rotary Connection – Life Could
  42. Jazz Minstrels – Poopin’ The Sloop
  43. Juan Pablo Torres y Algo Nuevo – Son y Propulsion 
  44. Los Van Van – Llegue Llegue
  45. Sylvia Tella – Stars In Your Eyes

Melting Pot at 14…Movin’ On Up To Year 15!

Foto © Adobe Stock Images

14 years…Not sure I ever really thought I’d still be posting in 2023, when I began this blog on 7/7 in 2009. I just knew that there was so much music that I couldn’t share on my radio shows at the time, or moreso so many words that I wanted to say in connection to those sounds that would take up time (and the ability to share more music) when I was on-air. In the 14 years since, I’ve worked at two very different radio stations, as well as a short lived but lovely online station, got divorced, got a dog, had my student loans forgiven and have bought many, many, many records. Not gonna make any big promises connected to what the next year will feature, but I will tell you that my hope is that we’ll have a sterling mix on 7/14 to share with you from one of my all-time favorite DJs, much as we did for our 7th anniversary. Might be a few changes to how the blog looks, and certainly will be cleaning up a few things that I haven’t (as well as finally clearing out all of the spam so that actual comments are all that’s here and so I can reply to people in a more timely fashion). We shall see what all unfolds in year #15…Onwards and Upwards my people!

Dig Deep: Ness Harding – A Matter Of Time – Encore (1979/1980?)

Ness Harding – Parting Of Man
Ness Harding – Lissa’s Rose
Ness Harding – Your Colorado Way

Been meaning to post this one up for a solid year-plus, but, better late than never is clearly a motto I subscribe to and this final day of our 14th year as a blog seemed like the perfect time to post it. “The Perfect time,” is an interesting way to describe things. “Perfect,” is a word that I’ve been thinking about a lot of late, what defines perfection, in a song, in a relationship, in a moment.  We often think of “perfect,” as being flawless, but I don’t know if I’ve ever subscribed to that idea.  For me “perfect,” is about a feeling…a feeling that a thing, a person, a song, is so good, you don’t want anything about it to change.  The beauty of performances once they are set to record is that, aside from whatever may happen to the specific piece of wax over the years, the recording remains the same.  So when you discover a “perfect” song, it remains perfect every time you hear it or you play it for someone else.  Of course, what one person views as “perfect,” may be some thing else entirely to different ears.  But differences of opinion don’t change how perfect that thing may be.

Part of what made this record perfect, perfect to share on this blog, for sure, is that it came from DJ Shadow’s collection.  It was one of a number of records Shadow was selling at one of his Rappcats storage sales.  The record hung on the wall just behind Josh as he chatted with people through the day.  Without much information on the front (Shadow often makes helpful notes on the records he sells, such as  “Breaks B-4” on the Fred Cancio LP that also came from his collection), but intrigued by the cover and its placement on the wall, I just asked “what’s up with that one?” to which Shadow said something to the effect of, “it’s a private press record from the 70s, see if you can figure out which song I dig the most on there.”  Challenge accepted!

From what I can tell, Ness Harding only recorded this album, an album where she plays virtually all of the instruments (except the “Syndrums,” that seem to make some distinctive sounds on “Parting Of Man” and “Your Colorado Way”), and an album that is clearly a labor of love, with virtually every song dedicated to someone from Harding’s life, even including her horse Cappy.  But it’s the songs that are connected to specifically to someone named Melissa Rogers that I felt most drawn to.  All three of the songs I’ve chosen to share here have “Lissa” in mind, “Lissa’s Rose” and “Your Colorado Way,” are Harding’s reflections about this person, described as a “past friend,” which gives me the impression (especially if you take the lyrics of “Colorado Way” literally) that the two women had a serious falling out, and perhaps these songs were Harding’s way of trying to make amends to this person who they very clearly cared deeply for and made an impact on them.  Lissa shows up again on the final track of the first side, this time as the credited song writer for “Parting Of Man.”

What was clear to me from its opening notes was that “Parting Of Man,” was the song that Shadow had to have been talking about, something that I confirmed with him when I bought this album.  It’s one of those songs that when someone has a defined sound about them, you hear it and just think, “oh yeah, I could see Shadow doing something with this.” It just has the vibe. It’s always wild to me, especially when listening to private press records, how much a good song will just literally jump out of the speakers when you hear it.  With a number of these kinds of records you hear a lot of sincere and earnest, but largely mediocre playing, but every so often, the needle drops on something that comes close to perfection.  With the sound of rolling waves and seagulls, before a pensively strummed guitar comes in, and then these rising waves of sound from a synthesizer hits…it’s a vibe for sure.  The song’s single verse also just hits perfectly, before the instrumental elements take over for a bit.  It’s a strikingly simple song, but once it gets going, it’s one that definitely hits you, gets the head nodding and compels you to run it back again and again. 

“Parting Of Man,” is one of those imperfect perfect songs that seem to only be found on private press albums, made even more perfect, not only because it originally came from Shadow’s collection, but also because it was recorded at a place called Perfection Sound in Smyrna, GA, not too far from where I grew up.  And all of the above is why it felt like, finally, the perfect time to share this album with you…Peace & Bright Moments.