The third Scamp reissue of Martin Denny's Liberty output was this, a two-fer of his third and fourth 1958 releases, "Forbidden Island" and "Primitiva". Everything you might love about a Martin Denny record is present. Julius Wechter plays the vibes, Sandy Warner is on both covers, and the air is heavy with the "exotic".
Fun trivia for ya: "Primitiva" the song appears on "Forbidden Island", NOT "Primitiva" the album. What do I know about sequencing?
We're going to skip Scamp 9711 for now, choosing instead to focus on the next number in the catalog and the record I acquired minty and new when it came out in 1996. Martin Denny's first two LPs on Liberty, "Exotica" and "Exotica Volume II", came out in 1957, and it seems like every house with a hi-fi had a copy. There's a good reason for that: these are outstanding examples of mood music, foundational exotica records. I'd argue that, in spite of their nebulous origins, these are as crucial to a record collection as James Brown's "Live At The Apollo", Nina Simone's "Pastel Blues", and Fugazi's "In On The Kill Taker". When I listen to these, I get transported through both space and time to an idealised 1960 where I'm a few inches taller, a hundred pounds lighter, with a Lucky in one hand and a Zombie in the other. Martin Denny remains incredibly cool, nearly 70 years on. There aren't a ton of records that can claim that.
I'm going to skip over SCP-9705 for now, due in great part to not knowing where the hell the actual CD is. Instead, let's proceed with a survey of Sheriff Buford T. Justice's character work. "And Awaaay We Go!" is an expanded edition of Jackie Gleason's 1954 10" release on Capitol. In addition to the eight tracks on that original release, the Scamp reissue adds theme music from both "The Jackie Gleason Show" and "The Honeymooners", a pair of recitations as Reginald Van Gleason III, and a few other incidental tracks. It adds up to an interesting artifact from the early days of television, as well as one of the few ways to experience Gleason's character work aurally. It is very, very cool.
The Brazilian pianist/organist Walter Wanderley had already released something like 15 full-lengths by the time he moved to the United States and signed to Verve Records in 1965. Verve would release another six records by Wanderley between 1966 and 1968, including a co-headlining slot with Astrid Gilberto, a collaboration with guitarist Luiz Henrique, and a small group LP as the Walter Wanderley Trio. The other three records were produced by Creed Taylor, engineered by Rudy Van Gelder, and make up catalog number SCP 9704-2, third in the list of Scamp releases.
And it's fan-freakin'-tastic. I've always had a soft spot for any bossa nova, MPB, or samba music, all of which still turn up reliably in thrift store bins. But I've never come across any of these Wanderley Verve releases, so it's nice to have some of it compiled here. It's not quite on the level of "Getz/Gilberto", but its material deserves to be reissued more than once every 30 years. Bonus notes: this reissue was digitally mastered by Alan Douches, who's engineered an MFT of hardcore, metal, emo, and punk over the years.
Scamp's second release (catalog number, that is) in the fall of 1995 was a reissue of Martin Denny's 1959 exotica classic "Afro-Desia". It was his sixth record for Liberty Records, and his third of four releases in 1959. It was also the first time Denny had moved away from Polynesian/tiki sounds and into something more...primal?
Is this authentic African music? Hell no. Can you reconcile that this, in spite of a cultural insensitivity that really slaps you in the face in 2026, is an incredible record? Gee, I hope so. If you're unable to find a vinyl copy in your local thrift store, I recommend snagging a copy from Portland's Jackpot Records. They reissued this a few years back, and it comes on a lovely shade of orange wax.
It's been a year since I last posted an Infinite Zero reissue, so I guess we're due, right? And this one is long overdue.
"Songs Of The Free" was Gang Of Four's third full-length, their first without bassist Dave Allen (replaced by Sara Lee here), and, arguably, their final unequivocally great LP. The post punk is still there, but the agitpop has been replaced by a lot of early-80s synthpop. It's still great; after all, this record kicks off with "Call Me Up", "I Love A Man In Uniform", and "We Live As We Dream, Alone", which is one hell of a way to kick off a record. This Infinite Zero reissue was the first time this had been released on CD, and adds the "I Love A Man In Uniform" dub remix and "The World At Fault" from various "I Love..." single releases.
I've found, over the years, that just about any track from this is a floor filler at your local indie sleaze night. Don't believe me? Well, that's your right, man.
I was pretty annoyed with Discogs recently, and it's all my own fault.
Right before the holidays, I recieved an order on my Discogs account. It was a simple one off; a Tim Hecker CD, sold for $10, plus shipping. And, hand to God, I thought I'd shipped it. But, friends, I did not. And Discogs shut my account down. Which means I could not only sell stuff (not a huge deal), but I couldn't buy anything. Not with all this Christmas lucre in my pockets. But I took my lumps, quickly refunding the customer once I confirmed that their order was, indeed, sitting two states away in my "Out" basket. But it was only last week that Discogs lifted the ban hammer on me.
This is a long way around the block to this two-fer from Flipside Records, the label attached to the esteemed SoCal zine. This was part of my last order on Discogs, a throw-in with a couple of Infinite Zero splurges. There are some big names from early in their careers here, with Green Day and the Offspring headlining with Bad Religion. The beloved Lance Hahn provided songs from both Cringer and Monsula; he was still a bit off from J Church taking off. There's a collaboration between Melvins and Steel Pole Bath Tub, some AmRep representation from Distorted Pony and Helios Creed, and a track from Sandy Duncan's Eye, who I still think is probably the most underrated noise rock band from this era.
"The Big One / City Of L.A. Power" is missing two songs from the latter; the Paper Tulips' and TVTV$'s contributions can only be found on the 1991 single-sided vinyl. Are we missing out on something? Shoot, man, track down a copy and let me know. I just got back on Discogs.
This is the last of the mid-90s reissues of James Chance's records, re-released by Infinite Zero. Let's face it; it's my least preferred Chance release, but it's still pretty damned good. And if you're stopping by here, you're probably a degenerate completist like I am, so you'll download it anyway.
I passed up a very nicely priced Japanese pressing of the Contortions' "Buy" over the weekend, along with Eno's three 70s art rock records on Editions EG. I brought home pretty of good stuff, to be fair, but those are the ones I've thought about since Saturday. C'est la vie; life will go on.
Here's another record that I can't understand hasn't been reissued again. It's one that I'm forever grateful to Henry Rollins for turning me onto. And it's one that I listen to, front to back, whenever I miss living in the DMV.
The almighty Trouble Funk is who I'd play a stranger who didn't know what go go was. Specifically, I'd give them the live record I share here, originally released as a double, white label LP by the band, then reissued on Infinite Zero in 1995, along with a compilation of their early singles. This scene existed on a parallel track to DCHC, and the best of it is just as rare to find, existing today on crumbling tapes and limited dub plates. It's important to remember that Minor Threat's final show in 1983 was headlined by Trouble Funk (and supported by Big Boys). That's not as weird a concept as one might think; it's two localized scenes, propelled by DIY and alternate performance channels.
If you find yourself travelling this week for the holidays, listen to this one in sequence, and see if it doesn't get your ass moving.
I digress from the current formatting to share this, the second of two James Chance records from 1979. Originally released by ZE Records as a no wave reaction to disco, this is far funkier than anything the Red Hot Chili Peppers wrote, and a lot cooler.
This is the 1995 Infinite Zero reissue, the first time "Off White" had been available since its original release.and the first time it was available on CD. Apparently, there's an 8-track available, and if you want to hook up your boy as a holiday gift, I certainly wouldn't decline. It also appends the James Chance contribution to 1982's "A Christmas Record" on ZE, "Christmas With Satan", a track my mom would probably hate but one that fits on every holiday mixtape worth a damn.
Turned this up a few months ago, and even though I own a couple of these on vinyl already, and had everything but the Symbol Six cuts on my hard drive, I couldn't pass this up on CD for a couple bux. Collecting is an illness; a, at times, delightful one, but it leads to moments like these when you end up with several copies of the same recordings.
But what recordings! This Posh Boy sampler, inspired by and partially derived from 1981's split release with SST, "The Future Looks Bright Ahead", compiles:
This is an embarrassment of riches. And if you're at all familiar with early 80s LA punk & HC, you know all these by heart. But if you don't, I'll just say this is worth downloading for Redd Kross alone.
But that's me; a Virgo with a sick record collection.
I found this one sitting in the midst of a clearance section in a Half Price Books a few years back, and actually debated for a minute spending the $2.99 it would cost me. B/c, to be fair, Oi! in the late 80s could lean a bit dodgy. But I'm glad I snagged it, and generally surprised this has never had a more recent reissue, shitty cover and all.
This is the 1993 CD reissue on Step-1, featuring the original 1988 Link tracks, as well as six additional cuts. What's on it? "U.S. of Oi!" starts with a classic Warzone track, then follows it up with Atlanta's Moonstomp. There's three songs from Youth Defense League, all coming from the same time period as their track on "New York City Hardcore - The Way It Is". Anti-Heros and the Kicker Boys, also coming out of Atlanta (Oi!-lanta?), contribute tracks from their 1988 LPs on Link, while the Uprise, Immoral Discipline, and the Bootboys all chime in with bops from their respective demos and 7"s from the time. The bonus tracks include tracks from Uprise-related bands the Mad Hatters and Boneshakers, as well as Detroit's Grievance Committee.
It's 21 boot blasts total, lager fueled and an under-heard classic. If you're a student of the mid- to late-80s American Oi! scene, you probably already own this, or the source material for a lot of these tracks. But it you're like me, someone who's curious what was happening in DC at the same time as Revolution Summer, or alongside the youth crew revival in NYC, this is a record worth checking out.
It's the end of the month, and I'm clearing the decks with the record that's been living in my Mediafire files for the longest time. It's time to share Alan Vega's 1993 album, "New Raceion".
At the risk of seeming like a dick, I've run out of things to say about Vega's early 90s output. I'm glad it exists; it's not anything I listen to regularly (unlike the 1st Suicide record). Here you go; "enjoy" it.
It took from May to August 2000 to go from 100 to 200 posts. Then I hit 300 posts two days before Christmas 2000. And now I'm here, anot...
