Well, after a break from the Island tribute this is the 4th and last rock upload. Next quartet of Island uploads will deal with pop.
This is an EP that U2 released after the Unforgettable Fire lp and just before Joshua Tree. It contains two good songs that had been left out of the former, and another two live recordings of songs that were in their album.
album review info: here
download link: here
This upload will pay tribute to one of my personal heroes, Sky Saxon, who sadly left us on June 25. I remember that his group, the Seeds, was the first one that helped me realise that UK punk groups of the late 70's had strongly based their sound on 60's garage. Most of all, it was both the music and the lyrics of Pushin' Too Hard that was indeed a basic blueprint; just give a listen to Sex Pistols' No Feelings to realise that both tracks have exactly the same context (with the latter having the "essential" addition of nihilism). Of course, the Seeds were a valuable spark for me, since after them I furiously started digging in the countless groups that saw the light through the various compilations of Pebbles, Nuggets etc. Although I found numerous rough diamonds in there, it was the Seeds that constantly remained a steady reference throughout the years. As for this upload, do not make the mistake to surpass all tracks to go to Pushin' Too Hard, since it is an enjoyable album full of sparkling singles.
Sky Saxon remembered
album review link: here
download link: here
Although someone should strive to find a weak release in Sonic Youth's discography (ok, some of their avant-garde "SYR" releases sound unbearable, but then Jim O'Rourke could be the easy target to blame) it's been some (many) years since their last real glorious release. So, I'm in the pleasant position to declare that I have already placed their latest "The Eternal" next to Daydream Nation, Dirty and Goo; their first release for Matador surely marks a cornerstone in their career.
The (essential) trivia here is that the Eternal's front cover is a painting of the (voluntarily) obscure musician John Fahey whose "american primitive" innovative acoustic guitar style that combined blues and folk with bits of Indian ragas and classical was very influential on a whole generation of artists such as Tortoise and (yes) Jim O' Rourke. And if someone points out the obvious influence that Sonic Youth had on Tortoise, an endless circular music route has just begun...
check also this brilliant Fahey's interview to Wire magazine
album review link: here
download link: here
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Today I'll urge you to buy a compilation released recently by the War Child International foundation. As they explain in their webpage: "War Child International is a network of independent organisations, working across the world to help children affected by war.
War Child was founded upon a fundamental goal: to advance the cause of peace through investing hope in the lives of children caught up in the horrors of war. War Child works in many different conflict areas around the world, helping hundreds of thousands of children every year."
War Child Heroes is their latest in the series of very interesting cds they have released; check their older Help from 1995 (which includes a unique collaboration between Paul McCartney, Paul Weller and Noel Gallagher under the name Smokin' Mojo Filters) and Help!: A Day in the Life from 2005. War Child Heroes is equally (if not more) interesting since artists such as Beck, Scissor Sisters, Lily Allen, Duffy, Elbow, TV on the Radio, Hot Chip, Kooks, Estelle, Rufus Wainwright, Peaches, Hold Steady, the Like, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Franz Ferdinand cover songs Bob Dylan, Roxy Music, Clash, Paul McCartney, U2, David Bowie, Joy Division, Kinks, Stevie Wonder, Brian Wilson, Iggy and the Stooges, Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, Ramones and Blondie respectively. Since most of the covers are well above the average and since part of the proceeds are spent for a good reason, it is easily understood that this cd is very good way to spend your money. So, in order to give you an appetite, I've uploaded the originals.
Tracklisting:
01-Bob Dylan - Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat
02-Roxy Music - Do The Strand
03-Clash - Straight To Hell
04-Paul McCartney & Wings - Live And Let Die
05-U2 - Running To Stand Still
06-David Bowie - Heroes
07-Joy Division - Transmission
08-Kinks - Victoria
09-Stevie Wonder - Superstition
10-Brian Wilson - Wonderful/ Song For Children
11-Iggy and the Stooges - Search and Destroy
12-Bruce Springsteen - Atlantic City
13-Elvis Costello - You Belong To Me
14-Ramones - Sheena Is A Punk Rocker
15-Blondie - Call Me
download link: here
Another Island records release. This time, a post-punk album by an all-girl group that lived from the inside the UK punk explosion, but they released their debut when it had already deteriorated. So much the better, I reckon. Within these few years they evolved their sound from the typical UK punk, to a jagged, dub-orientated, discordant hybrid, which came along with the unique squealing vocals of Ari Up.
Amazingly, I read that the Slits are about to release a new album titled "Trapped Animal", their first since 1981's "Return Of The Giant Slits"!
album review link: here
download link: here
It's the third time that I post something related to the recent credit crunch and its aftermath. The reason is the recent bankruptcy of General Motors, US's largest automaker. Another company failure which was largely caused by the CEOs wrong decisions over the years. Again, the executives will hold their jobs unlike some tens of thousands of Detroit's workers that will enter the unemployment status; "Motor City" the location of the headquarters of the "Big Three" automotive companies (Ford, GM, Chrysler) will see many of its families suffer under the consequences of the recession.
There were plenty of choices about a related Detroit upload. One of the birthplaces of US punk with MC5 (short for "Motor City Five") and Stooges, the city where George Clinton applied his P-funk, the city where Berry Gordy established Motown (again, an abbreviation for "Motor Town"), the birthplace of Detroit techno, to name the most important of them. It is this compilation though, with the impressive industrial complexes photos and the fumes that can be smelled throughout its hearing that comes to my mind whenever I try to get the picture of a city which I have never visited.
Tracklisting:
01-The Paybacks - Black Girl
02-The Paybacks - Payback Blues
03-The Dirtbombs - Dirtbomb Blues
04-The Dirtbombs - I'm Through With White Girls
05-The Henchmen - Accusatory
06-Ko & the Knockouts - Black and Blue
07-The Come Ons - Come On Blues
08-The Come Ons - Sunday Drive
09-The Soledad Brothers - Soledad Blues
10-The Soledad Brothers - Shaky Puddin'
11-Von Bondies - Sound Of Terror
12-The Buzzards - High Class
13-Detroit Cobras - Shout Bamalama
14-Bantam Rooster - Banty Rooster Blues
15-Bantam Rooster - Run Rabbit Run
16-The Clone Defects - Whiskey 'n' Women
17-Whirlwind Heat - Decal On My Sticker
18-White Stripes - Red Death at 6.14
19-Buzzards - Buzzard Blues
album review link: here
download link: here
The second, and final, Roxy Music album with Brian Eno as a member showcases the collision of two colossal personalities which resulted in a unique equilibrium between Eno's experimental texture and Ferry's pop art manifesto. Moreover, another masterful release of Island records. Enjoy.
album review link: here
download link: here
Since the Island records tribute will take some time to be completed in the way I have planned it, I feel obliged to put a number of posts inside it, in order not to ignore current social and music events. One of those is that Dizzee Rascal, one of my favourite 00's artists that emerged from the UK, hit the top of the UK single chart on May, 24, and remains there the week that ends today, with his brilliant new single "Bonkers".
I bought the uploaded album, the second one in Rascal's discography, enchanted by his first effort "Boy in da Corner", a landmark for grime and for the whole decade as well. Trust me, I was not dissapointed at all.
album review link: here
download link: here
I'll confuse you a little bit with this one. It's the first in the series of rock albums released by Island. But, as you'll probably notice on the uploaded covers, the company that released the album is United Artists and not Island. Moreover you'll notice that the front cover is not the one you have used to see over the years; you'll also notice that Dave Mason is missing from both covers' band photos (even if two of the compositions, among which the band's second single in the UK "Hole In My Shoe", are his). Unfortunately this is the copy I own, which is the US (stereo) release by United Artists and especially the album's second edition there (released in 1968), after the album's title was changed from the initial (for the US audience) "Heaven Is In Your Mind" to "Mr. Fantasy". Even for this copy, Island is mentioned on the back cover as the licenser and the producer of this release. You can read the whole story with the different album versions here. And finally, apart from the trivia, it is an album that fully showcased the genius of Steve Winwood. Away from the restraints of Spencer Davis Group, Traffic's first lp release, an archetype in the British psychedelia, was in its most part his plot.
album review link: here
download link: here
OK, let's jump on the bandwagon of all decent rock mags this season, which contain tributes for the 50th anniversary of Island records. I'm thinking to divide my tribute to folk, reggae and pop/rock, but we'll see how it'll go. At first the best release of John Martyn who, sadly, left us recently. Normally, this should've been posted back then. More about the Island story on the posts to come. I'll try to post more often, since similar tributes are on the way for Motown, Warp and Definitive Jux. Oh, and your recommendations/contributions on all aforementioned upcoming tributes are welcome.
John Martyn was the first white solo act to join the roster of the, then, reggae-based Island records. The title track was written for Martyn's close friend Nick Drake.
album review link: here
download link: here
It's the first time since 1970 (with New Morning lp) that Dylan reaches no1 in the hit parade of albums in the UK. For those that haven't bought his new album yet, I strongly propose the deluxe edition, which includes a whole broadcast of his Theme Time Radio Hour under the subject "Friends and Neighbors", as well as a dvd with Roy Silver, Dylan's manager during the Village years, interviewed. The album itself is simply a must-have.
This upload contains Dylan's interviews and is taken from the highly recommended book "The Bob Dylan Scrapbook: An American Journey, 1956-1966".
01-First radio interview, with Oscar Brand on "Folk Song Festival", WNYC, October 29, 1961
02-Interview with Cynthia Gooding on "Folksinger's Choice" for WBAI, January 13, 1962
03-Interview with Allen Stone for WDTM, October 24, 1965
04-Interview with Martin Bronstein for CBC, February 20, 1966
05-Interview from No Direction Home - On his first introduction to music
06-Interview from No Direction Home - On entertainment in Hibbing, Minnesota
07-Interview from No Direction Home - On meeting Woody Guthrie
08-Interview from No Direction Home - On understanding folk music
09-Interview from No Direction Home - On performing and the Village clubs
10-Interview from No Direction Home - On other performers
11-Interview from No Direction Home - On recording and songwriting
12-Interview from No Direction Home - On the response to the electric sound
13-Interview from No Direction Home - On playing with a band
14-Interview from No Direction Home - On fame
download link: here
I'm really happy that I'm posting something about the 90th birthday (on May, 3) of Pete Seeger. His birthday was celebrated last Sunday at Madison Square Garden, and musicians such as Springsteen, Tom Morello, John Mellencamp, Ani DiFranco, Arlo Guthrie, Ben Harper, Billy Bragg, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Martha Wainwright, Emmylou Harris, Joan Baez, Kris Kristofferson, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Tom Paxton, Richie Havens, Roger McGuinn, Steve Earle and Taj Mahal (among many others) paid tribute to a musician whose contribution in the US culture is enormous. Quoting Tom Morello: "Pete Seeger is a tremendous inspiration, not just for activist musicians, but I believe for all Americans, and a shining example of someone who combines uncompromising activism with heart and soul and a generous spirit. And his enormous catalog of fantastic songs, mixed with his bravery throughout his ninety years of life in standing up for social justice, is unparalleled in American history. (...) I think that Pete is one of the first links in a chain of musicians—before him, maybe Joe Hill, and after him, not just folk musicians like Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, you know, Bruce Springsteen and, you know, those of us who—many on the bill today, including my own Nightwatchman, who try to follow—put our small feet in his big footsteps, but I also think he’s a link in the chain of groups like Rage Against the Machine and System of a Down and the Clash and Public Enemy, music that serves the purpose of social justice, but also music the stands on its own. (...) His antiwar stance, I think—you know, if one four-minute performance of a song could be credited with ending the Vietnam War, it was Pete Seeger on The Smothers Brothers Show, when he sang “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy” in defiance of the censors and in defiance of the blacklist. And I think that was a really heroic moment in the antiwar crusade."
Now, about this upload, since the last post was again overtly political, I chose not to post a protest album of Pete Seeger, but to urge you to discover a not well-known part of his discography. In his long career he has recorded some children's albums; this upload is a compilation from two of those ("Birds, Beasts, Bugs and Little Fishes" and "Birds, Beasts, Bugs and Bigger Fishes") recorded in 1955. I hope your children will enjoy this.
album review link: here
download link: here
I'm not used in satisfying requests, but this time there were many that asked for this one, so here it is. The older post with Vol.1 can be found here
Tracklisting:
01-Harry Belafonte - Did You Hear About Jerry
02-Tom Waits - Way Down In The Hole
03-Fred Neil - A Little Bit Of Rain
04-Gang Of Four - Love Like Anthrax
05-Bob Dylan - Sara
06-Tim Rose - Hey Joe
07-The First Edition - Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Is In)
08-Elvis Presley - In The Ghetto
09-Nina Simone - Plain Gold Ring
10-The Stooges - Loose
11-Leadbelly - Looky Looky Yonder..Black Betty..Yellow Women's Door Bells
12-Hoyt Axton - Double Dare
13-Lou Reed - Perfect Day
14-Alice Cooper - Street Fight
download link: here (includes scans where the link between each track and works by Cave is explained)
Henry the Brave
Kudos to Henry, the grumpy old tuatara, aged... 111, that became a father recently (I've named him Henry the Brave for obvious reasons), while in captivity, in New Zealand. We read from National Geographic: "The centenarian tuatara, was thought well past the mating game until he was caught canoodling with a female named Mildred last March—a consummation that resulted in 11 tuatara babies. Henry was at least 70 years old when he arrived at the museum, "a grumpy old man" who attacked other tuataras—including females—until a cancerous tumor was removed from his genitals in 2002, said Lindsay Hazley, tuatara curator for the Southland Museum and Art Gallery. Tuatara are indigenous New Zealand reptiles that resemble lizards but descend from a distinct lineage of reptile that walked the earth with the dinosaurs 225 million years ago, zoologists say."
The story of "Henry the Brave" reminded me of the supergroup (well, sort of) that took its name from Brave Henry's species. With members comprising, among others, Peter Buck from R.E.M., Barrett Martin from the Screaming Trees and Justin Harwood from Luna, one wouldn't imagine that the outcome would be a cerebral blend of worldbeat with free jazz. The uploaded album is their second one, and my personal favourite from their discography.
album review link: here
download link: here
There are two (bad) reasons for uploading an Experience album. The first one is the news I read about the demolition of the house where Jimi Hendrix spent some of the years of his youth (from the age of 10 to13) and where he first discovered music. The house is across the street from the site where Hendrix is buried. I strongly believe that such places of high cultural importance should be preserved, regardless the contractual implications or their condition. It seems that the city body didn't bother enough to save this landmark site.
The second reason is the death of the drummer of Jimi Hendrix Experience, Mitch Mitchell on November 2008. No further comments could be done for one of the most important drummers of the 60's other than the following (by Richie Unterberger in allmusic). "Mitchell was not a mere sideman to Hendrix, but an important collaborator. Always changing rhythms, never predictable, he was also flexible enough to bounce off and respond to Hendrix's own original solo lines. (...) Ultimately, Mitchell was the musician with whom Hendrix had the most important and sustained creative relationship out of the many people he led or supported, both onstage and on record."
album review link: here
download link: here
Anvil was an early 80's speed metal band who paved the way for groups such as Anthrax, Megadeth, Slayer and Metallica. While all the latter (more or less) burst into stardom, Anvil sunk to obscurity. So, it was quite a surprise to read about a documentary for Anvil. Its title is (obviously) "Anvil!: The Story of Anvil", and its first screening took place at Sundance Film Festival in 2008. Many viewers, even if not heavy metal fans, talked about one of the best music documentaries for years. The film will eventually get a distribution in the US this spring.
So, get ready for a film about the good ole 80's heavy metal. You know that with the long curly hair (that became sparse over the years, but they are still long and curly...), the s&m black leather stripes on bare chests, the arrow-shaped guitars, the beer-belly headbanging audiences, the classic metal sound. Most of all, get ready for the story of two guys that remained devoted to what they'd loved, no matter the difficulties of any kind. Aaah, I tend to get sentimental sometimes.
Read here about the whole story, as explained by the film's director Sacha Gervasi, a former Anvil roadie-turned screenwriter (for The Big Tease and The Terminal).
Read here for a (rhapsodic) review by James Rocchi.
The trailer...
album review link: here
Update: When I was writing this post I didn't find a review of this album in allmusic, from where I usually take the review links. Some weeks later though (on May, 14), I noticed that Metal on Metal was hailed as album of the day there, hence a relevant review had been written. Not bad... not bad at all for Anvil.
download link: here
Makeba remains the most important female vocalist to emerge out of South Africa although she was exiled and banned from her country for more than 30 years. Mama Africa, as she is often called, helped bring African music to a global audience in the 1960s.
She made her debut with the, already famous in her country, Manhattan Brothers in 1953, a group that blended ragtime, swing and doo-wop with African choral and Zulu harmonies.
By 1956, at the suggestion of her record company and along with her career as a singer for the Manhattan Brothers, she formed the all-female vocal group, the Skylarks. The group's influence was drawn from groups such as the Boswell Sisters and the Andrews Sisters but also from traditional melodies of South Africa. Ragtime, gospel and traditional jazz were fused with local rhythms and vocal harmonies to end up in a series of irresistible recordings.
Her appearance in the American documentary film "Come Back Africa", which had been shot covertly about conditions under apartheid, played a key role in her life. Miriam was invited to attend its premier at the Venice Film Festival in 1959, and she didn't return to South Africa for the next 31 years. The turbulence that her decisions caused to her relationship with the apartheid regime forced her to remain abroad, which resulted in the revocation of her passport, forcing her into exile. The devastating "Miriam's Goodbye to Africa", her last recording with the Skylarks, proved to be prophetic.
Her first solo recordings effortlessly combined folk, pop, and jazz idioms with her South African roots. Her collaboration with Harry Belafonte during the first half of the 60's was a very fruitful period of her career. Their duet (in Swahili) for "My Angel", about a Kenyan man too poor to marry his sweetheart, is a song that really stands out from that period. It is worth pointing out that Belafonte based his famous Banana Boat Song to the traditional song Kutheni Sithandwa, which she had sang while in the Skylarks. Major hits followed with "Click Song" and "Pata Pata". The latter, Makeba's signature tune, entered the top 10 of the US pop charts in 1967; it was the first time an African artist achieved that.
After her marriage with the Black Panther member Stokely Carmichael in 1968, she was evidently blacklisted by promoters in the USA and many of her concerts were cancelled, while her recording contract with RCA was dropped. After the couple's "escape" to Guinea, Miriam's career became more low-key with only sporadic releases throughout the years.
Following Nelson Mandela's release from prison, he, as a personal admirer, asked her to return. Her return in December 1990 followed a triumphant concert in April 1991, her first in her homeland for more than thirty years.
Miriam Makeba passed away on 9 November 2008.
As for the upload, although this collection is considered as one of the most consistent someone can find about her, one has to shuffle a lot to follow the chronological order of the songs. Thus, I have rearranged the sequence of the tracks, based on the year of release of each song.
Tracklisting:
part1: Makeba as a member of the Manhattan Brothers and the Skylarks
01-Tula Ndivile (with the Manhattan Brothers)
02-Baby Ntsoare (with the Manhattan Brothers)
03-Live Humble (with the Skylarks)
04-Mitshakasi (with the Skylarks)
05-Makoti (with the Skylarks)
06-Sophiatown Is Gone (with the Skylarks)
07-Orlando (with the Skylarks)
08-Uyadela (with the Skylarks)
09-Intandane (with the Skylarks)
10-Kutheni Sithandwa (with the Skylarks)
11-Holilili (with the Skylarks)
12-Uthando Luyaphela (with the Skylarks)
13-Hush (with the Skylarks)
14-Inkomo Zodwa (with the Skylarks)
15-Miriam & Spokes Phata Phata (with the Skylarks)
16-Miriam's Goodbye To Africa (with the Skylarks)
part2: Makeba in her solo career
17-Kilimanjaro (1960)
18-Zenizenabo (1960)
19-Ntyilo Ntyilo (with Hugh Masekela) (1960)
20-Umqokozo (1960)
21-Ngola Kurila (1960)
22-Thanayi (a.k.a. Nomalungelo) (1960)
23-Liwa Wechi (1960)
24-Nagula (1960)
25-Carnival (1960)
26-Love Tastes Like Strawberries (1960)
27-In The Land Of The Zulus (Kwazulu) (1965)
28-My Angel (Malaika) (with Harry Belafonte) (1965)
29-Click Song No.1 (1966)
30-Mas Que Nada (1967) (2003 version)
31-Amampondo (1967)
32-Pata Pata (1967)
33-Samba (1974)
34-Mama Ndiyalila (1974)
35-Talking & Dialoging (1974)
36-Teya, Teya
37-Jolinkomo (live in Paris, 1977)
38-Isangoma (Witch Doctor) (1978)
39-Mbube (The Lion Cries) (1978)
40-Chicken (Kikirikiki) (a.k.a. Sekusile) (1979)
album review link: here
download link (part1 - Makeba as a member of the Manhattan Brothers and the Skylarks): here
download link (part2 - Makeba in her solo career & covers, info etc): here
Two essential additions to this post.
Closed Zone (2009)
Salt of this Sea (2008)
Mojo's past issue (n.184/ March 2009) had Nick Cave on the front cover. Is this because Cave has entered the vintage category of artists from which Mojo and Uncut select their front covers, or is this a transition for the magazine to artists that emerged after the late 70's? Anyway, the article about Cave was nothing less than brilliant, and came along with a premium cd with Cave's roots and collaborations. It reminded me of an older release (which is uploaded here) with the same concept; Johnny Cash and Scott Walker are included in both compilations, which is also the case for Tupelo Blues by John Lee Hooker, Katie Cruel by Karen Dalton, and Long Time Man by Tim Rose. Most of the songs of this release have been covered by Cave, while the rest inspired him to form new songs. For those that will find this interesting, there is also a vol.2 of the same series.
see also here for a very informative list of the songs that Nick Cave has released/ performed throughout his career up to 2001.
Tracklisting:
01-Tim Rose - Long Time Man
02-Gene Vincent & the Blue Caps - Cat Man
03-Leonard Cohen - Avalanche
04-Karen Dalton - Katie Cruel
05-Sensational Alex Harvey Band - Hammer Song
06-Tom Jones - Weeping Annaleah
07-The Loved Ones - Sad Dark Eyes
08-Scott Walker - The Big Hurt
09-John Lee Hooker - Tupelo Blues
10-Lefty Frizzell - The Long Black Veil
11-Johnny Cash - The Folk Singer
12-Odetta - Another Man Done Gone
13-Blind Willie Johnson - I'm Gonna Run To The City Of Refuge
14-The Edwin Hawkins Singers - Oh Happy Day
15-Gerge Gainsbourg & Jane Birkin - Je T'aime... Moi Non Plus
16-Isaac Hayes - By The Time I Get To Phoenix
download link: here (includes liner notes where the link between each track and works by Cave is described)
If I Could Fly was released in 2004...
Μετά απ' αυτό ο τίτλος αυτού του παλιού post αποδεικνύεται προφητικός.
Although the Cramps were not the best band in the world, they were unique in their own bizarre way. Their love for 50's rockabilly, 60's garage and 70's US punk all of which hold a significant part in their music, their obsession with horror b-movies, their trashy fetishist outfit and a large dose of explicit sexuality, summed up to give us a group that will hold a very special chapter in the history of rock'n'roll. But as for all the great bands of r'n'r era, their legend was largely drawn from their live performances. Lux as an demented Elvis, Poison Ivy as a b-movie femme fatale, with the other two members always selected from the large reservoir of semi-famous underground session musicians, were giving every night a document of their raw, psychotic, dirty, primitive, nihilist, sexual version of rock'n'roll. One of those performances is uploaded here. Farewell, Lux Interior.
Pitchforkmedia for Lux.jpg)
Setlist:
01-Intro
02-Dames, Booze, Chains and Boot
03-Muleskinner Blues
04-Aloha From Hell
05-Bop Pills
06-Everything Goes
07-Jelly Roll Rock
08-Creature From The Black Leather Lagoon (Fill in this title on the track's file when you finish downloading)
09-Hipsville 29 B.C. (Fill in this title on the track's file when you finish downloading)
10-I Wanna Get In Your Pants
11-Hard Workin' Man
12-Goo Goo Muck
13-Human Fly
14-Cornfed Dames
15-(cut song)
16-Miniskirt Blues
17-Sunglasses After Dark
18-Bend Over I'll Drive
19-Two Headed Sex Change
20-Blow Up Your Mind
21-Eyeballs In My Martini
22-Alligator Stomp
23-Shortnin' Bread
24-The Crusher
25-Surfin' Bird
download link: here
P.S.1: For those that will wonder what are these strange sounds during Blow Up Your Mind, it is Lux destroying the hardboard floor of Rodon, and swallowing his microphone. During the same track I remember very vividly that Lux climbed near the club's roof through the side steel columns.
P.S.2: I'm waiting for your contribution on the two songs for which I wasn't able to find the title.
P.S.3 (update on June, 7): Dimitris, a reader of this blog, not only contributed on the two songs (see PS2), but he also sent me the blood-stained playlist of that night, which I uploaded. That's Lux's blood from when he was cut by the mic, Dimitris explains. Incredible, (sentimentally) valuable memorabilia. Thanks.
Artists such as Zack de la Rocha are needed in today's music environment. His political activism, his militant "Hard Stance" (to use the name of his first band), and not less importantly his great talent as a composer, singer and live performer have created a big gap during his years of absence. Thus, it was a great pleasure to grab a new release that came out from his collaboration with Jon Theodore, under the name "One Day as a Lion". Their debut ep was released in 2008, and although nothing has been said about their first album, I hope that this year we'll have the pleasure to hear more. I was also very happy about the reunion of RATM for live shows in Reading and Leeds festival last year.
Zack's comeback is celebrated from this blog by compiling songs that have been released outside his former group. Two songs are offered from the bands he was a member before RATM (Hard Stance, Inside Out), while the rest of the tracks have been taken from compilations, soundtracks or albums of artists where Zack is participating as a guest.
Tracklisting:
01-Hard Stance - Face Reality (1988 - Zack plays guitar)
02-Inside Out - No Spiritual Surrender (1990)
03-KRS-One, Zack de la Rocha & the Last Emperor - C.I.A. (Criminals in Action) (1998) (from the comp. "Lyricist Lounge Vol. 1")
04-The Unbound Allstars - Mumia 911 (2000) (from the comp. "The Unbound Project, Vol.1)
05-Chuck D., the Roots feat. Zack de la Rocha - Burned Hollywood Burned (2000) (from "Bamboozled" OST)
06-Roni Size Reprazent feat. Zack de la Rocha - Centre Of The Storm (2000) (from Roni Size & Reprazent "In the Mode" lp)
07-Blackalicious feat. Saul Williams, Lyrics Born & Zack de la Rocha- Release (2002) (from Blackalicious lp "Blazing Arrow")
08-DJ Shadow & Zack de la Rocha - March Of Death (@160 as offered online in marchofdeath.com) (2003)
09-Saul Williams feat. Zack de la Rocha- Act III Scene 2 (Shakespeare) (2004) (from Saul Williams's s/t lp)
10-Zack de la Rocha-We Want It All (2004) (from the comp. "Songs and Artists That Inspired Fahrenheit 9/11)
download link: here
I recently enjoyed Tom Stoppard's Rock 'n' Roll. A play that goes from 1968 and the invasion of the Soviet tanks in Prague, to the fall of the Berlin Wall. The communist utopia for those who lived it from the outside and the harsh face of it for those who lived it from the inside, rock'n'roll as a rebellious declaration against oppressive regimes, as well as a paganist device, and last but not least, the significance of idealism and passion in people's lives, all these are part of this magnificent play.
This upload offers all songs, in the exact order they are heard during the play.
see also:
official site (Broadway)
NY Times review
Tracklisting:
part 1
01-Internationale
02-Vera Lynn - We'll Meet Again
03-Jimi Hendrix - The Star-Spangled Banner (live)
04-Country Joe Mc Donald - I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die-Rag (live)
05-Who - Won't Get Fooled Again
06-Pink Floyd - Interstellar Overdrive
07-Bob Dylan - I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
08-Rolling Stones - The Last Time
09-Plastic People Of The Universe - The Universe Symphony And Melody About Plastic Doctor (Part 1)
10-Velvet Underground - Venus In Furs
11-Doors - Break On Through
12-Velvet Underground - I'm Waiting For The Man
13-Syd Barrett - Golden Hair
14-Pink Floyd - Astronomy Domine
part 2
15-Syd Barrett - Terrapin
16-Pink Floyd - Jugband Blues
17-Rolling Stones - It's Only Rock'n'Roll (But I Like It)
18-Grateful Dead - Chinatown Shuffle (live)
19-Pink Floyd - Welcome To The Machine
20-Beach Boys - Wouldn't It Be Nice
21-U2 - I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
22-Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
23-John Lennon - Give Peace A Chance
24-John Lennon - Bring It On Home To Me/ Send Me Some Lovin' (medley)
25-Guns 'n' Roses - Don't Cry
26-Pink Floyd - Vera
27-Beatles - Rock And Roll Music
28-Plastic People Of The Universe - Apocalyptic Bird
29-Rolling Stones - You Got Me Rocking (live)
download link: (part 1) here
download link: (part 2) here
After the triumphant soundtrack of Slumdog Millionaire, A. R. Rahman stands next to R. D. Burman as the most important composer of Bollywood. His addictive melodies that combine Indian elements and western pop, as well as the subscription of M.I.A. gained him three Academy Award nominations, one for Best Original Score and two for Best Original Song.
Today's upload (a release of Russ Meyer's QDK) compiles songs from the vast Bollywood discography. Seminal artists of the genre such as Mohammed Rafi, Asha Bhosle, Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar appear in this overly representative compilation, often accused for its lack of information (films/ years of release) and for the low recording quality of some of the songs.
album review link: here
download link: here
The first song Lennon and McCartney ever recorded was "That'll Be The Day" while the Rolling Stones' first top 10 hit in the UK was "Not Fade Away". I don't think that someone should go any further to seek for additional credits for Buddy Holly. An artist whose recording career lasted for less than two years and transfused rock'n'roll to its second level that would eventually inspire and shape the sound of the British Invasion. On Feb. 3 it was the 50th anniversary of "The Day the Music Died".
Tracklisting:
01-Heartbeat
02-That'll Be The Day
03-Peggy Sue
04-Oh Boy
05-I'm Looking For Someone To Love
06-Rave On
07-Think It Over
08-Tell Me How
09-True Love Ways
10-Raining In My Heart (single version)
11-Everyday
12-Wishing
13-It's So Easy
14-Listen To Me
15-It Doesn't Matter Anymore
16-Words Of Love
17-I'm Gonna Love You Too
18-Well... All Right
19-Peggy Sue Got Married (single version)
20-Maybe Baby (1957 album version)
21-Baby I Don't Care
22-Reminiscing
23-Take Your Time
24-Not Fade Away
download link: here
Orson Welles dubbed her "The most exciting woman in the world." Critic Brooks Atkinson wrote: "Eartha Kitt not only looks incendiary, but she can make a song burst into flame." Just compare Eartha Kitt with what most contemporary female pop artists represent and you will realise how much adventurous, risky and ultimately sexy she was, and how rule followers, label-manipulated and ultimately fake the latter are. Eartha, when label executives tried to encourage her to follow more standard pop formulas, made it perfectly clear that, "I don't want to be an artist who has to live on his latest record. This does not prove that I'm an artist, only that I am being advertised, like Coca-Cola. What happens to me when I don't have a hit? I explained that I must be the artist I thought I was capable of being. If I happened to have a hit record in this process, so much the better." Like many of her contemporaries, Eartha's recording career was stymied by the advent of rock and roll, and it certainly didn't help matters that Kitt and Elvis were both in RCA, with Elvis receiving all promotional attention. She remained though a constant presence in films, the theatre, and on television, where she gained an entirely new following for her campy portrayal of the Cat Woman on the Batman series. In 1968, during a luncheon at the White House, she had the guts to criticise the US involvement in Vietnam and its impact on poor minorities. Unfortunately, the consequence was a dramatic career downfall since she was blacklisted and could not book throughout her country. RIP
album review link: here
download link: here
For those who follow this blog, it must be notorious for (a) picking each post's subject from recent musical and social events and (b) for its long reaction time for some of these posts. But, you know how it goes. I only have time for 1-2 uploads per week, so sometimes I tend to skip something in favour of something else. So, I am in a position where I have planned at least fifteen posts based on recent events but I can't find the time to upload them.
One of the many events that took me too long to react is the death of one of my favourite guitarists, Davy Graham. Graham is cited as a major influence for artists such as Bert Jansch, John Renbourn, John Martyn, Paul Simon and Jimmy Page. His influence is also apparent in the sound of Fairport Convention and Pentangle. Graham can be also considered as the first western artist that introduced Middle Eastern forms to his music.
Ray Horricks writes in the album's liner notes: "Certainly he is one of the more extraordinary artists that the world of folk has produced: the most original young guitarist in Europe, a gifted, natural arranger and a singer who sings as he feels. Moreover, he is too large a personality for the folk scene to entirely contain, although he is one of its favourite sons. By this I mean that Davy is constantly drawing other musical forms into his own orbit: blues, modern jazz, Indian or Arabic forms, and so on. All have joined the basic folk repertoire he began with, colouring his overall output in a quite remarkable way." And Colin Harper writes in the Mojo's booklet about the 100 Greatest Guitar Albums: "Before Elvis, said Lennon, there was nothing. Well, before Davy Graham - six-stringed alchemist of Indian, Arabic, Elizabethan, Celtic, modern jazz, country blues, Broadway and pretty much everything else - the world of acoustic virtuosity (Julian Bream notwithstanding) was similarly void. Having already notified the post-Lonnie cognoscenti of where it was at with Angi - as if 1962 was the first year of contrapuntal bass lines since Bach - this era- and career- defining album, with muscular bass and drums off-setting the maestro's almost incongruously mannered vocal, arrived at precisely the moment to set the bar for Britain's young, vibrant, Soho-centred 'folk-baroque' movement of Jansch, Renbourn, Harper, Drake et al. And these were high times".
PS. The uploaded version of Folk, Blues & Beyond comes with the famous instrumental Anji as a bonus track.
read also:
Times obituary
Graham's official website
Graham's interview
Check also the fellow blogger Standin' at the Crossroads, who, based on the same sad occasion, has posted some clips from the Servant and from Folk Britannia (here), and uploaded two of Graham's personal albums (Fire in the Soul and After Hours at Hull University) as well as his famous collaboration with Shirley Collins
album review link: here
download link: here
Some days ago, on Jan. 15th, it was the 80th anniversary of Martin Luther King's birthday. Traditionally, it is celebrated in the US every 3rd Monday of January. This year, one day later it is Obama's inauguration; I guess there couldn't be a better match. It is for sure that without King's dignity and courage, without his achievements (which, incredibly, came non-violently although he was continuously provoked) without his vision for a "colour-blind" society, Obama wouldn't have been in the position he is today.
Today's upload is the speech that King gave in Detroit in June 23, 1963; it was during that speech that he first delivered "I Have a Dream". Many parts of this speech were also used during his Lincoln Memorial speech in Washington, some two months later, simply providing a masterpiece of rhetoric.
download link: here
PS. Since The Great March To Freedom was released by "Gordy Records", a subsidiary of Motown, this post could be also considered as a preamble of a post that will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Motown records.
... or as nuzz explicitly quotes: "So Israel’s incursion into Gaza is “defensive not offensive.” Bollocks!; it’s a Fucking Offensive display of disproportional force."
Waltz With Bashir, (watch the uploaded youtube video in the "Palestinias I" post), is not only a tragically up-to-date movie, but also within the best films of 2008. It is a splendid animation which documents the massacre of the Palestinian refugees in Sabra and Shatila in 1982. The plot is slowly built up through the attempt of director Ari Folman, who was among the Israeli soldiers that witnessed the massacre, to recollect the events of that period.
The soundtrack of the film is equally exceptional. It has been composed by Max Richter who with each new album establishes his position among the pioneer composers of his generation. Richter has "simply" distorted the rules of classical music by fusing modern elements in it, making him a favourite artist for many indie fans.
This new upload, Richter's best album up to now, showcases his characteristic "post-Classical" (as he defines it) style, which combines his classical, electronic and rock influences. It features readings from Franz Kafka's The Blue Octavo Notebooks and Czesław Miłosz's Hymn of the Pearl and Unattainable Earth. Both readings are carried out by the British actress Tilda Swinton.
album review link: here
download link: here
1) The war in Gaza through the diary/blog of a 23-year old Palestinian: gazatoday.
2) The article of William Sieghart, chairman of Forward Thinking (an independent conflict resolution agency), in Times.
"We must adjust our distorted image of Hamas
Gaza is a secular society where people listen to pop music, watch TV and many women walk the streets unveiled"
Last week I was in Gaza. While I was there I met a group of 20 or so police officers who were undergoing a course in conflict management. They were eager to know whether foreigners felt safer since Hamas had taken over the Government? Indeed we did, we told them. Without doubt the past 18 months had seen a comparative calm on the streets of Gaza; no gunmen on the streets, no more kidnappings. They smiled with great pride and waved us goodbye.
Less than a week later all of these men were dead, killed by an Israeli rocket at a graduation ceremony. Were they “dangerous Hamas militant gunmen”? No, they were unarmed police officers, public servants killed not in a “militant training camp” but in the same police station in the middle of Gaza City that had been used by the British, the Israelis and Fatah during their periods of rule there.
This distinction is crucial because while the horrific scenes in Gaza and Israel play themselves out on our television screens, a war of words is being fought that is clouding our understanding of the realities on the ground.
Who or what is Hamas, the movement that Ehud Barak, the Israeli Defence Minister, would like to wipe out as though it were a virus? Why did it win the Palestinian elections and why does it allow rockets to be fired into Israel? The story of Hamas over the past three years reveals how the Israeli, US and UK governments' misunderstanding of this Islamist movement has led us to the brutal and desperate situation that we are in now.
The story begins nearly three years ago when Change and Reform - Hamas's political party - unexpectedly won the first free and fair elections in the Arab world, on a platform of ending endemic corruption and improving the almost non-existent public services in Gaza and the West Bank. Against a divided opposition this ostensibly religious party impressed the predominantly secular community to win with 42 per cent of the vote.
Palestinians did not vote for Hamas because it was dedicated to the destruction of the state of Israel or because it had been responsible for waves of suicide bombings that had killed Israeli citizens. They voted for Hamas because they thought that Fatah, the party of the rejected Government, had failed them. Despite renouncing violence and recognising the state of Israel Fatah had not achieved a Palestinian state. It is crucial to know this to understand the supposed rejectionist position of Hamas. It won't recognise Israel or renounce the right to resist until it is sure of the world's commitment to a just solution to the Palestinian issue.
In the five years that I have been visiting Gaza and the West Bank, I have met hundreds of Hamas politicians and supporters. None of them has professed the goal of Islamising Palestinian society, Taleban-style. Hamas relies on secular voters too much to do that. People still listen to pop music, watch television and women still choose whether to wear the veil or not.
The political leadership of Hamas is probably the most highly qualified in the world. Boasting more than 500 PhDs in its ranks, the majority are middle-class professionals - doctors, dentists, scientists and engineers. Most of its leadership have been educated in our universities and harbour no ideological hatred towards the West. It is a grievance-based movement, dedicated to addressing the injustice done to its people. It has consistently offered a ten-year ceasefire to give breathing space to resolve a conflict that has continued for more than 60 years.
The Bush-Blair response to the Hamas victory in 2006 is the key to today's horror. Instead of accepting the democratically elected Government, they funded an attempt to remove it by force; training and arming groups of Fatah fighters to unseat Hamas militarily and impose a new, unelected government on the Palestinians. Further, 45 Hamas MPs are still being held in Israeli jails.
Six months ago the Israeli Government agreed to an Egyptian- brokered ceasefire with Hamas. In return for a ceasefire, Israel agreed to open the crossing points and allow a free flow of essential supplies in and out of Gaza. The rocket barrages ended but the crossings never fully opened, and the people of Gaza began to starve. This crippling embargo was no reward for peace.
When Westerners ask what is in the mind of Hamas leaders when they order or allow rockets to be fired at Israel they fail to understand the Palestinian position. Two months ago the Israeli Defence Forces broke the ceasefire by entering Gaza and beginning the cycle of killing again. In the Palestinian narrative each round of rocket attacks is a response to Israeli attacks. In the Israeli narrative it is the other way round.
But what does it mean when Mr Barak talks of destroying Hamas? Does it mean killing the 42 per cent of Palestinians who voted for it? Does it mean reoccupying the Gaza strip that Israel withdrew from so painfully three years ago? Or does it mean permanently separating the Palestinians of Gaza and the West Bank, politically and geographically? And for those whose mantra is Israeli security, what sort of threat do the three quarters of a million young people growing up in Gaza with an implacable hatred of those who starve and bomb them pose?
It is said that this conflict is impossible to solve. In fact, it is very simple. The top 1,000 people who run Israel - the politicians, generals and security staff - and the top Palestinian Islamists have never met. Genuine peace will require that these two groups sit down together without preconditions. But the events of the past few days seem to have made this more unlikely than ever. That is the challenge for the new administration in Washington and for its European allies.
The original article here
Divine Intervention (2002)
Paradise Now (2005)
Waltz With Bashir
Highly recommended further reading: Sharon And My Mother-in-law
The Texas JerUSAlem Crossroads...
Well, apart from the semeiotics of the album's title, do not miss the chance to listen to this obscure classic, a concept album were the biblical/apocalyptic lyrics are combined with Spiritualized-meet-Jeff-Buckley soundscapes.
album review link: here
download link: here
Portishead's Third was at the top of my favourite albums for 2008. It was difficult to imagine that a group that remained practically inactive for more than ten years would evolve their sound to release a jaw-dropping modern masterpiece. They indeed gave us an album that although it could be filed under "experimental" through its bleak, dark, perfectionist music, it also sounds so direct, humanised and warm. Very few albums have ever achieved that.
This current upload is the collaboration of Portishead's singer Beth Gibbons with Paul Webb (the bassist of Talk Talk under the pseudonym Rustin Man) which proved that Gibbons could perfectly function under a totally different texture than that of Portishead's. Far away from trip hop, Gibbons and Webb penned a series of songs which drew their heritage mainly from folk, and which let Gibbons's devastating vocals sparkle.
album review link: here
download link: here
The new Sonik issue comes with a premium 7'' Earthbound single. It comes as a preview for their new album La Guerra Final, but for a vinylholic like me, it was also a great Christmas present as well.
Their debut release was, again, a premium 7'', given with the Fractal Press mag, back in 1999, which revealed their trademark Calexico-meet-Kyuss sound.
download link: here
Harold Pinter passed away on Dec. 24, 2008. He had written twenty-nine plays among which The Birthday Party, The Caretaker, The Homecoming, and Betrayal marked the second half of the 20th century. His works comprise an anatomy of the contemporary British society. Pinter's influence as a playwright is enormous; very important figures such as Sam Shepard and David Mamet have been strongly influenced by him. He has also worked as a screenwriter for movies such as The Servant, The Go-Between, The French Lieutenant's Woman, The Trial (1993), and Sleuth (2007), while he is also responsible for adapting his aforementioned plays. He had also been an actor, director and poet.
Pinter was also a vigorous political activist; an artist that was living, breathing, realising and outspeaking the problems of the society of which his was a member. In 2005, in his acceptance speech, given from a wheelchair, for the Nobel price award for literature, he strongly attacked the US foreign policy arguing that "the United States supported and in many cases engendered every rightwing military dictatorship in the world after the end of the Second World War" and continued his speech giving examples. Later on, for the same subject, in a phrase full of irony regarding the respective policy of the media, he said: "It never happened. Nothing ever happened. Even while it was happening, it wasn't happening. It didn't matter. It was of no interest." Of course, his Nobel speech was only a tiny part of his overall attitude.
During the 80's, his was constantly criticizing Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, while in 1999 he strongly opposed the involvement of the United Nations in the war in Kosovo. As for the invasion in Afghanistan and the war in Iraq, he cited Tony Blair and George W. Bush as mass murderers and war criminals.
Check also:
haroldpinter.org
Harold Pinter (wiki)
Guardian's obituary
Guardian's pictures
Pinter's Nobel speech
Today's upload offers a bootleg recording of Nick Cave's group before the Bad Seeds, the Birthday Party, the name of which many claim that pays homage to Pinter's famous play. Their sound, a disturbing blend of post-punk and industrial, is, of course, some thousand miles away from what a contemporary fan of the Bad Seeds expects to listen to. This concert documents a group with a primitive, dirty sound, equally violent and poetic with a self-destructive frontman howling to conjure his demons, provoking the audience to follow him. It is interesting to note that this was one of the very first concerts given in Greece by western rock artists; from what we can hear, the audience that attended were a little bit "unprepared" for such a sonic and visual assault...
That night, the Birthday Party were: Nick Cave (vocals), Rowland S. Howard (guitar), Tracy Pew (bass), Mick Harvey (drums), Jim Thirlwell (aka Foetus) (saxophone)
Tracklisting:
01-Hamlet Pow Pow Pow
02-Sonny's Burning
03-6'' Gold Blade
04-Deep In The Woods
05-Dim Locator
06-Fears Of Gun
07-Still Burning
08-Release The Bats
09-She's Hit
10-Funhouse
11-Junkyard
12-Loose
download link: here
Yma Sumac was a Peruvian singer with tremendous vocal abilities ranging four octaves. We read from the cd's booklet:
"It is no exaggeration to say that Yma Sumac possesses the most extraordinary voice of our times. If it were but a vocal instrument it would still be exciting, but this beautiful Incan princess plays her fabulous four-octave range with such a variety of emotional attitudes and tonal color that the result is a unique and spellbinding experience."
Glen Dillard Bunn of the Washington Times-Herald has written for her: "There is no voice like it in the world of music today. It has a greater range than any female voice of concert or opera. It soars into the acoustic stratosphere, or it plumbs sub-contralto depths of pitch with equal ease. Such voices happen only one in a generation."
Sumac passed away on Nov 1, 2008.
album review link: here
download link: here
As Joe Tangari writes in his review for "Everything That Happens Will Happen Today" in pitchforkmedia: "In 1981, Talking Heads frontman David Byrne and producer Brian Eno united for one of the most fruitful partnerships of the post-punk era to release My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, a groundbreaking record that made prominent use of sampled soundbytes and disembodied voices in place of singing. The album, recorded between sessions for the Talking Heads' essential Remain in Light LP, was released with surprisingly little fanfare, yet pioneered and popularized methods that have since become part of our musical lexicon."
This year's collaboration between these two artists does not reach the great hights of their first time, but it is a decent release worth listening to it.
album review link: here
download link: here
OK. Μόνο για τους εν Ελλάδι (μη μας πάνε και ο κούκος αϊδόνι τα ταχυδρομικά...). Στείλτε comment, email ή ταχυδρομικό περιστέρι απαντώντας στην εξής ερώτηση (τα χρόνια σας πολλά για τα δύο κεράκια αυτού του blog επίσης δεκτά). Με πόσα αυγά κάνεις ομελέτα έναν ΜΑΤατζή; Όλες οι απαντήσεις θα θεωρηθούν σωστές. Απαντήσεις δεκτές μέχρι 31/12, 23.59. Η σωστή απάντηση είναι κατατεθειμένη στο συμβολαιογραφικό γραφείο της συμβολαιογράφου που συνέταξε τα συμβόλαια για τη Μονή Βατοπεδίου. Η κλήρωση, αφού ζεσταθούν και χρωματιστούν τα μπαλάκια θα πραγματοποιηθεί στο σπίτι μου, παρουσία της παραπάνω. Ο νικητής θα ειδοποιηθεί με comment σ'αυτό το post την 1/1/09.
Υ.Γ. το cd (προφανώς) δεν είναι copy
Greece protestors interrupted the TV news bulletin of the state TV studio to call for continuation of the struggle against the governors' corruption and the police brutality by raising a banner saying "Stop watching, get out onto the streets".
Sometimes life imitates art in the most chilling way... The "only" difference is that the 16-year old Greek is dead rather than 'severely beaten'.
P.S. I did not find any "real life" videos that focus on the murder rather than on the riots that followed.
One more victim of police brutality yesterday night in Athens. The 16 year old victim was shot dead. Read here.
Today is the World AIDS Day. Awareness and preventive education is the best weapon against the further spreading of the disease. As for the treatment, while in the western world the medication has developed to offer sustainable living conditions to the victims, the third world and most notably Africa is deliberately kept away from the available elsewhere drugs. We read from Time: "The pharmaceutical firms see local manufacture and so-called parallel imports--where other countries buy the copycat generics instead of the brand name--as a threat they are battling to wipe out. They feel that they alone should not have to pick up the tab for Africa. They want to stanch drug pirates who might make worthless fakes or flood drugs onto the black market. And they fear that making AIDS therapies cheaper for Africans will prompt lucrative Western markets to demand lower prices as well."
This upload offers the third (and most 'accessible') part of Diamanda Galas' "Masque of the Red Death", a trilogy dedicated to the victims of the AIDS/HIV epidemic. We read from the back cover: "I dedicate this album to my brothers and sisters, Persons With Aids, who now live and die in fear". This album is a shocking evidence of an artist so intense, that someone has to be totally impassive not to feel at least uneasy when exposed to it.
Lyrics of "Let's Not Chat About Despair"
You who speak of crowd control, of karma, or the punishment of god
Let's not chat about despair.
Do you fear the cages they are building in
Kentucky, Tennessee and Texas
while they're giving ten to forty years to find a cure?
Let's not chat about despair.
Do you pray each evening out of horror or of fear to the savage God whose bloody hand commands you now to die alone?
Let's not chat about despair.
Do you taste the presence of the living death while the skeleton beneath your open window waits with arms outstretched?
Let's not chat about despair.
Do you spend each night in waiting for the devil's little angels' cries to burn you in your sleep?
Let's not chat about despair.
Do you wait for miracles in small hotels
with Seconal and Compazine
or for a ticket to the house of death in Amsterdam?
Let's not chat about despair.
Do you wait in prison for the dreadful day
the office of the butcher comes to carry you away?
Let's not chat about despair
Do you wait for saviors or the paradise to come in laundry rooms, in toilets, or in Cadillacs?
Let's not chat about despair.
Are you crucified beneath the life machines
with a shank inside your neck
and a head which blossoms like a basketball?
Let's not chat about despair.
Do you tremble at the timid steps
of crying, smiling faces who, in mourning,
now have come to pay their last respects?
Let's not chat about despair.
In Kentucky Harry buys a round of beer
to celebrate the death of Billy Smith, the queer,
whose mother still must hide her face in fear.
Let's not chat about despair.
You who mix the words of torture, suicide, and death with scotch and soda at the bar,
we're all real decent people, aren't we, but there's no time left for talk.
Let's not chat about despair.
PLEASE DON'T TALK AB0UT DESPAIR
album review link: here
download link: here
Relevant to the subject of the last two posts is the US criminal justice policy and the privatisation trend of the US prisons. The latter was first applied in 1984 (another neo-liberal Reaganism), and allowed corporations to build and/or manage prisons. From that point, corrections facilities were not any more institutions aiming to rehabilitate, but branches aiming for profit. Moreover, the B.O.T. contracts between the state and these corrections corporations are such that the latter are paid by the "head" of each prisoner they are housing. Since it is on the state to provide each private prison with "clients" in order their viability to be retainable, the justice policy started to convict less serious offenders, (e.g. for misdemeanor offences). The constant increase of inmates resulted the US to have the highest documented prison population in the world (China ranks second despite having over four times the population of the US). As of 2006, a record 7 million people were behind bars. More than 1 in 100 American adults were incarcerated at the start of 2008; the social implications of such rates are apparent. It should be stressed out that the respective rate for 2006 in Australia was 0.163/100 and in England and Wales 0.139/100.
Check also:
US: America's Private Gulag
Comparative International Rates of Incarceration: An Examination of Causes and Trends Presented to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
Incarceration in the United States
Further reading: Capitalist Punishment: Prison Privatization and Human Rights by Elizabeth Alexander (read an excerpt here)
In this current upload the hip-hop community raises its voice against the ill-fated US criminal justice policy. Emilie Litzell writes for allmusic: "If hip-hop is supposed to be a voice of the urban masses bringing awareness to the injustices of everyday life, too many albums are released devoid of political messages. With that sentiment in mind, Raptivism Records' 1999 release No More Prisons is a gorgeous answer to a full-blown crisis. Uniting underground MCs from coast to coast, No More Prisons comes complete with 23 tracks of personal insight, reflection, and socio-political commentary on the national prison system and the hypocritical foundation those prisons stand on. (...) Rarely does an album come complete with an actual message, conscious content, above-the-board production values, and mad skills behind the mic. When all of those elements are seamlessly blended into a complete expression of unity, watch out. The bar's been raised."
Tracklisting:
01-DJ Shame (Vinyl Reanimators) - Infomercial (Meet The Press)
02-B.K.N.Y. - Where Ya At
03-Sister Asia feat. Steele & Top Dog - Dedicated
04-Danny Hoch - Criminal
05-Vinia Mojica with add. vocals by The Last Emperor - Evolution
06-Apani B-Fly Emcee feat. L.I.F.E. - Outa Site
07-Hurricane G. - No More Prisons
08-Hedrush, Dead Prez & People's Army - Murda Box
09-Daddy-O - Voices
10-Rubberoom - M.O.V.E.
11-The Coup - Drug Warz
12-Helixx C. Armaggedon & Pri the Honey Dark - Lunchbreak
13-Prof. Cornel West - Inspiration
14-The Reepz - The Plan
15-Dead Prez - Behind Enemy Lines
16-Kool DJ EQ feat. The Last Poets - More Prisons
17-Akbar - Battle Cry
18-El Battalion - Siege
19-Scientifik El-D, God Wize, L Da Headtoucha, K-Slaughta - Hold The Key
20-Chubb Rock, Lil' Dap, Edo G., Paw Duke - Rich Get Rich
21-Grandmaster Caz - Too Much
22-Lyric & Mike Ladd - Let Us Go
23-Yazeed - Underground Railroad
album review link: here
download link (with booklet info etc.): here
The greek text in the previous post is about the massive protest taking place in the form of hunger strike by thousands of prisoners in the Greek jails (1, 2). It is their only mean, a voiceless scream, asking for guaranteed basic human rights for all prisoners. They are protesting for the unreasonably high death rates among them, for the overpopulated prisons (there are cases where the ratio is 1 m2/prisoner) with 'medieval' infrastructure, for the totally inadequate health care service, for the terrible meals. A relevant report carried out by the European Committee in 2007, revealed (once more) severe cases of ill- treatment of detained persons by law enforcement officials. Based on similar reports the European Court of Human Right has found in many cases Greece guilty for human right violations of prisoners by law enforcement officials.
The prisoners have started a petition named 'Not In Our Name', that will be handled to the Greek Parliament and to a number of Greek & International Media (you can read the english translation of the greek supporting text here). They are asking for our support by signing the petition.
Με αφορμή το πρωτόγνωρο κύμα απεργιών πείνας από τους κρατούμενους στις Ελληνικές φυλακές αλλά και την εγκληματική αποσιώπησή του από τα κυρίαρχα ΜΜΕ, για τη Δημοκρατία και την προάσπιση των βασικών ανθρώπινων δικαιωμάτων καλούμε όλους όσους διατηρούν μπλογκς, διαδικτυακά φόρα και όχι μόνο να δημοσιεύσουν ταυτόχρονα και συντονισμένα στις 20 Νοεμβρίου 2008, ημέρα Πέμπτη, το παρακάτω κείμενο και όλους του χρήστες του διαδικτύου να το υπογράψουν.
Όχι στο Όνομά μας
“Είναι απαράδεκτη η κατάσταση στις ελληνικές φυλακές. Είναι κύριο θέμα η ριζική αλλαγή του σωφρονιστικού συστήματος”.
–Κάρολος Παπούλιας, 6/11/08
“Είμαστε άνθρωποι – κρατούμενοι. Άνθρωποι, λέω”
- Βαγγέλης Πάλλης, Κρατούμενος, 9/11/08
Από τις τρεις Νοεμβρίου μία εκκωφαντική κραυγή συνταράσσει τα θεμέλια της Δημοκρατίας μας. Από τις τρεις Νοεμβρίου σύσσωμοι οι κρατούμενοι όλης της χώρας κατεβαίνουν σε απεργία πείνας διεκδικώντας το αυτονόητο : τη χαμένη τους αξιοπρέπεια. Απέναντί τους αντιμετωπίζουν την εκκωφαντική σιωπή των κραταιών ΜΜΕ και την παντελή αδιαφορία της πολιτικής ηγεσίας. Σε αυτές τις πρακτικές όσοι υπογράφουμε αυτό το κείμενο ΔΕ ΣΥΝΑΙΝΟΥΜΕ.
Η κατάσταση στις Ελληνικές φυλακές είναι απερίγραπτη και μπορεί να γίνει κατανοητή μόνο με τη σκληρή γλώσσα των μαθηματικών. Στα κατ’ επίφαση “σωφρονιστικά” ιδρύματα της χώρας έχουν καταγραφεί συνολικά 417 θάνατοι την τελευταία δεκαετία, ενώ ο ρυθμός τους έχει απογειωθεί σε τέτοιο σημείο, ώστε σήμερα να σβήνουν στα χέρια του κράτους τέσσερις άνθρωποι το μήνα. Η πληρότητα αγγίζει το 168% (10.113 κρατούμενοι για 6.019 θέσεις) με την αναλογία χώρου για κάθε άνθρωπο να φτάνει σε περιπτώσεις το 1τμ. Με ημερήσιο κρατικό έξοδο ανά κρατούμενο τα 3,60 Ευρώ τα συσσίτια που παρέχονται είναι άθλια, οι υποδομές θυμίζουν μεσαίωνα και η ιατροφαρμακευτική περίθαλψη είναι ελλιπέστατη. Συγχρόνως, το Ελληνικό δικαστικό σύστημα στέλνει στη φυλακή έναν στους χίλιους κατοίκους της χώρας με τους έγκλειστους χωρίς δίκη (υπό προσωρινή κράτηση) να αγγίζουν το 30% του συνολικού αριθμού των κρατουμένων. Αν η ποιότητα μίας Δημοκρατίας κρίνεται από τις φυλακές της, τότε η Δημοκρατία μας ασθμαίνει. Αν η τιμώρηση παραβατικών συμπεριφορών με εγκλεισμό γίνεται από το κράτος στο όνομα της κοινωνίας, τότε για την κατάσταση στις Ελληνικές φυλακές είμαστε όλοι υπόλογοι, με συντριπτικές όμως ευθύνες να αναλογούν στην κρατική μηχανή. Σε αυτή την πραγματικότητα όσοι υπογράφουμε αυτό το κείμενο απαντούμε ΟΧΙ ΣΤΟ ΟΝΟΜΑ ΜΑΣ.
Τα στοιχεία που αποκαλύπτονται από επίσημους φορείς για τις Ελληνικές φυλακές σκιαγραφούν εικόνα κολαστηρίων. Έκθεση της Ευρωπαϊκής Επιτροπής για την Πρόληψη των Βασανιστηρίων (2007) διαπιστώνει βασανιστήρια, απάνθρωπη μεταχείριση και απειλές κατά της ζωής κρατουμένων, σειρά παραβιάσεων αναφορικά με τις συνθήκες κράτησης, ελλείμματα στη διερεύνηση και τιμωρία των ενόχων, αποσιώπηση περιστατικών βίας με την συμπαιγνία ιατρών και φυλάκων, απαράδεκτες συνθήκες ιατρικής περίθαλψης και ιατρικού ελέγχου στους κρατούμενους κλπ. Το Ευρωπαϊκό Δικαστήριο Δικαιωμάτων του Ανθρώπου έχει εκδώσει σειρά καταδικαστικών για την Ελλάδα αποφάσεων που αφορούν κακομεταχείριση ή/και παραβιάσεις άλλων δικαιωμάτων κρατουμένων από σωφρονιστικές αρχές. Η Εθνική Επιτροπή για τα Δικαιώματα του Ανθρώπου έχει πάρει απόφαση - καταπέλτη για τα κακώς κείμενα στις φυλακές, προτείνοντας άμεσες δράσεις για την επίλυση τους. Ο Συνήγορος του Πολίτη διαμαρτύρεται για την παντελή έλλειψη συνεργασίας των αρμόδιων κρατικών φορεών μαζί του, λόγω της οποίας έχει ουσιαστικά απαγορευτεί η είσοδός του στις φυλακές της χώρας τα τελευταία δύο χρόνια. Οι δικηγορικοί σύλλογοι όλης της χώρας, μη κυβερνητικές οργανώσεις, όπως η Διεθνής Αμνηστία, και πολλοί πολιτικοί/κοινωνικοί φορείς καταγγέλλουν την απαράδεκτη κατάσταση και ζητούν ευρύτερη συνεργασία για το ξεπέρασμα του προβλήματος. Αν ανθρώπινα είναι τα δικαιώματα που πρέπει να απολαμβάνει κάθε ανθρώπινο ον, κάθε στέρησή τους στις Ελληνικές φυλακές αποτελεί ανοιχτή πληγή για την κοινωνία μας. Σε αυτή την κατάσταση όσοι υπογράφουμε αυτό το κείμενο απαντούμε ΝΑ ΣΠΑΣΕΙ ΕΠΙΤΕΛΟΥΣ ΤΟ ΑΒΑΤΟ ΤΩΝ ΦΥΛΑΚΩΝ.
Με την απεργία πείνας οι κρατούμενοι καταφεύγουν στο τελευταίο οχυρό αντίστασης, που τους έχει απομείνει, το σώμα τους. Είχε προηγηθεί έσχατη έκκλησή τους προ μηνός προς τους ιθύνοντες να ενσκήψουν στο πρόβλημα, καθώς δεν πήγαινε άλλο. Για να λύσουν την απεργία πείνας ζητούν την ικανοποίηση αιτημάτων, που αποκαθιστούν την χαμένη τους αξιοπρέπεια και επανακτούν τα βασικά ανθρώπινα δικαιώματά τους, αιτημάτων συγκεκριμένων, αξιοπρεπών και άμεσα υλοποιήσιμων. Απέναντι στις κινητοποιήσεις των κρατουμένων η πολιτική ηγεσία εξαντλεί τη δράση της σε αδιαφορία, υποσχέσεις και καταστολή των κινημάτων τους. Τυχόν αδιαφορία και αναλγησία της πολιτικής ηγεσίας όμως και σε αυτή τη φάση θα σημαίνει νεκρούς απεργούς πείνας. Στη μετωπική λοιπόν σύγκρουση που επιλέγουν οι κρατούμενοι της χώρας για τη διεκδίκηση των ανθρωπίνως αυτονόητων δε μπορούμε να μένουμε απαθείς σταυρώνοντας τα χέρια και περιμένοντας τις ειδήσεις των θανάτων από τις απεργίες πείνας αλλά θα σταθούμε αλληλέγγυοι. Αν η περιφρούρηση της δημοκρατίας και των ανθρωπίνων δικαιωμάτων επιβάλλουν την επαγρύπνιση όλων μας, τώρα είναι λοιπόν η στιγμή να πάρουμε θέση όλοι απέναντι στο πρόβλημα χωρίς αδιαφορίες και υπεκφυγές.
Απέναντι στην τεταμένη κατάσταση στις φυλακές όλης της χώρας όσοι υπογράφουμε αυτό το κείμενο καθιστούμε την πολιτική ηγεσία απολύτως υπεύθυνη για ό,τι συμβεί και απαιτούμε άμεσα την τόσο θεσμική όσο και στην πράξη ΕΓΓΥΗΣΗ ΤΩΝ ΒΑΣΙΚΩΝ ΑΝΘΡΩΠΙΝΩΝ ΔΙΚΑΙΩΜΑΤΩΝ ΤΩΝ ΚΡΑΤΟΥΜΕΝΩΝ ΟΛΗΣ ΤΗΣ ΧΩΡΑΣ.Την 21η Νοεμβρίου το κείμενο αυτό θα σταλεί σε όλα τα μέλη του κοινοβουλίου και σε όσο το δυνατόν περισσότερους φορείς μέσων μαζικής ενημέρωσης με την προτροπή της αναδημοσίευσής του. Το κείμενο προς αποστολή θα φέρει τους υπερσυνδέσμους (URL) από όλες τις ιστοσελίδες, που το υιοθέτησαν.
We had a bunch of Clash releases recently; although the dvd and the book do not offer something really new, the cd ("Live at Shea Stadium") is really enjoyable. It was a concert given in 1982, with the Clash being the support act to the Who. As Pat Gilbert writes for Mojo "Musically, the Clash sound impressively and unexpectedly tight and funky, with Joe's reverb-drenched vocals and Mick's echoey guitar effects giving the songs a lively, 3D feel. Throughout, the band plays at such a gallop you get a palpable sense of how terrifying it must have been for them to step out in front of 70,000 potentially hostile fans in a baseball stadium made famous by the Beatles. Yet the undercurrent of fear and derring-do only serves to render the likes of Police On My Back, Guns Of Brixton, Rock The Casbah, Train In Vain and a super-quick The Magnificent Seven (segueing into Armagideon Time) even more electrifying than their studio originals."
On the contrary, today's upload offers a Clash bootleg from their early days. Although the sound quality is not very good, it showcases a vibrant group full of anger and energy. For those interested, mondo-de-muebles and nuzzprowlinwolf, offer many Clash bootlegs; nuzz also offers the Subway Sect's support act of that night in Guildford.
Tracklisting:
01-London's Burning
02-1977
03-I'm So Bored With The U.S.A.
04-Pressure Drop
05-Hate And War
06-Cheat
07-Police And Thieves
08-48 Hours
09-Capital Radio
10-Deny
11-Remote Control
12-Career Opportunities
13-White Riot
14-Janie Jones
15-Garageland
download link: here
Reading from the book The Complete War of the Worlds - Mars' Invasion of Earth from H.G. Wells to Orson Welles (Brian Holmsten & Alex Lubartozzi): "Perhaps the most terrifying version of The War of the Worlds was Jeff Wayne's London stage musical. Frighteningly representative of 1978, this deadly serious rock opera featured Richard Burton in the role of narrator with music written by Jeff Wayne and Gary Osborne. The Moody Blues' Justin Hayward, Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy, and David Essex, among others, performed songs that sounded like an unholy union of Pink Floyd and ABBA. Wayne, who somehow convinced the likes of Burton and Hayward to take part in this questionable production, remained faithful to the text by Wells. The original cast double album inspired some imaginative Roger Dean-style artwork. Despite its overwhelming campiness, Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds entered the UK album charts and remained there for six years, achieving multi-platinum status with sales in excess of six million double albums. (...) Hearing Thin Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott, as Pastor Nathaniel, rant and sing about the Martian "devils" makes sitting through the rest of it nearly worthwhile."
album review link: here
download link: here
It's been 70 years from the notorious radio broadcast that dramatised the H. G. Wells' novel "The War Of The Worlds". The broadcast was directed by Orson Welles who he also played the role of professor Pierson. Since most of the part of the broadcast was in the form of news bulletins of developing events that were reporting an invasion of aliens from Mars, many listeners actually believed it to be true.
While the broadcast certainly fulfilled its entertainment intentions, it is also sure that it's been used many times since as a framework for social manipulation through the mass media.
Images scanned from the highly recommended book The Complete War of the Worlds - Mars' Invasion of Earth from H.G. Wells to Orson Welles (Brian Holmsten & Alex Lubartozzi).
download link: here
It's always the same plot isn't it? The deadly combination of greed with the lack of control by the state always leads to situations similar to what we experience today. The reasons that caused the Great Depression these days back in 1929 are more or less the same with those of the Crisis today. Easy credit, (in 1929 for stocks, in 2008 for houses) led us to the same result. The reasons and the conditions which created our Crisis (or should we better name it "the Great Depression of 2008") were described by a single statement of Nicholas Lazares, a former manager of Lehman Brothers, who had resigned before the Crisis started: "Greed trumped everything (...). They were willing to make a loan to an orangutan." So, for some scumbags' bonuses it's the whole world now that is seriously affected. It seems that we have entered into a downward spiral with no visible end.
It is self-evident that today's (or should we say yesterday's) form of capitalism faces severe function problems. The 'funny' thing is of course that the 'experts' who were asserting that the market always balances by itself and were repulsing any state control, are now in the queue begging the state to finance (with the tax-payers' money) their failure.
History also teaches us that the US finally got over the Great Depression through the war economy of WWII, and also that fascist regimes in Germany and Italy found a very fertile ground through promises of "law and order" to the, horrified by the Depression effects, citizens...
Today's upload is a compilation of some of the songs written during and for the Great Depression. Unfortunately, it looks like we might be hearing a lot of songs like these soon. Some (if not all) of the lyrics depict today's Crisis perfectly; take a look at the lyrics of 1931's song "Cheer Up! Smile! Nertz! (Ballyhoo)".
Sure, business is bunk,
And Wall Street is sunk,
We're all of us broke, and ready to croak.
We've nothing to dunk,
Can't even get drunk,
And all the while, they tell us to smile:
Cheer up, gentle citizens, though you have no shirts,
Happy days are here again. Cheer up, smile, nertz!
All aboard prosperity, giggle 'till it hurts!
No more bread-line charity. Cheer up, smile, nertz!
Cheer up, cheer up, cheer up, cheer up, cheer,
Up, cheer up, cheer up, cheer, better times are here.
Sunny smilers we must be, the optimist asserts,
Let's hang the fat-head to a tree! Cheer up, smile, nertz!
The world's in the red,
We're better off dead,
Depression, they say's in session to stay.
Our judges are queer,
Our banks disappear,
And all the while, they tell us to smile:
Cheer up, gentle citizens, though you have no shirts,
Happy days are here again. Cheer up, smile, nertz!
All aboard prosperity, giggle 'till it hurts,
No more bread-line charity. Cheer up, smile, nertz!
Cheer up, cheer up, cheer up, cheer up, cheer,
Up, cheer up, cheer up, cheer, better times are here.
Sunny smilers we must be, the optimist asserts,
Let's hang the fat-head to a tree! Cheer up, smile, nertz!
Nertz!
The following video gathers some of the staggering Great Depression photos of Dorothea Lange.
download link (with booklet info etc.): here
We read from NME.com: "David Bowie's 1972 album 'The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars' has been voted the gayest album of all time by a panel of "gay experts".
Out.com polled a panel including Boy George, Rufus Wainwright and Cyndi Lauper to determine the 100 most homosexual albums of all time, with Bowie's effort emerging as Number One.
According to the compilers, albums included were "not only records by queer musicians but also any records that have had relevance to those voting".
The Smiths have two albums in the top ten and a total of four in the top40 (while Morrissey has another one in the top100), Madonna has five albums in the top100, Queen and Bowie have from three albums each. To read the whole story go here.
Well, this poll reminded me of a similar list that was compiled by Sirius satellite radio DJ Frank DeCaro in order to determine the gayest song ever. The title went to Jerry Herman 's "Bosom Buddies" as sung by Lucille Ball and Beatrice Arthur for the soundtrack for the 1974 movie version of Mame.
Again, Smiths and Bowie are present, sharing number 10 of the list. To see the respective list go here. As for "Bosom Buddies", I think that the homosexual references are not so apparent, apart from the lyric "I'll always be Alice Toklas, If you'll be Gertrude Stein".
album review link: here
download link: here
It's been exactly 40 years from possibly the bravest political statement in sports. Tommie Smith and John Carlos at the 200m medal-award ceremony of the Mexican Olympics in 1968, raised their clenched fists in a black power salute as a stand against racial discrimination. As Tommie Smith later explained: "If I win, I am American, not a black American. But if I did something bad, then they would say I am a Negro. We are black and we are proud of being black. Black America will understand what we did tonight". Shouldn't we also forget, that, in support of Smith and Carlos, the second place finisher, the Australian Peter Norman, wore the Human Rights badge. For all three, the consequences of their gesture for their carriers and lives were enduring and devastating. Unfortunately, in today's society athletes are considered entertainers who are not "allowed" to express their beliefs on social matters. It is their popularity and influence they have on young people that make them "dangerous". But, as Smith himself recently said: "Athletes have a responsibility to speak because they are in a position to make a difference and they have a responsibility to make that difference".
Today's upload pays tribute to that historical gesture. "Stand Up And Be Counted" is a fine compilation with its front cover commemorating the salute and packed with powerful gems of the late 60's-early 70's which focus on social and racial issues.
Tracklisting:
A1-The Flames - Stand Up And Be Counted
A2-Gil Scott-Heron - The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
A3-The Impressions - Mighty Mighty (Spade And Whitey)
A4-Billy Paul - East
B1-Mike James Kirkland - Hang On In There
B2-Esther Marrow - Things Ain't Right
B3-James Brown - Say It Loud - I'm Black And I'm Proud ( Parts 1&2)
C1-The Last Poets - When The Revolution Comes
C2-Pace-Setters - Push On Jessie Jackson
C3-Archie Shepp - Blues For Brother George Jackson
C4-Eddie Kendricks - My People... Hold On
D1-The Pharaohs - Freedom Road
D2-Kain - Loose Here
D3-Nina Simone - I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free
album review link: here
download link: here
It's been a quarter of a century (sounds more impressive to refer to centuries rather than to years doesn't it) from the release of R.E.M.'s first lp. I guess they could never imagine that from a rather obscure band from Athens, Georgia, they would become at first (during their IRS years) one of the top alternative bands of the 80's, then they would dominate the charts with a rather weak album (Out Of Time) with sparkling singles, they would subsequently release one of the best 90's album (Automatic For The People) and, after 25 years from their first lp release, they would still remain in the limelight with decent albums and massive stadium concerts. One of these concerts we Greeks had the chance to enjoy for free in Kalimarmaro stadium (where the 1896 Olympic games took place) last Sunday; it will be uploaded upon request.
album review link: here
download link: here
Just to give you an idea, we are talking here about a composer and lyricist (but also an actor and director) who is often compared with Bob Dylan as for the power of his songs. He has also been a major influence for David Bowie, Leonard Cohen, Scott Walker, Marc Almond, Momus, Divine Comedy, the Tindersticks and for most of the singer-songwriters of this world. Many of his songs have been "translated" in English and performed by Joan Baez, Judy Collins, the Sensational Alex Harvey Band (my favourite pick with "Next"), Dusty Springfield, the Kingston Trio, Shirley Bassey, Dionne Warwick, Nina Simone, Gavin Friday, Nirvana, Walkabouts, Pearls Before Swine and Mitch Ryder to name just a few from the relevant extensive list. Finally, the off-Broadway act "Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris" which was based on his songs translated by Mort Shuman and Eric Blau, resulted in one of the most successful off-Broadway shows ever. Jacques Brel passed away exactly 30 years ago but his music continues to inspire.
This current upload is a brilliant compilation covering in chronological order his carrier up to 1972.
Jacques Brel info: here and here
album review link: here
download link (part 1): here (re-up)
download link (part 2 with covers, info, credits etc.): here (re-up)
This is Jerry Wexler's marvellous production for The Wiz, an original cast recording with an all-black cast who retold L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The musical opened on January 1975, it ran for over 1600 performances and won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Original Score for the music and lyrics of Charlie Smalls.
Tracklisting:
A1-Prologue - (Company)
A2-The Feeling We Once Had - Aunt Em (Tasha Thomas)
A3-Tornado - Instrumental
A4-He's The Wizard - Addaperle (Clarice Taylor) & Company
A5-Soon As I Get Home - Dorothy (Stephanie Mills)
A6-I Was Born On The Day Before Yesterday - Scarecrow (Hinton Battle)
A7-Ease On Down The Road - Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tinman (Tiger Haynes), Lion (Ted Ross)
A8-Slide Some Oil To Me - Tinman
A9-I'm A Mean Ole Lion - Lion
B1-Be A Lion - Dorothy, Lion
B2-So You Wanted To See The Wizard - The Wiz (Andre De Shields)
B3-What Would I Do If I Could Feel - Tinman
B4-Don't Nobody Bring Me No Bad News - Evillene (Mabel King)
B5-Everybody Rejoice - Dorothy & Company
B6-Y'All Got It! - The Wiz & Company
B7-If You Believe - Glinda (Dee Dee Bridgewater)
B8-Home (Finale) - Dorothy
album review link (allmusic): here
download link (with inlet & lyric insert): here
Jerry Wexler, the man who is responsible for a huge part of the evolution of the music in the 20th century left us full of days in August.
His first involvement with the music industry was as a journalist in Billboard, were he coined the term 'rhythm and blues' to replace the narrowed "race music". It was while working for Billboard, when he first met Ahmet Ertegun, co-owner of Atlantic records.After leaving Billboard Wexler went on to work for Atlantic; soon enough he became co-owner replacing Herb Abramson. There, through his totally distinctive production techniques, he managed to transform Ray Charles from a good imitator of Nat 'King' Cole to a leading artist of soul music. Equally, he was the force behind the transformation of Aretha Franklin from the all-around singer of Columbia to the soul icon she deserved to be. Apart from these two giant figures who found their way in the magic hands of Wexler someone should not forget that he is also responsible for names such as Big Joe Turner, Ruth Brown, Professor Longhair, LaVerne Baker, Ivory Joe Hunter, Drifters, Solomon Burke and Wilson Pickett, while the strong relationship of Atlantic with Stax was also his idea. On the verge of the 60's he found himself being producer of the legendary lp "Dusty In Memphis". By then Atlantic had already become the company for which Led Zeppelin would release their music.
Seminal albums produced by Wexler followed during the 70's: The original (entirely black) cast of "The Wiz" (an adaptation of the Wizard of Oz), Dr John's "Gumbo", Willie Nelson's "Shotgun Willie", Doug Sahm's "Doug Sahm and Band" (where among the members of 'The Band' were Bob Dylan and Dr. John), Dire Straits's "Communique" and Bob Dylan's "Slow Train Coming" (the latter two for Warner).
read also:
Jerry Wexler: The Man Who Invented Rhythm & Blues (Rolling Stone)
Twenty tracks for which Jerry Wexler is most proud of (Rolling Stone)
Mojo for Jerry Wexler
Allmusic for Jerry Wexler
An interview of Jerry Wexler to John Petridis for the greek mag Pop & Rock (back to mono)
For those interested, you can also dig in his autobiography "The Rhythm And The Blues: A Life In American Music”.
This blog's tribute to Wexler will be divided to this present compilation of tracks he produced or co-produced in the 50's and 60's for Atlantic and (in posts to follow) to some of the albums he produced during the 70's.
Tracklisting:
01-Drifters with Clyde McPhatter - Money Honey
02-Ray Charles - I Got A Woman
03-LaVern Baker - Tweedle Dee
04-Chords - Sh-Boom
05-Drifters - Ruby Baby
06-Ruth Brown - Lucky Lips
07-Chuck Willis - It's Too Late
08-Ray Charles - (Night Time Is) The Right Time
09-Clyde McPhatter - A Lover's Question
10-Solomon Burke - If You Need Me
11-Ray Charles - What'd I Say (Parts I & II)
12-Wilson Pickett - Land Of 1000 Dances
13-Solomon Burke - Everybody Needs Somebody To Love
14-Wilson Pickett - In The Midnight Hour
15-Aretha Franklin - (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman
16-Wilson Pickett - Mustang Sally
17-Aretha Franklin - Chain Of Fools
18-Aretha Franklin - Respect
19-Dusty Springfield - The Windmills Of Your Mind
download link: here
Ok, I'm biased. But how can someone resist to such delightful "hybrid of the Pogues and a Pete Seeger hootenanny" as Steve Wynn defined his one-off (?) backing band Silver & the Hidden Cash at his recent gig in Ioannina, Greece.
But let's better read the whole thing from Mr. Wynn himself.
"I was told that they would be happy to learn some of my songs and back me up for part of my set. I chose some songs that were easy to learn-Carolyn, Kerosene Man and Manhattan Fault Line-and decided to give it a shot. When the band got a hold of The Baseball Project they asked to do a couple of songs off that as well so I tossed in Past Time and Fernando.
Well, the band learned every part and every note and every harmony from each of those songs. It was quite impressive. They even gave me and Linda Greek nicknames for the night to offset their own English nicknames (check out their website - http://www.shc.gr/ -- and you'll see what I'm talking about, although it might be all Greek to you-sorry, couldn't resist). It was a festive night. 1000 people in the Ioannina town square, a bright moon shining down and the show followed by an endless array of squid, tzatziki, grilled meats, wine, beer and other delights, a bacchanalian orgy that went until about 3:30am."
To my biggest regret I couldn't attend (I had to change diapers etc. at the same time while in my holidays) but I feel that most probably I'll have a second chance in the near future.
P.S. @Shc: You are destined to stardom. Κονγκρατσουλέισονς.
Hi. I'm back, carrying my burnt skin, one deaf ear and a heavy cold. I need to go back to work asap. Looking forward for autumn rain, sweat shirts, weekend football (Man. City rules) and non-festival gigs followed by booze.
Isaac Hayes is simply among the major contributors in the development of soul music. C0-composer of colossal songs for Stax, responsible for one of the best blaxploitation soundtracks and for... Hot Buttered Soul, the album that as Jason Birchmeier notes in allmusic "transformed Hayes into a lifelong icon".
album review link (allmusic): here
download link: here
P.S. For those interested there is also an older post that compiles some of the songs from the Stax label.
This is the first lp release of the man who not only was a cornerstone of the rock'n'roll era, but also had an absolutely dominant guitar playing style that can still be heard in recent releases. Bo Diddley passed away at the beginning of last June. RIP
album review link (allmusic): here
download link: here
All uploads here, are @256, with the sole exception of Zounds' "The Curse of Zounds" which was significantly inferior. Well, not any more...
original post (for artwork, info, links etc.)
re-up(@256)pt1, re-up(@256)pt2
This one comes as a gift to the Chinese governors for their fantastic work for the opening day of the Olympics. Unfortunately, it is only to the governors that I can send a message through this blog, since its access is banned for the vast majority of the Chinese citizens.
Tracklisting:
part1:
New York City, June 7, 1997
A01-Monks - Opening Prayers
A02-Ben Harper - Ground On Down
A03-Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Blues Explosion Man
A04-Yungchen Lhamo - Om Mani Padme Hung
A05-Patti Smith - About A Boy
A06-Radiohead - Fake Plastic Trees
A07-A Tribe Called Quest - Oh My God
A08-U2 - One
A09-Noel Gallagher - Cast No Shadow
A10-Sonic Youth - Wildflower
A11-Porno For Pyros - Meija
part2:
New York City, June 7, 1997 (cont.)
A12-Nawang Kheehog - The Celebration
A13-Foo Fighters - This Is A Call
A14-KRS-1 - The Bridge I Over... Black Cop... South Bronx Medley
A15-Biz Markie - Star Spangled Banner... Nobody Beats The Biz
A16-Monks - Closing Prayers
New York City, June 8, 1997
B01-Monks - Opening Prayers
B02-Eddie Vedder & Mike McCready - Yellow Ledbetter
B03-Mighty Mighty Bosstones - Noise Brigade
B04-Pavement - Type Slowly
B05-Dadon - Gyi Ma Gyi
B06-Lee Perry feat. Mad Professor & Robotiks Band - Heads Of Government
B07-Taj Mahal and The Phantom Blues Band - She Caught The Katy
B08-Blur - Beetlebum
part3:
New York City, June 8, 1997 (cont.)
B09-Michael Stipe & Mike Mills - Electrolite
B10-Chaksam-pa - Ajo Sotop
B11-Alanis Morissette - Wake Up
B12-Bjork - Hyper-Ballad
B13-Rancid - The Harder They Come
B14-Beastie Boys - Root Down
B15-Monks - Closing Prayers
San Francisco, June 15 & 16, 1996
C01-Cibo Matto - Birthday Cake
C02-Beck - Asshole
C03-De La Soul - Me, Myself & I
C04-Fugees - Fu Gee La
C05-Rage Against The Machine - Bulls On Parade
Here is some info about the Tibet Independence Movement. Check also this older post, to find out the secret meaning of the 2008 Olympics logo, as well as this very informative site.
download links: part 1, part 2, part 3 (with booklet info etc.)
There are some light years distance between the current dark version of Batman and the somehow cartoonistic (if not ridiculous in case someone wants to be nastier) tv series of the 60's, with Adam West in the main role. Nevertheless, the television soundtrack offers more-than-decent scoring by Nelson Riddle with adaptations of Neal Hefti's 'Batman Theme'. The extended dialogues of the tv characters which are also included add a camp (but at the same time nostalgic) note to the whole project.
download link: here
Now, there is not much to add in my posts from early this year where we celebrated 20 years from the first non-compilation Sub Pop release. Here you can find a Sub Pop compilation where the old as well as the new generation of the company's groups are represented, while here is the company's first non-compilation release.
Mojo's latest issue (n. 177), apart of a (superb) Sub pop article, gives as a premium the compilation 'Sub Pop 300', continuing the company's series of Sub Pop 100 and Sub Pop 200.
Sub Pop 100, which is uploaded here was the first vinyl release of Sub Pop, after nine issues as a fanzine, where six of the volumes where magazines and three where cassettes (the fifth, seventh, and ninth issues).
To dig deeper, apart from Mojo, there are also the relevant articles Sub Pop 20 from Seattle Weekly and Sub Pop turns 20 from Guardian.
Tracklisting:
A1-Steve Albini - Spoken Word Intro Thing
A2-Scratch Acid - Greatest Gift
A3-Wipers - Nothin' To Prove (live)
A4-Sonic Youth - Kill Yr.Idols
A5-Naked Raygun - Bananacuda
A6-U-Men - Gila
A7-Dangerous Birds - Smile On Your Face
B1-Skinny Puppy - Church In Hell
B2-Steve Fisk - Go At Full Throttle
B3-Lupe Diaz - Itsbeena
B4-Boy Dirt Car - Impact Test
B5-Savage Republic - Real Men
B6-Shonen Knife - One Day Of The Factory
B7-Barry White ending (endless!!!)
download link: here
P.S.1 What is still not clear to me is in what sense July 1988 is Sub Pop's birthday, when their first release had been back in 1986.
P.S.2 Fleet Foxes is the latest treasure of Sub Pop; their s/t album is already a landmark for 2008. An relevant upload is on the way.
Another great loss, criminally neglected by this blog (up to now). Buddy Miles was one of the best drummers of the late 60's-early 70's era. Although he is best known as a member of the Electric Flag, for the collaboration with Carlos Santana and most notably as a member of Jimi Hendrix's Band of Gypsys, the work with his group Buddy Miles Express as well as his solo albums should not be overlooked.
The current upload is a retrospective (with the front and back cover reminiscent of his best solo work "Them Changes" and of "A Message To The People" lp respectively) of all three albums he released with the Buddy Miles Express and of the first three (two studio and one live) albums as solo artist. The music is a mixture of funk, Stax soul and psychedelia, with his awesome drumming in the frontline.
Independent's obituary: here
album review link: here
download link (pt1): here
download link (pt2 with liner notes etc.): here
P.S. Along with Klaus Dinger (see the related upload here) we count two seminal drummers that left us this year. An appropriate compilation for the (usually) men (usually) at the second row of the stage is on the way.
The story behind today's upload is the New York's Chelsea hotel, where many musicians, artists and writers (see a list here) lived and drawn inspiration. Many songs and books refer to Chelsea, and a number of movies were shot here.
For such place of cultural importance, the hotel's board of directors decided to drastically refurbish it and to convert it to a faceless, clean cut hotel, thus deleting a significant part of NY's art history; it's the city's second major cultural loss within a short period after CBGB. As part of their plan, Stanley Bard who had been running the hotel since 1955 (while his father was doing the same from 1946 to 1955) was ousted one year ago. Long term residents were horrified, and started a campaign to bring back the Bards as managers and majority shareholders of Chelsea.
Check also: Chelsea blog and Chelsea-dedicated page
One of the movies shot in Chelsea hotel was Andy Warhol's Chelsea Girls, where Nico (with many other 'members' of the Warhol Superstars) was playing. 
Nico's accordingly named first solo lp is a dream mix of first-class compositions from Bob Dylan, Tim Hardin, Jackson Browne and her V.U. acquaintances Reed, Cale and Morrison with her exceptional vocals.
album review link: here
download link: here
Once more, Brian Eno's contribution in the latest release of Coldplay is seminal. Read how wonderfully his way of working is described by Thomas Erlewine in allmusic. "Eno pushes them, not necessarily to experiment but rather to focus and refine, to not leave their comfort zone but to find some tremulous discomfort within it. In his hands, this most staid of bands looks to shake things up, albeit politely, but such good manners are so inherent to Coldplay's DNA that they remain courteous even when they experiment. With his big-budget production, Eno has a knack for amplifying an artist's personality, as he allows bands to be just as risky as they want to be..."
It was a very tough task to choose among the albums he has contributed as producer/ engineer and are considered as landmarks. Think... it is Bowie's Low, Devo's Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!, Talking Heads' Remain In Light, U2's Joshua Tree to name just a few. I've chosen No New York as a mere evidence of his cutting edge music horizons.
Janine Warren writes for her review in Mojo (issue 176, 7/2008) on the excellent recently published book No Wave: Post-Punk. Underground. New York. 1976-1980 written by Thurston Moore and Byron Coley:
"No Wave was a short-lived anti-everything sonic assault arising from the embers of the New York punk scene and the experimentation of Suicide, exhaling such bands as Teenage Jesus And The Jerks, DNA, Mars and The Contortions, all of whom appeared on Brian Eno's now legendary 1978 No New York compilation and whose inclusion within these pages serves as testament to their far reaching influence."
Or as Ben Sisario writes for the New York Times: (no wave) "was a cacophonous, confrontational subgenre of punk rock, Dadaist in style and nihilistic in attitude".
There is also a very interesting interview that Thurston Moore gave to Ben Sisario for this book.
Check also the film Kill Your Idols from 2003, where many artists of No Wave are interviewed.
This is the trailer of Kill Your Idols
As for Brian Eno, you can also check the book On Some Faraway Beach: The Life & Times of Brian Eno by David Sheppard as well as this site.
Tracklisting:
A1-Contrortions - Dish It Out
A2-Contrortions - Flip Your Face
A3-Contrortions - Jaded
A4-Contrortions - I Can't Stand Myself
A5-Teenage Jesus And The Jerks - Burning Rubber
A6-Teenage Jesus And The Jerks - The Closet
A7-Teenage Jesus And The Jerks - Red Alert
A8-Teenage Jesus And The Jerks - I Woke Up Dreaming
B1-Mars - Helen Fordsdale
B2-Mars - Hairwaves
B3-Mars - Tunnel
B4-Mars - Puerto Rican Ghost
B5-D.N.A - Egomaniac's Kiss
B6-D.N.A. - Lionel
B7-D.N.A - Not Moving
B8-D.N.A. - Size
album review link (allmusic): here
album review from 1979 (by Richard C. Walls, from Creem): here
download link: here
This latest upload is dedicated to Bebe Barron who passed away two months ago. Bebe, with her husband Louis, created the score to MGM's 'Forbidden Planet'. The movie was released in 1956 and it was one of the first science fiction films and extremely influential to 'Star Trek' and 'Lost In Space'. It combined exceptional special effects, a superb plot based on Shakespeare's 'The Tempest' and a soundtrack for which no physical instruments were used. Actually, it was the first time that a Hollywood soundtrack was purely electronic! Oddly and matchingly enough, due to problems that the Barrons had with the US musicians' union, they were 'forced' to use the term 'electronic tonalities' for the soundtrack since they were not allowed to credit it as music. They note: "We design and construct electronic circuits which function electronically in a manner remarkably similar to the way that lower life-forms function psychologically. There is a comprehensive mathematical science explaining it, called "Cybernetics", which is concerned with the Control and Communication in the Animal and Machine. It was first propounded by Prof. Norbert Wiener of M.I.T. who found that there are certain natural laws of behavior applicable alike to animals including humans) and electronic machines.
In scoring FORBIDDEN PLANET-as in all of our work- we created individual cybernetic circuits for particular themes and leit motifs, rather than using standard sound generators. Actually, each circuit has a characteristic activity pattern as well as a "voice". Most remarkable is that the sounds which emanate from these electronic nervous systems seem to convey strong emotional meaning to listeners. We were delighted to hear people tell us that the Tonalities in FORBIDDEN PLANET remind them of what their dreams sound like. There were no synthesizers or traditions of electronic music when we scored this film, and therefore we were free to explore "terra incognito" with all its surprises and adventures." 
movie and soundtrack info: here
movie review link: here
album review link: here
picture and sound gallery: here
download link: here
Για όσους επισκέπτονται συχνά αυτή τη σελίδα, θα έχουν παρατηρήσει ότι έχω περιορίσει δραματικά τα όποια σχόλια έκανα σχετικά με την περιρρέουσα ελληνική (και όχι μόνο) πραγματικότητα. Αν και αρχικά τα θεωρούσα ως αναπόσπαστο μέρος αυτού του blog, αποφάσισα τελικά κάτι τέτοιο λόγω πολύ χαμηλής ανταπόκρισης (βλ. σχολίων) αλλά και λόγω έλλειψης χρόνου.
Παρ' όλα αυτά, δεν μπορώ να αγνοήσω το σημερινό κάλεσμα σε συγκέντρωση ενάντια στην ακρίβεια. Αν επιθυμούμε να ακουστεί η φωνή μας, να μας υπολογίζουν και να μην θεωρούν ότι έχουν να κάνουν με παθητικούς καταναλωτές, ως πρώτο βήμα θα πρέπει σήμερα να βρεθούμε εκεί.
Όσο για τη συνέχεια... γιατί όχι να μην προχωρήσουμε (παρά τις όποιες δυσκολίες) σε αυτό που πρότεινε ο πιτσιρίκος;
So, after a long wait that took 22 years, the Boston Celtics are again the NBA champions. In a classic final, they overpowered LA Lakers by the impressive 131-92.
For a team with strong bonds with the large local Irish community (see their logo with the leprechaun's outfit full of three-leaf clovers), I think that the best-matching upload is a recording of the Dropkick Murphys, a group that was formed in the predominantly Irish South Boston (in Quincy) and holds strong bonds with their Irish heritage both in its logo, and its music being a fiery fuse of hardcore punk with Celtic folk. Of course, their logo also implies, their fondness for hockey, but I presume that they also feel proud for their hometown's basketball team. The concert took place in Boston, on St. Patrick's day, which is celebrated by the Irish worldwide. Covers of Irish traditional songs (Rocky Road To Dublin, Finnegan's Wake, Wild Rover), excellent covers on songs that show up their social activity (MTA renamed and adapted as Bloody Pig Pile, Which Side Are You On) but most importantly, a set where you can feel the frenzy of the group and of their fans, sum to offer an enjoyable set. I totally agree with Robert L. Doerschuk's review for allmusic:
"Great live albums accomplish two things: They show how an artist sounds in real life (or something close to it) and they make you wish that you were there the night they recorded this gig. By this measure, Live on St. Patrick's Day From Boston, MA is one of the best of the breed. You may have to go back to Live at Leeds to catch this kind of stage energy. Dropkick Murphys, working-class heroes in blue-collar Boston, crash through their set with hair-raising exuberance. Their sound, a muscular collision of punk and traditional Irish elements, connects directly with the crowd, whose presence is never lost in the mix; throughout the set the band welcomes relatives in the balcony, runs footage of old Boston Bruins hockey games as a video backdrop, opens the stage to a bunch of step-dancers, brings a guy up from the audience to propose to his girl as the crowd roars its approval (the girl, no fool, says yes), and invites any woman in the crowd to join them as their massive, beer-swilling piper, Spicy McHaggis, plays a jig. ("His pipes are gigantic, and so is his schlong," Al Barr yells as the band thunders merrily.) From the opening moments, a stirring skirl provided by the Boston Police Gaelic Column Pipes & Drums, to a final chant of "Let's go, Murphys!" performed in the wreckage that follows the finale, Live on St. Patrick's Day From Boston, MA is ultimately a raucous, brawling, and sentimental testament of love between a band and their perfectly matched audience."
download link (part1): here
download link (part2 & booklet): here
I have to confess my utter lust for this rare jewel under the name of Scarlett Johansson. Apart from being one of the best actresses of her generation, with excellent choices throughout her career, her idea to release an album with all songs (but one) being Tom Waits's compositions was great. I have not heard the result yet but as a die hard fan of Tom Waits I'll upload here the originals in the exact order of her album.
Tracklisting:
01-Fawn (from 'Alice' lp)
02-Town With No Cheer (from 'Swordfishtrombones' lp)
03-Falling Down (from 'Big Time' lp)
04-Anywhere I Lay My Head (from 'Raindogs' lp)
05-Fannin Street (from 'Orphans' lp)
06-Green Grass (from 'Real Gone' lp)
07-I Wish I Was In New Orleans (from 'Small Change' lp)
08-I Don't Wanna Grow Up (from 'Bone Machine' lp)
09-No One Know I'm Gone (from 'Alice' lp)
10-Who Are You (from 'Bone Machine' lp)
download link: here
Who could imagine that Neil Diamond, an artist who released his first lp in 1966 and had never reached no1 of albums in the US, would do so in 2008 with a non-compilation album? As in his previous release ('12 Songs') in 2005, the man behind the console is Rick Rubin who, with his golden touch, certainly paid a key role in Neil's re-emergence. So, this is the second time that Rubin resurrects the career of an artist; the first one was of course with Johnny Cash. The latter's album (and former's production) 'American III: Solitary Man' of 2000, gives a good hint for Rubin's admiration for Diamond, since the track 'Solitary Man' covered by Cash (and proposed by Rubin) was a hit for Diamond back in 1966.
'Just For You' (Diamond's second lp release) is an album where (a) songs from this album have been covered by as diverse artists as Johnny Cash, Music Machine, Monkees, Lulu, Urge Overkill, UB40, Chris Isaak, Four Tops, Robert Wyatt, EMF and Smash Mouth and (b) nine out of the eleven compositions of the album have been released as a-side singles, with many of them becoming big hits.
Tracklisting:
Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon
The Long Way Home
Red Red Wine
You'll Forget
The Boat That I Row
Cherry Cherry
I'm A Believer
Shilo
You Got To Me
Solitary Man
Thank The Lord For The Night Time
album info link: here
download link: here
This latest upload is dedicated to Klaus Dinger who passed away some two months ago. Drummer of Kraftwerk during their early days, of Neu! and of La Düsseldorf, will be surely remembered for his 'motorik' beat, but also for his growling vocals in the song 'Hero'; an echo of which can be heard throughout Never Mind The Bollocks.
Neu! 75 is a perfect example of an album that was many years ahead of its era thus its importance was recognised through the various groups that were influenced by it (and by the group itself) and span from Stereolab to Tortoise to Sonic Youth to Kasabian to OMD to the Sex Pistols. The vast variety of the genres these groups represent, evidently showcase the cross-genre capsule this album was.
album review link (allmusic): here
download link: here
Now, who can claim that within 2008 has heard a more refreshing album than Vampire Weekend's s/t album? A (successful) attempt to blend indie with western african-pop
with the second leg carrying heavy influence from Paul Simon's Graceland. Here is their single "A-Punk" with its brilliant video-clip.
Vampire Weekend's official site: here
Graceland review link (allmusic): here
Graceland download link: here
My latest obsession is Pete & the Pirates album "Little Death". Full of moments of pop brilliance that combine witty melodies, affecting arrangement and warm, friendly vocals, with all songs (but one) not lasting more than three minutes makes it impossible to stop listening to it. Here we have the triumph of the simple song over the trend of compositions striving to hide the composer's loss of inspiration over overburdened layers of pompous productions.
P&tP official site: here
Here is "Come On Feet", a true indie-pop masterpiece, captured live in Manchester Road House (one of my favourite venues when I was living there btw).
Tomas Sanders, the lead singer of P&tP, is also the main man behind Tap Tap, who released the album "Lanzafame" which was scandalously neglected two years ago and is based on the same blueprint with "Little Death". The connection between the two projects is apparent: both albums contain versions of the song "She Doesn't Belong (To Me)", while Pete And The Pirates play many of the tracks from Lanzafame during their live sets.
album review link: here
download link: here
Godspeed You Black Emperor! the leading group of Constellation records and one of the best groups of post-rock have announced their split. We read from NME.com:
"The Montreal post-rock innovators have called it a day, but not for the reasons of 'musical differences' cited by many retiring bands. Instead, founder Efrin Menuck declared that the band had become untenable due to "an existential freakout" relating to the Iraq war. Menuck told Drownedinsound: "The last American tour that Godspeed did was in the run up to the current war in Iraq. For what Godspeed did, it was very difficult for us to work out a way to communicate directly with the audience about what was going on." He continued: "We could talk to people after the shows, or we could make announcements from the stage, but so much what Godspeed was, was one-way communication, and I had an existential freakout about that, that those tactics aren't valid anymore. People didn't need a rock band pointing in the direction of (how the world was at that point). Maybe what they needed is some clumsy words, a presentation that was a little more human." But Menuck hinted that personal issues between the members also played a part in the decision to split: "On a personal level I now find (Godspeed) to be inappropriate. There's a complicated back story. I reached a point whereby I was no longer willing to contribute to the steering of the ship; it was like, 'Okay now, someone else point the direction, I love you all, but I need to ride shotgun for a while'. I think that bands do have a short shelf life."
Their album "Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven" is to my opinion their magnum opus.
album review link (allmusic): here
download link (part1): here
download link (part2): here
Arthur Clarke left us on 19 March. He will always be remembered for his monumental novel '2001: A Space Odyssey'. The soundtrack of the s/t film which was created concurrently with the novel and directed by Kubrick is uploaded here.
album review link (allmusic): here
download link (part1): here
download link (part2): here
Although Mark Lanegan and Greg Dulli have exchanged appearances in each other albums, it is with the recently formed supergroup "The Gutter Twins" that their friendship becomes officially a professional collaboration. Their album 'Saturnalia' is a perfect match of two major talents of the late 80's-early 90's as well as of two voices that have scarred my teens with their then groups Screaming Trees and Afghan Whigs.
album review link (allmusic): here
download link: here
After two or three times I've listened to Burial's Untrue, it started revealing to me its secret merits; it is now an album that I hear at least twice a day. Untrue is a dense, bleak, anguished soundtrack of the civic environment.
Here is Photek's Modus Operandi which seems to be a major influence
download link (part 1): here
download link (part 2): here
