1981

John Martyn’s attempt at going mainstream, Glorious Fool was released by Warner Elektra Atlantic, produced by his close friend / Genesis drummer Phil Collins, and featured Eric Clapton […]

Cult Japanese avant-garde group Mariah is best-known for their 1983 masterpiece Utakata No Hibi. Led by saxophonist Yasuaki Shimizu (who released that incredible Kakashi album), the group includes other […]

Experiments With Ice were a short-lived English coldwave band that released one self-titled album on United Diaries subsidiary Experimental Records in 1981. Not much else is known about […]

One of his best post-Brian Jackson Arista albums, Reflections is Gil Scott-Heron’s return to spoken word and more poetry-oriented songs versus the more pop and hook-driven approach of […]

An underrated release from the vast ECM catalog, Faces is the second album from French horn player John Clark and his only appearance on Manfred Eicher’s revered jazz […]

Billy “Bang” Walker was a a student of Leroy Jenkins who developed his own personal style of avant-garde free jazz violin by imitating Eric Dolphy’s style at the […]

You Brought The Sunshine is a highly acclaimed studio album released by the legendary Detroit gospel group, The Clark Sisters. The album marked a significant milestone in their […]

Gino Soccio released his third album in 1981 titled Closer, consisting of 6 major tunes that hit every emotion. The opening song “Try It Out,” is a disco […]

“Dream Theory In Malaya is titled after a paper by visionary anthropologist Kilton Stewart, who in 1935 visited a remarkable highland tribe of Malayan aborigines, the Senoi, whose […]

Debra Laws is the sister of Hubert Laws, Ronnie Laws & Eloise Laws; talent obviously runs in the family. Very Special is the first solo record Debra made […]

A dollar bin classic featuring the incredible 18.5-minute long “Macho City,” a near masterpiece which was played by David Mancuso at his legendary Loft parties. While Steve Miller […]

The essential ambient masterpiece from Titanic and Avatar composer Michael Stearns… “I imagined myself shot out of the Earth’s resonance. We were Earth sensors sent out to bounce […]

A crucial and once overlooked Japanese band, Ichiko Hashimoto and Atsuo Fujimoto’s Colored Music formed in 1980 after both musicians took part in Yellow Magic Orchestra’s first tour […]

An EBM classic that influenced generations of artists from around the world, Liaisons Dangereuses is the debut and lone LP by Düsseldorf-based producers Beate Bartel and Chrislo Haas […]

Originally issued on Salsoul Records in ’81, Logg is the undisputed masterpiece by the godfather of boogie, Leroy Burgess. Burgess first made a name for himself as the […]

An underrated gem from one of the Japanese jazz greats, Susto is essentially Masabumi Kikuchi doing his best Miles Davis electric period impression… and it works! Kikuchi brings […]

Considered the bridge between his punk-funk experiments on Dirty Mind and his first mainstream hit 1999, Controversy sees Prince take a step out of the deep eroticism of […]

Internal conflicts, contract obligations, touring commitments… The Stones were dealing with the whole nine when tasked to turn in a new album to follow up their underwhelming 1980 […]

Detroit’s Wendell Harrison is as much a teacher as he is an acclaimed reed player. Besides playing alongside numerous greats like Marvin Gaye, Sun Ra, and Aretha Franklin, […]

Walias Band was formed in Ethiopia’s capital of Addis Ababa in the early 70’s during a tumultuous time.  The band remained prolific alongside contemporaries like legendary vibraphone player […]

Years before releasing her seminal solo work Through the Looking Glass, Japanese percussionist Midori Takada led an ensemble of percussionists exploring African drum traditions, environmental music, and minimalism. […]

Partially recorded in Los Angeles, Izumi “Mimi” Kobayashi’s Coconuts High is a perfect tropical fusion album featuring American studio legends Abraham Laboriel (Quincy Jones), Paul Jackson (Patrice Rushen), […]

Featured in the “Psychedelic” section of Chee Shimizu’s Obscure Sound disc guide, Phase II – Go Go Pongs is the second and last album by amateur guitarist Klaus […]

Low Profile is the first album by the laid-back Dutch guitar hero Spike Wolters, a little-known Oegstgeest bedroom artist who home-recorded and privately released a series of progressive, […]

Simone Bittencourt de Oliveira, better known as just Simone, is one of the most popular Brazilian MPB singers of all time. She sold more records than any other […]

On Sonidos De Aquel Dia, which translates to “Sounds of that Day”, two talented young prodigies come together to deliver a melodic, latin fusion masterpiece. Bassist César Franov, […]

Ghanian band Edikanfo’s manager had the idea to get Brian Eno on board to produce the the group’s debut album. Eno had some visibility in the West African […]

The result of over a decade of comprehensive research on the pre-Columbian instrumentation of Mesoamerica, Ipan In Xiktli Metztli is Mexican multi-instrumentalist Luis Pérez’s debut album and magnum […]

Walter Bachauer’s solo debut under the alias Clara Mondshine is a brilliant example of early ambient music born out of the 70’s Berlin School movement, an offshoot of […]

Deutsche Wertarbeit is the brilliant and lone solo release by Dorothea Raukes, ex-singer of the prog-rock group Streetmark, and one of very few female artists operating in the […]

When Bernard Wright released his debut album ‘Nard in 1981, he was only 18 years old. The only son of Roberta Flack had generated quite a bit of […]

The first release on the legendary On-U Sound label featuring members of The Slits, The Pop Group, Roots Radics, Aswad, Raincoats and Flying Lizards, The New Age Steppers […]

A highly underrated lovers rock classic. Bassist George Oban formed “Motion” to explore his own unique musical ideas after leaving the legendary UK reggae group Aswad. His departure […]

A costly vinyl rarity until 2018 when Frederiksberg Records released a reissue, Goodbyes and Beginnings is a cult classic that sounds like the lovechild of 60’s folk and […]

Though released to little fanfare in 1981, like all bizarre and wonderful records Point of View has gained an underground following over the years, with record collectors spending […]

Recorded in just 5 hours on a four-track recorder purchased from illustrious producer Bill Nelson and later overdubbed with drummer and percussionist Bruce Mitchell, Durutti Column’s second and […]

A timeless masterpiece by Simon Jeffes’ Penguin Cafe Orchestra. PCO’s sound is difficult to categorize but perhaps best summed up as a mishmash of Jeffes’ eclectic influences – […]

One of the all time great instrumental dub albums, East of the River Nile ticks all the boxes… It was recorded at legendary studios Channel One, King Tubby’s, and […]

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