Brass Trax

Brazilian Guitar Fuzz Bananas

By Rick Sawyer
February 26th, 2010

Any compilation that begins with a 1960s jam about Brazilian Batman in space deserves to be in your collection, like, yesterday, and that’s something that can unreservedly be said about Brazilian Guitar Fuzz Bananas, where “Tema De Batman” is just a warm-up.

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Brass Trax

The Mayor of El Barrio: Joe Cuba’s Boogaloo

By Rick Sawyer
February 25th, 2010

The boogaloo, like so many crossover styles before and since, was destined to have a short lifespan. A fusion of Latin and African American music forms, boogaloo was the sound of a certain part of New York City in the late sixties, and nobody personified that sound quite as completely as Joe Cuba, the author of the genre’s greatest hit.

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Brass Trax

Soothing Sounds for a Toddler: Making a Mixtape for a Two-Year-Old

By Rick Sawyer
January 22nd, 2010

My niece’s reaction to David Bowie got me thinking about musical variety. Kids haven’t been programmed to think that weird music is weird yet. In the hopes of coaxing her away from the insipid oldies music that my mom makes her listen to, I wanted to craft a mixtape that would introduce my niece to stuff that I liked when I was younger.

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Box Set Spotlight

Elvis 75: New Box Set Chronicles the King’s Versatility

By Rick Sawyer
January 5th, 2010

A great strength of Elvis 75 is its chronological arrangement. Listen to the set in order, and you can hear Elvis evolve across the decades. And the tracks don’t bog down; the song selection was made judiciously but with enough room for nonessential surprises.

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Brass Trax

Kind of Blue: Reggae Style

By Rick Sawyer
December 11th, 2009

Miles in a reggae way? This year, the 50th anniversary of Miles Davis’s landmark Kind of Blue, the world finally has the answer.

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Brass Trax

The Psychedelic Soul of Motown:
The Four Tops’ Still Waters Run Deep

By Rick Sawyer
December 7th, 2009

The Four Tops will never be the poster boys for psychedelia, but the quartet’s 1970 album Still Waters Run Deep belongs in the library of any fan of fuzz guitar and trippy stereo separation.

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Brass Trax

New Release Round-up: Forge Your Own Slits

By Rick Sawyer
November 20th, 2009

This week, we feature a batch of reissues and new albums that hone in on the groove, hearty listening for early winter that will keep you warm at night.

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