Lying somewhere between the demarcations of electro-pop, high life, and the Caribbean diaspora sits the solo excursions of synthesized session heavyweight Wally Badarou. A guru behind the computerized keys and best known as The Talking Heads’ secret weapon on Speaking in Tongues, it was Badarou’s penchant for unfathomably catchy fills and phrasings that elevated “This Must be the Place” and “Burning Down the House” to the legendary earworm status they maintain today. This may be the most immediate reference point on Badarou’s extensive resume, but the sounds explored on his solo records are illuminated more clearly within the context of his eighties studio credits. One simply does not work with Black Uhuru, Grace Jones, or Fela Kuti without being fully immersed in groove.
Lee Underwood :: California Sigh
Ambient, post-fusion jazz, minimalism, field recording, electronic extravaganzas and musique concrete manifestos — all could be sold as New Age with the right kind of window dressing and perhaps a little bit of sweetening. California Sigh, Underwood’s self-released 1988 cassette now issued on CD and LP for the first time by Drag City, dips slightly into field recording and electronic spheres, but otherwise sticks to another major venerable New Age pathway: solo acoustic guitar.