*

Man Is The Bastard... Nazi Drunks Fuck Off (Live) (Re-Up by Request)

2012-02-11T23:36:00.000-08:00

Man Is The Bastard
Also known as Charred Remains
Origin Claremont, California, USA
Genre(s) Power violence
Hardcore punk
Years active 1991–1997
Former members
Henry Barnes (Amps For Christ)
Andy Beattie
Joel Connell
Aaron Kenyon
Israel Lawrence
Bill Nelson
Eric Wood

Concerning Dead Links and Re-ups....

2012-01-02T13:53:00.000-08:00

many of the rapidshare links are going down, because i don't have an account with them anymore. if any of you would like me to re-up anything, just leave me a comment, and i'll try to get to it ASAP!

Soft Machine - Sweet Music - Live An Rare 1966-1969

2011-04-17T04:18:00.000-07:00

Soft Machine - Sweet Music - Live An Rare 1966-1969

3 CD set containing rare Soft Machine material right from the very beginning to the "Third" period. Includes rare singles, demos, outtakes, related material by ex band members and very rare live material.

The studio stuff all sounds pretty much perfect. The 1969 live stuff is in very good / excellent quality, while the 1967/1968 live stuff probably only merits a "fair" sound rating but is worth hearing simply because it is so incredibly rare (particularly the complete performance from the Merriweather Post Pavilion in August 1968 which was on the tour when they were support for the Jimi Hendrix Experience). The collaboration between Wyatt and Hendrix, "Slow Walkin' Talk", is also a highlight, partly because it's a great song and partly because it's interesting to hear Hendrix play bass. Also features a brilliant 20 minute demo of "Moon In June" and all known live recordings of the short-lived septet line up which collapsed because of the logistical problems involved in getting so many people and their instruments around in a panel van. :-)

Highly recommended to anyone who is a fan of early Soft Machine, particularly the "Jet Propelled Photographs" collection and the "Soft Machine", "Volume 2" and "Third" albums.

Disc 1
1. Contusions (Demo, July 1966)
2. Another Lover Has Gone (Demo, July 1966)
3. Fred The Fish (CBS Studios, London, December 1966)
4. Love Makes Sweet Music (Mono Single A-Side, 1967)
5. Feelin' Reelin' Squeelin' (Mono Single B-Side, 1967)
6. She's Gone (Olympic Studios, London, June 1967)
7. I Should've Known (Olympic Studios, London, June 1967)
8. Soon Soon Soon (Dutch TV Appearance, September 22, 1967)
9. I Should've Known (Dutch TV Appearance, September 22, 1967)
10. I Should've Known (French TV Appearance, June 8, 1967)
11. A Certain Kind (Middle Earth Club, London, September, 1967)
12. Save Yourself (Middle Earth Club, London, September, 1967)
13. Lullaby Letter (Middle Earth Club, London, September, 1967) (not Lullaby Letter but Clarence In Wonderland instead)
14. Soft Machine Jam (Unknown Venue, 1968)

Disc 2
1. Joy Of A Toy (Mono Single A-Side, 1968)
2. Why Are We Sleeping? (Mono Single B-Side, 1968)
3. Why Are We Sleeping? (Bananamoon (Daevid Allen's Post Soft Machine Band, 1968))
4. Lullaby Letter (OOP Version Of Album Track, 1968)
5. Hope For Happiness (OOP Version Of Album Track, 1968)
6. Save Yourself (OOP Version Of Album Track, 1968)
7. My Mother's Gone To India (Bananamoon (Daevid Allen's Post Soft Machine Band, 1968))
8. Slow Walkin' Talk (Collaboration between Robert Wyatt and Jimi Hendrix, TTG Studios, Hollywood, California, USA
October 1968)
9. Joy Of A Toy (Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, Maryland, USA, August 16,1968)
10. Hope For Happiness (Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, Maryland, USA, August 16,1968)
11. Hope For Happiness (Reprise) (Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, Maryland, USA, August 16,1968)
12. Clarence In Wonderland (Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, Maryland, USA, August 16,1968)
13. You Don't Remember (Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, Maryland, USA, August 16,1968)
14. Esther's Nose Job > 10:30 Returns To The Bedroom (Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, Maryland, USA, August 16,1968)

Disc 3
1. Moon In June (Demo, TTG Studios, Hollywood, California, USA
October 1968)
2. Hibou, Anemone & Bear (CBS Studios, London, March 1969)
3. Moon In June (9th National Jazz & Blues Festival, Plumpton Racecourse, Lewes, Sussex, UK, August 8, 1969)
4. Pigling Bland > Facelift > Hibou, Anemone & Bear (Paris, France, October 1969)
5. Hibou, Anemone & Bear (Paris, France, October 1969)
6. Moon In June (Actuel Festival, Amougies, Belgium, October 28, 1969)
7. Eamonn Andrews (Actuel Festival, Amougies, Belgium, October 28, 1969)
8. Hibou, Anemone & Bear (French Radio Session, Paris, France, November 1969)

Personnel:
Disc 1, Tracks 1-3:
Robert Wyatt - Drums, Vocals
Kevin Ayers - Rhythm Guitar, Vocals
Larry Nolan - Lead Guitar
Daevid Allen - Bass Guitar, Vocals

Disc 1, Tracks 4-7, 10:
Robert Wyatt - Drums, Vocals
Kevin Ayers - Bass Guitar, Vocals
Mike Ratledge - Organ
Daevid Allen - Lead Guitar, Vocals

Disc 1, Tracks 8-9, 11-14; Disc 2, Tracks 1-2, 4-6, 9-14:
Robert Wyatt - Drums, Vocals
Kevin Ayers - Bass Guitar, Vocals
Mike Ratledge - Organ

Disc 2, Tracks 3, 7:
Daevid Allen - Lead Guitar, Lead Vocals
Patrick Fontaine - Bass Guitar
Marc Blanc - Drums
Gili Smyth - Backing Vocals

Disc 2, Track 8:
Robert Wyatt - Drums, Organ, Vocals
Jimi Hendrix - Bass Guitar

Disc 3, Track 1:
Robert Wyatt - Drums, Organ, Piano, Electric Piano, Vocals
Mike Ratledge - Organ
Hugh Hopper - Bass Guitar

Disc 3, Tracks 2-3:
Robert Wyatt - Drums, Vocals
Mike Ratledge - Organ
Hugh Hopper - Bass Guitar
Brian Hopper - Saxophone

Disc 3, Tracks 4-8:
Robert Wyatt - Drums, Vocals
Mike Ratledge - Organ
Hugh Hopper - Bass Guitar
Elton Dean - Saxophone
Lyn Dobson - Flute
Nick Evans & Marc Charig - Horns

Gong - Magick Brother (1969)

2011-04-15T04:10:00.000-07:00

01. Mystic Sister / Magick Brother
02. Glad To Sad To Say
03. Rational Anthemn
04. Chainstore Chant / Pretty Miss Tittty
05. Fable Of A Fredfish / Hope You Feel Well
06. Ego
07. Gongsong
08. Princess Dreaming
09. 5 & 20 Schoolgirls
10. Cos You Got Greenhair

In 1970, the world got its first taste of the original pothead pixie, Daevid Allen's Gong, as Magick Brother was released in France on the BYG label. Allen's wife, Gilli Smyth, penned all the tunes on the album, and Allen's now-classic "Ph.P." drawing style graces the inside of the gatefold. Leaning a little toward the pop end of the spectrum, Magick Brother is a fairly light album, devoid of the blatant psychedelic/hippie qualities which shine through so brilliantly on the later Camembert Electrique. Smyth's "space whispering" makes its debut on the opening track, though the album is not as spacy as it is ethereal. "Gong Song" is a highlight, with lyrics describing a pothead pixie who came down from the planet Gong to sing his green song -- the roots of the Gong myth. Allen's guitar sound is a bit flat and hollow throughout the project, dynamics taking a back seat in most of these recordings. He relies on distortion and various guitar augmentations, but this all works quite well in the context of the collective sound. Much of the vocal harmonizing on the album is typical of many '60s pop troupes and sounds fairly dated today. Didier Malherbe's sax and flute playing spices up this mostly pop-oriented prog rock outing, helping to make this a cut above the radio norm. Although this is an interesting release, especially for its status as the first Gong project, it is not typical Gong and is not recommended as a starting point for sampling the band's recordings.
~AMG

Fred Frith & Henry Kaiser With Enemies Like These, Who Needs Friends (1987)

2011-03-11T17:06:00.000-08:00

01 The Trace
02 Three Languages
03 Love In Hell
04 Twisted Memories Give Way To The Angry Pleasant
05 One Of Nature's Mistakes
06 Roy Rogers
07 It Sings
08 Drowsy Maggie
09 The Kirghiz Light
10 The Golden Eighties
11 Objects Everyday
12 The Changing Of Names
13 It Moves...
14 One-Eyed Theater
15 Dog Puppet Born Out Of A Sock
16 Hard Time Killin' Floor Blues

This maximum-length CD-only release consists of selections from an unreleased live album by Frith and Kaiser (1984) combined with "greatest hits" from their two out-of-print duo albums: "With Friends Like These" (1979) and "Who Needs Enemies?" (1983).
Most all of this music was improvised by one method or another. Tracks 3,4,5,7,8,12,14,15,16 were recorded without overdubbing.

Released:
1987
Genre:
Jazz, Rock
Style:
Avantgarde, Free Improvisation

Rova Saxophone Quartet

2011-03-11T16:33:00.000-08:00

The Rova Saxophone Quartet is a San Francisco-based saxophone quartet formed in October 1977 at the same time as their "less adventurous" but better known colleagues the World Saxophone Quartet. The name "Rova" is an acronym formed from the last initials of the founding members: Jon Raskin, Larry Ochs, Andrew Voigt and Bruce Ackley

01 Track 01
02 Track 02
03 Track 03
04 Track 04
05 Track 05

Henry Kaiser live at McCabes on October 20 1984!

2011-02-07T05:55:00.000-08:00

first time ever release of a tape i recorded of Henry Kaiser live at McCabes on October 20 1984! it's a miracle i've held on to it for this long. i had to put it online, lest something happen to it! i don't remember all the song titles, but there's a version of 'alice in blunderland' and victoria jackson sings 'mystery train'...

henry kaiser - guitar, effects
andy west - bass
victoria jackson - guitar, vocals
scott colby - slide guitar
charles k. noyes - drums, percussion

Henry Cow - Western Culture (1979)

2011-02-03T05:00:00.000-08:00

Western Culture is an instrumental album which came about as a result of disagreements in the band as to what the composition of their next album should be. Recording had already begun at Sunrise Studios in January 1978 and some members were not happy about the predominance of song-oriented material. As a compromise it was agreed that two albums would be made: one of "songs" (released soon after as Hopes and Fears under the name of a new group Art Bears) and one of purely instrumental compositions. The group returned to Sunrise Studios in July that year to record the instrumental pieces for Western Culture, except "½ the Sky", which had been recorded during the January sessions.

Henry Cow split up shortly after recording this album.

01 - Industry
02 - The Decay Of Cities
03 - On The Raft
04 - Falling Away
05 - Gretels Tale
06 - Look Back
07 - Half The Sky

* Tim Hodgkinson – organ, clarinet, alto saxophone, Hawaiian guitar, piano
* Lindsay Cooper – bassoon, oboe, soprano saxophone, sopranino recorders
* Fred Frith – electric & acoustic guitars, bass guitar, soprano saxophone
* Chris Cutler – drums, electric drums, noise, piano, trumpet

Embryo - Steig Aus

2010-12-07T09:31:00.000-08:00

"Steig aus" ("Get out", "Get off") is a karautrock album sounding much jazzier than other Krautrock releases by Amon Düül II or Guru Guru for example but also features the experimental, improvisational and free form type of music. The album consists of 3 tracks, "Radio Marrakesch/Orient-Express" which is about 10 minutes long. Also about 10 minutes is the really great track "Dreaming girls". But the highlight of the album for sure is the very experimental track "call" which lasts more than 17 minutes.

1. Radio Marrakesch/Orient-Express (9:53)
2. Dreaming Girls (10:26)
3. Call (17:22)
- a. Call (part 1)
- b. Organ Walk
- c. Marimba Village
- d. Clouds
- e. Call (part 2)

Musicians

- Roman Bunka / guitar
- Christian Burchard / drums, marimba, vibes
- Jörg Evers / bass
- Edgar Hoffmann / violin
- Jimmy Jackson / Mellotron, organ
- Dave King / bass
- Mal Waldron / electric piano

Jade Warrior - Floating World (1974)

2010-09-29T20:17:00.000-07:00

01. Clouds (2:52)
02. Mountain of fruit and flowers (3:16)
03. Waterfall (5:38)
04. Red lotus (4:31)
05. Clouds (1:25)
06. Rain flower (2:44)
07. Easty (5:23)
08. Monkey chant (2:24)
09. Memories of a distant sea (5:07)
10. Quba (2:44)

Musicians

- Tony Duhig / acoustic & electric guitars, bass,
piano, organ, glockenspiel, vibes
- John Field / Gælic harp, gong, vibes, alto, glockenspiel, concert & Japanese flutes, conga drums, bell tree, African talking drum, cello, piano, organ, acoustic guitar
- Chris Carran: drums (1-2)
- Graham Deacon / drums (4)
- David Duhig / electric guitar (8)
- Coldridge Good / string bass (2)
- Skaila Kanga / harp (9)
- Martha Mdenge / spoken words (10)

The Orpington Junior Girls Choir (1-5)

Jade Warrior - Waves (1975)

2010-09-29T20:09:00.000-07:00

1. Waves part I
2. Waves part II

Musicians

- Tony Duhig / guitars, percussion
- Jon Field / percussion, flutes
WITH:
- Dave Duhig / electric guitar solo
- Graham Morgan / drums
- Suzy / vocals (Whale theme)
- Maggie Thomas / alto recorder
- Steve Winwood / Moog and piano solos

Jade Warrior - Kites (1976)

2010-09-25T23:54:00.000-07:00

01. Songs of the Forest 3:13
02. Wind Song 4:05
03. The Emperor Kite 1:58
04. Wind Borne 6:52
05. Kite Song 3:05
06. Land of the Warrior 3:29
07. Quietly by the River Bank 3:21
08. Arrival of the Emporer:'What Does the Venerable Sir Do?' 1:07
09. Teh Ch'Eng:'Do You Understand This?' 2:33
10. Arrival of Chia Shan:Disclosure and Liberation 4:11
11. Towards the Mountains 2:04
12. The Last Question 0:37

- Tony Duhig / guitars, percussion
- Jon Field / percussion, flutes
WITH:
- Roger Bryson / piano (3-7)
- Fred Frith / violins (9)
- Pete Gibson / brass (1-4)
- Coldridge Goode / bass (4)
- Debbie Hall / violin (2-3)
- Graham Morgan / drums (3-7)
- Joe O'Donnell / violins (10)
- Clodagh Simmons / girl's choir (1-2)
- Jeff Westley / electric piano (4)
- Willie / snare & bass drums (1)

Jade Warrior - Way Of The Sun (1978)

2010-09-08T03:34:00.000-07:00

01. Sun Ra
02. Sun Child
03. Moontears
04. Heaven Stone
05. Way Of The Sun
06. River Song
07. Carnival
08. Dance Of The Sun
09. Death Of Ra

The duo of guitarist Tony Duhig and virtuoso flautist and woodwind player Jon Field were signed to Island records in 1974, following the recent break up of the four piece Jade Warrior (who recorded three albums for Vertigo records between 1970 and 1973). Island founder Chris Blackwell signed the duo upon the recommendation of Steve Winwood, declaring Jade Warrior to be "an ornament to my label". Blackwell gave Duhig and Field access to unlimited studio time to create four albums that were later hailed as instrumental masterpieces, all of which fused ethnic African and far eastern influences with superbly innovative rock guitar playing by Tony Duhig.

Way of the Sun was perhaps the band's most fully realised work, drawing upon South American musical influences which blended effortlessly with western rock.

Each of Jade Warrior's Island albums was a revelation, both musically and thematically. Floating World's exploration of the Japanese philosophy of Ukiyo, Waves' oceanic voyage, the ninth century Buddhist monk whose story is told on the B-side of Kites (and who takes airy flight across the flip) -- all were extraordinary expeditions into the Orient. Having conquered the East, Warrior now turned their Jade eye westward, toward Latin America. By this time, Jade were already moving toward a more orchestral sound, as Kites had evidenced, but Way of the Sun was positively cinematic. Within, the duo -- aided by a host of guest musicians -- created an incredibly vibrant set that quivers with emotion and life itself. Dawn announces itself with a clap of thunder on "Sun Ra," waking the earth's denizens from their slumbers. Birds soar into the sky, creatures large and small scamper through the meadows and woods, while overhead the sun majestically rises, all of which Jade bring to vivid life across both "Sun Ra" and "Sun Child." "Heaven Stone" and the title track are similarly interconnected, both thematically and musically, and tied to the spiritual beliefs of the continent's indigenous peoples, while broadly hinting at the coming of the conquistadors and their conquering culture. But even as the Spanish laid waste to the land and its peoples, they too would be changed by them, which is reflected by "Carnival" and "Dance of the Sun," songs melding together indigenous and Spanish traditions. The album ends with the haunting "Death of Ra," as the sun sinks below the horizon. Although Latin styles predominate across the set, Warrior weave in myriad other musical threads -- Eastern, jazz, surf, and more. The album itself was arguably Jade Warrior's best, their apotheosis, or at least their grand finale, for after its release, Island promptly dumped the duo. Drummers John Dentith and Graham Morgan now went their separate ways, and the Warrior were no more.

Jade Warrior - Horizen (1984)

2010-09-07T05:55:00.000-07:00

1. Images of dune: (11:58)
...a. Prescient dawn
...b. The freman
...c. Journey on a dream
2. Carribbean wave (5:37)
3. Horizen (2:18)
4. East wind (7:08)
5. Grey lake, red mountain (5:29)
6. Long wait at Mount Li (7:02)

Total Time: 38:32

Musicians:

Tony Duhig - acoustic & electric guitars, guitar synthesizer, percussion
Jon Field - alto, concert, Chinese flutes, percussion
WITH:
Jeff Barak - drums (6)
David Duhig - 2nd electric guitar solo (2)
Brad Lang - bass (2)
Anisse Hadeed - steel drum & timbales (2)
Gowan Turnbull - saxes (2), flute (4)

Members of the Pro Musica of London Chorus (6)

Pierre Moerlen's Gong - Downwind (1979)

2010-08-21T00:43:00.000-07:00

The impressive Downwind is the first release from the band under its new moniker, Pierre Moerlen's Gong, as Moerlen assumes creative control and dominance. The release marks a return to vocals/lyrics, which proves only partially successful. Moerlen's voice is a hit on the opener, the rocking "Aeroplane," and the collective vocals on the fast-paced, percussive "Jin-Go-Lo-Ba" (popularized by Santana) are right on target. His singing is weak, though, on "What You Know" and detracts from the song's quality. Mick Taylor makes his only appearance here with an exceptional guitar solo. Downwind is also a return to compositions dominated by rock structures and styles, the jazz element minimal this time around. The instrumental cuts are sublime: "Emotions" and "Xtasea" are relaxing; "Crosscurrents" and "Downwind" are energetic and exciting. The title cut is easily the highlight of the album, featuring guest appearances by Steve Winwood (Moog, synth) and guitarist Mike Oldfield. At almost 13 minutes, this thrilling composition resembles the early work of Oldfield, particularly strains of "Tubular Bells, Pt. 1," and specifically the section used for the film The Exorcist. On "Downwind," Moerlen's percussives are ablaze, recalling his "Percolations" performance from Gazeuse. Bassist Hansford Rowe is prominent, and saxophonist Didier Malherbe, a longtime Gong staple, makes his only appearance on the album...AMG

01 Aeroplane
02 Cross Currents
03 Downwind
04 Tin-Go-Lo-Ba
05 What You Know
06 Emotions
07 Xtasea

Didier Lockwood Violin
Didier Malherbe Wind
Benoit Moerlen Percussion
Pierre Moerlen Drums, Producer
Mike Oldfield Bass, Guitar, Producer
Terry Oldfield Flute
Ross Record Guitar
Hansford Rowe Bass
Mick Taylor Guitar
Steve Winwood Keyboards, Moog Synthesizer
Nick Bradford Producer
Francois Chausse Percussion, Conductor

Pierre Moerlen's Gong - Expresso II (1978)

2010-08-06T23:39:00.000-07:00

Expresso II is an album by Pierre Moerlen's Gong, issued in 1978.

Like the other Pierre Moerlen's Gong albums, this is predominantly jazz-fusion and has little to do with the psychedelic space rock of Daevid Allen's Gong, even though the bands share a common history.

Expresso II is an appropriate title considering it is very much a companion piece to the band's previous release, Gazeuse! (called Expresso in North America). It is an extension of the melodic mallet percussion infused progressive jazz/rock that very much dominated this incarnation of Gong, and would be the last album released on the band's Virgin contract before Pierre Moerlen changed the name to Pierre Moerlen's Gong to distinguish this (very different) incarnation from that of the Daevid Allen-led chapter.

01. Heavy Tune"
02. Golden Dilemma"
03. Sleepy"
04. Soli"
05. Boring"
06. Three Blind Mice"

Personnel
* Pierre Moerlen: drums, glockenspiel, xylophone, tubular bells, tympani, vibraphone
* Hansford Rowe: bass, rhythm guitar (2)
* Mireille Bauer: marimba, vibraphone
* Benoît Moerlen: glockenspiel, vibes, xylophone, tubular bells, claves
* François Causse: congas

with

* Allan Holdsworth: guitar (1,3,4,6)
* Mick Taylor: guitar (1)
* Darryl Way: violin (3,5)
* Bon Lozaga: guitar (2,3)

In popular culture

The song Heavy Tune is featured on Fusion FM radio in the game Grand Theft Auto IV.

Gong - Gazuese (1976)

2010-06-20T02:26:00.000-07:00

Tracks:
01. Expresso (Pierre Moerlen) – 5:57
02. Night Illusion (Allan Holdsworth) – 3:42
03. Percolations (Parts 1 & 2) (Pierre Moerlen) – 9:57
04. Shadows Of (Allan Holdsworth) – 7:47
05. Esnuria (Pierre Moerlen) – 7:58
06. Mireille (Francis Moze) – 4:01

Personnel:
- Pierre Moerlen – drums, vibraphone, marimba, timpani, glockenspiel
- Allan Holdsworth – guitars, violin, pedal steel
- Mireille Bauer – vibraphone, marimba, glockenspiel, toms
- Benoît Moerlen – vibraphone
- Didier Malherbe – tenor saxophone, flute
- Francis Moze – fretless bass, gong, pianos
- Mino Cinelu – congas, gong, maracas, triangle, cuica, talking drum

In America, this album was released called Expresso (followed by Expresso II).

Gong - Shamal (1975)

2010-06-18T00:27:00.000-07:00

The band's first post-Allen release, Shamal was an album of transition and confusion. The only three holdovers at this point were Mike Howlett, Didier Malherbe, and Pierre Moerlen (with cameos as well from Steve Hillage and Miquette Giraudy). Marimba goddess Mireille Bauer, who was in the background of You, was now on board as a full member. Keyboardist Patrice Lemoine filled out the quintet. The sound was decidely shifting more towards a tuned percussion-fusion-funk direction, a European parallel to Frank Zappa's 70s fusion band here in the States. Lemoine particularly contributed to this redirection, with the electric piano overtaking the dense, dreamy moog and mellotron textures of his predecessor Tim Blake. The tracks that work best are the instrumentals. Stepping up to the plate with lead vocal duties, bassist Mike Howlett tried his best. Still, it sounds hollow and uncharismatic, especially following in the footsteps of Daevid Allen. Howlett probably realized this, and departed the band right after this. A worse offense are the lyrics, which on this effort are abysmal. The music is enough to make Shamal a minimally interesting listen. Still, though, it's a disappointment, barely capturing an ounce of the spirit and fun of before. The next release, Gazeuse!, while still being dry, would show an increased maturity of this stage of the band's new style, drifting ever further from the land of pot-head pixies

Gong
Shamal

Virgin (CDV 2046)
UK/France 1975

Mike Howlett, bass, vocal; Didier Malherbe, saxes, flutes, gong; Pierre Moerlen, drums, vibraphone, tubular bells; Mireille Bauer, marimba, glockenspiel, xylophone, gong, percussion; Patrice Lemoine, piano, electric piano, organ, mini-moog; with Steve Hillage, acoustic and electric guitars; Miquette Giraudy, vocal; Sandy Colley, vocal; Jorge Pinchevsky, violin

Tracklist:
1. Wingful of Eyes — 6:20
2. Chandra — 7:18
3. Bombooji — 5:11
4. Cat in Clark's Shoes — 8:50
5. Mandrake — 3:03
6. Shamal — 9:54

total time 40:43

Amon Düül II - The UA Years-1969-1974

2010-05-22T04:41:00.001-07:00

The Best of Amon Düül II 1969-1974, a collection that charts the best moments from the best period of one of the most fascinating (and often bewildering) German groups of the '70s. Included are tracks from several of Amon Düül II's best LPs: from Yeti comes "Soap Shop Rock" and "Pale Gallery," from Tanz der Lemminge comes "A Short Stop at the Transylvanian Brain-Surgery" and "Stumbling Over Melted Moonlight," and from Wolf City there's "Surrounded by the Stars," "Deutsch Nepal," and the title track. Though Amon Düül II's albums of the period are necessary for fans of the group, this makes not only a perfect introduction for new listeners but also a handy summation of what made the band great.

01 Wie Der Wind Am Ende Einer Strasse
02 Archangels Thunderbird
03 Deutsch Nepal
04 Kannan
05 Surrounded by the Stars
06 Improvisations
07 Soap Shop Rock
08 Wolf City
09 Cerberus
10 Henriette Krotenschwanz A
11 Race from Here to Your Ears
12 Kronwinkl 12 Weinzierl
13 Utopia No. 1
14 Stumbling over Melted Moonlight
15 A Morning Excuse
16 A Short Stop at the Trans-Sylvanian Brain-Surgery
17 Pale Gallery

Suntreader - Zin Zin (1973)

2010-05-04T03:18:00.000-07:00

1. Zin-Zin 13:52
2. Stardance 9:57
3. Orinoco 12:50
4. From The Region Of Capricorn 12:17

The Band :-
Morris Pert - Drums & Percussion
Peter Robinson - Electric Pianos
Alyn Ross - Bass Guitar

R.I.P.: Morris David Brough Pert (9 September 1947 – 27 April 2010) was a Scottish composer, drummer/percussionist, and pianist, who played as a session musician with many musicians, including Paul McCartney, Andrew Lloyd Webber, John Williams, Kate Bush, Mike Oldfield, Peter Gabriel, Bryan Ferry, Phil Collins, Elkie Brooks, Talk Talk and the jazz-rock band Brand X, as well as having his own solo career...

Moving Gelatine Plates - The World Of Genius Hans (1972)

2010-05-02T02:27:00.000-07:00

THE WORLD OF GENIUS HANS (1972)
Moving Gelatine Plates

1. The World of Genius Hans (14:00)
2. Funny Doll (4:25)
3. Astromonster (6:15)
4. Moving Theme (3:46)
5. Cauchemar (3:46)
6. We Were Loving Her (3:28)
7. Un Jour... (1:25)

Total Time: 60:17

Musicians

- Maurice Hemlinger / organ, trumpet, soprano and tenor saxophone, flute
- Gerard Bertram / electric guitar, vocals acoustic guitar
- Didier Thibault / bass, vocals, 12-string guitar
- Gerard Pons / drums, percussion

Easily one of the most interesting groups to have come outta France in the early 70's along with Magma and Gong, Moving Gelatine Plates second album is certainly impressive.

The title track, the awesome 14 min+ 'World of Genius Hans' is probably their magnum opus displaying excellent capabilities from all musicians. But clearly the star of the show is Hemlinger and his never ending switch from trumpet to saxes , flutes and Kb works. 'Astromonster' yet another highlight and 'Moving Theme' is without a doubt a leftover of lengthy concert improvisations. The album ends on a calm note with a short sax-filled Un Jour... Their vocals are sparse and in English and generally very Canterbury-like...buy the CD and ya get a buncha outta sight bonus tracks...check it out!...it's all good!

Quiet Sun - Mainstream (1975)

2010-04-17T03:59:00.000-07:00

Mainstream is the only album of the UK band Quiet Sun. The band split up in 1972, Manzanera to Roxy Music, MacCormick to Matching Mole, Hayward to This Heat and Jarrett began to teach mathematics.

In 1975, Manzanera booked a studio for 26 days to record his first solo album Diamond Head and got Quiet Sun together again to record a studio album from their previously composed material at the same time. The result Mainstream was critically acclaimed and became the New Musical Express' album of the month, apparently Island Records' fourth or fifth biggest seller at the time, close up to Bad Company and Cat Stevens.

Reworked versions of two tracks from Mainstream ("Mummy was an asteroid..." and "Rongwrong") were performed by Manzanera's 801 project during 1976 and feature on their acclaimed LP 801 Live.

A CD release of Mainstream was released in 1997 on Manzanera's label, Expression Records.

01. "Sol Caliente" (Phil Manzanera) – 8:02
02. "Trumpets with Motherhood" (Charles Hayward) – 1:30
03. "Bargain Classics" (Dave Jarrett) – 5:37
04. "R.F.D." (Jarrett) – 3:09
05. "Mummy was an asteroid, Daddy was a small non-stick kitchen utensil" (Bill MacCormick) – 6:09
06. "Trot" (Manzanera) – 5:00
07. "Rongwrong" (Hayward) – 9:39

* Charles Hayward - drums, percussion, keyboards, voice
* Dave Jarrett - Fender rhodes, steinway grand piano, farfisa & hammond organs, VCS3
* Phil Manzanera - electric 6 & 12 string guitars, treated guitars, fender rhodes piano
* Bill MacCormick - electric bass, treated bass, back-up voices

with

* Brian Eno - synthesizer, treatments & oblique strategies
* Ian MacCormick - back-up voices

Henry Cow - Concerts [1976]

2010-04-12T02:52:00.000-07:00

Henry Cow Concerts is a live double album by English avant-rock group Henry Cow, recorded at concerts in London, Italy, the Netherlands and Norway between September 1974 and October 1975. Sides one and two of the LP record consist of composed material while sides three and four contain improvised pieces.

The album includes Henry Cow's last John Peel Session, recorded in September 1975 and extracts from a concert with Robert Wyatt at the New London Theatre in May 1975. "Groningen" (recorded in September 1974) is part of an instrumental suite where the band improvised around fragments of an early version of Tim Hodgkinson's "Living in the Heart of the Beast" from In Praise of Learning (1975). Another performance of this suite (in full) later appeared in "Halsteren" on Volume 2: 1974-5 of The 40th Anniversary Henry Cow Box Set (2009).

01 - Beautiful As The Moon; Terrible As An Army With Banners,Nirvana For Mice,Ottawa Song_Gloria Gloom
02 - Bad Alchemy Little Red Riding Hood Hits The Road
03 - Ruins
04 - Groningen
05 - Groningen Again
06 - Oslo
07 - Off The Map
08 - Cafe Royal
09 - Keeping Warm In Winter Sweet Heart Of Mine
10 - Udine

* Lindsay Cooper – bassoon, flute, oboe, recorder, piano
* Chris Cutler – drums, piano
* Dagmar Krause – voice, piano
* Fred Frith – guitar, piano, violin, xylophone
* John Greaves – bass guitar, voice, celeste, piano
* Tim Hodgkinson – organ, clarinet, alto saxophone, piano (Greasy Truckers set, CD release only)
* Robert Wyatt – vocals ("Bad Alchemy" and "Little Red Riding Hood Hits the Road")
* Geoff Leigh (Greasy Truckers set, CD release only) – tenor and soprano saxophone, recorder, flute, clarinet

Fred Frith - Gravity (1990)

2010-04-06T02:30:00.001-07:00

Gravity is a 1980 solo album by English guitarist, composer and improviser Fred Frith from Henry Cow and Art Bears. It was Frith's second solo album and his first since the demise of Henry Cow in 1978. It was originally released in the United States on LP record on The Residents's Ralph record label and was the first of three solo albums Frith made for the label.

Gravity was recorded in Sweden, the United States and Switzerland and featured Frith with Swedish Rock in Opposition group Samla Mammas Manna on one side of the LP, and Frith with United States progressive rock group The Muffins on the other side. Additional musicians included Marc Hollander from Aksak Maboul and Chris Cutler from Henry Cow.

Gravity has been described as an avant-garde "dance" record that draws on rhythm and dance from folk music across the world. Allmusic called it one of the most important experimental guitar titles from Fred Frith.

01. "The Boy Beats the Rams (Kluk Tluce Berany)" – 4:54
02. "Spring Any Day Now" – 3:04
03. "Don't Cry For Me" – 3:28
04. "The Hands of the Juggler" – 5:31
05. "Norrgården Nyvla" – 2:54
06. "Year of the Monkey" – 4:11
07. "What a Dilemma" – 3:11
08. "Crack in the Concrete" – 1:24. "Come Across" – 2:47
09. "Dancing in the Street" (Gaye, Stevenson, Hunter) – 3:20
10. "My Enemy is a Bad Man" – 1:22
11. "Slap Dance" – 2:32
12. "A Career in Real Estate" – 4:42
13. "Dancing in Rockville Maryland" – 3:04

Bonus tracks on 1990 CD re-issue

14. "Waking Against Sleep" – 2:08
15. "Terrain" – 3:50
16. "Moeris Dancing" – 5:03
17. "Geistige Nacht" – 5:18
18. "Life at the Top" – 1:40
19. "Oh Wie Schon Ist Panama!" – 5:02

musicians include:
Fred Frith – guitar, bass guitar, violin, keyboards, drums (tracks 1,5,7)
The Muffins
Chris Cutler – drums (tracks 3, 15-18)
Lindsay Cooper – bassoon, oboe (tracks 15,16)
Tim Hodgkinson – alto saxophone (track 15)
Dagmar Krause – voice (track 17)
Tom Cora – bass guitar, percussion (track 19)
Samla Mammas Manna
and others...

RAHMANN (Musea, France 1977)

2010-03-05T04:32:00.000-08:00

Rahmann
self-titled

Musea (FGBG 4261.AR)
France 1977

Mahamad Hadi, synth-guitar, electric guitar, fretless guitar, oud, bouzouki, snitra; Amar Mecharaf, drums, percussion; Michel Rutigliano, acoustic piano, grand piano, ARP Odyssey; Gérard Prevost, acoustic bass, fretless bass; Louis-César Ewande, percussion; with Nadia Yamina Hadi, vocal; Didier Lockwood, violin; Sylvain Marc, fretless bass; Richard Gérard Kurdjian Guem, ney, tablas, darbouka; Liza Deluxe, vocals; Joël Loviconi, electric piano; Ali Shaigan, violin

Tracklist:
1. Atlanta — 5:26
2. Nadiamina — 6:23
3. Ab — 8:00
4. Danse Sacrée — 6:35
5. Leila — 9:38
6. Marche Funèbre — 5:00
7. Marche Funèbre — 5:04
8. Danse Sacrée — 10:13
9. Nadiamina — 7:08
10. Atlanta — 4:51

This album is probably as close as anything can get to zeuhl without having any vocals. All the instrumental elements are here: lots of heavy throbbing bass, very active drumming, repetitive themes, and an overall dark, somewhat oppressive feel. That said, Rahmann inject a very distinct feel to their brand of "instrumental zeuhl" - for one thing, the colors are somewhat more varied than the standard bass-drums-piano, with lots of interesting keyboard patches, some wind instruments, and some various plucked strings. There's also a lot of ethnic-sounding percussion, particularly in "Nadiamina", where Middle-Eastern-sounding percussion forms a constant backdrop for much of the piece. Overall, that nebulous Middle-Eastern ethnic feel permeates the whole album, which shouldn't be too surprising, given that the bandleader (as detailed in the excellent liner notes) was born in Algiers.Didier Lockwood and Liza Deluxe (Magma), and Gerard Prevost (Zao).Give a good listen to the astounding "Ab," which sounds like Univers Zero if they were from Algiers. Not your run-of-the-mill fusion workout.

Boris - Vein (2006)

2010-02-28T01:25:00.000-08:00

Vein is the sixteenth (or seventeenth) studio album by Japanese experimental doom band Boris, released as an edition of 1500 copies in October 2006. Two versions of this release exist, 1100 copies sold in the US contain one set of audio while 400 copies sold in Europe contain a completely different recording. One of their most controversial and delayed releases, it was sold for $32 USD as a single clear record with an inch-wide image screen printed along the outer edge.

Alternate recordings were confirmed shortly after its release, when various people[who?] proclaimed their Vein record had no vocals at all. While the number of tracks differ between both versions, aesthetically, the packaging is identical and the records can only be differentiated by inspecting the vinyl surface itself. One version, dubbed the "Hardcore version", has somewhat of a crust punk sound with elements of hardcore and drone. Atsuo contributed the lead vocals on this record for the first time in many[weasel words] years, with Takeshi contributing vocals in some of the songs as well. The vocals on this record are notably different from most Boris albums, as they are screamed rather than sung. The other version, dubbed the "Noise version", has one side of pure noise drone and a long punk jam drenched with feedback on the other. There are no vocals on this version.

At the very beginning of track 3 on the hardcore version the listener can hear a man say "И пусть посмеются над своими страстями" (Russian for "Let them laugh at their own passions"). This is a quote from Stalker, a 1979 film by Andrei Tarkovsky.

In the beginning of the final track on the hardcore version the listener can hear a man say "I hela mitt liv har jag väntat på det här. Hela mitt liv har varit en enda väntan på det här." in Swedish, which in English means "For my whole life I've been waiting for this. My whole life has been a waiting for this."

Side One

1. untitled - 4:01
2. untitled - 2:15
3. untitled - 1:37
4. untitled - 1:14
5. untitled - 1:18
6. untitled - 1:49
7. untitled - 2:21

Side Two

8. untitled - 1:14
9. untitled - 0:46
10. untitled - 1:01
11. untitled - 2:01
12. untitled - 10:31

Jon Rose & Eugene Chadbourne - Kultural Terrorism (1987)

2010-02-26T00:41:00.000-08:00

Jon Rose & Eugene Chadbourne
Chadbourne/Rosenberg "Kultural Terrorism"
[LP: Dossier, Germany, 1987; #ST 7551]

"Not quite sure why I went with the 'K' on the front of kultural. It somehow seemed German, or at least at the time I had made up my mind that I was heading to Berlin, centre of kultural otherness, an island refuge for musicians and artists who couldn't stomach being in the Ronald Reagan western.

A number of people have been asking me about the album Kultural Terrorism, this is the story.

The project lasted from 1985 till 1988, and in that period every tour that Eugene Chadbourne and I set out on seemed to be on a new continent. It was primarily a duo, and although a few guest musicians tried their hand at joining us on stage, none (with the exception of Chris Cutler) went the full distance as I remember. We would play two simultaneous solos which, although containing our own personal languages of improvising, also contained as many quotations from popular music as we could cram into a two-set concert. At the end of one concert in a seedy little bar in a forgettable midwest town, a guy came up to us after the concert and handed us a couple of sheets of paper upon which were listed all the songs he had heard us quote that evening, a total of seventy songs (and there was a bunch missing too). He said he felt somewhat elated and confused--elated that he knew so many tunes, confused because we had eradicated almost all support mechanisms. If a tune had the right notes, it would often have another song's harmony. Occasionally two songs from the same source might collide at the same time, the music of Dylan and the Beatles often received this kind of treatment. For many of the concerts we asked for a television on stage to add further ingredients to the already over-spiced cooking pot. If it all became too much, we or the audience could just settle in to the evening news or chat show.

But to be fair to the tele, it never let us down coming up with the most bent, juxtaposed commentaries night after night. Eugene actually realised a dream by playing with (if not actually on) a repeat of an old Johnny Carson show. I had my big moment when we hooked up to a particularly dry doco on 'instruments of the orchestra'. On one night in the depths of Southern Germany after the tele show, we were asked if we could do the sound track to a splatter movie or two--kein Problem. Once someone asked us if we could play a song from beginning to end, and eh, properly. We never tried, but I suspect that it might have been beyond us. I can't speak for Eugene, but for myself, I had suspended belief in any and all popular culture. It had been like that for years. This was the time of Michael Jackson and Madonna; just the thought of those two would bring on extreme nausea. On the other hand, bringing out great tunes from the periods of music when there were great tunes seemed to give them a new context; they proved in effect that they were indestructible. Having worked in commercial clubs and everything from restaurants to weddings to C & W bands, I did know a bunch of tunes. Eugene was and still is the ultimate bent cover songster.

And then there was the album.

In a dusty pile of old LPs, I found a copy of Herbert Von Karajan conducting the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in Brahms' Fourth Symphony. It was on Deutsche Grammafon, and my reason for selecting it had been inspired by an article in a Sunday newspaper. The article reported that the French horn section of this orchestra had been accused of playing wrong notes on purpose as a demonstration against Karajan's increasingly dictatorial actions against the musicians. A number of issues were presented.

1.It is hard enough to play correct notes of such a recalcitrant instrument; things must be really bad if you want to play wrong notes on purpose. The journalist let his imagination run away with him as to how the orchestra might continue their industrial action. Supposing Herbie gets up and starts conducting Beethoven's Fifth Symphony; the orchestra, however, plays the Fourth instead, or even a combination of the Third, the Seventh and the Ninth at the same time. At this stage, I realised it was beginning to sound a bit like the aesthetics and technique of the Kultural Terrorism project.

2.The notes on the back of the Brahms LP were some of the most sycophantic nonsense I had ever read. They spoke about the orchestra being at one with the maestro, about how the orchestra would do anything necessary to realise the maestro's grand plan. It looked like a good opportunity to put the record straight and paste the newspaper article on the back of the LP cover.

The cult of dictator/genius/conductor reached its zenith with people like Karajan and Bernstein--although an award for over-acting should be given to the orchestra's present conductor Simon Rattle. Significantly, Karajan was an ex-member of the Nazi party and his out-stretched arm, photographed on the front cover of the LP, had that authentic pose.

Anyway, this Karajan album seemed perfect cover and THE cover for our homemade kultural terror action. I got to work with felt tip pen, white out, paper, photocopies, scissors, and glue. In half and hour I had the cover ready. I sent it off to my little Berlin record company, Dossier. They were delighted. By chance an old friend and lawyer of the company's part-time manager dropped in for a chat and happened to see the art work. He suggested that Dossier have nothing to do with this; DG were a touchy lot but if they insisted on releasing it, then a list things had to come out.

The DG name had to be changed, Karajan's face had to be removed ("but you can leave the arms maybe"), the catalogue number removed, the name Karajan removed from all the text, etc. I was busy with the white out and felt tip pen for another session. Days later, the phone went again. Even more had to come out in the text and a disclaimer added. By this stage, it was hard to find any reference to the original DG LP left in the whole messy confused piece of an album cover. I was disappointed, compliance was demanded or no release, and the whole enterprise had become pointless. I felt I had been compromised too much.

A thousand copies of the album were released. Within one week, Deutsche Grammafon had issued a writ against Dossier and were taking them to court. All copies of the album had to be withdrawn. It begs belief that DG would be bothered with such a small-scale enterprise as Dossier, or that they would even know or care about small releases of postmodern music. One imagined some bureaucrat sitting in an office in Munich whose job it was to sort through all record releases of all music worldwide, looking out for anything that may cause offence to Herbie von K or DG itself. Extraordinary. Meanwhile, Dossier was in deep shit. BUT as it happened, DG's lawyer was a personal friend of our Dossier man's lawyer in Berlin. Lawyers drink and eat from the same trough, so an out of court settlement was hastily fixed up. All copies of the offending album known as Kultural Terrorism would be destroyed, and in its place would come a fully legal copy with absolutely nothing on the front cover. It seemed that a headless Herbie was the principle cause of insult and DG's main complaint, so the conductor's arm giving the Hitler salute had to go as well.

The Kultural Terrorism project was an exhausting form of performance counterpoint. After three years and dozens of concerts, we had had enough of it. The appropriation of everyone else's music had become the modus operandi for the new music composer, but from my perspective, when global capitalism took over the whole planet in 1989, dj reality began to outstrip the powers of satire."

(article by Jon Rose, 2003 and original intended cover above from his homepage)
http://www.jonroseweb.com/c_articles_kultural_terror.html

Prof. Eugene Chadbourne: acoustic guitar, lap steel guitar, fender plunger, harmonica, classical guitar, electric guitar, voice
http://www.eugenechadbourne.com/

Dr. Johannes Rosenberg (Jon Rose): acoustic violin, 19-string cello, 10-string double violin, recently restored megaphone violin, pianoforte, voice
http://www.jonroseweb.com/

Side A
1. 1st chair (2'03)
2. 2nd chair (5'21)
3. 3rd chair (13'20)

Side B
1. 4th chair (2'13)
2. 5th chair (5'15)
3. 6th chair (1'16)
4. 7th chair (1'44)
5. 8th chair (1'33)
6. 9th chair (6'01)
7. 10th chair (0'55)
8. 1st bed (1'53)

Recorded by Jörg Völker at Tonstudio Bamberg, West Germany on March 17, 1987.
Live extracts from a concert in Munich on March 15, 1987-
8 is a location recording made in Amsterdam.
Produced by Jon Rose & Eugene Chadbourne.

Pell Mell

2010-02-15T00:44:00.000-08:00

* Live Cassette (Indoor Records, 1982)
01 Spanner
02 Some Things We Do For Fun
03 Dad's Top Drawer
04 Shirts and Skins
05 Estacada
06 Food, Clothing and Shelter
07 Almost Happy
08 All This and More

* For Years We Stood Clearly as One Thing (K Records, 1985)
cd1
01 Week of Fire
02 All This & More
03 Dad's Top Drawer
04 Estacada
05 6, 9, or 20
06 Cinecitta
07 Work, Health & Love
08 Barn Dance

cd2
01 Fuck the Boss
02 Pet Dub
03 Chrome-A-Key Beach
04 Business 80
05 Love Trek
06 Bubble Prawn
07 Beat Cut
08 Par Avion

* The Bumper Crop (SST, 1987)
01 Week of Fire
02 Dad's Top Drawer
03 All This and More
04 6 9 or 20
05 Love Trek
06 Alligator Stomp
07 My Three Sons
08 Estacada
09 Cinecitta
10 FTB
11 Pet Dub
12 Chroma-Key Beach
13 Work, Health, and Love

* Flow (SST, 1991)
01 American Eagle
02 Breach of Promise
03 Bring on the China
04 The Devil Bush
05 Smoke
06 Aero
07 Flood
08 Little Blue Dance
09 Signal
10 Blaming the Messenger
11 Mopping Up

* Interstate (DGC, 1995)
01 Nothing Lies Still Long
02 Revival
03 Anna Karina
04 Saucer
05 Pound Cake
06 Constellation
07 Blacktop
08 Butterfly Effect
09 Drift
10 Vegetable Kingdom
11 Ether
12 Floating Gate

* Star City (Matador Records, 1997)
01 Sky Lobby
02 Salvo
03 Orange Roughy
04 Interloper
05 Smoke House
06 On Approach
07 Upstairs
08 In Polka Dots
09 Everything Must Go
10 Low Light
11 Headset
12 Field of Poppies
13 Gelatin
14 Coral

Pell Mell - Rhyming Guitars

2010-02-13T23:03:00.000-08:00

Pell Mell was a tremendous rarity: an instrumental combo who landed a major-label deal in the wake of the alternative rock explosion touched off by Nirvana. Its most prominent members were better known as producers, and with their highly sporadic recording schedule, it took them nearly a decade of existence to issue a widely distributed album. Their music could be seen on some levels as a forerunner of post-rock, sharing its eclecticism and fusion of acoustics and electronics, but shying away from its more self-conscious avant-gardisms and free-form qualities. Instead, contrary to their name, Pell Mell was melodic and usually tightly structured, much like the instrumentals of the early rock & roll era. In fact, those instrumentals -- especially surf guitar and its formative influences, like Link Wray and Duane Eddy -- were a palpable influence on the group. However, not wanting to be pigeonholed as mere revivalists, they switched up their attack with touches of funk, punk, Krautrock, dub, and vintage ambient, among other sources, which resulted in an atmospheric, effects-laden sound that was certainly aided by its creators' production prowess.

Pell Mell was originally formed in 1980 in Portland, OR, and spent the next four years playing around the Northwest. During that time, several members came and went, with founding drummer Bob Beerman anchoring the band. In 1982, they issued their debut EP, Rhyming Guitars, on the small Indoor label, as well as a self-released, cassette-only live album, It Was a Live Cassette, which they recorded as a trio. Keyboardist/effects man Steve Fisk -- who would eventually become the most successful outside producer in the band -- joined in 1983, and the following year, the band decided to relocate to San Francisco. Their lineup solidified to include Beerman, Fisk, bassist/guitarist Greg Freeman (who left his main gig with the Call in 1984), and guitarist Bill Owen. Owen was, in turn, later replaced by guitarist David Spalding, the onetime guitar tech for the Call. Another cassette-only release, For Years We Stood Clearly as One Thing, appeared on the then-fledgling K Records in 1985. In between, Fisk issued the first of several solo cassettes, a stream of which would continue into the '90s.

Pell Mell came to somewhat wider national attention via their association with the groundbreaking SST label, which issued the first widely available Pell Mell album, The Bumper Crop, in 1988. It consisted of recordings from the first half of the '80s, and while the song selection overlapped with For Years, the versions on Bumper Crop were generally shorter and more concise. By this time, Fisk was working as a producer for groups like Screaming Trees (also on SST), Beat Happening, and Soundgarden; he soon went on to helm several tracks on Nirvana's Blew EP. Freeman was also beginning to branch out as a producer and engineer, initially with Bay Area eccentrics Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 and singer/songwriter Barbara Manning, and later with Royal Trux.

With its members having split to live in different cities, Pell Mell didn't reconvene until the early '90s; by that time, SST had reissued Rhyming Guitars. 1992's Flow was actually the first album on which David Spalding was a fully integrated member of the group, and it was also their tightest effort to date. Microsoft licensed one of its tracks for use in a television commercial, which helped bring the band to the attention of Geffen Records. Signing to the label's DGC imprint, Pell Mell completed its hugely unlikely major-label debut, Interstate, in 1995. In the meantime, Fisk had begun playing with two actively recording side projects, Pigeonhed and the Northwest indie all-star band the Halo Benders (which also featured Beat Happening's Calvin Johnson and Built to Spill's Doug Martsch). He was also producing new artists like Unwound, Some Velvet Sidewalk, the Geraldine Fibbers, and Boss Hog, among others. Writing some of the songs together by mail, Pell Mell completed a follow-up to Interstate in 1997, but DGC -- somewhat predictably -- dropped them not long before its scheduled release date. Matador stepped in to issue the album, called Star City, which was produced and engineered by cult favorite Tchad Blake.

Pell Mell subsequently went their separate ways. Fisk and Freeman both continued their blooming careers behind the boards, while Spalding went on to play with the reunited Love Tractor. Fisk and Beerman later reunited in the more electronic-oriented Cut-Out, which issued its first album in 2003.

Pell Mell - Rhyming Guitars

1. New Saigon
2. Spy Vs. Spy
3. Par Avion
4. Red Rhythm
5. Week of Corn

Belgium 1971-10-15

2010-02-09T03:11:00.001-08:00

Magma
1971-10-15
Maison de la culture
Dizon, Belgium

Time: 46:44

1. Stoah/"Iss" Lansei Doia (08:39)
2. Ki Iahl O Liahk (09:59)
3. Soi Soi (06:35)
4. band intro (03:47)
5: Mekanik Kommandöh (17:42)

Line up:
Vander, Blasquiz, Moze, Lasry, Cahen, Seffer, Toesca (Engel?)

Alcatraz - Vampire State Building (1971)

2010-01-15T00:50:00.001-08:00

ALCATRAZ
Krautrock • Germany

This album was a huge surprise for me.It's one of those obscure gems that i'm so glad i took a chance on.ALCATRAZ were fom Hamburg ,Germany and originally did covers of bands like VANILLA FUDGE,TEN YEARS AFTER,BLACK SABBATH,URIAH HEEP etc. Over time they decided they didn't want to that anymore as they became more interested in jazz avant-gardists like SOFT MACHINE,COLLOSSEUM and TONY WILLIAMS LIFETIME. When they started to compose their own material they united the jazz and rock elements.For example in the liner notes it says the band mixed music fragments of Cannonball Adderley with influences of DEEP PURPLE.I didn't hear any of the latters sound here but i love the way they combine the jazz with the raw guitar.This band refused to compromise back then with promoters,managers,record lables whatever.It was their way or no way,their music would be played and recorded the way they wanted.You can hear their thoughts about that in the lyrics of the second track.Anyway they played live with bands such as BIRTH CONTROL,IKARUS,NEU,JANE and many others. "Simple Headphone Mind" opens with drums which are joined by piano,bass and flute.This is classic jazz ,it sounds so good.Then after 2 minutes the guitar comes in changing the mood completely.This is just as good only different.These contrasts continue.The tasteful guitar 5 1/2 minutes in reminds me of Santana,sax follows.Bongos come in late.Amazing tune. "Your Chance Of A Lifetime" has lyrics which talk about the lies bands are told about becoming rich and famous by managers and record labels who in reality care nothing for them personally, in fact they're just using them for their own gain.The drums and guitar sound great early then sax joins in around a minute replacing the guitar.Incredible sound here.The guitar is back lighting it up 2 1/2 minutes in to the end. "Vampire State Building" has a good beat as sax joins in.Nice bass and drum work before 1 1/2 minutes.Guitar arrives a minute later.Drum solo 3 minutes in.Piano after 4 minutes with a different soundscape.It turns psychedelic with flute 6 1/2 minutes in.Jazzy a minute later with guitar and flute as vocals also join in.The tempo picks up 12 minutes in, then sax joins in. "Piss Off" is a good title for the "in your face" guitar and drums early on.The sax and flute start to trade solos with the guitar,back and forth with some dissonance as well. Vampire State Building is a killer release from 70's Germany underground. The band delivers a bunch of bombastic, extremely freaked out fuzzy improvisations including jazzy tendencies. Simple Headphone Mind opens the album with a surprising hippie like groovy jazz variation that features powerful piano bases, enchanting flute line and a very catchy rhythm. The break session provides endless screaming fuzzy guitar solos accompanied by a very jazzy instrumentation. Tour chance of a Lifetime is a heartbreaking, cloudy compositions for dense, spacious melodies with beautifully dramatic vocals. Where the wild things are is an hyperactive freak 'n roll piece with killer riffs, mysteriously atmospheric jazz fusion links. Piss off is a bizarre, curious, fuzzy & druggy jam making a large part to atonal guitar / sax dialogues. Change will come is a retro jazz rockin' piece including a nice groove and agitated stoned vocals. Dirty, Heavy druggy psychedelica. An important musical document.

1. Simple Headphone Mind (10:00)
2. Your Chance Of A Lifetime (5:06)
3. Where The Wild Things Are (3:03)
4. Vampire State Building (13:10)
5. Piss Off (3:18)
6. Change Will Come (6:08)

Rüdiger Berghan - piano, vocals
Klaus Holst - guitar
Klaus Nagurski - flute, tenor saxophone
Ronald Wilson - bass
Jan Rieck - drums, percussion

Mallard (1975)

2010-01-12T02:12:00.000-08:00

Mallard was a short-lived '70s experimental rock band featuring several former members of Captain Beefheart's Magic Band: guitarist Bill Harkleroad (aka Zoot Horn Rollo), bassist Mark Boston (aka Rockette Morton), and percussionist/drummer Art Tripp (aka Ed Marimba), the latter of which also played in Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention for several albums, as well. Both Harkleroad and Boston had been members of the Magic Band from 1968 through 1974, when a falling out between them and Beefheart (over their unhappiness with the album Unconditionally Guaranteed), led to their exit. The trio of Beefheart graduates was joined by a host of others for their 1975 self-titled debut (including future Who keyboardist John "Rabbit" Bundrick, singer Sam Galpin, and percussionist Barry Morgan), an album that was financed by Beefheart fan Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull, but was only available in the U.S. as an import. Mallard's sophomore release, In a Different Climate, was issued two years later (their first to be domestically issued), and saw Tripp replaced by George Draggota. But like its predecessor, the album failed to attract fans outside of the Captain Beefheart cult network, ultimately leading to Mallard's breakup.

1. Back on the Pavement
2. She's Long and She's Lean
3. Road to Morrocco
4. One Day Once
5. Yellow
6. Desperados Waiting for a Train
7. Piece of Me
8. Reign of Pain
9. South of the Valley
10. Winged Tuskadero
11. Peon

Line-Up:

Bill Harkleroad G/PROD
Mark Boston B/V
Art Tripp D/PERC
Sam Galpin V/P
John "Rabbit" Bundrick P
Barry Morgan PERC

Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band - Ice Cream For Crow (1982) U.S.A

2010-01-11T03:07:00.000-08:00

1. Ice Cream For Crow (4:29)
2. The Host The Ghost The Most Holy-O (2:22)
3. Semi-Multicoloured Caucasian (4:15)
4. Hey Garland, I Dig Your Tweed Coat (3:09)
5. Evening Bell (1:58)
6. Cardboard Cutout Sundown (2:35)
7. The Past Sure Is Tense (3:17)
8. Ink Mathematics (1:39)
9. The Witch Doctor Life (2:35)
10. 81' Poop Hatch (2:36)
11. The Thousandth and Tenth Day of the Human Totem Pole (5:36)
12. Skeleton Makes Good (2:14)

Total Time: 36:45

Line-up / Musicians

- Don Van Vliet (Captain Beefheart) / vocals, harmonica, Soprano saxophone, chinese gongs, prop horn
- Jeff Moris Tepper / white jew, guitar, slide-guitar, steel-appendage guitar, acoustic guitar
- Gary Lucas / guitar, steel-appendage guitar, glass finger guitar, national steel dualion
- Richard Snyder / bass guitar, marimba, viola
- Cliff Martinez / drums, percussion, shake bouquet, glass washboard, metal drums

Guest:
- Eric Drew Feldman / Rhodes piano, synthesized bass

Captain Beeefheart Bat Chain Puller (Unreleased LP)

2010-01-09T23:49:00.000-08:00

1. Bat Chain Puller
2. Seam Crooked Sam
3. Harry Irene
4. Poop Hatch
5. A Carrot Is As Close As A Rabbit Gets To A Diamond
6. Brickbats
7. Floppy Boot Stomp
8. Flavor Bud Living [Performed by John French]
9. Carson City (Owed T' Alex)
10. Odd Jobs
11. The Thousandth And Tenth Day Of The Human Totem Pole
12. Apes-Ma

King Crimson - Red (40th Anniversary Series)

2009-12-21T00:12:00.000-08:00

Artist: King Crimson
Album: Red (1974) 40th Anniversary Series.
Released: 2009

With numerous "definitive" editions already out, what can one more kick at the can of progressive rock progenitor King Crimson's discography offer? Plenty. With the entire Crimson catalog being remixed, remastered, and offered as CD/DVD-A sets that include stereo and 5.1 surround remixes in MLP Lossless, PCM Stereo, and DTS 5.1 formats, based on the first two 40th Anniversary Series releases—1975's Red and 1969's seminal In the Court of the Crimson King—they've simply never sounded this good. With added audio and video bonuses, it's safe to say that, even for the most cynical fan, these will truly be the definitive and essential editions...

The Music: Red; Fallen Angel; One More Red Nightmare; Providence; Starless; Red (Trio version); Fallen Angel (Trio version - instrumental); Providence (Full version, taken from The Great Deceiver).
bonus tracks:
i pulled the audio content off the dvd...
(mono audio), originally broadcast on ORTF France, March 22, 1974: Larks Tounge in Aspic: Part II; The Night Watch; Lament; Starless; (+) A Voyage to the Centre of the Cosmos (taken from The Great Deceiver)...

Personnel: Robert Fripp: guitar, mellotron; John Wetton: bass, voice; William Bruford: percussives; David Cross: violin; Mel Collins: soprano saxophone; Ian McDonald: alto saxophone; Robin Miller: oboe; Marc Charig: cornet.

Soft Machine BBC Radio 1967-1971 (released 2003)

2009-12-18T01:06:00.000-08:00

Disc 1 (66:45)
1. Clarence In Wonderland (2:57)
2. We Know What You Mean (3:11)
3. Certain Kind (3:38)
4. Hope For Happiness (4:37)
5. Strangest Scene Recorded (aka Lullaby Letter) (4:55)
6. Facelift / Mousetrap / Noisette / Backwards / Mousetrap Reprise (11:54)
7. The Moon In June (13:02)
8. Instant Pussy (3:19)
9. Slightly All The Time / Out Bloody Rageous / Eamonn Andrews (19:12)

Disc 2 (60:51)
1. Virtually (9:58)
2. Fletcher's Blemish (12:11)
3. Neo-Caliban Grides (7:34)
4. Dedicated To You But You Weren't Listening (2:46)
5. Eamonn Andrews / All White (7:11)
6. Mousetrap / Noisette / Backwards / Mousetrap Reprise / Esther's Nose Job (21:11)

Total Time: 127:36

- Kevin Ayers / bass, guitar, voice (tracks 1-5 CD1)
- Robert Wyatt / drums, voice
- Mike Ratledge / keyboards
- Hugh Hopper / bass (tracks 6-9 CD1, CD2)
- Brian Hopper saxophone, flute (track 6 CD1)
- Elton Dean / axophone (track 9 CD1, CD2)
- Marc Charig / trumpet (track 6 CD2)
- Lyn Dobson / saxophone, flute (track 6 CD2)
- Nick Evans / trombone (track 6 CD2)

Polysoft - Tribute To Soft Machine

2009-12-16T02:04:00.000-08:00

Collectif Polysons is a French Collective that, as the liner notes to Tribute to Soft Machine Live a Le Triton 2002 describe, "consists of four musicians-soloists-composers, exists as a forum involving various guest artists who assemble for concert events with one common denominator: improvisation." So when Polysons recruited two ex-Soft Machine members, bassist Hugh Hopper and saxophonist Elton Dean, for this tribute to one of Britain's most influential historical jazz/rock outfits, they became Polysoft, performing their tribute first in '98, and then again in '02, when this concert was recorded.

Track listing: Facelift Intro; Facelift; Chloe and the Pirates; Gesolreut; Pig; Dedicated to You But You Weren't Listening; As If; Kings & Queens; Slightly All the Time; Noisette 1; Backwards; Noisette 2.

Personnel: Collectif Polysons: Francois Merville (drums, percussion), Serge Adam (trumpet, flugelhorn), Jean-Remy Guedon (tenor sax, flute), Pierre-Olivier Govin (baritone sax, saxello)
With guests: Hugh Hopper (bass guitar), Elton Dean (alto sax, saxello), Emmanuel Bex (Hammond organ).

NeBeLNeST - Nova Express [2001]

2009-12-14T16:16:00.000-08:00

Despite some production flaws, NeBeLNeST's self-titled debut made quite an impression in progressive rock circles. The group's complex time signatures, Fripp-ish guitar, and apocalyptic intensity impress from the first listen. The obvious point of reference here is Larks' Tongues in Aspic-era King Crimson — for the spooky atmospheres, Cyril Malderez's angular guitar parts, Gregory Tejedor's picked basslines (very John Wetton, he could be playing the instrument with a pneumatic drill in "Absinthe"), and the group's penchant for improvisation. Of the eight pieces on this album, three are improvised in a free-form style strongly reminiscent of the mighty Crimson circa 1973. All that being said, despite this obvious influence, NeBeLNeST manage to cut their own sound. Some listeners may even be more struck by the somber moods, reminiscent of Scandinavian bands like Anekdoten or Anglagard. Olivier Tejedor's synthesizers and electronics also help steer the group's sound away from the major references of the genre, adding a more experimental touch that suggests the heavier representatives of the avant-prog current, Present in particular. "Solilock" and the two-part "Psykial Trysm" are the album's highlights, as they best balance strong compositional skills and creative playing. "Etude de Shimshot" lacks a bit of soul to drag it off its written score, but that would be the only weak track. Sadly, the production lacks a bit of muscle. The mix makes good use of stereo panning, but has no depth, which tends to flatten the group's intensity. This problem would be solved on the second album, NoVa eXPReSS.

Tracks

Title
Composer
Time

1 Pooks, Pt. 1 Anselmi, Malderez, Tejedor ... 3:22
Composed by: Anselmi, Malderez, Tejedor, Tejedor

2 Psykial Trysm: Shafoo Anselmi, Malderez, Tejedor ... 6:49
Composed by: Anselmi, Malderez, Tejedor, Tejedor

3 Psykial Trysm: Najha Anselmi, Malderez, Tejedor ... 6:13
Composed by: Anselmi, Malderez, Tejedor, Tejedor

4 Etude de Shimshot Anselmi, Malderez, Tejedor ... 9:25
Composed by: Anselmi, Malderez, Tejedor, Tejedor

5 Uncertain Journey Anselmi, Malderez, Tejedor ... 5:17
Composed by: Anselmi, Malderez, Tejedor, Tejedor

6 Solilock Anselmi, Malderez, Tejedor ... 4:48
Composed by: Anselmi, Malderez, Tejedor, Tejedor

7 Absinthe Anselmi, Malderez, Tejedor ... 9:21
Composed by: Anselmi, Malderez, Tejedor, Tejedor

8 Crab Nedula Anselmi, Malderez, Tejedor ... 6:20
Composed by: Anselmi, Malderez, Tejedor, Tejedor

9 Pooks, Pt. 2 Anselmi, Malderez, Tejedor ... 7:29
Composed by: Anselmi, Malderez, Tejedor, Tejedor

Lux Nova Umbra Est

2009-12-12T01:22:00.000-08:00

A wheezing sound from a dry throat. A swollen joint. A curious tingling on the surface area above a vital organ. Lux Nova Umbra Est's debut EP manifests as a fever with plans to linger, duping its victim with all-too-brief episodes of relief before the punishment resumes. Featuring members of California bands Djam Karet and Controlling Hand, Light Is The New Dark is a hard-hitting half hour of incendiary, fusion-tinged instrumental music that dashes any and all psychedelic leanings for rockier vistas.

Lead guitarist Mike Henderson comes to the fore in a manner heralded on the heaviest DK albums, Burning The Hard City and A Night For Baku; Henderson's razor-sharp chordings and molten riffs scorch and froth amidst a nightmarish bog of seething textures. While Henderson will be the main draw for many, it must be noted that bassist Aaron Kenyon (CH/DKMkII) and drummer Joel Connell are a lethal rhythm section — Connell's playing is equal parts Bruford, Bozzio, and Peart, and Kenyon is a stupendous talent who has only recently found himself dodging the crosshairs of obscurity. Keyboardist [and occasional guitarist] Michael Xenakis sprinkles extraterrestrial Ozric-esque timbres across the proceedings, but does engage in some live action like the jazzy piano leads & solos in the multi-faceted, epic-length "Laughing Babylon." "Wo Ist Das Licht?" is a racy rocker that roars down the tracks like the classic DK cut, "Technology & Industry," and "Dr. Senf" is a merciless slab of heavy, with escapee fills from Connell flying like sparks from a jumping jack firecracker. All things said, an electric guitar tone hasn't sounded quite as riveting as this for some time, and this quartet plays like a feral pack that has gnawed through its tethers.

The first full-length recording will be a treat. Essential listening.

Tracklist:

1. Hello 1:34
2. Wo Ist Das Licht? 8:49
3. Wave To Yourself 0:41
4. Dr. Senf 7:35
5. Who Are You? 0:52
6. Laughing Babylon 13:46
7. Thank You 2:33

Total time: 35:46

Amps for Christ - Thorny Path

2009-12-11T03:45:00.000-08:00

Electronic primitivist project Amps for Christ was primarily the work of Claremont, CA-based Henry Barnes, formerly of Man Is the Bastard. An outlet for Barnes' interest in polyethnic folk traditions and faux-Celtic mysticism, Amps for Christ proved equally distinctive for its use of custom-built guitars and electronics, recording with a number of occasional collaborators, including vocalist Tara Tikkitavi, percussionist Joel Connell, and someone or something dubbed Enid Snarb. Releases include 1997's Thorny Path, 1999's Circuits, 2000's Electrosphere, 2001's Oak in the Ashes, 2004's People at Large, and 2006's Every Eleven Seconds.

The concept behind Amps for Christ is this: its members play acoustic instruments, woodwinds, and organs, but process them electronically into a strange, highly distorted mid-range murk. This creates a very interesting mess -- The band's work with Two Ambiguous Figures deals with the same concept, but ends up far more listenable.
Tracks

1 Cock of the Worth
2 A Very Mode-Ultar Song
3 Whisteltron
4 Native Soil
5 Inja
6 Country Core
7 Patriots
8 National War
9 Folkcore
10 Millennium
11 Global Warming
12 Prepared Teac
13 Perpared Conn in D Minor
14 Heathkit
15 Pain of the Fire
16 Carrickfergus
17 Lynn Ann's Flower
18 Rasberry Box
19 Elleven Twelfths
20 Hamtar
21 Old Paint
22 Wolffskill Falls
23 Time Is the Coupler

ANGELS OF LIFE IN A PSYCHIC WASTELAND - Various Artists Experimental Compilation

2009-12-10T01:28:00.000-08:00

Various - Angels Of Life In A Psychic Wasteland

1998

Tracklist
1 Unknown Artist - Eerie Introduction 0:23
2 Gringos (2) - J (Edited Version) 4:27
Lyrics By - Traditional
Written By - J.A. Mas, S. Riera, J. Samon
3 Suonihiuksisto - Halva Lizarre 1:13
Music By - P. Dassum*
4 Kingdom Scum - Abstract...Only To The Point Of Providing...Concrete 4:23
Music By, Words By [Text] - Apuro* , W. Spit
5 Vas Deferens Organization - ? 4:22
Arranged By - M. Castille*
Music By, Words By [Text] - Traditional
6 Farbror Bånges Kapell - Millencolin 0:51
Written-By - O. Hielm*
7 Amps For Christ - Abram Looks Back At UR 1:53
Music By - Barnes*
8 LAS Galore - Nyx Oceano 5:30
Music By, Words By [Text] - A. Sigler*
9 Charming Hostess - I'm Not Hungry 2:21
Music By, Words By [Text] - C. Kihlstedt* , J.Eisenberg* , N. Rolle*
10 Transkaakko - Kulma 4:03
Arranged By - Transkaakko
Music By - J. Isojunno*
Words By [Text] - M. Tiikkainen*
11 Brown Cuts Neighbors - Want Bibs 0:43
Music By, Words By [Text] - J. Martin*
12 Unknown Artist - Eerie Intermission 0:35
13 Violent Onsen Geisha - Like A Bob DYLAAAN 3:09
Music By, Words By [Text] - Violent Onsen Geisha
14 Drain - A Bunch Of Guys About To Turn Blue 3:29
Music By - K. Coffey*
15 Thi-Linh Le - No Regrets 1:17
Music By - B. Laswell* , M. Beinhorn* , N. Skopelitis*
Music By, Words By [Text] - Thi-Linh Le
16 Malacoda - S-Kill D 1:41
Music By - A. Sigler* , R. Guess* , S. Hudgins*
17 Keukhot - Kaksi Neljästä Ulkopuolisesta 2:14
Music By - Kalevi Rainio*
18 Stock, Hausen And Walkman* - Fraud 2:10
Music By - A. Sharpley* , M. Wand*
19 Mieskuoro Huutajat - Herää Suomi 1:16
Music By, Arranged By - P. Sirviö*
Words By [Text] - Jännes*
20 Deep Turtle - La Poiquita 0:52
Music By - Deep Turtle
21 Széki Kurva - Chicken Head 4:40
Words By, Music By - DJ Assassin (3) , Gömöri-Burnska , Matyi , Suzanne (4)
22 Suonihiuksisto - Cyanide In My Kefir 0:48
Music By - P. Dassum*
23 Loris - Flysong 3:56
Words By, Music By - J. Drummey , M. Kasenter
24 Unknown Artist - Eerie Conclusion 0:50
25 Eugene Chadbourne - Dirt 5:14
Words By, Music By - E. Chadbourne*
26 Deep Turtle - Jeriko Jr. 0:43
Music By - Deep Turtle

Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O. - Magical Power From Mars

2009-11-10T03:04:00.000-08:00

Acid Mothers Temple and Important Records have decided to release the complete Magical Power From Mars in its entirety with the addition of the fourth and final track 'Aladdin Kane.' Magical Power From Mars comes housed with completely new front and back art and no expense was spared on more 3D lenticular covers for the front. This is the complete album available for the first time in its entirety. Magical Power From Mars is an album full of epic statements from the Acid Mothers. Each track has an average length of 17:27 (we did the math) and each track has it's own unique musical ideals and arrangements which stand out in the Acid Mothers diverse catalog. Makoto Kawabata and crew successfully set out to create an album unique in its look and sound and were extremely successful in the execution of that goal. Previously issued as 3 now out of print EPs.

Great Jewish Music - Serge Gainsbourg

2009-11-03T02:29:00.000-08:00

The music world has certainly been enriched since composer and saxophonist John Zorn got his consciousness raised about his Jewishness. He subsequently formed a band with the ominous name Masada and established the Tzadik label, which has produced some of the best avant-garde recordings of the last ten years. Tzadik's fledgling Great Jewish Music series promises to be excellent, if this album is any indication. On it various members of the American and British avant-establishment take turns arranging songs by the great French songwriter Serge Gainsbourg, with results varying from fairly straightforward (Cibo Matto's surprisingly gentle "Je T'aime, Moi Non Plus" and Ikue Mori's delightful "Pauvre Lola") to bizarrely wonderful (Faith No More frontman Mike Patton's take on "Ford Mustang" and Zorn's own all-vocal "Contact"). Medeski, Martin and Wood contribute a version of "Intoxicated Man" on which Medeski does his best to imitate a woozy French accordion before veering off into the trio's more familiar organic jazz-funk territory; Fred Frith acquits himself nicely on a one-man-band version of "The Ballad of Melody Nelson." All in all, this is a fine and fitting tribute to an underappreciated songwriter. ~ Rick Anderson, All Music Guide

01 Elysian Fields - Les Amours Perdues
02 Mike Patton - Ford Mustang
03 Wayne Horvitz & Robin Holcomb - Bonnie And Clyde
04 Cyro Baptista - Là-Bas C'Est Naturel
05 Kramer - 69 Année Èrotique
06 Ikue Mori - Pauvre Lola
07 Fred Frith - The Ballad Of Melody Nelson
08 JON - Les Sucettes
09 Ruins - L' Homme Á Tête De Chou
10 Anthony Coleman - Ce Mortel Ennui
11 Eszter Balint - Un Poison Violent, C'Est Ça L'Amour
12 David Shea - Initials B.B
13 Eyvind Kang - Sous Le Soleil Exactement
14 Steve Beresford - Couleur Café
15 Blonde Redhead - Le Chanson De Slogan
16 John Zorn - Contact
17 Cibo Matto - Je T'Aime, Moi Non Plus
18 Medeski, Martin & Wood - Intoxicated Man
19 Shelley Hirsch - Comic Strip
20 Franz Treichler - Requiem Pour Un Con
21 Marc Ribot - Black Trombone

Great Jewish Music - Marc Bolan

2009-11-03T00:09:00.001-08:00

Part of the Tzadik label's Radical Jewish Culture Series, which sought to highlight great music by Jews (instead of focusing on music with distinct Jewish cultural influences, though the two are not mutually exclusive), Great Jewish Music: Marc Bolan is also part of a smaller series of tribute albums put out by the label. The diverse lineup of honored artists, which includes Serge Gainsbourg and Burt Bacharach, is presented on albums that feature interpretations by some of the avant-garde and experimental community's most talented musicians. Bolan may seem like the gritty odd-man-out in such company, but John Zorn, the creative force holding the reins at Tzadik, knows an influential musician when he sees one. Indeed, ripples of the impact that Marc Bolan and his band T. Rex had on punk and rock musicians can still be felt more than two decades after his death. His delicious creepiness is all over this album, especially on Kramer's version of "Get It On," where a child's voice singing over up-tempo drums and jangly guitar (with flute, drum machine, and string elements thrown in) lends an almost pedophiliac edge to Bolan's swampy sexual lure. Rebecca Moore's "Telegram Sam" is also reverently disturbing, with guttural utterances alternating between the atmospheric moaning, wailing, and buzzing of guitar and synth, like the last breath of someone who has given up fighting her own demons. The Tall Dwarfs' version of "Ride a White Swan" shows off Bolan's penchant for sounding raw and groovy at the same time, and Eszter Balint's rendition of "Mambo Sun" shows how a love song can be both sweet and angry. Overall, this is a great compilation, which instead of merely parroting Bolan's music, does what the best of tributes do -- captures the elements that made him wonderful, while letting the creativity and uniqueness of the artists performing the songs shine through. ~ Stacia Proefrock, All Music Guide

1. Children Of The Revolution
Artist: Arto Lindsay, Marc Ribot
2. Telegram Sam
Artist: Rebecca Moore
3. Get It On
Artist: Kramer
4. Buick Mackane
Artist: Melvins
5. Groove A Little
Artist: Medeski, Martin and Wood
6. Cosmic Dancer
Artist: Lo Galluccio
7. Chariot Choogle
Artist: Mike Patton, Fantomas
8. Ride A White Swan
Artist: Tall Dwarfs
9. Rip-Off
Artist: Chris Cochrane
10. Deboraarobed
Artist: Gary Lucas
11. Mambo Sun
Artist: Eszter Balint
12. Jeepster
Artist: Vernon Reid
13. Lunacy's Back
Artist: Danny Cohen
14. Life's A Gas
Artist: Oren Bloedow
15. Would I Be The One
Artist: Sean Lennon & Yuka Honda
16. Love Charm
Artist: Cake Like
17. Scenescof
Artist: Trey Spruance
18. 20th Century Boy
Artist: Buckethead
19. Romany Soup
Artist: Lloyd Cole

Buckethead - Mad Monster Party

2009-10-22T03:14:00.001-07:00

01 Frankenseuss Laboratories
02 Peppers Ghost
03 Gory Head Stump 2006 The Pageant
04 Ghost
05 Flesh for the Beast
06 Mad Monster Party
07 The Funeral
08 Ice Pick through Eyes
09 Night of the Slunk
10 Traveling Morgue
11 Slaughter Zone - The Haunted Farm
12 The Hand
13 Witches On The Heath
14 Angel Monster
15 Headstone
16 Spider Crawl
17 Buried Alive
18 Isle Of Dead
19 Frozen Brains Tell No Tales
20 The Spider's Web
21 The Corpse Plower

Happy Halloween!!!

Birdsongs of the Mesozoic - Fossil Record 1980-1987

2009-09-27T01:27:00.000-07:00

The Fossil Record is all unreleased material by the original lineup (featuring Roger Miller) & an excellent overview. ''Birdsongs Of The Mesozoic has found a common ground amoung garage band rock, classical, minimalism, UK progressive rock, and it's own favorite noises.''-The New York Times. ''...fantastically innovative music.''-Exposé. ''...a fresh & almost indescribable fusion of rock, jazz, modern classical, sampled sound & noise.''
Recommended for the highly adventurous (let's face it, a band that lists "chain on metal, a Mercury Cougar hubcap and a paint can" among their instruments should be a fair warning as to their 'unorthodox behaviour'. No pun intended here, except to say that BRAND X sound like pussy cats compared to these guys). Fans of ZAPPA, KING CRIMSON, AFTER CRYING and particularly UNIVERS ZERO will love this.

Studio Album, released in 1993

Songs / Tracks Listing 1. Sound Valentine (3:16)
2. Pulse Piece (3:07)
3. The Transformation Of Oz (2:21)
4. Tyronglaea (2:44)
5. Chen/The Arousing (1:56)
6. Sombre Reptiles (3:08)
7. Laramide Revolution (5:33)
8. Out Of Limits (2:34)
9. Biff The Brontosaurus (4:11)
10. Carbon 14 (4:40)
11. Modern Warfare (3:45)
12. March (2:22)
13. Lqabblil Insanya (4:36)
14. Slo-Boy (3:48)
15. To A Random (23:19)

A taste of what Djam Karet sounds like as a 5 piece in 2009

2009-09-20T04:11:00.000-07:00

A taste of what DK sounds like as a 5 piece in 2009.

The Music:
1. Dedicated To KC (Excerpt)
2. Room 40 (Excerpt)
3. The Red Thread (Excerpt)
4. Sexy Beast (Excerpt)
5. Grooming The Psychosis (Excerpt)

Djam Karet 2009
Gayle Ellett: The Keyboards (Access Virus Snow, Moog LP, Nord Electro, Manikin Memotron)
Mike Henderson: Electric Guitars
Aaron Kenyon: Electric Bass
Mike Murray: Electric Guitars
Chuck Oken, Jr: Acoustic & Electronic Drums

Djam Karet - The Devouring (1997)

2009-09-20T02:06:00.000-07:00

Djam Karet play very original and innovative music. "The Devouring" is more than 70 minutes of serious Progressive Rock with a lot of improvisational structures, though you won't find here elements of Jazz Fusion at all. The music is invigorating, the themes are fronted mostly by powerful electric guitars and synthesizers, though sometimes Djam Karet tend to be more spacey, especially on Lost, But Not Forgotten (3rd track) and Myth Of A White Jesus (5th track). As a whole, the music here can be described as original, often very powerful, instrumental Rock with quirky guitar solos and complex musical interplays from three (including bass) electric guitars, synthesizers and drums

Rip Rig & Panic

2009-09-20T01:59:00.000-07:00

Rip Rig & Panic was a post-punk band, founded in 1981 and who broke up in 1983. It was named after a 1965 jazz album by Roland Kirk. It was fronted by Andrea Oliver and its members included singer Neneh Cherry, Sean Oliver, Mark Springer, and Gareth Sager and Bruce Smith, the latter two formerly of The Pop Group.

The group strayed from more conventional post-punk, mixing avantgarde elements with jazz and led by Cherry's innovative pop/soul singing style. They also recorded with Don Cherry and Nico (on a BBC radio session).

The band notably made a guest appearance in an episode of the British sitcom The Young Ones performing their 1982 single "You're My Kind of Climate". Rip Rig & Panic became Float Up CP in 1985 and produced the album Kill Me in the Morning. The band dissolved shortly thereafter.

Mark Springer has continued to record as a solo artist and has a number of CDs available

Sun Ra - The Singles

2009-09-17T01:13:00.000-07:00

SUN RA
the singles (2 cd's)
This treasured collection, The Singles, took three years to produce, collecting virtually every 45 released by Sun Ra from 1954 through 1982. It is considered the holy grail for Sun Ra collectors. It was pieced together from the contributions of private collectors around the world, and sonically cleaned up far beyond the audio capabilities of the original vinyl they were pressed on. It also features a 36 page booklet, with liner notes written by four respected Ra experts, and contains historically significant photos.

This astonishing collection features the oddest 45 rpms
ever. What the hell was Ra thinking when these singles
were originally issued ? Did he honestly think they would reach the national US charts with deranged tracks such as "Muck Muck", which even The Cramps would baulk at ? Whatever the reasons, they make thrilling listening especially "State Street" which captures Sun Ra and his Arkestra with a swing that Cannonball Adderley would have envied. The fact Ra did not bother to pursue this option when he obviously could, have makes this set all the more enigmatic. Fascinating music from a true original.

Sun Ra New York, Electric Circus 03-68

2009-09-16T04:01:00.000-07:00

Eclectic, outrageous, sometimes mystifying but always imbued with a powerful jazz consciousness, the music of Sun Ra has withstood its skeptics and detractors for nearly three generations. And well it should, since Sun Ra has been both apart of and ahead of the jazz tradition during that time. Like Duke Ellington and swing-era pioneer Fletcher Henderson, Sun Ra learned early on to write music in an arranged form that showcased the specific talents of his individual Arkestra members, and he has retained the services of some of these musicians to this day: John Gilmore, Marshall Allen, and Julian Priester for example since they first joined in the 1950's. On the other hand, Sun Ra was the first jazz musician to perform on electronic keyboards (56), the first to pursue full-scale collective improvisation in a big band setting, and his preoccupation with space travel as a compositional subject predated bands like Weather Report by about 15 years.All this from someone who refuses to even cite the earth as his home planet and prefers to have arrived from Saturn. As Sun Ra once explained it, "I never wanted to be a part of planet Earth, but I am compelled to be here, so anything I do for this planet is because the Master-Creator of the Universe is making me do it. I am of another dimension. I am on this planet because people need me".

Sun Ra New York, Electric Circus 03-68:

01 - Lights On A Satellite
02 - Unidentified
03 - Friendly Galaxy-Untitled Improvisation
04 - Satellites Are Spinning (Part 1)
05 - Satellites Are Spinning (Part 2)-Untitled Improvisation
06 - Calling Planet Earth
07 - Somebody Else's Idea
08 - Spontaneous Simplicity
09 - Space Aura

John Cage meets Sun Ra

2009-09-15T04:37:00.000-07:00

Strange, zany, and still at points incredible and amazing, John Cage and Sun Ra performed this concert in 1986. Sun Ra steals the show, improvising amazingly on his Yamaha synthesizer and simply mesmerizing anyone who hears the music.
These facts about these two men are essential to understanding this live performance. Without this information, the 45 minute performance seems terribly odd and zany. Sun Ra’s spastic, heavy synthesizer matched with Cage’s minimalist, sparse vocal noises seem all too much for a stable, sane human mind. On this recording, there are literally minutes of absolutely no music going on at the time. Cage showcases his “chance music” theory on this live recording, and the crowd apparently knows his ideas well. However, the recording quality diminishes from the chance music theory. Either the crowd kept incredibly silent or the recording did not pick up the sounds coming from the crowd. Overall, the recording quality of the performance is quite poor, often sounding like an old 50s movie.

The History Of Moondog

2009-09-08T03:32:00.000-07:00

Moondog was the nom de plume of Louis T. Hardin (May 26, 1916 – September 8, 1999).
Born in Marysville, Kansas he started playing a set of drums made by himself with a cardboard box at the age of 5.
Hardin was blinded in a farm accident at the age of 16. After learning the principles of music in several schools
for blind young men across central America he started teaching himself the skills of ear training and composition,
becoming then a self taught man and artist. From the late 1940s until 1974, Moondog lived as a street musician
and poet in New York City, busking mostly on 54th Street and 6th Avenue in Manhattan. In addition to his music
and poetry, he was also known for the distinctive Viking garb that he wore, which included a horned helmet.
He partially supported himself by selling copies of his poetry and his musical philosophy.
Because of his street post's proximity to the 52nd Street club strip, he was well-known to many jazz musicians and fans.

Painkiller (2005) 50th Birthday Celebration Vol.12

2009-09-07T00:26:00.000-07:00

1. Your Inviolable Freedoms
2. Dpm
3. Prohethood Of Chaos

Live Recording

Painkiller:
Mike Patton (vocals)
John Zorn (saxophone)
Bill Laswell (bass guitar)
Hamid Drake (drums)

MASSACRE (Fred FRITH, Bill LASWELL & Charles HAYWARD) - in Paris 2008

2009-09-07T00:21:00.000-07:00

Live in Créteil (Paris suburb) 22 February 2008
Fred Frith - guitar
Bill Laswell - bass
Charles Hayward - drums, melodica

This was their second appearance at the Sons d'Hiver festival (their first was in 2003) and once again, they delivered a wonderful set.

It is an audience recording, with excellent sound.

Buckethead - Colma (1998)

2009-09-06T04:19:00.000-07:00

Colma is Buckethead's fourth studio album, released March 24, 1998, by CyberOctave records.

The title of the album makes reference to the small town of Colma near San Francisco, California, where "the dead population outnumber the living by thousands to one".

Berklee College of Music alumni Teri Untalan guested on two tracks of the album. In a 2009 interview she recalled Buckethead as being "an odd one, an elusive character".

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Buckethead.

1. "Whitewash" 4:44
2. "For Mom" 5:10
3. "Ghost" 5:29
4. "Hills of Eternity" 5:07
5. "Big Sur Moon" 1:13
6. "Machete" 6:18
7. "Wishing Well" 4:03
8. "Lone Sal Bug" 5:32
9. "Sanctum" 3:42
10. "Wondering" 2:16
11. "Watching the Boats with My Dad" 5:07
12. "Ghost Part 2" 2:31
13. "Colma" 3:15
54:28

Notes

* The song "Colma" is identical to the Pieces song "General Butterfly", but excludes the spoken dialogue given (presumably by Buckethead) throughout the song.
* The song "Hills of Eternity" is named after the cemetery "Hills of Eternity" where Wyatt Earp is buried.
* The song "Wishing Well" is identical to the Pieces song "Danyel", but excludes Buckethead's singing.

Personnel

Performers

* Buckethead — guitars and bass.
* Brain — drums and loops.
* DJ Disk — scratches on "Machete," "Hills of Eternity," and "Lone Sal Bug."
* Bill Laswell — bass on "Machete".
* Terry Untalan — cello and viola on "Wondering" and "Lone Sal Bug."

Praxis - Transmutation (Mutatis Mutandis)

2009-09-03T04:29:00.000-07:00

Transmutation (Mutatis Mutandis) is the first album by Bill Laswell's everchanging "supergroup" Praxis. This first album features Buckethead on guitar, Bootsy Collins on bass and vocals, Brain on drums, Bernie Worrell on keyboards and DJ AF Next Man Flip on turntables and mixer.

Transmutation features a wide range of musical styles, all mixed together to make a very diverse and unique album. Styles such as heavy metal, funk, hip hop, ambient, jazz and blues are blended together to form a strange style of avant-garde, with extended guitar and keyboard solos, and highly improvised passages.

1. "Blast/War Machine Dub" 3:51
2. "Interface/Stimulation Loop" 2:17
3. "Crash Victim/Black Science Navigator" 3:42
4. "Animal Behavior" 7:09
5. "Dead Man Walking" 5:14
6. "Seven Laws of Woo" 5:05
7. "The Interworld and the New Innocence" 6:29
8. "Giant Robot/Machines in the Modern City/Godzilla" 6:38
9. "After Shock (Chaos Never Died)" 16:20

Note: Track 8 starts out with the Giant Robot theme, that is also featured on Buckethead's Bucketheadland album.

* Praxis:
o Bootsy Collins - space bass, vocals.
o Buckethead - guitar, toys.
o Brain - drums.
o Bernie Worrell - synthesizer, clavinet & vital organ.
o AF Next Man Flip (Lord of the Paradox) - turntable, mixer.
+ also known as Afrika Baby Bam of the Jungle Brothers

The Golden Palominos -1983 (Celluloid)

2009-08-24T00:27:00.000-07:00

The Golden Palominos were an American musical group headed by drummer and composer Anton Fier, first formed in 1981. Aside from Fier, the Palominos membership was wildly elastic, with only bassist Bill Laswell and guitarist Nicky Skopelitis appearing on every album.

While the Palominos' records usually featured a core set of musicians and a certain emotional continuity throughout the bulk of an album, various guest appearances would result in stylistic changes from track to track.

The group first featured Fier, singer-guitarist Arto Lindsay, saxophonist John Zorn, bass guitarist Bill Laswell and violinist/guitarist Fred Frith. Their self-titled debut album was released on New York's Celluloid Records in 1983, and featured guest appearances by bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma, guitarist Nicky Skopelitis, percussionist David Moss, guitarist/singer Bob Kidney, turntablist M.E. Miller and others. The album is notable for having some of the first recorded turntable scratching outside of rap music, courtesy of Laswell and M.E. Miller. M.E.Miller also used vocal splitting technique to create harmony on the song he sings.

They were heavily influenced by so-called no wave music (Arto Lindsay had played in the seminal no-wave band DNA), but their music also contained elements of funk and of the improvisational jazz stylings that would become Zorn's trademark. This line-up lasted only for the first record, although all of the core members apart from Zorn would guest on subsequent Palominos recordings.

Material - Memory Serves

2009-08-24T00:13:00.000-07:00

Memory Serves is a 1981 album by the New York based No Wave music group Material.

1. "Memory Serves" (Bill Laswell, Michael Beinhorn) – 5:08
2. "Disappearing" (Olu Dara, Sonny Sharrock, Laswell, Beinhorn, Fred Maher) – 7:11
3. "Upriver" (Billy Bang, Laswell, Beinhorn, Maher) – 5:25
4. "Metal Test" (Fred Frith, Laswell, Beinhorn, Maher) – 4:30
5. "Conform To The Rhythm" (Laswell, Beinhorn, Frith) – 4:30
6. "Unauthorized" (Sharrock, Laswell, Maher) – 3:50
7. "Square Dance" (Frith, Laswell, Maher) – 4:29
8. "Silent Land" (George Lewis, Laswell, Beinhorn) – 3:48

The Ed Palermo Big Band ‘Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance’

2009-08-19T02:10:00.000-07:00

Ed Palermo is a alto sax player and arranger; he has had a big band for twenty-five years, which is an impressive feat in itself, and has had his band performing the music of Frank Zappa for over a decade. Years and years of playing these pieces in front of enthusiastic crowds at a number of venues in New York City and beyond have honed the band’s skills with this difficult material to where they can glide through these charts as if they were butter. There are a number of ensembles performing the music of this great 20th century American composer, but no one does it with this ease, skill and originality; Ed is not afraid to turn a piece into a salsa number (the title track) or to take what was a one minute miniature and to develop it out into a six minute work. The band is a 15 piece ensemble of 6 woodwind players, two trumpeters, three trombonists, two keyboardists, bass and drums, plus a few guests. All of these musicians are NYC professionals, and they have been playing this music for years with Ed, because, like Ed, they recognize and appreciate the genius inherent in the huge body of Zappa's work, and they want to keep this great music alive and in front of the public.

Abigail Sin Plays Frank Zappa

2009-08-18T01:45:00.000-07:00

Abigail Sin (born 1992) is a Singaporean pianist. She was hailed by TIME Magazine as one of Asia's small wonders and a bona fide prodigy when she was ten years old. By the age of eleven, she attained her Licentiate of the Royal School of Music (LRSM) in Piano Performance.
In January 2005, Sin won first prize at the Virginia Waring International Junior Piano Competition in Palm Desert, California. Later in the year, she won another prize at the 17th Ibiza International Piano Competition in Spain in the Young Pianist category for contestants 16 years old and under. In 2006, she recorded Abigail Sin Plays Frank Zappa and was accepted into the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (Singapore). Sin is the youngest student there.

GIRO DI VALZER PER DOMANI - ARTI & MESTIERI

2009-08-15T00:38:00.000-07:00

One of the bands from the Cramps label, Arti & Mestieri from Turin were formed around 1974 by ex-Trip drummer Furio Chirico (he had previously played with I Ragazzi del Sole and Martò e i Judas) with other musicians from various musical experiences. Venegoni, Vigliar and Vitale had previously played with Il Sogno di Archimede, a jazzy-prog group.
Often playing with Area, they shared with them the same interest in fusing jazz-rock with prog elements, and their first album, Tilt, is a very good result, even if the limited vocal parts were their weakest point. The album includes only two vocal tracks, and the rest is mainly instrumental.

The group had a good live activity, supporting the likes of PFM and even Gentle Giant, as demonstrated by the good and now deleted Live CD released in 1990 (another live CD with a different 1974 recording has been released in 2002, see below for details).
On the second album, 1975's Giro di valzer per domani, a singer was added, Gianfranco Gaza from Procession, and the album has a much better sound and production than the previous one, in a similar style as the previous one but with stronger jazz rock influences. Two of the album's best cuts, the instrumental Valzer per domani and the vocal Saper sentire were also released as a single.

In 1979 another Arti & Mestieri album was released, Quinto stato, always led by Chirico but with a different line-up and more in a mainstream jazz-rock vein, while subsequent releases strongly veered towards fusion.
Fourth album, Acquario, is not a live album as declared on the front cover, just a live-in-studio recording. Like its follower, Children's blues, it was released on a small label with local distribution only.

Guitarist Venegoni also released two solo albums on Cramps as Venegoni & Co., always in the same jazz-rock style as later Arti & Mestieri.
Drummer Furio Chirico has continued playing and teaching his instrument, also releasing solo albums and some drum playing tutorials. He's the first Italian drummer ever playing at the Modern Drummer Festival in USA (2002 edition).
Keyboardist Crovella has played and taken production role on new prog bands' albums such as Romantic Warriors, Tower, Mosaic.

A revived Arti & Mestieri with original members Venegoni, Crovella, Gallesi and Chirico aided by Marco Cimino (from Errata Corrige, he had already joined the band on Quinto Stato, both he and Gallesi were also in Esagono) and violinist Corrado Trabuio released a new CD Murales in 2001 on the small Electromantic label. Mostly instrumental and somehow influenced by jazz and world music, the CD also includes reworkings of a couple of tracks from the early albums, Gravità 9,81 and Nove lune prima.
Fans of the early Arti & Mestieri will be delighted to know of a recent CD release called Articollezione, a compilation of unreleased tracks from their first period, more in a progressive style than later works.

Another very nice recent release is the double Live 1974/2000 CD. As the title suggests it includes a whole 1974 concert (all the tracks from the previous Vinyl Magic Live CD are included here along with some more, but taken from a different concert) while the second CD is dedicated to 1999 and 2000 live recordings.

Summer 2003 has seen the group playing with a new line-up with expanded vocal capabilities, Arti & Mestieri appeared at ProgDay 2003, in North Carolina, at the end of August.
Founder members Furio Chirico and Beppe Crovella are now helped by Corrado Trabuio (violin, vocals), Slep (guitar, vocals) and Roberto Cassetta (bass, vocals), and they have a powerful live show entirely based on their 1974-75 albums... a welcome return!
The 2004 album by Arti & Mestieri, recorded by the new line-up, is Progday special, a 4-track CD collecting old tracks recorded live in studio to promote the band in their new journey abroad. The Electromantic label has also released in 2004 the first solo album by the original bass player Marco Gallesi, entitled Riff.
In 2005 another new studio work, called Estrazioni, and strongly connected with the earlier productions starting with its cover design. The record includes some tracks composed for a never released third album in 1977 along with more recent compositions, and is on a varied level but very promising indeed. The new line-up includes Marco Roagna (guitar) replacing Slep, and Alfredo Ponissi (sax), along with a guest appearance by the original guitarist Gigi Venegoni. The band is augmented in concert by guests Warren Dale on sax and flute and singer Iano Nicolò, frontman of the group Cantina Sociale, from Piedmont.

Also in 2005 the band played in Japan, at Tokyo's Club Città, and a live CD taken from those concerts, entitled First live in Japan, has been released at the end of 2006.

A box set meant to celebrate the first album Tilt and the entire group's career, entitled 33 was finally released in early 2008, a nice package including an LP, a CD, 2 DVD's and various inserts.

In 2009 Arti e Mestieri are working on a concept album entitled Piramidi - Quadri di un'esplorazione, inspired from the life of the explorer Giovanni Belzoni, and an EP, Il grande Belzoni, was taken from the forthcoming album

Kevin Ayers - Joy of a Toy [UK Bonus Tracks]

2009-08-13T06:06:00.000-07:00

Kevin Ayers is one of the finest and most influential musical talents to have emerged in Britain during the mayhem and madness of the late Sixties. Yet like peer and fellow Harvest records pioneer Syd Barrett, he has always been profoundly uneasy with the self-promotion that the pop music world demands. In fact, he abhors it. Ayers is an English eccentric, a supreme raconteur, a maverick innovator who has always remained true to his musical ideals and for these reasons his legacy is being celebrated by a new generation of performers today.

Can - Anthology - 25 Years

2009-08-11T02:21:00.001-07:00

Damo Suzuki , Holger Czukay , Irmin Schmidt , Jaki Liebezeit , Malcolm Mooney , Michael Karoli
1-1 Father Cannot Yell (6:57)
1-2 Soup (2:42)
1-3 Mother Sky (6:35)
1-4 She Brings The Rain (4:06)
1-5 Mushroom (4:26)
1-6 One More Night (5:37)
1-7 Outside My Door (4:07)
1-8 Spoon (3:03)
1-9 Halleluwah (5:36)
1-10 Aumgn (7:12)
1-11 Dizzy Dizzy (3:27)
Lyrics By - Duncan Fallowell
1-12 You Doo Right (20:18)
2-1 Uphill (6:25)
2-2 Mother Upduff (4:29)
2-3 Doko E (2:27)
2-4 Musette (2:14)
2-5 Blue Bag (1:15)
2-6 TV Spot (3:06)
2-7 Half Past One (4:39)
Lyrics By - Can , Peter Gilmour
2-8 Moonshake (3:01)
2-9 Future Days (9:29)
2-10 Cascade Waltz (5:40)
Lyrics By - Can , Peter Gilmour
2-11 I Want More (3:30)
Lyrics By - Can , Peter Gilmour
2-12 Animal Waves (8:09)
2-13 Don't Say No (6:34)
Lyrics By - Can , Peter Gilmour
2-14 Aspectacle (3:07)
2-15 Below This Level (2:14)
2-16 Hoolah Hoolah (4:30)
2-17 Last Night Sleep (3:35)

Hapshash and the Coloured Coat - Human Host and the Heavy Metal Kids

2009-08-08T04:40:00.001-07:00

1967 Reissue. On of the psychedelic 'Freak Out' scenes most sought after releases and one of the oddest 'groups' ever to release a record. Basically the brainchild of producer Guy Stevens, Hapshash also featured graphic designer Michael English and boutique owner Nigel Waymouth and the five LSD influenced tracks on this collector's CD showed the trio taking the 60s 'free spirit' stance to new and uncharted areas.

Simply Saucer - Half Human, Half Live

2009-08-07T01:58:00.000-07:00

Simply Saucer had been out of commission for more than a decade when Cyborgs Revisited, a collection of demos and live tracks they recorded in the mid-'70s, was issued on vinyl in 1989 and established the group as a record collector geek's dream band -- a group laboring in utter obscurity who were creating something truly unique, a wacked-out fusion of Can, the Velvet Underground, the Kinks, and Syd Barrett created at a time when even those wildly influential acts were off the radar of most rock fans, especially in the Canadian factory town of Hamilton, Ontario. When Cyborgs Revisited was reissued on CD in 2003 with a stack of bonus tracks, the buzz about Simply Saucer grew a bit louder, but no one was honestly expecting the band to ever re-form (especially given the fact lead guitarist and singer Edgar Breau had given up electric guitar after quitting the band), making the existence of Half Human, Half Live, the first proper Simply Saucer album, something of a surprise. While Breau and bassist Kevin Christoff are the only two members of the original edition of Simply Saucer to appear on these sessions, the sound and feel of this album is consistent with the scraps collected on Cyborgs Revisited, though this material has the advantage of having been recorded under more welcoming circumstances, in a proper studio and with a solid lineup of musicians, and the three way fusion of the trippy, the furious, and the joyous is still potent and effective nearly three decades after the group gave up the ghost. Breau's voice isn't what it once was, but his hearty bellow works just fine on many of these songs, and for a guy who gave up rock for acoustic folk in 1979, he can still conjure up an impressive wall of electric noise, though new members Daniel Wintermans and Stephen Foster certainly help. And if the '60s pop influences of "Almost Ready Betty" and the pastoral acoustic folk-rock of "Dandelion Kingdom" seem a bit outside the boundaries of what one might expect from Simply Saucer, Breau is certainly entitled to a bit of reinvention after so many years of hibernation. Half Human, Half Live features six new compositions recorded in the studio and six Simply Saucer chestnuts played for a small but enthusiastic live audience, and while the studio tracks rock with genuine authority, live the new group sound just a bit tentative, though they build up an impressive head of steam by the end of "Illegal Bodies." If Half Human, Half Live isn't quite the triumph one might have hoped for, it does nothing to tarnish the legacy of this great invisible band, and suggests Breau's musical ambitions are still impressive (and still evolving) in the 21st century, and hopefully this isn't the last we'll hear from this band. 

Simply Saucer - Cyborgs Revisited

2009-08-03T22:51:00.000-07:00

Simply Saucer were a Canadian group of the wasteland period (post-psych, pre-punk). Like a few of the other kick ass bands of the period, they were almost completely unique. And completely invisible.

I've heard this record compared to Syd's Floyd quite a bit. I can dig it, but only if we're talking about the Syd of Vegetable Man and Scream Thy Last Scream. There's no See Emily Play pop structure going on here at all.

I think a more apt comparison is the very earliest of Pere Ubu. The one with Peter Laughner. This has that same damaged sense of song structure - there are very few verse/chorus things going on here. Even the solo sections have a crazy non-standard structure to them. Also like the Ubu, there is that ubiquitous non-musical electronics that really sells it for me.

But unlike Floyd or Ubu, this is a space *rock* band, meaning that the singer is got that garage punky snarl to him. This is the piece that takes this band from being part of a group to being flat out unique.

If you haven't written songs before, it may be hard to truly appreciate how difficult this type of song construction is (don't you hate it when reviewers say this kind of shit...). Most songs are written as groove A (aka verse), groove B (chorus), and maybe C or D (bridge, coda, intro, etc). Each piece needs to fit somewhat, but as long as they are similar keys, it works OK. Simply Saucer might go A, B, C, D, semi-A, C backwards, E, Q, freak-out, B with each part melting into each other, rather than abrupt transitions. Good stuff.
Manic CBGB's era electro-punk from Canada. Recorded in 1974 by Daniel and Bob Lanois and bolstered by demos, live tracks, and later day singles.

Tracks :
1. Instant Pleasure
2. Electro Rock
3. Nazi Apocalypse
4. Mole Machine
5. Bullet Proof Nothing
6. Here Come The Cyborgs (Part 1)
7. Here Come The Cyborgs (Part 2)
8. Dance The Mutation
9. Illegal Bodies
10. Low Profile (Demo)
11. Little Sally (Demo)
12. Get My Thrills (Demo)
13. I Take It (Demo)
14. Yes I Do (Live)
15. Bullet Proof Nothing (Live)
16. Now's The Time For The Party (Live)
17. I Can Change My Mind (1978 45 rpm Single)
18. She's A Dog (1978 45 rpm Single)

This expanded reissue contains material from a two-song single, a recording session from 1974,
a live set from 1975, and the 1978 single "She's A Dog".

Simply Saucer :
Edgar Breau (vocals, guitar, Theremin)
Ping Romany (keyboards)
Kevin Christoff (bass, background vocals)
Neil DeMerchant, Tony Cutaia (drums)

Daevid Allen - Opium For The People (1978) + Alien In New-York (1983)

2009-08-02T19:05:00.000-07:00

Both 1978 &1983 mini-albums on 1 disc from Soft Machine and Gong founder Daevid Allen. Includes a version of "Stoned Innocent Frankenstein", "Opium For The People" and four others. Classic psych punk New Wave.

New York Gong

2009-08-01T04:47:00.001-07:00

Daevid Allen (vocals, guitar), Bill Laswell (bass), Michael Beinhorn (synthesizer), Fred Maher (drums), Bill Bacon (drums), Cliff Cultreri (guitar) Dennis Weise (synthesizer), Michael Lawrence (guitar), Don E. Davis (saxophone), George Bishop (saxophone), Stu Martin (drums), Mark Kramer (keyboards, trombone), George Cartwright (saxophone), Gary Windo (saxophone)

GONG FAMILY JEWELS (1987-1998)

2009-07-31T02:47:00.000-07:00

GONG : FAMILY JEWELS (1987-1998)
Compilation of Gong and related artists including unreleased material
Disk 1 - Thinky Disc
1. Pip PYLE: Seven Year Itch [1998]
2. Pierre MOERLEN'S GONG: Second Wind [live Bremen Aug 1988]
3. Gilli SMYTH: Cyberwhale
4. Daevid ALLEN: So What? [1997]
5. Pierre MOERLEN & ORCHESTRE REGIONAL DE JAZZ D'ALSACE : Little House I Used To Live In* [live Strasbourg 1997]
6. GONG: Radio Gnome Transmission / The Secret Language* [Oxford, Zodiac Club - 17 Oct 1997]
7. GONG: Steffe Sharpstrings' Master Builder Guitar Solo* [Manchester, Nia Centre - 3 Oct 1997]
8. Daevid ALLEN: Flagship Farewell* [1997]
9. Pierre MOERLEN'S GONG: Say No More [1988]
10. GONG: Master Builder Sax solo* [Sheffield, Leadmill - 5 Oct 1997]
11. GONG: Can't Kill Me Jam* [Cambridge, Junction - 21 Oct 1997]
12. GONG: You Are I And I* [Manchester, Nia Centre - 3 Oct 1997]
Disk 2 - Feely Disc
1. Didier MALHERBE: Hadouk [1995]
2. GLO: Let's Glo [1997]
3. GONGMAISON: Blame The Rich [1989]
4. GLO: Back To The Sea [1997]
5. Didier MALHERBE: Zeff Dance [1992]
6. SMYTH, ALLEN & WILLIAMSON: Stroking The Tail Of The Bird [1987]
7. Mike HOWLETT with Ben HOFFNUNG : Mountains of Venus* [1997]
8. GLO: Deia [1997]
9. Didier MALHERBE: Blues del' Horizon [1994]
10. Daevid ALLEN: The Voice of Om [1989

KTU - 8 Armed Monkey (2005)

2009-07-24T00:33:00.000-07:00

8 Armed Monkey
Studio album by KTU
Released September 27, 2005
Genre Progressive rock, experimental music
Length 43:05
Label Thirsty Ear

8 Armed Monkey is the debut album of the band KTU. It was drawn from the group's first few live performances in Japan.

Track listing

1. "Sumu" (Pohjonen) - 8:43
2. "Optikus" (Pohjonen) - 8:36
3. "Sineen" (Pohjonen, Kosminen) - 7:23
4. "Absinthe" (Gunn, Mastelotto) - 8:21
5. "Keho" (KTU) - 10:02

Line-up

* Kimmo Pohjonen: accordion, voice
* Samuli Kosminen: accordion samples, voice samples
* Pat Mastelotto: drums and rhythmic devices
* Trey Gunn: Warr guitar

Praxis ~ Sacrifist

2009-07-23T02:06:00.000-07:00

Sacrifist
Praxis
Released 1994
Genre Avant-garde, Rock, Experimental, Heavy metal, Electronic music
Length 44:41
Label Subharmonic

Sacrifist is the second album of the Bill Laswell led project Praxis, released in 1994 on Laswell's label Subharmonic.

Originally, the album was intended to be a Rammellzee project, but soon was converted into the second Praxis album, after suggestions made by John Zorn.

The line-up features the core Praxis trio of Laswell, guitarist Buckethead and drummer Bryan "Brain" Mantia. Additionally, Bootsy Collins and Bernie Worrell (of Parliament-Funkadelic), both also featured on the debut album, return for one lengthy track each: "Deathstar" includes Collins' "free-form bass explorations" and "Crossing" features Worrell's "psychedelic improvisation on a distorted Hammond organ". Vocals are handled by Mick Harris from Napalm Death and Scorn as well as Yamatsuka Eye from Boredoms. John Zorn added some saxophone parts.

The music itself is a mix of noisy speed/thrash metal with short interludes of dub music and hip-hop.

Naked City ~ Black Box [Torture Garden/Leng Tch'e]

2009-07-22T01:16:00.001-07:00

This two-CD set was first released by John Zorn in Japan in the early 1990s. It couldn't be sold in the United States because of the cover art, now concealed within the Black Box. These are Zorn's most horrific inspirations--Torture Garden incited by the images of Japanese sadomasochist pornography contained herein, Leng Tch'e by photographs of a Chinese public execution involving extended torture. A key part of Zorn's aesthetic is to create a musical methodology that matches his subject matter, or, conversely, to find a subject that matches his compositional methods. Like Artaud's Theatre of Cruelty, William S. Burrough's cut-up method, or the cutting and pasting of collage, Zorn's methods mimic violence, creating new forms out of the torture and destruction of the old. Torture Garden and Leng Tch'e are, literally, the short and the long of it. Torture Garden consists of 42 tracks, the longest of which is a minute and 14 seconds, the shortest a scant 10 seconds. Musical genres are literally cut up and stuck together, snippets of free jazz, lounge, country and western, pop (ancient and modern), and classical colliding and overlapping in a kind of cultural shock treatment. The 32-minute Leng Tch'e is drawn out to excruciating lengths in its simulation of the agony (and ecstasies) of torture and death. Throughout the two discs, the execution is at a very high level. With Bill Frisell on guitar, Fred Frith on bass, Joey Baron on drums, Wayne Horvitz on keyboards, and vocalist Yamatsuka Eye of the acclaimed Boredoms), Naked City combines many of Zorn's most talented collaborators, and it inspires some of his most brutish and brilliant alto saxophone playing. The Black Box creates a literal connection between "hard core" music and hard-core pornography. To say that it isn't for the squeamish is understatement.

The Capricorns ~ Ruder Forms Survive

2009-07-17T03:46:00.000-07:00

"Capricorns is an even mix of the dirty biker rock of Orange Goblin and the prog-metal sound of instrumental kings Pelican. It’s complex and intricate, yet still very direct in execution. And like their debut self titled EP, Ruder Forms Survive is primarily instrumental. The band lets the music speak for itself. Compelling stuff for sure."

"Ruder Forms Survive sees Capricorns up the sonic ante whilst still maintaining a deep love for the purity and tradition of The Riff. Capricorns have succeeded in combining the armageddon punk attitude of Amebix with a doomed out Ummagumma-era Pink Floyd propelled by the deepest swing this side of John Bonham."

What Burns Never Returns

2009-07-16T04:10:00.000-07:00

What Burns Never Returns is the third album by Don Caballero, a Pittsburgh-based math rock band. What Burns Never Returns was released on Touch and Go Records in 1998 and was a reunion of sorts for the band -- it was their first album after a two-year hiatus and it marked the return of original bassist Pat Morris.

The album is notable for guitarist Ian Williams' first significant experimentation with pedals and other electronic effects. This style would be prevalent in both Williams' and the band's subsequent work.

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Magma - 1974 June 01 - Chaumont, France

2009-07-14T04:22:00.000-07:00

MAGMA
1974-06-01
Chaumont
France

01. Theusz Hamtahk
02. Soi Sowiloi
03. Kohntarkosz
04. MDK (cut)

Line-up:
Christian Vander, Klaus Blasquiz, Janik Top, Michel Graillier, Gerard Bikialo, Brian Godding

I always liked this show a lot, Janik Top and Christian Vander are playing very tight especially on this one.Claude Olmos had left the group by this time, and Brian Godding was shortly in on guitar during June/July and probably August 74. This tape and the Grande Motte being the only known live tapes with him.
I am actually still wondering, if this might not as well be a soundboard tape, the bass sound is so clear and upfront in the mix without interfering with any of the other instruments. All instruments are clearly audible. I think it sounds pretty good. As with all Magma shows from this era, and to get the real idea of how dynamic the playing of this line-up was: PLAY THEM LOUD!

Hugh Hopper

2009-07-10T14:10:00.000-07:00

Hugh Colin Hopper (29 April 1945 - 7 June 2009) was a progressive rock and jazz fusion bass guitarist. He was a prominent member of the Canterbury scene, as a member of Soft Machine and various other related bands

Rhythms from a Cosmic Sky ~ Earthless

2009-07-10T01:36:00.000-07:00

Rhythms from a Cosmic Sky is the second album by the San Diego psychedelic rock band Earthless, released on May 8, 2007 by Tee Pee Records. It consists of two instrumental pieces, with the first track "Godspeed" divided into five suites. The CD version also includes a cover version of The Groundhogs' "Cherry Red", which is the only Earthless recording to include lyrics and vocals. The album was recorded and mixed January 1-4, 2007 by Tim Green at Louder Studios in San Francisco and mastered by Paul Gold at Salt Mastering in Brooklyn. The album artwork was designed by Andy Kman, with illustrations by bassist Mike Eginton.

The album was well-received by critics. Thom Jurek of Allmusic gave it 4½ stars out of 5, saying that They literally enter the sonic maelstrom of inspiration and free flowing, molten, deeply emotional energy where most felt it was at its peak, and they go up from there. Drawing comparisons to American and British psychedelic acts of the 1960s and 1970s such as Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Free, and Humble Pie, as well as more recent Japanese acts such as The Stars and Acid Mothers Temple, he remarked that "they're a whole other thing in American power rock right now. They point a way that few will be able to follow. George Crosland of Skateboard Revolution called the album A mix of Motörhead, the Melvins, Funkadelic and Led Zeppelin, kind of; music to get amped and stay amped to.

Can ~ Unlimited Edition

2009-07-05T05:37:00.000-07:00

Unlimited Edition is a compilation album by the band Can. Released in 1976 as a double album, it was an expanded version of the 1974 LP Limited Edition, which as the name suggests was a limited release of 15,000 copies (tracks 14-19 were added). The album collects unreleased music from throughout the band's history from 1968 until 1976, and both the band's major singers (Damo Suzuki and Malcolm Mooney) are featured.

Eye On You

2009-07-04T15:44:00.000-07:00

Ronald Shannon Jackson and the Decoding Society

Sonny Sharrock - Ask The Ages 1991

2009-07-02T04:24:00.001-07:00

Sharrock was semi-retired for much of the 1970s, undergoing a divorce from wife/occasional collaborator Linda in 1978. In the intermittent years until producer/bassist Bill Laswell coaxed him out of retirement, he worked as both a chauffeur and a caretaker for mentally challenged children. At Laswell's urging, Sharrock appeared on Material's (one of Laswell's many projects) 1981 effort, Memory Serves. In addition, Sharrock was a member of the punk/jazz band Last Exit, together with Peter Brötzmann, Laswell and Ronald Shannon Jackson. During the late 1980s, he recorded and performed extensively with the New York-based improvising band Machine Gun, as well as leading his own bands. Sharrock flourished with Laswell's help, noting in a 1991 interview that "the last five years have been pretty strange for me, because I went twelve years without making a record at all, and then in the last five years, I've made seven records under my own name. That's pretty strange." ^[5] Laswell would often perform with the guitarist on his albums, and produced many of Sharrock's recordings, including the entirely solo Guitar, the metal-influenced Seize the Rainbow, and the well-received Ask the Ages, which featured John Coltrane's bandmates Pharoah Sanders and Elvin Jones. One writer described Ask the Ages as "hands down, Sharrock's finest hour, and the ideal album to play for those who claim to hate jazz guitar

Material - Hallucination Engine

2009-07-01T00:43:00.001-07:00

(Zawinul,Johnson) 7:30
7) The Hidden Garden / Naima (BL,SS,NS,Coltrane) 13:00
8) Shadows of Paradise (BL,LS,NS) 9:45 Bill Laswell: basses, beats, loops, samples, etc
Wayne Shorter: soprano & tenor sax
Simon Shaheen: violin and oud
Nicky Skopelitis: acoustic and electric 6 & 12-string guitars, coral electric sitar, baglama and Fairlight
Bernie Worrell: electric piano, Hammond B-3 organ
Bootsy Collins: space bass
Lakshmi Shankar: electric violin
Sly Dunbar: drum kit
Jeff Bova: synthesizers
Jihad Racy: ney
Aiyb Dieng: chatan, congas, percussion
Jonas Hellborg: acoustic bass guitar and fretless electric bass
Zakir Hussain, Trilok Gurtu: tabla
Vikku Vinayakram: ghatam
Fahim Dandan, Liu Sola, William S. Burroughs: voice
George Basil: dulcimer, qanoun
Michael Baklouk: daff, tambourine
1) Black Light (BL,WS) 7:33
2) Mantra (BL,LS,Caroline) 8:44
3) Ruins (Submutation Dub) (BL) 8:54
4) Eternal Drift (BL,NS) 7:35
5) Words of Advice (BL,WSB) 3:58
6) Cucumber Slumber (Fluxus Mix)

The The Tunes of Two Cities

2009-06-30T02:06:00.000-07:00

The Residents
The The Tunes of Two Cities

Tracks
1. Serenade for Missy
2. A A Maze of Jigsaws
3. Mousetrap
4. God of Darkness
5. Smack Your Lips (Clap Your Teeth)
6. Praise for the Curse
7. The The Secret Seed
8. Smokebeams
9. Mourning the Undead
10. Song of the Wild
11. The The Evil Disposer
12. Happy Home [Excerpt from Act II of Innisfree]

Related Artists:
Eugene Chadbourne, Captain Beefheart, Fred Frith, John Zorn, Moondog, Hybrid Kids, Renaldo & the Loaf, Snakefinger

Seen by the group as a "prequel" to the conflicts between the fictional Moles and Chubs as outlined in the Mark of the Mole album, Tunes of Two Cities continues the "Mole Trilogy" by providing "source material" from both cultures. It also marked a new stage in the group's sound, as a majority was performed on the E-Mulator, one of the first keyboard samplers. (Fans of the group's earlier analog sound can mark their digital decline as starting here). The pieces vary between Mole music (primitive, grating, obsessed with fear and death) and Chub music (stilted covers of big band music, with a lot of nods to Stan Kenton). It's a strange album, but full of good work. "Smack Your Lips and Clap Your Teeth" is as funky (if that's the term) as the group had gotten up to this point; "God of Darkness" is chilling in texture, and "Song of the Wild" combines beauty and loneliness with a plaintive cry. The last song "Happy Home," would come to be the show stopper at the live Mole Show concerts, and outlines the Chub's philosophy: "People must be left alone/Unless they have a happy home."

Fred Frith Gravity

2009-06-28T03:50:00.000-07:00

Gravity is a 1980 solo album by English guitarist, composer and improviser Fred Frith from Henry Cow and Art Bears

The Day of the Robot

2009-06-27T03:12:00.001-07:00

Buckethead

Man Is The Bastard... Nazi Drunks Fuck Off (Live)

2009-06-27T02:29:00.000-07:00

WELCOME TO FRGK!

2009-06-26T06:12:00.000-07:00