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From '50s NYC clubland, a Yma Sumac-inspired version of "Babalu" by jazz/calypso singer Phyllis Branch.
Category Archives: R&B/Vocal Groups
Bright Lights
Like AM Radio Dust, its companion volume, Bright Lights is just as much an exploration of lost spaces and places as it is of sound. I hope you enjoy it. Bright Lights (single MP3 file) Susan Rafey, “The Big Hurt” … Continue reading
Black night
This is one of those weeks where three records get posted alongside each other not because they share some very specific theme or belong, musically- or culturally-speaking, in the same sub-sub-genre. (Jazz, early rock ‘n’ roll, pop, R&B and country … Continue reading
AM Radio Dust
A new, or new to Office Naps, mix this week. AM Radio Dust was my 2009 contribution to the annual CD mix swap over at the Waxidermy forums, the weird id of contemporary record collecting. AM Radio Dust is … Continue reading
Blue Flame: a new mix
I put together a new mix for my Dutch compadre Cortez for the fifth anniversary of his fabulous Club Cortez blog. You can find it there now. Club Cortez has been around as long as Office Naps. Cortez’s tastes in … Continue reading
Have guitar will travel
Much has been made of the classic Bo Diddley beat, the now-clichéd shave-and-a-haircut rhythm. Popularized by Diddley, the beat’s place in rock ‘n’ roll was staked when his eponymous 1955 debut for Checker Records turned into a surprise success. Affirmed … Continue reading
Walt Bolen’s Lion Hunt
A great pleasure to hear recently from keyboardist Walt Bolen, who filled me in on the backstory behind his organ-led R&B exotica instrumental “Lion Hunt” (Pick-A-Hit 101, which I first wrote about at this ancient post), as well as some … Continue reading
It’s your voodoo working
This week Office Naps surveys some R&B favorites from the early ‘60s. There’s no tight conceptual theme, though these selections share some sensibilities. They mine the arrangements and robust, minor-key melodies of compositions like “Fever,” “St. James Infirmary” or “Summertime.” … Continue reading
The desperate hours
This week we look at a few representative examples of a wonderfully dark, slow strain of post-War rhythm and blues. The lyrical content has always hovered around the same subjects – lost love, deep loneliness, obsession, suicide, death – a … Continue reading
