Up Side Down, Fela Kuti and the Africa 70 This is cool. In a world of needlessly esoteric and pretentiously packaged repressings, records like this one serve as a reminder that behind all of the affected hipster posturing, there is some truth. Full of rich horns, dry drums, and wailing moans, Fela and his band embellish on this cut, crackling with a raw power. This is Fela in his finest form. Thundering with the Africa ‘70 into the fray of Afrobeat glory, Fela touches upon a nerve few can. Simultaneously minimalistic yet decadent, boisterous yet reserved, jubilant yet somber, this single, shipped to KRLX from the oh-so-cool London-based label Phase 4 in the heady days of 1976, deserves to be cherished, respected, and danced to. Sammy Hagar VOA, Sammy Hagar This album is a turd. Pictured here in the reddest of Photo: Loren Friedman leather jumpsuits, with this disk the man responsible for the slow, grim demise of Van Halen offers up his particularly mindless brand of crotch rock. Particularly grating is the track “Dick in The Dirt”. Following the exploits of what appears to be Hagar’s favorite appendage, this four-minute exercise in actual masturbation serves as a manifestation of Hagar’s unique ability to suck harder than the average bear. Beat to death and encrusted in what I can only hope is dirt and spit, this gem stands out as among the worst pieces of property KRLX possesses.
Photo: Loren Friedman
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