Monday, February 28, 2011
Omar Khorshid (2010) -Guitar El Chark
Artist: Omar Khorshid
Album: Guitar El Chark: Guitar of the Orient
Released: 2010
Quality: mp3 VBR ~236
Size: 158 MB
The late Omar Khorshid remains an iconic legend of the Arab world, though he’s received criminally little international acclaim. Born in Cairo in 1945, the glittering age of Egypt's cultural reinvention, Khorshid was soon to become one of its luminaries and most well-known, if short-lived, voices. He is regarded as the greatest guitarist the Arab world has ever known. By the mid 60s Khorshid was established with his group Le Petit Chats, an Egyptian beat group modeled after the prevailing influence of Elvis and the Beatles. It was at this time that one of the reigning figures of contemporary Arabic music, Abdel Halim Hafez, asked Omar Khorshid to join his orchestra. With Baligh Hamdi composing, Hafez with Khorshid in place would create some of the most innovative modern sounds in the Arabic musical canon.
Khorshid began recording albums under his own name for the prestigious Lebanese record labels Voice Of The Orient and Voice Of Lebanon. Working with visionary engineer Nabil Moumtaz at Polysound studios in Beirut, Khorshid would take his music into some of the most progressive musical terrain of its time. The tracks included here in this retrospective are from the prolific span of Khorshid’s career in Beirut from 1973 to 1977. The venerable Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish best encapsulated this time in Lebanon: “unfortunately, it was paradise”.
Khorshid’s prolific instrumental music enjoyed recognition that transcended class and status during the brief period he shone. It’s a testament to his immense talent and some of the finest guitar music the world has ever heard.
This limited edition 2-LP vinyl release features over 80 minutes of classic original recordings compiled by Sublime Frequencies housed in a beautiful full-color gatefold jacket with extensive liner notes. more info
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
Various Artists (2004) -Sugar In My Bowl
Artist: various
Album: Sugar In My Bowl: Hard Drivin' Mamas - Vintage Sex Songs, 1923-1952
Released: 2004
Quality: mp3 CBR 320
Size: 114 MB
Although it's a popular notion that America's fascination with all things sexual burst into the open during the Sexual Revolution of the 1960s, this ribald collection of sex songs drawn mostly from the 1920s and 1930s shows that things were bubbling along well before that. Sung here by female blues and jazz singers, these suggestive songs use various food metaphors to talk about sex, and give credence to the possibility that food and sex have been linked together in the American mindset for a good long time. All manner of condiments, hot dogs, peanuts, and jelly rolls parade through these tracks until one feels like driving straight to the nearest convenience store for some late-night snacks, which, come to think of it, Americans do all the time. Bessie Smith even manages to get sugar, hot dogs, and jelly rolls all into one line in the opener and title tune here, "I Need a Little Sugar in My Bowl," while Lil Johnson goes so far as to name names in "Sam the Hot Dog Man." There are some surprises, too, like gospel guitarist and singer Sister Rosetta Tharpe doing a pair of decidedly secular tunes, "I Want a Tall Skinny Papa" and "Rock Me," which features some pretty cool guitar, by the way. The most startling track is the final one, Lucille Bogan's "Shave 'Em Dry" from 1935, which dispenses with metaphor altogether and talks about sex with a stunning directness, even using the F-word with a precise exactness that contemporary rappers often seem unable to grasp, for all their use of the word and its derivations. Bogan's recording has horrible sound, but it somehow all adds to the stark, unforgiving honesty of it, and "Shave 'Em Dry" gives off an unbelievable intensity. Food is the last thing on her mind. ~ Steve Leggett
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Bembeya Jazz National (1968) -Jardin De Guinee
Artist: Bembeya Jazz National
Album: Jardin De Guinee
Released: 2000 (originally released in 1968)
Quality: mp3 CBR 320
Size: 75 MB
In the aftermath of the Guinean Independence in 1958 and the encouragement of cultural pride, numerous bands sprang up throughout the African country. The most popular was Bembeya Jazz National, formed by vocalist Aboubacar Dembar Camara in 1961. Specializing in modern arrangements of Manding classic tunes, Bembeya Jazz National won the first two national Biennale festivals in 1962 and 1964 and was crowned National Orchestra in 1966.
Initially a seven-piece group, featuring a Latin-flavored horn section of saxophone, trumpet, and clarinet, Bembeya Jazz National reached its apex with the addition of electric guitarist Sekou "Diamond Fingers" Diabate and lead singer Sekouba Mabino Diabate (no relation). Although prohibited from touring outside Guinea until the mid-'80s, Bembeya Jazz National continued to build a cult-like following in its home country.
A set-back for the band came in 1973 when Camara was killed in an auto accident on his way to a concert in Dakar. Although they remained together for another eight years, Bembeya Jazz National was unable to duplicate the success of their earliest years. The group disbanded in 1991 with Sekou Diabate and Sekouba Bambino Diabate going on to successful solo careers. ~ Craig Harris, Rovi, answers.com
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Sinead O'Connor (2009) -I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got [re-issue with bonus CD]
Artist: Sinead OConnor
Album: I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got [re-issue with bonus CD]
Released: 2009 (original album released in 1990)
Quality: mp3 CBR 320
Size: 228 MB
I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got became Sinéad O'Connor's popular breakthrough on the strength of the stunning Prince cover "Nothing Compares 2 U," which topped the pop charts for a month. But even its remarkable intimacy wasn't adequate preparation for the harrowing confessionals that composed the majority of the album. Informed by her stormy relationship with drummer John Reynolds, who fathered O'Connor's first child before the couple broke up, I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got lays the singer's psyche startlingly and sometimes uncomfortably bare. The songs mostly address relationships with parents, children, and (especially) lovers, through which O'Connor weaves a stubborn refusal to be defined by anyone but herself. In fact, the album is almost too personal and cathartic to draw the listener in close, since O'Connor projects such turmoil and offers such specific detail. Her confrontational openness makes it easy to overlook O'Connor's musical versatility. Granted, not all of the music is as brilliantly audacious as "I Am Stretched on Your Grave," which marries a Frank O'Connor poem to eerie Celtic melodies and a James Brown "Funky Drummer" sample. But the album plays like a tour de force in its demonstration of everything O'Connor can do: dramatic orchestral ballads, intimate confessionals, catchy pop/rock, driving guitar rock, and protest folk, not to mention the nearly six-minute a cappella title track. What's consistent throughout is the frighteningly strong emotion O'Connor brings to bear on the material, while remaining sensitive to each piece's individual demands. Aside from being a brilliant album in its own right, I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got foreshadowed the rise of deeply introspective female singer/songwriters like Tori Amos and Sarah McLachlan, who were more traditionally feminine and connected with a wider audience. Which takes nothing away from anyone; if anything, it's evidence that, when on top of her game, O'Connor was a singular talent ~ Steve Huey, allmusic.com
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Francy Boland (1976) -Blue Flame / Red Hot / White Heat
Artist: Francy Boland
Album: Blue Flame / Red Hot / White Heat
Released: 2008 (originally released in 1976 as 3 separate albums)
Label: MPS Records
Quality: mp3 CBR 320
Size: 261 MB
François Boland (6 November 1929 in Namur Belgium – 12 August 2005 in Geneva) was a classically trained Belgian jazz composer and pianist.
He first gained notice in 1949 and worked with Belgian jazz greats like Bobby Jaspar, and in 1955 he joined Chet Baker's quintet. Moving to the US, he began arranging for Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Woody Herman and Dizzy Gillespie, and set up an octet with drummer Kenny Clarke before returning to Europe and becoming Kurt Edelhagen's chief arranger. In 1961, based around a rhythm section featuring Clarke, Jimmy Woode and himself, he founded The Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band, which rapidly became one of the most noted Big Bands assembled outside the United States. After it broke up in 1972 he concentrated on composing.
He lived in Europe, primarily Switzerland, from 1976 and did musical arrangements for Sarah Vaughan among others. He was also part of One World, One Peace, an effort involving Pope John Paul II. He died in 2005. more info
Monday, February 21, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
The End (1969) -Introspection
Artist: The End
Album: Introspection
Released: 1969
Quality: mp3 CBR 320
Size: 102 MB
Although Introspection bombed due to a belated release, collectors have since heralded the End's album as one of the finest from the brief British psychedelia wave. Produced by Rolling Stone Bill Wyman in early 1968, the spirit of the era (or maybe that of the previous summer) is sonically created with sumptuous results. Colin Giffin and Nicky Graham's gentle harmony vocals tread a similar path to Odessey and Oracle-era Zombies, while sessionman Nicky Hopkins' harpsichord, a pumping Hammond, Terry Taylor's searing Cream-like fuzztone guitar leads, psychedelic duel-ragas, and floating Mellotron re-create the colors of a rainbow. The overall effect is psych pop rather than acid-inspired mayhem, although the drifting ambience of the production, lyricism, and instrumentation could not be anything else but a product of psychedelia. A majority of the numbers were clearly influenced by the Their Satanic Majesties' Request sessions that Wyman had been undertaking -- and indeed Wyman co-wrote two songs -- although the the End's more commercial pop edge forged a sound distant from the Rolling Stones. With an abundance of moods, tones, and a gloriously over-the-top production, Introspection is a superb period piece, and rightfully deserves it's near-classic status. ~ Jon "Mojo" Mills, All Music Guide
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Friday, February 11, 2011
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Various Artists (1994) -I Turned Into A Helium Balloon
Artist: various
Album: I Turned Into A Helium Balloon
Released: 1994
Quality: mp3 CBR 320
Size: 180 MB
Big Beat's Turned Into a Helium Balloon features a diverse roster of '60s garage/psych groups like We the People, Front Page News, and the Tikis. Demo versions of the Knickerbockers' "Lies" and "My Feet Are Off the Ground," Free-for-All's "Show Me the Way," the Brogues' "Miracle Worker," and the Boston Tea Party's "Spinach" are among the highlights of this entertaining, nostalgic collection of obscure '60s pop.
Los Peyotes (2010) -Garaje O Muerte!
Artist: Los Peyotes
Album: Garaje O Muerte
Released: 2010
Quality: mp3 CBR 320
Size: 92 MB
Los Peyotes have totally revitalised garage-beat in South America. Taking their inspiration from their illustrious predecessors – Los Walkers, Los Shakers, Los Mockers, Los Gatos Salvajes and Los Saicos – these five Argentine/Peruvian boys play around with the fuzz of The Litter, the darkness of The Music Machine, the psychedelic sound of summer of The Seeds and the demented tempo changes of The Count Five. With fuzz and tremolo on the guitars, Farfisa organ, tambourines and demented screams they spit out a kind of music that is totally bonkers. The offspring of the seed of the Spanish conquistadors that brought mediaeval venereal diseases to the Americas, they are a savage sort that would have made any of the Nazi war criminals (or a certain furious dictator) that may have lived on their native soil raise their eyebrows in disbelief. To see them perform live you would think they were cavemen rather than 21st century gentlemen! Peyotes fever is here! ©
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Movie Star Junkies & Vermillion Sands (2009) -LP + 7"
Artist: Movie Star Junkies & Vermillion Sands
Album: Junkyears: Rarities And Farm Recordings 2005-2007 + 7” split with Vermillion Sands
Released: 2009
Quality: mp3 VBR
Size: 38 MB
Born in 2005 the Movie Star Junkies were originally a duo. Their main influences had always been the Birthday Party and the Gun Club and in the early years they start to play a couple of shows in Italy with just a drum and an organ. In 2006 a guitarist join the band for the recordings of the first 7 inch, recorded in a refrigerate cell with a 4 tracks and released the same year. After several compilations and gigs in France Croatia and U.K the trio put out a new 7 inch. In 2007 they record 5 songs in the same refrigerate cell and the italian label No-fi records releases them for a limited cassette series. In the same year another guitarist and a saxophone player join the band, and after the second european tour (in France Germany Belgium and Holland) the band is ready to record 10 new songs, 4 of them will be released the year after on a 10 inch split The feeling of love.In early 2008 the band is formed by 2 guitars 1 bass drums organ and voice, and starts to perform some acoustic shows too. . more info
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