Dienstag, 29. September 2020

VA - Canto A La Revolución De Octubre (1978)

Originally posted 25.10.2017:

Today marks the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution. An event that created the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and its seven-decade experiment in Marxist government.

The Russian Revolution, commonly referred to as Red October, the October Uprising, the Bolshevik Revolution, or Bolshevik Coup was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolsheviks led by Vladimir Lenin that was instrumental in the larger Russian Revolution of 1917. It took place with an armed insurrection in Petrograd on the 25th of October (7 November, New Style) 1917.
It followed and capitalized on the February Revolution of the same year, which overthrew the Tsarist autocracy and resulted in a provisional government after a transfer of power proclaimed by Grand Duke Michael, brother of Tsar Nicolas II, who declined to take power after the Tsar stepped down. During this time, urban workers began to organize into councils (Russian: Soviet) wherein revolutionaries criticized the provisional government and its actions. After the Congress of Soviets, now the governing body, had its second session, it elected members of the Bolsheviks and other leftist groups such as the Left Socialist Revolutionaries to important positions within the new state of affairs. This immediately initiated the establishment of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, the world's first self-proclaimed socialist state. On 17 July 1918, the Tsar and his family were executed with Lenin's approval.
The revolution was led by the Bolsheviks, who used their influence in the Petrograd Soviet to organize the armed forces. Bolshevik Red Guards forces under the Military Revolutionary Committee began the occupation of government buildings on 7 November 1917 (New Style). The following day, the Winter Palace (the seat of the Provisional government located in Petrograd, then capital of Russia), was captured.
The long-awaited Constituent Assembly elections were held on 12 November 1917. In contrast to their majority in the Soviets, the Bolsheviks only won 175 seats in the 715-seat legislative body, coming in second behind the Socialist Revolutionary Party, which won 370 seats, although the SR Party no longer existed as a whole party by that time, as the Left SRs had gone into coalition with the Bolsheviks from October 1917 to March 1918. The Constituent Assembly was to first meet on 28 November 1917, but its convocation was delayed until 5 January 1918 by the Bolsheviks. On its first and only day in session, the Constituent Assembly came into conflict with the Soviets, and it rejected Soviet decrees on peace and land, resulting in the Constituent Assembly being dissolved the next day by order of the Congress of Soviets.
As the revolution was not universally recognized, there followed the struggles of the Russian Civil War (1917–22) and the creation of the Soviet Union in 1922.

The album "Canto A La Revolucion De Octubre" was edited by the "Juventudes Comunistas de Chile" as a tribute to the 60th anniversary of the Russion Revolution in 1977. Originally released in France in 1977 on "Le Chant Du Monde", it was later distributed in Spain via "Movieplay". The compilation features Nueva Canción artists like Victor Jara, Quilapayun, Isabel and Angel Parra, Inti-Illimani and Osvaldo Rodriguez.


Tracklist:

1. Manifiesto – Víctor Jara
2. Por montañas y praderas – Quilapayún
3. Ayúdame, Valentina – Isabel Parra
4. La patria – Osvaldo Rodríguez
5. Pájaro Chile – Ángel Parra
6. Himno de las JJ.CC. de Chile – Quilapayún
7. Venceremos – Coro del ejército soviético
8. Hacia la libertad – Inti-Illimani
9. Lautaro – Patricio Castillo
10. 1917 (versión de “Canción sin límites”) – Patricio Manns
11. Al creador de la grandeza – Taller Recabarren
12. Octubre – Taller Recabarren
13. Día de la victoria – Quilapayún



VA - Canto A La Revolución De Octubre (1978)
(192 kbps, cover art included)

VA - The Trojan Singles Collection Part 2

This second of two volumes chronicling Trojan's singles takes in the music from ska and rocksteady up through the early days of reggae. Amongst the highlights are two scorchers from Dave and Ansel Collins ("Monkey Spanner," "Double Barrel"), a skinhead classic compliments of the Upsetters ("Return of Django"), and a ska gem by the Skatalites ("Guns of Navarrone"). 

And while the hits are plenty -- including sides by Desmond Dekker, the Israelites, and the Ethiopians -- there's also a steady supply of relatively obscure booty from Judge Dread, Rupie Edwards, and Lord Tanamo. After you make your way through the singles collection, just make sure to check out the hundreds of other prime titles of vintage reggae the label has to offer


Tracklist:
1 –Dandy Livingstone - Suzanne Beware Of The Devil
2 –Scott English - Brandy
3 –Upsetters - Return Of Django
4 –Judge Dread - Big Seven
5 –Dave & Ansel Collins - Double Barrel
6 –Don Downing - Lonely Days Lonely Nights
7 –Desmond Dekker & The Aces - 007 (Shanty Town)
8 –Bob & Marcia - Young, Gifted & Black
9 –Judge Dread - Big Six
10 –Dave & Ansel Collins - Monkey Spanner
11 –Upsetters - Dollar In The Teeth
12 –Tony Tribe - Red Red Wine
13 –Judge Dread - Big Eight
14 –Desmond Dekker & The Aces - It Mek
15 –Ethiopians - Train To Skaville
16 –Judge Dread - Big Nine
17 –Skatalites - Guns Of Navarone
18 –Desmond Dekker - Pickney Girl
19 –Lord Tanamo - I'm In The Mood For Ska
20 –Dennis Brown - Money In My Pocket
21 –Desmond Dekker & The Aces - Israelites
22 –Hot Shots - Snoopy Vs The Red Baron
23 –Judge Dread - Je T'Aime (Moi Non Plus)
24 –Susan Cadogan - Hurt So Good
25 –Rupie Edwards - Ire Feelings

(320 kbps, cover art included)

Samstag, 26. September 2020

VA - 14. Festival des politischen Liedes (1984, Amiga)

Singer-songwriters from arount the world met each other at regular events such as the East Berlin "Festival des politischen Liedes", the "Fete de la Humanité" in Paris, the Italian "Festa de L´Unita" and the Chilean "Festival de al Cancion Comprometida". 

It is important to note that, in the late 1960s and 1970s, international music festivals were not only forums for musical exchange, they also served as plattforms for the development and reconfirmation of socio-political ideas and values; and sometimes, aesthetic questions were entirely overruled by socio-political concerns.


Tracklist:

A1 –Oktoberklub - Unter einem Hut
A2 –Shanna Bitschewskaja -  Sag mir, wo die Blumen sind
A3 –Mercedes Sosa - Ventanita De Laurel (Das Lorbeerfensterchen) 
A4 - Utamaduni - Chuo cha sanaa (Die Kunsthochschule)
A5 –Zupfgeigenhansel - Miteinander
A6 –Kaláka - Lakodalmas Népdazok (Ungarische Hochzeitsvolkstänze)
A7 –Wacholder - Wenn ich einmal der Herrgott wär
B1 –Hannes Wader - Gut wieder hier zu sein
B2 –Yolocamba-I-Ta - Los Vientos De Octubre (Oktoberstürme)
B3 –Gerhard Schöne - Erinnerung
B4 –Erste Allgemeine Verunsicherung - Total verunsichert 
B5 –Jackson Kaujeua - Independence Or Death - We Shall Win
B6 –Sérgio Godinho - Chula
B7 –Dingle Spike - From clare To Here


VA - 14. Festival des politischen Liedes (1984, Amiga)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Barbara Thalheim & Pankow ‎– Ende der Märchen (1992)

Barbara Thalheim was born in Leipzig. Her father was a cultural administrator. He had also been a Communist who in 1933 had emigrated first to Africa and later to France. However, he was handed over to the Gestapo, and by May 1945 when Germany's Nazi years ended in military defeat, he had survived three years as a detainee in the Dachau concentration camp.

When her parents married, her father was 40 years old and her mother was 22. Her early schooling was in Leipzig, but after she was about 12 she attended school in Berlin where her grandmother still lived: she was struck by the stark contrast between the dialects of her native Saxony and of Berlin. Dialect differences left her feeling out of place in both regions, as a result of which, she later stated that she had at that time "hated all her schools". When she was around 13 the entire family relocated to Berlin where she would later undertake her professional training and begin her career. Barbara Thalheim was trained as a singer at the Zentralen Studio für Unterhaltungskunst (Central Studio for Entertainment Art). This was followed by further training, initially by correspondence course and later, between 1973 and 1976 in composition, under Wolfram Heicking at Berlin's "Hanns Eisler" Music Academy.

Between 1970 and 1972 Thalheim sang in the "Berlin chanson group" ("Chansongruppe Berlin") During this time she released, through "Amiga", her first recording. Her next professional partner was a classical String quartet, with which she continued to work till 1980. Before that, however, from 1977 she was touring abroad, making regular guest appearances in West Germany, the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland and France.

Despite the unusually wide range of foreign tours, she was also releasing further records in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Her first two LPs - "Lebenslauf" ("Resumé") and "Was fang ich mit mir an" ("Where do I begin?") - appeared under license in West Germany. Until 1993 the lyrics for her songs were written by the writer-journalist Fritz-Jochen Kopka, with whom she lived for 25 years, and who was the father of her two daughters. She made stage appearances with many of the international musical stars of the day, including Georges Moustaki, Konstantin Wecker, Herman van Veen, Hanns Dieter Hüsch, Marek Grechuta, Hana Hegerová, and Georg Danzer.

Foreign travel was seen as a privilege conferred (or not) by state authorities in the countries ruled under Soviet direction at this time, and in 1980, following a change of policy by East Germany's ruling SED (party), Barbara Thalheim went public with criticism of a newly imposed travel ban on East German artists wishing to tour in western Europe. Although the text could not be published in East Germany, its publication in West Germany meant that interested parties in the east quickly became aware of it. She was immediately deprived of her party membership and served with her own personal travel and recording ban. Eventually, however, she was permitted to renew her recording career with "Amiga", albeit with a different support band, and she was again able to take part in concerts and talk-shows in West Germany.

 In 1990 Thalheim undertook a tour with the rockband, Pankow. Later she produced, with Pankow, the memorably entitled album "Ende der Märchen " ("End of the Fairy-tale"), produced during December 1991/January 1992, and published later in 1992.
Tracklist:

1. Und keiner sagt: Ich liebe dich 4:21
2. Valentin 3:18
3. Sehnsucht nach der Schönhauser 4:37
4. Kein Tag ist sicher vor der Nacht 2:59
5. Drachenlied 2:56
6. Die Trommlerin 2:53
7. Als ich vierzehn war 4:10
8. Kinder der Nacht 4:11
9. Meine Augen 4:53
10. Endlich eine 4:04
11. Ende der Märchen 2:38

Barbara Thalheim & Pankow ‎– Ende der Märchen (1992)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Ras Michael & The Sons of Negus - Kibir-Am-Lak - Glory To God

Originally released in 1977, this album continues the tradition pioneered by The Sons of Negus, Count Ossie and The Mystic Revelation of Rastafari.

The album opens with the churchical hymn chant of "New Name", with its piano intro and eerie phased guitar. Robbie Shakespeare's bass is a huge underpinning boom, grounding the tune and merging with thudding Binghi drums.

"If You Only Knew" is a more calming chant, but again, is clearly derived from hymnal form and structure.

The heaviest, most aggressive track here is the aural purge of "Bablyon" AKA "Free up Jah People", with its lyric about Jah conspiring to bomb the world in vengeance for man's corruption - it's not a peacable, reflective lyric, but it does full justice to the hammer like bass drop in this tune. At times, Nyabinghi drumming can sound lethargic and soporific, but this work is energetic, inspired and inventive, a complex undertow of taut sound.

"Booma Yeah" is partially chanted in Amharic. The opening blessing from Ras Michael is a recital and a meditation, reminding the listener of the origin of the drum in Africa. That heartbeat he reminds, is echoed in The Sons of Negus. After the orthodox opening, this track veers into Hamilton Bohannon / Tony Allen afro funk - it works beautifully, with Shakespeare's agile bass and the taut Binghi percussion. It sounds similar to Hamilton Bohannon's long deleted 45 "South African Man" with it's hypnotic keyboard and drum structure.

"Over the Mountain" speaks of nature as a holy place of Jah spirit.


Tracklist:

1New Name5:02
2Wicked Men4:45
3No-Hoppers4:34
4Zion Land4:05
5If You Only Knew7:25
6Babylon3:38
7Booma Yeah5:39
8Over The Mountain4:41


(256 kbps, cover art included)

Freitag, 25. September 2020

Au Pairs - Live In Berlin (1983)

Recorded at Berlin Women's Festival (Feministisches Rockfestival) 1981 at Tempodrom, "Live in Berlin" is an effective document of an economical, measured, and purposeful band, who were always well regarded for their live performances. The Au Pairs weren't the first feminist post-punk group on the block, but they were more accessible than the Slits and generally easier on the ear than the Poison Girls. Lesley Woods' voice dominates proceedings, as usual, and the set list includes most of the notable moments from the Au Pairs' limited catalogue.

There was debate when this album came out in 1983 whether it was officially sanctioned or not. Lead singer Lesley Woods received a £5,000 advance for the tapes of this live recording, and then left the band. The rest of the band disowned the release and made this statement "The release of the album 'Live In Berlin' was not authorised by the Au Pairs. This should be apparent from its poor quality and the banality of the cover design and sleeve notes."


Tracklist:
A1 Diet
A2 Headache (For Michelle)
A3 Dear John
A4 Love Story
A5 Set Up
A6 Inconvenience
B1 Armagh
B2 Repetition
B3 We're So Cool
B4 Cum Again
B5 Piece Of My Heart

Au Pairs - Live In Berlin (1983)

(320 kbps, cover art included)

Donnerstag, 24. September 2020

Die Dreigroschenoper - With Hildegard Knef & Curd Jürgens (Wolfgang Staudte´s Film Adaption, 1962)

PhotobucketHildegard Knef was Germany’s most prominent postwar stage-and-screen actress. Also known abroad as Hildegarde Neff (apparently for easier pronunciation purposes), her role as a returning survivor of a Nazi concentration camp in Wolfgang Staudte’s "Die Mörder sind unter uns" (The Murderers Are Amongst Us) (1946) brought her fame overnight.

She died at 76 on February 1, 2002 in a Berlin hospital from complications stemming from a lung infection. Born 28 December 1925 in Ulm, Germany, Hildegard Knef grew up in the Schöneberg neighborhood of Berlin, the same as Marlene Dietrich, whose career and life style she resembles in related steps to fame. Employed at 17 by the Ufa Studios during the Second World War, she worked as a painter and cartoonist in the animation department while studying acting at the Babelsberg Film School.

Her first film role, at 18, in Harald Braun’s "Träumerei" (Dreaming) (1944) fell on the cutting room floor. But her talent as a cool impervious blonde was quickly recognized, and she was given better parts in films directed by the intellectual phalanx in the Goebbels film office: Gerhard Lamprecht, Helmut Käutner, and Erich Engel. During the closing days of the war, she was arrested on the eastern front, disguised as a man, and jailed briefly by the advancing Polish army experiences she would later used to good effect in "The Murderers Are Amongst Us", the first DEFA film production.

Often referred to her as "the thinking man’s Marlene Dietrich", she embodied a new style of woman, composed and detached, the exact opposite of Third Reich heroines. Turning to the stage, Hildegard Knef was engaged by Boleslaw Barlog at the Schlosspark-Theater to play leading roles in Shakespeare, Eugene O'Neill, Marcel Pagnol, and Romain Rolland. But after another successful screen role in Rudolf Jugert’s "Film ohne Titel" (Film Without a Title) (1947), an ironic spoof of filmmaking, for which she was awarded Best Actress at the 1948 Locarno film festival, she left for the United States at the invitation of David O. Selznick, changing her name to Hildegarde Neff.

But after two years of unemployment in Hollywood, she returned to Germany to star in Willi Forst’s "Die Sünderin" (The Sinner) (1950), the scandalous story of a woman who prostitutes herself to save a painter from going blind and appears naked in one key scene. Throughout the 1950s, she was sought by both Hollywood and German production companies, teamed with such leading men as Hans Albers, Erich von Stroheim, Tyrone Power, and Gregory Peck. Julien Duvivier directed her in France, Carol Reed in Britain, and Henry Hathaway in Hollywood.

Her great stage success was a ten-year span on Broadway, from 1954 to 1965, playing Ninotchka 675 times in Cole Porter’s musical comedy "Silk Stockings". The role proved so successful that she began a fabled career as, in Ella Fitzgerald’s words, "the world’s greatest singer without a voice".

In 1963, after playing "Pirate Jenny" in Wolfgang Staudte’s film adaptation of Brecht/Weill’s "Die Dreigroschenoper" ("The Threepenny Opera"), she launched a new career as a chanson-singer, firmed a lasting
friendship with Marlene Dietrich, and worked with Billy Wilder in "Fedora" (1978), her last important screen role. Afflicted by cancer, Hildegard Knef showed great courage by fighting back and undergoing several operations. Between stage and TV appearances, she wrote "Der geschenkte Gaul" (Gift Horse), a bestselling autobiography, and "Das Urteil" (The Verdict), the story of her fight against cancer.

Here is her 1962 appearance as "Pirate Jenny" in "Die Dreigroschenoper" (Three Penny Opera with Curd Jürgens and Gerd Fröbe) - another classical piece showing her incredible acting abilities.


Die Dreigroschenoper - With Hildegard Knef & Curd Jürgens
(192 kbps, cover art included)

Ernst Busch - Trotz Alledem - Sozialistenmarsch 1891 - Lieder der Zuversicht 1918 (Rote Reihe 3) - 100th Anniversary of the November Revolution 1918

Originally posted in November 2018.

The German Revolution forced the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II, ending the Hohenzollern monarchy and plunging Germany into weeks of political struggle and uncertainty. The revolution began with the Kiel mutiny of late October, which within a week had spread to numerous towns and military bases across Germany. Revolutionary councils, in a similar mould to Russian soviets, formed across the nation and began demanding political reform. Most of these demands were socialist or social-democratic: an end to the war, the abolition of the monarchy, greater democratic representation and economic equality. On November 7th the revolution claimed its first royal scalp when Bavarian king Ludwig III fled across the border to Austria. On the same day in Berlin, radical revolutionaries demanded the abdication and trial of the Kaiser.

Faced with dwindling support in his entourage and from his military advisors, Wilhelm equivocated about whether or not to abdicate. Even if he was forced to give up the imperial throne, the deluded kaiser believed he could remain as king of Prussia. The decision was made for him on November 9th, when chancellor Max von Baden announced the Kaiser’s abdication, without his endorsement. Wilhelm sought advice from defence minister Wilhelm Groener and military chief Paul von Hindenburg, who told the isolated kaiser that the military could no longer support him. The following day, November 10th, he boarded a train and fled to the Netherlands, where he would remain until his death in 1941. Allied demands for his extradition and trial were ignored by the Dutch monarch.

Back in Germany, the abdication of the Kaiser was swiftly followed by chancellor’s resignation. During von Baden’s month in office he had been unable to broker a peace deal, so he departed, handing the reins of power to Friedrich Ebert. This was a move of questionable legality; the kaiser’s departure meant there was no head of state to appoint a new chancellor, while von Baden did not seek advice from his cabinet or endorsement from the Reichstag. Still, Ebert was probably the logical successor. He was the leader of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), Germany’s largest political party, and had been a member of von Baden’s cabinet. Ebert’s appointment was probably designed to appease the left-wing groups that had taken control of German cities, and thus take the sails out of the revolution.

As the ink was drying on Ebert’s signature, his SPD colleague Philipp Scheidemann made a proclamation – without Ebert’s permission or knowledge – declaring the beginning of the new German republic:

"These enemies of the people are finished forever. The Kaiser has abdicated. He and his friends have disappeared; the people have won over all of them, in every field. Prince Max von Baden has handed over the office of Reich chancellor to representative Ebert. Our friend will form a new government consisting of workers of all socialist parties. This new government may not be interrupted in their work, to preserve peace and to care for work and bread. Workers and soldiers, be aware of the historic importance of this day: exorbitant things have happened. Great and incalculable tasks are waiting for us. Everything for the people. Everything by the people. Nothing may happen to the dishonour of the Labour Movement. Be united, faithful and conscientious. The old and rotten, the monarchy has collapsed. The new may live. Long live the German Republic!"

But Ebert and Scheidemann were not the only contenders for power. Two hours after Scheidemann’s declaration, Karl Liebknecht – a far more radical socialist – issued his own proclamation, announcing the birth of the Free Socialist Republic of Germany. Liebknecht belonged to the Spartakusbund (or ‘Spartacus League’, often simply referred to as ‘Spartacists’). The Spartacists began as the radical left-wing of the SPD, before splitting from the party in 1915 over its support for World War I. They were led by Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, socialist activists and writers of Jewish descent who drew their inspiration from the 1917 Russian Revolution. They had no regard for Ebert and the moderate wing of the SPD, damning them as instruments of the bourgeoisie: pro-war, conservative and counter-revolutionary. The Spartacist program instead favoured an armed revolution to seize power and begin the formation of a German Soviet state. In the last weeks of 1918, as Ebert’s government was finalising the armistice and organising elections for a national assembly, the Spartacists were preparing for an armed uprising.

The revolution reignited on Christmas Eve 1918 when unpaid sailors occupied a government building, where they were joined by Spartacist members and armed guards. The Reichswehr was sent to arrest the protestors but withdrew after a brief standoff. On December 30th, the Spartacists held a congress in Berlin where they re-formed as the KPD (Communist Party of Germany). There, Rosa Luxemburg told those assembled:

"The 9th of November was a weak, half-hearted, half-conscious and chaotic attempt to overthrow the existing public power and to put an end to class rule. What now must be done is that all the forces of the proletariat should be concentrated in an attack on the very foundations of capitalist society. There, at the base, where the individual employer confronts his wage slaves… there, step by step, we must seize the means of power from the rulers and take them into our own hands… And we must not forget that the revolution is able to do its work with extraordinary speed."

On January 5th 1919, the Spartacists attempted an armed takeover of Berlin. Hundreds of industrial workers and unionists were given arms and ordered to seize critical points around the capital. Telegraph offices, police stations, government buildings and the SPD headquarters were all occupied; the revolutionaries also barricaded or manned checkpoints on key roads and intersections. Liebknecht and Luxemburg also called for a general strike, hoping to trigger a workers’ revolution against the Ebert government. The Spartacist uprising was initially successful, chiefly because it had caught unprepared Berlin police and government units by surprise. In the first few days of the revolution, the Spartacists won most of their street fights and managed to paralyse significant areas of Berlin. But while Liebknecht had orchestrated the capture of Berlin and drummed up support from a half-million Berliners, he had no clear plan for seizing power. With the uprising at its peak, the Spartacist leader and his 53-person revolutionary committee dithered; rather than demanding the overthrow of the government, Liebknecht withdrew to an office to write newspaper articles.

Meanwhile, the SPD government was coddling together political and military support to resist the revolution. Ebert recalled defence minister Gustav Noske and sent him to Berlin. Noske began organising the mobilisation of around 3,000 Freikorps, or volunteer militias comprised of former soldiers. The men of the Freikorps were, for the most part, fiercely nationalist and anti-communist. More importantly, they were trained, battle-hardened troops who were still equipped with weapons of war: rifles and machine guns, artillery, even flamethrowers. By January 10th, these Freikorps were massing and preparing in the suburbs of western Berlin. They advanced into the city the following morning and engaged in a series of bloody street battles with the rebels, who for the most part were hopelessly outgunned.

“During the first months of 1919, we lived under siege in Berlin and under the terror of martial law. Any political activity was prohibited for us communists. We had no journal and no legal means to confront the lies and defamations of the government and the press. Any expression of public discontent, anything that did not suit the authorities, was blamed on the Spartacists… We had to organise illegally and under the most dangerous conditions. But the death of our party leaders could not keep us from following their vision. The KPD had to be consolidated.”
Karl Retzlaw, Spartacist
It took less than three days for the Freikorps to crush the Spartacist uprising and capture Berlin. Its leaders, Liebknecht and Luxemburg, were chased through the suburbs for another two days, before being betrayed and captured. Luxemburg was beaten to death with rifle butts, her body hurled into Berlin’s largest canal. Liebknecht was shot in the head and dumped at a local morgue. These summary executions invited criticism from Ebert and his ministers, who promised that those responsible would be held accountable. But evidence obtained later suggests that Noske and probably Ebert authorised their murder. Two Freikorpsmembers were tried but given light sentences. Around 100 other Spartacists and 17 Freikorps were killed during the battle for Berlin.


Though the Spartacists had been defeated, the German Revolution had not yet breathed its last. In April 1919 communists attempted another revolution, this time in southern Germany. Taking advantage of local disorder, they seized control of the local government in Bavaria and declared an independent Soviet republic. They named Munich as their capital, appointed ministers and established contact with Bolshevik rulers in Russia. But the Bavarian communists were only marginally more successful than their Spartacist cousins. In May, after just four weeks in power, the Bavarian Soviet was attacked by 9,000 Reichswehr soldiers and 30,000 members of the Freikorps. After days of bitter fighting, control of Bavaria was returned to the Weimar government. More than 1,700 communists were killed in the battle for Munich or subsequently executed by the Freikorps.



As a part of his "Chronik in Liedern, Balladen und Kantaten aus der ersten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts", Ernst Busch recorded some songs reflecting the events that led to the November Revolution. 

Tracklist:

A1 Sozialistenmarsch - 1891
A2 Erntelied - 1900
A3 Die Junge Garde - 1907
A4 Revoluzzer - 1907

B1 Chronik - 1918
B2 Soldatenlied - 1916
B3 Lied Der Zuversicht - 1918

(flac, cover art included)

Loudon Wainwright III ‎– Album II (1971)

Within the year to come, Loudon Wainwright III would enjoy his brief moment of fame with the single "Dead Skunk." Reaching the number 16 position on the Billboard chart and appearing on his third album, the musical approach to the tune differed a lot from his first two LP releases. Album 1 and Album 2 didn't feature a band -- they simply presented the artist with his guitar (and occasionally on piano). Thus, compared to his later albums, the songs on Album 2 appear less melodic. Naturally, the listener is directed to what matters most: Wainwright's imaginative and often funny lyrics. Combined with the unique manner in which he delivers them -- part regretful, part nearly hysterical -- his views are essential to his performance. For all it matters, he's not that good a singer, but whenever he tries to reach a higher note, it makes the implications of his songs more tragicomic. Every once in a while he's rediscovered for this specific talent and his fan base expands a little further. From the lyrics on this record, it is clearly noticeable that Wainwright grew up, if only a little. His then-wife, Kate McGarrigle, had given birth to their son Rufus; hence, Wainwright offers an insightful account of fatherhood in "Be Careful There's a Baby in the House" and, in all honesty, gets away with a line like "For the coochie coochie coo is a lot of pooh pooh."

Elsewhere, there's "Samson and the Warden," the famous story of the singer ending up in an Oklahoma jail (for smoking pot), pleading hysterically with the merciless warden not to cut off his hair and beard. Also worth mentioning is the trademark Wainwright suicide trilogy, which could be comprehended as a sort of pre-study to 1986's sublime "I'm Alright." For instance, compare the former "When you get the blues and you wanna shoot yourself in the head/It's alright, it's alright/Go ahead" to the latter "So I went to the bathroom, to the medicine chest/There was razor blades and sleeping pills and all the rest/But I was in control baby, I was so relaxed/I found myself my dental floss, my favorite kind: unwaxed!" The undeniable highlight is, of course, "Motel Blues." Covered by the likes of cult band Big Star and Dutch band Daryll-Ann, it's a song about the more depressing aspects of touring. The content of the lyrics will have you crying on the bed, especially at the point where Wainwright tries to convince a girl to spend the night with him in exchange for a song about her on his next LP. Good old Loudon was once threatened with having his genitals removed by a hostile female DJ, while he sang it during a women's liberation program on the radio! All the more reason to get to know the singer or at least this song better.


Tracklist:

Me And My Friend The Cat 3:16
Motel Blues 2:43
Nice Jewish Girls 2:02
Be Careful, There's A Baby In The House 3:17
I Know I'm Unhappy 0:47
Suicide Song 1:00
Glenville Reel 1:16
Saw Your Name In The Paper 2:07
Samson And The Warden 2:59
Plane, Too 3:05
Cook That Dinner, Dora 2:00
Old Friend 2:52
Old Paint 3:46
Winter Song 3:26

(320 kbps, cover art included)

Sonntag, 20. September 2020

Hanns Dieter Hüsch - Typisch Hüsch (1970)

Hanns Dieter Hüsch (6 May 1925, in Moers – 6 December 2005, in Windeck-Werfen) was a German author, cabaret artist, actor, songwriter and radio commentator.

With a working life of more than 53 years on the German cabaret stage and 70 of his own programmes he was one of the most productive and successful representatives of literary cabaret in Germany in the 20th century.

From 1965 on, Hüsch released phonograph records with literary cabaret pieces, chansons and poems - he sold more than 50 albums until his death. In 1967 he joined the left-wing German student movement and performed in Berlin on Burg Waldeck. But some elements of the student movement did not like Hüsch's non-violent attitude. They heckled his performances from June 1968 until August 1969 and "it was just as if your comrades told you that you are not good enough for the fight and that you have to give it up", said Hüsch. He was disappointed and hurt by their actions against his art, decided not to perform in Germany for years, and moved to Switzerland.

The linernotes say that "Typisch Hüsch" is an album with "political songs and poems". The album was recorded in Zürich and Frankfurt in May and July 1970. Hans Dieter Hüsch was accompanied by Dieter Süverkrüp, Volker Kriegel and others.


Tracklist:
A1 Deutsches Wesen
A2 Fragt eure Väter
A3 Marsch der Minderheit
A4 Lied von den Millionären
A5 Es wird erwogen, dass
A6 Lied vom sogenannten Frieden
A7 Teile und herrsche nicht
B1 Traum von der Solidarität
B2 Monotones Lied
B3 Kirche
B4 Deutsche Zunge
B5 Heisser Herbst


Hanns Dieter Hüsch - Typisch Hüsch

(320 kbps, cover art included)

Samstag, 19. September 2020

Barbara Dane ‎– FTA! Songs Of The GI Resistance (1970)

As opposition to the Vietnam War increased in the late 1960s, it began to emerge in the military community itself, primarily led by young draftees. Folk singer and political activist Barbara Dane lent her voice and support to resisting solders in a series of recorded performances at GI coffee houses near Army bases in Texas, Georgia, and North Carolina. 

The songs are a mix of traditional songs of protest and resistance, and original songs by Dane and draft resisters. The liner notes contain essays on the Vietnam anti-war movement written by Irwin Silber and Dane and song lyrics.

The songs were recorded at Fort Hood, Texas; Fort Benning, Georgia; and Fort Bragg, North Carolina.


Tracklist:

A1Join The GI Movement2:15
A2Hallelujah, I'm A Bum4:36
A3Ballad Of Richard Campos4:35
A4Go Tell It On The Mountain2:45
A5Just Another Day4:45
A6We Shall Not Be Moved6:16
B1Resistance Hymn7:11
B2Insubordination4:05
B3Last Drink With Don10:29
B4Bring 'Em Home3:15


Barbara Dane ‎– FTA! Songs Of The GI Resistance (1970)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Freitag, 18. September 2020

Billie Holiday ‎– Body And Soul (1957)


1957s "Body And Soul" was proof that small jazz groups brought out the best in Billie. Ben Webster, Harry Edison, Barney Kessel and the other members of a stellar ensemble were not just gifted soloists but sensitive accompanists and offered great support on a selection of standards, including three gems by the Gershwin brothers.

This session comes from close to the end of the line (1959) in the erstwhile swinging company of Barney Kessel on guitar, Ben Webster on tenor, and naysayers will be quick to point out that Lady Day wasn't in peak form here. But Billie Holiday with some of the platinum chipped off the pipes is still way better than a buncha finger-snappin' wannabes anyday. Her interpretations of the title cut, "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off," and "Darn That Dream" hold you in the palm of her hand with their gentle swing and the band support here is never less than stellar. The Lady sings and swings.                

 Tracklist:

A1 Body And Soul
A2 They Can't Take That Away From Me
A3 Darn That Dream
A4 Let's Call The Whole Thing Off
B1 Comes Love
B2 Gee, Baby, Ain't I Good To You
B3 Embraceable You
B4 Moonlight In Vermont

Billie Holiday - Body And Soul (1957)
(256 kbps, cover art included)

Milton Nascimento - Milton Nascimento (1969)

International singing superstar and songwriter Milton Nascimento may have his roots in Brazil, but his songs have touched audiences all over the world. Born in Rio, Nascimento's adoptive parents, both white, brought him to Tres Pontas, a small town in the state of Minas Gerais, when he was two. His mother sang in a choir and at local music festivals, often accompanied by Milton. Nascimento's father was an electronics tinkerer, math teacher, and at one point ran a local radio station where a young Milton occasionally worked as a DJ. He began singing as a teenager. When he was 19, Nascimento moved to the capital Belo Horizonte and began singing wherever and whenever he could. Finally he caught a break when the pop singer Elis Regina recorded one of his songs, "Canção do Sal," in 1966. Regina got him a showcase on a popular Brazilian TV program, and after performing at Brazil's International Song Festival the following year, his career was launched.
  In 1972 he collaborated with fellow lyricists Márcio Borges, Fernando Brant, Ronaldo Bastos, and other friends to record "Clube da Esquina", a double album that spurred three hit singles, including "Cais (Dock)" and "Cravo é Canela (Clove and Cinnamon)." The singles are still being recorded and have become standards in Brazil over the years. Since he began recording with his self-titled debut in 1967 for the Codil label, Nascimento has written and recorded 28 albums.

Nascimento is famous for his falsetto and tonal range, as well for highly acclaimed songs such as "Maria, Maria", "Canção da América" ("Song from America"/"Unencounter"), "Travessia" ("Bridges"), "Bailes da Vida", and "Coração de Estudante" ("Student's Heart"). The lyrics remember the funeral of the student Edson Luís, killed by police officers in 1968. The song became the hymn for the "Diretas Já" social-political campaign in 1984, was played at the funeral of the late President of Brazil Tancredo Neves the next year, and was also played at Ayrton Senna's funeral.

Trackliste
1Sentinela
2Rosa Do Ventre (M)
3Pescaria / O Mar É Meu Chão
4Tarde
5Beco Do Mota
6Pai Grande
7Quatro Luas
8Sunset Marquis 333 Los Angeles
9Aqui,Ó!
10Travessia (bonus track)

Milton Nascimento - Milton Nascimento (1969)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Donnerstag, 17. September 2020

Magazine - Magic, Murder and the Weather (1981)

Magic, Murder and the Weather is the fourth studio album by English post-punk band Magazine, and their final album until the band's reformation in 2009. It was released in June 1981 by record label Virgin. One single, "About the Weather", was released from the album.

Unlike on the group's former album "The Correct Use of Soap", the writing credits for "Magic, Murder and the Weather" were not shared equally. The majority of the music was written by keyboardist Dave Formula; only the first three songs of side two of the LP were credited to all five members. Consistent with all Magazine's albums, the lyrics were written by Howard Devoto.

"Magic, Murder and the Weather" was recorded at Trident Studios, London in early 1981, with John Brand recording and engineering and "The Correct Use of Soap" producer Martin Hannett credited for mixing. A producer is not credited. Hannett mixed the album at Strawberry Studios in Stockport, with Chris Nagel assisting.

The classic lineup of the band had ended when guitarist and founding member John McGeoch had departed in mid-1980 to join Siouxsie and the Banshees. Former Ultravox guitarist Robin Simon, who played guitar for Magazine's 1980 world tour, left the group soon after the tour. Replacing him was ex-Amazorblades guitarist and Devoto friend Ben Mandelson. The lineup that recorded the album was as follows: Devoto (vocals and guitar), Barry Adamson (bass), Formula (keyboards), John Doyle (drums) and Mandelson (guitar and violin). Laura Teresa and Ray Shell also contributed backing vocals. Songs like ‘The Great Man’s Secrets’ and ‘The Honeymoon Killers’ demonstrate a newfound emphasis on expansive, widescreen synth work and elaborate rhythms.

"Magazine's final studio album, "Magic, Murder and the Weather", finds Dave Formula's washes of cold, brittle keyboards dominating the bitter and cynical music. Occasionally, Howard Devoto's weary lyrics surface through the icy mix, but it's clear that Devoto and Magazine have both had better days. It's not a graceful way to bow out, but the album has enough strong moments to prevent it from being an embarrassment as well." - allmusic.com

Tracklist:

About The Weather 4:08
So Lucky 4:12
The Honeymoon Killers 3:34
Vigilance 5:15
Come Alive 3:49
The Great Man's Secrets 4:58
This Poison 4:24
Naked Eye 3:30
Suburban Rhonda 3:33
The Garden 2:40


Magazine - Magic, Murder and the Weather (1981)

(320 kbps, cover art included)

Mittwoch, 16. September 2020

VA - Put On Your Best Dress - Sonia Pottinger´s Rocksteady 1967 - 68


Sonia Pottinger is not only one of the few women producers in Jamaica, but, also one of the most successful. Three of her productions were included on a list of top 100 Jamaican hits of all time compiled by Clinton Lindsay of WNWK-FM in New York. Joe White's 1968 recording of "Every Night" was listed as number 40, while Delano Stewart's 1968 single of "That's Life" placed 86, and Marcia Griffith's 1976 single of "Dreamland" placed 98. Pottinger was also responsible for recordings by Judy Mowatt, Sister Carol, and Culture, many of which were released on her High Note label. Pottinger proved adept at recruiting talented session musicians for her recordings. Among the musicians that she used were Sly Dunbar, Robbie Shakespeare, Ernest Ranglin, Earl "Wire" Lindo, Dean Fraser, Roland Alphonso, and Count Ossie. Pottinger has also been involved with the Heartbeat label. Sonia Pottinger died on 3 November 2010 in Kingston, Jamaica.

In an industry dominated by a handful of male producers, Sonia Pottinger emerged during the rocksteady and early reggae years of the late '60s to cut songs worthy of the competition. Often recording at Duke Reid's Treasure Isle studio and employing Lynn Taitt & the Jets as a backup band, Pottinger mostly focused on vocal tracks by both solo singers and harmony groups. This fine compilation on Attack features many classic examples, including the Gaylads' "Hard to Confess," the Melodians' "Little Nut Tree" and "Swing and Dine," Ken Boothe's "Say You," and Monty Morris' title track. Reflecting Pottinger's breadth, the disc also includes an early DJ side by Charlie Ace, a rudeboy standard by the Valentines, and some calypso and nyahbinghi-inspired work by Patsy and the Basie Band.


Tracklist:

1 –The Conquerors What A Agony
2 –The Valentines (3) Blam Blam Fever
3 –Al And The Vibrators* Move Up
4 –Monty Morris* Play It Cool
5 –The Melodians Swing And Dine
6 –Johnny & The Attractions Young Wings Can Fly
7 –Patsy Todd And The Count Ossie Band* Pata Pata Rock Steady
8 –The Valentines (3) All In One
9 –Monty Morris* Put On Your Best Dress
10 –Stranger Cole & Patsy* Tell It To Me
11 –The Gaylads Hard To Confess
12 –The Conquerors Won't You Come Home
13 –The Melodians Little Nut Tree
14 –Charlie Ace Creation Version
15 –The Gaylads I Need Your Loving
16 –Ken Boothe Say You

VA - Sonia Pottinger´s Rocksteady - Put On Your Best Dress
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Helen Schneider - A Walk On The Weill Side (1989)


The American singer-actress Helen Schneider has performed even more frequently in Weill's country of birth, Germany, than in the USA, and she is closely identified with Weill's work. In fact, she headlined at the Dessau Festival in Weill's home town during the centennial celebration in August 2000.

Most writers divide Weill's career into two distinct halves - the German and the American. Lotte Lenya disagreed with that and said of her husband: "there's only one Weill." Andrea Marcovicci takes the other side, and points out how much his music changed after he came to America. Schneider emphatically aligns herself with the One Weill school.

"Of course his music evolved," Schneider says, speaking from her home in Connecticut in mid-September. "He grew, his interests changed, he tried new ideas. But one thing that remained constant was his affinity for great collaborators. He found connections with some of the world's greatest writers, from Brecht in Germany, through Paul Green when he first came to America, and then Maxwell Anderson, Ogden Nash, Moss Hart, Ira Gershwin, Alan Jay Lerner and Langston Hughes. They sought him out and Weill was attracted to their ideas. Weill changed the expectations for musical theater. He paved the way for Sondheim." Because there's such variety in his music, Schneider says she can do a full evening of Weill and not be redundant. She has done so in New York, Philadelphia and elsewhere. She is in conversation about an appearance at Manhattan's Algonquin Hotel in February, 2001.

Schneider, like Weill, bears a German family name. Her grandfather on her father's side came to the United States from Germany in 1919. But all of her other antecedents were Russian Jews, and Helen knew very little about German culture -- and didn't speak the language -- when she first was invited to perform there in 1977. "I go where the work is," she says, "so I accepted the invitation and received wonderful acceptance. Later, I learned the German language." When she played Sally Bowles in a Berlin production of Cabaret in 1987 she studied the history of German cabaret and music halls "and that's when I became enamored with Weill."

Born in Brooklyn in 1953, Schneider moved to Pomona, NY, where she graduated high school. She studied classical piano and was a soloist in a youth choir which performed Berlioz' Lelio at Carnegie Hall. She then began to sing rock music and ran away with a blues band at 17. Later she was an opening act for Flip Wilson, David Brenner, Bill Cosby, Robert Klein and David Steinberg on tour and in Las Vegas. When she played Sally Bowles, the German press praised her "grace, sex, sandpaper in her voice and cat-like movements." Other highlights of Schneider's career include an 18-month run as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard in Germany and a musical about the life of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Schneider was featured in Ghetto on Broadway and starred in the world premiere of Frida at the American Music Theater Festival in Philadelphia in 1991, later in Boston and the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and will be appearing in productions of it in 2001 in Vienna, Berlin and Mexico City.

Her CD, A Walk on the Weill Side, shows her to be a distinctive interpreter. Schneider uses a variety of accents, including Cockney and French, to delineate the characters of the songs. Most of her interpretations are quiet and intimate, but she sometimes rises to exciting, dramatic climaxes. Then, too, she can give a straight-out romantic reading, as she does with "What Good Would the Moon Be" from Street Scene. One of the highlights of the CD is "I Wait For a Ship," a yearning ballad from Weill's almost-forgotten 1934 Parisian musical, Marie Galante. It shows a lushness that presages the work he was soon to do in the USA, but it was written before Weill ever visited America. The German-language album of Sunset Boulevard, starring Schneider, reveals the most gorgeously-sung of all the fine Norma Desmonds that I've heard.

(from: http://www.totaltheater.com/)

Tracklist:

I'm A Stranger Here Myself 4:49
2A Mon Ami, My Friend 3:01
2B September Song 2:04
3A Brack's Song 1:59
3B Lonely House 3:44
How Can You Tell An American 2:40
Progress 3:37
It Never Was You 3:01
Mack The Knife 3:05
Surabaya Johnny 6:42
I Wait For A Ship 4:18
10 Pirate Jenny 6:10
11 My Ship 3:21
12 What Good Would The Moon Be 2:32
13 Johnny's Song 2:30

Dienstag, 15. September 2020

Zeltinger – Der Chef (1981)

Who the fuck is Zeltinger? Today he's a beast of 150 kg. They sing about drug and sex addicts, homosexuals, criminals, perverts, hustlers – and that's exactly what they are, or at least what they were when the party started. Don't let your family listen to the insulting outbursts of Zeltinger on some of the songs! They did their first concert on carnival in 1979 with Jaki Liebezeit (ex Can) on drums just for fun, and it was so much fun that it had been repeated and sold out 19 (!) times in a row on the remaining carnival holidays. Later they toured with the Ramones and Boomtown Rats, putting Bob Geldof in the shadow.

"Der Chef" is just another masterpiece by Conny Plank. Who would have imagined him to produce a punk band? But he was the only one with enough authority to control these gangsters. He even wrote parts of the lyrics. It's the only record I know with a credit for the psychiatrist – must have been a hard job, man!

Their website is being rebuild right now, you find concert dates and more about their incredible history there.


Tracks
01. Kölsche Junge 01:47
02. Leck mich 02:31
03. Knochen 02:13
04. Nie Diät 04:11
05. Der lachende Vagabund 02:25
06. Ich bin zu jung · Sommer, Sonne, Herzinfarkt 05:11
07. Lulli, Lulli 02:36
08. Studentenlied 04:29
09. Blutsauger 03:57
10. Wichsfigur 02:55
11. Chef 04:54


Musicians
Jürgen Zeltinger: Vocals, Acoustic Guitar
Manni Holländer: Guitar, Vocals
Ralf "Der Träumer" Engelbrecht: Guitar, Vocals
Arno Steffen: Vocals
Norbert Zucker: Bass, Vocals
Miguel: Acoustic Guitar
Alfred Koutny: Accordion
Edgar de Gaulle: Drums
Conny Plank & René Tinner: Mix
Conny Plank & Arno Steffen: Production
Dr. Bach: Medic
Gabriel Martinez: Psychiatrist (!)

(ca. 256 kbps, cover art included)

Montag, 14. September 2020

Barbara Dane - Livin´ With The Blues (1959)

Barbara Dane (1927) started her musical career in folk music and traditional jazz circles in the mid Forties, first in her native Detroit and then in San Francisco, where in 1954 she came into contact with some local jazz revivalists, including trombonist Bob Mielke and banjo player Dick Oxtot. During her high school years, she had received training as an operatic contralto, but Mielke and Oxtot encouraged her to probe further into the blues with their band, the Bearcats. From the time she first stirred interest among aficionados and critics in San Francisco, she developed into virtually the only white singer of classic blues at the time. 

On "Livin with the Blues" (1959), she belts out her message in an all-star group conducted by pianist Earl Hines. It is interesting to hear the splendid trumpet work of Benny Carter, Shelly Manne playing traditional drums, and Plas Johnson soloing to good effect in this context.
Barbara Dane is more than a singer, she is also a guitarist, passionately dedicated researcher, friend of forgotten pioneers, and sponsor of unpopular causes.           


Tracklist:
A1Livin' With The Blues
A2How Long, How Long Blues
A3If I Could Be With You
A4In The Evenin'
A5Bye Bye Blackbird
B1A Hundred Years From Today
B2Mecca Flat Blues
B3Why Don't You Do Right
B4Porgy
B5Since I Fell For You



Barbara Dane - Livin´ With The Blues (1959)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Kurt Weill, Bertolt Brecht, Lotte Lenya - Historische Aufnahmen

The actress and singer Lotte Lenya (1900–81) was born in Vienna and was a popular cabaret and musical star in Berlin before the advent of the Nazis forced her to flee Germany.

Lenya appeared in several of her husband's Kurt Weill works in Germany, including creating the role of Jenny ("Threpenny Opera") in 1928.

Her first American appearance was in "The Eternal Road" (1937), followed by "Candle in the Wind" (1941), Weill's "The Firebrand of Florence" (1945), and "Barefoot in Athens" (1951).

She later appeared as Fräulein Schneider in "Cabaret" (1966). Her “steel‐file voice” made her the definitive interpreter of her husband's songs.

Here´s another collection of historic recordings of the music of the great Kurt Weill. Included are recordings and excerpts from the 1930s and 1940s of "Die Dreigroschenoper", "Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny", "Happy End", "Kleine Dreiroschenmusik", "Lady In The Dark" and "One Touch of Venus".






(192 kbps, cover art included)

Erika Pluhar - Die Liebeslieder der Erika Pluhar (1975)

Erika Pluhar is an actress, singer and author from Austria and was born on 28 February 1939 in Vienna. 
After finishing school in 1957, Erika Pluhar studied at the Max Reinhardt Seminar, the Viennese academy for music and the performing arts where she graduated with distinction in 1959. 

She immediately went into acting at the Burgtheater, the imperial court theatre, where she was a member of the acting troupe from 1959 until 1999. 

At the beginning of the 1970s Erika Pluhar embarked on a singing career. She has been writing books since her childhood; her first book was published in 1981. Erika Pluhar has been married twice (with Udo Proksch, businessman and convict of the murder of six people, and André Heller, 1970-84, poet and all-round artist) and has had a daughter, Anna (1961–1999).


Tracklist:
01. Wir 03:31
02. Bitter und süß 04:03
03. Methusalem 02:32
04. Das Messer 03:14
05. Ich suche dich 01:55
06. Es war einmal 03:59
07. Hotel zur Einsamkeit 04:00
08. Paris, meine Rose 02:36
09. Die Lehren einer Mutter für ihre Tochter 04:30
10. Gedenket der großen Hure 03:00
11. Du bist so wie ein Lied 03:09
12. Allez hopp 02:39

All lyrics by André Heller, recorded in Vienna, 21.-31.7.1975.

(192 kbps, cover art included)

Sonntag, 13. September 2020

Teller Bunte Knete – Stadtmensch (1978, Trikont)

The band "Teller Bunte Knete" was a German underground band formed in Berlin 1975, debuting in 1977, with a mixture of folk, skiffle, country and polit-rock styles, somewhere between Cochise, Ihre Kinder and Ton Steine Scherben-

Their lyrics are revolutionary, philosophical or childishly naïve, sometimes all at the same time. They also reflect the frustrating life in the cities and the movement to the countryside at their time. Keep an ear on the amazingly melodic bass lines.

"Meine Liebe zur Natur ist schon sprichwörtlich,
und ich hänge hier fest viel zu weit nördlich.
Doch wenn ich so 'nen Tag erwische wie heute,
sind selbst die dümmsten Typen nette Leute."

Tracks
01. Stadtmensch 03:05
02. Wege 04:51
03. Frieden 04:34
04. Sonnenlied 04:18
05. Park 03:13
06. Adler 03:36
07. Kindertrдume 02:17
08. Traumverkдufer 03:04
09. Geh in den Morgen 03:32
10. Ab auf's Land 02:47
11. Man legt dir Steine in den Weg 03:41
12. Jeden Abend 02:22
13. Hoffnung 02:40


Musicians:
Werner (Brodel) Rohde: rhythm guitar, violin, vocals, percussion
Hurnush (Hürni Maßlos) Kubica: guitar, mandolin, vocals, percussion
Hannjörg (Hanni) Merklin: mandolin, vocals, percussion, guitar, mouth organ, drums
Udo Arndt: keyboard
Paul (Baßfinger) Esslinger: bass, vocals, percussion, piano, cover layout
Schnerdi Gerhard Minski: vocals, bell, percussion
Se Asynchron Cläppers Kreuzberg: hand clapping
Recorded at Erd Tonstudio Berlin, May 1978
Sound Engineer: Udo Arndt - 8 track (laugh if you want to)

(320 kbps, cover art included)

VA - Celebrating The Eggman - A Tribute To John Lennon

After the split of the Beatles, John Lennon gained worldwide fame for his subsequent solo career, and for his political activism and pacifism. He was shot in the archway of the building where he lived, the Dakota, in New York City on Monday, 8 December 1980. Lennon had just returned from Record Plant Studio with his wife, Yoko Ono.

This compilation was released on the 10th anniversary of this event. The album features bands from the former GDR, most of the involved musicians were still children or youths in the year 1980.

Tracklist:
Tausend Tonnen Obst - Drive my car
  1. Die Vision - Julia
  2. Herbst in Peking - Working class hero
  3. Ichfunktion - Cold turkey
  4. Der Expander des Fortschritts - Lucy in the sky with diamonds
  5. Dekadance - Whatever gets you through the night
  6. Die Art - I'm losing you
  7. Big Savod & the Deep Manko - Nowhere man
  8. Feeling B - Revolution No.89
  9. Kashmir - I'm so tired
  10. The Fate - Help
  11. AG Geige - Come together
  12. Kampanella is Abstract feat. Svea - Isolation

VA - Celebrating The Eggman - A Tribute To John Lennon
(256 kbps, cover art included)

Ras Michael - Rastafari Dub (1972)

As the formerly cassette-only ROIR label continues to slowly reissue its catalog of classic punk, reggae and ska titles on CD, hidden treasures are coming to light again, some for the first time in years.

Ras Michael, one of the foremost exponents of traditional Nyahbinghi drumming and chanting, recorded his "Rastafari" album in 1972, and a dub version of that album was released simultaneously in a limited edition. Scraps of it have turned up from time to time, some on legitimate releases and some not, but ROIR's cassette reissue in 1989 was the first complete and fully licensed release since the original vinyl first came out.

It's too bad the non-dub version isn't included as well (there's plenty of space on the disc), but this CD is still a treasure. Ras Michael and his crew of drummers are joined by reggae demigods Carlton "Santa" Davis (drum set), Robbie Shakespeare (bass), Tommy McCook (flute), Earl "Chinna" Smith (guitar), and others, and the fusion of electric, urban reggae and organic, rural Nyahbinghi drumming is perfect. Particular highlights include the dub versions of "None a Jah Jah Children No Cry" (recommended especially in conjunction with its vocal version) and the very dry and heavy "In Zion."

Tracklist:

A1None A Jah Jah Children No Cry
A2Truth And Right
A3In Zion
A4Sufferation
B1Give Love
B2New Name
B3Birds In The Tree Top
B4No Hoppers


Ras Michael - Rastafari Dub (1972)
(256 kbps, cover art included)            

Samstag, 12. September 2020

Tom Robinson & Jakko M. Jakszyk - We Nerver Had It So Good (1990) / Blood Brother (1997 reissue)

Critically-acclaimed collaboration with Dizrhthmia´s Jakko Jakszyk featuring his virtuoso guitar work plus drum guru Gavin Harrison behind the kit. On the strength of this album Jakko went on to play guitar for Level 42.

The 1997 reissue includes "Rigging" - an outtake from the original album - plus brand new versions of "Jonestown" and "The War Is Over", fist featured on Castway Club CD Vol. 2.

"Tom Robinson and Jakko Hakszyk have prduced one of the best albums I´ve encountered in a long time and anything less than worldwide acclaim will be considered lip service. If "War Baby" (1983) was Tom´s first real show of strenght then this album is his tour de force - a veritable assault on the creeping complacency of the past decade. 

The conflicts of belonging to what is seen as a sexual minority (by the conservative majority) is a major focus of this album. Reflections are recorded here with no rose tinted glasses: "Why this hysteria? You know you´ve never even met me." "Blood Brother" tackles the same thorny issue where notions of sexual ambiguity and sexual denial are tenderly but well illustrated." - Siobhan Long, Hot Press. December 1990.


Tracklist:

1. We Never Had It So Good (4:02)
2. Driving Through The Desert (5:08)
3. Blood Brothers (5:23)
4. What Have I Ever Done To You (5:24)
5. The Baby Rages On (4:28)
6. Tomboy (3:27)
7. Kiss & Roll Over (4:55)
8. Hard Cases (4:08)
9. Can't Stop: Peter's Theme (4:11)
10. My Own Sweet Way (2:24)

Bonustracks:
11. Rigging It Up, Duncannon
12. Jonestown
13. The War Is Over
14. Happy In The Homelands



Tom Robinson & Jakko M. Jakszyk - We Nerver Had It So Good (1990)
(320 kbps, cover art included)