Gojim - Es firt kejn weg zurik (1992)

Gojim's album "Es firt kejn weg zurik..." includes 15 Yiddish songs from the Vilnius Ghetto 1941 - 1943.

The Vilna Ghetto was a World War II Jewish ghetto established and operated by Nazi Germany in the city of Vilnius in the territory of Nazi-administered Reichskommissariat Ostland.

During the approximately two years of its existence starvation, disease, street executions, maltreatment, and deportations to concentration and extermination camps reduced the ghetto's population from an estimated 40,000 to zero.

Only several hundred people managed to survive, mostly by hiding in the forests surrounding the city, joining Soviet partisans, or sheltering with sympathetic locals.

"Much more intense and Brechtian, with stunning harmonies and virtuoso solos with a tender undercurrant, are Gojim, an ensemble of six Viennese conceived in 1987 by the Burgtheater actress Caroline Koczan.” - Int. Herald Tribune


Tracklist:

1 Es is gewen a sumer-tog
2 Zi darf ess asoj sajn ?
3 Hot sich mir di schich zerissn
4 Doss transsport-jingl
5 Du geto majn
6 Pak sich ajn
7 Mir lebn ejbik
8 Friling
9 Arojss is in Wilne a najer bafel
10 Ponar-wiglid
11 Bombess
12 Izik Witnberg
13 Partisaner-marsch
14 Ess schlogt di scho


Gojim - Es firt kejn weg zurik (1992)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Sun Ra And The Arkestra - Sound Of Joy

Sound of Joy is an album by Sun Ra and his Arkestra. It features the Arkestral lineup during the last few months of 1956, after trombonist Julian Priester left to join Lionel Hampton, Charles Davis became a regular member of the band, and Victor Sproles took over on bass. It was intended as the follow-up to "Jazz By Sun Ra" but Transition Records ceased to operate before it could be released.

Four of the tracks were included on "Sun Ra and his Solar Arkestra Visits Planet Earth", released in 1966. The entire LP was eventually released in 1968 by Delmark Records, who also re-issued "Jazz by Sun Ra". Two ballads, written by Sun Ra and sung by Clyde Williams, were left off the original album, however, because the president of Delmark Records, Bob Koester, "felt they didn't fit with the other pieces on the session." The songs were reinstated when the album was re-issued on CD in 1994.

This reissue, prior to the release of many of Sun Ra's Saturn albums on Evidence CDs, was often thought of as Ra's second recording although now several earlier dates have appeared.
The music from Sun Ra's Chicago-based band of the 1950s (some of the same tunes, but different performances, also appear on Evidence's Planet Earth/Low Ways) is quite interesting for its ties to the bop and swing traditions are much more obvious than it would be in the near future.
Ra's eccentric piano and occasional electric keyboard look forward as do some of the harmonies and Jim Herndon's colorful tympani. Two previously unissued cuts (other versions of which have also surfaced on an Evidence set) augment the original LP program.       

Recorded in November 1957. CD reissue of the 1968 Delmark LP. Tracks 10 & 11 are previously unissued bonus tracks.

Tracklist:

1	El Is A Sound Of Joy	3:59
2	Overtones Of China	3:21
3	Two Tones	3:38
4	Paradise	4:27
5	Planet Earth	4:21
6	Ankh	6:28
7	Saturn	3:58
8	Reflections In Blue	6:18
9	El Viktor	2:30
10	As You Once Were	4:17
11	Dreams Come True	3:51

Sun Ra And The Arkestra - Sound Of Joy
(192 kbps, cover art included)  

Rebel MC - Black Meaning Good (1991)

The '80s popster turned proto-jungle revolutionary was born Michael West in 1965 in London. He formed Double Trouble in the early '80s with Michael Menson and Leigh Guest, releasing the ska-pop hit "Street Tuff." 

Rebel MC later gained fame in England as a pop-rapper, but by 1991 he had released "Black Meaning Good", an album that presaged jungle with hardcore techno married to dub basslines and ragga toasters such as Barrington Levy and P.P. Arnold. 

His 1992 singles "Rich Ah Getting Richer" and "Humanity" also showed the new direction. "Code Red" -- released as Conquering Lion -- became an outright jungle smash in 1994, bringing the jungle movement to the British masses.


Tracklist:

A1 Black Meaning Good
A2 Keep On Steppin
A3 No Man Is An Island
A4 Soul Rebel
A5 Word Of The Ghetto
A6 Afrikan
A7 Culture
B1 The Wickedest Sound
B2 Live Good
B3 Tribal Base
B4 Comin' On Strong
B5 Soul Sister
B6 Test The Champion

Rebel MC - Black Meaning Good (1991)

(320 kbps, cover art included)

Slapp Happy & Henry Cow - Desperate Straights (1975)

There can't be many instances of an entire band merging with another, but that's what happened back in 1974 when eccentric avant popsters Slapp Happy joined avant prog heroes Henry Cow. And (of course) Henry Cow joined Slapp Happy. A rather gnomic press release from the time suggested that "both groups, though different, were the same'. Mmmm....

Slapp Happy (Peter Blegvad, Anthony Moore, Dagmar Krause) had already recorded one album for Virgin, and their charmingly quirky brand of surrealist pop had Mr Branson and his chums thinking they may have had a commercially viable band on their books. A merger with one of the most musically and politically radical bands of the time (also on Virgin) wasn't likely to enhance their earning potential much, but this was the seventies after all.

"Desperate Straights" was recorded before the merger became 'official'. Though the bulk of the material was composed by Blegvad and Moore, the results do feel like a genuine halfway house between the music of the two groups. Despite their reputation for being a difficult proposition, Henry Cow were keen to experiment with more conventional songs. Similarly Blegvad and Moore's avant-garde tendencies were given more room than they had been on their last Virgin effort.

A surprising team up at the time of its release (1975), "Desperate Straights" is a surprisingly melodic album, light on the art school angst and heavy on the playfulness, which one would hardly expect from such determined socialists as these. But here it is: "Some Questions About Hats" sounds like a Kurt Weill outtake, "A Worm Is at Work" gallops along with a sweet tune. Dagmar Krause remains restrained and not given to flights of horrible fancy. "Strayed" is reminiscient of Kevin Ayers's brand of art rock, and most of the songs clock in under two minutes. But never fear: the album ends on the eight minute "Caucasian Lullaby," a minimal woodwind piece that suddenly bursts into one last jab of Krausian despair.      

(Thanks to allmusic.com and bbc.co.uk!)

Tracklist:                           

Some Questions About Hats	1:53
The Owl	2:17
A Worm Is At Work	1:52
Bad Alchemy	3:06
Europa	2:48
Desperate Straights	4:14
Riding Tigers	2:02
Apes In Capes	2:16
Strayed	1:54
Giants	1:57
Excerpt From The Messiah	1:49
In The Sickbay	2:09
Caucasian Lullaby	8:25

Slapp Happy & Henry Cow - Desperate Straights (1975)
(256 kbps, cover art included)

VA - Dancehall Explosion - 22 Killa Dancehall Classics (Trojan)

"Dancehall Explosion" is the sequel to "Dancehall Stylee" - another retrospective of dacnehall music from the Trojan label.

This collection of dancehall from the Trojan vaults, recorded in the early '80s, just barely predates dancehall's digital age.

Most of the tracks represent solid producers like Bunny Lee, Tad Dawkins, and Roy Cousins. Highlights include songs by Charlie Chaplin ("Entertainer," "One of a Kind"), Dennis Brown ("Unite Brother Man"), Barrington Levy ("Collie Weed"), and Don Carlos ("My Baby Jus Love 1 Man," "Johnnie Big Mouth").   



 Tracklist

1	–Charlie Chaplin	Entertainer
2	–Earl Sixteen	Jah Is The Master
3	–Barry Brown	Please Officer
4	–Delroy Smith	Round The World
5	–Dennis Brown	Unite Brother
6	–Charlie Chaplin	One Of A Kind
7	–Earl Sixteen	Crisis
8	–Carlton Livingston	Class Of '69
9	–Barry Brown	Chucky Boo
10	–Neville Brown	The Right Time
11	–Purpleman	King On The Way
12	–George McKay	Money Money
13	–Don Carlos	My Baby Just Love I Man
14	–Barrington Levy	Collie Weed
15	–Anthony Johnson	Sitting Everyday
16	–Derrick Pitter	The World And It's People
17	–Earl Sixteen	Hey Girl
18	–Phillip Fraser	Holding On
19	–Cornell Campbell	The Drifter
20	–Sister Candy	Connection Connection
21	–Don Carlos	Johnnie Big
22	–Tristan Palmer	For Health And Strength

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

Muzsikás‎ - Nem Úgy Van Most, Mint Volt Régen (It´s Not Like It Used To Be) (Hungaroton, 1982)

This Hungarian group features Márta Sebestyén (vocals/recorder), Sándor Csoóri (bagpipes/hurdy-gurdy/viola/vocals), Mihaly Sipos (violin/zither/vocals), Péter Eri (bouzouki/turkish horn/cello/viola/vocals) and Dániel Hamar (bass/hurdy-gurdy/vocals). Muzsikás (pronounced ‘mu-zhi-kash’) specializes in traditional music from the Transylvania region of their country. Prior to 1987 Sebestyén had performed in the UK with a band called Mosaic. While still young, Sebestyén had heard her mother singing folk songs, so the interest in folk music passed on. Having won a competition at the age of 13, she was awarded a record player, which enabled her to listen to a wider sphere of music.

The style of music Muzsikás play is often patronizingly called ‘gypsy music’, but it is far more than just a tourist attraction. Changing from a high-speed dance one minute, to a slow and melancholy air, the music covers a whole range of emotions and tempos. Péter Eri had previously played with a group called Sebo, where he learned much about the background to folk music. The original Muzsikás was a trio comprising Sipos, Hamar and Csoóri. Eri joined them in 1978 after leaving Sebo. They recorded Muzsikas Ketto in Holland, but were not satisfied with the singer who had joined on lead vocals, so they asked Sebestyén to join them in 1979. A number of earlier recordings for the state-run label Hungaroton, are no longer available, but with the growing interest in Eastern European folk music, the possibility of re-releases seems likely. Sebestyén is also a celebrated solo artist.   

This recording was made in 1981 and then released in 1982. It offers a selction of traditional music typical in several regions of the Hungarian language area, which could be heard as such in local village communities. It is a document of the "dance house movement" of the 1970s in Hungary.


Tracklist:

A1	Nem Úgy Van Most, Mint Volt Régen - It's Not Like It Used To Be

A2	Adjon Isten Minden Jót - God Bless It All

A3	Tudod-e Édesem - You Know Darling

A4	Mezőségi Tánc - Folkdance

A5	Altató - Lullaby

B1	Félre Gatya, Pendely - I Want It All

B2	Vonat - Train

B3	Hulljatok Levelek - Falling Leaves

B4	Legényes (II.) - Lads Dance (II.)

B5	Mikor Mentem Hazafelé - On The Way Home

Muzsikás‎ - Nem Úgy Van Most, Mint Volt Régen (It´s Not Like It Used To Be) (Hungaroton, 1982)
(256 kbps, cover art included)

Nina Hagen - Nina Hagen Band (1978)

"Nina Hagen Band" is the debut studio album by Nina Hagen Band. It was released on February 11, 1978 by CBS Records. It was the first release by German singer Nina Hagen after her 1976 expatriation from East Germany. When she arrived in Hamburg, her stepfather and singer-songwriter Wolf Biermann got her in touch with CBS. Hagen traveled to London where she was introduced to music genres such as punk and reggae, and befriended other artists including Ari Up of the band The Slits. After she returned to Germany, she met with musicians Herwig Mitteregger, Bernhard Potschka and Manfred Praeker. Joined by Reinhold Heil, they formed the Nina Hagen Band and in November 1977 signed a record deal with CBS. Nina Hagen Band was produced by the band with additional production by Tom Müller and Ralf Nowy. Most of the songs had been already written by Hagen in East Germany.

Upon its release, "Nina Hagen Band" received positive reviews from music critics, who praised Hagen's theatrical vocals, different from singing on her East German records. The album was a commercial success. In Germany, it peaked at number eleven and also reached charts in other countries, such as Austria and Netherlands. Nina Hagen Band was certified gold by Bundesverband Musikindustrie (BVMI) and has sold over 250,000 copies.

Four singles were released from the album: "TV-Glotzer", "Auf'm Bahnhof Zoo", "Naturträne" and "Unbeschreiblich weiblich". The album was promoted by a European tour. As a part of the promotion, Nina Hagen Band performed in Dortmund's Westfalenhalle in December 1978. The show was broadcast live by the music television show Rockpalast.

After Hagen's stepfather Wolf Biermann was expatriated from East Germany in 1976, she first stood up for his re-entry, but after her request was denied, she followed him to Hamburg. In January 1977, he got her in touch with CBS Records. Hagen was invited to London by Juliana Grigorova, who cast her in the movie "The Go-Blue Girl". Grigorova would later work with Hagen as a photographer. She shot the covers of her solo albums "NunSexMonkRock" (1982), "Fearless" (1983) and "Nina Hagen in Ekstasy" (1985). Hagen discovered new styles of music during her stay in London and got inspired mainly by punk. She met with Ari Up, the lead singer of the band The Slits and together they wrote the song "Pank", which later appeared on the album.

Inspired by the London music scene, Hagen returned to Berlin and met with the members of the band Lokomotive Kreuzberg, Manfred Praeker, Herwig Mittereggerand Bernhard Potschka. The three musicians were afterwards joined by Reinhold Heil and along with Hagen they created the Nina Hagen Band. In November 1977, the band signed a contract with CBS Records under the management of Jim Rakete.


Nina Hagen - Nina Hagen Band (1978)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Dog Faced Hermans - Mental Blocks For All Ages (1991)

There's something in the accessibly deconstructive sound of the Dog Faced Hermans that's both immediately likeable and long-term gratifying -- their combinations of scratchy guitar work, liberal use of horns and other instruments uncommon in rock, and ultra-political vocal rants fall somewhere between very angular neo-punk and the most experimental sides of new wave, but in a fashion that's more likely to engage than distance the listener. 

"Mental Blocks for All Ages"' tight performance and groovy, rhythmic construction fit perfectly with the sharpness of their free-form guitar attack and political commentary, recalling everything from the Scissor Girls to the Family Fodder's more aggressive side. The band rampages through compositions so fiercely and effectively that the record lives up to its fractured, deconstructive ambitions. An excellent release.

Tracklist:

A1 Punjabi Monster Beat
A2 Fortune
A3 Suppressa
A4 Astronaut
A5 Ballad About Bhopal
B1 The Running Man
B2 Body Strategic
B3 In A Row
B4 From The Top Of The Mountain
B5 It's Time

Dog Faced Hermans - Mental Blocks For All Ages (1991)

(192 kbps, cover art included)

Frieder Butzmann - Vertrauensmann des Volkes (1981)

First released on the label Zensor in 1981 and reissued 20 years later as a limited-edition LP by 90% Wasser, Frieder Butzmann's "Vertrauensmann des Volkes" is a minor gem from the burgeoning German experimental/industrial scene. 

The composer's twisted vocal and electronic pieces make a worthy album on their own, but fans of the genre will want to track this item down for the appearances of Einstürzende Neubauten's Alex Hacke (on "Zivilisation," a striking minimal piece driven by the repetitive "whack" of a hammer) and Throbbing Gristle's Genesis P-Orridge (on "Just Drifting/Tales of Death," delivering a glacial narration). 

Other highlights include the dark "Hibakuscha" -- which almost crosses over to musique concrète -- and "Sadismus und Konkurenz," a fake crooner duet with Angelika Maisch that includes lines like "Sadism and competition/That is the German mechanism." Butzmann pushed electronic music into strange new places filled with cynicism. His systematic refusal to employ dance beats or standard melodies helps retain much of this LP's freshness. Some tracks sound dated, like the two versions of "Tonights Music" -- a crude cut-up (or early sampling) of a single sentence -- that close side one and open side two, and the bleakness is definitely early '80s.

Frieder Butzmann - Vertrauensmann des Volkes (1981)

(224 kbps, cover art included)

VA - Port Of Spain Shuffle - Black Music In Britain In The Early 1950s Volume 1 (1987)

British Black music refers to music of the African diaspora, or music derived from the African diaspora which has been produced in Great Britain regardless of the ethnic background of the musicians.

Fashioned out of a collective Commonwealth-comes-to-Britain experience, London calypso was always more that just a Saturday night feel-good soundtrack (although its importance there shouldn’t be underestimated). It set the template for the black music styles that were to follow: start with a specific style (Trinidadian calypso); adapt it to the new environment (London’s ballrooms, pubs and broadcasters) with different audience/management expectations; acknowledge popularity of existing black musical forms (jazz and swing); and absorb the not-necessarily Trinidadian influences of the pool of players (West Africa, Guyana, Jamaica, the USA). The same intrinsic process created lovers rock reggae, britfunk and jungle, and provides a vivid line from 1940s London calypso superstars such as Sam Manning, Rudolph Dunbar and Freddie Grant through Eddy Grant, Carroll Thompson, Light Of The World and Soul II Soul to Rey BLK. Indeed, put Lord Kitchener next to Skepta and, really, the only thing separating them is the cut of their trousers.

London calypso’s success on its own terms gave Britain’s booming black presence the perfect platform from which to introduce itself, and, as proved to be the case in the future, the public at large happily embraced the real deal. During the 1950s calypso and West Indian culture made huge inroads into mainstream broadcasting. The BBC televised part of Claudia Jones’s first West Indian Carnival live from St Pancras Town Hall in 1959, featuring the cream of the UK’s Caribbean entertainers. Trinidadian music and dance duo Boscoe & Sheila Holder had a radio series called Caribbean Carnival, and their live West Indian-themed TV special Bal Creole was such a huge hit, public demand meant the BBC had to recreate it to show it again because it hadn’t been recorded. The Holders were also regulars on the black variety TV series Caribbean Carnival and, along with Edric Connor and Lord Kitchener, would frequently appear on black TV specials such as It’s Fun To Dance and We Got Rhythm. Guyanan barrister turned calypsonian Cy Grant had his own ITV chat show; and boogie woogie pianist Winifred Atwell, a Trinidadian native, featured much black talent on her primetime variety series, which proved so popular BBC and ITV got into a bidding war over it. Meanwhile, the music’s social commentary aspect saw it become the weapon of choice for the new breed of TV satirists on shows such as Tonightand That Was The Week That Was.

Tracklist:
A1 Lord Beginner With Cyril Blake's Calypso Serenaders - The Underground Train

A2 Lord Beginner With Cyril Blake's Calypso Serenaders - The Dollar And The Pound 

A3 Lord Beginner With Cyril Blake's Calypso Band - General Election 

A4 Cyril Blake's Calypso Band - Iere 

A5 Cyril Blake's Calypso Band - Man Smart And Woman Smarter 

A6 Lord Beginner With Calypso Rhythm Kings - Fedration 

A7 Calypso Rhythm Kings - Port Of Spain Shuffle 

A8 The Lion With Frederico's Calypso Band - Ugly Woman 

B1 The Lion With Frederico's Calypso Band - Tick! Tick! (The Story Of The Lost Watch) 

B2 Grand Lyttelton Paseo Jazz Band - King Porter Stomp 

B3 Grand Lyttelton Paseo Jazz Band - Fat Tuseday 

B4 Bill Rogers With Freddy Grant's Demerarians - Daddy Gone 

B5 Grand Lyttelton Paseo Jazz Band - London Blues 

B6 Bill Rogers With Freddy Grant's Demerarians* - Sightseeing In The UK 

B7 Grand Lyttelton Paseo Jazz Band With George Brown[e] - Mamzelle Josephine (In French Patois) 

B8 Tony Johnson With Calypso Serenaders And The Ebonaires - Linstead Market

VA - Port Of Spain Shuffle - Black Music In Britain In The Early 1950s Volume 1 (1987)

(320 kbps, cover art included)

Charly Garcia - Vivo Con Gilberto Gil (1981)

Charly García is one of the most talented and influential figures of Argentine and Latin rock. He composed many generational songs and was obsessed with expanding the boundaries of pop music, along with musician's role itself.

Between 1978 and 1982, Charly García was part of Serú Girán, one of the key bands in the Argentinian rock movement. They recorded five albums while the country was under a sordid dictatorship. The band provided a subtle offering of resistance.

Gilberto Gil was a leader of Brazil's Tropicalia movement during the late 1960s along with artists Caetano Veloso, Marcos Valle, and Gal Costa. The multi-instrumentalist mixed native styles like samba, MPB, and bossa nova with rock and folk instruments to become one of Brazil's, and the world's most celebrated singer/songwriters. Gil's career has spanned six decades, and he's had hits in each one. He has won Grammy Awards for "best world music album" for 1998's Quanta Live and for "best contemporary world music album" in 2005 (Eletracústico), and has taken home several Latin Grammys, including three in 2001, 2002, and 2010 for "best Brazilian roots/regional album" and another during the latter year for "best Brazilian popular music album." He has sold tens of millions of recordings.


Tracklist:

1. No te Dejes Desanimar
2. Rasguña las Piedras
3. Cinema Verité
4. Desarma Y Sangra
5. En La Vereda Del Sol


Charly Garcia - Vivo Con Gilberto Gil (1981)
(320 kbps, front cover included)

New Age Steppers - Same (1981)

The New Age Steppers were one of Adrian Sherwood's first pet projects for On-U Sound, the label he started with then-wife Kishi Yamamoto, Creation Rebel's Tony Phillips, Martin Harrison, Pete Holdsworth, and a gent named Lizard. The label's first release was the New Age Steppers' single for "Fade Away" (a brilliant, reverent remake of a Junior Byles song), which made a reappearance on the ad-hoc group's self-titled debut LP. 

Released in early 1981, "New Age Steppers" features contributions from well over a dozen post-punk and reggae scenesters and, like the following Action Battlefield, the record epitomizes the spirit of the exciting late-'70s/early-'80s crossbreeding that took place between punk and reggae. Central to this record, Style Scott of the Roots Radics and George Oban of Aswad provide most of the rhythms, and the originals were penned predominantly by Sherwood and Scott, with the occasional outside contribution factoring into the whole. The Pop Group's Mark Stewart pipes in with "Crazy Dreams and High Ideals," a winding, warping dub composition filled with random surges of snare drums, searing, trebly effects, and crazy vocal tricks -- Stewart seems to be yelping from the bottom of a well one moment, and then suddenly you'll feel as if you need to wipe his spittle off your ear. Ari Up's relaxed vocals highlight some of the album's most song-based material; both "Love Forever" and the aforementioned "Fade Away" feature galloping pianos and thick, rhythmic bases that Up merely sails along with. The remainder of the record is comprised of instrumentals that throw all sorts of manipulations and funhouse oddities into the mix. The best of the bunch is a dub of Viv Goldman's "Private Armies," which treats a melodica (?) so heavily that it resembles a violin. Wild, unpredictable, and great.


Tracklist:

Fade Away
Radial Drill
State Assembly
Crazy Dreams And High Ideals
Abderhamane's Demise
Animal Space
Love Forever
Private Armies


New Age Steppers - Same (1981)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

David Dambitsch - Die Stimmen der Geretteten - World War II 80th Anniversary

80 years ago, on September 1, 1939, the Nazi German forces invaded Poland, changing the course of history as the world plunged into a global war. The attack was the beginning of a nearly six-year world conflict that left more than 70 million people dead - including the extermination of six million Jews and centuries of Jewish life in Europe - before Germany and Japan surrendered in 1945.

“The time is 4:00 PM. The sound of artillery fire has been going on nonstop for twenty hours… The noise of machine guns and the thunder of the planes overhead have been reverberating in the air and increase the terror. My ears and head ache. You can’t hear what’s being said. Just boom! Boom! Boom!… A block of houses in the city center is on fire. Suddenly there is a terrible noise, then moans and screams—houses collapse in the old city and we run to save those buried alive under the rubble. Suddenly the sky darkened—a cloud of smoke descended over the city.”

In September 1939, Mira Zabludowski wrote this entry as she found herself caught in the eye of the storm while visiting her parents. In her 56-page-long diary, she records her impressions of the first months of the German occupation of Warsaw. Mira luckily managed to escape Poland and made her way back home to Eretz Israel; her father died in July 1940 in Warsaw while her mother was murdered after being deported along with other family members to Treblinka.

The audiobook "Die Stimmen der Geretteten" is a compilation of reports by survivors of the Shoah, like Primo Levi, Arno Lustiger, Grete Weil, Simon Wiesenthal and Imre Kertesz

David Dambitsch - Die Stimmen der Geretteten

(192 kbps, german language, small front cover incuded)

VA - Jungle Mania (1994)

Jungle is a genre of electronic music derived from breakbeat hardcore that developed in England in the early 1990s as part of UK rave scenes. The style is characterized by fast tempos (150 to 200 bpm), breakbeats, dub reggae basslines, heavily syncopated percussive loops, samples, and synthesized effects. Long pitch-shifted snare rolls are common in old-school jungle. Jungle was a predecessor to drum and bass, a well-known genre of electronic music.

"Jungle Mania" kicks off with the epochal ragga jungle scorcher "Oroginal Nuttah," if you don't already have that on hand. None of the other tracks are as unhinged or pulverizing, but in all their soul and strut, they add up to a pretty essential field report from the front lines of jungle's golden era. If you have more than a casual interest in jungle, get and keep this within arm's reach– it's an inexhaustibly crucial text. Jungle is still MASSIVE!


Tracklist:

01. Shy FX & UK Apachi - Original Nuttah [04:01]
02. Leviticus - The Burial [05:43]
03. DMS & The Boneman X - Sweet Vibrations [04:34]
04. M-Beat - Style [05:05]
05. Aswad - Warriors Jungle Beat (Beatmasters Mix) [04:10]
06. Barrington Levy & Beenie Man - Under Me Sensi (Jungle Spl
iff) (X Project Remix) [04:34]
07. Deep Blue - Helicopter [05:26]
08. Subnation - Scotty III [06:06]
09. DJ Taktix - The Way (Shadow VIP Mix) [05:19]
10. Firefox & 4-Tree - Warning (Powder Mix) [04:42]
11. Dawn Penn & Bounty Killer - You Don't Love Me (No No No)
(Reel 2 Reel Junglist Mix) [04:45]
12. Ratpack - Tra La La Boom (Jungle Edit) [04:05]
13. Tom And Jerry - Maximum Style [04:57]
14. Krome & Time - The Licence [04:49]
15. Nicky Blackmarket - Geese Tune [04:37]
16. Shy FX & Gunsmoke - Gangsta II [06:42]


VA - Jungle Mania (1994)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Junior Byles - A Long Way (1999)

One of Jamaica's most tragic figures, Junior Byles was also one of the island's greatest root stars. His vocals were quite unique, and although his soft, almost husky voice would never ring from the rafters nor give voice to anger, the gentle timbre still expressed deep emotions. His was the voice of the meek and was all the stronger for it. The closest comparison is perhaps with the vulnerable tones of Slim Smith, but while the former Unique made his mark with love songs, Byles would speak not for the lovelorn, but for the oppressed. The two men did share another link, however, both suffered from serious psychological problems that in one case ended one man's career and left the other in ruins.

Junior Byles most popular record is probably "Curly Locks" issued on Orchid in 1974. His recorded output continued unteil 1982, with singles for a number of producers including Lloyd Campbell, Blacka Morwell, Joe Gibbs and Niney the Observer, one of the original rockers reggae producers who´d also worked with producers Joe Gibbs and later with Channel One´s JoJo Hoo Kim. Niney had long recognised Junior´s talent - and his brand of hellfire reggae meshed neatly with Junior´s iration - their collaboration is presented here on this album.

Tracklist:

1 Jah Will Be Mine
2 Rasta No Pickpocket
3 Trial And Crosses
4 Order Of The Day
5 Stick Of An Ounce
6 I Don't Know
7 Babylon
8 Whip Them, Whip Them
9 Africa
10 Take My Share
11 What We Do For Them
12 It Was A Long way
13 Sugar Sugar
14 Da Da

Junior Byles - A Long Way (1999)

(320 kbps, cover art included)

Creation Rebel - Rebel Vibrations (1979)

The product of the fertile and prolific British producer, mixmaster, and dub genius Adrian Sherwood, Creation Rebel was one of Sherwood's first endeavors as a producer. Originally the backing group for the late reggae great Prince Far-I, Creation Rebel worked with Sherwood from 1977-1980, recording some of the best reggae dub music this side of Lee Perry during the early English punk era. Languorous, funky, spacy, and totally intoxicating, it's exciting to hear the awesome production/mixing talents of Sherwood in their early days. Similarly, the band (drummers Style Scott and Fish Clarke, bassist Clinton Jack, keyboardist Bigga Morrison, guitarist Crucial Tony, and percussionist Slicker) play with a grace, effortlessness, and power that most studio bands would kill to achieve. With the band's talents so wonderfully used by Sherwood, this is without a doubt some of the best and most important non-rock music to be made in England in the late '70s.

"Rebel Vibrations" is an instrumental dub affair that can now be appreciated as largely experimental in its approach, described by Adrian Sherwood as "...exploring the unique possibilities of space in sound within the disciplined structures of rhythm, using bassline melodies and relying as much on the understated side of the overall result as on the overstated...". Originally released on pre-On-U Sound label Hitrun in 1979.


Tracklist:

1. Rebel Vibration
2. Jungle Affair
3. Hunger And Strife
4. Ian Smith Rock (Dub)
5. Diverse Doctor
6. Mountain Melody
7. Black Lion Dub
8. Doctors Remedy


Creation Rebel - Rebel Vibrations (1979)
(256 kbps, cover art included)

Olodum - Pela Vida (2003)

Olodum is the most well-known of the Samba Reggae bands based in Salvador Bahia Brazil. Their style has an Afro swing combined with elements of reggae.

One of many similar groups in the city (and elsewhere in Brazil), it offers cultural activities to young people, largely centered around music; it also offers theatrical productions and other activities. Founded in 1979, its stated aims are to combat racism, to encourage self-esteem and pride among Afro Brazilians, and to fight for civil rights for all marginalized groups.

Samba-Reggae is a music genre born in Bahia, Brazil. As the name suggests, it was originally derived from a blend of Brazilian Samba with Caribbean Reggae. It arose in the context of the black pride movement that occurred in the city of Salvador de Bahia, around the 1970s, and it still carries connotations of ethnic identity and pride for Afro-Brazilians today. Bahia's population has a large proportion of dark-skinned Brazilians who are descendants of African slaves who were brought to Brazil by the Portuguese in the 18th and 19th centuries. These Afro-Brazilians played a major role in the early development of samba, which first took form in a Bahian style of dance and music called "samba de roda”. Samba de roda was brought to Rio de Janeiro by Bahians around 1900, where it was combined with harmonic and rhythmic elements from European influences (such as chorinho and military marches). By the 1930s, samba de roda had developed into the faster, more harmonically complex Rio-style samba that is now played in Rio's Carnival. Samba-reggae represents an effort by black Brazilians to develop a Carnival parade music that they could call their own, and to form all-black or mostly-black blocos with which they could parade during Carnival. The afro bloco music was very different because they aimed to recreate and strengthen their community through their music. Olodum is undoubtedly the most famous musical act performing samba-reggae in Brazil.


Tracklist:

1 Voltei pra Voce
2 Boiada Olodum
3 Venha me Amar
4 Olodum Forca Divina
5 Olodum pra Balancar
6 Acima do Sol
7 Olodum Ventania (Cabeca de Nego)
8 Olodum do Pelo
9 Clima do Veráo (Bota um Chopp aí)
10 Olodum Maré
11 Black Man
12 Manifesto Pela Paz
13 Natureza Viva
14 Submerge
15 Hino Nacional

Olodum - Pela Vida (2003)
(192 kbps, cover art included)

Negus Roots Players ‎- Negus Roots Meets The Mad Professor In A Rub A Dub Style (Dub Rockers Volume 2) (1983)

A disciple of Lee "Scratch" Perry, Mad Professor was one of the leading producers in dub reggae's second generation. His "Dub Me Crazy" albums helped dub make the transition into the digital age, when electronic productions started to take over mainstream reggae in the '80s. His space-age tracks not only made use of new digital technology, but often expanded dub's sonic blueprint, adding more elements and layers of sound than his forebears typically did. In the mid-'90s, he returned to the basics, debuting a more retro-sounding style on the "Black Liberation Dub" series. 

Additionally, he ran his own studio and label, Ariwa, which was home to a stable of vocalists (with an emphasis on lovers rock and conscious roots reggae) and some of the finest British reggae productions of the era. As his reputation grew, he became a remixer of choice for adventurous rock and techno acts, most notably revamping Massive Attack's entire second album under the new title "No Protection".

This album was Recorded at Aquarius Studios, Kingston, Jamaica in 1983. Mixed at Ariwa Studios, London by The Mad Professor. A1 is titled "Dubbing Jah" on back cover vs. "Dubbing In A Jar" on label. Guess there was never a 'Dub Rockers Volume 1.


Tracklist:
A1 Dubbing In A Jar
A2 Bad Man Dubbing
A3 Lightning Dub
A4 Cruel Dub
A5 Classic Dub
B1 True Skank
B2 Wicked Skank
B3 Skanking Girl
B4 Wolf Skank
B5 Skanking Princess


Negus Roots Players ‎- Negus Roots Meets The Mad Professor In A Rub A Dub Style (Dub Rockers Volume 2)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

More Rockers - Selected Cuts From More Rockers - 12 Inch Selection (2001)

More Rockers is an alias used by British producers Rob Smith (formerly of Smith & Mighty) and Peter D (part of an early Massive Attack lineup).

Both aren't always on the tracks together (playing a bit of "musical chairs" back and forth), but the sound remains the same regardless -- elements of jungle breakbeats, reggae, and R&B are fused together.

The duo first began issuing singles (including a cover of Roberta Flack's "First Time I Saw Your Face" in 1995, which earned More Rockers a vote by Melody Maker for Single of the Year), before issuing such full-lengths as 1998's "Selection 2" and the 2001 compilation "Select Cuts from More Rockers", often utilizing the vocal talents of such artists as Henry & Louis and Marilyn McFarlane.



Tracklist:

More Rockers - Dis Ya One 1:06–
Virginia - Rainbows (More Rockers Dub) 5:52–
More Rockers - Show Love 4:31–
More Rockers - Badness A Madness4:32–
On - First Time I Saw Your Face (More Rockers Mix) 5:57–
More Rockers - 1, 2, 3, Break 5:12–
More Rockers - Another Day (More Rockers Alternative Mix) 5:47–
More Rockers - Sweetest Hangover 6:42–
More Rockers - Your Gonna (Make Me) (Peter D Mix) 5:10–
More Rockers - I Need Some Lovin (Smith & Mighty Mellow Mix) 5:14–
More Rockers - Brite Future 4:07–
On - First Time I Saw Your Face (Yorkshire Dub Mix) 6:54–
Henry, Louis & Smithy - How Can A Man Be Happy (Dub) 5:55–
Henry & Louis - Love & Understanding 4:49–
Virginia - Rainbows (Henry & Louis Mix) 7:21

More Rockers - Selected Cuts From More Rockers - 12 Inch Selection (2001)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Nicolette - Now Is Early (1992)

From rare-groove to rave to trip-hop and soul, Nicolette was one of the most eccentric dance vocalists of the 1990s, working with everyone from the one-shot rave act L.A. Style to electro futurists like Plaid. Born in Scotland though she was raised in Nigeria, France and Switzerland, Nicolette debuted with the single "Wicked Mathematics" after being one of the first signings by the eponymous label run by Shut Up and Dance. Her debut album, 1992's "Now Is Early" showed her to be an uncommonly mature talent who wrote her own songs (some engaged in political commentary) and featured a warm, crystalline voice. Besides various vocal gigs (including Massive Attack's "Protection"), Nicolette rarely recorded during the next four years. Finally in 1996, she was signed to Gilles Peterson's Talkin' Loud Records. Her second album, "Let No-One Live Rent Free in Your Head", appeared that same year. Nicolette also contributed an edition in Studio !K7's "DJ Kicks" series.

"Now Is Early" is the debut studio album by Scottish singer Nicolette, produced by English electronic duo Shut Up and Dance and released in 1992 by the duo's label, also titled Shut Up and Dance. The album follows several singles in the early 1990s by Nicolette and Shut Up & Dance, and features Nicolette's soulfully-sung torch songs in a stream-of-consciousness style set to Shut Up & Dance's breakbeat hardcore production. Largely ignored upon release, "Now Is Early" is now regarded as a "lost classic" and forerunner to jungle music. It was re-released in 1997 by Studio !K7. It was ranked as the 57th best album of the 20th century by Spex. It was listed by Exclaim! on their "100 Records That Rocked 100 Issues of Exclaim!" list.

Tracklist

1 No Government 2:02
2 Dove Song 4:55
3 Single Minded Vocal 3:09
4 I Woke Up... 4:46
5 Waking Up (Remix) 5:07
6 O Si Nene 5:56
7 It's Only To Be Expected 5:41
8 Wicked Mathematics 4:49
9 A Single Ring 2:09

10 School Of The World 5:28 (bonus track)

11 Udi Egwu 6:29 (bonus track)

Nicolette - Now Is Early (1992)
(320 kbps, cover art included)