Downtown New York City Avant-Funk-Lounge-Rock-Surf-Jazz-Thrash

John Zorn’s band Naked City was what all the cool kids were listening to in the early 90’s, and myself in the late 90’s. Their album Radio is a great showcase for this marvellously entertaining, true fusion band., The quality of the playing is immense – huge talents executing with brio, and the kind of timing found on the best jazz records. No surprises there... Naked City contained some of New York's best jazz musicians! Remember though: the cutting edge is also the bleeding edge – some of the more avant-garde aspects of this record may not be for the faint of heart. Very highly recommended for adventurous listeners.

Cuban Music So Good It'll Send Shivers Down Your Spine

Don’t let the butt-ugly cover-design put you off. Eliades Ochoa's "The Lion is Loose!" is amongst the richest, most powerful recordings of Son Cubano, the style with which the Buena Vista Social Club swept the world off its feet. Ochoa leads a crack traditional group in this worthy updating of the Son, his guitar solos impressive showcases for his feel for this music and his technique, his rich, husky vocals very fine indeed. Ochoa is in fact guitarist for the Buena Vista group and this was recorded several years earlier than the famous BVSC release. This would be an excellent follow-up purchase. In fact, I’d very much recommend it first!


Next up, Duo Los Compadres! This group is one of the immortal ones, and these early 50’s recordings of Cuban Son capture a kind of perfection, a sound that feels as if it could be no other way. The disc features the two principals (Lorenzo Hierrezuelo, and Francisco Repilado) singing and playing mostly their own now-classic (and often achingly beautiful) compositions, always accompanied by two or three other musicians on bass and percussion. At some point you'll hear them exhorting each other towards greater musical heights: "Olé, Compay Primo!", "Olé, Compay Segundo..!" - YES, Francisco Repilado is none other than that much-loved musical ambassador who became a global phenomenon 40 years later!
This is _very much not_ a CD only for the historically inclined, but it is interesting to compare a few of these original versions with more recent recordings (e.g. Ochoa’s – see above) of the same songs.

Death, Sex, and Honour in post-war Japan

Here's an obscure cinematic gem that is latterly, unfairly, being marketed as a sexploitation classic: Slave Widow! In fact, while the prurient aspects of the film likely caused a stir on its release in 1967, the work is unfailingly artistic, evocative, and beautiful throughout.


The story concerns a widow who is tempted and bullied into sexual servitude by her recently-deceased husband's chief creditor, a suave and amoral businessman. She is subsequently fallen for by the man's son, who possesses far greater sensitivity than does his brutal father, and events are thus led to an inevitably tragic conclusion.

The acting ranges from naturalistic to somewhat stylised, but is always highly effective. Cinematography (in B&W) is striking throughout. This is a superb and distinctive film.

Cinema Epoch have produced an anamorphic NTSC transfer of the movie onto DVD (region 1) that is really quite good. There is considerable damage to the source material (scratches, dirt, etc.) which has not obviously been cleaned up, but the image is stable and detailed enough to provide a pleasant viewing experience. Digital compression artefacts are not noticeable, a major plus in my book.

Highly recommended for fans of art-house cinema.

Sublime, Late Solos from a Master

Baden Powell and Vinicius de Moraes, both deceased, are giants of Brazilian cultural life. They were at the heart of the Bossa Nova boom that swept both men to fame in the 1960's and, contrary to the light-hearted work that often represents that movement, they have each produced work of great depth and sensitivity - Powell as guitarist and composer, and de Moraes as composer, lyricist and poet.



"Baden Plays Vinicius" features Baden recorded solo just months before he died in 2000 (Vinicius de Moraes had passed away 20 years earlier). Here we have deeply personal arrangements and playing, by a truly masterful, unique guitarist, of great popular compositions written by a long-time collaborator and friend. There's a richness of tone and expression, and a profundity of feeling here that make this record quite sublime.



Additional recommendations: "Os Afro Sambas", an important 1966 collaboration between the two men, and a seminal reaffirmation of the African roots of Samba; "Mares Profundos", a gorgeous modern reprise, by black Brazilian vocalist Virginia Rodrigues, of those same recordings; plus too many other Brazilian recordings to name!

A Quintessentially English Production

Sir John Betjeman was a British Poet Laureate, and a popular public figure. He was recorded several times in the 1970's reciting his wonderful, accessible poems to specially composed music, and the resulting albums are available at super-bargain price on CD.


Betjeman's Banana Blush is one such album, and I recommend it highly. Betjeman's voice is worldly, expressive, and marvelously precise, and his poetry is a delight. The words and music conjure up the exquisiteness of first love, the ache of lost love, the power of exotic places, and much more, with a quintessential Englishness and at times a wry humour.

The enjoyable light orchestral accompaniment, composed by Jim Parker, is varied and mostly very effective. I particularly liked the dramatic and poignant accompaniment to the reading of "The Arrest of Oscar Wilde at the Cadogan Hotel".

Not everything works: the faux-American accent used for "Longfellow's Visit to Venice"; the odd bluster and jauntiness accompanying the moving words of the final track "A Child Ill", but these quibbles hardly detract from the whole.

In addition to its availability on CD, the album is available for digital download (with sound samples).

p.s. I thought the track "A Shropshire lad" was rather strange... here is some background on the Captain Webb mentioned therein.

Spaghetti Giapponese

Here's a stylish Spaghetti Western with, oddly enough, a Japanese twist or two...


Oggi a me... domani a te! (Today it's me... tomorrow it's you!) was directed by the little-known Tonino Cervi in 1968 (co-writing credits include Dario Argento). Cervi hasn't directed much of note, but seems to have been all over the Italian film industry like a rash for decades: he produced Antonioni's Il Deserto Rosso, no less.

The film stars the taciturn Franco Nero, of Django fame, Bud Spencer (who surely needs no introduction), and none other than Tatsuya Nakadai, who plays the sword-wielding(!) baddie-in-chief. The acting is good, and it's particularly fun seeing Nakadai hamming it up. There's some nice cinematography, and the soundtrack music, which at times mines a sub-Morricone vein (naturally), is effective. I enjoyed the film and definitely recommend it to Western fans, all the more so if they have an interest in Japanese cinema.

Availability for home viewing by English speakers is not great: it seems only the Japanese have put out a suitable edition (which has an English audio track). The quality of this is superb, but it is quite costly.

UPDATE: English-language availability is better than I had thought: low-priced Dutch and German editions are available, both with English audio.

Avant-Garde Cinema Deserving Attention

Seijun Suzuki's Pistol Opera is a post-modern reprise of his 1960's work in the Yakuza (gangster) genre, which itself was audacious enough to get him fired from a commercial studio, Nikkatsu.

Expect shot after shot of stunning, minimalist compositions, bursting with vibrant color. Expect a seriously cool soundtrack. Expect symbolic gestures that replace normal dialogue. Expect a certain amount of head-scratching - I'm still decoding the film, and enjoying doing so.


There are no top-quality DVD options for English-speakers. The US print is more than watchable, but flawed. The UK print is the result of a standards-conversion, a process which practically guarantees artefacts. The Japanese edition likely offers the highest visual quality, but doesn't seem to come with English subtitles. I'd suggest just getting hold of a cheap US or UK DVD and tolerating the occasional glitch.

For some grounding I highly recommend "Branded to Kill", the 1967 film on which "Pistol Opera" is based. And for an accessible introduction to Suzuki's wonderful world, go straight to "Tokyo Drifter".

Note that "Pistol Opera" was filmed in 4:3 aspect ratio, which means you may need to adjust a widescreen television (by selecting size 4:3) in order to view it correctly at home.