Known in the record collecting world as an incredibly rare album with just a handful of known copies, we present for the first time the full length album reissue of the ‘Two Sisters From Bagdad’ album as performed by La Vice & Co.
Originally intended to be sold alongside performances of LaVice Hendrick’s ambitious but ill-fated musical theatre production, the album’s scarcity was swiftly ensured as ‘Two Sisters From Bagdad’ ran for just 2 weeks at Detroit’s Bethel A.M.E. church amid poor attendances due to scant promotion. With only a handful of copies sold in that brief window, many of the remaining copies were subsequently destroyed in a basement flood, meaning that until now few people have ever heard the album in its entirety.
A varied set of jazz and gospel infused funky soul, ‘Two Sisters From Bagdad’ was composed and orchestrated by two precocious young talents, E.J. Garrison and Rhodia McAdoo. It’s an album full of surprises, and is notorious for the heavy funk workout ‘Though’s Were The Days’ [sic]. Not only have we unearthed and faithfully reissued this true obscurity as the 26th part of our ongoing ‘Holy Grail’ series, but through interviews with Garrison and McAdoo themselves we have also uncovered the beguiling back story to the music, the play and the life and times of its original creator, the late LaVice Hendricks. (jazzman records)
Beverly Glenn-Copeland, who now prefers to go by Glenn Copeland, is a Canadian musician with a long and winding musical history. In the early ’70s, he was a jazzy folk artist. Later, he would become a film composer, playwright and a staple in children’s music and TV, writing for Sesame Street and appearing on Mr. Dressup. Eventually, Copeland transitioned genders and reinvented himself as Phynix. In the midst of all that, he released a modest but stunning tape in 1986 called Keyboard Fantasies, recorded with just a Yamaha DX7 synth, a Roland TR-707 and his own captivating voice. In scope and style, it was of a piece with American new age private press music at the time. Pensive and relaxing, it’s a record that radiates positive vibes with a humble sense of good will.
Keyboard Fantasies has now been remastered and reissued (as Copeland Keyboard Fantasies) by noted crate diggers Invisible City, who live in Toronto, a few hours’ drive from where the tape was recorded. It follows a celebrated reissue of South African dance music, and while Copeland’s music might not share a lot in common with V.O.’s Mashisa, it has the same feeling of unbridled joy. « Ever New, » which opens Keyboard Fantasies, is the kind of thing you might expect to soundtrack a nature montage in the ’80s. Copeland’s tender vocal performance, which celebrates the oneness of human life and flora and fauna alike, borders on schmaltz, but it’s so heartfelt that it’s hard not to fall under its spell.
It doesn’t hurt that Copeland has a one-of-a-kind voice. Recorded while he was still a woman, the vocals are comforting and almost wizened, like someone singing lullabies at your bedside. The way he sings « Let it go, it’s okay » on the wonderful closer « Sunset Village » is equal parts seductive and soothing. The instrumentation is equally arresting. Copeland uses his Roland and Yamaha like vehicles for meditation and introspection. A warm bassline helps « Winter Astral » feel like it’s floating by on the wind, while the elegant synth tones of « Let Us Dance » bring to mind a decorous Romantic painting. Cool-blue electric piano instils down-home contentment on « Old Melody. » « Slow Dance, » a major highlight of the album, features vaguely exotic instruments that call to mind some of the best moments of the Music From Memory catalogue.
Labels like Music From Memory and Invisible City Editions have a way of fetishizing the obscure, almost always digging up music that seasoned heads will have never heard. (A statement on Copeland’s website about Keyboard Fantasies seems incredulous at the recent surge of interest.) Unabashedly sentimental as it is, Keyboard Fantasies isn’t for everyone, but fans of new age and oddball synth music will find something to love in Copeland’s evergreen world, which still sounds wondrous and new, even 30 years on from its original release.
Four Flies Records keep on researching Alessandro Alessandroni’s limitless archive, compiling this time an LP of tracks composed between 1972-1978. All the tracks were previously unreleased and are presented here for the first time – a truly ‘Lost & Found’ treasure that sees the light for the first time! After the incredible success of Afro Discoteca (Four Flies Records, 2017), Pierpaolo De Sanctis compiles a 15-tracks LP of forgotten soundtracks and library music treasures from the Italian Maestro. Jazz, Disco, Electronic music – there’s no genre Alessandroni hasn’t explored – this compilation testifying the incredible diversity of his production and immense musical mind.
Music From Memory return with this eye-opening collection of recordings spanning 1980-1984 from Belgian/Congolese duo Denis Mpunga and Paul K, combining elements of traditional African music with experimental electronics. Having released only a handful of tracks scattered across a few LP and cassette compilations that were put out in the mid eighties by obscure european labels, this release also includes a few previously unreleased tracks that were found on the original master tapes.
« Relocating with his family from the Congo to Belgium in 1973 at the young age of 13, Denis Mpunga grew up in the industrial city of Liege and quickly became deeply embedded in it’s musical scene, forming the group Gomma Percussions in 1979; a percussive group driven by West African influences that would also experiment with found objects and improvised musical instruments.
The group released only one 7′ but toured and performed frequently up until as late as 2000. A side project Eko-Kuango formed by the Gomma Percussion members also saw the release in 1985 of the now much sought after 12 » »Fura » which also includes Denis Mpunga on vocals.
As well as a later career as a comedian and actor with roles in television and cinema, Dennis has continued to produce and compose music, perhaps most notably writing the soundtrack for »La Promesse » (1996) a highly regarded film by the Dardenne brothers; currently probably Belgiums most celebrated contemporary filmmakers.
Patrick Stas who would release with Denis under the Paul K. moniker was a well-known local musician in Liege and considered something of a luminary figure in the electronic and experimental music scene in Belgium. Patrick would set up the independent cassette and vinyl label »Home Produkt » releasing amongst others, the work of Tara Cross, who has herself been the subject of a killer V-O-D compilation in recent years.
The two of them would join forces in 1980 to work together on a soundtrack for a children’s animation company called »CAMERA etc », recording the »Intermezzo » tracks which are included here. Keen to experiment further as a duo, Denis proposed the idea of combining some more traditional songs or percussive African elements with Patrick’s experiments with drum computers and synthesisers.
Working around more conventional instruments such as guitar and bass, Denis would also bring Balafons, Senzas and a Zither to their recordings whilst Patrick would work with an array of synthesizers and drum machines such as a 202, TB 303 & TR 808 and Korg’s MS20 & Monopoly amongst many others.
At a time when world-music was becoming hugely popular across Europe (and especially so in Belgium and France), the pair were keen to try and explore African music in a new contemporary way. Much like the intentionally provocative archival image, which Denis selected for the sleeve of Criola, the recordings set out to play with and challenge preconceptions and expectations of African music and African culture. Together, Denis Mpunga and Paul K’s, if somewhat brief, musical adventure would create a fascinating new musical language, African music born out of an industrial European landscape; music which the compilation »Criola » reveals as both wholly unique and visionary. »(music from memory)
Cavern Of Anti-Matter return for their third studio album on their own Duophonic label. Hormone Lemonade sees the band heavily utilising the sounds of modular synths and home built drum machines, yet still keeping the loose, improvised sound familiar to fans of their first two albums, with minimal guitar melodies and live drum kit helping to build hypnotic layers of texture. The albums genesis was in the self-constructed rhythm machines of band member Holger Zapf, the Taktron Z3 and Taktron Z2, being recorded to tape during three one-hour sessions. These sessions also included the use of 70s Hohner and Eko drum machines. Holger played his parts in a free-form way and the bpm varied wildly as it was not possible to sync it to any outside controllers. Tim Gane edited these initial jams into useable chunks and proceeded to overdub each new rhythmic “chunk” with some basic musical ideas, keeping in tune to the hum of the machines and retaining the “feel” of the inherent pulse. Joe Dilworth arrived to lay down a beat over these minimal backing tracks, going with the flow as best he could. In the following months the music was fleshed out using various synths and sequencers from Roland, Arp, Oberheim and Holger’s modular synth set up. As well as many of the bass and sequencer parts the modular also supplied the chords by tuning each one of it’s five oscillators to specific notes and intervals. The results of these experiments, improvisations, and refinements, are Hormone Lemonade.
perseverancevinylique 