Check Out the Historically Great Dust-to-Digital on Bandcamp

So we close Jazz January with a piece not specifically about jazz (though there is some in it) but instead highlighting an article from the site where we found a the majority of the months releases, Bandcamp. A few weeks back that site (which we love) profiled a really cool record label that RtBE had never heard of called Dust-to-Digital.

It is a label that started it's existence with a 160 tracked gospel behemoth called Goodbye, Babylon which was nominated for Best Historical Album by The Recording Academy.

The label since then has literally been all over the world, highlighting albums, genres, and artists who may otherwise have never been heard in 2018 and beyond. There are tons to highlight from the label but here are three that instantly jumped out at us after spending some time on their page:

Of course the rock and roll from Don't Think I've Forgotten: Cambodia's Lost Rock and Roll is a joy to these retro loving ears and Baksey Cham Krong nails it:


Greek instrumentals can be incredibly cinematic here with G. Gretis & S. Stamos getting after it on fiddle and piano for Greek Rhapsody Instrumental Music from Greece 1905-1956:


and the gospel styling of Rev. Johnny L Jones is powerful no matter your denomination on The Hurricane That Hit Atlanta:     


This is truly a great read with lots of songs mixed in to help guide you along. Many props to the author Andy Thomas, Dust-to-Digital and Bandcamp themselves for preserving these amazing pieces of history. Enjoy some more selections we found below by just scratching the surface and as always thanks for reading. 

Cover Art History: Swordfishtrombones

We love when we get the background info to some of our favorite records especially when delving into the Cover Art History behind some iconic albums. Today we learn about Tom Waits 1983 album Swordfishtrombones. 

Upon finding this fantastic site we learned that Waits commissioned Michael A. Russ to photograph him and the actors Lee Kolima and Angelo Rossitto for his cover. The album was big for Waits being his first self produced effort and Tom, being a very visual artist, needed the cover to represent the music within correctly. The picture shows off an aloof, almost defiant, Waits but in a setting that seems natural to the characters who populate his songs.
   
The cover shot is a TinTone photo taken by Russ, but that is not where Russ's input ended, you can see more from the photo shoot here and he was also the associate director and choreographer for the music video of "In The Neighborhood" off the disk:


Swordfishtrombones was a clear breakthrough for Waits, noted by Robert Christgau, but we have never considered it one of his best in retrospect. That is the interesting thing about not growing up with an artist, going back and checking out his catalog gives a completely different view.

Our favorites are Rain Dogs and Small Change (as well as Orphans or our Album of the Year for 2011 Bad As Me). In fact we almost focused on Small Change's cover, after all it has one of our all time favorites on that one, Elvira:

 

Stuffing You Full of Gospel for Thanksgiving

Going along with our Paramount review from yesterday we are continuing on the reissue path with this Holiday treat from NPR.

You can stream the full 4 CD's (!!!!) of the newly released I Heard The Angels Sing, from Nashboro. From the product description:

a vital part of the fabric of American music, can finally be heard. Begun by Ernie Young in Nashville, TN, at the height of gospel's "golden age," Nashboro was arguably the greatest, most prolific and longest-living gospel record label. Initial recordings were made on site, overseen by Young himself. Those early Nashboro sides have all the excitement, energy and drive of far better-known indies from the 1950s such as Chess and Sun (indeed, Nashboro was parent to the infamous, blues-busting label Excello).

The songs are all brief, getting to the point, Young's patented sound, then fade out, I am sure the live versions went on and on. Some stand out tracks (all though we are still sifting through them all) are the passionate "Trouble of This World's Condition" by The Chosen Gospel Singers, the mixed gender vocals of "Give Me Some Flowers" by Sullivan Pugh, the groovy "I'm Battling" by The Sensational Pioneers and the swinging Trumpets of Joy doing "I Need The Lord To Guide Me".   

Ethel Davenport's tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is stirring as well, opening the final disk I just wish it went on longer when it hit its "spiritual phase". This is a piece of history that focuses on amazing voices and soulful singing, Americana in the tubes.

You can purchase the collection here and peep a few youtube clips from tracks featured on the disks below:

NYPL Blog Post: Review of "Exploring The Rise and Fall of Paramount Records" LIVE at NYPL

Hey all, got a post over on NYPL blogs.  Give it a gander below:

Review of "Exploring The Rise and Fall of Paramount Records" LIVE at NYPL

It is a review of the fantastic event held by LIVE From The NYPL focused on the new Paramount Records Third Man are releasing. The event was an immediate sellout due to RtBE favorite Jack White speaking at the event along with Greil Marcus, Daphne Brooks, Dean and Scott Blackwood.

It was a super cool night that had a distinct "PBS, Record Nerd Vibe" but that is exactly what I was looking for. The review is long so I won't say too much more, would rather embed some of the songs that were highlights, you can watch the full talk at the bottom of my blog post.

Homer Quincy Smith "I Want Jesus To Talk To Me"

Sweet Papa Stovepipe "Mama's Angel Boy"

New York City Never Cease's to Amaze...Underground Railroad, On My Block.

I love this city, plain and simple.   It has been my home off and on for the past 14 years (Jesus, I'm getting old) and I fell in love with it the minute I got here. Of all the traits, the amazing people, art, food, architecture, music, nightlife, the one that seems to seep into everything is the History of this town.  I can't walk more then a few blocks on a sunny day and not help but think of the millions of people who walked the same block before me.

Whitman talked about this beautifully in Leaves of Grass, particularly in the Crossing Brooklyn Ferry Section:

I too lived—Brooklyn, of ample hills, was mine;	60
I too walk’d the streets of Manhattan Island, and bathed in the waters around it;
I too felt the curious abrupt questionings stir within me,
In the day, among crowds of people, sometimes they came upon me,
In my walks home late at night, or as I lay in my bed, they came upon me.

NYC History came up and slapped me in the face just recently.  It hit me where I live...literally...on my block this happened....

Camera phone pic taken Oct'09

Pics, Video and a whole bunch more after the jump.