Capisconne aka Ivan Kapec is a Croatian jazz guitarist and founder of the experimental band TrianguliZona. His new project, Capisonne Electro Unity, has a free online album titled Activity. It is a mellow, slowly chilled effort of smooth jazz and acid jazz. The four tracks are live recordings with no overdubbing or studio tricks. Quietly soulful, this album should smooth out the stress wrinkles after a hard day at work.

Activity is available from the Breathe netlabel in 320kbps MP3.

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Greg Ginn is best known as the founding member and guitarist of seminal hardcore punk group Black Flag and the owner of independent record label SST. He also has fronted quite a few bands and projects since his Black Flag days, one of them being the punk/jazz/funk instrumental ensemble of Mojack. Ginn has placed Mojack’s newest album, Under The Willow Tree on his website as a free and legal download.

Under The Willow Tree may be quite different than anything Ginn did with Black Flag but the attitude is still decidedly punk. Ginn’s guitar playing is hard edged but often leaning more toward avant-garde jazz than rock. Drummer Mike Lopez is hard and funky while the saxophone of Tony Atherton, formerly of Bazooka, adds favorably to both to the funk and the avant-garde aspects of this session. The eighteen tracks are all up-tempo howlers that causes the album to be a bit one dimensional and twice as long as it should be but there is no denying the exiting tension that they produce.

The album is available from the Mojack web site in 192kbps MP3. If you enjoy the music, buy the CD in higher quality sound.

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Fine Recording was just one of many small independent record labels that existed in the mid 20th century catering to the regional and local markets. The Rochester, New York based company recorded a variety of artists in jazz, blues, rockabilly and gospel, none really making it big but still leaving a legacy of excellent sessions. The discs languished in a fire ravaged warehouse until Australian musician and collector Mark Taylor rescued what remained and began the laborious job of restoring these long lost recordings.

WFMU, with the permission of Mr. Taylor, offers a free online album of 25 gospel tracks recorded in the 1960s and the 70s. This is a capsule look at an incredibly creative run of East coast regional gospel that flourished during this period. Most of these groups are obscure although two, The Bright Clouds and The Spiritual Jubilators, are still active. There’s also a mention of Marion Williams as lead singer on “I Feel The Spirit” by The Inspirational Gospel Singers which makes me wonder if it could possibly be the great gospel diva herself. All of these songs are joyful and sometimes raucous celebrations of hope. These examples of urban gospel show a lot of influence from R&B although it might be more correctly said that R&B originally borrowed from gospel. However Jean McInnis’ solo of The Inspirational Gospel Singers’ “The Same Thing It Took” reminds me of Fontella Bass more than Mahalia Jackson. On the other hand, J.J. & J. Modernaire Singers’ “Servant of The Lord” is a traditional example of the gospel male quartet. I’m quite partial to the male gospel quartet and there are some fine ones on this collection including The Mighty Sons, The Gospel Hi-Lites, and the afore-mentioned Bright Clouds and Spiritual Jubilators. The opening tracks by The B.C Harmonizers and the Bible Aires Spiritual Singers are typically rollicking call-and-response of the celebratory kind that you would find in the black church on any Sunday morning. Hopefully WFMU and Mr. Taylor will share the music of other genres from this excellent regional record company but these rare gospel records should make even the least religious music lover shout “Hallelujah!”.

The album is available in 192kbps MP3. As previously noticed, at least two of these artists are still recording so if you like their music buy their CDs.

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Suffer Machine is a band from London, Ontario with a dynamite rock and soul sound. Their album Scream of Love is housed in CHRW’s London Archives and was released in the 1990s. I do not know if this band is still around but, if this album is any indication, they had a vibrant and explosive sound unusual in most local ensembles. Lead vocalist Pete Tangredi sounds like a man on a mission; part juke joint hustler and part street corner preacher. The instrumentation of sax, keyboards, guitar, bass and drum often sounds larger than it is. I especially like the opening “100″, the funky “Brand New Feeling”, a boppish “I Believe”, the James Brown influenced “No Guarantees”, and an exciting and frantic homage to “James Blood Ulmer”. This is a good reminder that not all excellent bands get the spotlight they deserve.

The album is available in 128kbps MP3. I would love to know if this band is still kicking around.

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