VA - 1962 - Chants De La Revolution Cubaine

Fidel Castro, Cuba's leader of revolution, died today at 90. More than half a century ago, his guerrilla army of “bearded ones” replaced Fulgencio Batista’s corrupt dictatorship with communist rule which challenged the US and turned the island into a cold-war crucible.

He fended off a CIA-backed invasion at the Bay of Pigs in 1961 as well as many assassination attempts. His alliance with Moscow helped trigger the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, a 13-day showdown with the US that brought the world closer to the brink of nuclear war than it has ever been.

He first tried to overthrow General Batista in 1953, was imprisoned, exiled to Mexico, and then returned in 1956. He succeeded on January 1, 1959 and has dominated Cuba ever since – surviving 638 documented attempts by the CIA to kill him, and living through ten US presidencies.

Resigning due to ill health in February 2008, Castro handed over to his brother Raul and is now rarely seen in public. But he continues to loom large in Cuba - writing regular columns for Granma, the Communist Party newspaper, and meet visiting dignitaries.

"Chants De La Revolution Cubaine" collects some historic recordings relatetd to the revolution in Cuba in 1959.

Tracklist:

• 1. - Fidel Est Arrivé [Rolando La Serie Y Et Son Orchestre] - 2:57"
• 2. - Partisans [Choeurs De Révolutionnaires Cubains] - 2:10"
• 3. - Vive La Revolution [Raúl Luzardo Et Le Trio Los Titanes] - 3:11"
• 4. - Sierra Maestra [Daniel Santos Et Son Ensemble] - 3:37"
• 5. - Parlons De La Revolution [Celina Et Reutillo] - 3:08"
• 6. - Les "Barbudos" [Orchestre Fajardos] - 2:30"
• 7. - Au Commandant Camacho [Los Yayaberos] - 3:07"
• 8. - Hymne De La Milice [Fanfarre De L'armée Rebelle] - 2:30"

VA - 1962 - Chants De La Revolution Cubaine
(192 kbps, cover art included)

Slapp Happy & Dagmar Krause - Ultra Rare Trax

Slapp Happy was formed in 1972 when British keyboardist and avant-garde composer Anthony Moore met New York guitarist/artist/cartoonist/poet Peter Blegvad. The two were living in Hamburg at the time, and Moore had already released several albums of “new music” for Polydor. When Polydor rejected one of his albums outright, he proposed a pop-oriented project instead. Local girl Dagmar Krause, a former member of the folk-rock group The City Preachers, was recruited as vocalist and Slapp Happy was born.

This terrific collection was released in 1996.


Tracklist:

          Casablanca Moon EP:
                Casablanca Moon (single edit)
                Me and Pavarti (single edit)
          City Preachers:
                Hey, La La La
                Who are you
                Any Day in Wonderland
                Sometimes the Sky is filled with Rain
                Canada
                On a Train Ride
                Betty Dupree
                Wenn Abendlichter Glanzen
                Penelope
                Golden Yesterdays
                Come Back
                Franky and Johnny
                Old Shanty Town
          Commuters:
                The Ventriloquist
                The Young Lieutenant
                The Architect
                The Poet
                The Man on the Island
                The Acrobat
                The Organist
                The Philosopher
                The Gentlemen on the Stairs
                The Priest
          Sort Of EP:
                Alcohol
          Anthony Moore EP:
                Judy (single edit)
                Lucia (single edit)
          Slapp Happy Including Anthony Moore EP:
                Johnny's Dead
                Mr. Rainbow


Slapp Happy & Dagmar Krause - Ultra Rare Trax
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Fela Kuti - Why Black Man Dey Suffer (1971)

"Why Black Man Dey Suffer", recorded in 1971, was originally deemed too controversial for release by EMI, Fela Kutis label at the time. Having recently been schooled in the American black power movement and having taken on a new Pan-African worldview, this album served as one of Fela’s first musical soapboxes on which he challenged the colonial injustices and corruption of the ruling elites of his time.

The title track “Why Black Man Dey Suffer” is a history lesson on the oppression of the African man. It details the litany of abuses the black man has suffered - from being taken as slaves, to having an alien people impose a new culture upon them, take their land, fight them, and set them against one another. The following track, “Ikoyi Mentality”, firmly expresses Fela’s identification with the downtrodden masses and his rejection of the ways of the ruling class inhabitants of the Ikoyi neighborhood in Lagos.

 

Tracklist:

A	Why Black Man Dey Suffer
B	Ikoyi Mentality Versus Mushin Mentality

Fela Kuti - Why Black Man Dey Suffer (1971)

(320 kbps, cover art included)

Charlie Parker - The Charlie Parker Story (Savoy)

The Charlie Parker Story is an LP record by Charlie Parker, released posthumously by Savoy Records. While many of the tracks on this album had been previously released on other formats (78 rpm records, 7-inch EPs and singles, and 10- and 12-inch LPs), this is the first album that chronicles the entire session, recorded November 26, 1945, including all takes of all pieces.

This session is famous in that it is the first recorded under Parker's name. It is also controversial, in that to this day it is unclear who the pianist and trumpet player are on all of the tracks.

Charlie Parker - The Charlie Parker Story (Savoy)
(256 kbps, cover art included)

The New Lost City Ramblers ‎– Moonshine & Prohibition

Longtime Folkways recording artists The New Lost City Ramblers perform 17 period songs about liquor, bootlegging, and Prohibition (1917-1933) in the traditional style of southern mountain string bands. As Rambler member Mike Seeger observes in the liner notes, many of the songs appear to have been written by people who knew drink well and were familiar with it's effects. Several of the songs consist of new lyrics commemorating the virtues or evils of alcohol set to familiar melodies of the time. Rambler member John Cohen also contributed to the liner notes, which include an informal history of prohibition in America as well as song lyrics and photos.        

These 1960's versions of songs from the prohibition era will please the musical palette of any old-style country/bluegrass enthusiast. In addition to the skillful performances by The New Lost City Ramblers, these songs have much to say about the attitudes and behavior of folks during this fascinating period of American history.

Tracklist:

A1	Virginia Bootlegger
A2	Kentucky Bootlegger
A3	Bootlegger's Story
A4	Drunken Driver
A5	Moonshiner
A6	Drunkard's Hiccups
A7	I Saw A Man At The Close Of Day
A8	Goodbye Old Booze
B1	Prohibition Is A Failure
B2	Old Home Brew
B3	I've Still Got 99
B4	Whiskey Seller
B5	Teetotals
B6	Al Smith For President
B7	Intoxicated Rat
B8	Wreck On The Highway
B9	Down To The Stillhouse To Get A Little Cider

The New Lost City Ramblers ‎– Moonshine & Prohibition
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Karol Rathaus - Der letzte Pierrot - Sinfonie Nr. 1 (Decca Entartete Musik)

Karol Rathaus was one of those indirect victims of Nazism that Decca’s Entartete Musik series has been so indispensable in rediscovering. Polish-born, he was briefly very successful in pre-war Germany (an opera was premiered by Bruno Walter; Furtwangler and Horenstein also took him up). Seeing the way the wind was blowing he left Germany the year before Hitler came to power, wrote film music and a ballet in Paris and London but found few openings and fewer performances in America, where he eventually settled.

The First Symphony (there are two others) was roundly abused at its premiere in 1926; this recording is its first performance since then, and the composer – not yet 60 – went to his early grave believing the score to beRead more lost. It is a prodigiously inventive work, 40 minutes long though in only two movements, in a frowning, sinewy post-romantic style that might remind you just a little of the symphonies of Honegger or of the more austere pages of Martinu. The thematic language, though, is much closer to the Viennese tradition and its roots in Mahler, Reger and (Rathaus’s teacher) Schreker are clearly perceptible. But it has an individual emotional vein, often grim, sombre or shadowed, rising at times to a bitter eloquence that is very striking; orchestrally, too, it is highly accomplished. According to an accompanying note Rathaus was frightened by the reaction to the work and by the anti-Semitism of some of his critics; it is hard not to hear some such prejudice in dismissals of the symphony as ‘atonal’. It is no such thing, and although many of its melodies are angular and some of its dissonances harsh, it is by no means especially innovative for its period.

Even so, Rathaus apparently changed his style soon afterwards. Not radically, if his ballet The last Pierrot is anything to go by. Its melodies are sometimes smoother; no doubt association with dance added an element of grace to his manner, but the music is evidently by the same composer as the symphony. Jazz elements are introduced (and adroitly used to convey real menace at one point) and there is a violent forcefulness that aptly reflects the plot – this is a Pierrot in modern times, seeking his Columbine among factories and dance halls. It is effective and was for a while very popular. But it is the Symphony that whets one’s appetite for more of this impressively gifted composer’s music, especially in such eloquent performances as these. The Symphony is a tough piece to bring off – it had to wait five years for its premiere, because conductors were scared of it – but Israel Yinon has its full measure. I look forward to future recordings by him as eagerly as I do to more music by Karol Rathaus.

-- Michael Oliver, Gramophone [9/1998]

Tracklist:

Sinfonie Nr. 1
01. Erster Satz
02. Zweiter Satz

Der letzte Pierrot
03. Erster Akt
04. Zweiter Akt
05. Dritter Akt

Karol Rathaus - Der letzte Pierrot - Sinfonie Nr. 1 (Decca Entartete Musik)
(256 kbps, front cover included)

Sister Rosetta Tharpe - Blessed Assurance (1951)

Sister Rosetta Tharpe became gospel music's first crossover artist and its first great recording star. Her vocals and electric guitar playing influenced future greats such as Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Aretha Franklin and many others. Her 1944 hit "Down By The Riverside" was selected for the American Library of Congress National Recording Registry in 2004. Her accomplishments were cut short in 1973 when she died from a stroke. After listening to this powerhouse singer you'll agree, Sister Rosetta Tharpe truly deserves the title of "the original soul sister".

"Blessed Assurance" is an album with slow Gospel songs, accompanied by organ. It was also released in France as "Spirituals".

Tracklist:

A1	Blessed Assurance
A2	Amazing Grace
A3	Rock Of Ages
A4	Let The Lower Lights Be Burning
B1	In The Garden
B2	There's A Fountain Filled With Blood
B3	Throw Out The Life Line
B4	What A Friend We Have In Jesus

Sister Rosetta Tharpe - Blessed Assurance (1951)
(256 kbps, cover art included)

VA - Beyond the Wildwood – A Tribute to Syd Barrett (1987)

Like a supernova, Roger "Syd" Barrett burned briefly and brightly, leaving an indelible mark upon psychedelic and progressive rock as the founder and original singer, songwriter, and lead guitarist of Pink Floyd. Barrett was responsible for most of their brilliant first album, 1967's "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn", but left and/or was fired from the band in early 1968 after his erratic behavior had made him too difficult to deal with (he appears on a couple tracks on their second album, "A Saucerful of Secrets"). Such was his stature within the original lineup that few observers thought the band could survive his departure; in fact, the original group's management decided to keep Syd on and leave the rest of the band to their own devices. Pink Floyd never recaptured the playful humor and mad energy of their work with Barrett.               

Beyond the Wildwood – A Tribute to Syd Barrett is a tribute album consisting of music written by Syd Barrett. The musicians performing on the album are British and American indie rock artists. The songs featured come from Pink Floyd's singles; the albums The Piper at the Gates of Dawn and A Saucerful of Secrets; and Barrett's two solo albums: The Madcap Laughs and Barrett. Although Barrett's productive recording career had only lasted from 1967 though 1970, his music had a great influence on the development of psychedelic rock, alternative rock and indie rock music.

"Beyond the Wildwood" is a must have for any serious Syd fan. This album of covers is a fine tribute, the songs are not at all "replicas"; they are all fresh and re-worked, some of them quite radically. 


1. The Mock Turtles - No Good Trying
2. Plasticland - Octopus
3. SS-20 - Arnold Layne
4. Paul Roland - Matilda Mother
5. Fit And Limo - Long Cold Look
6. The Shamen - Long Gone
7. Opal - If The Sun Don't Shine (Adaptation Of Jugband Blues)
8. The Ashes In The Morning - Baby Lemonade
9. The Lobster Quadrille - Wolfpack
10. The Paint Set - Golden Hair
11. Tropicana Fishtank - No Man's Land
12. The T.V. Personalities - Apples And Oranges
13. The Soup Dragons - Two Of A Kind
14. The Green Telescope - Scream Thy Last Scream
15. The Chemistry Set - See Emily Play
16. What Noise - Rats
17. Death Of Samantha - Gigolo Aunt

^{VA - Beyond the Wildwood – A Tribute to Syd Barrett (1987)
(256 kbps, cover art incuded)}

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)

Dizzy Gillespie - The Champ (1956)

An early LP on Savoy that gathers Dizzy Gillespie's small-group recordings from 1951-52, "The Champ" has a lot to recommend it - songs, sidemen, and performances. With just one exception, each of the selections are drawn from quintet or sextet dates, boasting work by Art Blakey, Milt Jackson, J.J. Johnson, Percy Heath, and Stuff Smith in addition to an early appearance from John Coltrane (he made his debut with Diz, though not here).

On the title track, a six-minute jam released as a two-part single, Gillespie plays furiously and tenor Budd Johnson contributes a great squawking solo. "Birk's Works," one of Dizzy's finest compositions, gets its first commercial recording, while Stuff Smith's violin solo gives "Caravan" exactly the exotic touch it needs to lift it above competing versions. Diz and Joe Carroll trade vocals on "On the Sunny Side of the Street," and bop culture meets gospel for "Swing Low, Sweet Cadillac."                

Tracklist:

The Champ
Birk's Work
Caravan
Time On My Hands
On The Sunny Side Of The Street
Tin Tin Deo
Stardust
They Can't Take That Away From Me
The Bluest Blues
Swing Low, Sweet Cadillac
Ooh-Shoo-Be-Doo-Bee

 Bopsies Blues (alt. take, bonus track)
 Blue Skies (bonus track)

Dizzy Gillespie - The Champ (1956)
(256 kbps, cover art included)

VA - Mojo Presents - The Songs Of Leonard Cohen Covered

Leonard Cohen passed away yesterday at the age of 82. Rest in peace!

The Songs of Leonard Cohen Covered is a tribute album to Leonard Cohen, released in 2012. It was compiled by Mojo magazine, as a part of the magazine's March 2012 issue. The album features contributions by various musicians, including Bill Callahan, Cass McCombs, The Low Anthem, Field Music, Marc Ribot and ex-Fleet Foxes member Father John Misty.

Leonard Cohnes 1967 debut remains not only the cornerstone of Cohen´s remarkable career, but also a genuine songwriting landmark in terms of language, themaic developments and even arrangements. The entire album is covered here, its 10 tracks being augmented by five bonus cuts. The result is a fine tribute to Leonard Cohen.

Tracklist:

1. Field Music – "Suzanne"
2. Emily Barker and The Red Clay Halo – "Master Song"
3. Palace Songs – "Winter Lady"
4. The Miserable Rich – "The Stranger Song"
5. Liz Green – "Sisters of Mercy"
6. Bill Callahan – "So Long, Marianne"
7. Michael Kiwanuka – "Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye"
8. The Low Anthem – "Stories of the Street"
9. Cass McCombs – "Teachers"
10. Father John Misty – "One of Us Cannot Be Wrong"

Bonus tracks

1. Diagrams – "Famous Blue Raincoat"
2. Paper Dollhouse – "Last Year's Man"
3. Marc Ribot and My Brightest Diamond – "Bird on A Wire"
4. Dan Michaelson – "Avalanche"
5. Scott Matthews – "Seems So Long Ago, Nancy!"

VA - Mojo Presents - The Songs Of Leonard Cohen Covered
(256 kbps, cover art included)

Jalda Rebling - Hans-Werner Apel - Stefan Maass - Jews in Germany (1250-1750) - Juden in Deutschland (1994)

Today we remember the anti-Jewish pogrom in Nazi Germany and Austria on 9 to 10 November1938, also known as "Novemberpogrome", "Reichskristallnacht", "Reichspogromnacht" or "Pogromnacht" in German.

This album features jewish music from 5 centuries performed by the famous jewish vocalist Jalda Rebling and the well known musicians Hans-Werner Apel and Stefan Maass. No easy-listening, but excellent and very impressive. The album was recorded in 1994.

The present recordings provide for the first time a representative cross-section of the Jewish history of music in Germany. The highlights of Hebrew, Yiddish and German songs tell us of 500 years of fruitful and dreadful neighbourhood in a country, which seemed to be a second, intellectual home for the Jewish people, and yet became the place of ruthless persecution.

Tracklist:

1a. Wa heb' uf, unt niht envint - komponiert von Süßkind von Trimberg
1b. Ich var uf der toren vart - komponiert von Süßkind von Trimberg
2. Ein wolf vil jaemerlichen sprach - komponiert von Süßkind von Trimberg
3. Möcht ich dein wegeren
4. Der Winter will hinweichen
5. Judenverfolgung zu Passau 1477
5a. O du armer Judas
5b. Variationen auf den armen Judas - komponiert von Hans Gerle
6. Judentanz - komponiert von Hans Newsidler
7a. Vintz Hanß Lied - komponiert von Elchanan b. Abraham Helen
7b. Triumphmarsch - komponiert von Elchanan b. Abraham Helen
8. Judentanz - komponiert von Wolff Heckel
9. Addir hu - komponiert von Johann Stephan Rittangel
10. Galgengesang des Joseph Süß Oppenheimer
11. Eins wollt ihr es nennen
12. Ergötzlichkeit zur rechten Zeit - komponiert von Adam Krieger
13. Kallalied
14. Zu Chassene und B'rith-Mile - komponiert von Elchanan b. Abraham Helen
15. Akdomus - komponiert von Leijb Chasan
16. Das neue Jerusalem
17. Ki lo naeh - komponiert von Johann Stephan Rittangel

Jalda Rebling - Hans-Werner Apel - Stefan Maass - Jews in Germany (1250-1750) - Juden in Deutschland (1994)
(192 kbps, cover art included)

Wolfganz Szepansky & Emil Ackermann - ...denn in uns zieht die Hoffnung mit - Lieder, gesungen im Konzentrationslager Sachsenhausen

The "Sachsenhausenkomittee Westberlin" - an organisation of survivors of the concentration camp Sachsenhausen-  released around 1980 a small book with memories of the anti-fascists Wolfgang Szepansky and Emil Ackermann together with this cassette featurung songs sung in the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp.

The songs are interpreted by Wolfgang Szepansky (prisoner number 33527) and Emil Ackermann (prisoner number 775), accompanied by Josef-Maria "Pepi" Metzke, Jochen Horvath, Dieter "Max" Mehr and Robert "Robby" Hartog -  members of the folk group "Sorgenhobel".

Wolfgang Szepansky (* October 9, 1910 in Berlin-Wedding ; † 23 August 2008 in Berlin-Schöneberg) was a German anti-fascist, communist resistance fighter, author and painter.



Tracklist:

Sachsenhausen-Lied

Kameraden, lasst uns singen

Was uns auch begegnet hier

Wir sind Moorsoldaten

Das Glöckchen

Partisanen vom Amur

Wilde Gesellen

Wir sind nicht zu verbieten

Fichtemarsch

Wir sind die Moorsoldaten

Accordion– Jochen Horvath
Guitar– Robert "Robby" Hartog
Guitar, Mandolin– Dieter "Max" Mehr
Violin– Michael Spitzer
Vocals– Emil Ackermann, Josef-Maria "Pepi" Metzke, Wolfgang Szepansky
Recorded  at "Mauerton"-studio in Berlin-Kreuzberg and mixed by Leo Lehr.

Wolfgang Szepansky & Emil Ackermann - ...denn in uns zieht die Hoffnung mit
(320 kbps, front cover and informations included, tape rip)