VA - Ethiopian Soul and Groove [1960s-1970s]

Just look at the cover. I shouldn't even have to try to persuade you about this comp. As was true for a huge portion of the world by the late 1960s (Cambodia, Iran, Peru, Japan, and much of West Africa stand out in my admittedly limited experience), Ethiopia had been permeated by American jazz, r'n'b, and rock music, only to spit back out their own take on the stuff. Ethiopian musicians tended to blur the lines dividing these genres in the US, and the results are pretty fantastic.

A few of the more famous guys on here include Mahmoud Ahmed, Alèmayèhu Eshèté, and  Gétatchèw Mèkurya (who fans of the Ex are probably familiar with). But the whole tracklist is stacked with funky psyched-out tunes that naturally incorporate the region's folk melodies thanks to a tendency to play traditional songs in popular styles. Musical influence from Somalia, the Arabian Peninsula, and North Africa via Sudan can be heard -- though what do I really know about that? Just give this one a listen:

Buy Ethiopian Soul and Groove at Dusty Groove
Yegenet Muziqa

Sonny Sharrock - Ask the Ages [1991]

Here's some real classic Sharrock skronk for those of you who were intrigued by the Space Ghost soundtrack.  

Ask the Ages is the last thing released while Sonny was alive. It's got all range of sounds and feelings, rooted in the jazz idiom but journeying far beyond it. The session here is totally stacked, with the masterful drumming of Elvin Jones, Pharaoh Sanders tearing up the sax parts and mind-expanding bass playing by Charnett Moffett. Sonny produced the disk with Bill Laswell, after that guy spent a decade recording the likes of Mick Jagger, PiL, Motörhead, The Ramones, Iggy Pop and Yoko Ono (thanks Wikipedia for that list of names). Anyway everyone on here is doing great things, and people who know this album could probably tell you better than me that this is something to be treasured.

The double bass particularly stands out to me every time I listen to this album, because the playing is so beyond perfect. Just listen to when the sound drops low on "Promises Kept," leaving the drums and bass to conjure up ancient magics out of the thin air of folk history. Equally so on the bass solos in "Who Does She Hope to Be," which might be my favorite song on the whole record.

There is such warmth in the chords of that ballad, and the way Sonny inflects songs with his singular blend of sorrowful jubilance affects my mood for the better in all circumstances. "Little Rock" shines with hope and optimism, and the chorus in "As We Used to Sing" sounds about as triumphant as I could imagine music being, as it slips seamlessly into the nine and a half minute tour de force of "Many Mansions," a space jam if I have ever heard one.

I'm probably belaboring the point, but this is one of my favorite albums of all time and I can guarantee you not a note is wasted during these 46 minutes.

Get a used CD copy of Ask the Ages (pretty expensive, though)

Once Upon a Time in 1991

Sonny Sharrock - Space Ghost Coast to Coast [1994]

Sonny Sharrock is easily one of the coolest guitarists ever, and he stayed good to the very end. This, in fact, is what I believe to be his last recording. That's right, Sharrock fans, Sonny did the Space Ghost soundtrack, and Space Ghost fans, this is the name of the guy who plays your favorite theme song. Of course, some of you already knew this from episode 26, on which they played a bunch of these tunes:

Very loosely based on the original Hanna-Barbera Space Ghost series, Coast to Coast was aired in the early 90s as a light-hearted manifesto of post cold-war dadacidal humor, and could be seen as Cartoon Network's attempt to tap into the then emerging "alternative" nation of America. Anodinous, hilarious or plain weird, Coast to Coast reinvented the honorable fake-interview tradition by having pre-recorded conversations with "celebrities" and people like us rearranged by the nonchalant and ego-maniacal Space Ghost. In this very special episode, Thurston Moore incarnates one Fred Cracklin in a brief nonsensical cameo which is but a pretext to pay homage to the great avant-noise-jazz-blues guitar player Sonny Sharrock, who had recently expired. If the Coast to Coast series is bizarre for any standards of good TV conduct, the Sharrock episode is particularly strange in that its plot is a lame excuse to pay tribute to the musician and listen to several minutes of his ethereal noise-jazz guitar, thinly framed by some silly jokes between the Ghost and his adorable sidekicks.

There's plenty of free-kout to go around here, with some vamping on the main theme as well as forays into other sonic dimensions. If it seems like a novelty, it's really not, but as a 15-minute EP it makes for a great punk record. All I know is that Sonny Sharrock makes some of the most joyous and chaotic music I've ever heard, and that you should have this. Space Ghost, while being a brilliantly subversive kids' show in its own right, not to mention endlessly entertaining to re-view as an older child, is also responsible for planting Sonny in my six-year-old head (and, perhaps, many of yours).

WFMU blog entry on the Sharrock episode
And now, Zorak and the Original Way-outs (not to be confused with Chicago's Wayouts)

Dive Signals - Don't Die Just Yet [2012]

As this prairie spring starts to feel like prairie summer (sure are a lot of 90+ degree days for May in Illinois, anyway), I am increasingly in need of music to cool the air. Enter this new(-ish) Dive Signals release, which has been consistently successful in shading me from the Midwest Sun. I have been vibing to this ever since it was sent to me, but finally have overcome the fatigue of exams to tell you about it.

I am always interested to hear what new sounds this guy is coming up with, because it seems like every Dive Signals release (all of five in the first half of 2012) has had a different sort of vision behind it. Don't Die Just Yet, which came out about a month ago, exemplifies this: whereas 10,000 Tropics built on a sunny, Californian ocean-breeze atmosphere, this set grows in the opposite direction, meandering unpredictably through New York streets and alleys, with the sounds of jazz gigs escaping the windows. The trademark Dive Signals spacey drone sound remains, but while on 10kT this effected a wide, sky-filling ambiance, on DDJY the environment feels more like the inside of a near-empty subway station, with the noises of traffic, other trains, crime and degradation, creativity, death and wealth -- The City -- all just on the other side of a wall or ceiling. My favorite passage on here is probably the suspenseful, eight-minute centerpiece '17 Patterns' (which could ably stand in as the soundtrack for a crime film) and its cathartic transition to the more explicit groove of '2nd Notion.' Really, though, the whole effort works well as a continuous piece, and definitely rewards headphone listening.

I highly recommend giving the other available Dive Signals releases a listen; they range from strung-out electric folk ballads to the aforementioned tropical drones to the musique concrète and noise stylings of Mr. Ortega's most recent release of older material, The Grey Tense. It's all free +PWYW on bandcamp, so show some support if you like what you're hearing.

Dive Signals bandcamp
Static Reason

MaoTzu - Doodles [2011]

Here is a sweet submission from Chicago. It's another one-man avant-pop project, this one by a certain Jamarcus Drake, and it's pretty crazy. Supposedly created by turning on some TV show and making music while the show is muted, the songs are meant to be partially formed by the subconscious inspiration provided by the shows' images. Or something. It doesn't really need any backstory to be appreciated -- this album's worth hearing on its own merits. The different songs all have pretty different moods, and the music ranges from weird ambience to fully-structured pop (but still kinda weird) songs. There seem to be quite a few instruments one here, all played by Mr. Drake.

The fifth song, 'The Good Ol' Jay Turser, Back in Action,' sounds like Future Days-era Can, which I've really not heard a lot of people steal from very often. Some other sounds I can hear in various parts of the album are Pavement and Sonic Youth-isms, but there is too much originality throughout (jazz breaks, unexpected vocal harmonies, drum solos, boogie piano, beatboxing, wildly optimistic-sounding guitar melodies, etc.) to dismiss this as derivative or something. I dunno, hearing this will give you a better idea than I can provide in words. Best heard in sequence, all in one go.

This album (as well as two other releases) are available for free on MaoTzu's bandcamp.

Don't take lyrics for the truth, I'm probably just sad and high