Great music few are aware of. Any genre.


To start with :
1. Al di Meola - Cielo e Terra. Vinyl, Japanese sounds best,
2. Sussan Deyhim - Madman of God. CD.
3. Hellborg/Velez - Ars Moriende. CD, track Love Death Ritual.
4.Steve Roach/Jorge Reyes - Vine Bark&Spore. CD. Atmospheric, tribal ambient.
inna

Yeah, Al! The first version I heard of "Train Kept A Rollin’ " was in 1965, that by The Yardbirds with of course Jeff Beck on guitar. It’s a great version, and I was amazed in 1977 when I heard a version I liked even more, that of The Rock ’n’ Roll Trio. Absolute killer! Johnny Burnette’s scream in the song is on a Little Richard level---as good as it gets. The R & R Trio created an incredible feeling of tension, which requires the musicians to "hold back" in a way that’s hard to explain but easy to hear. The Who were good at that too, no more so than in "I Can See For Miles". Most bands are all about release, not first creating the tension which makes the release so, ahem, satisfying.

Tension and release, what makes the best Rock ’n’ Roll so sexual. Elvis’ early stuff is full of it, as is the work of Rock ’n’ Roll master Dave Edmunds. Listen to Dave’s guitar solo in his 1970 recording of the Dave Bartholomew song "I Hear You Knocking", a hit for Smiley Lewis in the mid-50’s. The held-back tension in the song is palpable, and then Dave’s guitar solo kicks it up a notch, his note-timing creating the most intense tension-and-release I’ve heard in music. XXX-Rated, baby!

Dave and Robert Plant are close friends, and both fans of the Blues and Hillbilly from which Rock ’n’ Roll evolved. Dave was one of the guitarists being considered as replacement for Brian Jones in The Stones. Luckily, he didn’t get the gig, and ended up creating the real "Best Rock ’n’ Roll Band In The World" (the claim to that title by The Rolling Stones notwithstanding) with Nick Lowe, Billy Bremmer, and Terry Williams---Rockpile. One of the maybe four best bands I’ve seen live, the other two being Little Village, NRBQ, and of course The Band. The Beatles weren’t very good when I saw them live in '65, by the way.

Helios is amazing!
There is an electronic ambient label called A Strangely Isolated Place. They release music through Bandcamp, where you can buy vinyl or various types of digital files (mp3, flac, aiff...). Once you buy the digital album, you can download any format as many times as you like.

Anyway, on that label, there’s an amazing album called ’A State of Becoming’ by Lav & Perl. The vinyl is s beautiful pink and sounds incredible, very much in the Helios vein.

I love abstract/ambient electronic music.. I’ll try not to fill this thread. 😁
Wow, that's a lot. I'm going to limit this to recent albums I've acquired that were unknown to me or that I missed along the way.
Enzo Enzo - Ariola BOPL 1004 - This sort of fits into French cafe music. My daughter told me she likes French Cafe music, but I'm keeping this copy.
The Alternate Blues - Analogue Productions APR 3010 - Heavy hitters, improvisation, great sound and music.
Heartworn Highways - Diverse Records 016DLP - Documentary recordings from 1975 by the Classics playing their Classics. Great sound, but you have to forgive the vinyl a little.
Ben Alison - Newvelle Records NV005LP - One from a box set. Expensive recordings and unique approach to making/marketing music. Great new music and sound, regardless.
Kenny