Meistersinger & Ihre Kinder - Meistersinger & Ihre Kinder (1978)

Nuremberg's most valuable contribution to the polit-rock scene was the group Ihre Kinder:
A german rock band from the late 1960s and early 1970s, considered a pioneer of german rock music, because they were one of the first modern rock groups singing in german language.
Their music contained elements of classic rock, folk and jazz rock, their lyrics were politically aware.

After the decline of the band the keyboarder and singer Sonny Henning formed a horrible soul pop-rock band named Powerful Tramps, before regaining some musical sense as Meistersinger & Ihre Kinder, a quintet that recorded two albums in the late seventies.

Tracklist:

A1		Mit dem Kopf durch die Wand	3:10
A2		Zustand Nr. 10	6:00
A3		Könnte ich Fliegen	3:35
A4		Tohuwabohu	3:45
A5		Das Wort zum Montag	3:55
B1		Bär sucht Honig	4:35
B2		Im Paradies ist die Hölle los	3:30
B3		Erinnerung	3:45
B4		Schlechte Zeiten	6:55

Meistersinger & Ihre Kinder - Same (1978)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Luis Cilia - O Guerrilheiro (1974)

Luís Fernando Castelo Branco Cília is a portugues composer and musician, born in Angola in 1943.

The protest singer was exiled in France and denounced the colonial war and the lack of freedom in Portugal. One of his best-known songs from that period, "Avante camarada", became an unofficial anthem for the Portuguese Communist Party.

Born in Nova Lisboa (now Huambo), Angola, he moved to Portugal in 1959 to continue his studies. In 1962, he met the poet Daniel Filipe who encouraged him to put poetry to music. His first experiences in that field date back to that year ("Meu país", " O menino negro não entrou na roda", among others), later included in his first album, recorded in France, for the Chant du Monde publisher. In April 1964 he left for Paris, where he lived until 1974. In France he studied classical guitar with António Membrado and composition with Michel Puig. Between 1964 and 1974 he performed recitals in almost every country in Europe.

After his return to Portugal he continued to record albums, as a composer and performer and to perform live. As a musician, he recorded eighteen albums, some of which were dedicated to poets, such as Eugénio de Andrade ("The weight of the shadow"), Jorge de Sena ("Sinais de Sena") or David Mourão Ferreira ("Penumbra").

More recently, he has dedicated himself fully to composition, writing for Theater, Ballet and Cinema.

On June 9, 1994 he was made an Officer of the Order of Freedom.


Tracklist:

A1 O Adeus D'um Proscrito
A2 O Conde Niño
A3 Flor Da Murta
A4 A Guerra Do Mirandum
A5 O Conde De Alemanha
B1 D. João Da Armada
B2 Canção Do Figueiral
B3 D. Sancho
B4 O Guerrilheiro

Luis Cilia - O Guerrilheiro (1974)

(320 kbps, cover art included)

The Fugs - Tenderness Junction (1968)

The Fugs began their career as a gaggle of post-beat era bohemians whose talents were as poets and activists first, musicians second, but after recording a handful of unexpectedly successful albums for Folkways and ESP, the group found themselves signed to Reprise Records, and had to face the prospect of becoming a genuine, professional rock & roll band.

"Tenderness Junction" was The Fugs' first album for Reprise, and also unveiled a new lineup, with founders Ed Sanders, Tuli Kupferberg, and Ken Weaver joined by three capable young rock & rollers, guitarist Danny Kortchmar (aka Danny Kooch), bassist Charles Larkey, and multi-instrumentalist Ken Pine.

While the early Fugs albums often made a virtue of the limited abilities of the musicians on hand, "Tenderness Junction" proved they could add a bit of polish and firm up their sound without losing touch with what made them memorable; the music is strong and expressive without being unnecessarily flashy, and Sanders clearly enjoyed having more reliable accompanists for his pastiches on various musical conventions, such as blues ("Knock Knock"), doo wop ("Wet Dream"), country ("War Song"), and traditional English folk ("Fingers of the Sun").

The Fugs also made the most of Reprise's pledge not to censor the group's material by including a recording of their appearance at an anti-war event in Washington D.C., in which they conducted an exorcism of the Pentagon in the midst of a "Grope for Peace."

"Tenderness Junction" puts greater focus on the extended poetics of "The Garden Is Open" and the five-part "Aphrodite Mass" over short, funny songs like "Slum Goddess," "CIA Man," or "I Couldn't Get High", presumably because they could, and they had collaborators with the chops to make them work musically, but this also makes this album less immediately engaging than the Fug´s earlier works. Still, it's musically ambitious while still allowing Sanders, Kupferberg, and Weaver to sound like themselves, and it's the rare album where chaos and discipline both get their moment in the spotlight and bring out the best in one another.      


Tracklist:

Side 1:
1 Turn On / Tune In / Drop Out
2 Knock Knock
3 The Garden Is Open
4 Wet Dream
5 Hare Krishna

Side 2:
1 Exorcising The Evil Spirits From The Pentagon October 21, 1967
2 War Song
3 Dover Beach
4 Fingers Of The Sun
5 Aphrodite Mass (In 5 Sections) 

The Fugs - Tenderness Junction (1968)
(256 kbps, cover art included)

Albert Ayler - Spirits Rejoice (1966)

Recorded live at New York's Judson Hall in 1965, "Spirits Rejoice" is one of Albert Ayler's wildest, noisiest albums, partly because it's one of the very few that teams him with another saxophonist, altoist Charles Tyler. It's also one of the earliest recordings to feature Ayler's brother Don playing an amateurish but expressive trumpet, and the ensemble is further expanded by using bassists Henry Grimes and Gary Peacock together on three of the five tracks; plus, the rubato "Angels" finds Ayler interacting with Call Cobbs' harpsichord in an odd, twinkling evocation of the spiritual spheres. 

Aside from that more spacious reflection, most of the album is given over to furious ensemble interaction and hard-blowing solos that always place in-the-moment passion above standard jazz technique. Freed up by the presence of the trumpet and alto, Ayler's playing concentrates on the rich lower register of his horn and all the honks and growls that go with it; his already thick, huge tone has rarely seemed more monolithic. Spirits Rejoice also provides an opportunity to hear the sources of Ayler's simple, traditional melodies becoming more eclectic. 

The nearly 12-minute title track has a pronounced New Orleans marching band feel, switching between two themes reminiscent of a hymn and a hunting bugle call, and the brief "Holy Family" is downright R&B-flavored. "Prophet" touches on a different side of Ayler's old-time march influence, with machine-gun cracks and militaristic cadences from drummer Sunny Murray driving the raggedly energetic ensemble themes. For all its apparent chaos, Spirits Rejoice is often surprisingly pre-arranged -- witness all the careening harmony passages that accompany the theme statements, and the seamless transitions of the title track. 

"Spirits Rejoice" is proof that there was an underlying logic even to Ayler's most extreme moments, and that's why it remains a tremendously inspiring recording.

Tracklist:

1 Spirits Rejoice 11:43
2 Holy Family 2:10
3 D.C. 8:01
4 Angels 5:30
5 Prophet 5:36


Albert Ayler - Spirits Rejoice (1966)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Sun Ra - Supersonic Jazz (1956)

Sun Ra had only been heading his Arkestra for a couple of years when they recorded the 12 songs featured on this 1956 session. But while the arrangements, ensemble work, and solos are not as ambitious, expansive, or free-wheeling as they became on later outings, the groundwork was laid on such cuts as "India," "Sunology," and one of the first versions of "Blues at Midnight." Ra's band already had the essential swinging quality and first-class soloists, and he had gradually challenged them with compositions that did not rely on conventional hard bop riffs, chord changes, and structure but demanded a personalized approach and understanding of sound and rhythm far beyond standard thinking. You can hear in Ra's solos and those of John Gilmore, Pat Patrick, Charles Davis, and others an emerging freedom and looseness which would explode in the future.        

"This 1956 album was out of this world! Sun Ra, a super talented pianist/composer played a big role in the Avant-Garde movement and was right there with Mingus, thinking “outside of the box” and taking risky improvised chances. The Jazz Con Class Radio listeners who never heard of Sun Ra will enjoy this mostly Hard Bop album very much but should learn more of his Avant-Garde albums that later followed. The ones who are very familiar with Sun Ra would be totally surprise to hear such a “down to earth” album from this “out of space” innovator. “Super-Sonic Jazz” is a collector’s item and every Jazz lover should have it in their collection along with all his other works. In my next to last post, I mentioned John Gilmore, who gave Coltrane saxophone lessons, is brilliant in this album. But then again, the whole band is great. Sun Ra’s belief that he was in contact with aliens from Saturn should not throw anyone off at all (Read biography below). This album will be featured for a week or so, check the schedule link for play times." - Jazz Con Class Radio

Tracklist:

A1		India
A2		Sunology
A3		Advice To Medics
A4		Super Blonde
A5		Soft Talk
B1		Kingdom Of Not
B2		Portrait Of The Living Sky
B3		Blues At Midnight
B4		El Is A Sound Of Joy
B5		Springtime In Chicago
B6		Medicine For A Nightmare

Sun Ra - Supersonic Jazz (1956)
(256 kbps, cover art included)

Miriam Makeba - Welela (1989)

A child of apartheid, and an artist who was forced to live in exile, Miriam Makeba has endured decades of struggle, witnessing the ravages of racism and intolerance all her life. However, her music is uplifting and celebratory. Makeba was once quoted as saying, "I'm only happy when I sing."

Clearly, this joy comes across on WELELA, which is influenced by the popular music of Makeba's homeland. "Pata Pata (Touch Touch)" is an exultant tune about dancing, while "A Luta Continua" is a song of resilience that is dedicated to the people of Mozambique.

However, the most moving song here is "Soweto Blues," which recounts the events of June 16th, 1976, when children in the eponymous township decided to protest oppression and apartheid. Their opposition was called a riot, and sparked a government massacre that killed 600. A funky groove complements Makeba's strong, passionate voice on this song, and the lyric, incredibly, retains an air of hope despite the distressing subject matter.                

The album was mixed at Condulmer Recording Studios in Venice, Italy by Allan Goldberg of Phonocomp in 1989, except for "Pata Pata" which was mixed at Psycho Studio in Milan.

Tracklist:

A1	Amampondo
A2	African Sunset
A3	Djiu De Galinha
A4	A Luta Continua
A5	Soweto Blues
B1	Welela
B2	Hapo Zamini
B3	Pata Pata
B4	Saduva
B5	Africa

Miriam Makeba - Welela (1989)
(192 kbps, cover art included)

Oktober - Uhrsprung (Trikont, 1976)

Oktober was a polit-rock band in the uniquely German tradition, akin to Floh De Cologne, Lokomotive Kreuzberg, Checkpoint Charlie, et al., but with a larger sound, male and female vocals, and a progressive edge often close to Grobschnitt.

Excellent German group, propably from Hamburg, associated with the political Rock movement of the country, but structurally much closer to Progressive Rock.They started as an 8-piece act with Kalla Wefel on bass/guitar/voice, Peter Robert on keys, Carl-F. Doerwald on voice/flute, Klaus-Peter Harbort on drums, Hans-Werner Schwarz on guitar and three additional members in choirs, Birger Holm, Axel Ratsch and Philippe Ressing.

Their debut ''Uhrsprung'' was recorded at The Hochschule für Musik in Berlin and it was released in 1976 on Trikont.


Tracks:

01. Familie - 5:42
02. Schule - 6:03
03. Betrieb - 8:33
04. Staat und Solidaritätslied - 8:48
05. Der Traums des Schmieds (Oktober/Eugene Poltier) - 7:59

Oktober - Uhrsprung (Trikont, 1976)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Cochise - Heimliche Hits

The german band Cochise from Dortmund played folk music with mostly political lyrics inspired by left wing perspective.

Cochise were founded in 1979 and became one of the musical voices of the alternative movement in Germany.

They developed an unique lyrical and musical language connecting the political contents of the 70s and 80s with powerfull, delightfull music and the rebellious attitude of a whole generation.

The name Cochise (name of an Apache chief) expressed their main idea of bringing together the fight of social movements against the repressive government authority with the thoughts and demands of the growing ecological and peace movement.

Because of their radical statments the members of Cochise were more than one time victims of police violence and political justice. Most of the german media ignored the band - nevertheless they reached a phenomenal success. They played more than 1000 gigs in nine years, sold more than 120.000 albums without any media promotion and established a still current myth...


Tracklist:

1 Rolltreppe Abwärts 4:12
2 Was Kann Schöner Sein... 5:12
3 Ballade Vom Hester Jonas 4:25
4 Das Anarchistenschwein 3:46
5 Rauchzeichen 4:20
6 Jeder Traum 3:52
7 Wir Werden Leben 4:15
8 Die Indianer Sind Noch Fern 4:50
9 Letztn Somma Warn Wa Schwimm 1:52
10 Gestern Hamse Den Wald Gefegt 2:35
11 Morgengrauen 4:08
12 Die Erde War Nicht Immer So 5:11
13 Keiner Hat Zeit 2:31
14 Lacht Mich Ruhig Aus 3:50
15 1,2,3, Laßt Die Leute Frei 4:16

Cochise - Heimliche Hits (192 kpbs, front cover included)

Miriam Makeba - The Guinea Years

Like many politically-minded black South Africans, Miriam Makeba spent several decades in exile during the apartheid era. Following the 1961 Sharpville Massacre, where dozens of people - including several of her relatives - were shot to death while protesting the new pass laws, Makeba broke her silence on the evils of apartheid rule. The South African government responded by revoking her citizenship and permanently refusing to let her return to her homeland.

 

After ten years of securing her fame in Europe and North America, singer Miriam Makeba returned home to Africa in 1968; sadly, though, Makeba couldn't return to her native South Africa because of her outspoken views on apartheid. So instead she temporarily lived in Guinea and recorded and performed with some of the top local musicians.

 

This excellent disc reveals the riches with 16 varied tracks, including four live cuts which end the program. While ranging from traditional Guinean cuts ("Milele") to bossa nova ("Le Enfant et la Gazelle"), Makeba further shows her flexibility by incorporating some rock and soul into the Afro-pop mix ("Lovely Lies") and even by offering a fine bit of torch singing à la Shirley Bassey ("Jeux Interdits [Forbidden Games]"). Taking in the raw soukous sound of Franco and his peers and expanding it with her own international touch and incredible voice, Makeba delivers a stunning batch of songs that can be counted as some of her best.    

 Tracklist:

1	Teya Teya
2	L´Enfant Et la Gazelle
3	Milele
4	Amampondo
5	Toure Barika
6	Lovely Lies
7	Africa
8	Maobhe Guinee
9	Jeux Interdits (Forbidden Games)
10	West Wind Unifications
11	Dakhla Yunik
12	Teya Teya (alternate Version)
13	Djuiginira
14	Malouyame
15	Kadeya Deya
16	Sekou Famake

     
Miriam Makeba - The Guinea Years
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Guts Pie Earshot - Distorted Wonderland

GUTS PIE EARSHOT was an experimental anarcho-punk band with cello/drums/bass and a female vocalist from Germany that started in 1993. Later, the band turned into an instrumental cello/drum duo, which is still active today. It is surely one of the most unusual modern bands who music-wise vaguely have something to do with punk/ hardcore and in the same time breakbeat/ techno.

...and yet the music conjures up entire new universes in the mind's eye - or ear

Tracklist:

A1 Reflection
A2 Sonic You
A3 Several Parts Of Life
A4 Sum
B1 Clean
B2 Feedback
B3 Me Grain
B4 Enemy Today
B5 Run From The Shadow (Live)

Guts Pie Earshot - Distorted Wonderland
(320 kbps, front cover included)

The Fugs - The Fugs aka The Second Album (1966)

The album "The Fugs", retitled "The Fugs Second Album" for a later reissue, finds The Fugs sounding more professional than on their debut, and still sounding very ahead of their time lyrically, expressing sentiments in ways that just hadn't been done before.

Lyrically, many of the tracks on this album wouldn't be out of place on any Dead Kennedys record, but like the Dead Kennedys, the Fugs' weakness for crude humor puts a damper on the whole affair. Sometimes the jokes work ("Dirty Old Man"), sometimes they don't ("Mutant Stomp"), but they're always entertaining. At times, Ed Sanders' nasal whine and clichéd hippie posturing can grow tiresome ("Frenzy," "Group Grope"), but a few true gems do manage to shine through. "Morning Morning" and "I Want to Know," which wouldn't have been out of place on The Velvet Underground & Nico, are true highlights. Like Reed, the revolutionary tag is placed on the Fugs for the sheer frankness they used to deal with the taboo. But whereas Reed dealt with the dark sides of promiscuity and drug use, the Fugs celebrate it, and most times in a very exhibitionist way. Biting social commentary, as on "Doin' All Right," is articulately done, and while being listenable, is not outstanding in musical terms. Overall, The Fugs is an interesting historical footnote.


Tracklist:

Frenzy 2:00
I Want To Know 2:00
Skin Flowers 2:20
Group Grope 3:40
Coming Down 3:46
Dirty Old Man 2:49
Kill For Peace 2:07
Morning, Morning 2:07
Doin' All Right 2:37
Virgin Forest 11:09

The Fugs - The Fugs aka The Second Album (1966)

(320 kbps, cover art included)

Buffy Sainte-Marie - Moonshot (1972)

For her seventh album, 1971's "She Used to Wanna Be a Ballerina", Buffy Sainte-Marie and her producer, Jack Nitzsche, worked in five recording studios in New York, Los Angeles, and London, and came up with a varied collection ranging from her characteristic folk protest to rock featuring Neil Young and Crazy Horse as a backup band.

For her eighth album, 1972's "Moon Shot", she stuck to one city, Nashville, working with producer/arranger/bassist Norbert Putnam and some of the same studio musicians who appeared on Young's then-recently released country-rock LP "Harvest". But as the advance single of Mickey Newbury and Townes Van Zandt's "Mister Can't You See" (which was well on its way to becoming Sainte-Marie's first Top 40 hit when the LP appeared) indicated, "Moon Shot" is, for the most part, a collection of pop/rock arrangements.

Sainte-Marie has not abandoned her primary political concern, the interests of Indians, but when she brings it up on this album, she has softened the message. "He's an Indian Cowboy in the Rodeo" is an upbeat love song that happens to involve Indians. "Native North American Child" is a celebration of Indian culture. And "Moonshot" is a playful reflection on the supposed wonders of Western science and technology that suggests "primitive" peoples actually may be far more advanced. Elsewhere, Sainte-Marie comes up with some appealing pop love songs, such as "You Know How to Turn On Those Lights" and the string-filled ballad "I Wanna Hold Your Hand Forever," worthy additions to the catalog of the songwriter who previously wrote "Until It's Time for You to Go." Sainte-Marie sings them in a gentle voice without the stridency and vibrato she sometimes uses, and Putnam and fellow arrangers Glen Spreen and Bill Pursell create lush settings for them. This is not the Buffy Sainte-Marie of her early political period, but the album demonstrates her versatility, and it works as an appealing pop effort.     

Tracklist:                                                       

A1	Not The Lovin' Kind
A2	You Know How To Turn On Those Lights
A3	I Wanna Hold Your Hand Forever
A4	He's An Indian Cowboy In The Rodeo
A5	Lay It Down
A6	Moonshot
B1	Native North American Child
B2	My Baby Left Me
B3	Sweet Memories
B4	Jeremiah
B5	Mister Can't You See

Buffy Sainte-Marie - Moonshot (1972)
(192 kbps, cover art included)

Hai & Topsy Frankl - Wi ahin sol ich gejn?

Heinrich Frankl, called Hai, was born in Charlottenbrunn (Seleucia) on February 14, 1920. Beginning in 1930 he lived with his parents in Wiesbaden-Biebrich. In 1939, just before the war began, Hai Frankl emigrated to Lahäll near Stockholm (Sweden) and studied painting in Stockholm.

Hai’s father, Dr. Erich Frankl and his wife Elli (née Schachtel in Charlottenbrunn /Silesia on August 12, 1896) were deported on June 10, 1942, to Lublin and Majdanek – respectively to Sobibor – and murdered. Their daughter Hermine (born in Sophienau /Silesia on March 9, 1922) was able to reach Pyrford, England in a children’s transport and later moved to the USA.

Hai and his wife Gunny (née Wahlstroem) called Topsy, became known as the Folk-Duo “Hai and Topsy”. They toured West Germany in the 1960s and 1970s, singing songs from the labour movement as well as Yiddish folk songs.

They released the album "Wi ahin sol ich gejn?" in 1993 on the Wundertüte label.

Hai died on January, 13, 2016 - thanks a lot for all the wonderful music you gave us!

Tracklist:

1 Mechutenesste Majne 2:21
2 Oj, Wi Fajnl 2:25
3 Du Solst Nit Gejn3:06
4 Zipele1:43
5 Mechutonim Gejn 2:54
6 Hot Sich Mir Di Sip Zesipt 1:21
7 Doss Pintele Jid 5:15
8 Der Jiddischer Proletar 2:08
9 Woss Darfn Mir Wejnen? 2:33
10 Warsche2:44
11 Wi Ahin Sol Ich Gejn? 3:03
12 Sog, Maran 1:48
13 Majn Schprach 2:19
14 Jidisch 1:35
15 Der Koss 2:07
16 Schalosch Ss'udess3:24
17 Dem Rebns Schirajim Y2:01
18 Efnt Rebetsn, Chassidim Gejen1:43
19 Lekowed Dem Hejlikn Schabess2:25
20 Oj, Chanuke! 1:51
21 Schtil, Di Nacht Is Ojssgeschternt 3:02


Hai & Topsy Frankl - Wi ahin sol ich gejn?
(256 kbps, cover art included)

Miriam Makeba - Miriam Makeba (1960)

Miriam Makeba had just made a splash in New York nightclubs and earned a fistful of press only a few months earlier when RCA Victor Records snapped her up and recorded her first album in May 1960. Clearly, the label was hoping to repeat the success of her mentor, Harry Belafonte, whose Belafonte Folk Singers accompanied her on some tracks and who wrote a blurb for the album's back cover.

Like Belafonte, she was a black singer with an exotic, folk-based repertoire who could translate her music into a sophisticated club act. In addition to the Belafonte troupe, which appeared on the calypso tune "The Naughty Little Flea," a song that sounded like a Belafonte number, the Chad Mitchell Trio joined her on "Mbube," aka the Weavers' "Wimoweh," and Charles Coleman was her duet partner on the comic Austrian tune "One More Dance."

She also turned in an early version of "House of the Rising Sun." Such familiar material offset the songs sung in her native South African tongue of Xhosa. Makeba had an expressive voice and was extremely versatile, as the range of material indicates. But despite the critical raves, she may have been a bit too exotic to be commercial on her first album, which was not a big seller. RCA let her go to Kapp Records for her second album, but came calling again three years later.


Tracks:

The Retreat Song
Suliram
The Click Song
Umhome
Olilili
Lakutshn, Ilanga
Mbube
The Naughty Little Flea
Where Does It Lead?
Novema
House of the Rising Sun
Saduva
One More Dance
Iya Guduza

Miriam Makeba - Miriam Makeba (1960)
(256 kbps, cover art incuded)

The New Lost City Ramblers - Songs From The Depression (1959)

During the folk boom of the late '50s and early '60s, the New Lost City Ramblers introduced audiences to the authentic string band sound of the 1920s and '30s, in the process educating a generation that had never heard this uniquely American sound of old-time music. While maintaining music with a social conscience, they added guts and reality to the folk movement, performing with humor and obvious reverence for the music. In 1958, Mike Seeger, John Cohen, and Tom Paley modeled their band after groups like the Skillet Lickers, the Fruit Jar Drinkers, and the Aristocratic Pigs, choosing a name in keeping with the past. When Tracy Schwarz replaced Paley in 1962, the NLCR added solo songs from the Appalachian folk repertoire, religious and secular, educating a large segment of the American population about traditional music. Folkways recorded the NLCR on five albums in the early '60s, making the Ramblers famous and leading to TV appearances, successful tours, and appearances at the Newport Folk Festival. A songbook with 125 of their songs came out in 1964 and sold well.                   

The third album by this group definitely gets an "A" for effort, as simply gathering up so many worthwhile songs about the American depression was worth doing, no matter how listeners might feel about individual tracks. The choice of material doubles up on numbers by Blind Alfred Reed and Bill Dixon, includes fascinating historical material by Fiddling John Carson and Slim Smith, and wisely includes the genre of instrumental music, which sometimes makes the most succinct comment of all, such as the tough fiddle solo "Boys, My Money's All Gone." Many of the medium-tempo numbers are played with the finesse of a fine classical chamber quartet, the fiddle and banjo playing sharp and radiant. The Tom Paley-era Ramblers have a bit more of a college campus-type folky sound, but in some cases this suits these types of songs, making this one of the better early albums by this band. Mike Seeger is busy on an assortment of instruments, livening up one track with harmonica, another with mandolin. As usual, his fiddle and banjo playing is topnotch. There is also nice use made of Hawaiian and steel guitars. While some albums by this group seem like the ensemble is taking on a bit too much territory, here the clear focus of the subject matter creates a more relaxed atmosphere, despite the despair of the lyrics. But OK, it is not a record to put on when one wants to serenade away a bad mood. The original booklet includes lyrics and much interesting information about the original artists and the depression era in general.                


The New Lost City Ramblers - Songs From The Depression (1959)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Sogenanntes Linksradikales Blasorchester - Live At Berliner Jazztage, 1980

The "Sogenanntes Linksradikales Blasorchester" was a brass band formed in 1976, in Frankfurt, by Heiner Goebbles, Alfred Harth, Christoph Anders and others - in an attempt to reinforce artistically the left student movement demonstrations of that period. The band, designed mostly for live appearances, was consisting of about twenty musicians and played on stage, at the streets and in diverse political activities.

In spite of the circumstances of its birth, "The So-Called Left Radical Brass Orchestra" never was a preacher of left dogmatism. Their repertoire crossed the music history from baroque & classical period, early twentieth century to free-jazz and avant-garde, including original pieces, traditonal themes, covers of Hanns Eisler, Frank Zappa etc.

The band was close to student protests for political and social improvements, with topics such as civil disobedience, protest against nuclear power and offenses against human rights. They played at events of the Frankfurt Sponti scene, trying to add music with a political message. They were inspired by Hanns Eisler's music, with a communicative dimension ("kommunikative Dimension").

Their interpretations were imaginative, inventive, uncompromised but not snobbish, eclectic, intellectual and yet very amusing - a channel for direct communication with the people.

This is a live recording from the Berliner Jazztage on November 1st, 1980. It was broadcasted on NDR3, Sept. 9, 1981


Tracks:

00:00 01. Stimmen und Gedanken über die rote Fahne
02:07 02. Trotz alledem
06:02 03. Circa
11:42 04. Tagesschau
19:53 05. Ohne dass ich sagen würde, ich bin der neue Führer
27:24 06. Grossvater Stöffel [Eisler/Brecht]
27:56 07. Unisono
32:05 08. Hälfte des Lebens [lyrics: F. Hölderlin]
34:35 09. Homesick-Blues [lyrics: P.P. Zahl]
38:30 10. Ich grolle nicht [cp: R. Schumann]
41:09 11. Baderkatalog
44:51 12. Maschine
48:52 13. Le rappel des oiseaux [cp: J.-Ph. Rameau]
51:54 14. O'Guarracino / Tschüs

total 56:48


Klaus Becker, Johannes Eisenberg - trumpet
Michael Höhler, Peter Lieser - trombone
Uwe Schriefer, Jörn Stückrath - tuba
Alfred Harth, Christoph Anders - tenor sax
Heiner Goebbels - tenor sax, accordion
Rolf Riehm, Barbara Müller-Rendtorff - alto sax
Henning Wiese - alto sax
Thomas Jahn - Soprano sax, flute
Cora Stephan - flute
Herwig Heise - clarinet
[?] - voice


Sogenanntes Linksradikales Blasorchester - Live At Berliner Jazztage, 1980

(flac, recording in one track)

Fela Kuti & Africa 70 - Expensive Shit (1975) - Happy Birthday, Fela!

Originally posted in October 2018.

Yesterday was the 80th birthday of the afro-beat legend Fela Anikulapo Kuti. It is very difficult to put into words the significance and stature of an individual like Fela Kuti, and his contribution to music, politics and culture across the twentieth century.
A pioneer of afrobeat – a genre of which he was at the forefront – Fela gifted the world with songs such as “Beasts of No Nation”, “Zombie” and “Water No Get Enemy”, and his fighting spirit lives on through his sons Femi and Seun, who continue to carry the torch of his beloved afrobeat with Fela’s band Egypt 80.

This album is an overt response to the consistent harassment afflicting Fela Kuti's Kalakuta Republic in the early '70s under the oppressive Lagos authorities. The title track is a direct reference to an actual incident that occurred in which the cops planted a marijuana cigarette on Kuti - who promptly swallowed it and therefore destroyed any evidence. He was then held until he could pass the drugs from his system - which miraculously did not occur when his fecal sample was then sent for analysis, thanks to some help from his fellow inmates. Because of the costs incurred during this debacle, Kuti proclaimed his excrement as "Expensive Shit".


Musically, the Afro-funk and tribal rhythms that Kuti and his Africa '70 put down can rightfully be compared to that of James Brown or even a George Clinton-esque vibe. The beats are infectious with a hint of Latin influence, making the music nearly impossible to keep from moving to. Although the band is large, it is also remarkably tight and malleable enough to accompany and punctuate Kuti's vehement and indicting lyrics. The nature of what Kuti says, as well as infers, amounts to much more than simply whining or bad-rapping the law. His witty and thoughtful raps not only relate his side of the incident, but do so with tongue-in-cheek humor - such as the statement that his oppressors must really enjoy his feces because they want to examine it so urgently. Yet, he tries to stay away from it, for somewhat obvious reasons.

The album's B-side contains the metaphysical "Water No Get Enemy", one of my all time Fela favourite. This is a comparatively jazzy piece, with Africa '70 again exploring and stretching out its impulsive beats behind Kuti's singing. The track features some of his finest and most inspired keyboard work as well. He weaves hypnotic and ethereal electric piano lines over the earthy-sounding brass section. The laid-back groove works well in contrast to the manic tempo of "Expensive Shit."

Tracklist:
A. Expensive Shit
B. Water No Get Enemy

Fela Kuti & Africa 70 - Expensive Shit (1975)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Neil Young - Buffalo Springfield - Down To The Wire (Live 1965)

This bootleg collects some early and rare Neil Young recordings.

The Wichita Falls tracks are solo acoustic (pre-Springfield). Very good sound qualities for the time. There are also two Buffalo Springfield outtakes. As well, there are two 45 single demos with Neil’s Canadian group the Squires.

Tracklist:

1 Neil Young– Sugar Mountain 2:45
2 Neil Young– Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing 2:57
3 Neil Young– Run Around Babe 2:39
4 Neil Young– Don't Pity My Baby 4:59
5 Neil Young– I Ain't Got The Blues 2:38
6 Neil Young– The Rent Is Always Due 2:49
7 Neil Young– When It Falls, It Falls Over You 2:36
8 Buffalo Springfield– Down To The Wire 2:30
9 Buffalo Springfield– Do I Have To Come Right Out And Say It 3:06
10 Neil Young– There Goes My Baby 1:43
11 Neil Young– One More Sign 2:00
12 The Squires – Sultan 2:31
13 The Squires – Aurora 2:07

Tracks 1-7; 10 and 11 were recorded live in Wichita Falls, Texas, 1-12-65

Tracks 8 and 9 are Buffalo Springfield studio outtakes.

Track 12, called "Sultan" and track 13 ("Aurora") are from The Squires' and Neil Young's first single, produced by Bob Bradburn, a DJ at CKRC in Winnipeg in 1963.

Neil Young - Buffalo Springfield - Down To The Wire (Live 1965)

(192 kbps, cover art included)

Joseph Schmidt - 1904 - 1942 (BelAge)

Joseph Schmidt was a tenor who lived in the first half of the twentieth century, whose glorious sound and way with a song made him a hugely popular radio star and recording artist; he was also the first singer the Nazis banned from Berlin radio.

Few tenors of his era evoked as much affection as Joseph Schmidt, the tiny tenor who in spite of his diminuitive stature, became a beloved figure in both German opera and cinema. Schmidt was born in 1904 in the small Romanian provincial town of Davidende. A child of musical parents from a cosmopolitan community, he was influenced by many cultures and was proficient in Romanian, French and German. His first vocal training was as a classic Hebrew singer in the local synagogue in Cernowitz. His first recital at the academy in Cernowitz included arias by Puccini, Verdi, Rossini and Bizet. At twenty he was sent to Berlin where he studied both piano and voice with Frau Dr. Jaffe and Professor Hermann Weissenborn. He was conscripted for military service from 1926 until 1929. and after his discharge accepted a position as cantor at the synagogue in Cernowitz, soon establishing a reputation that attracted the attention of Cornelius Bronsgeest, a renowned Baritone.

He was engaged soon after to sing the role of Vasco da Gama in a German radio broadcast of Meyerbeer's L'Africaine, and thus began a successful international career. He recorded many albums, mostly for Odeon/Parlophone as well as many films and radio broadcasts. Popular mostly with German and English speaking audiences his career was to run headlong into the emergence of the Nazi party and their hatred of the Jews. Ironically, his popularity was at its zenith at the same time the Nazi's were taking control of the Government and instituting cultural bans on Jewish artists, writers and performers. Richard Tauber did his best to shield Schmidt and scheduled a series of concerts with Tauber as conductor.

In 1937 Schmidt toured the United States, appearing with other eminent opera figures in a concert held at Carnegie Hall and performing in solo recitals across the country. By this time he was forbidden to appear in Germany and Austria, but was warmly welcomed in Belgium and the Netherlands. In 1939 he returned to Cernowitz for a final visit with his recently widowed mother. As war erupted he tried to make his way to America, but made it only as far as a Swiss refugee camp in Gyrenbad. In 1940 he suffered a heart attack and was taken to the camp infirmary. He was quickly released, his complaints interpreted as excuses to escape the hard work of the camp. Forced to return to ditch digging he soon succumbed to a second heart attack and died. He was thirty-eight years old.

This album contains some of Joseph Schmidt´s great recordings for movies and as a Temple singer.

Joseph Schmidt - 1904 - 1942 (BelAge)
(192 kbps, front cover included)

The New Lost City Ramblers - Same (1958)

During the folk boom of the late '50s and early '60s, the New Lost City Ramblers introduced audiences to the authentic string band sound of the 1920s and '30s, in the process educating a generation that had never heard this uniquely American sound of old-time music. While maintaining music with a social conscience, they added guts and reality to the folk movement, performing with humor and obvious reverence for the music. In 1958, Mike Seeger, John Cohen, and Tom Paley modeled their band after groups like the Skillet Lickers, the Fruit Jar Drinkers, and the Aristocratic Pigs, choosing a name in keeping with the past.

The performances of this group certainly improved with age, with the eventual replacement of one of the members not upsetting the status quo. That is not to say there is anything at all wrong with this album, the very first of the group's efforts and one of the miraculous times Folkways released a project the same year it was recorded. Perhaps this demonstrated great enthusiasm for the concept. For a young group to record new versions of traditional folk and old-timey music classics from the early 20th century turned out to be something along the line of marching orders for the entire folk revival of the '60s, as well as the basic operating principle for groups such as the Rolling Stones and the Beatles when they started digging into Delta blues and rockabilly. An important aspect of the Ramblers' music, and something that has continued to make their records highly enjoyable over the years, was the type of material they would find. Demonstrating the widest range of material was always a priority, nobody caring whether a tune was "hip" or not. The presence of a number such as "It's a Shame to Whip Your Wife on Sunday" shows that the politically correct police were also not supervising this project. Many of the songs are also tied in with social concerns, a theme that each of these players would return to again and again in their own work. While someone involved felt it was important to put someone else's picture on the front - and anyone who looked like a hillbilly old-timer would do - the members of the group even at this early juncture were seeking to put a personal imprint on the material. One of the highlights is the very first track on the album, a simple but riveting instrumental entitled "Forked Deer." Another is Seeger's solo version of "East Virginia Blues" which gives Bob Dylan a run, although perhaps not for his money. Some of the multi-tracking done by Seeger is also quite interesting. The enclosed booklet includes lyrics, complete documentation of the chosen selections with information about the original artists, and several statements of purpose from the group members.          

Tracklist:

A1	Forked Dear
A2	Don't Let Your Deal Go Down
A3	I Truly Understand
A4	Dallas Rag
A5	Tom Cat Blues
A6	Railroading And Rambling
A7	Colored Aristocracy
A8	Sailor On The Deep Blue Sea
A9	East Virginia
B1	Battleship Maine
B2	Davy, Davy
B3	Roving Gambler
B4	Take A Drink On Me
B5	Likes Liquor Better Than Me
B6	It's A Shame To Beat Your Wife
B7	Brown's Ferry Blues
B8	Old Fish Song
B9	Crossed Old Jordan's Stream

The New Lost City Ramblers - Same (1958)
(192 kbps, cover art included)