With its heavy Brazilian focus and lazy-day atmospheres, it's not difficult to see why Arkestra One's debut LP was picked up by ESL, the breakbeat label run by Thievery Corp. boardmembers Eric Hilton and Rob Garza. Surprisingly, though, producer Matthew Timoney outdoes Thievery themselves (who are prized more as taste-makers and DJs than producers) by turning in an imaginative spin on the oft-heard fusion of Brazilian music and trip-hop. Accompanying him on most tracks is {$Smoke...   [ read more ]

CD $15.18

"Those wondering where to begin when buying their first Sun Ra album, this is it!," declares an Evidence Music press release on their Sun Ra anthology Greatest Hits: Easy Listening for Intergalactic Travel. It also notes that, since Sun Ra never had any actual "hits," the 18 tracks from 15 Sun Ra albums, plus two singles and a soundtrack excerpt, were chosen because they were fan favorites, because they displayed the artist's development over the years 1956-73, and because of "their music...   [ read more ]

CD $16.13

This reissue, prior to the release of many of Sun Ra's Saturn albums on Evidence CDs, was often thought of as Ra's second recording although now several earlier dates have appeared. The music from Sun Ra's Chicago-based band of the 1950s (some of the same tunes, but different performances, also appear on Evidence's Planet Earth/Low Ways) is quite interesting for its ties to the bop and swing traditions are much more obvious than it would be in the near future. Ra's eccentric piano a...   [ read more ]

CD $12.33