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

Booker T and the MGs

The house band at Stax, responsible for writing and backing a variety of singers on literally hundreds of soul hits, Booker T and the MGs (short for Memphis Group) are the wellspring and cornerstone of American music. Their trademark sound of Booker T's groovy organ and piano, Steve Cropper's tastefully minimal guitar licks, melodic bass lines of Duck Dunn and the bedrock in-the-pocket backing of Al Jackson, could be heard on the recordings of Otis Redding, Albert King, Wilson Pickett and many others. Immensely influental as a backing band, they were possibly the greatest instrumental group of the sixties, too. These two discs collect their best instrumental work. Licensing considerations did not allow a single best-of collection at the time when these came out, so the first one spans their earlier years on Atlantic (1962-67), the second covers 1968-71 on Stax.


The Best of Booker T and the MGs [Atlantic]
200VBR, 63 mb
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1. Green Onions
2. Mo' Onions
3. Jellybread
4. Tic-Tac-Toe
5. Soul Dressing
6. Terrible Thing
7. Can't Be Still
8. Boot-Leg
9. Summertime
10. Be My Lady
11. Red Beans and Rice
12. My Sweet Potato
13. Booker-Loo
14. Hip Hug-Her
15. Slim Jenkins' Place
16. Groovin'


The Best of Booker T and the MGs [Stax]
215VBR, 97 mb
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1. Hang 'Em High
2. Eleanor Rigby
3. Soul Limbo
4. Over Easy
5. Mrs. Robinson
6. Something
7. Time Is Tight
8. Johnny, I Love You
9. Heads or Tails
10. Meditation
11. Hip Hug-Her
12. Horse
13. Slum Baby
14. Born Under a Bad Sign
15. Light My Fire
16. It's Your Thing
17. Melting Pot

Love, Peace and Poetry Vol.3 - Asian Psychedelic Music

I posted a volume from the Love Peace and Poetry series before, Vol.9 - Turkish Psychedelic Scene. Here's one more, and in my opinion this one is the best of the series. Unlike more specific compilations dedicated to the music of a particular country (Cambodian Rocks, Turkish Hava Narghile, Indian Simla Beat, or LPP's own vol. 4 dedicated to Japan), this one is a rather loose collection, bringing together anything asian. This allows the compilers to choose only the real jewels, which makes this disc really strong, and virtually every song is fantastic. The artists span the whole subcontinent, from the Near East (Turkish Erkin Koray, Baris Manco, 3 Hur-El, Mogollar), to South Asia (Indian Fentones and Confusions, Hong Kong' Teddy Robin and The Playboys, an unattributed track from Cambodia), to East Asia (Japanese Justin Heathcliff, The Mops, and Yuya Uchida, Korean San Ul Lim and Jung Hyun And The Men - see also here). This disc really sparked my interest in the psychedelic music outside the english-speaking countries. I hope it does the same for you.


Love, Peace and Poetry Vol.3 - Asian Psychedelic Music
REUP: 190VBR, 80 mb on mediafire
1. Teddy Robin & The Playboys - Magic Colours
2. Erkin Koray - Istemem
3. San Ul Lim - It Was Probably Late Summer
4. Justin Heathcliff - You Know What I Mean
5. Baris Manco - Derule
6. Cambodian Rocks - A2
7. The Mops - Blind Bird
8. Yuya Uchida & The Flowers - Greasy Heart
9. 3 Hur-el - Gonul Sabreyle Sabreyle
10. The Fentones - Simla Beat Theme
11. Mogollar - Katip Arzvhalim Yaz Yare Boyle
12. Confusions - Voice From The Inner Soul
13. The Quest - 26 Miles
14. Jung Hyun And The Men - Korean A2

Vezhlivyi Otkaz

Vezhlivyi Otkaz (Вежливый Отказ - Polite Refusal) used to be my favorite group; they would probably still make my top ten, although I don't listen to them as much. A relatively obscure and atypical group, their uniqueness kept them off the charts when the formerly underground russian rock went mainstream in the late 80s, and the same unique qualities keep them from becoming obsolete, as the majority of the 80s russian rock did. Instead of the political slogans, VO's lyrics are free-form dadaist poetry, with images flickering briefly from line to line. Instead of quoting the morbid classic rock behemoths and ripping off MTV top 10, VO's music is a one-of-a-kind amalgam of jazz, pop, and folk, with accordion and trumpet interwoven with the rock section in chamber-music arrangements. But the main thing was that they were just so good. They could play circles around anyone, including 99% of american rockers and a good part of jazzmen, effortlessly navigating off-kilter rhythms and angular melodies.
VO are still semi-active; their last album was released in 2002 and they are playing live every once in a while. This album is my favorite, though; it's a compilation of their early material from 1986-1989. It is informally known as "The White LP".


Vezhlivyi Otkaz (1989)
192 kbps, 45 mb
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1. Ya Uchus (I'm Learning)
2. Letargicheskiy Son (Lethargic Sleep)
3. Pomoshnik (A Helper)
4. V Chujih Ozyorah Sna... (In The Alien Dream Lakes)
5. Ey! (Hey!)
6. Proshanie (Farewell)

Fanfare Ciocarlia - Iag Bari: The Gypsy Horns from the Mountain Beyond

"Looney Tunes on speed"


Fanfare Ciocarlia - Iag Bari: The Gypsy Horns from the Mountain Beyond
320 kbps, 123 mb
REUP: megaupload
1. Doina (Westside Blues)
2. Wild Silence
3. Iag Bari (the Big Longing)
4. Dust Road
5. Lume, Lume (World, World)
6. Jocul Boldenilor
7. Hora Di Petrosnitza
8. Banatzeana
9. Tu Romnie (Don't Go Away)
10. Moliendo Cafe
11. Balad Lui Ioan
12. Besh O Drom (Keep on Walking)
13. Hora Andalusia
14. Hurichestra
15. Se Te Kerau? (What Shall I Do)
16. Hora Lautareasca
17. Ginduri de Om Batrin (Old Man Thinking)
18. Bubamara [Main Version]

Links

Earlier, I shared OHM: Early Gurus of Electronic Music; now it's shared at themoreyouthinkaboutit.blogspot.com - on mediafire, and it's mp3 instead of m4a.

Also, here's more recent stuff I am listening to:


Earthless - Rhythms From A Cosmic Sky
Reviews: AMG, 1, 2, 3, 4.
megaupload or rapidshare pt. 1 and pt. 2
Psychedelic/stoner metal, 40 minutes of non-stop riffage.


I've been looking for Baden Powell's Os Afro-Sambas for a long time, and now it's available at somdoroque.blogspot.com. The description is in portugese, so here is an article about this disc. In brief, this cycle of songs was insprired by the Afro-Brazilian spiritual tradition Candomblé and the music of samba; it was written during a three-month long drinking binge with the famous poet Vinícius de Moraes (who wrote the lyrics). The album was rerecorded in 1995, but the link is to the original one.


A great afro-caribbean funk band, Cymande, at the consistently excellent Lost In Tyme.


And the best find of them all, Hazmat Modine - Bahamut. The band is driven by a pair harmonicas, backed by tuba, drums, guitars, and trumpet, with the addition of special guests playing exotic instruments such as the claviola, the cimbalom or the Chinese mouth-organ, the bass sax and the Sarusaphone. @ This is some really crazy far-out genre-crossing stuff.

Last Exit - Iron Path

Last Exit, a four-piece avant-garde jazz supergroup, brought to their improvisations a fondness for volume and violence that makes most rock bands sound tame. In the late Sonny Sharrock, Last Exit boasted a guitar pioneer whose volcanic work in the '60s New York free-jazz scene remains a profound influence on virtually every rock soloist who has experimented with noise, from Jimi Hendrix to Thurston Moore. In Germany's Peter Brötzmann, it showcased perhaps the premier exponent of energy playing among modern saxophonists; his ferocity would later be echoed by the sheets-of-sound rock-trio recordings made by his son, guitarist Caspar Brötzmann. In Ronald Shannon Jackson, it had a drummer who combined the bluesiness of his Texas heritage with African polyrhythms and the take-no-prisoners approach of Ornette Coleman's 1970s groups, of which Jackson was a vital member. And in Bill Laswell, it had a producer and organizer with close ties to the rock community, as well as a bassist capable of holding down the musical center in a musical maelstrom. @

[Iron Path is] their sole major-label release, their first studio recording, and a record that iconoclastic critic Chuck Eddy considers one of the 500 greatest heavy metal albums in the history of the universe. But that doesn't mean you should invite all your Deep Purple and Iron Maiden loving friends over for a listening party; they won't be amused. Using the studio to their advantage, Last Exit explores sonic texture on "Prayer" and "The Fire Drum," but never loses sight of the power and energy that makes their live recordings so memorable. If you were to have one Last Exit recording, this might well be the one. But any one of their live records would enhance your appreciation of this great record immeasurably. AMG

Sonny Sharrock interview


Last Exit - Iron Path
59 mb
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1. Prayer
2. Iron Path
3. The Black Bat (For Aki Ikuta)
4. Marked For Death
5. The Fire Drum
6. Detonator
7. Sand Dancer
8. Cut And Run
9. Eye For An Eye
10. Devil's Rain

PS If you like this kinda music, I recommend you check out Kazutoki Umezu, shared here earlier.

PPS First Last Exit album (self-titled) over here.

Maleem Mahmoud Ghania with Pharoah Sanders - The Trance of Seven Colors

This disc reproduces a meeting between Sanders and the master Gnawa musician Maleem Mahmoud Ghania. Gnawa people are Morrocan descendents of black African slaves, who have maintained a spiritual and musical tradition that is an amalgam of Sufi mysticism and elements of West African spirit religion. The music is haunting. It is a vocal music, driven by an instrument called the guimbri...a bass lute with gut stings and a head made out of camel hide. The musician plucks the strings and slaps the head to create a sound somewhere between a bass guitar and a drum. The rest of the ensemble consists of a responding chorus who accompany the music with hand claps and Krkaba, loudly resounding hand cymbals. The music is equal parts Sufi ceremonial music and West African drum ritual. On it's own the music is compelling.
But over top of this on many of the tracks on the album, Pharoah Sanders let's loose on some of the most firey, spirit filled improvisation that he's done since the late 60s. Not all of this is out...some is quite beautiful and very melodic. His ballad Peace in Essaouira is deeply moving. But even when he maintains tonal structures and specific pitches in his improvising, there is a spirit here which is bracing. And when he goes out....watch out! It's a true meeting of the two groups, not a gimmick.
This is an album that will give you energy and literally raise the spirits. I find that I can't keep still while listening to it. It is true trance music. - Amazon review


Maleem Mahmoud Ghania with Pharoah Sanders - The Trance of Seven Colors, produced by Bill Laswell
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1. La Allah Dayim Moulenah
2. Bala Moussaka
3. Hamdouchi
4. Peace In Essaouria
5. Boulandi Samawi
6. Moussa Berkiyo / Koubaliy Beriah La'Foh
7. Salat Anbi
8. Casa Casa Atougra
9. Mahraba

Plone - For Beginner Piano + Jaga Jazzist - A Living Room Hush

Two electronica albums of a sublime beauty. If you read this blog, you know that "melodic" is an adjective I use a lot to describe the music I like.

Plone is a toy-sounding music, sharing the sensibility with the 8-bit scene - they use bleeping, tinkling, buzzing sounds reminiscent of the 80s videogames as building blocks to construct delicate and beautiful pop songs.

Plone - For Beginner Piano (Warp)
Reviews: one, two
192 kbps, 55 mb
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1 On My Bus (4:27)
2 Top & Low Rent (3:50)
3 Plock (3:57)
4 Marbles (3:50)
5 Busy Working (3:37)
6 The Greek Alphabet (3:47)
7 Press A Key (4:04)
8 Bibi Plone (2:53)
9 Be Rude To Your School (3:28)
10 Summer Plays Out (5:32)

The spirit of jazz does not live in the undead body that bears the name jazz nowadays, it is incarnated in a new form, and Jaga Jazzist is the one. A perfect fusion of electronica, live instruments and the post-rock atmospheric production. A modern Gil Evans would do something like this.

Jaga Jazzist - A Living Room Hush (Ninja Tune)
Reviews: one, two
192 kbps, 68 mb
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1. Animal Chin
2. Going Down
3. Press Play
4. Airborne
5. Real Racecars Have Doors
6. Low Battery
7. Midget
8. Made For Radio
9. Lithuania
10. Cinematic

Great Swing Classics In Hi-Fi

Great Swing Classics In Hi-Fi
200VBR, 72 mb
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1. Benny Goodman & His Orchestra - Jumpin' At The Woodside
2. Duke Ellington & His Orchestra - Harlem Air Shaft
3. Stan Kenton & His Orchestra - Intermission Riff
4. Harry James & His Orchestra - I'm Beginning To See The Light
5. Glen Gray & The Casa Loma Orchestra - Just An Old Manuscript
6. Les Brown & His Orchestra - A Good Man Is Hard To Find
7. Billy May & His Orchestra - Annie Laurie
8. Woody Herman & His Orchestra - Sleep
9. Stan Kenton & His Orchestra - The Peanut Vendor
10. Benny Goodman & His Orchestra - Somebody Stole My Girl
11. Glen Gray & The Casa Loma Orchestra - Come And Get It
12. Billy May & His Orchestra - Margie
13. Les Brown & His Orchestra - I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm
14. Harry James & His Orchestra - Crazy Rhythm