been meaning to do this for awhile
January 07, 2010
January 06, 2010
Atomic Rooster-In Hearing of
the third album again remastered & expanded.This one is less heavy & adds a nice fat funky vibe.At times it's almost a breaks album as the drummer really gets down.If you enjoy that 70's vibe you can't go wrong here
Side one
- "Breakthrough" (Vincent Crane/Pat Darnell) 6:22
- "Break the Ice" (John Du Cann) 5:03
- "Decision/Indecision" (Crane/Darnell) 3:54
- "A Spoonful of Bromide Helps the Pulse Rate Go Down" (Crane) 4:43
Side two
- "Black Snake" (Crane/Darnell) 6:03
- "Head in the Sky" (Du Cann) 5:42
- "The Rock" (Crane) 4:35
- "The Price" (Crane) 5:20
2004 Castle Music CD reissue bonus tracks
- "Devil's Answer" (Du Cann) 3:30 - US version with overdubbed Du Cann vocals 1971
- "Breakthrough" 7:21 - Live in Concert 1972
- "A Spoonful of Bromide Helps the Pulse Rate Go Down" 4:50 12- Live in Concert 1972
Atomic Rooster-Death Walks Behind You
the second album again in remastered expanded form.This one might be a touch heavier than the other one.The title track for sure was a heavy rock staple on my turntable growing up.
1. Death Walks Behind You
2. VUG
3. Tomorrow Night
4. 7 Streets
5. Sleeping for Years
6. I Can't Take No More
7. Nobbody Else
8. Gershatzer
9. Tomorrow Night - (Bonus Track)
10. Shabooloo - (Bonus Track)
11. Death Walks Behind You - (Bonus Track)
12. Rock, The - (Bonus Track)
Atomic Rooster-Self-Titled
I'm a big fan of late 60's early 70's heavy rock.It teeters between the dance floor fashions of the 60's & looks to the prog sounds of the 70's.It was also the music that served to draw me into the world of music blogging.There were so many obscure albums in this style & i remember trying to figure out how rapidshare worked so i could access albums i found posted.One thing led to another & here i am.Atomic Rooster were actually a farely well known band at that time.I owned a couple of their records on vinyl in the 70's.This is an remastered expanded version of their first album with some BBC recordings & 45's. Lots & lots of organs & groovy riffs here.Dig on it. Also their original drummer who left after this album was Carl Palmer who left to join E.L.P.
| 1. | Friday 13th - (studio) | |
| 2. | And So to Bed - (studio) | |
| 3. | Broken Wings - (studio) | |
| 4. | Before Tomorrow - (studio) | |
| 5. | Banstead - (studio) | |
| 6. | S.L.Y. - (studio) | |
| 7. | Winter - (studio) | |
| 8. | Decline & Fall - (studio) | |
| 9. | Friday 13th (U.K. Mix) (Bonus Track) - (studio) | |
| 10. | Before Tomorrow (U.K. Mix) (Bonus Track) - (studio) | |
| 11. | S.L.Y. (U.K. Mix) (Bonus Track) - (studio) | |
| 12. | Devil's Answer (Demo) (Bonus Track) - (studio) | |
| 13. | Seven Lonely Street (BBC Session 26/5/70) (Bonus Track) - (studio) | |
| 14. | Friday 13th (BBC Session 26/5/70) (Bonus Track) - (studio) Self Titled.zip |
Richard Hawley-Discography
a friend of mine wanted to hear these so i thought i'd just put them here.If you're a fan of late 60's Elvis or baroque pop or Scott Walkers early solo stuff but with a Sun records bent you can't go wrong with these albums.Effortlessly classy music.Not a whole lot of stylistic deviation but it's not really needed as the songs & sounds are consistently excellent
January 03, 2010
The Advisory Circle-Other Channels
The Advisory Circle's aesthetic takes in old time radio,public information films,analog synth soundscapes,library music & nostalgia for a slightly creepy non existent past that has traces of steampunk,victorian buildings & hauntology.They're on Ghostbox which has created their own little world of sounds & designs like these.
Remember, electricity can not be seen or heard. Harmful, invisible forces surround us everywhere we go. Fortunately The Advisory Circle is on hand to help us make the right decisions.
Light synthesiser melodies and moments of surreal humour float in a drift of pastoral melancholia and fuzzy music concrete. Fragments of public information broadcasting are filtered through the distorting lens of prescription tranquillisers. Malicious gossip becomes jumbled and confused with continuity announcements.Ghostbox
This is the past seen through the distorting lens of the future, like analogue video feedback processed through digital filters
Callsign 'A' - The TV Trap Civil Defence Is Common Sense Mogadon Coffee Morning Sundial Swinscoe Episode 1 - 'Enter Swinscoe' Celebrate Michaelmas NOW! Fire, Damp & Air Frozen Ponds PIF Erosion Of Time A Clear Yarn Warning Keep Warm, Keep Well Eyes Which Are Swelling Hocusing For Beginners The Coastguard Swinscoe Episode 2 - 'Release The Birds' Farmland, Freeland Everyday Electronics The Old Schoolhouse Callsign 'B' - Freeland Logotone
January 01, 2010
Cosmic Trip Machine-Vampyros Roussos
"Cosmic Trip Machine is one of Belgium's finest psychedelic bands, these night-trippers sound like Demis Roussos jamming with Gong imagining a psychedelic horror soundtrack wandering through a free-flowing erotic surreal delirium with enough sitar, cosmic electronics and wailing acidic guitar leads to blow your head clean off. Vampyros Roussos is a rock opera and the soundtrack of an imaginary movie about Jimmy, a young man running away from Fuzzy, a police inspector, and his partner, Funky C.
I have the cassette version of this which adds about 8 songs.That's a scan of the inlays above one of which tries to help you follow the story.Good luck with that.But if you dig some sitar/guitar hippy psych sounds this is a major winner.This is dubbed directly from the cassette & i think i even got the tracking right.Sounds pretty great for a cassette dub.Enjoy
Happy New Year!!
I took it slow in December as real life always gets crazy then. making up for some lost time here.All New Wave Complex posts inspired by the really goofy 80's band i saw playing a New Years Eve celebration last night outside in freezing cold weather.
Mount Vernon Arts Lab-The Seance At Hobs Lane
| The Fog Detonator | 0:57 |
| Hobgoblins | 5:48 |
| The Mandrake Club | 2:37 |
| Dashwoods Reverie | 3:59 |
| The Black Drop | 3:13 |
| Sir Keith At Lambeth | 6:07 |
| The Submariners Song | 1:20 |
| The Vauxhall Labyrinth | 5:22 |
| While London Sleeps | 5:28 |
| Warminster 4 | 3:24 |
| Percy Toplis The Séance at Hobs Lane.zip | 14:43 |
Moon Wiring Club-An Audience of Art Deco Eyes
on the Blank Workshop label in England these guys travel down the same paths as the Ghostbox label.Radiophonic sounds from the past beamed to the future alternately jaunty & mildly creepy.They also have some resemblance to Boards of Canada.
| 1 | Dumpley's Acrostics | 2:11 | |
| 2 | Ghost Radio | 1:05 | |
| 3 | You Have No Gifts | 4:27 | |
| 4 | The Variant On The Right | 0:44 | |
| 5 | Mademoiselle Marionette | 3:24 | |
| 6 | Almond Talbot's Wireless Telegraphy | 0:54 | |
| 7 | Roger's Ghost | 3:51 | |
| 8 | An Invitation To Shoebox Garden | 2:58 | |
| 9 | Opening Leaves | 0:32 | |
| 10 | Activate The Poacher | 3:01 | |
| 11 | Wool Book | 4:37 | |
| 12 | Inside Shoebox Garden | 0:47 | |
| 13 | The Edwardians Begin To Enjoy Themselves | 3:34 | |
| 14 | Living Furniture | 3:23 | |
| 15 | A Slip In The Forth Dimension | 3:06 | |
| 16 | The Stone Sun | 1:33 | |
| 17 | The Green Policeman | 4:11 | |
| 18 | Unknown Monarch | 0:44 | |
| 19 | Autumn Fair Thursday At Four | 4:24 | |
| 20 | Underground Library | 1:41 | |
| 21 | The Variant On The Left | 1:37 | |
| 22 | Some Cobwebbed Limbo An Audience Of Art Deco Eyes.zip moon wiring club 2.zip |
December 25, 2009
what i'm really thankful for
woke up today to find a fellow blogger in Greece had emailed me links to 5 prog rock albums by new artists released in 2009.Thanks to all the digital Santas out there whose gifts just kept on giving in 2009!!!
December 16, 2009
Chrome-The Chronicles
I got in the mood to hear this today & had to track it down.I figured i can't be the only person whose had a hard time finding this.I've been a Chrome fan since i was 17 & picked up Alien Soundtracks.Long before Joy Division & terms like post punk had been invented bands like Chrome & Pere Ubu were making futuristic industrial rockt.In the 70's/early 80's the effect this music had on kids like me can't be overlooked.Part of it was that in pre internet days the only place you heard about this music was in underground zines & the only place you could buy it was in small independent stores which made the music that much more mysterious.You had to really dig to find this stuff.It might as well have been beamed in from another planet.It was truly underground.I remember the first time i saw Chrome member Helios Creed live it was mindblowing.I couldn't believe there was actually a real person who played this stuff.In anycase i had this on vinyl once upon a time as part of a 6 record set.There was an approximation of that box released on cd but it included mistitled truncated versions of these songs.I was always unhappy about that but the internet has solved my problem.
Chronicles, Vols. 1 & 2.zip
1 The Chronicles Of The Sacrifice5:142 The Chronicles Of The Tribes7:243 The Chronicles Of The Open Door6:114 The Chronicles Of Born In The Night15:455 The Chronicles Of The Beacons17:146 The Chronicles Of Gehenna10:14
a large selection of Tobin Sprout
a long while ago i posted a bunch of GBV & promised to do the same with Tobin Sprout.Needless to say i never got around to it.Well here it is.I've been on an experimental music kick this year but i really started this blog to turn my friends onto music i liked.So this is for you guys who've been around since the start.And yes i am a confirmed GBV fanatic.There's 63 songs here.Three hours of music.
Richard H Kirk-Black Jesus Voice
the last Kirk I'll put up for awhile.This came out in 86 & sounds like a Cabs album from that era.The music is much more electro & dance oriented than before though still with an experimental edge.I always thought the Cab's pulled the dance thing off pretty well until they went completely off the deep end with it on the Groovy,Nasty,Laidback album.If you hit the dance floor to their sounds in the 80's then this album will fit right in with that.All 3 Kirk albums were a revelation to me when i heard them cause this stuff wasn't easy to come by when it came out.Hope you enjoy them also.Maybe someday i'll post the Cabaret Voltaire catalog
| Streetgang (It Really Hurts) | |
| Hipnotic | |
| Boom Shala | |
| Black Jesus Voice | |
| Martyrs Of Palestine | |
| This Is The H-Bomb Sound | |
| Short Wave Black Jesus Voice.zip |
Richard H. Kirk-Time High Fiction
this one is weirder & noiser than his first.Probably not as good either but if you like early Cabaret Voltaire you'll dig this.It came out in 83 but sounds like it was recorded earlier.Again if it came out on a cassette label today you'd think it was brand new.I've been a big fan of underground weirdness for a long time
| The Greedy Eye | |
| Shaking Down The Tower Of Babel | |
| Force Of Habit | |
| Day Of Waiting | |
| Black Honeymoon | |
| Nocturnal Children | |
| Wiretrap | |
| The Power Of Autosuggestion | |
| Dead Relatives Part One | |
| Dead Relatives Part Two Richard H Kirk - Time High Fiction 2xLP [1983].zip |
December 15, 2009
a couple hard to get singles
i was sorting thru my stuff & i found a couple singles i know i had a hard time finding so
i thought i'd share.First up is Amorphous Adrogynus full 22 minute remix of
'Falling Down" by Oasis.Second is Primal Scream covering Suicide's "Diamonds,
Fur Coats,Champagne" which was released in an edition of 3000 copies.Finally
there's Andrew Weatherall's remix of the Scream's "Uptown" which was only available as
a vinyl "12' inch with the preorders of the album from their website.
December 12, 2009
Layout change
Hey guys it was suggested to me that the blog had some font/color issues that made it hard to read.I admit i was getting a little clever with the type.I went to a lighter look but i just made many of my old posts hard to read.I probably won't go back & edit those.But from now on i'll keep it simple so the blog is user friendly.Thanks for the input
December 10, 2009
Steve Hauschildt-Resplendent,The Summit,Rapt for Liquid Minister
3 releases by the Emeralds member.Lots of dreamy washed of synthesized electronic sound with some louder stuff on The Summit.Sit back & get your Krautrock on
Richard H. Kirk-Disposable Half-Truths
the first album by the Cabaret Voltaire main man released on cassette way back in 1978.This was some seriously weird stuff back in those days although this could easily be a Cab's if you had Mallinder singing on it.This could be released today into the current experimental cassette underground & it would sound completely current.The ghosts of dub & disembodied vocals & radio transmissions & white noise reside inside these songs.This album was played repeatedly by me when it came out.I used to go to sleep to stuff like this & i can still remember waking up to the vocal sample of a woman repeating 'no fucking way no fucking way no fucking way over over again & scaring the crap out of me in the middle of "False Erotic Love" before i realized what it was.Meet the old underground same as the new underground.
December 09, 2009
John Barleycorn Reborn
the original 2 disc set.What can i say it's epic.So here's a review written at the time of release which also has some notes about the Rebirth set
Objectivity be damned, it just can't be done! When presented with a collection of tracks dubbed Dark Britannica, comprising two CDs that when purchased entitles you to 33 extra downloadable tracks (the equivalent of two more CDs), which collectively prove satisfying time after time -- sorry, but all pretence at neutrality must be abandoned. This is certainly at least one of the best collections of the year, and a unique experiment that succeeds superbly.
Brought to you by the people at the legal folk download service Woven Wheat Whispers, John Barleycorn Reborn's remit of dark traditional and tradition-based British music does not necessarily focus on negativity and gloom as the wording might suggest. It is more an exploration of the less "pretty" side of the genre, with no attempts at expurgation and a freedom for the musicians to express that side of the music and themselves. As a result, the set contains a great variety of arrangements from acoustic to folk rock to electronica and beyond, and a combination of ancient and newly written material that fits together easily.
One of the few negatives of the set is that the actual writers of each track aren't directly credited, so in some cases it's hard to be sure if the song is old or new. The downloadable cover notes sometimes do give this information in the blurb for a track, but this can involve a bit of a search as opposed to having the information simply credited along with the title. Still, maybe it's a good thing to just let this timeless music speak for itself in that sense.
To do any sort of track-by-track analysis would keep us all here for hours, so perhaps I'll expand more generally. I kept notes as I listened through the whole set and the first thing to say is that at no time did it seem a chore to listen to so many songs a number of times; in fact it helped many of them become favourites more quickly. It's also interesting that although I had never heard of 99 percent of the performers before, it made absolutely no difference to the enjoyment of the recordings, as well it shouldn't! A lot of the material itself is maybe not the expected fare (no 'Tam Lin' for example), which may or may not show an intention to focus on the lesser-known songs, but it also proves the abundance of music in the genre in the first place. Not to mention its flexibility in withstanding the various interpretations that different artists place upon it.
The obvious inclusion is the almost-title track 'John Barleycorn', which appears in a few different forms, not including a further remix of one track on Volume 3. The first version by The Horses Of The Gods begins the entire set, with a foreboding and arresting arrangement that sets the scene well. The second version by The Anvil has quite a different feel, more melodic with distorted guitar and menacing overtones; the remix is even more mesmerising.
In overall terms, each disc is on a particular theme. Disc The First focuses on birth, though there is still plenty of death on display in, for example, Mary Jane's wonderful folk rock rendition of 'Twa Corbies', and 'To Kill All Kings' by Sol Invictus, which is more electronic folk though still traditional-sounding. Again and as is often the case throughout, "menacing" seems an appropriate description, too. Other highlights include the rousing 'Spirit Of Albion' by Damh The Bard and the downright spooky 'Hippomania' from English Heretic, another electronic piece with threatening drums, violin and electric guitar.
A number of the songs have a medieval feel with instruments to match, such as Sharron Kraus' 'Horn Dance' and Peter Ulrich's 'The Scryer and The Shrewstone', the latter being a story song featuring recorder and crumhorn in a creative arrangement. It's unfair to omit any particular track because, even though there is wide variety in musical approach and even recording quality, there is not one piece that makes me want to skip it on first or subsequent listening. However, let's move on regardless.
The theme of Disc The Second is death. It is British traditional music after all, so the subject is an obvious and appropriate one. This also features a recording of the title track, but quite different from the others. 'John Barleycorn: His Life, Death & Resurrection' as performed by Xenis Emputae Travelling Band (AKA Phillip Legard) has a different tune, and the arrangement of three voices and percussion leading into a mysterious-sounding mix of accordion, acoustic guitar and percussion is unique.
The mix of styles continues from Disc 1, ranging from the gentle, flowing 'To Make You Stay' by Tinkerscuss (with gorgeous vocals and almost a Pentangle feel to it) to the thundering folk rock of Obsidian Blade's 'While Angels Watch'. 'Nottamun Town' by Drohne is perhaps a more obvious choice of song, but again the arrangement is unexpected -- contemporary, electronic and foreboding, with some hurdy gurdy and a bit of folk/rap included for good measure! One of my personal highlights of the volume.
Recorders feature on a couple of tracks: Sand Snowman's 'Stained Glass Morning', an attractive acoustic song with melodic female vocals and a classic sort of Incredible String Band sound, and 'PewPew' by Quickthorn, a slower piece with two recorders in counterpoint, along with hammer dulcimer and laconic vocals, adding up to a sparse, medieval sound.
There are 17 songs in all on disc two, and although there are a few that I don't see necessarily fitting into the death theme, they all work together well. The final track by Martyn Bates is an evocative instrumental recorded exclusively for the set, and its title of 'The Resurrection Apprentice' leads neatly to the third and final volume.
The link to download the tracks for Part The Third is provided when you purchase the original double CD. The fact it's called "Part" rather than "Disc The Third" is a clue that there are too many songs to fit on one CD; in fact the 33 songs (over 200 MB of mp3s) fill up two more CDRs easily. There is no cover per se for this part, so how you store them is up to you. Also, the mp3s are not in a particular order, except for only the first few which are numbered, so compiling them into the order on the online tracklisting takes a bit of time too, should one wish.
The theme, as suggested before, is resurrection. Again, I suspect the fitting of some tracks to the specific theme is a bit flexible, though they fit the overall subject fine. With 19 tracks on volume 3.1 as it were, and 14 on 3.2, there is an equivalent amount of diversity and enjoyment as on the main set. That it is to say, a great deal of each.
I'll take the easy route and make a few general observations. A number of tracks would fall into the area of soundscape as much as song, particularly Sundog's 'Kilpeck June 2007' and Clive Powell's 'Ca The Horse, Me Marra'. The latter track features bird song and bells for the first two of its 11 minutes, with solo vocal eventually added to an intriguing treatment of a traditional-sounding melody.
The lengthiest track at around 12 minutes belongs to Curran with 'Seven Sleeps Seven Sorrows'. This also begins with bird song in a sort of industrial soundscape, before the addition of gentle dulcimer and bass to what turns out to be a great pagan folk/rock song. Its length is not a hindrance but instead allows a real exploration of the piece.
Although Venereum Arvum's take on 'Child 101: Willie and Earl Richard's Daughter' is an electronic remix of their song on disc 2, it was the "flower mix" here that made me realise that after a few listens, it's the sort of song you feel you've known forever. With the birth of Robin Hood as its topic, the song's arrangement combines male and female vocals with an appropriately ethereal backing.
Also worthy of special note is the loud, rousing track by medieval band Daughters Of Elvin. 'Ognor Mi Trovo' is energetic, fun -- and ancient! I also enjoy the "Tigon Mix" of 'Wake The Vaulted Echo' by The Owl Service; a sombre piece with piano intro that uses excerpts from late 1960s films (largely the reminiscences of wartime by an older lady) to create quite a sad, thoughtful track. As for the rest, I have no doubt any one of them could easily become somebody's favourite from the set.
The set is given the following general description: "An exploration of the seasons and their turning through the birth, death and rebirth of John Barleycorn, as observed in the fields, grain and ale." The story of Barleycorn, a personification of the process of turning barley into ale, contains all the sort of mystery and danger that informs a lot of the tracks on John Barleycorn Reborn; not least his arising from death and misfortune to have the last laugh.
These CDs are designed not just as an enjoyable listening experience, as if that wasn't enough, but as a call to arms to those who celebrate Dark Britannica to come into the light and reclaim their place in the world. If the end result brings the overall feel of this music to the wider world, with the attendant embracing of the mysterious spirituality inherent in life, then bring it on!
what can i say? Get it
John Barleycorn Reborn-Rebirth
as promised the download only part 3 of the John Barleycorn Reborn set issued as a celebration of the first produce of the harvest & the coming of the winter.This is another hard to find item & is dark experimental British Folk of the highest order.By the way the tags are a bit off on track #'s so you may have to tag them if you want the stuff as the same order as the download. I just got wore out & uploaded it as such.Songs/titles fine it's just track #'s.Hope you enjoy my version of the holiday spirit
All Souls Arise-A Very Pagan Xmas
some years ago i bought an album by the band Stonebreath.I can't sat it was the best thing i'd ever heard but i was intrigued by the almost ritual like psych folk it had on offer so i started looking into the psych underground.This coincided with the internet taking off so my task was easier.One thing led to another & this one album led to me going to Terrastock & getting involved in that community & then onto other experimental musics & on to small labels & blogs that post experimental sounds.It all started for me with Tim Renner.In a sense my interest in bands such as Emeralds,Natural Snow Buildings & the like began there.What's that got to do with this post? Not much except that alongside Renner's label i discovered a website that reviewed music by like minded artist called The Unbroken Circle.The site's creator Mark Coyle would send out self made comps he did of psych/pagan folk music for free if you just asked.I've got an entire collection of this stuff i'll post at some point.Eventually as the site grew he turned it into a record label called Woven Wheat Whispers & on the site you could download scores of albums by bands upholding the British Folk spirit from traditional to far more experimental fare.It was the coolest site ever.And then one day Mark just shut it down.There was no real reason ever given as far as i can see.I miss this site tremendously.Mainly because he featured great inexpensive downloads of Wicker Man style music by loads of bands i'd never heard of.I don't know where you even go to hear this stuff anymore.And i don't know if Mark even has a web presence anymore.What i do know is that Dark Holler & The Unbroken Circle led me into a world of wonder & as i sit here & write these words Brothers of the Occult sisterhood is playing & i got to them in a sense thru those sites so i just thought they deserved the credit.
Now about this post.Woven Wheat Whispers issued a monster 2 cd set of Dark Brittania called John Barleycorn Reborn.Here's somebody else's words on it
This compilation explores the darker side of British folk music, evoking the mystery of our ancient past and peoples, the strangeness of their beliefs, arcane traditions and the remnants of this carried down the centuries as folklore. The set has an extended booklet with articles, essays and explorations of the album's concept.
It's a great comp & i'll post it soon but in addition to that if you bought it you got a free download of part 3 which had 33 more songs.I'll post that soon also.But in addition to this for about $9 as i rember you could download what basically amounts to a 4th volume All Souls Arise which for want of a better description is a celebration of the Winter Yule & the Samhain.It's a pagan Xmas album.
If you're a fan of The Wicker Man or weird British folk or experimental sounds you should grab this.This comp along with the 2 John Barleycorn comps are some of my most prized possessions. This was music made by & issued by artists who genuinely did it because they loved the source material & what they did without any expectations of selling a million copies.If anybody knows where Mark Coyle ended up or if there's some amazing pagan British folk site i'm missing let me know.This is pretty hard to find by the way so grab it if you like it. I know it's the only xmas music i listen to
- Doug Peters - Samhain Song (do álbum "Sacred Water")
- Mary Jane - Let The Fire Begin
- Damh The Bard - Samhain Eve (de "The Hills Are Hollow")
- In Gowan Ring - Wind that Cracks the Leaves (nova gravação)
- The Owl Service - Night Falls on Summer's End
- Prydwyn and Kira with Quickthorn - A Leaf Must Fall
- Novemthree - Old Year's Feast
- Electronic Voice Phenomena - Laurel (remix, de "Mind Universe Interface")
- Sand Snowman - All Fool's Parade
- Orchis - Scene Through A Looking Glass
- The Joy of Nature - The Twilight of the Old King
- Allister Thompson - It Goes On
- The Phoenix Cube - Lift The Stone
- Sedayne - Child 32
- Andrew McKay and Carole Etherton - Scarecrow (de "Characters")
- Clive Powell - I Wisht I Was Where The Gadie Runs
- Hermione Swinford - The Lover's Ghost (de "Deep In The Wood")
- Tinkerscuss - Long Lankin (de "Mythago")
- Talking Trees - Wild Mountain Thyme
- Mr Love and Justice - Build A Fire
- Andy Smythe - Autumn Gold (de "Love Unspoken")
- Pig's Ear - Welcome Cold November (de "The Whole Hog")
- Philip G Martin - Winter Snow (de "Vielle Sauvage")
- The Bully Wee Band - The Snows (de "50 Channels")
- Stonefield Tramp - The Winter King (de "Full Circle")
December 07, 2009
The Deadly Avenger-Deep Red/Blossoms & Blood
the soundtrack for a movies that hasn't been made gimmick is something that's been around for awhile.I think the first time i experienced it was listening to the first Barry Adamson solo album.i remember thinking it was a cool idea at the time.Since that time many electronic artists have done this with my 2 favorites easily being David Holmes & Deadly Avenger.Holmes went on to score real soundtracks.I'm not sure what Deadly Avenger is doing.I will say i like these 2 albums lots.There's nothing particularly original here just a grasp of melody,dynamics & the common sense to not let the cinematic sweep of the music carry on too long.Translation? There's not a cut longer than 7 minutes.I prefer Deep Red but really either will do.Like i said nothing really terribly original on offer here but i find myself coming back to these & listening to them repeatedly.that's good enough for me
“A mysterious new priest, Father Daniel, comes to town to stay with fellow men of the cloth. Little do they know, he possesses extraordinary martial arts skill,crucifix blades and a gun with a golden cross on the handle.”
Or so says the back-of-the-DVD blurb from which Deadly Avenger (aka Damon Baxter) took his name from. Could the premise for music inspired by such wonders be any cooler? Fun as it sounds though, it’d be misleading to say that Deadly’s music really is ‘inspired’ by B-grade kung-fu throwaway flicks - Instead, Deadly sits on a point somewhere along a long line Instrumental DJs, but pushing out his own brand of Big Beat Trip Hop and taking his inspiration from cinematic film scores a la Tarrantino and John Carpenter - you’d be likely to hear some of his tunes on C.S.I. and Top Gear of all places. Of course, Deadly also has his own DJ legacy outside the cinema, and after a residency at the world renowned rave palace Fabric and having released his own album in the form of the stunning Deep Red, Deadly is back, and it can only be a good thing.
Opening with what could probably be termed as Deadly’s very own call to arms, "We Took Vegas" is a trumpet filled, string drenched affair, coming off as a sort of campy cross between early James Bond theme music and 80s Shaft inspired pomp – Deadly Avenger indeed. And of course, that is the key to Blossoms & Blood: through the sweeping string arrangements, deeply housed beats and flowing piano lines, there’s a distinct sense of just… playful fun that runs through the whole thing. Take "Mal Paso Pt. II", which opens with its sex-groove guitar licks and bedroom beats, only to have Deadly drop in some furious cowbell goodness right in and amongst the rising strings. Almost predictably too, closer "Exits" is the sort of ‘superspy walking off into the sunset after dispatching the baddie and getting the girl’ tune, complete with Austin Powers flutes and hard edged wahwah guitar solos. It’d almost be almost a bit comical, if it wasn’t for the seeming seriousness of these songs. But hell, fact is, it all works.
Still though, Deadly isn’t just a mere connoisseur of cool but knows when to apply the breaks as well, and peppered throughout Blossoms and Blood are slower, more down tempo songs that drip with the melodic gorgeousness that characterizes a lot of the songs here. Songs like “Sequola” and “Blossoms and Blood” both feature grand, sweeping string arrangements, while “Suite From Near To Me” and “Midgets For Seven” brood with lightly strummed acoustic guitar and choral flourishes. To keep things interesting, you’ll even find breakbeat influences on “Chevy Chases Hair” and “Invincible” while “Gekko” shows off Deadly’s own House inspired electronic wrangling. What’s great about it all though, is that way that Deadly also has a way of tying these disparate influences in together in way that makes Blossoms & Blood come off very solidly as an album, and not just a collection of random snippets and tunes. If anything, it’s a record which bears all the marks of an A-class producer, even if sometimes the fun/beauty ratio does get toyed with a little bit too much.
I suspect though, that Baxter also probably already knows that he’s damn good - and sometimes too well for his own sake. Occasionally, songs here rely too heavily on their obvious hooks and first-glance beauty to get the job done, rather than any sort of deep, revealing and complex musicality. The singularly gorgeous title track here is a prime example of this, with its rousing strings and inspiring piano runs, it’s the sort of song you’re likely to hear in a movie where the protagonist finally has some sort of revelation of the spirit, running through the city streets to cry out his love to the girl he loved for so long but never had the balls to do it. Or something like that. Yes it’s nice, yes it’s pretty, but once it hits its climax, the song simply fades away, and theses a distinct sense of… oh. That was cool. And that’s it. Still, if you’re simply in for a three and a half minute heart warmer, there’s absolutely no reason to dock any points when the Deadly's ear for a tune is so damn sharp.
Or so says the back-of-the-DVD blurb from which Deadly Avenger (aka Damon Baxter) took his name from. Could the premise for music inspired by such wonders be any cooler? Fun as it sounds though, it’d be misleading to say that Deadly’s music really is ‘inspired’ by B-grade kung-fu throwaway flicks - Instead, Deadly sits on a point somewhere along a long line Instrumental DJs, but pushing out his own brand of Big Beat Trip Hop and taking his inspiration from cinematic film scores a la Tarrantino and John Carpenter - you’d be likely to hear some of his tunes on C.S.I. and Top Gear of all places. Of course, Deadly also has his own DJ legacy outside the cinema, and after a residency at the world renowned rave palace Fabric and having released his own album in the form of the stunning Deep Red, Deadly is back, and it can only be a good thing.
Opening with what could probably be termed as Deadly’s very own call to arms, "We Took Vegas" is a trumpet filled, string drenched affair, coming off as a sort of campy cross between early James Bond theme music and 80s Shaft inspired pomp – Deadly Avenger indeed. And of course, that is the key to Blossoms & Blood: through the sweeping string arrangements, deeply housed beats and flowing piano lines, there’s a distinct sense of just… playful fun that runs through the whole thing. Take "Mal Paso Pt. II", which opens with its sex-groove guitar licks and bedroom beats, only to have Deadly drop in some furious cowbell goodness right in and amongst the rising strings. Almost predictably too, closer "Exits" is the sort of ‘superspy walking off into the sunset after dispatching the baddie and getting the girl’ tune, complete with Austin Powers flutes and hard edged wahwah guitar solos. It’d almost be almost a bit comical, if it wasn’t for the seeming seriousness of these songs. But hell, fact is, it all works.
Still though, Deadly isn’t just a mere connoisseur of cool but knows when to apply the breaks as well, and peppered throughout Blossoms and Blood are slower, more down tempo songs that drip with the melodic gorgeousness that characterizes a lot of the songs here. Songs like “Sequola” and “Blossoms and Blood” both feature grand, sweeping string arrangements, while “Suite From Near To Me” and “Midgets For Seven” brood with lightly strummed acoustic guitar and choral flourishes. To keep things interesting, you’ll even find breakbeat influences on “Chevy Chases Hair” and “Invincible” while “Gekko” shows off Deadly’s own House inspired electronic wrangling. What’s great about it all though, is that way that Deadly also has a way of tying these disparate influences in together in way that makes Blossoms & Blood come off very solidly as an album, and not just a collection of random snippets and tunes. If anything, it’s a record which bears all the marks of an A-class producer, even if sometimes the fun/beauty ratio does get toyed with a little bit too much.
I suspect though, that Baxter also probably already knows that he’s damn good - and sometimes too well for his own sake. Occasionally, songs here rely too heavily on their obvious hooks and first-glance beauty to get the job done, rather than any sort of deep, revealing and complex musicality. The singularly gorgeous title track here is a prime example of this, with its rousing strings and inspiring piano runs, it’s the sort of song you’re likely to hear in a movie where the protagonist finally has some sort of revelation of the spirit, running through the city streets to cry out his love to the girl he loved for so long but never had the balls to do it. Or something like that. Yes it’s nice, yes it’s pretty, but once it hits its climax, the song simply fades away, and theses a distinct sense of… oh. That was cool. And that’s it. Still, if you’re simply in for a three and a half minute heart warmer, there’s absolutely no reason to dock any points when the Deadly's ear for a tune is so damn sharp.
Damon Baxter, aka Deadly Avenger is a talented man. Correction, make that a very talented man. For the Illicit Records' boss and in demand DJ has just created an album of sublime beauty and depth. What's even more impressive is that the movie soundtrack stylings of Baxter's debut are the total opposite of the kind of block rockin', genre bustin' beats that he has become known for. Rare indeed is the producer who matches versatility with ambition and quality.
Born in Scotland but raised in the East Midlands, Baxter's achievement of both critical and popular acclaim seems almost effortless. His early musical diet of hip-hop was ingrained in a string of brilliant EPs released in the late '90s. The likes of King Tito's Gloves, the Battlecreek series and Charlie Don't Surf were inspired slices of hip house breakbeat mayhem that were wild on the party spirit. This success led to his Illicit label hosting the likes of Jadell, Richard Sen and Pepe Deluxe. Major label recognition in the form of remixes for the Manics, Travisand Stereophonics soon followed. And so we arrive in 2002 with Baxter's musical stock rising, and about to go even higher with the intriguing Deep Red hitting the shelves.
To say Baxter has an ear for a tune would be an understatement. A childhood accident left him without a sense of taste or smell, but you almost feel this has enhanced his other senses, as Deep Red is packed with startlingly clear, absorbing sounds. This is not to say that his earlier releases lacked this quality, as there was always an extra depth to his records that that made them stand out from the crowd. Deep Red however, takes things onto a whole new sonic level.
As befits a collection that sounds gloriously expansive, no corners were cut. We Took Pelham, with its regal trumpet fanfare, was created using a full orchestra in Budapest and most of the string parts on Deep Red were written, scored and performed rather than sampled. Consistently good, the standard is so high throughout that no tracks really stand out. Instead, they all evoke varying moods and images, each taking you somewhere else. Punisher is grimily funky, the soundtrack to mean streets and vicious bar room brawls. The Quest Part 1, on the other hand, is an exciting journey into a mystical and exotic far off land. Day One, with its' infectious guitar licks, phat bassline and laid back house dynamics takes you to a cool, glamorous party. Lopez breeds a sense of foreboding and a smell of fear with its' taut strings and unsettling chords.
A wide variety of movie settings can be imagined, from tender love scenes and dark confrontations through to the most thrilling of car chases. You can tell Baxter is at home in this environment, as he handles the arrangements confidently and with an impressive lightness of touch. This however, should come as no surprise given his past work and his love of great soundtrack composers like John Carpenter and Curtis Mayfield.
Baxter's own opinion of his debut is tellingly accurate. "If I had to pin it down I'd say you're going to see a film like Seven - dark, grainy, enjoyable but not exactly happy. Music should take you somewhere else." Indeed it should, and without a doubt, Deep Red does.
Dom Thomas-MISCELLANEOUS MUTANT MISHAPS
I'm a big fan of Finders Keepers & the mixes that people like Andy Votel put together for them.My only complaint is that i'd love to know who the artist & what songs these were put together from.I guess they don't want to give away their dj secrets.One track 53 minutes
B-Music and Finders Keepers' linchpin Dom Thomas digs deep into his library of forgotten and unloved sound oddities to bring you a spaced-out tapestry of delights on the embryonic Brutal Music label.
A dazzling plethora of anti-world music, syphoned from the far corners of the earth and beyond, bringing together musical marauders that have no link, only the uncommon thread of constructing indefinable, sonic soundscapes which have somehow mutated into hybrid masterpieces, some by fluke, others by design.
A breathtaking collage which blurs passages from protest fuelled France with politically sensitized Turkish psychedelic beats: schizo Spanish sci-fi soundtracks together with scorching Lollywood club bangers - all lovingly distilled with liquified dreams of proto-Hacienda anthems. This is the sound of now, the past and the future, a mysterious, beaten-up global jukebox taking you to the dancefloor and beyond...
Mist-self-titled L.P
vinyl rip of Emeralds side project. Lots & lots of synths ala 70's krautrock.One for trips thru the Kosmos.
| A1 | Taking The Mist | |||
| B1 | Dusk | |||
| B2 | Heaven Mist | |||
| B3 | Rope | |||
| B4 | L.A. | |||
| B5 | Overdose | Mist.zip |
November 28, 2009
Zukanican-The Stumbling Block
The Stumbling Block is a a murky, hardcore meld of krautrock, dub, trippy grooves and (what may loosely be called) avant-jazz. Zukanican is based in Liverpool and this, their second album, features trumpets, bass, percussion and synths, but effects are kept to a minimum and I imagine that the live show would approximate this album. A nuanced percussive throb anchors the music as instrumental flourishes bring different images to mind. A lonely horn suggests modern neon atmospheres and squiggling synths depict decay and growth. The quickening wobbles, space and braying textures of “Penny Dance Test” resemble an edgier Echo Base Soundsystem, although the latter are more obviously dub-influenced. “Inca Hoots” has a punned title and a noodling intensity similar to 1970s English jazz-rock groups such as Hatfield & the North. Final track “Tell It to the Kif” refers to the Kif studios where this all was recorded. Pickled Egg Records is a reliable label and it’s heartening that they put out such
challenging, abstract records as this one.
Zukanican were formed in Liverpool in 2003. Their sound has been likened to an unholy hardcore collision between Can, ESG, Cluster, The Soft Machine and Art Ensemble of Chicago
"These eight tracks invite comparisons with everyone from Can and Miles Davis to Soft Machine and Sun Ra,
a friend of mine turned me on to these guys
November 27, 2009
Brain Donor-Too Freud To Rock 'n' Roll, Too Jung To Die
I'm a huge Julian Cope fan. I buy all the albums no matter how out there they get.I bought his books on Krautrock & Japrock.I bought his Modern Antiquarian books about neolithic sites.I of course read all the reviews of music he does on his website. As anybody who's read those reviews sometime over the last few years he has become a huge fan of heavy heavy rock.So much in fact he formed a power trio with a couple guys from Spiritualized & called it Brain Donor.And it is super heavy guitar freakout stuff allong the lines of early 70's bands like Sir Lord Baltimore, Pink Fairies & Stooges. I know fans of his pop stuff from early in his career will hate this but i get a kick out of it.first the band does rock.Second Cope has a sense of humor so he incorporates his love of all things pagan & stooges into the lyrics which makes for some pretty amusing songtitles.I think he knows it's funny at least.If he's serious it might be even more amusing.In any case songs like Love,Peace & Fuck,My Pagan Ass,Whole Lotta Loki , Odin's Gift to his Mother & Get Off Your Pretty Face crack me up & i like balls to the walls guitar freakouts.This is a double album composed of studio & live material. The message here is to play it loud & you can't go wrong
November 15, 2009
The House Of Love-Complete Creation Recordings
The first album & early stuff by The House Of Love have always been regarded by me as minor cult classics the way some people think about Big Star.Crazy right? I like their other albums okay but the magic was gone.The magic left when guitar player Terry Bickers left.What is it about British guitar/singer combo's that hate each other? Butler/Anderson.Rew/Hitchcock.Squire/Brown & yes i know i skipped several more obvious ones.Bickers lasted for an album & some singles including a couple recorded after leaving Creation Recordings(which weren't as magical by the way).The band he formed after this was Levitation which was/is one of my absolute favorite bands ever.But while he was in House Of Love his playing at least in my mind created some almost psychedelic pop classics.Or maybe it was just they recorded with alot of reverb :) But ii'll always think of all these recordings & particularly the songs "Christine" & " Destroy The Heart" as nothing less than luminous.
Shogun Kunitoki-Vinonaamakasio
These guys are an instrumental combo from Finland who sound like The Silver apples on steroids to me.Oscillators,fuzzed out organs,drones.As you may have noticed from other posts i like organ driven droning fizzed out music.Check them out i think you'll dig it
With their sophomore effort Vinonaamakasio, Finnish electronic rock quartet Shogun Kunitoki effectively turns a corner for the notion of instrumental rock music in this decade. They apply the experiments of Terry Riley to the kind of work that Don Caballero did in the ‘90s, albeit in a different medium (keyboards and synths, not guitars) and with a different result, but woth all of the important elements in place; namely, finding a new way to say a new thing using established approaches. Both bands play in unorthodox ways, and while I don’t see the drummer of Shogun Kunitoki taking any power tools to his snare in order to foster change within p-rock cycles, they do wrestle grandeur via crescendo away from the whole Mogwai/Explosions in the Sky/Godspeed camps, instead building intensity in their music, by weaving a small bank of sounds into a fortified maelstrom of melodic textures.
The centuries-old sound of church organ is the operative mode of dialect here, and part of Shogun’s immediate appeal is how well they integrate this bulky, wheezy, unwieldy tone into the language of progressive rock and electronic music. The decision to limit their lineup to synths, percussion and drums plays a large part in this; any further instrumentation would dilute their purity of process. Tones are allowed to develop, to act out, to blitter into nothing around the thick, warm base of analog electronic melody. The drums keep things from getting too complacent, as anyone who’s ever handled a synthesizer has been guilty of. Staccato key pegs bolster the rhythm, while deep bass beds predict a new shift in a theme’s development. Moving beyond the fascination of what such an instrument can do, these gentlemen have narrowed it down to what they want to achieve by these means – making reverent, churning, repetitive rock music that invites and excites the listener. Only one track outlasts the seven minute mark. Themes change frequently, but since the album flows together so well, it only adds to the excitement between listens. This is an album that’s very difficult to tire of.
Anyone who’s listened to enough music to understand a reference by name will no doubt hear a lift of the Silver Apples’ syncopated drumming in “Riddarholmen”, or the lengthy processionals of Savage Republic or This Heat within the blare of side-closers “Holvikirkko” and “Nebulus” (both album standouts, simply for finding ways to approach long-form psychedelia without working itself into a corner, much like the aforementioned artists did in their respective days and times). It’s a spinning, bombastic vortex of sound, enthralled by invention and its own dexterity. Shogun Kunitoki has learned how to control the chaos of analog synths’ atypical blank slates, and in essence, create a touchstone for instrumental music in the years looking forward.
(The vinyl version of Vinonaamakasio is a picture disk, with a sold-separate accessory: a strobe light that, when affixed to the turntable, animates the little colored dots on the record’s surface. If anyone wishes to send me this apparatus, I’d gladly accept it.)
By Doug Mosurock
Moon Duo-The E.P's
I'm a big fan of Wooden Shjips & this side project is just more of the same with the emphasis placed more on the keyboards than guitars.It's a bit lo-fi but if you're a fan of the first couple Can albums,the Velvets in Sister Ray mode or particularly Suicide you'll love this. Lots of one chord jams that carry on for awhile.Of course the songs don't actually go anywhere except down a long road in black oblivion but that's never a bad thing
Yoko Ono & The Plastic Ono Band-The Complete Apples Singles
I've been meaning to do this for awhile.These songs are all taken from the original Apple vinyl 45's.So i assume Beatles fans buying John Lennon singles would cringe & freak out when they heard Yoko doing her thing on the b-sides.Soon enough the b-sides would be labeled Yoko Ono & the Plastic Ono Band i suppose so people would know John wasn't singing.The thing is the music is really good & way way ahead of it's time.Yes sometimes her wailing is a little much but anybody who's heard or into post punk will recognize a kindred spirit.And the band sounds great.Really like John's guitar work.Anyway i'd never seen all these songs in one place before so here they are
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