Ramatam, “In April Come the Dawning Of The Red Suns” (Atlantic, 1973)
From Led Zep’s label, this showcases a similar blend of bloozed out hard rock and faerie-folk elements, as well as one of the best LP titles of all time – a play on the name of virtuoso guitarist April Lawton, a pioneering female axe-hero and seriously avant-garde noise-demolitionist when she’s not creating Segovia-like acoustic soundscapes. A truly fine album, which should be reissued (let LionProduc’s or Light In The Attic know!).
Try A/1b [second banded track] (folky), A/2 (rockin’), A/3 (noisy)
10/4/14

Ray Parker Jr., “Greatest Hits” (Arista, 1982)
Two years too early for “Ghostbusters,” but that’s just as well – that classical novelty might have distracted from the laid-back yet yard-driving vibe of Parker’s work. An open-minded journeyman at home in FM rock, Funk, electro-disco and proto-quiet-storm modes, he was a quintessential figure in r&b’s ‘70s-to-‘80s transition.
Try 1/1, 1/ 4, 1/ 4
7/11/18

Rilo Kiley, “The Execution of All Things” (Saddle Creek, 2002)
One of my very favorite albums of this century/millennium. This captures Jenny Lewis at the perfect point between her stark, folk-inflected early stuff and the glossier, more glam-rocking work that came later, and the songs hit right on target with their story of being lost in America and maybe wandering homeward.
Try 3, 5.
1/13/13

Rebecca Gates and the Consortium, “The (IZXU, 2012).
Ex-Spinanes front woman returns with a solo project that’s like a mellowed-with-age take on her old band’s sparse, pointy-edged yet hauntingly melodic Indic rock. Good stuff. Try 2/2.
11/12/12