On the final day of the first month of 2019, I finally get to my final “Best Of” post, looking back at the best vinyl I dug up in 2018, in this case looking at 12″ records, since this time around, not all of these are actually LPs.

Tobruk – Heart Of A Sound Spirit

After three years of Tropicalia In Furs pop-ups in LA at Rappcats, I’ve checked off a lot of the Brazilian records that I knew I wanted. But there is so much quality music from the 1960s and 1970s out of Brasil that there will likely never be an end to discovering records from that country. In this case, Tobruk is “just” a group who lived in and recorded in Brasil. They probably would have found a home on a number of American labels, since their sound is perfectly in line with funky and psychedelic music of the time. But being a Brasilian record meant that Joel had a copy and thankfully I had just enough in the record budget to grab it when I saw it up on the wall. Expect to hear much more from this record soon enough here on Melting Pot.

Don Cherry – Utopia & Visions

As with the 45s, most of the LPs here came from Pop-Up sales at Rappcats, which really was where I spent most of my past year buying records. This one came to me during the Summer, when I realized that I would not be able to take a planned trip to Cuba, despite having saved quite a bit of money for the trip. I’d actually considered splurging for this record, which I only ever see listed online and in some far flung place across the globe. But fate was kind after the disappointment of not being able to go to Cuba, and this album was sitting pretty on the wall at Burbank’s Atomic Records on the very day my Cuban plans fell through. A gorgeous 2-lp sonic spiritual excursion with Don Cherry leading a large and varied ensemble that is on-par with the work he did around the same period of time with Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra or the Jazz Composer’s Orchestra.

Donald Byrd – Quiet Temple

I first ran into the music on this album when I still lived in Atlanta, in the late 1990s. During that time I was becoming obsessed with Booker Little, who still remains one of my favorite Jazz musicians, composers and trumpet players. In those pre-Internet days, it was very difficult to find information if it wasn’t printed on the album, and the reissue of this material, put out on a label called TCB, gave virtually no info, except that both Donald Byrd and Booker Little were associated with the album. The album faded largely from memory as the years passed until I came across the original release at Rappcats. Being able to read the liner notes finally solved the mystery of which tracks featured both Booker and Byrd, and which featured one or the other player by themselves. Thrilled with my discovery, I actually gave my reissue to another patron, who enjoyed the music when I was testing out the sound quality on the house speakers. What I didn’t realize until recently was that “Quiet Temple,” one of the most beautiful themes I’ve ever heard, was actually edited slightly on that reissue, as the original copy included a full 30 seconds of material at the start that I had never heard before. At first I thought there was a mistake, like it was a part of the previous song, or somehow I’d forgotten the way it began, but no, it was a surprise and one of the most welcome surprises I’ve had in quite some time. Part of the reason why it’s always a good idea to track down every version of a cherished release, just in case there is something special to behold.

Alfa-Gungadin – Carcara

One of the first albums I bought in 2018, and one of the rarest and most cherished in my collection. I’ve talked quite a bit about this album already in a separate post about it, but now reflecting on it again, I’m still kind of surprised that someone put this back on the wall at Rappcats during Cool Chris’ Groove Merchant pop-up…Surprised, but eternally thankful. A fascinating dive into the early career of Alejandro Jodorowsky, before the world realized just what a talent he truly was.

Goree Carter – Rock Awhile

Okay, okay…technically this is not an LP, it is a 12″ record, but it’s a one-off Presto 78. Given that this is the only 78 I even own, it doesn’t make sense to create another category for it, so here it is. I’ve already discussed how this one came into my collection and the experience of slowly discovering that it might be a one of a kind record. All I’d like to say here is just reiterate something I mentioned in the Melting Pot Radio Hour (where I also played this at 33rpms, just to give y’all a feel of what it was like when I first heard it), and that is that when you have the opportunity to check out a record that has no information, not even a label, ALWAYS take that chance, because you NEVER know what it could be.

Almost took me the entire first month of 2019, but as I’ve been saying all week…better late than never. Here are the top 5 45s I dug up in 2018.

Johnny & The Expressions – Now That You’re Mine

Maybe the most busted album I’ve ever purposely bought is also one of the sweetest. I picked this up at the Smorgasborg Record Fair in DTLA, when Hector Waluyo came over to Endo’s booth to play a few things with hopes of trade. Pretty much from the first notes that played I knew I wanted this one for myself. Endo thankfully passed and so a period of time later I made my way over to Hector’s booth, got a few other choice selections but made sure to ask about this one, which turned out to be much more reasonably price than I initially expected, solely due to the condition. At some point I’ll “mint up” and get a clean copy, but there’s a part of me that actually kind of loves how scratchy this 45 is, it almost makes it sound a little sweeter.

Cold Fire Inc. – I’m Gonna Love You Anyway

Picked this one up at the Bubba Thomas’ Record Collection sale at Rappcats, though that wasn’t the first time I had run into it. I first heard this at Groove Merchant, when Cool Chris played it for a British gentleman who had apparently heard it earlier and was listening to it for a second time as he made final decisions. The mellowness of the track was really distinctive and it wasn’t long before I was using my best Jedi Mind Tricks to convince the bloke that this was not the 45 he was looking for. Despite these efforts, he ended up buying it and I was left to search for it online with absolutely no avail. When Egon posted some pictures of the upcoming sale and noted that he had multiple copies of this, I almost jumped through the roof.

The Fabulistics – Absence

Like most of the 45s on this list, I got this one at a Rappcats Pop-Up sale, which was where I spent most of my record budget this past year. In this case, this one was dug up at the legendary Craig Moerer’s sale, which was every bit as amazing as it was advertised to be. The first thing that drew my attention was the distinctive Scorpion art on the label, but then I saw the name of the group, “The Fabulistics” though spelled with a apostrophe on the “S,” which is clearly a grammar mistake (unless they meant it was really the Fabulistic and this was their “Absence?”). But with a name like the Fabulistics, the song was almost guaranteed to be good, and damn is the song good. Vocal on the A-side, Instrumental with saxophone taking the place of the lead singer on the flip, both absolutely fabulous.

Shamaizadeh – Hard Groove

This is one that I may very well have passed by a couple times while at Rappcats. Egon had a couple of boxes of 45s from Iran and knowing pre-“revolution” Iran was a swinging place, there’s likely a large amount of heat to be found therein. But I don’t know how to read Farsi, and there’s only a few artists who I even know, so it was a bit of a crap shoot to figure out which ones to get. I heard Cut Chemist play this 45 on his Stable Sound radio show, and lucky enough for me, he also happened to post a picture of the funky 45 on his IG, which allowed me to sort out what the release was via a search of discogs. Also lucky for me when I did find it, there was a picture sleeve posted and thus the picture was firmly planted in my head in case I ever saw it again. While most of the Rappcats sales were for particular dealers, at one of the rare times where Egon brought out a few recent collections he had acquired, he also brought back out the boxes of Iranian 45s and this time around Shamaizadeh’s funky “Hard Groove,” was right there waiting for me and I was not gonna let that chance slip on by. Big thanks to my friend from KALX Berkeley days, Ponnie, for telling me more about the artist and about the groovy flip side “Hamumi,” (a track that I played in the Melting Pot Radio Hour rundown of vinyl I dug up last year).

The Significants – One Kindness Deserves Another

Yet another one that came to me via a Rappcats Pop-Up sale, in this case DJ Shadow’s third storage sale. This track is one that I actually ran into at his first sale. It was actually the first time I’ve been able to really have a conversation with Josh, and perhaps not surprisingly it revolved around our mutual friend, the dearly departed Matthew Africa. I’d asked about this 45, wondering what it sounded like and when Shadow put the needle to it, it immediately reminded me of the “Soul Boulders” that Matthew loved. Shadow mentioned how much he missed Matthew, and how they used to take great delight in playing weird, random things for each other. That first time around, I didn’t have nearly enough money for what was one of the more expensive 45s on display. When Shadow came around again in 2017, I made a decision to grab a different rare 45, that Symphonic Four one that I was in this position in last year’s list. But this time around, he brought another copy, one that wasn’t in quite as good shape, and thus was a little cheaper, and the stars aligned where I had enough money to finally get this marvel. I have to agree with Josh’s assessment that first time he played, it is definitely one of the most distinctive sounding “sweet” soul songs I’ve heard. Truly holds a special place in my collection, not only because it originally came from Shadow’s, but also because of how it links up with the memory of a dear friend, who turned me on to so much beautiful music.

Gary Foster – Elegy
Gary Foster – Wistful Samba
Gary Foster – What Is This Thing Called Love Versions 1 (Alto) + 2 (Dual Alto)

Clearly, I’ve been taking a mental break from sharing music…given my recent past, I can’t entirely promise that I’ll be more consistent sharing music, but the desire is certainly still here. This post should have come up at the end of 2018, as it’s been my tradition to share the final bit of vinyl I find for each year. This time around I was clearly in a pensive mood, and put back a few funkier and wilder things for this, the debut album for reedman Gary Foster.

While I can’t recommend later work from Foster, this album is a solid, moody, modal excursion. Even the samba track on here is “Wistful!” There’s a real elegance to the playing on “Elegy” and “What Is This Thing Called Love” that I appreciate, especially on the relatively rare rainy day here in LA (though we did have more than a few recently). Subconsciously (yes, pun intended), this type of album was precisely what I needed to close out 2018. 2019 has already gotten off to a great start, and there is definitely so much more music to share in this new year.

Cheers,

Michael

Dennis Olivieri – I Cry In The Morning
Dennis Olivieri – Opportunity
Dennis Olivieri – You Gotta

Today would have been Matthew Africa’s 47th birthday and every year at this time, we pay tribute to him here on Melting Pot. No matter what is going on in my life, no matter my mood, no matter how busy I am, spending time celebrating Matthew on his birthday is something I’ll be doing until the end of my days. As I’ve said many times before, there are few people in my life who exerted a greater influence on how I listen to music than Matthew. There are many records in my collection that are connected to him in one way or another, including a grip of records that actually came from his collection. This record is one of those that was in Matthew’s collection, but there’s a bit of backstory to this one, none of which I can verify because now Matthew is gone, but it’s still a story that I’d like to tell, even if it’s not entirely true.

I first ran into this record sometime around 2000 or 2001. I can distinctly remember finding a copy at Amoeba Berkeley as it was at a time where I was starting to get deeper into psych music and though I didn’t know a stitch about the artist, I was sold on the time period and the truly psychedelic artwork.

When I finally listened to it, I have to admit that I wasn’t particularly impressed. Olivieri has a weird sound, a really unique, kinda lazy style of singing/phrasing, and the songs are all over the place, despite some obvious talent. But, all that being said, there was at least a song that I thought I could play on my KALX show at the time. I do remember bringing it to the station and playing a song from it, though I don’t remember the track I played. I also remember Matthew taking note of the album’s artwork (since our shows were often before/after each other) and me saying something to the effect that I didn’t think much of it. Shortly after that, I traded the album for some records that I dug in an unqualified way with Cool Chris of Groove Merchant and promptly forgot about all about it.

I didn’t even think about this record again for more than a few years after that, when I discovered, much to my chagrin, that DJ Shadow had sampled “I Cry In The Morning,” as part of his fantastic song “Six Days” from The Private Press album. Thinking back now at this point, I don’t even know when I realized that the sample for “Six Days,” came from this album but it must have been some time before 2014 when I ended up winning it from one of the sales of Matthew’s records, cause as soon as I saw it for sale, I knew exactly what it was and knew I had to get it again.

And it’s here that I speculate, just for the fun of speculating…there’s a part of me that believes Matthew bought the copy that I traded into Groove Merchant after being intrigued by the album when I played it at KALX. There’s also this part of me that thinks Matthew played it for DJ Shadow, since the two of them were friends and would often play weird ass shit for each other, and this is definitely a weird ass record. Might this then have led DJ Shadow to sample “I Cry In The Morning” on “Six Days,” creating one of the best songs of his career? Probably not…but I like the possibility that it COULD be this sequence of events.

I wish Matthew was around so I could ask him, maybe I’ll ask Josh the next time he is in LA just to find out for sure. At the same time, there’s a part of me that doesn’t want to know for sure. Even more than the possibility of having influenced DJ Shadow, I just like the possibility that there was a record that I had that Matthew didn’t have, because, as his good friends know, Matthew had ALL of the good records. He was a DJ’s DJ and a Collector’s Collector. One of the best I’ve ever known and someone who I dearly miss, because there will never be another quite like him…That’s why so many of us say, “Matthew Africa Forever.”