Two Lone Swordsmen - Stay Down (1998)

Two Lone Swordsmen is another project involving Andrew Weatherall, who has consistently proven himself equally talented with production and composition; "Stay Down" is not as rock-oriented as much of his work, taking its cues instead from dub and ambient soundscapes, but without abandoning Weatherall's C-86 and Manchester house roots.

"Stay Down"'s fusion of all four influences is nothing short of amazing, taking largely electronic sounds into areas far more composed than the typically repetitive club-oriented releases that dominate some areas of the genre - rather than leading electronic sounds down the path of their own conventions, the album shapes them into compositions that could just as easily be performed on organic instruments, meaning that the use of intricate production and sound manipulation is really just the texture of the recording, rather than its raison d'etre. It's an approach that's not used as often as many listeners might wish -- and as "Stay Down" once again demonstrates, it's an approach that typically makes for excellent albums.

Andrew Weatherall, R.I.P.

Tracklist:

1 Hope We Never Surface 2:23
2 Ink Cloud 3:54
3 The Big Clapper 3:16
4 Ivy And Lead 2:48
5 We Change The Frequency 4:06
6 No Red Stopping 6:02
7 Spine Bubbles 4:40
8 Mr. Paris's Monsters 3:47
9 Light The Last Flare 3:46
10 We Discordians (Must Stick Apart) 2:01
11 Alpha School 3:30
12 As Worldly Pleasures Wave Goodbye ... 5:37


Two Lone Swordsmen - Stay Down (1998)
(320 kbps, cover art incuded)

The Sabres Of Paradise - Haunted Dancehall (1994)

The Sabres of Paradise were a British electronic music group, formed in London, England in 1992. Andrew Weatherall formed the group with engineers Jagz Kooner and Gary Burns and became responsible for the Sabresonic warehouse raves.

The Sabres of Paradise's debut studio album, "Sabresonic", was released in 1993. It peaked at number 29 on the UK Albums Chart. NME named it the 23rd best album of 1993. The group released "Haunted Dancehall" in 1994. It peaked at number 57 on the UK Albums Chart. NME named it the 47th best album of 1994. It was included on the list of "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".The group released "Sabresonic II" in 1995. It peaked at number 88 on the UK Albums Chart.

The group dissolved in 1995. Weatherall went on to form Two Lone Swordsmen with Keith Tenniswood while Kooner and Burns carried on working together with The Aloof.

Andrew Weatherall, R.I.P.

The Sabres' second album is a conceptual manifesto of sorts, accompanied by a loose song-by-song narrative of descriptions written by the group. According to Weatherall, they initially hired Scottish novelist Irvine Welsh ("Trainspotting") to pen the notes, but, unhappy with the results, threw together their own versions minutes before the record was shipped off to be pressed. Lots of thin, bubbly, minimalist ambient and mid-tempo breakbeat, with quirky, occasionally half-thought-out tracks aided by production assistance from Geoff Barrow (Portishead) and A. Carthy (Mr. Scruff).




Tracklist:

1 Bubble And Slide 2:39
2 Bubble And Slide II 7:38
3 Duke Of Earlsfield 8:42
4 Flight Path Estate 3:21
5 Planet D (Portishead Remix) 4:41
6 Wilmot 7:32
7 Tow Truck 6:35
8 Theme 4:48
9 Theme 4 1:55
10 Return To Planet D 5:04
11 Ballad Of Nicky McGuire 8:30
12 Jacob Street 7am 3:46
13 Chapel Street Market 9am 7:14
14 Haunted Dancehall 4:25


The Sabres Of Paradise - Haunted Dancehall (1994)
(320 kbps, cover art include)

Andrew Weatherall - Remixes 1989 - 1991 - Rest In Peace!

Sad news: The British DJ, musician and producer Andrew Weatherall has died two days ago at the age of 56. Weatherall was best known for his album production, in particular Primal Scream’s 1991 record Screamadelica, which won the inaugural Mercury Music Prize the following year.

He was a key figure in counter-cultural music throughout the 1980s, and was instrumental in bringing the genre of “acid house” into the mainstream.

His work was featured on remixes to a number of hit songs, including Hallelujah (1989) by the Happy Mondays, and World in Motion (1990) by New Order.

Andrew James Weatherall (6 April 1963 –17 February 2020) was a British musician, DJ, songwriter, producer and remixer. His career took him from being one of the key DJs in the acid house movement of the late 1980s to being a remixer of tracks by the likes of Happy Mondays, New Order, Björk, The Orb, The Future Sound of London and My Bloody Valentine. His production work on Primal Scream's album "Screamadelica", adding samples, loops and creating a revolutionary mix of hard rock, house and rave, helped the record win the first ever Mercury Music Prize in 1992 and become one of the most celebrated albums of the 1990s.

Weatherall died on 17 February 2020 at Whipps Cross University Hospital in London, at age 56. The cause was given as a pulmonary embolism.

To celebrate his wondful work here´s a compilation with remixes from 1989 to 1991 - found somewhere in the web - with a big thank you to the original uploader!

Tracklist:

CD 1

01. That Petrol Emotion - Abandon (Boys Own Mix)
02. Saint Etienne - Only Love Can Break Your Heart (A Mix Of Two Halves)
03. The Grid - Floatation (Subsonic Grid Mix)
04. My Bloody Valentine - Soon (The Andrew Weatherall Remix)
05. James - Come Home (Skunk Weed Skunk Mix)
06. Happy Mondays - Hallelujah (Club Mix)
07. S'Express - Find 'Em, Fool 'Em, Forget 'Em (The Eight Hour Mix)
08. The Impossibles - The Drum (12'' Mix)
09. Love Corporation - Give Me Some Love (Andy Weatherall Mix)

CD 2

01. Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart - Bomba (Miles Away Mix)
02. The Orb - Perpetual Dawn (Ultrabass 2)
03. Sly & Lovechild - The World According To Sly & Lovechild (Soul Of Europe Mix)
04. Meat Beat Manifesto - Psyche Out (Sex Skank Stripdown)
05. New Order - World In Motion (No Alla Violenza Mix)
06. Finitribe - 101 (Sonic Shuffle)
07. A Man Called Adam - The Chrono Psionic Interface (Spaced Out Mix)
08. Airstream - Follow Through (Nine O'Clock Drop Mix)
09. Primal Scream - Come Together (Andrew Weatherall Mix)

Andrew Weatherall - Remixes 1989 - 1991

(256 kbps, front cover included)

VA - Canto Libre - Freier Gesang (Amiga 1977)

This is a collection of political songs from Vietnam, South Africa, Spain, Chile and the GDR. With the titel "Canto Libre" it refers to Victor Jara and the "Nueva canción" movement.

Nueva canción (Spanish for 'new song') is a movement and genre within Latin American and Iberian music of folk music, folk-inspired music and socially committed music. Nueva canción is widely recognized to have played a powerful role in the social upheavals in Portugal, Spain and Latin America during the 1970s and 1980s.

Bringing together artisits from these countries, this album was intended as a support for the global fights against Imperialism. Artists representing revolutionary movements from all around the world were presented together with artistis taking part in the East German "Singebewegung" to express the world-wide anti-imperialist solidarity between the "fighting people".

This album is an interesting attempt linking the GDR song movement ("Singebewegung") with music form different kind of international revolutionary movements. We will come back to this connection with some more posts in the next weeks...


Titelliste:

01 - Thanh nien Ho Chi Minh - Der Hügel der zehn Helden
02 - Gerry Wolff - Ballade von Ho Chi Minh
03 - Quilapayun - Por Vietnam
04 - Oktoberklub - Saigon ist frei
05 - Cynthia Nokwe - Nongqongqo
06 - Cynthia Nokwe - Sizobadubula ngembayimbayi
07 - Santocas - Poder Popular
08 - Oktoberklub - Der Tag der großen Arbeit
09 - Victor Jara - Canto Libre
10 - Inti Illimani - La Seunda Inderpendencia
11 - Jahrgang 49 - Für unser Chile
12 - Canzoniere Internationale - Elegia por Salvador allende
13 - Joan und José - A la huelga
14 - José Alfonso - Grândola via morena
15 - Oktoberklub - Nada para Pinochet

VA - Canto Libre - Freier Gesang (Amiga 1977)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Asian Dub Foundation - Frontline 1993 - 97 - Rarities and Remixes

Since it was released shortly after Asian Dub Foundation was cut from the London roster, fans were probably expecting this to be a typical post-contract assortment of outtakes, alternate versions, B-sides, and remixes from albums and singles the band made for that label.

But instead, it focuses mainly on material from an earlier period in the group's career, offering remixes of tracks from their Nation album "Facts and Fictions" as well as B-sides from the same period. (An early version of "Operation Eagle Lie," which later appeared in a slightly superior version on "Rafi's Revenge", is on the program as well.) 

The remixes are mostly what you'd expect: frenetic jungle excursions and rock-hard hip-hop reconceptualizations of songs like "Strong Culture" and "Change a Gonna Come," all of them taking the band's punk-funk-bhangra-reggae fusion and turning it upside down and sideways, sometimes drawing the listener's ear to the band's political messages and sometimes focusing on the music itself, manipulating the dhol and other Indian elements the way Jamaican producers played with keyboards and bass. Unfortunately, most of the mixes end up downplaying Deedar Zaman's powerful vocals. No Asian Dub Foundation fan should hesitate, though.


Tracklist:

"Witness (DJ Scud remix)"
"Change a Gonna Come"
"Strong Culture (Juttla & Charged mix)"
"Change a Gonna Come (Panicstepper remix)"
"Rivers of Dub"
"Tu Meri (Wayward Soul remix)"
"Nazrul Dub"
"Jericho (Capa D dub)"
"P.K.N.B. (Dry & Heavy Connection dub)"
"C.A.G.E. (via pirate satellite)"
"Operation Eagle Lie"

Asian Dub Foundation - Frontline 1993 - 97 - Rarities and Remixes
(320 kbps, cover art included)

VA - Wir singen ein neues Lied (Eterna, 1970)

"Singe-Bewegung" and "Oktoberklub" in East Germany, part 10.

The "Werkstattwochen der FDJ-Singeklubs" were an important communication platform for the East German "Singe-Bewegung". They took place every year between 1967 and 1988 in another town in the GDR and were an annual meeting point for the scene with hundreds of participants from all over the GDR. Establishd ensembles and solist presented their new programms, new "Singeklubs" introduced themselves. The artists practised songwriting, composing and interpetation in workshops.

The album "Wir singen ein neues Lied" is a live recording from the final event of the "III. Werkstattwoche der FDJ-Singeklubs" at the wonderful Babylon film theatre in East Berlin, July 11, 1969.


Tracks:

A1 Singeklub "Livia Gouverneur" der BBS "Neues Leben" Dresden - Hört doch mal zu
A2 Singegruppe der NVA Neubrandenburg -  Links, zwei, drei, vier
A3 Singeklub der EOS Hoyerswerda - Lied der neuen Zeit
A4 Singeklub "Geschwister Scholl" Wismar - Hiring, Aal un Kabeljau
A5 Singeklub der EOS "Humboldt" Leipzig - Lied der Neulandfahrer
A6 Singeklub vom "Haus der Jugend" Cottbus - Bergen op Zoom
A7 FDS-Singe-Club der EOS Bützow - Lied von der blauen Fahne


B1 Stephan / Gruppe "pasaremos" Dresden - Der Weg
B2 Heiner und Stephan / Gruppe "pasaremos" Dresden - Lorelei 1969
B3 Mikis Theodorakis-Klub Berlin - Wenn der Krieg vorbei ist
B4 Katja / Oktober-Klub Berlin - Die Taube
B5 Magdeburger Singeklub beim Klubhaus "Junge Talente" - Elektrischka
B6 Singegruppe "Kurt Barthel" Rostock - Vagel Kran
B7 Michael / Singeklub "Geschwister Scholl" Wismar - Der Wal
B8 Joan & José (Spanien) - Wenn du eines Tages willst...
B9 FDJ-Singe-Club der EOS Bützow - Brüder, seht, die rote Fahne

VA - Wir singen ein neues Lied (Eterna, 1970)
(320 kbps, vinyl rip, front & back cover included)

VA - Wir singen zu den X. Weltfestspielen (Eterna, 1973)

It happened 47 years ago: The "X. Weltfestspiele der Jugend und Studenten" ("10th World Festival of Youth and Students") were held in "Berlin. Hauptstadt der DDR 28. Juli bis 5. August 1973" ('Berlin, the capital of the GDR', July 28 - August 5, 1973).

The "Time Magazine" wrote on Monday, Aug. 13, 1973:

"The dull gray streets and squares of the most rigidly doctrinaire Soviet-bloc country in Europe last week looked more like Watkins Glen than East Berlin. Along broad Karl-Marx-Allee strolled long-haired young men and women from every continent, laughing and singing. In the big fountain on Alexanderplatz, young people waded, danced and kissed. Their joy was punctuated by the loud beat of dozens of rock combos and brass bands and the music of choral groups.

The occasion was the tenth World Youth Festival, a quadrennial gathering of the young sponsored by the Communist bloc. It attracted 25,000 leftist youths from 134 countries, including... "

Tracklist:

1.	Oktoberklub	So wird es sein
2.	Oktoberklub	Wir treffen uns auf jeden Fall
3.	Uwe Leo, Oktoberklub Und Studiochor-Gruppe Berlin	Frieden, Freundschaft, Solidarität
4.	Radio DDR-Jugendchor & Rundfunk-Blasorchester Leipzig	Die junge Welt ist in Berlin zu Gast
5.	Hermann Hähnel	Es geht um die Erde ein rotes Band
6.	Jörn Fechner, Jugendchor Berlin mit Instrumentalgruppe	Weltjugendlied
7.	Hermann Hähnel	Solidaritätslied
8.		Die Solidarität geht weiter
9.	Oktoberklub	Du hast ja ein Ziel vor den Augen
10.	Gerd Michaelis Chor	Wir sind dabei
11.	Oktoberklub	Sommer '73
12.	Gerd Michaelis Chor, Oktoberklub, Gruppe Sok	Wir sind überall
13.	Oktoberklub	Ist das klar
14.	Klaus Renft Combo	Ketten werden knapper
15.	Frank Schöbel & Uve Schikora & Seine Gruppe	Wer die Erde liebt

VA - Wir singen zu den X. Weltjugendfestspielen
(ca. 192 kbps, cover art included)

Anne Byrne & Paddy Roche ‎– Anne Byrne Sings Irish (1973)

In loving memory of a good friend who sadly passed away three years ago. We miss you!

Anne Byrne had the classic 'show biz' start to her singing career appearing on stage at the age of three with her Mother and Father in amateur pantomime and musical shows. Her mother's family, the Bradys, hail from Dun Laoghaire in Co. Dublin and were all extremely musical. Her uncle, the famous Willie Brady, who in the nineteen-fifties and sixties had been a recording artist for Avoca Records in the U.S.A. and Ireland. was one of the first Irish artists to revive and popularize the singing of Irish songs and ballads at this time. He was frequently to be heard on Radio Eireann.

Anne's professional singing career began when, at the age of seventeen, she won first prize in the Father Mathew Feis which brought her exceptional singing voice to the attention of a wider audience.
In the early sixties The Abbey Tavern in Howth began to run ballad sessions and before long Anne was to become the leading female singer at this venue.

Her artistry soon attracted the attention of the newly fledged Irish television station (Telfis Eireann) and she was to become a regular performer on the numerous folk and ballad television programmes Telfis Eireann produced during the sixties and early seventies. In 1969 Anne travelled to New York with her husband Paddy Roche to take up a residency in the Irish Pavilion on 57th Street and Lexington. From this base she was to travel extensively throughout the USA performing in many prestigious venues.

A highlight of her American sojourn was her performance on the Philladelphia folk festival in 1969 alongside such artists as Richard Thompson, Jim Croce, Doc Watson, and The Fairport Convention.
In early 1971 Anne decided that the rearing of her two year old son Jason took precedence over her American singing career and she returned to Ireland to devote more of her time to family life. She still continued to sing in the major Dublin venues and throughout Ireland and also make many more television appearances. However with the arrival of her second son Oisin in 1973, Anne decided to retire from the professional entertainment world and now lives a very contented existence with her husband Paddy in Dun Loaghaire in Co. Dublin, the beautiful seaside town where she was born.

Tracklist:

A1 The Wind That Shakes The Barley
A2 Lord Of The Dance
A3 The Foxhunt
A4 Bogy's Bonnie Bell
A5 High Germany
A6 Buachaillin Dhoun
B1 Lily Of The West
B2 Bunclody
B3 Selection Of Reels
B4 Lady Gregory
B5 Avondale


Anne Byrne: Vocals
Paddy Roche: Guitar & Vocals
Leon Rowsome: Uilleann Pipes

Anne Byrne & Paddy Roche ‎– Anne Byrne Sings Irish (1973)

(320 kbps, cover art included, continuous track)

Populäre jüdische Künstler - Berlin - Hamburg - München. Musik & Entertainment 1903 - 1933

From the booklet:

"This album shows that Jewish culture is local German culture and that what is dear and familiar to us, would be unthinkable without its input. The extinction of Jewish culture is synonymous with the extinction of our culture.

The year 1945 is a total cultural breakdown, an hour 0 for everyone in Germany, Jew or non-Jew. Only if we understand that, a life in a truly multi-cultural society can be possible, today."




Tracklist:

CD 1:
01. Max Hansen - War'n sie schon mal in mich verliebt 3:35
02. Otto Wallburg & Olly Gebauer - Lachst du mich auch aus mein Schatz 2:23
03. Curd Bois & Rosie - Reizend 2:41
04. Kurt Gerron - Großstadtinfantrie 3:09
05. Paul Graetz - Berliner Bilderbogen 5:11
06. Max Ehrlich - Lieber Leierkastenmann 3:19
07. Josef Plauth - Lippische Schützen 3:37
08. Max Hansen - Frau Abendstern 2:50
09. Curd Bois - Guck doch nicht so nach dem Tangogeiger hin 2:46
10. Paul Morgan - Das Rothschildlied 3:14
11. Richard Tauber - Das alte Lied 2:31
12. Irene Eisinger & Richard Fritz Wolff - Tic-to-tic-ta 2:45
13. Fritzi Massary - Im Liebesfalle 3:02
14. Fritzi Fruo - Was ist mit deiner Nase los, süßer Emil 2:13
15. Paul Graetz - Das ist der Herzschlag 6:01
16. Willi Prager - Wohnungsamt 2:27
17. Willi Rosen - Die sparsame Brigitte 2:51
18. Siegfrid Arno - Maddalena 2:47
19. Fritzi Massary & Max Pallenberg - Josef ach Josef 2:49
20. Otto Berco - Es sitzt ein Pinguin 2:44
21. Paul O'Montis - Ghetto 2:49
22. Blandine Ebinger & Oskar Karlweis - Auf Wiedersehn 2:58

 CD 2
01. Gitta Alpar - La bella Tangolita 2:59
02. Die Gebrüder Wolf - Twüschen Elvchaussee und Stadtparksee 3:09
03. Kurt Gerron - Macky Messer 1:58
04. Curd Bois - Ich hab, ich bin, ich wär 2:29
05. Blandine Ebinger - Wenn ich einmal tot bin 2:29
06. Trude Berliner - Ein Mädel von der Reeperbahn 2:48
07. Josef Plaut - Als die Römer frech geworden 3:59
08. Julius Thannhäuser - Das Sendlinger Thor 2:51
09. Guido Gialdini - Tamelan 1:44
10. Martin Bendix - Auf dem Berliner Bahnhof 1:46
11. Friedrich Hollaender - Marion Tango 2:51
12. Alfred Auerbach - Abgefahren 1:47
13. Robert Koppel - Ich hab ne alte Tante 2:34
14. Willi Prager - Jüdische Anekdoten 3:18
15. Richard Tauber - Manon 3:04
16. Willi Rosen - Wenn ich Richard Tauber wär 2:50
17. Willi Prager - Ich weiß das ist nicht so 3:09
18. Dolly Haas - Für'n Groschen Liebe 3:25
19. Siegfrid Arno - Was kann der Sigismund dafür dass er so schön ist 2:54
20. Willi Rosen - Das find ich reizend von Lulu 2:47
21. Margo Lion - Die Braut 1:44
22. Max Pallenberg - Scharfrichter-Couplet 2:09
23. Wilhelm Bendow & Paul Morgan - Nur nicht unterkriegen lassen (2.Teil) 3:11
24. Max Hansen - Man trägt wieder treue Augen 2:23
25. Paul O'Montis - Kaddisch 2:58

Max Ehrlich (1892-1944 KZ Auschwitz)
Fritzi Fruo (1875-1942 Exil Shanghai)
Kurt Gerron (1897-1944 KZ Auschwitz)
Guido Gialdini (1878-194? KZ?)
Paul Morgan (1886-1938 KZ Buchenwald)
Paul O'Montis (1894-1940 KZ Sachsenhausen)
Max Pallenberg (1877-1934 KZ Karlsbad)
Willi Rosen (1894-1944 KZ Auschwitz)
Otto Wallburg (1889-1944 KZ Auschwitz)
James Wolf (1870-1943 KZ Terezin)
Gitta Alpar (1903-1991)
Siegfried Arno (1895-1975)
Alfred Auerbach (1875-1954)
Trude Berliner (1904-1977)
Curd Bois (1901-1991)
Blandine Ebinger (1900-1993)
Paul Graetz (1890-1937)
Dolly Haas (1910-1994)
Max Hansen (1897-1961)
Friedrich Hollaender (1896-1976)
Oskar Karlweis (1899-1956)
Robert Koppel (1874-1966)
Margo Lion (1899 - 1989)
Fritzi Massary (1882-1969)
Josef Plaut (1879-1966)
Willi Prager (1877-1956)
Richard Tauber (1892-1948)
Ludwig Wolf (1867-1955)

Populäre jüdische Künstler - Berlin - Hamburg - München
(320 kbps, booklet included)

Peter Rohland - Der Rebbe zingt - Jiddische Volkslieder und Chansons - Peter Rohland und Ensemble (EP, Thorofon, 1963)

Jewish Music in Post-War Germany, Part 1

Jewish music once hand political meaning; the first Germans to sing Yiddish songs in the 1960s were young leftist who were disillusioned with the older generations´s silcence about the Holocaust. Anything that broached the topic of Judaism in post-war Germany then was taboo; to hear the sounds of amurdered Eastern European culture resurrected on German stages was truly a shock. "Each Yiddish song was potentially a provocation to our fathers´ generation, was a political demonstration", writes the musicolgist Wolfgang Martin Stroh, who was present at some of the early performances. And there were other political messages, too; in the 1970s, for example, East germans used the genre to blow a raspberry at their Communist government, which was anti-Zionist.

The 1960s were a time of social upheaval the world over, and Germany was no exception. The children of the 1940s were now old enough to wonder what had happened during the war, and they were not getting many answers from their parents. Though American hippies were able to turn to their own history for ideals of labour and egalitarianism, Germans had no such luxury. Much of their history was tainted by association; the Nazis had appropriated swathes of German culture for their own purposes.

German folksongs were especially suspect. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the Volkslied was used to stitch together the patchwork principalities and duchies that formed the new German nation. As with other newly-formed nations and nationalities in nineteenth-centruy Europe, belief in a common mythology helped unify people. Previously disparate groups were brought together with tales of a shared heritage. German folk song was thus inextricably bound up with nationalism, and nationalism had a nasty aftertaste after the Second World War. "Ever since folk songs were taken over by the Nazis... few Germans have been able to sing them with a clean conscience", musicians Hein and Oss Kröher wrote in 1969. If the German folk song was verboten to the younger generation, they would need to take their cues form other tradtions, and they did. Judaism was one of those traditions. The culture of the victims was not tainted by association with the Nazis. Yiddish was somewaht understandable to the German ear. And besides, Yiddish was fun to sing.

One of the most important early interpreters of jewish music in Germany was Peter Rohland. Here´s his EP "Der Rebbe zingt" from 1963.

Tracklist:
01. Un as der Rebbe zingt
02. Fahr jich mir arois
03. Bei mein Rebben iz gewesen
04. Du Maydele, du fayns
05. Shtil die Nacht iz oysgesh

Peter Rohland - Der Rebbe zingt - Jiddische Volkslieder und Chansons - Peter Rohland und Ensemble (EP, Thorofon, 1963)
(192 kbps, cover art included)

Thanks to http://schnickschnackmixmax.blogspot.de for the original upload.

Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger - New Briton Gazette Volume 2 (1962)

Ewan MacColl was a folk singer, songwriter, socialist, actor, poet, playwright, and argubly one of the most important figures the British Folk Revial on the 1950's & 1960's. MacColl wrote hundreds songs that been recorded by hundreds artists.

Here´s volume 2 of "New Briton Gazette", an album collecting contemporary British songs composed and sung by Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger.

Side One

The Banks They Are Rosy - (MacColl)

Rosalie - (Seeger/MacColl)

March With Us Today - (Seeger)

Lullabye For The Times - (MacColl)

No Agents Need Apply - (MacColl)

The Printer's Trade - (Seeger/MacColl)

The Ballad Of Jimmy Wilson - (Seeger/MacColl)

Side Two

The Big Hewer - (MacColl/Seeger)

The Shoals Of Herring - (MacColl)

The Young Birds - (Seeger/MacColl)

Needle and Thread - (MacColl)

Hey Ho! Cook and Rowe! - (Seeger)

The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face - (MacColl)

Come Live With Me - (MacColl)

When I Was Young - (Seeger)

Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger - New Briton Gazette Volume 2 (1962)
(256 kbps, front cover & booklet included)

Dagmar Krause, Harold Schelinx, Ronald Heiloo - Commuters (EP, 1983)

The EP "Commuters", a one-time collaboration between Slapp Happy vocalist Dagmar Krause and Amsterdam avant-garde composers Harold Schelinx and Ronald Heiloo, was first released as a limited pressing on Amphibious Records in 1983.

Soon deleted, it quickly became the Holy Grail fans of Krause were all after. The album was reissued in 2000 on La Cooka Ratcha (a Voiceprint imprint). Although it runs for only 16 minutes, "Commuters" contains ten songs and really should be perceived as a full album. Schelinx's short stories are set to dense piano pieces taking elements from Erik Satie, Charles Ives, and Kurt Weill. 

Krause's voice delivers the text in angular melodies in a way similar to her work with News From Babel (on Work Resumed on the Tower). These 60- to 120-second half-cabaret/half-atonal pieces are as complete as can be and the listener comes out of them as if the experience had taken an hour. The simplicity of the piano/voice setting is constantly challenged by the obscurity of the lyrics, the complexity of the melodies, and the sparse but very concentrated piano parts.

Tracklist:

1 The Ventriloquist

2 The Young Lieutenant

3 The Architect

4 The Poet

5 The Man On The Island

6 The Acrobat

7 The Organist

8 The Philosopher

9 The Gentleman On The Stairs

10 The Priest

11 The Fired One

12 A Hundred Eager Questions

13 The Organist

14 Too Much Presence

Dagmar Krause, Harold Schelinx, Ronald Heiloo - Commuters (EP, 1983)

(128 - 192 kbps, front cover included)

David Peel & Death With Wayne Kramer‎– Rock 'n' Roll Junkie (Single)

David Peel was, and still is, a street musician and political activist from the Lower East Side of New York City. With a collection of friends who became his bandmates and who were eponymously called the Lower East Side, he recorded two groundbreaking albums of social reflections, urban tales, and hippie mythology for Elektra Records. The first, entitled "Have a Marijuana", was released in 1968. The second, "The American Revolution", was released in 1970. Both were just exactly as you would think they would be from their album titles: Musical Counterculture Manifestos Presented With Guitars and Grins.        

The two tracks on this David Peel & Death feat. Wayne Kramer (MC5) single - "Rock´n´Roll Junkie" and "Junk Rock" - were recorded in 1979. Wayne Kramer played lead and rhythm guitar, David Peel did the lead vocals and the rhytthm guitar, and The Lower East Side performed the backing vocals and various other instruments. The single was released in 2000 on "Hate Records" in Roma, Italy.

Fresh link:
David Peel & Death with Wayne Kramer - Rock´n´Roll Junkie (Single)
(320 kbsp, art work included)

Kurt Weill / Alban Berg - Concertos (Eivind Aadland, 1992)

"Kurt Weill: Concerto for Violin and Winds op.12; Alban Berg: Chamber Concerto for Piano, Violin and 13 Wind Instruments (1923 - 1925)" is an album with absolute music from two men who were to become international figures, leading representatives of their different musical “schools”.

Almost exactly contemporary, these two works occupy a similar place in the output of their respective composers: they are examples of absolute music from two men who were to become strongly associated with stage works and who were about to become international figures, leading representatives of their different musical “schools”.

On this album Eivind Aadland (violin), Einar Henning Smebye (piano) and the Norwegian Wind Ensemble with conductor Ole Kristian Ruud, performs two concertos by the extraordinary composers Kurt Weill and Alban Berg. The former is represented by the work “Concerto for Violin, Wind Instruments and Percussion”, a piece reflecting the contemporary spirit of “new objectivity”, worlds apart from the overwrought emotions of a previous generation of composers. On the other half of the album is Berg´s “Chamber Concerto for Piano, Violin and 13 Wind Instruments”, characterised by the composer´s familiar free tonality. Both are dealing with the fall-out from the explosion into total chromaticism that had previously taken place, but in different ways: one into serialism and another into neo-classicism.


Tracklist:

Kurt Weill: Concerto For Violin, Wind Instruments And Percussion, Op. 121

I: Andante Con Moto 10:43

II: a: Notturno. Allegro Un Poco Tenuto 3:19

II: b: Cadenza. Moderato 3:51

II: c: Serenata, Allegretto 3:41

III: Allegro Molto, Un Poco Adagio 7:05

Alban Berg: Chamber Concerto For Piano, Violin And 13 Wind Instruments

I: Thema Scherzoso Con Variazioni, Leicht Beschwingt 7:58

II: Adagio 14:40

III: Rondo Ritmico Con Introduzione - Introdutione 2:45

III: Rondo Ritmico Con Introduzione - Rondo Ritmico 9:03

Kurt Weill / Alban Berg -  Concertos (Eivind Aadland, 1992)

(320 kbps, cover art included)

Eric Andersen - More Hits From Tin Can Alley (1968)

On his second album with rock instrumentation (following "'Bout Changes & Things, Take 2", his electrified remake of "'Bout Changes & Things"), Eric Andersen was growing more comfortable with a folk-rock setting. Lingering comparisons as a gentler Bob Dylan remained inevitable, though, on tracks like "Tin Can Alley Part 1" and "Tin Can Alley Part 2" (which open and close the record, respectively) in both the vocal phrasing and the anxious strings of odd imagery. 

Similarities, alas, didn't end there. Several New York sessionmen that played on early folk-rock albums by Dylan and others filled out the sound, including Al Kooper, Bobby Gregg, Herb Lovelle, Paul Harris, and Paul Griffin, and "Honey" doesn't sound too far off the "Highway 61 Revisited" route, though the song isn't great. There was also some period Baroque folk production -- flowery vibes, peppy horns, light dramatic orchestration, and the like -- that add some color and dimension, but also make it dated. Andersen sounded best on his more tuneful and pensive ballads, like "Miss Lonely Are You Blue" and "Just a Little Something"; the more sardonic and lyrically vague outings just don't seem as in tune with his strengths and artistic personality. There are touches of bluesy vaudevillian honky tonk ("Mary Sunshine," "Hello Sun") and good-time pop (also on "Mary Sunshine," interestingly enough). Other tracks, like the lengthy "Rollin' Home (It's a Far Cry From Heaven but a Short Cry From Home)" and "Broken-Hearted Mama," sound rather like the Blues Project's folk-rock ventures. Ultimately it's a respectable but erratic album.


Tracklist:

Tin Can Alley, Part I
16 Year Grudge
Miss Lonely Are You Blue
Mary Sunshine
Honey
Just A Little Something
Rollin' Home (It's A Far Cry From Heaven And A Short Cry From Home)
On The Edge Of You
Broken Hearted Mama
Hello Sun
A Woman Is A Prism (And Not Made Out Of Stone)
Tin Can Alley, Part 2


Eric Andersen - More Hits From Tin Can Alley (1968)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Abbey Lincoln - Straight Ahead (1961)

Reissued several times since it originally came out on a Candid LP, this is one of Abbey Lincoln's greatest recordings.

It is a testament to the credibility of her very honest music (and her talents) that Lincoln's sidemen on this date include the immortal tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins (who takes a memorable solo on "Blue Monk"), Eric Dolphy on flute and alto, trumpeter Booker Little (whose melancholy tone is very important in the ensembles), pianist Mal Waldron, and drummer Max Roach.

Highpoints include "When Malindy Sings," "Blue Monk," Billie Holiday's "Left Alone," and "African Lady."   

Tracklist:

1. "Straight Ahead" (Abbey Lincoln, Earl Baker, Mal Waldron) — 5:24
2. "When Malindy Sings" (Oscar Brown, Paul Lawrence Dunbar) — 4:05
3. "In the Red" (Chips Bayen, Abbey Lincoln, Max Roach) — 8:32
4. "Blue Monk" (Abbey Lincoln, Thelonious Monk) — 6:39
5. "Left Alone" (Billie Holiday, Mal Waldron) — 6:48
6. "African Lady" (Langston Hughes, Randy Weston) — 3:46
7. "Retribution" (Abbey Lincoln, Julian Priester) — 3:50

Abbey Lincoln - Straight Ahead (1961)
(320 kbps, cover art included)        

Nico - Behind The Iron Curtain

"Amid the sheer quantity of "live in the 1980s"-style Nico live albums that commenced raining down in the early '80s, and which have barely abated in the years since her death, few stand out as being more (or less) valuable than any other. Inasmuch as it captures an entire concert, "Behind the Iron Curtain" is one of the few exceptions, a classy recording of a late-1985 show in Warsaw, Poland, as she toured on the back of "Camera Obscura". Backed by the ever-faithful Faction band, the show was played out before an audience of almost unbecoming politeness -- keyboard player James Young, recalling the event in his "The End" memoir, described the onlookers as "serious and subdued...I think the problem was that, for once, Nico was out-doomed." As the album title notes, Poland still lay behind the Iron Curtain at that time, a land where audience participation was seriously discouraged. Young wrote that the "performance was as reserved as the seating," but that is to the album's advantage. With a live set that ranges throughout Nico's career, from old road warriors like "Femme Fatale" and "All Tomorrow's Parties" to new additions "My Funny Valentine" and "Das Lied Vom Einsamen Madchen," the playing is precise and Nico is in excellent voice. "The End" is as chilling as it always should be (but, all too often on live recordings, isn't), and the version of "Janitor of Lunacy" has an edge that still sends shivers down the spine. And what more could you want from a Nico album?" - allmusic.com

Actually the album features a concert recorded at De Doelen Concertgebouw, Grote Zaal (Great Hall), in Rotterdam, the Netherlands on 9 October 1985. The concert was held as part of the Pandora's Music Box music festival.
Although the release states it was "recorded live in Warsaw, Budapest and Prague between 29.9.85 and 31.10.85"—thus behind the Iron Curtain—it was in fact entirely recorded at the one concert in Rotterdam.


Tracklist:

1 All Saints Night From A Polish Motorway 9:14
2 One More Chance 3:48
3 Frozen Warnings 3:32
4 The Song Of The Lonely Girl 6:10
5 Win A Few 8:55
6 König 4:27
7 Purple Lips 4:32
8 All Tomorrow's Parties 3:03
9 Tananoori 4:07
10 Janitor Of Lunacy 4:19
11 My Heart Is Empty 5:15
12 Femme Fatale 3:49


Nico - Behind The Iron Curtain
(ca, 220 kbps, cover art included)

Kurt Weill - Anne Sofie Von Otter, John Eliot Gardiner – Speak Low (Songs By Kurt Weill) & The Seven Deadly Sins

Kurt Weill's ballet with songs is one of this century's greatest theatrical works. It has all the wit and melodic appeal of The Threepenny Opera and social conscience of Mahagonny, but more warmth and musical sophistication than either. It's also all over with in about 40 minutes. Some critics believe the piece was intended as a sort of love poem to Weill's wife, Lotte Lenya; given the tenderness of much of the music, it's hard to disagree. Lenya herself recorded the piece in the 1950s (a recording recently reissued by Sony) and this very much newer performance is welcome particularly for Anne Sofie von Otter's highly intelligent and musical way with the text. The other songs, from both Weill's Berlin and Broadway periods, make the perfect filler.

Tracklist:

Die Sieben Todsünden
1) Introduktion: Andante sostenuto "Meine Schwester . . . [3:24]
2) Faulheit: Allegro vivace "Müssiggang ist aller Laster" [3:47]
3) Stolz: Allegretto, quasi andantino "Als wir aber" [4:19]
4) Zorn: Molto agitato "Das geht nicht vorwärts" [4:00]
5) Völlerei: Largo "Das ist ein Brief aus Philadelphia" [2:58]
6) No.5 Unzucht "Und wir fanden einen Mann in Boston" [5:36]
7) Habsucht: Allegro giusto "Wie hier in der Zeitung" [2:56]
8) Neid: Allegro non troppo "Und die letzte Stadt" [5:06]
9) Epilogue "Darauf kehrten wir zurück nach Lousiana" [1:50]

Lady in the Dark
10) 3. My Ship [2:42]
11) 1. One Life to Live [3:01]

Two songs with piano
12) Buddy on the Nightshift [2:09]
13) Nannas Lied [4:02]

Happy End (1929)tran. Chris Hazell/Tony Burke
14) 1. Bilbao Song [4:27]
15) 2. Surabaya Johnny [6:01]
16) 6. Das Lied von der harten Nuss (Song of the Big Shot) [1:06]

Three songs with piano
17) Je ne t'aime pas [4:29]
18) Schickelgruber [2:51]
19) Der Abschiedsbrief [3:25]

One Touch of Venus
20) Foolish Heart [2:28]
21) Speak Low [3:59]
22) I'm A Stranger Here Myself [3:13]

Anne Sofie von Otter
Bengt Forsberg
NDR-Sinfonieorchester
John Eliot Gardiner
Recording: Hamburg-Harburg, Friedrich-Ebert-Halle, 9/1993

Kurt Weill - Anne Sofie von Otter - Speak Low & the Seven Deadly Sins
(192 kbps, cover art included)

Franz Josef Degenhardt - Diesmal werd´ich nicht mit ihnen zieh´n - Friedenslieder (1987, vinyl rip)

Jenny Bauer told us in her wonderful Staff Benda Bilili concert review two days ago about her scepticism when listening to "Volksmusik". Here´s an artist who always cared for the traces of a democratic and critical tradtion in europan "Volksmusik".

Franz-Josef Degenhardt (born 3 December 1931 in Schwelm, Westphalia) is a German poet, satirist, novelist, and – first and foremost – folksinger/songwriter (Liedermacher) with decidedly left-wing politics. He is also a lawyer, bearing the academic degree of Doctor of Law.

After studying law from 1952 to 1956 in Cologne and Freiburg, he passed the first German state bar examination in 1956 and the second in 1960. From 1961 he worked for the Institute for European Law of the University at Saarbrücken, where he obtained his doctorate in 1966. Degenhardt joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany in 1961, but was forced out in 1971 because of his support for the German Communist Party.

From the early 1960s onward, in addition to practicing law, Degenhardt was also performing and releasing recordings. He is perhaps most famous for his song (and the album of the same name) Spiel nicht mit den Schmuddelkindern ("Don't Play With the Grubby Children," 1965), but has released close to 50 albums, starting with Zwischen Null Uhr Null und Mitternacht ("Between 00:00 and Midnight," 1963), renamed Rumpelstilzchen ("Rumpelstiltskin"); his most recent albums Krieg gegen den Krieg ("War against the War") and Dämmerung ("twilight") came out in 2003 and 2006. In 1968 Degenhardt was involved in trials of members of the German student movement, principally defending social democrats and communists. At the same time, he was – in his capacity as a singer-songwriter – one of the major voices of the 1968 student movement. On his 1977 album Wildledermantelmann he criticized many of his former comrades from that era for what he saw as their betrayal of socialist ideals and shift towards a social-liberal orientation. The album's title (roughly, "man with velour coat") mocks the style of clothing they had supposedly adopted.

Notably, the songs on Degenhardt's 1986 album Junge Paare Auf Den Bänken ("Young Couples on the Benches"), along with the song Vorsicht Gorilla ("Beware of Gorilla") on the 1985 album of the same name, are his translations into German of chansons by the French singer-songwriter Georges Brassens, spiritually perhaps one of his closest musical allies.

Degenhardt has also written several novels, most in a rather autobiographical vein, among others: "Zündschnüre" ("Slow Matches", 1972), "Brandstellen" ("Scenes of Fires", 1974), "Der Liedermacher" (1982) and "Für ewig und drei Tage" ("For Ever and Three Days", 1999).Here´s an album released in 1987 called "Diesmal werd´ ich nicht mit ihnen zieh´n - Friedenslieder".

Tracklist:
01 - Diesmal werde ich nicht mit ihnen ziehen
02 - Ja, das ist die Sprache der Mörder
03 - Wolgograd
04 - In den guten alten Zeiten
05 - Zündschnüresong
06 - Dies Land ist unser Land
07 - Denkbar ist aber immer noch
08 - Der anachronistische Zug oder Freiheit, die sie meinen
09 - Befragung eines Kriegsdienstverweigerers

Franz Josef Degenhardt - Diesmal werd´ich nicht mit ihnen zieh´n - Friedenslieder (vinyl rip, 1987)
(256 kbps, cover art included)

Angelic Upstarts - Solidarity (Single, 1983)

Formed in South Shields, England in 1977, the Angelic Upstarts was one of the period's most politically charged and thought-provoking groups; though technically a skinhead band, their records attacked the racism and fascism so prevalent throughout the skinhead community, and while also technically a punk unit, their music quickly evolved beyond the movement's limited scope.

The Angelic Upstarts were led by the rather nasal vocalist Mensi (born Thomas Mensforth), whose impoverished childhood became a frequent lyrical touchstone. Along with a highly fluid lineup which initially comprised guitarist Mond, bassist Ronnie Wooden, and drummer Sticks, the group debuted with the 1979 single "Murder of Liddle Towers," a scabrous attack on police brutality. The record caught the attention of Sham 69's Jimmy Pursey, who produced their debut album "Teenage Warning", which, like its 1980 follow-up, "We Gotta Get Out of This Place", roundly ridiculed the oppressive policies of Margaret Thatcher while offering an outpouring of sympathy for the working class.

As the Upstarts' popularity surged, so did the levels of violence at their live shows; they became mortal enemies of National Front fascist supporters, who railed against the band after first misinterpreting their leftist songs as supportive of their cause. At the same time, the band's music was becoming more complex and accomplished; by 1983's "Reason Why?", the strongest Angelic Upstarts record, Mensi's songwriting skills had become tighter and more melodic, even branching out into reggae and folk, while the group's base broadened with the addition of keyboards and saxophones.
The 7 inch single "Solidarity" was releasend on Anagram Records in 1983.
The title track, "Solidarity",  is in reference to the Polish shipyard workers trades union led by Lech Walesa which at the time were being repressed by the Communist regime in Poland.

Angelic Upstarts - Solidarity (7 Inch, 1983)
(192 kbps, front & back cover included)