Butterglory - Crumble (1994)

Some wonderful indie pop from early '90s boy-girl duo Butterglory, hailing from Lawrence, Kansas by way of Merge Records. 

Sounds like a cross between Pavement and Archers of Loaf. 

Enjoy!

Butterglory - Crumble (1994; Merge Records)

Dün - Eros (1981)

Q: Was France teeming with awesome prog rock bands thirty years ago?

A: Outside of Christian Vander and his band Magma, here's the best one I've ever heard, Dün's Eros.

A true hidden gem in the avant-prog school of Zeuhl; incorporating elements of jazz fusion, odd time signatures, a penchant for all things Zappa, this is a can't miss for progressive rock fans...

Dün - Eros (1981; self-released)

Donny Hathaway - Live (1972)

I used to love live music; something inexplicable happened in the last few years that has switched my focus to the supreme worship of the album as ultimate artistic statement- I think it's one too many shitty concert experiences. You know what I'm talking about- some places have really bad acoustics or are cramped or too hot, but the one I hate the most is the inattentive crowd busy chatting away or texting it up. I guess any number of things serve as deterrents from an awesome live music experience. Oh well.

This record, however; is one of the best live albums of all-time, judging from the crowd's response. Donny Hathaway was like a man possessed these two nights back in '72 (side one is from The Troubador in Hollywood and side two is from The Bitter End in Greenwich Village). The cover versions of John Lennon's Jealous Guy and Carole King's You've Got A Friend are as good (if not better) than the originals, Hathaway's soulful voice gives them a warmth that they're missing.

I gotta give a shot-out to J.D. for introducing me to this album a long time ago; we used to listen to his parents' vinyl copy on the good stereo in his living room. Listen to this now, people...

Donny Hathaway - Live (1972; Atco Records)

Silver Jews - American Water (1998)

"Wild metaphors and dry wit..."

I'd say that's David Berman's mission statement. I was trying to think of the most American music possible; (Will Oldham's various projects and monikers come to mind) but Berman is way smarter and what's more American than rampant intellectualism? I swear half of these songs could be little snippets of college thesis statements...

Silver Jews - American Water (1998; Drag City Records)

This Heat - Deceit (1981)

First time I ever heard this record, I was really high. Like insanely paranoid and high. Needless to say, this album terrified the shit out of me. I vowed to never listen to it again.

I listened to it again years later, totally stone sober; I finally understood what it was This Heat was trying to do- completely deconstruct the layers of what can be considered a "song" and break it down to its basest, most common denominator: noise. Pure, awesome unadulterated noise (and its relative constituent parts). It's probably the most avant-garde and experimental of the whole early-'80s "post-punk" scene; that's probably why I love it so.

I hope you give it a chance to terrify the shit out of you too...

This Heat - Deceit (1981; Rough Trade Records)
-link opens to YouTube-

Wanda Jackson - Rockin' With Wanda (1960)

I was introduced to Wanda Jackson a few years ago, by the wonderful KALX radio station. I had just moved to California and was trying to learn the area roads, out driving around- and this song comes on called Fujiyana Mama; it was equal parts awesome rockabilly and hilarious late '50s camp.

I was hooked; got this album from Miss Jackson. The tunes range from straight rockabilly to honky tonk to country to rock & roll- if ever Elvis had a female counterpart, it'd be Wanda (she briefly dated Presley in 1955, so there you go).

Check out this record if you wanna hear an early influence on rock music, from a woman's point of view (this is the 2002 re-mastered issue with bonus tracks)...

Wanda Jackson - Rockin' With Wanda (1960; Capitol Records)

Kings Of Convenience - Riot On An Empty Street (2004)

When I'm in a foul mood, this is one of the albums I put on. It has that certain something that creates just the right amount of perspective shift until I'm right sized again. 

Kings Of Convenience craft soft and folky melodies, courtesy the Norwegian duo of Eirik Glambek Bøe and Erlend Øye. 

Leslie Feist also appears on two tracks; this is really a pretty record, one of my favorite pop albums of the decade...

Kings Of Convenience - Riot On An Empty Street (2004; Astralwerks Records)

Gravediggaz - 6 Feet Deep (1994)

What happens when you take rapper Too Poetic, Stetsasonic's Prince Paul & Frukwan and the Wu-Tang's RZA and put them all in a studio with some Freddy Krueger and Jason movies?

This album...

I'mma send a personal shout-out to Weady D for this one; I can remember driving around his old whip smoking blunts and noddin' our heads to this one, way back in the days of '95. I think Scotty Del and Haji Casale know what's up, too. This album is for all you cats (suicide, it's a suicide, widda bop-bop...)

Gravediggaz - 6 Feet Deep (1994; Gee Street Records)

13th Floor Elevators - Easter Everywhere (1967)

It's been said that the 13th Floor Elevators invented psychedelic rock; I don't know if that's an accurate statement, but one thing I can tell you- they definitely introduced schizophrenia to the masses. This is their second album, Easter Everywhere. While not as popular or groundbreaking as the first, in my opinion it's just as trippy, dark and weird as its predecessor.

Started by University of Texas student (and jug player) Tommy Hall and guitarist Stacy Sutherland, the Elevators' most recognizable figure would be singer/guitarist Roky Erickson; his well-documented struggles with severe mental illness over the years add to the band's mystique but eventually caused its downfall (Erickson spent 3 years in an institution and was never the same man after).

So sit back and enjoy a psych rock classic that's equal parts period piece and a study in unraveling madness...

13th Floor Elevators - Easter Everywhere (1967; International Artists)

Tom Waits - Rain Dogs (1985)

This is another record I point folks to when they make the ridiculous claim that the '80s sucked as far as music is concerned. 

For every Toto, there's a band like The Replacements. 

For all the Foreigners, there's the Minutemens. 

For every Bryan Adams, there's a Tom Waits...

Tom Waits - Rain Dogs (1985; Island Records)

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Worn Copy (2003)

Ariel Pink and his Haunted Graffiti project take accessible melodies and render them inaccessible under layers of broken keyboards, human beatboxing and four-track tape hiss; he's the lo-fi psych pop disciple of home-recording pioneer R. Stevie Moore. Pink's influences are as far reaching as The Beatles to Zappa to Roxy Music to cheesy '80s synth music and on and on...

Give this one a try if you're the type that likes to make bedroom recordings on the ol' Tascam 4-track.

Ariel Pink - Worn Copy (2003; Rhystop Records)

Can - The Classic Years

Can is the most under-rated band of all-time.

Probably for several reasons; one (the biggest) was that they weren't American (or even British), so they didn't have the luxury of over-exposure (they called Cologne, Germany their home-base). Had they been an American (or British) band, they'd have been as big as The Grateful Dead or Pink Floyd; as improvisers they were just as talented, and as far as locking into a groove; they were un-matched (stickman Jaki Leibezeit was like a human drum machine). They could be as funky as George Clinton's bands or as free as Sun Ra's Arkestra.

Before you shoot flames at me for not acknowledging original lead singer Malcolm Mooney's contributions (ironically he is from the United States), I'm choosing to focus on their three best albums, the ones with Japanese-born Damo Suzuki as their lead singer. He was a street poet that basically scat-sang, usually an unintelligible mix of English, Japanese and screaming.

Another reason they were so under-rated; they were so ahead of their time. Light years ahead. Just like their influences, The Velvet Underground, Frank Zappa and The Mothers Of Invention, electronic music pioneer Karlheinz Stockhausen; they were more or less misunderstood, another fact that hinders their recognition because again (god-dammit!) even those bands aren't as appreciated as they should be.

In terms of who they influenced, let's start with the entire Krautrock scene; Brian Eno's forays into ambient dream-scapes; all those post-punk bands (especially Mark E. Smith, penning the homage I Am Damo Suzuki on The Fall's This Nation's Saving Grace), P.I.L. (who collaborated with bassist Jah Wobble in the '80s), even Joy Division and Siouxsie Sioux have named Can as a primary influence. Other groundbreaking artists that kneel at the altar: Radiohead, David Bowie and Talking Heads.

If any of the aforementioned artists are on your list of favorites, and you've still never listened to Can, skip the rest of the reading and start listening to these records! 

Here's some neatly arranged bullet points to further assert my position in this essay:

• They were incorporating rock instrumentation into "World Music" before the term even existed, experimenting with tribal drum patterns, dub basslines and primal screaming.

• They spent hours in the studio recording then later going back and editing said sessions into "songs", the track Yoo Doo Right from the album Monster Movie was edited down from a 24-hour jam into a 20-minute song. This was all done by hand, called micro-editing; meticulously done with razor blades and splicing tape- I can only imagine the frustration (and the time involved) to cut down 24 hours of reel-to-reel to a twenty-minute edit.

• Bass player/engineer Holger Czukay studied under Stockhausen for three years, as well as keyboardist Irmin Schmidt- who was a well-established concert pianist/composer with the Vienna Symphony.

• Guitarist Michael Karoli was a classically trained cellist and violinist before picking up the six-string, even playing violin on a few albums (although uncredited).

• They more or less anticipated and influenced entire movements of music (see above).

I'm just going to say listen to the whole lot of these records, find them on vinyl, get the CDs, the re-issues, the remasters; three of the greatest albums of all-time...

Tago Mago (1971; United Artists)


Ege Bamyasi (1972; United Artists)


Future Days (1973; United Artists)

The Legendary Pink Dots - The Maria Dimension (1991)

The Legendary Pink Dots are an experimental psychedelic freak-out band; this album is what you wanna listen to right after you paste a ten-strip to your forehead under your bandanna in 95-degree heat at some god-forsaken hippie festival in upstate New York in late August and you want things to get really weird.

These guys moved from London to Amsterdam in the mid-'80s, way before it was the cool thing to do. I'm just saying...

The Legendary Pink Dots - The Maria Dimension (1991; Play It Again Sam)

Wanna Buy A Bridge? - a Rough Trade Records compilation (1980)

A totally awesome and definitive compilation of post-punk from Rough Trade Records' artists from the late '70s. Includes tracks by Cabaret Voltaire, Young Marble Giants, Robert Wyatt, The Pop Group, The Raincoats, Stiff Little Fingers, The Slits, Kleenex, Television Personalities and a few more!

Never made available on CD, this is one of those "vinyl-only releases"; so the rip is directly from Rough Trade Records' Spotify account. There's some copies of the LP floating around on eBay and Discogs.com, so it's a pretty rare find. 

Tracklist:

1. Alternative Ulster Stiff Little Fingers
2. Mind Your Own Business Delta 5
3. Man Next Door The Slits
4. Aerosol Burns Essential Logic
5. Part Time Punks Television Personalities
6. Read About Seymour Swell Maps
7. We Are All Prostitutes The Pop Group
8. Soldier Soldier Spizz Energi
9. Ain't You Kleenex
10. Nag Nag Nag Cabaret Voltaire
11. In Love The Raincoats
12. Final Day Young Marble Giants
13. Skank Bloc Bologna Scritti Politti
14. At Last I Am Free Robert Wyatt

Wanna Buy A Bridge? (1980; Rough Trade Records)
-playlist is in alphabetical order-

Albert Ayler - Spiritual Unity (1964)

This album sounds like how Gumby feels. I don't mean how he feels emotionally, I mean how Gumby would feel if you touched his green skin.

The tone of Albert Ayler's saxophone has that Gumby-esque texture, it squeaks and squonks and blurts its way into your brain. If you dig free jazz, then this may be one of the crowning achievements of the genre.

...and to answer your question; yes- I used to do a lot of LSD.

Albert Ayler - Spiritual Unity (1964; ESP-Disk)

Death Cab For Cutie - We Have The Facts And We're Voting Yes (2000)

I'm kind of embarrassed by Death Cab For Cutie these days. Having to defend their early work up against the awful pap they've been putting out the last few years has grown tiresome; I say give this record a listen and decide for yourself.

But hey, maybe you like the radio-friendly hits they're churning out, maybe you've put them on a mixtape for some chick your were trying to get with, I don't know...

I'll take their first five records (everything up to and including 2003's Transatlanticism) and make pretend they broke up before they had a chance to make Narrow Stairs. Sorry.

Death Cab For Cutie - We Have The Facts And We're Voting Yes (2000; Barsuk Records)

Bert Jansch - L.A. Turnaround (1974)

Bert Jansch is better known for his associations with Brit-folk mainstays The Pentangle, as well as his duo work with band-mate John Renbourn. This album isn't even considered by his fans to be one of his best, I think the two records preceding this one (Rosemary Lane & Moonshine) are the two mentioned as the apex of his solo work.

I can understand why, here on L.A. Turnaround he abandoned his traditional British folk leanings and went to Los Angeles to record an album steeped in California-esque country folk-rock, not to mention ex-Monkee Mike Nesmith played on and produced this album.

If you dig the singer/songwriter country/folk thing, then this one's for you...

Bert Jansch - L.A. Turnaround (1974; The Famous Charisma Label)

Bud Powell - The Amazing Bud Powell (1951)

Bud Powell was the first truly great jazz pianist (along with his friend Thelonious Monk) and got the chance to see jazz grow from swing to bebop to hard bop to avant-garde and free jazz; working across three decades- the 1940s, '50s and '60s.

This record was the result of two separate sessions; the first is notable because it featured a young Sonny Rollins on tenor sax and Fats Navarro on trumpet (also included were Tommy Potter on bass and Roy Haynes on the drum kit; he also recorded tunes with these two gentleman as a trio here; dated August 9th, 1949) and another trio session; May 1st, 1951 with bassist Curley Russell and the one and only Max Roach manning the skins.

This album has some historical significance in that it was one of the first records to fully synthesize African and Cuban rhythms successfully; before this the two genres were sort of dabbled in and poked around by Dizzy Gillespie, but Powell's interest in these funkier art forms are explored more deeply here.

This is the Rudy Van Gelder 2001 re-master (with bonus tracks and alternate takes- there are re-issued versions of this from 1955 titled The Amazing Bud Powell, Vol. 1); a must-have for any fans of jazz piano...

Bud Powell - The Amazing Bud Powell (1951; Blue Note Records)

Smog - Red Apple Falls (1997)

Bill Callahan, the one-man "band" hiding behind the Smog moniker, is one of my favorite modern-day miserablists. That's not even a word, according to spell check, but fuck it; I'm using it. He's up there with Leonard Cohen, Morrissey and Will Oldham. Of course, they've all softened with their ages; Cohen's art is usually centered around the broken-hearted; Mozza's become too self-aware, his misery is almost comedy these days and Oldham's as well is laughably ironic. But Callahan, you are a miserable sunnuvabitch.

Wilco wrote a song years ago called I Am Trying To Break Your Heart. Bill never had to try to break your heart, he crushes it with this record...

Smog - Red Apple Falls (1997; Drag City Records)

Greyboy - Mastered The Art (2001)

Andreas Stevens (aka Greyboy) first emerged as a DJ at the end of the 1980s. After christening Michael McFadin's Ubiquity imprint with his Greyboy 12 #1, he provided the label with one of its first full-lengths, 1994's Freestylin'. On his third outing, Mastered the Art, the DJ's dusty, hip-hop beats are found mingling with the retro sounds of his extensive 8-track tape collection. Late '90s rare-groove may still be the best description but Mastered the Art's flavors include the sounds of Italian cinema, 70s easy listening and tropicalia as well. Supplying the exotica, are Greyboy All-Star multi-instrumentalist Elgin Park (guitar, piano, omnichord, sitar), and veteran jazz vibe player Dave Pike. It's plainly obvious that Stevens' genre-warping concept couldn't have worked without them.

-from Allmusic.com

Greyboy - Mastered The Art (2001; Ubiquity Recordings)

David Bowie - Low (1977)

When I first heard Low a few years ago, I didn;t know what to make of it. I was fresh off a serious early-era Bowie jag; the more glammy period starting with 1969's self-titled (re-issued in '72 as Space Oddity) up to the awful covers album Pin Ups from 1973. Then there's the next era, where Bowie transformed himself into a soul crooner called The Thin White Duke, experimenting with funk and R&B on Diamond Dogs through Station to Station.

This album is the start of the Berlin trilogy (Low, "Heroes" and Lodger) when David up and shipped himself off to Germany to rent a flat with Iggy Pop and get straight from the piles of coke he'd been snorting for most of the 1970s. It was a great idea, Bowie would not only put out two of his best records, he worked with Iggy on The Idiot and Lust For Life. 

Enter Brian Eno as well, he worked alongside Bowie with the second half of the record on the more ambient-based tracks (here as a musician and consultant to his friend, the actual producer role fell to Tony Visconti); this album is the synthesis of the whole Krautrock movement, listen to Tangerine Dream's Phaedra or Klaus Schulze's Timewind to get Bowie's inspiration.

So here's David Bowie's Low from 1977, an album totally ahead of its time...

David Bowie - Low (1977; RCA Records)

Pink Floyd - Ummagumma (1969)

I always thought this early version of Pink Floyd (right after Syd left) was the impetus for the whole Krautrock movement; listen to Can's Monster Movie or Faust's Faust or Amon Düül II's first two records and you'll hear what I mean.

This is as concept-driven as the idea of a "concept album" would allow; the first disc is four tracks from two live performances in late April and early May of '69, and the second disc has four "solo" albums that were recorded the following week. These solo records are interesting in that each member of the Floyd took on the role of band-leader (after Syd's departure, there was no clear "leader" of the Floyd camp, hence the following decade would be a bit of a creative push-and-shove between band members, tensions were instigated by Roger Waters and David Gilmour's insistence on being their leader) so it's interesting to see exactly where Pink Floyd was as a band here, and where they'd be going. Experimentally-inclined as always, it's a nice primer to the casual fan to see and hear what they were doing in the years leading up to Dark Side of the Moon.

This album was requested by my friend Martin, so here's Ummagumma in all of its glory, folks...

Pink Floyd - Ummagumma (1969; Harvest Records)

Sarah Vaughan - Sarah Vaughan (1955)

When it comes to female jazz vocalists, to me, there are only two- Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan. But what do I know about vocal jazz? I don't listen to all that much, I think that the lead instruments in jazz provide more than enough of a voice to the music itself- but Sarah Vaughan...

This is one of those rare albums that I can click play on (that sounds antithetical to the listening process, it should read, "drop the needle on...") anytime of day or any mood, because of the timelessness of not only Vaughan's voice but Clifford Brown's trumpeting, (this album is also known as Sarah Vaughan with Clifford Brown) it somehow manages to soothe my mind.

I read somewhere that Vaughan said this was her favorite album of hers, and it's my favorite of hers, too.

Sarah Vaughan - Sarah Vaughan (1955; EmArcy Records)

Gang Starr - Step In The Arena (1990)

Rest In Peace, Guru. 

You were truly one of a kind...

Gang Starr - Step In The Arena (1990; Chrysalis Records)

Dungen - Ta Det Lugnt (2004)

Swedish-born Gustav Ejstes is the one man band behind Dungen (pronounced doon-yen) and I gotta say that when I first heard this album a few years ago, I remember thinking "there's no way this isn't from 1973..."

Well, I was wrong; Ta Det Lugnt ("take it easy") was recorded in 2003 on vintage instruments; almost entirely by Ejstes himself, (ironically using computer software like Cubase for the recording and mastering).

It's a psych-pop-rock masterpiece of the early millennium.

Dungen - Ta Det Lugnt (2004; Subliminal Sounds)

Andrew Hill - Point Of Departure (1965)

I buy a lot of jazz records based on the line-up; after all- an album is only as good as the sum of its parts.

But I don't need to rattle off a bunch of names here; just one: Eric Dolphy.

He totally steals the show. Yes, it's an Andrew Hill record, but it could be under Dolphy's name just the same because the brother shines. Completely awesome. After Out To Lunch and the stuff he did with Mingus, this is one of Dolphy's finest moments. Apologies to Hill, he's a pretty awesome pianist, too- his compositions are wonderful; but they exist so Dolphy can stretch out his unique voice and imaginative soloing. Listen closely during the track Spectrum, when the bass solo ends and Dolphy takes over- that's as sublime a moment on record you'll ever find. I'd be remiss to not mention Tony Williams' amazing drumming, but you'll just have to listen to understand this...

This is the 1999 Rudy Van Gelder re-issue with alternate takes of three tracks. Check this record out right now!

Andrew Hill - Point Of Departure (1965; Blue Note Records)

Robyn Hitchcock - I Often Dream Of Trains (1984)

Psych-tinged folk ditties from the quirky mind of Robyn Hitchcock. It's like he went through his old diaries, cleaned up the prose to make it rhyme and set it to this bare-bones and fragile music. Somewhat whimsical and zany, often times disturbing and dark; it's one of those albums I listen to and wonder if this is what Syd Barrett would've done if he hadn't gone batshit bonkers and retreated to his mum's basement to watch British soaps on the telly all day.

Maybe that's what Hitchcock imagined this record was; an homage of sorts to the crazy diamond himself.

Robyn Hitchcock - I Often Dream Of Trains (1984; Midnight Music)

Univers Zéro - Heresie (1979)

Univers Zéro are an instrumental Belgian band known for playing dark music heavily influenced by 20th century chamber music. The band was formed in 1974 by drummer Daniel Denis. For a time they were part of a musical movement called Rock in Opposition (RIO) which strove to create dense challenging music, a direct contrast to the disco and punk rock being produced in the late 1970s. Obvious early influences were Bartók and Stravinsky however the band also cited less well known composers such as Albert Huybrechts, who was also Belgian.

Their early albums were almost entirely acoustic but with later releases their sound became more electric. In 1977 they released their first album 1313 on which the members played with a heavy rock and roll approach despite the fact that the instrumentation was largely acoustic. This is mostly due to the use of drums. Two years later the album Heresie proved to be even darker. Several reviews have cited it as the darkest album ever recorded.

- from Wikipedia

Univers Zéro - Heresie (1979; Cuneiform Records)

Slowdive - Souvlaki (1993)

Slowdive so badly wanted Brian Eno to produce this record, but after speaking with him he told them it would be better if he was a collaborator instead. He wound up playing keys on a track and co-writing another. It's too bad this came out the exact time Suede and the Britpop movement began because this record totally got lost under that massive cloud.

This is what I think of when someone mentions the word "album", as in; the whole is much greater than the sum of its parts. This isn't a record with a single on it, it has to be played end-to-end. That being said, this is a re-issue with three bonus tracks at the end of the record.

So, in short: dreamy downtempo rock music that plays best during a snowstorm.

Slowdive - Souvlaki (1993; Creation Records)

Terry Riley - A Rainbow In Curved Air (1969)

Experimental minimal electronic progressive drone music?

Fucking sign me up.

And while you're at it, sign up The Who (for the inspiration Pete Townsend got to do the intro to Baba O'Riley), better sign up Rick Wakeman too.

Keith Emerson, you hear this shit? I know you did, stop hiding behind that monstrosity of an organ.

Tangerine Dream, you're on this list. Ja, ja sind sie hier eingeschaltet. 

Steve Reich, where'd you get the idea for your "pulses" and all that stuff on Music For 18 Musicians?

Philip Glass- you're so on the list (you're probably the only one to admit it...)

These are all the people that directly benefited from Terry Riley's work. Now you can benefit from it, too. Click the link below the album cover...

Terry Riley - A Rainbow In Curved Air (1969; Columbia Records)

Brian Eno & David Byrne - My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts (1981)

Take Brian Eno's penchant for electronic experimentation and David Byrne's Afro-beat leanings and what you have is one of the more innovative records of the early '80s, it wasn't the first commercial music album to feature sampling, but it is considered landmark in its achievements. When asked if he invented sampling, Eno said in an interview:

"No, there was already a history of it. People such as (Can's) Holger Czukay had made experiments using IBM Dictaphones and short-wave radios and so on. The difference was, I suppose, that I decided to make it the lead vocal on the album My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts..."

(from Q Magazine, July 2001)

So there you go, an album that's both funky and ground-breaking. This is the 1990 re-issue, and missing from it is the track "Qu'ran" which was considered offensive to Muslims because it used real samples of recitations of the Islamic holy book, recorded in an Algerian mosque. In its place is the B-side to single The Jezebel Spirit, titled Very, Very Hungry.

Brian Eno & David Byrne - My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts (1981; Sire Records)

Destroyer - Thief (2000)

This should be subtitled: The Portrait of a Starving Artist at the Turn of the Century...

Destroyer (Dan Bejar) is the most talented of all his New Pornographer band-mates; that's right (I'm looking at you both, Neko and A.C.), and if you doubt this assertion, why are they covering a bunch of his older solo songs and playing them now? Because Bejar's tunes from 10 years ago are better then theirs now. Fact.

Anyway, Destroyer has three records from the last ten years that I consider my favorite of the decade, and I'll post them in the coming weeks. Just to let you know, they just re-issued this record as a 2xLP with 1998's City Of Daughters; buy it!

Destroyer - Thief (2000; Cave Canem Records)