What’s Spinnin’ at Sprezza?!
Our Pick: “Tired of Being Alone”
After the shaky start of Green Is Blues, Al Green and producer Willie Mitchell established their classic sound with Green's second album, Gets Next to You. The main difference is in the rhythm section. Abandoning the gritty syncopations of deep Southern soul, the Hi Rhythm Section plays it slow and seductive, working a sultry, steady pulse that Green exploits with his remarkable voice. Alternating between Sam Cooke's croon and Otis Redding's shout, Green develops his own distinctive style, and Gets Next to You only touches the surface of its depth. Although the album is filled with wonderful moments, few are as astonishing as Green and Mitchell's reinterpretation of the Temptations' "I Can't Get Next to You," which turns the original inside out.
Exclusive Green Splatter Vinyl LP
Price: 1,400 Baht
Our Pick: “Why’d You Only Call Me When You're High?”
If Arctic Monkeys launched a tentative retreat on Suck It & See, their first effort after being seduced by Josh Homme, the group once again forge ahead into bold new territory on AM, their fifth album. Neatly splitting the difference between the band's two personalities -- the devotees of barbed British pop and disciples of curdled heavy rock -- AM consolidates Arctic Monkeys strengths, a tricky task in and of itself, but the band pushes further, incorporating unapologetic glam stomps, fuzzy guitars, and a decidedly strong rhythmic undercurrent. At times, AM pulses to a distinctly danceable rhythm -- "Fireplace" percolates while "Why Do You Only Call Me When You're High" simmers and "Knee Socks" nearly rivals Franz Ferdinand in disco rock -- but this isn't an album made for nights out; it's a soundtrack for nights in. Too much of Alex Turner's mind is preoccupied with love gone wrong, jealousy, and general misanthropy, so even when he's singing about a "No. 1 Party Anthem," he's doing so with a nearly visible sneer. Such an undercurrent of cynicism makes AM an ideal album to listen to under the cover of darkness, but due to the Arctic Monkeys' muscular wallop and musical restlessness, it never feels like the band is wallowing in bleakness. Instead, this is vibrant, moody music that showcases a band growing ever stronger with each risk and dare they take.
Price: 900 Baht.
Art Blakely & The Jazz Messengers - Just Coolin’
Our Pick: “Close Your Eyes”
A previously unreleased recording from Blakey's prime, "Just Coolin'" is a solid set highlighting the band's tight and expansive interplay. With a loud and buoyant sound that ventures at times into manic intensity, the Messengers blend their respective instruments in one whole optimistic tone. The blaring free-flowing sax takes the lead as the accompanying piano and bass settle in steady duty together with Blakey's rudimental drumming. The remaster is good, if a little loud. While nothing essential this is a neat historical listen that Jazz lovers would appreciate. As with any Blue Note recording, a striking album cover adds visual eye candy to cap it off.
Price: 900 Baht
Chet Baker & Bill Evans - Alone Together
Our Pick: “Alone Together”
Never have two musicians seemed so alike in temperament yet differed so much in their approach to making music as Chet Baker and Bill Evans. Alone Together continues to cast a shimmering, dark-hued spell half a century later, Baker breathing long, lingering, hypnotic lines that flex and flow with understated panache. The prevailing mood is melancholic and down-tempo, with the virtually somnambulant Baker and overly cautious Evans remaining curiously semi-detached from each other throughout.
180 gram Limited Edition Red Vinyl
Price: 1,200 Baht
Ella Fitzgerald - Golden Archive Series
Our Pick: “Down Hearted Blues”
Recognized worldwide as "The First Lady of Song," Ella Fitzgerald is arguably the finest female jazz vocalist of all time. Blessed with a highly resonant voice, wide range, and near-perfect elocution, Fitzgerald also possessed a deft sense of swing, and with her brilliant scat technique, could hold her own against any of her instrumental contemporaries. She came to initial popularity as a member of drummer Chick Webb's band in the 1930s, scoring a hit with a "A-Tisket, A-Tasket," before ascending to wide acclaim in the 1940s with Jazz at the Philharmonic and Dizzy Gillespie's Big Band, and issuing landmark performances like "Flying Home" and "How High the Moon." Working with producer/manager Norman Granz, she gained even more acclaim with her series of albums on Verve, recording definitive versions of the music of the Great American Songbook composers, including 1956's Sings the Cole Porter Songbook. Over her 50-year career, she earned 13 Grammy Awards, sold over 40 million albums, and picked up numerous accolades including a National Medal of Arts and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. A hugely important cultural figure, Fitzgerald made an immeasurable impact on the development of jazz and popular music, and remains a touchstone for fans and artists decades after her passing.
A very rare pressing. This album is a must have.
Price: 900 Baht
Miles Davis Quintet - Cookin With the Miles Davis Quintet
Our Pick: “My Funny Valentine”
Cookin' is the first of four albums derived from the Miles Davis Quintet's fabled extended recording session on October 26, 1956; the concept being that the band would document its vast live-performance catalog in a studio environment, rather than preparing all new tracks for its upcoming long-player. The bounty of material in the band's live sets -- as well as the overwhelming conviction in the quintet's studio sides -- would produce the lion's share of the Cookin', Relaxin', Workin', and Steamin' albums. As these recordings demonstrate, there is an undeniable telepathic cohesion that allows this band -- consisting of Miles Davis (trumpet), John Coltrane (tenor sax), Red Garland (piano), Paul Chambers (bass), and Philly Joe Jones (drums) -- to work so efficiently both on the stage and the studio. This same unifying force is also undoubtedly responsible for the extrasensory dimensions scattered throughout these recordings. The immediate yet somewhat understated ability of each musician to react with ingenuity and precision is expressed in the consistency and singularity of each solo as it is maintained from one musician to the next without the slightest deviation. "Blues by Five" reveals the exceptional symmetry between Davis and Coltrane that allows them to complete each other's thoughts musically. Cookin' features the pairing of "Tune Up/When Lights Are Low" which is, without a doubt, a highlight not only of this mammoth session, but also the entire tenure of Miles Davis' mid-'50s quintet. All the elements converge upon this fundamentally swinging medley. Davis' pure-toned solos and the conversational banter that occurs with Coltrane, and later Garland during "When the Lights Are Low," resound as some of these musicians' finest moments.
Price: 1,400 Baht
Marvin Gaye - Sexual Healing - The Remixes
Our Pick: The Alternate Vocal Mix
‘Sexual Healing - The Remixes’ breathes new life into a classic groove. Amongst the remixes there are also alternate takes of the track.
Colored Vinyl LP
Price: 1,400 Baht
Elvis - The Platinum Collection
Our Pick: “Heartbreak Hotel”
Elvis Presley belongs on the short list of artists who changed the course of popular music in the 20th century. He may not have invented rock & roll, but he was indisputably its first rock star, a singer whose charisma intertwined tightly with his natural talent for a combination that seemed combustible, sexy, and dangerous when Presley seized the imagination of America in 1956 with four successive number one singles in 1956. Elvis spent the next two decades near the top of the charts, weathering changes in fashion, self-inflicted career missteps, and comebacks as his music expanded and evolved. Throughout his career, Presley never abandoned the rock & roll he pioneered on his early singles for Sun Records, but he developed an effective counterpoint to his primal rockabilly by honing a rich, resonant ballad style while also delving into blues, country, and soul, progressions that came into sharp relief with his celebrated "comeback" in the late 1960s.
The Platinum Collection 3LP in Cool White Vinyl
Price: 1,800 Baht
Our Pick: “Gentleman”
Gentleman is a 1973 studio album by Nigerian Afrobeat musician Fela Kuti. It was written and produced by Kuti and recorded with his Afrika 70 band. The cover artwork's depiction of a monkey's head superimposed on a suited body is a reference to the album's title track, which Kuti composed as a commentary on the colonial mentality of Africans who adhered to European customs and clothing.
Gentleman is both an Africa 70 and Afro-beat masterpiece. High marks go to the scathing commentary that Fela Anikulapo Kuti lets loose but also to the instrumentation and the overall arrangements, as they prove to be some of the most interesting and innovative of Fela's '70s material. When the great tenor saxophone player Igo Chico left the Africa 70 organization in 1973, Fela Kuti declared he would be the replacement. So in addition to bandleader, soothsayer, and organ player, Fela picked up the horn and learned to play it quite quickly -- even developing a certain personal voice with it. To show off that fact, "Gentleman" gets rolling with a loose improvisatory solo saxophone performance that Tony Allen eventually pats along with before the entire band drops in with classic Afro-beat magnificence. "Gentleman" is also a great example of Fela's directed wit at the post-colonial West African sociopolitical state of affairs. His focus is on the Africans that still had a colonial mentality after the Brits were gone and then parallels that life with his own. He wonders why his fellow Africans would wear so much clothing in the African heat: "I know what to wear but my friend don't know" and also points out that "I am not a gentleman like that!/I be Africa man original." To support "Gentleman," the B-side features equally hot jazzy numbers, "Fefe Naa Efe" and "Igbe," making this an absolute must-have release.
Exclusive Limited Edition Red With Black Marble Colored Vinyl LP (Only 300 Copies Pressed Worldwide)
Price: 2,900 Baht
Our Pick: “Back to Black”
The story of Back to Black is one in which celebrity and the potential of commercial success threaten to ruin Amy Winehouse, since the same insouciance and playfulness that made her sound so special when she debuted could easily have been whitewashed right out of existence for this breakout record. Although Back to Black does see her deserting jazz and wholly embracing contemporary R&B, all the best parts of her musical character emerge intact, and actually, are all the better for the transformation from jazz vocalist to soul siren. With producer Salaam Remi returning from Frank, plus the welcome addition of Mark Ronson, Back to Black has a similar sound to Frank but much more flair and spark to it. Winehouse was inspired by girl group soul of the '60s, and fortunately Ronson and Remi are two of the most facile and organic R&B producers active. As before, Winehouse writes all of the songs from her experiences, most of which involve the occasionally riotous and often bittersweet vagaries of love. Also in similar fashion to Frank, her eye for details and her way of relating them are delightful. She states her case against "Rehab" on the knockout first single with some great lines: "They tried to make me go to rehab I won't go go go, I'd rather be at home with Ray" (Charles, that is). As often as not, though, the songs on Back to Black are universal, songs that anyone, even Joss Stone, could take to the top of the charts, such as "Love Is a Losing Game" or the title song ("We only said good bye with words, I died a hundred times/You go back to her, and I go back to black").
In retrospect, Back to Black is not what it was when it first came out. Back then, it was a great album from a singer who was just starting to fulfill her considerable promise, both in her writing and in her singing. It was a tight, sleek, soul revival record; after the circumstances of her untimely death in 2011, it somewhat became a chronicle of a tragedy: like an accident in slow motion, you can see every little thing going wrong, and are helpless to prevent it.
Exclusive Limited Edition Pink Vinyl
Price: 1,900 Baht.
Our Pick: “My Love”
Singolare E Plurale will transport you directly to Italy. An absolutely essential album.
Double LP Import
Price: 2,400 Baht
Our Pick: “I Can See Clearly Now”
True to Life presents a classic case about the problem with two-sided music media. Side one is terrific -- great songs, shining horn charts and Ray Charles' most consistent singing in years. The covers of Johnny Nash's "I Can See Clearly Now" and Joe Cocker's "The Jealous Kind" are stellar. Charles then breathes life into two old chestnuts: "Oh What a Beautiful Mornin'" and the Gershwin's "How Long Has This Been Going On." Unfortunately, side two has absolutely nothing to recommend it. "Be My Love" suffers from a dull, drawn-out big band arrangement while the next three numbers attempt, and ultimately fail, to inject some soul funkiness into the proceedings. "Let It Be" joins "Eleanor Rigby" in the class of Charles' forgettable Beatles covers. Conclusion: half a great Ray Charles record is better than none and the first half definitely makes up for the second.
LP - Stereo
Price: 900 Baht
Chet Baker - Italian Movie Soundtracks
Our Pick: “Relaxin’ With Chet”
Chet Baker had a long and complicated relationship with Italy. It was a country where he was both imprisoned and adored. His first visit there took place in 1955, during his first successful European tour. It was during this tour that the quartet’s pianist, the talented Dick Twardzik, tragically died in Paris from a heroin overdose. Baker was devastated, and following Twardzik’s death – for which he felt some level of responsibility – the trumpeter submerged himself in the drug world and in a self-destructive spiral which would last for the rest of his life. Baker would stay in Europe for a number of months after Twardzik’s death, playing with different local musicians.
Baker made his way back to New York in mid-1956 and wouldn’t return to Italy until the 1959 trip that yielded the recordings included here. In fact, as Ezio Leoni (the musician in charge of the sessions) explained that Chet’s trip to Milan took place in order to make two albums (one with strings and orchestra, the other with a small combo of Italian players). Baker was already an addict when the contract was signed, and before he could travel he was imprisoned in the States. Therefore, the sessions had to be postponed and shortly after this music was recorded Baker would be imprisoned again, this time in Italy. Prior to his Italian imprisonment he made the two albums expected of him and recorded some interesting tracks for movie soundtracks with different bands conducted by Piero Umiliani, which are presented on this LP. All of that music is also contained here, including a vocal version of “Arrivederci” which has been taken from the original movie itself and, for that reason, has some odd overdubbed dialogues in Italian.
180 Gram Import
Price: 900 Baht
Kendrick Lamar - good kid, m.A.A.d city
Our Pick: “Money Trees”
Hip-hop debuts don't come much more "highly anticipated" than Kendrick Lamar's. A series of killer mixtapes displayed his talent for thought-provoking street lyrics delivered with an attention-grabbing flow, and then there was his membership in the Black Hippy crew with his brethren Ab-Soul, Schoolboy Q, and Jay Rock all issuing solo releases that pleased the "true hip-hop" set, setting the stage for a massive fourth and final. Top it off with a pre-release XXL Magazine cover that he shared with his label boss and all-around legend Dr. Dre, and the "biggest debut since Illmatic" stuff starts to flow, but Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City would be a milestone even without the back-story, offering cool and compelling lyrics, great guests (Drake, Dr. Dre, and MC Eiht) and attractive production (from Pharrell, Just Blaze, Tabu, and others). Here, Kendrick is living his life like status and cash were extra credit. It is what makes this kid so "good" as he navigates his "mad" city (Compton) with experience and wisdom beyond his years (25). He's shamelessly bold about the allure of the trap, contrasting the sickness of his city with the universal feeling of getting homesick, and carrying a Springsteen-sized love for the home team. Course, in his gang-ruled city, N.W.A. was the home team, but as the truly beautiful, steeped-in-soul, biographic key track "The Art of Peer Pressure" finds a reluctant young Kendrick and his friends feeding off the life-force of Young Jeezy's debut album, it's something Clash, Public Enemy, and all other rebel music fans can relate to. Still, when he realizes that hero Jeezy must have risen above the game -- because the real playas are damned and never show their faces -- it spawns a kind of elevated gangsta rap that's as pimp-connectable as the most vicious Eazy-E, and yet poignant enough to blow the dust off any cracked soul. Equally heavy is the cautionary tale of drank dubbed "Swimming Pools," yet that highlight is as hooky and hallucinatory as most Houston drank anthems, and breaks off into one of the chilling, cassette-quality interludes that connect the album, adding to the documentary or eavesdropping quality of it all. Soul children will experience déjà vu when "Poetic Justice" slides by with its Janet Jackson sample -- sounding like it came off his Aunt's VHS copy of the movie it's named after -- while the closing "Compton" is an anthem sure to make the Game jealous, featuring Dre in beast mode, acting pre-Chronic and pre-Death Row. This journey through the concrete jungle of Compton is worth taking because of the artistic richness within, plus the attraction of a whip-smart rapper flying high during his rookie season. Any hesitation about the horror of it all is quickly wiped away by Kendrick's mix of true talk, open heart, open mind, and extended hand. Add it all up and even without the hype, this one is still potent and smart enough to rise to the top of the pile.
Exclusive Limited Edition 2LP Clear Vinyl
Price: 1,400 Baht
Prince and the Revolution - Purple Rain
Our Pick: “I Would Die 4 U”
Prince designed Purple Rain as the project that would make him a superstar, and, surprisingly, that is exactly what happened. Simultaneously more focused and ambitious than any of his previous records, Purple Rain finds Prince consolidating his funk and R&B roots while moving boldly into pop, rock, and heavy metal with nine superbly crafted songs. Even its best-known songs don't tread conventional territory: the bass-less "When Doves Cry" is an eerie, spare neo-psychedelic masterpiece; "Let's Go Crazy" is a furious blend of metallic guitars, Stonesy riffs, and a hard funk backbeat; the anthemic title track is a majestic ballad filled with brilliant guitar flourishes. Although Prince's songwriting is at a peak, the presence of the Revolution pulls the music into sharper focus, giving it a tougher, more aggressive edge. And, with the guidance of Wendy and Lisa, Prince pushed heavily into psychedelia, adding swirling strings to the dreamy "Take Me With U" and the hard rock of "Baby I'm a Star." Even with all of his new, but uncompromising, forays into pop, Prince hasn't abandoned funk, and the robotic jam of "Computer Blue" and the menacing grind of "Darling Nikki" are among his finest songs. Taken together, all of the stylistic experiments add up to a stunning statement of purpose that remains one of the most exciting rock & roll albums ever recorded.
Remastered - 180 Gram
Price: 900 Baht
Our Pick: “Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)”
What's Going On is not only Marvin Gaye's masterpiece, it's the most important and passionate record to come out of soul music, delivered by one of its finest voices, a man finally free to speak his mind and so move from R&B sex symbol to true recording artist. With What's Going On, Gaye meditated on what had happened to the American dream of the past -- as it related to urban decay, environmental woes, military turbulence, police brutality, unemployment, and poverty. These feelings had been bubbling up between 1967 and 1970, during which he felt increasingly caged by Motown's behind-the-times hit machine and restrained from expressing himself seriously through his music. Finally, late in 1970, Gaye decided to record a song that the Four Tops' Obie Benson had brought him, "What's Going On." When Berry Gordy decided not to issue the single, deeming it uncommercial, Gaye refused to record any more material until he relented. Confirmed by its tremendous commercial success in January 1971, he recorded the rest of the album over ten days in March, and Motown released it in late May. Besides cementing Marvin Gaye as one of the most important artists in pop music, What's Going On was far and away the best full-length to issue from the singles-dominated Motown factory, and arguably the best soul album of all time.
Conceived as a statement from the viewpoint of a Vietnam veteran (Gaye's brother Frankie had returned from a three-year hitch in 1967), What's Going On isn't just the question of a baffled soldier returning home to a strange place, but a promise that listeners would be informed by what they heard (that missing question mark in the title certainly wasn't a typo). Instead of releasing listeners from their troubles, as so many of his singles had in the past, Gaye used the album to reflect on the climate of the early '70s, rife with civil unrest, drug abuse, abandoned children, and the spectre of riots in the near past. Alternately depressed and hopeful, angry and jubilant, Gaye saved the most sublime, deeply inspired performances of his career for "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)," "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)," and "Save the Children." The songs and performances, however, furnished only half of a revolution; little could've been accomplished with the Motown sound of previous Marvin Gaye hits like "Stubborn Kind of Fellow" and "Hitch Hike" or even "I Heard It Through the Grapevine." What's Going On, as he conceived and produced it, was like no other record heard before it: languid, dark, and jazzy, a series of relaxed grooves with a heavy bottom, filled by thick basslines along with bongos, conga, and other percussion. Fortunately, this aesthetic fit in perfectly with the style of longtime Motown session men like bassist James Jamerson and guitarist Joe Messina. When the Funk Brothers were, for once, allowed the opportunity to work in relaxed, open proceedings, they produced the best work of their careers (and indeed, they recognized its importance before any of the Motown executives). Bob Babbitt's playing on "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)" functions as the low-end foundation but also its melodic hook, while an improvisatory jam by Eli Fountain on alto sax furnished the album's opening flourish. (Much credit goes to Gaye himself for seizing on these often tossed-off lines as precious; indeed, he spent more time down in the Snakepit than he did in the control room.) Just as he'd hoped it would be, What's Going On was Marvin Gaye's masterwork, the most perfect expression of an artist's hope, anger, and concern ever recorded.
Price: 900 Baht
Charlie Parker - At Café Society
Our Pick: “Bewitched”
Charlie Parker’s engagement at Café Society took place during the last year of this famous club’s existence. Two days before his stint began, on June 6, 1950, he had recorded his last studio album with Dizzy Gillespie, the celebrated Bird & Diz, which featured Thelonious Monk on piano. During these months, as Bird himself announced, he was playing with strings. However, for some reason the Café Society didn’t book him with strings but with his quintet, featuring Kenny Dorham on trumpet, Al Haig on piano, Tommy Potter on bass and Roy Haynes on drums. All of the music recorded by Bird at the club is included here, including his only known versions of “Bewitched” and “Gone with the Wind”, as well as an amazing version of “Summertime”, which is Parker’s only reading of the tune apart from the studio recording with strings.
Price: 1,400 Baht
Our Pick: “New York State of Mind”
Often cited as one of the best hip-hop albums of the '90s, Illmatic is the undisputed classic upon which Nas' reputation rests. It helped spearhead the artistic renaissance of New York hip-hop in the post-Chronic era, leading a return to street aesthetics. Yet even if Illmatic marks the beginning of a shift away from Native Tongues-inspired alternative rap, it's strongly rooted in that sensibility. For one, Nas employs some of the most sophisticated jazz-rap producers around: Q-Tip, Pete Rock, DJ Premier, and Large Professor, who underpin their intricate loops with appropriately tough beats. But more importantly, Nas takes his place as one of hip-hop's greatest street poets -- his rhymes are highly literate, his raps superbly fluid regardless of the size of his vocabulary. He's able to evoke the bleak reality of ghetto life without losing hope or forgetting the good times, which become all the more precious when any day could be your last. As a narrator, he doesn't get too caught up in the darker side of life -- he's simply describing what he sees in the world around him, and trying to live it up while he can. He's thoughtful but ambitious, announcing on "N.Y. State of Mind" that "I never sleep, 'cause sleep is the cousin of death," and that he's "out for dead presidents to represent me" on "The World Is Yours." Elsewhere, he flexes his storytelling muscles on the classic cuts "Life's a Bitch" and "One Love," the latter a detailed report to a close friend in prison about how allegiances within their group have shifted. Hip-hop fans accustomed to 73-minute opuses sometimes complain about Illmatic's brevity, but even if it leaves you wanting more, it's also one of the few '90s rap albums with absolutely no wasted space. Illmatic reveals a great lyricist in top form meeting great production, and it remains a perennial favorite among serious hip-hop fans.
Exclusive Limited Edition Clear & Gold Split Colored Vinyl LP #1,111 / 3,500
Price: 3,500 Baht
Norio Maeda & Wind-Breakers – I'll Remember April
Our Pick: “I’ll Remember April”
Norio Maeda was born in Osaka, Japan, in 1934. Being taught to read musical scores from his own father since childhood, later began to study the piano on his own.As soon as he graduated from high school, began his professional career by performing live in Kansai area. He came up town to Tokyo in 1955, joined numerous groups such as "Shungo Sawada and the Double Beats".Also, enrolls in the honorable group, "Westliners".Highly esteemed not only as a pianist but also as a brilliant arranger, he begins his career on stage, on television, etc., in a wide range of fields. Since 1975, made his appearance on regular basis on "11PM" and enjoyed reputation there.Subsequently, became musical director for the hit TV series such as "Sound in S", "Music Fair", and also began to take charge of the theme and music for numerous TV programs. He was garnered the "Award for Best Arrangement" at The Tokyo Music Festival in 1981, the "Award for Best Arrangement" at The Japan Record Awards in 1983, and "Fumio Nanri Awards", the highest award in the world of Jazz hosted by Swing Journal Magazines. Besides his own trio, he formed "The Windbreakers" with greatest pianists in Japan, and "Triple Piano" with Masahiko Sato and Kentaro Haneda in 1988.He is an acclaimed pianist as well as composer/arranger, a representative figure of Japan, widely accepted from all quarters.
Import LP
Price: 900 Baht
The surprise hit of the 1994 summer movie season traces the life of a half-wit through the major historical events of the 1950s, '60s, and '70s, and this soundtrack album is a travelogue of the same period, from Elvis Presley's 1956 hit "Hound Dog" to Bob Seger's 1980 hit "Against the Wind." Like the movie, the soundtrack to Forrest Gump succeeds at repackaging the familiar -- in the film, we revisit everything from desegregation and the Vietnam War to the self-centered trends of the '70s, and on the soundtrack, we hear the concurrent hits for the umpteenth time -- although, unlike the movie, the soundtrack doesn't trivialize what it recycles. Playing it is basically like listening to an oldies radio station, minus the commercials and annoying DJ patter, but just like many other song-oriented soundtracks, this is still a miscellaneous collection. That, however, didn't keep it from shooting into the Top Ten as the movie became a blockbuster.
Double Vinyl - Import
Price: 1,500 Baht
Miles Davis & John Coltrane - The Final Tour: Copenhagen, March 24, 1960
Our Pick: “On Green Dolphin Street”
Miles Davis and John Coltrane first collaborated in 1955, when Davis recruited the tenor saxophonist alongside pianist Red Garland, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Philly Joe Jones. This "first great quintet" debuted on record with ‘Round About Midnight, Miles' first album for Columbia Records in 1957. These early recordings showcased the stunning contrasts between Miles' spacious, melodic lines and Trane's cascading high-energy solos, famously described by the critic Ira Gilter in 1958 as "sheets of sound."
While the quintet disbanded shortly after the release of ‘Round About Midnight, Coltrane was back in Miles' ensemble in early 1958. A year later, the Miles Davis Sextet (Davis, Coltrane, Chambers, saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, pianist Bill Evans and drummer Jimmy Cobb) recorded the historic Kind Of Blue, the best-selling jazz album of all time. That same year, Coltrane built upon the modal jazz ideas of Kind Of Blue (based on scales or "modes" instead of chords) on his fifth studio album Giant Steps, released by Atlantic Records in 1960.
Giant Steps established Coltrane as one of the most innovative bandleaders of the genre, and it became clear that his rising star would take him in a different direction than Davis. Even so, Miles could not immediately find a suitable replacement for a Jazz At The Philharmonic tour of Europe organized by jazz impresario Norman Granz, and persuaded his bandmate to join him one last time. It was Trane's first trip to the continent, and his intense, exploratory playing often baffled audiences (who responded vocally).
Nonetheless, these early performances from that European tour – Miles and Trane's last outing together before Coltrane passed away in 1967 – showcased both musicians' incredible influence on the changing sound of jazz. The beautiful music they made together at Copenhagen's Tivolis Koncertsal on March 24, 1960 is presented here for the first time from the original ¼" analog tapes recorded by national broadcasters in Sweden.
150 Gram LP
Price: 900 Baht
Thelonious Monk / Sonny Rollins
Our Pick: “Friday the 13th”
This album contains an all-star cast headed up by Thelonious Monk (piano) and includes some collaborative efforts with Sonny Rollins (tenor sax) that go beyond simply inspired and into a realm of musical telepathy. The five tunes included on Work are derived from three separate sessions held between November of 1953 and September of the following year. As is often the case, this likewise means that there are three distinct groups of musicians featured. Whether by design or happenstance, the tracks compiled for this EP present Monk in the favorable confines and settings of smaller combos, ranging from the intimacy of the Percy Heath (bass) and Art Blakey (drums) trio on "Nutty" as well as the equally grooving title track. Both utilize Monk's uncanny and distinct sense of melody and are conspicuous for Blakey's rollicking percussive contributions -- which, at times, become thrust between Monk's disjointed chord work. The larger quartet and quintet settings are equally as inventive, retaining the highly inventive atmosphere. However, the undeniable highlight is the interaction between Monk and Rollins. Leading off the album is a definitive and freewheeling reading of the pop standard "The Way You Look Tonight." Equally as scintillating is "I Want to Be Happy," both of which are also highlighted by Art Taylor (drums) and Tommy Potter (bass). They provide a supple and unencumbered framework for the soloists to weave their inimitable and often contrasting contributions. The final track is the beautifully dissonant and extended "Friday the Thirteenth," which is ironically the first fortuitous collaboration between the two co-leads. Rollins is able to entwine a sinuous lead throughout Monk's contrasting chord counterpoint.
Exclusive Limited Edition Red White Black Starburst Colored Vinyl LP
(Only 500 Copies Pressed Worldwide)
Price: 3,500 Baht
Metallica - Metallica (The Black Album)
Our Pick: “Wherever I May Roam”
It's no secret that Metallica's self-titled fifth album – aka The Black Album – is one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed records of all time with global sales of over 35 million, and a series of unrelenting singles including "Enter Sandman," "The Unforgiven", "Nothing Else Matters," "Wherever I May Roam," and "Sad But True."
Its 1991 release propelled Metallica to bona fide household name superstardom, and its impact and relevance have only grown with the years: The Black Album remains the best-selling album of the past three decades, and one of only two albums that have spent 550+ weeks on the Billboard 200.
Exclusive Limited Edition
Black Marble Colored Vinyl LP 2LP
Price: 2,900 Baht
Bob Marley - Legend The Best Of Bob Marley
Our Pick: “Punky Reggae Party - 12” Version”
The classic Marley album, the one that any fair-weather reggae fan owns, Legend contains 14 of his greatest songs, running the gamut from "I Shot the Sheriff" to the meditative "Redemption Song" and the irrepressible "Three Little Birds." Some may argue that the compilation shortchanges his groundbreaking early ska work or his status as a political commentator, but this isn't meant to be definitive, it's meant to be an introduction, sampling the very best of his work. And it does that remarkably well, offering all of his genre-defying greats and an illustration of his excellence, warmth, and humanity. In a way, it is perfect since it gives a doubter or casual fan anything they could want. Let's face it, the beauty and simplicity of Marley's music was as important as his message, and that's captured particularly well here.
Exclusive Tri-Color Rasta Vinyl
Price: 2,500 Baht