Browse by Label: EM RECORDS (JAPAN)

Artist:	MOORE, SAM
Title:	Moooohieee!
Label:	EM RECORDS (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$20.00
Catalog #:	EM 1040CD

2002 reissue in stock for the first time. Innovator of the octo-chorda (an open/alternate-tuned eight-string steel guitar), banjo, singing saw, inflated rubber balloon, and various other "household instruments," Floridian Samuel Pasco Moore (1887-1959) -- not to be confused the Sam & Dave soul shooter -- was a darling both in NYC and on the vaudeville circuit during his 1920s heyday. While novelty acts suffered the pitfalls of most soft-soapers, Moore's sound is startling, heavenly, haunted Southern folk, Hawaiian and ragtime, the ghosts of Stephen Foster, and the stretching, endlessly splayed void that he carelessly toys with. Moooohieee!, his first compendium, on which he plays the octo-chorda and singing saw in duo settings, collects 13 of the man's unknown amount of sides. Only two others have seen digital release, and as far as we can tell, he had not a single LP moment.

        Today remarkably obscure, there appears nary a whiff of this unheard heavy in the noses of some of the biggest pre-war provocateurs in these parts. Glenn Jones reports that a) he's unaware of the man and b) John Fahey never mentioned him. Fahey's encyclopedic knowledge of the era -- and being pals with 78 heavyweight Joe Bussard -- probably led to at least his awareness of Moore's "Laughing Rag." It was a seller in its day, not forgotten in later years, and sounds like another coin jingling in the Takoma bag. But the real cream here is the singing saw material, which Moore performed on regular old off-the-farm toothed blade handsaws. If the other excellent saw records on EM are any kind of snort, Sam Moore is a giant of that universe. I mean, this cracker sounds like he's bowing the fucking earth, people.

        Some of these mysteries will hopefully be solved, bringing him into the light alongside Emmett Miller, John Jacob Niles, and the folk-blues giants. But for now, answers ain't exactly forthcoming. EM pulls out most of the stops for their amazing releases, but English liner notes are not among them. In this collected form, let's say Moooohieee! works as the Song Cycle of its day, with all the people's music mashed into one big holy huge. --Kris Price

Artist:	ANDROID SISTERS, THE
Title:	The Best of the Android Sisters
Label:	EM RECORDS (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$20.00
Catalog #:	EM 1041CD

The concept of The Android Sisters was based on the novel Do the Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick, the original inspiration for the fab sci-fi film Blade Runner. Also, they thought it would be a funny play on the Andrew Sisters as androids. This CD collects 1984's LP Songs of Electronic Despair, issued on Vanguard Records, plus bonus tracks. An odd combination of MIDI/Synclavier musical genre-hopping, dual femme robot-disco vox, satire, and social commentary.

Artist:	FASSETT, JIM
Title:	Symphony of the Birds
Label:	EM RECORDS (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$20.00
Catalog #:	EM 1044CD

EM Records is a w-e-i-r-d Japanese reissue label that is slowly taking the world by storm. Very experimental/eccentric recordings, lovingly re-presented -- all officially licensed from the original artists, with deluxe packaging and sound. Symphony of the Birds is a CD reissue of the historical 1950s LP, featuring a three-track multi-speed tape collage, "Symphony," made by ONLY nature's birdsongs (it's REAL), plus regular-speed and time-stretched field recordings, and explanations from the man himself. Jim Fassett was the musical director of CBS radio in the '50s-'60s, and also famous as the author of another concrete work, Strange to Your Ears in the '50s. The kinda roots of recent field recordings/drones stuff. Total birdsong mania! Huge booklet of photos and (mostly Japanese-only) texts -- so big that EM actually uses a slightly larger-than-normal jewel case to make it fit!

Artist:	YOUNG, ROLAND P.
Title:	Isophonic Boogie Woogie
Label:	EM RECORDS (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$20.00
Catalog #:	EM 1045CD

Reissue of the legendary 5-track first LP (plus 2 bonus tracks) from horn wizard and original underground FM radio DJ Roland P. Young, featuring soprano sax, clarinet, and electronically-processed bass clarinet. An enjoyable outing from a neglected musician. Cosmic Afro-minimal electronic winds recorded in 1970s San Francisco. Classic explorations from the dude who was responsible for the legendary Infinite Sound LP on Arch 1750.

Artist:	IASOS
Title:	Inter-Dimensional Music
Label:	EM RECORDS (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$20.00
Catalog #:	EM 1050CD

CD reissue of the 1978 debut LP by the original new age music legend, Iasos. Fifteen tracks (including 3 bonus tracks) of original analog bliss. It is NOT the typical sounds of the average new age music found throughout the '80s, it is a trippy, exotic psych sound having roots in '60s West Coast experimental music. A cornerstone of new age music by real new agers. "l find lasos' inter-dimensional music needing new words to describe it. I feel as though I were entering a new world -- a new and very profoundly beautiful world. --Buckminster Fuller

Artist:	LEONARD, JIM
Title:	Super Saw
Label:	EM RECORDS (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$20.00
Catalog #:	EM 1052CD

The second release in Em Records' series of "musical saw" releases. A compilation of tracks from three Jim Leonard private press LPs from the 1980s (with one previously-unreleased track). Famous as the author of the one and only musical saw book Scratch My Back, Jim "Supersaw" Leonard, self-taught musical saw master. Nineteen tracks recorded during the late '70s to mid-'80s. Vibrato-heavy, Theremin-like renderings of all your favorite chestnuts, with magnificent backing. Much love for the musical saw.

Artist:	ROSENBOOM, DAVID
Title:	Brainwave Music
Label:	EM RECORDS (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$20.00
Catalog #:	EM 1054CD

CD reissue of biofeedback/brainwave music masterpieces from 1971 to 1974, using analog synthesizers, piano, and text. Includes a bonus track, a previously-unreleased 2001 piece featuring biofeedback-driven computer synthesis, violin and oboe. With original cover art. Listed in Alan Licht's "Minimalism Top 10 Pt. 3": "The sidelong 'Portable Gold and Philosopher's Stones (Music from Brains in Fours)' uses brain waves to trigger synths. A spiraling, oozing piece, it's the best analog synth minimalism I've heard this side of David Borden, Horacio Vaggione's 'Ending', or Keith Fullerton Whitman's release on Heavy Tapes. The other tracks, 'Chilean Draught' and 'Piano Etude (Alpha)' use rapid-fire, repetitive piano figures, like Fred Rzewski on speed or something, combined with an odd and effective text about environmental disaster in South America on the former and more brain waves on the latter." -- Alan Licht

Artist:	EATON, WILLIAM
Title:	Music By William Eaton
Label:	EM RECORDS (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$20.00
Catalog #:	EM 1059CD

Originally released in 1978, this was a private-press album from an experimental stringed instrument builder (the photos of said instruments in this booklet are mindblowing). First time re-issue on CD. "When I started building instruments, playing guitar took on a whole new dimension. The process of envisioning the design, drawing the plans, making templates, cutting, carving, and gluing revealed new insights about the construction, inner workings and physical mechanics of guitars and stringed instruments. From the conception to the birth of each instrument, new layers of meaning unfolded. During this time I sought out quiet natural environments to play and listen to the 'voice' of my 6-string, 12-string, 26-string (Elesion Harmonium) and double neck quadraphonic electric guitar. Deep canyons contained a beautiful resonant quality and echo. A starlit night with a full moon provided all the reflection and endless space by which to project music into the cosmos. The sound of a bubbling stream and singing birds added a natural symphonic tapestry to a melody or chord pattern. These were solo sessions where I felt integrally connected to all that was happening. As I perceived it, everything was participating in a serendipitous dance. Everything was part of the music. I decided to record an instrumental album of music. The idea was simple; it would be a series of tone poems with no titles or any information attached, only the words 'Music by William Eaton.' It was conceived as a limited edition of 1000 copies, with no more to be pressed. While some of the songs evolved out of composed chord progressions, most of the songs were played spontaneously, only on the occasion of the recording. These improvised songs haven't been played since." --William Eaton

Artist:	MCLEAN, BARTON & PRISCILLA
Title:	Electronic Landscapes
Label:	EM RECORDS (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$20.00
Catalog #:	EM 1060CD

Originally issued in 1979, first time on CD with bonus tracks. Although Barton and his wife Priscilla McLean have had a long and distinguished history of LP and compact disc albums throughout their professional composer/performer career, this album is unique in that it is the first one to present, on one CD, such a broad and comprehensive picture of their purely electronic music, spanning 1975 through 2001. Interestingly, although their materials and equipment have changed, their ideas of musical composition are still basically the same, creating a unity throughout the CD. From the liner notes: "When Bart introduced me to the new studio with the Synthi-100, I stared unbelievingly: here was a huge synthesizer, along a whole wall, with hundreds of push-pins (a matrix setup for connecting sounds, rather than the old patch cords), and 22 oscillators! The Synthi-256 Digital Sequencer was a full-sized keyboard, standing alone diagonally to the analog synthesizer, but connected internally. In that studio with the giant machines, one raced from one end of the room to another to play and record the sounds, never sitting down, and in removing unwanted noise or editing out a recorded section, the composer had to take a metal splicing block and sharp razor blade, and pressing down very hard, cut through the 1" wide acetate tape in two places, remove the unwanted time segment, and rejoin the two remaining ends with special splicing tape! So we three -- Bruce, Bart, and I worked all our spare time, alternating with each other, in the I.U.S.B. Studio. I spent whole days there, sometimes 22 hours long, working and working to get just the right sound-combinations and record them." --Priscilla McLean

Artist:	LEGENDARY STARDUST COWBOY, THE
Title:	Paralyzed!: His Vintage Recordings 1968-1981
Label:	EM RECORDS (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$20.00
Catalog #:	EM 1061CD

Killer presentation of the earliest recordings of this Texas hero, including all 4 of his singles for the Mercury label, cut in the late '60s. Also including unreleased tracks and the 1984 album, Rock-it To Stardum. Typically great EM Records booklet with old photos and lyrics, etc. It might be the weirdest piece of music ever committed to tape in Fort Worth. On "Paralyzed," an explosion of madness recorded at Sound City Studios on Camp Bowie Boulevard in 1968, the Legendary Stardust Cowboy thrashes away at a single guitar chord over a rudimentary two-beat, tunelessly bellowing indecipherable lyrics and whooping like an Indian in an old Western movie. In the middle of the song, there's a drum solo that sounds like someone dropping trash cans down a flight of stairs, followed by a blatting bugle. The pandemonium starts up again only to subside, like the end of an epileptic seizure. Hearing the song for the first time is disorienting, to say the least. Its impact is both hilarious and primal. Norman Carl Odam is an unlikely musical hero. That's the name the Lege's parents gave him when he was born, in Lubbock in 1947. But since high school, he's called himself the Legendary Stardust Cowboy. He has an extremely limited vocal range, has trouble singing in time, and can barely play his instruments. Yet, some surprising people like him. Chameleon-like British rocker David Bowie based his Ziggy Stardust character on the Lege after receiving a copy of "Paralyzed" from Mercury Records upon signing with the label in 1968. Bowie even covered Odam's song "I Took a Trip (On A Gemini Spaceship)" on his 2002 Heathen CD. Joe Ely, who grew up with Odam in Lubbock, has said that his old friend "might be the greatest jazz musician ever to come out of West Texas." Ely's claim sounds preposterous, but it's still indicative of a degree of bewildered admiration. As for Norman Odam, these days he works as a night watchman in a Santa Clara bank. His current band -- bassist Klaus Fluoride (formerly of San Francisco punk originators, the Dead Kennedys), guitarist Jay Rosen, and Meyers -- works regularly around the Bay Area and even played a show in France with punk-era figures Alan Vega, Lydia Lunch, and Sigue Sigue Sputnik. Odam's been featured in Songs in the Key of Z, Irwin Chusid's book on "outsider" music, and Lubbock Lights, a documentary about his homeboys the Flatlanders.

Artist:	ACKAMOOR, IDRIS
Title:	Music of Idris Ackamoor 1971-2004
Label:	EM RECORDS (JAPAN)
Format:	2CD
Price:	$25.50
Catalog #:	EM 1062CD

2CD collection of the ex-leader of legendary Afro-spiritual/deep funk/free jazz group from 1970s Ohio (later in SF), The Pyramids. Their music is one of the most deep attempts by African-Americans, deep sounds like Strata-East, aggressive performances like Tribe or Black Jazz, every free jazz/funk collector should agree on it. Featuring 10 pieces of The Pyramids taken from their 3 albums and unreleased (!) recordings (including their first live recording in Holland!). Notably, The Pyramids had even stayed in African countries like Morocco, Ghana, Kenya and Ethiopia and studied real African culture and music there in the early 1970s. Do you know other African-American jazz musicians who had done such a road trip in the early 1970s?? Also featuring the never-heard pre-Pyramids, P. Sanders and Strata East recording as The Collective, and 4 pieces from the late '70s to '00s, recording as Idris Ackamoor Quartet/Ensemble. Sixteen pieces in total. Ackamoor owns all original master tapes (it's a miracle!) and Em Records checked them all and compiled their finest and best cuts. All digitally re-mastered in excellent sound shapes. This 2CD set will be housed in a big "DUO" case with complete English liner notes written by Ackamoor himself, a bunch of rare photos and session data, etc. This is one of the best CDs that EM Records has ever produced.

Artist:	LERMAN, RICHARD
Title:	Music Of Richard Lerman 1964-1987
Label:	EM RECORDS (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$25.50
Catalog #:	EM 1063CD

Every bicycle rider will dream of "Music for Bicycles," if it really exists. Sure, you know "Bicycle" sung by Queen, and "Tour de France" by Kraftwerk, but REAL bicycle music DOES exist! Travelon Gamelon (Music for Bicycles), realized by the sound artist Richard Lerman used real bicycles as musical instruments. Performed in the 1970s-1980s, he realized that the music for bicycles sounded like gamelan music in Southeast Asia. No joke, it's serious, a real true story. Travelon Gamelon had only ever been released as an album on Folkways Records in 1983, including 4 tracks of promenade and concert versions. It was long out of print and became a very hard to find, sought-after album for experimental/industrial music fans. This long-awaited re-issue is its first-ever CD release. This one and only original performance is not only an unrivaled experimental piece but also is the ultimate "industrial" music that will appeal to heavy noise/industrial music listeners. Music Of Richard Lerman1964-1987 is a 2CD collection, with the Travelon Gamelon (Music for Bicycles) album on disc one with an unissued bonus track. And disc two features other various soundworks of Lerman's entire pieces performed and recorded from 1964-1987. Both discs are CD-Extra (CD enhanced) including movies of his scarce performances on QuickTime and scores/diagrams for those works on PDF file. The liner notes were written by Arthur Sabatini and Richard Lerman himself. English & Japanese texts. A lot of photos within a heavy booklet, as usual. Packed in a duo case (same as the Idris Ackamoor 2CD set).

Artist:	LOCKWOOD, ANNEA
Title:	Early Works 1967-82
Label:	EM RECORDS (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$20.00
Catalog #:	EM 1064CD

EM's original selection of Annea Lockwood's early works, which had once featured in Source: Music of the Avant Garde, a now-legendary magazine for new and experimental music from 1967-1973. This CD includes the album Glass World (originally issued on Tangent Records in England, 1970), and trippy, ritual shamanic tape piece "Tiger Balm" (1970). Also her most notable works, series performances "Piano Transplants (1967-1982)" is now re-realized in one single special booklet, containing "Piano Burning," "Piano Garden," etc. Annea Lockwood was born in Christchurch, New Zealand in 1939 and lived in London and Cologne from 1961-1972, studying at the Royal College of Music and the Musikhochschule, K�ln, and also freelanced as a composer-performer. Since 1973, she has lived in Peekskill, New York, and taught on the faculty of music at Vassar College, New York from 1982-2001. Her music has been presented in North America, Britain, France, Germany, Austria, The Netherlands, Scandinavia, Italy, Belgium, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand.

Artist:	CHILDISH & THE BLACKHANDS, WILD BILLY
Title:	Play: Captain Calypso's Hoodoo Party
Label:	EM RECORDS (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$20.00
Catalog #:	EM 1065CD

Britain's bohemian/beat, poetry/writer, and musician who headed The Milkshakes and The Headcoast, Billy Childish appeared as Wild Billy playing Caribbean music with his one-night group The Blackhands (what a cool name!). Whole tunes were recorded in a kitchen room in 1988, using only one microphone in the span of a single day. Assembling a coterie of friends and players as the Blackhands -- notably including a trumpeter, one Dave -- Childish turned in a loose and lively romp through originals and covers both -- yet one more collection of rough and tumble wiggery from the man. Hoodoo is the sound of folks playing for their own enjoyment and having a fun time while they're at it. It's not quite rock, not exactly calypso, definitely not lounge, and not really big band jazz, but somehow the Blackhands make it all sound like a fusion of it all, like a record dropped somewhere out of the '30s or the late '40s into the present. Childish sends his vocals through some light effects, or maybe it's just the mike, giving it a mid-century scratchiness. His banjo takes the basic lead, but Dave's trumpet provides the flair, and even if it's not always note-perfect, that's hardly the point. Vocals from Ludella and Kyra provide a nice contrast, sometimes taking lead and sometimes pairing up with Childish in duets, while Seamus on accordion adds more fills and fun to it all. Everything kicks off with the old standard "Rum 'n Coca-Cola," delivered with an infectious glee -- the punchy drums from Richard add to the entertainment. Other oldies include the calypso number "Underneath The Mango Tree," "I Love Paris (In The Springtime)," and the Champs' legendary instrumental "Tequila." Even The Sex Pistols' anthem is given a hilarious and energetic run-through. Hearing Childish play the opening riff on banjo is reason enough to give this an ear.

Artist:	FARM
Title:	The Innermost Limits of Pure Fun
Label:	EM RECORDS (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$20.00
Catalog #:	EM 1066CD

Legendary independent soundtrack recording to the classic 1969 surf movie The Innermost Limits of Pure Fun, directed by George Greenough. The soundtrack was written, performed and produced by American surfer group, Farm. Farm's lead guitarist Denny Aaberg was a keen surfer and later became a well-known surf writer; the movie Big Wednesday (1978) is based on his novel about his surfing youth. Other members of Farm include bassist Phill Pritchard, guitarist Ernie Knapp, both of whom played with The Beach Boys in the 1980s-1990s, and the Dragon brothers Doug and Dennis (organ and drums respectively on this soundtrack). Dennis also has a Beach Boys link, having done sound work for them. Dennis became a busy surf soundtrack producer in the 1970s, did some early work with Van Halen, and was a member of the Surf Punks. An additional musician on this soundtrack is Daryl Dragon (The "Captain" in Captain & Tennille), who collaborated with Dennis Wilson. Daryl and Dennis Dragon produced about 30 albums in their Malibu studio. This album is the only release from this historical surfer quintet. The movie is very well-known and brought an epoch-making "street" style to surf films for the next decades, and is still a long-time favorite of many people. The fine soundtrack performances by Farm helped to promote the streetwise feeling of the film. No Annette, no Jan & Dean, no beach party anymore. People agreed the soundtrack -- jazz, blues and psychedelia-based -- was totally tremendous and birthed a new surf style. The trippy and imaginative sounds go well with the atmosphere of the Greenough film. The soundtrack has a strong reputation based on the reaction of viewers. However, despite the word-of-mouth fame, the existence of the original soundtrack album was known only to serious record collectors or surfers, as it was released privately (the original LP has no label credit or address), with only 1000 copies pressed. Distribution was limited to the U.S. West Coast, mainly surf shops, with some mail-order distribution. The album was illegally issued (with a different cover) in the early 1970s in Australia. Though Greenough is well-known for his superb underwater camera work on Big Wednesday and his later surf classic Crystal Voyager, The Innermost Limits of Pure Fun is the origin of his work.

Artist:	MARTIN & FINCH, PETER
Title:	Drouyn
Label:	EM RECORDS (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$20.00
Catalog #:	EM 1067CD

Drouyn (aka Drouyn and Friends) is a cult Australian 1974 surf movie that was produced by Aussie surf filmmaker Bob Evans and filmed on location around the world over an 8-month period. It was his 14th surf film. The soundtrack featured music from Peter Martin and also the hard rock group Finch. Martin's contributions, both songs and instrumental pieces, are richly-orchestrated, using a wide variety of wind instruments, keyboards, and strings (shamisen on one track), with an intelligently funky, mellow and exotic feel, pleasantly smooth, with strong melodies and clever arrangements. Nearly every song on the album blends into each other, almost like a mix-tape. The three offerings from Finch (AC/DC bassist Mark Evans was a one-time member) are solid rockers with classic guitar playing and a solid bass sound. You'll feel your hair grow!

Artist:	TULLY
Title:	Sea of Joy
Label:	EM RECORDS (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$20.00
Catalog #:	EM 1068CD

First time on CD and reissue of the music from the classic Australian surf movie filmed by Paul Witzig in 1971, starring Wayne Lynce, Nat Young and Ted Spencer. Filmed in Australia, Mauritius, South Africa, Oahu and Kauai. The music was all written and performed by a psychedelic rock acid folk outfit called Tully featuring Richard Lockwood and Michael Carlos. The band that recorded Sea of Joy was the precocious child of two very different creatures, Tully the First (wild, psychedelic and spiritual progressive rock) and Extradition (ethereal acid folk sounds, later survived by the album Hush). They played together once, then became Tully the Second. The music they played for the soundtrack was engrossing and particularly enchanting, and still is. You may find there will be nothing to compare such a recording with -- not even other surf soundtracks or surfing-related music in the whole of surf music history (even now). Deep-psych-progressive-rock-acid-folk surf in the early 1970s! Some tracks were heard on the movie, but many of them are different versions and arrangements for this album, in a much higher audio quality than we hear on the original film. Sea of Joy, a title borrowed from the Blind Faith song of the same name (featured on the group's 1969 self-titled longplayer), was, as a film, a relaxing experience, instead of the usual story or travelogue. Uncrowded waves from Australia to Africa to Hawaii were a strong feature of the film and there was a serene beauty to the production. Geoff Watson in his review of the film in the surfing tabloid Tracks (issue #8) commented, "Paul Witzig takes us into his child's world in his newest film. It is a world of puppy dogs and slow motion pony rides, of fish eye gnomes and laughing faces. The grown-ups are friendly and very kind and every day is a holiday." A style and sound that won them inclusion in Lillian Roxon's highly-acclaimed Rock Encyclopedia. In fact, Tully were the only truly Australian group included in the book. Recorded at EMI's studios in Castlereagh Street, Sydney, the end result was a mixture of ethereal odes and tantalizing melodies. The organ-dominated title theme was mesmerizing -- it captured the mood of the film perfectly, even if many people missed the point.

Artist:	TAMAM SHUD
Title:	Evolution
Label:	EM RECORDS (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$20.00
Catalog #:	EM 1069CD

Featuring the songs from another classic Australian surf movie filmed by Paul Witzig in 1969, played by an Australian group called Tamam Shud. This surfer quartet featured Lindsay Bjerre and Tim Gaze -- both of them successful for their solo career. Tamam Shud was one of the most original and innovative Australian groups of the late '60s and early '70s. They played a very important part as pioneers of acid-rock and progressive music. For many years after they split, they were something of a cult, and their original recordings were (and still are) very hard to obtain. But thanks to a gratifying "comeback," and some commercial success with their 1994 album Permanent Culture, and the driving, bluesy single "Stay," there has been a significant revival of interest in this outstanding and original group, and it sparked interest in this classic band with younger listeners as well. The evolution of Shud was typical of many groups of the era, beginning as an instrumental band, through "beat" pop songs and psychedelia, to progressive rock. From the original line-up (The Sunsets), through to Evolution, Goolutionites, Morning Of The Earth and Permanent Culture line-ups, the lingering "surf band" tag linked them with Sydney's northern beach surf culture. In reality, they established their major fan base on Sydney's university and college dance circuit, and with the "hippy" audiences at inner city underground venues like the Mandala Theatre in Darlinghurst and the Beacon Theatre in Newtown. A bonus track, "Bali Waters" features Richard Lockwood (from Tully) playing his ethereal flute on a mystical, psychedelic instrumental tune which is one of the highlights of this CD.

Artist:	TIM GAZE BAND, THE
Title:	Band on the Run
Label:	EM RECORDS (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$20.00
Catalog #:	EM 1070CD

Made with the assistance of Coca-Cola Bottlers Australia and the Australian Film Commission, the film Band on the Run appeared briefly and then vanished, as did the accompanying soundtrack LP earmarked for release by Festival Records in mid-1982. However, Festival Records "jumped the gun" somewhat and pressed up a limited number of "promotional" copies, some of which were distributed before the release was cancelled. Of the 13 selections included on the soundtrack LP, eight were supplied by The Tim Gaze Band who also appeared in the film performing their material. The remaining tunes were all by American J.J. Cale, a Tulsa, Oklahoma musician renowned for his "soft yet rasping voice" and "weirdly haunting guitar style." As for the Australian content of the package, ex-Tamam Shud lead guitarist Tim Gaze and his group (Robbie France-Shaw on drums, Harry Curtis on bass, Peter Bolton on keyboards and Annette Henery on backing vocals) provided an assortment of vocal and instrumental tunes, most of which contained direct lyrical affinity with the surfing lifestyle. Of their eight contributions, Gaze wrote five outright and collaborated on two with the film's producer/director Harry Hodge (who supplied the lyrics) and one with Suzanne Petersen. Of these, Gaze sang the lead vocal on all except the Petersen-Gaze collaboration "Lazy Day Fever" which instead featured co-writer Petersen in the vocal spotlight. Petersen, who also played flute and guitar, performed live with The Tim Gaze Band at its inception. The connection that brought The Tim Gaze Band together with the film's director/producer Harry Hodge came via group member Peter Bolton's friendship with Wayne "Rabbit" Bartholomew, one of the "stars" of the film. "Rabbit" introduced Bolton and Gaze to Hodge and a deal was struck, the result of which was the group's contributions to Band on the Run.

Artist:	RAY, BRENDA
Title:	Walatta
Label:	EM RECORDS (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$20.00
Catalog #:	EM 1071CD

Certainly the most unusual reggae album ever made. Augustus Pablo, King Tubby, Asha Puthli with Ornette Coleman, Lonnie Liston Smith and Pharoah Sanders -- very disturbing slices of psycho-dub/doo-wop/jazz-fusion/exotica music. Her breathy Chordettes meets Susan Cadgan vocals, multi-tracked whisperings about inter-galactic Bluebeat starlights over what sounds like a modulated cut of heavy rhythm. Brenda Ray will be familiar to observers of the Liverpool scene as part of the NAFFI organization through the '80s, also famed as Brenda & The Beachballs. Over the past years, together with cohort Sir Freddie Viadukt (aka The Minister of Noise), she has been aiding and abetting the reggae producer Roy Cousins, once of The Royals, in his program of remastering and reissuing selections from his Tamoki Wambesi imprint. Cousins suggested she record an album using original roots reggae tracks from original tapes. The whole album was overdubbed, played, recorded and mixed between 1995-2005 at NAFFI Studios. Everything was done by herself except the final mix-down with Sir Freddie. The cover photo has Brenda in a pose somewhere between Pharoah Sanders' Thembi and Augustus Pablo's East of the River Nile with a melodica pointed towards the water.

Artist:	MODERN SOUND QUARTET
Title:	Otinku
Label:	EM RECORDS (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$20.00
Catalog #:	EM 1072CD

The Modern Sound Quintet was formed by Rudy Smith, a Trinidadian master of the "pans" and a genuine jazz bebopper, in late 1960s Sweden. This international group of musicians features John Rochford (piano) from Barbados, Sigfried McIntosh (bass) from Surinam, George Allyn (drums) from Trinidad and Kofi Ayivor (congas) from Ghana. Lars Samuelson, a jazz trumpet player and producer in Sweden who heard this quite unique quintet, was captivated by their concept and sound, and asked them to record an album. Otinku, the resulting album, was recorded in Stockholm in 1971, produced by Samuelson, and originally released on the Odeon label, a subsidiary of EMI Finland. With an Afro-jazz/Caribbean orientation, the selections are a rich mixture of jazz standards and original compositions, including recently re-discovered killer funk tunes "Otinku" and "Sugar Daddy,"and a fine steel jazz version of "Bags Groove." The album was their only release and is now a sought-after item for steel pan/Caribbean music fans and vinyl diggers.

Artist:	SMITH, RUDY QUARTET
Title:	Still Around
Label:	EM RECORDS (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$20.00
Catalog #:	EM 1073CD

The album Still Around is the first record Rudy Smith made under his own name, and it is considered a classic and one of his best. In the long history of Pan music, both in Trinidad and internationally, this is one of the very few albums to feature Pan as the leading voice in a pure jazz setting. His group the Modern Sound Quintet played disco/reggae/jazz fusion, changing their name to the Modern Sound Corporation in the late 1970s. After extensive touring throughout Europe, they broke up in 1980. Rudy Smith moved to Denmark in 1983, where he decided to return to the music he loved, jazz and be-bop, forming the Rudy Smith Quartet. The group included Ole Mathiessen (piano), Niels Pr�stholm (bass) and a South African drummer, Gilbert Matthews. There is an international inspiration for the music on the 1984 album Still Around, featuring an Asian element, mixed with a dash of European, as well as American jazz. Rudy Smith is referred to as the jazz king of steel pans, and in Denmark as the father of the steel pan.

Artist:	WADA, YOSHI
Title:	Lament For The Rise and Fall of the Elephantine Crocodile
Label:	EM RECORDS (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$20.00
Catalog #:	EM 1074CD

Finally, a CD reissue of Yoshi Wada's most important and most rare LP, Lament For The Rise And Fall Of The Elephantine Crocodile, originally released in 1982 on the India Navigation label. Yoshi Wada is a Japanese sound installation artist and musician -- he moved to New York in the late 1960s, and became well-known as a Fluxus artist with links to La Monte Young, and has been involved in many performances and sound installations. However, he has released only two recordings, which are both hard to find. This CD contains two pieces: track 1 features a solo overtone voice (he studied with legendary Indian vocalist Pandit Pran Nath) recorded at the performance space Dry Pool (literally a dry pool that Wada slept in before this recording), with a deep underground echoing feeling. Track 2 displays Wada's trademark dense psychedelic drones using his "pipe horn," a home-made, bagpipe-like instrument. These wondrous sounds will take you to another, better world. 96khz/24bit digitally remastered complete full-length version (original LP edition was edited). Liner notes in English & Japanese.

Artist:	STEEL AN' SKIN
Title:	Reggae Is Here Once Again
Label:	EM RECORDS (JAPAN)
Format:	CD/DVD
Price:	$25.50
Catalog #:	EM 1075CD

Outstanding steel pan, disco and dub CD + DVD release and the third installment in Em Records' Steel Pan Series. Steel 'N' Skin were an Afro-Caribbean workshop band based in 1970s London, founded by Peter Blackman, featuring ex-members of 20th Century Steel Band (Grandmaster Flash's fave). Comprised of young nightclub musicians born in Ghana, Nigeria, St. Kitts, Trinidad and the UK, the group gave concerts and workshops in London schools, expanding nationwide to prisons, psychiatric hospitals and summer festivals. The group combined an admirably brave, open and unironic mix of musical forms with community outreach, non-cynical and untainted by preachiness or "social work." Gratifyingly intricate African ritual rhythms and strong vocals compliment reggae, funk, disco and soul influences to form a relentless groove machine. This EM reissue consists of Steel 'N' Skin's 1979 debut 12" single "Reggae Is Here Once Again," featuring "Afro Punk Reggae (Dub)," a fine disco-dub workout, plus two tracks from their 1984 LP Acid Rain as well as one unissued track. The documentary DVD by Steve Shaw features perceptive commentary from Steel 'N' Skin's founder Peter Blackman, killer live and rehearsal footage of the band, workshop scenes and devastating views of inner-city Liverpool. Including liner notes written by Peter Blackman, English/Japanese text and rare photos. DVD running-time approximately 34 minutes; All-Region; NTSC.

Artist:	WADA, YOSHI
Title:	The Appointed Cloud
Label:	EM RECORDS (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$20.00
Catalog #:	EM 1076CD

This is the first-ever release of the extraordinary 1987 performance of Yoshi Wada's interactive sound installation The Appointed Cloud, recorded in the Great Hall of the New York Hall of Science. This majestic recording captures 60 minutes of sound produced by a self-made 80-pipe organ, a pipe gong, sirens and a massive suspended metal sheet, all triggered by a computer program designed by David Rayna. The CD also features Wada, Bob Drombowski and Wayne Hankin on bagpipes, plus Michael Pugliese (percussion). Dramatically structured, shifting and intense, The Appointed Cloud features massive low frequencies and regal percussion vying with the ululations of bagpipes, all resounding in the huge, reverberant space of the Great Hall with its 24-meter ceiling. This CD, the second Yoshi Wada release as a joint production of EM Records and Omega Point (the first being the reissue of 1982's Lament For The Rise and Fall of the Elephantine Crocodile), is sure to delight all who enjoy drones, dynamics and drama. "His creation explores the effects of low, rumbling bass sounds and the higher, ringing tones of the organ as they reverberate off the curving walls of the space ... The work continues Wada's fascination with producing sub-sonic sounds -- sound frequencies so low that it seems the sounds are produced by the inner ear rather than an outside source." --from the liner notes

Artist:	RODNEY, EARL
Title:	Friends & Countrymen
Label:	EM RECORDS (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$20.00
Catalog #:	EM 1077CD

As part of EM Records' ongoing Steel Pan series, here is Friends & Countrymen by Earl Rodney -- the first-ever solo album from a Trinidadian steel pan player. This reissue of the original 1973 LP, recorded in New York City by Rodney and fellow expatriate Trinidadians, is a rootsy stew of Caribbean, Afro-Yoruba and funk influences. Heavy, propulsive and deep, driven by island percussion and funky bass, peppered by the imaginative phrasing of steel pan veteran Rodney, with slatherings of horns and wicked wah-wah guitar, this is a revolutionary release -- fusion in the best sense of the word. Earl Rodney has been involved with the steel pans almost since the inception of the instrument, playing since he was 4 years old. An important voice in Trinidadian music, he arranged and played in award-winning performances at Trinidad's Panorama festival in 1968, 1971 and 1972, and served as musical director for Lord Kitchener and Mighty Sparrow. However, seeking artistic growth and freedom, he emigrated to the United States; on Friends & Countrymen you can hear and enjoy the results. Joining Rodney on this release are a number of powerhouse veterans from Trinidad including Fortunia Louis Ruiz on trumpet, trombonist Oxley Caballero, and master bassist Johnny Cayenne. Rodney and his countrymen have created a party for you, but fair warning: stretch and limber up before listening to this CD; EM Records will not be held responsible for any injuries incurred while busting a move to these supple grooves.

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Artist:	CRESHEVSKY, NOAH
Title:	The Tape Music of Noah Creshevsky 1971-1992
Label:	EM RECORDS (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$20.00
Catalog #:	EM 1042CD

Artist:	SMITH, BARTON
Title:	Reelizations One & Two: The Sound of Barton Smith
Label:	EM RECORDS (JAPAN)
Format:	2CD
Price:	$25.50
Catalog #:	EM 1043CD

Artist:	BAY LAUREL, ALICIA
Title:	Music from Living On the Earth
Label:	EM RECORDS (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$20.00
Catalog #:	EM 1047CD

Artist:	LINDO & THE HAMMER, SHERIFF
Title:	Ten Dubs That Shook the World
Label:	EM RECORDS (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$20.00
Catalog #:	EM 1049CD