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Disc a Day -- Eclectica Disc a Day -- Eclectica Vitaminic Capsule Releases to be Administered Daily Blues/R&B | Classic Rock | Eclectica | Funk | Jazz | Modern Rock | New Orleans | Reggae | World Tom Waits -- Mule Variations (Epitaph) Tom Waits' Epitaph debut marks a high point in a distinguised career of ballads, stomps and surreal surprises. "Get Behind The Mule" ups John Lee Hooker's ante in the raw loping blues category. Waits may not be a megastar, but he assures us he's "Big In Japan". At the recent Bridge School Benefit show, his hunched-back, grisled vocals shocked some audience members, but then they had to admit, 'he's got a good sound here'. In a vision spanning films, musicals and songwriting, Waits' down and out, pork pie hat wearing persona rubs off on ya, as it did on signpost releases Frank's Wild Years and Swordfishtrombones in the 80's. "Black Market Baby" offers a heart felt moment while "What's He Building?" scraps convention for a beat spoken word vignette about a creepy neighbor to great sound effects. Mule Variations hits as a true style-piece and state of his art. Robert Mitchum -- Calypso, is Like So... (Scamp) Robert Mitchum, the wanderer, found his way to Trinidad for a film, but was enticed, and maybe intoxicated by the lilting delivery of vocals over the Tropical rhythms. Maybe he was just intoxicated. On "Not Me," Mitchum lets loose with salvos of Calypso wisdom seldom heard in such a classy hi-fi package. No doubt a good disc to have around come martini hour. Beau Jocque -- Gonna Take You Downtown (Rounder) clectica from way down South in Louisiana. Beau Jocque is the heavy metal Zydeco sensation as hot as Tobasco. On his fourth release he takes you downtown with a cover of War's "Cisco Kid" and Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" along with several low down, high-octane originals. Expanding the range of Zydeco, Beau Jocque's intensity and flair is only matched by the late great Clifton Chenier. Excellent guitar work from Russel "Sly" Dorian, Sr. rocks without compromising the Creole roots. New York's Ensemble for Early Music -- Istanpitta (Lyrichord) The Lyrichord label features many great world releases and today we stretch that palette to include pre-Colonial Europe with Istanpitta On this disc New York's ensemble for Early Music takles the difficult scholarly task of researching and recreating an era which is not only long gone, but poorly documented. Powerfully performed pieces on this richly recorded cd feature Middle Eastern strains in Italian works as well as moments from French, German, English and other Early musics. A great ingredient to this mix is the drumming of virtuoso Glen Velez, whose cd "Rhythmcolor" will soon be featured on this program. Various Artists -- Sounds of the South (4 cd box, Atlantic) Folklorist/Recordist Alan Lomax got together with Atlantic Records honcho Ahmet Ertegun to compile some great music which could potentially have popular appeal. The original lp's first released in the late 1950's, are now collected here display the rural, untampered quality found in Lomax's legendary treasure trove of recordings. Taped during several travels before the music business affected the time honred styles of The South, ranging here from the Georgia Sea Islands to The Mississippi Delta. In this set you find great slices of gospel, blues, folk and many combinations. Various Artists -- The Alladin Story (2 cd's, EMI) Floyd Dixon's "Telephone Blues" typifies the quality smoky blues sound of the standout R&B label Alladin Records, founded by Leo and Edward Mesner in 1945. Starting with Illinois Jacquet's version of the Lionel Hampton classic "Flying Home" and continuting to sign veteran performers such as Billie Holliday, Louis Jordan and Charles Brown, well into the rock and roll era. Alladin captured sounds from New York and Chicago to L.A. and New Orleans up until its 1961 sale to Imperial. These cd's transport you back to those magnificent post war days with cut after delicious cut. Various Artists -- Rockabilly in Memphis (Sony) Rockabilly in Memphis breaks out the sounds of Rock's inception. Well researched and selected by the Smithsonian, these tracks feature Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis. Get back to the roots in style with 18 hot ones include "Stuttering Cindy", "Ooby Dooby" and "Boppin' the Blues". Those were heady days when Sam Philips Sun label cranked out raw blasts of guitar and vocal married to a killer backbeat. The dawn of rock. Tom Waits -- Night On Earth (Island) "Baby I'm Not A Baby Anymore," "Los Angeles Mood (Chromium Decensions)," and "Good Old World (Waltz)" capture Waits doing what he does best: creating moody abstract swatches of a roots music that never was. Commissioned by filmaker Jim Jarmusch, Waits was not distracted by more fanciful aspects of staging as on the recent Big Time and The Black Rider efforts -- vintage Rain Dog. We eagerly await The Mule Variations.