scorched earth - various artists
how great must it be having the power to delve into one of the world greatest archives and compiling an album of completely disconnected tracks, being able to come up with the best party sound track that doesn't jump on any current advertising campaign or big name hits to pull in the punters, and will hopefully introduce people some truly wonderful lost treasures.
well i say disconnected .. there is one thread throughout. the tracks are all from late 60's and 70's, a period which saw many bands mixing up their predefined genres with a whole host of outer world influences, so there's classic rock stylings, a dash of jazz, and a hint towards the powerful funk rock fusion movement all blended together to make an excellent collection. basically these tracks are, in the main, seriously funky, and as an added extra they rock the joint. so, for anyone that has picked up the recent cherrystones mix ('hidden charms') of psyche rock and underground garage nuggets then this is a perfect companion piece, with its blaring horns, hip hop loops (sure i have heard snippets that have been sampled elsewhere - and if they haven't then they bloody well will be now !), blues-y grunts, hammond organ riffs all matched against distorted twang guitar, hard edged harmonica solos and the odd naughty pharmaceuticals reference thrown in for good measure, ike and tina of course !
featuring a couple of well known names performing less well known sections of their catalogues (hank marvin and the steve miller ban step away from their radio friendly historie) but most of the rest of the line up is comprised of totally new names to me, but having spun this several times i know i'm off to find out more about 'joy of cooking', ccs, and the excellently named 'hoodoo rhythm devils', making this 70 minutes quite simply - brilliant ..
track listing
Joy Of Cooking : Home Town Man
Harvey Mandel : I Donšt Need No Doctor
Lothar & The Hand People : Sister Lonely
Terry Reid : Superlungs My Super Girl
CCS : Primitive Love
Sugarloaf : Green Eyed Lady - full LP version
Hank Marvin : Sunday for Seven Days
Ike & Tina Turner : Contact High
The Steve Miller Band : Got Love Cause You Need It
The Sadistic Mika Band : Silver Child
Birtha : Can't Stop The Madness
Quicksilver Messenger Service : California State Correctional Facility Blues
Ashton Gardner & Dyke : Let It Roll
Bob Downes : Don't Let Tomorrow Get You Down
Sounds Nice : Why Do I Do It
Hoodoo Rhythm Devils : Hoodoo Beats