Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band - The Spotlight Kid/Clear Spot

Raoul Duke posted "Trout Mask Replica" awhile ago (here) and now I give you one of my personal faves from the Cap, the twofer of "The Spotlight Kid" and "Clear Spot".

Caballote

The Royal Family And The Poor - The Temple of The 13th Tribe

Mike Keane's occultism-preoccupied outfit was one of the most mercurial, distant acts in Factory's roster. Closer in spirit to Current 93, Coil or Zos Kia, nevertheless they show the relationships betwee those acts and groups like Biting Tongues, 23 Skidoo and The Pop Group.

"Although The Royal Family And The Poor formed in 1978 it took six years for an album to be released. By that time the band consisted of Liverpool's Mike Keane; an uncompromising talent who obviously benefitted from having Peter Hook on hand for production duties. The 1980 releases included here as bonuses are uncontrolled noise; rallying cries against politics set to industrial background which made Cabaret Voltaire's early material sound like easy listening. The album itself - entitled 'Temple Of The 13th Tribe' was of an altogether higher standard with Keane even verging towards melodies on 'Discipline' and 'Motherland'. Keane is in most impressive form on 'Voices', 'Moonfish Is Here' and 'Radio Egypt'; each one an outstanding cut of nightmarish, post-punk brilliance; building up slowly and irresistably to a sinister conclusion. Also worth a mention is the depressing love song 'I Love You (Restrained In A Moment)', 'Power Of Will' where the arrangement mirrors Hook's work with his New Order day job and the Department S-aping 'Dark And Light'. Keane's work might prove to be a little too insular and dark for some but there are rich rewards to be had for the persistent." - LL

adobo bohio

Jarboe - Anhedoniac

Swans' own siren of despair transmits her implacable beauty through this powerful set.

"The rest of the album is a journey through myriad musical styles and human emotions. The title track evokes medieval Europe in its instrumentation, while the lyrics and twisted singing evoke intense despair, through imagery like "a velvet box of his disease" and "fishes eating up to my skull". "The Cage" is repetitive industrial dirge, all droning guitars and sparse percussion. "Sinner" is gentle folk guitars giving way to orchestral doom and gloom. "Not Noah's Ark" is a collage of guttural groans and ear-piercing screams, punctuated by a short, disturbing narrative at its end. Perhaps most telling is "Circles in Red Dirt", a spoken-word piece with a protagonist named "Michel" (French for, what else, "Michael"), a tale of an intimate relationship always tinged with knives and hues of red. Various noisy bits provide transition, giving the album a cohesive, if slightly schizophrenic feel.

Anhedoniac is an intensely personal work of art, the sort of album that serves as something of a diary of its creator. In fact, it's personal to the point of being awfully close to uncomfortable to listen to; the musical ideas are always original and often very well-done, but they invariably take a back seat (we're talking third row here) to the various manifestations of Jarboe's voice and lyrics. It's an incredibly difficult, yet largely fulfilling listen, the sort of album that's bound to leave its target audience exhausted and satisfied. If you're the type of listener who values human emotion over things like beats and melodies, Anhedoniac will be intensely rewarding. For anyone else, caveat emptor." - Mike Schiller

zanjon

Kevin Ayers - The Confessions of Dr. Dream and Other Stories

More Ayers for Mr. Antojao. Enjoy.

"In 1973, or thereabouts, Nico, Mike Oldfield, Mike Ratledge (from the Soft Machine), Michael Giles (ex-King Crimson), Geoff Richardson (from Caravan) and many others lined up to help Kevin Ayers with his final stab at greatness, THE CONFESSIONS OF DR DREAM, which was released in 1974.

Until that time, Ayers' solo albums had been a mixture of cheerful pop ditties, psychedelic experiments, and sultry ballads that particularly suited the artist's deep bass voice. But DR DREAM turned out to be a different kettle of fish.

The A-Side contains as perfect a sequence of songs as you can imagine. 'Day by Day', the funky opener (with superb backing vocals by Doris Troy and other soul singers), is followed by a brief (but philosophical!) acoustic mini-song, which leads straight into the album's rocking tour de force, "Didn't feel lonely till I thought of you", one of Kevin's all-time classics, with fiery lead guitar by Ollie Halsall. Poetic relief is then provided by a dreamy blues song with a terribly long title (typically Ayers) and with a crystalline guitar solo by Mike Oldfield. I'm not an Oldfield nut, but I guarantee all prog freaks that this superb solo alone warrants purchase of the album. The best is yet to come, though, for Ayers (almost) concludes the A-side with a souped-up version of his signature tune, "Why are we sleeping?", the original of which can be found on the Soft Machine's debut album. Utterly bombastic, by turns scary, furious and funny, this track contains a louche night club interlude (with sax provided by Lol Coxhill) and a grandiose church organ-driven climax. To reduce the horror, and send the listener to bed with a smile, Ayers has it all followed up with the brief but unforgettable "Ballbearing blues".

It's on the B-side, however, that the nightmare really begins. Intertwined acoustic guitars, eerie sound effects, Michael Ratledge's fuzz organ and Nico's spooky vocals dominate the first section in a multi-movement suite that can be interpreted as a warning against the self-delusion of young lovers, the dangers involved in taking too many drugs, or both. The middle section of this suite is dominated by some delightfully jazzy electric piano, and the final riff is so dark, long drawn-out and menacing that it will haunt you for days. But once again, Kevin refuses to leave the listener with a curse, and he concludes the album with "Two goes into four", one of his loveliest acoustic ballads.

Anyone interested in the so-called Canterbury Scene, or in British psychedelic rock, will find this album invaluable. Everyone else will find it an excellent addition to their collection." - Fuxi

Barcelopuppy

Kevin Ayers - Singing the Bruise: BBC Sessions 1970-1972

For Howard. Ayers and group in top form.

Cabestro

Opal - Happy Nightmare Baby

Opal was: David Roback (Rain Parade, Mazzy Star) and Kendra Smith (Dream Syndicate, has also recorded a couple of great solo albums).

"At once drowsy, psychedelic, entrancing, and possessed of a sinuous spark, Happy Nightmare Baby may have been Opal's only album but deserves more attention than merely being a blueprint for Roback's later work in Mazzy Star. For one thing, Opal was very much its own band, with Kendra Smith's particular lyrical visions of mystic power and universe-scaling dreams and nightmares its own entity. As is her singing, though she's got less of Hope Sandoval's wistful drift and more focused control — check out the brief "A Falling Star," where the comparatively stripped-down arrangement places her singing in the foreground, notably without much in the way of echo. Roback's playing certainly won't surprise anyone per se who backtracks to this group from albums like She Hangs Brightly, and the atmosphere of textured, moody power is evident right from the start with the wonderful early T. Rex tribute, "Rocket Machine." The compressed string swirl and steady stomp is pure Marc Bolan-via-Tony Visconti, though Smith avoids Bolan's style of warble for her own cool, something also quite evident on the slow-groove stomp of the great "She's a Diamond" and the concluding "Soul Giver." Meanwhile, other familiar elements Roback would later use are present aplenty — very Ray Manzarek-like organ lines on the mantra-chugs of "Magick Power" and "Siamese Trap," compressed acid rock solos and lots of reverb. The title track itself stands out a bit as being a bit more of a '60s Europop confection in a stripped-down 1968 setting — Roback's electric guitar adds some fire, but it's the slightly jazz-tinged rhythm and easy delivery from Smith that helps establish its own character. It's a release that stood out both in time and place (a 1987 release on SST Records, of all places!), but it stands up to future years and listens darn well." - Ned Raggett

Alambique

Bush Chemists - Raw Raw Dub

"Dougie Wardrop and Paul Davey, the Bush Chemists, serve up some Baba Root with this one. Dub so potent and organic, if you didn‘t know it was edited on a computer you would think it came from the genre‘s golden age. A practical tribute to all that is dubby, "Higher Heights" reaches for Mt. Zion and makes it, while "Oriental Style" recalls the best of Lee "Scratch" Perry and "Symphony Of Dub" contains faithful flourishes of Aswad‘s "Love/Dub Fire." - Daniel Siwek

Tao

Ghost - Tune In, Turn on, Free Tibet

More from these Japanese psychprog dementors led by the larger than life Masaki Batoh.

"Conceived as a companion release to Snuffbox -- the two albums were released within a few weeks of each other and share some art -- Free Tibet is definitely much more the socially forceful flipside to that lovely album. The same core five-person lineup records here, but as photos and an impassioned essay from the liaison office of the Dalai Lama demonstrate, the goal is what's stated right in the title. Given Batoh's open inspiration, spiritually and musically, from that region, recording what amounts to both a celebration and call to action makes perfect sense. Certainly Ghost aren't interested in simply recording a tribute to Tibetan music -- while the opening track "We Insist" starts with various Tibetan wind instruments, the focus is on Batoh, who speaks rather than sings, his words distorted heavily, the effect almost that of a government official dictating one's fate. The same sense of beautiful serenity that so often pervades Ghost's work is more than clear here -- all it takes is a listen to the grand "Way of Shelkar" to show that, its blend of Batoh, guitars, keyboards, and other instruments achieving a wondrous calm. Other songs like "Lhasa Lhasa" and "Change the World" deliver the key message with the same sweet grace. The album climaxes with the mind-blowing title track, the longest thing the group has ever done at over half an hour long. Whether it was carefully planned or a jam session, it's a stunner, ranging from acoustic gentility to percussion craziness to nuclear-strength electric roars, sometimes switching from one section to another on a dime. There's one interesting link to Snuffbox in terms of music -- as on that album, Ghost here salute a musical forebear, in this case Tom Rapp. His Pearls Before Swine track "Images of April" gets a stripped-down, softly whispered cover here, both a worthy tribute to the original and a showcase for Batoh's own considerable work."- Ned Raggett

Consorte

Cul De Sac - Ecim

Formed by John Fahey acolyte and Throbbing Gristle enthusiast Glenn Jones in the early 90s, Cul De Sac specialize in a concoction of surf rock, musique concrete, ghost blues, eastern trance motifs and heavy psychedelia with prominent electronics. This is their first album, from 1992.

"Soundscapes that inspire a riot for the mind's eye."- Simon Reynolds

"Their sound exists at a nexus where kraut rock, American primitive guitar, Gong-style UK drug-space, Stockhausen, and the experimental wing of the avant-garage all meet w/ a splat." -Byron Coley

La china de Bairoa

Bailter Space - Solar 3

More from these great antipodean feedback-mongers. And here also.

El misil

Bibio - The Apple & The Tooth

a brand new ultra-funky-fresh production by Stephen Wilkinson aka Bibio. coming directly out of Warp, the label with the most. this album contains 4 tunes that never made it to Ambivalence Avenue and a bunch of remixes of his own tunes by other artists.

gIt!

Boards Of Canada - Hooper Bay

some obscure hard to find stuff from the Scottish duo. it seems to be the soundtrack for the British TV series 'Look Around You'.

very scientific.

get it here!

Rothko - Eleven Stages of Intervention

Rothko started as a three bass group playing low frequency hymns to meditation and solemnity (albums with that lineup forthcoming). In this album the lineup changed, with leader Mark Beazley adding Caroline Ross (of Delicate AWOL, another awesome group you should check out) and adding a more diverse instrumental palette, but still keeping that nebulous, melancholic sound. Just two basses on this one though. For shame!

"Rothko are one of those bands that whenever I play their albums I wonder why I don't play them more often. They have a very specific, very unique sound - probably coming from the fact that they have two bassists, and now on their fifth full-length they have honed this sound into a quiet perfection. We all had a real soft spot for the incredible collaboration with vocalist Caroline Ross a few years back, and this is the band's next step and takes their sound into deeper and darker places. There's something almost religious about the band's take on music - there are hints of post rock in there, hints of modern classical, hints of classic soundtrack music, but it feels like the London-based band are playing the whole thing in a church, with all the sounds reverberating and swirling into a reverential haze. It's like a more melancholy, more muted Godspeed You! Black Emperor, without the hint of post-rock cliché, or at times even like Southern Lord's slow rockers Earth without the metallic subtext - this is cinematic and evocative music in the best possible way. Okay so the band might not be doing anything particularly new, especially in regards to their already bumper catalogue of quality releases, but what they have done here is hone their sound and keep it gloriously economic. There's little fat or filler on offer here, just forty minutes of low-slung, bass heavy instrumental goodness - and what more can we ask than that? Fans of Deaf Center should also take a closer look here, Rothko share a similar taste for the dark and the surreal, and frame it in a beautiful mist of graceful, measured restraint. Quite hauntingly beautiful... recommended!" - Boomkat

Rod Carew

George Russell - Electronic Sonata for Souls Loved by Nature

George Russell was a composer, arranger, bandleader, pianist and author ("The Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization") of considerable renown and influence in the world of jazz. While less known than Gil Evans, his work was much more diverse and challenging. Proof of that is this composition, in which jazz and other musical elements mingle with electronics to create a work of tremendous power and beauty.

"Composer, theorist, arranger, and pianist George Russell debuted his 14-part master composition "Electronic Sonata for Souls Loved By Nature" on April 28, 1969, at a concert in Norway. The ambitious, elaborate work blended bebop, free, Asian, and blues elements, as well as electronic effects, and mixed live performance with tape and vocal segments. It was a testimony to the prowess of trumpeter Manfred Schoof, tenor saxophonist Jan Garbarek, guitarist Terje Rypdal, bassist Red Mitchell, and drummer Jon Christensen that they weren't overwhelmed by the sheer weight of the experience. The digital mastering enables listeners to fully hear the disparate styles converging, and understand just how advanced Russell's concepts were, particularly for the time. The composition ranks alongside Ornette Coleman's "Free Jazz" as one of jazz's finest, most adventurous pieces." - Ron Wynn

Carlton Fisk

Twilight Circus Dub Sound System - Dub Plate Selection

Ryan Moore is a Canadian expatriate living in the Netherlands, part-time Legendary Pink Dots and Tear Garden member, and total dub-obsessed fanatic who indulges in it in his project Twilight Circus, which has released quite a few albums and collaborations with Jamaican and English deejays and singers over the years. This is one of his heaviest offerings. The legendary Sly Dunbar plays drums on a few selections.

Goldo

Black Mold - Snow Blindness is Crystal Antz.

Side project by artist/animator/musician/allaroundcooldude Chad Vangaalen. Instrumental & electronic goodness.



Gettysburg address.

Klaus Nomi - s/t

Kraut countertenor dementor, part of the thriving 70's nyc art-rock scene.


Will they know me?

Dali's Car - The Waking Hour

For Popu. Mick Karn of Japan meets Peter Murphy of Bauhaus in this skeletal, haunted song collection.

"Peter Murphy of Bauhaus, Mick Karn of Japan and Paul Vincent Lawford came together to produce one record as Dali's Car in 1984 called The Waking Hour. Simultaneously haunting and charming, they stir up the bittersweet melodies of a broken down carnival caravan. Karn's unmistakable, tense bass pops contribute a clammy chill to Murphy's staidly playful words and regal groaning voice. Their songs are without vaults or embellishments, but maintain the elegant dignity of harmonious repetition, never straying far from hues near gray." - Marc Kate

Bumba

Sao Paulo Underground - Sauna: Um, Dois, Tres

Rob Mazurek moves to Sao Paulo and starts collaborating with forward thinking motherfuckers there, led by Mauricio Takara (Hurtmold). The results are excellent. Featuring members of The Eternals, Tortoise, and Town & Country.

"Even today we are just coming to accept the innovations and constructions of Teo Macero and the man who was credited with and blamed for Macero's snip and paste collage work, Miles Davis. In today’s digital studio it is certainly easier to manipulate sound, and few artists do it as well as cornetist-turned-scientist Rob Mazurek.

Mazurek has been at it since 1997 with Tortoise, various incarnations of Chicago Underground bands, and Isotope 217. His technique has continued to be refined and sharpened. But even more importantly, he has allowed the manipulations to become more organic, even as he reveals the DNA of the computer.

Mazurek also moved to Sao Paulo, Brazil a few years back, and his interactions with local artists spawned the latest incarnation of the Underground with trumpeter and electronic musician Mauricio Takara. Their music is part soundscape, part science fiction. Mazurek has become so adept at the technique that he can assemble a seamless recording and more importantly, interact with others within that presentation.

The disc opens with a shortwave spin of foreign voices and samples of electric errata. As you attempt to get your bearings, the pair brings you back to the trumpet and the ever-present drums of Brazil (and Chicago). And you're off.

Mazurek is comfortable in Don Cherry's world music shoes, Miles' wah-wah trumpet, and Sun Ra's processional music. The two musicians create a quilt of cross-cultural, crossed-sampled electronics that pours percussion over every dish they serve up. The beats can be heavily urban or strangely unbalanced, all tossed by plan.

Track listing: Sauna: Um, Dois, Tres; Pombaral; The Realm Of The Ripper; Olhossss...; Afrihouse; Black Liquor; Batão de Gáis; Numa Grana.

Personnel: Rob Mazurek: cornet, electronics; Mauricio Takara: percussion, electronics; Marcos Axe: percussion, voice, samplers, guitars, synthesizers; Tiago Mesquita: percussion, voice, samplers, guitars, synthesizers; Wayne Montana: synthesizers; Damon Locks: synthesizers; Josh Abrams: electric bass; Chad Taylor: drums." - Mark Corroto

Baby Shabba

La Sonora Ponceña - Algo de Locura

More Salsa Gorda de la mata la raiz shit, this time from the legendary ensemble founded by Kike Lucca and directed by his son the almighty Papo, from 1971, one of their better known efforts and one of their best.

Yuca al mojo

Orquesta Harlow con Ismael Miranda - Con Mi Viejo Amigo

It's been a while since I posted some salsa so here's some nasty grooves up on this classic album featuring "El niño bonito" y "El judío maravilloso". Enjoy.

Yumac

Pere Ubu - Why I Hate Women (2006)

They still got it.

The Lounge Lizards - Voice of Chunk

More of those crazy Lounge Lizards for your enjoyment. And more from them here and here.

Ubik

Tony Allen - Lagos No Shaking

Another scorching effort from the backbone of Afrobeat. You can also get more from him here.

Caple

Mocky - Saskamodie

Seeing as we've pretty much covered Jamie Lidell from all angles, here is Saskamodie which features Lidell's soulful stylings. Mocky also produced several tracks on Lidell's album Multiply. This hillarious mockumentary introduces you to Mocky much better than I ever could.



This album is extremely pleasing, definetly one of my favorite releases from this year.

V/A - The Harder They Come

This one's for Pachist.

The classic soundtrack to the film "The Harder They Come", this is one of the most legendary reggae albums ever. It helped popularize reggae and Jamaican music in the United States and abroad.

It features a number of songs from Toots & Maytals, Desmond Dekker, Scotty, among others along with 4 tracks by Jimmy Cliff. Pretty much every song on here is a classic and they've been covered by artists as diverse as John Lennon, Keith Richards, Joe Strummer, Johnny Thunders, Willie Nelson, ext...

Sitting in Limbo

Matching Mole - Little Red Record

Second album from Robert Wyatt's post-Soft Machine outfit. Sheer Canterbury goodness.

Cambu

Sun City Girls - Cameo Demons and Their Manifestations: Carnival Folklore Resurrection vol. 1

Chokofango request. SCG series in which field recordings, gamelan exercises, headfucking psychedelia, traditional asian folksong reinterpretation, occult conspiracy radio rants, diatribes on the state of their fridge, and other assorted dementia collide in 14 exquisite artifacts.

Francheska la diosa

Super_Collider - Raw Digits

For Howard, Super_Collider's second album, my favorite.

"The reappearance of Super_Collider's Raw Digits is timely. Recorded by Jamie Lidell with Cristian Vogel, it's a superbly wrought, imaginary robo-funk album that could only be brought into being by a process of studio dicing, stretching, compressing, inverting, processing and reprocessing. The method of its construction, Lidell conceded in The Wire 257, took its toll. Assembled between 1999 and 2001, the contrivance and the effort were more than worthwhile. Opener 'Messagesacomin', which wiggles and struggles and thrives on being denied breaking out into a fully blown beat, is like a re-reading of classic 80s Prince- not a derivative but a multiplication, a hall of mirrors expansion of the possibilities that Prince's machine sensuality suggested. Lidell's vocal submission to the elaborate constraints set up by Vogel is vital to the tension of Raw Digits. 'Gravity Rearrangin', on which the pace lets up a little, feels like a reward for the rigorous modus operandi - languid, yet fatally twisted into a new soul shape, morphing in mid-song as if to illustrate the infinite capability suggested by the title. Raw Digits marks a lonely outpost of extreme achievement in the pop universe." - David Stubbs

La Buchi

Sun City Girls - Kaliflower

Two Sir Richard Bishop albums have been posted in this blog (here and here). Go get 'em, and then come back and get introduced to his old group (along with brother alan and Charlie Gocher), the legendary and deranged ultra dementors Sun City Girls. More SCG available upon request.

"This project came out originally as a CD. The front cover was a picture of Kali from a mini poster that Alan had bought in India. About three or four months later it was re-released as a vinyl edition. The only cut I actually recorded was the Uncle Tompa/Venerable song. That was from the 1990 tour when they stopped in Chicago and played at Lower Links. This was another one of those magical nights. This is the first recording I made of them. The whole recording is excellent but this is the only cut that will see the light of day. Uncle Tompa was recorded on the 234 cassette four track with two PZM taped to the ceiling and a stereo line out of the board mix. It was mixed a few months later at Hollywood Sound Recordes through a Neve with some sort of expensive compressors. It makes all the difference. If you have a some cassette four track tapes you want to mix, take it to a swanky studio and spend the money. You won't regret it. " - SRB

Reformulate

Spacek - Vintage Hi-Tech

The supreme craftsmen of haunted micro-soul.

"Apparently once described as the 'Radiohead of Soul' (pffft), Spacek return with the follow up to their epochal 2001 debut Curvatia. Released from a frustrating major label deal, Vintage Hi-Tech is the result of the diligent toil of Steve Spacek and Morgan Zante in their newly built studio. The duo have been working together with vocalist Edmund Cavill since the mid-90s and the ten tracks on Vintage Hi-Tech impressively emphasise Spacek's individual perspective.

The stripped to the bone R&B,downbeats and soft, endearingly evocative vocals make the unmistakeable Spacek sound and combine to create shades of a Massive Attack tete-a-tete with D'Angelo. This album really is in a world of its own: its delayed, swinging tracks are rooted in soul but cuts like the hip hop inspired "Motion Control" show an alternative side to what is an essentially concise and well produced version of a late night soundtrack. The groovy, cutting-edge tracks such as "Amazing" and "I Know" (where the beats just give a slight suggestion of funk) to the jazzy vocalled "Time", this is definitely an album you can warm to. In between, there's the void, containing nothing but vocals and vibes until "La Bougie" and its lazy, discordant finale.

This is a laidback, occasionally horizontal album and very good it is too. Timeless and futuristic at the same time, Spacek's fragile songs remain their strongest advantage. Their inimitable sound is instantly recognisable and their music remains essentially beyond any specific classification." - David Silverman

Anibal BBQ

Built To Spill & Lou Barlow

There Is No Enemy





Goodnight Unknown

And just I was about to say that Indie-Rock is dead.

Cosmic Jokers - s/t

Kosmische bastards unite!

"The Cosmic Jokers was never an ensemble, per se; its members did not play together as Cosmic Jokers, and in fact were not even asked to join the group. Their music was created from sessions put together by Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser early in 1973. He arranged for several acid parties to be held at the sound studio owned by Dieter Dierks, where musicians were offered drugs in exchange for recording tracks. Participants included Manuel Göttsching and Klaus Schulze of Ash Ra Tempel, Jurgen Dollase and Harold Grosskopf of Wallenstein, and Dierks. Prior to this, all of the musicians involved had been in the Cosmic Couriers, which had played on experimental recordings by Sergius Golowin, Walter Wegmuller, and Timothy Leary.

Kaiser took the tapes from these sessions, edited and mixed them with Dierks, and released them on his label, Kosmische Musik, complete with the musicians' pictures on the LP sleeve, without asking for their permission. Göttsching didn't find out about the record release until he heard it playing in a record store in Berlin and asked the counter help what was playing. Kaiser released five records under the name Cosmic Jokers in 1974, one of which was actually a label sampler and a second, Gilles Zeitschiff, consisted of Kaiser's then-girlfriend Gille Lettmann speaking over sounds taken from prior label releases. While none of the musicians were very happy with the recordings, Schulze was so angry after the release of Gilles Zeitschiff that he sued Kaiser. In 1975, Kaiser was forced to discontinue and withdraw the recordings, and he fled the country over the affair, abandoning the record label over the threat of impending legal problems."

Schwarzkommando mandala

Madlib - Shades Of Blue

this is a classic. i was wondering why this hasn't been uploaded to the chasm lovers union. one of Madlib`s finest works, remixing many classic tunes from the Blue Note Records catalog in their "funky blue note" era. it`s something that any ear can digest with ease. Blue Note gave all the master tracks to Madlib and gave him permission to do whatever he wanted to do, so obviously he went all beat-tastik on this shit and it was freaking worth it. Blue Note released this album in their label, something that no hip hop producer was ever offered. viva le Madlib. viva le beats.


stepping into tomorrow.

Experimental Audio Research - Beyond the Pale

Sonic Boom's main project after the dissolution of Spacemen 3. Featuring Kevin Martin, Kevin Shields and Eddie Prevost.

"Recorded in 1992 and promised to appear shortly after Mesmerised's release, Beyond the Pale only finally surfaced four years later, on a completely different label than indicated. Arguably this had something to do with Kevin Shields, who makes his one and only appearance on an E.A.R. album with the first track, also the title song -- perhaps they had to remix it to death or something. Whatever the exact reason, Beyond the Pale also is the one time the original four members of the group, Shields, Sonic Boom, Martin, and Prevost, all performed together under the E.A.R. rubric. Boom is credited with main songwriting and producing, understandable as he was taking the lead with the whole thing in the first place, though he and Martin did mix the album together at Shields' London studios. "Beyond the Pale" itself is an attractive monster of a track -- hearing everything from Martin's doomy, echoing drones and massive wah-wah guitar to Prevost's bowed cymbals in the mix makes for a fascinating and disturbing experience. Shields' own guitar work steers away from recreating My Bloody Valentine, instead sounding like strange howls in the distance and calmer, simpler tones up-front amidst the expected Boom touches. Another long monster of a song, "In the Cold Light of Day," sounds like a full collaboration minus Shields, with distorted, stretched-out Martin saxophone and other chilling sonic touches dominating, along with more odd, entrancing percussion work from Prevost and mournful sighs from at least one of the members. "Dusk" definitely has an overwhelming sense of Martin's low, dark musical meditations, minor keys echoing into the infinite. The remaining numbers sound more predominantly like Boom with occasional guest help, as with the buried drumming from Prevost on "The Calm Beyond" or the warm oscillations turned harsher via Martin's work on "The Circle Is Blue."- Ned Raggett Calabaza

The Vivian Girls in Puerto Rico.

Love em or hate em, theyre heading this way.



Vivian Girls started in Brooklyn, NY in March 2007 as the trio of Cassie Ramone (guitar/vocals), Kickball Katy (bass/drums/vocals) and Frankie Rose (drums/bass/vocals). While only a band for a short while, they recorded a demo CD-R which included five original songs and a Wipers cover, and began to play locally in Brooklyn and Katy and Cassie's home state of New Jersey. Within the first couple of months they had already developed a strong local following, supporting acts like Jay Reatard, Sonic Youth and the King Khan & BBQ Show as well as finding kindred spirits in other locals like Cause Co-Motion!, Crystal Stilts, and Woods, with whom they’ve shared many bills and helped develop a local scene. The band is still very much connected to their home scene. In March 2008 they released the "Wild Eyes" single on the Plays With Dolls label. With very little promotion and distribution the single became an underground indie hit as it charted on many college radio playlists and garnered positive reviews on the internet. Recorded in the same session, their debut self-titled LP was released by the Mauled by Tigers label, whose initial pressing of the LP sold out in ten days. During this time, the group signed with In The Red Records who released a new single in August 2008. In The Red re-released the Mauled by Tigers record on LP and CD formats in October 2008. In July 2008 the band underwent a lineup change with new drummer Ali Koehler replacing Frankie Rose. The band then went on an extensive tour that saw them visit the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Puerto Rico in two months. Their second album, Everything Goes Wrong was released by In The Red in September 2009. [Wiki]



Jueves 22 de Octubre, 2009
Nuyorican Cafe, Viejo San Juan
VIVIAN GIRLS
Campo Formio
Un Final Fatal
Anti-Sociales
8PM - $5

Viernes 23 de Octubre, 2009
Bamboo Beach, Isabela
VIVIAN GIRLS
Los Vigilantes
No Muertos
+1 TBA
8PM - $5

Sabado, 24 de Octubre, 2009
Cafe 103 , Rio Piedras
VIVIAN GIRLS (Presentacion Acustica)
5PM - GRATIS!
-----------
Taller Ce, Rio Piedras
VIVIAN GIRLS
Juventud Crasa
Similar
Re-Animadores
8PM - $5

that red-head is cuuuuuute! (E-dawg hook a nigga up!)

Don Carlos & Gold - Them Never Know Natty Dread Have Him Credential

Another reggae classic from the master of sweet talking the ladies, Don Carlos. This album is backed up by the incredible Roots Radics band with Gold backing up vocals, making some nice horn lines and some beautiful compositions.

ride on, christine.

John Fahey - Old Girlfriends And Other Horrible Memories.

Netherlandian request. More Fahey goodness.


[this track is not on the record, but its kickass nonetheless]

Twilight Zone

Joe McPhee - Nation Time

For Chokabert. McPhee's debut and an avant jazz classic. From 1970.

"IF you have enjoyed some of Joe McPhee's recent releases, such as Undersound or Novio Iolu, you may be in for a bit of a surprise. Even if you're well aware that Joe doesn't always work with the delicacy and subtlety he employs on those two discs, but with the bluster and grandeur of Grand Marquis, you'll find that this one is different. A long-awaited rerelease of a 1970 recording, Nation Time is the exuberance of the master in his youth, haranguing the crowd ("WHAT TIME IS IT?" "Nation Time" "AW, C'MON! YOU CAN DO BETTER THAN THAT! WHAT TIIIIME IS IT???" "NATION TIME!") and playing a glorious to-the-wall mixture of r&b and free motifs, with a great deal more thrown in too.

Two of these three long tracks were recorded at a concert at Vassar College on December 12, 1970: "Nation Time" and "Scorpio's Dance." Featuring the electric piano of Mike Kull and the relentless percussion of Bruce Thompson and Ernest Bostic, there is a definite hint of rock in the music. McPhee also, especially on "Nation Time," plays with a burred r&b tenor tone reminiscent of Ornette Coleman's much-imitated sound on Ornette on Tenor. And also like the music on that album, the groove isn't constant. Although it's a stronger one than Ornette ever favored at that time, it's elastic enough to give way to periods where McPhee and Kull solo searchingly in empty space. Indeed, one of the most exciting things about this album is the sense of space. Although all three of these tracks are quite propulsive, McPhee and his men are imaginative enough to continue to refresh them with rhythmic and other variations.

"Shakey Jake," recorded in a studio the next day, adds an alto saxophonist, an organist, and an electric guitarist. The electric guitarist plays in the mode of many players in the nascent fusion movement of those days, so this track's flavor fits right in with the other two: free r&b of a style more musically adventurous than that made famous by Miles Davis, but still full of enough hooks to wow the crowd.

And wow the crowd it did. Thirty years later, it's still just as powerful."- Robert Spencer

Cagacatre

Tradition - Captain Ganja & The Space Patrol

oh my science, this album is just out of this planetary system. synths, horns, vocals, space echo literally, jah jah, water samples, arpeggiators, cosmic dust, nature and reverb. one of the most unique and abstract dub albums that i`ve come into contact with. it was released in 1980 so its got some soul/r&b influences.

sorry, badongo sucks.





p.s. check out the mixing/recording engineer.