Oax Pick - Don Ellis - Indian Lady (1968 footage)

I'm not much of a big band guy, but when hearing Don Ellis' band in the very early 70's, the "Tears of Joy" album, I was stuck. His albums from the late 60's, early 70's are some of the best and pointing forward big band albums from that era in my opinion. And Don Ellis electrified his trumpet and modulated it years before Miles did. And Miles is a huge personal hero!
There are very few vids from that time. Here's a wonderful piece recorded live in 1968, "Indian Lady", from the "Autumn" album.
And the time signatures are as always - odd.
Enjoy!
O'

Oax Pick - Fire! with Oren Ambarchi - In The Mouth-A Hand

Fire! with Oren Ambarchi - In The Mouth-A Hand (2 LP 2012)

Four side-long blasters of vivid kraut-punk - Fantastic!!!!!!!

O'

Oax Pick - Depeche Mode's "Songs of faith and devotion"

This is not a fantastic album. Or maybe it is. In the beginning, in the early 80's, I thought this band was ridiculous, something that would last a year or two, until the kids got tired of it and chose another pop band to adore, like kids do. Bay City Rollers of 1980. AAAAWWWW Mah God!!! How wrong I was! A couple of years later one great tune after another showed up and I feld a bit annoyed, I don't like being wrong, at least not in my opinion of music. Then great albums showed up, one after another and now, after all these years it's time to come out of the cave and ask for forgiveness. I'M SORRY, GUYS - I WAS WRONG!!! But, now that's history. This is a magnificent band, doing magnificent music (oh, no, not ALL of it, but very very much). Today, when listening to their "Songs of faith and devotion" I feld it was time to focus them in one Oax Pick. The opening, "I feel you" is a monster of a kind almost no-one creates in an entire career, it has enough power for a whole album (but, it would have been a short album). Then it goes on, strong tunes, mostly low tempo (the early 90's was filled with down-tempo). It's a strong band, Dave's voice is one of the best in rock, a lot of Martin's tunes are some of the best in modern rock music and the playing from all of them is nothing but...... I bow my head in deep respect. Well, now it's said, let's go back into the cave, start reject the genius of the future, go back to normal, noise and freeform, drone and ambient, psych and space, jazz and...... pop music and rock music... Shit! I'll never get away from this as long as I live... O'

Oax Pick - Burning Spear's "Marcus Garvey"

I'm not much of a raggae guy, but when it works it works fine. There are some great stuff from about 1970, plus/minus 5 years. This is one of them. Mostly I use to like the dub versions of whatever much better than the original ones. This is an exception. Burning Spear's "Marcus Garvey" is filled with two of the most important components in music: strong, hypnotic melodies and a hell of a voice. You lean back and fall into the grooves of the now classic music, melt into another Universe, hearing Winston Rodney's voice, like a distorted Roebuck "Pops" Staples, yelling his message. No, I'm not much of a rastafari guy either, but when hearing this album things happens with hair, at least what's left of it. O'

Oax Pick - King Crimson's "Vrooom"

After the release of Three of a Perfect Pair there was a ten year intermission. To make the explanation a bit simple (= my version), Robert Fripp has said that Crimson never cease to exist, but it can take pauses. And the band is not even its members, the band is the music, so when there is King Crimson music that has to be played and recorded, well, up jump the band and who's in it... differs. After TOOPP the gap was for ten years before there was new music that had to be played and recorded, this time by what would become known as The Double Trio, Fripp & Belew on guitars, Gunn & Levin on basses, sticks, whatever you call their instruments with THICK strings and Mastelotto & Bruford drums and percussion of various kind. There was also some samples and electronics. The first sign that showed us fans that the new King Crimson was not only speculations was a 30 minutes EP in 1994, "Vrooom", which was to be followed by full-length "Thrak" following year plus various live sets later. "Vrooom" consists of 6 track (the title track was later split into two, Vrooom and Coda: Marine 475) Four of the six tracks showed up on "Thrak", but in slightly different, more pollished versions. Looking back at the double trio version of Crimson and all their releases, "Vrooom" has always been my favourite, despite its shortness (most Beatles' albums were about half an hour long). The songs are rougher and tougher than the later versions, not with demo sound quality, more like early versions played by a hungry band really enjoying playing together again in a time when no-one knows what will become of it. Will it be more? A full-length album? Tours? Now we know the answer is yes to all these questions, but during the recording of "Vrooom" it sounds like "We're having some great songs, ideas, structures, let's try them, let's just have fun". That's why I like it so much. It sounds like they are really having fun with the new material. O'

Oax Pick - Ian Paice

Gillan, yeahyeahyeah, BlackmoreGloverLord, yeahyeahyeah.
BUT, the driving thunderous power force of the band was Ian Paice's drumming. Glorious and send down from the gods. A hard rock heavy metal percussion genius.
Now it was said!!!

We were happy to see the band playing live 4th of February 1973 in Gothenburg during their haydays.

Setlist:

Highway Star
Smoke on the Water
Strange Kind of Woman
Child in Time
Mary Long
Lazy
Space Truckin'

Encore:
Speed King
Lucille
(Little Richard cover)

I use to talk about this concert with my kids, remembering Ian Gillan saying "We're gonna play s song from our new album Machine Head, it's called Smoke on the Water". Those were the days.

O'

Oax Pick - Mwendo Dawa - Live at Montreux Jazz Festival

Mwendo Dawa - Live at Montreux Jazz Festival (Dragon LP 1980)

For me this was an important band in the latter part of the 70's, they belonged to the ones who opened up my ears for free music expressions. Me and TC3 used to go to the jazz club Nefertiti, drink some beer, listen to whoever was playing. Some of the bands were local bands of local fame and they consisted of marvellous musicians. Some of them made an extensive career, played abroad, and so.
In the beginning Mwendo Dawa was a big band, about 7 or 8 (or more?) members. Three drummers, two basses, Susanna on piano & keyboard and Ove J on tenor sax. For me the long solo's of Ove were the highlight of their gigs, often starting modest, but then turning into fire and free form wailing - and I really loved it. The band was always great, but for me Ove was the master.
From late 70's and on to these days they've recorded a huge amount of albums; Mwendo Dawa, other groups, duos, solos, whatever. Honestly I've only heard most of the MD's albums and not the rest. The albums are great, but never near the furious peeks of the band playing live. It can be my memory failing, but this is how I remember it. Here and there you can hear Ove's sax glow on the records, sometimes getting close to fire, and the band is a great band.
Of those five MD LPs I have in my collection this live album from Montreux is the one coming closest to my memories of them playing live at Nefertiti. It's mainly structured, the loose and free form moments are few. But, I strongly recommend it. It's recorded 1979 and released the year after.
The Band: Susanna Lindeborg (piano & keys), Ove Johansson (sax), Ulf Wakenius (guitar), Anders Jormin (bass) and David Sundby (drums)

O'

Oax Pick - Yoko Ono x 3

Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band (1970)


Fly (1971)


Between My Head And the Sky (2009)

Such a great woman she is, such an artist. Mixing wild wailing improvisations with tender and sweet melodies with huge artistic integrity, no matter if it's 1970 or almost 40 years later. People couldn't take her vocals style, people thought she split The B. So stupid they were, so ignorant. Imagine the notes of her voice came from a saxophone - see there! Ornette Coleman, Albert Ayler, Mats Gustafsson - name it, it would have had the same dignity of free form spirit. And The B? If it wasn't for her I think JL would have left a couple of years earlier, frustrated by being locked into something he couldn't manage any longer. So, thanX Yoko for just being the great artist you are! ThanX for being!

O'

Oax Pick - Distorted Hell from Mainliner

Mainliner - Mellow Out (CD Carnel Music 1996, re-issue LP & CD Riot Season 2003)

Sometimes you just have to rinse your mind. In moments like that Mainliner debute album Mellow Out is a good option. The trio of Asahito Nanjo (bass & vocals), Hajime Koizumi (drums) and Kawabata Makoto(motor psycho guitar) presents some distortions from hell, music filled with Jimi Hendrix' Foxy Lady DNA. It's uplifting, it's rewarding, it should have a place in every persons aural life.

O'

Oax Pick - The Ex "Joggers & Smoggers" & Fred Frith "Step Across The Border"

The Ex - Joggers & Smoggers - 2 LP (1989) 2 CD (1992)

In 1989 the Dutch avante-punkers The Ex took another step into The Art of Making Interesting Music - they opened up for improvisations, they started experimenting on records and they invited a lot of guests. The result of this can be heard on the wonderful 2 disc album Joggers & Smoggers, a collection of 34 very inspiring tracks of various kind.
I have always loved artists putting together their albums as kind of collages and when listening to J&S my mind slips into another important album of that time that always has made great impact on me, Step Across The Border by Fred Frith.
These two albums do have a lot in common - but they don't know it yet.
Lend both of them both of your ears for a while and you'll find out what!


Fred Frith - Step Across the Border - 2 LP (1990) CD (1991)
It's a wonderful documentary movie as well - Watch it!!!
O'

Lost Track # 2 - South California Purples - Chicago

Who?
Chicago / Terry Kath
Where?
Chicago Live at Carnegie Hall 4 LP Box Set
When?
1971
Why?
Filled myself with a couple of Taliskers and put this on, let the nostalgia flow over me... but, wait... is it nostalgia? No, no, no... nothing like that even though this album was my favourite Christmas present in 1971, 40 years ago (Mah God! how time flies!)... no, it's much more than that... it's a wonderful heavy riff and even though the original track on Chicago Transit Authority is magnificent in itself, this is a 15½ minutes version that really takes off, leaving Terry Kath in one of his greater moments (and there was a lot of them), sometimes with Robert Lamm treating the organ also very inspring, battling along. A great piece of music by a really talanted band that got lost in AOR hell just shortly after. How could this happen???!!!!
O'

Oax Pick - Sun Ra Arkestra

Sun Ra Arkestra "Shadow World" West Berlin
Too good to be true. Just needed something bright for tonight.
Sing-a-long, boys n girls!

O'

Jazz - Two In a Row - The Genius of Lars Gullin

Danny's Dream - Lars Gullin 1951-1954 (Metronome 2LP)

Manchester Fog - Lars Gullin 1954-1956 (Metronome 2LP)

Tired of harsh aural moments? If so, but still ready for some attention, concentration and some good music, here's what you should go looking for: Lars Gullin (1928-1976), the genius Swedish barytone sax player. As often with great musicians like these they lived all too short, but left footprints bigger than any shoes could fit into. Majestic!
I don't remember if these two 2LP sets have been released on CD, but they are not too hard to find on vinyl for ok price. Much funnier that way!
And it's not any coinsidence that Mats Gustafsson's band Swedish Azz pays their tribute to Swedish treasures like Lars Gullin, Lasse Werner, Färnlöf, etc etc.
They can't be wrong, can they?
O'

Oax Pick - Hills' Laid-back Psychedelic Music

Hills - s/t (2009)


Hills - Master Sleeps (2011)

After a couple of hectic weeks with Christmas and New Year stuff, including the hysteric music circulating around during days like these, it's finally time to lean back in the sofa, put on some cool music.
The pick this time is the excellent psychedelic space rock band Hills. Even though they do have their roots elsewhere it seems like they've settled in our nice hometown Gothenholm Stockburg. And we fully enjoy their laid-back psychedelic music.
Their self-titled debute is a great one, but even greater is the next to come, Master Sleeps. There are various versions of the albums, but we prefere the LPs on Intergalactic Tactics Records. Right into our hearts!
O'

Oax Pick - Tarfala Trio - Syzygy

Tarfala Trio - Syzygy (NoBusiness Records 2011, 2 x LP + SingleSided 7")

Anyone who didn't think you needed some great music the days between Christmas and New Year? If so, you're wrong, very, very much wrong.
Here's a mighty majestic 2LP + ½ 7" album by Tarfala Trio - some of the best improvised trio music you can get these days.
Mats Gustafsson blows his horns, Barry Guy speak to his bass like he (or it?) was God and Raymond Strid, ahh, Raymond Strid, what a percussive master he is - whatever he can't do with percussion has not to be done at all.
Four side-long tracks (+ the single-sided 7"), recorded live in Belgium and released in a most beautiful package, including a 12" photo-book, by the high quality Lithuania label NoBusiness Records.
Yet another day has been aurally saved.
O'

Oax Pick - Alternative Christmas Album # 8 a,b,c & d - Eric Burdon & the Animals

Eric Burdon & The Animals - Winds of Change (1967)
Eric Burdon & The Animals - The Twain Shall Meet (1968)
Eric Burdon & The Animals - Every One of Us (1968)
Eric Burdon & The Animals - Love is (2 LP 1968)

This is one of the world's most underestimated band ever in my personal opinion, and when the book of rock and psychedelic music is written over and over again the band is often sadly overlooked. And it's a shame because the were so bloody good. Four albums (5 LPs) in little more than one year - and what a year!
Some of the tracks might be a bit dated, but most of them are classics amongst Joxfield friends and families. And God! how drunk we were when we tried to dance to some of them in those days.
The band? EB, of course, but also Berry Jenkins (drums) from the old Animals, and then added with Vic Briggs (guitar - the powerful attack-riff on Sky Pilot - it's his!), John Weider (guitar, violin) and Danny McCulloch (bass). For EOoU Zoot Money (keys, vocals) was added and for Love Is VB and DM left, Andy Summers joined (guitar - his 5 minutes solo on Coloured Rain is one of rock history's Top 10 guitar excesses).
A good bunch of albums to spend the day before Christmas Eve.
O'

Oax Pick - Alternative Christmas Album # 6 & # 7 - Iggy Pop & Acid Mothers Temple

Two albums? Let me explain...


Iggy & The Stooges - Raw Power (1973)
Anytime, anywhere when I need to clean my messy mind I put on this record. It has been a part of the life of Joxfield och friends for almost 40 years and it has never failed it's mission - to bring us joy and rock n roll. So, when stumbling around in the city, trying to fix what has to be fixed with Christmas gifts, et cetera, being forced to hear one version worse than another of crappy Christmas songs playing in every "#¤%& loudspeaker in every "#¤%%& store, I find myself coming to an end: This Is It!!!!
Then I go back home, turn the original Iggy & The Stooges album on. Ron, Scott, James & Iggy save my mind once again. ThanX!!!


Acid Mothers Temple and the Melting Paraiso UFO - The Ripper at the Heavens Gates of Dawn (2011)
Back to normal again, when the messy mind has been cleared, this is the choise. Could actually have been almost any album by these magnificent Japanese paychedelic weirdos from inside outa space. By releasing about 5 - 10 AMT related albums a year a single pick isn't the easiest task, but nevermind... I go for the newest one. A Mothers album a day keeps the doctor away (but Santa close enough to bring you gifts...)
O'

Oax Pick - Un-Alternative Christmas Album # 5 - Dylan, Dean & Kurt

Bob Dylan - Christmas in the heart (2009)
Maybe not too much of an alternativ Christmas album, but can't stop being fascinated by the crackling voice of this legendary old goat. And, if anyone would have a time machine in 1966 and had sended Mr BD to our time, showing him this album, what would he have said? (The Times They Are a-Changin') Anyway, in a world where the two best un-alternative Christmas albums are Dean Martin's Making Spirits Bright and Kurt Olsson's Jul KURT med Damorkestern even Mr BD's album can match a bit.


This post is dedicated to Lasse Brandeby (a.k.a. Kurt Olsson) who sadly passed away way too early about a month ago. Bless him!
O'

Oax Pick - Nostalgia # 1 - Acid Mothers Gong

Acid Mothers Gong Live @ 06 Uncon (DVD 2008)
It was 3 evenings/nights 3 - 5th of November 2006, the Gong Uncon at Melkweg in Amsterdam. Me 'n' Yan were there together with 1500 or so Gongster from all around the world. Head-line the first night was Acid Mothers Gong - Daevid, Gilli, Josh, Hiroshi, Atsushi, Yoshida & Kawabata - freaking out for 70 minutes of poetic varieté and variable music improvisations.
Mighty nice being there, something of a kind that will never happen again, I guess.
Watching the DVD after a day filled with pre-Christmas cleaning of the appartment, washing some rugs, etc, brings me some emotional nostagia coming to my mind. You Never Blow Yr Trip Forever.
O'

Oax Pick - Alternative Christmas Album # 4 - Milk Illusion

Milk Illusion - Demo EP (2011)
Why not? Keep the family close, one day they might be the ones who pay your bills.
www.myspace.com/milkillusionband
O'