Another fantastic compilation from the Dust-To-Digital label, this one focusing on the golden age of the Moroccan record industry, curated and produced by David Murray, who also put together the incredible Luk Thung collection (reviewed here recently), which gathered up rare 78s from Thailand. Kassidat chronicles a period in the sixties that found labels in Casablanca flourishing, releasing thousands of 45s, at the time, a new and inexpensive format, which created an incredible document of Moroccan music at the time. The booklet is massive, and offers a super well researched and in-depth history of Moroccan music, this era in particular, as well as the provenance of these songs and the various artists.
Instead of summarizing all that info though, as interesting as it is, in this case it might be better for us to just describe the music, cuz even with all the weird new world music labels popping up, and the hundreds (maybe thousands) of reissues, the music here is incredible, and incredibly unique. Our favorite track has to be "Kassidat El Hakka (The Poem of the Truth)" by Abdellah El Magana, which is super rhythmic, darkly hypnotic, the song drifting from tranced out tribal drumming and snake charmer flute, to chanted, almost rapped vocals, in fact, it almost sounds like some mysterious strain of Moroccan rap, if there even is such a thing, it's so good, one of those tracks we found ourselves listening to so much, it took all we had to move on to the rest of the comp. But as you might imagine, there's plenty more to dig here, soaring dramatic vocals, wildly melodic fiddles, complex harmonies, intricate melodic counterpoint, the sound raw and intimate, the recordings super live and intense, with the vocals often peaking, creating a cool sort of distortion, hand claps and groovy rhythms, call and response vox, strummed and plucked strings, the vibe on a lot of these tracks very reminiscent of Klezmer music, slithery woodwinds, echoey percussion, some tracks with cool natural reverb, rhythmic and hypnotic and so totally mesmerizing. Incredible stuff. And really, anyone who's been digging the various releases on labels like Sublime Frequencies, Teranga Beat, Sahel Sounds, Sham Palace, etc. will dig this like crazy, and should probably prepare themselves to track down everything on Dust-To-Digital. SO GREAT!
Not sure where we were when this came out originally. Actually, the oldest of us here were around 11 years old, so we were still a few years away from discovering the joys of punk rock. But holy shit this comp is amazing. Originally released in 1981 on the Urinals' label, Keats Rides A Harley was a brief glimpse into the burgeoing Southern California (and Arizona) punk scene, featuring a handful of soon to be huge punk rock legends, many still sort of feeling out their sounds, all of them super raw and intense. Features the original comp, remastered, with Gun Club, the Leaving Trains, Meat Puppets, Earwigs, 100 Flowers, Human Hands, Tunneltones, S Squad and Toxic Shock. This cd reissue includes nine bonus tracks, an extra song from each of the above bands, as well as the way rare 5 track Happy Squid label sampler, featuring tracks from the Urinals, Danny And The Doorknobs, Arrow Book Club, Vidiots and Phil Bedel. Also includes super detailed liner notes, and an extensive history of each group.
Benefit compilation for Alternative Radio, an independent, non-profit production service which provides weekly one-hour public affairs programs for radio stations around the globe. Featuring an all-star cast of artists, including Negativland, Kronos Quartet, Olivia Tremor Control, Windy & Carl, Loren Mazzacane Connors, Friends of Dean Martinez, Pere Ubu, Built to Spill, and more. Also includes liner notes by Howard Zinn.
A while back we reviewed an amazing collection of politically charged sound art from Finnish artist/musician J.O. Mallander. An amazing selection of Phillip Jeck style, turntable manipulations and weird warbly sonic cut-ups. Two of the most effective and creepy pieces in that collection were "1962" and "1968" which featured the reading of the votes in the very controversial Finnish presidential election, won by Urho Kalevo Kekkonen, who would remain president for 25 years! The tracks themselves were a creepy montone reading of "Kekkonen.....Kekkonen....Kekkonen....Kekkonen.....Kekkonen...." on and on and on, until it becomes some strange word-drone. So this here comp features a bunch of Finnish underground musicians and artists doing their own versions / remixes of that infamous "Kekkonen" recording. We don't really recognize ANY of the bands (except Robert Horton, who is NOT Finnish), but we're led to believe it's a who's who of AQ faves under different names. What does it sound like? Somehow, each track retains the spirit, if not the sound of the original, some, take the repeated "Kekkonen" and chop it up rearranging it into drone-y smears, hiccupping rhtyhms or hissy fuzzy soundscapes. Or offer there own strange spoken versons of the name Kekkonen. Others whip out wild punk rock jams with shouted 'Kekkonen's over the top. Still others craft weird vocal based techno, haunting ambient soundscapes, with the Kekkonen stretched into wooshy whirring warbles, bizarre robot funk, far out vocal collages, murky abstract drones. Amazing what can be done with just a Kekkonen and some delay pedals. Really cool stuff. Not just sonically either. It's pretty cool to observe a whole other generation embracing and exploring their nation's history, and in their own way making just as stron a statement as Mallander did over 30 years ago.
Limited to 120 copies, we only got a handful (pretty sure they are already out of print) so as always act fast. Each one in an individually painted sleeve!
Yazoo finally gets around to releasing boxsets with this lulu of a collection of classic tracks from Kentucky. This is pretty much as definitive as it gets, totaling 167 recordings from the 1920's and 30's and all from the humble bluegrass state. Banjo picking, fiddle playing, church choruses and more. This is essentially the two cd "Mountain Music of Kentucky" set on Smithsonian Folkways blown up to epic proportions. Includes a 32 page booklet with historical photos.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
The music on this CD was originally combined with "The Nairobi Sound", but with the addition of more material, it became neccessary to split the recordings into the acoustic CD and the electric CD. Though the recordings are all acoustic, that is about all that they have in common. There are quite a few pieces that straddle the lobe of 'modern' and 'traditional' songs, including the beautifully eerie "Chemirocha" - a tribute to Jimmy Rodgers.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Intensely quirky, deceptively simple 1950's acoustic guitar songs from Southern Mozambique. An eerie, raw sound which is linked to South African Shangaan music.
WE HAVE VERY FEW OF THESE (SIX TO BE EXACT) AND WE CAN'T GET MORE SO ACT FAST.
This is a great compilation of modern electronica/experimental/free rock/ambient/bliss-out weirdness that was only available for 2 days at the Brudnell Social Club in Leeds UK to coincide with two days of music. Features AQ faves Sunroof!, Vibracathedral Orchestra and Birchville Cat Motel as well as lesser known but equally appealing noisemakers Toss, Benjamin Franklin and Kohn.
Soundtrack to the Larry Clark film. Includes some of the very best work Lou Barlow and John Davis have ever done, we say! Very rhythmic, groove-oriented, lots of Silver Apples and Satie samples. New songs from Folk Implosion (Lou and John), Deluxx Folk Imposion (Lou, John, plus Bob Fay and the guitarist from Cheater Slicks), and hip hop outfit Lo-Down. Previously released songs from Daniel Johnston and Slint. I am happy to report that as of 9/95, the major label appeared to be treating the Deluxx Folk Implosion well, going so far as to supply them with unlimited room service at that year's CMJ show. The lobster chili was both decadent and delicious. Thank you, corporate giant.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
The Kill Rock Stars and 5RC labels bring you the third installment (first in five years) of their video fanzine, now in the DVD format. That means there's a heckuva lotta stuff on here. You get music videos from the likes of Amps For Christ (which we really liked), the Decemberists, Men's Recovery Project (who also provide a "making of" documentary short that's even more entertaining and weird than their video), Stereo Total, Deerhoof, Gravy Train!!!, Kleenex/LiLiPUT, Mecca Normal, Xiu Xiu, Hella (a cute and clever puppet animation), and others. Then there's live clips from Born Against (hardcore!), The Gossip, Quix*o*tic, Sleater-Kinney, a very enegetic Unwound, and others as well. Plus other stuff, like the clip from Sadie Shaw and Sarah Reed's Charm movie. Something for everyone.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
We've had a bit of a debate here about the ethics of this compilation of "found songs" but it can't be denied that it's a hilarious listen. Found on the glorious internet as mp3's posted by their unfortunate creators, now committed to vinyl (without their knowledge or consent) for the enjoyment of those who like laughing at bad music. All the stuff on here is funny in both the funny-ha-ha and funny-weird senses. If "The Beat Of The Traps" was once your thing, this is the Y2K world wide web version. Complete with snide Seymour Glass-style speculative liner notes exquisitely describing each track. A sample: "_Spaz Monkey_ 'I've Gone Insane' -- More so that the previous 'finds,' I believe this one to be very sincere...a very sincere show of uncensored stupidity. The 'cold war' nature of the lyrics suggest that it may have been recorded sometime during the 80's, or maybe this guy has been in his parent's basement since Red Dawn premiered on daytime cable." Beats surfing the net yourself for such gems. Six tracks, white vinyl.
Sacred Bones have their work cut out for them, if they wanna catch up with the Killed By Death series. That blatant bootleg series compiled collectible/obscure punk singles from all around the world, pressing them onto crappy vinyl and kickin' them out the door at a blazing pace. The numbers affixed to Killed By Death were a red herring; there were only a couple dozen released in the late '80s and early '90s but had volume numbers like #41, #77, #33, #202, etc. We're hoping that Sacred Bones will keep things sensible, but not too sensible, as they should continue to delve into the dustbin of the catch-all term "deathrock" for more and more and more compilations from back in the day.
Of the eleven artists on this album, we had only ever heard/heard of a few - Kitchen & The Plastic Spoons being one, which also garnered a Dark Entries reissue of their weirdo-synth theatrics, and Glorious Din, only cuz they were from San Francisco way back when.
As for what "deathrock" means, the obvious references to goth do apply as in the poppier veins of Christian Death or X-Mal Deutschland; but it can also be rather punky and snarly (as in Taste Of Decay's full throttled take on the Damned). It can also relate lyrically as well. "I Wanna Be You" by Your Funeral is a bouncy, jangly number that wouldn't be out of place next to The Clean or The Bats or any of the ecstatic DIY popsters on Flying Nun; but lyrically the band utters a raw, suicidal desperation. Both Twisted Nerve and Afterimage dissect Joy Division's classic single "Transmission" with the former wholesale lifting the bassline from that track, and featuring a crooner who sounds exactly like Julian Cope, while the latter adopts Bernard Sumner's pop-hook panache. Screaming For Emily (not to be confused with the equally goth-tastic Screams For Tina) explode with a hi-hat frenzy of death-disco rhythms, Teutonic melodies, and deepthroated vocals for one of the many high points on this album. The aforementioned Glorious Din lay down an archetypally gothy bassline swimming in liquid flange, with an almost nonexistent guitar scratch and pummeling rhythms that lie somewhere between Crispy Ambulance and Savage Republic. The Naked And The Dead reprise Sex Gang Children's uncanny ability to seem feral and freaked out in their unhinged guitars, randomly tumbling percussion, and sexpot/deathwish vocalizations, while strangely maintaining a grounded sense of compositional control. It is true that all of these bands on Killed By Deathrock have their references and antecedents, but the quality in all of these genetic mutants is top fucking shelf.
Thanks for killing us with deathrock, Sacred Bones. Let's do it again sometime!
This is so good. Wow. Never been much for hardcore. In fact as a teen, I skipped the punk rock stage entirely, jumping from top 40 right into heavy metal. Eventually I backtracked and discovered tons of amazing punk rock. But man, had I known when I was making the switch, that there was stuff like this out there....
This stuff sounds so fresh even now, and is so aggressive and mean and boiling over with utter fury. These songs say as much about teen rebellion and the disaffected youth as it does about the time period ('80-'85). Definitely a better reminder of the Reagan years than the stuff we've been hearing about him lately (man, was he ever lucky to die during an election year!). Anyway, this is a really amazing comp, especially considering that out of 23 bands we had only heard of one! And that band's from Finland! This stuff is so heavy and mean, it even out-brutalizes lots of black metal we've heard. Wild thrashing drumming, simple skull bashing riffing, shouting and screeching vocals, throbbing basslines, and lyrics that are pissed Pissed PISSED! Some of the bands: Urban Waste, Gasmask, Terveet Kadeet, Ultraviolent, No Pigs, Capital Scum, Genetic Control, the Left, Nihilistics -- hell, even the names sound pissed! Allan and Andee have been surprising everyone lately by playing this incessantly!
Lots of folks probably have no idea what Pinky Violence movies are, but avid readers of the aQ list, might have scene (or hopefully bought!) several records by a local turntablist called DJ Female Convict Scorpion, whose name is in fact borrowed from one of the more famous Pinky Violence series of films.
In the late sixties, traditional gangster movies in Japan were replaced with "Pinky Violence" movies, which embraced nudity and violence and bondage, women in prison, women gangs, who often fought topless, low brow, lowest common denominator, maybe, but many of the films infused the sex and violence with plenty of subtle social and political critiques, and as you might imagine, they caught on, and became a sensation. Often psych rock bands like the Jacks or the Flowers were tapped for music, but just as often, a small cadre of composers created the strange sonic hybrids that were the soundtrack to some of the most over the top films you'll ever see.
From Western style Morricone soundtrack music, all strings and whistles, haunting and ominous, to sultry smoky jazz, groovy fuzz funk, and full on psychedelic garage rock, the sounds here are all over the map. In some ways this could have easily been an installment in Sublime Frequencies' ever expanding catalog of world musics, so varied and catchy and wildly exotic. Jazzy drums underpin fluttery flutes, crunchy fuzz guitar all tangled up with woozy porno funk, sexy sax, wah wah guitars, soaring strings, Eastern melodies, all wound into groovy cinematic funk jazz, xylophones and marimbas, horn sections, strange sound effects, wild drumming, it's hard to imagine how this stuff hasn't been sampled to death by DJ's. super funky, but WAY out there and psychedelic, sometimes dark, but more often jubilant and unhinged and FUN.
Super extensive liner notes, with a history of the genre, the soundtracks, the composers, and of course the starlets, and besides simply being a killer collection of funky soulful cinematic sounds, hopefully it'll get some folks out there to track down some of these amazing movies...
A diverse spectrum of bands herein interpret the compositions of one of modern metal music's leading lights, the Danish singer, rock conceptualist, and Satanic philosopher King Diamond. Several Scandinavian black metallers who owe so much to the King (and his facepaint) such as Ancient and Dark Funeral participate, as do deathsters like In Aeteurnum, Usurper, and local boys Exhumed. 80's style power metallers Dentiny's End even make an appearance but aside from them KD's trademark multi-ocatave vocals generally get the black metal rasp or death grunt treatment. A fun collection but no match for the real thing.
Though the first word to come to ones head when mentioning the name King Tubby is "dub", you won't find a single track of it here. "King Tubby Meets the Reggae Masters" is a collection of tracks unearthed from his archives after King Tubby passed away in 1989.
On March 14, 1992, Leif Elggren and CM von Hausswolff proclaimed the existence of the Kingdom of Elgaland / Vargaland, by annexing and occupying all of the border areas between all the countries of the earth, all of the areas up to a width of 10 nautical miles existing outside all countries territorial waters, and the mental / perceptive territories including, but not limited to the Hypnagogic State, the Escapist Territory, and the Virtual Room. Elggren and von Hausswolff have even gone so far as to issue passports to their citizens, draft a constitution, and design any number of governmental signifiers (currency, stamps, a national flag, and even a national anthem). This Kingdom is obviously not striving to attain any political presence within the world's power market, but is interested in channelling the metaphysical principles from Joseph Beuys in this investigation of how utterances of power are communicated from one individual to another.
During the past decade, hundreds of people have become citizens of Elgaland / Vargaland, and this album is a sort of who's who of the Kingdom's citizenship, featuring Mika Vainio, BJ Nilsen (Hazard), Ulf Bilting, Ryoji Ikeda, John Duncan, Mats Gustafsson, Chris Watson, People Like Us, Jim O'Rourke, Graham Lewis and Bruce Gilbert (Wire), Fennesz, Oren Ambarchi, and many more. The 48 tracks on this double disc set offer an incredibly wide range of interpretations of the Kingdom: some quite silly, others very ominous; some do relate to the Kingdom of Elgaland / Vargaland, others don't. As a result it's not the most cohesive of albums, but both Allan and Jim fully support the Kingdom of Elgaland / Vargaland. So there.
Faust's Hans Joachim Irmler compiled this collection of tracks from what might (might!) be termed modern-day krautrock bands -- even if they're not all strictly from Germany -- which includes not one but two tracks from Finnish AQ faves Circle, along with contributions from Faust, Irmler himself, Ole Lukkoye, Kangaroo Moon, Audiac, Nista Nije Nista, Adriano Lanzi & Omar Sodano, S/T, and (most bizarrely), indie hip-hoppers Dalek! Now, we have to confess that aside from a few obvious ones, we're not really familar with this line-up of artists. But of course, that's the whole point of the compilation, to introduce Faust's Klangbad label's roster. Most of which seems oriented towards the experimental, spacey, dark, droney, and repetitive. Even the Dalek track here fits in with that description. But you'll find some cuts are poppier, some are jazzier. Although we didn't care terribly much for the electronic trip-pop of Audiac, or the clubby lounge-electronica-rap-prog of Kangaroo Moon, this has the advantage of being a compilation, so those unfortunately cheesy cuts are soon superceded by more interesting ones, like the abstract jazzy soundscapes of Nista Niji Nista or Irmler's droning "Museum". Oye Lukkoye ends the album with the nine-minute "White Stone (Net Doma)", kind of an ethnic/beat epic in the mode of the Magic Carpathians. So, while not 100 percent great, this succeeds at being a diverse sampler, whetting our appetite for (at least some) further Klangbad releases. And Circle-fiends will of course be happy with the ten minutes of exclusive Circle music found here!
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Yes, it's "The Fiddler On The Roof" as interpreted by an interesting selection Knitting Factory friends. The Magnetic Fields do "If I Were A Rich Man," Negativland does "Tevye's Dream", The Residents do "Matchmaker"...you get the idea. Definitely a fun concept.
(Although whether this has a deeper meaning in the context of the downtown NYC new Jewish music movement I don't know). KF's Michael Dorf says "the inspiration for this project came from a combination of humor and commercialism." Other participants include David S. Ware, Uri Caine, Eugene Chadbourne, Elliott Sharp, Come, Hasidic New Wave, The New Orleans Klezmer Allstars, Naftule's Dream, Jill Sobule, and the Paradox Trio.
A collection of out-of-print and/or hard-to-find a-sides from the back catalogue of 555 Recordings of Leeds (run by Stewart Anderson of Boyracer / Steward fame). Tracks by the Aislers Set, Hood, Kid 606, Boyracer, Empress, Steward, The Remote Viewer, The Famous Boyfriend, and much more. 23 tracks total!
To celebrate their 100th release, Kompakt had 21 artists pick their favorite record from the first 99 Kompakt releases and remix it. So thus we have Kompakt 100, 21 of your favorite Kompakt classics remixed by a handful of your favorite Kompakt artists. Remixers include: The Orb, DJ Koze, the Modernist, Ulf Lohmann, Reinhard Voigt, Jurgen Paape, Markus Guentner, Dettinger, Kaito and more. To dig this collection you definitely have to like all facets of the Kompakt sound. Folks looking for a smooth, dreamy pop ambient compilation will definitely be blown out of the water by the beat heavy tracks, and beat headz might be bored by the swooshy ambient numbers, but those of you who like chocolate in your peanut butter, won't mind verring from four on the floor house, to wheezy, fuzzy ambience and back again. An amazing document of one of the best (and most important) electronic labels around.
NOW ON VINYL! Another killer collection of Kompakt techno, and while we may tend to lean toward the Pop Ambient side of the Kompakt roster, no label has done more to wear down our resistance to techno than the mighty Kompakt, so much so, that we now find ourselves looking forward to these Total comps nearly as much as the Pop Ambient comps.
And once again, Kompakt comes through with, a killer collection of artists, and tracks, expertly sequenced into over two hours of minimal techno bliss.
Just have a look at the names and you'll know what you're in for: Dj Koze, Justus Kohncke, Gui Boratto, Matias Aguayo, The Field, Burger/Voigt, Reinhard Voigt, Jurgen Paape and loads more, and along with the usal tight clipped, late night dancefloor grooves there are plenty of surprises. How about DJ Koze's "40 Love", with a rhythm track built around the sounds of a tennis match, including the crowds disappointed "Awwwww"s when someone misses a shot, birds chirping, squeaking shoes, grunts, all woven into a woozy bit of warm throb and skitter. Then there's Coma's awesomely murky midnight pusle and shimmer, and Jonas Bering's super fuzzed out synth jam that definitely reminds us of Justice or Daft Punk, and Matias Aguayo's sunshiney techno pop jam, that almost sounds like Phoenix or something, the warped and tweaked tropical wooziness of the Pachanga Boys and the circusy soundtrack weirdness of Jurgen Paape's oompah jam "Ofterschwang", and in between, plenty of that classic Kompakt sound that we can never seem to get enough of.
If you've got 1-9, you obviously need 10, and if you've yet to dip your toes into the Kompakt pool, this is as good a place to start as any...
Super low price compilation from one of the best labels going these days. Two discs, 21 tracks, many of them unreleased, some from forthcoming releases from the elite Kranky stable: Stars Of The Lid, Keith Fullerton Whitman, Pan-American, Greg Davis, Christina Carter, Growing, Dead Texan, Loscil, Charalambides, Out Hud and more!
It's been a while since we've heard from the Trikont label, and we've missed them. In the past, they've brought us some all time aQ faves, the Flashbacks series, Africa Raps, so many amazing compilations: Beyond Istanbul, Doom & Gloom, Creative Outlaws, In Prison, Dope & Glory and of course Ho! Roady Music From Vietnam. Always impeccably curated, with extensive liner notes, tons of photos, and an in-depth history of the music and the performers.
Konkani Songs is a fantastic addition, Music from India, a sort of Indian light and folk music, ballads, big band jazz, torch songs, festive folky dance numbers, all with a hint of Bollywood, as well as plenty of other influences, Western soundtrack music, Morricone, fifties and sixties European pop, but all so distinctly and uniquely Indian.
Anyone into the Sublime Frequencies series will definitely want to grab one of these, sounds both familiar and foreign, far out and classic, groovy Eastern melodies intertwine with Klezmer like accordions, soaring dramatic strings, chiming bells, wild percussion, the sounds slipping from calypso to mariachi, Bollywood to cheesy pop, groovy funk to organ driven sort-of-country, rad groovy surfy garage to dark tango-y waltzes, the sound is uniformly warm and fuzzy, that gorgeous washed out old recording sound. But it's the vocalists that seal the deal, from deep baritones, to sweet songbird croons, some hushed and intimate, some intense and expressive, sometimes a perfect match for the music backing it up, sometimes brilliantly at odds, we've only just begun to dig into the liner notes, there's much to learn about Onkani songs, but based on the songs alone, this could be one of our favorite comps of the year so far.
For those who recall the now out-of-print "The Ghost Orchid" cd collection of EVP -- "Electronic Voice Phenomenon", the mysterious manifestations of unknown voices breaking through radio transmissions, presumed to be voices of the dead -- Konstantin Raudive may be a familiar name. His contributions to that recording (originally paired as a 7" with his legendary book from the mid '70s entitled "Breakthrough") were some of the most hyperbolic and grandiose, claiming that in his research he had contacted numerous recently deceased friends, as well as historical figures like Winston Churchill! Since "The Ghost Orchid" and the follow-up collection drawn from from fellow researcher Friedrich JurgensonFriedrich Jurgenson's EVP recordings have been very difficult to track down in recent months, we thought that this new release of recordings from the archives of Raudive (and his collegue Gerhard Stempnik) would make for an acceptable substitute. Well, it might have been, if it weren't for all of the extraneous, some might say unneccesary, tracks found here: remixes of Raudive's recordings, tracks inspired by Raudive's recordings, and tracks that got onto this album just because they were by DJ Spooky. (DJ Spooky? Get it? These are ghosts. Haha.) At least the folks at Sub Rosa had enough sense to program all of the actual Raudive recordings as the odd numbered tracks with the remixes and so forth being the even numbered ones. So at least you can program your CD player if you wish to avoid the pieces by DJ Spooky, Brett Dean, Scanner, Calla, Lee Ranaldo, David Toop, CM von Hausswolff, Random Inc. and others. Not to say that these remixes are bad (some are pretty cool, total X-Files electronica), but how can you hope to compete with the raw ghost transmissions themselves? Truly voices of the dead or not, they're still creepy radio-noise recordings with German-language lectures to introduce 'em, full of mystery and terror and dense sonic textures. Imagine an occult Conet Project. We're purists, I guess, and would have liked the tracks by the modern-day artists to have appeared on a seperate release from the archival EVP material. But others we're sure won't be bothered at all, and enjoy (and be haunted by) the whole package.
This just might be the coolest compilation ever. A musical compendium focused on the sound, singers and groups, who were in some way linked to the infamous Jewish mafia, aka the "Kosher Nostra", an organization including such underworld legends as Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, Dutch Schultz, Louis "Lepke" Buchalter and Meyer Lansky, a group who worked alongside the more well known American mafia, and who had a huge influence on popular music, creating a musical movement that was equal parts big band, jazz, swing and Yiddish music, a musical scene which existed parallel to the mainstream, with its own radio shows, record labels, and superstars. Organized by the artist Oz Almog, who is also a curator at the Jewish Museum in Vienna, and who created a high profile exhibition of his original paintings of Jewish gangsters, along with articles, biographies and crime scene sketches, along with someone named Shantel who wrote his thesis on the Kosher Nostra and did extensive research on organized crime and its influence on American musical culture, all of which is detailed in the massive booklet that accompanies this compilation. But even knowing nothing about the roots of these tracks, the music here is amazing, from Connie Francis doing a classic Yiddish tune, to Tom Jones singing the super dramatic "My Yiddishe Mamme", from The Andrews Sisters first big hit "Bei Mir Bistu Sheyn" to Chubby Checker singing in Yiddish on "Misirlou", Solomon Schwartz's fuzzy groovy version of the Jewish classic "Hava Nagila", tracks from Al Jolson (with the Andrews Sisters), Sophie Tucker and loads more. Some of the tracks live, others presented as part of old time radio shows, complete with announcers and advertisements, a gorgeous, and fascinating glimpse into this remarkable social and musical subculture, or as the label describes it "an unparalleled journey back in time to the music clubs, vaudeville theaters and gambling casinos of the 1920s to the '60s bearing compelling witness to this enormously diverse and truly remarkable fusion of styles". Easily our reissue/compilation of the year so far. So totally great!
Fantastic packaging, a massive booklet, loaded with extensive liner notes on the music, and the history of the Kosher Nostra, lots of pictures do, the cd in a similarly designed digipack, all housed in a swank slipcover.
Similar to the spirit of those 'Ein Wigwam...' compilations of film music from East German westerns (Vol. 2 we listed just a few weeks back), 'Kosmos' collects the music from East German science fiction films and television programs, which while maybe not
Similar to the spirit of those 'Ein Wigwam...' compilations of film music from East German westerns (Vol. 2 we listed just a few weeks back), 'Kosmos' collects the music from East German science fiction films and television programs, which while maybe not
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Subtitled "German Psychedelic Underground 1968-1974." From the purveyors of the "Pre-Kraut Pandaemonium" lps and the "Electric Loosers" cds, this collection moves a few years ahead from the 60's German beat groups of those comps to full-on cosmic krautrock rarities. There's an unreleased early Can track on here ("Kama Sutra), also the likes of Exmagma, Electric Sandwich, Limbus 4, and many others--all very obscure and very psychedelic!!
Soon after heaping tons of praise on the mighty Enter The Dragon Soundtrack, we're thrilled to also see this killer compilation of unreleased De Wolfe library tracks drawn from the legendary Shaw Brothers martial arts films circa 1976-1984. If you've seen a Hong Kong Ku Fu flick of that vintage, chances are good you've seen a Shaw Bros. movie. Influencing everyone from The Wu-Tang Clan to Quentin Tarantino, these low-budget "bashers" with insanely impossible story lines have fed the fertile imaginations of midnight movie geeks for years. These 43 movie cues hand-picked by Gareth "Cherrystones" Goddard, Joel Martin and Jon Jigoku, display quite a sweeping emotional range of sounds: moody spy themes, old west-style standoffs, funky Moog passages, ritual drums, suspicious flutes and percussion, tense orchestrations, haunting siren song. The best part is the names the De Wolfe library gave the cues: "Electro Beat 5", "Nerve Stretch 2", "Tension Trip", "Moonbird", "Bitter Lemons", "Dogarnit". For the library music fan or martial arts geek in your life!
The single biggest seller, hands down, of all of the Jamaican music we stock is, without a doubt Lee Perry's Kung Fu Meets The Dragon on Justice League. We're certain that what initially draws people to it is its classic cartoon cover art with a three headed man/dragon, a kung fu posing Upsetter and Chinese iconography to drive the point home. But what keeps this album from ever returning used to the store is the fact that it's just plain great. It's classic, demented, Black Ark era Lee Perry, filled with sonic burps, imponderable engeneering choices and just plain great rhythms and dynamite playing throughout. So does it sound like we're trying to sell you a different album here? Well, I'd (Byram) say that Kung Fu Meets The Dragon is a classic album that needs to be in anyone's collection if they're going to have any dub at all. What we have here is another Trojan theme disc and, one could say, a completely different dish of curried goat all together. So if you get both, your going to have some overlap, once again. There's only just so much classic material out there. Having said that, this is a decent disc in its own right. A great party album, sure. Subtracting the eight Upsetter tracks here that are included on Kung Fu Meets The Dragon and you've still got 15 tracks including a cover of Kung Fu Fighting by Lloyd Parks, several from Prince Jammy (not to be out done by the Upsetter he recorded his own Kamikaze Dub album back in 1979), Big Youth, Junior Byles, Barrington Levy, Linval Thompson, Keith Hudson, Augustus Pablo, Tommy McCook and Dave & Ansel Collins. Be prepared however for a great deal of tracks that pay homage to the martial arts in song title alone. Some will have you scratching your head trying to figure out what the connection is. That aside, it's a great deal of fun. We just wish we could say the cover art was as nice as Kung Fu Meets The Dragon.
American Noise is a killer label sampler featuring all manner of minimal electronica, from skeletal abstract house, to squelchy acid grooves, to murky late night ambience, to woozy psychedelic electro, and pretty much lots of stops in between. The only thing we'd heard from the L.I.E.S. label before was a 12" from Steve Moore, of Zombi and Majeure, and he's one of the familiar names here, his 12 minute "Frigia" is another fantastic slab of haunting faux soundtrack synthscapery, melding Goblin / Carpenter like creepiness to pulsing futuristic Euro-disco, a lengthy Autobahn like sprawl of woozy pulsing psychedelia and house-y kosmische bliss out. Legowelt is another familiar name, his two tracks here are hazy, washed out electro-house groovers, that wed soft focus shimmering ambience to driving, motorik rhythms, wreathing the sounds in swoonsome chordal swells and distant swirling melodies, splitting the difference perfect between driving and drifting. But beyond those two names, most of the outfits here were new to us: Marcos Cabral, Torn Hawk, Terekke, Bookworms, Xosar, Vapauteen, Two Dogs In A House, Maxamillion Dunbar, Svengalisghost, Bonquiqui, Professor Genius, Beau Wanzer and Unknown Artist (not sure if that's a cheeky band name, like Various Artists, or in fact an unknown artist). And while we dig pretty much everything here, the most exciting discovery is most definitely Jahiliyya Fields, who starts things off with a glorious kaleidoscopic cascade of pulsating synths, and layered drones, a glimmering sprawl of kraut-psych shimmer, that gradually blossoms into a creepy sort of Eastern tinged cinematic ambience, and which had us DYING for more (thankfully there is a full length, a double lp, which we will have soon, and we'll hopefully review it on the next list).
Nothing is quite as ghostly and abstract as that first track, but there's definitely lots to dig here, most of the jams are darkly rhythmic, from glimmering Kompakt style minimal techno blissouts, to groovy, super retro sounding eighties style electro-funk, to crunchy, almost Latin sounding big beat workouts, to churning, near-gothic sounding industrial dirges that remind us a bit of some of Dom Fernow's recent projects (Christian Cosmos, Silent Servant, Vatican Shadow). Beyond that, there's also some super soundtracky chase scene electro, heavily collaged loopscapes, noisy and a little chaotic, as well as some cool lo-fi retro electro-pop that sounds like it could be backing tracks for some lost James Ferraro project. Also in the mix, a couple hip hop sounding jams, all 808's and 909's, along with some minimal rhythmic Muslimgauze like murk, and some seriously slinky, slithery slo-mo house music, not to mention one brief but bad ass closer, all super tripped out minimal psychedelic disembodied beats, drifting in a metallic haze. Awesome.
A while back we reviewed a compilation called American Noise / Volume One, which was a killer collection of tracks from the L.I.E.S. label, run by Ron Morelli, whose recent album Spit, a hypnotic collection of murky electronic minimalism, was a big hit around here. That comp featured a handful of folks we had heard before (Steve Moore, Legowelt) but loads more we hadn't. A sprawling and super varied sampling of the L.I.E.S. label's best and brightest, more of which is on display here, with most of the new-to-us artists from that first comp returning again (Svengalisghost, Beau Wanzer, Vapauteen, Terekke, Marcos Cabral) along with still more new names. And if anything, this comp might be even better than the first. Whereas American Noise definitely still seemed geared to the dancefloor to a degree, Music For Shut Ins seems to be true to its title, as most of the tracks here are more deep headphone listening, dancemusic for folks who wouldn't be caught dead on a dancefloor, claustrophobic, psychedelic, murky, minimal and abstract, once again straddling the line between the Kompakt and Hospital labels, slipping from dubbed out Euro-house to gristly post industrial electro, from robotic bunkurfunk to slo-mo soul, and from tripped out techno to noise drenched nineties style blunted beatscapes a la techno Animal.
Some of our favorites include Terekke's "Amaze", which is all murky, hazy, barely there rhythmic skitter, swirling slowed down vocal samples, all heavily dubbed into a druggy drift, definitely for fans of Burial, Vessel, oOoOO and the like, the washed out hyper rhythmic abstraction that is Gunnar Haslam's "Aisepos", which buries everything under a woozy haze, the beat a bleary cascade of skitter and stutter, laced with soft synth swirls and what sounds like faux horns, but all blurred and smeared into something ghostly and ethereal. There's the distorto-house of Entro & Terri, which sounds like classic club music given a psychedelic noise makeover, or the squelchy FX drenched electro of TX connect, Daywalker & CF offer up some John Carpenter electro, if that even is a thing, all cinematic and sweeping, tethered to a tangle of overlapping rhythms and beats, all washed out and beautifully bleary, while Svengalisghost delivers some churning industrial electro that sounds like it could be another Dom Fernow project (Vatican Shadow, Christian Cosmos,etc.).
There's plenty more too, with some tracks definitely falling closer to the actual dancefloor, but even those all seem at least a bit tweaked and twisted. Definitely recommended for all you electronic music shut ins, which most definitely describes many of us as well!!
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Yet another amazing compilation from this Northwestern reissue label. Mississippi, in addition to the bad ass blues and folk comp I Don't Feel At Home In This World Anymore 1927-1948 reviewed elsewhere on this list, also compiled this amazing collection of rare R+B, pop, high life, juju and choral music from Africa. Mali, Somalia, Kenya, Zambia, even Sierra Leone...
The comp opens with the most wicked slice of down and dirty afro funk you will ever hear. Super funky, hot and sweaty afro soul supreme. Dense propulsive funky drumming, killer old soul jangle riffs, and growled and crooned, sexed up vocals, complete with JB style "HEY!"s... So intense and emotional and irresistible. Nothing else on the comp is as wild or as funky, but it's all amazing. Crooned ballads with simple shuffling rhythms, fluttery flutes and a deep warm velvety voice, festive joyous celebratory jams, with wildly strummed guitars, lush vocal harmonies, wild percussion, dark languorous afroblues, every track here is a gem, some funky and upbeat, others moody and mellow, so fantastic. Fans of the Ethiopiques comps, the recently reviewed Yaala Yaala releases, that killer Ghana Soundz collection, and the Afro Funk Explosion comp, heck, if you love this stuff the way we do, then you NEED this.
All handmade packaging, recycled record sleeves with pasted on front and back covers. Nice.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Purporting to be an Italian horror movie soundtrack (it's not), this locally-produced comp manages to make you wish there were such a movie, if only to see how the pretty awesome selection of songs on here could be made to fit into it. Contributors include The Need, Joan of Arc, Collosamite, Thrones, Impaled, Armatron, Transitional, Melt Banana, The Champs, Pablos Triangle, and more. As you can see from that list, this is a strangely varied comp indeed, from metal to emo to no wave, but it all somehow seems to fit together just like a "soundtrack" should. Good stuff.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Another new and truly amazing compilation (the first in a series of ten!) from our current favorite German label, Trikont. On this you'll hear musicians from vastly varied genres and times covering the same song: "La Paloma". From Charlie Parker, to Carla Bley, to Jelly Roll Morton, to Amon Duul, to slack key wizard Ray Kane, to Tex-Mex guru Flaco Jimenez, to... Ahh, there's a bunch here that you and I have never heard of, but that will kick your butt. Must be heard to be believed... No, just plain must be heard.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Part two in Trikont's ten part "La Paloma" series continues with an equally varied line up of renditions from such notables as Esquivel, Paco De Lucia, Babba Brooks, Hank Snow, Freddy Fender, Xavier Cugat and much more!
It never ends... Volumes 3 & 4 of Trikont's hefty "La Paloma" project are now available. As the title implies, and as you may recall from the first two we had in previously, these are compilations of artists from various genres and points in time doing renditions of the song "La Paloma." It's an honorable effort, if not a bit obsessive (the total number of tracks in the series now clocking in at 103). Listening to any one of these anthologies the whole way through and you can start to lose your mind. A new song begins, with new instrumention, a different arrangement and key... And yet, it's the same melody all over again. Definitely not for the faint of heart.
Volume 3 has such greats as Dean Martin, Perez Prado, Eddie Peabody, Unbekannte Harfinistin Pariser Metro, Bing Crosby and much more.
It never ends... Volumes 3 & 4 of Trikont's hefty "La Paloma" project are now available. As the title implies, and as you may recall from the first two we had in previously, these are compilations of artists from various genres and points in time doing renditions of the song "La Paloma." It's an honorable effort, if not a bit obsessive (the total number of tracks in the series now clocking in at 103). Listening to any one of these anthologies the whole way through and you can start to lose your mind. A new song begins, with new instrumention, a different arrangement and key... And yet, it's the same melody all over again. Definitely not for the faint of heart.
Volume 4 features such super stars as Andre Popp, The Harmonica Playboys, Mabibi Na Mabwana, Ich Schwitze Nie and much more.
Another installment in this series of fringe electronica compilations from the very cool Planetsounds label, who like AQ faves Fflint, continue to dig up amazing and obscure electronica that in a perfect world would send Warp and Lo and all those other labels crying home to their mommies. There are a few recognizable artists represented, Tele:funken (they did a split with Flying Saucer Attack a few years ago), Illuminati (see elsewhere on this list) and the Irritants, but all the others are veritable unkowns. The sound ranges from throbbing low-fi ambient technoscapes to fluttery chiming gurgle and buzz to static-y skittery electronic clatter to creepy shimmery high end skree and hiccupping drum stutter and all point in between. Any one who has been digging Berkowitz, Lake And Dahmer, Cousin Silas and all that Fflint stuff should check this out.
Electronica compilation from the UK on relatively new label Planetsounds. Features: Daniel Weaver (ex Stock, Hausen, and Walkman), JJ Howard, Disco Operating Systems, and Magic City (who all record for the RSI label). Black Curtain, Whitecube, and Pendro and Oleum (both of the mighty Fflint Central label) and more!
CD reissue of this 1998 LP only compilation highlighting some of the lesser known bands on Hanson (ie: not Wolf Eyes). Long tracks from:
NAUTICAL ALMANAC -- retarded chicken scratch guitar, damaged casios, screeching sinewaves, instrument buzz, all stacked in a big squrmy, noisy pile.
ISIS AND WEREWOLVES -- Lo-fi carnival soundtrack rock. Feedback and clattery rhythms, wailing guitars and keyboards spit out a fuzzy, skronky Merzbow meets Goblin splatterscape (heavier on the Merzbow).
RON OF JAPAN -- A symphony of demented squeak toys gives way to pounding caveman thud which dissolves into an almost melodic, soothing free-noise drone.
ANDREW WILKES-KRIER -- Ambient clatter, moaning distant drones, and humming low end rumbles, bird sounds and sparse percussive tinkle. Quite a bit different than the stuff he does now under the Andrew W.K. moniker!
THE MINI-SYSTEMS -- Sing-songy electronic melodies under a shifting sea of white noise, amp buzz, gurgle and whir.
THE BEAST PEOPLE -- Noisy chaotic, skree-scape of recording dropouts, static and hiss, growling moster vocals, distant screechs, and warbly slow motion melodies wrapped in white noise.
Damon Albarn and his Honest John's Records went to Nigeria and all we got were two awesome compilations of classic Juju, Highlife and Afrobeat hits culled from rare vinyl that most of will never be lucky enough to score. With the influence of Fela Kuti sewn boldly on heart, some of these songs are actually from bands who really did time as part of Fela's live outfit. Both this and the companion compilation Lagos Chop Up are super solid collections of some of the best sounds coming out of Nigeria from the mid 60's up unti the early 80's. Very good stuff!
Damon Albarn and his Honest John's Records went to Nigeria and all we got were two awesome compilations of classic Juju, Highlife and Afrobeat hits culled from rare vinyl that most of will never be lucky enough to score. With the influence of Fela Kuti sewn boldly on heart, some of these songs are actually from bands who really did time as part of Fela's live outfit. Both this and the companion compilation Lagos All Routes are super solid collections of some of the best sounds coming out of Nigeria from the mid 60's up unti the early 80's. Very good stuff!
There's been a deluge of reissues and compilations of groovy '70s music from West Africa coming out lately, on this list in fact you'll also find Soundway's Nigeria Special Vol. 2 reviewed, with another one, their Nigeria Afrobeat Special comp, waiting in the wings. Well we just say, bring it on! If it's as good as THIS, we want to hear it!! Lagos Disco Inferno (the title says it all) is brought to us via the Academy label, who were responsible for that amazing Ofege reissue, among other great releases. Compiled by vintage vinyl fiend Frank Gossner (who does a blog called Voodoofunk), this is packed with a dozen tracks of burning, sweat-soaked funk/disco grooves, total dancefloor fuel, recordings circa 1976-'82 from Nigerian artists including Blo, Pogo Ltd., Doris Ebong, Grotto, Nana Love, Tirogo, MFB, Paradise Stars, Christy Essien, Geraldo Pino, Asiko Rock Group, and Emma Dorgu.
Track one, Doris Ebong's "Boogie Trip", with her persuasive vocals and some psychedelic electronic FX, is an insanely funky, and freaky, number that gets the party started right, in fact, it features the sounds of a wild dance party going on in the background (as there should be!). And track after track, the Lagos Disco Inferno party doesn't stop... right though to Nana Love's almost 15 minute tour-de-force "Hang On", which ends the album leaving you wanting more, more, more. Damn.
This is simply amazing from start to finish, a f*cking awesome comp, if you don't dig it then we doubt you've even got a funky bone in your body. The acts here could certainly compete with American contemporaries like the JB's, Kool & The Gang, and the BT Express, these exuberant tracks bursting with chicken scratch guitar, fat bass, ecstatic vocal squeals, and tight horn sections being put through their paces (ferinstance, on the aforementioned "Hang On"). James Brown is clearly a big influence, and Christy Essien on "Take Life Easy" sounds like she could have been one of his funky divas. To mention a few others, though we can't begin to pick favorites, we like how Geraldo Pino's "African Hustle" mixes in "Blow Your Head" style JB synth wiggle and vocal exclamations worthy of Jimmy Castor. "Everybody Get Down" by Asiko Rock Group is over 8 minutes of sheer get down grunt indeed. Pogo Ltd.'s insistent "Don't Put Me Down" also delivers the JB's vibe we enjoy (sounding a bit Ethiopiques too), while MFB's "Boredom Pain" has got more of a laidback groove, with soulful vocals and an eruption of fuzzed out acid rock guitar soloing that kicks in part way through - this could easily be something from those recently reviewed records by Amanaz or Witch from down in Zambia... Hey, but rather than talk about all twelve tracks, let's just say two words: get this! And again, two more: get down!!
Includes knowledgeable liner notes, the cd in a digipack, the vinyl in a nice gatefold sleeve.
