Tonight’s episode of the Temposphere program on KFAI found us wandering through a familiar terrain of Afrobeat, Reggae, Samba and Salsa while taking a diversion into what I’m now calling “smoky folk”. Lots of new music (Havana Cultura Band, Shawn Lee & Clutchy Hopkins, Mayra Andrade) was leavened with a strong base of classics (Tim Hardin, Erykah Badu, Jimmy McGriff, and all too briefly The Love Unlimited Orchestra – full track next time!). If you missed the show during its live broadcast all is forgiven – you still have a decadent two weeks to enjoy it via MP3 stream (even better than live because you can deploy the pause function when necessary) available at the KFAI archives. Playlists available both there and here by clicking through.

Image is from Vintage Poster.

Shawn Lee & Clutchy Hopkins – 70 MPH Isn’t Fast Enough To Get Out Of Nebraska
album: Fascinating Fingers; label: Ubiquity

Havana Cultura Band – Ipacuba
album: Havana Cultura Band; label: Brownswood

Ennio Morricone – Sauna
album: So Sweet So Sensual; label: Cinevox

Alan Hawkshaw – Black Pearl
album: Music de Wolfe; label: Music de Wolfe

Bitty McLean – Walk Away From Love
album: 7″; label: Peckings

Tony Allen – Ayenlo
album: Secret Agent; label: World Circuit

Nomo – Reasons
album: New Tones; label: Ubiquity

Kylie Auldist – It’s On
album: Made Of Stone; label: Tru Thoughts

The Heliocentrics with Percee P and Doom – Distant Star
album: Fallen Angels: The Singles Collection; label: Now Again

Hypnotic Brass Ensemble – Satin Sheets
album: Hypnotic Brass Ensemble; label: Honest Jons

Mayra Andrade – Konsiensia
album: Storia Storia; label: RCA Victor France

Erykah Badu – Didn’t Cha Know
album: Mama’s Gun; label: Motown

Camille – Assise
album: Le Fil; label: Virgin

Brownout – SFLA
album: Aguilas & Cobras; label: Six Degrees

Domu – Somethin’ Extra (Domu Mix)
album: Domu EP; label: Tru Thoughts

Voice Of Progress – Shadow After Dark
album: Mini Bus Driver; label: Negus Roots

Q Tip – Feelin’
album: Kamaal The Abstract; label: Battery/Jive

Harmonia 76 – Vamos Companeros
album: Tracks & Traces; label: Ryko

Tim Hardin – Never Too Far
album: Hang On To A Dream: The Verve Recordings; label: Verve

Philamore Lincoln – The North Wind Blew South
album: The North Wind Blew South; label: Epic

Love – Bummer In The Summer
album: Forever Changes; label: Elektra

Nick Drake – Northern Sky
album: Bryter Layter; label: Island

Jimmy McGriff – Space Cadet
album: Red Beans; label: Groove Merchant

Quantic & His Combo Barbaro – Un Canto A Mi Terra
album: Tradition In Transition; label: Tru Thoughts

Ceu – Cordao Da Insonia
album: Vagarosa; label: Six Degrees

Nico Fidenco – Eternal Anguish
album: Perche Violenza Alla Donna; label: Dago Red

The Itals – Roll River Jordan
album: Give Me Power; label: Nighthawk

Havana Cultura Band – Chekere
album: Havana Cultura Band; label: Brownswood

Beto Villares – Nacao Postal
album: Beto Villares; label: Six Degrees

Love Unlimited Orchestra – Midnight In Blue
album: Rhapsody In White; label: 20th Century

Cruel Gun Story (part of the marvelous Nikkatsu Noir set from Eclipse) is a pitch dark heist caper that builds to crescendos of violence that rival the nonstop mayhem of Dashiell Hammett’s demented, apocalyptic story Nightmare Town. Joe Shishido is the hard as nails ringleader of a group of misfits who commandeer a truck full of racetrack money. It seems to be a foolproof plan to get rich but things of course go terribly wrong …

On today’s show I featured brand new tracks from Mayra Andrade and Bebel Gilberto as well as recent and vintage cuts from Freddie McGregor, Milton Nascimento, Beto Villares and Puerto Plata. If you missed the show nao faz mal! It’s available for streaming for two weeks at the KFAI site, here. The complete playlist is posted there and here, after the break.

image is from All Things Amazing.

Mayra Andrade – Seu
album: Stória Stória; label: RCA Victor France

Karl Hector & The Malcouns – Mellow (version)
album: Sahara Swing; label: Now & Again

Tony Allen – Secret Agent
album: Secret Agent; label: World Circuit

Augustus Pablo – Up Warrika Hill
album: Original Rockers; label: Message

Beto Villares – Redentor
album: Beto Villares; label: Six Degrees

Allá – Tú Vida
album: Es Tiempo; label: Crammed Discs

Mulatu Astatke & The Heliocentrics – Live From Tigre Lounge
album: Inspiration Information; label: Strut

Burning Spear – Down In Jamaica
album: Our Music; label: Burning Spear

Kylie Auldist – One Goodbye
album: Made Of Stone; label: Tru Thoughts

Edu Lobo – Zanzibar
album: Sergio Mendes Presents Edu Lobo; label: A&M

Brownout – C 130
album: Aguilas & Cobras; label: Six Degrees

Bebel Gilberto – Sun Is Shining
album: All In One; label: Verve

Olivia Ruiz – J’traine des pieds
album: La femme chocolate; label: Polydor

Freddie McGregor – Susan Come On Over
album: Come On Over; label: Ras

Nomo – Rings
album: Ghost Rock; label: Ubiquity

Sara Tavares – Bué (voce e…)
album: Xinti; label: Four Quarters

Andy Palacio & The Garifuna Collective – Beiba
album: Watina; label: Cumbancha

Quantic & His Combo Barbaro – The Dreaming Mind
album: Tradition In Transition; label: Tru Thoughts

Deolinda – Mal Por Mal
album: Cancao ao Lado; label: Four Quarters

Milton Nascimento – Para Lennon e McCartney
album: Milton; label: Odeon

The Itals – Ina Dis Ya Time
album: Power Of The Trinity; label: Shanachie

Mayra Andrade – Stória Stória
album: Stória Stória; label: RCA Victor France

Blue States – Metro Sound
album: Man Mountain; label: ESL

Oumou Sangare – Seya
album: Seya; label: Nonesuch

Lura – Quebrod Nem Djosa
album: Eclipse; label: Four Quarters

The Duncan Brothers – Dreams
album: Panama! 2; label: Soundway

Puerto Plata – Mujer Perjura
album: Casita de Campo; label: Iaso

Maria Rita – Minha Alma
album: Segundo; label: Warner Latin

Bumps Jackson – Funky In Jamaica (part 2)
album: 7″; label: Alatac

The record album, when it was invented by George Avakian in the 1940s, was literally an album of 4 or 5 78 RPM singles. Avakian, an employee of Columbia Records, came upon the idea as a way of mining Columbia’s archives for reissues. Alex Steinweiss, another young Columbia staffer, became the first record cover designer. His simple and memorable graphics for Columbia and other labels over the next decades have been compiled into a grand volume to be issued next month by Taschen. If you don’t have $500 to spare for the book you can browse through all 422 pages here.

There are a finite number of LPs in existence on the planet Earth. But as anyone who has started down the slippery slope of record accumulation knows, for all practical purposes the number is infinite.

The LP covers (with a few EPs mixed in) pictured here arrive from all over, including reliable sources like Loronix, Global Groove, LP Cover Lover, Drillpop, and various eBay auctions.

(related posts: Record Covers: Global Tour, LP Covers: Global Tour part 2, LP Covers: Global Tour part 3, Asian Pop Record Covers, 78 RPM Record Labels, 78 RPM Record Labels part 2, Vintage Jazz Record Covers, More Vintage Jazz Record Covers, BYG Actuel Jazz LP Covers, Brazilian LP Covers, More Brazilian LP Covers, Reggae 45s, Reggae 45s Part 2, LP Cover Bonanza)

Tony Frank became a photographer for Serge Gainsbourg in 1968 and worked with him continually through the years, creating the iconic cover for Histoire de Melody Nelson (with a red-wigged Jane Birkin) and capturing the Gainsbourg famille in many candid and unseen shots now gathered in a book (currently available only in France).

photos via The World of Kane.

Monty Python’s Flying Circus made its debut on the BBC on October 5, 1969. Say no more.

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Image is from the vintage photography site Shorpy.

Images are from various locales including eBay auctions and such lovely sites as Loronix, Music From The Third Floor, LP Cover Lover, This Isn’t Happiness and others (if I’ve missed you let me know!).

(related posts: Record Covers: Global Tour, LP Covers: Global Tour part 2, Asian Pop Record Covers, 78 RPM Record Labels, 78 RPM Record Labels part 2, Vintage Jazz Record Covers, More Vintage Jazz Record Covers, BYG Actuel Jazz LP Covers, Brazilian LP Covers, More Brazilian LP Covers, Reggae 45s, Reggae 45s Part 2, LP Cover Bonanza)

“I’ll believe that when I see a halo around my head.”