This is why I love browsing through old records.  To find old classic music that I would otherwise never hear.  I found, listed alphabetically: Moody Blues, London Festival Orchestra, Peter Knight – Days of Future Passed (1967), Pee Wee Russell – Plays Pee Wee (1961), Specs Powell – Presents Big Band Jazz (1957), and Various – Town Hall Concert (1965).

I had to go back to see Jeffery Allen one more time before the weather really turns.  Jeff runs the WNY Vinyl Collective group on Facebook and sells records during warmer months, Saturdays at The Peddler flea market in Buffalo, on Elmwood and West Ferry.

I always love jazz finds.  I recently learned about Pee Wee Russell and have been listening to The Spirit of ‘67, a classic recording of his with Oliver Nelson.  Plays Pee Wee is more chilled back than I expected but then again, Pee Wee Russell is a little bit earlier for jazz, beginning his career in the ‘20s.

            Specs Powell has that cool old school sound you get sometimes with old records and has some real classy big band tunes.  On the Town Hall Concert, the musicians are really in the groove with some great solos on this album.  I haven’t heard too much Moody Blues so Days of Future Passed was also a great find.  The Moody Blues with the London Festival Orchestra is laid back and has some nice chill tunes.  Turns out, this one’s an early progressive rock classic.

            Be sure to catch Jeff Allen at The Peddler flea market in Buffalo.  There might actually be a few nice Saturdays left this year.

Abysme are a death metal band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania featuring former members of Aus Rotten, Crucial Unit, and Funerus.  Strange Rites is their debut full-length, originally released on CD in 2012 by Hellthrasher Productions in Poland.  Our Ancient Future, a new record label in Pittsburgh, just released Strange Rites on vinyl this year.  I ordered this directly from their website.

Crucial Unit are one of my all-time favorite underground d.i.y. bands.  Having a former member in Abysme was enough for me to check them out a few years back.  I never expected a vinyl version of Strange Rites would be released.  I didn’t even know Abysme were still active.  They recently announced on Facebook about the vinyl release and it turns out Abysme are still active playing shows around Pittsburgh.  I understand they’re even working on material for another album.

            Abysme’s Strange Rites is killer death metal for all you old school maniacs out there.  “Caveman death metal not for your listening pleasure.”

If you listen to hardcore, underground or experimental music then you probably already know Candiria.  From Brooklyn, they were popular in the New York hardcore scene and released numerous groundbreaking albums in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s, fusing hardcore, hip-hop, and jazz, influencing the next generation of extreme metal and underground music.

            Candiria’s music, self-described as “urban fusion,” requires a somewhat diverse aural palette and being open to new ideas and experimentation.  In return, their recordings are some of the most rewarding listening you can experience.  Their classic albums include Beyond Reasonable Doubt (1997), 300 Percent Density (2001), and my personal favorites, The Process of Self-Development (1999) and The Coma Imprint (2002).

            While They Were Sleeping (2016) realizes Candiria at their most powerful and pushing musical boundaries further than ever.  Challenging and shattering expectations as exactly what fans of Candiria expect.  I ordered While They Were Sleeping directly through the Metal Blade Records website.  This is some of the most exciting new music you will hear anywhere.

 

            Directly from Poland, this arrived via mail order from the Fat Ass Records Discogs store. In Advanced Haemorrhaging Conditions (2016) by Dutch goregrind masters, Last Days of Humanity.

Together for over 25 years, Last Days of Humanity effectively carved out their own niche sound in the goregrind genre. You can hear the development of their style on releases in the early to late ‘90s and then perfected in the early 2000s.

Fat Ass Records released Last Days of Humanity’s 2006 goregrind masterpiece, Putrefaction in Progress, for the first time on vinyl last year.  The vinyl pressing must have been successful as this year saw another vinyl release of their 2005 recording, In Advanced Haemorrhaging Conditions. Bones Brigade Records in France originally released both albums on CD.

            Bloodstrike from Denver, Colorado play old school death metal at its finest.  In Death We Rot (2016) is their first full-length released on Redefining Darkness Records.

            My band, Prepare for the Mindscan, opened for Bloodstrike at The Lair in Buffalo, Tuesday, September 13th.  Sharing the merch table that night, I bought the record from the singer Holly after their set.  They were super cool and had really funny stories from the road.

Bloodstrike have it all: sick low vocals, tight, groovy drums, in the pocket (nice mid-tempo blasts!), demonic leads AND riffs.  They put on a killer performance at The Lair, not to mention the sick album cover art!  I had to pick up In Death We Rot on vinyl.  Old school death metal heads take note.