"The Dunedin Sound was first showcased overseas on the 1985 compilation album Tuatara...It featured, among others, The Clean, the Verlaines, The Chills, Tall Dwarfs, Sneaky Feelings and The Bats. It made it to America on import and began to wend its way around the country via college radio, fanzines and word of mouth.
Says Nils Bernstein:
"You know how they say about the first Velvet Underground album - it sold terribly, but everyone who bought a copy started a band. It's kind of like that with the Tuatara comp."(Source)
I just love classic Flying Nun. Big thanks to my buddy Adam P. for floating this record my way. 320 vinyl rip by yours truly.
1. "Fish" – The Clean (2:26) 2. "Coalminer's Song" – The Gordons (5:57) 3. "State to Be in" – Fetus Productions (2:40) 4. "Death And the Maiden" – The Verlaines (4:34) 5. "Looking For the Sun" – Children's Hour (6:06) 6. "Isol" – Marie and the Atom (5:32) 7. "Pink Frost" – The Chills (4:03) 8. "Throwing Stones" – Sneaky Feelings (4:40) 9. "Neck of the Woods" – The Great Unwashed (2:07) 10. "I Go Wild" – The Bats (2:44) 11. "Man With No Desire" – The Expendables (5:15) 12. "The Brain That Wouldn't Die" – Tall Dwarfs
Saw the Shake Weight commercial last night and just couldn't believe how silly they made it. Was inspired to take it over the top. Apologies in advance, folks. Music is "Oh Yeah" by Yello.
"Arsenio on tres, two unknown vocalists, unknown double trumpet, unknown conguero and assorted phantom percussion, unhelpful liner notes. Just a fetching cover photo of, I suppose, rural Cuba, in cheap looking color.
There are a number of brilliant early Arsenio albums---the two on Tumbao, Dundunbanza and Montuneando probably being the ones to get---and maybe those should be an interested listener's first stop. But Primitivo remains my favorite late Arsenio record.
If forced to choose between the recordings AR made after getting to the US, I'd go: Primitivo, Palo Congo (basically an Arsenio record, despite the Sabu nametag), Quindembo, Como Se Goza en el Barrio, La Pachanga, Arsenio Dice, and then the two dicey Conjunto records. I haven't yet heard Viva Arsenio! or Cumbanchando.
This 1963 recording of twelve short, punchy Afro-Cuban tunes, long after AR had moved stateside from Cuba, has fallen into the dustbin of history with nary an autopsy, but it's a belter all the way through. There's no jazz vamping to detract from the inflammatory son montunos and guajiras. It makes Buena Vista Social Club and subsequent attempts to resurrect Afro-Cuban music seem sadly pale and wheezy. I'm not saying those aren't good, but Primitivo is....well, primitivo. Sprinkled throughout are Arsenio's lightning-fast, hard-to-decipher Cubanized West African yells peppering the stew.
Personal favorites here are the rumba "Tu me engañastes, Juana," the brash son montuno, "A Gozar Mujeres," and the unusual flamenco-rumba blend "Coplas de España," in which Arsenio replicates the sound of the flamenco guitar with his tres guitar."
1. Pasion 2. Me Engañastes Juana 3. Lo Que Dice Justi - Arsenio Rodríguez, Barreto, Justi 4. Rumba Guajira 5. Coplas de España 6. Que Mala Suerte 7. Fiesta en el Solar 8. Me Equivoque Contigo 9. A Gozar Mujeres 10. No Lo Niegues 11. El Lema del Guaguanco 12. Guaguanco de Puerta de Tierra
Stock, Hausen & Walkman's Organ Transplants Vol. 1 is a cheeky electro-lounge mélange, conceived as an off-kilter tribute to vintage organs of every conceivable sort. Lots of fun.
"... filled with lots and lots of organs. And we don't mean that in an eviscerated Hermann Nitsch kind of way... well sort of. The Manchester outfit has liberally spiked their lysergic electronica grooves with any form of organ deemed ripe for appropriation. Church pipe organs, Farfisas, hand-crank organs, Hammond organs, and tons more! Like records by fellow plunderphonists People Like Us, "Organ Transplants 2" is full of seemingly obvious musical quotations, tweaked just beyond the point of recognition. Beyond the brain-teasing / tongue-twisting frustration in trying to pinpoint the references (we're damn sure Aavikko pops up at the end of the record), this is wonderful collection of cool weirdness. (Aquarius Records, on Organ Transplants Vol. 2)
"Influenced by the American rock & roll of the '50s and the British Invasion sounds of the '60s, the Brazil 'Jovem Guarda' movement reached its peak at the mid-sixties. Lots of singers and bands appeared, some of them finding fame and fortune and turning into mega-stars during the next decades. This compilation focuses on the lesser known and often overlooked singles that were released during the Jovem Guarda years, especially from the late '60s and early '70s, when the movement was close to an end. Here you'll find a superb mix of Brazilian styled groovy, fuzzed-out, psychedelic, soul-ish and beat sounds. Including famous names like Roberto Carlos, Jerry Adriani, Wanderley Cardoso and obscurities like Jose Roberto, this exciting comp will prove that the Jovem Guarda stars could be as groovy as their Tropicalia counterparts. Remastered sound, liner notes in Portuguese and pictures on back." (Promo write-up)
2010 vinyl compilation, released in an edition of 500. 320 vinyl rip by yours truly.
1 – Jerry Adriani: Se pensamento falasse (1970) 2 – Wanderley Cardoso: Não posso controlar meu pensamento (1967) 3 – Roberto Carlos: Não vou ficar (1969) 4 – José Roberto: Garotinha (1970) 5 – Jerry Adriani: Devo tudo a você (1966) 6 – The Fevers: Superman (1973) 7 – Roberto Carlos: Todos estão surdos (1971)
Lado 2
1 – Roberto Carlos: Você não serve prá mim (1967) 2 – José Roberto: Já desliguei (1970) 3 – Wanderley Cardoso: Luzes da Avenida (1971) 4 – Os Incríveis: Vendedor de Bananas (1969) 5 – Jerry Adriani: Preciso de você agora (1970) 6 – Os Incríveis: Eu te amo, meu Brasil (1970)
In this period of rediscovery, revitalization and reinterpretation of music of the Jewish people of pre-Holocaust Europe, occasional infusions from the source help keep the music centered. In this latest klezmer anthology, producers Joel Rubin and Rita Ottens have included six rare examples of pre-World War I recordings from Europe. These include a couple of pieces from the Euro-Yiddish theater that have some melodic relationship (but not in presentation) to klezmer. Additionally there are two fascinating pieces by the State Ensemble for Jewish Folk Music of the Ukraine recorded in 1937 and 1939, along with one example of an obscure offshoot of the klezmer tradition, that of the Chassidic community in Israel. It will be very instructive to all fans of klezmer to compare the playing styles of these with that of musicians who recorded in America between the world wars. The greats of the first generation emigres to the United States are also here: Naftule Brandwine (fabulous, as usual), Dave Tarras (an example of his influential trio), Abe Schwartz, etc. This is another must-have for fans and students of old style klezmer music. - Stacy Phillips
01. Orchestra of the Lemberg Yiddish Theater - Overture to Die Drei Matunes 02. H. Steiner - Potpourri of Jewish Melodies 03. Jewish Wedding Orchestra - Gereist und getroffen 04. Belf’s Romanian Orchestra - Na Rasv’et’e 05. Belf’s Romanian Orchestra - Cry Jews 06. Jacob Gegna - Taxim 07. Naftule Brandwein’s Orchestra - Doina and Nachspiel 08. Shloimke Beckerman - Hot Azoi 09. Cherniavsky’s Yiddishe Jazz Band - Der Dibuk 10. Naftule Brandwein’s Orchestra - Odessa Bulgar Dance 11. Naftule Brandwein’s Orchestra - Honga Ciganesta 12. Alex Olshanetsky’s Orchestra - Yiddishe Hora & Sarba Maracinei 13. Abe Schwartz Orchestra - Gelebt und Gelacht. Frehlichs 14. Dave Tarras - Duvid, Shpiel Dus Noch Amul 15. State Ensemble for Jewish Folk Music of the Ukrainian SSR - Bazetsn di Kale 16. State Ensemble for Jewish Folk Music of the Ukrainian SSR - Sher, Evreiskii Narodnii Tanets 17. Dave Tarras Jewish Instrumental Trio - Kiever Sher 18. Hymie Jacobson’s Orchestra - Yiddish Bulgar 19. Avrom Segal - T’khies Ha-Meysim 20. Joel Rubin Jewish Music Ensemble - Gershfeld’s Bulgarish
Spent the better part of this morning tracking down the earlier, out-of-print discography of Robbie Basho. I just love zoning-out to this fellow's far out, eastern-tinged guitar and occasional yodels. If you're hip to Fahey & Rick Bishop but don't know Robbie Basho, you should fix that, pronto.
Seal Of The Blue Lotus 7:40 Mountain Man's Farewell 8:38 Dravidian Sunday 6:36 Bardo Blues 7:27 Sansara In Sweetness After Sandstorm 6:08 Black Lotus - Hymn To Fugen 9:04
Venus In Cancer 9:30 Eagle Sails The Blue Diamond Waters 6:45 Kowaka D'Amour 9:45 Song For The Queen 9:30 Cathedrals Et Fleur De Lis 8:00 Wine Song (Sweet Wine Of Love) 5:50
Robbie Basho- Song of the Stallion (1971) (@notveryprettymusic.blogspot.com) A1 Song Of The Stallion 4:59 A2 A North American Raga 11:18 A3 The Lady She Is Waiting 5:01 B1 Roses And Snow 7:42 B2 California Raga 9:11 B3 The Hajj 5:12 B4 Khatum 2:03
Robbie Basho- The Voice of the Eagle (1972) (@creepscanner.blogspot.com) A1 The Voice of the Eagle 7:19 A2 Wounded Knee Soliloquy 5:31 A3 Blue Corn Serenade 10:42 B1 Joseph 5:20 B2 Omaha Tribal Prayer 3:35 B3 Sweet Medicine 4:50 B4 Roses and Gold 3:04 B5 Moving Up A'Ways 6:33
Robbie Basho- Zarthus (1974) (@grown-so-ugly.blogspot.com) A1 Zarthus 2:55 A2 Khoda E Gul E Abe 9:31 A3 Mehera 3:20 A4 Khalil Gibran A5 Bride Divine B1 Rhapsody in Drz 19:54
(V/A) Contemporary Guitar- Spring 1967 (@grown-so-ugly.blogspot.com) A1 Max Ochs - Raga A2 John Fahey - Sampler A3 Bukka White - Old Man Walking Blues B1 Max Ochs - Raga B2 Harry Taussig - Water Verses B3 Harry Taussig - Children's Dance B4 Robbie Basho - The Thousand Incarnations of the Rose
Folks, I worship at the church of Nina Simone. Live At Ronnie Scott's is a solid late-period duo performance with some amazing moments. Its available on DVD, but the CD is hard to come by. I managed to track down an unedited flac of the show right here. The cd booklet indicates the concert is from November 17th, 1984. Amazon says its from 1985. I'm wonder if that's the original premiere date of the footage & will look into it further. Also, the cd booklet shows Mississippi Goddamn & Moon Over Alabama as distinct tracks that don't reflect the recording I heard while chopping and tagging the tracks. Regardless of my measley nerd-problems, I sure hope you enjoy it!
Nina Simone- Piano & Vocals Paul Robinson- Drums
"If You Knew" is the song that turned me on to this performance. I love it.
Oh,and... here's a full-length stream of the entire performance:
1. God, God, God 2. If You Knew 3. Mr. Smith 4. Fodder In Her Wings 5. Be My Husband 6. I Loves You, Porgy 7. The Other Woman 8. Mississippi Goddam/ Moon Over Alabama 9. For A While 10. See Line Woman 11. I Sing Just To Know I'm Alive 12. My Baby Just Cares For Me
Strange and hallucinatory sounds of nostalgic futurism – sci fi organ tones, the spaciest of sound library errata, primitive electronics and outer space jazzy sounds (Dusty Groove)
This is an excellent second release from German LP imprint, Weltraum Disk. You can get their first; Eastern Standard Time (a killer selection of vintage Asian psych, with tracks from Omar Khorshid, Baligh Hamdi, Charanjit Singh & more...), right here at GC.
A1 Michael Weisser, Otto Luening & Vladimir Ussachevsky - Untitled
A2 Mindexpanders* - Love Syndrome
A3 Zodiac, The - Tauris
A4 Roger Roger - Expectation
A5 Electrosoniks, The - Orbit Aurora
A6 Gary Schneider - My Green Tambourine
A7 Ma Jinao - Unknown
A8 Heinz Heindel - Orientalische Landschaften
A9 Dorothy B. Carr - Cross And Step
B1 Unknown Artist - The Computer Sings
B2 Ataraxia - I Ching
B3 Karl Regere & Odo Warth - Allein Im All
B4 Cecil Leuter - Pop Electronique 8
B5 Philippe Besombes - La Ville
B6 P. Willsher* & K. Chesher* - Dr. Witch Wot
B7 Gerhard Narholz Electronic Studio Orchestra - 0 Uhr 13
B8 Mort Garson - Big Sur
B9 Unknown Artist - The Computer Says Goodbye
"Jon Hassell (born March 22, 1937) is an American trumpet player and composer. He is known for his influence in the world music scene and his unusual electronic manipulation of the trumpet sound."(wikipedia)
"...Hassell, a student of both Karlheinz Stockhausen and Pandit Pran Nath, created a deadly combination that would resonate for decades in world-music compositions: the ghostly sound of his trumpet lost in nightmarish electronic background. His trumpet was both a call of the wild and a wail of grief, both as ancestral as possible in a modernist setting." (text from here)
In follow-up to GC's recent Long Harvest megapost, I've crafted a custom selection of my favorite Peggy Seeger songs from what's an otherwise epic tome. A little something for you casual listeners. Seeger sings them lovely, high & lonesome. Tragedy abounds. This is beautiful stuff.
1. Hangman 2:58
2. The Heartless Lady 3:15
3. The Cambric Shirt 3:42
4. The Devil's Nine Questions 2:19
5. Barbry Allan 5:36
6. The Knight And The Shepherd's Daughter 2:19
7. The Fair Damsel From London 4:27
8. The Fatal Flower Garden 2:59
9. Little Saloo 2:26
10. The Burly Burly Banks Of Barbree-O 5:30
11. The Willow Tree 2:34
12. Earl Brand 4:31
13. The Dying Hobo 1:58
14. Young Collins 3:13
15. The Crow Song 2:18
15. Down By The Greenwood Sidey-O 1:32
17. Jimmy Randall 3:54
18. The Three Ravens 1:36
19. Turkish Rover (Canadian) 3:59
20. King Kong Kitchie 2:44
21. The False Fidee 1:59
22. Queen Jane 4:46 23.
23. The Lowlands Of Holland 2:33
Robert Haigh & Sema's Three Seasons Only is a reflective ambient composition cycle from 1984 that's worth your time & attention if you dig that kind of thing. This rip was once available the fabled Holywarbles blog (RIP). After numerous reader requests, I've re-upped it here at GC.
1961 instrumental quasi-western concept outing from Joe Meek's house band. Includes some less over-the-top shades of I Hear a New World. The awesome space/western video below uses the Blue Men & Outlaws versions of two such analogous tracks.
1. The Blue Men - Orbit Around The Moon (1960). 2. The Outlaws - Husky Team (1961). 3. The Blue Men - Entry Of The Globbotts (1960). 4. The Outlaws - Tune For Short Cowboys (1961).
1 Dream Of The West 2 The Outlaws 3 Husky Team 4 Rodeo 5 Smoke Signals 6 Ambush 7 Barbecue 8 Spring Is Near 9 Indian Brave 10 Homeward Bound 11 Western Sunset 12 Tune For Short Cowboys
Ernie K-Doe was a flamboyant soul legend out of New Orleans. His first album. Minit Records LP 0002, 1962. 320 vinyl rip. Well worth the surface noise, I think. This record rules, and is super hard to find. I'm holding out hope that one day I'll meet someone around Portland skilled in album repair. Seriously, hit me up if you've got a good lead....
1. Mother-In-Law 2. Make You Love Me 3. Te-Ta-Te-Ta-Ta 4. Hurry Up and Know It 5. Tain't It the Truth 6. Rub Dub Dub 7. Hello My Lover 8. There's a Will There's a Way 9. Heebie Jeebies 10. Wanted $10,000.00 Reward 11. Waiting at the Station 12. She's Waiting
Ewan Maccoll & Peggy Seeger's The Long Harvest is a rare and extraordinary 10-record collection of traditional Anglo folk ballads sung in their varying Scottish, English and North American forms. Digitizing these has been a huge effort over these past few weeks. I reckon I'm going to pass on writing up a long introductory overview because other folks have already done it. Well. I am happy to say that its been great fun working on this collection. It deserves to get out & see the light of day. I'll also admit I sort of fell in love with Peggy Seeger over the course of this project. What a babe. Her's are generally my favorite performances here. Anyway, enjoy. *
320 Vinyl Rip.
VOLUME 1 (Argo DA 66, ZDA 66)
The Twa Sisters (Child 10)
1 Minnorie
2 The Swan Swims Sae Bonnie
3 There was an Old Lord
4 Peter and I
The Cruel Mother (Child 20)
5 The Cruel Mother (A)
6 The Cruel Mother (B)
7 Down By the Geenwood Sidey-O
8 The Lady From Lee
9 The Cruel Mother (E)
Lord Randall
10 Lord Randall
11 Jimmy Randall
12 Henry My Son
13 Willy Doo
14 Croodin Doo
The Baffled Knight
16 The Shepherd Lad
17 Clear Away the Morning Dew
18 Katie Morey
Riddles Wisely Expounded (Child 1)
1 Riddles Wisely Expounded (England)
2 The Devil’s Nine Questions (American)
The Elfin Knight (Child 2)
3 The Elfin Knight (Scots)
4 O, Say Do You Know the Way to Selin (American)
5 Scarborough Fair (English)
6 The Elfin Knight (American)
7 The Cambric Shirt (American)
8 My Father Had an Acre of Land (English)
The Daemon Lover (Child 243)
9 The Daemon Lover (English)
10 The House Carpenter (American)
11 The House Carpenter (American)
12 Well Met, Well Met (American)
The Dreadful Ghost
13 The Dreadful Ghost (Canadian)
The Gosport Tragedy
14 The Ghost Ship (Englsih)
15 Pretty Polly (American)
The Gypsy Laddie (Child 200)
5 The Gypsy Laddie (Scots)
6 Black Jack Davy (American)
7 The Heartless Lady (American)
8 Harrison Brady (American)
The Broomfield Hill (Child 43)
9 The Broomfield Hill (Scots)
10 Fair Maid on the Shore (American)
The Grey Cock (Child 248)
11 The Lover’s Ghost (English)
12 The Grey Cock (American)
13 I’m a Rover (Scots)
14 Here’s a Health To all Good Lovers (Scots)
15 Lover in the Night (English)
Bonnie Barbara Allen (Child 84)
1 Bawbee Allab (Scots)
2 Barbry Ellen (English)
3 Barby Allan (American)
Sir Lionel (Child 18)
4 Sir Eglamore (English)
5 WIld Boar (American)
6 Old Bangum (American)
7 Ole Bangum (American)
The Lass Of Roch Royal (Child 76)
8 Lord Gregory (Scots)
9 Lass of Roch Royal
10 Georgie Jeems (American)
11 Who Will Shoe Your Pretty Little Feet? (American)
The Knight and the Shepherd’s Daughter (Child 110)
12 The Kight and the Shepherd’s Daughter (English)
13 The Knight and the Shepherd’s Daugher (American)
The Crafty Farmer (Child 283)
1 The Crafty Farmer (Scots)
2 Well Sold the Cow (Canadian)
3 The Highwayman (English)
4 The Highwayman Outwitted (English)
5 The Fair Damsel From London (American)
The Wife of Usher’s Well (Child 79)
6 The Wife of Usher’s Well (Scots)
7 The Three Babes (American)
Lord Lovel (Child 75)
8 Lord Lovell (Scots)
9 Lord Lovel (American)
10 Abe Lincoln Stood at the White House Gate (American)
11. The New Ballad of Lord Lovel (American)
Sir Hugh (The Jew’s Daughter) (Child 155)
12 Sir Hugh (or The Jew’s Daughter)
13 The Fatal Flower Garden (American)
14 Little Saloo (American)
15 It Rained a Mist (American)
Babylon (Child 14)
16 The Burly Burly Banks of Barbree-O (American)
17 The Bonnie Banks of Airdrie-O (Scots)
Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight (Child 4)
1 May Colvin (Scots)
2 Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight (American)
3 The Outlandish Knight (English)
4 Billy Came Over the Main White Ocean (American)
5 The Willow Tree (American)
6 The Wife of KELSO (Scots)
7 Rich Old Lady (Ameriacn)
8 Johnny Sands (English)
The Douglas Tragedy (Earl Brand) (Child 7)
9 The Brave Earl Brand and the King of England’s Daughter
10 The Douglas Tragedy (Scots)
11 Earl Brand (American)
12 The Lady and the Dragoon (American)
The Maid Freed From the Gallows (Child 95)
13 Prickle Holly Bush (English)
14 Hangman (American)
Clerk Colville (Child 42) and Lady Alice (Child 85)
1 George Collins (English)
2 Young Collins (American)
3 Clerk Colven (Scots)
4 Giles Collins (American)
5 The Dying Hobo (American)
Willie O’Winsbury (Child 100)
6 Lord Thomas of Winsberrie (Scots)
7 John Barbour (Canadian)
The Three Ravens (Child 26)
8 The Three Ravens (English)
9 The Three Ravens (English)
10 The Twa Corbies (Scots)
11 The Crow Song (American)
12 The Three Crows (American)
13 The Three Ravens (American)
14 Poor Old Crow (American)
15 Blow the Man Down (Canadian)
Sir Patrick Spens (Child 58)
16 Sir Patrick Spens (Scots)
17 SIr Patrick Spens (American)
Young Beichan (Child 53)
1 Young Beichan (Scots)
2 Lord Bateman (American)
3 Turkish Rover (Canadian)
The Cherry Tree Carol (Child 54)
4 The Cherry Tree Carol (English)
5 Sweet Mary and Sweet Joseph (American)
6 Joseph and Mary (American)
Lizie Wan (Child 51) and Edward (Child 13)
7 Lucy Wan (English)
8 Fair Lucy (American)
9 What Brought the Blood Upon Your Right Shoulder, Dear? (Irish)
10 Edward (American)
The Frog’s Courtship
11 The Puddy in the Well (Scots)
12 Froggie Went A-Courting (American)
13 King Kong Kitcnie (American)
14 There Was An Old Frog
The Fause Knight Upon The Road (Child 3)
1 The Faise Knight and the Wee Boy (Scots)
2 The False Knight Upon the Road (Scots)
3 The False Fidee (American)
4 Faise Knight Upon the Road (Canadian)
The Braes of Yarrow (Child 214) and Rare Willie Drowned in Yarrow or The Waters of Gamrie (Child 215)
5 The Dowie Dens of Yarrow (Scots)
6 The Dewy Dewy Dens of Yarrow (American)
7 Yarrow (American)
8 Willie’s Fair and Willie’s Rare
9 The Braes of Yarrow (American)
The Wife Wrapt in Wether’s Skin (Child 227)
10 The Wife in the Wether’s Skin (Scots)
11 The Daughter of Peggy (English)
12 Gentle Fair Jenny (American)
13 Rissilty Rossilty (American)
The Death of Queen Jane (Child 170)
14 Queen Jane (American)
15 The Death of Queen Jane (English)
16 Jane Was a Neighbor (American)
17 Queen Jean (Scots)
18 Poor Sally (American)
19 Six Lords Went A-Hunting (English)
VOLUME 10 (Argo DA 75, ZDA 75)
The Trooper and The Maid (Child 299)
1 The Trooper and the Maid (Scots)
2 A Soldier Travelling from the North (American)
3 Trooper and the Maid (American)
Betsy
4 Betsy (English)
5 The Brewer’s Daughter (American)
The Keach and The Creel (Child 281)
6 The Keach and the Creel (Scots)
7 The Little Scotch Girl
Lord Thomas and Fair Annet (Child 73) and Fair Margaret and Sweet William (Child 74)
8 Lord Thomas and Fair Annie (Scots)
9 Little Margaret (American)
10 Sweet William and Fair Annie (Scots)
11 Lady Margaret (American)
The Lowlands of Holland (Child 92 Appendix)
12 Lowlands of Holland (English)
13 The Lowlands of Holland (Scots)
14 The Lowlands of Holland (American)
*This is still possibly a work in progress. Kindly comment here if you happen across any skips, repeats or other such playback & editing flaws. The original LPs come with copious notes that I intend to scan and make available here, in time. Will post an update when that's done.
"The two works presented here are “seminal” pieces of two genres from which a great part of my musical practice springs and to this day continues to evolve from. UNDER THE FIG TREE is in fact therealization of one monophonic piece contained in my well known early collection of single line melodic compositions entitled Music for every occasion. The version I present here was originally made for a performance of trombonist Giancarlo Schiaffini, playing against the recording. It is realized by myself playing a VCS3 (Putney) synthesizer, one of the first a famous line of portable electronic synthesizers from the early 70's. Notable are electronically produced timbres which approximate, acoustic flutes, clarinets, trombones and tubas… long before the availability of multi-track tape machines, these “tracks” were recorded on multiple Revox tape recorders and mixed on a custom-made mixer . THE MAGIC CARPET is remarkably my first “sound installation” long before that phrase came into our daily vocabularies. It was inspired by a project of my dear friend and sculptor Paul Klerr – an American with Italian-Jewish roots, who lives in Rome. He had this brilliant idea to fill a gallery with steel and gut wires, to which I suggested that he was actually building a fantastic musical instrument which could even be played by the visiting public… so my intervention in this spontaneous collaboration, was to figure out how to amplify this jungle of long steel wires – which I did with simple contact microphone placed at various connecting points; and further adding a “vertical” element of sounding glass chimes plus aluminum and brass tubing as occasionally placed metal chimes. 'The whole formed a kind of walk-through harp...no concious attempt was made to tune these instruments nor indicate what to do with them...' The perormance recorded here- is a mix and remix of my original recordings- here brilliantly remastered by Luca Spagnoletto- of 'performances' which Paul and I made before and during the gallery show. This was originally releases on a small record along with the Source Magazine"
I was just ripping the latest Mississippi Record's reissue LP; Orchestre Régional de Mopti (*MSR-075) (It's great), when I happened upon the fact that Global Groove posted this rad Malian classic back in '08. Nice! Love that blog. I'm a big fan of their recent slowed-down Robert Johnson posts. Anyhow, this album is wonderful. Theirs is a (much appreciated) 128 rip. Now here's mine at 320.
Another fantastic early LP from the sublimely sweet-voiced Johnny Nash. This one has a sort of a rocksteady/ soul crossover appeal. My favorite tracks are the two songs written by Peter Tosh. Listen up:
*Track 1 had a skip in the vinyl that I did my best to edit out. The result is an extra half-beat that can be easily overlooked. If you're an editing wiz, I'd sure love a perfect version that matches the audio quality of the rest of this record. I guess I just don't have the chops with Garageband. (For the record, "Hold Me Tight" is easily obtained as a single, but I didn't want to tack on a cd-comp version of the song to the beginning of an otherwise nice vinyl rip)
A1 Hold Me Tight 2:50 Written-By - Johnny Nash
A2 Don't Look Back 2:01 Written-By - Ronald White , William Robinson*
A3 Love 4:04 Written-By - Peter Tosh
A4 People In Love 2:50 Written-By - Johnny Nash
A5 Groovin' 2:00 Written-By - Eddie Brigati , Felix Cavaliere
A6 Cupid 3:29 Written-By - Sam Cooke
B1 Lovey Dovey 2:11 Written By - M. Curtis, Ahmet Ertegun
B2 You Got To Change Your Ways 2:40 Written-By - Peter Tosh
Brian Eno rocks it well on this Italian bootleg of his early sessions at the BBC. The record itself has a handful of crackle & hiss moments, but that just comes with the territory. 320 vinyl rip by yours truly.
1. Paw Paw Negro Blowtorch 2. Fever 3. Wimoweh 4. The Fat Lady of Limbourg 5. Baby's on Fire 6. I'll Come Running (To Tie Your Shoes) 7. Third Uncle 8. Seven Deadly Finns