One of the more underrated soft rock groups, Starbuck was formed in Atlanta, Georgia by keyboardist/vocalist/record producer Bruce Blackman and marimba player Bo Wagner. The group’s debut album […]
1976
The Crusaders were a prolific jazz group popular in the early 1970s that released over 40 albums. Primarily a sextet comprised of Joe Sample (piano), Wilton Felder (tenor […]
Featured in the “Pensive” section of Chee Shimizu’s Obscure Sound disc guide, De Las Colonias Del Río De La Plata (Old Roots of the Colonies of the River […]
A late night favorite for David Mancuso’s legendary Loft parties, Listen To The Buddha is an underrated psychedelic soul, reggae, and disco album from ’70s cult rock band […]
The stars align once again from trio Moroder, Bellotte, and Summer for Donna’s fourth album Four Seasons of Love. A perfect concoction of futuristic synthesizers, unforgettable vocals, and […]
In the mid-1970s the disco movement was in full swing. Amidst this musical revolution, Cloud One, a studio project helmed by legendary producer Patrick Adams, released their first […]
New York vocalist Saundra Hewitt, also known as Sandy, released her one and only album in 1976 on the Japanese label Discomate. While this is Saundra’s only solo […]
Azar Lawrence’s third solo album People Moving was released in 1976 on Prestige Records. The album features Lawrence on tenor, alto and soprano saxophone alongside a group of […]
Miroslav Vitous is probably most well-known for his years as a founding member of seminal fusion group Weather Report. The Czech acoustic bass player and composer’s musical output […]
Classify under bargain bin progressive rock albums that are actually good – Go features the bizarre international “supergroup” of experimental Japanese percussionist Stomu Yamashta, UK blues rock singer […]
O’Donel Levy was a blues/funk/jazz guitarist and the brother of session drummer Stafford Levy. Born and raised in Baltimore, Levy studied music at the Peabody Institute at John […]
Featured in the “Psychedelic section” of Chee Shimizu’s Obscure Sound disc guide, Dr. Aftershave And The Mixed Pickles is technically the third studio album by Missus Beastly, a […]
With a four-octave vocal range and multiple Grammy’s to her name, Deniece Williams is one of the greatest soul singers of her time. Williams started out as a […]
Jeannie Reynolds was the sister of L.J. Reynolds, a member of The Dramatics. Though her career wasn’t as significant in comparison to her brother’s, Jeannie made some truly […]
An outlet for emerging local acts in Hawaii, KKUA’s four volume Home Grown series launched and propelled the careers of acts like Nohelani Cypriano, Cecilio & Kapono, Olomana, […]
Dutch guitar master Jan Akkerman meets blues singer Kaz Lux on their 1976 collaborative album entitled Eli. An unusual mixture of styles come together on this concept album […]
Short-lived but influential to the 1970’s punk/new wave movement, The Modern Lovers were signed to Warner Bros. but broke up before any album was recorded. Their “debut” was […]
Featured in the “Cosmic” section of Chee Shimizu’s Obscure Sound disc guide, Between the Universes by Tritonus is a progressive, psychedelic krautrock gem featuring warm, analog synthesizers and […]
After two successful albums with Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, Joe Farrell, and her husband Airto Moreira as Return to Forever, Flora Purim launched her solo career on New […]
One of the all-time great Brazilian Tropicalia albums, Estudando do Samba (or Studying The Samba) sits in that magical zone of wildly creative music with experimental qualities that […]
“Jaco is a phenomenon. He is able to make sounds on the bass that are a total surprise to the sensibilities. Not only single notes, but chords, harmonics, […]
Master of the “wah wah” pedal, Melvin Ragin aka guitarist Wah Wah Watson served in the Motown house band throughout the 70’s and has played on albums by […]
Thirsty Moon… we first heard “Südwind” on Chee Shimizu’s excellent “Follow My Dream” mix on the Lovefingers blog. Released on seminal kraut label Brain, Blitz features some seriously infectious […]
This album needs little introduction… Life on Mars is a space-funk classic from the oft-sampled synthesizer guru Dexter Wansel. Inspired by David Bowie’s “Is There Life on Mars?”, […]
J.J. Cale might best be known for his tune “Cocaine,” which Eric Clapton famously covered on his Slowhand album, but there’s much more to the singer-songwriter than a […]
Studio One’s musical director Jackie Mittoo is one of our all-time favorite Jamaican musicians. A founding member of the legendary Skatalites, Mittoo’s keyboards, compositions, and production appear on […]
A perfect record for sunny days, this classic record under Roy Ayers’ Ubiquity umbrella is full of funky anthems. The inaugural track “ Hey, Uh, What You Say […]
Japanese traditional music meets jazz, prog, and psych rock on this masterpiece by Osamu Kitajima on Island Records sub-label Antilles. Released during a time when a majority of […]
Anatolian rock was deeply influenced by the psychedelic cultural movements of the 1970s, and Barış Manço played an important role in developing the style that defined the genre. […]
If Djavan was even a bit more talented of a soccer player, it’s possible he may have never become the iconic Brazilian singer-songwriter that we know today. He […]
Lee “Scratch” Perry earned his almost mythical status as a producer by shaping the genesis of some of the most important modern musical movements, from reggae to dub […]
An obscure jazz-rock holy grail from Sweden that touches on elements of pastoral folk as well as progressive rock, but ultimately sounds quite unlike any of the aforementioned […]
If spacey electronics are your thing, this is your record! Released in 1976, Patrick Vian’s Bruit et Temps Analogues, was way ahead of its time in terms of […]
Joni Mitchell’s 8th studio album Hejira has the imagery of highways, small towns and snow, in large part because it was written on a cross country road trip […]
A free form jazz guitar record by a pioneer of the genre. Metheny plays with a carefree breezy dexterity here, yet manages to keep things tight with his […]
If you have a road trip playlist, this album is a perfect addition. There are some songs that just make you want to hit the road and embrace […]
Featured in Chee Shimizu’s Obscure Sound guidebook for record collectors, Bazar De Los Milagros is a masterpiece album from one of the true legends of Argentinian rock. Nebbia […]
Hard Candy, Ned Doheny’s blue eyed soul opus, offers a lesson in everything going right for a record, yet still failing commercially. After his debut album failed to […]
Charlie Haden’s Closeness is comprised of 4 duet collaboration based melodies crafted by Haden. On each number, Haden (the bassist) pushes the musical envelope playing opposite an artist […]
One of the most sensual records of all time. Janis Gaye, whom the album is dedicated to, recalls “I’m pretty sure if you took a poll of how […]
