JJEMMEIII - FreePee (2011)

Deep South via NY implant and musical expressionist JJEMMEIII compiles 6 left-of-center organ improvisations for your psychological pleasure. Some of this reminds me of being a passenger on a slowly drifting autopiloted space craft, daydreaming out of the window as large nebulas and planets stroll by. Despite its limited sonic pallet of simply organ, his improvisations leave a lot to be digested.

He has it available for download on his BandCamp page, found here:
jjemmeiii.bandcamp.com

Tracklist:
1. Rummikub
2. Tourqouise
3. Stride
4. My Corner Of The World
5. Cumulus
6. Drone Of Time

Erkin Koray - 2 (1976)

Anatolian Rock. That is what is listed on Wikipedia for the genre of this record. I prefer Turk-Psych, or Ottoman Rock. Maybe Turkadelica. Whatever it is, it definitely makes me want to eat kababs and crank some Turkish Get Ups. You ever been to a Turkish prison?

Tracklist:

1. Şaşkın – 4:29
2. Eyvah – 3:03
3. Fesuphanallah – 3:37
4. Sevince – 5:18
5. Estarabim – 5:19
6. Arap Saçı – 3:47
7. Hayat Bir Teselli – 5:21
8. Komşu Kızı – 4:04
9. Gönül Salıncığı – 4:08
10. Tımbıllı – 3:55
11. Ask Oyunu (1967) – 3:09
12. Hop Hop Gelsin (1968) – 3:58
13. Senden Ayri (1971) – 4:16
14. Kiskanirim (1971) – 3:47
15. Yalnizlar Rihtimi (Acoustic) – 3:05

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Don Cherry - Where Is Brooklyn? (1966)

Don Cherry was a long-time trumpeter for Ornette Coleman.

This record has some of the meanest brass honking I've ever heard. After listening to this head-spinner you'll probably not know where the hell anything is, let alone Brooklyn.

Tracklist:

1. Awake Nu

2. Taste Maker

3. The Thing

4. There Is The Bomb

5. Unite

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Ornette Coleman - The Empty Foxhole (1966)

I've been on a bit of a jazz bender lately, starting with the re-discovery of a Charlie Parker compilation I found during the re-acquisition of my CD collection. Through this and that I've discovered the groundbreaking works of Ornette Coleman. For those not familiar, his album "Free Jazz" gave its name to an entire sub-genre of jazz. Mr. Coleman would rather call it "Harmalodics". This particular album caught my ear, particularly with "Sound Gravitation", playing violin rather than sax. Through my experience with fretless bass I can appreciate his use of non-notes and microtonal movement. Every space on the fretboard can be used, not just the lines and metal bars that convention has drawn on there. Check it out, it's a hell of a trip.

Tracklist:
1. Good Old Days
2. The Empty Foxhole
3. Sound GRavitation
4. Freeway Express
5. Faithful
6. Zig Zag

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Lemon Jelly - Lost Horizons (2002)

This is a nice little discovery. The cover art attracted me to it, has a nice warm look to it. The record is right in line with this; chill electronics mixed with jazz and vintage-dusty easy listening tones. It's reminiscent of British library records of the 1970's. The classic tube-amped P Bass sound is in there, one of my absolute favorite things to hear. Each of these epics are interspersed with some real clever narrative sampling. Ramblin' Man with its earthy recount of all the stop offs in the speaker's journey, some space-transmission like signals on Space Walk, and my favorite Nice Weather For Ducks. Ultra-amusing.

Tracklist:

1. Elements

2. Space Walk

3. Ramblin' Man

4. Return To Patagonia

5. Nice Weather For Ducks

6. Experiment Number 6

7. Closer

8. The Curse Of Ka'zar

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AFX - Analogue Bubblebath 5 (2005)

In January 2005, Rephlex mailed out black vinyl/binder editions of "Analord 10". Due to problems at the manufacturing/mail out stage, approximately 20 buyers did not receive their package. Rephlex mailed out a second batch in June 2005 to those who had not received their order. This second batch included a free copy of "Analogue Bubblebath 5". This distribution of "Analogue Bubblebath 5" was unannounced.

This is one pretty interesting and rare piece from the AFX catalogue. Richard D. James has been said to produce massive amounts of tracks, only to wind up using a handful to put out an album. Ever since I got into his works I've wondered what all of those other tracks must sound like. I feel like this record is a small glimpse into that abyss of unreleased material.

There are 8 tracks in the version I have, although Discogs.com lists a 9th track "Cuckoo", which can actually be found on Analogue Bubblebath 4. They are all untitled so there's no point for a tracklist.

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DVAR - Oramah Maalhur (2004)

Russian darkwave/lightwave project. There is no information about the members of this group and publicity is extremely limited. Some of the only pieces of information circulating are the one about how the idea for DVAR came to them in a dream, and all of their composition ideas come to them in dreams. Or the one about how the language they sing in is supposedly invented by them (some say it is Enochian). I think the best piece of speculation out there is the one about how this is actually a super-secret side project of Michael Jackson. I don't know how likely it is, but I like to think that it may very well be true. Upon listening, there are certain similarities. On Oramah Maalhur they are are most apparent through the use of layered, magical and dreamlike atmospheres. There are even some keyboard sounds that are extremely similar to some used by Mr. Jackson. However from a non-musical perspective, stange new things seem to be made public about MJ since his death. Since then, everytime I listen to DVAR (specifically this album), my imagination grows more and more with the possibility that certain things having to do with DVAR eventually led to the death of Michael Jackson, be it murder or otherwise. His death coincides with his comeback tour, however I think that he planned on either unveiling DVAR or using it for something that was not in the best interests of those around him. His doctor, who is under a huge amount of suspicion, I believe was just a tool in the implementation of something far greater, a battle between forces both light and dark. Who really was Michael Jackson?

Tracklist:

1. Nahaliroh
2. Akhtariil

3. Ta Matii Yadhan

4. Itlabshaar

5. Raamshar

6. Hinderashim

7. Ah Menahaim

8. Hosermoah

9. Lyarrah

10. Seir K'ham

11. Mi Raamshar

12. Nomenahaim 2

13. Iihot'e'hain

14. Akhtariil 2

15. Nomenahaim

16. Laay Iill

17. Raah Dhar

18. Oramah Maalhur

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