I’m still more of an LP dude than a 45 dude, and generally end up buying twice or three times as many LPs as 45s, which makes it more difficult just to pick out 5 favorites from the past year, but here they are…my five favorite LP digs from 2017!

Agnaldo Rayol – Sumaúma

I’ve already said a bit about this record in an earlier post, “Sumaúma” is definitely one of my fave discoveries of the year, just amazing production and sound on that track. Hopefully I’ll figure out one day who was responsible for the sound and who the drummer was on this session, but until then there is this music, which is more than enough.

Nightcrawlers – Tanzwut

Picked this up at the Crate Diggers Record Show in DTLA from one of my favorite dealers Josh Goldman. Every time I run into Josh (which unfortunately has only been at these Crate Diggers events) there always some truly unique and interesting stuff on hand. This record didn’t look like much from the front, but there was something about how creepy the trio of white dudes looked on the back cover, combined with the fact that it only seemed like synthesizers were involved, that pushed me to drop the needle on the LP. “Tanzwut” is a taste of all the dark, moody synth-y goodness that is on this album, which I’ll be highlighting more fully in the near future on this blog.

Lloyd Miller – NJonja Mirah and Yona

One of the more interesting Rappcats pop-ups of the year was when Lloyd Miller came to town to sell records, cassettes, DVDs and even a book of poetry from his personal collection. Lloyd was actually on hand and it was fascinating talking to him about music for a brief moment in time. Egon was kind enough to put a copy of this record (and a book of poetry) on hold for me while I got my finances in order. I’ve loved this album from the first time I heard it, and it’s incredible to not only have a copy, but to have a copy that came directly from Lloyd Miller himself! Side note, I think “Njona” would make the most fire Trap beat of all time…

Scorpion – Please Make My Mind Right

Had to use a bit of a Jedi Mind trick in order to get this one, which was featured on the wall of Cool Chris’ Groove Merchant X Rappcats pop-up at the start of 2017. I arrived at the spot much later than I wanted to, and most all of the records that I had seen featured in a photo that showed the “before” view of the walls at Rappcats were already gone. I saw it in someone’s pile, and began to think, “You really don’t want that Scorpion record, do you?” and sure enough 10 minutes later, the record ended up right back on the wall, and as soon as I saw it, I immediately grabbed it. This is such a crazy good record, hard funk, hard psych, just great. So, the lesson is, even when it seems like the record you want has gone to someone else, it ain’t over until it’s over…keep the faith, baby and that record just might find it’s way to you.

Ismael Díaz – Capricornio

This is one I’ve also talked about previously. I trip out that so many great collectors had a chance to get this at the Groove Merchant Pop-Up, and likely just passed by it because of the corny cover art. But that was part of what drew me in, and I know that Chris never prices things at $20 if there’s not some good sounds on it. So, when I made a trip up to the Bay in February, there it was, waiting for me to listen to it. I have a hard time believing that this was just a one-off, recorded just for some family or friend’s graduation gift. It’s just too good! But so far, that’s exactly what it appears to be, and if so, it might be one of the best private press Latin albums I’ve ever heard.

No matter what’s going on in the world, and 2017 was an insane year for so many reasons, there are always good records to find and be celebrated at year’s end. Here are 5 of my favorites that I added to the collection from 2017.

Clay Hammond – Women Are Human

Picked up at the DJ Shadow X Rappcats pop-up, as I wrote recently, this is a song that should be seen as a novelty record, but unfortunately it’s still relevant and actually operates nicely in this #MeToo era as the perfect ally record in the fight for greater equality. Also, though it’s much later than what I normally dig, it’s got a great sound. Kind of wish there was an instrumental on the flipside instead of the somewhat pedestrian “Part Time Love,” but that would just be greedy when you get a tune this good.

Elena Burke – Un Dialogo

This past time at Seriosha’s record shop in Havana, I made a real concerted effort to get through all of the 45s that were there. But at some point, I think on the second full day spent at the store, I saw a whole ‘nuther cabinet of 45s and gave up on that dream. But before I did, I was lucky enough to run into this 45, which features a couple of great tracks written/produced by Juan Formell of Los Van Van with this great 1960s soul sound, mixed with the Cuban elements that always make music from the island so distinctive.

Guilherme Lamounier – Tire As Asas De Dentro Do Seu Paleto

I’ve had music from Guilherme Lamounier on my radar ever since I saw one of his albums mentioned in a book on Brazilian psychedelic music, so picking up this 7″ EP when I ran into it at the Tropicalia In Furs pop-up was a no brainer. This is a little later than the LP of his I’m looking for, but it’s all really solid and so difficult to find here in the States.

Irakere – Bacalao Con Pan

Another find from my trip to Havana in January 2017. Given the unpredictable condition of Cuban records, I’ve learned that when you find multiple copies of a song that you really dig, you just need to get them all no matter how they look. Sometimes things clean up, sometimes they don’t. I left with two copies of this monster Cuban funk tune, one was hella scratchy, but this one cleaned up extra nicely, and since I still haven’t run into that first Irakere album, I’m very happy to have this now in my play box.

Symphonic Four – Who Do You Think You’re Foolin’ Part 2

Possibly the most expensive record I bought in 2017, one that caused me to blow past my budget at the DJ Shadow Pop-Up, but I think it’s more than worth it. A quintessential “Soul Boulder,” and one that, like most every tune in that little sub genre, reminds me of Matthew Africa every time I hear those swooping and swirling keyboards at the start of the both versions of this double sided marvel. While I love both parts, I think I love Part 2 just a bit more, because of the spoken first verse, “When your heart speaks, oh, you forget about your mind, but when your mind speaks, you forget your soul…do you know? when your soul speaks, somehow you forget about everything!” One of the most distinctive soul songs I’ve ever heard, and a tune that I feel like I should play every single time I spin out from here on out.

Les DeMerle – A Day In The Life
Les DeMerle – Aquarius
Les DeMerle – Deflections 1, 2, 3 & 4
Les DeMerle – Underground

Today would have been Matthew Africa’s 46th birthday and every year around this time we pay tribute to him here on Melting Pot. For me there are two kinds of “Matthew Africa records,” the direct ones, which I know he had, or heard him play or had conversations about, and the indirect ones, ones that simply remind me of him, or his aesthetic in collecting. This record from drummer Les DeMerle is one of the former, in fact it even came originally from Matthew’s collection. The reason most people know this album is because it contains the original sample for one of the most cherished Golden Era tracks, O.C.’s classic “Time’s Up.” For my money, the introduction to the song, that serves as most of the sample in “Time’s Up,” is one of the greatest intros of all-time. It’s so absolutely different than the original sounds from the Beatles track, that the inspiration for it seems almost cosmic. Like so many other samples I’ve tracked down, it almost sounds like it was recorded especially for Hip-Hop trained ears to dig, chop and loop. Just an amazing sound. I’ve always been less enamored with the rest of the track, but it is a solid cover, it’s just that it gets overpowered by those first 25 seconds of the song.

For a long time I’d always thought of this album as a mere “one-tracker,” but actually there’s a lot of quality on here, if you dig the late 1960s “updated” big band style that began to incorporate Rock, Funk and Experimental elements. “Aquarius” isn’t just a solid cover of the most famous track from the musical “Hair!” it’s also a solid Brazilian flavored tune that features a clean and upbeat drum break from DeMerle. “Underground” would find a happy home on most of the Blue Note or Solid State releases from this same period of time, with it’s slinky and swinging style. “Deflections 1, 2, 3 & 4” closes out the album itself with a varied sonic assault, that showcases DeMerle’s lightning quick funky rhythms as well as the dexterity of many of the players of his band. I’d always thought that DeMerle was an older Big Band dude who was changing his style, ala Buddy Rich in the late 1960s, but he actually didn’t have much of a stint in a big band until working with Harry James a few years after this recording. Spectrum provides just that, a spectrum of sounds of the time, leaning heavy on the big-band sound, but incorporating many others as well.

As with the other few albums that I have that belonged to Matthew, this album holds a cherished place in my collection. Whenever I hear the O.C. track or the full DeMerle version of “Day In The Life,” I can’t help but think of Matthew, sitting behind the controls of the soundboard at KALX, with his box of records to the side. I don’t think there will ever be a day where I don’t miss Matthew’s presence in my life. Because of the massive influence he had on how I listen to music, I doubt there will ever come a day where his presence isn’t clearly felt in the music that I play. Eternally, rest in peace my friend.

The Visitors – The Juggler
The Visitors – The Visit
The Visitors – Mood Seekers

In the past month or so I’ve been filled with a great amount of joy. I’ve experienced some amazing things, met some new amazing people, deepened connections with others and just enjoyed the past month or so. The musical equivalent of how I feel, and something that gives me great joy every time I hear it’s opening notes is “The Juggler” from Earl and Carl Grubbs’ group The Visitors. It’s all in the opening call and response between the two Grubbs’ horns and then in the cascading notes that fall from both men. The only other song I could think of that gives me a similar feeling is the opening of Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme,” with Elvin Jones’ cymbal and then those truly pure notes from Trane that to me sound exactly like the first rays coming over the horizon of the new rising Sun. I haven’t settled on such a distinct picture yet for “The Juggler,” but it feels like a beautiful dancer, (or perhaps twin dancers) spinning round and round in rhythm with the horns. There are few sounds as lovely.

I’d actually had this record for several months before I discovered just how deeply in love I was with “The Juggler.” Even worse, this record was one that I had my eye on at Atomic for several months in 2016…I’ve bought many other records in that time, many of them quite good, but none has given me the kind of pure joy I’ve gotten from “The Juggler.” I suppose I could be bitter or regretful, but truly I’m just thankful to have run across this record at this time. The whole LP is quite lovely, The Visitors have a sound that skirts the edges of “A Love Supreme” style Spiritual Jazz, nothing too far out, but also nothing anywhere along the lines of conventional by 1970s Jazz standards. “The Visit” and “Mood Seekers” gives a sense of the rest of the LP, which also features a solid cover of Trane’s “Giant Steps.” Apparently the Grubbs were kin of Coltrane, Cousins according to Gary Giddins’ liner notes, and the influence would have been clear even without “Giant Steps” inclusion. But unlike the countless saxophone players who became Coltrane sound-a-likes in his wake, The Grubbs (along with the players listed below) follow Trane in spirit and make a joyful sound all their own in the process.