Palmino Pia -"Ballabili Vari" - Usignolo UST 184 Italian Scat Disco & Bossa Library

           Quite amazing Usignolo here by Palmino Pia who before this record was completely unknown to me.  The record is dated 1983 but doesn't really have any of the bothersome cheesy sounds you might expect from an 80's library aside from some slap bass and such, which actually sounds super dope here.  Side A starts out with the disco funk "Apricot Day" a very Italian Scat vocal outing.  Things get stony and mellow with "South Coast" what an amazing opening scat vocal with those chord changes,damn.  Full orchestra and brass accompany the rest of this beautiful song.  A couple more nice easy bossa, jazz songs fill out the remainder of side A.  Then the heat turns up on side B, "Atmos" is one of the best funky disco jams I've heard in a while.  Killer beat and melody right from the start.  The scat vocals here are extremely in your face, very dry and animated.  My favorite part is when the flute breaks come around, turning it into a Womens Colours type sound, incredible.  "Karma" is a nice prog disco jam with a few different movements escalating into dope scat melodies.  "Easy Disco" is pretty cheesy disco but still a nice listen full of guitar solos and orchestra.
                After doing a quick google search on Mr. Pia I found this sight with a brief history of his work, check it out HERE 
               If you are familiar with these Usignolo records then you know how confusing and lengthy the catalog is.  This one is part of the UST 100 series which starts in the 70's and rolls into the 80's, Some of the best Usignolos were recorded in this series like the Claudio Valle, Bembo, and the Giuliano Sogni one.  As more of these records are becoming more aware to the public, Usignolo Fonit is becoming one of the most mysterious and sought after Italian label there is.  While there are plenty of uninteresting records found throughout the catalog, the amount of heat pouring out of this label is quite staggering.  MP3 Trades Accepted      Enjoy the soundclips ripped from my personal collection Chris Tillotson

BAAST "Dimensions" Ubiquity Records 2014 Heru Avenger presents Kosmiche Jazz Madness!

    Alright here we have the new record from my man Heru Avenger (John Basil) and friends.  Holy shit this thing is a beast as implied, haha.  Side A consists of 3 songs full of funky free jazz and Kosmiche exploration.  First off we are offered "Terra" kicking off with heavy beats, african percussions, and vocal slurps and burps.  Throughout we have brass and keys soloing and feeling the vibes from the inspirational bass licks of Mr. Basil.  "Ascend"  kicks off with some nice jazz funk jamming propelled by drummer, Erik Jiru.  The phased out trumpets are just god damned amazing as well as sax wailing its way to Saturn.  "Suspension" gives us that stoned out loungy free jazz feel for the first 3 minutes but then disperses into outer space delays and vocal scats, unbelievable.  In true free jazz fashion the entire side B is covered by the title track, "Dimension" which is a bit of all the above and above all just a highly talented band exploring each other in funky jazzy bliss.  The lineup for this amazing record includes, R.Scott on Keyboards, John Basil on Bass, Erik Jiru on Drums,Dave Williams on Trumpet, Palo on Sax, Chris Moore,Chris Lovejoy and Brendan Dunn on Percussion and Kristina Benson on Voices.
  Mr. Basil has been killing it not only in music but also is a veteren (30 plus years) record collector of library, soundtrack, jazz, funk, psych, you name it and trust me he has one of the most insane collections I have ever seen in person.  He's a bit of a local legend around these parts and also kindly lends DJ skills to Rendezvous where our paths crossed.  He has plenty of other recordings which will get a deserved proper vinyl reissue soon, where he experiments with electro pop and jazz as well as an unreleased funk record from 1991 by the band SOL.  It would be quite difficult to meet another dude as unique as John and it is quite obvious he puts his heart and soul into his music so please feel free to buy and support Baast music.  You can buy the vinyl record from Ubiquity HERE or buy MP3 for 7.99  HERE  You won't be sorry!
   Also check these insane live youtube clips straight out of Long Beach yo!

And check out some grails I was salivating on when I took a stony journey to Basil land a while back,next stop the Marcellus Wallace Temple of Percussions, haha.  

Shobeki,Gigante,Boneschi,Mitridate,Calworth "Big Band Scene" MSE 134 Music Scene 197?

   Yes sir, here is one of the most sought after Music Scene releases and for good reason.  Side A is where it's at with this one.  Discogs lists Shobeki as an alias for Gigante which is strange that he would use his name and alias on the same record but I honestly haven't looked to verify.  Anyway the whole side A is by Shobeki/Gigante and it starts off with "Road To Frisco" a nice pupmped up jazzy big band accompaniment.  The real treat is "Lazy Night Man" which is an alternate version of Frisco but much more to my taste, slowed down to a stony speed with amazing synth over, love it.  "Native Land" is ultimate Libaek/Kirchin style exploration with a nice fat soothing synth line accompaniment.  "Waltzing Car" is another hit with its pumped up drums and dope synth.  Unfortunately for me the whole side B is generic big band stuff, played well no doubt but not unique to my ears.  I want my library music to not sound like library music, you know what I mean.  So check the couple jams I'm sharing ripped from my collection and MP3 TRADES accepted as always.Chris Tillotson

Orchestra Giulio Libano - "I Musicals" - DVG STL 7306 - Devega -1972 Italian Holy Grail Library!

     This is one very amazing record from the Italian Library label, Devega.  From start to finish it is astonishing, along with Giulio Libano there are also songs by D.Haensch,Vanerden, Rino De Filippi, Fabio Fabor & Ipress.  Modern Sound Quartet member Massimo Verardi adds lead guitar to most of the tracks creating a nice cohesiveness to the entire thing.  Also the Alessandroni type scat vocals  bring everything together as well.
          While Side A is truly great with songs like Libano's, "Mach 48" and Filippi's "Sensazioni Primaverili", I feel side B is the best play through for me.  "Jai Alai" by Haensch,Vanerden is one of the dopest jams I've heard in a while, perfect chords, beats and guitar tone.  "Mandoleggiando" by Fabio Fabor has a killer psych guitar solo, gave me chills for sure!  Luckily you can buy this digitally from Itunes or Amazon for only $5.99 as well as other Devega records like the very sought after Joy Unlimited record as the Devega label has made them available for purchase.  I believe they call it Mach 48 on the digital release, so hope you can find it from google search.  Check the soundclips ripped from my own collection.  Chris

   

La Batteria- "ST" - 3304 Penny Records 2015

   So hopefully you are familiar with David Nerattini (Little Tony Negri in the blog world) Well if you don't know he is also an incredible musician and drummer in modern band La Batteria along with Emanuele Bultrini (Guitars) Paolo Pecorelli (Bass) Stefano Vicarelli (Hammond C3,Clavinet,Fender Rhodes, Clavicamebalo, Celesta, Piano, Mellotron, Mini Moog, Prophet 5) and this is their new release on Penny Records.  When he sent me this I was quite blown away, I mean  I mostly care about old classic library and soundtrack records but this record is that good, that it deserves our attention.  They claim influences by the great composers of the 70's, Ennio Morricone, Stelvio Cipriani, Alessandro Alessandroni, Bruno Nicolai, Goblin & I Marc 4, and I would have to agree with that.  The record was initially intended as a Library record for Romano Di Bari on his Flipper Music label and mastered in historical Telecinesound Studios, property of Maurizio Majorana, bass player of I Marc 4.
   The recording to me is pretty modern sounding, think Calibro 35 as far as recording quality goes, but the style is very retro and true to the Italian librarys of the 70's & 80's.   The record starts with "Chimera" a beautiful acoustic guitar and harpsichord intro that falls into heavy compressed hip hop beats with super italian harmonies over the top.  THis is followed by, "Vigilate" and "Scenario" dope poliziotteschi style jams with heavy beats and wah fuzz guitar.  Next they take a step towards electro with, "Formula" which sounds like it would fit any number of Italian horror movies.  "Manifesto" is a complete rocker full of  female scat vocals and heavy riffs, "Dilemma" is a proggy Italian monster.  "Incognito" even has a De Roubaix meets poliziotteschi style.  THe album closes with "Persona Non Grata" a nice resemblance to Cipriani classics for sure with its repeating harpsichord and heavy beats.
  La Batteria will be released on CD & LP & Digital in Feburary 2015, European countries can buy it Here
USA residents can buy it from Forced Exposure Here
  For more info on David Nerattini and his day job at legendary label Flipper records, read here
You can stream the whole record on David's Youtube playlist here


 

Stelvio Cipriani & Various - Do You Like Dancing? - CAM CML 181 - 1980 Disco Funk Awesomeness!

  What a nice surprise with this one, I wrote it off cause of the cheesy title and because I don't like to dance, haha.  Boy was I wrong, while the majority of the A side is crap, side B is full of Cipriani gold.  Pretty much all the Cipriani stuff from the later CAM's is golden, like "A Wide Range Of Colours" "Rhythmical Movement Vol.1 & 2".  First let me talk about the non Cipriani tracks, A6 "First Family" by Maestosi & Trecca is just amazing beautiful melodic and beat driven, love it.  A7 by Patucchi is a really vibey lounge track.  B6 by Rustichelli is a great spaced out bossa track.  Now to the Cipriani stuff, B1 is spaced out lounge at its finest, B3 is a great bossa track led by piano.  Next are the 2 best songs, B4 "Green Eyed Woman" is a perfect porno funky jam not to be messed with.  Also my favorite "B5 Private Lessons" spaced out disco funk perfectly suitable for porno music.  Totally untouchable, those chord changes give me chills every time, just listen to that punchy stabbing rhythm guitar.  Soundclips ripped from my personal collection and MP3 Trades accepted. Chris Tillotson

Gianni Fallabrino - Progetto Europa - 5508 002 Fontana - 1980 Top Notch Prog Jazz Funk Disco!

  This record is crazy good.  Obviously if you disregard any 80's library even early 80's  as not your thing, then this one won't be the one, haha.  When listening though I don't ever get a cheesy 80's vibe and actually might be the funnest Fallabrino to listen to I can recall.  When I saw the cheap price tag I thought gap filler but no way, this is a mixture of high class jazz, funk, disco and prog, my favorite genres.  Every song is entertaining and interesting for sure, it's not often you hear a band change styles from song to song like this.
   My two favorite jams on this are A5 "Insegne Luminose" one of the finest prog disco songs I've ever heard, has all the goods, female scats, fuzz, driving beats and dark bass lines.  This song is followed by A6 "Autodromo" which at times reminds me of King Zerand scoring the Cannibal Apocalypse OST.  Other notable jams are, "Leitmotiv N.1" and "Passeggiando"  but really they are all amazing.
  This one's on the same label as Fallabrino's "Musica Nella Spazio" which sells for mega bucks so don't assume it will remain cheap, every library record started off cheap don't forget, but who knows maybe I just have bad taste, haha.   My Full 320K rip from my collection and please behave yourselves and don't leach my rip or youtube links as your own, though I know some of  you still will, haha.   GET IT HERE    Chris Tillotson