Fela Kuti - Upside Down (1976)

"Upside Down", released in 1976, is one of the more unusual items in Fela Kuti's discography from the period.

Not structurally - it's the usual two-song, half-hour deal, the songs beginning with several minutes of instrumental solo trades before the socially conscious lyrics enter. The song "Upside Down" itself, however, is sung not by Kuti but by Sandra Akanke Isidore. She was a woman that he

met during his stay in the United States at the end of the 1960s, and who is credited with helping to elevate his own social awareness and ethnic identity. It's basically like hearing a track by this artist with a different vocalist, then. Although Isidore's pipes aren't as strong as Kuti's, it makes for something refreshingly different in the midst of all those similar two-song releases from the mid-'70s.

The other track, "Go Slow," is a little jazzier, and puts less emphasis on lyrics than most Kuti tracks, with the singing largely limited to chants that punctuate the instrumental arrangement.

Fela Kuti - Upside Down (1976)
(192 kbps, cover art included)

Fela Kuti & Africa 70 - Sorrow, Tears and Blood (1977)

"Sorrow, Tears and Blood" (1977) accurately depicts the trail left in the wake of the February 18, 1977, raid by 1,000 armed Nigerian army men on Fela Kuti and his Kalakuta republic. In keeping with the format upheld on a majority of Kuti's long-players, this disc contains a pair of extended works, featuring one title per LP side.

In contrast to the hard-edged and aggressive Afro-funk that Kuti and his Africa 70 became synonymous with, both the A-side title track and B-side, "Colonial Mentality," are seemingly staid, in light - or perhaps because - of the cruel state-sponsored attacks that he and his extended family suffered.

"Sorrow Tears and Blood" is neither a full-blown, up-tempo funk drone nor a somber dirge. The even-handed, mid-tempo groove trots along at a steady pace and features some comparatively sedate sax work from Kuti. Even the instrumental introduction - which has been known to clock in at over five minutes - is reduced to well under three. His lyrics are starkly direct - "Everybody run, run, run/Everybody scatter, scatter/Some people lost some bread/Some people just die" - yet the emotive center is gone. Perhaps this is the result of fear, shellshock, or a combination of the two. Kuti's words, however, remain as indicting as ever: "Them leave sorrow, tears, and blood/Them regular trademark."

 "Colonial Mentality" returns to a more seething and slinky musicality. The dark and brooding bassline undulates beneath a brass-intensive Africa 70. Rarely has Kuti's musical arrangements so perfectly imaged James Brown's J.B.'s or Barry White's Love Unlimited Orchestra. The message is delivered as a fable, demonstrating that it is the individuals who live in a stifling "Colonial Mentality" who are the slaves. His preface, stating that the colonial man had released them yet they refuse to release themselves, sets out to prove that slavery is a continual and concurrent state of mind for Africans.

Fela Kuti & Africa 70 - sorrow, Tears and Blood (1977)

(320 kbps, cover art included)

Robert Pete Williams - Free Again (1961)

In 1959, blues singer/guitarist Robert Pete Williams was residing in Angola Prison, serving a life sentence for a murder he claimed he committed in self-defense, when he was discovered by blues researchers Harry Oster and Richard Allen. Immediately struck by the power of Williams' blues, the pair commenced the recordings that would appear on the collections "Robert Pete Williams, Vol. 1 & 2" (including the stunning "Prisoner's Talking Blues"). 

Subsequent efforts by Oster and Allen led to Williams' release. No longer surrounded by the bars of Angola, the singer found himself trapped instead by the strict rules and regulations of his harsh parole. Thus on "Free Again", the singer walks the streets like a stranger with death on his mind. "You know I walk along and talk to myself," he declares in "Death Blues," remembering his confinement. "Sometimes I have a mind to leave this place/But they say, you know you're doing time." In "A Thousand Miles From Nowhere," Williams finds himself alone on the streets of a "one horse town." Settling down for the night, he sings with a "tombstone for my pillow and the fairground for my bed." Sitting on the roadside in "Thumbing a Ride," he finds that the cars just pass him by as if he didn't exist. 

Despite the constant, restless movement of Williams' guitar lines, these recordings have a stillness to them, as if the reverberation of his blunt, heavy attack might be the only sound for miles around. Intimately recorded by Oster himself, these ten solo guitar and vocal performances represent some of the finest of Williams' career and some of the best the blues has to offer.


Tracklist:
A1 Free Again
A2 Almost Dead Blues
A3 Rolling Stone
A4 Two Wings
A5 A Thousand Miles From Nowhere
B1 Thumbing A Ride
B2 I’ve Grown So Ugly
B3 Death Blues
B4 Hobo Worried Blues
B5 Hay Cutting Song


Robert Pete Williams - Free Again (1961)
(256 kbps, cover art included)

Fela Kuti & The Africa ´70 - Afrodisiac (1973)

The four (lengthy, as usual) songs occupying this album had been originally recorded in Nigeria as 45 rpm releases.

"Aphrodisiac" consists of re-recordings of these, done in London in the early 1970s. (Confusingly, one part of the liner notes gives the years 1972-1973 as the recording dates, while another section says they were cut in 1971.)

While it's true that Fela Kuti's albums from this period are pretty similar to each other, in their favor they're not boring. These four workouts, all sung in Nigerian, are propulsive mixtures of funk and African music, avoiding the homogeneity of much funk and African records of later vintage, done with nonstop high energy.

The interplay between horns, electric keyboards, drums, and Fela's exuberant vocals gives this a jazz character, without sacrificing the earthiness that makes it danceable as well. "Jeun Ko Ku (Chop'n Quench)" became Fela's first big hit in Nigeria, selling 200,000 copies in its first six months in its initial version.

Fela Kuti - Afrodisiac (1973)
(256 kbps, cover art included)

Pete Seeger - American Folk, Game and Activity Songs for Children

This hour-long CD combines the entirety of two children's-oriented Seeger LPs, 1953's "American Folk Songs for Children" and 1962's "American Game and Activity Songs for Children", onto one disc.

The eleven songs on "American Folk Songs for Children" were specifically selected from an identically titled book anthology of folk songs for children collected by Seeger's stepmother, Ruth Crawford Seeger. Pete Seeger renders them plainly and simply, singing and playing and banjo, on a program designed especially (but not solely) for children between three and seven years of age. "Jim Crack Corn," "Frog Went A-Courting," and "She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain" are some of the better-known tunes on the record, but not all of them are as overly familiar.

"American Game and Activity Songs for Children" focuses especially on songs associated with activities and dancing, sometimes sung a cappella, sometimes sung with accompaniment from Seeger's banjo. "Skip to My Lou," "Ring Around the Rosy," "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush," and "Yankee Doodle" are some of the more well-known songs here - at this point, they're probably more over-familiar than they were when the album was first released - but there are less overdone ones here too, including the spiritual "Liza Jane."

Kick off your shoes, tap your feet, and clap your hands along with Pete Seeger, whose contagious performances have introduced generations of children to the richness of traditional American music.

Pete Seeger - American Folk, Game and Activity Songs for Children
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Here you can download the liner notes.

Thomas Mann - Deutsche Hörer! (BBC-Reden 1941 - 1945)

Thomas Mann is widely recognized as one of the greatest German novelists of the twentieth century. Exile from his homeland created the opportunity for him to become a major transatlantic figure as well. The intellectual and civic leadership he offered, especially his public opposition to the worldwide threat of fascism, allowed him to exercise cultural and political influence on both sides of the Atlantic until his death in 1955. Particularly important in this regard were his criticisms of Hitler and the National Socialists in Germany, his leadership of European anti-fascists in exile, his influence on American policymakers during World War II, and his contributions to the debate about German responsibility for the war.

His own works escaped the Nazi book burnings of 1933, but those of his brother Heinrich (1871-1950) and son Klaus (1906-1949) did not. In 1938, after several stays abroad, Mann and his family emigrated to the United States, where, beginning in 1940, he began recording monthly radio broadcasts under the title “German Listeners!” [“Deutsche Hörer!”]. These broadcasts, which were five to eight minutes in length, were transferred to records and sent to the BBC in London. From there, they were broadcast to Germany via long-wave radio. Mann’s addresses became an essential part of Allied demoralization tactics. The number of regular listeners in Germany is estimated to have been small, since tuning in to foreign stations was considered a “radio crime”: anyone caught was subject to severe punishment. Nonetheless, Mann’s attacks still prompted a response from Hitler, who agitated against his famous critic in his own speeches.

Thomas Mann - Deutsche Hörer! (BBC-Reden 1941 - 1945)
(256 kbps, front cover included)

Arlo Guthrie - Amigo (1976)

.With "Amigo", Arlo Guthrie's ninth album, he cemented his place as an important artist in his own right.

Like Woody, Arlo has always tempered his sense of tradition and what's important, with a playfulness and sense of humor. The opener, "Guabi, Guabi," a traditional African tune, is as quirky and lighthearted as it is straightforward, whereas "Grocery Blues" is a typical, if humorous and effective Guthrie novelty song. On the other hand, what places Amigo a slight notch above his previous work is the strength of his original material. "Massachusetts" is a gorgeous paean to his home state, while "Darkest Hour," an evocative tale of love, lust, power and intrigue, is folk storytelling at its finest. However, it's at the end of the first half of the record that Arlo does the memory of his father most proud. "Victor Jara," the story of the martyred Chilean folk-singer and activist, is one of the best and most moving topical songs of the decade, while "Patriot's Dream" is a stirring call-to-arms to the fading protest movement of the '60's. While side two may lack the sheer power of the first, it possesses a certain charm of its own. "My Love" and "Ocean Crossing" are tender love songs, "Manzanillo Bay" is a lovely, south-of-the-border travelogue and there's even a respectable cover of the the Rolling Stones' "Connection" to close the album.

His last studio recording for three years, "Amigo" is a passionate, touching and funny collection of songs, and remains the pinnacle of Arlo Guthrie's career, as well as a perfect illustration of his many sides and strengths.

Arlo Guthrie - Amigo (1976)
(192 kbps, cover art included)

Fela Ransome Kuti & The Africa `70 - Open & Close (1971)

Another long-thought-lost gem from the Fela Anikulapo Kuti archives, "Open & Close" was originally released in 1971 and, in the manner of "He Miss Road" and "Fela's London Scene", is a total groove-fest loaded to the gills with raucous horn blowing, ferocious percussion (once again, Tony Allen take a bow), and song lengths over ten minutes.

By this point, Fela could do no wrong when it came to recording; Afro-beat dissenters will claim that there is a trance-inducing similarity to much of Fela's '70s recorded output, that the grooves aren't enough to make the songs distinctive enough on their own. That's true of some of his later recordings (like in the mid- to late '80s), but at this point he was still breathing fire and the band was in top form.

Perhaps the distinguishing factors of records like "Open & Close" and some of Fela's other '70s releases are that as much as he liked to ride a groove, he also liked to disrupt it, twist it and turn it, reshape it, only to bring it back to its original shape. There was less of that later in his career.

Fela Kuti - Open & Close (1971)

(320 kbps, complete cover art included)

Kurt Weill - The Centennial

"The Centennial" is a hommage to KUrt Weill, recorded live in concert on Novmber 4, 2000 at the Harriet & Charles Luckman Theater, Califonia State Univrsity, Los Angeles. It features artist like Charlotte Rae, Linda Purl, Norm Lewis, Hugh Panaro, Shirley Jones, Tim Curry, Carole Cook and others.

This Centennial collaboration is a welcome addition to that growing list of Weill tributes. Being a live album, one can hear the audience's delight to this wonderful night's celebration for Mr. Weill!

Tracklist:

DISC 1
1. Act 1: Pirate Jenny - Charlotte Rae
2. Act 1: I'm A Stranger Here Myself - Jodi Stevens
3. Act 1: Economics - Jane A. Johnston
4. Act 1: Is It Him Or Is It Me? - Pam Dawber
5. Act 1: Barbara Song - Linda Purl
6. Act 1: Lullaby - Kathryn Skatula
7. Act 1: That's Him - Nancy Dussault
8. Act 1: Don't Look Now - Sharon Lawrence
9. Act 1: Apple Jack - Norm Lewis
10. Act 1: Speak Low - Sally Kellerman
11. Act 1: September Song - Rod McKuen
12. Act 1: Ice Cream Sextet - David Holladay

DISC 2
1. Act 2: Wouldn't You Like To Be On Broadway? - David Holladay
2. Act 2: What Good Would The Moon Be - Melissa Dye
3. Act 2: It Never Was You - Hugh Panaro
4. Act 2: We'll Go Away Together - Hugh Panaro
5. Act 2: Tschaikowsky - Jack Noseworthy
6. Act 2: The Saga Of Jenny - Carole Cook
7. Act 2: Surabaya Johnny - Tim Curry
8. Act 2: My Ship - Shirley Jones
9. Act 2: Mack The Knife - Loretta Devine
10. Act 2: Lost In The Stars - Brock Peters
Kurt Weill - The Centennial
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Fela Kuti - Black President (1981)

It was during the early '80s that Fela Anikulapo Kuti's profile was high enough to warrant releasing his records in the U.S.

So for the first time, one did not have to scour the import bins or pay import prices to get a dose of Afro-beat. On "Black President", the politics are at the forefront as Fela rails against colonialism and the military government growing rich at the expense of Nigeria's poor.

The grooves are dense and supple and in many ways this is classic Fela, it just doesn't kick quite as hard as "Expensive Shit" or "He Miss Road".


Tracklist:
A1 Sorrow, Tears And Blood 10:10
A2 Colonial Mentality 13:30
B I.T.T. (International Thief Thief) 18:20

Fela Kuti - Black President (1981)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Bhundu Boys - Shabini (1986)

The most commercially and creatively successful act ever to emerge from Zimbabwe, the Bhundu Boys embodied the world music zeitgeist of the mid-'80s. Creators of a frenetic, guitar-dominated style they dubbed "jit," they fused airy melodies, shimmering harmonies, and pulsating rhythms drawn from across the African continent to make music that was both alien and accessible. Taking their name from the guerrillas who backed Robert Mugabe in his successful war to win Zimbabwe's independence from Britain, the Bhundu Boys formed in April 1980 in the city of Harare, which translates literally (and, sadly, prophetically) as "death everywhere."

Lead guitarist Rise Kagona assembled the original lineup, which also included singer/guitarist Biggie Tembo, bassist David Mankaba, keyboardist Shakie Kangwena, and drummer Kenny Chitsvatsva. Making do with homemade instruments, the Bhundu Boys cut their teeth playing Western pop covers in township beer halls, and were a local phenomenon by the time they were discovered by erstwhile property developer Steve Roskilly, who cut their earliest sessions in his home studio, Shed. Their 1981 debut single, "Hatisitose," topped the Zimbabwean charts for three months straight, and in the years to follow the band scored three more national number ones with "Baba Munini Francis," "Wenhamo Haaneti," and "Ndimboze."

The Bhundu Boys' ascent to international fame began when Owen Elias and Doug Veitch, owners of the fledgling Discafrique label, traveled from London to Harare in search of artists to sign. There they befriended Roskilly, and on his encouragement cut a deal to reissue the band's records in the U.K. Elias and Veitch also plotted to bring the Bhundu Boys to Britain to tour, but when funding dried up Discafrique turned to Scottish promoter Gordon Muir, who in time took over the band's management. Most critical to the Bhundu Boys' growing momentum was the endorsement of BBC Radio One DJs John Peel and Andy Kershaw, both of whom played their Discafrique LPs "Shabini" and "Tsvimbodzemoto" incessantly.

               
Tracklist:
1 Baba munini francis
2 Hupenyu hwangu
3 Pachedu
4 Zvichatinesta
5 Kuroja chete
6 Hatisitose
7 Manhenga
8 Shabini
9 Dai ndakaziva
10 Wenhamo haaneti

Bhundu Boys - Shabini (1986)
(192 kbps, cover art included, vinyl rip)

VA - This Is Soca - 14 Massive Carnival Hits

There´s no question about it, the Caribbean is one of the musical hothouses of the world and this is due to the amazing diversity of musical styles at work there. Thanks to ist history, each island is its own little orchid house of musical cross-fertilizations. Reggae is the musical export of Jamaica, whilst Soca is the good time party-music burning out of Trinidad and the surrounding islands.

While Jamaicanreggae inclines to expressions of suffering and anger, Trinidadian music tends to irreverent satire and abandoned hedonism of Carnival, a two-month annual party of which Soca has become the driving force. To risk a broad generalization, Reggae, with its steady beat, tends to be earthbound, whilstSoca, with its carefree spring, seems airborne.

"This Is Soca" is a collection featuring Chinese Laundry, Superblue, Tambu and some other artist with some of the best soca songs ever out. Also, Andy Stephenson's great rework of Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" (among other MJ songs) will make you laugh and move your body at the same time.

All Soca massiv... dis is de mad stomp!!

This Is Soca - 14 Massive Carnival Hits
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Mas´ Hysteria - 14 Massive Soca Carnival Hits

Still no summer - so it´s time for some more soca...

This irresistibly sun-drenched compilation includes some soca tunes from one of the world´s biggest street parties - Mas´ or Carnival.

Tracklist:
01. Superblue - Bacchanal Time
02. Duke - Soca Have Me Tu Tul Bay
03. Mighty Sparrow - The More The Merrier
04. Black Stalin - Sundar
05. Barnett 'Preacher' Henry - Jump Up And Wave
06. Calypso Rose - Ju Ju Warrior
07. Gabby - Boots
08. Colin Lucas - Oh She Cassette
09. Chris Garoia - Chutney Bacchanal
10. Roaring Lion - Netty Netty
11. Nigel Lewis - Poowah
12. Grynner - Don't Push Me Rosie
13. Iwer George - Yes Iwer
14. Crazy - Paul, Yer Mudder Cum

Mas´ Hysteria - 14 Massive Soca Carnival Hits
(320 kbps, front cover included)

Eric Burdon - Live in Denver, Ebbet s Fields (1974)

As the lead singer of the Animals, Eric Burdon was one of the British Invasion's most distinctive vocalists, with a searingly powerful blues-rock voice. When the first lineup of the group fell apart in 1966, Burdon kept the Animals' name going with various players for a few years. Usually billed as Eric Burdon & the Animals, the group was essentially Burdon's vehicle, which he used to purvey a far more psychedelic and less R&B-oriented vision. Occasionally he came up with a good second-division psychedelic hit, like "Sky Pilot"; more often, the music was indulgent, dating it almost immediately.

Burdon's real triumphs as a solo artist came at the beginning of the '70s, when he hooked up with a bunch of L.A. journeyman soul/funksters who became his backing band, War. Recording three albums' worth of material in the year or two that they were together, the Burdon/War records could ramble on interminably, and would have benefited from a lot of editing. But they contained some spacy funkadelia of real quality, especially their number three hit single "Spill the Wine," which was almost recorded as an afterthought in the midst of sessions dominated by exploratory jams. Eric Burdon & War were already big stars on record and stage when Burdon, for reasons unclear to almost everyone, quit the band in 1971. War defied expectations and became even bigger when left to their own devices; Burdon, after recording an album with veteran bluesman Jimmy Witherspoon, cut a series of generally desultory solo albums. He recorded off and on after that, at times with the Animals, but has never come close to reaching the heights of his work with the early Animals and War. Burdon was always a riveting live performer, though, and he continued to tour with various incarnations of the Animals and as a solo act, branching out as a painter and author as well, and working in the studio when it suited him.               

This Eric Burdon bootleg features an excellent and rare concert of a man at the top of his game. It was recorded at the famed club Ebbets Field in Denver, Colorado. This is an excellent concert in performance and sound quality. The Eric Burdon Band was touring in support of the superb 1974 "Sun Secrets" album. Eric previewed 2 songs from the forthcoming "Mirage" project which was not officially released until 2009. This was the tour just before Snuffy and Rabbit joined Eric's band and they recorded the excellent "Roxy Live" the following year featuring many songs targeted for Mirage.

Tracklist:

1. Stop
2. When I Was Young
3. Ghetto Child
4. Sun Secrets
5. Jim Crow
6. House of the Rising Sun
7. It's My Life
8. Metropole

Eric Burdon - Live In Denver, Ebbet´s Fields (1974)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Rebel Soca - When The Time Comes

Soca? Isn´t that the ultimate party music? If you close your eyes, you may see a dancefloor teeming with revelers who, hands in the air, gyrate ecstatically to the liquid pulse generated by a throbbing, hypnotic bass and on-the-four bass drum countered with off-center percussion accents. Racheting rhythm guitar and stabbing horns supercharge the beat even further, making hip-shaking, belly-rolling, waist-winding almost an involuntary act. But there is even more...

Literally, the term "soca" abbreviates "soul calypso" and came into currency during the 1970´s when calypso was streamlined in response to the disco-dance juggernaut spreading over the world. Calypso, of course, has had a long and venerable history in the Caribbean, with variants in nearly all English-speaking and some French-speaking islands. One can easily trace its origins to the 18th century but its roots stretch back to Africa. In many West African societies singers and poets have traditionaly been not only historians but also mouthpieces for the people. They speak, obliquely, through satire and parables and commentary on everyday events, to the leaders, who ignore such criticism and advice at their peril. In contrast to the smiling, tourist-pleasing image propaged during the 50s and 60s, the business of being a calypsonian was serious business. Although soca lyrics tend to be "party-hearty" celebrations of love and life, a significant percentage deal with more serious issues; calypso´s tradition of social commentary remains vital with today´s "Rebel Soca". A minority of culturally-conscious soca artist have adopted a pan-african perspecitve, incorporating elements of reggae, african music and other caribbean styles into their soca. "Rebel Soca" brings together some of the finest conscious soca tracks of the 70s and 80s which combine unbeatable dance rhythms and some of the sharpest political lyrics in world pop. Often their lyrics are confrontatinal, politically-oriented commentary - a focus for the concerns of oppressed people.


Tracklist:

Side One

Afrika is Burning – Safi Abdullah
Spring Garden in Fire – Ras Iley
What About – Baron
Ring De Bell – Bro Resistance

Side Two

Hard Hard Hard – Black Stalin
When De Time Comes – Nelson
Can’t Find Me Brother – Red Plastic Bag
War Mongers – Johnny King

Rebel Soca - When The Time Comes
(mp3, 192 kbps, ca. 69 MB)

The Unknown Cases - The Masimbabele Mixes

"The Unknown Cases" was a german music project by Helmut Zerlett and Stefan Krachten.
Special Guest on the all-time-dj-track "Masimba Bele" was Reebob Kwaku Baah on vocals and percussion.

This 12 Inch features remixes of The Unknown Cases - Masimba Bele (now spelled Masimbabele). The release title appears in different spellings: "Masimbabele (All The Mixes 83-89)" on cover and disc, "Masim Babele -89" on cover, "The Masimbabele Mixes" on spine.

Tracklist:

1 Masimbabele 89 (The Adrian Sherwood Remix) 8:52
2 Masimbabele 89 (The Adrian Sherwood Remix, Instrumental Version) 5:48
3 Masimbabele 85 (The Tom O'Leary Dub Mix) 3:42
4 Masimbabele 83 (The Original Version) 5:51

The Unknown Cases - The Masimbabele Mixes

(320 kbps, cover art included)

VA - Theobald Tigers Trichter - Aus Kurt Tucholskys Plattenschrank

"... From Kurt Tucholsky's record cabinet... Do you know Tucholsky? Yes, you know Tucholsky almost completely. Everyone has 'his' Tucholsky. We found ours too, true to the discological maxim: 'Play me your records - and I'll tell you, we are you'! - Seriously: Did you know that the lawyer, poet, journalist (and, and, and, and...) not only had a gramophone, but loved it very much?

This prompted us to take a deeper look into his works and to follow the - mostly very concrete - hints acoustically. This is how we open Tucholsky's virtual record cabinet, at least in extracts. Enjoy the multimedia and follow the recordings and the associated quotations with your ears reading. This creates a special image of hearing and life. You will get to know 'your' Tucholsky..."


Tracklist:

1. Nola
2. Jonny spielt auf (Leb' wohl/Potpurri)
3. Jonny spielt auf (Leb' wohl/Potpurri)
4. Miss Annabelle Lee
5. Hermann heesst er
6. Oh! Lucindy
7. Lucindy
8. Why Are There Tears In Your Eyes?
9. Do-Do-Do
10. Cecilia
11. Virginia
12. Wo kommen die Löcher im Käse her?
13. Mutterns Hände
14. Wenn der Bräut'gam mit der Braut
15. Dirndl-Lied
16. Rudolf Nelson spielt Rudolf Nelson
17. Rudolf Nelson spielt Rudolf Nelson
18. Katharin aus Krotoschin
19. Das gefährliche Alter
20. Grossstadt Song
21. Mir hab'n se als jeheilt entlassen
22. Liebling aller Welt, Dolores
23. Heut hab ich Premiere
24. Wagneria


VA - Theobald Tigers Trichter - Aus Kurt Tucholskys Plattenschrank
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Dimitri Shostakovich - Symphonies Nos. 1 and 3 ("The First Of May")

Let´s celebrate the International Workers Day with a recording of Dimitri Shostakovich´s Symphony No. 3, called "The First of May". Shostakovich wrote this symphony in 1929, the recording presents the conductor Ladislav Slovák, the Czecho-Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra (Bratislava) and the Slovak Philharmonic Chorus and was done in Bratislava in 1986 and 1990.

The Symphony No. 3 in E flat major (Opus 20; subtitled First of May) was first performed by the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra and Academy Capella Choir under Aleksandr Gauk on 21 January 1930.

Similar to the Second Symphony, it is an experimental choral symphony in four continuous sections:
Allegretto - Allegro
Andante
Largo
Moderato: 'V pérvoye, Pérvoye máya'

The symphony lasts around 25 to 30 minutes. The finale sets a text by Semyon Isaakovich Kirsanov praising May Day and the revolution.

Across the globe people celebrate the International Worker’s Day on the first of May.

"For many people it comes as a bit of a surprise that May Day doesn’t have its origins in, say, revolutionary Russia, the Soviet Union or China – what with all those hideous military parades on Red Square and Tiananmen Square of rows and rows of rocketry filing past gigantic banners of Marx, Lenin and Mao.

The celebration of the first of May as International Workers’ Day, in fact, goes back to the United States in the 19th Century and involves several high-profile anarchists. In the late 1800′s there was a widespread movement for the establishment of an 8-hour working day which coincided with massive repression of workers by authorities, factory owners and the police. At a workers’ rally in Chicago’s Haymarket Square on the 4th of May 1886 a bomb was thrown at police.



Who threw the bomb was never discovered, but police used the incident to charge eight prominent anarchists with the crime, four of which were subsequently hanged." (from: http://theantidote.wordpress.com/)

Dimitri Shostakovich - Symphonies Nos. 1 and 3 ("The First Of May")
(256 kbps, cover art included)