Buddy Miles Express - Expressway to Your Skull (1968)

I've always held fast to my opinion that Jimi Hendrix's work with drummer Buddy Miles and bassist Billy Cox was far superior to that he did with the Experience; it's a funkier, more soulful incarnation of Jimi's music and it came along at a time when people were more or less doubting (or challenging) Hendrix's "blackness".

So Buddy's drumming gave everything a funkier, dancier swing (fresh off his work with blues rock band The Electric Flag) and Jimi's Band of Gypsys was born. In between being a sideman for Mike Bloomfield's project and Jimi's new thing, he had his own thing, the Buddy Miles Express, with Jim McCarty on guitar and Billy Rich on bass. This is a pretty cool album as far as being a period piece; not every song is a knock-out (the cover of Sam & Dave's Wrap it Up is actually kind of flat) but it's interesting to see on record how one of the first albums to attempt to blend hard rock with funk & soul works out- this basically presaged the whole Funkadelic movement; helping to spawn funk rock.

Anyway, give it a go; you shan't be disappointed (too much)...

Buddy Miles Express - Expressway to Your Skull (1968; Mercury Records)

Diamond D - Stunts, Blunts & Hip Hop (1992)

Another classic hip-hop record that never got it's due; Diamond D and his Psychotic Neurotics' Stunts, Blunts & Hip Hop is a testament to keeping it real. The whole D.I.T.C. (Diggin' In The Crates) Crew were the hardest working DJs and producers in the game in the early 90's, one listen to any of the charter member's albums and you'll know that what you're listening to is pure aural boom bap gold. D was one of the last of a dying breed of beat-maker/rapper; it's a shame more MCs aren't as adept in production as rhyming these days.

Featuring guest verses from Sadat X and Lord Jamar (of Brand Nubian), A Tribe Called Quest's Q-Tip, Big L, Fat Joe and Showbiz and production from Large Professor, Jazzy Jay and DJ Mark the 45 King; it's a posse album if there ever was one. I always felt that this was one of the last great albums from the old school of hip-hop; it came out at the tail end of the golden age, right before Wu-Tang Clan released their game-changer Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) in '93.

Sit back, relax, spark up a blizzy, fuck what u heard- Stunts, Blunts & Hip Hop is the shit, kid.

Diamond D - Stunts, Blunts & Hip Hop (1992; Mercury Records)

Exuma - Exuma (1970)

Exuma was the alter-ego of one McFarlane Gregory Anthony Mackey of the Bahamas; his brand of Caribbean freak folk gives the impression that these tunes were all recorded next to a campfire on some deserted island, guided by the spirits encircling and protecting the revelers. Armed with deep soul, shells, triangles, hand drums; it sounds more like a religious ritual (tribal folk tales interspersed with secret voodoo rites or even a seance perhaps?) than a music recording- this is an album for the true music adventurer.

I can go on with all the adjectives I want; spooky, haunting, etc- but really it's a keystone in the freak folk genre; what we would call freak folk (Comus' First Utterance would be a great place to start as well, recorded in 1971; or the earlier work of Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newsom, Akron/Family, CocoRosie or Ben Chasny's Six Organs of Admittance project and the most recent album celebrated as a landmark in the genre; Animal Collective's Sung Tongs). You can trace the lineage right down through to today- I'd say the best place to start would be right here with Exuma. A perfect blend of traditional Caribbean music styles (reggae, junkanoo and calypso) mixed with field hollers and traditional folk. 

This is his debut album, and it features backing from The Junk Band and Daddy Ya Ya. Check it out!

Exuma - Exuma (1970; Mercury Records)