Freitag, 29. November 2019

VA - Tropicalia Ou Panis Et Circensis (1968)

This is the compilation that helped to define the sound of Tropicalia, whose artists made huge and influential strides in creating exotic pop that was as influenced by psychedelia as it was by samba, bossa nova, and more traditional South American genres.

"Tropicália" not only includes tracks from the label's most important acts (Gilberto Gil, Os Mutantes, Caetano Veloso, Gal Costa), but presents a large number of collaborations between these artists, many of which are simply amazing.

Given the fact that many of the original Tropicalia releases have not been reissued or are not widely available, the compilation stands as a near-definitive package for the sound, and a great opportunity for anyone unfamiliar with the artists to experience an amazing and hugely important genre.

The title of this record translates to “bread and circuses,” a phrase denoting cheap political handouts used to gather support. If you have any interest in the Tropicália movement, which was more recently popularized in the states by artists like Beck and David Byrne, "Panis Et Circenses" is the place to start. It’s the original and essential Tropicália comp. One that changed the world.

VA - Tropicalia Ou Panis Et Circensis
(192 kbps, front & back cover included)

Various Artists - Lieder für Instandbesetzter (1981, Mood Records) - Solidarity with Rigaer 94


Originally posted on July 13, 2016:

The "Rigaer 94" is an alternative house project in Berlin-Friedrichshain. The house was squatted in 1990 and legalized in the next years. On June 22nd, 2016, some parts of the building were evicted by the police, since that event Berlin sees an ongoing militant protest. Today the Landgericht, a Berlin court, decided that the eviction was not legal... You find more informations via http://rigaer94.squat.net/.

For more than 26 years a handful of housing projects in Rigaer Strasse have been places of selforganisation in an area massively affected by gentrification. The struggle and resistance of people living in the projects together with their neighbours are the reason why the Rigaer Strasse doesn’t look like other parts of Berlin which are dominated by luxury housing and mirror finish fronts.

In solidarity with the people at "Rigaer 94" we post an album which is an great document of the West-Berlin squatter movement of the early 80s of the last century. "Lieder für Instandbesetzer" was recorded at a solidarity concert at "Metropol" with Bettina Wegner, Walter Mossmann, Teller Bunte Knete, Fliegende Blätter and IG Blech. The album was released in 1981 on "Mood Records."

VA - Lieder für Instandbesetzer (1981)
(ca. 150 kbps, cover art included, sadly two tracks from side 2 are missing...)

VA - Musik zum Instandbesetzen (Stechapfel, 1981)

Here´s another fine document of the 1980s squatter movement in West Berlin. It is a recording of a solidarity concert at "Quartier Latin" on Mai, 10th, 1981.
It was released on the "Stechapfel" tape label, the earnings were used to finance lawyers supporting the squatters.

Thanks a lot to Victor and to http://tapeattack.blogspot.de for making this posting possible.

We post this tape in view of the fact that today the Landgericht Berlin decided, that the eviction of the ground floor of the alternative housing project "Rigaer 94" was not legal. If you want to learn more about this issue, here´s an interesting interview with the sociologist Andrej Holm.
Side 1:
01. Es wird instandbestzt (Chaotencombo)
02. Lass die Leute frei (Chaotencombo)
03. Kriminaltango (Rotkehlchen)
04. Kopischstrassensong (Rotkehlchen)
05. U-Haft Rock (Andi, Mischa & Marek)
06. Mike Krüger Song (Andi, Mischa & Marek)
Side 2:
07. Wir wollen keine Polizisten (Chaotencombo)
08. Als wir jüngst am renovieren waren (Volksmund)
09. Überall wird instandbestzt (Volksmund)
10. Auf Kreuzbergs grauen Straßen (Sorgenhobel)
11. Weine nicht, wenn der Regen fällt (Schmidt & Co)
12. Severing (Schmidt & Co)
13. Tanz (Sorgenhobel)
(192 kbps, tape cover included)

Donnerstag, 28. November 2019

Tom Paxton - Ain´t That News (1965)


Tom Paxton proved to be one of the most durable of the singer/songwriters to emerge from the Greenwich Village folk revival scene of the early '60s. In some ways, he had more in common with the late-'50s generation of folksingers such as Dave Van Ronk (who was 16 months his senior) and even older performers than with the new crop of singer/songwriters with whom he tended to be associated, such as Bob Dylan and Phil Ochs (both of whom were several years his junior). But like Dylan and Ochs, and unlike Van Ronk, Paxton was a songwriter caught up in the left-wing political movements of the time and inspired to compose topical and protest songs. In general, his tended to be more lighthearted than theirs (the musical satirist Tom Lehrer was at least as much of an influence on him as Woody Guthrie), though he could be just as witty and just as harshly critical of his opponents. Like such mentors as Pete Seeger, and unlike Dylan, he never cared to make much of a transition to the mainstream, never picked up an electric guitar and tried to play rock & roll.

Tom Paxton's second album was one of his most earnest efforts, and that serious narrative tone, combined with the fading of the issues it addresses (the Vietnam War, the draft, the Civil Rights movement) off the national radar, makes much of it dated and some of it stilted. Nonetheless, it does have one of his most effective anti-war pieces; "Lyndon Johnson Told the Nation," in fact, is one of the better anti-Vietnam folk songs of the 1960s. There's also "Bottle of Wine," one of Paxton's best and most tuneful compositions, and one of his most-covered ones (by Judy Collins at the tail end of her folk era and then by the Fireballs a few years later for a pop/rock hit). Felix Pappalardi (on bass) and Barry Kornfeld (on second guitar and banjo) do add a bit of depth to the arrangements, yet many of the songs are a dry listen, though Paxton's observations are consistently well-thought out and well-intended. He could have used more lighthearted moments like "Bottle of Wine," or more romantic ones like "Hold On to Me Babe" (which Sandy Denny covered on an unreleased 1967 recording). And, in fact, he would use more such moments on his subsequent albums.

Tracklist
A1Ain't That News1:32
A2The Willing Conscript2:32
A3Lyndon Johnson Told The Nation3:00
A4Hold On To Me Babe3:10
A5The Name Of The Game Is Stud1:55
A6Bottle Of Wine2:21
A7The Natural Girl For Me2:37
B1Goodman, Schwerner And Chaney2:41
B2We Didn't Know2:22
B3Buy A Gun For Your Son2:30
B4Every Time3:09
B5Georgie On The Freeways3:09
B6Sully's Pail3:11
B7I'm The Man That Built The Bridges2:47

Tom Paxton - Ain´t That News (1965)
(256 kbps, cover art included)

Interzone – Das süße Leben (1985)

Interzone was a German blues-rock group, founded in the beginning of 1979, headed by vocalist Heiner Pudelko. In the beginning Pudelko was not writing his own lyrics, but was fascinated by the poems of 'Wolf Wondratschek', the great poet for all eccentrics and loners. After the success of their self-produced single 'Kinderlieder aus Beton' (children's songs made from concrete) Pudelko and Interzone wanted to publish their first album completely with Wondratschek's lyrics in 1980, but the poet withdrew his consent for this cooperation. The album 'Chuck's room' was finally released in 2019.

In early 1981, Interzone went into the Berlin 'Audio' recording studio and recorded with co-producer Udo Arndt their first album, still unsigned. Shortly before the end of the production, it came to an agreement with a record company and mid-June 1981, the self titled debut album was released. The 'Music Express' presented the formation by a Flexi-disc with song excerpts. Shortly thereafter Interzone played live at Berlin Waldbühne in front of 22,000 fans and were broadcast live on TV. With increasing awareness the band decided to start a 7-day-7-city tour in November of the year, in spring 1982 shows with Spliff, Prima Klima and Extrabreit at the Levi's Rock Festival' Tour followed. This festival tour was well attended, but mainly from a very young audience.

In September 1982, the second album by Heiner Pudelko and Interzone, "Aus Liebe", hit the market. The album got generally enthusiastic critics. Although it did not make the official charts, the sales figures were impressive.

In the summer of 1985, Interzone presented themselves with a new sound. But the third album 'Das süße Leben' (The Sweet Life) sold not very good in spite of the relatively expensive advertising campaign. The 'Interzone' clan at this point had almost resigned. In Germany 1985/86 different artists like Nena, Falco or Grönemeyer were hip. In the summer of 1986 the band broke up.


Tracklist:
01. Sie wartet schon so lange 4:55
02. Laß mich rein 4:20
03. So was Süßes wie du 3:22
04. Rita 3:47
05. Ich & mein Freund die Katze 3:44
06. Glückskind 2:51
07. Böser Vati 4:00
08. Ruth 4:34
09. Kamikaze 4:33
10. Ich würd's wieder tun 2:48

Interzone - Das süße Leben (1985)
(ca. 256 kbps, cover art included)

Ewan MacColl - Broadside Ballads, Vol. 2 (London: 1600 - 1700) (1962)


Tracks & Artist/Performer:
101 Female Frolic, The (Female Frollick, The) Ewan MacColl, Peggy Seeger, Alf Edwards
102 Give Me My Yellow Hose Ewan MacColl, Peggy Seeger, Alf Edwards
103 King and No King, A Ewan MacColl, Peggy Seeger, Alf Edwards
201 Constance of Cleveland Ewan MacColl, Peggy Seeger, Alf Edwards



Ewan MacColl - Broadside Ballads, Vol. 2 (London: 1600 - 1700) (1962)
(128 kbps, cover art included)

Mittwoch, 27. November 2019

Ambros, Tauchen, Prokopetz - Der Watzmann ruft (1974)

The Austrian musician and composer Wolfgang Ambros was born in Pressbaum, Lower Austria (Niederösterreich) in 1952.

Best known for his popular tunes sung in Austrian dialect, Ambros has also been active in other art forms, including radio plays, theater, and films. His 1971 debut single ("Da Hofa") went to number one on the Austrian charts. The 1976 hit anthem to skiing, "Schifoan" (Skifahren), may be his most popular song of all time in ski-crazy Austria. In 1978 he released his tribute album to Bob Dylan ("Wie im Schlaf") with Dylan songs such as "Forever Young" or "Like A Rolling Stone" ("Allan wie a Stan") sung in Viennese dialect.

Ambros has also worked with the team of Manfred Tauchen and Joesi Prokopetz. Together they produced the highly successful comically satiric musical "Alpendrama" album entitled "Der Watzmann ruft" (1974). To date the "Watzmann" album has sold over 250,000 copies and there have been several live revival performances of "Der Watzmann ruft".

Ambors, Tauchen, Prokopetz - Der Watzmann ruft
(ca, 200 kbps, cover art included)

Manu Dibango - Soul Makossa (1972)

Manu Dibango is Cameroon's, and perhaps Africa's, best-known jazz saxophonist. Starting in the 1950s, he became a globe-trotting musician, living and performing in France, Belgium, Jamaica, Zaire, and Cote d'Ivoire, as well as in Cameroon. 

In 1960, Dibango was one of the founding members of the Zairean band African Jazz, with whom he spent five years. World attention came to Dibango with the release in 1972 of "Soul Makossa", a work that actually had precious little of the makossa sound in it, and scored later hits with "Seventies" and "Ibida". Dibango's output has been prodigious and multi-faceted. He has worked with musicians as diverse as Fela Kuti, Sly Dunbar, Robbie Shakespeare, Don Cherry, and the Fania All-Stars. In addition to being one of the leading jazz saxophonists of his generation, Dibango has also run nightclubs, directed orchestras, and started one of the first African musical journals. 

A later release, "Polysonik" -- featuring English rapper MC Mello, Cameroonian singer Charlotte M'Bango leading a choral section, and sampled pygmy flutes -- shows that Dibango is continuing to flourish and expand in challenging new directions.

Tracklist:

A1 Soul Makossa 3:58
A2 Lily 3:20
A3 Dangwa (Three Points) 6:00
A4 O Boso 5:23
B1 New-Bell (Hard Pulsation) 6:51
B2 Nights In Zeralda 4:38
B3 Hibiscus 6:23

(320 kbps, cover art included)

Georges Moustaki - Ma Liberté (1972)


Although he achieved his greatest fame in France, singing French-language songs in a distinctly French style, singer/songwriter Georges Moustaki was more a citizen of the world - or, as he often put it, a "citizen of the French language."

Christening himself a cultural "mongrel" in his signature hit "Le Métèque," Moustaki's first love was the classic-style French chanson, but he often appropriated bits of world folk musics from Greece, Turkey, the Middle East, Brazil (bossa nova and MPB), Argentina (tango), and other parts of Latin America, the United States (blues and jazz), Holland, and anywhere else his travels took him.

Simplicity was a hallmark of many of his own recordings; possessed of a soft, warm voice, he often sang with only his own guitar for accompaniment, creating an intimacy that translated to his live gigs as well. A successful artist in his own right, Moustaki initially made his name as a songwriter of some renown, composing material for many of the top French singers of the late '50s and '60s (including Edith Piaf's classic "Milord"). He moonlighted as a poet, actor, novelist, and journalist at various points in his career, and remained one of France's more ambitious artists as his trademark beard and long, flowing hair turned white.               

This is a fine compilation with some of his "greates hits".

Tracklist:                           
A1Ma Liberté
A2Marche De Sacco Et Vanzetti
A3J'ai Vu Des Rois Serviles
A4Dire Qu'il Faudra Mourir Un Jour
A5Nous Sommes Deux (Imasto Dyo)
A6Margot (Instrumental)
B1Voyage
B2Nos Corps
B3La Pierre
B4Pourquoi Mon Dieu
B5Rue Des Fosses Sain-Jacques

Georges Moustaki - Ma Liberté (1972)
(256 kbps, cover art included)

Dienstag, 26. November 2019

VA - Songs of the Spanish Civil War, Vol. 2 (1962)

Written in July 2011:
July 18 marks the 75th anniversary
of the beginning of the Spanish Civil War.

Time Magazinze, Monday, Aug. 04, 1941, writes about "We Behind the Barbed Wire":

"World War II has yet to produce a great song, but last week some of its saddest were heard in the U.S. The League of American Writers produced an album of records ($2.75) called "Behind the Barbed Wire" - six songs of the French, Spanish, Italian and German anti-fascists who now rot in the French concentration camps of Gurs, Vernet d'Ariège, Argelès-sur-Mer.
The six songs were recorded in Manhattan by a Netherlands-born fighter in the Spanish Civil War, Bart van der Schelling. He wears his chin in a brace, is called "official singer" for the U.S. survivors of the International Brigades of the Loyalists. Singer van der Schelling is backed by an "Exiles Chorus" directed by Earl Robinson (Ballad for Americans). Some of the songs - the Spanish "Joven Guardia", the Italian "Guardia Rossa", the German "Thaelmann-Bataillon", the French "Au Devant de la Vie" (music by Soviet Composer Dmitri Shostakovich) - were composed during the Spanish War. Most of them are in rough, plodding march time. The one which gives the album its name was composed by a German, Eberhard Schmitt, in the camp at Gurs. Its chorus, translated (not quite so lame in the original):

Behind the wire, our courage is unbroken
We yield to no one! We're not broken reeds!
Jail or internment, we're masters of our lives,
Nothing counts with us but deeds!
For where Germany's and Austria's sons may be,
One goal they cling to: Liberty! . . ."




Tracks:

Woody Guthrie and Ernst Busch accompanied by Chorus and Orchestra01- Jarama 2:55
02- On the Jarama Front 2:46
03- Ballad of the XI Brigade 3:10
04- Hans Beimler, Comrade 2:55
05- The Thaelmann-Column (German) 2:45
Songs We Remember
06- Santa Espina 2:21
07- Sevilllanos 2:24
08- The Road to Aviles 2:41
Behind the Barbed Wire, by Bart Van Der Schelling and the Exiles Chorus directed by Earl Robinson
09- La Guardia Rossa (Italian) 2:24
10- Wie Hinterm Draht (Behind the Barbed Wire)  (Composed in French internment Camp of Gurs by Eberhard Schmitt) 2:49
11- La Joven Guardia (Spanish) 2:20
12- Au Devant de la Vie (French) Music by Dmitri Shostakovich 2:48

VA - Songs Of The Spanish Civil War, Vol. 2 (1962)
(320 kbps, front cover included)

Malaria! - Weißes Wasser (1982)

Malaria was a German all female new-wave band, formed in Berlin January 1981 and together until 1983. 

The EP "Weißes Wasser" was recorded in Brussels and released in 1982 on the the label "Les Disques Du Crépuscule" and contains the classic "Kaltes klares Wasser". 

Tracklist:



01. Kaltes Klares Wasser  3:45
02. Weisser Himmel, Weisses Meer / White Sky, White Sea
8:32


Malaria! - Weißes Wasser (1981)
(192 kbps, cover art included)

Samstag, 23. November 2019

Die Haut - Die Hard (1989)

Formed in 1982 and based in Berlin, Germany, Die Haut (which translates to "the Skin" from German) originally consisted of Christoph Dreher, Remo Park, Martin Peter, and Thomas Wylder. Essentially an instrumental act, Die Haut gained attention by having a revolving series of guest vocalists, including one Nick Cave on four tracks on their debut full-length, the 1983 release "Burnin' the Ice". Other guest vocalists on future releases included Kid Congo Powers, Anita Lane, Debbie Harry, Mick Harvey, Jeffrey Lee Pierce, Blixa Bargeld, Lydia Lunch, and Alan Vega. 

While the band would go through many lineup changes over the years, Die Haut centered around Christoph Dreher and Remo Park for the better part of the '80s. Park left in 1985 to be replaced by Rainer Lingk, who remained with the band until 1997, the year in which the last official full-length offering from the band, "Spring", was released. A remix collection of the music from "Spring", titled "Springer", followed in 1998. Both Remo Park and Christoph Dreher have continued to work, albeit as separate acts, well into the 21st century.


Tracklist:

1 Urge 4:23
2 P.S.Y.C.H.O. 5:03
3 Coming Through Slaughter 3:04
4 Aischa 3:42
5 Garden Of Agony (Pt. 2) 5:48
6 Anschlag! 3:45
7 Marodeure 2:16
8 Gesprengte Ketten 3:17
9 Mean Machine 5:44
10 A Shady Haze Of Guenther 3:00
11 Garden Of Agony (Pt. 1) 2:35


Die Haut - Die Hard (1989)
(224 kbps, cover art included)

Mercedes Sosa - Gravado ao vivo no Brasil


Honored all over the world as "The Voice of Latin America" and revered in her native Argentina as "a symbol of life and freedom," Mercedes Sosa was a dynamic, inspiring figure, and one of the most versatile artists on the world music scene. Sosa was also widely known for her message of peace, international integration, defense of human rights and artistic and personal integrity.

After humble beginnings growing up in San Miguel de Tucuman, Mercedes Sosa spearheaded a traditional music and dance movement with her husband called Nuevo Cancionero which declared the materialization of protest music across Argentina and Chile. She served as a political figure of sorts by speaking out for the poor Argentines against military dictatorship and oppressive conditions.

In 1966, Sosa recorded "Yo no canto por cantar", beginning a 33 year career with PolyGram Records while continuing to record political music banned from radio broadcasts. Viewed as a serious threat to Argentina's military regime, Sosa was searched and arrested on stage at a concert in La Plata in 1979. After receiving a series of death threats she was forced into exile seeking refuge in Paris and Madrid, , where she finally settled, but persisted touring the US, Europe and Brazil.

Mercedes Sosa - Gravado ao vivo no Brasil
(192 kbps, cover art included)

VA - Billiger als Turnschuhe (L´Age D´Or Compilation)

Image
By the mid 1990s, three bands met with great commercial success: Blumfeld, Die Sterne, and Tocotronic. The "Hamburger Schule" became known as the epitome of German Indie pop music. When other German guitar bands, whose music and lyrics were of a different style, were able to profit from this success, however, a new nationwide Indie pop scene emerged. The Hamburger Schule began to be marginalised by a movement which it had helped to create.As time went by, the term eventually encompassed such a broad spectrum of musical content that it could hardly be associated with a particular musical genre anymore. As the social links and political cooperations broke, it has begun to lose any meaning it once had.

By the end of the 1990s, there emerged a new wave of German guitar music with intellectual aspirations. Examples for this new generation of artists, who clearly tie in with the Hamburger Schule tradition, are Spillsbury, Kettcar, Erdmöbel, Kajak, Justin Balk, Virginia Jetzt!, Astra Kid, Modus Noa, and Tomte. They display a new musical homogeneity of punk-influenced guitar pop.Several small labels have sprung up to support this new musical current. Arguably the most important one is the Hamburg based label "Grand Hotel van Cleef" which, like "L'age d'or" seeks to be an enabler for local bands. It was established in September 2002 by Tomte's Thees Uhlmann and Kettcar's Marcus Wiebusch and Reimer Bustorff.

Here´s the compilation "Billiger als Turnschuhe" from 1992, collecting tracks from the "L´ Age D´Or" label:

Tracklist:
01. Ostzonensuppenwürfelmachenkrebs - Blindfeind Blues
02. Hallelujah Ding Dong Happy Happy! - So nice
03. Kissin Cousins - Kommen, komm (samtiger)
04. Carnival of Souls - Paradise Lounge
05. HUAH! - Der Krieg-Song
06. Die Regierung - Corinna
07. Vincent's Price - Zu kurz
08. Der Schwarze Kanal - Shout
09. Die Sterne - Jetzt nicht
10. Mastino - Das gläsernde Interview
11. Kolossale Jugend - Von hier zur Wand
12. We Smile - Can't resist
13. Die-Gants - Leathern
14. Maische - This Is Your Birthday
15. M.B.F.A feat. Das neue Brot - Mimikry-Fleisch
16. Wendelin - Anesthesia (betäubt)

VA - Billiger als Turnschuhe (L´Age D´Or Compilation)
(256 kbps, small front cover included)

Freitag, 22. November 2019

The (English) Beat - Wha´ppen? (1981)

The Beat was a 2 Tone Ska revival group formed in 1978 in Birmingham, England by guitarist/vocalist Dave Wakeling with David Steele (bass) and Andy Cox (guitar) along with rapper/toaster Ranking Roger(Roger Charlery), drummer Everett Morton and veteran Jamaican saxophonist Saxa (Lionel Martin). As there was an eponymous US group emerging at the time they were forced to use the names The English Beat on their American releases and The British Beat briefly in Australia.

"Wha'ppen?" Well their early fans might ask, but The (English) Beat were growing up fast, and for every member of the Two Tone army that bemoaned the lack of punk fire found here, they enlisted a new recruit taken with their maturing sounds and more diverse stylings. The album's taster "Drowning," coupled with another album track "All Out to Get You," may have disappointed chartwise, barely breaking into the Top 25, but it did not reflect the fate of the full-length, which soared to Number Three. 

It spun off a further single, "Doors of Your Heart," that didn't quite make the Top 30, but it's surprising it charted at all, considering it's flip, "Get a Job" was also pulled from the album. So what had happened? The group's anger hadn't cooled, not if their lyrics were anything to go by. Paranoia reigns across "All Out," "Monkey Murders" and "A Dream House in NZ" are filled with angst, "Drowning" is equally downbeat, "I Am Your Flag" vehemently tackles jingoistic nationalism and "Over and Over" the cult of violence, while "Cheated" and "Get a Job" take headers into the paucity of British life and opportunities in general. Which means it's all downhill mood-wise from the unity themed opener "Doors," with its dreamy, sax-fired-pop laced with dub. 

But the music is moving in another direction entirely, actually in a variety of directions, as The Beat blend ever further flung influences into their sound. "Get Out" stirs up a "la bamba" dish with funky flavoring and douses it with pop. "French Toast," the album's sole cover, only French connection is the lyrical language, the arrangement mixes a calypso flair and Afrobeats, with Mediterranean spices. "Drowning" juxtaposes reggae with the art-rock experimentation of Gang of Four, a musical journey continued across "Dream House." And so the group go, mixing and melding their way across the island. Friends join the party, adding marimbas, trumpets, and steel drums, but the most notably guest is The Congos Cedric Myton, who adds his crystal falsetto to "Doors." 

A splendid album that might not have the urgency of its predecessor, but was more adventurous and twice as interesting.


Tracklist:

Doors Of Your Heart
All Out To Get You
Monkey Murders
I Am Your Flag
French Toast (Soleil Trop Chaud)
Drowning
Dream Home In NZ
Walk Away
Over And Over
Cheated
Get-A-Job
The Limits We Set

(320 kbps, cover art included)

Donnerstag, 21. November 2019

René Bardet - Poesie & Musik - "Vielleicht weil ich ein Wilder bin..."

The Swiss group "Poesie und Musik’" with René Bardet, Büdi Siebert und Jo Koinzer released this interpretation of speeches by the American Indian chief Seattle in 1982.

Image

René Bardet built a thoughtful soundcollage kidnapping our phantasie while we are listening to the words of Seattle directed to the American president in the year 1855: We can imagine the prairie, see the moon and the stars, we feel the wind and the water of the river, we listen to the souls of the animals and nature.

The long text, which is spoken to the music, is an inspiration for all of us thinking and worrying about the future of planet earth.

René Bardet - Poesie & Musik - "Vielleicht weil ich ein Wilder bin..."
(192 kbps, cover scans included)

Eulenspygel - Staub auf deinem Haar

In the early 1970's Germany was rife with groups like Floh de Cologne, Lokomotive Kreuzberg, Oktober, Checkpoint Charlie, Ton Steine Scherben, Kollektiv Rote Rube, Bruhwarm and Eulenspygel who combined rock with left-wing political theater, and who performed their songs in their own language. Though not as well known as Floh de Cologne, Eulenspygel were almost as radical with their blend of psychedelic and progressive rock with classic rock and jazz styles.

The group began in Munich, Germany as the Royal Servants in 1969, who released several singles before their album "We"  came out in 1970. By very early 1971 the group decided to change direction by dropping their English lyrics in favor of their own language, and changed their name to Eulenspygel as well. Whereas the Royal Servants relied on West Coast folk rock styles, the new group's music was far more progressive and varied.

Eulenspygel began performing live in April of 1971, and over the next two and a half years they would tour up and down Germany. As time went on, they began to print their lyrics to hand out to the audiences and then after the concert try to provoke discussion. They also made a couple live appearances on German television, in the summer of 1971 and in October of 1972.

In July of 1971 they recorded their first album in Studio Maschen in an old bunker in Hamburg. Released by Spiegelei, part of Intercord Records, the record was confusingly titled "2", in reference to the earlier Royal Servants LP, and the original cover, with a half-burned newborn chick in a fry pan created enough controversy that the company reissued it without the burned chick a year later. With the success of "2" the label wanted another album within 8 or 9 months, and their A&R man at Intercord convinced management to let Eulenpsygel record the next album at the world-class Apple Studios. In April of 1972 the band traveled to London by train where they only had four or five days to record the album in both German and English versions, which included the side-long opus "Abfall".

By now the label deemed the group too left wing, and dropped them after the second album, "Ausschuss", came out later that year. In the summer of 1973 they temporarily disbanded, though drummer Gunter Klinger joined another group that used Eulenspygel's name on several gigs before the other members of the real Eulenspygel took legal action to stop it. Three members from the original group along with some new musicians, reformed Euelenspygel in the fall of 1974. By 1975 after more lineup changes and unsuccessful attempts to find another record company, the group was a quartet with only one remaining original member, guitar and vocalist Detlev Nottrod. After years of not much activity their eponymous third album was recorded and released in 1979 by Bellaphon, followed by "Laut & Deutlich" 4 years later. Though the group had captured some of their earlier popular success with record sales and gigs, these last two records lapsed into mainstream conventional mellow rock with none of the earlier group's creativity and none of their radical political lyrics. Having sold out artistically, Euylenspygel called it quits for good in late 1983.

With "Staub auf deinem Haar" - recorded live in Cologne, 13th January 1973, for a radio show, but released in 2004 for the first time - they were demonstrating that they could convince their fans on the stage too.  It captures the original Eulenspygel in their final days before disintegrating, on WDR radio in 1973, playing in a much more condensed and song focused style. It's quite obvious that the band were trying to find a new direction, and thus the material is quite different to the album versions we know. For starters there are no keyboards, and the guitars and winds fill-in a lot of the gaps normally occupied by keyboards. At the moment this is the last sign of life of this interesting german band.

Tracklist:

1 Der Fremde 6:23
2 Staub auf deinem Haar 10:50
3 Menschenmacher 7:07
4 Untertanenfabrik 3:47
5 Ring frei (Medley) 10:12
5.1 A. 6:30 Uhr Aufstehn
5.2 B. Oh, Junge
5.3 C. Irrenhaus
5.4 D. Wie ein Stein
6 Kinderlied 5:09
7 Konsumgewäsche 8:15
8 Teufelskreis 5:44


Eulenspygel - Staub auf deinem Haar
(320 kbps, cover art included)

                  

Mittwoch, 13. November 2019

Orquestra Os Jovens Do Prenda - Berlin Festa! (Angola)

The music of Angola has been shaped both by wider musical trends and by the political history of the country. In the 20th century, Angola has been wracked by violence and political instability. Its musicians have been oppressed by government forces, both during the period of Portuguese colonization and after independence. Angolan music also influenced another Lusophone music in Brazil and Cuban music.

The capital and largest city of Angola is Luanda, home to a diverse group of styles including Angolan merengue (based on Dominican merengue), kilapanda and semba, the last being a genre with roots intertwined with that of Brazilian samba music. Just off the coast of Luanda is Ilha do Cabo, home to an accordion and harmonica-based style of music called rebita.

Compared to many of its neighbors in Southern Africa, as well as other Portuguese colonies (especially Cape Verde), Angola's music has had little international success. The first group to become known outside of Angola was Orquestra os Jovens do Prenda, who were most popular from the late 1960s to the early 1970s, and have continued sporadically performing and recording since. The big band included two trumpets, a saxophone, four guitars and a half-dozen percussion instruments. They played kizomba (a native style based around the marimba xylophone), using the four guitars to approximate the sound of the marimba, and quilapanga.

Sometimes known as the Prenda Boys Band, after the poor neighborhood of Luanada, capital of Angola, from which they emerged, Orquestra os Jovens do Prenda are a big band with a big sound. First formed in the mid-'60s, they enjoyed great success in the early '70s, split in 1975, and regrouped in 1981 around two of the original band members. The numerous Prenda Boys feature four guitars, two trumpets, a saxophone, six percussionists and drummers, and the whole band at times whistling. The Orquestra's music is related to the Brazilian Samba, but richer and more complex. At first a politically oriented band, since reforming the Orquestra has tended to more mainstream lyrics.


Orquestra Os Jovens Do Prenda - Berlin Festa! (192 kbps)

Dinah Washington - Mad About The Boy

Ruth Lee Jones (born August 29, 1924 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama; died December 14, 1963 in Detroit, Michigan), better known by her stage name Dinah Washington and also as the Queen of the Blues, was an American Grammy award winning jazz singer best known for singing classic torch songs and her hit single What A Diff'rence A Day Makes. Her penetrating voice, excellent timing, and crystal-clear enunciation added her own distinctive style to every piece she undertook.     

Dinah Washington was at once one of the most beloved and controversial singers of the mid-20th century - beloved to her fans, devotees, and fellow singers; controversial to critics who still accuse her of selling out her art to commerce and bad taste. Her principal sin, apparently, was to cultivate a distinctive vocal style that was at home in all kinds of music, be it R&B, blues, jazz, middle of the road pop - and she probably would have made a fine gospel or country singer had she the time. Hers was a gritty, salty, high-pitched voice, marked by absolute clarity of diction and clipped, bluesy phrasing. Washington's personal life was turbulent, with seven marriages behind her, and her interpretations showed it, for she displayed a tough, totally unsentimental, yet still gripping hold on the universal subject of lost love.               

"Mad About the Boy", the title track of this compilation, is a popular song with words and music by actor and playwright Sir Noël Coward. It was introduced in the 1932 revue Words and Music by Joyce Barbour, Steffi Duna, Norah Howard and Doris Hare. The song deals with the theme of unrequited love for a film star. It was written to be sung by female characters, although Coward also wrote a version, which was never performed, that contained references to the then risqué topic of homosexual love.

Dinah Washington's 1952 recording of "Mad about the Boy" is possibly the most widely known version of the song. The 6/8-time arrangement for voice and jazz orchestra by Quincy Jones omits two verses and was recorded in the singer's native Chicago on the Mercury label.
Washington's version was popularised for a new generation when it was used as a backing track in a 1992 television advertisement for Levi's jeans. In the commercial, which is influenced by the 1968 Burt Lancaster film The Swimmer, a young man runs through an American suburban neighbourhood stripping down to only his jeans, invades private gardens and dives into a series of swimming pools to shrink his jeans.

Dinah Washington - Mad About The Boy
(256 kbps, front cover inlcuded)

Singers & Players - Vacuum Pumping (1988)

"Singers and Players" is a reggae collective formed by Adrian Sherwood and featuring various members of the New Age Steppers, Creation Rebel, the Roots Radics, and other musicians affiliated with the On-U Sound label. After a brief period of creativity in the early '80s, the collective was stagnant until 1998's "Revenge of the Underdog", which featured vocals from Bim Sherman and Prince Far I. "Staggering Heights" followed in the spring of 2000.              

By 1988, the Singers & Players saga was coming to an end, many original members were now gone, new faces were still appearing, but the creative frissom that had driven this collective was quickly dissipating. This was perhaps due to Adrian Sherwood's disinterest, as the producer remained shaken and removed from operations by Prince Far I's senseless murder years earlier.
In any event, the ensemble stirred one final time, to release the "Vacuum Pumping" album, a fine, if not quite inspired set, that proved to be their swan song. Bim Sherman's "Run Them Away" featured on that set, a militant number that gives the governments and warmongers a taste of their own violent medicine.

The riddim is a fine one, and although sparser than earlier efforts, well this was what the contemporary dancehalls demanded, and the backing still bristles with militancy. But for all his vengeful lyrics, Bim Sherman is never going to convince anyone of that he's a real menace; in fact, the backing female vocalists are more threatening than he is. Still, it's the quiet ones that often found to be the most murderous, so the wicked best beware just in case.

Not their best work, but still a reminder of Singers & Players's strength and conviction.          

Tracklist:

Run Them Away5:18
Lighthouse / Dreamworld4:25
Holy Scripture5:38
To Be Free3:21
I Don't Want Aids3:28
Boom Um Baff Um5:22
Pneumatic4:13
These Eyes4:15

Singers & Players - Vacuum Pumping (1988)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

  

Floyd Westerman - Custer Died For Your Sins (1969)

This is one of the few recordings made by this intriguing Sioux musician Floyd Westerman who also goes by the name of Red Crow, which he traces back to his grandfather.

He inherited this recording back from the label that had originally financed and released it, and it contains most of Westerman's most famous songs. He doesn't seem to have created a large catalog of compositions in his career, but the tricks he does have up his sleeve are good ones. The title song is tough and to the point, while other songs such as "Here Come the Anthros" reveal a stinging satirical sense of humor.

Two anthems on the second side are particularly hard-hitting: "Missionaries," certainly a well-deserved jab, and "Where Were You When," which takes a poke at Native American pride of the opportunistic sort.

Westerman is an engaging singer with a catchy sense of rhythm, and it is a shame he hasn't cranked out another dozen albums of protest songs; his people certainly have plenty to complain about.    

Tracklist:
Custer Died For Your Sins3:18
Missionaries2:20
World Without Tomorrow3:36
Goin' Back2:58
35 More Miles3:40
Red, White And Black1:45
Where Were You Then3:12
Here Come The Anthros1:57
They Didn't Listen3:21
Task Force1:40
B.I.A.2:20

Floyd Westerman - Custer Died For Your Sins (1969)    
(256 kbps, cover art included)

Dienstag, 12. November 2019

Inti-Illimani - Inti-Illimani ("Cóndores Del Sol") (1970) d


The New Song movement that emerged in the 1960s in Chile was rooted in popular musical traditions that were passed down through generations. The young musicians drew from folk traditions but created new musical, instrumental, and poetic forms that revolutionized the musical culture of Chile.

Songs like “Plegaria a un Labrador” (Víctor Jara), “Venceremos” (Inti-Illimani), and “El Pueblo Unido” (Quilapayún), with their stirring music and socially conscious lyrics, became well-known anthems of the popular movements of the 1960s and 70s. They had a universal quality as well, crossing borders and communicating with people around the world who shared similar dreams of social justice.

Inti-Illimani (Inti-E-gee-manee), from the Aymara dialect, means "Sun of the Illimani," in reference to a mountain at La Paz, Bolivia. Latin American folk music ensemble from Bolivia & Chile. The band was formed in 1967 by a group of university students: Pedro Yañez (musical director), Jorge Coulon, Max Berrú, Horacio Durán, Oscar Guzmán, Luis Cifuentes and Ciro Retamal. That same year Luis Cifuentes was replaced by Luis Espinoza, and Ciro Retamal and Oscar Guzmán quit the band, joining them Horacio “Loro” Salinas. Pedro Yáñez also left the band in 1968.

They acquired widespread popularity in Chile for their song "Venceremos" (We shall win!) which became the anthem of the Popular Unity government of Salvador Allende. At the moment of September 11, 1973's Chilean coup they were on tour in Europe and were unable to return to their country where their music was proscribed by the ruling military junta. In Europe their music took on a multifarious character, incorporating elements of European baroque and other traditional music forms to their rich and colourful Latin American rhythms - creating a distinctive fusion of modern world music. They are perhaps the best internationally known members of the nueva canción movement. 


Tracklist:

01 - Lamento del Indio [o Los Arados]
02 - Huajra
03 - Nuestro México, Febrero 23
04 - Dolencias
05 - Quiaquenita
06 - La Petenera
07 - Carnavalito de la Quebrada de Humahuaca
08 - Así Como Hoy Matan Negros
09 - La Mariposa
10 - Flor De Sancayo
11 - Fiesta Pueña
12 - Madrugada Llanera



(192 kbps, cover art included)

Montag, 11. November 2019

Klaus der Geiger - Arbeit macht frei (1973)

Music has provided an outlet for expressing the political vision of violinist and composer Klaus der Geiger (born Klaus von Wrochem). Performing as a street musician since 1970, Klaus der Geiger has spoken out against housing shortages and the limiting of tenant and human rights. In addition to performing many concerts for the homeless, he has participated in numerous demonstrations against the transportation of radioactive whey powder into Third World countries.

A native of the small German city of Doppoldiswalde, halfway between Dresden and Dubi, Klaus der Geiger studied in Cologne under American composer Mauricio Kagel. Traveling to the United States in the late-'60s, he attracted attention as a political-minded street musician in Boston and San Diego. When his request for a visa extension was rejected, due to his political outspokenness, he returned to Germany.

This agit-rock album was ecorded 1973 at Studio 70 in Munich. This is obviously the earlier first issue. Private pressing and not distributed by a big company. The later release was distributed by EMI Electrola.


Tracklist:

A1 Arbeit macht frei 6:53
A2 Ich bin so satt 6:52
A3 Zahltag 4:12
A4 Suff Suff, Kiff Kiff 4:00 
B1 Müllers Kuh 6:30
B2 Töff töff Straßenbahn 4:52
B3 Christian 4:28
B4 Herr Generaldirektor 5:37

(192 kbps, cover art included)

Samstag, 9. November 2019

Manfred Lemm & Ensemble ‎– Gehat hob ich a Hejm (Jiddische Lieder des Volkssängers und Arbeiterdichters Mordechaj Gebirtig (Krakau 1877 - 1942))

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.


Mordechaj Gebirtig was a Yiddish bards, folk singer and labour poet. He was killed in 1942 in the ghetto in Polish Krakau. Germand singer-guitarist Manfred Lemm became obsessed by the works of Gebertig and collected, researched and adapted all his songs. Lemm put poems to music and brought his collection together in a weighty book, including lyrics, translations and music notations through which a peek into the life of Gebirtig is visible. Background stories and interesting facts were added to all songs and poems. There is also an introduction into Yiddish, so all the original beauty of the poems can be understood.

This first collection of songs by Mordechaj Gebirtig in interpretations by Manfred Lemm was recorded in Tonstudio Ballhorn, Odenthal, 29./30. Dezember 1984.


Tracklist:

A1 Gehat hob ich a Hejm 2:22
A2 Blajb gesunt mir, Kroke! 2:46
A3 In Geto 2:45
A4 Hungerik dajn Kezele 4:46
A5 Krigssinwalid 4:48
A6 Awreml der Marwicher 4:48
B1 Kartofl-Sup mit Schwomen 3:57
B2 Kinder-Jorn 5:46
B3 Doss Lidl fun goldenem Land 4:29
B4 Noch a Glesele Tej 3:05
B5 Draj Techterlech 4:00
B6 Kum, Lejbke, tanzn 4:30


Manfred Lemm & Ensemble ‎– Gehat hob ich a Hejm (Jiddische Lieder Ddes Volkssängers und Arbeiterdichters Mordechaj Gebirtig (Krakau 1877 - 1942))
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Markus Wolf - Freunde sterben nicht

"Im Lebenslauf verteidigt der Mensch das einzige, was er besitzt: seine Zeit und seinen Eigensinn ... Gefühle können Partisanen sein, Katalysatoren, Störenfriede, Bremser und Vollender. Sind sind geheimnisvilles Inventar der Geschichtslandschaften, sie begründen bestimmte Prozesse weit jenseits des organisierten guten Willens, der sich Politik nennt." (Alexander Kluge)


Markus Wolf died 13 years ago. Some years ago i read the book "Freunde sterben nicht" by Markus Wolf. Four of the nine chapters of the book are presented on this audio book by Markus Wolf himself.

Markus Wolf led the foreign intelligence division of the East German Ministry for State Security, known as the Stasi, during much of the Cold War.

Born in Hechingen, Province of Hohenzollern (now Baden-Württemberg), Wolf was the son of the writer and physician Friedrich Wolf and brother of film director Konrad Wolf. His father was a member of the Communist Party of Germany, and after Adolf Hitler gained power, they emigrated via Switzerland and France to Moscow because of their Communist conviction and because Markus's father was Jewish.
During his exile, he first attended the German Karl Liebknecht Schule and later a Russian school. Afterwards, he entered the Moscow Institute of Airplane Engineering (Moscow Aviation Institute), which was evacuated to Alma Ata after Germany's attack on the Soviet Union. There he was told to join the Comintern, where he among others was prepared for undercover work behind enemy lines.
After the end of the war, he was sent to Berlin with the Ulbricht Group, led by Walter Ulbricht to work as a journalist for a radio station in the Soviet Zone of occupation. He was among those journalists who observed the entire Nuremberg Trials against the principal Nazi leaders.

In 1953, at the age of 30, he was among the founding members of the foreign intelligence service within the ministry of state security. As intelligence chief, Wolf achieved great success in penetrating the government, political and business circles of West Germany with spies.  He later explained to the publication Tikkun, "Many other Jews took a similar path, becoming active in the Stasi to hunt down former Nazis." He justified his decision on the grounds that Western powers used high-ranking Nazis, including Reinhard Gehlen, to build up their postwar intelligence services.

"Misha" Wolf's impact was undeniable. He was said to have been remarkably effective in stealing West Germany's weekly intelligence reports and was credited with planting thousands of moles in Western capitals, NATO headquarters and essential industries in science and technology.
One operative, Günter Guillaume, helped to topple the Social Democratic government of West German Chancellor Willy Brandt in 1974. Another agent, Markus Wolf said, became a secretary in the office of West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt and provided details of communications between Schmidt and then-President Jimmy Carter.

He retired in 1986 in order to continue the work of his late brother Konrad in writing the story of their upbringing in Moscow in the 1930s. The book Troika came out on the same day in East and West Germany.
Shortly before German reunification he fled the country, and sought political asylum in Russia and Austria. When denied, he returned to Germany where he was arrested by German police. Wolf claimed to have refused an offer of "seven figures", a new identity and a home in California from the Central Intelligence Agency to defect to the United States. In 1993 he was convicted of treason by the Oberlandesgericht Düsseldorf and sentenced to six years imprisonment. This was later quashed by the German supreme court, because Wolf was acting from the territory of the then-independent GDR. In 1997 he was convicted of unlawful detention, coercion, and bodily harm, and was given a suspended sentence of two years imprisonment. He was additionally sentenced to three days' imprisonment for refusing to testify against Paul Gerhard Flämig when the former West German politician was accused in 1993 of atomic espionage. Wolf said that Flämig was not the agent that he had mentioned in his memoirs: Flämig had unwittingly been probed by intelligence agents during authorised discussions in the GDR.
Markus Wolf died in his sleep at his Berlin home on 9 November 2006.

With "Freunde sterben nicht", Markus Wolf looks back on his life. With impressive candor he evokes friends and companions, and gives insight into his own thinking.

He reports about friends who crossed his path and accompanied him on his way. There are people whose attitudes are as different as their paths: the "forgotten soldier" Leonard, the high school friend of the Arbat and later professor of literature Alik, the GDR "Kundschafterin" Johanna ...
From the chapter about Johanna: "So, wie die Bauernaufstände des Mittelalters trotz ihrer Niederlagen reichliche Spuren hinterlassen haben, meint Johanna, werden auch von unserem Wirken Spuren bleiben. (...) Gewiss empfinde ich, wie auch Johanna, neben Glück oft Trauer. Trauer über die verpassten Chancen in der Gesellschaft, der wir unsere Fähigkeiten und energien gaben. Trauer über die gegenwärtig geringen Möglichkeiten, auf den unheilvollen Lauf der Entwicklung in der Welt einzuwirken. (...) Ich fühle mich den toten Freunden verpflichtet, ich möchte ihre Gestalten und ihre Gedanken festhalten. Mögen unsere Spuren nicht zu schnell verwehen."

Donnerstag, 7. November 2019

AG Geige - Trickbeat (1990) - GDR Subculture Vol. 10

GDR Subculture Vol. 10:

AG Geige was formed 1986 in Karl-Marx-Stadt (nowadays Chemnitz) in the former German Democratic Republic .
Members were: Frank Bretschneider, Torsten Eckhardt (until 1989), Olaf Bender (replacement for Torsten Eckhardt), Jan and Ina Kummer. For an East German band they played a unique blend of electronic music with dadaistic lyrics sending up government sanctioned media blurb without being too openly critical.
The band was championed by a few late night DJs from DT64 (Government run East German Youth Radio) and found niche audience amongst East German alternative types. However, AG Geige felt their own limitations during live performances due to lack of decent technical equipment. In 1987 they released a tape called "Yachtclub & Buchteln", followed by the tape "Trickbeat" which was released 1990 on AMIGA (the G.D.R. state record label) and later that year on ZONG. In 1991 they made their last album "Raabe?" (on TRAUMTON MV).
After the fall of the wall 1989 AG Geige played gigs around all of Germany (e.g. Popkomm) and Switzerland. Their biggest concert was in 1991 as part of 3rd International Artrock-Festivals in Frankfurt am Main, which Frankfurter Rundschau described as „Nullmusik“ (Zero Music).
AG Geige disbanded 1993.

The album "Trickbeat" was recorded at Rundfunk of GDR, April - September 1989. It was produced by Lutz Schramm.

Tracklist:

A1 Das Möbiusband / Zeychen und Wunder 2:03
A2 Triebwerk 1:16
A3 Felix 1:34
A4 Kosmonauten 2:29
A5 Fingerwalze 2:57
A6 So sollte es nicht sein! 2:22
A7 Küchenlied 5:52
A8 Das Scheusal 3:27
B1 Déjà Vu (Snap Mix #2) 2:51
B2 Hasensong 1:26
B3 Schöner Leben 3:43
B4 Rohleder's 2:07
B5 Maximale Gier (Backing Vocals – Marion Brasch) 3:13
B6 Nach Hause (Instr.) 1:34
B7 Gesichter 3:02
B8 Stadt-Fisch 1:44


AG Geige - Trickbeat (1990)
(ca. 192 kbps, cover art included)