African Popular Music: The Voice of the Past, Archives 1926-1952

African Popular Music. The Voice of the Past, Archives 1926-1952
320kbps, 127mb on zshare, megaupload
01. Francis Boloyyi & Shangaan Band - Flore Lakusaseka-Mozambique 2:34
02. Francis Boloyyi & Shangaan Band - Miyelo Bebe-Mozambique 2:35
03. Abugu Kisukwe & Bamba Men - Lusunga Bakali-Ouganda 2:38
04. Abugu Kisukwe & Bamba Men - Mauwa-Ouganda 2:43
05. Tobo Eitel - Ndol'a Jomba-Cameroun 2:53
06. Tobo Eitel - Ndol'a Bwam-Cameroun 2:52
07. Wendo K. Ngoma - Bokilo-Congo Zaire 3:07
08. Wendo K. Ngoma - Napessi Yo Mbongo-Congo Zaire 3:04
09. Manuel D'oliveira & Les San Salvador - Cherie Bondowe-Ghana 3:03
10. Jack Dawudu - Ifabanke-Ghana 2:55
11. Ben Simmons - Osofu Da Banim-Ghana 3:02
12. Ben Simmons - Ohse Nta Ma Qua-Ghana 2:57
13. Domingo Justus - Bi Ina La Ku Fi Eru Loju-Ghana 3:17
14. Georges Williams Aingo - Fine Fine Sha't Are-Ghana 2:53
15. Tunde King & His Group Jùjù - Aronke Macaulay-Nigeria 2:54
16. Irewolede Denge - Orin Asape Eko-Nigeria 3:00
17. Jolly Orchestra - Abonsa-Nigeria 2:48
18. Cuasgo & Gouama - Kikiriga Poco-Nigeria 2:59

Bollywood Brass Band - Rahmania: Music of AR Rahman

Another album from the great brass band, here's the first one.
Reviews: one, two.


Bollywood Brass Band - Rahmania: Music of AR Rahman
320kbps on shareonall or megaupload.
01 - Mere Yaara Dildara
02 - Ishq Bina
03 - Main Albeli
04 - Kehta Hai Mera Dil
05 - Urvashi Urvashi
06 - Ramta Jogi
07 - Ishq Bina Ishq Bina
08 - Rangeela Medley
09 - Ek Tu Hi Bharosa
10 - Dola Dola
11 - Injarango
12 - Kismat Se Tum Hum Ko Mile
13 - Ishq Bina Ishq Bina (Groove Road Remix)
14 - Rangeela's Non-Stop Go-Go Lounge (Kamel Nitrate Remix)
15 - Kismat Se Tum Hum Ko Mile (Transglobal Underground Remix)
16 - Rangeela (King Normal Remix)

Links

Rockin’ Bones! 4 CDs of 1950’s Punk & Rockabilly
review, download

Another interesting find is Tinariwen - a band of nomadic touareg warriors from Southern Sahara who recently decided to have a career change and go into music. They play what they call "desert blues" - several electric guitars playing simple pentatonic riffs over handclaps, footstomps and ululations. Their last album made it onto the Pitchfork's list of 50 greatest albums of 2007 at number 50, and it's the only one I heard on that list.

The band's name means "empty places" which certainly reflects their desert homeland. Forced from their nomadic life in the Sahara, they were fighters in the Touareg insurgency against the Malian government. So, the band formed in 1982 in Colonel Ghadaffi's rebel camps.
The Libyan leader recruited this nation-less and disenfranchised people with promises to help them in their cause. Ghadaffi implied that he would train the Kel Tamashek and provide weapons to fight for their independence from the Malian government, but eventually the stateless rebels slowly realized that Ghadaffi's only intention was to use these fierce fighters in his own wars...
They have combined traditional musical forms with a modern rebellious and radical rock sensibility -- traditional instruments such as the teherdent lute and shepherd flute were discarded in favor of the electric guitar, electric bass and drums.
Their Music is loosely based on traditional Touareg music and the harsh melodies of the one-stringed Touareg violin, but also incorporates influences such as Bob Marley together with the other disparate influences, both western and middle eastern, which managed to penetrate that far into the desert.

An interview

The Radio Tisdas Sessions, 2000: rapidshare, 74mb; rapidshare, 99mb.

Amassakoul ("Traveller"), 2004: rapidshare 98mb; filesend, 58mb; rapidshare, 67mb; badongo, 67mb.

Aman Iman: Water is Life, 2007: megaupload, 65mb; zshare, 73mb; badongo, 51mb.

Los Zafiros - Bossa Cubana

World Circuit's newest release is a look back to the 1960s, into the world of Cuban pop doo-wop - the music of Los Zafiros ("the sapphires"), on Bossa Cubana. A vocal quartet formed in Havana in 1962 by two singers ("Kike" Morúa and "Miguelito" Cancio), Los Zafiros combined the sweet harmonies popularized by American doo-wop groups like The Platters and The Ink Spots, and the unique arrangements used by The Flamingos and others with the craze for rhythms of South American origins, including the bossa nova and the calypso. With two other singers - Eduardo Elio "El Chino" Hernandéz and Ignacio Elejalde, the latter's high, silky-smooth ultra-tenor voice dominating the ballads - and a guitarist, Manuel Galbán, Los Zafiros produced a string of pop hits in Cuba. These alternated between doo-wop infused with rhythmic and harmonic complexities and with slow love songs featuring Elejalde's vocal cord-defying range. Fusing a variety of musical ideas, Bossa Cubana surprises the listener: be ready for a unique experience. @
Read more

Y Sabes Bien on Youtube


Los Zafiros - Bossa Cubana
REUP 2/8/2014: 224kbps, 76 mb on 4shared
1. Bossa Cubana
2. La Luna en Tu Mirada
3. Mirame Fijo
4. Dichoso Mar
5. Por No Comprenderte
6. Y Sabes Bien
7. Cancion de Orfeo
8. Mi Amor, Perdoname
9. Cuando Yo la Conoci
10. La Caminadora
11. He Venido
12. Puchunguita Ven
13. Herido de Sombras
14. Si Corazón
15. Mi Corazon
16. Un Nombre de Mujer
17. Canta la Sentimental

Doob Doob O'Rama 2: More Filmsongs From Bollywood

By request.

Doob Doob O'Rama 2: More Filmsongs From Bollywood
256kbps, 102mb on megaupload or sendspace
1. S.P. Balasubrahmanyam, Vijayalakshmi Sarma - China Daani Chirunavvulu
2. Geeta Dutt - Mera Naam Chin Chin Chu
3. Sulakshana Pandit, Shailendra Singh, Alka Yagnik, NItin Mukesh - Seth Ke Ghar Mein Aayo Beto
4. Asha Bhosle - Saiyan Re Saiyan
5. Asha Bhosle - Ankhen Meri Maikhana
6. P. Susheela, S.P. Balasubrahmanyam - Gulaabi Puvu
7. Nitnin Mukesh, Sharda - Tum Pyar Se Dekho
8. Kishore Kumar - Ina Mina Dika
9. K.J. Yesudas - Champakapushpa
10. Asha Bhosle, Mohamed Rafi - Gulabi Raat Gulabi
11. Lata Mangeshkar - Sayonara
12. Vanijairam - Thanimayil
13. S. Janaki, Brahmanandan - Ezhupaalam Kadamnu
14. Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar - Dhak Dhak Dhak
15. Manhar, Alka Yagnik, Bhavna Shah - Chandan Ki Chachi Ko
16. Kishore Kumar - Hum The Woh Thi
17. Suman Kalyanpur - Chale Ja Chale Ja
18. Asha Bhosle, R.D. Burman - O Meri Jaan Main Ne Kaha
19. Asha Bhosle - Maine Dil Abhi Diya Nahin
20. P. Susheela, S.P. Balasubrahmanyam - Intinti Ramayanam
21. Chitra - Rajani Parayu

Asha Bhosle with Kronos Quartet - You've Stolen My Heart: Songs from R.D. Burman's Bollywood

The omnipresent and omnivorous Kronos Quartet takes on the music from Bollywood soundtracks, and they recruit the real heavyweight - Asha Bhosle herself, "the most recorded artist in the world". I think she must be over 70 by now.
I cannot say this is a runaway success. The covers here stick pretty close to the originals - a little less of the thundering disco abandon, a bit more of the subtly textured backing... on the other hand, thundering disco is what makes the originals appealing, so I don't know whether it's an improvement. I need a few more spins of this to make up my mind.


Asha Bhosle with Kronos Quartet - You've Stolen My Heart: Songs from R.D. Burman's Bollywood
REUP: 320kbps, 150 mb on 4shared
1. Dum Maro Dum - Take Another Toke
2. Rishte Bante Hain - Relationships Grow Slowly
3. Mehbooba Mehbooba - Beloved, O Beloved
4. Ekta Deshlai Kathi Jwalao - Light a Match
5. Nodir Pare Utthchhe Dhnoa - Smoke Rises across the River
6. Koi Aaya Aane Bhi De - If People Come
7. Mera Kuchh Saaman - Some of My Things
8. Saajan Kahan Jaoongi Main - Beloved, Where Would I Go?
9. Piya Tu Ab To Aaja - Lover, Come to Me Now
10. Dhanno Ki Aankhon - In Dhanno's Eyes
11. Chura Liya Hai Tum Ne - You've Stolen My Heart
12. Saiyan Re Saiyan - My Lover Came Silently

Gente de Choro + Choro é Isto

My policy of downloading and listening to random stuff paid off once again. I recently dicovered choro - a delicate, sublime style of instrumental music that is sometimes called Brazilian Dixieland. It was popular in the late XIXth - early-to-mid XXth century, and later developed into samba and other modern brazilian styles. It also had a resurgence in popularity since 70s. Choro is played by a small combo with saxophone and/or flute, guitar, cavaquinho (small ukulele-like instrument), bandolim (Brazilian mandolin), and percussion.
Two excellent articles on choro could be found at Marilynn Mair's website: History of Choro and What is Choro?


Gente do Choro
192kbps, 50mb on zshare or rapidshare
1. Waldir Azevedo - Brasileirinho
2. Paulinho da Viola - Cinco Companheiros
3. Deo Rian - Mistura e Manda
4. Abel Ferreira - Saxofone Porque Choras
5. Paulinho da Viola - Segura Ele
6. Abel Ferreira - Doce Mentira
7. Os Choroes - Pe na Tabua
8. Deo Rian - Noites Cariocas
9. Waldir Azevedo - Chorinho Antigo
10. Abel Ferreira - Chorando Baixinho
11. Paulinho da Viola - Beliscando
12. Waldir Azevedo - Atrevido
13. Waldir Azevedo - Lamento
14. Os Choroes - Bentevi Atrevido


Choro é Isto
REUP: 24 mb at sharebee.
96kbps (yes I know, but the music is worth it)
01. Carinhoso - Manezinho da Flauta
02. Sai da Frente - Abel Ferreira
03. Na Glória - Raul de Barros
04. Apanhei-te Cavaquinho - Arthur Moreira Lima
05. Diplomata/Altamiro Carrilho - Carlos Poyares
06. Meu Sabiá - Carlos Poyares
07. Ingênuo - Evandro do Bandolim e Seu Regional
08. André de Sapato Novo - Abel Ferreira / Raul de Barros
09. Picadinho à Baiana - Luperce Miranda
10. Sempre - Quinteto Villa-Lobos
11. Tua Imagem - Canhoto da Paraíba
12. Brejeiro - Evandro do Bandolim e Seu Regional

Shanghai Jazz: Musical Seductions From China's Age Of Decadence

John Huie is an Australian musician and arranger that has spent some considerable time in Hong Kong and China researching various world music styles, including fi lm soundtracks for Golden Harvest and also a commemorative piece for the 1997 handover. Now based in Shanghai, he has put together a crack band of local musicians to recreate many of the 1930’s jazz songs that were the soundtrack to the city in its pre-war heyday. "Shanghai Jazz – Musical Seductions From China’s Age of Decadence" is the sublime result.
Putting together a band from todays top jazz venues, including sourcing and drinking down at Mao Ming Lu, Huie’s state of the art production and modern recording techniques – not to mention a crack band comprising some of Shanghais best young musicians on bass, clarinet, bass clarinet, drums, guitar, piano, tenor sax, trombone, trumpet, pipa, violin and the lovely singing trio of Coco, Carrie and Ginger, the band run through a selection of some of Shanghai's top tunes of the period. Jazz was banned by communists after the revolution, and is only now making a comeback – as are some of the standards of the day – including the notorious "Prostitute Song (The Love You Can’t Get)" that was high on the list of the governments most undesirable music and one of the best known songs of the dance hall era. With the CD’s packaging in English and Chinese (with lyric translations of the Shanghai classics), this is an ideal and very welcome exploration into the world of big band jazz, Shanghai style, and hopefully marks the beginning of a return for one of the more exotic blends of jazz ever to come out of the horn of a blues trumpet. Superb and thoroughly recommended. @

Also, http://www.shjazz.com/ - a website for this project, with song annotations and the musicians' bios.

A review from JazzNews

Note: Coco Zhao, who sings on some selections here, was featured on this blog before.


Shanghai Jazz: Musical Seductions From China's Age Of Decadence
VBR, 66mb
REUP: depositfiles
1. The Love You Can Not Get (Ginger Zheng Zhi Xiao)
2. Give Me A Kiss (Coco Zhao Ke)
3. The Cocktail Song (Carrie Zhang Le)
4. The Song You Are Hearing (Rebecca Tu)
5. It Is Not Too Late (Rebecca Tu)
6. Magic Love (Coco Zhao Ke)
7. Avalon (Instro)
8. Let Us Love Tonight (Coco Zhao Ke)
9. Night In Shanghai (Instro)
10. Jasmine Flower (Carrie Zhang Le)
11. I Want Your Love (Coco Zhao Ke)
12. Lovers Tears (Carrie Zhang Le)

Shanghai Lounge Divas 2

A follow-up to the Shanghai Lounge Divas post. A reader pointed out that there are two volumes with 2CDs each; I posted the first one, but included covers for both. Now, thanks to wonderful Baikinange from Schadenfreudian Therapy blog, I can direct you to the second volume.


192kbps
Originals, 71mb.
Remixes, 85mb.
Shanghai Lounge Divas 2: CD1 - Original 1930's Sessions Remixed For Today
1. Overture - About Shanghai…
2. Cui Ping - This Precious Night
3. Ou Yang Fei Ying - Shangri-La
4. Woo Ing Ing - Love From Far Away
5. Li Xiang Lan - Three Years
6. Poon Sow Keng - Lover's Tears
7. Koo Mei - Along The River Of Love
8. Bai Kwong - Without You
9. Gong Qiu Xia - You In My Dream
10. Mona Fong - The Blue and The Black
11. Yao Lee - Rose Rose I Love You
12. Grace Chang - I Want Your Love
13. Chang Loo - Give Me A Kiss

Shanghai Lounge Divas 2: CD2 - The Original Recordings
1. Cui Ping - This Precious Night
2. Ou Yang Fei Ying - Shangri-La
3. Woo Ing Ing - Love From Far Away
4. Li Xiang Lan - Three Years
5. Poon Sow Keng - Lover's Tears
6. Koo Mei - Along The River Of Love
7. Bai Kwong - Without You
8. Gong Qiu Xia - You In My Dream
9. Mona Fong - The Blue and The Black
10. Yao Lee - Rose Rose I Love You
11. Grace Chang - I Want Your Love
12. Chang Loo - Give Me A Kiss
13. Chow Hsuan - Blossoms Under The Full Moon
14. Yao Lee - The Spring Breeze Kisses My Face
15. Koo Mei - Love Without End
16. Bai Hung - Intoxicating Lip Rouge
17. Woo Ing Ing - Beautiful Spring Night
18. Chow Hsuan - Eternal Smile

Orchestra Baobab - A Night At Club Baobab

I am rather busy at work now, so the updates would be few and far between. I will only post the stuff that the internets need immediately and desperately. As of right now, one thing conspicuously missing from the blogosphere is this album of outtakes and live recordings by my favorite afrojazz band Orchestra Baobab.
Read a great review here


Orchestra Baobab - A Night At Club Baobab
320 kbps, 165 mb on megaupload or sendspace
1. Jin Ma Jin Ma
2. Diarabi
3. Souleymane
4. Saf Mana Dem
5. Kelen Ati Leen
6. Liti Liti
7. Seeri Koko
8. On Verra (Ce Soir)
9. Wango
10. Fuutu Toro
11. On verra - Ce soir
12. Sey
13. Yolanda

Rockabilly!!!

REUP 11/11/14 Two in one archive: 125mb on zippyshare or uloz.to


Whistle Bait! 25 Rockabilly Rave-Ups
1. Whistle Bait - Larry Collins
2. You're Humbuggin' Me - Lefty Frizzell
3. Snatch It And Grab It - Freddie Hart
4. Rawhide - Link Wray & The Wraymen
5. Honky Tonk Hardwood Floor - Johnny Horton
6. Wild Wild Young Men - Rose Maddox
7. Bop-A-Lena - Ronnie Self
8. Ugly And Slouchy - Maddox Brothers
9. Everybody's Rockin' - Werly Fairburn
10. Jive After Five - Carl Perkins
11. Bo Bo Ska Diddle Daddle - Wayne Walker
12. Ah. Poor Little Baby - Billy 'Crash' Craddock
13. Hoy Hoy - The Collins Kids
14. Dig Boy Dig - Freddie Hart
15. Guitar Rock And Roll - Joe Maphis
16. I Got A Hole In My Pocket - 'Little' Jimmy Dickens
17. Big Fool - Ronnie Self
18. All Over Again - Johnny Cash
19. Romp Stompin' Boogie - Jaycee Hill
20. Baboon Boogie - Jimmy Murphy
21. Good Rockin' Baby - Sid King & The Five Strings
22. Rocky Road Blues - Ronnie Self
23. Pink Pedal Pushers - Carl Perkins
24. I'm Coming Home - Johnny Horton
25. Mean Mama Blues - Marty Robbins


Ain't I'm A Dog! 25 More Rockabilly Rave-Ups
1. Ain't I'm A Dog - Ronnie Self
2. Hurricane - Joe Maphis And Larry Collins
3. Where The Rio De Rosa Flows - Carl Perkins
4. Party - The Collins Kids
5. Tennessee Toddy - Marty Robbins
6. Everybody's Rockin' But Me - Bobby Lord
7. The Woman I Need (Honky Tonk Mind) - Johnny Horton
8. I'm Jealous - Werly Fairburn
9. New Studio Blues - Link Wray
10. You're So Right For Me - Ronnie Self
11. Sag, Drag And Fall - Sid King & The Five Strings
12. Goin' Down That Road - Ersel Hickey
13. It's A Great Big Day - Derrell Felts
14. Who's Been Here? - Commonwealth Jones
15. Lover's Rock - Johnny Horton
16. Sugar Diet - Charlie Adams
17. Hop, Skip And Jump - The Collins Kids
18. Pointed Toe Shoes - Carl Perkins
19. Do Do Do - Commonwealth Jones
20. Flip Out - Billy Brown
21. Purr, Kitty Purr - Sid King & The Five Strings
22. Go Away Hounddog - Cliff Johnson
23. Hey Little Dreamboat - Rose Maddox
24. Goin' Back To The City - Onie Wheeler
25. Did We Have A Party - Billy Brown

A great article on how piracy is good and why the major labels deserve to die.
Does not really justify my activities here (I doubt there's a single album I shared so far that came out on a major - except maybe for ZZ Top), but still worth a read.

Also, a great blog: na Bula Bula.
See the gypsy tag for some Fanfare Ciocarlia and more Balkan goodies; see the arabe tag for Cheb Khaled's Kenza along with several other Chebs.

Peter Nalitch - Gitar

Fanfare Ciocarlia - Queens and Kings

My favorite balkan madmen strike again. Queens and Kings came out just this year, and it is dedicated to the memory of Ioan Ivancea, the metaphorical and literal patriarch of the family that is Fanfare Ciocarlia (BTW, it's him on the cover with his clarinet). The band celebrates his passing with an abandon rivaled only by the proverbial New Orleans Dixie Jazz funerals. In the past Ciocarlia was primarily an instrumental outfit, but on this disk they bring in guest singers for each of the songs, cherry-picking the stars of the gypsy music. Several generations are represented, from the elders - Saban Bajramovic, Esma Redzepova - to the new crop of gypsy musicians - Florentina Sandu, Jony Ilev.
This album is put together like a live show: the familiar hits are given a reworking and interspersed with new material. I personally wasn't too happy with the new versions of Sandala and Ma Maren Ma (incidentally, both sung by Saban Bajramovic), but that's not surprising as the originals are truly impossible to improve upon. I still cannot decide whether I like the remake of Iag Bari, here entitled Que Dolor and translted into spanish(?). On the other hand, Ibrahim, which showed up as an instrumental on Gili Garabdi, truly takes off into stratosphere with addition of Esma Redzepova's vocal. New songs (new to me, at least) are just as good. The album concludes with a traditional cooky mainstream pop cover. They've done Neil Sedaka's "One-Way Ticket To The Blues" as "Rumba Tziganeasca" on Radio Pascani, they covered The James Bond Theme on Gili Garabdi, and here they transform the old Steppenwolf biker anthem into a gypsy dance.


Fanfare Ciocarlia - Queens and Kings
REUP: 320kbps, 112mb on mediafire
01. Kan Marau La (Dan Armeanca) 4:31
02. Que Dolor (Kaloome) 3:55
03. Sandala (Saban Bajramovic) 2:49
04. Pana cand nu te iubeam (Mitsou) 4:06
05. Cuando tu volveras (Kaloome) 4:30
06. Duj Duj (Mitsou & Florentina Sandu) 3 :56
07. Ibrahim (Esma Redzepova) 3:05
08. Ma Maren Ma (Saban Bajramovic) 3:50
09. Mukav Tu (Florentina Sandu) 2:09
10. Nakelavishe (Esma Redzepova) 2:58
11. Ma Rov (Ljiljane Butler) 4:38
12. Mig Mig (Jony Iliev) 3:19
13. Farewell March (Ioan Ivancea) 1:36
14. Born to be wild 3:11

Lloyd Cole - Lloyd Cole

The last installment in my Quine retrospective.

LLOYD COLE (Capitol) Alternate title: Robert Quine, whose six cuts here prove a smart person can still get away with this shit while the other seven demonstrate why even a smart person has to. Except on the herky-funky "Waterline," which offers history nothing but a solo, Quine doesn't just play superbly. Torturing Cole's hummable tunes and easy little folk-pop guitar hooks until they confess, he lays a saving aura of wisdom around the postgraduate melancholy, stretching the songs toward the tensile intelligence the boss so admired on Legendary Hearts. And then he goes home. Who was that masked man? - review by Robert Christgau

Cole's 5.3 hcp got him a respectable tied 11th place on Golf Digest's top 100 list of musicians (a tie with Alice Cooper) *


Lloyd Cole - Lloyd Cole
REUP: 72 mb on mediafire
1) Don't Look Back
2) What Do You Know About Love?
3) No Blue Skies
4) Loveless
5) Sweetheart
6) To The Church
7) Downtown
8) A Long Way Down
9) Ice Cream Girl
10) Undressed
11) I Hate To See You Baby Doing That Stuff
12) Waterline
13) Mercy Killing

Klazz Brothers and Cuba Percussion - Classic Meets Cuba

Here's an album I am digging lately: classical/jazz musicians are collaborating with a latin percussion section in butchering a few famous classical pieces.
This might sound kitchy, and it is - but there is a lot of substance to this record behind the style. The musicianship is virtuosic, the arrangements are inventive, and everybody sounds like they are having fun. The bass player is on fire!


Klazz Brothers and Cuba Percussion - Classic Meets Cuba
REUP: mediafire.
1. Mambozart
2. Cuban Dance
3. Danzon De La Trucha
4. Preludio
5. Afrolise
6. Air
7. Pathetique I
8. Pathetique II
9. Pathetique III
10. Salsa No V
11. Czardas
12. Etude
13. Carmen Cubana
14. Flight Of The Bumble Bee
15. Guten Abend
16. Anthem

They made more records - one I will be checking out in the near future is Classic Meets Cuba: Symphonic Salsa (available here): same concept, some tracks overlap with the one above. They also recorded Jazz Meets Cuba - I am kinda sceptical about that one. After all, jazz met Cuba some 50 years ago. If I'd want to hear latin jazz, I'll go get my Gillespie and Machito records. Still, if it's half as good as Classic..., it might be worth hearing.

PS Once we're on the subject of the kitchy classics covers, I'd like to remind everybody of the excellent album Let's Go Classics by the japanese guitarist and surf music titan Takeshi Terauchi AKA Terry and the Bunnies - I shared his music here before. Let's Go Classics is available over at WFMU blog, and the LP cover art is here. The songs are downloadable individually. If you can't decide whether you want it or not, I recommend you try Fur Elise.

PPS I finally listened to the Symphonic Salsa album - don't bother with it.

Jody Harris and Robert Quine - Escape

Robert Quine playing with Jody Harris, who appeared on this blog before as a guitar player on James White and the Blacks' LP. Harris been with James White/Chance from the beginning, appearing on other Contortions records, including the notorious No New York LP; he also played with other "downtown" bands and personalities - Golden Palominos, John Zorn, Lydia Lunch, and his own instrumental band the Raybeats.
This one, Escape, is quite experimental - it's more of two guys fooling around in the studio while the tape is rolling kind of record, somewhat like Fripp's No Pussyfooting stuff. Quine himself called the first track, 13-minute-long Flagpole Jitters, "intentionally abrasive" or some such. It sounds like something a college-radio DJ would put on to broadcast his coolness credentials while he's out with a reefer.


Jody Harris and Robert Quine - Escape
66 mb on sharebee
1. Flagpole Jitters
2. Don't Throw That Knife
3. Up in Daisy's Penthouse
4. Termites of 1938
5. Pardon My Clutch

Tom Waits - Rain Dogs

There's not much to say about this one. The best Waits LP, possibly the best thing that the 80's produced. I first heard it in high school, and this is the only album that I did not outgrow. A friend lent me a Hendrix tape, and on the other side it had this Waits dude. All other music from my high school years became obsolete or irrelevant, but this one is truly timeless. I don't know why I should share it, I bet everybody has it already. But for the sake of Quine retrospective, I'll put it up. Quine only plays on Blind Love (with Keith Richards) and Downtown Train. Marc Ribot is playing here on most songs, and all other Waits guitarists try to emulate his sound here ever since.
P.S. Some useless pop-culture trivia: in the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, there is an episode where the main character is getting his memories erased, and all the things that he is forgetting flash on the screen in sequence. One of them was the cover of Rain Dogs.
I was horrified, I truly was. How can someone voluntarily forget Rain Dogs? For me, it would be taking a cornerstone from under myself.
P.P.S. For the record, I think that the greatest guitar solo in history is played by Ribot on Jockey Full Of Bourbon.


Tom Waits - Rain Dogs
220VBR, 90mb on megaupload, rapidshare, or mediafire
01. Singapore
02. Clap Hands
03. Cemetery Polka
04. Jockey Full Of Bourbon
05. Tango 'Til They're Sore
06. Big Black Mariah
07. Diamonds & Gold
08. Hang Down Your Head
09. Time
10. Rain Dogs
11. Midtown [Instrumental]
12. 9th & Hennepin
13. Gun Street Girl
14. Union Square
15. Blind Love
16. Walking Spanish
17. Downtown Train
18. Bride Of Rain Dog [Instrumental]
19. Anywhere I Lay My Head

Authenticité: The Syliphone Years 1965-80

Reviews: one, two.

Authenticité: The Syliphone Years 1965-80
320 kbps, in three separate archives
Pt.1: 95 mb on megaupload or mediafire
Pt.2: 100 mb on megaupload or mediafire
Pt.3: 115 mb on megaupload
1. Kélétigui Diabaté et ses Tambourinis - Soundiata
2. Balla Et Ses Balladins - Diaraby
3. Kebendo Jazz - Soumba
4. Horoya Band National - Karan-Gbegne
5. Bembeya Jazz National - DJanfamagni
6. Orchestre De La Pailote - Kankan-Yarabi
7. Orchestre De Dabola - Semba
8. Orchestre De Bayla - O.U.A
9. Palm Jazz - R.D.A
10. Bembeya Jazz National - Minuit
11. Orchestre Du Jardin De Guinée - P.D.G
12. Orchestre De Beyla - Koukou Befo
13. Kebendo Jazz - Information
14. Orchestre De Kindia - La Guinée Wodi
15. Super Boiro Band - Mariama
16. Bembeya Jazz National - Boiro
17. "22 Novembre" Band - Kouma
18. Kélétigui Diabaté et ses Tambourinis - Miri Magnin
19. Pivi Et Les Balladins - Samba
20. Bembeya Jazz National - Bembeya
21. Horoya Band - Wèrè Wèrè
22. Soumbory Jazz - Nana
23. Palm Jazz - Zimaï
24. Syli Authentic - Fabara
25. Camayenne Sofas - Karomoko
26. Tropical Djoli Band De Faranah - Soko
27. Nimba Jazz - Ziko
28. La Simandou de Beyla - Festival

Quine with John Zorn

Filmworks V: Tears of Ecstasy
REUP: 160kbps, 68 mb on mediafire

Music recorded and mixed in twelve hours! Forty-eight sound cues (roughly one minute long each) for Tears of Ecstacy, a 1995 film by Japan's leading gay porno director, Oki Hiroyuki. Featuring Quine, Zorn, Marc Ribot and Cyro Baptista. This album mixes world beat, surf, hard rock, ambient, industrial, noise, classical and jazz. - says Quine discography.

It was toward the end of September 1995 that I first got the call for this one. The concept was simple — a one-hour film divided into sixty one-minute sequences. The director wanted sixty one-minute pieces of music to go with it, and as far as he was concerned, anything goes. The director wanted the music by the first of October, only one week away. I agreed immediately. The idea of recording and mixing these cues in one day seemed a real challenge, and with the right band it would be a lot of fun. This clearly was the right band, because it was a fucking blast. Ribot, Quine and Cyro have worked with me for years, and at least one of them appear on virtually every film scoring job I've ever done. They are the best of the best.
Drawing upon their many talents, there's a wide range of styles here — rock, noise, ambient, world music, jazz, industrial, but mostly it's all a freak hybrid that belongs to none of these categories. Themes will repeat now and again with variations or alternate arrangements (Morricone, the master, once told me that you really only need one theme to score a film properly) and of course there is plenty of room here for the players to "stretch out," even within the limitations of a one-minute time frame. - says Zorn himself

More Zorn scores with Quine on guitar:
The first in Zorn's Filmworks series, Filmworks 1986-1990 with a review and track listing/liner notes, Quine plays on #1-18.

Also, The Bride and Spillane from the excellent MoodswingsMusic blog.

Robert Quine with Lou Reed

Quine was a long-time Velvet Underground fan and disciple. He attended many shows, often taping them; recently, the highlights from these tapes were issued as The VU Bootleg Series Vol.1: The Quine Tapes (read Robert's own liner notes here). So, when in the early 80s Lou Reed invited him to collaborate, Quine jumped on the chance. This was a difficult time for Lou Reed, who was struggling with personal problems and with artistic direction after several disappointing albums in the late 70s. The first album with Quine, The Blue Mask, proved to be a smash comeback for Lou Reed. It featured great songwriting, direct and personal, free from the Transformer-era glam posing. More importantly, the album was excellent musically: Quine understood and loved Lou's music and was able to provide sensitive and selfless backing to the frontman and to contribute inspired, searing solos. Reed was apprehensive about his own guitar abilities and preferred to stick to strumming-and-singing on his 70s albums; Quine encouraged Reed to play lead more, to some great results. The record is mixed with Lou Reed and Quine in separate channels, so you can really appreciate the interplay.


Lou Reed - Blue Mask
megaupload or mediafire
VBR150
1. My House
2. Women
3. Underneath The Bottle
4. The Gun
5. The Blue Mask
6. Average Guy
7. The Heroine
8. Waves Of Fear
9. The Day John Kennedy Died
10. Heavenly Arms
Also available here.


In 1983 The Blue Mask was followed by a European tour that gave us a great live record, with Reed and Quine in excellent form throughout, and a fine cross-section of songs from Reed's career.

Lou Reed Live In Italy
On rapidshare by El Monito Records blog.
1. Sweet Jane
2. I'm Waiting For My Man
3. Martial Law
4. Satellite Of Love
5. Kill Your Sons
6. Betrayed
7. Sally Can't Dance
8. Waves Of Fear
9. Average Guy
10. White Light/White Heat
11. Some Kinda Love/Sister Ray
12. Walk On The Wild Side
13. Heroin
14. Rock And Roll

Unfortunately, during the tour Lou Reed started to see Quine as a threat to his bandleader/frontman position, as more and more guitar heads came just to hear Quine play. The next album, Legendary Hearts, proved to be their last - Quine was extremely unhappy with the final mix; he felt that Reed mixed out his guitar parts. Thus the very fruitful, but short-lived Reed-Quine alliance ended.

There is a full Lou Reed retrospective over at http://kar4agin.blogspot.com/.

Robert Quine solo

Two more Robert Quine records. The first is a collaboration with Ikue Mori, a well-known drummer from the NY "downtown jazz" scene, formerly with DNA, John Zorn etc., and Marc Ribot, who needs no introduction. A dreamy, atmospheric record; Ikue Mori mans the drum machines while the guitarists pass melodies and textures to each other.


Ikue Mori, Robert Quine, Marc Ribot - Painted Desert
REUP 11/11/14: zippyshare or uloz.to
1. Mojave
2. Medicine Man
3. Desperado
4. Cheyenne
5. El Dorado
6. Santa Ana Excursion
7. Gundown
8. Painted Desert

Another Quine recording with drummer Fred Maher, who played on the second Voidoids album and is also known from his work with Laswell (Material, Massacre) and Lou Reed. Excellent instrumental guitar music, very stripped-down sound.

Robert Quine with Fred Maher - Basic
REUP 2/5/2014: On depositfiles
1. Pickup
2. Bluffer
3. Fala
4. Stray
5. Summer Storm
6. '65
7. Bandage Bait
8. Dark Place
9. Despair
10. Village

Coco Zhao - Dream Situation

Chinese vocal jazz.
I read about Coco Zhao some time ago and was trying to find him online since. He's too damn rare, though - it took me a few months!
The reviews characterize his vocal style as "a boy Billy Holiday". The music is rooted both in chinese classical opera and in western jazz tradition; the repertoire is drawn from the chinese standards of the 40s and 50s, kinda like the stuff on The Shanghai Lounge Divas - but with a more modern sound. Interesting, worth checking out. My wife loved it.

Two reviews from allaboutjazz.com: one and two.
Audio interview and some free song downloads from NPR here.


Coco Zhao - Dream Situation
320 kbps, 88mb on zippyshare or uloz.to
1. Full Moon, Blooming Flowers
2. I Have a Tale
3. Unavailable Love
4. Yearming
5. I Want Your Love
6. Dream Situation
7. Waiting
8. If Without You
9. Three Years

Coco Zhao and Possicobilities
Coco Zhao: vocals
Peng Fei: clavier, keyboard, violin
Huang Jianyi: piano
E.J. Parker: bass
Chris Trzinski: drums

James White and the Blacks - Off White

An album by James Chance AKA James White, the ultimate funk-noise purveyor. One of the many projects to which Robert Quine lent his guitar skills after the dissolution of the Voidoids. Quine only plays on Almost Black Pts. 1+2 and Off Black, it's Jody Harris on the rest of the album.
This is an expanded edition, including an alternate mix of Contort Yourself, three live tracks from Soul Exorcism bootleg, and a rare "Chance-murders-christmas" recording. I can't help but brag that I have this on vinyl.


James White and the Blacks - Off White
Personnel and song details
1. Contort Yourself (August Darnell Remix)
2. Contort Yourself
3. Stained Sheets
4. (Tropical) Heat Wave
5. Almost Black Part 1
6. White Savages
7. Off Black
8. Almost Black Part 2
9. White Devil
10. Bleached Black
11. Christmas With Satan
12. Disposable You (Live)
13. Don't Stop Till You Get Enough (Live)
14. Exorcise The Funk (Live)


Get it as a part of Irresistible Impulse box set: CDs 1 and 2 (Buy The Contortions / Theme from Grutzi Elvis / Off White / selections from Soul Exorcism), CDs 3 and 4 (Sax Maniac / selections from Melt Yourself Down / Flaming Demonics / The Judy Taylor Sessions).

The Voidoids

A logical place to start the Quine retrospective would be with the music that made him famous - his work with Richard Hell. The students of New York punk would know that Hell, together with the guitarist Tom Verlaine, was a founding member of the great, groundbreaking band Television. Unfortunately, tensions between Hell and Verlaine forced Hell out of the band. After a stint as a bassist with the Heartbreakers (the post-NYDolls Johnny Thunders band), Hell left them to pursue his own direction and started assembling the Voidoids.
In the meantime, Robert Quine completed a law degree and made a few failed attempts at living a square life. His stint as a tax preparer in New York finally pushed him over. He played in bands while in college, and he decided to return to playing. Fortunately for all of us, a chance acquaintance with Hell grew into an invitation to join his new band.
Richard Hell's volatile personality and the bohemian environment of downtown Manhattan were responsible for the rise and fall of the band. They made the Voidoids' music gritty, edgy, dangerous, and gave us their brilliant debut album - "Blank Generation" - on which Hell's poetry meshed with swinging, twitchy rhythms of the rhythm section and blasts of guitar skronk from Quine and Ivan Julian, the second guitarist. The combined pressures of music industry indifference, the hardships of touring and the members' drug habits eventually crushed the band.


Richard Hell and the Voidoids - Blank Generation
LINKS ARE REMOVED UPON DMCA COMPLAINT
1. Love Comes In Spurts
2. Liars Beware
3. New Pleasure
4. Betrayal Takes Two
5. Down At The Rock And Roll Club (Alternate Version)
6. Who Says?
7. Blank Generation
8. Walking On The Water
9. The Plan
10. Another World
11. I'm Your Man
12. All The Way

The artwork above is the original cover for the album; a CD reissue adds two songs (I'm Your Man and My Way) and a new cover.



A compilation of Hell's

Spurts: The Richard Hell Story
Reviews and song details
LINKS ARE REMOVED UPON DMCA COMPLAINT
1. Love Comes in Spurts -- Neon Boys
2. That's All I Know -- Neon Boys
3. Chinese Rocks -- Heartbreakers
4. Blank Generation -- Richard Hell & The Voidoids [*]
5. Liars Beware -- Richard Hell & The Voidoids [*]
6. Walking on the Water -- Richard Hell & The Voidoids [*]
7. Love Comes in Spurts -- Richard Hell & The Voidoids [*]
8. Kid with the Replaceable Head -- Richard Hell & The Voidoids [*]
9. Crack of Dawn -- Richard Hell & The Voidoids [*]
10. Time -- Richard Hell & The Voidoids [*]
11. Ignore That Door -- Richard Hell & The Voidoids [*]
12. Lowest Common Denominator -- Richard Hell & The Voidoids [*]
13. Downtown at Dawn -- Richard Hell & The Voidoids [*]
14. Dim Star Theme -- Dim Stars
15. Baby Huey (Do You Wanna Dance) -- Dim Stars
16. Monkey -- Dim Stars [*]
17. Night Is Coming On -- Dim Stars
18. Oh -- Richard Hell & The Voidoids [*]
19. She'll Be Coming (For Dennis Cooper) -- Richard Hell
20. Rip Off -- Dim Stars
21. Blank Generation (At CBGB) -- Television

Recordings on which Quine plays are marked with [*]

Robert Quine

Robert Quine, 1942-2004

Robert Quine, a true punk guitar virtuoso if there ever was one, and one of the most original guitar players emerging from the CBGB scene. He was the founding member of Richard Hell's Voidoids, responsible for the biting, edgy sound of the band.
Quine's playing was informed by Coltrane and Albert Ayler as much as by the Rolling Stones and the Velvet Underground, who inspired other CBGB musicians. His bearded, balding, bespectacled image was also at odds with the punk fashions of the time. He was the calm eye of the storm that was the Voidoids.
After the Voidoids fell apart, Robert Quine continued to play and record, collaborating with many notable musicians. I will try to cover some of these recordings in the retrospective. Robert descended into depression after the death of his wife Alice in 2003. He was found dead in his apartment early in June 2004, having died of heroin overdose on May 31st.

See also
http://www.robertquine.com/selected.html
http://www.furious.com/perfect/quine/index.html
http://www.quine.org/robertquine.html

Ghana Soundz Vol. 1 and 2

Review
Ghana Soundz Vol.1
117 mb on 4shared
1. Because Of Money - 3rd Generation Band
2. Bukom Mashie - Oscar Sulley & The Uhuru Dance Band
3. Mother Africa - Marijata
4. Heaven - Ebo Taylor
5. Simigwado - Ambolley, Gyedu Blay & The Steneboofs
6. Eyi Su Ngaangaa - Sweet Talks
7. Ageisheka - Ogyatanaa Show Band
8. Psychedelic Woman - Honny & The Bees Band
9. Hwehwe Na Yi Wo Mpena - K. Frimpong & His Cubano Fiestas
10. Kwaku Ananse - Apagya Show Band
11. Self Reliance - African Brothers International Band
12. Make It Fast Make It Slow - Rob
13. W'aha Do Ho No - Alex Konadu
14. Nite Safarie - Black Star Sound


Review
Ghana Soundz Vol.2
141 mb on 4shared
1. Oscar Sulley & the Uhuru Dance band - Olufeme
2. Joe Mensah - Africa is Home
3. Ebo Taylor - Atwer Abroba
4. The African Brothers - Sakatumbe
5. Ebo Taylor Jnr. and Wuta Wazuri - Mondo Soul Funky
6. The Sweet Talks - Kye Kye Pe Aware
7. The Ogyatanaa Show Band - Disco Africa
8. Christy Azuma & Uppers International - Naam
9. Bob PInado & his Sound Coasters - Me, You, One (Means I Love You)
10. Marijata - No Condition is Permanent
11. K.Frimpong & Vis a Vis - Aboagyewaa
12. The Uhuru Dance band - Agbadza
13. Uppers Chapter 2 - Samarin Bolga
14. The Apagya Show Band - Tamfo Nyi Ekyir

Orera (Орэра) - The Golden Songs

One of the most interesting pop groups from the former Soviet Union, Orera may be loosely described as Georgian Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross. The group, which included several male voices and sometimes a female one, grew out of the Georgian musical tradition of polyphonic choirs. Orera freely fused many styles - choral pop, jazz, georgian and russian folk - into their own signature sound. Orera also served as a springboard for the solo career of two major pop stars of the Soviet era: singer Nani Bregvadze (the female voice of the group; they did not seek a replacement when she left), and a crooner and actor Vakhtang Kikabidze.
The disc I am offering you today is "The Golden Songs - fan edition." The original album was rather sloppily compiled, so I changed the sequencing a bit and substituted one really good song that was missing for a couple that I thought did not deserve inclusion. I am sure the album got much better. Enjoy!


Orera - The Golden Songs
64 mb on megaupload
1. Pesnya Moya Radost' (The Song Is My Joy)
2. Strana Cvetov (The Country of Flowers)
3. Lalebi
4. Vasil'ki (Cornflowers)
5. Krimanchuli
6. Ty Mne Verish Ili Net (Do You Trust Me or Don't You?)
7. Pirosmani
8. Topolya (The Poplars)
9. U Devushek Nashix (Our Girls)
10. Staryi Motiv (That Old Tune)
11. Tbilisskaya Serenada (Tbilisi Serenade)
12. Hevsurskaya Lyubovnaya (Hevsur Love Song)
13. Gusi-Lebedi Letyat (Flying Geese)
14. Kto Uslyshit Moyu Pesnyu (Who Will Hear My Song?)
15. Pesnya O Tbilisi (A Song of Tbilisi)

Interesting article

Pirates ahoy! And they're wielding their iPods!

The Dream World of Dion McGregor + Shut Up, Little Man!

Two Three! artefacts of the audio verite craze. I uploaded them some half a year ago, but could not get around to writing the annotation.

Dion McGregor was a homeless gay bohemian from NY. He wanted to be a songwriter for Broadway musicals, and while waiting for his big break in show business, he couch-surfed with his friends, lovers, and acquaintances. One of his hosts was fascinated with Dion's habit of talking in his sleep and attempted to document it. This LP compiles several recordings of Dion McGregor narrating his dreams. This isn't just mumblemumble, though - these are clearly articulated stories with dialog and all. A few of them border on nightmares and often end with the speaker waking up with a muffled scream. You can hear New York street noises in the background, as he slept by an open window.
This record came out in 1964, and was accompanied by a book of transcriptions with illustrations by Edward Gorey (who also did the cover art for the record). Two more recordings came out recently, containing the stories which were deemed inappropriate for publication in 1960s.

The Dream World of Dion McGregor (He Talks In His Sleep) Also, more material on a Tzadik release Dion McGregor Dreams Again
REUP 2/19/14: both albums together on zippyshare
A nice article on him, here.


Shut Up, Little Man! is a collection of recordings made in the late 80s by Eddie Lee and Mitchell - two guys living in a cheap apartment in SF. Their next-door neighbours were Peter and Raymond - a pair of violent psychotics, who spent their time either passed out in drunken stupor, or verbally (and sometimes physically) abusing each other. After receiving a death threat from Raymond, Eddie Lee and Mitchell decided they have to record their neighbours' conversations - just in case. Gradually, they became fascinated with Peter and Raymond's drunken rants; the tapes were passed around among their friends as an audio joke. The recordings grew in popularity and were commercially released on CD in 1992; after that, they became a true underground in-joke, with a comic book, a theater production, and a short movie based on them; the lines like "Shut your fuckin' mouth!" or "I want to kill!" were extensively sampled on many musical recordings.

Peter and Raymond - Shut Up, Little Man!
REUP: On mediafire

Art Ensemble Of Chicago with Brigitte Fontaine - Comme à la Radio

Avant-chanteuse collaborates with a famous free-jazz group on a set of pop songs from another planet. Very unusual listen.


Art Ensemble Of Chicago with Brigitte Fontaine - Comme à la Radio
REUP: 70 mb on depositfiles
1. Comme à la radio
2. Tanka 2
3. Le brouillard
4. J'ai 26 ans
5. L'été l'été
6. Encore
7. Leo
8. Les petits chevaux
9. Tanka 1
10. Lettre à Monsieur le chef de gare de La Tour De Carol
11. Le Goudron
12. Le Noir C'est Mieux Choi

I'll toss in two more avant-vocal albums:
NEW LINKS 2/05/2014
Jeanne Lee and Ran Blake - The Newest Sound Around (1961), 91mb on 4shared
Reviews: allaboutjazz, allmusic

Patty Waters - College Tour (1966), 71 mb on depositfiles
Review: examiner

Gamelan

In the annotation to Tibetan chants and Central African folk songs I said that this music appeals to a certain kind of aesthetic perception. It is interesting for the same qualities that make a lot of modern electronic music interesting, as well as stuff like Faust, Riley, et cetera: not as a pop song, but as a richly textured sound painting.
The same applies to indonesian gamelan music (1, 2): if Gbaya is proto-minimal techno, then gamelan is proto-ambient.
Unfortunately, I don't like ambient, and I did not become a gamelan fan. This is a case when "giving it a chance" did not quite work. Maybe I just don't have the right kind of aesthetic perception. Still, it's interesting, and the links are below.


Java Sunda Country - The Art of the Gamelan Degung
zippyshare or uloz.to
1. Catrik
2. Sangku ratu
3. Lalayaran
4. Renggong buyut
5. Pajajaran
6. Jipang Lontang, Beber Layar
7. Lengser Midang
8. Purbasaka
9. Jipang Parwa
10. Maya Selas
11. Ujung Laut
12. Karang ulun



This is the one recorded in 1972 at the court performance. You can hear the birds chirping. Read about it at wiki.
Javanese Court Gamelan
zippyshare or uloz.to
1. Ketawang Puspawarna – 4:46
2. Gending Tejanata / Ladrang Sembawa / Ladrang Playon – 18:28
3. Gending Mandulpati / Ladrang Agun-Agun – 19:40
4. Bubaran Hudan Mas – 2:07



Suara Parahiangan - Degung Sabilulungan
This is more modern-sounding, ethno-pop-like.
zippyshare or uloz.to
1. Sabilulungan (5.35)
2. Karedok Leunca (5.57)
3. Colenak (6.21)
4. Dikantun Tugas (6.05)
5. Ayun Ambing (5.35)
6. Ngantosan (6.18)
7. Karatagan Pahlawan (6.17)
8. B A N D U N G (5.45)
9. Karatagan Pemuda Indonesia (5.45)
10. Mojang Desa (5.37)


Lestari - The Hood Collection. Early Field Recordings From Java
320kbps
zippyshare or uloz.to
01. Lagon Tlutur (slendro pathet manyura)
02. Ladrang Asmarandana (slendro pathet manyura)
03. Jineman Uler Kambang (slendro pathet sanga)
04. Ketawang Tarupala (slendro pathet manyura)
05. Budak Ceurik
06. Ketawang Langen Gita Srinarendra (pelog pathet barang)
07. Kidung
08. Ladrang Kandamanyura (slendro pathet manyura)
09. Bandjaran
10. Gendhing Rambu (pelog pathet lima)

Cheb Khaled - Khaled + The Rough Guide To Rai

Rai (or, rather, raï) is North African ethno-pop, sung in Algerian arabic. Exotic middle-eastern melodies over the disco, flamenco, reggae rhythms. Cool stuff.
Cheb Khaled is rai's biggest star and very popular in France (or so they say). Here's a great article about him.


Cheb Khaled - Khaled (1992)
REUP: In m4a on depositfiles
01 - Didi (4:59)
02 - El Arbi (3:32)
03 - Wahrane (4:25)
04 - Ragda (3:48)
05 - El Ghatli (4:05)
06 - Liah Liah (4:19)
07 - Mauvais Sang (6:11)
08 - Braya (4:44)
09 - Ne M'En Voulez Pas (4:55)
10 - Sbabi (4:03)
11 - Harai Harai (3:57)


The Rough Guide to Rai
REUP: 91 mb on mediafire
1. Ana Aachki Bahloul - Abdou
2. Lazrag Saani - Cheb Mami
3. N’Touma - Malik
4. Moul El Bar - Cheb Zahouani
5. Moulay Ibrahim
6. Guendouzi Mama - Cheikha Remitti
7. Nediha Gaouria - Bellemou
8. Consulat - Cheba Nouria
9. Shab El Baroud - Cheba Zahouania
10. Menghirek Entia Fi Dounia - Cheb Hasni
11. Ya Loualid - Cheb Khaled
12. La Verite - Fadela & Sahraoui

Aesop Rock - None Shall Pass

I never cared much for hip-hop. There are a few rap songs that I enjoy - The Herbalizer's Blend, Red Snapper's The Sleepless - but in general, I find hip-hop irritating, boring, or both. I made a coupla failed efforts to learn to enjoy it, and then gave up.
But here, my policy of "giving it a chance" paid off again: Aesop Rock's album is my discovery of the year. I truly cannot stop listening to it. I usually have to take music of unfamiliar genre in small doses to build up my tolerance, but this one I can easily listen from beginning to the end without interruption and not get bored, but only want to hear it again. His lyrics and delivery are somewhat dense, but, for me, it's a plus: I like dadaist, free-associative lyrics better than "POP POP POP another motherfucker drop" and "Then some stupid with a flare gun / Burned the place to the ground".
See the wiki review collection in the right bar - the majority is four or five stars.


Aesop Rock - None Shall Pass
85mb on zshare

1. Keep Off the Lawn
2. None Shall Pass
3. Catacomb Kids
4. Bring Back Pluto
5. Fumes
6. Getaway Car
7. 39 Thieves
8. The Harbor Is Yours
9. Citronella
10. Gun for the Whole Family
11. Five Fingers
12. No City
13. Dark Heart News
14. Coffee

Return of the walking dead

I don't want to revive my blog yet, but there are some good finds that I have to share. So consider this blog undead. I probably won't upload much myself, just post the links from elsewhere.

Goodbye

Dear readers of this blog,
The end is not just in sight, the end is here. I regret to inform you all that I will not be posting here in the near future. It's been a pleasure to share my favorite music with all of you - thank you for the comments; special thanks to those who linked to my blog. I hope you found at least something here worth your time.
I will continue to maintain the links. If you find a dead link, leave me a comment, and I will fix it.

And for now, I will grab my iPod and my kalashnikov and wander off to the desert.

Loud, Fast and Out of Control - The Wild Sounds of 50s Rock

A great box set from Rhino, this compilation sets out to prove that 50's rock was dangerous and full of attitude. The message is in the title, in the cover art that shows a cartoonish greaser roughing up a square, in the liner notes illustrated with the pulpy 50s paperbacks about gangs, loose women, and reefer. And of course the message is in the music, a great set of manic, greasy, frothy-mouthed tunes - rock-n-roll, R&B, jump blues, and rockabilly.


Loud, Fast and Out of Control - The Wild Sounds of 50s Rock
Two independent archives on 4shared
First
Second

Track list is in the comments.

Songs The Cramps Taught Us Vol. 1 and 2

The Cramps' spiritual leader and guitarist Poison Ivy is also well known as a collector and connosieur of rare rockabilly and garage-rock singles. These two CDs collect the 50's and 60's obscurities covered, touted, or quoted by The Cramps.





Songs The Cramps Taught Us: Vol. 1 (104 mb, 192 kbps) and Vol. 2 (99 mb, mostly 192 kbps) on megaupload.

There is also a third volume that I don't have, I will appreciate any leads on that. Marcel in the comments pointed me to the Wild Wild Party blog that has the third volume - along with a ton of other great stuff!
The track list is in the comments.

P.S. A lot of the same material is covered on the Born Bad series.

Oranj Symphonette Plays Mancini

If musicians who are good enough to play anything get together, what would they play? If you ever wondered about that, now you can find out. Oranj Symphonette is a side project of five accomplished studio musicians: Matt Brubeck (cello/bass), Joe Gore (guitar), Ralph Carney (horns), Scott Amendola (drums) and Rob Burger (keys). Their list of credentials is too long to relate here, and you can see it at the Rykodisc site; I will just say that Brubeck, Joe Gore, and Carney met at the sessions for Tom Waits' late 80s - early 90s albums.
They could have selected any material to elaborate upon. I am guessing two reasons behind the choice of Mancini tunes: one, they are familiar to most listeners, and two, they do not confine the performer to a certain genre the way Smoke on the Water or Girl From Ipanema would. And Oranj Symphonette uses this freedom very well, effortlessly traveling from easy listening to hard rock to free jazz with any number of scenic detours in between.


Oranj Symphonette Plays Mancini
REUP: mediafire
200VBR, 64 mb
1. A Shot In The Dark
2. Experiment In Terror
3. The Pink Panther Theme
4. Lujon
5. The Inspector Clouseau Theme
6. Moon River
7. Charade
8. The Day Of Wine And Roses
9. Mr. Yunioshi
10. Mr. Lucky
11. March Of The Cue Balls
12. Baby Elephant Gunn (Baby Elephant Walk And Peter Gunn)

PS I will be gone next week, there will be no updates until Monday after.

Aavikko - Derek! + The Desert EP

Another Aavikko share, here's the first one. An excellent Finnish trio. They've been called "electro-surf" - a lo-fi synth sound with a surf music sensiblity: short, punchy, dirty instrumentals with a lot of hooks.
This disc combines two releases: #14 through 21 is their first recording, an EP titled Aavikko (which is finnish for Desert). It was released on a russian label and therefore the title itself is in russian (Пустыня), and so are the song titles.
#1 through 13 is their first full-length, Derek! I like Derek! a lot better. I don't know whether it's the producer, the equipment or what, but the EP sounds too harsh and abrasive for my taste. Derek!, on the other hand, has a near perfect balance between the melodic songs and the noisy, grimy arrangements.


Aavikko - Derek! + The Desert EP
200VBR, 73 mb
megaupload
mediafire
1. El Cebo
2. Galaktus
3. Baltic Sea
4. Derek
5. Cloun
6. Panama
7. Bolek Bolek
8. Manolito's Day off
9. Kazimbalis
10. Pink Service
11. Elsku Mau Mau
12. $3000
13. Cipetown
14. Vniz Po Volge (Down the Volga River)
15. Sredi Samoedov (Among the Eskimos)
16. Luga Krakova (Krakov's Fields)
17. Moroz V 5 Gradusov (-5 degrees C)
18. Pustynya (The Desert)
19. Podruga (Girlfriend)
20. Transsibirskaya Zheleznaya Doroga (Trans-siberian Railway)
21. Dux Oblomova (Oblomov's Spirit)

Bhangra Beatz + The Rough Guide To Bhangra

Bhangra started out as a folk dance in the Punjabi region of India. Originally it was performed at a harvest festival celebration, and got its name after one important item that was harvested at the time - bhang. As more and more South Asians moved to UK in the last decades of XXth century, the new transplants began to develop their own pop culture, borrowing the elements of western musical styles such as soul, hip-hop, and R&B, and fusing them with the traditional rhythms and melodies. The new musical hybrid retained the name Bhangra and some of the traditional instruments, especially the dhol drum, responsible for the driving rhythms of the modern bhangra. Other traditional instruments are used too, including single stringed iktar and tumbi, as well as tabla and other percussion. So, light up that bhang and crank it up!


Bhangra Beatz
192 kbps, 82 mb
megaupload
depositfiles
1. Anakhi - Lok Boliyan
2. Jassi Premi - Ludiane Nachdi Nu
3. Balbir Bittu - Soundz from the Des
4. Jazzy B - Lak De Hulareh
5. Balbir Bittu - Meri Maa Boli Punjabi
6. Balwinder Safi - Aaja Billo
7. Sukshinder Shinda - Dhamiwala Da Dhol
8. K.B. & The Gang - Nachde Punjabi
9. Soni - Doli
10. The Sahotas - Sahota Boliyan
11. Bhinda Jatt - Putt Sardaran Da


The Rough Guide To Bhangra
256 kbps, 134 mb
depositfiles
1. Alaap - Bhabiye Ni Bhabiye
2. Rama And Bally Sagoo - Mera Laung Gawacha
3. Bombay Talkie - Chargiye
4. Sangeeta Shankar - Pyar Ka Hai Bairi
5. Malkit Singh - Boliyan
6. Mohinder Kaur Bhamra - Gidda Pao Haan Deo
7. A.S. Kang - Valeti Boliyan
8. Bally Sagoo And Bitti Satwinder - Pendha Gidda
9. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - Piya Re Piya Re
10. Baldip Jabble - Janj Mahi Ley Aya
11. The Safri Boys - Par Linghade
12. Saqi - Saqian Da Dhol
13. Labh Janjua And Panjabi Mc - Mundian To Bach Ke