Metal as a genre is rich due to its many incarnations and sub-genres; there’s so much to explore. Once you really commit to learning about heavy music, its part of the process to explore the various types of metal and find those you prefer. In the case of death metal, one needs to look no further than the legendary group Death. Active from 1983 till 2001, Death was one of the most influential bands in the genre that pioneered the highly technical yet brutal sound that would become a worldwide force. Their albums are considered holy texts for death metal fans and are generally viewed as some of the most important recordings in metal’s history; you simply have to listen to it. However the group’s story is not one entirely of innovation and triumph, it also holds tragedy. Death was founded and fronted by vocalist and guitarists Chuck Schuldiner in 1983, who remained the band’s center and main contributor for their whole run until he suffered an untimely death in 2001 after a battle with brain cancer. Schuldiner is often cited as the “Father of Death Metal” and the genre’s establishment on American soil is clearly tied to his work. We’re proud at IODA to distribute a large portion of the Death catalog, which is simply must-listen material for metalheads everywhere.
Digital Digging: Tommy Guerrero
Monday, January 31st, 2011
Tommy Guerrero has two major passions that he’s actively pursued throughout his life: skateboarding and music. As a pro skater, he’s considered to be a legend; Tommy was one of the prominent members of the Bones Brigade along with Steve Cabellero, Tony Hawk, Mike McGill, and Lance Mountain. He won the first street-style skating contest in 1983, skateboardings incarnation that he helped pioneer on the streets of San Francisco. After riding for Powell Peralta, Guerrero and Jim Thiebaud (a hometown friend and PP teammate) started the skateboarding company, Real. Fans of the sport remember him as a pioneer with a laid back style that was truly cool.
Tommy quit pro skating in 1995, in part to work on his second passion, music. He’s played guitar in a number of projects including his brother’s band Free Beer and his own local group Jet Black Crayon (who have toured with Isotope 217 and Tortoise). Since his retirement from pro skating, he has released a number of solo records that focused on his guitar work. His critically acclaimed albums, Ep’s, and singles combine various genres from rock, rap, funk, soul, and jazz to create something distinct. His 2003 release, Soul Food Taqueria, was ranked as the 2nd best album of 2003 by Rolling Stone Magazine. Guerrero also had numerous unreleased songs appear on the highly successful and acclaimed video game series Skate by Electronic Arts. He’s collaborated with Jack Johnson, Curumin, Bing Ji Ling and Prefuse 73,and worked on remixes for Money Mark/Nigo, Poets of Rhythm and Shawn Lee. To augment his playing, he’s featured vocal guest spots from some of today’s biggest names including Lyrics Born and his long-time collaborator Gresham Taylor. Tommy’s newest release Lifeboats and Follies continues to display his excellent taste in influence and unique blend of genre in execution.
Digital Digging: Alan Lomax
Monday, January 17th, 2011By: Mike Madavi
The Atlantic recently posted a great article interviewing John Szwed, who has just put out the first proper biography of Alan Lomax entitled Alan Lomax: The Man Who Recorded the World. The book covers the life and times of one of music’s most important figures; Lomax is well known for amassing one of the most important collections of ethnographic material in the world. His collection includes more than 5,000 hours of sound recordings, 400,000 feet of motion picture film, hundreds of photographic prints and negatives, over 120 linear feet of correspondence, field notes, research files, and much more. Lomax’s recordings capture the very feel and culture of the places he visited such as the American south (where he discovered Muddy Waters, Leadbelly, and Woodie Guthrie), the Caribbean, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, and Spain. Without a doubt, he is one of, if not “the,” most important figures in music for the 1900′s.
NPR’s fantastic All Things Considered program also just featured Szwed’s Lomax book on a recent broadcast. You can catch it over on their website.
IODA proudly handles a large portion of the Lomax catalog for digital distribution, which we count among the treasures in our catalog. Here we’re highlighting some of our favorite Lomax recordings including the newly released “Southern Journey” set and his acclaimed Hati recordings boxset. (more…)
Digital Digging: The Mad Caddies
Monday, December 27th, 2010By: Mike Madavi
Artist: Mad Caddies
Title: Consentual Selections
Label: Fat Wreck Chords
Genre: Ska : Punk
UPC: 751097075722
Territory: World
Digital Release Date: 07.20.10
Anyone who’s into Ska already knows how great the Mad Caddies are; they simply wouldn’t have lasted this long if they weren’t. One of the best known 3rd wave groups, the Caddies combine elements of rock, reggae, and punk that evokes tastes similar to the Clash and Sublime. They’ve been around for over a decade and a half and have successfully rode the Ska wave through multiple generations and sounds, displaying their skill, versatility, and staying power through the years. Their 5 full length albums, numerous world tours and other various recordings (live records/ep’s) stand as testimate to a fun and rocking career. Now Fat Wreck Chords (NOFX frontman Fat Mike’s label) along with IODA are proud to announce Consentual Selections, a greatest hits collection of 24 tracks that span their entire career
Digital Digging: Finest NY House 2010
Monday, December 13th, 2010
DJ Roland Clark, Urban Soul
“If I Was A DJ (Supernova Remix)” (mp3)
from “Finest NY House 2010″
(King Street Sounds)
2010 was a great year, wasn’t it? In celebration of all things that happened in the house music world, King Street Sounds is releasing a fantastic compilation of the music they’ve released this past year, titled Finest NY House 2010. If that tile was too cryptic for you to decipher, it’s a collection of the best house artists and tracks that came out of New York in 2010; this was a year that the label extended their reach to the braod spectrum of electronic music, ranging from good ol’ fashion deep and soulful house to electro, progressive, nu disco, and beyond. The compilation is a must have for fans of the genres, especially house fanatics. It’s also a great way to get acquainted with the NY scene.
The record compilation kicks off with “Fade Away” by P’taah featuring Tiombe Lockhart, a future jazzy piece remixed by Silver City, who really take us into a funky Nu Disco dimension. It also features many other deep/soulful elites including Danny Krivit, Louie Vega, Mr.V, Sean McCabe, Groove Assassin, Spencer Parker, Aki Bergen, Frankie Feliciano, Alix Alvarez and Kiko Navarro. These top artists remix and revisit hits from Dennis Ferrer, Ananda Project, DJ Roland Clark presents Urban Soul, Barbara Tucker, and jOHNNYDANGEROUs. As you venture deeper into the collection, the funk gives rise to House music’s best Progressive/Tech/Electro remixers of 2010 including Abel Ramos, Criminal Vibes, Supernova, Alex Kenji, Kruse & Nuernberg, Marshall and Noferini & Marini. Finally, the collection comes looping back around and finishes in proper form with the deep anthem, Kiko Navarro’s epic remix of Blaze’s “We Are One.”
This is a great compilation that sums up how New York house sounded and felt this past year. Think of it as a sonic yearbook that commemorates a great year in dance music.
Digital Digging: Jim Sullivan
Monday, November 15th, 2010
Artist: Jim Sullivan
Title: U.F.O.
Label: Light In The Attic
Genre: Folk-Rock : Psychedelic Folk
UPC: 847108062321
Territory: World
Release Date: 11.15.10
“In March 1975, Jim Sullivan mysteriously disappeared outside Santa Rosa, New Mexico. His VW bug was found abandoned, his motel room untouched. Some think he got lost in the desert. Some think he fell foul of a local family with alleged mafia ties. Some think he was abducted by aliens.”
Ironically/coincidentally/possibly-un-coincidentally, Jim’s 1969 debut record was titled U.F.O., released on the one-off private press label Monnie. The album featured Phil Spector’s legendary session musicians, The Wrecking Crew: Don Randi, Earl Palmer and Jimmy Bond, who also acted as producer and arranger. The release has been out of print for quite some time, making it a valuable snag for a record geek. Lucky, some record geeks were smart and giving enough to form a fantastic label they dubbed Light in the Attic, which now carries a catalog of overlooked masterpieces, rarities, and untold gems that one couldn’t hear without tearing through goodwills and flea markets. U.F.O. is the next release in line from LitA, highlighting not only the genius of its music, but also the mysterious story of its creator’s disappearance. A couple of guys from LitA even took it upon themselves to journey across America in an attempt to try and find out whatever they could about Jim’s vanishing; here’s their account of what happened:
“[After his second album went relatively unnoticed and his marriage was clearly breaking up] Jim left for Nashville and the promise of a new life as a sessioneer in the home of C&W. That’s where it gets hazy.
We know he was stopped by cops for swerving on the highway in Santa Rosa. We know he was taken to a local police station, found to be sober, and told to go to a local motel to get some rest. Sometime later, his car was spotted on a ranch belonging to the local Genetti family, who confronted him about his business there. The next day Jim’s car was found 26 miles from town, abandoned. His car and his hotel room contained, among other things, his twelve-string guitar, his wallet, his clothes, and several copies of his second album, but no note, and no Jim. It was as if he had simply vanished into thin air.
Jim’s family traveled out to join search parties looking for him, the local papers printed missing person stories, but the search proved fruitless. Around the same time, the local sheriff retired and the Genettis moved to Hawaii.”
Pretty heavy stuff. Before his attempt to move down south, Sullivan was a high school quarterback, a fixture of the Malibu bar scene (where he had a nightly gig), and a friend of celebrities like Harry Dean Stanton among other things. He even managed to sneak in a cameo in the legendary motorcycle/60’s psychadelia masterpiece Easy Rider! Unfortunately, he came so close to achieving recognition in multiple arenas, but no one managed to push through. This doesn’t mean, however, that he never created anything worthy of recognition: U.F.O. is a fully realized album of clear originality, vision, and scope. On the surface it’s a folk-rock record, but a closer listen reveals complex touches, rich influences, and quality writing. Sullivan’s voice is deep and expressive with a worn-in, traveled, yet uniquely American feel. His songs are easily labeled pop, but the inspiration and context are feelings of despair. The album is punctuated with a string section (that recalls David Axelrod), other times a Wurlitzer piano provides the driving groove (as if Memphis great Jim Dickinson was running the show). U.F.O. is a slice of American pop music filtered from the murky depths of Los Angeles, by way of the deep south.
While the events that took place in 1975 don’t quite add up, one thing is certain; U.F.O. stands as an eerie masterpiece by an artist who left us far too soon.
