Sausage - 1994 - Riddles Are Abound Tonight

"Sausage: sliced and diced fatly chunks of weird particles with meaty grizzle that doesn't really taste like meat. Like fine wine, the three members of Sausage have improved with time in the five years since their last jam session.

Talented bass player Les Claypool (of Primus fame) joins forces with old friends Todd Huth (guitar) and Jay Lane (drums) to perfect a state of unconsciousness normally unattainable during the waking hours.

"Prelude To Fear" includes Claypool's familiar thwappin' bass with Lane slammin' the beat right along with him (almost impossible, but Jay is dazzling). Sit back and relax to the more than seven minutes of "Shattering Song," whose reckless riffs were recorded at a faint pianissimo level, and become stronger and louder, like a train gaining speed as it approaches. The fast pickin' "Toyz 1988" showcases Todd Huth's bluesy style; "Girls For Single Men" layers talking voices over one another in a dreamlike sequence so real that you might wake up with tiny beads of water on your brow. It's just Sausage's way of penetrating your imagination. Experience the above, along with the title track, "Here's To The Man" and "Caution Should Be Used." ~ Les Claypool Official Site

Tracklisting:

01. Prelude To Fear
02. Riddles Are Abound Tonight
03. Here's To The Man
04. Shattering Song
05. Toyz 1988
06. Temporary Phase
07. Girls For Single Men
08. Recreating
09. Caution Should Be Used While Driving A Motor Vehicle Or Operating Machinery

Tony Conrad - 1964 - Four Violins

"In 1962 Tony Conrad's amplified strings introduced the sustained drone of just-intonation into 'minimal' music. Conrad, together with John Cale, Angus Maclise, La Monte Young, and Marian Zazeela formed a performance collaboration from 1962-65 sometimes known as The Dream Syndicate. When this remarkable group dissolved in 1966, their many rehearsal and performance recordings were repressed by Young and Zazeela, and remain unheard to this day. Conrad himself stepped outside of The Dream Syndicate once: on December 19th 1964, he recorded four violins, his only 1960s solo tape of violin playing. Beautifully packaged in a gatefold jacket with metallic inks, and pressed on superior grade vinyl." ~ Piccadilly Records

Sudan Baronian's Takism - 1995 - It's About Time

"Taksim is a Middle Eastern term meaning "improvisation". The band Taksim was created by Souren Baronian, who grew up with one musical foot rooted in his ethnic Armenian heritage, and the other firmly planted in the hot jazz of the heyday of 52nd Street. The music of Taksim is an authentic, organic hybrid of these two idioms, created by a genuine master. Taksim is based in New York City, has performed in most of the Big Apple's major jazz clubs over the years, and has played widely in the eastern U.S. and Europe since the band's debut in 1975.
Souren "Sudan" Baronian was a featured artist on the N.P.R. series Old Traditions/New sounds, produced by Rebecca Miller and narrated by Judy Collins. He played for the Anthony Quinn production of Zorba the Greek on Broadway and appeared on the Johnny Carson show. He has performed at various times at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Fat Tuesdays, The Village Gate, The Bottom Line, The Blue Note Cafe, and many other jazz and ethnic venues throughout the US and Europe. Souren has performed live or recorded with numerous distinguished musicians from both his musical bags, including Phil Woods, Joe Beck, Joe Farrell, Paul Motian, Don Cherry, Steve Gadd, Carla Bley, Arnie Lawrence, Tom Harrell, Chet Amsterdam, Armen Donelian, Oudi Hrant, Marko Melkon, Ahmet Yatman, Mustafa Kandirali, Kadri Sencalar, Saleas, Tassos Halkias - and many more fine musicians too multitudinous to list from the Arab world, Iran, Israel, Armenia, Turkey, Greece and Bulgaria.

Haig Manoukian, born of Armenian parentage in Virginia, now resides in New York City. He is widely considered one of the world's finest musicians of the oud (a fretless 11-string instrument), who has worked with the most influential musicians of Turkey, Armenia, Egypt, and Iran. Haig has played at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall, at many major cabarets throughout the U.S. and frequently performs with Middle Eastern dance companies. He has also toured extensively in Europe with Sudan Baronian in smaller ensembles and with Taksim. His fiery, passionate, highly original playing led one fan to dub him "the Jimi Hendrix of the oud."

Steve Knight was rigorously trained in classical music and traditional jazz on the piano, horn, and bass, and still performs and composes in these idioms when not with Taksim. A brief rock career found him playing at the 1969 Woodstock Festival and on several gold albums with the rock group Mountain (in its original incarnation). He and Sudan met when both were playing ethnic gigs, and they immediately recognized their musical kinship and jazz orientation.

Rowan Storms involvement with "world music" began long before it was fashionable. A tireless and fearless musical explorer, she has travelled extensively throughout Central America and the Mediterranean regions, researching, studying, and playing traditional music(s). Rowan is a highly accomplished percussionist on a variety of hand drums, and a polyglot vocalist who has performed in many genres and languages for very diverse audiences throughout America and Europe.

Mal Stein grew up surrounded by jazz. His father owned a well- know jazz club in Lakewood, New Jersey (Richard's Lounge) which launched Mal's musical career. From folk-rock to bebop he has played the N.YC. scene from side- man to leader. When introduced to the music of Taksim, he took up the challenge of mastering the odd time signatures and complex rhythms of the middle-east He succeeded admirably and was the perfect choice to be Taksim's drummer.
Sudan Baronian 's compositions require swinging but sensitive musicians with enormous versatility to do them justice.. He has certainly found them in this line- up ...all of them disciplined and highly accomplished but inspired to "reinvent" their instruments to express this new idiom." ~ Armenian Mega Store

Tracklisting:

01. Foalting Goat
02. Hitch-hiker
03. 9 lives
04. Transition
05. Rooster
06. Pleasant Peasants
07. Last Place on Earth
08. 8th Sky

Maceo & All The King's Men - 1970 - Doin' Their Own Thing

"Great great funky stuff! This album was recorded during a period when Maceo left James Brown's band for a few years, and struck out on his own with a firey little combo that was every bit as funky as the JBs! The record captures the group at the height of their powers, and it's a must, must, must-have for any fan of the the James Brown sound -- as it's got lots of hard drums, rumbling basslines, and some killer work on funky horns! Funny, funky, and a little bit jazzy too -- and with the cuts "Funky Women", "Got to Getcha", "Southwick", "Mag-Poo", "I Remember Mr Banks", "Thank You For Letting Me Be Myself", "Shake It Baby", and "Better Half". Reissued with the original cover!" ~ Dusty Groove

"Recorded and released after a mutiny by most of James Brown's late-'60s band, Doing Their Own Thing contains 12 slabs of superb early-'70s style funk. Mostly instrumental, radio play for the album and subsequent singles appears to have been blocked by Brown himself." ~ AMG

Tracklisting:

01. Maceo [7:45]
02. Got To Getcha [2:49]
03. Southwick [3:28]
04. Funky Women [5:43]
05. Shake It Baby (Keep On Shakin' It) [2:11]
06. Better Half [4:55]
07. Don't Waste This World Away [6:18]
08. Mag-Poo [3:19]
09. (I Remember) Mr. Banks [5:27]
10. Thank You For Letting Me Be Myself Again [6:17]

McCoy Tyner w/ Billy Cobham, Ron Carter and Hubert Laws - 1976 - Fly With The Wind

"Personnel:
McCoy Tyner (piano); Stuart Canin, Peter Schafer, Daniel Kobialko, Edmund Weingart, Frank Foster, Myra Bucky, Mark Volkert (violin); Selwart Clark, Daniel Yale (viola); Kermit Moore, Sally Kell (cello); Hubert Laws (alto flute, flute); Pual Rienzi (piccolo, flute); Raymond Duste (oboe); Linda Wood (harp); Ron Carter (bass); Billy Cobham (drums); Guilherme Franco (tambourine).Recorded from January 19-21, 1976.

Originally released on Milestone (9067).McCoy Tyner's first major attempt at commercial success, 1976's FLY WITH THE WIND, is in a sense a follow-up to 1973's SONG OF THE NEW WORLD. On that album, although Tyner was experimenting with writing for a large group, his material was a direct outgrowth of his work with John Coltrane. Here, producer Orrin Keepnews and drum star Billy Cobham bring McCoy fully into the jazz-rock world.The orchestral backup and strings that sweeten Tyner's flights of pianistic fancy add a cinematic touch, and Hubert Laws's flute lends commercial viability as well as a textural contrast. But Tyner's playing still leaves spiritual echoes, while Cobham's excitable virtuosity makes the pianist's solos sound almost introspective by comparison. "Beyond the Sun" features a poignant and spare arrangement; after the orchestral statement, the piano enters unaccompanied, effectively imitating the orchestra. Tyner's piano sweeps evoke strings, harp, and flute. "Rolem," a rock-samba, is replete with the quick unison passages that were the rage at the time." ~ Music Outfitter

Tracklisting:

01. Fly With The Wind
02. Salvadore De Samba
03. Beyond The Sun
04. You Stepped Out Of A Dream
05. Rolem

Sun Ra and his Myth Science Arkestra - 1956-1961 - We Travel the Spaceways

From Saturn Web

Side A:

01. Interplanetary Music (Ra) (2:40)
Ra-cosmic tone org; Phil Cohran-zither (violin/uke); John Gilmore-cosmic bells; Ronnie Boykins-b; prob. Marshall Allen-perc. Ensemble voc. It's not clear who the drummer is, but it could be William Cochran. Some club after hours, Chicago, 1960.

02. Eve (Ra) (3:08)
Ra-p; Walter Strickland-tp; Nate Pryor-tb; Marshall Allen-as; John Gilmore-ts; Pat Patrick-bs; Ronnie Boykins-b; Robert Barry-d. "El Saturn Studio" (meaning some club or rehearsal room), Chicago, around 1959.

Lucious Randolph never worked with Strickland, but Strickland went to Montreal with the band in 1961. Phil Cohran worked with Strickland though not in the Arkestra; so did Bill Fielder. If Patrick is on bs, the recording was not made when Cohran was in the band in 1960.

03. We Travel the Spaceways (Ra) (3:21)
Ra-p; George Hudson-tp, perc; Marshall Allen-as, bells, flying saucer; John Gilmore-ts, perc; Ronnie Boykins-b; Jon Hardy-d; various band members-perc, including cowbell and toy robot. All sing. Chicago, late 1960 or early 1961.

[Plonsey suggested that a toy quacking duck cart was being pulled around at the end of this piece. Gilmore told Corbett that the Arkestra had toy robots at this time. The "robots" had flashing lights on them and the band members would let them loose in the audience. Phil Cohran says that he is not on trumpet here, and that the imprecise attacks suggest Hudson]

04. Tapestry from an Asteroid (Ra) (2:06)
Ra-p; Phil Cohran-tp; Marshall Allen-as; John Gilmore-ts; Ronald Wilson-bs; Ronnie Boykins-b; Jon Hardy-d. Chicago, 1960.

Cohran confirms his presence here and says the piece was written for him. Patrick was not in the Arkestra in 1960; Cohran says that Ronald Wilson is probably present on baritone sax.

Side B:

05. Space Loneliness (Ra) (4:48)
Ra-p; George Hudson-tp; Marshall Allen-as; John Gilmore-ts; Ronnie Boykins-b; Jon Hardy-d. Chicago late 1960 or early 1961.

Album jacket credits the alto solo to Allen, Tommy Hunter has said it wasn't, but my current leaning is toward Marshall. Cohran says the trumpet player doesn't know the trumpet part he had worked out with Gilmore and Allen on the head. He thinks it might be George Hudson, not Walter Strickland as credited by Saturn. [rlc; Tommy Hunter interviewed by Michael Shore]

06. New Horizons (Ra) (3:00)
Ra-p; Art Hoyle-tp; Julian Priester-tb; James Scales-as; John Gilmore-bells; Pat Patrick-bs; Wilburn Green-eb; Robert Barry-d. RCA Studio, Chicago, 1956.

This is an alternate version of the Arkestra's first theme song, which Ra says he composed in 1950 or 1951.

07. Velvet (Ra) (4:36)
Ra-p; Phil Cohran-tp; Nate Pryor-tb; Marshall Allen-as; John Gilmore-ts; Ronnie Boykins-b; Jon Hardy-d. Hall Recording Company, Chicago, late 1960.

Cohran says, "We made this at the end of the day. I didn't want to play it, but he ran it off on the piano." Thanks to Allan Chase for pointing out the presence of Nate Pryor.

Jacket credits Ra with playing electric piano, but there's none on the record. Phil Cohran says that a drummer named John (Gilmore says John, Fielder says Jonell) Hardy performed on some of the Chicago albums, but was left out of the credits; in fact, Jon Hardy is listed as the sole drummer for this album in the 1967 Saturn Handy Catalog B7S66Y. He is not mentioned on the late 1960s Saturn sleeve, which lists Robert Barry and Edward Skinner (however, the 1969 Saturn catalog reprints the personnel listing from 1967). Alvin Fielder confirms Hardy's presence in the band and says that Hardy and Cohran liked to work together. Fielder himself was in the band from Spring 1958 to January or February 1960 but did not work with Cohran. [Personnel from jacket, some sorting and corrections by rlc; Simosko, following Julian Vein, says 1958-1959]

The 1967 Saturn catalogue lists this as Saturn 409 with the familiar cover illustration but with a handwritten (not typeset) title across the top. In the 1969 Saturn catalog, the typeset title and Sun Ra logo can be seen. [rlc]

Mr. Sun Ra and his Arkestra - 1961 - Bad and Beautiful

For info on all Sun Ra releases, visit this site: Saturn Web

Side A:

01. The Bad and the Beautiful (Previn-Raksin) (2:43)
Sun Ra-p; Marshall Allen-fl; John Gilmore-ts; Pat Patrick-bs; Ronnie Boykins-b; Tommy Hunter-d.
Vein points out that all releases edit out the piano introduction.

02. Ankh (Ra) (5:10)
Sun Ra-p; John Gilmore-ts; Pat Patrick-bs; Ronnie Boykins-b; Tommy Hunter-d.

03. Just in Time (Styne-Comden-Green) (3:49)
Sun Ra-p; John Gilmore-ts; Ronnie Boykins-b; Tommy Hunter-d.

04. Search Light Blues (Ra) (5:37)
Sun Ra-p; John Gilmore-ts; Ronnie Boykins-b; Tommy Hunter-d; Marshall Allen-perc; Pat Patrick-perc.

Side B:

05. Exotic Two (Ra) (4:46)
Sun Ra-p; Ronnie Boykins-b; Tommy Hunter-d; John Gilmore-perc; Marshall Allen-perc; Pat Patrick-perc.

06. On the Blue Side (Ra) (5:28)
Sun Ra-p; Pat Patrick-bs; Ronnie Boykins-b; Tommy Hunter-perc.

07. And This is My Beloved (Borodin-Wright-Forrest) (3:15)
Sun Ra-p; Marshall Allen-fl; John Gilmore-ts; Pat Patrick-bs; Ronnie Boykins-b; Tommy Hunter-d.

All recorded at the Choreographers' Workshop, 414 W. 51st St., New York, November or December 1961. [Personnel from jacket; track breakdowns courtesy of Julian Vein; date and location courtesy of Phil Schaap, location confirmed by Tommy Hunter; discographies have always said this is from Chicago]

A tape of these sessions was sold to Alan Bates of Black Lion/Freedom records (probably in 1970). It also included an incomplete, untitled piano and bass duet and an incomplete title featuring piano and percussion. [Vein]

Slushy recording, made by Tommy Hunter up on the 3rd or 4th floor of the Workshop. Gilmore says that the Arkestra started using the Workshop after the Savoy session, not before as has sometimes been assumed.

On 2/18/62 the Arkestra (billed as Le Sun Ra and his Cosmic Space Jazz Group) made their "New York debut" at the Charles Theatre in the East Village. Publicity material for the concert (mentioned in a patronizing filler in Down Beat, 3/29/62) identified the personnel as: Bernard McKinney-tb (and euphonium); Marshall Allen-as, Japanese fl, morrow; John Gilmore-ts, zebra drums; Pat Patrick-bs, flying saucer; Ra-p; Ronnie Boykins-b, fireplace; Tommy Hunter-d (Hunter had to be replaced because his drums were stolen right before the concert).

Hugh Mundell & Augustus Pablo - 1979 - Africa Dub

Produced et arrangé by Augustus Pablo & Hugh Mundell
Recorded at Errol T, Channel One, Harry J & Black Ark
Mixed by Prince Jammy at King Tubby's
Bass : Robbie Shakespeare
Drums : Santa Smith
Trombone : Leroy Horsemouth Wallace
Guitar : Earl Chinna Smith, Geoffrey Chung, Claytone Downie
Organ : Pablo Black, Augustus Pablo
Piano & Strings : Augustus Pablo
Recorded : 1974-75
Released : 1979

Tracklisting:

01. Unity Dub
02. African Dub
03. My Mind Dub
04. Western Kingston Style
05. Levi Dub
06. Revolution Dub
07. Judgement Dub
08. Suffer Dub

Nosferatu - 1970 - Nosferatu

"Amongst the most obscure of Krautrock bands, due to being so early and on an unlikely label. In their early days they were fronted by guitarist/vocalist Michael Winzkowski (who went on to Epsilon), but apart from that, nothing is known of their history, except that winds player Christian Felke also guested later with Epsilon. Nosferatu's sole eponymous album was housed in a sinister bizarre cover, that perfectly captured the dark edge of their music, being an atypical Krautrock fusion betwixt Xhol Caravan, Message and Out Of Focus, hinting at British bands like Gravy Train or Jade Warrior. For 1970, they were pioneers, unusual in how Michael Thierfelder's vocals are often sung across the music, which so often tends to surge out into space, fronted by the dual solo instruments of guitar and sax.

Michael 'Mick' Thierfelder (vocals), Christian Felke (sax, flute), Michael 'Mike" Kessler (bass), Reinhard 'Tammy' Grohe (organ), Michael 'Xner' Meixner (guitar), Byally Braumann (drums)

The first time, I heard them, they were auditioning together with several other new groups, all managed by the young and ambitious German promoter Peter Hauke. I was so enthousiastic about NOSFERATU'S splendid musical ideas and their irresisteble drive that I signed them immediately for "Deutsche Vogue" and cut this album a few weeks later.

Don't let me describe their music - all selfpenned -, just listen and enjoy it as much, as Conny (the engineer) and me did, when we recorded this first step into the recording business of the unusually gifted, young German group NOSFERATU!"


Tracklisting:

1. Highway 4.16
2. Willie The Fox 10.48
3. Found My Home 8.48
4. No. 4 8.48
5. Work Day 6.59
6. Vanity Fair 6.44

Musicians:

Michael Thierfelder -Vocals
Christian Felke - Flute, Sax
Michael Kessler - Bass
Michael Meixner - Guitar
Reinhard Grote - Organ
Byally Braumann - Drums

Arti & Mestieri - 1974 - Tilt

"This is the first release from Italian fusion monsters Arti e Mestieri. The star of the show here is drummer/percussionist Furio Chirico, who I'm convinced has a couple of extra arms. Other members of the band get their turn in the spotlight as well, of course. For example, the first song is led mainly by violinist Giovani Vigliar, while the second has more band interplay including some solid bass work, a lovely Mellotron background and a bit of flashy guitar. The infrequent vocals on this release are in Italian, and are pleasant and unobtrusive. Many tracks here flow into each other, giving the album a feel of continuity and "concept". Highlights of this release include the first two tracks ("Gravità 9,81" / "Strips") and the thirteen-minute "Articolazioni" ("Articulations").
This band is reminiscent mainly of The Mahavishnu Orchestra. If one prefers comparisons to other Italian bands, I would look to Il Volo's Essere O Non Essere for a similar example of a band using the fusion sound not just to display chops, but also to pack an intense emotional wallop. Another band with a similar style, albeit not quite in the same league, is the still-competent Perigeo.

One of the top releases from Italy, surely, and a special treat for fusion fans who ever wondered if any quality music of this type was ever produced outside the Americas." ~ Prog Reviews

Tracklisting

01. Gravità 9, 81 Venegoni 4:06
02. Strips Chirico, Crovella, Venegoni 4:38
03. Corrosione Venegoni 1:27
04. Positivo/Negativo Venegoni 3:34
05. In Cammino Venegoni, Vitale 5:31
06. Farenheit Crovella 1:15
07. Articolazioni Venegoni 13:41
08. Tilt Crovella, Venegoni 2:29

Releases

cLOUDDEAD - 2001 - cLOUDDEAD

"Culled from a series of limited 10" releases, Clouddead's eponymous debut isn't so much a fully formed album as it is a well-executed exercise in seasick, proggist psychedelia. With background textures that rival Boards of Canada in pastoral, tree-lined opacity and an obvious predilection for boggy atmospherics, Clouddead handily distances themselves from the rest of their hip-hop brethren. Indeed, this is something more considered and sinister — less about wayward braggadocio than it is about keeping your doors deadbolted at all hours of the night. Even their less-is-more approach to vocalism eventually starts playing tricks on your mind; when lyricists Dose and Why? emerge, it's usually to puncture the pleasant fog of some dulcet, wavering sample. The whole album reads like that; the sonic equivalent of your first legitimate drug trip as narrated by two jittery but triumphant kids who can't bear to keep their choice hiding place a secret any longer. While it's perhaps a tad overlong, Clouddead doesn't suffer from any shortage of great ideas. It's menacing, it's enthralling, and it's one of few modern-day records (hip-hop or otherwise) that honestly doesn't sound like anything — or anyone — else." ~ AMG

Tracklisting:

01. Apt. A pt 1 Featuring Illogic
02. Apt. A pt 2
03. And All You Can Do Is Laugh pt 1
04. And All You Can Do Is Laugh pt 2 Scratches by DJ Signify
05. I Promise Never To Get Paint On My Glasses Again pt 1 Featuring Sole
06. I Promise Never To Get Paint On My Glasses Again pt 2
07. JimmyBreeze pt 1 Co-producer with Wolf Bros., The
08. JimmyBreeze pt 2
09. (Cloud Dead Number Five) pt 1 Scratches by Mr. Dibbs
10. (Cloud Dead Number Five) pt 2 Scratches by Mr. Dibbs
11. Bike pt 1
12. Bike pt 2

Museo Rosenbach - 1972 - Rare and Unreleased

"Museo Rosenbach was born around 1971 as Inaugurazione del Museo Rosenbach ("Rosenbach Museum's Inauguration") from the fusion of two cover bands in the second half of the 1960s, La Quinta Strada and Il Sistema. These bands played covers by Jimi Hendrix and rock groups such The Kinks, The Animals and Steppenwolf, but also by Rhythm & Blues stars like Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett. As to the name of the band, some say it was inspired by those of Premiata Forneria Marconi and Banco del Mutuo Soccorso: after a bank and bakery (forneria), the band thought it was reasonable to create a "Museum" dedicated to the German publisher Otto Rosenbach. Others point to the eclectic collections of the Rosenbach Museum & Library in Philadelphia as the inspiration. Either way, the band appears to have been attracted to the poetic name, which means «brook of roses» in German.

Influenced, among others, by Pink Floyd and Banco, they shifted to a solid progressive sound releasing their famed work Zarathustra in April 1973. The songs showed some classical influences with heavy keyboards, mellotron and Hammond passages, as in the best Italian prog style. Vocalist Stefano Galifi showed a harsh, very distinctive voice and keyboard player Pit Corradi added a touch of originality to the band sound. The band had problems for their supposed right-wing inclinations stemming from the all-black cover, the Mussolini image in the LP collage and the Nietzsche-inspired lyrics.

First lineup was short-lived, splitting soon after the album and some live concerts in 1973. The former member who enjoyed the greatest success in his solo career was drummer Giancarlo Golzi, who enrolled in Matia Bazar pop band.

Their second album of new material, Exit, was published only in 2000, with a new formation including only Alberto Moreno and Golzi of the founding members. It showed a more commercial mood than the previous one. In 2002 Museo Rosenbach accepted the Finnish magazine Colussus proposition to take part the experiment of translating the Nordic poem Kalevala into rock music. The short suite "Flower of Revenge" was therefore composed, the dark and gloomy tale of hatred between brothers, sung in English. Museo Rosenbach is currently preparing a new album that will be on the market by the end of 2005." ~ Wikipedia

Tracklistings

01. Zarathustra
02. Degli Uomini
03. Della Natura
04. Delle´eterno Ritorno (intrumental)
05. Dopo
06. Look at Yourself
07. With a Little help from my friends
08. Shadows of Grief
09. Valentyne Suite
10. Dopo (English version)
11. Dell´eterno Ritorno

Line-up/Musicians
- Enzo Merogno / guitar
- Alberto Moreno / bass
- Giancarlo Golzi / drums
- Pit Corradi / Mellotron, orgue (Hammond), e-piano (Farfiso)
- Stefano "Lupo" Galifi / vocals
- Leonardo Lagorio (Celeste) / saxophone, flute

Alphataurus - 1973 - Alphataurus

"What else can I say that many others haven’t in praise of Alphataurus’ eponymous album? Well, for starters, this is one of the top masterpieces of hard rock oriented Italian prog, or Italian prog, for that matter. The level of beauty and imagination instilled in all compositions, the fine interplay created among the four musicians, the captivating layers and chords played on synth, organ, harpsichord and mellotron, the stunning vocal lines sung by the lead vocalist… there are so many ingredients that make this dish made in Columbus’ hometown such a fantastic feast… Actually, none of these five tracks sounds as heavy as some other bands catalogued in this sub-genre (Balletto, Biglietto, Museo Rosenbach, for example), but there’s always that special intense fire drifting through the electric guitar lines, the keyboard solos and textures, the powerful rhythm section, and of course, the half-operatic rock linings of Michele Bavaro’s singing (sometimes anticipating and over-Dioing Dio). ‘Peccato d’Orgoglio’ is a great 12-minute opener: this track itself is the most representative incarnation of the band’s style, full of diverse motifs, all of them bearing a predominant orchestral feel, yet played with a hard rocking attitude. The guitar and keyboard parts sound really hard, and so do the sung parts. The lead singer's deliveries are both ballsy and sensitive, and the occasional harmonies are quite strong, too (similarly to the vocal harmonies in the best New Trolls repertoire). Then comes the mostly bluesy ‘Dopo l’Uragano’, the only piece in the album in whcih the guitar assumes a clearly prominent role - the cadences delivered on the basic acoustic guitar chords and the subsequent electric guitar riffs make it really happen for the main theme. As always, the vocalist's energy acts as a cornerstone for the effective delivery of the track. The 3 minute instrumental ‘Croma’ is a delicious baroque-oriented instrumental with some incorporated jazzy twists: the alternation of spinet and organ passages finds a perfect background in the massive moog layers and added colours on guitar, which come to a point of majestic explosion in the closing climax. The closing floursihes on combined synth and guitar are simply too emotional to keep the listener indifferent - amazing!! Alphataurus focuses on their symphonic side on ‘La Mente Vola’ (with keyboardist Pietro Pellegrini singing the lead vocal parts), which includes a short but effective vibraphone solo, as well as eerie moog passages. On teh other hand, the closure ‘Ombra Muta’ returns to the essence of the first two tracks. In this way, 'La mente Vola' finds the band exploring a spacey side to their music that is quite a novelty in the album, while 'Ombra Muta' comes to eptiomize what is the truest and most intimate symponic essence of Alphataurus. In short, this is an Italian hard prog delicatessen." ~ Cesar Inca

Tracklistings

01. Le chamadere(Peccato d´orgoglio) (12:18)
02. Dopo L´uragano (4:48)
03. Croma (3:14)
04. La mente vola (9:21)
05. Ombra Muta (9:48)

Total Time: 39:29

Line-up/Musicians
- Michele Bavaro / vocals
- Alfonso Olive / bass
- Pietro Pellegrini / keyboards
- Giorgio Santanderea / drums
- Guido Wasserman / guitar

him. - 2001 - New Features

HiM is a dub influenced post-rock group formed in 1995 by Doug Scharin, drummer for the bands Rex and June of 44. Their first album, Egg, was their most dub-based effort. Each successive album has gone more in a quasi-world music direction. This album, released in 2001, showcases some of Jon Theodore's ( former drummer for the Mars Volta ) intricate jazz rudiments, along with the tribal thump of the opening track, " Magnified Features."

Bruno Nicolai - 197? - Rendez Vous

"Born 1926: He studied piano, organ and composition at the Conservatory Of Santa Cecilia. His teacher for piano was Aldo Mantia, and for composition was Goffredo Petrassi. While at the Conservatory he met Ennio Morricone who also was studying with Petrassi. A friendship began that would last many years.

He has composed for theatre, Tv and movies. Between scoring movies he also conducted scores by Carlo Rustichelli, Luis E. Bacalov and Nino Rota. He conducted many of Morricone's scores, and played the organ on some of them and also co-scored some with him. Many of his scores have and are still being released on his Edi-Pan label.

He gained popularity with his scores for spaghetti westerns, and wrote music for other types of films. He died in 1991 leaving behind his wife and three daughters." ~ http://brunonicolai.homestead.com/nicolai.html

Tracklisting:

01. Rendez-vous 4:54
02. Ambiguité 2:25
03. Sgomento 3:56
04. Diffibenza 2:15
05. L´ultimo colpo 2:17
06. Subdolamente 2:00
07. Apprensioni 4:32
08. Incertezza 3:19
09. Affanno 1:40
10. Turbamento 1:57
11. Inchiesta 1:36
12. Presagio 2:56
13. Sospetto 1:35

Saul Williams - 2007 - The Inevitable Rise And Liberation of Niggytardust

from Saul Williams

"My Dearest Friends and Fans,

It is my greatest honor to present to you The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust!,
my new album produced by Trent Reznor and mixed by Alan Moulder. The wall of sound that we've created is tagged with such graffiti that a passerby would seek out doors and ways to ENTER. Once inside a world defined by dreams come true they'd find aligned with the simplest act of sharing what we treasure. Most people aren't aware of the world of art and commerce where exploitation strips each artist down to nigger. Each label, like apartheid, multiplies us by our divide and whips us 'til we conform to lesser figures. What falls between the cracks is a pile of records stacked to the heights of talents hidden from the sun. Yet the energy they put into popularizing smut makes a star of a shiny polished gun. The ballot or the bullet for Mohawk or the mullet is a choice between new times and dying days. And the only way to choose is to jump ship from old truths and trust dolphins as we swim through changing ways. The ways of middlemen proves to be just a passing trend. We need no priests to talk to God. No phone to call her. And when you click the link below, i think it fair that you should know that your purchase will make middlemen much poorer...

NiggyTardust!

love,
Saul"

Tracklisting:

01. Black History Month
02. Convict Colony
03. Tr(n)igger
04. Sunday Bloody Sunday
05. Break
06. NiggyTardust
07. DNA
08. WTF!
09. Scared Money
10. Raw
11. Skin of a Drum
12. No One Ever Does
13. Banged and Blown Through
14. Raised to be Lowered
15. The Ritual

Written and performed by Saul Williams
with Trent Reznor, CX Kidtronik, Thavius Beck and more.

Produced by Trent Reznor
Mixed By Alan Moulder
Mastered by Brian "Big Bass" Gardner
Engineering / programming: Atticus Ross

The album will be available a week from today (Nov. 1st), and will be offered for your choice of either $5, or free of charge:

You will first be asked to enter your e-mail address. This is where you will receive the download link when the album becomes available on November 1.

If you choose to pay for the record, your download will be available in the following formats:

192Kbps MP3
320Kbps MP3
FLAC lossless audio

If you choose not to pay for the record, you will receive it in 192Kbps MP3 format.

All versions include a PDF with artwork and lyrics

All files are 100% DRM free, and can be played on any device. MP3s are encoded with LAME v3.97 and love.


http://niggytardust.com

http://www.nin.com/

We're not releasing through musicane, we're using their technology. there will be nice cd packages with cool artwork, writings etc. in stores early next year, but why wait to share the music!

Augustus Pablo - 1976 - King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown

King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown, a/k/a King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown, is a dub album by Augustus Pablo and King Tubby, released in 1976. It features Carlton Barrett on drums, Robbie Shakespeare and Aston Barrett on bass guitar, and Earl "Chinna" Smith on guitar. Pablo produced the album and played piano, organ, and clavinet. The album was recorded at Randy's in Kingston, Jamaica. Most of the tracks originally featured vocals by Jacob Miller.

Akello Uchenna - 2007 - Grean Tea Mint

Akello Uchenna's Green Tea Mint severely blunted full-length features eighteen short cuts assembled into a patchwork collage of jazz samples, spoken word segments, soul vocalizing, phone recordings, film excerpts, MCs, and smoked hip-hop beats. The recited passage in the “Intro” leaves little doubt about the sensibility involved: “Ever since the first hungry caveman unsuspectingly discovered a large patch of earthy-tasting little mushrooms … mankind has imbibed, inhaled, ingested, injected, and anally inserted substances known to cause seriously altered states of consciousness…” (check out how woozily the melodies waver in the lurching “Life Goes on Forever” while lilting voices echo through the haze in “Are We Still Here”).

As the title “Through My Collection” suggests, Uchenna liberally draws upon an entire library's worth of samples (Joseph Cotton in Citizen Kane, among countless others) but his constructions are hardly random (check out the carefully-assembled weave of voices in “Communicate” where an angry female profanely spits out something about anti-Christ, Lucifer, and Lucifer's Child while a singer murmurs “Amazing Grace”). The album's bolstered considerably by a number of hook-heavy, MC-based cuts (“I'm a Be Me,” “Communicate,” “The Ho is Mine”) plus there's boom-bap funk (“Dancing with the Mystery”), and soulful hip-hop (“Hugs for Everybody”). An instrumental vignette of jazzy hip-hop (“Interluded”) provides welcome relief from the dense swirl of voices, beats, and samples. It's a seriously great collection but often hilarious too (one Springer-like segment in “Through My Collection” includes this jewel by an irate woman: “I have a recipe for you; okay, it's called ‘kiss-my-ass sandwich,' and you know what the ingredients are? It's your crusty lips on my black ass.”) For those seeking points of reference, Green Tea Mint perpetuates the venerable tripped-out tradition of Prefuse 73's One Word Extinguisher. - Via Textura

Art Blakey and his Jazz Messengers w/ Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter, Bobby Timmons and Jymie Merritt - 1961 - Free Trade Hall, Manchester, UK

Another upload from the dime user ricola. This persons uploads have become some of the best torrents this year from the bootlegd based site dimeadozen. If you are interested in this, check out more amazing uploads from the user ricola

AS POSTED ON DIME HERE

Art Blakey and his Jazz Messengers:

Live at Free Trade Hall, Manchester/UK, 1961-05-06

SOURCE: FM>unknown recording equipment>trade>CD>EAC Secure Modus>Flac Frontend Level 6>Flac

SOUND: A (really nice FM if you compare it with that age of recording!, listen to mp3 sample)

LINEUP:
Lee Morgan -tp;
Wayne Shorter -ts;
Bobby Timmons -p;
Jymie Merritt -b;
Art Blakey -d;

TRACKS:
1. IT IS ONLY A PAPERMOON 12.34
2. DAT DERE 8.55
3. ARE YOU REAL 10.40
4. NIGHT IN TUNISIA 10.14
5. SUMMIT 9.10
6. LIKE SOMEONE IN LOVE 12.30
7. KOZO'S WALTZ 15.39

ENJOY!!

Thom Yorke - 2006 - Spitting Feathers

Released after Thom Yorke's acclaimed 2006 album, THE ERASER, the SPITTING FEATHERS EP finds the Radiohead frontman further mining that laptop outing's spare, melancholy vein. In addition to an extended mix of "Harrowdown Hill" (from the aforementioned record), this disc includes intriguing non-album tracks such as the ominously frenetic "Drunkk Machine" and the skittering "Iluvya," which, like many Radiohead B-sides, reveal that Yorke has plenty of great material to offer outside of his standard full-length offerings.

Tracklist:

1- The Drunkk Machine
2- A Rat's Nest
3- Jetstream
4- Harrowdown Hill ( Extended Version )
5- Iluvya

Sarolta Zalatnay - 2007 - Sarolta Zalatnay

another gem you probably won't find anywhere else besides your local record stores import section. if you picked up that B-Music Cross Continental Record Raid Road Trip comp i put up recently you'll probably dig this one.


As usual then, Finders Keepers have dug up yet another disparate collection of insanity from a part of the world we know embarrassingly little about, and this time it's a little further from our expectations, or is it? You see, this compilation of works from Hungarian pop star Sarolta Zalatnay (better known to her fans as Cini) is a little closer to the mainstream than you might think - in her home country Cini is something of the superstar (recently appearing on their version of Celebrity Big Brother!), so although you might think you're listening to a lesser known psychedelic gem, in Hungary she is more akin to Cliff Richard or Cilla Black. Admittedly though, coming from Eastern Europe she was never going to succumb to the sugared blandness of the British mainstream, rather the music here is pop music put through a mangle of distorted guitars, heavy percussion and fractured electronics. Those of you that managed to get hold of Selda's incredible debut album which Finders Keepers re-issued last year will have a good starting point in terms of sound, but where Selda was rooted in Turkish music, Zalatnay is somewhat more obviously Western-sounding. As the cover-mount so beautifully states - it's something akin to Serge Gainsbourg doing Eurovision, there's a pop sensibility but handled by someone who really knows what they're doing. And so we move to the production, crate digging break hunters take note; there are enough crazy breaks on here to keep you salivating for months to come. The drums have been compressed so hard that each track is fat and percussive in a way you know is guaranteed to send shivers down the spines of hip-hoppers the world over, and those vocals - oh those vocals! By the time you're three or four tracks into the record you'll be totally addicted, Cini will be your new best friend and you'll be hooked on her distinctive sounds - it's just a pity I can't for the most part understand a word the little lady is saying. Although I should really know to expect this kind of sickeningly high quality from Finders Keepers, they have again shocked me into hearing something I'd never usually have stumbled across and falling hopelessly in love - this is music for the soul, music for the mind and music for the body. Let yourself go and begin to discover an exciting new world of sound - simply incredible!
- Bookmat

Various Artists - 2005 - Welsh Rare Beat

this one took me a while to find, couldn't find it almost anywhere online. even took amoeba a while to get it to me!!! anyways another gem from the guys at finders keepers.

Wales, it's a funny old place and the brunt of many a poorly realised joke. I have many fond memories of holidays spent traipsing around chilly hills ogling castles and moping around gift shops buying rainbow coloured rubbers. You know what I'm talking about, don't pretend you don't - we've all had our Welsh experience, and while most of us will struggle with the language, which to the uninitiated sounds a little like words made up from a bad hand at Scrabble, the green and pleasant land clearly has a lot to offer us. Funnily enough, one of Wales' proudest sons Gruff Rhys (of Welsh troublemakers the Super Furry Animals) pops up here as co-curater as he and Finders Keepers regulars Any Votel and Dom Thomas pick around in Welsh music history finding twenty five obscure psychedelic, folk and punk gems guaranteed to put hair on your chest boyo. Not knowing much about the Welsh music scene and not speaking a word of the language of course gives this disc a certain exotic quality - all the songs are in Welsh, so even though a trip to Wales is only an hour away in the car it could just as easily be from the Middle East - I don't know what the hell they're going on about. The strange intonation of the language and tonal qualities though really adds to the sound, dislocating it from so much other music of the time and making this compilation something of a unique item. Where else can you hear such oddities cherry picked and plonked together on one disc? Okay it's not going to be for everyone - there are bound to be people allergic to the Welsh native tongue, but we love a bit of Welsh culture every once in a while - and there's not a Pot Noodle in sight! Recommended.
- Bookmat

The Gaslamp Killer - 2007 - For Protons Mix

here we have another special dublab proton mix by the motherfuckin gaslamp killer. he is well on his way to global domination and this is another great mix to prove that. if you picked up his other mixes then you'll love this one as well. if you still don't know about him, stop fucking up and get this NOW.

Orquesta La Conspiracion - 1972 - Ernie's Conspiracy

a great album from the fania label. this release is more on the traditonal side of salsa music. heard this one day diggin at amoeba and had to have it. the version of La Culebra on here is amazing. if you love the fania label pick this up!

Personel on this album is: Miguel Quintana (Vocals), Orquesta La Conspiracion (Main Performer), Justo Betancourt (Choir, Chorus), Gene Golden (Percussion), Gene Golden (Conga), Adalberto Santiago (Choir, Chorus), Benito Gomez (Timbales), Ernie Agosto (Trumpet), Ernie Agosto (Arranger), Ernie Agosto (Leader), Wilson Cintrón (Bass), Nelson Sanchez (Piano)

There Will Be Blood - Sneak Preview in Bay Area

A Message from Paul Thomas Anderson:


"well…….where to start?

it’s been a very long haul.
as you know, the film is done.
as you know, it's in a big machine
lumbering along towards its release date….

so if you can’t wait for that big machine
to do its thing and you live in the bay area
of california……come to the Castro
on November 5th. we’re showing the movie.
if you haven’t been there, you won’t be sorry
that you did. it’s one of the most glorious
old movie palaces still standing…..

pta "


Pictures of the Castro


Tickets available at Castro box office:
(All ticket sales go to John Burton Foundation for Homeless Children)

429 Castro Street
San Francisco, CA
415 621 6120

Herbie Hancock - 1973 - Headhunters

From Allmusic:

Head Hunters was a pivotal point in Herbie Hancock's career, bringing him into the vanguard of jazz fusion. Hancock had pushed avant-garde boundaries on his own albums and with Miles Davis, but he had never devoted himself to the groove as he did on Head Hunters. Drawing heavily from Sly Stone, Curtis Mayfield, and James Brown, Hancock developed deeply funky, even gritty, rhythms over which he soloed on electric synthesizers, bringing the instrument to the forefront in jazz. It had all of the sensibilities of jazz, particularly in the way it wound off into long improvisations, but its rhythms were firmly planted in funk, soul, and R&B, giving it a mass appeal that made it the biggest-selling jazz album of all time (a record which was later broken). Jazz purists, of course, decried the experiments at the time, but Head Hunters still sounds fresh and vital decades after its initial release, and its genre-bending proved vastly influential on not only jazz, but funk, soul, and hip-hop.

Track Listing

1.Chameleon-15:40
2.Watermelon Man-6:32
3.Sly-10:20
4.Vein Melter-9:10

Mew - 2005 - And the Glass Handed Kites

From Mew's official site:

"A cat walks through a forest, playing a fiddle. A swarm of glutinous, fleshy sea aliens with nipples for eyes come gobbling out of the deep. A column of electric space lightning spasms laser bolts out of the screen. J Mascis with the irises of a devil. Such are the weird, Coleridgian visions that crowd Jonas Bjerre's nightmares night after night, and varied are the ways he battles them. Some become animations projected onto a backdrop while his band - immense Danish space pop innovators Mew - pick their way through their complex and turbulent soundscapes from skeletal guitar arpeggio to universe-quaking crescendo. Others, like the baseball-capped mini-Durst of The Zookeeper's Boy, become the heroes of the poppiest song on 2005's most boundary shattering new album.

't came from a dream I had," Jonas explains, mumbling humbly. "I always tend to be more inspired during the night. I woke up one night and had this idea. I don't always know what the lyrics are about, they're just images that I come up with and I just write them, it's sort of surreal.'"

My friend had a better description of this album when he introduced me to it. "It's like a hard rock band playing inside of a fairy-tale dream." There's really no better way to describe it. It's like 70's-inspired hard rock and 80s pop playing simultaneously, and yet somehow the combination works brilliantly. I was thrown off by how different the singer sounds than the rest of the band at first, but the more I listened, the more it made perfect sense. In fact, the more I listen, the more I am sure this is one of the best albums I have ever heard. And it's not just compelling musically, it's also a fantastic complete listening experience.

"We wanted it to be one long song," says bassist Johan Wohlert. "It's difficult to do it and it's a difficult record to listen to but it'll keep you interested for a really long time."

To try and make one long song sounds awfully ambitious, but this is a rare kind of record where it flows really well from song to song, and makes musical sense on the whole. The seamless cycle that is Fox Cub-Apocalypso-Special-The Zookeeper's Boy is absolutely jaw-dropping.

I thought it would be a nice change of pace to put a true pop masterpiece on this blog, and I'm happy to share what has comfortably become one of my very favorite CDs. Put on a pair of headphones and give it a listen straight through if you can. Enjoy.

1. Circuitry of the Wolf
2. Chinaberry Tree
3. Why Are You Looking Grave?
4. Fox Cub
5. Apocalypso
6. Special
7. The Zookeeper's Boy
8. A Dark Design
9. Saviors of Jazz Ballet (Fear Me, December)
10. An Envoy to the Open Fields
11. Small Ambulance
12. The Seething Rain Weeps for You
13. White Lips Kissed
14. Louise Louisa

Pamelia Kurstin - 2007 - Thinking Out Loud

www.myspace.com/pameliakurstin

"Pamelia Kurstin (born Pamela Stickney May 28, 1976 in Southern California) is a world-renowned thereminist who has played and recorded with such prestigious artists as David Byrne, Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, and Ulver (on the album Shadows of the Sun) and has performed on the television show Saturday Night Live. Her background as a jazz musician on the upright bass has led to her unique "walking bass" theremin technique. Until recently (late 2005) working out of New York City, she now lives in Vienna, Austria.

She was first introduced to the theremin - and made her recording debut on the instrument - during production of the album Into the Oh in 1999 by Luaka Bop duo Geggy Tah – singer/writer Tommy Jordan and keyboardist Greg Kurstin. Pamelia recordedGymnopedie in 2000 as a member of the theremin/keyboard duo called "The Kurstins" with her then-husband, Greg. Pamelia performs solo (live theremin orchestra by using looping pedals, with the New York-based group Barbez, and occasionally with Sebastien Tellier (France) or Otto Lechner (Austria). She can be heard on Thinking Out Loud (her first solo album released in April 2007 by Tzadik, the record label of John Zorn), Barbez's second album for Important Records, Insignificance, Foetus' latest release, "Love", and has also composed music for a CNN special using her theremin orchestra. She appears as herself in the 2004 documentary about legendary electronic instrument pioneer Dr. Robert Moog, entitled Moog." ~ Wikipedia

Tracklisting:

01. London (9:30)
02. Edinburgh (9:18)
03. Copingheaven (1:57)
04. Eschschloraque (7:45)
05. Creature To People (2:37)
06. Barrow In Furness (5:12)
07. Tonic (16:20)

Check out a live set from 2005 here

Skalpel

"Skalpel are DJs / musicians Marcin Cichy and Igor Pudło from Wrocław in Poland. After releasing a demo entitled Polish Jazz in 2000, they were picked up by the UK independent record label, Ninja Tune.

Their musical style is a distinctive blend of hip hop beats, laced with samples lifted from the rich seam of Polish jazz records of the 1960s and 1970s."
--- Wikipedia

Various Aritsts - 2007 - A Kind Of Awe And Reverence And Wonder

another hard to find gem.

Thanks to a number of exceptional collections on Finders Keepers and Twisted Nerve, Andy Votel has really made us re-think the whole concept of the compilation, using the medium to deliver a deluge of previously unknown material with carefully sourced and assembled packages of brilliant music. Much like a good mixtape, you find yourself coming back again and again, and more often than not the artists involved are totally new to us. 'A Kind of Awe and Reverence and Wonder' is the latest compilation from the label and is a perfect distillation of everything we've heard (and loved) from them recently. After a long period of silence, Twisted Nerve re-emerged a couple of years ago with a slew of totally killer 7"s and then to our surprise an album (from the shockingly good Voice of the Seven Woods) a few weeks ago. For some reason something's put a spring in Votel's step again and for the avid record buyer there could be nothing more exciting, as this twelve tracker suggests he's got something special under his belt. I must admit there are few artists here I've heard of, but there really isn't a dull track on board and it's going to get me Googling until my fingers are numb trying to find more about them. The compilation kicks off with a track from Graham Massey's much under appreciated Toolshed project and we're already on the right tracks - in a typically high fidelity fashion we're already on the nu-psychedelic tip with gigantic drum breaks and horns straight out of Eastern Europe. It sounds like some sort of Balkan party that none of us were invited to, and in its oddness there's plenty of dancefloor spirit - Selda fans take note. After this we're pushed straight into an exclusive cut from the really very good Voice of the Seven Woods which neatly shows off his impeccable guitar skills - technical but with enough genuine Northern soul to put fear in the hearts of many a Takoma copyist. Then we reach the album's highlight, we've long been singing the praises of Rochdale's Sam and the plants, but there's a reason why and it has never been better expressed than on 'Excerpt 12', a track so haphazardly brilliant we're left wondering exactly how it was assembled. Flipping between folk, abstract electronics, musique concrete, Children's songs, indie-pop and lord knows what else, this literally has us clawing at the walls for a full length - Twisted Nerve how can you do this to us? Elsewhere the lovely Magpahi keeps the classic folk alive with an almost acapella slice of loveliness in the form of 'To Sing With Joy From Out a Sorrowing Heart', and Speck Mountain finish the disc with the eight minute 'Chlorine Fields', a progged-out lounge-pop monster, something like pre-Tender Buttons Broadcast recorded direct to tape and then lost for years. An absolutely gorgeous collection and something which just about everyone should check out - it's just so damn good. ESSENTIAL PURCHASE! - Bookmat

Various Artists - 2007 - B-Music Cross Continental Record Raid Road Trip

a hard to find gem!


Apparently the first in an ongoing series of compilations, this bumper selection of twisted psychedelia comes from the crazed minds of those fellers over at Finders Keepers, so before popping it in the cd player we already knew we were in for a treat. B-Music is, in case you didn't know, the Mancunian club night run by the Finders Keepers crew, so who better to supply some beats for a full-on compilation? Finders Keepers curators Andy Votel and Dom Thomas kick the party off in style with the first handful of tracks, and as you'd expect they're eclectic rarities pillaged from a world of excitement. Psychedelia is the name of the game here, and I get the feeling that you could be digging around in Eastern and Central Europe for years and you're likely not to uncover gems like these (trust me, I've tried, I always end up with another James Last record). These eight selections show why everyone looks to Finders Keepers and B-Music to show them the way, and are true undiscovered gems from the annals of European music history. The record of the disc is given to the many guest DJs who have performed over the years at B-Music; David Holmes, Cherrystones, Gruff Rhys, Doug Shipton and Bob Stanley to name but a few and each track is a representation of that DJs signature interest. I doubt you'll find a more refined selection of dusty rare breaks-laden classics anywhere else, so put your faith in Finders Keepers and get ready to discover yourself something beautiful. Awesome stuff...

Masayuki Takayangi - 1975 - Eclipse

Summary: Japanese Folk Music + Free Jazz / Improv = Awesome

This is some fucked up music right here, I don't know whether its the crusty-tape saturation, the atonal figures, the noise, the feedback, the prominent use of the bass clarinet, but it's incredibly obscure. When I first put this on, I thought this was a group from 2007, but after looking at the release information I was shocked to find out that this was recorded in 1975. The music itself is hard to describe, kind of like an intersection between Anthony Braxton and Wolf Eyes (yes, this has been done before) with some heavy Alice Coltrane influence, it's truely something unique and definitely a must have for any fans of free-jazz or experimental music in general.

Tracklist:
01. First Session 1 (Gradual Progression)
02. First Session 2 (Gradual Progression)
03. Second Session (Massive Progression)

Enjoy.

Lightning Bolt - 2004 - John Peel Session

Dime: http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=135173

This live set is indescribable, alot of improv, a lot of additions, alot of energy and its loud as fuck. That's basically all I can say, download it and hear for yourself.

Wolf Eyes - 2007 - Black Wing Over The Sand

Since Wolf Eyes formation during the end of the 90s up until today, their musical output has grown into an impressive oeuvre and gained them successes granted only a few bands. Their style places them somewhere in the border area between experimental music, freeform, noise and harsh industrial. Black Wing Over The Sand is one long session (on vinyl divided on side A and B) that from the very first beginning lays bare the roots of Wolf Eyes: here is an evident presence of the industrial music of the early 1980s with bands such as Throbbing Gristle, Maurizio Bianchi (MB) and Gary Mundy’s cassette label Broken Flag.

Instead of the harsh dissonances and compact walls of noise Wolf Eyes are well known for, the wholly instrumental piece moves slowly forward over a basis of silence. In that way Black Wing Over The Sand belongs to one of the band’s more accessible pieces of music, and is an excellent introduction to the dark cosmos of Wolf Eyes. With oscillating movements, Wolf Eyes conjure up short bursts of noise with screaming high pitched tones where a rhythmic deep and slow bass soon sets in, disappears, returns, increases pace, disappears and returns again. Electric guitar, echo effects and sweeping sounds creates powerfully nerved effects over the slow rhythm.

Black Wing Over The Sand is yet another proof of how Wolf Eyes, simultaneously looking backwards and distinctly lets themselves be influenced by the hidden musical undercurrents that lies most close to their heart, with little means and creative craftsmanship succeeds in creating something altogether new, exciting and always unexpected.

Black Wing Over The Sand, now released on vinyl (limited to 900 copies) and shortly on CD, is a co- release from Kning Disk and iDEAL Recordings. The album cover and inner sleeves features art illustration by Andreas Nilsson, Fredrik Söderberg och Alivia Zivich.

This is a co-release w/ iDEAL Recordings

Tracklist:
01 Black Wing Over The Sand (Side A)
02 Black Wing Over The Sand (Side B)

Wolf Eyes - 2004 - John Peel Session

Dime: http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=135180

Audio is amazing quality (what can you expect, its John fucking Peel), definitely A++++.

Wolf Eyes are a noise rock band from Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States.
Wolf Eyes began as a solo project of former Nautical Almanac member Nate Young, with Aaron Dilloway joining in 1998, and John Olson in 2000.[1] During this time, the band also briefly relocated to New York City and at one point enlisted Andrew Wilkes-Krier, now known to the public as Andrew W.K. The group is rumored to have released over 150 recordings in their relatively short lifespan, on labels such as Bulb Records, Troubleman Unlimited, Fusetron, and Sub Pop, as well as on Olson's American Tapes label, Dilloway's Hanson Records and, most recently, Mike Connelly's Gods of Tundra label. Connelly (also of Hair Police) replaced Dilloway in early 2005, due to the latter's departure for Nepal to make arrangements for his marriage.[2] Dilloway is no longer an active member of the group but he did production work on their 2006 Sub Pop album Human Animal[3] and has performed with the them on at least two occasions (Empty Bottle Chicago, IL 2/25/2006 and No Fun Fest Brooklyn, NY 3/18/2006).
Most Wolf Eyes recordings are self-released, following the DIY tradition of bands such as Smegma. Their first major release was Dread, released on the American Tapes and Hanson Records labels but distributed through Bulb Records. Other major releases include Dead Hills on Troubleman as well as Burned Mind and Human Animal on Sub Pop. Most Wolf Eyes recordings are released as either lathes, cassettes, or cd-rs.
Wolf Eyes' first two major tours were with Sonic Youth and Andrew W.K.

Tracklist:
01. Untitled

Enjoy!!!

The Beatles - 2007 - Hate

The most expected release since the Black Album. After ebing asked by the remaining Beatles to make experimental remixes from their master tapes, Sir George Master Five and the former drummer Pete Best Zarustica spent 7 entire days planning this record, that for the first time in the fab-four history expresses HATE for the war, for the USA, and for everyone that supports this stupid act.

The results are fantastic. Picture B-Movies soundtracks with Bristol’s nightlife. Sound textures that have never been heard before, noise, and unique breakbeats. This is HATE, an album to despise.

“A masterpiece. It made me feel like the day I died, in that silly conversible, in India” - Paul McCartney

“The truth is that Pete has always been a better drummer that I am. Fuck him, I’m a movie star.” - Ringo Starr
-beatleshate.com

The Stooges - 1970 - Fun House

From Allmusic:

The Stooges' first album was produced by a classically trained composer; their second was supervised by the former keyboard player with the Kingsmen, and if that didn't make all the difference, it at least indicates why Fun House was a step in the right direction. Producer Don Gallucci took the approach that the Stooges were a powerhouse live band, and their best bet was to recreate the band's live set with as little fuss as possible. As a result, the production on Fun House bears some resemblance to the Kingsmen's version of "Louie Louie" -- the sound is smeary and bleeds all over the place, but it packs the low-tech wallop of a concert pumped through a big PA, bursting with energy and immediacy. The Stooges were also a much stronger band this time out; Ron Asheton's blazing minimalist guitar gained little in the way of technique since The Stooges, but his confidence had grown by a quantum leap as he summoned forth the sounds that would make him the hero of proto-punk guitarists everywhere, and the brutal pound of drummer Scott Asheton and bassist Dave Alexander had grown to heavyweight champion status. And Fun House is where Iggy Pop's mad genius first reached its full flower; what was a sneer on the band's debut had grown into the roar of a caged animal desperate for release, and his rants were far more passionate and compelling than what he had served up before. The Stooges may have had more "hits," but Fun House has stronger songs, including the garage raver to end all garage ravers in "Loose," the primal scream of "1970," and the apocalyptic anarchy of "L.A. Blues." Fun House is the ideal document of the Stooges at their raw, sweaty, howling peak.

Track Listing

1.Down On The Street-3:43
2.Loose-3:34
3.T.V Eye-4:17
4.Dirt-7:03
5.1970-5:15
6.Fun House-7:47
7.L.A Blues-4:57

Various Artists - 2006 - Exit Music: Songs with Radio Heads

Hail to the Thieves!

People get confused about cover versions. They are a labour of love, not some sort of disrespectful treatment of the classics. Everyone involved in the “Exit Music” project love the music of Radiohead – “Songs with Radio Heads” doesn’t attempt to replace the originals as “definitive versions”. Instead, like the Futureheads cover of Kate Bush or the Slits cover of Marvin Gaye, this is an exercise in translating well loved tracks into a different genre.

“Exit Music” also taps into the dancefloor potential of Radiohead, long recognized by DJs ranging from Paul Oakenfold to the Scratch Perverts. The band themselves are devotees of both hiphop and dance music – commissioning remixes from respected figures such as Madlib, DJ Shadow and Four Tet. With an increasing number of under the counter remixes beginning to surface, BBE thought it was time to collect together the finest hiphop and dance cover versions of Radiohead songs. Ranging from gentle acoustic treatments to raw funky versions, BBE have taken the songs of Thom Yorke into realms even he couldn’t imagine...
-rapster records

There Will Be Blood {original score} - 2007 - Jonny Greenwood

Original Score
Label: Wea/Atlantic/Nonesuch

"Guitarist Jonny Greenwood has composed a hauntingly dramatic instrumental score for Oscar nominated writer-director
Paul Thomas Anderson s ambitious new film, There Will Be Blood. An adaptation of the Upton Sinclair novel Oil!, the movie features
Daniel Day-Lewis in what The Hollywood Reporter has described as a powerhouse performance... it s a certain awards contender.
Greenwood s remarkable compositions, written primarily for strings, have already garnered considerable praise in advance reviews.
The score resembles his rock compositions only in the level of daring and inventiveness to be found throughout these tracks and in the unsettling atmosphere he is able to conjure at key moments. Greenwood s score is more indicative of his current collaborations with the BBC Orchestra as Composer In Residence activities closely followed by Pitchfork Media and The Daily Swarm.
In fact, the score incorporates material from two orchestral pieces he created in that position, smear and Popcorn Superhet Receiver,
which will have its U.S. concert premiere this January when Greenwood appears at the Wordless Music Series in New York City.
There Will Be Blood takes Anderson in a radically different direction than his celebrated earlier films, Boogie Nights and Magnolia dazzling, attention-grabbing movies marked by multiple plot lines, ensemble casts and surreal visual elements. His last project,Punch Drunk Love, was a sophisticated comedy-drama with a smart pop score by composer-producer Jon Brion, released on
Nonesuch in 2002. Anderson s new work is a stark period piece filmed on arid Texas plains; critics have likened it to the brilliantly austere work of such revered directors as Stanley Kubrick and Terence Malick (Days Of Heaven). The Hollywood Reporter called Greenwood s score captivating...greatly contributing to the sense that tectonic forces lie beneath the drama.
The soundtrack to There Will Be Blood will appeal to serious movie-music fans, who will appreciate this rare find: an intelligent, beautiful
and deeply cinematic orchestrated score performed by the BBC Orchestra and London Sinfonietta that can hold its own next to the classic work of such composers as Bernard Herrman, Elmer Bernstein and Ennio Morricone." ~A-ER

Track Listing:
01 Open Spaces
02 Future Markets
03 Prospectors Arrive
04 Eat Him By His Own Light
05 Henry Plainview
06 There Will Be Blood
07 Oil
08 Proven Lands
09 HW/Hope of New Fields
10 Smear


"THERE'S this insistent string motif that sounds like the buzzing of an insect inside one’s head, a sound that grows louder and more unavoidably distressing whenever soulless events are about to occur...."

Sun Ra - 1979 - Bayou, Washington, DC

One of the best Sun Ra shows I have ever heard. Check out Sun Ra and his intergalactic Arkestra rip open the door to the cosmos. Every period of his career is conveyed loud and clear, so don't sleep on this show, your life will be less complete if you do :)

AS POSTED ON DIME HERE

Sun Ra and His Arkestra
Bayou,Washington, DC USA
May, 10 1979
19790510

Trade CDR - Wav - Flac6 - u

298.[232b] in the book.

Set 1

Untitled
Strange Worlds
Tapestry from an Asteroid
The World is Waiting for the Sunrise
D-27
Big John's Special
Yeah Man
Springtime Again
The Shadow World
Over the Rainbow
St. Louis Blues
Lady Bird
Half Nelson
Celestial Road
We Travel the Spaceways
Greetings from the 21st Century

Set 2
untitled
D27-11
I'll Wait for You
El is the Sound of Joy
Love in Outer Space
'Round Midnight
untitled
Outerspaceways INC.
Door of the Cosmos
When There is no Sun
We Sing this Song to
Space is the Place
There Other Worlds... They have Not Told You of...

This one came to me in a trade a while ago. Sound quality is good. Mayby A

Sonsofsaturn
jp333@insightbb.com

John Abercrombie - 2004 - Class Trip

"The John Abercrombie Quartet's Cat 'n' Mouse, issued in 2002, showcased a band that was on the verge of something that approached greatness. Abercrombie, violinist Mark Feldman, drummer Joey Baron, and bassist Marc Johnson gelled together inside the framework of the guitarist's increasingly open-ended compositions and became a unit that could articulate the most subtle of sonorities and intricate harmonic architectures. But they also revealed that they were entering the zone where they could actually stretch time and space. On Class Trip, the bandmembers come together fully and build on that concept with such beauty and grace that they sound as if they've been playing together all their lives. The sheer subtle intuition that guides these proceedings is breathtaking, whether they are weaving through one another on "Cat Walk," which is alternately full of shimmering yet knotty harmonics with Abercrombie's chord voicings offering a dimensional extension of Feldman's lines in counterpoint, finding a common singing voice where time signatures seemingly disappear, as on "Risky Business," or messing about with Bartók's "Soldier's Song" and turning its melodic line back on itself in an inverse scalar schemata. This band is concerned only with the articulation and expression of a musicality that lies not in the obviousness of its contributors' considerable musical gifts as jazz improvisers, but in the sheer nuanced elegance of an ensemble whose blurring of traditions under the rubric of improvisation makes the group not only compelling but brilliant. Abercrombie's compositions for this band are the most adventurous and graceful of his long career; as a unit, the quartet is a band without peers that plays a music whose challenge is only eclipsed by its accessibility and singular language." ~ AMG

Double Bass - Marc Johnson
Drums - Joey Baron
Engineer - James Farber
Guitar - John Abercrombie
Producer - Manfred Eicher
Violin - Mark Feldman
Notes: Recorded at Avatar Studio, New York, February 2003.

Tracklisting:

01 Dansir (9:29)
02 Risky Business (7:39)
03 Descending Grace (8:57)
04 Illinoise (5:40)
05 Cat Walk (7:56)
06 Excuse My Shoes (8:30)
07 Swirls (6:08)
08 Jack And Betty (3:39)
09 Class Trip (7:32)
10 Soldier's Song (3:00)
11 Epilogue (3:40)

Damo Suzuki's Network - 2007 - Empty Bottle, Chicago

THE VIDEO AS POSTED ON DIME HERE

THE AUDIO AS POSTED ON DIME HERE

Damo Suzuki's Network
Empty Bottle
Chicago, IL, USA

October 14th, 2007

NTSC-DVD

Damo Suzuki (ex-CAN) voice, vibrations
Joshua Abrams (Town and Country, Savath & Savalas) bass
Jason Adasiewicz (Exploding Star Orchestra, Loose Assembly) vibes
David Daniell (San Agustin, Rhys Chatham) guitar
John Herndon (Tortoise, 5ive Style, Isotope 217) drums
Steve Krakow (Plastic Crimewave Sound, Goldblood, Guitarkestras) guitar
Jorge Ledezma (Allá, Defender) keys/synth
Fred Lonberg-Holm (Light Box Orchestra, Pillow) cello
Ben Vida (Bird Show) percussion & voice
Robert AA Lowe (Lichens) voice

format: NTSC DVD-Video
recording: tripod mounted Canon ZR80->firewire->PC
video: DV->TMPGEnc Plus @ 5627kbps 2-pass VBR MPEG-2
audio: 48Khz 16-bit Stereo PCM->TMPGEnc AC3 Encoder @ HQ 448kbps Stereo Dolby Digital
runtime: 1hour 39min!

Menu included with lineup information.

No chapter marks. No need because IT'S ONLY ONE SONG! No song title was given.

As described on the venue's website:
Legendary vocalist DAMO SUZUKI returns! As most of you know, SUZUKI spent the seventies fronting seminal prog ensemble CAN, where he oversaw their most defining, enduring works. (See Tago Mago, Ege Bamayasi, Future Days, et al.) These days, SUZUKI leads his NETWORK, a project that finds him fronting varying, locally-sourced 'supergroups'. For this outing, his 'sound carries' include inestimable talents JOSH ABRAMS, JASON ADASIEWICZ, DAVID DANIELL, JOHN HERNDON, STEVE KRAKOW, JORGE LEDEZMA and FRED LONBER-HOLM. Fellow travelers ROBERT AA LOWE and BEN VIDA open.

note: This performance was 100% improvised. Damo prohibited any rehearsal or even prior discussion of the performance.