VA - The Beat Generation And The Angry Young Men (1984)

A fine Mod compilation, originally released in 1984 on Eddie Piller´s "Well Suspect" label.

From the liner notes:

"What you are now holding is the net result of five weeks hard slog in a dingy Soho basement. A compilation of some 15 demos and unreleased singles, which if it wasn't for a handful of dedicated, young believers, would have remained buried amongst piles of nameless studio out-takes for time immemorial. Names like The Merton Parkas, Purple Hearts and Long Tall Shorty will instantly bring back memories of that hot and sweaty summer of '79, when mod had not yet received its death sentence from the music press and you could still catch any of a dozen young mod bands live in a given week."

Tracklist:

01. Long Tall Shorty - That's What I Want
02. Small Hours - Underground
03. Purple Hearts - I'll Make You Mine
04. Les Elite - Frustration
05. Long Tall Shorty - I Do
06. Merton Parkas - Dangerous Man
07. Les Elite - Get A Job
08. Directions - Weekend Dancers
09. Purple Hearts - Concrete Mixer
10. Les Elite - Career Girl
11. Long Tall Shorty - All By Myself
12. Directions - It May Be Too Late
13. Merton Parkas - You Say You Will
14. Small Hours - The Kid
15. Purple Hearts - Hazy Darkness...

VA - The Beat Generation And The Angry Young Men (1984)
(192 kbps, cover art inlcuded)

Chad Mitchell Trio - Reflecting (1964)

The first Chad Mitchell Trio release of 1964 was self-consciously political and somewhat downbeat. The album opens with "Barry's Boys," a now-dated political piece that was controversial when it was released. This piece, along with a cute throwaway song by Shel Silverstein, and the wonderful version of Tom Paxton's "What Did You Learn in School Today" are the only humorous pieces on the album.

The rest of "Reflections" is highly varied and includes a sweet Caribbean religious song, an Elizabethan ballad, and a pair of songs from the Second World War.

 

The highlight of the album, and a clue regarding why the rest of the release might have a somewhat somber mood, is the closing medley of "In the Summer of His Years" and "Rally 'Round the Flag."

 

This album was recorded just after the assassination of President Kennedy, and the combination of the song commemorating his life and death with one written just after the assassination of President Lincoln was an inspired decision. It is no wonder that several songs on this album are expressions of grief, as the Chad Mitchell Trio reflected their times in song, and those times had just been marred by tragedy.

 

Modern listeners experiencing this album for the first time will find much to respect in the expressive vocals and good song selections throughout the album, but may find that other albums by the group are more enjoyable. Note: This was the group's last release as the Chad Mitchell Trio. Subsequent releases were under the name the Mitchell Trio.              

  

Chad Mitchell Trio - Reflecting (1964)
(256 kbps, cover art included)

Lou Reed - Rest In Peace!

“When you think the night has seen your mind
That inside your twisted and unkind
Let me stand to show that you are blind.
Please put down you hands cause I see you.
I'll be you mirror.” 

“Rock & roll is so great, people should start dying for it. You don't understand. The music gave you back your beat so you could dream...The people just have to die for the music. People are dying for everything else, so why not for music? Die for it. Isn't it pretty? Wouldn't you die for something pretty? ” 

"Nur die Musik verhindert, daß wir wahnsinnig werden. Du solltest dir zwei Radios anschaffen. Falls eines kaputtgeht."

(L. Reed)


Rest in peace!

Erich Wolfgang Korngold - Between Two Worlds (Entartete Musik)

"Between Two Worlds" is another album with music suppressed by the third reich. It is part of the invaluable "Entartete Musik" series that focused on composers and music banned by the Nazis. The title to this album comes from the music Korngold wrote for a film of the same name but it also poignantly refers to Korngold who had to seek exile in the United States because he was Jewish. A mixture of film work and concert repertoire make for a fascinating album.

The term "Entartete Musik" refers to a large exhibition mounted by the third reich propaganda ministry against "degenerate" art and music.

Tracklist:

01. The World at War - the Next World
02. The Blitz in London
03. The Pianist at the Piano
04. The Pianist at the Piano
05. Fear - Entrance of the Examiner
06. The Minister
07. The Nazi-collaborator

08. The Young Actress and Her Boyfriend

09. The Journalists Mother

10. The Fate of the Pianist and His Wife

11. The Sound of Breaking Glass

12. The Second Sound of Breaking Glass

13. The Pianist's Wife Begs to be Reunited with Him

14. Return to the London Flat

15. Theme and Variations, op.42

Erich Wolfgang Korngold - Between Two Worlds

(192 kbps, front cover included)

VA - Tercer Festival de Oposición (1979)

The connection between music and politics, particularly political expression in music, has been seen in many cultures. This album features recordigs from the "Tercer Festival de Oposicion", organized in 1979 by the Mexican communist party and with guests from Angola, Cuba, Nicaagua, El Salvador and Guatemala.

Óscar Chávez (born 1935) is a Mexican singer, songwriter and actor. He was the main exponent of the Nueva Trova in Mexico in the sixties and seventies. He is also noted for his strong social commitment as well as for the left wing ideas expressed in his lyrics. His impressive discography spans four decades.

María Amparo Ochoa Castaños, (1946-1994) better known as Amparo Ochoa, was a Mexican singer-songwriter. She was one of several other Mexican artists who emerged in the 1960s belonging to a genre known as "Nueva canción". Ochoa was born in 1946 in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. Before becoming involved in music, Ochoa served as an elementary school teacher. She became heavily involved in songwriting beginning in 1962, and her career took off when she won a contest in her native state with the song "Hermosísimo Lucero". In 1969, she moved to Mexico City to attend a music school. Shortly after, she released her first album "De la mano del viento".
Ochoa is best known for writing songs with strong messages against social injustice as well songs about Mexican history and culture. Most of her lyrics focus on poverty, indigenous rights, and women's rights.

Besides the Latin American artists, this album contains also a version of the "Lied der Moorsoldaten", sung in German language by Hermann and Inge. Does anybody know more about these artists?


Tracklist:
01. Corrido a Nicaragua – Oscar Chávez
02. Cueca larga – Sanampay
03. La banda – Chava Flores
04. Palma sola – Eva de Marczyc
05. Irán Elías Criserio – Grupo Taoné
06. Casitas de cartón – Los Guaraguao
07. Cipriano Hernández Martínez – Gabino Palomares
08. Los angelitos – Amparo Ochoa
09. Los soldados de la ciénaga – Herman e Inge

VA - Tercer Festival de Oposición (1979)
(256 kbps, front & back cover included)

Juan Capra - Cile canta e lotta 1 (1973)

Juan Capra was a Chilean painter, singer and poet. He was active mainly in the 60s and 70s and

recorded in 1967 the album "Los chilenos - Juan Capra" with Quilapayún. Their album "Por Vietnam" featured a song by Juan Capra that mourns the death of Che Guevara.

His home was a sort of informal academy of singing, arts and crafts, and became one of the founding places for the Nueva Cancion Chilena. Here the famous "Peña de los Parra" was established,  a platform for songwriters as Isabel, Angel and Violeta Parra, Patricio Manns, Rolando Alarcón, Victor Jara, Payo Grondona, Patricio Castillo, Paco Ibáñez or Atahualpa Yupanqui.
Juan Capra died in 1996, at the age of 58, in poverty.

This album contains recordings made ​​by John Capra in Italy and was published as the first volume devoted to the Chilean resistance.


Tracklist:
Side 1:
1. Dicen que no caben- Resfaloza
2. Blanca Flor y Filumena- Romance
3. Dicen que los monos - Polka
4. Versos por padecimiento - Canto a lo divino
5. El hundimiento del Transporte Angamos- Vals
6. San Pedro se puso guapo - Cueca
7. Desen las manos - Pericona

Side 2:
1. Bajando de Los Andes - Resfaloza
2. Viva Balmaceda - Cueca
3. Tengo una pena - Vals
4. Sirilla - Sirilla (Según el favor del viento- Por qué los pobres no tienen)
5. Contrapunto entre el águila américana y el cóndor chileno
6. Yo me vuelvo para Chile - Sirilla

Juan Capra - Cile canta e lotta 1 (1973)
(192 kbps, cover art included)

Victor Jara ‎– Canto Por Travesura - Die Betschwester und andere frivole Gesänge (Pläne,1980)

"Canto Por Travesura" was originally prepared to release  in Chile in September 1973. The military coup stopped the release and only a few copies of the original release reached the audience. In 1976 and 1978 several labels published this album in Spain and Italy.

The german Pläne label published a re-release as "Betschwestern und andere frivole Gesänge" in the year 1980, even translating the song titels.

The album is a collection of southern Chilean folk songs with a consistent thematic style popular in Chilean folklore - the mocking of social norms with mischievous jokes, riddles and dark humor.
True to the title ("travesura" translates roughly as "prank") and the cover drawing of a cat pulling up the curtain on an old hag in déshabillé, "Canto Por Travesura" is largely comprised of light material from Victor Jara. Every selection but one is a traditional song given a new arrangement by Jara. Songs like "La Palmatoria," "Iba Yo Para una Fiesta," and "La Diuca" aren't powerhouses, but they have the simple grace that pervades all of Jara's recordings.     

Tracklist:

A1 Brindis / Trinkspruch
A2 La Palmatoria / Der Kerzenhalter
A3 Vengan A Mi Casamiento / Kommt Zu Meiner Hochzeit
A4 La Fonda / Die Kneipe
A5 La Edad De La Mujer / Das Alter Der Frau
A6 La Cafetera / Die Kaffeekanne

B1 La Diuca / Das Vögelchen                                                                 
B2 Iba Yo Para Una Fiesta / Ich Ging Zu Einem Fest
B3 Por Un Pito Ruin / Egen Einer Schäbigen Trillerpfeife
B4 La Beata / Die Betschwester
B5 Adivinanzas / Rätsel
B6 El Chincolito / Der Kleine Spatz

Victor Jara - Canto Por Travesura - Die Betschwestern und andere frivole Gesänge (Pläne) (192 kbps, cover art included)

Victor Jara - Canciones Póstumas - Chile Septiembre 1973 (1975)

The brief "Canciones Postumas" collection gathers six late songs of Victor Jara, whose tragic death in 1973, following the overthrow of Salvador Allende's government in Chile, robbed the world of a remarkable and humane voice for freedom.

One of Jara's most striking songs, "Manisfesto," recorded just days before his death, and obviously intended to be a summing up of his work, is included here, along with homages to the singer by M.A. Cherubito and J.A. Labordeta.

Tracklist: A1 Victor Jara – Manifiesto A2 Victor Jara – Caicaivilú A3 Victor Jara – Cuando Voy Al Trabajo A4 Eulogio Dávalos And Miguel Angel Cherubito – Homenaje A Víctor Jara B1 Victor Jara – Aquí Me Quedo B2 Victor Jara – Doncella Encantada B3 Victor Jara – Pimiento B4 José Antonio Labordeta – Homenaje A Víctor Jara Victor Jara - Canciones Postumas - Chile Septiembre 1973 (1975) (192 kbps, front cover included)

La Palabra Más Nuestra

A month ago Carlos began a new blog dedicated to folk, singer-song writers and musical poetry from Spain, the blog is called: "La Palabra Más Nuestra".

Carlos writes:
"In that blog i will upload my podcast programs which can be heared or downloaded in mp3 from the blog, as well as the original albums from i took the music. In the programs i'm introducing the songs with the proper information, and in the blog describing the program content."

Carlos first postings refer to music form the Spanish Civil War - very well done and informative postings. So we invite you to check out this very interesting blog: http://lapalabramasnuestra.blogspot.de/

Best wishes to Carlos!

Meditations - Reggae Crazy - Anthology 1971 - 1979

Even by Jamaican standards, the Meditations' early career is convoluted, and both Ansel Cridland and Danny Clarke's careers were already well underway before the pair linked up.

The Meditations were one of the earliest vocal trios to follow reggae's trend towards a darker, "dreader" sound in the early '70s; although their first album was released in 1977, they had recorded numerous singles up to that point, and some of the best of those songs are compiled on this album (along with some tracks recorded later). The piercing falsetto singing on "Must Be a First" is reminiscent of the Congos at their best (perhaps owing in part to the distinctive sound of Lee Perry's Black Ark studio, where this song was recorded), and there's an echo of the Mighty Diamonds in the sophisticated harmonies on "Get Left." But "Woman Piabba" draws on calypso traditions to a degree unusual in reggae, while "Play I" employs a drum arrangement (courtesy of Sly Dunbar) that prefigures some of the innovations that would later be heard in U.K. reggae. The album's title track, a tiresome one-chord vamp, is the only clunker on this album. Everything else is strictly killer

 "Reggae Crazy" collects 11 tracks form the albums "Wake Up", "Guidance" and "Message From The Meditations" plus 2 tracks previously unreleased and 2 tracks available on single only.

The Meditations - Reggae Crazy - Anthology 1971 - 1979
(192 kbps, small front cover included)

High Tone - Live

High Tone is a dub band from Lyon, France. Formed in 1997, the band came with an emergence of the French dub music Scene, with bands like Brain Damage Sound System, Kaly Live Dub, Le Peuple de l'Herbe, Improvisators Dub or Meï Teï Shô.

Formed by five members, High Tone feeds their music with various influences, such as Drum'n'bass, Ambient, Trance, Vintage Dub with artists like King Tubby or Lee "Scratch" Perry. After a few self produced vinyl EPs, the band signed at the label "Jarring Effects". High Tone members are now considered major actors in the French dub scene, and are known for numerous collaborations with other artists.

Tracks:
1. The Orientalist
2. Mother Dubber
3. 112 Dub
4. Hard Working
5. Bad Weather
6. Short Visit
7. Enter The Dragon
8. Onew Dub
9. Dehli-Katmandou
10. Taniotoshi
11. Echo-Logik


High Tone - Live (160 kbps, front cover included)