Jacco Gardner (2013) -Cabinet of Curiosities

Artist: Jacco Gardner

Albums: Cabinet of Curiosities

Release date:  2013

Quality: mp3 CBR 320

Size:  110 MB

”Jacco Gardner's debut album, Cabinet of Curiosities, is an impressive re-creation of late-'60s pop psych, especially coming from someone who's only in his mid-twenties. The Dutch studio wiz plays everything but the drums, and his music is full of harpsichords, organs, flutes, and Mellotron, taking in elements of the Left Banke, Sagittarius, the Zombies, and a thousand oddly named bands with at least one guy sporting a frilly mustache. The first track alone is like an encyclopedia entry for the sound -- "Clear the Air" is a frilly trifle with swooning Mellotrons, twinkling harpsichords, lyrics that take in ecological distress, war, and trippy dislocation, swirling background vocals, and minor-key melancholy. For extra psych points, Gardner uses the trick of singing in a deep, stilted voice in the chorus just like the Strawberry Alarm Clock might. The rest of the album follows suit with Gardner crafting pristine versions of gently pastoral psych that lend themselves to a healthy round of "spot the influence," but have enough of his own vision involved to turn out to be more than just pale imitations of a bygone era. The songs are more like Left Banke album tracks or cuts buried deep on a later volume of Rubble: they have the sound down perfectly and are mysteriously intriguing, but lack the hooks necessary to make the them stand out the way "Pretty Ballerina" or "She's Not There" do. That's a pretty tall order, though, and it's no mark of failure to say that Gardner isn't writing hits that will linger in brains and ring up sales. It's enough that he's made an album that sounds so good and authentically psych-like, and one that wraps the listener up in a warm embrace of misty melodies and cobwebbed arrangements. Play Cabinet of Curiosities back to back with a Nirvana (the paisley-clad U.K. version, of course) album and it will sound just right. That seems to be what Gardner is aiming for, and he succeeds. All he needs now is a mustache to go with the top hat he sports in the fuzzy photo that adorns the inside of the album." ~ by Tim Sendra @ allmusic.com

                                                                          

Various Artists (2007/2013) -MOJO Presents: Heavy Nuggets Vol. 1 & 2

Artist: various

Albums: MOJO presents: Heavy Nuggets Vol. 1 & Vol. 2

Release date:  2007 / 2013

Quality: mp3 CBR 320

Size:  155 / 175 MB

A great compilations of lost and well-known heavy psych bands from 60s-70s presented by MOJO Magazine. Enjoy!  

                                                                          

TRACK OF THE DAY - Taivalkunta Beat

Various Artists (2005/2011) - Bosporous Bridges Vol.1 & 2

Artist: various

Albums: Bosporous Bridges Vol. 1 & Vol. 2 – A Wide Selection Of Turkish Jazz And Funk 1969-1978

Release date:  2005 / 2011

Quality: mp3 CBR 320 / VBR

Size:  99 /69 MB

”I don’t know all that much about Turkish jazz-funk music, but the good thing about an album like this is that you don’t really need to know the stories behind the (in this case proggy-soul) bands before they went a whole different direction, broke up, or descended into relative obscurity. The songs stand on their own without context. Or maybe the lack of context just makes the whole listening experience better, by casting that sense of mystery and myth that eludes some bands you already “know.” ~ read full review @ tinymixtapes

                                                                          

Ceramic Dog (2013) -Your Turn

Artist:  Ceramic Dog
Album: Your Turn
Release date: April 30, 2013
Quality: mp3 CBR 320
Size: 118MB

”Second records are a bitch (or, if “bitch” is too offensive, “notoriously hard to nail down,” No? We thought about this one for 2 years - and even tried to make it a few times. Finally we got it right - meaning, we got it to sound wrong exactly like us.If you listen closely, you can hear the rage, hope, disappointment, ritual excess, love and anarchy that were in our personal and collective airspace during those years. There were (and - we hope - will continue to be) several kinds of riots going on (“Lies My Body Told Me,” “Bread and Roses”). And yes, the CD is “political,” (see “Avanti Popolo,” “Ain't Gonna Let Them Turn Me ‘Round”). But what fun is raging against the machine if you can't also rage against the bar line and the tonal system (“Take Five,” “Ritual Slaughter” “Your Turn”)? The astute listener will note our wry comment on the contradictions of producing a recording during the collapse of the industry which once paid for recordings to be produced ("We Are the Professionals,” “Masters of the Internet” and the attached manifesto). The very astute listener with really expensive headphones may hear the water pipes in the basement on Rivington and Allen where we recorded about half the tracks (the guitar amp isolation booth looked a lot like a bathroom). Those searching for rigorously applied formal constraints may have to wait. Ceramic Dogs just wanna have fun.” ~ ~ Marc Ribot

TRACK OF THE DAY - Guadalupe Plata

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Big Tubba Mista (2002) -Behind the Scenes

Artist:  Big Tubba Mista
Albums:  Behind the Scenes
Release date: 2002
Quality: mp3 CBR 320
Size: 117 MB  

“Without really looking, I've found the heirs-apparent to Royal Crown Revue. And while I'm not ready for that legendary band to step away from their microphones, it's encouraging to know that a septet from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania is waiting in the wings. Big Tubba Mista has edge, energy, wit and chops to spare. They delve into Latin rhythms and Western style. And when it comes to "get up and dance", they've got it down to a science. Behind the Scenes, their third album, starts with "Los Caballeros Social Club", a Latin number less sultry than grotty with its slow, staccato rhythm. Next up is a slow swing-blues of rejection and remorse, the sonic 'Dear John letter' of "Walk Right Out". But where the album really takes off is the blistering, brassy "Two-Faced", featuring the horns of saxmen Shawn Snavely and Mikey Malone and trumpeter Matt Bowman. "If You Only Knew" saddles up for a ride into the country style, and is followed by perennial band favorite "Set 'em Up". Next up is "Come Dance With Me", an energetic tango disguised by Snavely's serpentine clarinet. Guitarist Eric Keptner gets a moment in the sun on the blues-drenched "Perfect Stranger", adding yet another genre to the band's list of accomplishments. "Gorgeous Hog" is the other side of the blues, a pre-war stride of double-entendre that's a personal favorite. The album also includes five live tracks that challenge the energy of Royal Crown's Caught in the Act, leading off with the uptempo swing of "Drive By". The pace stays hot through the jumpin' blues of "Baby, No More", and keeps rolling through an unusually jivin' rendition of the classic "St. James Infirmary". Then there's the still-hoppin' swing of "1, 2, 3", and if you haven't had a coronary yet, try to keep pace with "Killer On 37th Street". It's all top-notch dance fuel, and a fitting close to a very solid album.” ~ ~ by Dante Murphy



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The Growlers (2013) -Hung At Heart

Artist:  The Growlers

Albums: Hung At Heart

Release date:  2013

Quality: mp3 CBR 320

Size:  115 MB

”The phrase “burned out” has such bad connotations. When you consider the surfy, crunchy, entirely burned out party rock in the vein of The Growlers, that might just be something to aspire to. The So-Cal five-piece sound so comfortable being the stoned philosopher on Hung at Heart, hopping from party to party, delivering gems of lyrical wisdom in the midst of the thoroughly kicked out jams.

…Though much of the musical fun inherent in Hung at Heart comes easily, a few well-placed flourishes push out of complacency. The simplicity of loping bass and keyboard flutters on “One Million Lovers” battles with growing echo and outbursts of percussive ephemera. Falsetto backing vocals on “Pet Shop Eyes” complete the ’60s pop vibe, and the organ-heavy “It’s No Use” drifts occasionally into psychedelic red.

In every scenario, Nielsen delivers words of wisdom to the assembled onlookers without seeming to notice they’re looking. Whether they’re taking you to a rager at a beach house with the dance floor packed with revelers looking to hook up, or a crumbling studio apartment where a few scattered dudes settle in corners, The Growlers know how to deliver it precisely and then kick the scruff up a notch.”

~ read full review @ CoS

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The Black Angels (2013) -Indigo Meadow

Artist:  The Black Angels

Album: Indigo Meadow

Released:  2013

Quality: mp3 CBR 256

Size:  77 MB

”Now operating as a quartet, ‘Native American drone-roll’ pioneers from Austin, Texas, The Black Angels return with their fourth studio album Indigo Meadow, due for release Tuesday 2 April. The band who took their name from Velvet Underground’s hit ‘The Black Angel’s Death Song’, have been working on the album since January last year, and have triumphantly emerged with 13 psychedelically fuelled tracks…

…Being that the psychedelic era is well and truly over, one would think it would be difficult for a band of the 21st century to capture the spirit of the style, however, The Black Angels continue to quash such doubts; sharing their knowledge and respect for the genre with audiences of our time. Indigo Meadow is an engrossing piece of work from start to finish.”

  ~  read full review by Jazmine O’Sullivan

The Von Drats (2010) -Dratsylvania

Artist:  The Von Drats

Album: Dratsylvania

Released:  2010

Quality: mp3 CBR 320

Size:  72 MB

”Originally hailing from the mysterious Dratsylvania, the band relocated to Toronto in 2005 where their strange appearances (looking like extras from The Addams Family or a cartoon hot rod gang) and creepy, rowdy and kooky high energy surf punk live shows have made them a favorite with the local late, late, LATE(!) night ghastly Go-Go crowd.

The lightning fast long arm of the drums, Leonard von Drat, bids you welcome and keeps everyone in stitches with his rapid fire wit. An uncontrollable wildman, Dave von Drat sets the mood with the spooky sounding Farfisa organ and spastic movements that would even leave old Uncle Fester in shock. The big brother Trevor von Drat quite easily transitions from being a calm and collected surf guitar gentlemen to a garage rock growling life of the party. The werewolf cursed DanO von Drat stares wild eyed and lays down a solid and smooth bass foundation for his savage kin to play over. The youngest brother, Steve von Drat, is a surf guitar sharp-shooter and a reverb tank riding creature that will leave you in disbelief. Add to the mix on most nights, little sister Holly von Drat twisting and shaking everyone into a frenzy – and you’ve got a live experience that you’ll never forget!

Featuring 13 twangy and twisted tunes that should appeal to fans of 60’s surf rock, horror punk, or classic monster movies, Dratsylvania is the soundtrack to the greatest, grooviest, demons-on-dirtbikes film you’ve never seen.”   ~ ©

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Sammy Price (1978) -King of Blues and Boogie-Woogie

Artist:  Sammy Price

Album: King Of Blues And Boogie-Woogie

Recorded: 1978

Released:  2011

Quality: mp3 CBR 320

Size:  77 MB

”Sammy Price had a long and productive career as a flexible blues and boogie-woogie-based pianist. He studied piano in Dallas and was a singer and dancer with Alphonso Trent's band during 1927-1930. In 1929, he recorded one solitary side under the title of "Sammy Price and His Four Quarters." After a few years in Kansas City, he spent time in Chicago and Detroit. In 1938, Price became the house pianist for Decca in New York and appeared on many blues sides with such singers as Trixie Smith and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. He led his own band on records in the early '40s which included (on one memorable session) Lester Young. Price worked steadily on 52nd Street, in 1948 played at the Nice Festival with Mezz Mezzrow, spent time back in Texas, and then a decade with Red Allen; he was also heard on many rock & roll-type sessions in the 1950s. In later years he recorded with Doc Cheatham. Sammy Price was active until near his death, 63 years after his recording debut.”

~ ~ Scott Yanow, allmusic.com

TRACK OF THE DAY - The Black Angels

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Red Cosmos (2012) -There and Back

 

Artist:  Red Cosmos

Albums: There and Back

Release date:  2012

Quality: mp3 CBR 320

Size:  157 MB

“Released a month or so ago, this is an album that is overflowing with ideas and originality mixing as it does folk with pastoral psychedelia, sound samples, ambient electronics, and hazy, woozy vocals. Throughout, the record is underpinned with a nonchalant humour and sly insouciance including one song inspired by holier-than-thou TV presenter Philip Schofield’s inherent insincerity (Do Geese See God?).

Songs switch from tripped out to tripped up to just plain trippy, creating the kind of feel that you get with a Tim Burton inspired nightmarish nursery rhyme. Take England’s Glory, the tale of a mother visited in the middle of the night by the pale spectre of her son dying alone, somewhere far away on a battlefield. Elsewhere, it calls to mind such psychedelic greats as Syd Barrett as well as more contemporary MM faves such as Damon Moon, Mathew Sawyer and Benjamin Shaw.

The album has the kind of wilful, single-mindedness and surreal vision that so many strive for and yet fail to achieve, and which is so essential in creating a unique voice. By the end of the record, we are left with the suspicion Red Cosmos might be the kind of band to drown fish just for the perverse pleasure of seeing if they can.”

~ ©

TRACK OF THE DAY - Dead Rabbits

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Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds (2013) -Push The Sky Away

Artist:  Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

Albums: Push The Sky Away

Release date:  February 2013

Quality: mp3 CBR 320

Size:  99 MB

Describing Push the Sky Away in the album's press release, Nick Cave said: "if I were to use that threadbare metaphor of albums being like children, then Push The Sky Away is the ghost-baby in the incubator and Warren's loops are its tiny, trembling heart-beat." The songs on the album were written over the course of twelve months and "took form in a modest notebook" kept by Cave. The notebook contained notes on the album's songs, which were composed from "Googling curiosities, being entranced by exotic Wikipedia entries 'whether they’re true or not'. "According to Cave, the songs illustrate how the internet has influenced "significant events, momentary fads and mystically-tinged absurdities" and "question how we might recognise and assign weight to what's genuinely important." ©

The Rippers (2012) -Better The Devil You Know

Artist:  The Rippers

Albums: Better The Devil You Know

Release date:  2012

Quality: mp3 VBR ~290

Size:  70 MB

”Calling all mods, rockers and punk-ass freaks everywhere! It’s time to get suited up for the brand new rave-up from Sardinian freakbeat delinquents The Rippers! The bastard sons of the early Rolling Stones and Pretty Things, The Rippers are back with a full length wallop called “Better The Devil You Know,” and Slovenly is psyched as fuck-all to present it to our world-wide crew of creepy rock’n’roll disciples! Recalling the nastiest records 90s legends The Makers put out before they turned into Elton John, Rippers 1, 2, 3 & 4 (that’s their names, dammit!) blaze through eleven tracks of hyper-speed 1960s style rhythm & beat shakers delivered with the deadliest of punk snarl, fully raunched-out harmonica wail, drum beats tighter than their own pegged trousers, and their signature stinging string-bending wickedry. This is just the right kick for amp cranking and speaker worshipping, floor stomping and ass shaking: Ultra-sonic rock’n’roll assault for with-it kids, so blast it, bastids!”

©

TRACK OF THE DAY - Dark Tranquillity

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The Good Fellas (2007) -13 Women

  

Artist:  The Good Fellas

Albums: 13 Women

Released:  2007

Quality: mp3 CBR 320

Size:  147 MB

”The most cursory glance down the roster of America’s most popular troubadours, immediately reveals one prime and inescapable fact, the majority are of Italian-American extraction. Caruso, Sinatra, Como, Prima, Monte, Bennett, Darin…the list seems endless. “Why”, many an eager bobby-soxer has asked “are so many of the great singers Italian?” Why, indeed? The answer is, of course, to step into the history and folkways of a people that it would take thousands of words to explain. But, we can briefly say, it’s because of their warm-hearted, unrestrained humour and passion for life. As a part of this good company we can find “THE GOOD FELLAS”. Better known as the “GANGSTERS OF SWING”, dressed in old fashioned, strictly Italian made, double breast Capone suites, wearing two tone shoes, laughing at life like everyone does deep down in the land of pizza and mandolino. To be a “good fellow” means to be a true gentleman, loyal and respectful of strong heritage and traditions. It means to smell of the full Italian flavour, while always hungry for a lady’s kiss among the scene of a Neapolitan moonlight. What they do best is the well-known, truly genuine, Italian way of entertaining known the World over. Swingin and jokin’ all the time with the audience in that half Italian, half English, macaroni language. This band truly swings from “Oh Marie”, “Tu vuo fa l’americano” to Basie’s “Tickle Toe”, and from Haley’s “A rockin’ little tune” to Lou Monte’s Italian version of Fats Domino’s classic Rock’n’Roll “I’m Walkin”. They walk the junction between Italian American and Afro American music, follow the steps of the giants of swing era, spacing from a shuffle beat to a Philly houserock to Texas blues. Like many of the Italian citizens of the World War II age, the GOOD FELLAS feel the “American Dream”, falling in love with the American brashness, cleverness, then impossible madness, but never really thinkin’ to leave the Country of sea and sun, their food, their roots.”

~ read full review

Mr. Ho's Orchestrotica - two albums

Artist:  Mr. Ho’s Orchestrotica 
Albums:  The Unforgettable Sounds of Esquivel / Third River Rangoon
Released: 2010 / 2011
Quality: mp3 CBR 192
Size: 42 / 86 MB

”The music of Mexican composer and arranger Juan Garcia Esquivel—often referred to with the exclamatory Esquivel!—has been described as Space Age pop, cocktail jazz and lounge music. Whatever it's called, Esquivel's music is happy music —an eccentric but optimistic take on standards and originals, incorporating the newest musical technologies of the '60s. On The Unforgettable Sounds of Esquivel Mr Ho's Orchestrotica presents eleven faithfully reproduced Esquivel arrangements, in just 30 minutes, and gives rise to one simple question. When will there be more?... Mr Ho's Orchestrotica breathes fresh life into these marvelously odd arrangements, with a clear understanding of just what their creator intended them to do. The Unforgettable Sounds of Esquivel is music for pleasure: a happy, bouncy puppy of an album that just wants to play and have fun.” ~ ~by Bruce Lindsay at allaboutjazz.com

“The "Mr. Ho" of Mr. Ho's Orchestrotica is vibraphonist Brian O'Neil, who has put together a vibraphone quartet, also featuring flute, percussion and bass, for Third River Rangoon. The music, dubbed "exotica," drifts back and forth across the less than distinct border between third stream chamber jazz and classical, with hints of world music influenced by a tropical island Tiki god thrown in for good measure. Mr. Ho's previous exotica release explored the artistry of Mexican composer Juan Garcia Esquivel on The Unforgettable Sounds of Esquivel, with a 23-piece ensemble, the music described as a "happy, bouncy puppy of an album." Third Stream Rangoon takes the sound into a spacey but much more introspective area, with a murky, dreamy atmosphere fashioned from the melding of the vibraphone's ringing sustain with the deep, glowingly rich tone of Geni Skendo's bass and c flutes. The inspirations for the music—eight of the eleven tunes written by Mr. Ho—are about as esoteric and off the wall as it gets: A twenty foot-tall stone statue sentry at the former Aku-Aku Restaurant in Cambridge, Massachusetts ("Lonesome Aku Fisherman's Wife"); Albanian drone singing ("Phoenix, Goodbye"); the Bulgarian kopanitsa ("Autumn Digging Dance"); and the "Allegretto" from Shostakovich's 10th Symphony ("Moai Thief")” .  ~by Dan MacLenaghan at allaboutjazz.com

Various Artists (2012) -Hipbone Slim vs Sir Bald Diddley

Artist:   various
Albums: Hipbone Slim vs Sir Bald Diddley 
Released: 2012
Quality: mp3 CBR 192
Size: 135 MB

”On the first of this two-CD set you will find 20 cuts, previously unreleased on compact disc format, by Hipbone Slim & the Kneetremblers, a band that plays proper rock’n’roll! Alongside Sir Bald (aka Hipbone Slim) is Bruce ‘Bash’ Brand (drums), one of Britain’s if not the world’s finest rock’n’roll drummers, a veteran of such bands as the Milkshakes and Headcoats, alongside Billy Childish, as well as Holly Golightly’s band, the Masonics, and more. He has also worked with the Pretty Things, Downliners Sect, Wreckless Eric, Mungo Jerry and made two albums with Link Wray along the way. Gastus Receedus (bass/harmonica), has played in many a band (Big Wigs, Arousers, Playboys, etc) and worked with many a rock’n’roll legend – Billy Lee Riley, Sonny Burgess, Dale Hawkins, and Don & Dewey to name but a few! Hipbone Slim & the Kneetremblers take rock’n’roll, rhythm’n’blues, whatever you want to call it, and give it their own unique stamp and energy. They have somehow captured the true essence of rock’n’roll in a way that very few have been able to do in a very long time. Meanwhile, on the other disc in this super-deluxe set, you will find Louie and the Louies, The Kneejerk Reactions and The Legs. This really is a true battle of the bands! Albeit in a somewhat ‘schizophrenic’ manner!” ~ ©