Gonzalez 'Nothing Ever Comes That Easy' (De-cheesing edit)

Gonzalez 'Nothing Ever Comes That Easy' (De-cheesing edit)

Gonzalez hailed from Blighty and released their ludicrously be-imaged second album in 1975. Hornsy funk rock given a bit of light trimming by yours truly to de-cheese it a bit.

Tony Joe White 'The Change'

Tony Joe White 'The Change'

An ode to the browning leaves and chilling winds of Autumn from big Tony.

Alternative Rock Routes - Mixtape

Alternative Rock Routes - Mixtape

To make up for a combination of lethargy, distraction, hangovers, love interests and other non-excuses for a lack of postings recently, here's over an hour's worth of rock-orientated fare cobbled together recently to form a mix. It comprises obscure re-edits from labels like Blackdisco, Messalina, History Clock and Mindless Boogie, as well as some gin-u-wine original tunes too!

Angelo & Eighteen 'Flight 2'

Angelo & Eighteen 'Flight 2'

Obscure and rhythmically kicking B-side from 1972, produced under the light saber skills of RAK records owner Mickie Most (who also produced The Animals, Donovan and Jeff Beck amongst others).

Santana 'Jam In E'

Santana 'Jam In E'

This is what Santana were all about - explosive, percussive jamming. Proper rug-swaying, freak-your-shit-out rock. Taken from the 'Acapulco Sunrise' demo recordings from 1968, when big ropey perms and bandanas were most definitely 'in'.

Steve Winwood, Remi Kabak & Abdul Lasisi Amao (AKA Third World) 'Irin-Ajo'

Steve Winwood, Remi Kabak & Abdul Lasisi Amao (AKA Third World) 'Irin-Ajo'

Third World (not the cheesy reggae outfit) AKA Steve Winwood, Remi Kabak and Abdul Lasisi Amao released this African rock-fusion record in 1973. It's a further demonstration Stevie's almost boundless musical talents. Fragrant flute, eleccy guitar and rickety percussion interplay for hot, lazy days.

Gala Drop 'Drop'

Gala Drop 'Drop'

Nothing to do with bingo as far as I know, Gala Drop are four musical experimentalists from Lisbon, Portugal. This is the standout track on their 'Overcoat Heat EP' from 2010, which to their credit really does sound completely new and pioneering. Words like lilting, meandering and mesmerising also spring to mind. There's a short interview with one of the members over at the (always excellent) Test Pressing site, along with a mixtape for download. Also worth checking is GD's album from 2008 (pictured 'cos its got a better cover than the EP) for more involving and intrepid fusions of electronics and instruments.

Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble 'Tightrope'

Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble 'Tightrope'

There's not a lot left to be said about The Raygun that hasn't already been yelled from the mountaintops by his devoted following. A titan of the blues guitar in his time, this track is off his first and last solo album as a sober man. Having battled with serious alcoholism for the best part of the 80's, he released 'In Step' in 1989 having kicked the sauce. He checked out in spectacular fashion the following year, killed in a helicopter crash in 1990 - a sad but befitting end to a life walking the tightrope. Also check out youtube footage of the man covering 'Little Wing'

Bruce Springsteen 'State Trooper' (Trentemoller Mix)

Bruce Springsteen 'State Trooper' (Trentemoller Mix)

This re-rub of The Boss has been knocking around the interweb for a while now and garnering a degree of hype in the process. It's with good reason as Trentemoller teases the infectious low-fi groove of the original from the 1982 album 'Nebraska' into a floor-friendly stomper.

Sly Dunbar 'Inner City Blues'

Sly Dunbar 'Inner City Blues'

Going to start branching out from the rock-based fare on here a bit in future. Here's a portion of rrrrrreggae-rock from rhythm titan Sly Dunbar off his 1982 solo album 'Sly-Go-Ville'. Kind of the suits the general tensions and unrest being felt around London at the moment.

Ten Years After 'Let The Sky Fall'

Ten Years After 'Let The Sky Fall'

Just picked up a brilliant mix CD called 'Swamp Bait' yesterday by messrs Godsy & Zeus. If dirty, Southern bayou rock is your thing, get your skates on to secure a copy of it as there's only 200 for the world apparently. This song features on the mix, and despite being performed by white British rockers Ten Years After, fits right in with the fetid, murky feel of the CD. Check here for an earlier post featuring TYA performing a live blues.

Steve Cropper, Pop Staples & Albert King 'Opus De Soul'

Steve Cropper, Pop Staples & Albert King 'Opus De Soul'

With ingredients as strong as they were for this particular brew of jam, the results were possibly in danger of canceling each other out. Fortunately this wasn't the case as the young Steve Cropper (of Booker T & The MGs and Blues Brothers fame) gelled with head honcho of The Staples and bluesman Albert King for a rare old, 3-way guitar jamboree.

Eric Burdon and War 'Magic Mountain'

Eric Burdon and WAR 'Magic Mountain'

Despite being released in 1976, this album contains live recordings of the band captured between 1969 and 1971. Probably made available for contractual reasons, the material is nevertheless highly enjoyable, with long interpretations of 'Paint It Black' and 'A Day In The Life' taking up one side of the record. Magic Mountain sounds like the place to be. According to the old saying, what goes up must come down, but this basic law of gravity clearly didn't get in the way of Eric's vision in the making of this song.

Traffic 'Empty Pages'

Traffic 'Empty Pages'

J.J. Cale 'Ride Me High' (Mischief Brew edit)

J.J. Cale 'Ride Me High' (Mischief Brew edit)

King of the chillers J.J. Cale had a style so laid back its hard to imagine him changing out of his Wranglers and doing anything other than riffing away on a chaise-long made of cow skins. 'High Ride' - a live favourite and album highlight [sorry] off 'Troubadour' from 1976,  is here given a dancefloor-friendly re-rub by Mischief Brew for your boot-stomping pleasure. "How high can you go?"

Frank Zappa 'Dirty Love'

Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention 'Dirty Love'

Lewd, grinding funk-rock from the original, slug-tached Sheik Yerbouti off the 1973 album 'Overnite Sensation'. It's testament to Zappa's subversive brilliance during his lifetime that there should be so many honors bestowed upon his memory. There's a monumental bust of his head erected in Vilnius, Lithuania and a fossil discovery named after him - Spygori zappania - by American paleontologists who stated his: " mission paralleled that of the earliest paleontologists: to challenge conventional and traditional beliefs when such beliefs lacked roots in logic and reason". Annual get togethers such as the 'Zappanale' in the German city of Bad Doberan and a Zappa Day held in his birthplace Baltimore ensure some of the younger generations get exposed to the bizarre genius.

Funkadelic 'I Bet You'

Funkadelic 'I Bet You'

Funkadelic's first album made a frayed and wide-eyed entrance into the world in 1970, melding deep, rhythmical patterns into lengthy funk jams. 'I Bet You' is a remake of an earlier version of the song by The Parliaments, also covered by the Jackson 5 and sampled by the Beastie Boys.

Parlour No. 2 'Sark Powers'

Parlour No. 2 'Sark Powers'

Taken from one of the best vinyl releases of 2010, this edit of Sunderland Brothers & Quiver's 'Dark Powers' lops out the distinctly cheesey bridge and chorus parts of the original to leave this brooding disco-rock gem. An edit that has skillfully breathed new life into unlikely source material.

Giorgio Moroder & David Bowie 'Cat People (Putting Out Fire)'

Giorgio Moroder & David Bowie 'Cat People (Putting Out Fire)'

...with gasoline!" One for the bonfire starters here. This track was recently employed by Tarantino to soundtrack the nazi cinema blaze-up in Inglorious Basterds. The film 'Cat People' is an erotic horror flick that verges on soft porn on a number of occasions, which is no bad thing when Nastassja Kinski is involved.   

A Mountain Of One 'Bones' (Thomas Bullock's Way Of The Ancients mix)

A Mountain Of One 'Bones' (Thomas Bullock's Way Of The Ancients mix)

The insistent pounding of ancient feet underpin this meandering re-rub from Thomas Bullock, the man involved with variously excellent projects such as Rub 'n Tug, Map Of Africa and Laughing Light Of Plenty. A Mountain Of One are Mo Morris, Leo Elstob and Zeb Jameson who together produce cosmically inclined, dubbed-out rock and pop. Basically its a remix project made in heaven and a modern psychedelic bundle of joy, with a well judged dose of cod mysticism thrown in for good measure.