VA - COMPAÑERO PRESIDENTE (1975)

Posted in September 2013:

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Chilean coup d’etat that ousted the constitutional president of Chile, Salvador Allende, from office and gave rise to the vicious dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet 11th September 1973. We would like to share some more music from Chile and Latin America to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Chilean human and social tragedy brought about by Pinochet’s dictatorship.

Thousands of people were tortured and killed, others ‘disappeared’ at the hands of the authorities, the secret police and more were illegally detained. Men, women and children were rounded up by the military and taken from their homes. Most were never seen alive by their families again. One million people were forced into exile.

The album "COMPAÑERO PRESIDENTE" was released in 1975 honouring Salvador Allende and the Unitad Popular and features songs by Inti-Illimani, Soledad Bravo, Andrés Jiménez, Daniel Viglietti, Ali Primera, César Isella, Quilapayún, Oscar Chávez, Angel Parra and Pablo Milanés.


Tracklist:
01 - Chile Herido [Inti-Illimani]
02 - A Salvador Allende En Su Combate Por La Vida [Soledad Bravo]
03 - Canción Al Presidente [Andrés Jiménez]
04 - Por Todo Chile [Daniel Viglietti]
05 - Canción Para Los Valientes [Alí Primera]
06 - Che Salvador [César Isella]
07 - Compañero Presidente [Quilapayún]
08 - A Salvador Allende [Óscar Chávez]
09 - Canción A Salvador Allende (Compañero Presidente) [Angel Parra]
10 - Yo Pisaré Las Calles Nuevamente [Pablo Milanés]

VA - Companero Presidente (1975)
(about 256 kbps, cover art included)

Sun Ra And His Astro Infinity Arkestra – Sound Sun Pleasure

The first half-dozen cuts on "Sound Sun Pleasure" (1970) are thought to have been documented between 1958 and 1960, during Sun Ra and his Astro Infinity Arkestra's residency in Chicago. Although Ra's arrangements are as intricate and involved as any from the era, the song list draws heavily upon standards. That said, it might be recommended as a starting point for parties not acclimated to the artist's later and exceedingly aggressive free and avant-garde leanings.

Hatty Randolph (vocals) joins the combo for a pair of refined vocals on the covers of "'Round Midnight" and "Back in Your Own Backyard." The Arkestra complement Randolph's full-bodied delivery with such finesse, it is a wonder there isn't evidence of more frequent collaborations like this. She adds a bluesy melancholia that nicely offsets the instrumentation. "You Never Told Me That You Care" - co-written by Ra and Hobart Dotson (trumpet) - stunningly demonstrates Ra's unmatched scoring and superlative sense of melody. The sweeping and languid tempo allows the tune to unravel organically. "Enlightenment" - another co-composition by the pair - is slightly more indicative of Ra's complex approach, as well as the style that would inform his later work, noted by the band's stridency around the comparatively progressive harmonics. When "Sound Sun Pleasure" was issued on compact disc in 1992, an additional seven selections were included. Chronologically, they are among the earliest known from Sun Ra, recorded at various times and locations between 1953 and 1956, yielding understandably sporadic sound quality. "Deep Purple" - from a session held in Ra's apartment -- features contributions by Stuff Smith, while Wilbur Ware (bass) duets on an emotive "Can This Be Love." Arthur Hoyle (trumpet) makes one of his first Arkestra appearances on the bouncy post-bop original "Dreams Come True" that also sports a rare Clyde Williams vocal.                

Tracklist:

1	'Round Midnight	3:55
2	You Never Told Me That You Care	5:37
3	Hour Of Parting	4:53
4	Back In Your Own Backyard	2:07
5	Enlightenment	5:09
6	I Could Have Danced All Night	3:11
7	Deep Purple	4:03
8	Piano Interlude	1:56
9	Can This Be Love	6:01
10	Dreams Come True	3:08
11	Don't Blame Me	2:53
12	'S Wonderful	2:18
13	Lover Come Back To Me	2:49

Sun Ra And His Astro Infinity Arkestra – Sound Sun Pleasure
(ca. 192 kpbs, cover art included)

Odetta - Christmas Spirituals (1960)

Wish you a peaceful Christmas!

This aren´t the Christmas songs you´ll hear in the malls or at the parades. No Santa Claus. No reindeer. No snow. But for me it would not be Christmas without this glorious album. (Although, to be honest, the music is so beautiful, I´ve put it on many times in mid-summer, and it doesn´t seem out of place.

Odetta's husky voice is often stunning, both in her a cappella performances and her songs with accompaniment. She says these songs are traditional spirituals, neither purely African nor American, but songs that emerged from the sufferings of slavery. Powerful stuff.                

Tracklist:

A1	Rise Up Shepard And Follow
A2	What Month Was Jesus Born In?
A3	Mary Had A Baby
A4	Somebody Talking 'Bout Jesus
A5	Virgin Mary Had One Son
A6	Go Tell It On The Mountain
A7	Shout For Joy
B1	Poor Little Jesus
B2	O Jerusalem
B3	Ain't That A-Rockin'
B4	If Anybody Asks You
B5	Beautiful Star
B6	Children Go Where I Send Thee

Odetta - Christmas Spirituals (1960)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

VA - Place Of Hope - Celebrating The New South Africa (1996)

"Place Of Hope" is an album with songs performed by musicians from the USA and South Africa. It was dedicated to the students of Funda Community College of South Africa. Founded in 1984, Funda is one of the oldest independent training institutions in the visual arts in South Africa, established in response to the inaccessibility of specialised training in the visual arts for black South Africans under apartheid. Built on land donated by the Urban Foundation and IBM, Funda continues to serve as a critical point of access to the visual arts sector for young black South Africans.

Tracklist:

1. Place Of Hope
2. One Love/People Get Ready
3. That's The Way Of The World
4. Place Of Hope
5. Now Or Never
6. Broken Wings
7. Thula Sizwe/I Shall Be Released
8. We Shall Overcome
9. Heal Our Land
10. Zulu Chant
11. Fragile
12. Now It's Your Turn
13. New South Africa
14. Shed A Little Light
15. Place Of Hope
16. Amazing Grace
VA - Place Of Hope - Celebrating The New South Africa (1996)
(256 kbps, cover art included)

Oscar Chávez – Nicaragua vencerá (1979)

Oscar Chávez was born in Mexico in 1935. He spent his early years studying theater at the Escuela de Arte Teatral del Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes, the Academia de Teatro del Maestro Seki Sano, and the Teatro de la Universidad. Chávez appeared in a number of films, including Los Caimanes, La Diosa de Plata, and El Heraldo. His film work led to opportunities in the emerging world of the telenovela. As an actor, vocalist, and director, Chávez participated in more than 200 radio plays for Radio Universidad.

Though a busy actor and director, his musical pursuits have earned him international fame, with more than 20 records to his credit. In his repertoire choices and compositions, Chávez has distinguished himself not only as an arranger and performer, but as champion of Mexican folklore. This preoccupation with preservation of tradition manifested itself throughout his work via the inclusion of not only traditional stories, but also protest songs. Viewing folklore as inherently political, Chávez would come to be known as the people's folk historian. Later in his career, Chávez added light political satire to his repertoire, including material that made light of current political situations and characters. Chávez continues to be an important player in the preservation of traditional Mexican music and culture.   

Here´s Oscar Chavez hommage to the Sandinista revolution against the Somoza dictatorship in Nicaragua.           

Tracklist:
01. Ya cayó Somoza
02. Con Sandino en Nicaragua
03. La Mama Ramona
04. Somos los libertadores
05. Dos palomitas blancas
06. Contra Moncada
07. Gratitud a Masaya
08. Caballo criollo
09. Corrido de Nicaragua
10. Hora cero-La Adelita

Oscar Chávez – Nicaragua vencerá (1979)
(160 kbps, front cover included)

Lee Perry - Megaton Dub Vol. 2 (1984)

Opinions (mine included) run hot and cold over this hard-to-find two volume set of Scratch dub. I don't think it is as excellent and crucial as many of its supporters claim, nor do I think it's as awful as its detractors insist. File it under odd and occasionally wonderful (but, ultimately not essential), especially if you like your Perry mix so loaded with echo it sounds as if it was recorded in a canyon. Extremely difficult to find.     - allmusic.com

More near nuclear versions, recorded at Black Ark Studio, Kingston, Jamaica. Maybe one should have no fear of atomic energy but this second round of word sound power plants deserve maximum respect. Upsetter at the apogee.
         
Tracklist:                                                     

A1	Traveling In Dub
A2	Fisherman Dub
A3	Zion In Dub
A4	Groovy Dub
B1	Dub Crisis
B2	Green Bay Killing
B3	Big Neck Dub
B4	Living In Dub

Lee Perry - Megaton Dub Vol. 2
(192 kbps, cover art included)

Fela Kuti - Why Black Man Dey Suffer (1971)

"Why Black Man Dey Suffer", recorded in 1971, was originally deemed too controversial for release by EMI, Fela Kutis label at the time. Having recently been schooled in the American black power movement and having taken on a new Pan-African worldview, this album served as one of Fela’s first musical soapboxes on which he challenged the colonial injustices and corruption of the ruling elites of his time.

The title track “Why Black Man Dey Suffer” is a history lesson on the oppression of the African man. It details the litany of abuses the black man has suffered - from being taken as slaves, to having an alien people impose a new culture upon them, take their land, fight them, and set them against one another. The following track, “Ikoyi Mentality”, firmly expresses Fela’s identification with the downtrodden masses and his rejection of the ways of the ruling class inhabitants of the Ikoyi neighborhood in Lagos.

 

Tracklist:

A	Why Black Man Dey Suffer
B	Ikoyi Mentality Versus Mushin Mentality

Fela Kuti - Why Black Man Dey Suffer (1971)

(320 kbps, cover art included)

Charlie Parker - The Charlie Parker Story (Savoy)

The Charlie Parker Story is an LP record by Charlie Parker, released posthumously by Savoy Records. While many of the tracks on this album had been previously released on other formats (78 rpm records, 7-inch EPs and singles, and 10- and 12-inch LPs), this is the first album that chronicles the entire session, recorded November 26, 1945, including all takes of all pieces.

This session is famous in that it is the first recorded under Parker's name. It is also controversial, in that to this day it is unclear who the pianist and trumpet player are on all of the tracks.

Charlie Parker - The Charlie Parker Story (Savoy)
(256 kbps, cover art included)

Sister Rosetta Tharpe - Blessed Assurance (1951)

Sister Rosetta Tharpe became gospel music's first crossover artist and its first great recording star. Her vocals and electric guitar playing influenced future greats such as Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Aretha Franklin and many others. Her 1944 hit "Down By The Riverside" was selected for the American Library of Congress National Recording Registry in 2004. Her accomplishments were cut short in 1973 when she died from a stroke. After listening to this powerhouse singer you'll agree, Sister Rosetta Tharpe truly deserves the title of "the original soul sister".

"Blessed Assurance" is an album with slow Gospel songs, accompanied by organ. It was also released in France as "Spirituals".

Tracklist:

A1	Blessed Assurance
A2	Amazing Grace
A3	Rock Of Ages
A4	Let The Lower Lights Be Burning
B1	In The Garden
B2	There's A Fountain Filled With Blood
B3	Throw Out The Life Line
B4	What A Friend We Have In Jesus

Sister Rosetta Tharpe - Blessed Assurance (1951)
(256 kbps, cover art included)

VA - Beyond the Wildwood – A Tribute to Syd Barrett (1987)

Like a supernova, Roger "Syd" Barrett burned briefly and brightly, leaving an indelible mark upon psychedelic and progressive rock as the founder and original singer, songwriter, and lead guitarist of Pink Floyd. Barrett was responsible for most of their brilliant first album, 1967's "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn", but left and/or was fired from the band in early 1968 after his erratic behavior had made him too difficult to deal with (he appears on a couple tracks on their second album, "A Saucerful of Secrets"). Such was his stature within the original lineup that few observers thought the band could survive his departure; in fact, the original group's management decided to keep Syd on and leave the rest of the band to their own devices. Pink Floyd never recaptured the playful humor and mad energy of their work with Barrett.               

Beyond the Wildwood – A Tribute to Syd Barrett is a tribute album consisting of music written by Syd Barrett. The musicians performing on the album are British and American indie rock artists. The songs featured come from Pink Floyd's singles; the albums The Piper at the Gates of Dawn and A Saucerful of Secrets; and Barrett's two solo albums: The Madcap Laughs and Barrett. Although Barrett's productive recording career had only lasted from 1967 though 1970, his music had a great influence on the development of psychedelic rock, alternative rock and indie rock music.

"Beyond the Wildwood" is a must have for any serious Syd fan. This album of covers is a fine tribute, the songs are not at all "replicas"; they are all fresh and re-worked, some of them quite radically. 


1. The Mock Turtles - No Good Trying
2. Plasticland - Octopus
3. SS-20 - Arnold Layne
4. Paul Roland - Matilda Mother
5. Fit And Limo - Long Cold Look
6. The Shamen - Long Gone
7. Opal - If The Sun Don't Shine (Adaptation Of Jugband Blues)
8. The Ashes In The Morning - Baby Lemonade
9. The Lobster Quadrille - Wolfpack
10. The Paint Set - Golden Hair
11. Tropicana Fishtank - No Man's Land
12. The T.V. Personalities - Apples And Oranges
13. The Soup Dragons - Two Of A Kind
14. The Green Telescope - Scream Thy Last Scream
15. The Chemistry Set - See Emily Play
16. What Noise - Rats
17. Death Of Samantha - Gigolo Aunt

^{VA - Beyond the Wildwood – A Tribute to Syd Barrett (1987)
(256 kbps, cover art incuded)}

Dizzy Gillespie - The Champ (1956)

An early LP on Savoy that gathers Dizzy Gillespie's small-group recordings from 1951-52, "The Champ" has a lot to recommend it - songs, sidemen, and performances. With just one exception, each of the selections are drawn from quintet or sextet dates, boasting work by Art Blakey, Milt Jackson, J.J. Johnson, Percy Heath, and Stuff Smith in addition to an early appearance from John Coltrane (he made his debut with Diz, though not here).

On the title track, a six-minute jam released as a two-part single, Gillespie plays furiously and tenor Budd Johnson contributes a great squawking solo. "Birk's Works," one of Dizzy's finest compositions, gets its first commercial recording, while Stuff Smith's violin solo gives "Caravan" exactly the exotic touch it needs to lift it above competing versions. Diz and Joe Carroll trade vocals on "On the Sunny Side of the Street," and bop culture meets gospel for "Swing Low, Sweet Cadillac."                

Tracklist:

The Champ
Birk's Work
Caravan
Time On My Hands
On The Sunny Side Of The Street
Tin Tin Deo
Stardust
They Can't Take That Away From Me
The Bluest Blues
Swing Low, Sweet Cadillac
Ooh-Shoo-Be-Doo-Bee

 Bopsies Blues (alt. take, bonus track)
 Blue Skies (bonus track)

Dizzy Gillespie - The Champ (1956)
(256 kbps, cover art included)

VA - Mojo Presents - The Songs Of Leonard Cohen Covered

Leonard Cohen passed away yesterday at the age of 82. Rest in peace!

The Songs of Leonard Cohen Covered is a tribute album to Leonard Cohen, released in 2012. It was compiled by Mojo magazine, as a part of the magazine's March 2012 issue. The album features contributions by various musicians, including Bill Callahan, Cass McCombs, The Low Anthem, Field Music, Marc Ribot and ex-Fleet Foxes member Father John Misty.

Leonard Cohnes 1967 debut remains not only the cornerstone of Cohen´s remarkable career, but also a genuine songwriting landmark in terms of language, themaic developments and even arrangements. The entire album is covered here, its 10 tracks being augmented by five bonus cuts. The result is a fine tribute to Leonard Cohen.

Tracklist:

1. Field Music – "Suzanne"
2. Emily Barker and The Red Clay Halo – "Master Song"
3. Palace Songs – "Winter Lady"
4. The Miserable Rich – "The Stranger Song"
5. Liz Green – "Sisters of Mercy"
6. Bill Callahan – "So Long, Marianne"
7. Michael Kiwanuka – "Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye"
8. The Low Anthem – "Stories of the Street"
9. Cass McCombs – "Teachers"
10. Father John Misty – "One of Us Cannot Be Wrong"

Bonus tracks

1. Diagrams – "Famous Blue Raincoat"
2. Paper Dollhouse – "Last Year's Man"
3. Marc Ribot and My Brightest Diamond – "Bird on A Wire"
4. Dan Michaelson – "Avalanche"
5. Scott Matthews – "Seems So Long Ago, Nancy!"

VA - Mojo Presents - The Songs Of Leonard Cohen Covered
(256 kbps, cover art included)

Jalda Rebling - Hans-Werner Apel - Stefan Maass - Jews in Germany (1250-1750) - Juden in Deutschland (1994)

Today we remember the anti-Jewish pogrom in Nazi Germany and Austria on 9 to 10 November1938, also known as "Novemberpogrome", "Reichskristallnacht", "Reichspogromnacht" or "Pogromnacht" in German.

This album features jewish music from 5 centuries performed by the famous jewish vocalist Jalda Rebling and the well known musicians Hans-Werner Apel and Stefan Maass. No easy-listening, but excellent and very impressive. The album was recorded in 1994.

The present recordings provide for the first time a representative cross-section of the Jewish history of music in Germany. The highlights of Hebrew, Yiddish and German songs tell us of 500 years of fruitful and dreadful neighbourhood in a country, which seemed to be a second, intellectual home for the Jewish people, and yet became the place of ruthless persecution.

Tracklist:

1a. Wa heb' uf, unt niht envint - komponiert von Süßkind von Trimberg
1b. Ich var uf der toren vart - komponiert von Süßkind von Trimberg
2. Ein wolf vil jaemerlichen sprach - komponiert von Süßkind von Trimberg
3. Möcht ich dein wegeren
4. Der Winter will hinweichen
5. Judenverfolgung zu Passau 1477
5a. O du armer Judas
5b. Variationen auf den armen Judas - komponiert von Hans Gerle
6. Judentanz - komponiert von Hans Newsidler
7a. Vintz Hanß Lied - komponiert von Elchanan b. Abraham Helen
7b. Triumphmarsch - komponiert von Elchanan b. Abraham Helen
8. Judentanz - komponiert von Wolff Heckel
9. Addir hu - komponiert von Johann Stephan Rittangel
10. Galgengesang des Joseph Süß Oppenheimer
11. Eins wollt ihr es nennen
12. Ergötzlichkeit zur rechten Zeit - komponiert von Adam Krieger
13. Kallalied
14. Zu Chassene und B'rith-Mile - komponiert von Elchanan b. Abraham Helen
15. Akdomus - komponiert von Leijb Chasan
16. Das neue Jerusalem
17. Ki lo naeh - komponiert von Johann Stephan Rittangel

Jalda Rebling - Hans-Werner Apel - Stefan Maass - Jews in Germany (1250-1750) - Juden in Deutschland (1994)
(192 kbps, cover art included)

Wolfganz Szepansky & Emil Ackermann - ...denn in uns zieht die Hoffnung mit - Lieder, gesungen im Konzentrationslager Sachsenhausen

The "Sachsenhausenkomittee Westberlin" - an organisation of survivors of the concentration camp Sachsenhausen-  released around 1980 a small book with memories of the anti-fascists Wolfgang Szepansky and Emil Ackermann together with this cassette featurung songs sung in the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp.

The songs are interpreted by Wolfgang Szepansky (prisoner number 33527) and Emil Ackermann (prisoner number 775), accompanied by Josef-Maria "Pepi" Metzke, Jochen Horvath, Dieter "Max" Mehr and Robert "Robby" Hartog -  members of the folk group "Sorgenhobel".

Wolfgang Szepansky (* October 9, 1910 in Berlin-Wedding ; † 23 August 2008 in Berlin-Schöneberg) was a German anti-fascist, communist resistance fighter, author and painter.



Tracklist:

Sachsenhausen-Lied

Kameraden, lasst uns singen

Was uns auch begegnet hier

Wir sind Moorsoldaten

Das Glöckchen

Partisanen vom Amur

Wilde Gesellen

Wir sind nicht zu verbieten

Fichtemarsch

Wir sind die Moorsoldaten

Accordion– Jochen Horvath
Guitar– Robert "Robby" Hartog
Guitar, Mandolin– Dieter "Max" Mehr
Violin– Michael Spitzer
Vocals– Emil Ackermann, Josef-Maria "Pepi" Metzke, Wolfgang Szepansky
Recorded  at "Mauerton"-studio in Berlin-Kreuzberg and mixed by Leo Lehr.

Wolfgang Szepansky & Emil Ackermann - ...denn in uns zieht die Hoffnung mit
(320 kbps, front cover and informations included, tape rip)

Peter Rohland - Jiddische Lieder (1965)

75 years ago, the Nazis began deporting Jews to death camps. The infamous Track 17 at Berlin's Grunewald station was the departure point. In official Nazi documents the deportation is euphemistically referred to as a "resettlement" or "evacuation" or people being "deposited." In reality, people were taken with the German state railway to their deaths in ghettos, labor camps or concentration camps.
The first deportation left Track 17 of Berlin's Grunewald station on the 18th October 1941. 1089 children, women and men were taken by force to Lodz. By the end, some 50,000 Jews from Berlin were deported; victims of the Nazi "Reign of Terror."

Peter Rohland (* 22. February 1933, † 5. April 1966) was a German singer, singer-songwriter and a folk music researcher. Together with Hein and Oss Kröher he initiated the "Burg Waldeck Festivals".

Peter Rohland investigated, considerably affected by the work of Wolfgang Steinitz, the song property of the vagrants and the revolution of 1848, as well as jewish songs. He was the first chansonnier to sing jewish songs in West Germany after the Holocaust.

Tracks:

01. Un as der Rebbe Alimelech
02. Fohr ijch mir arois
03. Hot majne homntash
04. Wolt ijch sejn a rov
05. Mai komashma lon
06. Jich nehm dos peckel
07. Frateg far nacht
08. Baj dem shtetl
09. Bin ijch mir a schnajderl
10. Jomme, jomme, shpil mir a lidele
11. Un as der Rebbe singt
12. Hot der tate fun jaridl
13. Tzen Bridder
14. Amol is gewen a majsse
15. Tumbalalalaika
16. Unter a klajn bajmele
17. Du majdele, du shajns
18. Lo mir ale singen
19. Baj majn Rebben is gewen
20. Un as de jontefdige tejg
21. Shlof, majn sun
22. Unter de chirwes von Pojln
23. Shtil, die nacht ist ojsgeshternt
24. S' brent, bridderlech, s' brent

Peter Rohland - Jiddische Lieder
(192 kbps, cover art included)

The Ex - Singles. Period. The Vinyl Years 1980–1990

"Singles. Period. The Vinyl Years 1980–1990" is a compilation album by Dutch punk rock band The Ex, containing most of their singles released between 1980 and 1990. The collection does not include the band's double-single 1936, The Spanish Revolution, nor their "6" series or their collaborations with artists such as Chumbawumba and Dog Faced Hermans.

 

Singles. Period. was released in 2005 by Touch and Go Records during a time when The Ex's material was only being issued physically on compact disc. The band later returned to releasing albums on vinyl, and even began to issue new 7" singles in 2010.

The Ex has explored many musical directions through the years, including avant-garde jazz and experimental music. But on this decade's-worth of singles and B-sides released as part of its 25th anniversary celebrations the Dutch anarcho-socialist outfit hews close to its early-'80s punk ideals. The primitive punk polka of "Stupid Americans" is a raucous vehicle for the band's anti-imperialist, anti-capitalist worldview, while the angular "Human Car" wears its affinity with late-'70s punk groups like Gang Of Four and the Mekons on its ripped sleeve. Unapologetically political yet never dull, lyrics are screamed or chanted, scrambling for attention through a tumultuous mix of primal drums, clanking bass, and searing guitar.     

 Tracklist:

1. "Human car" - 2:14
2. "Rock'n'roll-stoel" - 2:07
3. "Cells" - 1:52
4. "Apathy disease" - 3:29
5. "Stupid Americans" - 2:16
6. "Money" - 1:36
7. "Curtains" - 2:17
8. "Weapons for El Salvador" 2:48
9. "Dust" - 2:15
10. "New wars 2" - 1:38
11. "Constitutional state" - 1:55
12. "Gonna rob the spermbank" - 3:46
13. "When nothing else is helpful anymore" - 3:32
14. "Memberships" - 5:34
15. "Trash" - 4:56
16. "Crap-rap" - 2:51
17. "Long live the aged" - 3:54
18. "Enough is enough" - 4:42
19. "Rara rap" - 4:33
20. "Contempt" - 2:25
21. "Stonestampers song" - 2:58
22. "Lied der Steinklopfer" - 3:35
23. "Keep on hoppin'" - 3:04

The Ex - Singles. Period. The Vinyl Years 1980–1990
(224 kbps, cover art included)
     

Sun Ra And His Astro Infinity Arkestra – Strange Strings

"Strange Strings" is a somewhat legendary album from the mid-'60s. "I'm painting pictures of things I know about, and things I've felt, that the world hasn't had the chance to feel..." -Sun Ra, interviewed by Henry Dumas in 1966.

Recorded in 1966, and first published in 1967, this is the peak of Sun Ra's studies on possibilities of strings' sound.
The Arkestra uses here a huge range of strings instruments, from the usual (like double bass and viola), to the exotic ones (ukelin, bandura, zither,dutar and others), identified in the original liner notes as "electronic strings", but that were acoustic instruments amplified with microphones placed very close to the sound hole, and then treated with reverb and distortion.

"Marshall Allen said that when they began to record the musicians asked Sun Ra what they should play, and he answered only that he would point to them when he wanted them to start. The result is an astonishing achievement, a musical event which seems independent of all other musical traditions and histories.... The piece is all texture, with no sense of tonality except where Art Jenkins sings through a metal megaphone with a tunnel voice. But to say that the instruments seem out of tune misses the point, since there is no "tune", and in any case the Arkestra did not know how to tune most of the instruments..." - John F Szwed
"Worlds Approaching" is a great tune, anchored by a bass ostinato and timpani and featuring several fantastic solos, including Marshall Allen on oboe, Robert Cummings on bass clarinet, John Gilmore on tenor, and Sun Ra on electric piano. Off and on throughout the tune, Bugs Hunter applies near-lethal doses of reverb, giving the piece a very odd but interesting sound. "Strange Strings" is one of those songs that is likely to inspire some sort of "you call that music?" comment from your grandmother, or even from open-minded friends. It sounds like they raided the local pawnshop for anything with strings on it, then passed them out to the bandmembers. It's difficult to tell if some of these instruments have been prepared in some way, or if they're simply being played by untutored hands. There are also lots of drums and some viola playing from Ronnie Boykins that is also treated heavily with reverb. Despite the cacophony, there is a definite ebb and flow to the piece and what seem like different movements or themes. Whatever you think of the music contained, there's no denying that it produced some of the most remarkable sounds of the mid-'60s. If you don't like "far out," stay clear of this one.    

 Tracklist:

A1	Worlds Approaching
A2	Strings Strange
B1	Strange Strange

 

Sun Ra And His Astro Infinity Arkestra – Strange Strings

(ca. 224 kbps, cover art included)

Henry Cow - Leg End (1973)

Political astuteness aside, Henry Cow's "Leg End" is simply a busy musical trip, comprised of snaking rhythms, unorthodox time signatures, and incongruous waves of multiple instruments that actually culminate in some appealing yet complex progressive rock.

Here, on the band's debut, both Fred Frith and woodwind man Geoff Leigh hold nothing back, creating eclectic, avant garde-styled jazz movements without any sense of direction, or so it may seem at first, but paying close attention to Henry Cow's musical wallowing results in some first-rate instrumental fusion, albeit a little too abstract at times. Through tracks like "Amygdala," "Teenbeat," and "The Tenth Chaffinch," it's simply creativity run amok, instilling the free-spiritedness of the late '60s into this, a 1974 album.

The techniques are difficult to follow, but the stewing that emerges between the piano, guitar, flute, and percussion is so animated and colorful, it actually sounds pleasant as a whole. Chris Cutler lends his uncommitted, self-governing brand of drumming to the album to help culminate the frenzy, and Leigh's tenor flute does add some extraordinary musical fabric to each of the album's ten cuts. "Nine Funerals of the Citizen King" is one of the easiest pieces to listen to, while the short but amiable "Bellycan" is an excerpt removed from the group's work with the Greasy Truckers, performed a year earlier. In 1974, Henry Cow released "Unrest", which contains the same vigor and spontaneity as "Leg End", only it didn't receive the same amount of attention. Shortly after, they united with Dagmar Krause and the rest of Slapp Happy to further their unconventional route.

Tracklist:

1. "Nirvana for Mice" (Frith) – 4:53
2. "Amygdala" (Hodgkinson) – 6:47
3. "Teenbeat (Introduction)" (Henry Cow) – 4:32
4. "Teenbeat" (Frith, Greaves) – 6:57
5. "Nirvana (Reprise)" (Frith) – 1:11
6. "Extract from 'With the Yellow Half-Moon and Blue Star' " (Frith) – 2:26
7. "Teenbeat (Reprise)" (Frith) – 5:07
8. "The Tenth Chaffinch" (Henry Cow) – 6:06
9. "Nine Funerals of the Citizen King" (Hodgkinson) – 5:34
10. "Bellycan" (Henry Cow) – 3:19

Henry Cow - Leg End (1973)              
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Dog Faced Hermans - Hum Of Life (1993)

The Dog Faced Hermans were a four-piece band whose style could be described as anarcho-punk incorporating folk and noise influences as well as unorthodox instrumentation.

Dog Faced Hermans formed by previous members of Volunteer Slavery in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1986, but later moved to Amsterdam. The band was closely associated with The Ex, and this resulted in a joint tour of Europe, a split cassette and "Stonestamper's Song", a collaborative single released under the name Ex Faced Hermans.
They disbanded in 1995, with members of the band moving on to other notable projects including the Canadian ensemble Rhythm Activism, and Holland's The Ex, with whom they collaborated and were closely affiliated and in whom guitarist Andy Moor has been a member since 1990. Drummer Wilf Plum now plays with Two Pin Din and "Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp".

Though this album suffers a little from the lo-fi recording quality, the sound of this exceptional experimental rock/post-punk unit can miraculously transcend the misgivings of poor recording quality with pure energy and high innovation. As far as inventive post-punk groups go, Dog Faced Hermans are certainly on a par with the Ex and early Sonic Youth and remain criminally overlooked in the scheme of '80s post-punk. This release is not as strong as the jaw-dropping masterpiece "Those Deep Buds", but is still a phenomenal display of inventive post-punk which draws on folk, free improvisation, and sound of Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band circa "Doc at the Radar Station". If one can imagine that group fronted by Sandy Denny, that could be a good analogy for this sound.                

Tracklist:

A1	Jan 9
A2	Viva
A3	The Hook And The Wire
A4	How We Connect
A5	Love Split With Blood
A6	Wings
B1	White Indians
B2	Hear The Dogs
B3	Love Is The Heart Of Everything
B4	Madame La Mer
B5	Peace Warriors

Dog Faced Hermans - Hum Of Life (1993)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

VA - The Kings Of High Life

A collection of early-style highlife straight out of Nigeria, with only one artist from outside the country represented, and all tracks coming from a license agreement with Premier Music in Lagos.

The album opens up with Victor Uwaifo, the first Nigerian to make gold record status in 1969. After a piece from Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe, trumpeter Victor Abimbola Olaiya (the "Evil Genius" of highlife) makes an appearance with "Omo Pupa." After another Osadebe work, master trumpeter Rex Lawson returns the focus to the horns. Vocalist Paulson Kalu and oldies troupe Wura Fadaka lead the way for Polygram's Nigerian A&R man, Chief Inyang Nta Henshaw, with his hit "Esonta." Mike "Gentle Man" Ejeagha provides a piece somewhat closer to the Ghanaian highlife forms, and Celestine Ukwu gives a more pop-oriented piece to the picture. Another piece by Rex Lawson follows, as well as another piece from Ukwu, and the album finishes again on the "Evil Genius" Olaiya and his trumpet.

This is a collection of guitar-based grooves, in large part, paving the way for soukous and the like later on. This isn't the highlife of Fela, but it's what Fela was listening to originally. It's the early, basic music based only partially on the traditional forms that would eventually become Afro-Pop.

VA - The Kings Of High Life
(192 kbps, small front cover included)          

Josh White - Sings Easy (1944)

Langston Hughes' liner notes:

"You could call Josh White the Minstrel of the Blues, except that he is more than a Minstrel of the Blues. The Blues are Negro music, but. although he is a Negro, Josh is a fine folk-singer of anybody's songs - southern Negro or southern white, plantation work-songs or modern union songs, English or Irish ballads - any songs that come from the heart of the people.

When Josh was a little boy, he used to lead the famous Blind Lemmon Jefferson around, and he probably passed the tin cup. Blind Lemmon was a singer of Blues and Moans and Shouts. Blind Lemmon was great at those lonely songs that one man or one woman sings alone. Perhaps it was from Blind Lemmon that Josh absorbed the common loneliness of the folk song that binds one heart to all others-and all others to the one who sings the song. For Josh has a way of taking a song like Hard Times Blues and making folks who have never even had a hard time feel as though they had experienced poverty.

The guitar that Josh White plays is as eloquent, as simple and direct as are his songs themselves. His guitar keeps a heart-beat rhythm that makes you feel his songs in your heart. His guitar has in it at one and the same time, sadness and gaiety, despair and faith. Sometimes his guitar laughs behind a sad song. Sometimes it cries behind a happy song. Sometimes it makes a Chaplinesque comment on One Meat Ball. Josh White and His Guitar used to be billed together. They are one and inseparable.
Josh White sings with such ease that you never feel like he is trying. That is the secret of true folk-singing-for the folk-song never tries to get itself sung. If it just doesn't ease itself into your soul and then out of your mouth spontaneously, to stay singing around your head forever, then it isn't a folk-song. If it doesn't sing easy and wear like an old shoe, it isn't a folk-song. And if the singer tries too hard and gets nowhere with such a song, that singer isn't a folk-singer.

The popular song hits sort of go in one ear, ring around in your head for a bit, then out the other ear. But folk songs like Water Boy, or Lord Randall, or any good old Blues, sort of soak into your being and remain there with no effort. The great folk-singers give them off again-with no effort, either. From Blind Lemmon to Burl Ives, from Bessie Smith to Aunt Molly Jackson there runs a wave of singing easy. Josh White also sings easy."

"Sings Easy" was a set of three singles released in 1944 by Asch Records with the following tracks:

Tracks:
- I Got A Head Like A Rock
- Fare Thee Well

- Outskirts Of Town
- One Meat Ball

- When I Lay Down And Die Do Die
- The House I Live In

Josh White - Sings Easy (1944)
(192 kbps, front cover included)

Harry Belafonte - Sings The Blues (1958)

An actor, humanitarian, and the acknowledged "King of Calypso," Harry Belafonte ranked among the most seminal performers of the postwar era. One of the most successful African-American pop stars in history, Belafonte's staggering talent, good looks, and masterful assimilation of folk, jazz, and worldbeat rhythms allowed him to achieve a level of mainstream eminence and crossover popularity virtually unparalleled in the days before the advent of the civil rights movement — a cultural uprising which he himself helped spearhead.

After flirting with traditional African-American material in his previous albums, Belafonte, for the first time, devotes an entire album to the blues. However, of the eleven songs, only two could be classified as traditional blues: "In the Evenin' Mama" and "Cotton Fields," the latter given a five minute treatment. Belafonte would take this song on the road as part of his live act for the next decade. Of the other songs, three were covers of Ray Charles standards ("A Fool For You," "Hallelujah I Love Her So," "Mary Ann"). Another highlight is Belafonte's rendition of Billie Holiday's "God Bless the Child."

Harry Belafonte - Sings The Blues (1958)
(320 kbps, front cover included)

The Golden Gate Quartet - The Essential - Historical Recordings From The Forties And The Fifties

Pioneer Virginia gospel/pop quartet of the '30s and '40s. Calling their innovative approach to sacred hymns "jubilee" singing, the Golden Gate Quartet, propelled by Willie Johnson and William Langford, enjoyed massive acceptance far outside the church.

Their smooth Mills Brothers-influenced harmonies made the Gates naturals for pop crossover success, and they began recording for Victor in 1937. National radio broadcasts and an appearance on John Hammond's 1938 "Spirituals to Swing" concert at Carnegie Hall made them coast-to-coast favorites.

By 1941 the Gates were recording for Columbia minus Langford, and movie appearances were frequent: Star Spangled Rhythm, Hollywood Canteen, and Hit Parade of 1943, to name a few. Some experiments with R&B material didn't pan out during the late '40s, and Johnson defected to the Jubilaires in 1948.

The group emigrated to France in 1959; led by veteran bass singer Orlando Wilson, the Golden Gate Quartet's vocal blend is as powerful as ever. 

The Golden Gate Quartet - The Essential - Historical Recordings From The Forties And The Fifties
(256 kbps, front cover included)

   

Mills Blue Rhythm Band - 1933 - 1936

This fine big band was originally formed by drummer Willie Lynch as the Blue Rhythm Band in 1930 and as the Coconut Grove Orchestra, provided backup to Louis Armstrong on some records. In 1931, Irving Mills became their manager and the group was renamed the Mills Blue Rhythm Band.

Lynch's departure later that year resulted in Baron Lee fronting the band until Lucky Millinder took over in 1934. The big band recorded frequently during 1931-1937 (all of the recordings have been reissued on five Classics CDs) and, although the orchestra never really caught on or developed its own personality, its recordings did document many fine performances.

Among the sidemen were pianist Edgar Hayes, altoist Charlie Holmes, Joe Garland on tenor, drummer O'Neil Spencer, and by 1934, trumpeter Red Allen, trombonist J.C. Higginbotham, and clarinetist Benny Bailey. Later editions included altoist Tab Smith, pianist Billy Kyle, and trumpeters Charlie Shavers and Harry "Sweets" Edison. When the group broke up in 1938, Lucky Millinder formed his own big band.    

Many of the Mills Blue Rhythm Band's recordings are now considered jazz classics by collectors. Original records regularly appear on auction lists (which indicates that they did sell records over their lifespan), and recent reissue and remastering projects have made their recordings more widely available.

Mills Blue Rhythm Band - 1933 - 1936 pt. 1
Mills Blue Rhythm Band - 1933 - 1936 pt. 2
(256 kbps, front cover included)
       

Country Joe McDonald - Thinking Of Woody Guthrie (1969)

During the reigning years of San Francisco headband Country Joe and the Fish, singer and songwriter Joe McDonald took some time out to head to Nashville and record a pair of solo albums with the city’s top session men.

Released on the iconic Vanguard Records, these two albums saw McDonald take a broad left turn, away from psychedelia and deep into the traditional folk and country music that had helped inform his earlier years as a radical-political folksinger.

Indeed, the first of these two albums, Thinking of Woody Guthrie, was a heartfelt, play-it-straight tribute to the daddy of them all (the radical-political folksingers, that is). It is an album that does justice to the man who wrote all of the songs on it. Joe McDonald conveys all of the ranges of Woody's line of sight, from the migrant's resigned take on life ("Pastures Of Plenty"), to the dust-storm-beset people of Gray, Oklahoma ("So Long, It's Been Good To Know Yuh")to a guarded endorsement of the (then) major strides in technology for the greater good ("Roll On Columbia"). McDonald sings all of them with conviction and is backed by Nashville pros with talent to burn. Even "This Land Is Your Land" gets a vitality to it that's totally unexpected but great to hear.

 

Country Joe McDonald - Thinking Of Woody Guthrie (1969)

(256 kbps, front cover included)

Woody Guthrie - The Early Years (feat. Cisco Houston & Sonny Terry)

Woody Guthrie was the most important American folk music artist of the first half of the 20th century, in part because he turned out to be such a major influence on the popular music of the second half of the 20th century, a period when he himself was largely inactive. His greatest significance lies in his songwriting, beginning with the standard "This Land Is Your Land" and including such much-covered works as "Deportee," "Do Re Mi," "Grand Coulee Dam," "Hard, Ain't It Hard," "Hard Travelin'," "I Ain't Got No Home," "1913 Massacre," "Oklahoma Hills," "Pastures of Plenty," "Philadelphia Lawyer," "Pretty Boy Floyd," "Ramblin' Round," "So Long It's Been Good to Know Yuh," "Talking Dust Bowl," and "Vigilante Man." These and other songs have been performed and recorded by a wide range of artists, including a who's who of folksingers.

The tracks found on this collection (which also features Cisco Houston and Sonny Terry) were recorded in the mid-'40s for Folkways Records and have been available in countless configurations over the years under varying titles, including editions for the Tradition, Legacy, Prism, and Collectables record labels. The best way to get this material is through the four-volume "Asch Recordings" from Smithsonian Folkways, which has the most thorough annotation. But anyway, this is a nice introduction into the inspiring music of Woody Guthrie.

Tracklist:

1		Hey Lolly Lolly	2:45
2		Buffalo Skinners	3:24
3		John Henry	2:42
4		Gypsy Davy	2:51
5		Worried Man Blues	3:03
6		More Pretty Girls Than One	2:18
7		Ain't Gonna Be Treated That Way	3:29
8		Rangers Command	2:55
9		Poor Boy	2:51
10		Lonesome Day	2:53
11		Pretty Boy Floyd	3:05
12		Hard, Ain't It Hard	2:43
13		Stackolee	2:43
14		Cumberland Gap	2:18
15		Old Time Religion	2:32
16		Sourwood Mountain	2:57
17		Long John	2:35
18		Lost John	4:06
19		Columbus Stockade	2:25
20		Bury Me Beneath The Willow	2:45

Woody Guthrie - The Early Years (feat. Cisco Houston & Sonny Terry)
(192 kbps, cover art included)