Klaus Schulze (Tangerine Dream, Ash Ra Tempel) live on German TV - 1977

Contamination trailer - music by GOBLIN...

the AWESOME SOUND program -December 06, 2009...

(the AWESOME SOUND program broadcasts live on WXOU.ORG sunday nights 9:30pm - midnight.)

[ SHOW NOTE: This episode has been edited down due to technical issues...New equipment, still working it out, sorry the mix is so "aggressive"...Thanks, enjoy! ]

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Strap on the ear goggles and I'm ready to go...

Omega - Gyöngyhajú lány

Clavi-Kitty...

the AWESOME SOUND program - November 22, 2009...

(the AWESOME SOUND program broadcasts live on WXOU.ORG sunday nights 9:30pm - midnight.)

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THIS WEEK IT'S ALL SONGS FEATURING THE MIGHTY MELLOTRON...

the AWESOME SOUND program - November 8, 2009...

(the AWESOME SOUND program broadcasts live on WXOU.ORG sunday nights 9:30pm - midnight.)

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yeah, but these go to eleven...

the AWESOME SOUND program - October 25, 2009...

(the AWESOME SOUND program broadcasts live on WXOU.ORG sunday nights 9:30pm - midnight.)

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the break was so loud that it hushed the crowd...

the AWESOME SOUND program - October 11, 2009...

(the AWESOME SOUND program broadcasts live on WXOU.ORG sunday nights 9:30pm - midnight.)

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Great shot kid, that was one in a million...

vinyl show & tell vol. 13 - Eric Donaldson "More Love / The Price" (1976)

I really buy the general sincerity of most Jamaican reggae singers. It's probably a combination of things (love of Jah, copious amounts of ganja, etc) but I just get really happy hearing guys like Eric sing away. The A-side "More Love" is a pretty standard dubwise song about Jah's love and the need for it to "rain down on the human race". It's really sweet and has one of those Mittoo organ lines that the Clash went gaga over. The B-side "The Price" shifts down into a moodier groove with similar vocal style being put forth by Donaldson in his romantic plea. Both songs are clean pop productions with little of the drugged-out effects of heavy instrumental dub, but you can bet that these tunes were reworked into one at some point.

The label at work is Jaguar, one of many from the legendary "Randy" Chin, a dude responsible for making tons of records, careers, and legends in the world of Jamaican music over the decades. Rest in Peace.


this gets a 7 out of 10 on the good collie herb scale...

vinyl show & tell vol. 12 - the PACKERS "Go Head On / Hole in the Wall" (1965)

("Go Head On" plays first...)



You better believe shit was really poppin off in 1965. Soul and rock were on an inevitable crash course fueled by a blues-obsessed teenage pop market, giving opportunity to amazing combos from nearly everywhere in the world. Ray Charles was one of the first, but Stax really did it better than anybody at that time by creating a back catalog of r&b/soul that deserves to be in the Smithsonian (and probably is). We all know Booker T. and the MG's were the mighty house band for all those great records but we often don't know how many bands took their style as gospel...Like this affable bunch of West coast musicians.

"Hole in the Wall" shows credit to the B-boys although one name is suspiciously (or erroneously) listed as "Crooper" not "Cropper". The sound is heavier than Stax here, more like a late 60's Joel Dorn Atlantic side or something, doubling piano and organ, Telecaster, congas, handclaps, and some well-placed shouts. Wish it went on longer. "Go Head On" seems to be an original tune that heats up a bit more than the cover. The Hammond organ on this cut just screams out in a special way, the way that provokes women to shout "Ooh Lord!". Drums couldn't sound any better, but those breakdowns should be longer. This type of song never really goes anywhere except the one riff, but honestly, why should it?

Just like the label says, "PURE SOUL MUSIC".


awarded a 7 out of 10 on the "C'mon Now, Let's Go!" scale...

Hermeto! You crazy, get outta that river!

the AWESOME SOUND program - September 27, 2009...

(the AWESOME SOUND program broadcasts live on WXOU.ORG sunday nights 9:30pm - midnight.)

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You've got a secret appointment with sound...

the AWESOME SOUND program - September 20, 2009...

(the AWESOME SOUND program broadcasts live on WXOU.ORG sunday nights 9:30pm - midnight.)

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Morder dem sound down thru da ground...

vinyl show & tell vol. 11 - the WANTED "Here to Stay / In the Midnight Hour"

I went a little crazy with mid 60's garage compilations after reading the excellent history of Greg Shaw and Bomp Records, spending more than should've been alotted at the Bomp website. One fortunate purchase was a few volumes of the series Highs in the Mid Sixties, an anthology of all the best local garage/psychobilly/acid/psych/surf/punk rock bands you've never heard of. Pretty much every suburban region that was fertile with Stones and Animals rip-offs are given their own album or albums, the best being Wisconsin/Minnesota, Texas, and our fair state of Michigan. I made sure to show my mom this record when it first came in the mail, hoping she might recognize at least one band name or venue title with little sucess, leaving me saddened not only that I had missed such a great local scene but that she had as well.

The Wanted were not featured on these records but certainly would have been in good company. "Here to Stay" is a moody tune about lost teenage love and the regret this young man feels for being duped by some metro-Detroit Jezebel. I'm hard pressed to think of any other adjective than "cool" to describe the overall sound here, easily distinguishing itself from the excess of garage rock blues rave-ups a la The Yardbirds. Much more surf than soul. Hazy organ leads, melancholy vocal delivery, haunting chorus, and a perfectly placed fuzz guitar bridge add up to one helluva Detroit rock gem. On the B-side, the guys do a bang-up cover job on one of the biggest songs in the garage repetoire, "In the Midnight Hour" by Wilson Pickett. Both were originally recorded at Detroit Sound, 12730 E. Warren in Detroit, date unknown.

9 out of 10 on the "Rep Ya' City" scale...

CAN - "Mushroom"

in the zone...

Luiz Bonfa demonstrates Brazilian percussion with a guitar...

i'm tempted to say that Mr. Bonfa is my favorite guitar player, ever...

the AWESOME SOUND program - September 13, 2009...

(the AWESOME SOUND program broadcasts live on WXOU.ORG sunday nights 9:30pm - midnight.)

broadcaster's note: due to a computer recording malfunction halfway thru this week's episode, only the first hour or so of the Awesome Sound program could be salvaged. 

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Always dreaming up some new racket...

Playing with Commercial Power...

vinyl show & tell vol. 10 - the EMPERORS "Karate" (1966)

Sometimes a small stuffy room is the best way to record loud music. If you only have two/four tracks to capture the performance of a six piece band, they're gonna have to be close to one another anyway. Pack em in, flip the tape, and let em jam...No edits.

"Karate" is among the rowdiest 1960's soul that almost thinks it's funk, defying an origin of Pennslyvania with a New Orleans beat, running it down in a most respectable manner. The drums tumble back & forth on themselves while the bass just keeps thumpin, all of which is made cohesive with some Hammond organ and shout-sing. The same ingredients grace the B side ("I've Got to Have Her") with a slower pace and romantic intentions.

Mala was a short-lived branch of Bell Records whose roster included an assortment of garage rock, northern soul, and pop. After this minor 1966 hit, The Emporers signed to Brunswick to release a small string of singles that never rivaled the success of "Karate". Bell and Mala were eventually absorbed by Columbia in the late sixties and this fantastic little combo was soon forgotten.

8 out of 10 on the "Can't Stop Movin" scale...

Totally rad reissue over @ Dusty Groove dude...

8 Bit Trip

Pretty mind blowing stop motion, plus gotta love all the NES references and homages.

the AWESOME SOUND program - August 30, 2009...

(the AWESOME SOUND program broadcasts live on WXOU.ORG sunday nights 9:30pm - midnight.)

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As Long As That Tick Is Followed By A BOOM...

The Mummies - live in NY 1991

the AWESOME SOUND program - August 16, 2009...

(the AWESOME SOUND program broadcasts live on WXOU.ORG sunday nights 9:30pm - midnight.)

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Austrian keyboard wizard Joe Zawinul profile...

Re-Discovery!!! (record digging report for 08/16/09)

(click pic to enlarge)

top to bottom, left to right:
Michael Stanley "Friends & Legends", Evelyn "Champagne" King "Smooth Talk", R.B. Greaves "s/t", the Doobie Brothers "What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits", Booker T. & the MG's "Doin' Our Thing", Steven Halpern "Spectrum Suite", Charles Earland "Black Talk!", the Stooges "s/t", Kat Mandu "s/t", Pharoah Sanders "Black Unity", Pharoah Sanders "Thembi", Donavon "Open Road"...

(all of these came from the dollar bin...boo yah!)

more Joe Zawinul videos than you can shake a stick at...

"Werewolf Bar Mitzvah"

the AWESOME SOUND program - August 09, 2009...

(the AWESOME SOUND program broadcasts live on WXOU.ORG sunday nights 9:30pm - midnight.)

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Audio Delight...

RIP Westside Connection...

Looks like it's Ice Cube Day here at I've Got A Sound...The fore-mentioned Ice Cube post by Grievous sent me on an adolescent trip down memory lane when scary high-pitched synthesizers clashed with the now-classic grooves of G-funk SoCal, the sounds of which were followed closely by legions of suburban kids.

Westside Connection was Ice Cube, Mack 10, and WC. Like most good supergroups, they didn't last too long due to various feuds. Their first record "Bow Down" was (and still is) an amazing debut and definitive entry in the pantheon of California gangsta rap from the 90's. Every beat is on point, the lyrics are classically profane, great hooks, squeaky-clean production. I can remember rolling in this kid's Buick LeSabre at the age of fifteen, Friday night in Lake Orion, shouting the chorus to these tracks as we drove around (doing absolutely nothing). Still have my old copy of that cd sitting right next to my desk just waiting to be dusted off.

Yeah, and don't hold your breath on Cube making a worthwhile comeback.

Ice Cube: What Happened?

So...perhaps you've already heard about Ice Cube's set at the 2009 Gathering Of The Juggalos. But, if you haven't, wrap that around your mind for a second. Ice Cube playing a set to a large mass of trashy individuals in face paint, who will constantly dog him to play either "Wicked", or "It Was a Good Day". Many of my friends are really surprised by this...but I'm not, shockingly.

I'd consider myself a pretty moderate fan of Ice Cube's work...I've got most of his records, minus the last couple, and I was a really big fan of his roles in films such as Boyz-'N-Tha-Hood, and of course the classic Friday.

However, I can definitely draw a line as to where it all went wrong in his work, especially in the hip-hop realm. Between 1993-1998, he took a break from solo work, to focus on film and such, only recording a duet with fellow former member of N.W.A. Dr. Dre(1994's Natural Born Killaz), and the first Westside Connection album, Bow Down, in 1996. Otherwise, Cube pretty much just sat tight for the most part, acting in films, until 1998's War and Peace rolled around, in all of its mediocrity.

Even his last album before the hiatus, 1993's Lethal Injection, was largely considered as a derivative "sell-out" work, when compared to his previous three albums, riding off the coattails of a single featuring George Clinton(Bop Gun).

While I'm not a big fan of the term "sell-out", when you make records as angry and abrasive as Amerikkka's Most Wanted and Death Certificate were, only to jump to a more mainstream direction is a bit funny to watch. It seemed rather sudden, Ice Cube stopped rhyming about Pimps, sell-outs, and the 'hood in every track. At the same time, he erased a large amount of the racism and anti-semitism that existed in his first two recordings.

Some would think that the big change that occurred between Lethal Injection and War and Peace, had to happen. After all, Amerikkka's Most Wanted and Death Certificate were written and dropped in the early '90s, prior to the Rodney King incident, and the riots that followed. Cube was furious over the racial relations at this time, and used these records to let everyone know, "shit's fucked up, it needs to change. NOW." After the riots occurred, he was quoted as saying, "my records were warnings to the world that this was going to happen."

It seemed like right after the riots, he was less eager to let everyone have it. The Predator, while being a fantastic album in its own right, featured less bashing than Death Certificate, but still had its fair share of hateful jams. Lethal Injection also, despite how weak it is, features "Cave Bitch", a jam revolving around interracial gold-digging relationships.

Some might also say another factor was the breakup of N.W.A. Most already know the details when Ice Cube left N.W.A., but to those who haven't, he wasn't getting paid rightfully for his featuring work on Straight Outta Compton, as well as Eazy-E's solo debut, Eazy-Duz-It. He wanted more money for his work, and he couldn't hammer out a deal with the group's then-manager, Jerry Heller, so he went off on his own. By the time Death Certificate dropped, with its firey slam on N.W.A. in "No Vaseline", tensions were at an all time high between Eazy-E and Dr. Dre, leading to Dre leaving, subsequently disbanding N.W.A. in 1992. The breakup, as well as Eazy-E's death in 1995, left Ice Cube without another leg to stand on, in terms of content.

I just want Ice Cube to go back to his old hateful self. No gangsta rap records in my mind were as angry and reactionary as the duo of Amerikkka's Most Wanted and Death Certificate, and while they were probably incredibly tough to follow up, it's a bummer that we never really got anything as crazy as those two records out of Cube.

Hopefully when he's playing his single-laden set at The Gathering, he'll remember when he was "True to the Game".

And thus ends my angry rant. Enjoy some classic Ice Cube, because if you've read through this, you've surely earned it:


"Givin' Up the Nappy Dugout"

"Who's the Mack"

"True to the Game"

(Cube's steez...before & after.)

the AWESOME SOUND program - August 02, 2009...

(the AWESOME SOUND program broadcasts live on WXOU.ORG sunday nights 9:30pm - midnight.)

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rio de Awesome...all Brazilian!

Treasure Hunt!!! (record digging report for 07/28/09)

(click pic to enlarge)

top to bottom, left to right:
Jupiter "Sunset", the Seventh Seal "Reflections", Annette Peacock "X-Dreams", Johnny Hammond "The Prophet", Amir Cantusio Jr. "The Seven Spheres", Jan Hammer "The First Seven Days", Makoto "s/t", Michael Gregory Jackson "Clarity", Todd Rundgren "Runt"...


(notice how's there's a bunch of references to the number 7? weird!)

the AWESOME SOUND program - July 26, 2009...

(the AWESOME SOUND program broadcasts live on WXOU.ORG sunday nights 9:30pm - midnight.)

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burnin this mother down!

vinyl show & tell vol. 9 - LATIMORE "Let's Straighten It Out" (1974)

With every last beautiful ounce of your understated womanly allure, even in the depths of domestic scorn towards your man, hair gone every which direction, fire in the eyes, could you ladies, really think about this...Could you really be angry at a humble yet smitten (not to mention dapper) Benny Latimore and his slick-ass Fender Rhodes?

Well I should hope not because the dude is soul incarnate, and he's trying his damnedest to sing his way back to the bedroom with this stellar 45rpm single. Unlike most of his contemporary soul singers from the mid-70's, Latimore hits every cliche of the sex-funk genre without getting too mushy (Barry White), too goofy (Ohio Players), or too sleazy (Barry White again). "Let's Straighten It Out" came out in 1974, proving to be the biggest hit Big L would have during his professional career, although he still continues to record respectable r&b to this day. The Glades label was arguably the most influential funk/soul label south of Stax Records in the 1970's, launching many groups & singers from the expansive Miami scene. You could say that Latimore was like the Isaac Hayes of this crowd.

Rhodes electric piano is the main instrument on display here with some Arp String synth in the background of the B-side "Ain't Nobody Gonna Change My Mind". The backing group sounds really simple, maybe just a rhythm section of drums and electric bass. I really love Latimore's simple phrasing and vocal delivery; never seems melodramatic or all over the scale (a weird tendency for a lot of soul singers when they begin improvising). Not as unique as an Al Green but beautiful none the less.

Found abused & discarded at the bottom of a magic grocery bag full of beat up soul 45's...

7 out of 10 on the "Please forgive me baby!" scale...


check out the Funk My Soul blog for some more Latimore goodies...

SLEEP - "Dragonaut"

the Stark Reality plays "Acting Thinking Feeling"...

This band is about as classic can be in the circles I run with, but if you don't know get on it. Monty Stark (vibraphonist) put together one of the most effortlessly exciting jazz-funk-psychedelic rock groups to ever cut vinyl. They were talented as hell and did lengthy cover versions of children's songs by Hoagy Carmichael. The Stones Throw reissues are pretty much the only way to go, recommended beyond belief.

Squarepusher Live in Tokyo (1997)

An early live performance of Tom Jenkinson's, from the Hard Normal Daddy era (and one of my personal favorites of his work)

Kaleidoscope - "Faintly Blowing"

Kaleidoscope "Faintly Blowing" (Fontana / 1969)

Do you know what a wall record is? It's terrible. A wall record is something a record dealer hangs behind his tables at a convention to send the depraved masses into a hysteria when they walk on by. One who is well-read on the trade that he or she is plying will know what albums to hang up: original jazz pressings from all the obvious labels, the Beatles "butcher" cover, local funk classics, box sets, and almost always there is rare classic rock...most importantly, rare psychrock. But all that shit is priced accordingly and you will begin looking at the rest of their bins instead and so it begins.

This one here, "Faintly Blowing" by Kaleidoscope, is a wall record of the highest order, mainly because we all know about it (and probably want a copy). Released in 1969 on the crest of whimsical psychedelia, this sophomore album covers so much wonderful ground that it seems puzzling why it sold poorly until being rediscovered by record collectors via the Nuggets series. Perfect for Floyd fans who always liked Syd the best since some of the lyrical imagery and vocal delivery is almost the same, if not more cognizant. Some tunes are all heavy fuzz and loud Hammond organ that'll turn on a dime and become like a stoned Zombies and ride out waves of phased drums. Great guitar playing of all sorts, above average for the time and not at all show-offish. Not surprisingly, some of it sounds like the Beatles and Dylan folkrock. I would also say that this record is unmistakably British in the way that it revels in quaintness, history, and fairy tale-inspired content (not to mention record cover).

All songs are recommended but my favorites are: "(Love Song) For Annie", "Opinion", "Bless The Executioner", "Poem", and "Do It Again For Jeffrey" of course. The reissues are probably the way to go because Fontana Records butchered the original mix if you ask me, plus there are bonus tracks and such. Why isn't rock n' roll fun like this anymore?

Get it...

Buy it...

Marijuana Lp Smuggling

Leslie Nielsen Videos

I was listening to the classic Board of Canada album Geogaddi and I always liked the nature film clips from Leslie Nielsen on the song Dandelion.



This has led to a youtube treasure trove finding of his past work (ignoring most of the Naked Gun and other movies from the 90s-00s). Starting with some documentary narration and early movies and then moving into some classic commercials I remember from my childhood like the WWe one and the Dollar Car Rental. I highly recommend Day of the Animals as he is just so fucking evil in it, so you may want to start that from the beginning instead of the clip I have posted.

















And lets not forget "Surf Ninjas", during the era of the classic ninja movies of the early 90s, obviously inspired by the Karate Kid and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I will leave you with another personal favorite of that era is Sidekicks with Chuck Norris Beating the crap out of Joe Piscopo.