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In with the In-Kraut
There seems to be no end to the moddish discotheque ravers released in Europe during the late 60s, a fact underscored by the delightful 20-track The In-Kraut (Marina) collection of “hipshaking grooves” from Germany. This spirited sampling of nutty swingers from leering German big band bozos, breathy pop tarts, misguided TV personalities, quirky Eurovision losers, St. Pauli sexploitation film savants and Kraut-a-delic garage band bruisers would make the perfect soundtrack to the next Austin Powers sequel. Nah, it’s too good for that.
See how they groove
Until I heard DJ Takemura ‘s personal fave jazz selections from Japan’s Three Blind Mice label catalogue on his two-CD instalment of the superb Shibuya Jazz Classics (Ultra Vybe) series, I was beginning to think that I already had all the deeply spiritual stuff I needed from the label. Evidently, they were far busier in the 70s than I thought. Takemura sidesteps the label’s best-known club bangers to present overlooked gems like the four amazing tracks by groups led by Masayuki “Jojo” Takayanagi along with some soulful modal magic and more outwardly bound moves from the likes of the Nosuke Miyamoto Sextet , Kosuke Mine Quartet , Hideo Ichikawa Trio and the Sunao Wada Quintet +1 . Get it from www.dustygroove.com.
Best Western
At the time of the Vancouver Complication ‘s original release in 1979, the stark black-and-white-sleeved multi-artist collection – loaded with explosive early work from D.O.A. , the Dishrags , the Subhumans , Pointed Sticks , U-J3RK5 , the K-Tels and many others – was really the first warning of the vibrant punk scene erupting in Van City. The recent Sudden Death label reissue tacks on five cool bonus tracks, including Rude Norton ‘s thrashy revision of the Gilligan’s Island theme and the Dishrags’ Bullshit, all of which sounds just as vital today as when I first picked up the LP for the Subhumans’ snarling Death To The Sickoids. Where did it all go wrong?
Great Reid
Today, blue-eyed soul singer Terry Reid isn’t widely known outside of cult Brit-rock collectors’ circles, but back in the late 60s the Mickie Most protege was considered the singer most likely. So when two of Most’s session hands wanted to form a new group, Reid was the natural choice for frontman, only he had to pass due to a prior tour engagement. Instead, he kindly recommended a good-looking young singer, Robert Plant , for the group that became Led Zeppelin . Oops. Put on the awesome Super Lungs (Astralwerks) comp of Reid’s early recordings and you’ll soon know why Plant was actually Jimmy Page ‘s second choice.
