VA - Premier Festival Del Nuevo Canto Latinoamericano (1982)

The "Premier Festival Del Nuevo Canto Latinoamericano" took place at the National Auditorium in Mexico City between March 30 and April 4, 1982, in collaboration with UNESCO and "Casa de las Americas". The album features songs by Roy Brown, Quilapayun, Amparo Ochoa, Daniel Viglietti and others.


Tracklist:

01. América Latina – Nicomedes Santa Cruz
02. En la vida todo es ir – Roy Brown
03. Flor de metal – Los Flokloristas
04. Espigas de libertad – Lilia Vera
05. Siringuero – Luis Rico
06. El sombrero azul – Alí Primera
07. Luz negra – Quilapayún
08. Cuando salgas luna llena – Noel Nicola
09. Epitafio a Juan ‘N’ – Amparo Ochoa
10. Las hormiguitas – Daniel Viglietti
11. Somos los hijos del maíz – Luis Enrique Mejía Godoy y Mancotal
12. Canción con todos – César Isella

VA - Premier Festival Del Nuevo Canto Latinoamercano (1982)
(192 kbps, cover art included)

The Thelonious Monk Quartet – Monk's Dream (1963)

"Monk's Dream" is the Columbia Records debut release featuring the Thelonious Monk Quartet: Monk (piano), Charlie Rouse (tenor sax), John Ore (bass), and Frankie Dunlop (drums). Jazz scholars and enthusiasts alike also heralded this combo as the best Monk had been involved with for several years. Although he would perform and record supported by various other musicians, the tight -- almost telepathic -- dimensions that these four shared has rarely been equalled in any genre. 

By the early '60s, bop had become considered passé by artists as well as fans looking for the next musical trend. This is coupled with the fact that discerning Monk fans would have undoubtedly recognized many of these titles from several live recordings issued at the end of his tenure on Riverside. Not to belabor the point, however, but precious few musicians understood the layer upon layer of complexities and challenges that Monk's music created. On tracks such as "Five Spot Blues" and "Bolivar Blues," 

Rouse and Dunlop demonstrate their uncanny abilities by squeezing in well-placed instrumental fills, while never getting hit by the unpredictable rhythmic frisbees being tossed about by Monk. Augmenting the six quartet recordings are two solo sides: "Just a Gigolo" and "Body and Soul." Most notable about Monk's solo work is how much he retained the same extreme level of intuition throughout the nearly two decades that separate these recordings from his initial renderings in the late '40s. "Monk's Dream" is recommended, with something for every degree of Monk enthusiast.


Tracklist:

A1 Monk's Dream
A2 Body And Soul
A3 Bright Mississippi
A4 Five Spot Blues
B1 Bolivar Blues
B2 Just A Gigolo
B3 Bye-Ya
B4 Sweet And Lovely


The Thelonious Monk Quartet – Monk's Dream (1963)

(320 kbps, cover art included)

Singers & Players – Staggering Heights (1983)

Singers & Players were the first mutation of a loose collective of 15 to 20 vocalists, musicians & DJ's to form the core of Adrian Sherwood's On-U Sound label. A colourful bunch of Punks & Rasta's, Rebels, Rockers, Instrumentalists and Experimentalists. All of them could also be members of other groups like Dub Syndicate, Creation Rebel, African Headcharge, Playgroup, New Age Steppers etc.

"Staggering Heights" was the third Singers & Players album from 1983, with the collective continuing to include the likes of Bim Sherman and Prince Far I, but also welcoming new members into the fold such as Mikey Dread, famous for his Dread At The Controls radio program on JBC, and collaboration with The Clash on their Sandinista! album.

Rated by many to be the pinnacle in their catalogue, this third album from 1983 saw the reggae collective really hitting their stride. On microphone duties, Prince Far I and Bim Sherman are joined by Mikey Dread (fresh from his work with The Clash) and Ashanti Roy (The Congos) for a truly heavyweight line-up. Voicing killer rhythms laid down by members of the Dub Syndicate and Roots Radics, this is a landmark recording in the mutated UK version of dub. Contains the classic On-U tracks “Bedward The Flying Preacher” and “Snipers In The Streets”.


Tracklist:

African Blood
Bedward The Flying Preacher
Snipers In The Streets
A Matter Of Time
School Days
Autobiography
Socca
This Assembly

Singers & Players – Staggering Heights (1983)

(320 kbps, cover art included)

Nico - Drama Of Exile

It was a shock at the time and today, the thrill still lingers. Almost 15 years after she quit the Velvet Underground, and with four stunningly stubborn solo albums under her belt, Nico was finally ready to return to rock & roll, with a conventional band and a clutch of great songs which proved that, whatever else she'd lost during a career spent on the bleakest fringe of the idiom, the arts of composition and interpretation were not part of it.

As a member of the Velvets, she'd performed two songs, the stately "All Tomorrow's Parties" and the fragile "Femme Fatale." Now she added a third to her bow, a relentless "Waiting for the Man" which took its lead from composer Lou Reed's own recent revisions of the song but never lost sight of the trademark primitivism which gave it its original power -- that's not Maureen Tucker on drums, but close your eyes and it could be. Elsewhere, David Bowie's "Heroes" was given an almost militaristic going over, the chopping guitars, rolling drums, and a triumphant Davey Payne sax solo conspiring to prove that while Bowie had written about what he saw in Berlin, Nico sang of what she knew. It was stirring stuff and, again, all the more surprising for who was behind it. Nico reveled in the confusion. "It was really boring, all that quiet stuff," she said of her past albums and, as if to hammer home the point, ensured that even her most reflective moments now swam within a brittle swirl of new wave-inflected rock, and the traditional Eurasian influences which band members Philippe Quilichini and Mahammad Hadi added to Nico's own unique references.

Across her own compositions, "Drama of Exile" explored the faces and places Nico witnessed during her own dramatic exile - she had spent the first half of the 1970s in hiding, convinced that the Black Panthers had a contract out on her; she resurfaced and was then forced to retreat once again, after an interview quote was interpreted as espousing brutal racism. The haunting, almost Indian-sounding "Orly Flight," the rattled funk of "The Sphinx," and the droning/hypnotic "Purple Lips" all suggested adventures which never made the newspapers, while "One More Chance" made it obvious that she didn't regret one of them. Nor, once this album was assimilated by the world at large, would she ever need to.

Tracklist

Genghis Khan
Purple Lips
One More Chance
Henry Hudson
Waiting For The Man
Sixty Forty
The Sphinx
Orly Flight
Heroes

Nico - Drama Of Exile
(ca. 192 kbps, cover art included)

John Renbourn – The Lady And The Unicorn (1970)

John Renbourn's last solo album for the next six years overlaps with his Pentangle work, featuring Terry Cox playing hand drums and glockenspiel, with future John Renbourn band member Tony Roberts and violinist Dave Swarbrick. 

The repertory consists of medieval and early classical pieces, interspersed with the expected folk material -- keyboard works from the Fitzwilliam virginal book (transcribed for guitar) stand alongside traditional tunes such as "Scarborough Fair," which turns up as part of an 11-minute track that also incorporates "My Johnny Was a Shoemaker," with Swarbrick at the top of his form on violin. 

The album is entirely instrumental, but as with other Renbourn releases, one hardly misses the vocals.


Tracklist:

1.1."Trotto" (Anonymous) – 0:40
1.2."Saltarrello" (Anonymous) – 1:53
2.1."Lamento Di Tristan" (Anonymous) – 1:58
2.2."La Rotta" (Anonymous) – 0:55
3.1."Veri Floris" (Anonymous) – 0:44
3.2."Triple Ballade (Sanscuer-Amordolens-Dameparvous)" (Guillaume de Machaut) – 2:00
4.1."Bransle Gay" (Claude Gervaise) – 1:13
4.2."Bransle De Bourgogne" (Robert Johnson)– 1:34
5.1."Alman" (Anonymous)– 1:25
5.2."Melancholy Galliard" (John Dowland) – 2:47
6."Sarabande" (Johann Sebastian Bach) – 2:41
7."The Lady And The Unicorn" (John Renbourn) – 3:21
8.1."My Johnny Was A Shoemaker" (Traditional) – 4:16
8.2."Westron Wynde" (Traditional) – 1:25
8.3."Scarborough Fair" (Traditional) – 7:22

John Renbourn – The Lady And The Unicorn (1970)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Dakar Sound Volume 6 - Number One de Dakar - No. 1 de No. 1

In 1976, Yakhya Fall, who had joined Star Band (Star Band de Dakar) in 1970 but had a falling out with founder Ibra Kassé, started the group Starbund Numero Un along with other disgruntled former Star Band members. The new group was forced to drop the Star Band reference from its name. They kept the Numero Un, but changed it to English, initially releasing albums as Star Number One. Subsequent albums brought slight name changes to the group: Orchesta Number One de Dakar, Number One du Senegal, Number One, No. 1 De Dakar, and Starband Number One. Each of these variations may appear with abbreviated forms of "Number One" on different releases.

Founding members include Pape Seck, trumpeter Ali Penda N'Doye, and vocalists Mar Seck and Nicolas Menheim. The group's sound is heavily influenced by Cuban music.

This album contains six songs of the orchestra in full bloom recorded in yet another Dakar night-club The Sahel (tracks 1,2, 3) and in the Barclay Studio in Paris (tracks 4,5,6). The rest (7,8 & 9) were taped during an unknown session. Included is the original "Maccaki", which was a dance-samsh and was later recorded on the Stern´s production "Africando". The lanst song on this album is "Walo". Despite the poor sound quality, it´s on the album, because it was Papa Seck´s favorite. Papa Seck died in the winter of 1994/95 in a middle-class quarter of Dakar.

Tracklist:

(1) YORO 6:33
(2) MEDOUNE XULE 5:33
(3) NAFISSATU N'YAYE 4:17
(4) GUAJIRA VEN 5:13
(5) YAYE BOYE 5:12
(6) FARAN TAMBA 4:38
(7) MACAKKI 5:16
(8) YANGAAKE 5:38
(9) PARA VILLAS 5:44
(10) WALO 5:46

Dakar Sound Volume 6 - No. 1 de No. 1
(192 kbps, front cover included)

Gil Scott-Heron - Moving Target (1982)

Gil Scott-Heron's last proper album for more than a decade, "Moving Target" was recorded after a period of intense touring (hence the title) and, perhaps understandably, finds the Midnight Band playing a larger role than usual. It also may reflect the group's travels, as the typical, tastefully jazzy R&B and funk grooves -- like set-opener "Fast Lane" and "Explanations" -- are supplemented with more exotic sounds. 

Like Stevie Wonder, for whom he and the Midnight Band opened a tour in 1980, Scott-Heron and his bandmates were experimenting with reggae. "No Exit" has clear echoes of Bob Marley, while "Ready or Not" is a sultry island jam. Both tunes also had themes more personal than political, a shift noticeable elsewhere on the album (even "Washington D.C.," with its seemingly obvious subject, is as much about the resilient spirit of D.C.'s citizens as it's about the city's politicians). That's somewhat surprising, given that Scott-Heron had recently enjoyed success with "B-Movie," a pointed attack on then-president Ronald Reagan. But "Blue Collar" is a populist manifesto that gives shout-outs to working folks in a variety of professions across the fruited plain before concluding with the dispirited chorus, "There ain't no place we ain't been down," and "Black History/The World" offers nearly ten minutes of Afro-centric theorizing, beginning with a spoken introduction that hearkens back to Scott-Heron's sarcastic, poetic beginnings and ends with a simple -- some would say simplistic -- plea for peace and world change.


Tracklist:

"Fast Lane" (lyrics: Scott-Heron; music: Robbie Gordon) – 4:55
"Washington D.C." – 4:13
"No Exit" – 4:08
"Blue Collar" – 5:18
"Explanations" – 4:12
"Ready or Not"  – 4:33
"Black History/The World" – 9:42

Gil Scott-Heron - Moving Target (1982)

(320 kbps, cover art included)

Ruts - Penetration - BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert

With their unique blend of raucous punk rock laced with reggae and dub, the Ruts were one of the most exciting bands to emerge from Britain's late-'70s scene. Their career was cut cruelly short by the death of their singer in 1980, but still the group released six crucial singles and a seminal album in their short lifetime, while the surviving members soldiered on as Ruts D.C. 

They were also a powerful force within Britain's Rock Against Racism movement, ensuring a political legacy at least as vital as their music. On classic tunes like "Babylon's Burning" and "In a Rut," the band delivered rough-and-ready punk rock as strong as any of their peers in the first wave of U.K. punk, but "Jah War" showed they were similarly expert with reggae rhythms and dubwise production, and "Staring at the Rude Boys" showed they could blend punk sounds and West Indian themes, honoring each side equally.

Penetration is a punk rock band from County Durham, England formed in 1976. They re-formed in 2001 with several new members. Named after the Stooges song of the same name the band were formed in late 76 in Ferryhill County Durham by three friends Pauline Murray, Robert Blamire and Gary Smallman after seeing the Sex Pistols play in Manchester. They played their first gig in October 76 at the Middlesborough Rock Garden and played their first London gig at the famous Roxy Club in January 77 supporting Gen X.

Their debut single, "Don't Dictate", is now acknowledged as a classic punk rock single and their debut album, "Moving Targets" (1978), is still widely admired.

This concert was originally recorded for the BBC 7th July 1979 at the Paris Theatre and broadcasted the same month. The Ruts songs have been bootlegged on vinyl as "I Ain't Sofisticated" and "Shine On Me: Paris Theatre, London 7th July 1979".


Tracklist:

1 The Ruts - Your Just A ... 3:02
2 The Ruts - It Was Cold 4:16
3 The Ruts - I Ain't Sofisticated 2:29
4 The Ruts - Dope For Guns 2:15
5 The Ruts - Sus 3:27
6 The Ruts - Babylon's Burning 2:43
7 The Ruts - Jah Wars 3:05
8 The Ruts - Criminal Minds 1:46
9 The Ruts - In A Rut 4:37
10 Penetration - Danger Signs 2:37
11 Penetration - Lovers Of Outrage 3:59
12 Penetration - She Is The Slave 3:18
13 Penetration - Come Into The Open 2:54
14 Penetration - Movement 3:14
15 Penetration - Nostalgia 3:58
16 Penetration - Free Money 4:12
17 Penetration - Stone Heroes 3:45

Ruts - Penetration - BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Alton Ellis - Showcase

Alton Ellis was one of Jamaica's all-time favorite vocalists. Like so many other talented singers, he got his start and gained valuable experience under the tutelage of producer and Studio One label founder, Clement S. Dodd. Alton's singing career began in 1959, and he has maintained headliner status throughout his career. His best-known recordings are those he cut during the "rock steady" period of Jamaican popular music.

Ellis started his career in 1959 as part of the duo Alton & Eddie with Eddie Perkins. Ellis and Perkins recorded for Coxsone Dodd at Studio One before Perkins moved to the United States. Duke Reid took Ellis to his Treasure Isle label in 1962. By the mid 1960s, ska was moving on and the beat was slowing down and becoming associated with the rude boy subculture in Jamaican dancehalls. Recording with a backing trio, The Flames (consisting of his brother Leslie Ellis, David "Baby G" Gordon and a musician called Ronnie), Ellis scored big with the hits "Girl I've Got a Date", "Cry Tough" and "Rock Steady", which lent its name to the newer genre. As rocksteady dominated the Jamaican airwaves for the next two years, Ellis continued to score hits for Treasure Isle, working with artists such as Lloyd Charmers, Phyllis Dillon and The Heptones.

Ellis has lived in England since the 1970s. In England, Ellis established his own Alltone label, which he devoted to both new recordings and compilations of his early classics. The international popularity of Bob Marley and the rise of roots reggae meant that Ellis' considerable legacy was soon overshadowed, but over time, he remained a fondly remembered pioneer of Jamaican music. He made triumphant returns to Jamaica with well-received sets at the Reggae Sunsplash Festival in both 1983 and 1985, and recorded a new single, "Man From Studio One," for Dodd in 1991. Numerous compilations of his work appeared during the CD era, illustrating his stunning consistency. He died on Oct 10, 2008 in London, England.

Tracklist:

A1 Someone
A2 Hurting Me
A3 We Need Love
A4 So Much Love
B1 Back To Africa
B2 Alphabetically Yours
B3 Blessing Of Love
B4 Tumbling Tears

Alton Ellis - Showcase (1984) 

(192 kbps, cover art included)

Geoff & Maria Muldaur ‎– Sweet Potatoes

In the midst of leaving the Jim Kweskin Jug Band and beginning the juggernaut that would be the solo career of Maria Muldaur, the happily singing and swinging couple made several sides which made expert use of a loose-knit group of players who had grown into masters of the folk revival arts.

At times the choice of material on this album is unfortunately lazy; "Havana Moon" was a song that not even Chuck Berry himself could complete without boredom setting in, and the efforts here don't pay off much better. At the same time, the players here really don't need much more than the most basic framework from which to jump off and they are hard at it, pushing the music forward with a sense of purpose that inevitably helped it earn its hard-fought respectability. As a whole, "Sweet Potatoes" is something of a masterwork, rich and revealing, possessing the contagious enthusiasm of young musicians finding a personal voice in the rich traditions of the past as well as the relaxed sophistication that develops when these players are no longer novices.

The Geoff and Maria Muldaur combination, when it was working, was also very special, a challenging partnership that also was something of an inviting nucleus to the players with the talent to be drawn into the fold. This album contains some of the better playing of harmonica man Paul Butterfield, removed from the hyper-drive excess of his blues bands. "Kneein' Me" and "Cordelia" are among the song highlights. - Eugene Chadbourne

Tracklist:

1 Blue Railroad Train 3:00
2 Havana Moon 4:52
3 Lazy Bones 4:50
4 Cordelia 3:55
5 Dardanella 4:30
6 I'm Rich 5:11
7 Sweet Potatoes 2:03
8 Kneein' Me 3:18
9 Lover Man ( Oh Where Can You Be ) 4:07
10 Hard Time Killin' Floor 4:55

Geoff & Maria Muldaur ‎– Sweet Potatoes
(192 kbps, cover art included)

VA - Klezmer American Recordings 1909-1952

One of the best collections of early klezmer music we've ever seen - a big package that traces the roots of the style as it developed in the hands of early Jewish immigrants to America at the turn of the century - then grew and transformed as European styles came into context with American jazz! 

As with polka, which really got its identity in America from strands of different European styles coming together in immigrant communities - klezmer was a very powerful force and form of identity for the growing Jewish communities of new arrivals - and received surprisingly strong treatment by the record industry, especially in the years before WWII! This package features a whopping 40 tracks, divided up into early acoustic and later electric recordings - alongside selections by Joseph Moskowitz, Abe Schwartz, Naftule Brandwein, Mishka Ziganoff, Dave Tarras, Bagelman Sisters, Seymour Rechtzeit, Lou Lockett, Sam Musiker, Al Glaser, and others.

Jewish exiles left Central Europe before and after World War I. They took their elaborate musical traditions to the United States and recorded dazzling evidence of their very expressive, Gypsy-tinged party dance music, which thrived on rhythm and where improvisation preceded that of jazz. 

Tracklist:

Disc 1

1 Haneros haluli - H. Steiner
2 Buhusher khusid - Joseph Moskovitz
3 Dance on, dance on - Jewish Russian Orchestra
4 Koilen - Mishka Ziganoff
5 Sher (part 2) - Abe Schwartz's Orchestra
6 Galitsyaner hsyd - Mishka Ziganoff
7 Heyser bulgar - Naftule Brandwein's Orchester
8 Naftule shpielt far dem rebin - Naftule Brandwein's Orchester
9 Der ziser bulgar - Naftule Brandwein's Orchester
10 Doina and hora - Jacob Hoffman With Kandel's Orchestra
11 Bessarabier choisid'l - I. J. Hochman's Jewish Orchestra
12 Freid sich, yiddalech-tanz - Naftule Brandwein's Orchester
13 A europaische kolomyka - Raderman's And Beckerman's Orchestra
14 Der terk in america - Naftule Brandwein's Orchester
15 Das teuerste in bukowina - Naftule Brandwein's Orchester
16 Naftule, shpil es nokh amol - Naftule Brandwein's Orchester
17 A laibediga honga - Kandel's Orchestra
18 Yiddisher march - Joseph Cherniavsky's Yiddish American Jazz Band
19 Kinos, tkios un ashrei - Boibriker Kapelle
20 Jewish dance - State Ensemble Of Jewish Folk Musicians

Disc 2

1 A rumenisher nigun - Dave Tarras Mit Orkester Begleitung
2 Ch'sidishe nigunim - Dave Tarras, Beresh Katz, Abe Schwartz
3 Unzer toirele - Abe Schwartz's Orchestra
4 Hopkele - Seymour Rechtzeit With The Abe Ellstein Orchestra
5 Pas d'espagne - Russkyj Orkestr Moskwa
6 Tants istambul - Dave Tarras And His Klezmer Band
7 Bukoviner freylech - Dave Tarras And His Klezmer Band
8 Doina - Dave Tarras And His Klezmer Band
9 Bessarabian hora - Dave Tarras And His Klezmer Band
10 Shifra tantzt - Dave Tarras Jewish Instrumental Trio
11 Sirba - Dave Tarras Jewish Instrumental Trio
12 Freilicher yontov - Naftule Brandwein's Orchester
13 Kleine princessin - Naftule Brandwein's Orchester
14 A vaibele a tsnieh - Bagelman Sisters
15 Freilachs - Lou Lockett's Orchestra
16 Branas chasene - Dave Tarras Jewish Instrumental Trio
17 Hora hashiveinu - Dave Tarras Palestinian Dance Orchestra
18 Nigun bialik onu bonu artso - Dave Tarras Palestinian Dance Orchestra
19 Second avenue square - Abe Ellstein Orchestra
20 Der fetter max's bulgar - Sam Musiker And His Orchestra

VA - Klezmer American Recordings 1909-1952

(320 kbps, cover art included)

Moe Tucker - I Spent A Week There The Other Night (1991)

With more help from her indie-rock bigshot pals (Don Fleming, Brian Ritchie), "...Week..." also featured the first (sort of) Velvet Underground reunion, with Cale, Reed and Sterling Morrison guesting on separate tracks. Covering "And Then He Kissed Me" was inspired, as is the inclusion of the accusatory (and appropriately titled) "Fired Up." From start to finish, it rocks like crazy.

Included on the album is a cover of "Then He Kissed Me", originally by the Crystals, as well as a cover of the Velvet Underground song "I'm Waiting for the Man". "I Spent a Week There the Other Night" was reissued in 1994.

The album has performances by members of the Velvet Underground, including Lou Reed, Sterling Morrison and John Cale. All four original Velvets play together on "I'm Not", making it their only studio collaboration on original material since 1968. Members of Violent Femmes also contributed to the album. Tucker stuck mostly to rhythm guitar

A truly wonderful unpretentious album that really rocks! and rumbles in its one fiery yet casual way. It also has the best cover of "(And then) He kissed Me...". Fun lyrics...Great playing...If you like Moe Tucker- get it Now!!!!



Tracklist:

Fired Up 3:57
That's Bad 4:56
Lazy 2:24
S.O.S. 3:10
Blue, All The Way To Canada 3:48
(And) Then He Kissed Me 2:40
Too Shy 3:19
Stayin Put 4:16
Baby, Honey, Sweetie 3:15
I'm Not 6:38

Moe Tucker - I Spent A Week There The Other Night (1991)

(320 kbps, cover art included)

Nico - These Days - My Funny Valentine (Bootleg)

Nico was a model, actress, chanteuse, and former Velvet Underground frontwoman known for her sultry voice and ice-goddess presence.

The original goth rocker, Nico's albums are demanding and bleak, but map a unique and starkly powerful vision that has become more influential with age. An intimate of Bob Dylan, Jackson Browne, the Velvet Underground, the Stones, Jim Morrison, Iggy Pop, and others, her fascinating story is recounted in the biography "Nico: The Life & Lies of an Icon" by Richard Witts, published in Great Britain by Virgin books; "The End" by James Young is a seedy look at her drug-addled final years by a member of her touring band.

This is a compilation with tracks recorded live between 1968 and 1974 in New York City. It was released as "These Days" and - with the same tracks - as "My Funny Valentine".

Tracklist:

1 Heroes 9:20
2 Procession 4:45
3 My Funny Valentine 4:13
4 All Tomorrow's Parties 5:27
5 Secret Side 3:13
6 Femme Fatale 3:08
7 The End 9:52
8 The Fairest Of The Seasons 4:08
9 These Days 3:33
10 Little Sister 4:26
11 Winter Song 3:22
12 Chelsea Girls 7:28
13 I'll Keep It With Mine 3:24
14 Somewhere There's A Feather 5:53
15 Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams 5:19

Nico - These Days - My Funny Valentine (Bootleg)
(320 kbsp, cover art included)

Mikis Theodorakis & Zulfu Livaneli - Together!

Early May 1997, the legendary icons Mikis Theodorakis (Greece) and Zulfu Livaneli (Turkey) united again to start ea series of concerts in Europe with a final concert on the green-line of Nicosia/Cyprus.

The first concert in Berlin was totally sold out. It turned out to be the one and only concert of the tour as Mikis had to cancel the others right after the final standing ovations in Berlin due to serious health problems.

This is the recording of this evening. There is one new Theodorakis song on this album called "Kerem" with text by Nazim Hikmet. Its sung by both atists together as is the famous "Imaste Dio" ("The Two Of Us").  It is also unique in its sense of togetherness, spirit, poetry and music. Hope you enjoy it!


Tracklist:

A1 Merhaba 2:23
A2 Tragoudi Tis Xenitias 3:26
A3 Yigidim Aslanim 4:41
A4 Gün Olur 2:52
A5 Drapetsona 4:40
A6 Kardesin Duymaz 2:56
A7 Strose To Stroma Sou 3:58
A8 Duvarlar 3:34
A9 Kitame Sta Matia 3:28
A10 Karli Kayin Ormani 4:17
B1 Gonia Gonia 3:23
B2 Sevda Degil 3:52
B3 Ton Pavlo Kai Ton Nikolio 3:50
B4 Kan Cicekleri 6:21
B5 Chrissoprassino Fillo 3:34
B6 Ey Özgürlük 3:11
B7 Kerem 3:38
B8 Imaste Dio 2:26

Mikis Theodorakis & Zulfu Livaneli - Together!
(256 kbps, front cover included)

John Cale - Even Cowgirls Get The Blues

John Cale was born in Wales but moved to London and then New York to study music. He joined The Velvet Underground in 1965 and played a key part in the distinctive sound and experimental ethos of their first two albums.
In the 70s, Cale launched a solo career and produced albums for other artists, including Nico, The Stooges, The Modern Lovers, Patti Smith. His solo albums covered very different styles, from the orchestral folk of Paris 1919 (1973) to the raucous punk of Sabotage/Live (1979).
Through the 80s, 90s and 00s Cale has continued to experiment with music and release the results, to little commercial success but with a small group of committed fans. In particular, two collaborative efforts in 1990 brought excellent results: one with Brian Eno called Wrong Way Up, and another with former bandmate Lou Reed, called Songs For Drella.

This disc contains live performances from roughly the same time period as the Sabotage/Live album.
It was recorded with members of the Patti Smith Group at CBGB in 1978 and '79 (the years of Cale's noisy punk involvement) and includes some hair-raising feedback excursions. There's some very interesting material here that is not available elsewhere. Most importantly, this is the only recording I know of that features

The LP that came out on "Special Stock" has three tracks not on the CD. Here´s the CD version with the following tracks:

Dance Of The Seven Veils
Helen Of Troy
Casey At The Bat
Even Cowgirls Get The Blues
Don't Know Why She Came
Somebody Should Have Told Her
Decade
Magic & Lies

"Casey At The Bat" is listed as track 3 on the cover, but is split onto tracks 3 & 4 on the disc, making the disc 9 tracks, even though only 8 are listed on the cover, and the song runs uninterrupted.

According to the sleeve notes the first 4 tracks were recorded live on December 28, 1978. The other four tracks on December 31, 1979. The venue for both gigs was CBGB's in New York.

Ritchie Fliegler (lead guitarist of the band) begs to differ: "I just received a copy of Cowgirls (I got it on Amazon) it's interesting. And, while definitely recorded at CB's there are some big errors.The first 5 songs are the Judy, Kraal, JD, Bruce and me band. From when, I don't remember. However the liner notes say it's the first four songs - This is absolutely incorrect - it's the first five.The last three songs: Somebody, Decade and Magic are another gang altogether. Listening to this CD was the first time I have ever even heard them. Of this I am totally sure beyond a shadow of a doubt."

Ivan Kral is the bass player from the Patti Smith Group. On the cover his name is misspelled as "Kraal". John Cale´s "Sabotage/Live" album was recorded in between these two gigs.performances with Judy Nylon.


John Cale - Even Cowgirls Get The Blues
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Thanks a lot to http://www.xs4all.nl/~werksman/cale/index.html for all the infos about this album!

Nana Caymmi – Nana - Serie Estreia (1965)

Nana Caymmi is Dorival Caymmi famous daughter, an established singer and surely one of the greatest Brazilian divaa. Nana is easily recognized by her deep voice and is also a composer, recorded by Milton Nascimento and other Brazilian giants.

"Serie Estreia" (1965) was the first ever album by Nana Caymmi, recorded here in some sublimely baroque arrangements by Oscar Castro Neves. The album's done in the wonderful style of the Elenco label: Haunting, slightly echoey, and with a style that surpasses the sophistication of the bossa era with even grander musical aspirations. Neves keeps things simple and beautiful, never pushing Nana too much, and letting her vocal expressions open like a youthful budding flower.

The early and young Nana shows here everything she could deliver on her remaining albums. Arranged with passion by Oscar Castro Neves. The tracklist includes songs of Dorival Caymmi, Tom Jobim, Paulo Sergio Valle, Eumir Deodato, among others.


Tracklist:

Morrer De Amor 3:50
... Das Rosas 3:35
Razão De Viver 2:48
Velho Pescador 1:57
Nunca Mais 1:57
Nesta Rua Tão Deserta 3:28
Canto Livre 2:16
Derradeira Primavera 2:30
Não Tem Solução 2:15
Acalanto 3:34

Nana Caymmi – Nana - Serie Estreia (1965)

(192 kbps, cover art included)

Die Art - Fear (1990)

"Die Art" was a German band, founded 1984 as "Die Zucht" in Leipzig, German Democratic Republic (GDR/DDR). In 1985 they changed their name to "Die Art" because the government objected against further use of their original name. (Die Zucht = "the breed" or "the discipline" in English).

The 1985 "Die Art"-concert in Haus Auensee Leipzig - together with Billy Bragg & The Neurotics - was legendary.

Die Art privately produced three regular cassette tapes in underground conditions and quality. Since these communist times allowed only an inofficial underhand merchandising during live concerts it was the unique way to "distribute" these tapes - despite the fact, that this activity was - according to the communist GDR-laws - an illegal act.

John Peel played Die Art in his BBC Radio-Show in 1989 for the first time - related to the successful radio debut in the popular GDR underground radio-show "Parocktikum" (at Radiostation DT64) by Lutz Schramm.

The collapse of the Berlin Wall ushered in a new era, and their dream of releasing their official first album in band history finally became true. Due to the fact that it was their 4th regular recording, their first album was entitled FEAR ("fear" and the German word "vier" (the number 4) pronounce the same way in English), which may be regarded as a sort of Best-Of compilation from their first three tapes. "Fear" was recorded and engineered at Studio Brunnenstraße / East-Berlin from April to June 1990.

Tracklist:

1 Voices 2:56
2 Wide Wide World 4:46
3 All That Happens 3:25
4 Night And Day 5:26
5 Black Dust 2:41
6 Nightmare 2:47
7 I Love You (Marian) 3:49
8 Looking For My Mind 6:32
9 Eternal Fall 3:24
10 Uptown 5:48
11 Heaven Knows 4:22
12 That's Me 2:26
13 Irish Coffee 3:27

Die Art - Fear (1990)

(320 kbps, cover art included)

VA - Hoffnung - Hatikva - Hope - We Will Dance Again

October 7 has indelibly left its mark in our hearts and memories. We remember where we were, what we were doing, and the sinking sense of horror and loss on what should have been a day of celebration and joy for jewish people. Too many Israeli lives were lost; too many hostages were taken; too many families were displaced. The aftermath has unleashed one horror after another: rising waves of antisemitism in the Diaspora, widespread evacuations in Israel’s north, hundreds of Israeli soldiers fallen in battle, and tens of thousands of innocent Gazans killed because of Hamas’s actions and Israel’s response.

There are times to address each of these horrors—to demand hostages be returned home, to reckon with antisemitism all arount the world, to find peace for all people in the Middle East. But today, on the anniversary of the worst violence against Jews since the Holocaust, our task is to bear witness, to remember, and to mourn.

We like to share a compilation of a good friend, reflecting October 7 and its aftermath.

VA - Hoffnung - Hatikva - Hope - We Will Dance Again
(320 kbps, cover art included)

João Bosco – Galos De Briga (1976)

João Bosco de Freitas Mucci, known professionally as João Bosco, is a Brazilian singer-songwriter and guitarist. In the 1970s he established his reputation in música popular Brasileira (Portuguese: "Brazilian pop music") with lyricist Aldir Blanc.

Born in Ponte Nova in 1946, Bosco cut his musical teeth in a family in which music was as important as eating and sleeping. His mother was an accomplished violinist, his father a singer of samba, his sister a concert pianist, and his brother a composer. While attending Ouro Preto University he became steeped in American jazz (Miles Davis in particular) and the bossa nova sound of João Gilberto and Antonio Carlos Jobim, it was also at university that he met lyricist Vinicius de Moraes, who contributed his elegant, poetic lyrics to Bosco's music. It was not long after that record companies began offering Bosco and de Moraes their services. Later in the '70s, Bosco became musically involved with Aldir Blanc, a psychiatrist who'd decided to give up his practice to become a lyricist

This album is a collection of classic early material including mysterious ballads and boleros, strong samba contributions, and surrealistic and irreverent lyrics by longtime partner Aldir Blanc.


Tracklist:

A1 Incompatibilidade De Gênios
A2 Gol Anulado
A3 O Cavaleiro E Os Moinhos
A4 Rumbando
A5 Vida Noturna
A6 O Ronco Da Cuíca
B1 Miss Sueter
B2 Latin Lover
B3 Galos De Briga
B4 Feminismo No Estácio
B5 Transversal Do Tempo
B6 Rancho Da Goiabada


João Bosco – Galos De Briga (1976)
(192 kbps, cover art included)

Pale Saints – Some New Songs By Pale Saints (1988)

The Pale Saints were an alternative rock / shoegaze band from Leeds, UK, formed in 1987 and disbanded in 1996. They drew from a deceptively deep pool of influences and teased out distinctive traits that charmed the visionary 4AD label, and consequently listeners for whom shoegaze was a term of endearment. The English band developed their unique strain of dream pop by synthesizing elements of connected bygone movements such as West Coast psychedelia, the paisley underground, and C-86, applying avant-folk, pure pop, and the spectral post-punk advancements of their elder labelmates along the way. Their three albums of increasing scope and sprawl -- namely The Comforts of Madness (1990) and In Ribbons (1992), both of which charted, followed by Slow Buildings (1994) -- left lasting imprints.

These tapes were sent out to friends and fanzines, to spread the word about the Pale Saints. This led to their flexi coming out in the summer of 1988, featuring 'Children Break'. This demo was recorded in May 1988.


Tracklist:

A1 Wasting My Time 2:16
A2 Children Break 2:46
A3 The Way The World Is 2:04
B1 Sea Of Sound 5:15

Pale Saints – Some New Songs By Pale Saints (1988)
(320 kbps, front cover incuded)