Tuesday, July 5, 2011

NEW ARRIVALS: CDs - Ellington, Ililonga, Shabazz Palaces & Sylvian

DUKE ELLINGTON The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse: A Suite In Eight Parts CD
*** RECOMMENDED Fuggin' KILLER 1971 album of insanely hooky & bumpin' "world music" that Allmusic calls one of Ellington's "most intriguing works from his later years . . . showing the influence of rock, African folk music & more advanced areas of jazz."

RIKKI ILILONGA & MUSI-O-TUNYA Dark Sunrise: The Birth Of Zamrock 1973-1976 2xCD
*** "32 tracks characterized by James Brown's raw funk combined with the fuzz guitar sounds of Jimi Hendrix and the polyrhythms native to this African nation. But this neglects to mention Musi-O-Tunya and Ililonga's otherworldliness." On NOW AGAIN.

SHABAZZ PALACES Black Up CD / LP+MP3
*** "If Bedouins herded beats instead of goats and settled in Seattle instead of the Atlas Mountains, this would be their album. Black light uses electromagnetic radiation to eradicate microorganisms, but shabazz didn't come to kill a sound, just to shine their own incandescent lamp on this. Fifty thousand years in the making."

DAVID SYLVIAN Died In The Wool: MANAFON Variations 2xCD
*** "Ballads, ambient improvisations, groundbreaking & extreme works come together in a new collection with composer Dai Fujikura. There is a complete bonus disc with just one long piece."