Aavikko - Back From The Futer

Not sure what it is about Scandinavia, but they got a disproportionate number of great bands. Maybe they have nothing better to do during those six-month-long polar nights but sit around and jam. BTW, I am not talking about the ridiculous church-burning bandmember-killing who's-the-truest-satanist-competing brainless black metal hairy fucks from Burzum or whatever, I am talking real music. My favorite band of 2006, Kaiser's Orchestra, are Norwegians. But in the little Finland, there are funkateers the Soul Investigators (I wrote of them earlier), there are surfers Laika and the Cosmonauts, the folk-punkers Elakelaiset, there are the genre-defying Kimmo Pohjonen, Alamaailman Vasarat, Apocalyptica, and the completely undescribable Aavikko.

Aavikko is one of those bands made to excercise the vocabulary of the music critics: they've been called any conceivable combination of labels and then some. "Electro-surf", "casio exotica", "hoarse garage lounge", "retro-futurist synth rock", "cinematic Finnish casiocore", "the casio madness is propelled with pseudo disco syncopations and hyper-active breakbeats, while second hand synths weave surprisingly lush noir soundscapes, equal parts moody cocktaily jazz, propulsive spy thriller soundtrack muzak, spastic mechanical sounding krautrock and pretty much every musical stop in between." The band itself talked about their first release as ranging from "surf-house to maniacal monkey-jazz, from delicate faux-lounge moments to grating avantgarde screech, from ethnic rhythms to quasi-disco boogie blast."

I know this is a lot of nonsense and not enough information, so here's my pedestrian explanation of what they are like: a live drummer and two keyboardists armed with vintage cheap synths play a very intense melodic electronic rock with a dirty lo-fi sound. Grab it, it's good!


megaupload
200VBR, 58 mb
1. Back From The Futer
2. Rosinante
3. Homo Futurus
4. Una Lira Soluzione
5. Erotica
6. Wot Wot NeoZulu
7. Futer City
8. P-Piste
9. Salamapallo
10. Capitano Argento
11. Diamond Pyramid

Orchestra Baobab - Pirate's Choice + Bamba

My favorite afro-jazz band; some of my favorite music in general. I really should have put this up earlier, instead of Makeba n'stuff. Really, really good. When I grow up die and go to heaven, I want to be a guitar player in Orchestra Baobab. I think this is the way guitar should be played - simple, not flashy, but every lead is so incredibly melodic, it sticks in your head right away, and you can sing it on the second listen. The rest of the band is just as good: they generate this suspended melancholy groove that lifts you up and carries you away.

Yesterday I was picking my son up from school (fourth grade) and asked him what should I play in the car. He said: Put on something sad... something about being lonely. So I found Mouhamadou Bamba, and before playing it, I said: I can't speak Wolof, and I don't know what Bamba is, but if we imagine it means loneliness, this will be just right for you.
And a minute later, he agreed.


Orchestra Baobab - Pirate's Choice
210VBR, 140 mb
REUP 2/7/2014: depositfiles
1. Utrus Horas
2. Coumba
3. Ledi Ndieme M'Bodj
4. Werente Serigne
5. Ray M'Bele
6. Soldadi
7. Ngalam
8. Toumaranke
9. Foire Internationale
10. La Rebellion
11. Ndiaga Niaw
12. Balla Daffe


Orchestra Baobab - Bamba
192 kbps, 100 mb
REUP 2/7/2014: depositfiles
Mouhamadou Bamba
Boulmamine
Ndiawolou
Doomou Baaye
Gnawou
Bon Bon I
Autorail
Sou Sedhiou
Ndiambaane
Sibou Odia

Vagtazo HalottKemek (Galloping Coroners) - Jumping Out The World-Instinct/Teach Death a Lesson

Some excellent tribal punk from Hungary, Jello Biafra's proteges - this disc came out on Alternative Tentacles. We all know hungarians come from outer space: their language is unrelated to any other European language, they are the smartest people in Europe, and the most prone to suicide, and they all look different (don't they?). This record proves it again. Echoy chants from the frontman Atilla (who is rumored to be a professor of astrophysics), cavernous riffage, subterannean drums. They sing in hungarian, and they might just as well. Below is a sample lyric from the sleeve:

animal corpses are elevating in the courtyard of the Moon!
madly moving to the rhythm of the Great Game!
everything is filled with light!
i'm a giant mushroom rotating in the windshadow of the Sun!
lighting objects getting to flight rotating in space!
wheels are rolling to everywhere! the wheel-arms of the sky are
escaping
into the tents of my hair

Hungarian is probably the only language on Earth in which this would not sound ridiculous.


Vagtazo HalottKemek (Galloping Coroners) - Jumping Out The World-Instinct/Teach Death a Lesson
200VBR, 112 mb
megaupload
1. Hallo, Mindenseg! - Hello, Universe!
2. Hivlak! - I'm Calling You!
3. Porbol Varat Epitek - I'm Building a Castle from the Dust
4. A Vilagoszton Kiugrasztasa - Jumping out the World--Instinct
5. Hol Vagy? - Where Are You?
6. Masfele Taj - Another Kind of Landscape
7. A Vilagoszton Beporgetese - Spinning in the World--Instinct
8. Indulok! - I'm Going to Do It!
9. Ki vele, as Istenert! - Get it Out, for God's Sake!
10. Radebredek - I Wake Up with You
11. Talruj Vilag - Open Up, World
12. Mi Tortent? - What Happened?
13. Elo Vilagegyetem - Living Universe

Monty Alexander - Monty Meets Sly and Robbie

I mentioned this disc as a point of reference in my Ernest Ranglin post, I might as well put it up, too. Seven years since it's been released, and it's already a classic.
Monty Alexander, a pianist accomplished both in the reggae world and in the jazz circles, attempts to bring together the two. Backed by a crack rhythm team of Sly Dunbar on drums and drum programming, and bassist Robbie Shakespeare, Monty reinterprets the jazz groove masterpieces of the 60s and 70s: Herbie Hancock's Chameleon, Lee Morgan's Sidewinder, Ramsey Lewis' The In Crowd, and Moanin' from Art Blackey's eponymous album. Monty's originals - Do the Kool Step, Hot Milk, Monty's Groove - are equally good; in fact, the last one would be my pick off this disc.


Monty Alexander - Monty Meets Sly and Robbie, 2000
256 kbps, 90 mb
megaupload
1. Chameleon
2. Monty's Groove
3. Soulful Strut
4. The In Crowd
5. Sidewinder
6. People Make The World Go 'Round
7. (Do The) Kool Step
8. Moanin'
9. Mercy, Mercy, Mercy
10. Hot Milk

Blossom Dearie

My wife's favorite jazz singer, the ultimate chick music. I like her, too. She is also a good piano player, just like Mose Allison and King Cole, my other favorite jazz vocalists. Blossom has a fragile little girl's voice, not much by itself - but with her understated piano, a very tasteful selection of songs, and the appropriate nerdy looks, it all comes together. She creates an image of a vulnerable femme - a pose that any girl likes to strike and one that makes the guys feel very masculine.
An obligatory bit of trivia: Blossom Dearie is her real name.


Blossom Dearie - Blossom Dearie
120VBR, 40 mb
megaupload
1. 'Deed I Do
2. Lover Man
3. Everything I've Got
4. Comment Allez Vous
5. More Than You Know
6. Thou Swell
7. It Might As Well Be Spring
8. Tout Doucement
9. You For Me
10. Now At Last
11. I Hear Music
12. Wait Till You See Her
13. I Won't Dance
14. A Fine Spring Morning
15. They Say It's Spring
16. Johnny One Note
17. Blossom's Blues

Chet Atkins - The RCA Years [1947-1981]

Here's an out-of-print Atkins 2CD box with a selection from his recordings on RCA.


Chet Atkins - The RCA Years [1947-1981]
190VBR, 112 mb
megaupload
Disc 1
1. Avalon (w/Les Paul: guitar) (Rose / Jolson / DeSylva) (6:32)
2. A Taste Of Honey (Scott / Marlow) (2:41)
3. Snowbird (Gene MacLellan) (2:13)
4. El Condor Pasa (Robles / Milchenberg) (2:55)
5. Main Street Breakdown (Chet Atkins) (2:16)
6. Yakety Axe (w/Charlie McCoy: harmonica) (Randolph / Rich) (2:03)
7. Slinkey (Chet Atkins) (2:01)
8. Windy & Warm (John D. Loudermilk) (2:26)
9. Chinatown, My Chinatown (Jerome / Schwartz) (1:57)
10. Country Gentleman (w/Arthur Fiedler & The Boston Pops Orchestra) (Chet Atkins / Boudleaux Bryant) (1:56)
11. Blue Angel (Natalico Lima) (2:24)
12. Black Mountain Rag (Tommy Magness) (2:35)
13. Good Stuff (w/Jerry Reed: guitar) (Jerry R. Hubbard) (2:43)
14. Cascade (Gene Sloane) (2:28)
15. Jerry's Breakdown (w/Jerry Reed: guitar) (Jerry R. Hubbard) (2:11)
16. Vincent (Don McLean) (3:14)
Total timing: 42:58

Disc 2
1. Sweet Georgia Brown (w/Lenny Breau: guitar) (Bernie / Casey / Pinkard) (4:41)
2. Terry On The Turnpike (w/Boots Randolph: saxophone) (Chet Atkins) (2:28)
3. Do I Ever Cross Your Mind (w/Dolly Parton: vocals) (Dolly Parton) (2:41)
4. Boo Boo Stick Beat (M.Harmon / J.D.Loudermilk) (2:10)
5. Floatin' Down To Cotton Town (Frost / Klickmann) (2:16)
6. Swedish Rhapsody (Hugo Alfven) (2:32)
7. Little Music Box / Lagrima (Francisco Tarrega) (3:38)
8. Junk (Paul McCartney) (2:09)
9. The Boxer (Paul Simon) (3:43)
10. Wimoweh (Linda / Campbell) (2:43)
11. Nine Pound Hammer (w/Merle Travis: guitar) (Merle Travis) (2:50)
12. Jitterbug Waltz (Thomas Fats Waller) (2:57)
13. Take Five (Paul Desmond) (2:39)
14. Don't Monkey 'Round My Widder (Karl Davis) (3:30)
Total timing: 41:35

The artwork on the CDs:

Incredibly Strange Music Vol. 1+2

ANOTHER REUP: Vol. 1: sharebee
190VBR, 52 mb
1. Buddy Merrill - Busy Bee
2. Bob Peck - Sweet 16
3. Dean Elliot - Lonesome Road
4. Katie Lee - Will to Fail
5. Harry Breuer - Minute Merengue
6. Rajput & The Sepoy - Up, Up & Away
7. The Scramblers - Mister Hot
8. Rod Dave Harris - Dinner Music for a Pack of Hungry Cannibals
9. Perrey & Kingsley - Swan's Splashdown
10. Jo Ann Castle - Tico Tico
11. Billy Mure - Hawaiian War Chant
12. Fred Lowrey - William Tell Overture
13. Kali Bahlu - A Cosmic Telephone Call



Vol. 2 REUP: megaupload
190VBR, 50 mb
1. Hot Butter - Skokian
2. Bob McFadden & Dor - The Mummy
3. The Nirvana Sitar & String Group - The Letter
4. Lucia Pamela - Walking on the Moon
5. Ken Nordine - Flesh
6. Billy Mure - Chopsticks Guitar
7. Myrtle K. Hilo - Lover's Prayer
8. Russ Garcia & His Orchestra - Delicado
9. Del Close & John Brent - Introduction
10. Jean Jacques Perrey - Gossipo Perpetuo
11. Ken Nordine - Green
12. Eden Abhez - Full Moon
13. Harry Breuer - Bumble Bee Bolero
14. Little Marcy - Join the Gospel Express
15. Les Baxter - Terror
16. Ken Nordine - Yellow
17. Rusty Warren - 1st Song/Opening Monologue

Once in a while one needs a visionary to point back and say: Something important just happened while you were looking the other way. Lenny Kaye did that in 1971, releasing the Nuggets compilation. It single-handedly created the "garage" genre and started a long line of similar releases - Pebbles Vol. 1 through god-knows-how-many, Green Crystal Ties, Acid Daze, Back From The Grave, and all these Teenage Cavemen: Lost Psych/Garage-Punk No-Hit Wonders of Cowshed, South Dakota and the like. We turned around and realized that those teenagers smoking dope and bashing out three chords in their parents' garage were not an accident, but a part of a scene, a spontaneous social and cultural grassroots movement which embodied the spirit of the 60s as much as Woodstock and Summer of Love did.
A revelatory moment happened again in 1994, when these two compilations came out together with two eponymous books from the RE/Search publishing. They gave a name and a voice to all things unusual, obscure, left-field. This time the visionary pointed not back, but forward. The internet media revolution was about to happen, and these two books became its prophets. Nowadays all sorts of unclassifiable weirdness is rescued from the 10-cent bin, digitized and offered through blogs and Soulseek to the appreciative listeners. The Incredibly Strange publications turned it overnight from trash into treasure, Cinderella-style, giving it the second life (or sometimes the first).
Several kinds of recordings are collected on these CDs. There is some early electronic music - Hot Butter and two Perrey tracks. There are far-out instrumental experiments by the "real" musicians - Buddy Merrill, Billy Mure, the supersonic accordeon of Jo Ann Castle, the whistling virtuoso Fred Lowrey. There are some novelty recordings such as Sweet 16, Will To Fail and The Mummy. There is spoken word - beat poetry of Ken Nordine, a track off "How To Speak Hip" by Del Close & John Brent. And, finally, there is some truly outer-space stuff that defies description, like a track of the LSD casualty Kali Bahlu and one by Little Marcy, a christian ventriloquist doll. Many of the recordings mentioned are now available complete online, but only because of these comps.
I should add that these are not "good albums" in the proper sense. They are cohesive conceptually, but it is difficult to listen to them straight through. Just as everyone will find something attractive, everyone will find something irritating or repulsive - the variety here is both a strength and a weakness.

Mighty Sparrow and Byron Lee - Only a Fool + one more by Byron Lee

Another fine calypso album by Mighty Sparrow collaborating with Byron Lee and his group. Byron Lee is an interesting personage: his band, the Dragonaires, might be the longest-running musical group from Jamaica; they were very financially successfull and popular in Jamaica, all over Caribbean, and in the US in the 60s and 70s, but now are all but forgotten. Both their former popularity and their current obscurity stem from one source: they adapted the music of the slums to the tastes of the elite. So while the "real deal" was too dirty and dangerous, Byron Lee was a hit; when it was tamed by time and distance and became acceptable, the Dragonaires' fortunes declined.
The Dragonaires were musical omnivores, playing every caribbean style from calypso, mento and ska to reggae and rocksteady, but all of it with an eye for respectability. Byron Lee, a very talented musician and arranger, and a shrewd businessman, collected the latest tunes and trends from all over the islands, and then played them his own style, tight and smooth; hot dance numbers were interleaved with sappy ballads and instrumental covers of the US hits. This is the approach they choose here.
On this LP Mighty Sparrow made an honest effort to go commercial: he picked only the love songs from his repertoire, purging all the drinking, fighting and whoring subject matter. Unfortunately, this wasn't enough to fill an album, so there are some saccharine ballads sung by somebody else (I assume it's Byron Lee himself, but I have no positive proof) which are pretty disposable, and a couple of instrumental pieces, caribbiefied takes on the popular movie themes of the times - and those are pretty good. Only a Fool was Sparrow's only appearance on American charts. Incredibly, the song, while bearing his name ("Mighty Sparrow and Byron Lee", say the credits), did not have his vocals.
You can't keep a good man down, though: Sparrow's tunes are driving dance numbers with a chugging locomotive beat. Even his cover of an Otis Redding ballad (Try a Little Tenderness) is twice as fast as an original.
I will throw in another Byron Lee album without my endorsement. If you are a big reggae fan, go for it.


Mighty Sparrow and Byron Lee - Only a Fool
REUP: sharebee
210VBR, 52 mb
1. Maria (MS)
2. No Money, No Love (MS)
3. More And More Amour (instrumental)
4. Born Free (BL)
5. Sandra (MS)
6. Walk Away (BL)
7. Peace And Love (MS)
8. Only A Fool (BL)
9. Theme From Dr Zhivago (instrumental)
10. More (BL)
11. Make The World Go Away (instrumental)
12. Try A Little Tenderness (MS)


Byron Lee and the Dragonaires - Reggay Eyes
REUP: mediafire
128 kbps, 28 mb
1. Soul Serenade
2. Can I Change My Mind
3. More Scorcher
4. Long Shot Kick De Bucket
5. Square From Cuba
6. Another Scorcher
7. Musical Scorcher
8. Throw Me Corn
9. Bond In Bliss
10. Too Experienced
11. Games People Play
12. Pum Pum On A String

iPod deathclock

http://www.ipodmechanic.com/deathclock/
"When will my iPod Croak? Depending on how you use (or abuse) it, we can take a guess at how long your little friend has left in this world."
They tell me my iPod should be dead by now.

A book for you iPod freaks:
O'Reilly - iPod: The Missing Manual 5th Edition

MediaFour XPlay - a non-iTunes syncing utility. Like EphPod, but simpler and integrated with Explorer.
Review
v. 2.3.0 (megaupload)
v. 2.2.8 (link out)

Catapilla - Changes

An obscure, but excellent early 70s British prog. Reminds me of early Hawkwind, except these guys knew how to play and probably took baths more often. A lot of saxophone; also a female vocalist with a great operatic voice - think "Great Gig In The Sky". The compositions are long and hypnotic.


Catapilla - Changes, 1972
320 kbps, 86 mb
http://lix.in/a3c1fa
1. Reflections (12:06)
2. Charing Cross (6:40)
3. Thank Christ For George (12:02)
4. If Could Only Happen To Me (6:37)

Lagos All Routes

Afrofunk and more from Nigeria; mid-60s to early 80s.


Lagos All Routes
http://lix.in/c7c63d
192 kbps, 92 mb
1. Ebenezer Obey - Eyi Yato / Elere Ni Wa
2. Sir Victor Uwaifo - Joromi
3. Travellers Lodge Atomic 8 - Ikut Asana Edem
4. Sagbeni Aragbada - Sowambe
5. Super Negro Bantous - Professional Super Bantous
6. Cardinal Rex Jim Lawson - Tom Kirisite
7. Ambali Adedeji - Ole Obinrin
8. Chief Umobuarie And His Group - Ebalume
9. Mike Ejeagha - Onye Ori Utaba
10. Kollington Ayinla - Omo Mi Gbo Temi
11. Cardinal Rex Jim Lawson - Nume Inye
12. The Harbours Band - Da Wa Lohun
13. Haruna Ishola - Pariboto Riboto
14. Dr. Victor Olaiya - Moonlight Highlife
15. Sir Patrick Idahosa And His African Sound Makers - Eni

Koroleva Krasoty - Best Songs of the XX Century

Internet is bursting at the seams with the 60's music from all over the globe. This very blog featured Turkish and South Korean psychedelia; you are one search away from compilations of Nigerian, Mexican, Swedish, Ethiopean, Chilean, New Zealand bands doing their thing. But one big blind spot is Soviet music. The reason is simple: the collectors and compilers are usually interested in the garage/psychedelic stuff, and there was none of it in the 60's USSR. There was no underground scene to speak of. Psychoactive substances were only available in the KGB labs creating the next chemichal weapon; for the rest of the country the mind-expansion options ran between cognac and moonshine. Finally, there was a small matter of the instruments: the Soviet electric guitars were made at the military factories and were better suited for taking over Afghanistan than for playing rokenrol.
But none of this means there was no good music in Russia in the 60s, it simply took other routes. This disc collects the some of the greatest Soviet pop of the time (and a few lame ducks, as well). The music is not that different from the American radio hits of the 50s and 60s - big band crooners and divas, cheerful jazzy twists, gypsy songs and moody ballads, and all of it very melodic and catchy.
The sound is a bit crackly, sounding like a moderately worn LP rip, but it does not interfere with the music. The best tracks are #2, 8, 9, 14, 16. There is also a rather weird "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" cover called "Zachem Slova?" (No need for words) with lyrics in russian and japanese.


192 kbps, 95 mb
http://lix.in/a58bc1
1. Muslim Magomaev - Koroleva Krasoty (Beauty Queen)
2. Maya Kristallinskaya - Ya Tebya Podozhdu (I'll Wait For You)
3. Vladimir Makarov - Poslednyaya Elektrichka (The Last Train)
4. Nina Brodskaya - Kak Tebya Zovut (What's Your Name?)
5. Valerii Obodzinskii - Vostochnaya Pesnya (The Oriental Song)
6. Edita Pyexa - Tak Uzh Byvaet (not sure how to translate this one... "Shit Happens"?)
7. Emil' Gorovec - Makarony (Macaroni)
8. Iosif Kobzon - A U Nas Vo Dvore (In Our Yard)
9. Tamara Miansarova - Chernyi Kot (Black Cat)
10. Vadim Mulerman - Lada
11. Kvartet Akkord - Kotenok (A Kitten)
12. Raisa Nemenova - Pomogi Mne, Buratino (Help Me, Pinocchio)
13. Zhan Tatlyan - Belyi Medvezhonok (A White Bear Cub)
14. Nani Bregvadze - Otrada (Joy)
15. Eduard Xil' - Lunnyi Kamen' (Moonstone)
16. Aida Vedischeva - Pesenka O Medvedyax (The Little Bear Song)
17. Anatolii Korolev - Lyubov I Poklonnaya Gora (Love and the Mountain)
18. Nina Pantele - Zachem Slova (No Need For Words)
19. Rashid Beibutov - O Pesnya Zvonkaya (My Song Rings Out)
20. Galina Velikanova - Bubency (Little Bells)
21. Oleg Uxnalev - I Ne To Chtoby Da, I Ne To Chtoby Net (It's Not A Yes, It's Not A No)
22. Larisa Mondrus - Sinii Len (Blue Flax)
23. Eduard Xil' - Ya Shagayu Po Moskve (I Am Walking Along In Moscow)

Os Mundi - Latin Mass

A fine piece of prog from the early 70s. German band recreates catholic mass as a psychedelic concept album; you could call it "The pope meets the dope". The lyrics are in latin (although Kyrie Eleison is greek, isn't it?), and the music is typical late-60s organ/fuzz mongering, but of the good kind. Some fragments are very reminiscent of the Doors' hypnotic jams (i.e. The End); online reviewers also call this album "krautrock" and compare it with Uriah Heep and Iron Butterfly.


Os Mundi - Latin Mass
http://lix.in/42b4c1
192 kbps, 57 mb
1. Overture
2. Kyrie
3. Gloria
4. Credo I
5. Credo II
6. Sanctus
7. Agnus Dei

Chester and Lester - Guitar Monsters

Another installment in the Atkins retrospective, the second album with Les Paul.


Chester and Lester - Guitar Monsters
210VBR, 52 mb
http://lix.in/37ebae
1 Limehouse Blues (Braham, Furber)
2 I Want to Be Happy (Youmans, Caesar)
3 Over the Rainbow (Arlen, Harburg)
4 Meditation (Meditação) (Jobim)
5 Lazy River (Carmichael, Arodin)
6 I'm Your Greatest Fan
7 It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) (Mills, Ellington)
8 I Surrender, Dear (Barris, Clifford)
9 Brazil (Russell, Barroso)
10 Give My Love to Nell (Traditional)
11 Hot Toddy (Flanagan)

Takeshi Terauchi - The Blue Jeans' Complete Collection + The World Is Waiting For Terry

Seems like the Terry shares generate the most hits to my blog, so I'll put up a few more albums. I read about Terry in the Incredibly Strange Music magazine. Jello Biafra was raving about him, and I thought I absolutely have to find and check him out. I could not find his albums online at the time; that must've been before WFMU put up his albums, and for some reason Soulseek did not help, either. The only mention I could find is that San Francisco Japanese Consulate had his CD in their library. So I actually went to the city, found the consulate (downtown, 22nd floor, with a Bay Bridge view, gotta be seen to be believed), registered with the library, checked it out and ripped it. Voila!
The CD had the titles in japanese, so the titles are somebody's translation and my subsequent edits (i.e. I had to figure that "10th street murder" is actually "Slaughter on 10th Avenue" and so forth). It's a Best-Of, with selections from several albums - for instance, the first two are from Let's Go Classics, Tsugaru is from his Shamisen covers LP etc.

The other one I don't have much info about, so I'll quote: [The Bunnys'] 3rd LP, The World is Waiting for Terry, contains Moanin’, a rippin’ toe-tapping instrumental, along with covers like House of the Rising Sun, Night Train, and Blue Moon.

Previous posts: The Bunnys' Singles and Beat! Beat! Beat! Vol.1-4


The Blue Jeans - Complete Collection
http://lix.in/c0c624
210VBR, 96 mb
1. Fate (Theme From Beethoven's 5th Symphony in C minor)
2. In A Persian Market
3. Tsugaru
4. Walk Don't Run
5. Caravan
6. Slaughter On 10th Ave
7. Diamond Head
8. Pipeline
9. Far Away From The Sun
10. Karelia (Kiri-no Kareria)
11. Driving Guitar
12. Feedback Guitar
13. Flying Guitar (Sora-tobu gita)
14. Guitar In Tears (Namida-no Gita)
15. Forever With You (Kimi To Itsumademo)
16. Black Sand Beach (Burakku Sando Biichi)
17. Hey, Traveller (Tabibito Yo)
18. Stars In The Night (Yozora-no Hoshi)
19. Seishun-e-no Messeeji
20. Blue Star


The World Is Waiting For Terry, 1967
http://lix.in/6d1aa1
128 kbps, 28 mb
1. Riders In The Sky
2. House Of The Rising Storm
3. Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise
4. The World Is Waiting For The Sunrise
5. Moanin'
6. Shine
7. Night Train
8. Red Sails In The Sunset
9. Blue Moon
10. Stardust
11. Moon River
12. Comin' Home Baby

Old and In The Way + Fade To Bluegrass: Tribute to Metallica

Two bluegrass ablums that can make a believer out of anyone.
Old and In The Way is a "progressive bluegrass" supergroup with Jerry Garcia on banjo and his frequent collaborator Peter Kahn on bass, the definitive jazz mandolin virtuoso David Grisman, and two of the old-time bluegrass/country stars, Vassar Clemens on the fiddle and a former Monroe's Blue Grass Boy Peter Rowan on guitar. With a lineup like that, you can't go wrong.
This is the only studio album of the group; since then, a couple of live recordings came out, too. Old and In The Way is credited with jump-starting the 70s "newgrass" revival, and for good reason. While traditional bluegrass is rather an acquired taste (which I never acquired), anyone can relate to and enjoy this album, and you don't have to be a Deadhead.


Old and In The Way, 1975
4shared
~200VBR, 62 mb
1. Pig in a Pen (Traditional) – 2:53
2. Midnight Moonlight (Peter Rowan) – 6:17
3. Old and in the Way (David Grisman) – 3:05
4. Knockin' on Your Door (trad.) – 3:36
5. The Hobo Song (Jack Bonus) – 5:05
6. Panama Red (Rowan) – 2:57
7. Wild Horses (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards) – 4:19
8. Kissimmee Kid (Vassar Clements) – 3:32
9. White Dove (Carter Stanley) – 4:45
10. Land of the Navajo (Rowan) – 6:19

Fade To Bluegrass is just one of many bluegrass rock tributes proliferating lately. There is Hayseed Dixie (a pun on AC/DC), a bluegrass band doing heavy metal covers; I've also heard tributes to Pink Floyd and Ozzy, and there are others (LedZep, Modest Mouse etc.etc.). This album is easily the best one of the bunch. In most cases, the shtick starts to wear thin by the second song. This album is solid from cover to cover; when I first got it, I spun it on repeat for several days, and I am not tired of it a year later. Metallica's apocalyptic lyrics fit perfectly to the death-and-desolation mood of the traditional bluegrass, the musicianship is flawless, the pace is unrelenting. And you don't have to be a Metallica fan, either.
P.S. The word is, Iron Horse put the second volume out. I haven't heard it, but they say it's just as good.


Iron Horse - Fade To Bluegrass: Tribute to Metallica, 2003
4shared
192 kbps, 65 mb
Alternative link - not sure what the bitrate is.
1. Unforgiven
2. Nothing Else Matters
3. Enter Sandman
4. Hero Of The Day
5. Fade To Black
6. One
7. Ride The Lightning
8. Wherever I May Roam
9. Fuel
10. The Four Horsemen

Merle Travis and Joe Maphis - Country Music's Two Guitar Greats

Looks like it's a tradition in country music for two great guitar players to record an LP together. This disc might be the one that started this tradition - or maybe not, I am not too keen on the c&w history. Anyway, if Chet with Breau was jazz, and Chet with Les Paul was, like, country-jazz-pop, then this one is unadulterated country of the highest grade.
An average listener associates country with the nauseating radio shlock, but it was not always like that, and it should not be. There is a great guitar tradition that runs through the history of the style, under the radar of the music business and many fans. The contemporary guitar wizards like Junior Brown or Jim Campilongo are but heirs to the virtuosos of the 40s and 50s like Jimmy Bryant, for whom Leo Fender created Telecaster. But Merle Travis and Joe Maphis are probably the fathers of them all. Merle is the inventor of the "Travis picking", that inspired Chet Atkins to develop his own thumb-and-two-fingers playing style, and Joe Maphis is simply an excellent musician; that doubleneck monster you see him holding on the cover is his signature instrument, a mandoline/guitar mutant.


Merle Travis and Joe Maphis - Country Music's Two Guitar Greats
depositfiles
320 kbps, 68 mb

[excerpt from the original LP liner notes]:
"Merle Travis and Joe Maphis deserve a far finer tribute than I have the ability to write. I would ordinarily shy away from anything that involves writing. But a job like this can be a labor of love if the subjects are two of the mightiest men who ever rested guitars in their laps, and, of course, they've been two close friends of mine for a good many years now. Now that Capital Records has teamed these two thoroughbreds, this album will be a must for all of us guitar pickers." -- Chet Atkins, 1964

1. Corrine, Corrina (Willams / Chatman / Parish) (2:31)
2. Big Midnight Special (trad. arr. Travis / Maphis) (2:30)
3. Bayou Baby (Merle Travis) (2:04)
4. Don’t Let Your Deal Go Down (Merle Travis) (2:18)
5. Guitar Rag (Merle Travis) (2:13)
6. Blast Off (Travis / Maphis) (2:23)
7. When It’s Time for the Whippoorwill to Sing (Alton Delmore) (2:02)
8. West Coast Blues (Merle Travis) (3:37)
9. Mainstreet Breakdown (Chet Atkins) (2:25)
10. Picture On the Wall (trad. arr. Travis / Maphis) (2:19)
11. Kentucky Waltz (Bill Monroe) (2:40)
12. Gonna Lay Down My Old Guitar (Alton Delmore) (2:21)

Chet Atkins and Les Paul - Chester and Lester

No introduction needed to this one.


Chet Atkins and Les Paul - Chester and Lester, 1977
http://lix.in/545d7e
190VBR, 48 mb
1. It's Been a Long, Long Time
2. Medley: Moonglow/Picnic
3. Caravan
4. It Had to Be You
5. Out of Nowhere
6. Avalon
7. Birth of the Blues
8. Someday, Sweetheart
9. 'Deed I Do
10. Lover, Come Back to Me

Lenny Breau and Chet Atkins - Standard Brands

I believe that Chet Atkins' best solo records come from the 50s and 60s. Afterwards he settled into the role of a "country gentleman", big label executive and godfather of the country music. While all that success was certainly well-deserved, it took some of the edge from his playing; Chet did not take risks on his records anymore, preferring instead a smooth, very produced and orchestrated sound. However, he did not lose his spark of genius, but it often took another musician to bring it out. In addition to his radio fodder, Chet recorded a number of duo records with other guitar players, and you can hear that these were done not for the commercial demand, but for the pleasure of playing with a fellow musical giant. The duet with Lenny Breau is a case in point.
Lenny Breau is a fingerstyle jazz player, whose life fits only too well in the "troubled genius" mold: his brilliance on guitar was combined with a difficult personal life, complete with psychological instability and drug addiction, and an untimely, violent end at 43yo. Chet's playing was a major inspiration for Lenny Breau; they were introduced to each other and Atkins, very impressed, also became Lenny's producer, mentor and musical partner.

Standard Brands is a record amazing for the virtuosity of the players, for the telepathic rapport between them, for the effortless genre-hopping - the pair feels equally at home with the jazz standards, bossa of Batucada, and country of Cattle Call, - and for the simple joy of making music that rings in every note. Most highly recommended!


Lenny Breau and Chet Atkins - Standard Brands, 1981
http://lix.in/ac7208
190VBR, 44 mb
1. Batucada
2. Tenderly
3. Cattle Call
4. Taking A Chance On Love
5. Somebody's Knockin'
6. This Can't Be Love
7. This Nearly Was Mine
8. Going Home
9. Polka Dots And Moonbeams

You can read more about Breau here or here.
A solo Lenny Breau album here: The Velvet Touch of Lenny Breau Live

Willie Bobo - Spanish Grease & Uno Dos Tres 1-2-3

I am an obsessive music freak (why else would I want to have a music blog?). As such, I like to be in control of what I am listening to. Before a record even gets into my player, I have to know what is the style, why I should be checking it out, who recommends it and what he says etc.etc. Today's disc is special as one that I bought simply on hearing it. It was playing in a music store, and I liked it enough to go to the counter and ask for the name; and some time later I bought it, still not knowing who the hell is Willie Bobo and what's his shtick. So, what can I say? - this is not a "must-hear-if-you-cool", it's not an "influental historical recording", it's just good music, pure and simple.
However, I will still give some background for those of you who might be obsessive music freaks like me. Willie Bobo is a salsa percussionist and bandleader, who played with Mongo Santamaria, Cal Tjader, Tito Puente, Santana and many others; this disc is a Verve reissue combining two of his own mid-60s albums. The music is a latin/jazz/pop fusion, mellow and groovy. There are some covers of the contemporary pop tunes (It's Not Unusual, Michelle, Goin' Out Of My Head), some jazz tunes (Horace Silver's Blind Man, Blind Man), and some originals (most notably, Fried Neck Bones, later covered by Santana), but all of it sounds like seamless whole.
I should add that his music, although not as popular as it should have been in its day, is now being enthusiastically molested by the remix crowd on all sorts of Verve Remixed albums and the like.


Willie Bobo - Spanish Grease & Uno Dos Tres 1-2-3
192 kbps, 95 mb
REUP: 4shared
1. Spanish Grease
2. Hurt So Bad
3. It's Not Unusual
4. Our Day Will Come
5. Haitian Lady
6. Blues In The Closet
7. Nessa
8. Elation
9. It's Not Unusual (Instrumental)
10. Shot Gun / Blind Man, Blind Man
11. Boogaloo In Room 802
12. Come A Little Bit Closer
13. Goin' Out Of My Head
14. I Remember Clifford
15. Rescue Me
16. Michelle
17. No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach's In)
18. Fried Neck Bones And Some Homefries
19. Ol' Man River
20. One, Two, Three (Uno, Dos, Tres)
21. Night Song
22. The Breeze And I

Another fine album featuring Willie Bobo is here.

Kyuss - Welcome to Sky Valley

Kyuss is the archetypal cult band. Think of all the things that make a cult, and Kyuss have them. They were short-lived - 1990-95. They only left three LPs. They became more famous after the dissolution then they ever were in their lifetime. They are called the progenitors of a new style, and music critics are falling over themselves thinking of the catchy names for it: stoner rock/metal, sludge-metal, desert rock... The members went on to the higher-profile projects - Fu Manchu, Mondo Generator, Queens of the Stone Age. Finally, through the 90s there were a million bad bands trying to emulate what Kyuss were doing.
The "desert rock" tag points to the origins of their music. They started out by playing parties in the desert, and their expansive sound is intended to fill up all that endless space. It rolls slowly, but heavily, in all directions, like hot lava, melting everything in its path. On this album, the songs also expand in time, fusing together into three long cuts for the maximum psychedelic effect. This is truly a must for any self-respecting stoner.


Kyuss - Welcome to Sky Valley
~200VBR, 70 mb
REUP: rapidshare or megaupload
1. Gardenia / Asteroid / Supa Scoopa And Mighty Scoop
2. 100 degrees / Space Cadet / Demon Cleaner
3. Odyssey / Conan Troutman / N.O. / Whitewater

Korea: San Ul Lim - Best Of + Shin Joong Hyun & The Men

Two albums of Korean psychedelic rock - does it get more obscure than that? I've heard them on the third, and possibly the best, disc from the Love Peace and Poetry series, entitled "Asian Psychedelic Rock".

The first album is at À bientôt j'espère - a good blog with few, but very intriguing postings.
San Ul Lim started as an amateur college band, but gradually evolved into a flagship Korean psychedelic group. The best from that 60's sound - fuzz guitars, organ, melodic bass - fertilized by the Far Eastern melodic sense. A truly unusual and beautiful music.
San Ul Lim - Best Of (AKA Dragon Records compilation), 140mb on mediafire.
01 It was probably late summer
02 Narrow alleys
03 My soul lies on silk
04 A flower has bloomed
05 The day the white flower bloom
06 When I don't say anything
07 There is nobody there at night
08 Such a joy (Demo version)
09 You are already me
10 Jingle bells
11 An island without a name
12 Can't forget
13 Red ballooon
14 T.V. ending
15 There San Ul Lim
16 Afternoon (unreleased)

The second one is from Cities on Flame with Rock'n'roll, a most excellent blog with a variety of great and obscure sounds, whose owner, Dirk, is now battling with cancer.
Shin Joong Hyun is the Korean psychedelic guitar god, and this collection presents three of his lengthy mind-warping excursions.
Shin Joong Hyun & The Men
High VBR, on mediafire.
1. Beautiful Country
2. It's A Lie
3. A Woman In The Mist

Attack of the killer tomatoes from Mars

Half the links are dead, somebody reported them to BigUpload. Everything older than Feb.5 is gone. The albums will be re-upped in the next few days, starting with Takeshi Terauchi. Sorry for the inconvenience, check back soon! Say hi to the trolls!

Chet Atkins Picks On The Beatles

I think I will ran a short Chet Atkins retrospective in the next few days. A good way to begin it would be with the first Atkins album I have heard. Chet Atkins was very prolific, and not all of his records are top-notch; this one is, though. Chet plays his fingerstyle arrangements of the Beatles' tunes. This album was recorded when the Fab Four were still merseybeat-playing, teenage-girl-pleasing moptops, and the selections on it are drawn from their first albums. The music comes full circle on this record: the Beatles grew up listening to Chet's guitar sounds on the Everly Brothers' songs, and now Atkins salutes them back. The liner notes are written by Harrison. My own rip, high VBR.


Chet Atkins Picks On The Beatles
REUP: megaupload
43 mb, ~200VBR

Side 1
I Feel Fine
Yesterday
If I Fell
Can't Buy Me Love
I'll Cry Instead
Things We Said Today

Side 2
Hard Day's Night
I'll Follow the Sun
She's a woman
And I Love Her
Michelle
She Loves You

Grazin' in the Grass: The Best of Hugh Masekela + The Best Of Miriam Makeba & The Skylarks

Two more South African albums: a best-of from the first Miriam Makeba vocal group, The Skylarks, and a collection from her countrymate, colleague and former husband, trumpeter Hugh Masekela, who scored his biggest hit in the 60s with a highlife/jazz fusion instrumental "Grazin' In The Grass". The first album has recent rerecordings of "Grazing in the grass" and some of his other hits, Still Grazing culls from the Uni and Blue Thumb labels (1966-1973) and includes the original versions.


The Best Of Miriam Makeba & The Skylarks
192 kbps, 60mb
REUP: sharebee
1 Uthando Luyaphela
2 Table Mountain
3 Miriam & Spokes' Phatha Phatha
4 Mtshakasi
5 Ndimbone Dluca
6 Ndamcenga
7 Makoti
8 Ndidliwe Zintabe
9 Inkomo Zodwa
10 Sindiza Ngecadillacs
11 Nomalungelo
12 Kutheni Sithandwa
13 Vula Amasango
14 Owakho
15 Baya Ndi Memeza
16 Yini Madoda
17 Ekoneni
18 Uyadela


Grazin' in the Grass: The Best of Hugh Masekela
192 kbps, 101 mb
REUP: depositfiles
1. Grazing In The Grass
2. Vasco Da Gama :: The Sailor Man
3. Khauleza
4. Ziphi'nkomo
5. Mama
6. Chileshe
7. Market Place
8. Don't Go Lose It Baby
9. Strawberries
10. Thanayi
11. African Secret Society
12. Ha Le Se Le Li Khanna
13. Bring Him Back Home (Nelson Mandela)
14. Stimela (Coal Train)


Still Grazing: The Musical Journey of Hugh Masekela
95mb on depositfiles
1. Child Of The Earth
2. Ha Lese Le Di Khanna
3. A Felicidade
4. Up Up And Away
5. Bajabula Bonke (The Healing Song)
6. Grazing In The Grass
7. Gold
8. Mace And Grenades
9. Languta
10. Been Such A Long Time Gone
11. Stimela (Coal Train)

Diamanda Galas - The Litanies of Satan

Diamanda Galas - The Litanies of Satan
1. The Litanies of Satan (12:04)
2. Wild Women With Steak-Knives (The Homicidal Love Song For Solo Scream) (17:47)

Not sure where I got this, but a quick googleblogsearch tells me it is available at least in three different places: rapidshare, megaupload, uploading.com.

I actually did listen to it, yes. This is a very interesting album. Interesting usually implies "I don't know what to call it so let's call it interesting". In this case, however, interesting quite literally means that Diamanda Galas is capable of doing an LP-side-sized solo voice performance with hardly any text to lean on, and sustain the listener's interest throughout - and that is a very difficult feat, indeed. She has a compositional approach that strings together her shrieks, moans, and stutters into a coherent and engaging story, and they have enough variety to avoid repetetion for thirty minutes.
The reviews say that Litanies are "based on the work of Baudelaire", but the few discernable phrases (something about meatballs and steak?) are totally superfluous to the emotional impact. If anything, the work would be better without these shreds of meaning that only distract you from the soundwaves washing over you, lifting you up and smashing you on the rocks. There is some electronic voice processing, but it is fairly minimal - echo, delay, a stereo knob and maybe a pitchshifter in the second piece.

Maybe the secret to liking it is to listen to it at the end of a long, bad day, stuck behind the wheel, with forty minutes of traffic ahead of you, and feeling all numb on the inside.

P.S. More Satan-a-licious recordings for your education, enjoyment, and devil-worshipping needs.

Trojan Calypso

A great Trojan compilation of the calypso classics from the golden age. Many great songs unavailable elsewhere, although it has some filler, too. My favorites are Nora Dean's The Valet, The Maytals' Bam Bam, Lord Invader's Cat'O'Nine, and the tracks by Count Lasher, Sparrow, and Lord Creator.
Read a thorough review here.


Trojan Calypso
192 kbps, 190 mb (all three CDs in one archive)
REUP: megaupload
or two parts on sharebee: one and two.

Vol.1 - Jamaican Mento, Calypso and Jump Up Sounds
1. Count Lasher with Lyn Taitt & The Baba Brooks Band - The Weed (aka Man Pyabba)
2. Lord Kitchener - Love In The Cemetery
3. Lord Creator - Big Bamboo
4. Charlie Binger & His Quartet - Jamaica Is The Place To Go
5. Tommy McCook & The Supersonics - Get Me To The Church On Time
6. Nora Dean - The Valet
7. Lord Spoon & David - Woman A Love In The Night Time
8. The Mighty Vikings - Do Re Mi
9. Aston & Yen - Skillamy
10. Phyllis Dillon - Nice Time
11. Count Alert with Lyn Taitt & The Baba Brooks Band - In The Park
12. Derrick Harriott - Our Time Fe Celebrate
13. Marva Moore & The Gaysters - Great '68
14. The Maytals - Bam Bam
15. Count Lasher & Williams with Lynn Taitt & The Baba Brooks Band - Bam Bam
16. Lord Kitchener - Jamaica Woman
17. The Undergrounds - Savito

Vol.2 - Caribbean Calypso Carnival
1. Lord Kitchener - Neighbour, Neighbour
2. Nora Dean - Must Get A Man
3. Count Lasher & Williams with Lyn Taitt & The Baba Brooks Band - 'Mufridite
4. Charlie Binger & His Quartet - Country Gal
5. Lord Creator - Paint Up, Clean Up Time
6. Lord Spoon & David - The World On A Wheel
7. Derrick Harriott - Happy Times
8. Count Alert with Lyn Taitt & The Baba Brooks Band - Hard Time
9. Tommy McCook & The Supersonics - Reggae Merengue
10. Lord Cristo - Dumb Boy & The Parrot
11. The Mighty Sparrow - Village Ram
12. The Mighty Dougla - Teacher Teacher
13. Baldhead Growler - The Sausage
14. Mister Calypson - Muhammad Ali
15. Sampson The Lark - Undemocratic Rhodesia
16. Lord Kitchener - Kitch, You So Sweet
17. Lord Tanamo - A Dash Of The Sunshine

Vol.3 - Calypso War in the UK
1. The Mighty Terror & His Calypsonians - Calypso War
2. Lord Invader & His Calypso Rhythm Boys - Me One Alone
3. Lord Ivanhoe & His Caribbean Knights - The Water Gobbler
4. Ben Bowers & Bertie King's Royal Jamaicans - Not Me (aka Man Woman, Woman Smarter)
5. The Mighty Terror & His Calypsonians - Brownskin Girl
6. Lord Invader & His Calypso Rhythm Boys - You Don't Need Glasses To See
7. Lord Ivanhoe & His Caribbean Knights - Belinda
8. The Mighty Terror & His Calypsonians - Heading North
9. Lord Invader & His Calypso Rhythm Boys - I'm Going Back To Africa
10. Lord Ivanhoe & His Caribbean Knights - Africa, Here I Come
11. The Mighty Terror & His Calypsonians - Little Jeannie
12. Ben Bowers & Bertie King's Royal Jamaicans - Naughty Little Flea
13. Lord Invader & His Calypso Rhythm Boys - Mahalia, I Want Back My Dollar
14. Lord Ivanhoe & His Caribbean Knights - Lift The Iron Curtain
15. The Mighty Terror & His Calypsonians - T.V. Calypso
16. Lord Invader & His Calypso Rhythm Boys - Teddy Boy Calypso (Bring Back The Cat-o-Nine)

Musette

Two compilations of musette (AKA bal-musette), a french accordion style of the first half of XXth century. You can hear it grow from simple folk dance tunes into a beautiful, harmonically complex style of jazz-influenced virtuosos like Tony Murena and Gus Viseur. The material overlaps a little. Viseur's signature tune (and, possibly, the most famous musette piece of all), Flambee Montalbanaise, is a soundtrack to the Pixar short about an old man playing chess (Geri's Game). Also, listen to Tony Murena's Passion on the second CD for some truly mind-warping virtuosity.



Cafe De Paris 1930-41 (24 Accordeon Classics)
160 kbps, 72 mb
REUP: depositfiles
1. Gus Viseur Et Son Orchestre - Flambee Montalbanaise
2. Edith Piaf Avec Accompagnement De Grande Orchestre - L'Accordeoniste
3. Medard Ferrero Et Ses Clochards - El Ferrero
4. Les Freres Peguri - Enivrante
5. Michel Warlop Et Son Orchestre - Strange Harmony
6. Emile Vacher - Mado
7. Gus Viseur Et Son Orchestre - Matelotte
8. Jean Gabin - Quand On Se Promene
9. Emile Vacher - Sporting Java
10. Tony Murena Et Son Ensemble - Pepee
11. Damia - La Guinguette A Ferme Ses Volets
12. Gus Viseur Et Son Orchestre - Swing Valse
13. Guerino Et Son Orchestre Musette De La Boite A Matelots - Brise Napolitaine
14. Orchestre Musette Victor Sous La Direction De Boris Sarbeck - Coeur Vagabond
15. Tony Murena Et Son Ensemble - Nostalgia Gitana
16. Gus Viseur Et Son Ensemble - Soir De Dispute
17. Le Quartette Swing Emile Carrara - Le Charmeur De Serpents
18. Medard Ferrero Et Ses Clochards - Les Triolets
19. Guerino Et Son Orchestre Musette De La Boite A Matelots - Gallito
20. Gus Viseur Et Son Orchestre - Swing 39
21. Emile Prud'homme Et Son Orchestre Musette Du Tourbillon - Pinsonnette
22. Gus Viseur Et Son Orchestre - Rosetta
23. Tony Murena Et Son Ensemble - Melancolie
24. Gus Viseur Et Son Ensemble - Jeannette


Musette
160 kbps, 62 mb
REUP: depositfiles
1. Emile Vacher - Reine De Musette
2. Emile Vacher - Les Triolets
3. Marceau - Ca Gaze
4. Fredo Gardoni - Galopade
5. Les Freres Peguri - Reproche
6. Medad Ferrero - Perles De Cristal
7. Guerino - Brise Napolitaine
8. Colombo & Tony Murena - Caprice Musette
9. Emile Prud'homme - Pinsonette
10. Colombo - Germaine
11. Medard Ferrero - La Rafale
12. Adolphe Deprince - Edelweiss
13. Jean Vaissade - Sombreros Et Mantilles
14. Gus Viseur - Jeannette
15. Gus Viseur - Gracieusette
16. Gus Viseur - Flambee Montalbanaise
17. Gus Viseur - Swing 42
18. Emile Prud'homme - Caravane Rabouine
19. Tony Murena - Passion
20. Emile Carrara - Mon Amant De Saint-Jean

There is also another musette compilation at the very interesting http://eldiablotuntun.blogspot.com

Ananda Shankar - Ananda Shankar + Okko - Sitar and Electronics

Two artifacts of the late 60's sitar craze. The first one is an eponymous album by Ananda Shankar, Ravi's nephew, and a great musician in his own right. Ananda plays a psychedelic/funk/raga fusion. This may sound like a sardines/ice cream fusion, but in fact, Ananda excercises enough taste and restraint to allow the flavors to complement and enrich each other. The result is a head-bobbing, finger-snapping stew of sounds, spiced up by the Rolling Stones' and the Doors' covers, expertly balancing the exotic and the familiar, the traditional and the experimental.
He enjoyed some fame in the US in the late 60s and 70s, and his career picked up again in the 90s, after the exposure his music received on the rare grooves compilations like The Blue Note Breakbeats and Rhino's What It Is. Unfortunately, he passed away in 1999 from heart failure.


Ananda Shankar - Ananda Shankar (Snow Flower), 1970
192 kbps
REUP: megaupload
1. Jumpin' Jack Flash
2. Snow flower
3. Light My Fire
4. Mamata (Affection)
5. Metamorphosis
6. Sagar (The Ocean)
7. Dance Indra
8. Raghupati

Also, get his 1975 LP Ananda Shankar and His Music at the consistently wonderful Lost In Tyme blog.

The other one is an album by a Dutch hippie Okko. This LP is much more obscure, but equally good. As the name suggests, Okko plays sitar and moog over the psychedelic rock backing. There are two Beatles covers (and I should mention that Okko displays none of the Harrison excesses and his music never degrades into the boring Blue Jay Way-like noodling), and the rest are originals that draw on the contemporary psychedelic rock as much as on the Indina tradition. I will speculate that East Indian Traffic is inspired by Hendrix' Crosstown Traffic. A great album all around!


Okko - Sitar and Electronics, 1971
192 kbps, 31 mb
REUP: megaupload
1. Ganges Delta
2. Himalaya Highway
3. East Indian Traffic
4. If I Needed Someone
5. Shivas Lullaby
6. Painted Sails on Ganges
7. Santana
8. A Day in the Life

Turkish psychedelia

The 60's spread their fuzzy day-glo tentacles in some surprizing corners of the globe. Turkey was one of those corners, where the touch of peace, love, and mind-altering substances sparked a rich and vibrant psychedelic scene. Imagine Harrison going after the turkish ethnic music instead of the indian ragas. Great pop songs, processed guitars (e.g. phasers and fuzzes going wild), Farifsa organs etc.etc., but still clearly growing from the anatolian folk tradition.
Love, Peace and Poetry is an ongoing series on Normal Records, documenting the 60's psychedelic music of the non-english-speaking lands, and this is Vol. 9, dedicated to the tukish scene.



Love, Peace & Poetry Vol.9: Turkish Psychedelic Music
REUP: megaupload
192 kbps, 77 mb
1. Selda - Bundan Sonra
2. Özdemir Erdogan ve Orkestrasi - Uzun Ince Bir Yoldam
3. Alpay - Kirpiklerin Ok Ok Eyle
4. Mazhar ve Fuat - Sür Efem Atini
5. Erkin Koray - Yagmur
6. Ersen - Kara Yazi
7. Edip Akbayram - Yakar Inceden Inceden
8. Hardal - Bir Yagmur Masali
9. Selda - Ince Ince Bir Kar Yagar
10. Erol Büyükburç - Hop Dedik
11. Cem Karaca - Tatli Dillim
12. Üç Hürel - Aglarsa Anam Aglar
13. Baris Manço - Kirpiklerin Ok Ok Eyle
14. Mogollar - Haliçte Günesin Batisi
15. Bülent Ortaçgil - Sen Varsin
16. Erkut Taçkin - Gitmek Düstü Bana


Also, a plug for the wonderful Sounds Of Champaign (Side 2), where I got Danses et Rythmes de la Turquie. It's an LP by Mogollar, who are well represented on the compilations of turkish 60's psychedelia (Hava Narghile, Altyn Microfon, 26 Turkish Delights and a few others). I have no info on this LP, but looks like it was recorded specifically for the french market. The band name is frenchified from Mogollar into Les Mogol. The "folk music" factor is turned up with more prominent traditional instrumentation (saz, duduk etc.), and the freak factor turned down somewhat. However, the result is no less engaging than their own mega-psychedelic records for the turks. Some of it reminds me of mugam-jazz of the great azerbaijani pianist Vaquif Mustafa-Zadeh or perhaps Coltrane's ethno-modal explorations.


Les Mogol / Mogollar - Danses et Rythmes de la Turquie
REUP: depositfiles or megaupload
256 kbps, ~70 mb
1. Toroslar
2. Lorke
3. Ilgaz
4. Madimak
5. Iklig
6. Cheminées de Fées
7. Sunset In Golden Horn
8. The Legend Of Mount Ararat
9. Hamsi
10. Wild Flower
11. Cahit’s Tune
12. To A Clear Mind
13. Kaleidoscopic Dream