Pharoah Sanders – Tauhid (1967)

"Tauhid" is a jazz album by saxophonist Pharoah Sanders. It was the second album released under his name, and his first album on the Impulse! label. It was recorded on November 15, 1966 at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, four days after the concert heard on the John Coltrane album "Offering: Live at Temple University", and was released in 1967, after the death of Coltrane, with whom Sanders had played since 1965. The album marks guitarist Sonny Sharrock's first appearance on a record, as well as one of pianist Dave Burrell's earliest recordings.

In the album liner notes, Sanders wrote: "I don't really see the horn anymore. I'm trying to see myself. And similarly, as to the sounds I get, it's not that I'm trying to scream on my horn, I'm just trying to put all my feelings into the horn. And when you do that, the notes go away... Why [do] I want clusters [of notes]? So that I [can] get more feeling, more of me, into every note I play. You see, everything you do has to mean something, has to be more than just notes. That's behind everything I do – trying to get more ways of getting feeling out."

Gary Giddins referred to Tauhid as "the first and best of Pharoah Sanders's Impulse albums." Chris May, writing for All About Jazz, called Tauhid "arguably the finest statement in [Sanders'] astral oeuvre," and states that "Of all Sanders' Impulse! albums... Tauhid has the best sound." In his review for AllMusic, Al Campbell notes that "Sanders' tenor appearance doesn't saturate the atmosphere on this session; far from it. Sanders is content to patiently let the moods of these three pieces develop..."

Tracklist:

"Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt" – 16:12
"Japan" – 3:22
"Medley: Aum/Venus/Capricorn Rising" – 14:46

Pharoah Sanders – Tauhid (1967)

(320 kbps, cover art included)

Nico - Chelsea Girl (1967)

Although "Chelsea Girl" (1967) was the first long-player from the German-born Christa Päffgen, it was not her debut solo effort. Prior to becoming involved with the Velvet Underground and while under the direction of Andrew Loog Oldham, Nico issued an obscure 7" on the mod pop Immediate label. The song selection on that 1965 single — which featured a cover of Gordon Lightfoot's "I'm Not Sayin'" and an Oldham co-composition with Jimmy Page called "Last Mile" - foreshadowed the eclectic nature of this LP.

Although the dissolution between the vocalist and core instrumental quartet was not without its share of acrimony, the non-percussive contingent of the Velvet Underground is heavily featured on "Chelsea Girl": along with then-unknown singer/songwriter Jackson Browne (guitar) — the vocalist's concurrent love interest — there is Lou Reed (guitar), Sterling Morrison (guitar/bass), and John Cale (piano/bass/viola), who contrast what they had been doing with the larger combo.
These sides are decidedly "unplugged," providing a folky and Baroque setting for Nico's dark and brooding vocal inflections. There is an introspective foresight in Browne's "Fairest of the Seasons," "These Days," and "Somewhere There's a Feather." The minimalist string section features a quaint, yet effective arrangement giving the material a distinctly European feel. These orchestrated folk leanings are similar to the sound emanating from other burgeoning groups such as the Incredible String Band, Pentangle, and the Fairport Convention spin-off Fotheringay.The same can be said of her almost unrecognizable reworking of Bob Dylan's "I'll Keep It With Mine." The noir black-widow charm ultimately saves the performance, as does Cale's remarkable classical intonations. With Reed's "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams" - a track which actually predates the Velvet Underground - there is a sense of history that Nico brings to her interpretation, as if the melody were, in fact, a traditional German folk tune.

There is a palpable distinction between those lighter cuts and the menacing Velvet Underground-conceived material. At the center of the project are the extended "It Was a Pleasure Then" and the stunning semi-autobiographical Reed/Morrison title track. The juxtaposition of such honest and at times harrowing imagery to Nico's inherently bleak delivery is nothing short of an inspired artistic statement which has since long outlasted its initial socially relevant context — similar to the more modern contributions of Laurie Anderson, Ann Magnuson, and Patti Smith. An unqualified masterpiece.

Side A:

"The Fairest of the Seasons" (Jackson Browne, Gregory Copeland) – 4:06
"These Days" (Jackson Browne) – 3:30
"Little Sister" (John Cale, Lou Reed) – 4:22
"Winter Song" (John Cale) – 3:17
"It Was a Pleasure Then" (Lou Reed, John Cale, Nico) – 8:02

Side B:

"Chelsea Girls" (Lou Reed, Sterling Morrison) – 7:22
"I'll Keep It with Mine" (Bob Dylan) – 3:17
"Somewhere There's a Feather" (Jackson Browne) – 2:16
"Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams" (Lou Reed) – 5:07
"Eulogy to Lenny Bruce" (Tim Hardin) – 3:45

Nico - Chelsea Girl (1967)
(320 kbps, front cover included)

Richie Havens - The Great Blind Degree (1971)

Richie Havens' career benefited enormously from his appearance at the Woodstock festival in 1969 and his subsequent featured role in the movie and album made from the concert in 1970. His first album after that exposure, "Alarm Clock", made the Top 30 and produced a Top 20 single in "Here Comes the Sun." These recordings were Havens' commercial high-water mark, but by this time he had become an international touring success. By the end of the '70s, he had abandoned recording and turned entirely to live work. Havens came back to records with a flurry of releases in 1987: a new album, "Simple Things"; an album of Bob Dylan and Beatles covers; and a compilation. In 1991, Havens signed his first major-label deal in 15 years when he moved to Sony Music and released "Now". "Nobody Left to Crown" was issued by Verve Forecast in 2008. Havens died of a heart attack at his home in Jersey City, New Jersey in April 2013; he was 72 years old.

A key strength of Havens, despite having emerged from the 1960s Greenwich Village folk scene, is that his oeuvre -- covers and all -- transcends the broadside tradition of forebears like Woody Guthrie and Phil Ochs to arrive at something infinitely more personal and soulful.

Tracklist:

What About Me 6:11

Fire & Rain 6:23

Tommy 1:28

In These Flames 3:52

Think About The Children 4:20

Fathers & Sons 6:45

Teach Your Children 3:45

What Have We Done 4:26

Richie Havens - The Great Blind Degree (1971)

(192 kbps, cover art included)

Liberation Sounds - Revolutionary Dancehall & Reggae mixed by Zero G Soundsystem

Fiveteen years ago the Zero G Soundsystem built a fine reggae and dancehall mix, bringing together vintage and recent tracks with an explicit political and critical message.


They started with the great and mind-blowing "Dis Poem" by Mutabaruka - one track to tell it all! - and then jumped through dancehall burners and reggae classics. Besides some well expected Bob Marley songs you hear Johnny Clarke, U Roy, Junior Byles, Jimmy Cliff, Dillinger, Big Joe, John Holt and some others in the classic sections of the mix. And nowadays dancehall is represented by artists like Bounty Killer, Baby Cham, Beenie Man and Anthony B. And - `cause they are a Germany based sound system - last but not least they included some great tracks out of the growing german reggae scene, with artists like Gentleman, Seeed and Nosliw.



Liberation Sounds
(192 kbps, front & back cover with tracklist included)

John Spencer´s Louts - The Last LP (1978, vinyl rip)

John B. Spencer (1944 - 2002) was a british songwriter, guitarist, bandleader, novelist and occasional record producer.

From 1978 onwards, over more than a dozen albums and a handful of singles released on a variety of British and European labels, Spencer threw himself into the recording business. His music never sold anything like the numbers that his old shelf-stacking workmate’s group would, but Spencer made his mark on the British music scene, though Jerry Williams took Cruisin’ (On A Saturday Night) into the Swedish Top 10. As John Collis wrote in 1996, Spencer retained “a faithful constituency of followers” but increasingly that following included name musicians. The scene that nurtured and sustained his songwriting blurred folk, blues, R&B, punk and pub rock. His songs were grounded in the sterling examples of Woody Guthrie, John Lee Hooker, Leadbelly and any number of people who had dealt a good three-chord trick. Interpreters such as Home Service, Augie Meyers, Martin Simpson, Norma Waterson and Jerry Williams took his songs into the wider world. Likewise, the actress Susan Penhaligon, with whom he did poetry and music performances that brought his name to still different audiences. Fast Lane Roogalator - sons Syd and Tom with a little bit of Will Spencer - made an album of twelve of their father’s songs, including Drive-In Movies (about his love-hate relationship with the USA), Only Dancing (power chords reign) and One More Whiskey (one of Spencer’s great parting glasses). Fast Lane Roogalator (2004) was produced by Graeme Taylor, incidentally.

Between 1974 and 1978 he gigged and recorded with his group, the Louts, with Chas Ambler, Johnny G. (Gotting) and Dave Thorne. “It was a pretty anarchic band, but the LP doesn’t reflect that: it’s full of pretty songs. The live gigs were something else. It preceded punk by about four years. In fact just as we were breaking up we were starting to get a few punks arriving at our gigs figuring that as we were called the Louts we were a punk band. We weren’t a punk band: we were an anarchic band. Each gig was either diabolical or fantastic. There was no middle ground.” Spencer later fondly remembered an incident at a Louts’ gig at the Half Moon at Putney as defining the band’s attitude. He had it on tape. “You hear this American voice keep calling out, ‘Haul ass, Spencer! Haul ass!’ Eventually Johnny G. behind the drums shouts back - he didn’t have to shout because he had a mike - ‘We got your money, fuck off!’ To which this American from the back cries out, ‘You didn’t get all my money. I got in for half-price.’ To which Johnny G. shouts back, ‘Then you should have fucked off half an hour ago!’ That summed up the Louts live.” The Half Moon of yore also saw the soon-to-be Elvis Costello open for him. Or maybe it was them - the Louts - because that is what the passage of the years does to people’s memories and I can’t check with Spencer now and Costello isn’t answering my calls.

"The Last LP" was - and that is no joke - the first album I ever owned. Won it on a radio prize game some month before I bought my first record player. And then it was really on heavy rotation...
It´s an album with some very good reggae influenced pub rock from the late 70's with the very underrated John Gotting (Johnny G) on guitar. Still like that tunes...

Tracklist:

A1	Can't Buy My Soul
A2	Mary-Lou And The Sunshine Boy
A3	Crazy For My Lady
A4	That's As Mean As Mean Can Get To Be
A5	What You Do To My Heart
B1	My Old Lady (She's Got The Meanest Fact In Town)
B2	Cuba Libré
B3	Sweet Sensation
B4	Natural Man
B5	Can't Mean It
B6	No Expectations

John Spencer´s Louts - The Last LP (1978, vinyl rip)
(320 kbps, front & back cover included)

John Lee Hooker - I´m John Lee Hooker (1959)

Winding through the literally hundreds of titles in John Lee Hooker's catalog is a daunting task for even the most seasoned and learned blues connoisseur. This is especially true when considering Hooker recorded under more than a dozen aliases for as many labels during the late '40s, '50s, and early '60s.

"I'm John Lee Hooker" was first issued in 1959 during his tenure with Vee Jay and is "the Hook" in his element as well as prime. Although many of these titles were initially cut for Los Angeles-based Modern Records in the early '50s, the recordings heard here are said to best reflect Hooker's often-emulated straight-ahead primitive Detroit and Chicago blues styles. The sessions comprising the12-track album are taken from six sessions spread over the course of four years (1955-1959). Hooker works both solo - accompanied only by his own percussive guitar and the solid backbeat of his foot rhythmically pulsating against plywood - as well as in several different small-combo settings. Unlike the diluted, pop-oriented blues that first came to prominence in the wake of the British Invasion of the early to mid-'60s, the music on this album is infinitely more authentic in presentation.

As the track list indicates, "I'm John Lee Hooker" includes many of his best-known and loved works. From right out of the gate comes the guttural ramble-tamble of "Dimples" in its best-known form. Indeed it can be directly traced to - and is likewise acknowledged by - notable purveyors of Brit rock such as Eric Burdon - who incorporated it into the earliest incarnation of the Animals, the Spencer Davis Group, as well as the decidedly more roots-influenced Duane Allman. Another of Hooker's widely covered signature tunes featured on this volume is "Boogie Chillun." This rendering is arguably the most recognizable in the plethora of versions that have seemingly appeared on every Hooker-related compilation available. Additionally, this version was prominently featured in The Blues Brothers movie as well as countless other films and adverts. Likewise, a seminal solo "Crawlin' King Snake" is included here. The tune became not only a staple of Hooker's, it was also prominently included on the Doors' "L.A. Woman" album and covered by notable bluesmen Albert King, B.B. King, and Big Joe Williams, whose version predates this one by several decades.

"I'm John Lee Hooker" is one of the great blues collections of the post-World War II era. Time has, if anything, only reinforced the significance of the album. It belongs in every blues enthusiast's collection without reservation.                

Tracklist:

A1	Dimples
A2	Hobo Blues
A3	I'm So Excited
A4	I Love You Honey
A5	Boogie Chillun
A6	Little Wheel
B1	I'm In The Mood
B2	Maudie
B3	Crawlin' King Snake
B4	Every Night
B5	Time Is Marching
B6	Baby Lee

John Lee Hooker - I´m John Lee Hooker (1959)
(256 kbps, cover art included)

VA - Jack Ruby Hi-Fi (1981)

What we have here is a full showcase-style dyed in the wool stormer. Ruby is the infamous producer linked to the Ocho Rios - Sound of Saint Anns, best known perhaps for his production associations with Burning Spear around the start of their Island career, Justin Hinds of the Dominoes, as well as numerous high calibre artists, think The Gaylads, Big Youth, King Tubby, Errol Thompson and some of the artists featured here, Ken Booth, Black Disciples and his long term studio associates. “Hi-Fi” is an album originally appearing on Brooklyn’s little known but genre-breaking Clappers label, “a weapon without compromise” as their chairman once put it, a label which ushered the transition of reggae into early new york dancehall and beyond, spawning early crossover hip-hop classics from the likes of Brother D and Silver Fox.

Here Ruby focusses on four vocals segued into four full length dubs: Ken Booth’s voice has to be one of the most divine instruments in all music if not reggae, ‘Peace Time’ rides a delicious guitar line – Booth is in fine fettle on a lyric for universal peace , and the whomping ‘Khomeini skank’ version establishes this somewhere at the turn of the seventies. Lennox Miller’s take on Delroy Wilson’s alltime big one ‘Better Must Come’ is a belter – lively drummatical version and a wicked Jah Coller deejay version, 12 minutes plus of sublime reggae. .

Recorded at Jack Ruby's Studios, Ocho Rios, JA. January 1, 1980, mixed at King Tubby's Studios, Kingston, JA.
Tracklist:

1. Peace Time/Khomeni Skank

2. Hypocrites/Brezinsky Dub

3. Better Must Come/Jah Coller Speaks His Mind

4. Jail House Free/Rikers Island Dub VA - Jack Ruby Hi-Fi (1981) (192 kbps, front cover included)

Inti-Illimani - Hacia La Libertad (1975)

For well over 30 years, Inti-Illimani (the name translates as "Sun God") has held a beacon for Chilean music, both the traditional folk styles and the more contemporary nueva cancion. Back in 1967 a group of students at Santiago's Technical University formed a band to perform folk music. Taking their name from the Aymaran Indian language of the Andes, they began playing traditional music - something few did back then - and quickly earned a reputation around the capital, becoming more and more adept on their instruments.

By the '70s they'd grown into a political beast, taking on the nueva cancion (literally "new song") of many young groups, and being quite outspoken lyrically - enough to be forced into exile in 1973, where they'd stay for 15 years. However, they refused to be cowed by the Chilean dictatorship.

Basing themselves in Rome, Italy, they continued to record, and toured more heavily then ever before, earning a powerful reputation around the globe, and becoming very unofficial ambassadors of Chilean music, as well as opponents to the ruling regime. In addition to performing with a number of famous, political figures like Pete Seeger and Mikis Theodorakis, they were included on the famous 1988 Amnesty International Tour, along with Sting, Peter Gabriel, and Bruce Springsteen. It was, perhaps, their highest profile moment, at least in worldwide terms, and set the stage for their return to their homeland, where they've continued to be outspoken.

While they've remained a force in world music, their career in the U.S. was hampered by the lack of any consistent record deal until 1994, when they signed with Green Linnet offshoot Xenophile. Prior to that, only a few of their 30-plus discs made it into domestic U.S. record bins. The eight-piece lineup remained stable until 1996, when Max Berru decided to retire from music after almost three decades, shortly after the group had been celebrated with a "Best Of" disc in Italy (not to be confused with the 2000 "Best Of" on Xenophile, which collected tracks from their last four releases only). Instead of replacing him, they've continued since as a septet. 1997 saw the band honored with a U.C. Berkeley Human Rights Award for their labors in the past. Since then, although they've continued to release albums and tour, they've cut back on their earlier hectic schedule, but also widened their musical horizons, as 1999's "Amar de Nuevo" looked at the complete spectrum of Latin roots music and its Creole heritage.                

"Hacia La Libertad" was originally released in 1975 by the Italian label Dischi dello Zodiaco, later to be reprinted by other European labels.
It was the fourth studio album recorded and released by the band in the exile in Italy.

Tracklist:

01. Arriba quemando el sol
02. El arado
03. Cancion a Victor
04. Ciudad Ho Chi Min
05. Chiloé
06. Vientos del pueblo
07. Hacia la libertad
08. Cai cai vilu
09. Canto de los caidos

Inti-Illimani - Hacia La Libertad (1975)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

The Fall - Dragnet (1979)

Mark E. Smith, the irascible frontman of Manchester post-punk band the Fall, has died at the age of 60 on Jan 24, 2018. Rest in peace!

The Fall's second album was also one of the hardest to find in later years, getting only sporadic represses and reissues. Though some opinions would have it that there was a good reason for this - namely, that it was something of a dead end sonically - it's not as bad as all that. It's true that more than a few tracks come across as Fall-by-numbers (even then, already better than plenty of other bands), but there are some thorough standouts regardless. There's also another key reason to rate "Dragnet" - it's the debut album appearance of Craig Scanlon, who picked up on the off-kilter rockabilly-meets-art rock sensibilities of the initial lineup and translated it into amazing guitar work.

No less important is the appearance of Steve Hanley, who would soon take over fully on bass from Marc Riley, who in turn moved to guitar, forming one heck of a partnership with Scanlon that would last until Riley jumped ship to form the Creepers. Generally the songs which work the best on "Dragnet" throw in some amusingly odd curves while still hanging together musically. The full winner is unquestionably "Spectre vs. Rector," an amazing combination of clear lead vocals and buried, heavily echoed music and further rants, before fully exploding halfway through while the rhythm obsessively grinds away. Another odd and wonderful cut is "Muzorewi's Daughter," which starts out sounding like stereotypical Hollywood music for Native American tribes before shifting between that and quicker choruses. "Dice Man," with its rave-up melody and slower vocal- and guitar-only chorus, not to mention the weird muttering elsewhere in the mix, says it all in under two minutes and has fun while doing it.

Through it all, Smith rants and raves supreme, spinning out putdowns, cracked vocals, and total bile with all the thrill and energy one could want from a good performer.       

Tracklist:

A1	Psykick Dancehall	3:40
A2	A Figure Walks	6:05
A3	Printhead	3:05
A4	Dice Man	1:45
A5	Before The Moon Falls	4:20
A6	Your Heart Out	2:45
B1	Muzorewi's Daughter	3:40
B2	Flat Of Angles	4:50
B3	Choc-Stock	2:36
B4	Spectre Vs. Rector	7:49
B5	Put Away	3:24

The Fall - Dragnet (1979)
(320 kbps, cover art included)     

Hannes Wader - Es ist an der Zeit (Pläne, 1980)

The title track of this album, "Es ist an der Zeit" is a german cover version of Eric Bogle's "No Man's Land", also known as "The Green Fields of France".  It is set at the grave of a young man who died in the First World War . The narrator wonders how the soldier could have died and whether he would have recognized his “real enemy”. In the chorus he establishes a connection to the present with the knowledge that nothing has changed. The last stanza ends with the title line: "It's about time."

From Eric Bogle's text, Wader adopts the soldier's age and year of death, the fear that his death might have been horrific, the realization that the same thing will repeat itself over and over again. Wader renounces the scene depicted in the original refrain that the deceased could have had a solemn burial to the sound of drums, bagpipes, horns and flute.

An important difference between the original and the German translation is the namelessness of the victim. Wader shows the fate of the war dead using the example of a single soldier - in contrast to Georg Danzer's 1981 song "Frieden" ("Peace"), which speaks of "four billion dead" (the entire world population). In the last stanza, however, Wader also speaks of the billions of deaths that a next war could bring. This verse ends with the hope that more and more people will find each other to prevent this war: "It is time."

"No Man's Land (The green fields of France)" was created in 1976 after Eric Bogles toured France. The soldiers' graves in northern France and Flanders had moved him so much that he wrote this song shortly afterwards. Eric Bogle was born in Scotland but has lived in Australia for over 30 years and has been Australian since 1982.

Hannes Wader's adaptation "Es ist an der Zeit" ("It is about time") became a hymn of the peace movement . Millions of people sang the song at demonstrations, including on February 15, 2003 in Berlin at the demonstration against the Iraq war. Wader, Konstantin Wecker and Reinhard Mey performed this title there.


Hannes Wader - Es ist an der Zeit

Weit in der Champagne im Mittsommergrün
Dort wo zwischen Grabkreuzen Mohnblumen blüh'n
Da flüstern die Gräser und wiegen sich leicht
Im Wind, der sanft über das Gräberfeld streicht
Auf deinem Kreuz finde ich toter Soldat
Deinen Namen nicht, nur Ziffern und jemand hat
Die Zahl neunzehnhundertundsechzehn gemalt
Und du warst nicht einmal neunzehn Jahre alt

Ja, auch Dich haben sie schon genauso belogen
So wie sie es mit uns heute immer noch tun
Und du hast ihnen alles gegeben:
Deine Kraft, Deine Jugend, Dein Leben

Hast du, toter Soldat, mal ein Mädchen geliebt?
Sicher nicht, denn nur dort, wo es Frieden gibt
Können Zärtlichkeit und Vertrauen gedei'n
Warst Soldat, um zu sterben, nicht um jung zu sein
Vielleicht dachtest du Dir, ich falle schon bald
Nehme mir mein Vergnügen, wie es kommt, mit Gewalt
Dazu warst du entschlossen, hast dich aber dann
Vor dir selber geschämt und es doch nie getan

Ja, auch Dich haben sie schon genauso belogen
So wie sie es mit uns heute immer noch tun
Und du hast ihnen alles gegeben:
Deine Kraft, Deine Jugend, Dein Leben

Soldat, gingst du gläubig und gern in des Tod?
Oder hast zu verzweifelt, verbittert, verroht
Deinen wirklichen Feind nicht erkannt bis zum Schluß?
Ich hoffe, es traf dich ein sauberer Schuß?
Oder hat ein Geschoß Dir die Glieder zerfetzt
Hast du nach deiner Mutter geschrien bis zuletzt
Bist Du auf Deinen Beinstümpfen weitergerannt
Und dein Grab, birgt es mehr als ein Bein, eine Hand?

Ja, auch Dich haben sie schon genauso belogen
So wie sie es mit uns heute immer noch tun
Und du hast ihnen alles gegeben:
Deine Kraft, Deine Jugend, Dein Leben

Es blieb nur das Kreuz als die einzige Spur
Von deinem Leben, doch hör' meinen Schwur
Für den Frieden zu kämpfen und wachsam zu sein:
Fällt die Menschheit noch einmal auf Lügen herein
Dann kann es gescheh'n, daß bald niemand mehr lebt
Miemand, der die Milliarden von Toten begräbt
Doch finden sich mehr und mehr Menschen bereit
Diesen Krieg zu verhindern, es ist an der Zeit

Tracklist:

1. Nun muss ich gehen 4:55
2. Emma Klein 4:36
3. Blick zurück 2:50
4. Erinnerung 7:48
5. Ballade vom Fisch 7:25
6. Begegnung 3:45
7. Hafenmelodie 4:35
8. Es ist an der Zeit 6:19


Hannes Wader - Es ist an der Zeit (Pläne, 1980)
(192 kbps, cover art included)

Brenda Fassi - Mama (1995)

"Mama" is a fine collection of Soweto township jive from Brenda Nokuzola Fassie (3 November 1964 – 9 May 2004), the South African anti-apartheid Afropop singer; it includes her hit "Ama-Gents." Sadly, Ms. Fassie is no longer with us. She has left us a small body of work that any fan of South African music will enjoy. "Mama" is an especially moving ballad. Highly recommended.         

From the linernotes:
"Brenda Fassie is often called the Madonna of South Africa. Even though she is only 5'1", on stage she is an electrifying presence. This album also includes the hit-version of 'Ama-Gents' a traditional South African chant arranged by Brenda in honor of Nelson Mandela."          

Known as the "Queen of the Vocals" and dubbed the "Madonna of the Townships" by Time Magazine, Brenda Fassie was one of South Africa's most popular vocalists, mixing African vocals with a slick international pop sound. She had her greatest success in the 1980s and continued to record into the ensuing decades, but became a celebrity known more for her off-stage antics than her on-stage work.

Born in 1964 in the small village of Langa, Cape Town, Fassie came from a musical family and began singing early, forming her first singing group at the age of four. Her precocious talent brought her to the attention of talent scouts from Johannesburg, one of whom eventually took the young teenager to the city to kick-start her career. After singing background vocals for other artists, Fassie broke out with the group Brenda & the Big Dudes with whom she recorded her biggest hit in 1986's "Weekend Special." She went on to a solo career soon after and working with producer Sello "Chicco" Twala Fassie had continued success at the end of the '80s with the hits "Too Late for Mama" and the controversial "Black President," which was banned in apartheid-era South Africa.
  Then things started to unravel for Fassie. She was involved in several highly publicized affairs with both men and women and had also begun a costly and destructive cocaine addiction. It also didn't help matters that she became notorious for missing concert dates. The nadir of her excess came in 1995 when Fassie was found in a drugged haze next to the dead body of her girlfriend. The horror of the event was enough to shock her out of her spiraling decline. Her next album, "Memeza", was released in 1998 and was the most focused and accomplished album she had released in nearly a decade. "Memeza" went on to become the best-selling album of the year in South Africa. If there had been any doubt previously, the album's success cemented Fassie's role as a superstar of Afro-pop. Her success continued with subsequent albums and, for a time, nothing seemed impossible for the township hero. In May of 2004, Fassie suffered a sever asthma attack that triggered cardiac arrest forcing her to be hospitalized. The physical breakdown was severe and Fassie's condition deteriorated quickly. On May 9, 2004, Brenda Fassie passed away.

Brenda Fassi - Mama (1995)
(256 kbps, cover art included)

Nico - The Marble Index (1968)

The quirky, orchestrated folk-rock of Nico's 1968 debut album, "Chelsea Girl", in no way prepared listeners for the stark, almost avant-garde flavor of her 1968 follow-up, "The Marble Index". The chanteuse presented an uncompromisingly bleak, gothic soundscape on her second album.

Dominated by spare harmonium and Nico's deep, brooding vocals, this album unveiled her singularly morose songwriting (her first record featured none of her compositions). Owing more to European classical and folk music than rock, it found little favor with 1968/1969 audiences. But like the work of the Velvet Underground, it proved to be quite influential in the long run on a future generation of black-clad goth rockers.     

Tracklist:                                                       

1	Prelude	0:50
2	Lawns Of Dawns	3:12
3	No One Is There	3:36
4	Ari's Song	3:20
5	Facing The Wind	4:52
6	Julius Caesar (Memento Hodie)	4:57
7	Frozen Warnings	4:00
8	Evening Of Light	5:33
9	Roses In The Snow	4:06
10	Nibelungen	2:44

The original album was released in November 1968, tracks 9 and 10 are bonus tracks, mixed and engineered at Skyline Studios, NYC, May, 1990.

Nico - The Marble Index (1968)    
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Richie Havens - Stonehenge (1970)

Stonehenge is the 1970 album by folk rock musician Richie Havens.

More production that usual for this American Folk music "treasure" - I surmise Richie Havens himself wouldn't be comfortable with that tried but true (pause) cliche, but this trove has it all: some of his most melodic and personal statements, all completely believable: "Open Our Eyes", "Ring Around The Moon", "There's A Hole In The Future", among others here have an inescapable pull, resonant now for four decades.

His world view is universal, if you will, and the final, the long (for its' time) at 7:58 "Shouldn't All The World Be Dancing?", is a sentiment which critics could make careers at, by mocking the song title as naive and tired, but Havens makes it a near-desperate plea for understanding and unity. Different voices weave in and out of the kaleidoscope, and it may be considered a modified rapp.
Havens, along with Mitchell, and Safa, represents the very best of that Monterey-to-Woodstock era. Although this '70 work follows that period, there is no sense of resignation in any track. In any note.


Tracklist:

"Open Our Eyes" (Leon Lumpkins) – 2:56
"Minstrel from Gault" (Havens, Mark Roth) – 3:35
"It Could Be the First Day" - 2:22
"Ring Around the Moon" (Greg Brown, Havens) - 2:08
"It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" (Bob Dylan) - 5:01
"There's a Hole in the Future" - 2:07
"I Started a Joke" (Barry Gibb) - 2:58
"Prayer" - 2:56
"Tiny Little Blues" - 2:08
"Shouldn't All the World Be Dancing?" - 8:04

Richie Havens - Stonehenge (1970)

(320 kbps, cover art included)

Atahualpa Yupanqui - L´Integrale, Vol. 5

Atahualpa Yupanqui was a legendary Argentine folk musician and philosopher whose fame was revived during the politically charged "nueva cancion" movement of the 1960s.

He became one of the most valuable treasures for the local culture. As a child living in the small town of Roca, province of Buenos Aires, Héctor Roberto Chavero was seduced by traditional music, especially by the touching sound of the acoustic guitar. After taking violin lessons, the young man began learning how to play guitar, having musician Bautista Almirón as his teacher. For many years, Atahualpa Yupanqui traveled around his native country, singing folk tunes and working as muleteer, delivering telegrams, and even working as a journalist for a Rosario newspaper. In the late '30s, the artist started recording songs, making his debut as a writer in 1941 with Piedra Sola, later writing a famous novel called Cerro Bajo. I

n 1949, the singer/songwriter went on tour around Europe for the first time, including performances with France's Edith Piaf. During the following decades Atahualpa Yupanqui achieved an impressive amount of national and international recognition, becoming an essential artist, a distinguished Latin American troubadour, and influencing many prominent musicians and Argentinean folk groups. 

Atahualpa Yupanqui passed away in France in May, 1992.                 

Here´s the final part of the "L´Integrale" set:


Tracklist:

1.	El Payador Perseguido	41:20
2.	Poema Para Un Bello Nombre	5:47
3.	Vidala Del Silencio	6:03
4.	Fin De La Zafra	4:34
5.	Testimonio Final	1:52

Atahualpa Yupanqui - L´Integrale, Vol. 5
(256 kbps, cover art included)

Miriam Makeba - The Queen Of African Music Vol. 2 (Pläne)

Miriam Makeba (4 March 1932 – 10 November 2008), nicknamed Mama Africa, was a Grammy Award-winning South African singer and civil rights activist.

In the 1960s she was the first artist from Africa to popularize African music in the U.S. and around the world. She is best known for the song "Pata Pata", first recorded in 1957 and released in the U.S. in 1967. She recorded and toured with many popular artists, such as Harry Belafonte, Paul Simon, and her former husband Hugh Masekela.

She actively campaigned against the South African system of apartheid. As a result, the South African government revoked her citizenship and right of return. After the end of apartheid she returned home. She died on 10 November 2008 after performing in a concert in Italy organized to support writer Roberto Saviano in his stand against the Camorra, a mafia-like organisation local to the region of Campania.

The Queen Of African Music Vol. 2 is a 15-track compilation album by Miriam Makeba, released by Theo König, Verlag Pläne in 1991.

Miriam Makeba - The Queen Of African Music Vol. 2 (Pläne)
(192 kbps, front & back cover included)

Atahualpa Yupanqui - L´Integrale, Vol. 4

Atahualpa Yupanqui is a legendary Argentine folk musician and philosopher whose fame was revived during the politically charged "nueva cancion" movement of the 1960s. He´s considered to be the most important Argentian folk musician of the 20th century.

Here´s volume 4 of the "L´Integrale" set.

Tracklist:

1.	Camino Del Indio	3:40
2.	La Del Gualicho	1:58
3.	Me Gustaba Andar	3:28
4.	Huinca Onal	4:36
5.	Melodía Del Adiós Y Danza Rústica	4:21	I
6.	La Llorona	3:00
7.	Hui, Jo, Jo, Jo !	3:26
8.	De Tanto Dir Y Venir	4:21
9.	Guitarra De Pobre	2:56
10.	El Bien Perdido	2:18	I
11.	A Vos Te Hai Pesar	4:35
12.	Nunca Jamás!	3:49
13.	Viene Clareando	3:04
14.	Huella Triste	3:41
15.	Amalaya El Cielo	2:14
16.	El Indio Y La Quena	3:35	I
17.	Madre Del Monte	4:09
18.	Córdoba Norte	2:22
19.	La Mano De Mi Rumor	3:38

Atahualpa Yupanqui - L´Integrale, Vol. 4
(320 kbps, cover art included)

VA - Dancehall Stylee (22 Killa Dancehall Classics, Trojan)

Focusing on the dawn of the dancehall in the early '80s, the Trojan compilation "Dancehall Stylee: 22 Killa Dancehall Classics" includes just that: some of the best heard in the style from a solid range of artists -- Barrington Levy ("Sweet Reggae Music,"), Leroy Smart ("Too Much Pressure,"), Barry Brown ("Teaching,"), Wayne Jarrett ("Satta Dread,"), Don Carlos ("Booming Ball,"), Earl Sixteen ("Some Gone Astray,"), and others.        

The dancehall style was born out of a fusion of factors - the musicianship of the Roots Radics, the console skill of Scientist, the foresight of producer Henry "Junjo" Lawes, and the youth singer Barrington Levy. These were the ingredients unwittingly brought together in late 1979, when Junjo cut Levy on "A Yah We Deh". Backed by the Radics, and with Scientist doing the final mixes at King Tubby´s, he stumbled on a winning formula. Dancehall was born, and the rest is history.


Tracklist:
1. Barry Brown - Teaching
2. Barrington Levy - Sweet Reggae Music
3. Poppa Tollo - Get Ready And Reggae
4. Earl Sixteen - Some Gone Astray
5. Leroy Smart - Too Much Pressure
6. Purpleman - Trod Along
7. Don Carlos - Booming Ball
8. Sammy Dread - Labour Ward
9. Anthony Johnson - Dread Locks
10. Junior Keating - African Queen
11. Earl Cunningham - What A Day
12. Earl Sixteen - Play Play
13. Wayne Jarrett - Satta Dread
14. Jah Thomas - Dancehall Connection
15. Charlie Chaplin - Stur-Gav Special
16. Anthony Johnson - Natty Dread Come In A Dance
17. Don Carlos - Ababa John I
18. John Wayne - You Too Greedy
19. Earl Sixteen - Bad Company
20. Earl Cunningham - Violence And Crime
21. Don Carlos - Lazer Beam
22. Poppa Tollo - Nuff Stylee
   

VA - Dancehall Stylee (22 Killa Dancehall Classics, Trojan)
(256 kbps, cover art included)

Atahualpa Yupanqui - L´Integrale, Vol. 3

Hector Roberto Chavero Aramburo was born in Pergamino, a province around 200 kilometres away from Buenos Aires, on January 31st 1908. By the 1960’s he was considered one of the most important Argentinian, and Latin American, folk musicians of all time.

Choosing not to showcase his family name on stage, instead, Hector decided to adopt the alias of Atahualpa Yupanqui. A pseudonym combining the names of two legendary Incan kings. With a father hailing from Argentina and a mother descending from the Basque country, Yupanqui was blessed with a healthy cultural mix, which undoubtedly went some way towards fuelling his desire for travel.
His first musical experience was of playing the violin, but he would soon switch to guitar, and became something of a troubadour, singing folk songs as he travelled around Argentina. This was made possible by his early jobs of delivering telegrams and of working as a muleteer, which is to deliver goods by mule. Gradually the travelling would become more than just a job. He spent a lot of time in the northwest of Argentina and the Altiplano studying the Amerindian indigenous culture. Of particular note, in 1934 he took part in an ethnological study of the Amaichas Indians with Alfred Métraux. It was during these travels that he would learn rhythms such as the zamba, vidala and chacarera, that he would later popularise in his songs.
During this time, the young Yupanqui grappled with political ideologies and decided to join the Communist Party of Argentina. In 1931 the Argentine took part in the attempted, and ultimately unsuccessful, uprising of the Kennedy brothers, which resulted in the musician being forced to seek refuge in Uruguay. Yupanqui would not return to his native land until 1934.
Yupanqui first visited Buenos Aires in 1935, when he was invited to perform on one of the local radio stations at the time and it was shortly after this event that the Argentine met his long-time, collaborative, musical partner and future wife; pianist Antonieta Paula Pepin Fitzpatrick (nicknamed “Nenette”). “Nenette” accompanied Yupanqui for many years under the pseudonym of Pablo Del Cerro, creating vibrant and entertaining compositions. It was also around this time that he became a published writer, with Cerro Bajo hitting Argentine bookshelves in 1941.

Yupanqui’s work suffered as a result of his allegiance to the Communist Party, especially during Juan Peron’s presidency. The musician’s work was largely censored and Yupanqui was even detained and incarcerated on many occasions during this period. Feeling dejected, the Argentine fled to Europe in 1949 and by July 1950, Yupanqui was invited to perform in Paris by Edith Piaf. Here in France he gained much notoriety; he would regularly open for Piaf, but additionally, became friends with artists such as Aragon, Eluard and Picasso, all of whom appreciated his poetry and its nature of dealing with poverty and oppression. He signed a contract with the recording company Le Chant Du Monde, which published his first LP in Europe, entitled “Miner I am”. This LP went on to win the Charles Cros Academy’s prize for best foreign disc and subsequently enabled Yupanqui to tour extensively around Europe with his music.
Yupanqui returned to Buenos Aires in 1952. By this time the musician had broken off all ties with the Argentinian Communist Party, which made it much simpler for him to book radio performances and musical events. During this time Yupanqui’s music flourished and he achieved a fair degree of success.
By the 1960’s Yupanqui’s work was widely recognised, especially by nueva cancion artists such as Mercedes Sosa (who would in 1977 record her Mercedes Sosa interpreta a Atahualpa Yupanqui album, devoted solely to his songs) and Jorge Cafrune who began recording his compositions. This made the Argentine very popular among the younger musicians who affectionately began referring to him as ‘Don Ata’.
During 1963 and 1964 Atahualpa toured around Colombia, Japan, Morocco, Egypt, Israel and even Italy. By 1967 he had also toured Spain and decided to settle in Paris. From his new base he would regularly return to Argentina and he would appear in Argentinisima and Argentinisima II, two Argentine musical documentaries films released in 1972 and 1973 respectively. These visits became more sparse, however, when the military dictatorship of Jorge Videla took over the country in 1976.

In 1989 the University of Nanterre, a prestigious and highly regarded institution, asked Yupanqui to write the lyrics of a Cantata to commemorate the bicentennial of the French Revolution. Yupanqui graciously accepted the offer and produced a composition entitled, “The Sacred Word”. This piece was released before the French authorities and it was thought to be a tribute to all the oppressed towns that freed themselves during the great struggle.
To the grief of many, Yupanqui died in Nimes, France in 1992, aged 84. To this very day, though, his music continues to touch the hearts and lives of many citizens, not just in South America, but all over the entire planet.

Atahualpa Yupanqui recorded over 12,000 songs, many of which are on labels that no longer exist, and are therefore out-of-print. This makes it very difficult to begin making any recommendations, however, the good news is that I’ve never heard a bad record by him. Mis 30 Mejores Canciones and Solo Lo Mejor de are both recommended as strong collections of his songs. Piedra Y Camino: 1936/1947 on Discmedi records, focuses on his early days, and while it may not get great marks for its fidelity, is definitely worth investigating. Buenas Noches, Compatriotas… is a live recording, made in Mar del Plata in 1983, and despite quite annoying crowd noise is a good document of the man in his later life. Additionally, any of his recordings for Le Chant du Monde in the middle of his career are worth keeping an eye out for. Basta Ya! and Soy Libre are two such examples.

Here´s "L´Integrale, Vol. 3":

Tracklist:

1.	Canción Para Pablo Neruda	4:00
2.	De Aquellos Cerros Vengo	2:10
3.	Salmo A La Guitarra	5:21
4.	Milonga Triste	3:00	I
5.	Baguala Del Gaucho Pobre	3:47
6.	Milonga Del Solitario	3:40
7.	Nada Más	3:16
8.	Silbando Piensan Las Aves / Humito De Mi Cigarro	4:08
9.	La Paulita	2:08	I
10.	Canción Del Arriero De Llamas	3:14
11.	Recuerdo De El Portezuelo	3:59
12.	Juan Careno	2:10	I
13.	Canción Para Doña Guillermina	3:23
14.	Nieve, Viento Y Sol	3:15
15.	Los Dos Abuelos	3:26
16.	Chacarera Santiagueña	2:04	I
17.	Tum Tum Mañanita	5:12
18.	El Aromo	4:10

Atahualpa Yupanqui - L´Integrale, Vol. 3
(256 kbps, cover art included)

The Brothers Four - In Person (1962)

One of the better live folk albums of its period, "The Brothers Four In Person", cut live at the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, MD, and Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, is a good representation of their sound. The songs include a somewhat upbeat version of "The Midnight Special," and a banjo-driven, deliberately paced "Rock Island Line" (which segues into "This Train"), the humorous "Thinking Man, John Henry" (including digs at the John Birch Society, the CIA, Ford, M.I.T., and automation), and a group of beautifully harmonized folk numbers, "Darlin' Sportin' Jenny," the hit "Greenfields," George Gershwin's "Summertime" (credited as "San Miguel" on the jacket), and the rousing "I Am a Roving Gambler."

 

The group also has fun with the "Theme from Peter Gunn," and, especially, parodying the 45-rpm market with "Variations On an Old English Theme" - the very fact that they went over big at the Naval Academy as well as Vanderbilt University (where Flatt & Scruggs weren't necessarily considered sufficiently highbrow) also shows the chasm that was soon to open up between this generation of folkies and the more confrontational outfits that were to follow.

Tracklist:

A1 The Midnight Special 2:36
A2 Darlin' Sportin' Jenny 2:25
A3 Whoa! Back, Buck 2:30
A4 The Thinking Man 4:50
A5 Across The Sea 2:45
A6 Variation On An Old English Theme 3:05
B1 I Am A Rovin' Gambler 2:35
B2 Run, Come, See Jerusalem 3:30
B3 First Battalion 1:42
B4 San Miguel 3:18
B5 Greenfields 3:43
B6 Rock Island Line 2:43

The Brothers Four - In Person (1962)       
(256 kbps, cover art included)   

Miriam Makeba – The Queen Of African Music (1987, Pläne)

Following a three-decade-long exile, Miriam Makeba's return to South Africa was celebrated as though a queen was restoring her monarchy. The response was fitting as Makeba remains the most important female vocalist to emerge out of South Africa. Hailed as the Empress of African Song and Mama Africa, Makeba helped bring African music to a global audience in the '60s. Nearly five decades after her debut with the Manhattan Brothers, she continues to play an important role in the growth of African music.

"The Queen Of African Music" is a 17-track compilation album by Miriam Makeba, released by Theo König, Verlag Pläne in 1987.


Tracklist:

1 African Convention
2 I Shall Sing
3 Goodbye Poverty
4 Mas Que Nade
5 Murtala
6 Chicken (Kikirikiki)
7 The Lion Cries
8 Samba
9 Quit It
10 We Got To Make It
11 Jolinkomo
12 Ndibanga Hamba
13 Iyaguduza
14 Click Song
15 Malaisha
16 Mama Ndiyalila
17 Pata Pata


Miriam Makeba – The Queen Of African Music (1987, Pläne)
(320 kbps, cover art included)