The Recoup

SINCE 2013: Books and books and books and books and occasionally other things

Record Reviews

  • Aquariana: Aquariana (Drag City)

    Over the past few years, Drag City has served as the go-to archival label for The Source Family cult–a unique and peculiarly influential group that was devoted to health food, endless acid-rock jams, and their spiritual leader, Father Yod. This was no fringe organization; Father Yod owned The Source, a famous Hollywood vegetarian restaurant that Read more

  • Antena: Camino del Soul (Les Disques du Crepuscle)

    Belgian-based Antena may have been associated with Factory Records, but their sound was far from dark, broody post-punk. If anything, it was an antidote to that then prevalent style, offering up Latin-inspired jazz, a little samba here, a little bossanova there, all tempered quite nicely by the cooing of lead singer Isabella Antena. Alongside bands Read more

  • Jellyfish: Radio Jellyfish (Omnivore Recordings)

    For a band that released two albums, psychedelic pop band Jellyfish sure did leave a nice cache of rarities. Over the last decade or so, they’ve released a handful of collections of unreleased material, all of which is of varying interest. Live albums, demo recordings, and alternate takes have made the case for the greatness Read more

  • Burt Bacharach: Make it Easy On Yourself 1962 (El Records)

    Make It Easy On Yourself 1962 is the third album in El Records‘ ongoing series documenting the writing and recording career of legendary pop composer Burt Bacharach. This series, however, focuses on the more obscure recordings and songs from the man’s vast catalogue, with the occasional more well-known number, when omission would be conspicuous. Many Read more

  • Richard Barone: Cool Blue Halo (Richard Barone Music)

    Former Bongos frontman Richard Barone wasted no time in going solo after the sudden demise of his band. While Phantom Train found Barone and company honing its college-rock chops, Cool Blue Halo was a completely different kind of record. Stripped down to a four-piece, with no fancy production tricks, one might be tempted to call Read more

  • Basia “Time and Tide” (Cherry Pop)

    After leaving sophisti-pop band Matt Bianco–where she had scored a chart hit with her song “Half a Minute”–Polish-born Basia embarked on a solo career. Time and Tide, her debut album, is a joyous, upbeat album of catchy, radio-friendly jazz-pop. Never content to be devoted to one sound, songs would range from Big Band pop (“Time Read more

  • Monk Montgomery: Reality (Big Break Records)

    Bassist Monk Montgomery came from a family of four talented brothers; the four would make up a hot jazz combo called, rightly, The Montgomery Brothers. The most famous of the four was brother Wes; a successful guitarist, he helped to redefine the role of guitar as a featured instrument. His career was short-lived, as he Read more

  • Soundgarden: Screaming Life/FOPP (Sub Pop)

    It’s easy to forget just how powerful a role Soundgarden played within the Seattle scene;  with Badmotorfinger, they would eclipse their hometown and become a heavy, hard rock band that transcended the grunge tag. It also isn’t surprising that success would come, thanks in part to the powerhouse singing of Chris Cornell. This collection–released in Read more

  • Tom McDermott: Bambolua (Minky)

      Tom McDermott is a New Orleans-based pianist who has a penchant for a sound that comes straight from the beginning of the century–the Twentieth century, that is. This collection is a sampler of the man’s varied and interesting back catalog, compiled lovingly by Van Dyke Parks, himself a respected master of such unique, vintage Read more