Pi De La Serra, Carme Canela – ¡No Pasarán! Canciones De Guerra Contra El Fascismo (1936-1939)

Carme Canela is a Spanish singer from Barcelona (born in 1962).
Francesc Pi De La Sierra is a Spanish songwriter, born in Barcelona in August 6, 1942, known as Quico Pi de la Serra. He was part of the "Nova Cançó" movement, starting singing in 1962, and is still active.

This album is a collection with interpretations of well knows anti-fascist songs of the Spanish Civil War.


Tracklist:

1 El Quinto Regimiento
2 Los Campesinos
3 A Las Barricadas
4 Coplas De La Defensa De Madrid
5 Las Compañías De Acero
6 Adelante, Brigada Internacional
7 Canción Del Frente Unido
8 Camarada Hans Beimler
9 El Valle Del Jarama
10 El Joven De Alcalá
11 Nuestra Bandera
12 Canto Nocturno En Las Trincheras
13 ¿Qué Será?
14 Ya Sabes Mi Paradero
15 Cookhouse, El Fogón Del Campamento
16 El Paso Del Ebro
17 Los Soldados Del Pantano
18 Canción De Bourg Madame



Pi De La Serra, Carme Canela – ¡No Pasarán! Canciones De Guerra Contra El Fascismo (1936-1939)
(192 kbps, cover art included)

Violeta Parra ‎– Santiago, Penando Estas (Pläne, 1974)

Daughter of a music teacher and a singer/guitarist, Violeta Parra was influenced by her parents since being a child. At the age of nine, the young girl started singing and playing guitar, soon composing traditional Chilean music. After getting married to Luis Cereceda in 1952, the singer/songwriter began touring the country, assimilating the natural charm of her native land, which mostly inspired her work. In 1954, Violeta Parra moved to Europe, deciding to settle down in France, where the artist started recording her poetic songs. When returning to Chile in 1958, Violeta Parra got involved in painting and sculpture, extending her artistic skills even more. In 1961, the singer returned to Europe, this time singing along with her daughter Isabel Parra and her son Angel Parra being responsible for keeping their mother's legacy alive.               


Tracklist:

A1	Hasta Cuándo Está - Wie Lange Noch	1:20
A2	Qué Vamos A Hacer (Ayùdame Valentina) - Was Fangen Wir An (Hilf Mir, Valentina)	3:33
A3	Arauco Tiene Una Pena - Ein Schmerz Erfüllt Araukanien	2:55
A4	Santiago, Penando Estás - Santiago, Du Leidest	3:38
B1	Rodríguez Y Recabarren - Rodríguez Und Recabarren	4:12
B2	La Carta - Der Brief	2:52
B3	Según El Favor Del Viento - Mit Der Gunst Des Windes	2:25
B4	Es Una Barca De' Amores - Es Gibt Ein Boot Der Liebe	3:45

       

Violeta Parra ‎– Santiago, Penando Estas (Pläne, 1974)     
(320 kbps, cover art included)       

Quilapayun - Por Vietnam (1968)

Originally posted in February, 2013:

Tomorrow I will have the chance to see Quilapayun in a concert honouring Victor Jara. This is a good occasion for posting some of their wonderful music.

The Chilean group formed in 1965 writing lyrics inspired by social issues related to its country and combining them with autochthonous musical arrangements. In 1966, the band came in first place at the Festival de Festivales, releasing its first album that same year. Folk singer and songwriter Victor Jara helped the band by promoting Quilapayun's music and making the record "Canciones Folkloricas de America" together. As Chilean New Song's ambassador, Quilapayun went on its first European tour in 1968. Due to Chilean political and social changes in the early '70s, the group settled in foreign countries for more than a decade.

"X Vietnam" or "Por Vietnam" was Quilapayún's third official album, first published in 1968 in the context of opposition to the Vietnam War.

Quilapayun - Por Vietnam (1968)
(192 kbps, cover art included)

VA - Canciones Con Gusto A Pueblo (1971)

Latin America in the 1960s and 1970s underwent a profound and often violent process of social change. From the Cuban Revolution to the massive guerrilla movements in Argentina, Uruguay, Peru, Colombia, and most of Central America, to the democratic socialist experiment of Allende in Chile, to the increased popularity of socialist-oriented parties in Uruguay, or para-socialist movements, such as the Juventud Peronista in Argentina, the idea of social change was in the air.

When Salvador Allende was elected president of Chile in 1970, a banner proclaimed, 'There is no revolution without songs.' And Latin America was rife with revolutions from the 1950s through the 1970s, especially Chile, Uruguay, Peru, Argentina, Colombia, and parts of Central America.


Tracklist:

01. Mauricio Vigil - Hemos dicho basta
02. Edith del Rio - Texto
03. Roberto Hernan - Emilio
04. Angel Parra - Tolima
05. Quilapayun - Patron
06. Roberto Hernan - Duro Ramon Albanil
07. Roberto Hernan - Los Cobardes
08. Edith del Rio - Texto
09. Roberto Hernan - Hector y Federico
10. Quilapayun - Que dira el Santo Padre
11. Angel Parra - Preguntitas sobre dios
12. Grupe de Experimentation sonora del ICAIC - Once Por Cero


VA - Canciones Con Gusto A Pueblo (1971)
(256 kbps, cover art included)

Victor Jara - Canto Libre

Victor Jara was an impoverished Chilean laborer who became a monk, a soldier, an actor and professor of theater; a political activist, a poet, and a popular folk musician; and ultimately a people's martyr following his brutal murder (along with thousands of his fellow citizens) in 1973 during the U.S.-backed military coup that toppled the government of Chile's democratically elected socialist president Salvador Allende. Amidst widespread global outrage at this gruesome miscarriage of justice, Jara quickly became even more famous than he had been while alive, and his recordings were widely circulated throughout North America on LPs bearing the Monitor and Americanto labels.

"Canto Libre", a collection released during the 1990s, contains material dating back at least as far as 1970. Jara sang beautifully, always expressing his thoughts and viewpoints with unflinching honesty, playing his guitar alone or surrounded by folk musicians from nations and cultures all over Latin America. Jara's egalitarian discipline of cultural solidarity is manifest at various points in this collection, with words and music traceable to Mexico ("The Ballad of Pancho Villa"), Peru ("Inga"), and Bolivia ("El Tinku" and "How Happy Are the Women Workers"). Jara's devotion to socialism must be understood as a call for Chilean self-determination; the best way to put it in context would be to read Pablo Neruda's Memoirs. Jara was incredibly outspoken, and it was typical of him to come up with a title that translates as "Thus They Kill Blacks Today." His greatest achievement was the song "Canto Libre," with its soaring flutes, stirring percussion, and passionately strummed guitars. Victor Jara's spirit transcends all language barriers. Like his voice and the instrumentation, the poetry is tremendously moving and unforgettable: "My singing is a chain without beginning or end, and in each link is found the song of everyone else."       

     

 "Canto Libre" summarizes pretty well Víctor's gift to the good people struggling for justice. These are songs that he had to pay for with his own life, tortured to death one day in the soccer National Stadium in Santiago. His legacy mixes his undeniable Chilean roots and his exploration of other Latin American rythms. You may question his unique voice; however, you will eventually find out that it is that roughness that provides even more meaning to most of this collection.

Tracklist:

 1. Inga

  2. Cancion Del Arbol Del Olvido

  3. La Pala

  4. Venian Del Desierto

  5. Ventolera

  6. El Tinku

  7. Angelita Huenuman

  8. Corrido De Pancho Villa

  9. Caminando, Caminando

  10. Quien Mato A Carmencita

  11. Canto Libre

  12. El Aparecido

  13. El Lazo

  14. Que Alegres Son Las Obreras

  15. Despedimiento Del Angelito

  16. Solo

  17. Ay Mi Palomita

  18. Asi Como Hoy Matan Negros

  19. El Amor Es Un Camino Que De Repente...

  20. Casi, Casi

  21. Cancion De Cuna Para Un Nino Vago

  22. Romance Del Enamorada Y De La Muerte

  23. En Algun Lugar Del Puerto

Victor Jara - Canto Libre
(320 kbps, cover art included)

VA - Music Of The Andes

"...this is music with its feet in tradition and it's heart and mind in changing times..." - Jazziz (10/1995

"Well, this music does come from the Andes, but it's not representative of the wide range of Andean music, given that there are only five artists on the disc, and one of those, the late, great singer and songwriter Victor Jara, only appears once, with "El Tinku."

Like Jara, the other groups here have their roots in the time before the Chilean military coup of 1973. Among them is the venerable Inti-Illimani, a group that's existed for over three decades, playing not only the music of their native Andes, but who've also explored traditions across Latin America, although they moved to Europe following the coup, as did Quilapayun, who settled in Paris, continuing their vocal music, as on "El Canto Del Cuculi."

All three of the above were quite political, Jara particularly, and socially concerned, traits reflected heavily in their music and songs, comprised not only of traditional pieces, but also the Nueva Cancion movement which had swept the country in the '60s. The same is true of Illapu, another band who were forced into temporary exlie from their homeland by their political stance. While they all kept one foot in the past and looked forward, the other group on here, Kollahuara, remained exclusively folkloric -- their "El Condor Pasa," a tune well-known to Americans, thanks to Paul Simon -- has the weight of many years behind it.

So while this might not be a full view of Chilean Andean music, what's here is beautiful, with, of course, plenty of pan pipes and charangos, and well worth hearing, played by some true masters." ~ Chris Nickson


Tracklist:

1	–Inti Illimani	Huajra
2	–Quilapayún	Las Obreras
3	–Conjunto Kollahuara	El Condor Pasa
4	–Quilapayún	Tu
5	–Victor Jara	El Tinku
6	–Inti Illimani	Papel De Plata
7	–Illapu	Baila Caporal
8	–Inti Illimani	Subida
9	–Quilapayún	Yaravi Y Huayno De La QuebradaDe Humahuaca
10	–Quilapayún	Tan Alta Que Esta La Luna
11	–Inti Illimani	Fiesta Punena
12	–Quilapayún	El Canto Del Cuculi
13	–Conjunto Kollahuara	Cancion Y Huayno
14	–Illapu	Sol De Maiz
15	–Quilapayún	Dos Palomitas
16	–Inti Illimani	Amores Hallaras
17	–Conjunto Kollahuara	Vicunita

VA - Music Of The Andes
(256 kbps, cover art included)

Quilapayún - Con el alma llena de banderas

Quilapayun is a Chilean group formed in 1965 by Julio Carrasco, Eduardo Carrasco, and Julio Numhauser, later joined by Patricio Castillo.

Since its beginning, Quilapayun's lyrics were inspired by social issues related to its country, combining them with autochthonous musical arrangements. In 1966, the band came in first place at the Festival de Festivales, releasing its first album that same year. Folk singer and songwriter Víctor Jara helped the band by promoting Quilapayun's music and making the record "Canciones Folklóricas de América" together. By the time Julio Numhauser decided to leave, Carlos Quezada and Guillermo Oddo joined in. As Chilean New Song's ambassador, Quilapayun went on its first European tour in 1968. When Julio Carrasco left, Hernán Gómez and Rodolfo Parada became part of Quilapayun's new lineup. Due to Chilean political and social changes in the early '70s, the group settled in foreign countries for more than a decade.

This collection was published during their time in exile, as its subtitle says, in "Homage to Victor Jara." Members of the group at that time were Edward Carrasco, Carlos Quezada, Willy Oddó, Hernan Gomez, Rodolfo Parada, Hugo Lagos, Guillermo Garcia and Ricardo Venegas.
The cover design, which became a classic, is owed ​​to George Lillo.

The title song of this collection is one of the most beautiful written by Victor Jara. It was composed in tribute to Miguel Angel Aguilera, a young militant who was shot dead by a policeman during a demonstration in 1970. The song was introduced by Victor in August of the same year at the Second Festival of the New Chilean Song.

Tracklist:

01. Canción para Victor Jara (Eduardo Carrasco)
02. Te recuerdo Amanda (Victor Jara)
03. Susurro (Rodolfo Parada)
04. Paloma quiero contarte (Víctor Jara)
05. Con el alma llena de banderas (Víctor Jara)
06. Nuestro cobre (Eduardo Yáñez)
07. Titicaca (Arr. Quilapayún)
08. Tío caimán (Chang Marie)
09. Sonatina (Hugo Lagos)
10. Patria de Multitudes (Hernán Gómez-Eduardo Carrasco)

 

Quilapayún - Con el alma llena de banderas
(320 kbps, front cover included)

Albert Ayler - Music Is The Healing Force Of The Universe (1969)

"Music Is the Healing Force of the Universe" is a powerful and often ignored recording from the Albert Ayler catalog. It is a prophetic statement dealing with guilt, confusion, sorrow, and hopes of redemption. A powerful rhythm section of Bobby Few on piano, Stafford James and James Folwell on bass, (Folwell on electric fender bass), and Muhammad Ali on drums manage to take a backseat to the prominent vocals of Ayler's business associate and girlfriend Mary Parks, listed on the record as Mary Maria. Her emotional vocals are featured on "Music Is the Healing Force of the Universe," "Man Is Like a Tree," and "Island Harvest." Throughout these tracks Maria sounds as if she is pleading and reasoning not just universally, but directly with Ayler, trying to convince him of the positive aspects of life and her evangelistic shouts of "be healed" on the title track can prove uncomfortable.

 "Masonic Inborn" is an instrumental track finding Ayler not only overdubbing cacophonous bagpipe solos but also playing ocarina. "Oh Love Is Life" is Ayler's sole vocal performance on the album, his words and vocal delivery are truly frightening. This is a dreamlike plea to the sources haunting his soul to succumb to universal love. Following the intensity of the previous five tracks, the album closes with the hazy gutbucket blues of "Drudgery" reminiscent of the "New Grass" sessions, adding guitarist Henry Vestine of the blues rock band Canned Heat. 

Ayler's musical curtain was eerily closing the same way it started -- playing the blues of his high school summer vacations as a member of Little Walter's band. "Music Is the Healing Force of the Universe", along with tracks that were released posthumously on the "Last Album", were recorded at the same session. While not easy listening, they complete an important portrait of a man facing a life and death inner struggle beyond the boundaries of jazz. The inevitable outcome culminated on November 25, 1970, when Ayler's drowned body was found floating in New York's East River.


Tracklist:

Music Is The Healing Force Of The Universe 8:40
Masonic Inborn (Part 1) 12:08
A Man Is Like A Tree 4:34
Oh! Love Of Life 3:48
Island Harvest 4:55
Drudgery 8:08


Albert Ayler - Music Is The Healing Force Of The Universe (1969)
(ca. 224 kbps, cover art inlcuded)

Isabel & Angel Parra - Le Pena de los Parra (1971)

Chile´s most important twentieth century popular music movment, nueva cancion (New Songs) was officially born in July 1969 during the First Festival of New Songs organized by the Catholic University of Santiago. In the 1950s and 1960s Margot Loyola, Violeta Parra, Hector Pavez, Gabriela Pizarro, the Cuncumen group and others began to recuperate Chilean folk music. In the mid-1960s the neo-folklore movement was formed in Chile by musicians like Angel Parra, Isabel Parra, Patricio Manns, Rolando Alarcon and Victor Jara as well as groups like Los Cuatro Cuartos. Nueva cancion was born dirctly out of the group´s work and of the radicalization of the creative work of singer-songwriters by groups like Quilapayun, Inti-Illimani, Curacas, Aparcoa and Illapu. As a result, a number of classical-trained musicinas, including Sergio Ortega, Luis Advis and Gustavo Becerra began to work with popular musicinas.

The club known as 'La pena de los Parra' played a key role in the movement, and sparked the creation of similar clubs (panas) throughout the country, particularly in university areas. The DICAP record label and several radio programmes also playd an important part in disseminating nueva cancion. 

The movement was particularly significant during the period leading up to Allende´s victory in 1970, and throughout the three years of Popular Unitiy government. When it was brought down by the military coup of September 1973, many members of the movement were killed, among them Victor Jara; others (like Angel Parra) were jailed and Inti-Illimani, Quilapayun, Patricio Manns and Isabel Parra, among others, were forced into exile.

Tracklist:

A1	Rio Manzanares / Der Manzanares Strom	2:00
A2	Ya No Somos Nosotros / Wir Sind Nicht Mehr Wir Selbst	2:20
A3	Decimas Del Folklore / Volkstümliche Reime	3:08
A4	Ayúdame Valentina / Hilf Mir, Valentina	3:00
A5	Hasta Cuando Compañero / Wie Lange Noch, Genosse	1:50
A6	Canto A Mi América / Gesang An Mein Amerika	1:48
B1	Casamiento De Negros / Hochzeit Der Schwarzen	1:55
B2	Coplas Americanas / Amerikanische Verse	3:23
B3	Yo Defiendo Mi Tierra / Ich Verteidige Mein Land	2:15
B4	A Desalambrar! / Reißt Die Zäune Nieder	2:15
B5	Al Centro De La Injusticia / Im Zentrum Des Unrechts	3:15
B6	Cuartetas Por Diversión / Spottverse

Isabel & Angel Parra - Le Pena de los Parra (1971)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

VA - Denke daran - Krieg oder Frieden (1984, Amiga)

"Amiga Quartett' was a huge series of 4-song 7"s on the GDR state-owned Amiga label.

The EP  "Denke daran - Krieg oder Frieden" was released in the context of the "Rock für den Frieden" festival, which took place in East-Berlin between 1982 and 1987 at the "Palast der Republik".


Tracklist.

01 Dialog - Denke daran
02 Formel 1 - Hiroshima-Kranich
03 Berluc - No bomb
04 Rockhaus - Krieg oder Frieden

VA - Denke daran - Krieg oder Frieden (Amiga Quartett)

(320 kbps, cover art included)

Georges Moustaki - same (Amiga, 1980)

Georges Moustaki (real name Joseph Mustacchi) was a French singer-songwriter, born on May 3, 1934 in Alexandria, Egypt, to Greek parents. In 1951, he moved to Paris and started writing for a French-speaking Egyptian newspaper. He began his career as a guitarist & composer for many artists, like Édith Piaf, Serge Reggiani & Yves Montand. Later, he chose the first name Georges as a tribute to Georges Brassens.
In 1969, "Le Métèque" has been Moustaki's first hit.

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.

Reportedly suffering from emphysema, Georges Moustaki died last week in Nice, France on May 23, 2013; he was 79 years old. Rest in peace!


Tracklist:

Side 1:
01 Ma solitude
02 Hiroshima
03 Joseph
04 17 ans
05 Les marchands
06 Le meteque
07 Le facteur
08 Le temps de vivre

Side 2:
09 Ma liberte
10 Marche de sacco et vanzetti
11 La Pierre
12 Nous sommes deux
13 Bahia
14 Si ce jour-la
15 Votre fille a vingt ans
16 Elle est elle

Georges Moustaki - same (Amiga, 1980)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Bröselmaschine - Bröselmaschine (1971)

German-born guitar virtuoso Peter Bursch was born in Duisburg in April of 1949. In 1968, after years of instruction and recitals all across the world, he formed the German rock outfit Bröselmaschine (whose debut was released in 1971), which had a sound more similar to Fairport Convention and would garner critical praise during its heyday, helping to establish the foundation for Krautrock.

Languorous atmospheres, lovely vocals, iridescent melodies, and shimmering solos combine on Bröselmaschine's self-titled 1971 debut album, the apotheosis of the German folk-prog scene. The quintet took their cue from England's Canterbury scene and even a traditional folk song, "Lassie," from that green and pleasant land. The band's signature sound was derived from Jenni Schucker's delicate and at times ethereal vocals in harmony with Willi Kissmer's stronger tenor, and that sound took on a Teutonic tinge when the pair switched from English to German lyrics. But it was the group's extraordinary use of acoustic and electric guitars that cemented its reputation. 

On "The Old Man's Song," one of four vocal cuts on the set, Kissmer's wah-wah guitar wafts and winds around Peter Bursch's acoustic strums. On "Gitarrenstück," the electric leads smolder like embers around the fiery acoustic rhythm guitar, while Schucker's wordless vocals float hauntingly above. It's the flute that soars overhead on "Gedanken," counterpointed by the moody Spanish-styled guitar, which itself is offset by the excitement of Kissmer's electric lead. Lutz Ringer's bassline adds an almost funky flair to "Lassie," and is also crucial to the album's two instrumentals, "Schmetterling" and the wittily titled "Nossa Bova." The former is a showcase for the band's percussionist, Mike Hellbach, who fills the number with tablas, instantly taking the sound into Eastern climes, a sighting enhanced by Bursch's sitar, even as a pastoral flute delicately dances above and the acoustic guitar shimmers in an ecstasy of chiming strums below. "Nossa Bova" also utilizes tablas, but its setting shivers between the Spanish plains and England's rolling rural hills. 

The music is gorgeous, but it's the relaxed atmospheres that truly entrance; there's not a forced note or extravagant moment within, with the music easily ebbing and flowing like water downhill. So self-confident were the bandmembers that they had no need for flashy musicianship, preferring instead to impress by the very understatement of their solos. The ambience is exquisite, casting a spell that isn't broken until the final note fades. A masterful album from start to finish.

Tracklist:

Gedanken 4:50

Lassie 5:00

Gitarrenstück 2:00

The Old Man's Song 5:25

Schmetterling 9:30

Nossa Bova 7:50

Bröselmaschine - Bröselmaschine (1971)

(320 kbps, cover art included)

Nina Simone - Black Gold (1970)

"Black Gold" is a live album by Jazz singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone recorded in 1969 at the Philharmonic Hall, New York.
The album is especially notable because it features the civil rights anthem song "To Be Young Gifted And Black". The performance that night also included a calypso version of Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne" (which Simone had recorded on To Love Somebody), but there was no room for it on the album.

The album features two versions of the "Black Is The Color Of My True Love´s Hair", the first sung by Nina, the second sung in a modified version by her guitarist, Emile Latimer.
"Ain't Got No-I Got Life" is a live reprise of the hit single from "Nuff Said" (1969). "Westwind" is a song Simone learned from her friend, the African singer Miriam Makeba.
"To Be Young Gifted And Black" became a Civil Rights anthem. Nina is joined by the singing male duo The Swordsmen. Simone introduces the song by saying:

"It is not addressed to white people primarily. Though it doesn't put you down in any way...it simply ignores you. For my people need all the inspiration and love that they can get."

With the release of the album also came an LP called A"n Evening with Nina Simone". It was a recorded interview about the album. The questions were provided in written form, so that radio DJ's could ask the questions and play Simone's recorded answers, as if she were in the studio.

Maybe not the album to start your Nina journey with, but if you want one of her most compelling RCA titles, and one of her most compelling live albums, this is the one to get when you're exploring that part of her catalog.

Tracklist:

A1		Black Is The Colour...	5:58
A2		Black Is The Colour Of My True Love's Hair	4:00
A3		Ain't Got No - I Got No Life	5:30
A4		Westwind	9:30
B1		Who Knows Where The Time Goes	8:08
B2		The Assignment Sequence	6:57
B3		To Be Young, Gifted And Black	9:34

Nina Simone - Black Gold (1970)
(192 kbps, cover art included)

Miriam Makeba - Appel à l´Afrique (1974)

Legendary South African singer and activist Miriam Makeba (born 1932) rose to international fame during the 1960s, attracting a wide following through concert appearances and recordings. Although capable of great vocal versatility in a variety of languages and settings, including jazz and blues, Makeba became best-known for singing in her native dialect, distinguishable by explosive, clicking sounds formed with the epiglottis in the back of the throat.

Like many politically-minded black South Africans, Miriam Makeba spent several decades in exile during the apartheid era. Following the 1961 Sharpville Massacre, where dozens of people - including several of her relatives - were shot to death while protesting the new pass laws, Makeba broke her silence on the evils of apartheid rule. The South African government responded by revoking her citizenship and permanently refusing to let her return to her homeland. It was really the government's loss, though: Makeba was a widely regarded international celebrity, and in the face of such bitter treatment by the Afrikaaners, she became one of the most effective public speakers in opposition to apartheid rule. At the end of the decade, Makeba returned to Africa, but instead of her mother country, Makeba moved to Guinea, where she and her husband Stokley Carmichael sought refuge from political persecution in the United States. In Guinea, Makeba hooked up with some of West Africa's greatest musicians, including the likes of Sekou Diabate and Famouro Kouyate. She recorded about thirty songs for the government-sponsored Syliphone label.

This album features recordings from her concert at the Palais de Peuple in Conakry, Guinea.

Tracklist:
1. Kilimandjaro
2. Kadeya Deya
3. Measure the valley
4. Sekou famake
5. Kulala
6. Malaika
7. U. Shaka
8. Tonados de media noche
9. Djinguinira
10. Malcolm X
11. Tutu maramba
12. I phin dlela


Miriam Makeba - Appel à l´Afrique (1974)
(192 kbps, cover art included)

Franz K. - Sensemann (1972)

Sensemann is the first album by the German band Franz K. The band plays in a guitar-bass-drums trio set-up. Their strong anti-capitalist lyrics more or less place them in the German polit-rock scene.
There are two side-long tracks on the album. The first track is mostly bluesy rock with some jazzy elements.
The music is played in an energetic way and has this great Rolling Stones "Midnight Rambler" vibe. The second track is quite a monster. Within one minute you go from The Guess Who-type rock to "21th Century Schizoid Man" mayhem. After a few minutes the sky has cleared and an almost Black Sabbath-ian grunge riff sets in. There are a few guitar lines vaguely recalling the German band Vita Nova. Next, a razor-edged guitar assault pops up which reminds me of Guru Guru, T2 and Black Sabbath all at the same time. After some eight to nine minutes a pedestrian beat announces the arrival of the vocals. The vocals are less in your face and more symbolic this time. The last part of the track is more jamming and repetitive, but still quite cool.

"Sensemann" is an album with aggressive German lyrics and similarly angular freaky guitars. There are also sizeable instrumental breaks that are top-notch Krautrock progressive. A psychedelic hard-rock twist on Ton Steine Scherben perhaps, it's a record that's full of invention and surprises.
A great album if you like guitar-led underground rock.

Tracklist

A	Das Goldene Reich	20:09
B	Sensemann	19:05

Franz K. - Sensemann (1972)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Ton Steine Scherben & Kollektiv Rote Rübe - Liebe, Tod, Hysterie (1979)

Formed in 1970, Ton Steine Scherben were one of Germany's first real homegrown rock bands (as opposed to bands covering American and British rock songs), and although they weren't commercially successful in the normal sense, the group's influence in Germany has been long-lasting.

With a lineup of vocalist Rio Reiser, guitarist R.P.S. Lanrue, drummer Funky Götzner, bassist Kai Sichtermann, and keyboardist Martin Paul, Ton Steine Scherben (or TSS, as they came to be known) released several independent records on their own dime, recordings that were frequently highly political and controversial.

In time, Ton Steine Scherben shifted ground just slightly and explored more personal territory in their lyrics, but they never abandoned a sort of renegade stance, what in later years would be dubbed "punk." The first incarnation of TSS disbanded in 1985, but Reiser's death in 1996 reunited the surviving members for a farewell concert that same year, and they came together again in 2005 for a successful reunion tour and played a gig at the revolutionary May demonstration in Berlin this year.

Here´s another colaboration with the left wing cabaret Kollektiv Rote Rübe, called "Liebe, Tod, Hysterie".

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Ton Steine Scherben & Kollektiv Rote Rübe - Liebe, Tod, Hysterie (1979)

Lokomotive Kreuzberg – James Blond, den Lohnräubern auf der Spur (Pläne, 1973)

"James Blond, den Lohnräubern auf der Spur" is a neglected milestone in German rock history. The band Lokomotive Kreuzberg called it "Polit-Rock-Kabarett" and it's rather a stage show with rock music. If you think of Bert Brecht's 3 Penny Opera you get the idea, although this show didn't have a similar impact at all. Kreuzberg is a district of West-Berlin, where they were a part of the underground scene together with Ton Steine Scherben and many other projects.

All of them were opposing the cold-war strategy of the Allied Forces and the exploitation of factory workers by Wirtschaftswunder capitalism. After some personal changes Lokomotive Kreuzberg became the backing band of Nina Hagen when she was expulsed from communist Eastern Germany in 1978 and relocated to the political island of West-Berlin with the wall around it. Together they released 2 ground-shaking records at the peak of the punk movement.

Next the band was renamed to Spliff, now diving into new wave, redefining german rock once again by releasing another 3 records. In 1984 they separated and everybody took his own road in music business leaving many more traces. But this is where it started.

Tracks
1. Criminalis 04:29
2. J.B. Superman 07:40
3. Guten Morgen, Herr Blond 03:12
4. Arbeitsunfall (aus der Sicht des Unternehmers) 06:27
5. Streiklied 04:00
6. Wohlfundierte Thesen 03:51
7. Burdas Ball 05:10
8. Speed 00:34
9. King & Co. 07:51
Total time: 43:09

Musicians
Kalle Scherfling: Vocals
Volker Hiemann: Vocals, Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar
Andi Brauer: Vocals, Electric Piano, Violin, Flute, Acoustic Guitar, Percussion
Manfred Praeker: Vocals, Bass, Acoustic Guitar, Percussion
Uwe Holz: Vocals, Drums, Harmonica, Percussion

Lokomotive Kreuzberg – James Blond, den Lohnräubern auf der Spur (Pläne, 1973)
(ca. 212 kbps, cover art included)

Miriam Makeba & The Skylarks - Vol. 2

This is the second part of a delightful two-volume collection of jazzy hits by the group that made Makeba a South African star in the 1950s. The songs were remastered from 78s and 45s recorded between 1956 and 1959.

If you're only familiar with Miriam Makeba's folk-era recordings ("The Click Song," etc.) then take the time to check out this amazing set of her earliest work from the mid-1950s, with the Skylarks vocal ensemble. This is South African "jive" music, a mix of ska-like African rhythms and American jazz and swing melodies - some of the most cheery and infectious music you'll ever hear!

The Skylarks at the time was made up of Miriam Makeba, Abigail Kubeka, "Mummy Girl" Mketele, Mary Rabotapo and Nomunde Sihawu.


Tracklist:

Ndidiwe Zintaba
Orlando
Baya Ndi Memeza
Vula Amasango
Unyana Wolahleko
Owakho
Sophiatown Is Gone
Ndamcenga
Themba Lami
Ekoneni
Ndimbone Dluca
Ndiya Nxila Apha E-Bhayi
Intandane
Uyadela
Hush
Makoti
Uile Ngoan´a Batho

Miriam Makeba & The Skylarks - Vol. 2
(256 kbps, front cover included)

4. Festival des politischen Liedes - Rote Lieder (1974, Eterna, vinyl rip)

Political songs had a major forum in Eastern Germany: The "Festival des politischen Liedes", a festival for political songs that took place every year between 1970 and 1990 in East Berlin. The festival was founded and until 1980 also organised by the FDJ, the Eastern German official youth association. Each year between 50 and 80 bands and musicians from about 30 different countries came to present political songs as well as folk and world music with a political touch.

It was one of the few "windows" to the big wide world, a chance to see many international bands and musicians, to get a bit of the flair of cultures from foreign countries where normal Eatern German folk was not allowed to go to, of internationalism. For young people this festival was a highlight of the year: "The festival broke with the every day life of the GDR. Nights without closing times. Political Carnival. Exceptional situations. Conjugal crisises. Moments of falling in love. New unexpected lyrics and melodies. Different views of the world. Different people that you would otherwise never had met." This is how Hans-Eckart Wenzel remembers the festivals. He reminds that tickets for the festival were always short, and a lot of people had to stay outside.

The fourth "Festival des politischen Liedes" took place in Berlin, February 10th to 16th, 1974 with artists like Inti-Illimani, Miriam Makeba, The Sands Family and many others. This album features original recordings from this festival.

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Tracklist:

01 Canción Del Poder Popular [Inti-Illimani]
02 Wohin Bringen Sie Den Jungen [Thermopyles]
03 Salaspilsz [Iskatjeli]
04 Alla Mattina Con La Luna [Luciano Francisci]
05 A Desalambrar [Daniel Viglietti]
06 Die Ölkonzerne [Oktober-Klub]
07 Lied Von Der Führenden Rolle Der Arbeiterklasse Gegenüber Dem Adel [Reinhold Andert]
08 The Winds Are Singing Freedom [The Sands Family]
09 Afrika [Miriam Makeba]
10 Por Todo Chile [Isabel Parra Und Patricio Castillo]
11 Ruce [Mensi Bratri]
12 Vamos Ahora [Quinteto Tiempo]

4. Festival des politischen Liedes - Rote Lieder (1974, Eterna, vinyl rip)

(192 kbps, cover art included)

Miriam Makeba & The Skylarks Vol. 1

If you like jazz vocalese, doo-wop, old-time soul, gospel, South African township music, or any combination of the aforementioned, you will probably love this set by Miriam Makeba and the Skylarks. Together with Volume 2 it provides a comprehensive overview of the group's recorded legacy.  

Makeba and the Skylarks were one of the most successful South African vocal groups to blend American influences (Mills Brothers-style pop, gospel, and jazz) with South African tribal rhythms and vocal styles (primarily mbube, a four-part harmony approach originated by Zulu miners). Their music holds up extremely well four decades after it was recorded. The vocal harmonies are both complex and infectious, the backing instrumentation is loose and jazzy, and the sound is superb considering the music was recorded between 1956 and 1959.  

Language is no barrier when listening to the beautiful harmonies of Makeba and the Skylarks. Even when Miriam and the girls sing in Xhosa or Zulu, it’s easy to understand their joy. A few tracks are also sung in English.  

While growing up in a tough Johannesburg township, Miriam Makeba first sang in Protestant school choirs. After achieving initial fame with the Manhattan Brothers, Makeba recorded a few singles under her own name before Gallo Records asked her to front a South African girl group loosely patterned after the Andrews Sisters and the McGuire Sisters.  

Makeba’s lead vocals have a pure and innocent quality that belies her savvy as a bandleader. In the early days she did not hesitate to fire several Skylarks who couldn’t cut the mustard, but eventually Makeba arrived at a fixed line-up consisting of Mary Rabotapi, Abigail Kubeka, and Mummy Girl Nketle. Another singer or two occasionally augmented Makeba and the girls. The most frequent addition on this album is Sam Ngakane, a deep bass singer who also produced some of the group’s biggest hits, including "Hush" and "Inkomo Zodwa."  

Enhancing the gorgeous vocal harmonies were some excellent South African jazzmen, most notably the band’s white musical director and talented clarinetist-saxman-pianist Dan Hill, as well as the great South African pennywhistler Spokes Mashiyane, who coaxed as much soul out of his simple instrument as any human could. Like the finest mainstream jazz, this music has a relaxed, spontaneous feel that is a complete joy to hear. It’s easy to understand why these lifting melodies gave hope to blacks living the nightmare of apartheid.  

After Makeba left South African in 1959 to attend the Venice film festival, the South African authorities would not allow her to return. Her records were banned from South African radio, and the Skylarks broke up a short while later. Even in exile Makeba’s fame continued to grow, and she went on to lead an amazing life: She survived a plane crash and multiple car wrecks. Along with Marilyn Monroe, she sang at JFK's 1962 birthday bash at Madison Square Garden. She recovered from cancer. She married and divorced Hugh Masekela and Stokely Carmichael. She become the first African artist to win a Grammy. She received the Dag Hammarskjold Peace Prize for her anti-apartheid activism. And she returned in triumph to South Africa in 1990 at the invitation of Nelson Mandela. Today Miriam Makeba is known worldwide as "Mama Africa."

Thanks to http://www.allaboutjazz.com


Tracklist:

01 Inkomo Zodwa 02:26
02 Nomalungelo 02:25
03 Make Us One 02:33
04 Siyavuya 02:38
05 Holilili 02:34
06 Sindiza Ngecadillacs 02:25
07 Live Humble 02:24
08 Mtshakasi 02:18
09 Uthando Luyaphela 02:27
10 Phansi Kwalomhlaba 02:34
11 Kutheni Sithandwa 02:35
12 Miriam and Spokes' Phatha Phat 02:36
13 Yini Madoda 02:34
14 Umbhaqanga 02:37
15 Miriam's Goodbye To Africa 02:46
16 Table Mountain 02:22


Miriam Makeba & The Skylarks Vol. 1
(256 kbps, front cover inlcuded)