Ofege - Try and Love (Tom’s review here)
Like my recent post on Blo, Ofege is another one of those rare Nigerian psych/beat groups whose influences must have been a trickle of American and British records. Unlike with Blo there’s really very little hint of Afrobeat or funk, in many ways this is about as close to a straight rock/pop group as you might be able to find, and if Blo were naive, Ofege are almost like little children and as such it’s extraordinarily charming music, particularly the heavily accented vocalist who is often just hilarious. Despite the fact this is a piece for psychedelic collectors, its music is definitely pop and more like a throwback five years earlier to 69 and unsurprisingly its imitative and not terribly imaginative. But it is a hell of a lot of fun.
Hal Galper - The Guerilla Band
A quick search of the web will direct you to the “kosmigroov” websites, a catchall title used for a lot of late 60s and early 70s jazz and fusion that crunches genres and is generally spiritual and transcendent music. It’s a great catchall to me because I like just about everything under the label. Galper’s The Guerilla Band finally was reissued on CD last year although I’m still working with the LP I bought through GEMM a few years ago. It’s definitely a hot record, spacy fusion, great players (the Brecker brothers for example) and the type of k-groov vibe that marks it as a must from the era. I think I’m going to have to shell for the reissue.
Grateful Dead - Boston Music Hall 6/12/76
This show clicked in a big way for me this listen, in fact it has one of the strongest set ones I’ve ever heard, definitely very ballad heavy. Kind of strange to see Row Jimmy in the number two spot, but it’s a beautiful, heartfelt version as is the “Mission in the Rain” and “Looks Like Rain.” I even left with the impression that this may be one of the few Dead shows where the opening set is the most impressive, especially as this show’s long set 2 suite takes rather tedious trips into “Dancing in the Streets” and “Around and Around.”