Stahlnetz - Wir sind glücklich (1982)

Why this synth and drums duo didn't make much of an impact is anybody's guess. With unabashedly catchy melodies, clever arrangements, witty lyrics plus a dose of quirky artiness you should think that they would have appealed both to the underground crowd and the masses. Instead they didn't find success with either audience: although the single "Vor all den Jahren" was a minor hit in 1982, their album bombed and Stahlnetz disbanded.

Today, "Wir sind glücklich" is one of the rarest and most sought after German new wave records. (Which is actually pretty strange, considering that it was released on the major label Arista, you'd think there must be quite a few copies floating around.) Anyway, what you get here is beautiful, clean-sounding, metronomic synth-pop that blends the Kraftwerkian influence that goes with the genre (those post-Romantic triads!) with a sort of stripped-down, Teutonic take on Human League/Heaven 17-style pop and ironic references to German cabaret songs and Schlagermusik of the thirties and forties. Oh yeah, and Conny Plank produced.
(from: http://square-dancing.blogspot.com/)

Stahlnetz - Wir sind glücklich (1982)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

VA - A Small Circle Of Friends - A Germs Tribute

The Germs were an American punk rock band from Los Angeles, California, United States, originally active from 1976 to 1980. The band's main early lineup consisted of singer Darby Crash, guitarist Pat Smear, bassist Lorna Doom, and drummer Don Bolles. They released only one album, 1979's (GI), produced by Joan Jett, and were featured the following year in Penelope Spheeris' documentary film The Decline of Western Civilization, which chronicled the Los Angeles punk movement.

The Germs disbanded following Crash's suicide on December 7, 1980. Their music was influential to many later punk rock acts. Smear went on to achieve greater fame performing with Nirvana and Foo Fighters.

"It's a bit odd to have a full-blown, star-studded tribute to a band that only released one album, especially when that band was better-known for their aggressive, audience-baiting performances than their songwriting abilities. Nevertheless, the Germs were a cult favorite among underground rockers for many years, partially due to the mythology surrounding their self-destructive lead singer, Darby Crash, and partially due to their claim as the first punk rock band in Los Angeles. And that explains why "A Small Circle of Friends: A Germs Tribute" was created. Allegedly a full four years in the making, "A Small Circle of Friends" features a full 20 tracks from such alternative rock stars and heavy hitters like L7, Mike Watt & J Mascis, Meat Puppets, Matthew Sweet, Free Kitten, NOFX, the Melvins, Flea, Gumball, Dave Navarro, that dog., D Generation, the Posies, and various one-shot supergroups like the Puzzled Panthers (Thurston Moore, Mike D, Kira Roessler, Dave Markey) and the Holez (Pat Smear with Hole). Nearly every one of the artists deliver passionate, affectionate performances, but they can't quite save the songs from being rather mediocre. After all, what made the Germs compelling were the performances, not the songs themselves -- apart from "Forming" and "Sex Boy," the songs were not that memorable. Still, fans of either the Germs or any of the individual artists involved in the tribute will find something of interest on "A Small Circle of Friends". And despite the evident effort of everyone involved in the album, "A Small Circle of Friends" remains one of those tribute records that you listen to once and then file away." (allmusic.com)


Tracklist:

- NOFX Forming
–Free Kitten Sex Boy
–Melvins Lexicon Devil
–The Holez Circle One
–D Generation No God
–Mike Watt & J Mascis What We Do Is Secret
–Ruined Eye Land Of Treason
–The Posies Richie Dagger's Crime
–O-Matic Strange Notes
–White Flag Manimal
–That Dog* We Must Bleed
–Flea Media Blitz
–Sator The Other Newest One
–The Wrens Let's Pretend
–Matthew Sweet Dragon Lady
–Gumball (2) Caught In My Eye
–Meat Puppets Not All Right
–Puzzled Panthers Now I Hear The Laughter
–L7 Lion's Share

VA - A Small Circle Of Friends - A Germs Tribute

(320 kbps, cover art included)

Paul Butterfield Blues Band - Same (1965)

Even after his death, Paul Butterfield's music didn't receive the accolades that were so deserved. Outputting styles adopted from Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters among other blues greats, Butterfield became one of the first white singers to rekindle blues music through the course of the mid-'60s. 

His debut album, "The Paul Butterfield Blues Band", saw him teaming up with guitarists Elvin Bishop and Mike Bloomfield, with Jerome Arnold on bass, Sam Lay on drums, and Mark Naftalin playing organ. The result was a wonderfully messy and boisterous display of American-styled blues, with intensity and pure passion derived from every bent note. 

In front of all these instruments is Butterfield's harmonica, beautifully dictating a mood and a genuine feel that is no longer existent, even in today's blues music. Each song captures the essence of Chicago blues in a different way, from the back-alley feel of "Born in Chicago" to the melting ease of Willie Dixon's "Mellow Down Easy" to the authentic devotion that emanates from Bishop and Butterfield's "Our Love Is Drifting." "Shake Your Money Maker," "Blues With a Feeling," and "I Got My Mojo Working" (with Lay on vocals) are all equally moving pieces performed with a raw adoration for blues music. 

Best of all, the music that pours from this album is unfiltered...blared, clamored, and let loose, like blues music is supposed to be released. A year later, 1966's "East West" carried on with the same type of brash blues sound partnered with a jazzier feel, giving greater to attention to Bishop's and Bloomfield's instrumental talents.


Tracklist:

01 - Born In Chicago
02 - Shake Your Moneymaker
03 - Blues with a Feeling
04 - Thank You Mr. Poobah
05 - I Got My Mojo Working
06 - Mellow Down Easy
07 - Screamin'
08 - Our Love Is Drifting
09 - Mystery Train

Paul Butterfield Blues Band - Same (1965)

(320 kbps, cover art included)

The Modern Jazz Quartett - Music from Odds Against Tomorrow (1959)

The Modern Jazz Quartet never actually recorded for Blue Note but their United Artists date was reissued on this Blue Note CD. The MJQ (vibraphonist Milt Jackson, pianist John Lewis, bassist Percy Heath and drummer Connie Kay) perform six of Lewis's compositions which were used in the film "Odds Against Tomorrow". Best known is "Skating in Central Park" but all of the selections have their memorable moments and it is good to hear this classic unit playing such fresh material.

The album was recorded with the Modern Jazz Quartet and a 22-piece orchestra.

Pianist John Lewis wrote and arranged the original score. Although he had already written music for "No Sun in Venice", this was the first time Lewis - given early 16 mm film proofs - composed along the story-line rather than delivering “a set of isolated pieces”. Gunther Schuller, who organized the orchestra for the original soundtrack recordings, noticed that “it can serve its purpose in the film. But it can also stand as absolute music apart from the original situation.”


Tracklist:
"Skating in Central Park" - 6:07
"No Happiness for Slater" - 5:18
"A Social Call" - 4:45
"Cue No. 9" - 5:00
"A Cold Wind Is Blowing" - 7:29
"Odds Against Tomorrow" - 3:33


The Modern Jazz Quartett - Music from Odds Against Tomorrow (1959)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Vladimir Vysotsky - Criminal Law

Until his death, Vladimir Vysotsky was a prophet without honor in his own country; although he wrote more than a thousand highly popular songs, he died without an official record release to his name. The reason for this studied neglect lay in the political tenor of his material. Vysotsky, who began performing in the 1960s, was quite critical of the Communist regime, and his lyrics took position on the Soviet status quo. His songs derived from the blatny pesny (literally, delinquent song) tradition, with its celebration of sex, drink, and street fights. Informally distributed cassettes ensured Vysotsky a wide and enthusiastic following. After his death, in 1980, Gorbachev granted his music an imprimatur and a 20-album retrospective was released. ~ Leon Jackson, All Music Guide

Tracklist:

1. Vladimir Vissotski - Dialog U Telewisora (3:27)
2. Vladimir Vissotski - Protopi Ty Mne Ban'ku Po Belomu (7:38)
3. Vladimir Vissotski - Ballada O Prawde I Lshi (4:21)
4. Vladimir Vissotski - Kanatohodez (3:37)
5. Vladimir Vissotski - Ballada O Detstwe (5:26)
6. Vladimir Vissotski - Dwe Sud'by (5:11)
7. Vladimir Vissotski - Tot, Kto Ran'sche S Neju Byl (2:45)
8. Vladimir Vissotski - Beg Inohodza (2:17)
9. Vladimir Vissotski - Na Bol'schom Karetnom (2:10)
10. Vladimir Vissotski - Rien Ne Va, Plus Rien Ne Va (3:48)
11. Vladimir Vissotski - La Fin Du Bal (4:07)


Vladimir Vysotsky - Criminal Law
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Charles Mingus - Right Now - Live At The Jazz Workshop (1966)

Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz double bassist, pianist, composer and bandleader. A major proponent of collective improvisation, he is considered to be one of the greatest jazz musicians and composers in history, with a career spanning three decades and collaborations with other jazz legends such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Dannie Richmond, and Herbie Hancock.

Soon after Charles Mingus finished touring Europe with his band (the unit that featured Eric Dolphy), he recorded this album, performed live at The Jazz Workshop in San Francisco. 

With tenor-saxophonist Clifford Jordan and drummer Dannie Richmond still in the group but Jane Getz replacing pianist Jaki Byard and altoist John Handy filling in for Dolphy on one song, the band performs excellent versions of "Meditations on Integration" and "New Fables," both of which are over 23 minutes long. 

Although not up to the passionate level of the Mingus-Dolphy Quintet, this underrated unit holds its own.

Tracklist:

New Fables (Charles Mingus) – 23:18
Meditation (For a Pair of Wire Cutters) (Charles Mingus) – 23:44

Charles Mingus - Right Now - Live At The Jazz Workshop (1966)

(320 kbps, cover art included)

Michael Bloomfield - Analine (1977)

On this album, Michael Bloomfield continued the country blues and folk explorations of his Grammy-nominated instructional outing, "If You Love These Blues Play 'Em As You Please" (1976). For "Analine", he worked in an acoustic, often single-handed mode, being the only musician on seven of its nine tracks (and writing just over half the material, too). Such one-man efforts often carry an air of sterility about them, but not here; 

Bloomfield's version of Duke Ellington's "Mood Indigo" retains the jaunty swing feel associated with its composer. The solo guitar pieces are equally well executed, particularly "Effinonna Rag" and the tribute to "Mr. Johnson and Mr. Dunn," where Bloomfield plays dueling guitar parts in the blues pioneers' style. Along the way, Bloomfield taps into folk ("Frankie and Johnny"), gospel ("At the Cross"), and even Hawaiian idioms ("Hilo Waltz"). He also sings two stirring originals about cancer ("Big 'C' Blues") and a hapless voyeur (the hilarious "Peepin' an' a Moanin' Blues"). 

Former Electric Flag singer and cohort Nick Gravenites contributes and sings the title track, whose mandolin and accordion runs close the album on an epic note. This is a well-executed labor of love that shows Bloomfield in a different context than many listeners will associate with him.


Tracklist:

A1 Peepin' An A Moanin Blues 2:38
A2 Mr. Johnson And Mr. Dunn 2:52
A3 Frankie And Johnny 4:06
A4 At The Cross 4:34
A5 Big "C" Blues 3:52
B1 Hilo Waltz 4:05
B2 Effinonna Rag 4:29
B3 Mood Indigo 5:18
B4 Analine 5:34

Michael Bloomfield - Analine (1977)

(320 kbps, cover art included)

Thatcher On Acid - Chagrin (1992, 7´´ EP)

Thatcher on Acid were an English anarcho-punk band. They formed in Somerset during 1983. Their name is a satirical reference to former UK prime minister Margaret Thatcher.

Ben Corrigan, Bob Butler and Andy Tuck also played in Schwartzeneggar with ex-Crass member, Steve Ignorant.

The band opened the anarcho-punk band Conflict's "Gathering of the 5000" show at Brixton Academy, an event which resulted in many arrests and achieved a degree of infamy.

The EP "Chagrin" was recorded in Somerset May '91."Skin Banjo" was recorded live at Gothenburg Poly 20/4/91. "The Bus" was originally by Buffalo Tom.


Tracklist:

A Clear As Mud
B1 Skin Banjo (Live)
B2 The Bus

Thatcher On Acid - Chagrin (1992, 7´´ EP)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Mississippi John Hurt - Frankie & Albert (Tomato, 2002)

No blues singer ever presented a more gentle, genial image than Mississippi John Hurt. A guitarist with an extraordinarily lyrical and refined fingerpicking style, he also sang with a warmth unique in the field of blues, and the gospel influence in his music gave it a depth and reflective quality unusual in the field. Coupled with the sheer gratitude and amazement that he felt over having found a mass audience so late in life, and playing concerts in front of thousands of people . for fees that seemed astronomical to a man who had always made music a sideline to his life as a farm laborer - these qualities make Hurt's recordings into a very special listening experience.

Mississippi John Hurt did a live 21-song set on April 15, 1965, at Oberlin College in Ohio, a scant two years after his rediscovery in 1963, and a year before his death in 1966. Hurt was remarkably consistent as a performer, whether you listen to his famous 1920s Okeh tracks, his rediscovery studio work for Vanguard Records, or the handful of live shows like this one: the skill and delivery is always steady, professional, and charming. Among the highlights in this set is his intricate and atmospheric slide guitar work on "Talking Casey," one of the few times Hurt abandoned his trademark three-finger guitar picking style. This concert has been issued in various configurations and sequences by several labels under different titles and with different cover art over the years including "In Concert" (Magnum), "Frankie & Albert" (Tomato), "Live!" (Columbia River), "Satisfying Blues" (Collectables), "Revisited" (Varese), and "Mississippi John Hurt" (Dressed to Kill). Vanguard added a handful of live tracks recorded at Hurt's workshop appearance at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival to the 21 original Oberlin songs to make 2002's "Live", which is probably the best choice out there. Just make sure you get the 1920s stuff first.


Tracklist:

1. Hot Time In Old Town Tonight - 3:18
2. Candy Man - 3:14
3. Baby, What's Wrong With You? - 3:13
4. Frankie & Albert - 4:16
5. Louis Collins - 5:02
6. Richland Woman Blues - 4:14
7. I'm Satisfied - 1:51
8. My Creole Belle - 2:18
9. C-H-I-C-K-E-N Blues - 0:51
10. Shake That Thing - 2:07
11. Spike Driver Blues - 2:55
12. Salty Dog - 3:25
13. Casey Jones - 3:53
14. Talkin' Casey - 3:15
15. Coffee Blues - 3:31
16. Monday Morning Blues - 4:49
17. Trouble I Had All My Days - 4:12
18. Nobody's Business But My Own - 3:46
19. Make Me A Pallet On Your Floor - 3:40
20. Lonesome Blues - 3:44
21. Here I Am/Oh Lord Send Me - 3:47

Mississippi John Hurt - Frankie & Albert (2002)

(320 kbps, front cover included)

VA - American Folk Blues Festival ´64

Originally recorded 56 years ago and later released on L+R Records, it's hard to believe the age of these recordings as they sound as fresh, new and exciting as they did all those years ago.

Recorded on 9th October 1964 at the Musikhalle in Hamburg, this shows, along with the Beatles playing just down the road at the Star Club a couple of years previously and the huge number of top Blues and Rock and Roll musicians who played there, just what a musical dynamo Hamburg was in the early 60s.

On this album, a house band, which consists of a collection of musical luminaries in their own right, back some of the most amazing singers in the history of the Blues.

The band which consists of Hubert Sumlin (guitar), Willie Dixon (bass), Clifton James (drums) and Sunnyland Slim (piano) ably support Sonny Boy Williamson, Lightnin' Hopkins, Sleepy John Estes, John Henry Barbee, Sugar Pie De Santo and Howlin' Wolf with Sunnyland Slim taking vocal duties on "Every Time I Get Drinkin'" as well. Side 2 opens with Sleepy John Estes "I'm A Tearing Little Daddy" where he is accompanied by Hammie Nixon on blues harp and jug, harking right back to the days when a jug or large whiskey flagon was blown for the bass.

John Henry Barbee is self accompanied on guitar without the band, in a rendition of "Cotton Picking Blues" which is a stand out track on the album. Another stand out is the band playing Sumlin's "No Title Boogie" in an instrumental. Lighnin' Hopkins is at his best on this album with his rendition of "Baby Please Don't Go" being one of the finest I have heard.

A fantastic album and one which I feel every Blues collection should have, as it so epitomises Folk Blues.

Tracklist:

1 Sonny Boy Williamson : I'm Trying To Make London My Home
2 Sonny Boy Williamson : Dissatisfied
3 Sunnyland Slim : Everytime I Get To Drinkin'
4 Sam "Lightnin'" Hopkins : Ain't It A Pity
5 Sam "Lightnin'" Hopkins : Baby Please Don't Go
6 Sleepy John Estes / Hammie Nixon : I'm A Tearing Little Daddy
7 John Henry Barbee : Cotton Pickin' Blues
8 Hubert Sumlin : No Title Boogie
9 Sugar Pie Desanto: Slip In Mules
10 Howlin' Wolf : Dust My Broom

VA - American Folk Blues Festival ´64
(320 kbps, cover art included)

VA - Niemals vergessen - Lieder und Texte aus dem antifaschistischen Widerstand

This album was compiled in the year 2000 by the "Bezirksgruppe Liesing" of the "Bund sozialdemokratischer Freiheitskämpfer, Opfer des Faschismus und aktiver Antifaschisten" in Austria.

Short interludes between the recordings are explaining the historic situation of classic antifascist songs like  "Die Moorsoldaten", "Buchenwald-Lied", "s brennt, briderlech, s´brennt", "Einheitsfrontlied", "Spaniens Himmel", recorded by the Rundfunkchor Berlin, the Erich-Weinert-Ensemble, Gerry Wolf, Lin Jaldati, Ernst Busch and many more.

More infos via www.freiheitskaempfer.at .

Tracklist:
01. Instrumentale Einleitung
02. In den finsteren Zeiten
03. Die Moorsoldaten
04. Mein Vater wird gesucht
05. Lied von Sachsenhausen
06. Buchenwald-Lied
07. Auf eine Kerkerwand geschrieben
08. Lied aus Dachau
09. Dachau-Lied
10. Über die Bezeichnung Emigranten
11. s´brennt, briderlech, s´brennt
12. Tränen des Vaterlands Anno 1937
13. An meine Brüder in den Konzentrationslagern
14. Einheitsfrontlied 1934
15. Vorwärts, Internationale Brigade
16. Die Thälmannkolonnen (Spaniens Himmel)
17. Spanien, frei sollst du sein
18. Bericht von Erna Fuchs aus Bautzen
19. Kerkerlied
20. Die letzte Tat eines Widerstandskämpfers
21. Das Lidicelied
22. Fluchtversuche aus Konzentrationslagern
23. Der Spaten geschultet
24. Lied einer deutschen Mutter
25. Bericht von Erwin Geschonneck
26. Letzter Appell
27. Unsterbliche Opfer
28. Die Internationale

VA - Niemals vergessen - Lieder und Texte aus dem antifaschistischen Widerstand
(320 kbps, cover art included)

VA - Celebration - Twenty Five Years Of Trojan Records

For 50 years, Trojan Records has taken Jamaican music to the world.

"We mustn´t underplay the part that Trojan played. The kids that have grown up listening to this catalogue included a lot of the punks, the Jose Strummers, the Paul Simonons... Before the Punky Reggae Party, it was Trojan. " - Don Letts.

This double-disc set from Trojan includes classic ska, rocksteady and reggae tracks from Desmond Dekker & the Aces, Jimmy Cliff, Lee Perry & the Upsetters, the Melodians, Toots & the Maytals, Bob Marley & the Wailers, Ken Boothe, John Holt and many others. Though there are quite a few Jamaican classics missing from this history of the music, all the tracks included are quite solid.               

Tracklist:

CD1
01. Lord Tanamo - I'm In The Mood For Ska
02. Desmond Dekker And The Aces - 0.0.7. (Shanty Town)
03. The Ethiopians - Train To Skaville
04. Desmond Dekker And The Aces - Israelites
05. Desmond Dekker And The Aces - It Mek
06. Tony Tribe - Red Red Wine
07. Jimmy Cliff - Wonderful World, Beautiful People
08. Harry J Allstars - Liquidator
09. The Upsetters - Return Of Django
10. The Upsetters - Dollar In The Teeth
11. The Pioneers - Long Shot Kick De Bucket
12. The Melodians - Sweet Sensation
13. Jimmy Cliff - Vietnam
14. Bob & Marcia - Young Gifted And Black
15. The Maytals - Monkey Man
16. Desmond Dekker - You Can Get It If You Really Want
17. Nicky Thomas - Love Of The Common People
18. Horace Faith - Black Pearl
19. Freddie Notes & The Rudies - Montego Bay
20. The Melodians - Rivers Of Babylon

CD2
01. Symarip - Skinhead Moonstomp
02. Dave & Ansell Collins - Double Barrel
03. Bruce Ruffin - Rain
04. Bob & Marcia - Pied Piper
05. Greyhound -Black And White
06. Bob Marley & The Wailers - Small Axe
07. Dave & Ansell Collins - Monkey Spanner
08. The Pioneers - Let Your Yeah Be Yeah
09. Greyhound - Moon River
10. Dandy Livingstone - Suzanne Beware Of The Devil
11. Judge Dread - Big Seven
12. Greyhound - I Am What I Am
13. Ken Boothe - Everything I Own
14. Rupie Edwards - Ire Feelings (Skanga)
15. John Holt - Help Me Make It Through The Night
16. Ken Boothe - Crying Over You
17. Susan Cadogan - Hurt So Good
18. Derrick Harriott - Eighteen With A Bullet
19. Boris Gardner - You Make Me Feel Brand New
20. Dennis Brown - Money In My Pocket


VA - Celebration - Twenty Five Years Of Trojan Records
(320 kbps, cover art included)

John Cale - Leonard Cohen - Hallelujah (1991)

"Hallelujah" is a song written by Canadian singer Leonard Cohen, originally released on his album "Various Positions" (1984). Achieving little initial success, the song found greater popular acclaim through a recording by John Cale, which inspired a recording by Jeff Buckley. It has been viewed as a "baseline" for secular hymns.

Following its increased popularity after being featured in the film "Shrek" (2001), many other arrangements have been performed in recordings and in concert, with over 300 versions known.The song has been used in film and television soundtracks and televised talent contests. "Hallelujah" experienced renewed interest following Cohen's death in November 2016 and appeared on many international singles charts, including entering the American Billboard Hot 100 for the first time.

John Cale's cover first appeared on "I'm Your Fan" (1991), a Leonard Cohen tribute album, and later on his live album Fragments of a Rainy Season (1992). Cale's version has vocals, piano, and different lyrics that Cohen had only performed live such as "I used to live alone before I knew you" and "All I ever learned from love was how to shoot at someone who outdrew you". Cale had watched Cohen perform the song and asked Cohen to send him the lyrics. Cohen then faxed Cale 15 pages of lyrics. Cale claims that he "went through and just picked out the cheeky verses."

Cale's version forms the basis of most subsequent performances, including Cohen's performances during his 2008–09 world tour. Cale's version is used in the film "Shrek" (2001), but Rufus Wainwright's version appears on the soundtrack album. Cale's also appears on the first soundtrack album for the TV series "Scrubs" and as the ending song of the "Cold Case" episode "Death Penalty, Final Appeal".

Tracklist:

1 –John Cale - Hallelujah 4:06
2 –Leonard Cohen - Hallelujah 4:34
3 –John Cale - The Queen & Me 3_19

John Cale - Leonard Cohen - Hallelujah (1991)

(320 kbps, cover art included)

Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger - The Angry Muse (1968)

“The term ‘protest song’ has a modern ring to it and, indeed, for many people it means a certain type of popular song specifically located in the 1950s and 1960s,” says MacColl in a gallop through the history of the British protest song in the sleeve notes to this album. “The special nature of the protest song lies in the fact that its theme is meant to convey an author’s conscious awareness of important social problems and the position he or she takes in relations to these problems.

“When disc jockeys, pop singers and the executives of the popular music industry use the term, they are referring to a song in which a writer has made a personal comment on a social theme without introducing specific political comment. In other words, they mean protest songs without real protest or (in the words of a recent radio programme) : ‘songs in which the protest is contained’.

“The era of the commercial ‘protest song’ appears to be ending not with a bang but with a whimper, and already the term begins to lie uneasily on the tongues of those who earn their daily bread by simulating enthusiasm and sincerity for the benefit of the radio and television teenage public. But the eventual disappearance of ‘protest songs’ from the commercial scene will probably have no affect whatsoever upon the development and continuation of the genre: protest songs will, presumably, continue to flourish where they have always flourished: in the arena of political struggle.”

Tracks:
01. Ballad Of Accounting
02. Beans, Bacon and Gravy
03. Epithalamium
04. The Farmer Is The Man
05. Grey October
06. The Coal Owner and The Pitman's Wife
07. Come Live With Me
08. Fragments From Slavery Days
09. Sit Down
10. The Klan Song
11. Fourloom Weaver
12. China Rag
13. In Contempt
14. Strike For Better Wages
15. The Warming Pan
16. Rockabye Baby
17. I am a Union Woman
18. The Whig
19. The Whigs Of Fife
20. Brother Did You Weep

Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger - The Angry Muse (1968)
(256 kbps, front cover included)

Neil Young & The Stray Gators - Toronto 1973 - Happy Birthday!

This album is a fascinating broadcast recording from the legendary "Time Fades Away"-tour comprising Jack Nitzsche, Ben Keith, Tim Drummond and Kenny Buttrey, The Stray Gators had backed Neil Young on 1972 s Harvest, and would go on to do likewise on the tour during which its follow-up, "Times Fade Away", was recorded live. Featuring previously unreleased cuts, until 2017 TFA remained the only Young album not released on CD, despite critical acclaim from most quarters. 

What would later become known as the "Time Fades Away"-tour began on 4th January 73 in Madison, Wisconsin; it was fraught from start to finish. Young would later describe it as one of the unhappiest times of his life and the worst tour of his career. However, the show performed at Toronto s Maple Leaf Gardens on 15th January, recorded for live FM broadcast and featured on this album in its entirety, sounds far from chaotic and forms a fascinating document of a legendary tour from which a full performance has rarely been heard. This album features a set list that includes five numbers from the TFA album (albeit in different versions to those included on the record that would appear in the shops in November 73) alongside a handful from Harvest and others from earlier LPs.

Tracklist:

1 On The Way Home 3:43

2 Tell Me Why 2:34

3 L. A. 4:07

4 Journey Through The Past 4:19

5 Borrowed Tune 4:45

6 Out On The Weekend 5:35

7 Harvest 4:04

8 Old Man 3:39

9 Heart Of Gold 4:19

10 Lonely Weekend 3:07

11 New Mama 3:16

12 Alabama 4:33

13 Last Dance 5:22

14 Don't Be Denied 7:23

15 Cinnamon Girl 4:17

16 Lookout Joe 5:14

17 Southern Man 6:26

Neil Young & The Stray Gators - Toronto 1973

(320 kbps, cover art included)

Neil Young was born on this day in 1945, making him 75 today. Happy birthday!

Davy Graham & Shirley Collins - Folk Roots, New Routes (1964)

This pairing of one of British folk's finest voices (Shirley Collins) with one of the country's finest acoustic guitarists (Davey Graham) had a notable influence on the U.K. folk scene, although it eluded wide acclaim at the time.

Collins' rich, melancholy vocals were most likely an influence on Sandy Denny, Maddy Prior, and Jacqui McShee. Graham helped redefine the nature of folk accompaniment with his imaginative, rhythmic backing, which drew from jazz, blues, and a bit of Middle Eastern music as well as mainline British Isles folk.

Performed with tasteful restraint and selected with imaginative eclecticism, the album also includes an instrumental showcase for Graham in "Rif Mountain," which provides evidence of his clear influence on guitarists such as Bert Jansch and John Renbourn, and the acoustic style of Jimmy Page.  

Tracklist:

Nottamun Town
Proud Maisrie
The Cherry Tree Carol
Blue Monk (Instrumental Version)
Hares On The Mountain
Reynardine
Pretty Saro
Rif Mountain (Instrumental Version)
Jane Jane
Boll Weavil, Holler
Love Is Pleasin'
Hori Horo
Bad Girl
Lord Gregory
Grooveyard (Instrumental Version)
Dearest Dear

Davy Graham & Shirley Collins - Folk Roots, New Routes (1964)
(320 kbps, cover art included)  

Isla Cameron, Ewan MacColl‎ - Still I Love Him - Traditional Love Songs (Topic, 1958)

"Still I love him" was a 10" LP by Isla Cameron and Ewan MacColl, released in 1958 on Topic in the UK. Isla Cameron was accompanied by Ralph Rinzler (banjo and guitar), Ewan MacColl was accompanied by Peggy Seeger (banjo and guitar). The songs later were reissued with additions on the Riverside album "English and Scottish Love Songs".

From the sleeve notes:

"How few love songs, how little love music at all, the great composers of the Anglo-Saxon world have produced! Oh, hundreds of pieces dealing with polite affection between lover and lass, with gentle heart-to-heart responses, with tears, idle tears. But the real bite of passion, the genuine evocation of erotic experience embraced without reserve and remembered with pride and joy, seems to be missing. Is it due to Puritanism, the climate, the food?

The answer would seem to lie in none of these things. For if we transfer our attention from the world of written music to the world of unwritten music, from the world of gentility to that of commoner folk, the picture changes. Certainly in the amatory folk songs of England and Scotland there is no lack of sensuous freedom and delight. So much so, that the scholar collectors have felt bound to modify the lexis of many of the amatory songs before committing them to print, presumably in order to protect polite people from being contaminated by the songs of rougher men and women. (In this album, such songs arc restored to their original form, as the collectors first found them.) Not that any of these are dirty songs. Experienced collectors have found that the truly bawdy ballad, the ballad with an excess of graphic sexual detail, is found among students and uprooted men-without-women such as soldiers, sailors and prisoners. But among the "classical" folk singers, such songs are rare. The British amatory folk songs generally show a more permissive attitude to sex than their White American counterparts. They look the facts of life in the eye and tell of what they see. proudly, delicately, perhaps with a grin, but never a snigger. They are songs with a clean joy or sadness over the large realities of virginity and desire, passion and pregnancy.

They are rich in delicate metaphors. The morning dew, the chiefest grain, the bird in the bush, the cuckoo's nest, the flower garden and the herb called thyme, have a constant erotic meaning to country singers. They are the love utterances of a people living a life in tune with the cycle of the seasons and the round of mating and increase."

Tracks:

Side One

Whistle, Daughter, Whistle

Once I Had A True Love
The American Stranger
My Bonny Miner Lad
Let No Man Steal Your Thyme
Buy Broom Besoms

Side Two

Geordie

The Maid On Thee Shore
Are Ye Seeping Maggie
Still I Love Him
The Waters Of Tyne
The Bleacher Lassie O' Kelvinhaugh
Bobby Shaftoe

Isla Cameron & Ewan MacColl - Still I Love Him
(320 kbps, front & back cover included)

Davy Graham‎ – Folk, Blues & Beyond (1965)

"Folk, Blues & Beyond" by Davy Graham is one of the most important recordings from the 1960s Folk Revival. The roots of the British acoustic guitar school, folk-rock and the singer-songwriter movement can all be traced back to Folk, Blues & Beyond. The recording was first released by Decca Records in January 1965 and quickly helped to establish Davy Graham's reputation.

"Folk, Blues and Beyond" is the second studio album by British musician Davey Graham, originally released in 1965.
It has been considered Graham's most groundbreaking and consistent work and a defining record of the 20th century. It has also been a primary influence on some of the most popular musicians in Britain ranging from Bert Jansch to Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton.
His first album, The Guitar Player, was almost exclusively jazz based. He was also known for his collaborations with folksinger Shirley Collins, which had established his name in the purist folk communities in Britain.
In his Allmusic review, critic Richie Unterberger stated "This was Graham's most groundbreaking and consistent album. More than his solo debut "The Guitar Player" (which was pretty jazzy) or his previous collaboration with folk singer Shirley Collins, "Folk Roots, New Routes", this established his mixture of folk, jazz, blues, and Middle Eastern music, the use of a bassist and drummer also hinting at (though not quite reaching) folk-rock. "Leavin' Blues," "Skillet (Good'n'Greasy)," and "Moanin'" are all among his very best folk-blues-rock performances, while on "Maajun" he goes full-bore into Middle Eastern music on one of his most haunting and memorable pieces. Covers of traditional folk standards like "Black Is the Colour of My True Love's Hair" and "Seven Gypsies" combine with interpretations of compositions by Bob Dylan ("Don't Think Twice, It's Alright"), Willie Dixon ("My Babe"), Charles Mingus ("Better Git in Your Soul"), and Reverend Gary Davis ("Cocaine") for an eclecticism of repertoire that wasn't matched by many musicians of any sort in the mid-'60s. If there is one aspect of the recording to criticize, it is, as was usually the case with Graham, the thin, colorless vocals. The guitar playing is the main attraction, though; it's so stellar that it makes the less impressive singing easy to overlook. Ten of the 16 songs were included on the compilation "Folk Blues and All Points in Between", but Graham fans should get this anyway, as the level of material and musicianship is pretty high throughout most of the disc.
Most of the tracks on the album are a fusion of traditional western folk/blues and Middle-Eastern music. This synthesis of world sounds was inspired by Grahams frequent traveling across the Asian continent from the early 1950s onward.
Graham also utilizes jazz progressions to re-innovate and contemporize traditional sounds, especially on the blues tracks of the album. For example, the opening track is a cover of "Leavin' Blues", written by Lead Belly, which is a straightforward blues in C. Graham's version uses the DADGAD guitar tuning, and he speeds up the tempo to give it a more 'rocking' sound. His cover is also infused with an exotic, middle eastern sound, accredited to both the tuning and the exotic musical scales he uses throughout the song.

Tracklist:                                                    

A1	Leavin' Blues Written-By – Ledbetter*
A2	Cocaine Written-By – Elliot*
A3	Sally Free And Easy Written-By – Tawney*
A4	Black Is The Colour Of My True Love's Hair Written-By – Traditional
A5	Rock Me Baby Written-By – Broonzy*
A6	Seven Gypsies Written-By – Traditional
A7	Ballad Of The Sad Young Men Written-By – Landesman*, Wolf*
A8	Moanin' Written-By – Timmons*, Hendricks*
B1	Skillet (Good 'N Greasy) Written-By – Traditional
B2	Ain't Nobody's Business What I Do Written-By – Traditional
B3	Maajun (A Taste Of Tangier) Written-By – Graham*
B4	I Can't Keep From Crying Sometimes Written-By – Johnson*
B5	Don't Think Twice, It's All Right Written-By – Dylan*
B6	My Babe Written-By – Traditional
B7	Goin' Down Slow Written-By – Dupree*
B8	Better Git In Your Soul

Davy Graham - Folk, Blues & Beyond (1965)
(256 kbps, cover art included)

VA - Festival des politischen Liedes - Die Achtziger

Originally posted in February, 2017:

Tomorrow will be the first day of this years "Festival Musik und Politik".

This compilations features 19 songs from the 1980s, most of them recorded live at the "Festival des politischen Liedes" in East Berlin.

The album has a lot of internationally known stars with a stronger focus on Anglo-American and Celtic acts with two unusual collaborations: The Sands Family, Dick Gaughan and Eastern German band Wacholder sing together "Es ist an der Zeit/Green Fields of France"; and Dick Gaughan joining forces with Eric Bogle to sing "Which side are you on". And on this album there are also Pete Seeger's "Turn! Turn! Turn" and Billy Bragg's "Between the Wars". Then there are Western Germany´s Hannes Wader and Zupfgeigenhansl, Eastern Germany´s Gerhard Gundermann and Hans-Eckart Wenzel, Mercedes Sosa with Léon Gieco from Argentinia, Carlos Mejía Godoy from Nicaragua etc.
The recording quality is always reasonably good, catching the live atmosphere and the audience joining in the choruses without disturbing the music. An important document not only of an important festival and of political songwriting, but also of an era of German history that left not only a political but also a musical legacy.

Tracks:

01. MARIA FARANTOURI - Vegetaciones (5.18)
02. HANNES WADER - Leben einzeln und frei (4:08)
03. SHANNA BITSCHEWSKAJA - Die Erde ist unser Haus (2:28)
04. PERRY FRIEDMAN - O Freedom (5:41)
05. SANDS FAMILY, DICK GAUGHAN, WACHOLDER - Es ist an der Zeit (6:19)
06. ZUPFGEIGENHANSEL - Andre, die das Land so sehr nicht liebten (3:14)
07. HANS ECKHARDT WENZEL - Liebste lass die Lampe an (2:22)
08. CARLOS MEJIA GODOY - Nicaragua, Nicaragüita (3:42)
09. SILVIO RODRIGUEZ - Pequena serenata diurna (2:47)
10. ATAHUALPA YUPANQUI - jBasta ya! (5:37)
11. BRUCE COCKBURN - Nicaragua (5:01)
12. DICK GAUGHAN, ERIC BOGLE - Which side Are You On (2:50)
13. BILLY BRAGG - Between the Wars (2:29)
14. PETE SEEGER - Turn! Turn! Turn! (3:39)
15. ABDULLAH IBRAHIM - Tula Dubula (6:46)
16. GERHARD SCHÖNE - Mit dem Gesicht zum Volke (3.30)
17. MERCEDS SOSA, LEON GIECO - Solo le pido a Dios (4:04)
18. SWEET HONEY TN THE ROCK - Through Soweto (2:33)
19. GERHARD GUNDERMANN - Old Dixie Down (4:12)

VA - Festival des politischen Liedes - Die Achtziger
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Toots & The Maytals - Sweet and Dandy (1969)

Toots Hibbert, a father of reggae, is dead - rest in peace!

The first to use the word reggae on a record, he sang in a soulful tone and wrote songs with subtle social commentary, helping bring the sounds of Jamaica to the world. He died on 11 September 2020 in Kingston, Jamaica. He was believed to be 77. His death, in a hospital, was announced on the social media accounts of his band, Toots and the Maytals. No cause was specified, but he was recently reported to have been hospitalized with Covid-like symptoms.

Although the original incarnation of Toots & the Maytals (Toots Hibbert, Nathaniel "Jerry" McCarthy, and Raleigh Gordon) parted ways in 1981, between the years 1964 and 1974 they managed to assemble one of the most highly charged and distinctive bodies of work in the history of Jamaican music. Led by Toots' Kingston-by-way-of-Memphis lead vocals and the ragged call-and-response background singing of McCarthy and Gordon, the trio created gospel-fueled reggae classics like "Bam Bam," "54-46 Was My Number," "Monkey Man," "Sweet and Dandy," "Pomps and Pride," "Funky Kingston," "Time Tough," and the immortal "Pressure Drop," all of which carried the stomp and wallop of the best and most enduring soul music of the day.


Tracklist:

A1 Monkey Man
A2 Pressure Drop
A3 I Shall Be Free
A4 Bla, Bla, Bla
A5 Just Tell Me
A6 We Shall Overcome
B1 Sweet & Dandy
B2 Scare Him
B3 Alidina
B4 I Need Your Love
B5 54-46 - That's My Number
B6 Oh Yea

Toots & The Maytals - Sweet and Dandy (1969)

(320 kbps, cover art included)