The Celibate Rifles – The Celibate Rifles (1984)

Playing stripped-down, loud, and fast Ramones-inspired guitar rock, the Celibate Rifles were one of the earliest Australian punk bands to emerge during the post-Radio Birdman/Saints era. 

Taking their cues from these Aussie bands, along with the American hard rock of the Stooges, MC5, and Blue Öyster Cult, the Rifles were led by the twin-guitar attack of Kent Steedman and Dave Morris and the deadpan baritone of vocalist Damien Lovelock. 

They exploded out of the gates in 1982 with a series of records (released in Australia only) fueled by high-speed guitars, wah-wah-strangulated solos, and cartoonish, tongue-in-cheek lyrics


Tracklist:

Wild Desire
Kiss Me Deadly
Pretty Colours
Back In The Red
Darlinghurst Confidential
Thank You America
Rainforest
Netherworld
Electric Snake River

The Celibate Rifles – The Celibate Rifles (1984)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Hein & Oss - Singen Volkslieder (1976)

Hein & Oss were born identical twins on September 17th 1927 in Pirmasens, Germany. Through the influence of their mother and their grandfather they found a very early interest in singing and in music.

They belong to the small band of German folksingers who are internationally famous through their various concerts, broadcasting and television appearances.

Through their extensive travels they got to know the world and its music; their repertoire is extremely varied and interesting and is drawn from nearly every part of the folk word. Shanties or chansons, soldier´s songs, protest songs or spirituals - the congenial twins from Pirmasens enthrall their audience in Berlin and Calcutta, Paris and Rome, Athens, Teheran, Munich, Bagdad,Hamburg and London.

Hein & Oss belongend to the founders of the "Chanson Folklore International", whose annual festival was held at Castle Waldeck, Germany and was considered as a meeting point of well known folksingers from various countries.

This double album was recored in Munich, August 1976.

Hein & Oss - Singen Volkslieder - Auf den Plätzen, auf, in den Straßen (1976)
(192 kbps, front cover included)

Hugh Masekela - Grrr (1966)

The South Afican-born trumpeter Hugh Masekela was playing world music before it had a name. On this album, recorded shortly after he moved to the United States and shortly before he became a worldwide star, he seamlessly fuses jazz ideas with the emotionally direct, rhythmically complex South African music known as Mbaqanga.

Masekela as a young trumpeter from the mid-'60s. Rare, but clearly his best format and playing.  - allmusic.com               

Tracklist:

01. U, Dwi (Masekela) (3:14)
02. Zuul and the Mexican (Masekela) (3:22)
03. Emavungweni (Xaba) (3:08)
04. Ntjilo-Ntjilo (Makeba) (4:12)
05. Sharpville (Masekela) (3:29)
06. Umaningi Bona (Nkabinde) (3:17)
07. Sipho (Mrwebi) (3:44)
08. Kwa-Blaney (Gwangwa) (2:12)
09. Mra (Christopher) (3:08)
10. Phatsha-Phatsha (Mabaso) (2:55)

Hugh Masekela - Grrr (1966)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Kalyi Jag - Lungoj O Drom Angla Mande - Gipsy Folk Songs From Hungary

Kalyi Jag (Black Fire) is a group formed in Budapest in 1978 by young Gypsies from Szatmár county. They play authentic Gypsy music, sung in Romany and Hungarian. Kalyi Jag consists of: Gusztáv Varga - voice, guitar Ágnes Künstler - voice József Balogh - voice, tambura, guitar, spoon József Nagy - water can, oral bass.

They are recognised as one of the foremost Gypsy folk ensembles in Eastern Europe today.

This is one of their early LPs released on Hungaroton Records in 1989 and features guitar, jug, whistle, oral bass, water can etc..


Tracklist:

1. Parne gada szi pe late (2:07)
2. Lungoj o drom angla mande (2:42)
3. Muri klaca kocsakenca (2:14)
4. Lina (5:09)
5. Aj, Dévale Koj Odi (3:53)
6. Pánzs kolompiri ande tigalya (2:26)
7. Ustyen Opre, Romále (3:05)
8. Le csurara mol na pena (3:26)
9. Kerkoj aba muro jilo (2:50)
10. Anta, romnyej, mure roulya (3:07)
11. Szájbőgő improvizáció (2:04)
12. Szar Csiriklyi (4:37)
13. Beng hhuklyasz ande roulyi (1:38)
14. Sápä szärátä ás mänká (3:01)
15. Kutyka téle, ko lahhikao kopácsi (2:13)
16. Csorro Joka (2:43)
17. Könyörgés (3:10)

01 She has a white dress on
02 I have still a long way to go
03 My trousers are buttoned all along
04 Lina
05 Oh, my God, who is there
06 There are five potatoes in the pot
07 Get up, Gypsies
08 Shieve-makers do not drink wine
09 My Heart Is Heavy
10 Give, woman, my stick to me
11 Oral bass improvisations
12 Like birds
13 The devil has hidden in my stick
14 I would eat salten onions
15 Over there under a little tree
16 Poor Joska
17 Song for Mercy

Kalyi Jag - Lungoj O Drom Angla Mande
(192 kbps, front cover included)

VA - 1962 - Chants De La Revolution Cubaine

Fidel Castro, Cuba's leader of revolution, died today at 90. More than half a century ago, his guerrilla army of “bearded ones” replaced Fulgencio Batista’s corrupt dictatorship with communist rule which challenged the US and turned the island into a cold-war crucible.

He fended off a CIA-backed invasion at the Bay of Pigs in 1961 as well as many assassination attempts. His alliance with Moscow helped trigger the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, a 13-day showdown with the US that brought the world closer to the brink of nuclear war than it has ever been.

He first tried to overthrow General Batista in 1953, was imprisoned, exiled to Mexico, and then returned in 1956. He succeeded on January 1, 1959 and has dominated Cuba ever since – surviving 638 documented attempts by the CIA to kill him, and living through ten US presidencies.

Resigning due to ill health in February 2008, Castro handed over to his brother Raul and is now rarely seen in public. But he continues to loom large in Cuba - writing regular columns for Granma, the Communist Party newspaper, and meet visiting dignitaries.

"Chants De La Revolution Cubaine" collects some historic recordings relatetd to the revolution in Cuba in 1959.

Tracklist:

• 1. - Fidel Est Arrivé [Rolando La Serie Y Et Son Orchestre] - 2:57"
• 2. - Partisans [Choeurs De Révolutionnaires Cubains] - 2:10"
• 3. - Vive La Revolution [Raúl Luzardo Et Le Trio Los Titanes] - 3:11"
• 4. - Sierra Maestra [Daniel Santos Et Son Ensemble] - 3:37"
• 5. - Parlons De La Revolution [Celina Et Reutillo] - 3:08"
• 6. - Les "Barbudos" [Orchestre Fajardos] - 2:30"
• 7. - Au Commandant Camacho [Los Yayaberos] - 3:07"
• 8. - Hymne De La Milice [Fanfarre De L'armée Rebelle] - 2:30"

VA - 1962 - Chants De La Revolution Cubaine
(192 kbps, cover art included)

Ernst Busch - Solidarität mit Chile (Eterna, 1975)

This single was released in 1975 in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) as a special production to support the chilean communist leader Luis Corvalán.

Luis Alberto Corvalán Lepe (September 14, 1916, – July 21, 2010) was a Chilean politician. He served as the general secretary of the Communist Party of Chile (PCCh).
Corvalán joined the Communist Party of Chile at the age of fifteen in the city of Chillán shortly after the fall of the repressive dictatorship of Carlos Ibáñez del Campo in 1932. Trained as a teacher, after 1952 he became an elected member of the PCCh's Central Committee, and after 1958 served as the Secretary-General. The party was outlawed from 1948 until 1958. In this period Corvalán was interned in the concentration camps of Pitrufquén and later in Pisagua.

On September 11, 1973, General Augusto Pinochet lead a military coup and Corvalán was among the many arrested. After the murder of Victor Jara, he was the most prominent political prisoner in Chile. While in prison, Luis Corvalán was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize (for 1973-74). The Soviet Union launched an international campaign for his release and on December 18, 1976 Corvalán was exchanged for a notable Soviet political prisoner, dissident Vladimir Bukovsky, and received asylum in the USSR.

Corvalán headed the Communist Party of Chile - both within Chile and whilst in exile - for over three decades, which covered the whole period of the Pinochet military dictatorship. Corvalán returned to Chile in 1988.

Tracklist:
A1. Rettet Luis Corvalán 1:54 
A2. Gegen Die Objektiven 1:23 
B1. Bandiera Rossa 1:42 

 
Ernst Busch - Solidarität mit Chile (Eterna, 1960)
(160 kbps, cover art included, vinyl rip) 

Gegen die Objektiven

Wenn die Bekämpfer des Unrechts
Ihre verwundeten Gesichter zeigen
Ist die Ungeduld derer, die in Sicherheit waren
Groß.


Warum beschwert ihr euch, fragen sie
Ihr habt das Unrecht bekämpft! Jetzt
Hat es euch besiegt: schweigt also!


Wer kämpft, sagen sie, muß verlieren können
Wer Streit sucht, begibt sich in Gefahr
Wer mit Gewalt vorgeht
Darf die Gewalt nicht beschuldigen.


Ach, Freunde, die ihr gesichert seid
Warum so feindlich? Sind wir
Eure Feinde, die wir Feinde des Unrechts sind?
Wenn die Kämpfer gegen das Unrecht besiegt sind
Hat das Unrecht doch nicht recht!


Unsere Niederlagen nämlich
Beweisen nichts, als daß wir zu
Wenige sind
Die gegen die Gemeinheit kämpfen
Und von den Zuschauern erwarten wir
Daß sie wenigstens beschämt sind!

(Bertolt Brecht)

Theodore Bikel - Sings Jewish Folk Songs (1958)

A talented folksinger and actor, Theodore Bikel carved out his place in the modern entertainment industry as a renaissance man. For over 50 years, Bikel left his mark on film, the stage, and the arts, from his supporting role in The African Queen in 1951 to his appearance at the 1960 Newport Folk Festival to his appointment to the National Council for the Arts in 1977. Although he was born in Austria, he lived in Israel, England, and the United States and spoke five languages. Bikel recorded for Elektra, Columbia, and Reprise, published Folksongs & Footnotes, and served as a vice president of the American Jewish Congress.               

Bikel was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1924, but his family fled to Palestine in 1938, where they became British subjects. Bikel wanted to study language and become a teacher, so he worked at a communal farm to help pay expenses. Drawn to the theater, however, he left the farm in 1943 to study at the Hamimah Theater in Tel Aviv. Later, Bikel and four other actors formed the Tel Aviv Chamber Theater. In 1946, he left Israel to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. While in England, he also began to take a serious interest in folk music and learn the guitar. In 1947, Bikel's acting skills were noticed by Sir Laurence Olivier, leading to a part in the London production of A Streetcar Named Desire.
By the early '50s, Bikel began to play Russian officers and German sailors in English and American films and in 1955, he moved to New York City. The move also coincided with the beginning of a career in folk music. He signed with Elektra Records in the mid-'50s and recorded Israeli Folk Songs in 1955. He became a co-founder of the Newport Folk Festival and performed at the event in 1960. Bikel's repertoire proved uniquely eclectic, including songs from Russia, Eastern Europe, and Israel. He played hundreds of dates in United States, from the Rainbow & Stars in New York to the Boarding House in San Francisco, and traveled broadly, performing in New Zealand, Australia, and throughout Europe.
  Over the next 40 years, Bikel continued his dual career in film and folk music. He received parts in The Russians Are Coming in 1966, See You in the Morning in 1989, and Shadow Conspiracy in 1997. He recorded "Songs of the Earth" for Elektra in 1967, "A New Day" on Reprise in 1970, and "A Taste of Passover" for Rounder in 1998. Bikel also involved himself in a number of political activities. In 1977, President Jimmy Carter appointed Bikel to the National Council for the Arts, a position he retained until 1982. He also served with the Associated Actors and Artistes of America, Americans for the Arts, and the American Jewish Congress. In 1992, Bikel received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Hartford.

Tracklist:
                           

A1	Der Rebe Elimelech
A2	De Yontevdike Teyg
A3	Sha Shtil
A4	Di Ban
A5	Kum AherDo Filozof
A6	Di Mezinke
A7	A Sundenyu
A8	Achtsig Er Un Zibetsik Zi
B1	Di Name Iz Gegangen
B2	Margaritkelech
B3	Mu Asapru
B4	Lomir Zich Iberbeten
B5	Homentashn
B6	A Chazn Oyf Shabes
B7	Reyzl
B8	Tumbalalayka

Theodore Bikel - Sings Jewish Folk Songs (1958)
(256 kbps, cover art included)

Poesie & Musik - Francois Villon (1976)

"Poesie und Musik" was a trio ensemble consisting of Orlando Valentini, Andreas Vollenweider and René Bardet. Between 1974 and 1983 this ensemble was publishing inspiring records that combined poetry and music based on texts by Francois Villon, Heinrich Heine, the indian Chief Seattle and Pablo Neruada.

François Villon, pseudonym of François de Montcorbier or François des Loges, (born 1431, Paris—died after 1463), was one of the greatest French lyric poets. He was known for his life of criminal excess, spending much time in prison or in banishment from medieval Paris. His chief works include Le Lais (Le Petit Testament), Le Grand Testament, and various ballades, chansons, and rondeaux.

Perhaps the most deeply moving of French lyric poets, Villon ranges in his verse from themes of drunkenness and prostitution to the unsentimental humility of a ballade-prayer to “Our Lady,” “Pour prier Nostre-Dame,” written at the request of his mother. He speaks, with marvelous directness, of love and death, reveals a deep compassion for all suffering humanity, and tells unforgettably of regret for the wasted past.

His work marks the end of an epoch, the waning of the Middle Ages, and it has commonly been read as the inspiration of a “lost child.” But as more becomes known about the poetic traditions and disciplines of his day, this interpretation seems inadequate. It is probably either too early or too late fully to understand Villon’s work, as one critic has suggested; but although the scholar must still face a variety of critical problems, enough is known about Villon’s life and times to mark him as a poet of genius, whose work is charged with meaning and great emotional force.


Tracklist:

A1 Waldschratt (1:25)
A2 Ballade für den Hausgebrauch im Winter (3:45)
A3 Bettelballade für meinen armen Bruder Jean Cotard (3:35)
A4 Ballade von der treulosen Cylaea (4:55)
A5 Ballade von den Vogelfreien (2:40)
A6 Liebesballade für ein Zigeunermadchen (7:45)

B1 Ballade, mit der Meister Villon seine Mitmenschen um Verzeihung bittet (4:10)
B2 Sommerballade von der armen Louise (4:40)
B3 Neue Ballade, gedichtet für Mira L´Ydolle (4:40)
B4 Notwendige Nachschrift, mein Begräbnis betreffend (5:15)
B5 Kleine Ballade von Ddem Mäuslein, das in Villons Zelle Junge bekam (6:45)


Poesie & Musik - Francois Villon (1976)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

The Voices of the Civil Rights Movement - Black American Freedom Songs 1960-1966

This double-CD reissue documents a central aspect of the cultural environment of the Civil Rights Movement, acknowledging songs as the language that focused people's energy. These 43 tracks are a series of musical images, of a people in coversation about their determination to be free. Many of the songs were recorded live in mass meetings held in churches, where people from different life experiences, predominantly black, with a few white supporters, came together in a common struggle. These freedom songs draw from spirituals, gospel, rhythm and blues, football chants, blues and calypso forms.

"The Voices of the Civil Rights Movement: Black American Freedom Songs 1960-1966" documents the importance of songs in the Civil Rights Movement. The first disc features songs from mass meetings, where a singer or core of singers leads the people in the singing of the songs, while the second focuses on ensemble works by the SNCC Freedom Singers and other groups.

Chances are that unless you were involved in the Civil Rights Movement you will not especially recognize many of these songs, with "This Little Light of Mine," "Go Tell It On the Mountain," and "We Shall Overcome" being the obvious exceptions. But you will be surprised at some of the popular songs that were appropriate for the cause, such as "Calypso Freedom," based on Harry Belafonte's "The Banana Boat Song," and "Get Your Rights, Jack," based on the Ray Charles hit "Hit the Road, Jack." For me the song that stood out was "In the Mississippi River," written by Marshall Jones after the disappearance of three Civil Rights workers in Mississippi during the summer of 1964. As local rivers were dragged in search of the men, many other bodies were discovered, a chilling fact that certainly needs to be more than a historic footnote to that tragic event. There is also a lengthy segment from a sermon by Rev. Lawrence Campbell, which illustrates the song-sermons that were an integral part of the movement and its traditions. The result is a historical document of immense value.

Folkways Records was founded by Moses Asch and Marian Distler in 1948 to document music and spoken word from around the world. The Smithsonian Institution acquired Folkways from the Asch estate and has succeeded in preserving the best of the label's 2,200 albums. Smithsonian Folkways Recordings has continued this grand tradition. Their releases are superb, especially in terms of providing the historical context by which we can best appreciate these songs from another place and another time.
.

The Voices Of The Civil Rights Movement pt.1

The Voices Of The Civil Rights Movement pt. 2

Egon Erwin Kisch - Erinnerungen an den rasenden Reporter

On March 31, 1948, Egon Erwin Kisch, a german-speaking Czech journalist and novelist, died in Prague, Czech Republic.

Egon Erwin Kisch was "der rasende Reporter" ("the raging reporter"), a journalist whose interest in marginalized parts of society and the world outside Europe endeared him to a large number of readers. He became a figurehead in the fight against fascism. Later generations of journalists regarded his documentaries as exemplary and pioneering. He is admired to this day for the high literary quality of his journalitic work.

Kisch was born into a German-speaking Jewish family in Prague, at that time part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and began his journalistic career as a reporter for a local German language newspaper in 1906. His early work is characterised by an interest in crime and the lives of the poor of Prague, taking Jan Neruda, Emile Zola and Charles Dickens's Sketches by Boz as his models. He deserted from the army in World War I in October 1918 as the war came to an end and played a leading role in the left-wing revolution in Vienna in November of that year. Although the revolution failed, in 1919, Kisch joined the Communist party, a political allegiance he maintained for the rest of his life.
Between 1921 and 1930 Kisch, though a citizen of Czechoslovakia, lived primarily in Berlin, where his work found a new and appreciative audience. In books of collected journalism such as "Der rasende Reporter" (1924), he cultivated the image of a witty, gritty, daring reporter always on the move, a cigarette clamped doggedly between his lips. His work and his public persona found an echo in the artistic movement of "Neue Sachlichkeit", a major strand in the culture of the Weimar Republic.
On February 28 1933, the day after the Reichstag Fire, Kisch was one of many prominent opponents of Nazism to be arrested. He was briefly imprisoned in Spandau, but as a Czechoslovakian citizen, was expelled from Germany. His works were banned and burnt in Germany, but he continued to write for the Czech and émigré German press, bearing witness to the horrors of the Nazi takeover.
In 1937 and 1938, Kisch took part in Spanish Civil War. He travelled across the country speaking in the Republican cause and his reports from the front line were widely published.

Following the "Munich Agreement" of 1938 and the subsequent Nazi occupation of Bohemia six months later, Kisch was unable to return to the country of his birth. Once war broke out, Paris, which he had made his main home since 1933, also became too dangerous for an outspoken Jewish communist whose native land no longer existed. In late 1939, Kisch and his wife Gisela, sailed for New York where, once again, he was initially denied entry. He eventually landed at Ellis Island on December 28, but as he only had a transit visa moved onto Mexico in 1940.
He remained in Mexico for the next five years, one of a circle of European communist refugees, notable among them Anna Seghers and Ludwig Renn.

Kisch died two years after his return to Prague, shortly after the Communist party seized complete power. There are contradictory reports of his attitude - as a German-speaking Jew - to the party in this period as it began to develop the anti-semitism which culminated in the "Prague Trials" of 1952 and supported the expulsion of most of Czechoslovakia's ethnic Germans.
To remember his great work, here is "Erinnerungen an den rasenden Reporter", a wonderful feature in german language about Egon Erwin Kisch.

Egon Erwin Kisch - Erinnerungen an den rasenden Reporter
(192 kbps, front cover included)

VA - Songs For Desert Refugees - A Compilation In Aid Of The Refugees From Northern Mali

Mali is one of the musical power-houses of Africa, but today it's a country in chaos, and its ancient culture is under threat. In the desert north, the rebels of the MNLA have been ousted by Islamist groups, adding to the crisis in which hundreds of thousands of refugees have fled to neighbouring states, at a time of acute food shortage across the region. This benefit album aims to raise money for refugee projects, but also provides a rousing new compilation of desert blues, with unreleased or rare tracks from Tuareg musicians from Mali, Niger and Algeria. It starts, appropriately, with a slinky, rhythmic and previous unreleased song from Saharan superstars Tinariwen, and there are contributions from younger Malian bands Tamikrest, Amanar and the hypnotic Tartit. But many of the best tracks are from across the border in Niger, with an engaging, rhythmic contribution from Etran Finatawa, and a remarkable 13-minute live work-out from Bombino, proving why he is the desert's new guitar hero.

For beginners, this album can serve as an introduction to the incredible music of northern Mali, the cultural center of the Tuareg people. For people who already know this music, it's an introduction to new artists you may not have heard of before.

All proceeds from the sale of this album will be donated to TAMOUDR´R and ETAR, two NGOs working with refugees in northern Mali. If you want to support them, please make a donation to the associations via www.tamoudre.org/desertrefugees .

Tracklist:

	1.	Tinariwen - Amous Idraout Assouf d'Alwa   04:27
	2.	Tamikrest - Warktifed   03:50
	3.	Ibrahim Djo experience - Blues du Désert [part 1]   04:32
	4.	Faris & Terakaft - Derhan Alkher   04:13
	5.	Nabil Baly Othmani - Teswa Ténéré [desert version]   05:52
	6.	Amanar - Ténéré   05:39
	7.	Tadalat - Taghdart   04:55
	8.	Etran Finatawa - Gourma   06:35
	9.	Terakaft - Nak Essanagh   04:34
	10.	Toumast - Aïtma   04:14
	11.	Bombino - Tigrawahi Tikma [live version]   13:01
	12.	Tartit - Tihou Beyatene   05:02

VA - Songs For Desert Refugees - A Compilation In Aid Of The Refugees From Northern Mali
(256 kbps, cover art included)

Charly Garcia - Parte de la Religión

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

"Parte de la Religión", released in 1987, was an album recorded almost entirely by García himself. An exception can be found in "Rap de las Hormigas," on which the Brazilian group Os Paralams do Succeso took part. The record was clearly a masterpiece and showed Prince's influence. Songs like "No Voy en Tren," "Buscando un Símbolo de Paz," and "En la Ruta del Tentempié" became Top Ten hits.    


    
Charly Garcia - Parte de la Religión     
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Sun Ra - Featuring Pharoah Sanders & Black Harold (1964)

In 1964, Sun Ra asked the young tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders to join him, while Arkestra mainstay John Gilmore was busy working with Paul Bley, Andrew Hill, and Art Blakey. Before the recording's original release in 1976, Sun Ra stated: "It should be very interesting to the world to show what the pre-Coltrane Pharoah Sanders was like." Also appearing on "Featuring Pharoah Sanders & Black Harold" is the little-heard flautist, Black Harold (Harold Murray), who takes the lead on the track "The Voice of Pan," continuing into "Dawn over Israel." Bassist Alan Silva (ESP 1091) also does some fine bass work on the release.

"Featuring Pharoah Sanders & Black Harold" is notable not only for its unique lineup, but also for the first known recording of the composition "The Shadow World," here titled "The World Shadow," which was featured on later Arkestra albums.

The music is vital, as much a testament to the times, as it is to Sun Ra's approach. An innovator who was not constricted by form, the music flowed as he and the band saw fit. He not only assimilated various musical genres, he juxtaposed composition and invention to add impact to the development of the music.

Tracks:
Gods on a Safari (Ra)
The World Shadow (Ra)
Rocket Number 9(Ra)
The Voice of Pan (Ra)
Dawn over Israel  (Ra)
Space Mates (Ra)


Sun Ra - Featuring Pharoah Sanders &  Black Harold (1964)
(192 kbps, front cover included)